September 2013

The first temple we visit in Kyoto is To-ji a historically important temple founded in 794 and worth exploring

One of the most scenic villages we visited in Japan is Shirakawa-go built using traditional “Praying Hands” architecture and recognized as a Unesco WHS

We spend the first half of they day exploring the wooden houses of Takayama a historic town rich due to skilled carpenters and abundant wood resources

We spend the night in Takayama in a luxurious hotel with both a Western and Japanese room and multiple restaurants

After visiting the castle we spend a couple more hours eating lunch and exploring the City Museum while hiding from the rain

We spend most of the day exploring one of the major three castles in Japan the impressive and beautiful Matsumoto Castle

At our host recommendation we visit Obuse famous for plums and chestnuts as well as the Hokusai Museum celebration one of the major Japanese artists

One of the major attractions in Japan for us are the famous and fearless Snow Monkeys of Jigokudani easily reachable via car and quite cute to visit

We spend a couple nights at a nice ryokan while exploring the Nagano area and visiting the snow monkeys

Our last stop of the day is to visit a small hot springs area and hike for a short while before making our way to the accomodation