When Americans think of a highway rest stop, if they were feeling generous they imagine a gorgeous park, filled with children playing and couples strolling. Maybe a second-rate Starbucks and ice cream shop. Possibly even a nice view of the water.

But nothing like this. This puts them all to shame.

After visiting Kourankei, we took a brief break back at the hotel and asked ChatGPT for some ideas of other things to do near Shinshiro. Becky suggested we try Yuya Onsen town and then realized we had exactly 7 minutes to make the only train for the next two hours. So we speed-walked to the station and paid our fare on board the train.

The Yuya Onsen station is not manned. Despite being arguably more beautiful that day than the nationally famous Kourankei, its visitors are almost entirely regional residents getting away for an afternoon or a weekend.

We strolled up to this fabulous onsen hotel and asked if they accommodate same-day (日帰り) visitors at their hot springs baths. They politely told me no.

Fortunately, I didn't immediately fold and declare defeat on the outing. Instead, I thought to ask if they offer any other plans that might include bath access and my phrasing apparently reminded the staff of a special kaiseki lunch plus bath deal. So for ¥4500 per person we got to experience all their baths and have an absolutely wonderful seven-course lunch. You love to see it.

Also, on our way out, we met Kohaku—the hotel's pet owl. He was understandably sleepy.

My friend Junko is from Nagoya, so when I asked for recommendations for where to see the leaves changing color (紅葉) she told me Kourankei in Aichi-ken was tops.

It was too warm too late in the year for the maple trees to hit their peak by our late November visit but it was still a really beautiful place to visit. I just wish I didn't have to leave the hotel at 5:30am to ensure I'd get a parking spot.

Found this really nice park in approximately the middle of nowhere south of Kanazawa near our Airbnb.

This park in central Akita city is unusual in its scale, upkeep, and beauty. Outside Central Park, I can't think of another park that dominates such a huge percentage of prime real estate in a city and is so well-maintained and relied-upon by locals. If the leaves are changing colors, you gotta go. But even if they're not, you really should check it out if you're ever in Akita.

This Yakiniku place in Akita was so fancy that they charge you full price if you cancel within 14 days of your reservation. It's also got a 4.2 on Tabelog. So expectations were quite high… and they were absolutely met. Every plate in the course was perfectly cut, portioned, and arranged. The quality of the meat was great. Our waitress was still in training but was some of the best service I can remember having.

If you're ever in Akita, I strongly encourage calling and making a reservation.

If you're ever in the mood for a more interesting experience than Starbucks, consider visiting a high-end traditional kissaten. For about $5 out the door had table service for a fantastic hand-ground pour over and the fluffiest, most perfectly buttered toast one can imagine.

My Tabelog check-in

I had a few free hours the other day in Akita, and picked (based on a pretty lakeside picture of a red Torii gate alone) Lake Tazawa.

Getting there was probably more involved than the experience was worth:

• 1-hour shinkansen ride to Tazawako station
• 25 minute bus ride to the lakefront
• A quick transfer to a particular bus currently _on its way back to the station, but that happens to be circumnavigating the lakeshore in the opposite direction
• The bus route is apparently designed for tourists to get this picture and get out, as the driver let us off twice for 10-15 minutes to visit a restroom and get our pictures and souvenirs before resuming the route
• Realize you just spent an hour on two local buses and are paying nearly 2000 yen in bus fare

(If my spidey sense hadn't gone off when I first arrived at the lake shore and decided to hop on the next bus to get to this shrine, I never would have made it back to the station in time. A combination of maturing language ability and dumb luck, I imagine.)

I first visited this yoshoku-style steakhouse in December 2019, then again with Aaron in February 2020.

Four years later, I made a three-hour round trip out of my way to find that the master had handed the business down to his son, and (thankfully) that he was every bit as talented at preparing matsusaka-gyu as his father.

Anyway, here's what 300 grams and ¥15,000 of Japanese sirloin (ロース) steak looks like:

Same as ever. Best steak I've ever had. And compared to Orlando's prices, an absolute steal at $95.

If you like your steak prepared in an American style (that is to say, thick cut, cooked for you, and eaten with a fork and a knife), then this might be the very best way to experience what many consider to be the highest-quality beef in Japan. Super glad I made the trip to come back!

I first visited Kanazawa's incredible fish market last year, including this silly video about my hunt for a fresh fish bowl (kaisen-don):

Well I came back today with the intention of getting there early enough to visit the shop I'd originally intended to go to. Last year it was sold out by the time I got there (noon?) and when I told the chef the story this morning he congratulated me on coming back for a "revenge dish".

So here it is, a crab rice bowl (kani-don):

Would recommend! 🦀

So basically there's a large natural sand dune in the least populated prefecture of Japan, Tottori.

As someone who grew up enjoying Michigan's Sleeping Bear Dunes, I agreed to visit them after the lady seated next to me at the SoftBank SeaHawks baseball game suggested I go visit after Matsue.

Well, I did!

Here's to two more weeks of sand in my shoes I can never quite clean out.

Aaron insisted that while I was in Matsue, I visit its renowned sunset spot in a park along the eastern shore of Lake Shinji.

I'm not a huge sunrise/sunset person, but what else was I going to be doing at 7:12pm on a Thursday? So I walked down and checked it out:

It was very pretty. If you're a fan of the life-giving fusion power generator that is Sol, you'd probably dig this view.

The first overnight stop on my tour of the north side of Honshu was Matsue. As its castle is among a handful of original castles to survive in Japan (similar to my adopted hometown of Hikone), I felt obligated to drop in and scope out the joint.

And I'm glad I did! Seriously, this is one of the most beautiful and well-maintained castles I've visited in Japan. Really glad I came.

Every American who has an opportunity to visit the peace exhibits in Hiroshima and Nagasaki should, in my opinion.

So Aaron and I spent a couple days touring Okinawa after RubyKaigi 2024 wrapped. In particular, we were both eager to escape the urban environments of Naha on the main island, so we hopped on the fastest ferry out of town, the Queen Zamami (whose reservation website evokes some real Angelfire nostalgia).

Once you get there, you probably want to rent a bike or an electronic scooter (referred to as kickboards here) to get around the island, because the island's a bit too large to comfortably walk around—especially on a warm day in direct sunlight. To the east and west are beautiful beaches—though we both preferred the tranquil blue waters of Furuzami beach. On every corner of the island, there sits an observation deck (希望台) atop the nearest mountain, and they offer some truly breathtaking views.

Speaking of, here are some of those views:

I also cut a quick one-minute video of the island, for your audiovisual enjoyment:

Anyway, if you're ever on Okinawa's main island, you really should save a day to ferry out and back to Zamami. Definitely worth seeing. 🏝️

Overall, I'm not sure that Naha is my cup of tea, but if you're going to visit Okinawa, Hotel Collective is a pretty phenomenal hotel compared to the surrounding options.

We had a brief stop in Kagoshima, so we took full advantage to get ourselves some Kurobuta (黒豚) pork. The pork is like "black angus" in that despite having "black" in the name, it is still the just-barely-cooked-enough-to-be-safe pink color we know and love.

The shioyaki is great, with lots of variety. I had the isaki, which was my first time trying it. Vegetable dishes were solid too.

Here is my Tabelog check-in

This place had a ludicrous happy hour deal, essentially boiling down to $2 whisky highballs and lemon sours, sub-$2 for five grilled homemade gyoza, and just a wee bit over $2 for a draft beer.

Naturally they were as good as any gyoza I've had in my life.

Here is my Tabelog check-in

I've done a lot of castles in Japan, but after the 2016 earthquake, I really had no idea what to expect from Kumamoto-jo. The degree to which the restoration project has seemingly made the castle more accessible to the general public is really impressive.

You can tell something is up when you walk the massive sky bridge from the castle town to the structure itself. When you enter the castle, the amount of modern infrastructure present—from steel beams supporting the stonework to drywall and air conditioning—is a little overwhelming. All-in-all, it's a really cool 2-3 hour diversion, but prepare for a lot of walking!