My exchange semester in Japan

I will share my experience throughout my exchange Semester in Japan on this site. The goal is to compile a list of interesting travel and sightseeing spots. I will also include some interesting facts or historical background information such in a way that this page could be seen as a short wiki with some personal sitenotes. Also take a look at My Traveldiary in Japan in which i described my time in Japan in a more personal manner.

Table Of Contents

0. Compilations
1. Tokyo
2. Specials
3. Trips
4. Kyoto
5. Reviews

0. Compilations

Compilation: Garden and parks in Tokyo

This is a compilation of gardens and parks. There are…

Compilation: Viewpoints of Tokyo

This compilation lists some places which promise to provide a…

1. Tokyo

The metropolitian Tokyo actually consists of many wards which in turn consists of many cities which were historically merged after the end of World War II. These wards have an individual administration and town hall. The following posts shall give you a small summarized overview on the different wards and their potential sightseeing spots. This content is not comprehensive enough and only covers spots i actually visited and believe to be worth mentioning.

Ward: Taito

In my personal opinion Taito is the best wards out…

Ward: Minato

Minato is located in the south of Tokyo and is…

Ward: Shibuya

Shibuya is probably one of the more famous wards in…

Ward: Shinjuku

Today the in the west located Shinjuku ward is the…

Ward: Chiyoda

Seen as a wide green area on google maps in…

Ward: Bunkyo

Bunkyo (文京) uses the Kanji for culture (文) and capital…

Ward: Chuo

Formerly known as the downtown area of Edo-Tokyo and main…

Ward: Meguro

Meguro is more of a residential area in the South…

Ward: Koto / Edogawa

These two wards are located east from central Tokyo across…

2. Specials

Spots or Topics i deemed to deserve an extra posts with a more in depth explanation or trivia.

Tohoku Sandai Matsuri

The Tohoku region is located north from the Kanto region.…

Fushimi Inari

If you wander around Japan for a while you will…

Gotokoji Temple

The Manekin Neko – beckoning cat – has many different…

Asakusa

After the Meiji Restoration in 1868, Asakusa grew as an…

Ueno

Ueno is a district in the Taito ward and the…

Diary: Tokaido Trail

The Tokaido trail is a historic path connecting Kyoto and…

3. Trips

Possible one day trips around Tokyo which you can do at the weekend.

Trip: Kawaguchiko and Fuji-Q Themepark

The most iconic picture of Mt. Fuji is probably the one where you can see a pagoda in front and Mt. Fuji in the back…

Trip: Hiking Mt. Takao

Mount Takao is a 1 hour train ride away from Tokyo and is therefore the nearest and most easiest accessible mountain around Tokyo. There are…

Trip: Nokogiriyama and Nihonji temple

The Nihonji temple area is a big temple complex at the 330 meter tall Nokogiriyama mountain. Although the opening hour states that it is only…

Trip: Nikko and Chuzenji lake

The corresponding diary and impressions can be found here. Nikko is a city around 140km north from Tokyo however when you talk about going to…

Trip: Climbing Mt. Fuji

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Trip: Ashikaga flowerpark

Wisteria trees are beside cherry trees a very popular kind of plant in Japan. You can see those and many other flowers in the Ashikaga…

Trip: Okinawa

Okinawa is an island southwest from the mainland and was the former Ryukyu kingdom until 1879. It was a very important strategical location during World…

Trip: Yokohama, Kamakura, Hakone

To complete this list of short trips around Tokyo the destinations of Yokohama, Kamakura and Hakone should be mentioned here as well. I only passed…

4. Kyoto

I grouped Kyoto’s sights in 4 different areas which can be used as a baseline for a day to day itinerary plan.

5. Reviews

Monthly reviews and thoughts while being abroad.