My last trip to Japan was 2 years ago and it's good to finally be going back. We didn't do our usual holiday last year due to becoming new parents (though Mum and Baby went and visited the in-laws late last year) and I am very much in need of a holiday - to be perfectly honest I feel rather burnt out and have largely been in autopilot at work whilst crawling to the finish line that is the start of a holiday. Almost there!
The firsts
1. Travelling as a Family
- My Parents drive us to the airport (we can't use Ubers anymore due to the need of a car seat)
- Fly from Auckland to Narita (around 10 hours)
- Stay overnight at a Hotel in Narita (due to lack of same day transit options) and involves a Bus to and from the Airport
- Fly from Narita to Kumamoto (over 2 hours)
- In-laws pick us up from the Airport and take us home (around 1.5 hours)
2. Photography and Sakura
This year is also the first time I'm travelling with a decent camera after taking up photography again last year. I have written about this and the gear I'm considering taking here. I'm just looking forward to the photographic opportunities that Japan will have in abundance!
Every trip we have made to Japan has always been in May. In Kyushu this is an ideal time as the weather is largely decent (usually just below 30C) and it's just before the rainy season starts in June. Just avoid or lay low during Golden Week! Being in Japan from late March to Early April will be entirely new for me as it is the start of spring and will be a bit chillier, so clothes will take up a lot more suitcase space.
The upside of the timing this year is that it coincides with Sakura (Cherry Blossom season) where the Cherry blossom trees will be blooming spectacularly and will be amazing to experience in person (and photograph)
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| Cherry Blossoms - Photo credit architecturaldigest.com |
3. Moving to Japan perspective
This is the first year going to Japan with it firmly in mind that we plan to move there next year. Although there is nothing that we can do this trip in terms of advanced preparation, it will be the change in mindset of how I view everything. For instance, we have some ideas of areas where we might want to live and they are areas we have visited before. Instead of perhaps driving through and paying little attention I'll find myself looking through a different lens at things like accessibility, proximity of schools, public transport and natural disaster risks - all those boring but very important things! It's actually completely unnecessary as we won't be settling straight into an area when we move, we will stay with the in-laws and take our time in looking around for where to settle down, but the mindset and overthinking cannot be helped!
4. Practicing my Japanese
And the last first for this trip is getting to properly practice my Japanese. I started studying almost a year ago. My last learning update was at the 6 month mark in November and I'll admit my progress from there has been slow - I still consider myself in and around the N5 Level.
That being said, I can understand, read and speak a whole lot more than I could on my last visit. I expect my learning to accelerate during my time with the In-laws though not necessarily in terms of learning new things, but refining and using what is buried deep in my head. An issue many learners who are not learning around native speakers all the time, regardless of learning stage is with speaking - not that we don't know what to say, but being able to actually quickly bring it up out of our memory right at the time we need to, and that is something that can only come with practice. Hopefully my 1 year Learning Japanese update will be all about positive progress made during this trip!
Trip Planning
We have always based ourselves out of Kumamoto for our trips as we stay with the In-laws most of the time. We have pretty much covered most of what there is to see and do in the prefecture and the surrounding areas. On previous trips we would always plan 1 or 2 overnight excursions further afield; the last trip was Kagoshima and Kirishima and in previous years we have done Beppu and Fukuoka. Sometimes we just overnight to be able to stay at a nice Ryokan and enjoy the food, Onsen and traditional experience in some beautiful settings - Kurokawa, Yufuin, Beppu and Kirishima to name a few.
The sightseeing wish list was a bit tricky this year. I usually trawl over google maps in fine detail looking for anything that looks remotely interesting. Then we review the list together, seeing what is actually worth visiting based on the reviews and then try and see what can be combined together in a day trip. We disregard any outliers, such as things far enough away with nothing else nearby and maybe not appealing enough to do a dedicated drive for. There are also a tonne of places we have already been to and don't want to visit again so soon, so if you are wondering why places like Takachiho Gorge are missing, well that's why!
Then of course we had to look for things that could be fun for our Daughter as well. She goes crazy when seeing animals these days and fortunately there are plenty of small zoos and animal parks around. I particularly like being out in nature though hiking is off the cards, and once again central Kyushu has plenty of scenic natural spots with short walks in abundance. As mentioned earlier we have to try and schedule every outing around Baby's nap and feeding times too.
Trip Itinerary
Below are the things and places we have locked in on the plans along with google maps links. I'll tell you more about these places with photos in later posts when we get back!
We have only made plans for around every second day, leaving space for spontaneous stuff like visiting local places, family, shopping etc..
- Yamaga Yunokura onsen - We start our Holiday with a lunch and Bath with the in-laws at a nice Onsen hotel.
- Kumamoto City - Travelling into the City by train to pickup our rental Car, and then visiting the Zoo and Lake Ezu whilst in the area.
- An overnight trip to Beppu and Oita to visit a friend, and whilst there we will revisit the awesome Takasakiyama Monkey park and the Oita Marina Palace Aquarium across the road, with the following day heading to the Kyushu Wildlife Park African Safari, which I have not been to yet.
- Okadake Park, and Tachioka Park - some local parks / nature areas that we have not been to before.
- A Day trip to Amakusa, visiting the Sea Donut Aquarium, a walk up Mount Sengan for the amazing views and checking out Pearl Sun Beach.
- A Daytrip to the Minamiaso Area, to visit the Takamori Yusui Tunnel and the Fairy Tale Zoo (the latter we have not been to before)
- Aso farm land - a delightful little small zoo with free roaming animals as well as a play centre for toddlers and children. One of my favourite places, I once sat on a bench there and underneath it hanging out was an Iguana, a Beaver and a Parrot, which sounds like the start of a joke.
- Omuta City Zoo, I haven't visited this area northwest of Kumamoto, so looking forward to the drive and trip.
- Togenochaya Park Museum and the Reigando Samurai Cave, another general area that I have not been to before.
