- Home
- About
- Hike
- Bike
- Guides
- Canada
- A Guide to Biking From Banff to Jasper, Alberta
- A Guide to Biking the Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia
- A Biking Guide for Quebec’s Eastern Townships
- A Guide to Biking British Columbia’s Gulf Islands
- Niagara Area Bike and Wine Tour Guide
- A Guide to Visiting and Biking the Okanagan Valley in BC
- A Guide to Biking Prince Edward County, Ontario
- Vancouver Airport Layover Guide
- A Bike and Wine Tour Guide for Victoria to the Cowichan Valley
- US
- Europe
- South America
- Canada
- Adventures
- Destinations
- Travel Resources
- Advertising
- Contact
The Japanese are Brilliant
A few days ago the Japanese Tourism Agency proposed giving away 10,000 round trip tickets with the caveat that you publicize your trip on a blog and through social media sites. Before you get too excited you should know that the government needs to approve the expense before this idea moves forward.
Mount Fuji in rose pink
I think the Japanese are brilliant.
Tourism numbers are way down since the earthquake hit last March. Their currency is high. And Japan is notoriously an expensive place to visit.
But harness the energy of 10,000 people from around the world to shine the light on your country and chances are the number of visitors will soar. Ten thousand people with 10,000 unique ideas of what they’d like to see and do in Japan will offer a fresh perspective of what the country has to offer.
The idea of free airfare certainly got me thinking. What would I do?
There are 16 World Heritage Sites to visit – four natural and twelve cultural.
Countless gardens, especially during Japan’s famously beautiful cherry blossom season, would entrance me.
A few days in each of Kyoto, Osaka and Tokyo would be great too.
But the more I read the more I think I’d like go to Japan for the hiking.
Japan is about the size of Germany – but 65% of the country is mountainous. Hiking opportunities abound.
Hiking in the Japanese mountains
A climb up Mount Fuji would be just the start of my explorations.
I’d be sure to go to the northern island of Hokkaido. It’s supposed to offer some of the wildest landscapes and best hiking in the country. And on many of the hikes you can find a natural trailside onsen – better known to westerners as a hotspring.
Natural trailside onsen or hotspring
But not all the hikes are rugged mountains. There are reams of nature trails – over 26,000 kilometers combined. It sounds to me like the hiking options are overwhelming – yet we hear very little about them.
Along the trail to Shakagasan in Nara
Shiratani Unsuikyo Ravine hike
If the Japanese do decide to run with this offer of 10,00 free airfares, I for one, will be entering.
I’m prepared to get out the maps and research. I’ll devise an appealing hiking itinerary for western travelers. And it won’t all be hard core by any means.
I’d be thrilled to be out there hiking in Japan and doing my bit to get people visiting their country.
I’m rooting for the government green light on this project.
What would you do if you had a free trip to Japan??
Leigh McAdam
Photo Credits: Mount Fuji, Japan hiking, Shakagasan, Shiratani Unsuikyo Ravine
You might also like:
5 Responses to The Japanese are Brilliant
Leave a Reply
About
I’ve been all over the world – to all continents but Antarctica and to a grand total of 53 countries. I’ve always got some sort of an adventure planned – even if it’s only a weekend. I thrive on change and travel provides that.
Feel free to email me at
leighmcadamtravels@gmail.com
STAY CONNECTED
Book Reviews
Book Review: Leading at the Edge
Tweet Though it’s been almost 100 years since Shackleton’s ill-fated voyage, his leadership style and lessons in the face of adversity still ring true. Those lessons are used as a backdrop for Dennis N.T. Perkin’s book, Leading at the Edge. Dennis brings his considerable talent as the CEO of The Syncretics Group, a company that specializes in [...]
I agree…I can’t wait until they get the funding! Japan is on our list for next year and free airfare would only make it better. I would split my time between cities such as Tokyo and more rural areas but keep in mind my recent lesson that slow travel is better. My mind wants to see everything but I know that seeing a few places well is best. Good luck!
Gillian @OneGiantStep recently posted..Monday Moment: Cappadocia, Turkey
Hi Gillian,
I’ll be curious if they get the funding how many applications they get. I’ll be following this story closely …and I look forward to meeting you this weekend.
We were just in Japan and we hardly saw any non Japanese tourists, so I can understand why they are proposing this. We’d love to go back but even with free flights travel within the country is really expensive.
We planned to hike an ancient post highway from Tsumago to Magome but a typhoon messed with our plans. Tsumago was a picture perfect traditional Japanese village in gorgeous hills, so I bet the hiking in that area would be great. You can stay at traditional inns (in fact that’s the only option) and get served up home-cooked feasts (ours was 13 dishes!).
Erin recently posted..Photo Essay: Paper Lantern Sculptures in Kyoto
Hi Erin,
I’ll be curious if they do run the promotion how long they expect you to be in Japan. I can understand why they are considering the promotion if you hardly saw anyone other than Japanese tourists.
I love Japan and definitely want to visit it once in my lifetime. Japanese is an amazing country and has achieved development because of the hard working people. Thank you for the brilliant images that you have shared here!
Leo recently posted..Porque YO voy a dejar de fumar : algunas razones