It is only a 1-hour train ride from Tokyo’s Ueno Station on the Takasaki Line (JR East) to Saitama Prefecture’s Gyoda, where ancient lotuses are in full bloom! Besides, there are Saitama Kofun (tumuli, ancient burial mounds) Park and Oshi Castle, which are rarely seen in other cities in Japan. Here is an account of my one-day round trip to Gyoda and I hope it could be helpful to you.

Only 90 minutes from Tokyo. In Shizuoka prefecture, there is a small river called Kakitagawa at the bottom of Mt. Fuji. It’s a short river only 1.2 km long total, but with its water so transparent, you can clearly see the bottom of the river.

From June 29 to September 24, 2019, the Laguna Ten Bosch pool will be open!

Hondo-ji Temple, in Chiba Prefecture’s Matsudo City, is a temple of the Nichiren sect of Buddhism that was built in 1277.
Every year in June, around 50,000 hydrangeas of over 10 varieties beautifully bloom. Because of this, the temple is also known as the “hydrangea temple.”
It is easily accessible, with Kita-Kogane Station, the station nearest to the temple, being only 50 minutes by train from Tokyo Station.
However, it truly is a well-kept-secret place, and you can be sure that you’ll be able to leisurely enjoy the flowers without worrying about crowds!

Every early summer a hydrangea festival is held in the Fuchu city local forest museum (Kyodo no Mori Museum) located in Tokyo’s Fuchu, when around 10,000 plants of hydrangea are in bloom amid the museum buildings in a traditional style, and the museum becomes an ideal destination for visitor to take a pleasant walk while viewing flowers.

I recently had lunch at Heinz Beck, a restaurant that was awarded 1 Michelin star, located near the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. Chef Heinz Beck, from Rome's La Pergola, winner of 3 Michelin stars for 12 consecutive years, is a master in the world of gastronomy. Now his first fine dining establishment has opened in Tokyo!

Kanazawa is the main city of Ishikawa prefecture. Ishikawa is located in the centre of Japan’s main island. This region is called Hokuriku. In 2015 Japan Rail started to operate the Hokuriku Shinkansen(bullet train) line. Now we can access Kanazawa station from Tokyo in only 2.5 hours!
This time I journeyed through Kanazawa’s popular tourist spots, the Higashi tea house district and the Kazuemachi tea house district.

It is expected that the cherry trees in the Tohoku region ("Northeast Region”) will be in full bloom around April 15th. The seven must-visit hamami (“cherry blossom viewing”) spots in the Tohoku region are listed here for your reference. We wish you a pleasant hanami tour ♡