Japan National Stadium + Jingu Gaien Ginkgo Avenue

Yesterday I had some errands to run in Omotesando. I decided to have a bit of a walk afterwards and headed to Jingu Gaien Ginkgo Avenue (it’s still green but I have been when it’s in all it’s glory – very busy and see below). I then followed the road round to the Olympic Stadium – I’d seen it whilst it was in the process of being built but not finished and it’s beautiful. There wasn’t much else to do in the area, so I got the train home.

The above photos were taken around mid to late November. They ...

2022 golden week trip to hagi, yamaguchi: part 4

boat on the water with buildings and mountains in the background

We’ve made it! This is the last you’ll have to read about Yamaguchi for a while!

Day seven and our final day (not really, but I’ve kind of written them that way – we stayed for about three weeks in total).

We headed back over to near Daishōin Temple・大照院 to go to Moco Cafe that we’d seen but not been brave enough to venture into. After some research, we decided that it looked nice and took the plunge.

I had egg sandwiches which had ham on, so I removed that and proceeded to eat. They are a bakery and the ...

2022 golden week trip to hagi, yamaguchi: part 3

stone lantern with purple azalea

Day five and we were temple hopping. We started off at Daishōin Temple・大照院 which has a lantern festival in August and is a very pretty time to go.

Then we headed back to ‘town’, to go for lunch at CotoCoto. They had pictures of a vegan lunch menu on their instagram, but unfortunately when we went, the lady said that the person doing those had left, so they’d stopped doing them. We just ended up getting drinks – it was disappointing. The shop itself is really nice and they have a beautiful garden at the back. If you eat ...

2022 golden week trip to hagi, yamaguchi: part 2

myojin pond

We’re back and straight into day three where we found ourselves getting the bus to Myojin Pond and Kasayama.

Itsukushima Shrine at myojin pond
view from kasayama

We walked to the top which is very doable – it’s just a road and this was the view. There was a coffee shop at the top which we went to, but I’d pass if we were to go again. We sat on beanbag seats which I struggled to get up from and staggered about whilst being watched by a group who were pretend staring out the window, pretending not to watch, but they were watching! I could feel their side ...

2022 golden week trip to hagi, yamaguchi: part 1

hagi sculpture park

This year we went to Hagi for Golden Week. We got the Shinkansen both ways and I purposely booked our seats so that we’d be able to see Fuji-san. Unfortunately it was cloudy both ways, so we didn’t see him. It was lovely speeding along the Japanese countryside though, I never get tired of how green Japan is.

rail crossing surrounded by greenery

We enjoyed lazy days, eating ice creams, going to the beach, sipping coffee in cafes and taking long walks. They all look the same flavour, but the outer two are natsu-mikan (a citrus fruit) and the middle is from Hagi Purin. ...