Climb Every Mountain!

Our trip up Tachiki and Iwama mountains to visit the temples on top!

Ragtag Taga

We go deep into the mountains to explore a wind cave and then visit one of the oldest Shinto shrines in Japan.

Something Old and Something New

Castles! Cakes! Canals! We explore Omihachiman city, where we see the old, the new, and the old again.

Old Tokaido Road, Take Me Home! Pt. 2

Leaving the Seta River behind, we go to Kusatsu. The city is where the two great Edo-period highways, the Tokaido and Nakasendo, fused before continuing to Kyoto; Kusatsu-juku was the second-to-last stop on the road between the two capitals.

Old Tokaido Road, Take Me Home! Pt. 1

During the Edo period, two great highways linked the old capital, Kyoto, to the new one, Edo: the Tokaido and Nakasendo roads. They had to pass through Shiga to avoid mountains, following the south shore of Lake Biwa. You can still find remains of that time in Otsu and Kusatsu.

Castle, Cat and Castaways

We visit Hikone, where we see Hikonyan and the castle, and then visit our last Biwa island: Takeshima!

Nagahama-rama Pt. 2 長浜へ行こう、その二

Nagahama Harder!

Read all about the second part of Émilie’s adventure in Nagahama, this time featuring soba-making, Hobbits, a beautiful garden and kimono silk!

Nagahama-rama Pt. 1 長浜へ行こう、その一

Read all about Émilie’s adventure in Nagahama, feature a string maker, a very old road, the oldest train station building in Japan, a beautiful garden and bonsai!