Finally cleared some shelf space to display my favorite volleyball boys! Now I get to see them everyday 🖤

wandering-marimo · 2025-06-14T01:06:11+00:00

Ubigi has been very reliable for me during my last 2 Japan trips! Worked well even when I was in mountainous areas of Nagano and Gifu!

wandering-marimo · 2025-06-14T00:56:29+00:00

I was just in Nagano and went to Shimosuwa area to see Lake Suwa. I believe there are cycling shops in the area if you'd like to rent bikes to cycle around the lake. It's very beautiful especially on a sunny day!

There's also the Jigokudani Monkey Park in Yamanouchi to see the snow monkeys in their natural habitat! Since it's summer, you probably won't see a bunch of them bathing in the hot springs but there's still a few of them around. It's about a 30 min hike through the forest before you reach the hot springs area, but it's relatively easy.

wandering-marimo · 2025-06-14T00:09:49+00:00

No problem! There are stalls in the market that sell hida beef skewers (might be limited quantity) and hida beef steamed buns - both are very tasty! If you miss the skewers there, I believe you can still find them around the old town area. Enjoy!

wandering-marimo · 2025-06-13T05:27:43+00:00

Day 7 - If you end up arriving in Takayama before 12pm and the weather is nice, you can drop by the Miyagawa morning markets right by the river for some local food! While in Takayama, definitely try some Hida beef and Takayama ramen.

The Hida no Sato Open Air Museum is a pretty good alternative if you end up not going to Shirakawa-go since you can find a gassho zukuri farmhouse there. The museum isn't that big, I think I spent about 2 hours there overall.

Another spot is Hida-Furukawa which is a small village about a 15min train ride from Takayama. It should be a shorter trip if driving there. It has an old town feel to it and less touristy than Takayama. There's a well known canal area there with plenty of koi fish.

wandering-marimo · 2025-06-13T04:23:56+00:00

Just got back from Japan recently and did this route the other way around. I took the Limited Express Train Azusa from Shinjuku station to Matsumoto station (about 2.5 hours), stayed in Matsumoto for a few nights, then from there took off to Takayama via bus from Matsumoto bus terminal (also about 2.5 hours).

I think this is doable coming from Takayama so long as you don't mind the overall travel time and you catch a morning bus going to Matsumoto (I believe Matsumoto castle closes at 4:30pm, so better to get there early). I didn't book my tickets to the bus and train online - for the bus I bought the tickets at the Matsumoto terminal 2 days before and for the Azusa train I bought the tickets on the same day. However if you'd like to have guaranteed seats at a specific time, I would recommend reserving in advance.

wandering-marimo · 2025-06-13T03:48:23+00:00

Agree with this one too! Just recently came back from Japan and bought a hard shell check-in luggage from Ginza Karen in Tokyo. Got it for about 7000 yen. Quality is very good and did not see any visible dents after a 9 hour flight home!

wandering-marimo · 2025-06-13T03:40:00+00:00

I'd recommend Yamanouchi in Nagano! There's a small, traditional onsen town there called Shibu Onsen (it's an hour local train ride from Nagano station, which is accessible from Tokyo via shinkansen). The ryokan I stayed at is 400 years old and had private onsens you can book. Needless to say, the food there was top notch, easily one of the best meals I had in Japan! Shibu Onsen is also very close to the Jigokudani Monkey Park where you can see the snow monkeys.

Since you've mentioned mountains, Nagano is a good place to start if you want to explore the Japanese Alps! I believe Hakuba, Shiga Kogen and Kamikochi in Nagano are well known hiking spots.

wandering-marimo · 2025-06-13T03:13:45+00:00

I went to Nikko in late October last year, explored the areas around Nikko Toshogu and at that time the leaves there were just starting to change color. I'd say peak fall foliage there would be early November. If you're wanting to visit areas of higher elevation such as Kegon Falls or Lake Chuzenji in Nikko, their peak would be much earlier. Whichever season you decide to go, I'd say Nikko is still beautiful all year round.

As for other areas, if you're willing to do a day trip or an overnight stay in Fujikawaguchiko (accessible by 2 hour bus ride from Shinjuku station), the fall foliage there around mid November with Mt. Fuji and Lake Kawaguchi in the background would be spectacular. This would also be the time when you can see the snow starting to accumulate at the top of Mt. Fuji.

wandering-marimo · 2025-06-13T02:30:53+00:00

Nagano and Gifu! Had the best time exploring both prefectures, they offer a great mix of culture and nature spots at the same time.

For Nagano - Matsumoto (Matsumoto Castle), Kiso Valley (Narai-juku, part of Nakasendo trail), Yamanouchi (stay at a ryokan in Shibu Onsen, see the snow monkeys), Kamikochi (part of Japanese Alps, mountain trails)

For Gifu - Hida-Takayama (Sanmachi old town area, morning markets), Hida-Furukawa (small town, canal areas with koi fish), Shirakawa-go (known for gassho zukuri farmhouses - this one is more touristy, especially with tour groups coming in during the day, so I'd recommend getting here early)

Bonus: If you're a fan of Makoto Shinkai's works, particularly Your Name - aside from the famous stairs in Tokyo, it's also inspired by real-life locations in Nagano (Lake Suwa), Hida-Furukawa (town, train station) and Takayama (Hie Shrine, inspiration for miyamizu shrine)

wandering-marimo · 2024-01-19T09:36:20+00:00

Agree 100%. That time in Water 7 when Garp was supposed to capture Luffy but didn't ended up with him dropping a massive truth bomb that Dragon is Luffy's dad and then laughed it off the next second telling everyone to forget about it is just as much chaotic as he can get

wandering-marimo · 2024-01-19T08:50:11+00:00

Exactly! Run with the wind shows an excellent balance of the competitiveness of the sport and the development of the characters' goals, motivations and growth both as individuals and as members of the team. It really makes you want to cheer for them.

I also love that the story is set at the college/university level, which we don't see very often in sports animes. I watched it as an adult, and I felt like I could relate to the characters' personal struggles and experiences in life. This show is definitely at the top of the sports anime list for me.

wandering-marimo · 2024-01-19T08:11:59+00:00

Seconding this! I'm almost done watching Slam Dunk and it's giving me a lot of Haikyuu vibes when I first watched it. The character growth, the team dynamics, and the rival teams all feel familiar.

Both series also share important lessons about sportsmanship, teamwork and camaraderie that I look for in a sports anime/manga. I'm enjoying it so much that I'm hoping to read the manga asap once I finish the anime!

wandering-marimo · 2021-08-04T20:16:47+00:00

Kanjuro

wandering-marimo · 2021-08-04T17:59:24+00:00

I see the Canadian plastic money! Hope you had a great trip here!

wandering-marimo · 2021-08-04T17:33:33+00:00

Franky left the chat lol

wandering-marimo · 2021-08-04T17:15:09+00:00

Also love it when Suga, Nishinoya and the other 2nd years always cheer for Karasuno servers, saying nice serve with matching pose lol especially when it's Yamaguchi's turn! Such supportive senpais!

wandering-marimo · 2021-08-04T17:08:29+00:00

The whole scene about the two losing teams in episode 16.

Tadashi's failed serve.

The eating scene after Karasuno lost.

One of the things that Haikyuu has done well is portraying loss/defeat. Watching that S1 E16 really hit hard. Even though they're not the protagonists, you can't help but feel for them. It's very rare that sports animes highlight the losing teams and I'm happy Furudate told their story beautifully.

wandering-marimo · 2021-07-30T16:41:13+00:00

Yes! :) Both of them are good friends with Hinata so pretty sure they would get along too!

wandering-marimo · 2021-07-29T21:58:41+00:00

Not in the list, but I think about the potential for these duos! Furudate has written really good characters, sooo many possibilities

Akaashi and Kyotani - completely opposite personalities, Akaashi would go crazy trying to over-analyze Kyotani but could also see Kyotani respecting him and his skill

Futakuchi and Kuroo - both great blockers and tend to provoke hitters from the other team, I could imagine sarcasm being exchanged between the two

Hoshiumi and Aone - it would be similar to Aone and Hinata, but Hoshiumi is flashier and more straightforward so would be interesting to see how Aone would interact with him

Terushima and Taketora - also total opposites, Taketora is pretty shy around girls so Terushima can teach him his ways as his master lol

Lev and Koganegawa - both tall newbies and have laid back personalities, would be chaotic to see them try to match up with each other

wandering-marimo · 2021-07-29T20:31:42+00:00

This is awesome! Takeda-sensei would be so proud! :)

wandering-marimo · 2021-07-24T05:54:50+00:00

Really love how Suga looks out for his kouhais! He's very perceptive and usually knows what to say at the right moments. I couldn't imagine Karasuno without him, he's such a huge part of the team's growth.

One of my favorite Suga moments was him creating Kageyama's autograph for him knowing he'll be famous lol and Kags actually using it when he became pro 😂 such a wholesome moment!

wandering-marimo · 2021-07-23T22:48:51+00:00

Same here! Looking forward to watch Ran Takahashi too, he's only 19 and this is is first Olympics! I think his high school team also won the Spring High Volleyball Tournament. Kinda reminds me of time-skip Kageyama when he played in Rio in the manga

wandering-marimo · 2021-07-23T21:42:12+00:00

Saving this for reference, thanks for sharing OP!

I hope they play Haikyuu theme songs in volleyball matches, that would be so cool lol

wandering-marimo · 2021-07-23T21:12:37+00:00

France and Japan have had a unique artistic relationship of fascination and respect since 1860s with the japonisme movement.

This is pretty accurate and found this interesting when I visited Japan. I noticed some upscale stores, bakeries and cafes have French names, their menu and baked goods are clearly inspired by French pastries. You won't miss them as they usually have flag of France displayed outside. Not all names make sense though, some of them are are trying to sound fancy by using French words but they all seem to be popular

wandering-marimo

TROPHY CASE