Exploring Japan: Winter Trip to Tohoku

Tsuru no Yu is the onsen I wanted to visit most in Akita Prefecture; it is a unique onsen mainly because of its milky white water found only at a few other onsens in Japan. Tsuru no Yu means “hot spring of cranes” in Japanese, and apparently, it got this name from a legend of an injured crane who was seen bathing in here.

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Beautiful Japan: Winter Trip to Yamagata

I kicked off 2020 with a trip to a new prefecture in Japan: Yamagata Prefecture! I finally got to visit Ginzan Onsen, the place I’ve been obsessing over since 2017; I even included it on a post here on the blog without having visited it yet. I said there that I would like to visit…

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Visit to the Snow Monkeys in Nagano

Have you ever heard of monkeys who like bathing in onsens (hot springs)? You might have seen photos of the famous monkeys at Jigokudani Monkey Park  (地獄谷野猿公苑, Jigokudani Yaen Kōen) in Japan. Photos of the so-called snow monkeys can often be found in Japan travel guidebooks, so, visitors from all over the world come to see…

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Shirakawago, the Fairytale Village

Română/日本語 I briefly mentioned Shirakawago here, but in this post, I wish to share my impressions about this fairytale village. I made up my mind to visit as many UNESCO sites in Japan as I can, and Shirakawago was one of the first places on my list. It was listed as a World Heritage site…

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Lost in Takayama

Română/日本語 Takayama, which can be translated as the “Tall Mountain”, is a wonderful city in Gifu prefecture. You can find Shirakawago UNESCO site in the same prefecture, a village with traditional Japanese houses, built in gassho-zukuri style (hands in prayer inspired roofs). Takayama, which is not far from Shirakawago, represents the ideal place to stop…

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