Yokohama is a beautiful waterfront city on the very outskirts of Tokyo. Some of the Tokyo subway lines actually reach as far as Yokohama, which tends to create some confusion among tourists that maybe Yokohama is part of Tokyo. It’s not. And if you spend even a short time in Yokohama, you’ll notice that although it’s located right on Tokyo’s doormat, it marches to an entirely different beat.
Yokohama is probably most famous (among Japanese people) for it’s Yokohama Chinatown. It is said to be the largest …

Kansai in Japanese kanji is 関西. It literally means the west border. Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe are some of the major cities in the Kansai region. (to learn more about Kansai read the wikipedia article here.)
Kanto in Japanese kanji is 関東. It means the east border. Some of the major Kanto cities are Tokyo, Yokohama, Chiba and so on. (Learn your geography on wikipedia.)

When we did our June 2008 trip to Kyoto, Osaka and Tokyo, we decided to take the Shinkansen from Osaka to Tokyo. After a quick check …

When our 1 year in Japan was just about coming to an end we decided to do one last trip down south before we left. We had already traveled through all of Hokkaido, visited Kyoto and Tokyo (a few times), so we decided that it was time to see Hiroshima, and revisit the Kansai area.
We booked a tour package through JAL tour which is operated by JAL (Japan Airlines) ((beware, the website requires mad Japanese skills)). It may have been called a tour, but essentially it just meant …

Eastern Hokkaido Roadtrip - Akanko, Kussharoko, Abashiri, Shiretoko
We took a camping/onsening/feasting roadtrip through eastern Hokkaido- known to have absolutely nothing to offer but breathtakingly beautiful scenery.
We took along with us our friend Michael Tripp who also is a former Hokkaidoite. Our final destination was Shiretoko but we planned on stopping in at many other places along the way.

Furano

We left bright and early on Friday morning. Our first stop was Furano. Hokkaido people live for Furano in the summer. It’s something that you hear over and over for a few weeks …

Along with our camping trip to Toya Lake last month, we also visited Hakodate.
We enjoyed the freshest (wiggling on our plate) squid that was perfectly clear in color and tasted like heaven. We also had uni (sea urchin) for breakfast. Such a luxury!

It was a gourmet trip. We ate and ate and ate.
During our 3 day stay in Hakodate we managed to visit all the places we wanted to. We also had a little romantic afternoon boat rowing around the Goryokakukoen moat.

We fully enjoyed Hakodate. Being Vancouverites, …