^{I am home again after another wonderful three weeks in Japan, enjoying spring there, discovering new places, visiting old favourites and meeting some wonderful people – some friendships made on previous trips and some new ones. I avoided stairs with my crappy knee, not always successfully, and we faced a few unexpected problems with Japan Rail (JR) – challenges are always welcome!}

^{It was a wonderful spring visit! Perhaps the best of the six journeys I have undertaken in Japan over the last 20 plus years.}

^{Let me say at the outset, I don’t go to Japan in spring for cherry blossoms, although by chance I did see some on this trip. I love the array of other wonderful spring flowers in Japan, without the cherry blossom sightseeing crowds! Azaleas, wisteria and displays of iris are my particular favourites!}

^{On this journey, like our trip last November, we pushed further into lesser known places in Japan, off the beaten tourist track – aided by Google translate, and travelling by public transport. We don’t speak Japanese, apart from a handful of useful words and phrases learnt by rote.}

^{In 1878 during her exploration of out of the way places in Japan, Bird wrote: “I no longer care to meet Europeans.  Indeed, I should go far out of my way to avoid them.” I fully understand that sentiment after experiencing over tourism in more popular tourist spots in Japan. I wonder what she would have thought of the massive tourist numbers overwhelming places like Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto.}

^{Our journey this time had us initially travelling two hours by rail north from Tokyo to Morioka , the capital city of Iwate prefecture. Last year, this city was named by the New York Times as the second best place in the world to visit after London.}

^{What? Where? And Why? That’s pretty much was the reaction to the listing, even from within Japan. Morioka made it onto our May itinerary list to find out.}

^{Before the New York Times announcement, I knew little about Morioka, other than the fact that Isabella Bird did visit on her 1878 exploration of Japan. A good reason for me to go in my quest to follow her footsteps in Japan. Morioka has never really been big on the agenda for most foreign tourists. We saw none on our three day visit there. I’m not sure that the city is well known to Japanese home tourists either. Another good reason for me to visit, as I seek to avoid busy tourist crowds. Does Morioka live up to the New York Times recommendation? In truth, it doesn’t mix it with the big guns as a place to visit! But it’s a fascinating town to explore, and we loved it.}

^{Picturesque Iwate has a great love and reverence of horses – historically its farm horses always have been an essential part of farming here, and were regularly brought into action on the battle field in ancient wars. Sadly, we missed out by a few weeks on a festival in Morioka honouring these horses.}

^{From Iwate, we ventured further north under the second longest undersea rail tunnel in the world, taking us by Shinkansen to the northern island of Hokkaido. This was our first visit there, and it centred on the island’s southern city of Hakodate – the last stronghold of the Samurai who, in 1869, declared it a separate country from Japan in a last ditch effort in their war against the Emperor’s Imperialist forces.}

^{In Hakodate, we came back in contact with other ‘foreign’ travellers, mainly because Hakodate is a major stop for cruise ships. We watched from our hotel as they came off the ships to board tour buses or join ‘follow the leader’ walking tours on one day stopovers. Not for us.}

^{Hakodate felt quite different from other Japanese cities we’d visited – a very walkable and historical city by the sea that we enjoyed very much. Another highlight here was a visit to a nearby exquisitely beautiful National Park where I managed to capture a photograph of a woodpecker!}

^{Then, it was a return to the main island of Honshu and Iwate prefecture again to stay by a stunning Gorge in a little guest house with a superb chef. Here we also faced some challenges thrown up by JR (railways) that stopped us in our tracks just a bit!}

^{Eventually, we returned to familiar territory in Nagano prefecture and the beautiful and very hip city of Matsumoto.}

^{It was our third visit to Matsumoto, and I had wondered if it should be included on our itinerary. Was there anything left to see? Absolutely, there was! Great food, a unique art museum, Japanese mushroom pizza and local beer on an open balcony of a uniquely designed shopping centre, and a plea from a robot for a cuddle! Actually, I had two robot encounters in Matsumoto. The other seemed puzzled by my Aussie language!}

^{Then it was onto Kyoto for a few days where we stayed in a charming small boutique hotel as a treat, met up with Japanese friends, and saw a little magic we never expected – fireflies at night dancing along the Shirakawa River. Sadly, we also were shocked to see a bank of huge rubbish bins in Gion, installed by local authorities in an effort to arrest littering by foreign tourists. Shame, shame, shame!}

^{There was still adventure ahead on our journey home. Air turbulence was on everyone’s mind after the Singapore Airlines incident in May. And we were flying the same airline! There was great attention given to warning passengers to keep those seatbelts on, and twice cabin service was suspended with the crew ordered back to their seats to buckle up. It was a little rocky at times, but nothing I hadn’t encountered before. I do have to say that on our flight to Japan, before the big incident, the pilot did remind passengers several times to keep belts on. You can be assured that mine stayed on!}

^{The other thing I feel compelled to mention is masks. Very few people on flights now are masking, even though on our flights home via Singapore there was endless coughing going on amongst passengers. Covid, it seems has gone – well, no – it’s still about (as is debilitating flu) – the latest figures show it’s on the rise again. Both could ruin your holiday!}

^{The lady next to me on the homeward bound flight looked very ill, coughing constantly, asking for water even before the plane had taken off, and taking both medication and lozenges. Perhaps it was just a cold, perhaps not. I dreaded getting whatever it was!}

^{MJ and I avoided covid, flu and any other medical problems on this trip (you may recall we both had to isolate during our November Japan trip last year after catching covid). I didn’t want to stumble at the finish line this time, so – with the lady next to me endlessly coughing – I kept my mask on the whole flight, giving the meal and drinks a miss. It was uncomfortable and concerning, so I do urge travellers to consider other people, and if you have a cough or feeling unwell, please mask up.}

^{I’m now slowly unpacking my suitcase. Efficient MJ had his unpacked and put away the first day home. But I linger – because is a trip really over until the suitcase is put away?}

^{Over the next few months, I’ll write up the trip in more detail. We discovered new sides to Japan, and met some wonderful people. And – yes – I’m already thinking of the next visit to Japan! It may well be my last there, as I will be approaching 73 years of age, and travelling with my knee problem is challenging. Then again – over one week of this trip – I managed to walk 38 kilometres!}

^{Therese, without travel – the discoveries, the challenges, the enjoyment and the unexpected encounters – doesn’t seem to equate!}