My second visit to Japan was longer and more extensive than my first in 1995. In 1995, my educational excursion to Tokyo and Yokohama was an eye-opener, more so because it was my very first trip outside of Malaysia. That trip surely inspired me to travel the world even more.
20-odd years have past. My tour to Japan in October 2016 did more than just to rekindle memories of 1995. This time around, I managed to cover more cities in a somewhat compact travel itinerary.
In a group of four, we landed in Osaka. Two nights in Osaka allowed us a day trip to Kyoto. But that did not do justice to this ancient city. I need to plan a trip solely to Kyoto in the future.
From Osaka, the Shinkansen whisked us away to Hiroshima for a one-night affair with this city. We then took the next Shinkansen leg to Tokyo. We spent a couple of days in this ultra-modern city.
The longest leg of our trip to Japan took us from Tokyo to Sapporo on Hokkaido Island. A combination of the fast bullet train and the slower local train brought us safely to this city, famous for its winter chills. Needless to say we had to put on extra thick coat to enable us to enjoy this laid-back city. We flew home from Sapporo.
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| Osaka Castle |
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| Umeda Sky Building, Osaka |
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| Old and new in Gion, Kyoto |
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| Gion, Kyoto |
