Expressway passes are similar to other kinds of public transportation tourist passes(eg. JR Rail Pass) but for rental car drivers. You get unlimited uses of national or regional expressways without paying for individual toll gates, at a certain daily price. The more you spend time on the roads, the more you save. So just like [Read More]
Author: J Traveller
The Ultimate Map Code Book for Drivers
(first draft up July 10, 2017) https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-Lp-WTuMbG-yJpM-jsAdXpy1CX3rFmCqydlEYTGFptc/edit?usp=sharing It’s not even close to completion but a good chunk of Hokkaido is down, as are some major spots in Shikoku and Okinawa, and a few random locations. This is not really a necessity for people who can type in kana as they can easily use Mapion and [Read More]
All about Hokkaido
This is the guide for the island prefecture of Hokkaido. Official Tourist Website Hokkaido Tourism JNTO’s Hokkaido Website Hokkaido Prefectural Website Festival & Events Sapporo Snow Festival (early Feb) Asahikawa Winter Festival (early Feb) Obihiro Ice Festival (late Jan to early Feb) Kamiyubetsu Tulip Festival (early to late May) Sea Urchin Festival 天売ウニまつり (mid to late July weekend) Sapporo Autumn Fest (early [Read More]
All about Greater Kanto (Outside of Tokyo+Kanagawa)
This is the guide for Gunma, Tochigi, Saitama, Chiba, Ibaraki prefectures. Official Tourist Website Chiba prefecture – Choshi, Narita city Gunma prefecture – Minakami Ibaraki prefecture – Mito Saitama prefecture – Kawagoe(aka Koedo), Chichibu Tochigi prefecture – Nikko, Nasu-Shiobara Festival & Events in Shin’etsu Narita Gion Festival 成田祇園祭 (early July) Shiobara Onsen festival 塩原温泉まつり (mid Sept) Koedo Kawagoe Spring Festival (late March to early May) Chichibu Night Festival (early Dec) Hotels/Ryokan/Hostels Recommended Accommodations by [Read More]
Itinerary – North Hokkaido: Winter Madness
This is a modified version of a route I took some friends on back in 2009, removing the Sapporo-Otaru section because that area has been covered by so many people. There’s a limited time frame for one of the main sights of this trip and even then, it’s hit or miss dependent on weather. The [Read More]
All about Shin’etsu (Nagano + Niigata)
Shin’etsu is the combined name for Shinshu, the old name for Nagano prefecture, and Echigo, the old name for Niigata prefecture. This region is known for soba and rice production and heavy annual snowfall. Official Tourist Website Nagano Niigata Festival & Events in Shin’etsu Ueda Sanada Festival Nozawa Dosojin Fire Festival Suwa Lake Fireworks Festival [Read More]
All about Hokuriku + Hida Takayama
Hokuriku region comprises of Fukui, Ishikawa, and Toyama all along the Sea of Japan coastline. In addition, most people tend to use Kanazawa as a stopover point for Shirakawa-go and Takayama so the Northern part of Gifu (aka Hida Takayama) is included). Southern Gifu (Gifu, Gero onsen, near Nagoya) will be in the upcoming compilation [Read More]
Official English Tourism Websites for all 47 Prefectures
These are the official prefecture tourism websites, by each prefecture’s own tourism association. If they have a language choice page, that will be the link, if not, then the English page will be the link. Please tell us if any of the links are down. We will randomly check the links and update if there [Read More]
Accommodations Starter Guide
Choice of accommodations in Japan typically includes: Rider House, Couchsurfing, Homestay, Capsule Hotels, Hostel, Minpaku(like Airbnb), Long Stay Hotels, Minshuku, Business Hotel, Western Hotel, Ryokan, Lodge, Ski Resort, Onsen Resort, and Monthly Rental. For the ultimate in frivolity, Couchsurfing and some Rider Houses are free (not all, some Rider Houses are more like hostels, and [Read More]
Itinerary – Western Japan Driving Tour
5 shot HDR of Kinkakuji in 2013 This is the detailed itinerary of our 11 day journey in Western Japan. We started out in Osaka, and ended in Tokyo, but we took one hell of a detour across 10 different prefectures and along the way, a great array of beautiful vistas, some of which can [Read More]