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Travel Tips

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Onomichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, offers a wide variety of fantastic, unique accommodation choices. One of my favorite is LOG (Lantern Onomichi Garden). An apartment block, built on the mountainside in 1963, has been 'reborn' as a complex containing six beautiful hotel rooms, a cafe, a gallery, a restaurant (dinner only), a garden, rental spaces, and more! The concept and atmosphere are really special and the people working there are really lovely! @excursions_japan #onomichi #hiroshima #logonomichi #uniquehotels
I visited Onomichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, for the first time last year and I can't wait to go back! This port town, located halfway between Okayama and Hiroshima, is filled with shipbuilding facilities and has steep slopes covered with alleys that snake through neighborhoods filled with lovely temples. Perched on a mountainside, this is the most famous temple in Onomichi - Senkoji. It can be reached on foot or by scenic ropeway. @excursions_japan #japan #onomichi #hiroshima #temple
Within the grounds of Kyoto's Nijo Castle is a newly remodeled souvenir shop and cafe. The cafe serves tea, coffee, desserts, and an assortment of bread/pastries. If you are there around lunchtime, they also offer one very tasty option... this yuba-don (warm rice topped with a tasty by-product of tofu) that is served with a clear soup broth with wakame seaweed, pickles, hot tea, and a mini dessert - for only 1000 yen. @excursions_japan #japan #kyoto #lunch #japaneselunch #foodie
This is the Karamon of Nijo Castle, an impressive gate built in 1625 that when renovated from 2011-13, was brought back to its former glory. If you visit Kyoto and want to see a real Japanese castle, Nijo-jo is not the place to go. Although partially fortified and called a 'castle', Nijo-jo is actually a lavish palace with lovely gardens. It actually consists of two palaces, but one of them, the Honmaru-goten is undergoing renovations and is closed to the public. On its own, however, the other palace, the Ninomaru-goten, is worth visiting. @excursions_japan #japan #kyoto #palace #castle #nijocastle #gate
A lovely Maiko (apprentice Geisha of Kyoto) performs a traditional Japanese dance while a Jikata (singing & instrument playing Kyoto Geisha) accompanies her. Breathtaking! Location: a ryotei (tradtional restaurant where Geisha entertain) In Gion, Kyoto. @excursions_japan #japan #kyoto #geisha #japanesetradition
I find Nagasaki to be the one of the most 'foreigner-friendly' place in Japan. The first Portuguese ship arrived in Nagasaki Prefecture in 1550, and locals have had a lot of practice dealing with non-Japanese ever since. In 1859, the port of Nagasaki was completely opened to foreign trade and Thomas Blake Glover built his home on the hillside of Minami-Yamate. In the 1950's, many other historic Western-style homes, also built in the late 1800's around Nagasaki, were dismantled and moved to the same hillside - and 'Glover Garden' was created. This is the veranda of one of those homes. If you have an interest in architecture, Nagasaki is full of historic buildings that can be explored. Most are of Western design, but often have interesting 'touches' that are Japanese. I highly recommend a visit. @excursions_japan #japan #nagasaki #glovergarden #historichomes

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