Subashiri Trail Station 7.5 Time: 1am Elevation: 3,200m To read the first part of this series, the ascent, click here! It’s so much fun to sleep on a rock-hard futon cramped between two other people in a hot room surrounded by snorers, 600m in vertical elevation away from the caldera of...
I cannot believe that this time last year, Hunter, Nikkita, and I were climbing Mt. Fuji together! Since the mountain is closed to hikers this season because of Covid-19, read on and hike with us instead! Tune in tomorrow for part two, The Summit Shuffle! The Subashiri Trail 5th Station...
Now solidly in rainy season, I find myself staring blankly out windows if the weather is nice. I was able to go on a single hike before the weather forced me inside though — Mt. Iizuna! This mountain is close to my house, and I’ve hiked it probably five times since I came here. It’s my...
Oyama Shrine in Kanazawa is known for its rather peculiar gate. Nope, not this gate. This one! It obviously has European influences and is famous for the stained glass windows on the third floor. I liked the intricate woodworking of the doors! Also on the grounds of is a small garden. The...
This is the third post in my Kanazawa Series. The most before this was about the Kaikaro Teahouse; click here to read it! This may be the most interesting temple I’ve ever visited; it’s definitely a highlight of my trip to Kanazawa! While the actual name of this temple is 妙立寺 (Myōryū...
Hi everyone! This post is the second in my Kanazawa series. The first was about gold-leaf ice cream; read about it here! When my friends and I walked through the curtain and into the Kaikaro Teahouse, I immediately began getting excited. The stone genkan was, surprisingly, wet; I wondered...
Hi everyone! This post is the beginning of my Kanazawa Series; each week I’ll post about something fun to do in Kanazawa. Look forward to exciting things! Kanazawa is known for gold. Alllll the gold. Gold everything. So it stands to reason that his would extend to food as well — like gold...
Shiraito-no-taki (白糸の滝), or Shiraito Falls, is my third waterfall on the list of 100 famous waterfalls in Japan. After visiting, I can say it deserves its spot on that ranking! The name translates into ‘white threads waterfall’ for the many thin streams of water that tumble over the cliff...
Ready for a hike? This beautiful shrine is located on a hill, with over 1000 steps to the top! If you make it up these stairs, you’ll be rewarded with great views and the chance to see the resting place of Tokugawa Ieyasu! History Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first leader of the Tokugawa...
In America, I always celebrated the new year with platters of meat and cheese, sitting on the couch and watching the ball drop on TV. That’s a liiiitle bit hard to do in the middle-of-the-countryside Japan, so this year, I celebrated in traditional Japanese fashion: hatsumode and the...