Where We Went
[ Home ] [ Next ]

Click on any of the icons to the left for individual pages about the places we visited in Japan. The large map below highlights four of the places where we stayed, and is intended to give those unfamiliar with the geography of Japan an idea of the scope of our trip.  From Tokyo in the east to Hagi in the west is about the distance from Boston to Cleveland (I think!).   I have included on this page individual maps for each place where we spent at least one night, in the order that we visited them.  Our trip began in Osaka and ended in Tokyo, with a swing through the western part of Honshu in between.  

We flew into Osaka and immediately took a Taxi to Kyoto, where we stayed for six nights.  While we were in Kyoto we took the train for day trips to Nara and Himeji. 

From Kyoto we took the train to Tomatsukuri-Onsen, just outside of Matsue, where we stayed two nights, visiting Matsue during the day.

From Matsue we went to Hagi for two nights.

From Hagi we went to Hiroshima for two nights.

From Hiroshima we went to Shizuoka, where we stayed one night, visiting my friend and old roommate who lives there.

From Shizouka we went to Tokyo for 6 nights, with a day trip to Nikko.  From Tokyo we flew back to the Boston via Detroit.

I had originally booked four nights in our hotel in Kyoto. Upon arrival I changed our reservation to 5 nights, and then extended it to a total of six. At the start of our trip I had not decided our exact itinerary for the rest of trip except that we planned to see my friend (and former roommate) Richard Cleaver in Shizuoka on July 13th for one night there before going to Tokyo for the last 6 nights of the trip.

Although I have heard a lot of good things about Kanazawa, I decided while we were in Kyoto that I just couldn't fit it into our schedule. I very much wanted to visit Hagi, because it was out of the way and thus this might be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to go there, and it was famous for its pottery. The descriptions I had read made it sound something like Vietri sul Mare, near Salerno in Italy, where we have often gone and bought a lot of ceramics. I also wanted to take Tony to Hiroshima because I thought it would be educational for him.

One evening while we were riding the Miyako shuttle bus from the Kyoto train station back to our hotel, I overheard an American who was obviously traveling with his wife and teenage daughter mention that they were planning to visit Kanazawa next. We had already stood next to them the day before in line at the train station while (we were both) waiting to exchange our vouchers for rail passes. Although they seemed like very nice people, when I overheard them say that they were going to Kanazawa after leaving Kyoto I decided that I would definitely choose a different itinerary, rather than follow this American family all over Japan. Two weeks later, while Tony and I were walking one evening in the Roppongi district of Tokyo, we passed them walking the other direction on the sidewalk. As we walked past each other I recognized them and said rather loudly, "oh the people from Kyoto!" - I believe the girl recognized us too but by then we had become separated in the moving crowds.