Japan

Whenever we visit Japan, we almost always make it to visit a town or city that is known for sake brewing. We’ve become big fans of sake over the years, and Angie has even went on to study intensive coursework for the beverage as well (WSET Sake Level 3).

This naturally led us to the town of Takayama, just a few hours west of Tokyo, which is home to six delicious sake breweries in a quaint old quarter. History, sake, and a wonderful ambiance? We are in.

After visiting all of the sake breweries in Takayama, we thought it’d be fun to share a breakdown of the styles of tastings you can experience, and give you a gameplan of what breweries to hit first if you are new to sake and want to do it right.

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I’ve been getting into skiing more and more in recent years, and Japan has always been on my must-visit list to hit the slopes.

But shortly after arriving in Hakuba, I felt a bit out of my league. Part of this was simply because we had poor weather at the start of our visit. But the other part is that the slopes at Hakuba get difficult rather quickly for my skill level.

So in this one, I thought I’d share more on why that was, why it may be a more difficult spot for beginners and intermediate skiers, and why we settled on Tsugaike as the ski resort in Hakuba for us.

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On our third visit to Japan, we knew we wanted to try to make it to the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, on the west side of Tokyo.

This incredibly popular museum is a must-see spot for those who love Studio Ghibli movies and is quite a popular tourist attraction. But with popularity comes the crowds, and scoring tickets to this one requires a bit of advanced effort.

So let’s talk about how you can go about getting tickets, give a tip that may help you score one despite the popularity, and share a bit about what the museum is like, too!

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During our winter trip to Japan, we knew we wanted to visit an onsen town after skiing in Hakuba.

Thankfully, we didn’t have to travel very far as the mountain village Hirayu Onsen was just a short trip away via a train to Matsumoto and bus transfer to the mountains.

For this visit, we decided to have a bit of a splurge and booked a premium annex room with open air bath (onsen) with breakfast and dinner included for a complete resort experience. We are so glad we did.

While expensive, Miyama Ouan Kyoritsu Resort was one of the best hotel stays we’ve had in recent memory, and for those who want a high-end onsen experience, this one is sure to please!

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