"Japan, one of our favorite countries" Japan by tompt

Japan Travel Guide: 19,316 reviews and 53,179 photos

In 1992 we were able to visit a fascinating country in the east. One week in Japan. It is not enough. The Japanese world is so different from our European that it took all week to get used to it. The customs, the food, the language, the people it is all different. I didn´t know how to eat with chopsticks, I didn´t know it is a custom to buy one bottle of beer for the two of us, and so on.
The written language is to difficult and I felt so stupid to stand in front of a train not knowing if this train was stopping in the city I want to go to. But it was an experience that I didn´t want to miss. One day we will go to Japan again, and try to understand more about this country.

Golden Pavillion in Kyoto

From the 27th of August until the 16th of September 2001 we visited Japan again. This time we made a three week tour with a dutch tourgroup, Djoser http://www.djoser.nl This dutch tourcompany organises the transport to Japan, the lodging and the transport to the hotels. The rest of the time you are free to do what ever you want. I think it is a great way to travel. The boring tasks are done by them and saved us a lot of time. And we are able to see the sites we wanted to see, not only
the sites where all tourists go to. The only down side is that we stayed only in the cities that are big in tourism.
We travelled from Tokyo through the Japanese Alps, south to Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

cherryblossom in Takato

In the spring of 2003 we had another chance to visit Japan.

From Osaka where we attended a VT meeting, we went on to Kyoto. From there to the japanese alps where we stayed in Ogimachi, Takayama, Shin Hotaka and Takato. From Takato we went to our last stop: Tokyo.

This trip was organised brilliantly by the dutch travelagent: Passaat reizen.
More about them: http://www.passaat.nl

More info on Japan :
JNTO, japan tourist info - http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng
Japan guide - http://www.japan-guide.com
Japan Atlas - http://web-japan.org/atlas/index.html

If you have time please visit our city pages:

- Osaka, a modern city with a great aquarium.
- Tokyo, the capital of Japan
- Kyoto, a former capital and maybe the most cultural city of Japan.
- Takayama, a very tourist minded small city in the Japan alps.
- Takato, the town to see cherryblossom.

and please visit our travelogues:
- All over Japan, a travelogue full with things that we noticed, some are funny or strange for a non-japanese.
- More Japan, a travelogue with things we saw in Japan.
- Japan all over, in this travelogue we have some tips and pics about staying in a japanese hotel.

The other travelogue titles speak for themselves...

Last visit to Japan: Apr 2003
Intro Updated May 14, 2006
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Reviews (29)

Yokohama Things to Do (12)

Yokohama is a city south of Tokyo. It can easily be reached by train from Tokyo. Yokohama has a large china town, where... more travel advice

Nikko Things to Do (12)

A great daytrip from Tokyo is Nikko. The many temples in Nikko are very famous and visited by loads of tourists so try... more travel advice

koinobori Local Customs (4)

All over Japan you will see this koinobori (carp streamers) flying in the wind. Flying carp streamers are traditional... more travel advice

phone gadgets Shopping (3)

Many shops sell gadgets to use with your mobile phone. There are little puppets or animals that you hang on your... more travel advice

Warnings and Dangers (2)
See All Earthquakes
Transportation (2)
See All Subway
What to Pack (2)
See All Blank book(let)

Travelogues (11)

1 - 4 of 11

Comments (74)

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pure1942 Jun 28, 2009 at 12:58 PM

Great pics and tips Tom. Looking forward to visiting Japan for myself next January. Thanks for sharing. Brian
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Toshioohsako Jul 19, 2008 at 3:00 AM

you caught very nice pictures of castles, shrines, cherry-blossom, etc. I like your first Japan page with children and bicycle. Its a typical scene.
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sailor_p Jul 15, 2007 at 7:10 PM

Good overview of Japan. Love the pix of sakura! :)
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Paul2001 Dec 17, 2005 at 1:51 PM

Japan is a fascinating country. Your tips are especially helpful for anyone traveling there.
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RafaelTheSecond May 28, 2005 at 11:07 PM

Many things to learn about this fascinating country called Japan, and your pages are treasure to me, I will read and read it!
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JetlagCity Jan 27, 2005 at 4:35 PM

How wonderful to have visited this exotic place twice! I especially enjoyed your first four travelogues about all the differences!
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bkoon Apr 18, 2004 at 7:59 AM

Interesting esp the way the cars are parked in land scarce cities. Cool. Yeah! I will be witnessing it next month.
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pepples46 Mar 1, 2004 at 10:35 AM

amazing page from a Country I have not visited yet, awesome travelogues and ample infos, great page, thanx for sharing
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jackfruit Mar 1, 2004 at 10:28 AM

AWESOME page!! Thank you for all the info, pics and tips!!!
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nicolettart Sep 3, 2003 at 5:37 PM

Koyasan sounds like a wonderful place to visit...someday when I return to Japan!