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Japanese dream
  • Kate Carrara
  • Kate Carrara

Japanese dream

A 23-day adventure by Kate Read more
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  • Trip start
    August 29, 2026
    Kate CarraraJapanese dreamTraveler
    Ready to goFrankfurt Airport...for 8 hours..Departing with bootFinally on board. Still get excited about big planes..Cheers with wine in coffee cups at who know when o'clockBeijing AirportTokyo!!Oishi!! Delicious! How can it be 30 years ago when I am only 21?Complimentary nightwear...

    Frankfurt to Tokyo

    August 30 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    Finally!!! After an additional 8 hours in Frankfurt airport, a long flight to Beijing, a hasty wheelchair through the airport, a connection to Tokyo with a vision of the perfect cone of Mt Fuji above the lemony grey clouds...we landed. Very strange yet familiar - after 30 years! Quick bite last night, delicious spicy beef and aah..Asahi... we are now set to explore the city under grey warm.clouds..Read more

  • Kate CarraraJapanese dreamTraveler
    Testing out the subway..
    Testing out the subway..Ticket barrierSpecial seats for the biit and crutchTorii entrance gate to Meiji shrineSake barrels as offerings to the Imperial shrineAnd French wines too..The Empresss' tea houseImperal gardens1So many vending machines, so much choice ..Shibuya crossingCrossing like there are no cars and no rulesOn the crossing in the crowd

    Tokyo Day 1

    August 31 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    Tokyo is enormous...we left the warm grey clouds to explore via the subway, visiting the Meiji ji Shinto shrine and park, acres of tropical woods with dark blue butterflies the size of your fist, gardens, water lilies and the scent of humidity. Then on to Takeshita with pet cafes (hang out with chinchillas! Or cats or capybaras, mini pigs and guinea pigs!), Japanese fashion, rainbow crepes and weird sweets. Finally, by train to Shibuya and the letdown of the Shibuya scramble, scruffy and unimpressive...Read more

  • Kate CarraraJapanese dreamTraveler
    Leaving Tokyo - now traffic jams as so quickly onto the Expressway. Driving on the left..
    Leaving Tokyo - now traffic jams as so quickly onto the Expressway. Driving on the left..Tokyo streetsLake Kawaguchi..Fuji is around there somewhereSuwa Taisha shrineTorii, gate to a holy placeWashing hands and mouth before enteringPrayers and wishes and the sweet smell of woodPrayers were said - make an offering, bow, clap, pray, bow againLowland NagoyaImpossible yellow green rice every corner1Mountain inhabitantsWhy is the mountain road called the Venus Line??More rolling ridgesMatsumoto JoLucky frogs, symbol of MatsumotoOur tatami roomBefore we settled in..oyasumi!

    Alps to Matsumoto

    September 2 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Today we drove from Tokyo to Matsumoto via the Japanese Alps - the clouds covered most of Mt Fuji, its cone just occasionally peaking out, but of course notarized with snow, just grey and end of summery. Bit disappointed but we may have better luck on our way back at the end. The Alps were green and subtropical and rolling, impossible to imagine them as ski slopes (Rico fancies coming back). Gorgeous Shinto shrine at Suwa Taisha Honmiya, all ancient trees and moss and the smell of cedar and dampness, sunlight through the beams, running water and peace. Then over the mountains to Matsumoto, city of frogs and Japan's biggest wooden castle, where we are staying in a traditional.house all a futon..Read more

  • Kate CarraraJapanese dreamTraveler
    Matsumoto Castle
    Matsumoto CastleNinja greetingCastle grounds..1Will.power took that boot up 6 floors..and scared a few people..1Narai, post town on the old.road to KyotoUltimate autumn rain Japanese moodTypical house of local dignitaries in 1850s..the Emperor stayed here..Glistening black floor and traditional sunken hearth, heart of the homeTorii at the end of the roadBlue traffic light..stop or.go?Misty mountains1Pouring tea on arrival at ryokanAfter the onsen bath, yukata is essential wear11The food! This was sake snacksPlus appetisers..That menu in fullSoup?Fried fishSashimi...Some sake may have been consumed

    Matsumoto Castle, a post town and a ryokan

    September 3 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    Awake to roll up the futons and breakfast on fresh pastries and strange vending machine drinks in the castle park..Matsumoto Castle is from 1594 and is one of Japan's big ones - six wooden floors - I promised not to climb the steep and narrow stairs, but really that was all there was to do inside, and me, the Boot and its plastic cover made it all the way up. Then on through dramatic madly green mountains steaming with clouds and rain to Narai, one of the old post roads between Tokyo and Kyoto, perfectly preserved in 1850s style..and finally, a treat - a night at a Japanese inn with onsen hot baths outside looking at the mountains, yukata robes and a multicourse meal of delicious unknowns...Rico had rice..Read more

  • Kate CarraraJapanese dreamTraveler
    The Kiso valley misty mountains
    The Kiso valley misty mountainsMedaki waterfall (the woman) on the ancient Nakasendo trail....and its male counterpoint, OdakiGrocery shop..1Tsugamo villageTravellers' inn, 1850..1So beautiful I took two photos..Shinto shrineSunken hearth with the metal fish decoration to protect against fireTraditional roofing weighed down by rocksWaterwheel..1Apparently the rock on the right uses ro look like a koi fish and was the village symbolMatcha latteMatcha sundaeMagome village1Cutting udon noodles by handBear bells for sale!!Rice..1Rice field yellowArriving in big city Kyoto, the car goes into the garage carousel..

    Kiso valley towns to Kyoto

    September 4 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 22 °C

    Another interesting breakfast (Rico didn't even have rice this time), and off down to Kyoto via two more Edo-era post towns, mountain passes, waterfalls and woods - the Nakaswndo Trail connecting Edo (Tokyo) and Kyoto - we would have liked for the day but Boot - Tsugame and Magome with fantastic snacks, beef yakitori, matcha sundaes, old wooden houses, waterwheels, green mountains and yellow rice fields..down via Nagoya to rainy Kyoto..Read more

  • Kate CarraraJapanese dreamTraveler
    Entrance to Nijo Castle, imperial fortress and centre of power
    Entrance to Nijo Castle, imperial fortress and centre of powerMain halls where shotguns, emperors and senior officials received and ruledAs usual, shoes off inside - this time a young guard knelt to fut a cover over the Boot..1Big hair is apparently back1Wonderful traditional gardens, incorporating the wider world into the designInside, there a squeaky nightingale floors and golden panels with mighty tigers, pine trees, hawksOver the castle rooftopsKinkaju, the Golden Temple1I last had a photo here in ..1995..1Bit too gaudy really..Shrine at entrance to templeOmikuji - paper fortunes. If you don't like yours, you tie it up here to invalidate it100 yen to know your future..I left mine tied up ..Rico's was very good - love, money and electrical goods

    Kyoto, imperial capital..

    September 5 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Kyoto, thousand-year capital, spiritual and cultural centre of Japan, storied and mythical, maybe a bit like ancient Rome - full of shrines and temples built by emperors and warlords, political dignitaries and nobility to honour their branch of Buddhism or Zen or Shinto, to be remembered for their own glory or part in history. The sun shine and we had more than 1, 200 temples and shrines to tackle..Nijo castle with its impressive grounds and meeting halls; the golden pavilion of Kinkaku-ju; Japan's most famous Zen rock garden at Ryoan-ji; the Arashimaya district like a village amongst the bamboo groves, temples, gardens and rice fields...Read more

  • Kate CarraraJapanese dreamTraveler
    Samurai drinks vending machine...Pocari sweat, peach iced tea and iced latte
    Samurai drinks vending machine...Pocari sweat, peach iced tea and iced latteGinkakuji - Silver Pavilion - with sand garden and Moon Viewing Plaform - sand coneGinkakuji...Ginkakuji gardens with reflecting ponds1Looking over Kyoto from the gardens...still relatively freshThe moss garden..living green1On the Philosopher's Walk, a path linking temples along the canal - many smaller shrinesHonenin Temple along the pathHoneninEnormous scary koiBridge over canal on Philosopher's PathLocal shrinePassing toriiGeisha vending machineSmall local shrines..Entrance to Eikando Zen templePavilion in the hillsEikandoPool and garden within templeContemplating pool with Boot in plastic wrap to protect the floor..45 greens..Full of Zen contemplationTiger panels..

    Kyoto temples 1

    September 6 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Eva gave me the gift of a day of temples and shrines whilst the boys explored the railway museum, meeting us for lunch and a couple of final temples. Eva, me and The Boot walked all day amongst gardens, rocks, moss, bamboo, forest, walls of living green, painted screens, wooden floors, Buddhist altars, legends, tatami mats, shoes off and carried in plastic bags, Kano art and Zen schools and beauty, red temples, enormous gateways, bell towers and pagodas, Six temples, three shrines, philosopher's walk and a traditional shopping street, finished off with gourmet sushi. Kyoto, we did our best..Read more

  • Kate CarraraJapanese dreamTraveler
    The garage in Kyoto - three cars deep, 10 storeys, delivered to you like a giant vending machine
    The garage in Kyoto - three cars deep, 10 storeys, delivered to you like a giant vending machineTo Ji temple in Kyoto, Japan's tallest pagoda1Built to withstand earthquakes and bad selfiesFushimi Inari TaishaInari is the gos of rice and prosperity and the fox is Inari's messenger1Lucky mini torii with wishes and prayersThere are over 10, 000 red torii going up the mountainAnd about 10 000 visitors..including these school childrenPrayers and wishes in Inari's fox shape1The Boot continues to climbElectrical wiring chaos, police order and lampsMaster deer at Nara1Deer emerging from subway...sacred for so long, they are totally unimpressed by peoplePreparing to bully some more tourists ( including me..horns were very painful)Entrance to main Buddist temple in Nara, TodajiGuardians of the gateTodajiOne of the largest wooden buildings in JapanThe big bronze BuddhaNot impressed because he bowed to me and did not get a cracker1Osaka bridgeAwaji service station..with a ferris wheel..which we had to go onView over the inland sea, Osaka, Kobe and rainstorm1Sushi. Tatami. Futon. Japan!

    Nara to Naruto

    September 7 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 26 °C

    Last two temples in Kyoto - one at Rico's request, one a little Insta-famous (overcrowded and a little underwhelming). Then on to Nara, the first fixed capital of Japan in around 700 - but only for 70 years or so, as the power of the Buddhist establishment threatened the emperor enough to move to Kyoto. A green park scattered with temples (family limited me to one) and sacred deer - deer who bow to you, really, because this is Japan, and then butt and nibble you quite aggressively if you don't feed them deer crackers! We drove to Naruto, the edge of the island of Shikoku, past Osaka and Kobe, across wonderful bridges, great industrial ports, a ferris wheel at a service station and dramatic rainclouds over the gree hills and shipping lanes..Read more

  • Kate CarraraJapanese dreamTraveler
    Naruta Bridge and whirlpools from the hotem
    Naruta Bridge and whirlpools from the hotemWhirlpools from the glass.floor of the bridgeIt was wet down thereYou can see the drop.in depth of the waterBoot came tooTourist boatMima, old Edo.housesRice.greenMima.temples..very.Zen in.all.senses1Yoshino River valley..Photos do not show how beautifulView from our guesthouse, a 140 year old traditio al houseThe outhouse1Evening entertainmentThe sunken hearthFutons ready1Boot has a beer

    Whirlpools, rice fields, rain-green mountains

    September 8 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    It poured tropical soft warm very wet rain...all green mountains, bright rice fields and wisps of cloud. We started with an onsen in the hotel overlooking Naruto Bridge, then slopped through the rain ro walk under the car deck of the brdge and see the amazing whirlpools crashing between the colliding channels of water. A couple of old towns, a delicious Japanese Italian fusion pasta dish (miso, lotus root) and lots of weather and greenery as we drove through the valleys at the heart of Shikoku...ending up in a guesthouse in the clouds, Eva on guitar, cards, cold Asahi beer and an evening of harmony far from the world...Read more

  • Kate CarraraJapanese dreamTraveler
    Contemplating the trees this morning
    Contemplating the trees this morningView from the looAll day rain, rainforest, waterfalls, cloudsTop of the pass, the trusty hire carVine bridge - used to be rebuilt every 3 years, now reinforced with steel for touristsVery wet, wide slats, a bit scary even without having to do it with The BootEva is cautiousTony too1Bur beautifulEntering Yawatahama, a different climate outside the valleyThe sea between the islands1Yawatahama portOur ferry approaches1On boardBye bye ShikokuEvening yukata and onsen

    Over the sea to Kyushu

    September 9 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    A slow start in our mountain top home, after a night of tremendous storms, insects dropping from the wooden rafters, thunder rolling over the valley, rain so hard it felt as if we were sleeping under a waterfall. The rain continued throughout the valleys, but it was just beautiful, huge walls of green forest, mountains and roaring rivers, coloured bridges, wisps of cloud, winding roads with the first damp orange leaves of autumn. We crossed a vine bridge - reinforced for tourists now, but famously used to escape from any pursuing enemies - drove many miles and reached the sunny port of Yawatahama - a delightful, modern ferry for three hours across the Pacific to Beppu in Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan's main islands...and an onsen..Read more

  • Kate CarraraJapanese dreamTraveler
    View of the resort town of Beppu from our hotel..
    View of the resort town of Beppu from our hotel....and from halfway up the mountainView on a clear day versus today..Summit shrine1Caspar Friedrich David's The WandererBeppu's sulphur pond1Steam rises up all over the cityUmi Jigoku - another geothermal springStunning natural colours1Jigokomushi pudding cooked in steamUdon. Beyond deliciousGeothermal steam used to cook boiled eggs, a specialitySushi kuru kuru restaurantHappy EvaHappy Kate1At Jack and Yoko's1With Yoko after 31 years..

    Beppu's hells and old friends

    September 10 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    Beautiful onsen start to the day in Beppu, then a trip up the mountain ropeway which became a trip inside a cloud..Beppu is powered by geothermal activity, so steam gushes out of vents and chimneys and pavements all over town. We visited two of its hells - sulphur water bubbling up in bright toxic pools - ate food cooked in the sream ( delicious caramel pudding) and Eva and I finished up with a sushi kuru-kuru conveyor belt restaurant where they greeted us with Land of Hope and Glory and we fully indulged. Poor Rico drove us three hours through tropical rain down the green spine of Kyushi to Miyakonojo, where I lived 31 years ago, and after much difficulty and many phone calls we found Jack, Yoko, daughter Wendy and 19 cats...very strange and wonderfulRead more

  • Kate CarraraJapanese dreamTraveler
    Brunch - including Wendy's bread and Japanese pears - on the porch
    Brunch - including Wendy's bread and Japanese pears - on the porch1The power and peace that is YokoYoko's many crafts include teacosy cats..and books, Wendy dolls, cooking art work..The familyAcademy Shu School - my room top right, the balcony where I dried clothes beneath volcanic ashPeeking through the window at the living room, largely unchanged, like a museum of my lifeRice green on dog walkJust so much greenTextures and colours of verdant and exuberantA while til harvest1Rico shopping in Miyakonojo, a giraffe amongst the shelvesSekinoo Falls1Wendy decorated for the barbecueMiha, Yoko and Hiro the architectShin the saxophonist, JackWendy the barbecue queenShochu, sweet potato schnapps local to MiyakonojoHighball - Wendy ballIce cream dessert in crazy flavoursHeight comparisonSmokers' cornerFuroshiki cloth to wrap up a parcel

    Memory lane in Miyakonojo

    September 11 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Late brunch with the wonderful Jack and Yoko, with gorgeous daughter Wendy. Thoroughly spoilt, reiki and discussions til early afternoon. Then off to visit the school building where I lived and worked in 1994-5, plus the surrounding gorgeous countryside where I used to walk the dogs and avoid dangerous snakes and admire the rice harvest. School rundown and overgrown now, dogs long since gone, but countryside amd rice fields still absurdly green and abundant. We drove the way I used to cycle, over the stone bridge, through the village and on to Miyakonijo city, rater rundown and shabby now, as if nothing had changed since the 1990s. Back for a delicious highball-themed barbecue with the family and some friends, Hiroshima the architect and Shin the saxophonist chicken farmer. We are blessed.Read more

  • Kate CarraraJapanese dreamTraveler
    This box style of car is extremely popular
    This box style of car is extremely popularGirls' car dayThe virw of Uchinoura from Yoko's brother's houseYoko hates having her photo takenJack reminiscing about free diving adventures of oldRocket launches from the other side of the bayO bento lunchYoko's brother demonstrates the traditional drumWrapped up in a furoshikiThe Uchinoura Space Centre museum..frozen in the early eighties and entirely in JapaneseBig parabola antenna to transmit and receive messagesOne boot for scaleLooking very much like a James Bond film setDolphins swimming out there11Looking back at Uchinoura town and the brother's house1A Wendy doll ( made by Yoko) on display in a friend's hairdressing salonSayla, newest beautician in the family businessJack and Yoko's home, after just one month1The original Wendy with Eva's doll

    Beaches, bento, rockets and dolls

    September 12 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    A lovely day of friendship and experiences and stories.. Jack and Yoko took the day off and drove us to Uchinoura, Yoko's home town which I last visited 31 years ago. We stopped in the way at the bento shop for lunch boxes, which we ate at Yoko's brother's house with its stunning views over the gorgeous beach, right at the end of the world, with Japan's first space centre for launching rockets on the neighbouring mountain. There are monkeys and wild horses down this coast, green jungle everywhere, ranges of hills and mountains like a stage set. We sang This is my life and Take a little piece of my heart, visited friends in Shibushi, and chose a Wendy doll for Eva after another delicious Japanese barbecue..wonderful, inspirational, fascinating, a gift of a weekend.Read more

  • Kate CarraraJapanese dreamTraveler
    Wendy doll ready to travel
    Wendy doll ready to travelJaypots Cafe!1Bye bye, lovely friends1Sakurajima bay11The island changes all the time because the volcano is so active. This was a 3m tall torii..Many volcano moods in one dayFerry to Kagoshima1The crossing to KagoshimaKagoshima city centreClouds, not smoke, todaySnub nosed N boxes in a rowTenmonkan shopping districtRuins of castle1City view1Car carousel parking in Kumamoto

    Kagoshima to Kumamoto

    September 13 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    A tearful but joyful farewell to the Stangs after such a wonderful, inspiring time 30 years later..then on to the glories of Sakurajima, a volcano in a blue sea of islands, surrounded by unearthly green. We drove right round the volcano, quiet today,then ferry over to Kagoshima, shopping and sushi, before the drive up to Kumamoto. That wide blue bay..Read more

  • Kate CarraraJapanese dreamTraveler
    We were not tempted to take the hotel TV
    We were not tempted to take the hotel TVGatehouse to Kumamoto CastleEnormous walls1View from 6th floorSamurai...remember this from visiting 30 years ago!Scary samurai on guardTwins...Feeding seagulls ( mini dinosaurs riding the thermals) on ferry to ShimbaraArriving in Nagasaki province, another volcano..Can't do a day in Japan without a rice fields photoCentre of Nagasaki's colonial district - Oura cathedral, Japan's first, on the right1Glover Park with a series of original houses of Western traders and businessmenView over the harbourRoper HouseInside the Glover House, early 1900sWaiting for a tram in downtown NagasakiAtomic Bomb MuseumClock stopped at 11.02 as the bomb fellModel of Fatman atomic bombSilhouette of watchman: first the heat and flash, then the sound wave, then the radiationPeace ParkFunasi Shrine at entrance to ropeway up Mount InasaTypical houses on way up1Nagasaki sunset11The harbourThe islands1

    Samurai, beauty, history and horror of Nagasaki

    September 14 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Starting in Kumamoto Castle, home of the samurai, magnificent on the outside, sadly only in Japanese in the museum inside - then off via the ferry to Shimabara and another volcano and more greens to Nagasaki. The first city in Japan to open up to the West - initially the Portuguese bringing bread, guns and Christianity - then the only port open to external trade, nearest city to the Asian mainland and industrial powerhouse. Most famous now, of course, for the second atomic bomb on 9 August 1945. Fascinating layers of history in an absolutely stunning natural setting - kept imagining how it would have felt to arrive here in the 1500s for the first time, and how livable it is now.Read more

  • Kate CarraraJapanese dreamTraveler
    Nagasaki trams
    Nagasaki tramsOyster beds in Hiroshima BayThe Itsukishima shrine with its floating torii..seen from afar..1ShoppersWalking towards the shrineUdon lunchbreakJapanese school tripFried oysters1The main shrineTide still going outA beautiful friendship11An unusual BuddhaGate guardian at templeIndeed

    The floating torii and red-capped Buddhas

    Sep 15–22 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Leaving lively Nagasaki and its stunning natural setting, leaving the tropical wilds of Kyushu, to drive 5 hours back up on the long haul to Tokyo..We took the ferry over to Miyajima in Hiroshima Bay to visit the Itsukishima Shrine and its huge red torii, which looks as if it is floating out at sea..and which you can all but wave out to at low tide. Deer roam the island, there are green mountains, old low wooden houses, an impressive bucolic Buddhist temple in the groves above the small town, fried oysters and maple cakes, parties of schoolchildren - and our guesthouse with garden and tatami mats, cards, curry and beer..Read more

  • Kate CarraraJapanese dreamTraveler
    Ferry to the mainland. Practicallly private
    Ferry to the mainland. Practicallly privateFarewell MiyajimaHiroshima. A bomb dome.School trip1Peace cranes. OrigamiPeace memorialV happy with sushi KuraHijemi CastleSix wooden floors with the Boot. Thanks to Eva ..Hijemi from the castle summit1The White HeronCastle gardensFireworks at Nagahama1I have no photos of us, post onsen, in yukata,drunk at open bar, playing air hockey...

    Hiroshima, Hijemi, drunk table tennis

    September 16 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    We drove off the island with its green and shrines and deer on a ferry to ourselves, en route to Hiroshima and its Peace Park and okonomiyaki. Then on through green, rain, mountains and rice fields to Crane Caatle, Hijemi, Japan's most famous castle from tbe samurai era, the White Crane. Six storeys wirh boot again. Finally, more rainy driving towards Tokyo to end up in the Grand Mercure Nagahama for a fireworks festival by Lake Biwa, a fabulous onsen with blood-red hor springs and overtones of Roman times, and us in yukata robes totally enjoying the free happy hour, fusilli spicy crisps and drunken air hockey (won by the girls, cheered on by the locals), no photos but a fabulous memory, ping pong pissed and futon finally...Read more