New Year is the most important holiday time in Japan. People have one week off and spent time with the inner family circle. Forget about any fire crackers or parties. This is Western style, some clubs might do it; otherwise it is a quiet time with most shops closed starting in the afternoon. I never saw Shinjuku station so empty as on December 31st. Everybody was at home or with family. My American friend Peter invited Yukie and me to spend the New Year eve in a very special way. He keeps since 7 years the habit to cycle with friends [View Full Entry]

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The ski season starts in Japan around beginning to mid of December. There are plenty of ski resorts along the West coast and the Central mountain range of various sizes. It is possible to do day trips from Tokyo within short distance. There are even high speed trains which connect to some resorts in a 1 hour direct link with free onsen (hot bath) in the train station to relax while waiting for the return train. Tokyo itself sees very little snow since it is at the warmer East coast and temperatures drop even at night not below freezing. The West [View Full Entry]

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Hokkaido is a special region in Japan due to its remoteness as island and harsh Siberian climate. It has a fascination due to its unspoiled and very wild national parks in summer and as a secure skiing destination for Korean, Taiwanese and Australian people in winter. Yuki developed some skills in finding cheap package trips. When she found a very reasonable priced package trip to Hokkaido, the place for our Christmas holidays was clear. We flew on the 23rd from Tokyo to Sapporo - the provincial capital of Hokkaido. Sapporo was cold with temperatures below freezing and plenty of ice on [View Full Entry]

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Tokyo is not just one big town instead it is an assembly of several city districts of very different nature and appearance. Tokyo center itself means everything that is within the Yamanote circle line or at least within easy reach. Someone could vaguely compare Tokyo to Berlin. It has also real city center, but different areas (Stadteile) of very different historical and cultural back ground. Tokyo People talk about meeting in Shibuya for night life, Ginza for high end shopping, Ueno for museums, Asakusa for Edo style, Shimbashi for Yakitori or Shinjuku for eating out. Each district has a maze [View Full Entry]

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The island paradise Shikinejima is located 157 km South of Tokyo and belongs to one of the many volcanic islands stretching down from Tokyo bay. Some even have nice shaped cold volcano’s on them. Shikinejima is a long term favorite spot for spring and autumn camping outings of our hiking club. We met at the Takeshiba pier in Tokyo Friday evening and took the 10h long night ferry to the island. It is a very nice way to go there since the evening atmosphere with perfect views on the slowly vanishing Tokyo skyline is marvelous. The ferry passes rainbow bridge, stops [View Full Entry]

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Tokyo is full of people and has extremely busy spots. We rented an apartment in Nishi-Shinjuku just 10 minutes walk to Shinjuku station. This station is a maze of underground shops, several department shops, open terraces, highway bus stations and of course many train lines. It is the busiest train station with around 1.6 million people passing by per day. Germany’s busiest station is the new central station in Berlin with around 30000 people per day. But Tokyo has surprisingly quiet areas with narrow lanes perfect to ride bicycle. One of this leisurable spots is Tokyo beach on Odaiba wi [View Full Entry]

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The nearest city close to Tokyo is the harbor town Yokohama. It is just 20 minutes by train and actually there is no real border or less populated area. It is a constant sea of houses, apartment blocks and shops. Yokohama is often controversy discussed as second living place to Tokyo with more open space and a long water front with a pleasant promenade walk. But it is less trendy and sleepier than Tokyo and there are many pros and cons to live here. We got of at Yokohama train station and wandered along the harbor line passing through shops and [View Full Entry]

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After China trip, I think about airplane meals. Well, I had never taken Japanese Airplane before Beijing trip. Japanese friends often complained airplane meal except ANA or JAL because of the qualities. I remembered Continental Airline provided great meals when I went to Boston from Tokyo (10 years ago!!!) and Swiss Air had a huge choice of drink. I didn't think Japanese airlines did only provide nice meal. When we left for Beijing, it was first time for me to take JAL flight to Tokyo. We waited long time for getting on the plane, so I didn't expect great service this [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Tokyo just in time for kojo - autumn colors. Japan is famous for its yellow gingko and red maple trees. So one of the first things we did was going on an autumn hike in the mountains close the Tokyo. It takes about 90 minutes from Shinjuku station to reach Okutama and then another 30minutes to the artificial Okutama lake. We arranged to meet my friend Andy at the campground for a cool night out in the mountains and kojo watching. It is easy to get around in Japan. Trains leave punctual and very frequently and there are [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Beijing at the huge brand new terminal, got the airport bus to town and found the Youth hostel near the Lama temple with some difficulties. It was hidden in one of the narrow side lanes of the Hutongs just next to the famous restaurant street Guije (ghost street). The next morning Yuki did not feel well and we had a relaxed day. Unfortunately she did not get better and developed over night a very high fewer. I remembered the nearby International SOS clinic with reliable doctors not far away decided to see a doctor since she was very [View Full Entry]

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