This summer has been a summer of milestones. Our youngest daughter, Sophia, graduated from high school. It had been six months since my second hip surgery, and my husband and I celebrated our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. To top it off, our twenty-year-old son was home from his second year of college, so with so much to celebrate, we did a fabulous two-week trip to Japan.
I had been to Japan decades ago when I was just 19 and wanted to see what had changed in this place that everyone seems to be talking about and visiting.
In fact, in the past year, travel to Japan has grown exponentially. In 2024, a record 36.9 million international visitors came to Japan, representing a 47.1% increase, according to the Japan Tourism Organization, and projections for 2025 are not slowing down. Japan continues to make the list of top countries to visit, and it is no surprise given the strong dollar-to-yen exchange rate, more direct flights from the US, and most of all, a country that has so incredibly much to offer its visitors. Add in the other benefits that Japan is a safe country, is incredibly easy to get around given its amazing network of trains, subways, and buses, and Japan was the ideal choice for our family vacation.
When I first went to Japan as a teenager decades ago, I hated the food. How wrong I was! Japanese cuisine is some of the most varied, delicious food I’ve ever experienced. Eating was half of the fun of this two-week family trip to Japan.
With a 12-hour non-stop flight from our hometown of Minneapolis to Toyko’s Haneda airport, the deal was even sweeter for our family of four. And best of all was our timing for the trip. We would miss the busy cherry blossom season earlier in the spring and get our visit in the last week of May to the first week of June, before the hordes of summer travelers arrived.
Was it busy? Yes, the popular sites in Kyoto and Tokyo were pretty overwhelmed with wall-to-wall tourists. Yet we were able to find some places for ourselves if we timed it right.
The highlight of our trip was the 5-day hike we did in the Kii Peninsula on the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage. The pilgrimage began 1,000 years ago and took the Imperial family and fellow pilgrims an average of 30-40 days from Kyoto. Today, the Nakacheki route can be completed in 5 days and covers over 46 miles (70 km) of mountainous terrain.
Over the next several posts, I will share my tips on how to spend three days in Kyoto, what to expect on the Kumano Kodo hike, and a few ideas for Tokyo. In the meantime, here are a few photos and Instagram posts from the trip.
It is hard to believe that I started this blog when my children were in diapers. But despite readership going down and other things that stand in the way of finding the time to write, my blog is the one gift I have to give them, and whoever else wants to be inspired to see the world. Thank you for your support over all these years!
RUT! sk :}
Looks like you had a great trip!
We did thank you so much Sue! 🙂
😊
I can’t tell if my first comment posted. Ugh. I will try again. It was fun to read this after our own trip last November. It’s hard to believe both of our blogs have been around so long. Even though I, like you, have stopped posting as frequently, I still love having the blog as a testament to all my travels, even if only for my own posterity. Glad you and your family enjoyed this trip celebrating various milestones!
We loved the trek so much! It was so incredible! The long day (I think day 3 of 8.5 hours) was more difficult than I thought. I honestly in my head kept thinking it won’t be too hard, I’ve done the Alps. But I’m glad I prepared as day 3 and day 5 with that long brutal climb up in the humidity was challenging. Thank you so much for all your tips and advice on this trip. OKU Japan was fantastic and I am really glad we had their help in arranging it all for us. Do you have any future travel plans coming up?
We just came back from Alaska. Ten days, all independent. Great hiking and scenery. (Our 50th state!) Glad Oku worked out so well!
That is wonderful! I hope you write about it as I’d love to hear what you did! Thanks again for the tips on Japan. We sure loved our trip!
How much we have changed since our teenage years! And how much your children have grown up! Japan is so lovely, beautiful, and unique, isn’t it? I do hope that the country can still retain its many charms despite the rapid growth of mass tourism.
Yes Bama it is crazy that we are part of the “old-timers” now on WordPress! I am still at it but not as active as before, and yes my kids have grown up over the course of my blog!
I loved Japan so much but like so many parts of the world, I did not like the overtourism. I am glad we were able to find our places within it all and meet the locals. I have not visited much of Asia yet but Japan really got me excited for when I can see more. Hope all is well! 🙂
What a great way to celebrate so many milestones ~ and your account beautifully captures what I love about traveling with family, and with the added charm of Japan 😊. The Kumano Kodo pilgrimage sounds incredible, it’s great you got to spend time away from tourists and deeper into Japanese culture…
Ah thanks for stopping by! I am slow to write about this trip as life has been busy. It was such a wonderful experience. Priceless time together that I want to bottle up and hold on together. I especially loved our trek. The people we met along the way and the immersion into Japanese life and culture was fantastic. Thank you for the lovely comment as always! Hope you are doing well.