Tracking Down Saitama’s Tallest Waterfall Saitama Prefecture like neighbouring Tokyo has only one waterfall chosen as one of the 100 Japanese waterfalls of Japan way back in 1990. Whilst it’s not the easiest location to reach by public transport...
Exploring the Backwoods of Okutama One of the places I love frequenting in Okutama, Tokyo is the rather obscure Kurasawa Valley a lazy 20-minute bus ride from Okutama Station. Flanked on either side by precipitous cliff faces it was once home to the...
Caving in Tokyo: Then and Now There was a time not so long ago when visiting a tourist cave was a popular way to spend a lazy weekend. Rewind to the early 1980s and there were seven such caves operating in Tokyo now sadly more than half of them have...
The Kurasawa Bridge (Kurasawabashi) One could be forgiven for thinking the Tokyo Gate Bridge is the highest bridge in Tokyo and while its truss sections rise some 88 metres, the bridge’s “clearance” when measured from the deck of the road comes in...
Not the Easiest Access but a Gorgeous Spot Nestled in the back hills of Kosuge Village just inside Yamanashi Prefecture contains a couple of rather beautiful waterfalls. First is the Shiraito Falls (not to be confused with the waterfall of the same...
Hiked on May 3, 2017 Apr 14, 2024 . Otoge 大峠 – Mt. Gangaharasuri 雁ヶ腹摺山 – Mt. Ubakoyama 姥子山 Duration: 2 days Distance: 20.7 km Elevation change: 1137 metres Highest point: 1874 metres Start:...
Vintage Maps that Continue to Soldier on After years of faithfully pointing sightseers in the right direction, these mostly painstakingly hand drawn Japanese hiking maps take on an ethereal quality of their own. Though they may have withered and at...
The Mystery Surrounding Kanto’s Longest Cave The Greater Tokyo Area features some fairly good tourist caves including the Nippara Limestone Cave in Tokyo and the Fujido Cave in Gunma Prefecture which are worth checking out. Recreational caving...
Elevator Ride to the Base of the Dam It’s not often you get the chance to take a 121-metre (397 ft) elevator ride deep within the recesses of a working dam especially one perched high up in the mountains. But during a recent trip to the Takizawa Dam...
Greetings from the Chichibukozan Post Office It came to a grand total of 2 yen to send a postcard to myself – a prepaid one with an extra two-yen stamp to make up the shortfall. Why, you may ask? This is not something I generally do and almost...