The day started much differently than we had planned, Mother Nature was not on our side. Plan A was to go visit Yamadera, an hour train trip from Sendai through the mountainous area of Mt. Daito. Unfortunately the wind was so strong that JR had to cancel all trips on the line. This explained the…

The second half of our Loople Bus tour was no less exciting than what we had already seen. At the end of part 1 I was making my way up the winding path to the site of Sendai Castle. The walk was strenuous as viewers can attest, talking was getting difficult. At the end of the…

We quickly found out just how amazing Sendai’s tourist friendly network of attractions really is on our first full day exploring. Their Loople Bus, which connects all the main attractions on a single loop around Sendai, is very handy and well thought out. On top of that the price of ¥650 is extremely reasonable as…

We woke up our last morning in Kakunodate to find that for the first time on our trip the sun was first to rise. It was an excellent discovery, jet lag had hit us harder than usual on this trip. It was both hard and easy to get moving. Our futons were warm and comfortable…

The primary reason we made a stop in Kakunodate, other than the amazing Wabizakura ryokan, was the samurai district which offers glimpses into the way samurai lived. The samurai district of Kakunodate is known to offer some of the best examples of samurai architecture and residences in all of Japan. Episode 11: https://youtu.be/p6euB8gn-fQ For the…

Green cars of the Super Hokuto, Hayabusa and Komachi all in one day? It was an exciting day for train travel in Japan, especially for a train lover like myself (not so much for Nicole). We also booked our trips so that we were not rushed making connections so we could film the stations, something…

After devouring some amazing strawberries we picked up from the Hakodate Morning Market we headed out for an afternoon of exploring. We decided to explore the Motomachi area of Hakodate and we started to see the real beauty this city has to offer.   Episode 9.2: https://youtu.be/9lEjgDwG1mI The Motomachi area was a preferred area for…

Our first impression of Hakodate was a little lacklustre. It was likely the walk from the train station to our hotel, which by the time we arrived, was later in the day. It brought us through a rather industrial looking area, past several buildings which appeared to be abandoned. We were wondering what we had…

With some R&R in the books we were off to our next city destination, Hakodate. Japan’s first port opened to foreign trade, we were eager to explore and see what outside influences still remain in the city.   Episode 8: https://youtu.be/TRPULh6VAIs After another filling Japanese breakfast at our resort hotel in Noboribetsu Onsen we made…

Some R&R was on the schedule for today, no sense staying at an Onsen resort if you’re not going to slow down and enjoy a soak, or two, in the rich mineral waters on offer. Onsen is a very enjoyable and relaxing experience, we were looking forward to a little downtime in between our big…