back again
After leaving Japan for several months I’m finally back for the winter season. Japow here I come!
My trip started with the perfect “welcome back” dinner and already the next day Sascha & me were sitting in the plane to Hokkaido. To follow our tradition, we decided to go winter camping again and travel from ski area to ski area. Tough so, because our own camper is already on the way to Germany. The solution: renting a camper at FujiCar and so we are on the road again.
First stop Furano ski area. It’s smaller than Niseko with a less touristic city but nice slopes and some options for freeriding. We were lucky and had some fresh powder but more important: Sun!! Really, this was the first time for me to have such perfect weather when skiing in Hokkaido.
And this continued when we arrived at Asahidake. -17 degrees plus sun! OMG! We met again with Toshi Totori who was guiding us up the mountain. The gondola is not running yet so we hiked up twice that day which means rougly 14km in snowshoes. Worth every step when standing on the top and having a powder field just for yourself! And Toshi had another surprise for us and send us down a 5m drop in between an rocky Mountainfield. Arghhh! Afterwards it felt good 😄
Christmas was coming closer so we moved to Niseko. More touristic, more restaurants and shopping areas and a large ski area! Snow is not yet as high as expected but it’s snowing like hell which is good of course. And Christmas? We had spaghetti in our camper with some sparkling wine in paper cups and very, very withe Christmas days ….
Shikoku – road trip around the underrated island
Until now Sascha and me only shortly passed through Shikoku. It looked really nice so we decided to spend some more time on the not so famous island.
Because of the long distance, we spend one night at Mikawa Bay on a parking space next to the sea. Very calm and with a nice view of some island.
Next morning we drove to Awaji island, passing the famous Onaruto Bridge from where you can see whirlpools created by mixing the Japanese inland’s sea with the open ocean. Maybe it’s more impressive if you take the boat-sightseeing tour.
But when seeing the coastline of Awaji island we decided to stay one day and thanks to Google Maps we did not only find a nice beach but as well a campsite (Fukiagehama Camping Ground). The owners were really friendly, happy about our minor Japanese skills and we could choose any space on the campsite.
After checking the area, where mainly onions are planted, and a nice breakfast on the beach on the next morning, we continued our journey to Shikoku.
There, first stop was Mt Tsurugi – be aware if you come by car – the roads are verryyyy adventurous. Steep, narrow, old serpentine roads up the mountain. We met some friends at the lift station and spend the night in the parking area, to be early for the hike on the next morning. After a 4hours hike (you can shorten it by taking the lift) we enjoyed a beautiful view over the landscape – but we had to share it with a bunch of people due to golden week travel time.
Being in the mountains already we drove to Iya Valley the next day. Again winding roads along river gorges and through old, small towns, ending up at a gorgeous onsen! You have to go by cable car 200 meters down to enjoy the bath next to the river. Worth the travel time 🙂
Next stop: Beach! Driving along the beautiful Shimantogowa including some stops for lunch at the river, we ended up at the seaside of Shikoku in the south-west. The beaches in Futami as well as on Tosashimizu are quite famous for nice waves. Even so, the weather was bad on the first day it was crowded by Surfers. So we just pitched in!
But Tosashimizu does not only have beaches so we made a bike tour along the coastline up to the southern point of the peninsula. Sun was burning and we had to paddle up 9km first, followed by the 30km beautiful coastline.
Impressed by this very calm atmosphere of this part of Shikoku we drove further along the Ashizuri sunny road, ending up at an even nicer lagoon. The parking space included shower and barbecue place, so we just had to stay 🙂
Good decision! The area has very interesting volcanic stone formations which can partly be hiked along the coastline and an Underwater Observatory. And guess what – I never saw that much Puffer- and Box fishes! Afterwards, I learned, this area is famous for diving, so if you ever go there please try!
Being on road trip mode already we drove further to Sokumo Bay, Close to Otsuki. The landscape is getting rougher here, but the water is impressively blue. What else so find here? The whole area contains of small fishing villages and mikan (sort of oranges) plantations. No Kombini, No big cities….
100km further in Ehime, we stayed on the あけはまオートcamping ground next to another white sandy beach, blue water and no person there. When arriving, we were watched a little bit skeptical at first, so I guess not many foreigners have been here yet. But after the first shock, the atmosphere got very friendly 🙂
Last stop on our trip, after a short visits of the Matsuyama castle, was the inlands-sea-island-tour. We did this as any good tourist by bike with a one night stay at the sunset beach on Ikuchi Island. Also here the parking area provides showers and barbecue areas and … a nice sunset!
The butt hurts, 10 days travel done – time to head back home! One last Ramen (noodle soup) in Onomichi and we were back on the road to Tokyo…
Shikoku? Beautiful underrated island! One of the most beautiful spots of Japan from my point of view!
doggie stroller & japanese camper
This weekend I had a different kind of sightseeing. I guess everyone following this blog, knows by now I’m somehow addicted to camping, therefore I visited the Japan Camping Car Show in Chiba!
How was it? FUN!!
I learned: if you are a camper in Japan you need AT LEAST 2 dogs. And don’t forget about the right stroller and be aware of the dress code! Sorry, I cannot share all pictures I took of dogs, otherwise it will fill a whole page!
The other fun thing was to check all the KeiCar (Japanese small size cars) Campers. It’s amazing to see what fits into such a mini car! In addition of course a lot of strange ideas like the modular house or the “tree-house” camper solution.
Dieses Wochenende gab’s mal eine andere Art von Sightseeing. Ich denke, jeder der diesen Blog ein bisschen verfolgt, weiß inzwischen dass ich sehr gerne campen gehe – also habe ich die Japan Camping Car Messe in Chiba besucht!
Um gleich jegliche Vorurteile abzuwürgen: es war echt lustig!
Zum Beispiel habe ich gelernt: Wenn man ein Wohnmobil in Japan besitzt oder Besitzen will muss man mindestens 2 Hunde haben. Nicht zu vergessen den passenden Kinder-Hunde-Wagen und bitte auch auf die reichtige Bekleidung achten!
Leider kann ich nicht alle Hunde-Bilder teilen, das würde hier nicht auf eine Seite passen….
Die andere lustige Sache war,sich die KeiCars (japanische Kleinwagen) Wohnmobile an zugucken. Es ist erstaunlich was alles in so ein Mini-Auto passt! Außerdem gab’s natürlich viele seltsame Ideen wie die modulare Haus oder der “Baumhaus” Wohnlösung.
powder, powder and powder again!
First of all: Happy new year! Hope you all had a great start into 2015!
Speaking for myself, I had quite a adventurous holiday.
After spending Christmas time in Germany, Sascha & me packed our Camper van for some days in the Hokkaido snow paradise!
Just in case you wonder:
Yes, with the idea of sleeping in the car! Yes, it gets quite cold in Hokkaido in winter time 🙂
Because again we were too lazy to book the ferry from Aorai or Niigata to Hokkaido upfront, we drove to Aomori and took the ferry to Hakodate which goes more often and is more flexible to book short-termed.
Arriving on the northern island, suddenly streets were covered with snow, and I was happy that we came with winter tires and brought snow chains.
After another 2 hour drive we arrived in the Niseko area. Puh, in total our journey took 16hours, and I was not convinced at the first day, it’s gonna be worth it.
The first Ski Area we visited was Niseko Moiwa, known for being less crowded. Which is true, but as well it is somehow small.
But anyway a good, easy start with not as much powder as I expected. This changed over night!
Covered under blankets, the first night was surprisingly warm with only -5 degrees. We parked the Car on a parking area close to the Gondola in Hirafu and next morning we had snow up you the lower door ridge. So therefore the day in the Niskeo Hanazono Ski area was just perfect! Even new powder on the slope and in the backcountry you could totally sink into the fresh powder.
And it continued like this! Only disadvantage was, also the temperature decreased and the wind got very strong for some days, so extra clothes and a hot Onsen bath after the day in the snow was necessary to warm up again.
New Year’s Eve we spend outside with a bunch of Australian people, and a fireworks in front of Mt. Yotei!
And the résumé, of 4 days winter camping in Hokkaido? I have to say, the North of Japan is getting my favourite part of the beautiful country and I’m afraid, I will never have such nice powder snow again back in Europe. Therefore, all the freezing was worth it!
3yearsintokyo 