John Walton

Gardens: you'll want to check by season, but Koraku-en in Okayama, Kenroku-en in Kanazawa and Kairaku-en in Mito are all famous for a reason. I also love Yuushi-en near Matsue and Tokugawa-en in Nagoya.

And of course Kyoto is chock-full of gardens: try Enko-ji, Shisen-do, Ginkaku-ji, Tenju-an.

Okay, so Kyoto for temples. Max 3 nights or your brain will blend them all together.

Castles: there are 12 original ones left. Himeji: super-famous, swamped in peak and shoulder season. Hikone: near Kyoto and very handy. Matsue: reached by lovely trains. Matsuyama: out of the way, stunning!

Gardens: you'll want to check by season, but Koraku-en in Okayama, Kenroku-en in Kanazawa and Kairaku-en in Mito are all famous for a reason. I also love Yuushi-en near Matsue and Tokugawa-en in Nagoya.

And of course Kyoto is chock-full of gardens: try Enko-ji, Shisen-do, Ginkaku-ji, Tenju-an.

Okay, so Kyoto for temples. Max 3 nights or your brain will blend them all together.

Castles: there are 12 original ones left. Himeji: super-famous, swamped in peak and shoulder season. Hikone: near Kyoto and very handy. Matsue: reached by lovely trains. Matsuyama: out of the way, stunning!

Tell me more please, because there are a lot of things in Japan that there aren't in the US — what are you and your family into?

Railway museums? Historic castles? Japanese gardens? Theme parks? Relaxing spas? Scenic train trips? Fabric arts? Battle sites? Late 1800s architecture? Bike touring?

For anyone else: Shoden-ji is a gorgeous small Kyoto temple with an unusual garden (using azalea instead of rocks!) with incredible borrowed landscape* and bloody handprint ceiling*.

It was Bowie's favourite, and every time I go it's empty and silent. Taxi from the nearest station.

*look those up!

I have LOADS of day trips from Tokyo and Nagoya — what time of year, and what are you interested in?

From Tokyo, strong rec for the capybara onsen with the yuzu, it's GREAT and the capybara are hilarious horndogs in their weird fruity sex pond.

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Thanks Rob! Anyone passing by — definitely feel free to ask questions!

I have LOADS of day trips from Tokyo and Nagoya — what time of year, and what are you interested in?

From Tokyo, strong rec for the capybara onsen with the yuzu, it's GREAT and the capybara are hilarious horndogs in their weird fruity sex pond.

bsky.app/profile/that...

For anyone else: Shoden-ji is a gorgeous small Kyoto temple with an unusual garden (using azalea instead of rocks!) with incredible borrowed landscape* and bloody handprint ceiling*.

It was Bowie's favourite, and every time I go it's empty and silent. Taxi from the nearest station.

*look those up!

It's frustrating to me that you keep making these straw arguments that I am very much not recommending.

Let me be super clear: do not plan to travel around major cities using the JRP. It will not be good value, *regardless* of the human psychology factor you keep bringing up.

@elbarrio.bsky.social Is there anything in particular you'd like to do, see or experience in or near Sapporo?

Strike out from Sapporo too!

If you feel confident driving in winter, the roads around Mt Yotei and Lake Toya are stunning. En route, Hoheikyo hot spring is one of my favourite outdoor rotenburo onsen.

If you want to stick to rails (a reasonable plan) then Otaru is fascinating!

Again I'm going to say: people should not make JRP decisions on a ¥250 trip on the Subway/Metro vs the Yamanote. You will not get good value on the JRP from using it when you are staying in cities, full stop.

I've been to Sapporo in spring (its location means it's ideal for late cherry blossoms!), autumn (ditto for early autumn leaves) and winter (chilly and snowy) and always had a great time.

I hear great things about the ice festival, and it's a super-friendly city. Great base for the area too!

I've been to Sapporo in spring (its location means it's ideal for late cherry blossoms!), autumn (ditto for early autumn leaves) and winter (chilly and snowy) and always had a great time.

I hear great things about the ice festival, and it's a super-friendly city. Great base for the area too!

@designatedheddo.bsky.social Can you be a bit more specific about the kind of museums/historic locations you'd find most interesting? Samurai? Hokusai? Castles? Temples? Gardens? Shinto?

I first went to Japan about 15 years ago with ZERO Japanese. If you can navigate a major city like New York or London, you can navigate Japan. But do try to learn some before you go — even some basic tourist Japanese will help.

I hear JP baseball is a real hoot (go Yakult Swallows, the ex-JR team)!

Japan is FULL of museums and historic locations… what kind of wildlife are you after? The Kushiro Shitsugen wetlands in far eastern Hokkaido take a while to get to but are stunning for migratory birds and Japanese crane habitat.

I first went to Japan about 15 years ago with ZERO Japanese. If you can navigate a major city like New York or London, you can navigate Japan. But do try to learn some before you go — even some basic tourist Japanese will help.

I hear JP baseball is a real hoot (go Yakult Swallows, the ex-JR team)!

@cnm.bsky.social If you can extend to Hakodate, that's a great city, and really fascinating open-city port from the late 1800s. Superb fish and crab market.

Make sure you eat ALL the crab if you enjoy… and the jingisukan (Genghis Khan) lamb (but wear clothes you plan to wash that night…)

Love Hokkaido! Start in Sapporo and stay around the station area! Mount Moiwa for sunset, then find some local ramen.

Get a 5-day Hokkaido Rail Pass (or take the 7-day JR Pass if you want to get back to Honshu) and do a Hokkaido loop: Sapporo-Asahikawa-Abashiri-Kushiro-Sapporo.

Add stops you're interested in:

• Shiretoko National Park
• Kushiro Shitsugen wetlands (the train through it is stunning)
• it won't be drift ice season yet, but try the blue "beer" in Abashiri (the brewery/beer-kan has good grilled beef too)
• Kushiro fish market
• onsen!

Love Hokkaido! Start in Sapporo and stay around the station area! Mount Moiwa for sunset, then find some local ramen.

Get a 5-day Hokkaido Rail Pass (or take the 7-day JR Pass if you want to get back to Honshu) and do a Hokkaido loop: Sapporo-Asahikawa-Abashiri-Kushiro-Sapporo.

You are very welcome!

Aha! Interesting, thank you!

#JohnDoesJapan open questions thread!

Ask me anything: how to plan, great places to go, sample itineraries, the lowdown on railway museums, the best Japanese gardens, the 12 remaining original castles, train set cafés and bars…

(Drop hints about what you like, are interested in, or want to do!)

Okay, so there's a *lot* that's still not clear to me from this table — "quick reference" my A340-600 — but I guess a key question is: how does, say, SQ operate those 21-hour flight given that it seems like it maxes out at 19?

‘As with Section 28, young people are presented with a choice between state-mandated abuse, or staying in the closet. The overall aim is to stop trans children from existing altogether’

RIGHT? Like, I live in France and that isn't even the the right number of zeroes for a 2-star :))