Onsen wa doko?

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After months of internet planning, letter writing and parcel sending.... I am off to see Japanese penpals and long lost friends after many years of not! ...... I hope to have some stories and pictures to tell the story soon. Blast off date is May 24th, for 24 days in search of unadulterated washoku, onsen and the elusive Japanese 'nessie' of Lake Tazawako....

Some facts:
The purpose? Obligation (16 yrs is a long time to write to eachother yet never see eachother!), and leisure (infinished business from highschool trip, places I missed and am desperate to see)
Style of travel? Budget, with the extravagance of a JR pass and costly tokyo life for 3-4 nights.....
Companions? For part of it, plus all the strangers I will make friendly with, and like any other Pauline style trip, I also hope not to lose anything, particularly anything related to bicycles or house keys (personal joke).....

The itinerary is roughly as follows......
Arrive japan may 24th, pm. Spend night with Chihiro.
May 25th-28th = Kyuushuu. See Hiroshi in Nagasaki if possible.
may 29th-30th = Hagi, Matsue (western Honshuu), pottery, art, sunsets...
May31st-June2nd = Shikoku, some castles, the misty Iya valley and naruto whirlpools of eastern shikoku
June 3-7th = central honshuu, alps, hike Mt fuji (summit it in one day if not too much snow??)
June 8th-10th = Kanazawa for Kenrokuen gardens, Akita for the Tazawako lake district, and Hakodate (southern Hokkaido) for the morning fish markets (mmm, smells good!)
June 11th-15th = Hokkaido, including cape Soya (topmost), Abashiri (east most, icebergs, convicts, scenery), and beautiful biei/ furano for the best lavender, belly button festival, plus best onsen and mountain hikes in Japan, and the food is meant to be gooood!)
June 15- end with chihiro, hopefully take in disneyland (again, sigh!), tsukuji fish markets (smells good..) and sightsee to make me absolutely stuffed when I return to work the next day.

here goes!.....

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