3rd time to Japan: Spectacular Fall Colors, Onsen Ryokans, and Trippy Digital Art
 

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Well, it's been 8 months since we got back from our third trip to Japan, and our first to see the fall colors. After our first two trips I posted very long, detailed accounts of our experiences, with advice and tips for future travelers, but I realize after all this time that that is never going to happen with this one. So instead, I'm just posting our itinerary, as well as links to photos and brief descriptions that I had put on Facebook, which I have now made public. Here is a quick synopsis of our itinerary:

Fukuoka 2 nights
Kurokawa Onsen 2 nights
Hagi 1 night
Matsue 2 nights
Okayama 1 night
Naoshima 1 night
Osaka 1 night
Nakasugawa/Nakasendo Trail 1 night
Nagoya (for the Toyota plant tour) 1 night
Kyoto 5 nights
Tokyo 4 nights

I've also attached an itinerary where you can see where we went by car (a first for us in Japan) and by train, as well as where we sent our luggage ahead and just carried overnight bags (for some of the 1-nighters). As you can see from the photos, it was an all around successful trip, but a few of the real standouts were: Takefue Ryokan at Kurokawa Onsen; the city of Matsue, which includes the Adachi and Yuushien Gardens and our hotel Minamikan (get the renovated rooms with a lake/garden view and the wood soaking tub, heavenly); the Nakasendo Trail (almost 8 kilometers in 2 hours with a decent gain in altitude); Modern art on Naoshima and Teshima, possibly the best 24 hours of the trip; absolutely peak fall leaf colors in Kyoto, and surprisingly entertaining digital art experiences in Tokyo. I'm already planning trip #4, hopefully in 2022, in a post-COVID world.

I'd be happy to answer any questions...now onto the photos and descriptions:

(EDIT: When I preview this post the links to the photos show up, but when I submit it I'm not seeing them, so please let me know if you do not see the links below.)

Daizafu


Oita prefecture



Takefue



Hagi, Iwami Ginzan, Izumo-Taisha



Matsue



Yuushien Gardens, Matsue



Nakasendo Trail



Korankei



Naoshima



Kyoto Temples: Eikando, Nazenji and Tofukuji



Nishiki Market, Kyoto



Higashiyama, Kyoto



Arashiyama, Kyoto



Philosopher's Walk, Kyoto



TeamLab Borderless, Tokyo




TeamLab Planets, Tokyo



Koishikawa-Korakuen, Tokyo,

..

Sorry no pics.

I only see place names, no links. The first photos are fabulous though.

Are you uploading the photos or just posting links?

I'm not sure but some sort of spam filter was mentioned on the tech forum which may be zapping your links ?? Dunno . . .

Maybe try uploading the actual photos using the 'Upload Image' icon

. . . and yes, the first two are spectacular :)

Thanks for the feedback. Was posting links to pics I had already posted elsewhere. I’m discussing with admin. If no resolution I’ll try to post more pics but that could be a while. Thanks

The first 2 pics are stunning! Where were they taken?

Thank you! The first is at Yuushien Gardens in Matsue and the second at Eikando temple in Kyoto.

I’m very disappointed that the links did not get posted as there are a couple hundred pics at 17 locations over three weeks and the fall leaves were amazing!. I’ve asked for admin help but nothing at this point.

The photos that did show are spectacular. We will have to return to Japan in the fall.

Japan is so beautiful, one place i would love to visit one day