Check out this article I found:

The number of Chinese visitors to Japan exceeded the number of Americans for the first time in 2007, data published on Monday showed, highlighting a boom in regional tourism fuelled by Asia’s growing wealth.

The Japan National Tourist Organisation, a government-supported body, said the total number of tourists entering Asia’s wealthiest and most expensive destination climbed 14 per cent to a record 8.35m.

The number of mainland Chinese visitors surged 16 per cent to more than 943,000, while the number of Americans fell slightly to just under 816,000.

The JNTO attributed the growth in Chinese visitors to Japan to the increase in the disposable income of China’s growing middle class, improved air links between the countries and events last year to mark the 35th anniversary of the normalisation of Sino-Japanese relations.

Chinese have flocked to Japan to visit Tokyo Disneyland, to shop in the city’s Akihabara gadget district and to ski in the Japanese Alps. Some Tokyo electronics shops offer Mandarin-speaking guides to help shoppers fill their carts.

South Koreans remained the most numerous visitors at 2.6m, up 22 per cent from 2006, followed by Taiwanese at 1.39m. Mainland Chinese were third, followed by visitors from the US, Hong Kong and Australia.

Read the rest here…

Are the chinese getting richer or are the americans getting poorer? After all, if you look at the exchange rate between Canada and US, the CDN is beating the USD flat out for weeks already. And the Chinese Renminbi too is steadily stronger than the USD.

I can’t wait till the sakura flowers bloom :)

It is one of the things I would like to do before I die, do a full hanami viewing with my loved ones. SIGH, Hirosaki is my #1 choice for Hanami spot btw.

Through much of Japan’s history, the Kiso Valley was used to connect the former Mino and Shinano provinces. However, it came to be known as a difficult route because of its steep climbs. The Shoku Nihongi recorded that the Kiso no Yamamichi (岐蘇山道) was opened in 702. The same route was again mentioned in a 713 article, but it was then called the Kisoji no Michi (吉蘇路). The Kisoji (木曽路) would eventually follow the same path. However the official Tōsandō did not run through the Kiso Valley; instead, it ran from Mino Province towards the Kamisaka Pass and into the Ina Valley. During Japan’s middle ages, the Nakasendō, an old trade route, ran through the valley, which led to the creation of eleven post stations along the route. Since the Meiji period, the Chūō Main Line (for trains) and Route 19 (for vehicles) have been cutting through the valley.

Today, Kiso Valley is a historical site where a beautifully preserved post town lies.

I would liken this place to the Alcatraz Island in San Francisco where it’s main attraction is a prison museum. The Abashiri Prison a Meiji-era facility used for the incarceration of political prisoners. The old prison has been turned into a museum, but the city’s new maximum security prison is still in use. It is an important local port city and railroad terminal. This little city has some mini attractions that will make the trip worth your while. Since the area is a fishing port, you can expect to find some of the freshest catch, in particular crab. Gastronomically, Abashiri would be a great place to have seafood.

Also, like every city in Hokkaido, Abashiri has it’s own brewery that churns out bottles of Abashiri Beer. You can take a tour in the brewery and do some beer sampling.

There are two other museums around the city to check out Museum of Northern Peoples (北方民族博物館 Hoppō minzoku hakubutsukan) and Museum of Northern Peoples (北方民族博物館 Hoppō minzoku hakubutsukan). The latter is a museum devoted to pack ice, a strangely devoted skill which is oddly a subject of fascination for the Japanese.

To get to Abashiri, here are some options:

By plane
The nearest airport is Memanbetsu, 16 km south of Abashiri. Buses connect to/from the JR station before and after flights (25 minutes, ¥720).

By train
Abashiri is the terminus/junction of the JR Sekihoku Line (石北本線) from Asahikawa and the Senmo Line (釧網本線) to Kushiro via the Akan National Park.
Okhotsk Limited Express trains run from Sapporo to Abashiri. There are four daily departures, reaching Abashiri in 5 1/2 hours at a cost of ¥9440 each way. There is no charge for the service with the Japan Rail Pass.

By bus
Night buses from Sapporo (around ¥8000) are the cheapest way to get to Abashiri. Buses arrive and depart from Abashiri Bus Terminal, a short walk east from the JR Abashiri station.

I’ve written about Kyoto before prior to this but never exactly about the city itself. Despite it being a part of Memoirs of a Geisha, the city has pretty much a lot to offer in terms of travel and places to visit. Shopping is also another place to check out in Kyoto because despite Tokyo’s Harajuku district, or any other shopping district around, Kyoto has some to beat it with.

Anyway here’s a very interesting video about Kyoto filmed by one of its tourists, of course. But nonetheless, check it out!

A kind reminder that there is always a sun shining after these bitter cold months. Ok, i know it’s in Okinawa where it’s perpetually warm almost but hey, sun, sea and sand always reminds me of summer although the video is not about the beach only but it’s about the town, Naha.

it looks like any other train but you’re traveling in a much faster speed. And of course, you get to look at the view of cities passing you by as your bullet train shoots through its trail.

The Akashi-Kaikyō Bridge (明石海峡大橋, Akashi Kaikyō Ō-hashi?), also known as Pearl Bridge in Japan was completed in 1998 and is the world’s longest suspension bridge (measure by the length of the centre span of 1,991 metres (6,532 ft). It links the city of Kobe on the mainland of Honshū to Iwaya on Awaji Island by crossing the busy Akashi Strait. It carries the part of the Honshū-Shikoku Highway.

It was planned to be one of three Honshū-Shikoku connecting bridges, annexing two borders of the Inland Sea.

Before the Akashi-Kaikyō Bridge was built, ferries carried passengers across the Akashi Strait in Japan. This dangerous waterway often experiences severe storms, and in 1955, two ferries sank in the strait during a storm, killing 168 children. The ensuing shock and public outrage convinced the Japanese government to develop plans for a suspension bridge to cross the strait. The original plan called for a mixed railway-road bridge, but when construction on the bridge began in April 1986, the construction was restricted to road only, with six lanes. Actual construction did not begin until May 1986, and the bridge was opened for traffic on April 5, 1998. The Akashi Strait is an international waterway and required a 1,500 metres (4,921 ft) wide shipping lane.

The bridge has three spans. The central span is 1,991 meters (6,532 ft), with the two other sections each 960 meters (3,150 ft). The bridge is 3,911 meters (12,831 ft) long overall. The central span was originally only 1,990 meters (6,529 ft), but the Kobe earthquake on January 17, 1995 moved the two towers sufficiently so that it had to be increased by 1 meter (only the towers had been erected at the time).

The bridge was designed with a two-hinged stiffening girder system, allowing the structure to withstand winds of 286 kilometers per hour (178 mph), earthquakes measuring to 8.5 on the Richter scale, and harsh sea currents. The bridge also contains pendulums which are designed to operate at the resonance frequency of the bridge to damp forces. The two main supporting towers are 298 meters (978 ft) above sea level, and the bridge can expand up to two meters in one day.