Japan Life: Month 7 Recap
June 15 – July 15, 2020 Places we Traveled: Tokyo (x2), Nagoya, Sendai Peaks: Glitch Coffee in Tokyo. One of the first places in Japan I made the effort to explore on my own was Coffee Tonya, a coffee wholesaler that roasts beans to order in house. Since then, I’ve dragged Andrew down the rabbit […]
Japan Life: Month 6 Recap
May 15 – June 15, 2020 Places we Traveled: Hitachi, Nasu, Lake Chuzenji, Tokyo, Oarai Beach, Mashiko/Haga Peaks: Hiking to the crater of an active volcano. This one was on Andrew’s bucket list, luckily we have a willing volcano to climb in our prefecture. During this time, domestic travel was strongly discouraged but in nearby […]
Japan Life: Month 5 Recap
April 15 – May 15, 2020 Places we Traveled: Nikko, Shiobara, Mashiko, Nokogiriyama/Matsudo, Ashikaga Peaks: Lots of hiking, biking, picnics, and other outdoor activity. On April 16th, the Japanese government announced a state of emergency for the entire country due to the new coronavirus. As a result, travel outside of the prefecture where you live […]
Japan Life: Month 4 Recap
Places we Traveled: Mashiko, Kofu City/surrounding areas of Yamanashi Prefecture, Ashikaga/Sano Peaks: Sakura blossom season in Utsunomiya. I didn’t take any pictures that really do it justice. I will be the first to admit that I don’t really “get” flowers. Or the “uniquely Japanese” custom of enjoying the fleeting beauty of Sakura season by having […]
Japan Life: Month 3 Recap
Places we traveled: Tokyo, Yokohama, Mt. Tsukuba, Mito (Kairakuen), Mashiko Peaks: Visited the Cup Noodles Museum in Yokohama. Yeah, yeah, this is a total tourist trap. In my defense, we were in Yokohama to explore Chinatown (another WELL WORTH IT tourist trap). We really loved the Cup Noodles Museum though. It fully leans into a […]
Japan Life: Month 2 Recap
Places we traveled: Tokyo, Nikko, Omiya Peaks: Andrew’s birthday weekend in Tokyo! Jan 24-26 we traveled to Tokyo, booked a hostel just south of Asakusa, and did some exploring. As a surprise, I bought tickets to Hellogoodbye’s Living Room tour, a series of concerts held in “offered spaces” around the world…otherwise known as, uh, regular […]
Japan Life: Month 1 Recap
Places we traveled: Nikko, Tokyo, Osaka, Nara, Kyoto, Hitachinaka Peaks: Christmas in Japan. Getting to Japan turned into a longer, more difficult process than we expected. We planned to leave at the end of September, but we ended up delayed until end of November for Andrew, mid-December for me. Considering I quit my job in […]
I’ve done this before, so why is it so hard this time?
10 days ago I moved to Japan and everything I do is at least 10% harder now and sometimes that really sucks. Ok, glad I got that off my chest. My husband, Andrew, is an employee of a large international company that has asked him to spend 18 months in Japan working with and […]