I kind of grew up with the original Captain Tsubasa show and its video game adaptations. Can’t say I’m a big fan but like my Anime location tours, it gave me a rough guide of somewhere different to explore, namely Katsushika City. Actually didn’t know about the statue tour until...

There is usually some event happening in Akihbara (AKA, Akiba) on Sundays. Not to mention pedestrian hours in the afternoon which makes it easier to walk around in the popular tourist spot with the roads sealed off from traffic. That's why I decided to reserve Sundays for walks i...

I grew up watching Choriki Ohrangers, a Tokusatsu (special effects) show from 1995 which is fairly much part of the ongoing Power Rangers franchise. I never managed to watch the entire show so just before my trip I just happen to come across the DVD set and ended up watching it a...

Originally I had planned to spend the last day of my JR Pass in Kanazawa but I was tired of seeing old districts and temples so I thought I’d spend the time returning to Shin-Takaoka and visit what I didn’t manage to cover, the coastal area of Himi. Instead of the first train ava...

Haven’t been much of an early morning start this journey round compared to previous trips where I would get up at 5am to get ready for the early train. It was almost 3 hours to get there from Ueno so I put in the effort this time for the 6:30 train. Took the Hakutaka bullet train...

Kicked off the morning by burning time admiring the sculptures outside Yonago Station while I waited for the hourly train to Sakaiminato. There are a lot of creative statues around Yonago Station as you walk to the cultural centre. Sculpture Road was lined with them. They didn't...

Izumoshi Taisha [Izumo City Grand Shrine] was another spot on my list of places to visit in Japan but again the distance from Tokyo had put me off. I was reminded of it after watching Zatsu Tabi and it also happened to be near Sakaiminato so I decided to add it to my itinerary. C...

After Kyoto, it was making base in Yonago because it was closest to Sakaiminato and Izumo. I had wanted to visit Shigeru Road and the Kitaro author's hometown since my first trip to Japan but the distance from Tokyo seemed too daunting at the time. As far as hotel choice was conc...

Was planning to visit the other pavilion today, Kinkaku, Gold Pavilion. Actually wanted to visit because I used to see it a lot in the riddle Anime, Ikkyu-san. First thing was to get some change though. Didn’t have many 100 yen coins for laundry so dropped by the nearby gachapon...

Originally I was going to visit the Peace Park first and leave Miyajima last because there was a lot to see there. I could then take the non-JR ferry from there straight to Miyajima too but then I realised I wouldn’t be able to see the “floating gate” by then because it would be...