Travel Highlights 2024

In 2024, all of my travel was on Honshu, Japan's main island. I didn't go as far as Hokkaido or Okinawa, the northernmost and southernmost islands, instead, the furthest north I ventured was Niigata, and the furthest south will be Fukuoka which I am visiting before the New Year.

Having only joined Japan Guide in November, here I'll be recounting three of my favorite personal weekend trips from the past year.

#3 Utsunomiya

As a food fanatic, I love it when a region goes all out with their local dish. A great example of that is Utsunomiya, a town of gyoza. Gyoza are a type of filled dumpling, sometimes known as potstickers, and they are everywhere in Utsunomiya! The town really leans into it, with gyoza decorations, lampshades, and even a Gyoza Committee and annual Gyoza Festival to celebrate the dish. I drove there so was also able to visit the Four Seasons Bamboo Forest, but my main objective was to try a bunch of different gyoza, which I certainly did! My favorite spot was Barisu Gyoza.

#2 Kyoto

While I have been to Kyoto before, I have only been to the main central sightseeing spots. Knowing that they are very crowded these days, I decided instead to visit the city of Uji. It is still within Kyoto Prefecture, but there are far fewer people. This was my first time to the city, and although I've seen a lot of temples during my time in Japan, Byodoin Temple is now one of my favorites. I visited during January, so there were barely any people, but apparently it gets crowded during cherry blossom season and autumn. During my trip to the city, I also tasted lots of different green tea, as the region is very famous for it, particularly matcha. This was my first time trying matcha dango (glutinous matcha rice cakes), too, and they were so tasty I was glad I bought the small packet, because if I had bought a bigger one I would have eaten them all in one go!

#1 Nikko

Still very fresh in my memory, I visited Nikko to see the autumn colors in November. Nikko is actually very close to Utsunomiya, and is one of my favorite day trips from Tokyo. Although the colors weren't at their peak overall, there were some stunning spots around the Toshogu shrine complex that I really enjoyed. During my trip, I also visited Kanmangafuchi Abyss, and ate the two regional specialties: yuba and age-yuba manju. Yuba is tofu skin formed from boiling soy milk. It sounds strange, but it has a great texture and milky flavor, and the age-yuba manju is a type of deep-fried yuba bun filled with red bean paste. I loved it all! Even though it's a place I've been to a few times, I enjoy myself every time, and am sure I will be back again in the future.