Khristian Snyder – Travel Journal

After several weeks of non-stop travel and adventure, I was really excited to make my way back to Chiba prefecture (about an hour from Tokyo) to visit family for a while. It felt great to slow down and recharge, do laundry, and enjoy time with my cousin and grandma, who…

I wasn’t sure where to head after the Nakasendo Trail but I did notice a window of great weather coming after the late season snow storm. My route back to Tokyo would naturally take me right past Mt Fuji so I made a last minute plan to explore around Fuji…

One of my goals for this trip was to get to the rural, historic parts of Japan. I also really wanted to do some hiking so the Nakasendo Trail quickly rose to the top of my list. Over 330 miles long, the Nakasendo Trail was first established in the 1600s…

In my research, visitors of Kyushu seem to all recommend visiting the port town of Kagoshima, so that was my next stop. As the ferry from Yakushima approached, Kagoshima’s mascot grew larger and larger. The towering volcano, Sakurajima, was spewing a cloud of ash into the sky just across the…

After starting my sabbatical in Nagasaki, I wanted to get out into nature for a nice break from all the busy cities of the last couple of weeks. I had heard about Yakushima during my research over the last year, but I didn’t expect to actually visit the renowned island.…

Fukuoka After saying goodbye to my Dad, I hopped on a flight from Hokkaido to Fukuoka, jumping from the cold of northern Japan to the far southern part of Japan. I was looking forward to warming up a bit here in the south and I was really excited to explore…

After a few days in the snowy mountains of Nagano, my Dad and I caught a series of buses and trains and made our way to Tokyo where we would enjoy a few nights in the big city. We stayed in Shinjuku which was an instant sensory overload. Neon signs,…