Our last city in Japan was Fukuoka. After three weeks of traveling the countryof the rising sun, we thought we saw it all. But Fukuoka surprised us – so many shopping centres, you can spend 1 week there to explore them. Preparing for our onvards travells, we visited just the »must sees«, while we were … More The city of shopping centres – Fukuoka

Everyone who read Memories of a Geisha will probably be disappointed by today’s Kyoto. Ok, it was pretty optimistic to expect the city to be like in the book, but I really didn´t know it´s so modern and busy. Luckily we stayed a little bit outside of the centre in Kyoto Utano Hostel – a … More Kyoto

Kochi, the biggest city of Shikoku island was full of surprises. The first surprise was our hostel. We didn´t feel more at home anywhere else in Japan than here. Why? Read here. Surprises Kochi had for us Sake The whole island is known for its sake. Our visit coincided with an open day of a … More How to enjoy Kochi

Japanese city-life is intense, not only in Tokyo. If you expect a calm and quiet Kyoto, you missed it by about 500 years. And the narrated Kyoto form Memories of a Geisha is not what I found in the heart of Japan. Shocked and sad I needed an escape. And I found it in Miyama, … More Far away from booming Japan – Miyama

Have you ever been in a place far away from home, but had the feeling being there before? That happened to us on Shodo island. We also did an experiment with our Facebook followers and posted a photo collage of the place asking them where we are. The answers were as expected (and as we … More Finding the Mediterranean in the middle of Japan

Japan has one of the best cuisines in the world. Just the fact that Tokyo has the highest density of Micheline stars restaurants says it all.  From special beef, noodles in all possible variations to amazing sea food –they have it all – so forget the stereotype Japan = Sushi; yes, it’s true, they have … More Fugu dinner

Leaving Tokyo behind, we headed south to the hills next to Mt.Fuji in the Shizuoka prefecture. We had to change 3 trains – first we travelled on a Shinkansen, then we changed to a JR express and we ended up on a local train, which sometimes has a steam locomotive. The landscape changed dramatically – … More Tea, trains n’ trees

We have never seen a place more dedicated to one thing than in Shimonoseki. Home of the famous Fugu a.k.a. puffer fish, where you can find it everywhere – on canal lids, cups, cakes, the bushes art cut into the fish shape … Shimonoseki is the southernmost city on Honshu island and the gateway to … More All about the fish – Shimonoseki

We all know the sad story of Hiroshima and the first usage of nuclear weapons against civilians. It happened on 6th August 1945 and it changed the city forever. Experiencing that, one would expect that the people would hold a grudge, but not the Japanese, they moved on. The city now thrives and has a … More Hiroshima – a city of revival