Kushiro is just a park. The whole place is not just an uncivilized jungle, it is actually quite a pleasant town. Here’s a video of Kushiro town during summer of ‘06

Kushiro Shitsugen National Park (釧路湿原国立公園, Kushiro Shitsugen Kokuritsu Kōen?) is a national park located in the east of the island of Hokkaidō, Japan. It was designated as a national park on 31 July 1987, and is the 28th and most recent of Japan’s national parks. The park is known for its wetlands ecosystems.

Kushiro Shitsugen covers an area of 268.61 km² and contains the largest tracts of reedbeds in Japan. During the Ramsar Convention of 1980, in which Japan participated, the park was first registered as a peatland with raised bogs. In 1967, the wetlands themselves had been designated as a national natural monument. For that reason, access is strictly limited and the landscape, most typical of Hokkaidō, has been preserved.

Reeds, sedges, peat moss wetlands, black alder thickets, rivers which bend freely back and forth, groups of lakes and marshes, and other wet ecosystems comprise a varied environment. The park is considered to be a valuable haven for wild species such as the Red-crowned Crane, huchen (Hucho perryi), Siberian salamander (Salamandrella keyserlingii) and dragonfly (Leucorrhinia intermedia ijimai), among others.

Check out its official site: Kushiro National Park

Mount Takasaki houses over 1500 wild monkeys and they live in a colony. The monkeys are fed regularly by park wardens so that they would not disrupt the local farmers nearby by wrecking their crops. But these quirky creatures are very entertaining to see especially when they live together in the park. A visit to Mount Takasaki is best combined with visiting the nearby aquarium, Umitamago Aquarium.

Check out this clip of a feeding time with the monkeys

Takasakiyama Monkey Park can be reached in a 10 minute bus ride from central Beppu (Beppu Station or Beppu Kitahama). Get off at “Takasakiyama” bus stop.

The “Monkey Marine Ticket” for 2200 Yen consists of a round trip from Beppu to the monkey park and admission to the monkey park and nearby Umitamago Aquarium.

The Windsor are an international chain of hotels that is well known around the world. If you are visiting Lake Toya, check out Lake Toya Windsor, it looks like a really posh place amidst the beautiful land and mountainous range.

It is the official season for climbing Mount Fuji, 1st July – 31 August. The weather is perfect and the view is clear. It is during this season that experience and inexperience mountain climbers throng the Fuji. It is recommended that the inexperience climbers climb Mt. Fuji during this season as visibility is good and the weather less harsh.

There are five routes you can start out with to climb Mt. Fuji:

Kawaguchiko 5th Station (Yamanashi Prefecture)

Altitude: about 2300 meters
Ascent: 5-7 hours
Descent: 3-5 hours

This is the most popular base for the climb to the summit, and the most easily accessible 5th Station from the Fuji Five Lake region and central Tokyo. The road to this 5th Station, the Fuji Subaru Line, is a toll road (2300 Yen), which gets closed to private vehicles during the peak of the summer holidays (August 9 to 19 and 23 to 24, 2008).

The Yoshidaguchi Trail leads from the Kawaguchiko 5th Station to the summit. Lots of mountain huts line the trail around the 7th and 8th stations, and there are separate trails for the ascent and descent. The sunrise takes place on this side of the mountain.

Subashiri 5th Station (Shizuoka Prefecture)

Altitude: about 2000 meters
Ascent: 5-8 hours
Descent: 3-5 hours

This 5th Station is located only at 2000 meters above sea level and is the base of the Subashiri Trail. The Subashiri Trail meets the Yoshidaguchi Trail around the 8th station.

Gotemba 5th Station (Shizuoka Prefecture)

Altitude: about 1400 meters
Ascent: 7-10 hours
Descent: 3-6 hours

This is by far the lowest 5th Station, and the ascent to the summit is accordingly much longer than from the other 5th stations. The Gotemba Trail leads from the Gotemba 5th Station to the summit. There are about four huts around the 7th and 8th station.

Fujinomiya 5th Station (Shizuoka Prefecture)

Altitude: about 2400 meters
Ascent: 4-7 hours
Descent: 2-4 hours

The closest 5th Station to the summit, the Fujinomiya 5th Station is the base for the southern approach via the Fujinomiya Trail. It is easily accessible from the railway stations on the Tokaido Shinkansen Line between Tokyo and Osaka. There are about half a dozen mountain huts along this trail.

The road to the Fujinomiya 5th Station is toll free and gets closed to private vehicles during the peak of the climbing season (July 15-17 and August 5-14, 2006).

This website is a good place to start if you want to contact an operator for your Mt Fuji expedition: Viator. It sets out from Tokyo, which is convenient for all.

For more resources, click here.

I would love to visit the Kansai region someday. Nikko first. :)

Doesn’t it make you wanna go there?

Sado Island consists of two parallel mountain ranges running roughly Southwest-Northeast, enclosing a central plain. The Ōsado (大佐渡) range, in the North, is slightly higher, with peaks of Mt. Kinpoku　(金北山), the highest point of the island at 1172m, Mt. Myōken and Mt. Donden. Kosado (小佐渡) range in the South faces the Honshū coast. The highest point in Kosado is Ōjiyama (大地山) at 645m. Sado Island is in the Niigata prefecture.

The plain in between is called Kuninaka (国中) and is the most populated area. The Kuninaka plain opens on the Eastern side on the Ryōtsu Bay (両津湾), and on the Western side on Mano Bay (真野湾), where the longest river, Kokufugawa (国府川, also read Konogawa) goes to the sea.

The island has a global symmetrical shape. Lake Kamo (加茂湖), on the Eastern side of Kuninaka, is filled with salt water, and is a growing place for oysters.

While Sado Island used to be a place of exile for criminals or incumbent people a long time ago, a view of it now makes one forgets that this island is suppose to be a place of dread. If anything at all, it is a sanctuary.

Due to both its rich history and its relaxed rural atmosphere, Sado is one of the major tourist destinations in Niigata Prefecture. The island has several temples and ruins remnant of its past, and offers possibilities for various outdoor activities, as well as fresh local food.

Sado is famous as the major breeding area for the Japanese Crested Ibis. The last known Japan-born Japanese Crested Ibis died in captivity in 2003 on the island. Currently, birds from China are being bred in a captive programme in a facility in Niibo area. The Ibis, Toki in Japanese, is a major symbol of the Island and can be found on several tourist items. There are plans to release Ibis in the wild at the end of 2008.

There are many small local traditional festivals, and since 1988 there is a major yearly arts festival run by the taiko group Kodō. The group lives on the island year-round, reportedly in spartan conditions, preparing for the annual show. Attendance is restricted and the tickets are highly sought.

Sado tourism industry suffered direct (though limited) as well as indirect damage from the 2004 Chūetsu earthquake, as access routes inside the Niigata prefecture were cut.

Beautiful.

Official website: Sado Island

Established 1872, the Tokyo National Museum (東京国立博物館, Tōkyō Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan?), or TNM, is the oldest and largest museum in Japan. The museum collects, houses, and preserves a comprehensive collection of art works and archaeological objects of Asia, focusing on Japan. The museum holds over 110,000 objects, which includes 87 Japanese National Treasure holdings and 610 Important Cultural Property holdings (as of July, 2005). The museum also conducts research and organizes educational events related to its collection.

The museum is located inside Ueno Park in Taito, Tokyo. The facilities consist of the Honkan (本館, Japanese Gallery), Tōyōkan (東洋館, Asian Gallery), Hyōkeikan (表慶館), Heiseikan (平成館), Hōryū-ji Hōmotsukan (法隆寺宝物館, the Gallery of Hōryū-ji Treasures), as well as Shiryōkan (資料館, the Research and Information Center) and other facilities. There are restaurants and shops within the museum’s premises, as well as outdoor exhibitions and a garden where visitors can enjoy seasonal views.

The museum’s collections focus on ancient Japanese art and Asian art along the Silk Road. There is also a large collection of Greco-Buddhist art.

All information is provided in Japanese, Chinese, English, French, German, Korean, and Spanish.

How to get there?

(JR Line) 10 minutes from Ueno or Uguisudani Station
(Ginza or Hibiya Tokyo Metro Line) 15 minutes from Ueno Station
(Chiyoda Tokyo Metro Line) 15 minutes from Nezu Station
(Keisei Line) 15 minutes from Keisei Ueno Station

Price: 600Yen for adult, 300Yen for University students, free for High/Junior High/Elementary School Students and under.

Official Website

Kamakura’s defining feature is, today as in the past, the presence of the great Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū Shinto shrine at its center. An unusual feature of the shrine is its 1.8 km sandō (参道, sandō?) (approach), which runs all the way to the the ocean in Yuigahama and doubles as Wakamiya Ōji Avenue, the city’s main street. Built by Minamoto no Yoritomo as an imitation of Kyoto’s Suzaku Ōji (朱雀大路, Suzaku Ōji?), Wakamiya Ōji used to be much wider, delimited on both sides by a 3 m deep canal and flanked by pine trees (see the Edo period print).

How to get there?
The East Japan Railway Company’s Yokosuka Line has three stations within the city. Ōfuna Station is the northernmost. Next is Kita-Kamakura Station. In the center of the city is Kamakura Station, the central railway station in the city.

Kamakura Station is the terminal for the Enoshima Electric Railway. This narrow-gauge railway runs westward to Fujisawa, and part of its route runs parallel to the seashore. After leaving Kamakura Station, trains make eight more station stops in the city. One of them is Hase Station, closest to Hase-dera and Kōtoku-in.