Sampo Kuokkanen
I have been living in Japan for over 10 years, but only recently started going to a lot of different sights around here.
Guides by Sampo Kuokkanen
Japan's Famous Day-Trip Onsen: Historic Public Bathhouses You Can Just Walk Into
Japan's Famous Day-Trip Onsen: Historic Public Bathhouses You Can Just Walk Into You do not need a ryokan booking to bathe in Japan's best-known hot spring water. Most onsen towns keep public ba...
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Shimanami Kaido Cycling Guide: Route Map and Island Stops
Ride between Imabari and Onomichi through the islands of the Seto Inland Sea. This guide pairs a real mapped route with ideas for choosing your ride, planning rental returns and adding sightseeing ...
Hitō: Japan's Hidden Hot Springs at the End of the Road
Hitō: Japan's Hidden Hot Springs at the End of the Road Hitō (秘湯) means "hidden hot spring". It is the onsen you reach only after a long mountain road, a forest trail or a boat, and very often i...
Hikyo: Japan's Secluded, Hard-to-Reach Places and How to Get There
Hikyo: Japan's Secluded, Hard-to-Reach Places and How to Get There Hikyo (秘境) is the Japanese word for a remote, secluded place. The two characters mean something like "hidden region", and in Ja...
Japan's Best Fireworks Festivals: Where and When to See Them
Japan's Best Fireworks Festivals: Where and When to See Them Japan fires more shells in August than most countries do in a year, and the summer hanabi calendar is crowded enough that choosing ba...
Kyoto beyond the crowds: quiet temples and mountain shrines
Kyoto beyond the crowds: quiet temples and mountain shrines Kyoto's crowding problem is smaller than it looks. It is concentrated in about six places: Kiyomizu-dera, Fushimi Inari, Kinkaku-ji, t...
Japan's Black Castles: A Guide to the Kuroi Shiro (Crow Castles)
Japan's Black Castles: A Guide to the Kuroi Shiro (Crow Castles) Not every Japanese castle is a white one. Alongside famous white keeps like Himeji, Japan has a striking family of black castles,...
Awaji Island and Nushima: An Off-the-Beaten-Path Itinerary (2026)
Awaji Island and Nushima: An Off-the-Beaten-Path Itinerary (2026) Awaji Island sits in the sea between Kobe and Shikoku, crossed by most people at 100km/h on the highway bus and seen by almost n...
Hyogo's Hidden North: A San'in-Side Off-the-Beaten-Path Itinerary (2026)
Hyogo's Hidden North: A San'in-Side Off-the-Beaten-Path Itinerary (2026) Almost everyone who comes to Hyogo sees Himeji Castle and Kobe and goes no further. Head north from Himeji, though, and t...
Lake Biwa and Hidden Shiga: An Off-the-Beaten-Path Itinerary (2026)
Lake Biwa and Hidden Shiga: An Off-the-Beaten-Path Itinerary (2026) Shiga sits right next to Kyoto, barely fifteen minutes by train, yet almost no visitors stop. That is their loss. Wrapped arou...
Off the Beaten Path in the Kii Peninsula: A Kumano Kodo Itinerary (2026)
Off the Beaten Path in the Kii Peninsula: A Kumano Kodo Itinerary (2026) Most first trips to Kansai never leave the Kyoto to Osaka to Nara triangle. The Kii Peninsula, the big forested block of ...
The Weirdest and Most Exciting Soft Serves in Kansai
The Weirdest and Most Exciting Soft Serves in Kansai Soft serve is a road-trip institution in Japan, and the best place to find it is a michi-no-eki, the roadside stations that double as farm mark...
When Do Japan's Beaches Open in 2026? Swimming Season Dates by Region
When Do Japan's Beaches Open in 2026? Swimming Season Dates by Region Most Japanese beaches are only open for swimming during a fixed season. A beach holds an "umibiraki" (海開き), the official ope...