Short Journeys: Japan

I first came to Japan as a tourist a month after the March 11th 2011 tsunami, and a year later was living in Iwate teaching English in a region greatly affected by the events of that day. With Short Journeys: Japan I try to include all the places I have managed to visit in Japan in a useful book full of tips and anecdotes.

Japan is a wonderful country full of culture, friendly people, mountains, beaches, amazing cities. It is a country that has seen devastation from nuclear bombs and wars, through to earthquakes and tsunamis and still has a smile. Tokyo is one of the busiest places on Earth, and in a place like Takayama you can still find peace. Without a doubt, few countries are quite as breathtaking as Japan.

My time in Japan has taken me to many places on the main island of Honshu – Tokyo, Yokohama, Hiroshima, Takayama, Hakuba, Nara and more. I also include a special chapter about Iwate Prefecture and hope that people reading this book and heading to Japan will consider heading there as it moves forward from that day in 2011, seemingly in the past but still very much in the minds of those who live here.

Japan is brimming with life and warmth and its own uniqueness. Take a read, and see what it’s all about. Includes over 60 photos taken by the author.

‘Short Journeys’ is a series of stories about my travels to different countries. Whilst they are not intended as a guide book, I have endeavoured to include information about where I stayed, what I ate, what I saw and how to go about it if you were to visit the countries in question. My previous writings – the ‘Dhaka to Dakar’ books, were simply travel experiences. This time I wanted to go a little further for the reader.

I wanted to include any stories and experiences I thought were interesting, important or amusing whilst I was travelling. I want to encourage you the reader to read, think about, and then perhaps go there yourself. You will find information on the places I stayed and visited, and how I got there and around.