From 20 September – 6 October 2018, my wife and I spent 17 days in Japan.
This vacation was (for the major part) a present from our friends for our mutual 50th birthday last year.
It was an experience like no other.

Japan has a distinct, fascinating culture that is unlike any other countries, and it left a lasting impression with us!
We loved Japan’s rich history, tradition, culture, religion, society, architecture, cuisine, technology, fashion and perhaps above all: the kindness and warm hospitality of the Japanese people.

We only visited Honshu, the largest island of Japan, and more in particular the Tokyo region, the Japanese Alps and the Kansai region.
On our route through Japan, these were the places we visited: Tokyo – Kanazawa – Shirakawago – Takayama – Ise – Futaminoura – Nigishima – Nachi Katsuura – Yunomine (Wakayama) – Hashimoto – Kyoto – Takamatsu – Osaka.

We especially loved Kyoto, the perfect combination of ancient and modern Japan.

In between all our visits to city centres, temples, shrines and other tourist attractions, I managed to do a little bit of birding, especially in the often beautiful gardens in the various cities that we visited. In total I found (only) 35 different bird species and quite a few butterflies, dragonflies, spiders and other critters.

Check out my photos under Japan.