So here we go on our 4th trip to Japan. After our first two trips (2019 and 2023) we did wonder if a 3rd made sense. However, the 3rd (2025) visit was superb. We loved the little out-of-the-way places, the walks we chose were fun, and we continued to find many new things to see and experience. It didn't take us too long to decide to round out the seasons in Japan with a 4th, autumn, visit.
Our initial impetus for this trip was to do some walking in autumn colours. We also want to visit some special onsens and stay in some more ryokans as they are so special. Finally, we found a couple of special festival processions, one each in Hakone and Nikko, that should be spectacular. These latter two set our dates and we went from there with our planning. This year we will spend most of our time in the region of Tohoku - the northern third of Japan's main island Honshu.
We also felt it would be nice to visit Nelson's sister city Miyazu, a small city north of Kyoto. Karen will therefore be presenting the Miyazu council with a copy of her book about our Boulder Bank, which is similar to Miyazu's Amanohashidate.
