I’m spending 1.5 month in Japan for the winter. Partly for business but also I want to get out of Europe this winter . It’s going to be a rough winter for Europeans.
I’m going to be based in Tokyo. I’ve only been to Japan once so I’m not too familiar with it. The only trip I have planned so far is to go to a hot spring.
I would love some short trip ideas and things to do in Japan. I will have a car and trains are convenient for longer trips. We will have some down time between meetings to take a few days traveling.
You’re a professional traveler and you know time traveling is more important than distance from Tokyo so. Bullet trains and variety of transportation, something close could take longer to travel to than something far away.
Hokkaido Seafood in the winter time will blow your mind if you have time to make it there and can also enjoy some snow or snow skiing. Sapporo is nice. Bullet train makes it almost there.
Don’t expect to find anything in Japan winter time like warm places.
I would say buy a rail pass, easier in most cases than driving and costs less with high motorway tolls. As far if you do want to drive, I suggest south of Fukushima/Tōhoku is ok, should be snow/ice free in low lands (not mountains/Sea of Japan side). North of that area, you should be good at winter driving, as a past resident in Northern area saw lots non local (even some locals) have problems with snow and ice on the roads. But rail should get you to most tourist areas really. For hot Hot Spring, if you have rail pass Beppu in Kyushu and best area I like, about 5 hours by bullet train+local train from Tokyo or 2-3 hours by aeroplane (there are big airfare discounts for non residents if flying in on ANA-United/JAL)
It’s forty-five minutes from the Club Med ski resorts in Tomamu and Sahoro. After skiing we typically go to this local hotspring which costs 500 yen:
I’m selling it because my wife and kids are too busy with their lives in the US now to have time to do anything more than spend breaks in Taiwan with family. As a result I’ve been spending several months a year alone on my property in Hokkaido – which defeats the purpose.
Strange how housing plans sometimes do not work out for wider family.
Just bought a house from the 1660s in the northern UK but wife refuses to live here. Older kids remain in Van Island (for me, it is a place for the newly wed or nearly dead, or Grizzly Adams wannabe types, not to mention too many Canadians ) and wife and younger punk won’t leave the south of France.
So I have downsized alone to a Grade II listed cottage in Blighty but love the peace.
I was perfectly happy dividing our time between Taipei and Hokkaido. The US was just supposed to be temporary until everyone finished high school. The homeys took to life in Oregon so well though that nothing is budging them now. C’est la vie.
I want to say something like f****** Canadians, but I don’t think I’ve ever met a Canadian that I don’t like. Even the a****** Canadians are still kind of likeable s***.
. It’s going to be a rough winter for Europeans.
and things to do in Japan. I will have a car and trains are convenient for longer trips. We will have some down time between meetings to take a few days traveling.
but love the peace.