Sea Change Okinawa: Japan

Make the most out of Golden week in Okinawa

Golden Week is coming! That glorious time of year in Japan where we get at least 5 days off work to relax and hopefully travel. Golden week is the perfect time to travel to Okinawa because it's warm enough to enjoy all the summer activities like going to the beach and snorkelling, but it's before the extreme heat and oppressive humidity take over the island!

So if you are planning to travel to Okinawa over Golden Week, here's what I recommend doing to make the most of your time!

Camping

Okinawa is a great place to go camping! There are numerous campsites throughout the island, if you want modern amenities such as showers and bathrooms, and most of these places you can also rent all the equipment you need such as a tent, sleeping mats and the all important BBQ! If you want to rough it a bit more and actually sleep on the beach and listen to the waves lapping on the sand overnight, you can even just set your tent up on any secluded beach, such as this one on Kouri Island!

Visit the Kerama Islands

If you have time, and are looking for some of the clearest waters and best snorkelling in Okinawa, it's worth catching a ferry over to one of the Kerema Islands from Tomari Port in Naha. These can be visited in one day, or make the most of it by spending a night camping or staying in one of the many guesthouses on the Islands. The closest of the Islands, is Tokashiki, which has fast and slower ferries. You need to book your ferry tickets in advance by ringing Tomari port, especially during busy periods such as Golden Week!

Aharen Beach, Tokashiki — Tokashiki Island

Hire a car!

The best, and really only way to get the most out of your visit to Okinawa is to hire a car. The public transportation on the island is slow and inefficient, and most sites are quite a distance from each other. With a rental car you can drive around the island to find the best and cutest cafes and most beautiful beaches, rather than being stuck in the one area.

Check out Shuri Castle

Shuri Castle is a World Heritage Site that was once the center of the Ryukyu Kingdom. The castle and grounds are gorgeous, and a great glimpse into life in the ancient Ryukyu kingdom. It is starkly different to the Castles on mainland Japan, with influences from Japan, China and Taiwan.

Find a Cafe with View

Okinawa is full of adorable cafes, and if you're lucky on a beautiful day you can find some with amazing views! My favourite if you are up near Churaumi Aquarium, is the Hammock Cafe! You can enjoy your lunch while relaxing in a hammock overlooking the East China Sea. My other favourite is Cafe Doka Doka in Onna-son, which has another great view as well as selling Okinawan pottery made in their pottery studio downstairs.

Wander along Kokusai-Dori

Kokusai-Dori is the main tourist spot in Naha city. It's a great place to try Okinawan food, as well as buy souvenirs. There are numerous alleyways coming off the street, so you can easily spend the day wandering, shopping and getting lost.

Kokusai Dori Naha — Kokusai Dori in Naha

Do you have plans to visit Okinawa in Golden Week? Let me know if you want any other tips!

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Golden week in Okinawa is a great time to visit! The weather is warm and the water is lovely and it is just before the extreme summer heat and humidity arrives! Make the most of your holiday with tips in this post!

21:18
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Kin Cosmos Fields - Okinawa

Japan

Since I moved to Okinawa 2 years ago, I kept seeing photos of these gorgeous cosmos flower fields in Kin and have been desperate to visit them ever since. The challenge is the fact that they only bloom for a very short time every year and I kept missing it!

I was crazy busy with work in January and only got one day off before a work trip to London. The day was lovely and we decided to head out to see these flowers. They were so lovely!

These cosmos fields are planted between rice crops because apparently they do something good to the soil. I have absolutely no idea what they do, but they look so pretty! I basically took about a hundred photos of the same thing, but I just couldn't stop because the cosmos were so pretty!

There is no parking spot near the cosmos fields, so you just park on the side of the road wherever you can find space. Be careful that you are leaving enough room for other cars to get past you. The field has designated walking paths with lots of signs telling you not to go off the paths, but there are a couple of areas good for photos without the ropes in the way. It seems a lot of people come here for professional photo shoots.

You can get specific direction to the cosmos fields here

Without further ado.... flower spam:

The cosmos fields in Kin, Okinawa bloom in between rice crop harvests and are a great place to get photos!

This guy!

Perfect spot for a family selfie

Love the man hole covers in Japan

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The cosmos fields in Kin Town, Okinawa are a must see if you happen to be in Okinawa when they are in bloom. You will be greeted by a sea of pink and white flowers. It's the perfect photo spot.

18:36
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White Christmas in Japan - Nozawa Onsen

Japan

After an amazing Christmas eve playing in the snow at Nozawa Onsen and a visit to the snow monkeys, we woke up on Christmas day to beautiful blue skies! After opening presents followed by a traditional Japanese breakfast at our accommodation, we spent the morning playing on the slopes again with the sleds and snow bikes, then headed to a cozy craft beer cafe (Craft Room) for some warmth and a snack. When we walked in we were greeted by super friendly staff and a delicious looking menu! We had a bowl of wedges and some falafel balls as well as some cider (on tap!).

After lunch we headed back for more snow play before going back to our accommodation to open more presents with the cousins and some sparkling wine. We had dinner at Kaze no Ie, an Italian restaurant in the village.

Nozawa Onsen really was one of the most incredible Christmases we've had as a family. Not only did we get the white Christmas we were searching for, the village was absolutely lovely. The staff at our accommodation and all the places we ate were so nice, and everything was in walking distance.

Nozawa Onsen was really easy to get to from Tokyo, and I can imagine us going back again in future. I can see why people keep going back there year after year.

For more information about where we stayed and booked our holiday, check out my last post.

Nozawa onsen on Christmas day! Blue skies and snow!

Sunny day in Nozawa Onsen

Another snowball fight

Nozawa Onsen on Christmas Day 2016. Perfection

Snowy mountain shrines

Torii

I love how the trees are encased in these sticks

Hikage area

Those mountains <3

Lunch break at an awesome craft beer restaurant

View from the gondola

Presents!

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17:41
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Nozawa Onsen

Japan

This year for our Christmas break, rather than heading back to Australia, we met up with some family at Nozawa Onsen in Nagano, Japan for our first White Christmas! It was amazing, and easily one of, if not, the best trip we've had in Japan so far.

I don't know that i'd ever heard of Nozawa Onsen before my sister mentioned they were wanting to go there for Christmas, but after reading some reviews online I was sold. Honestly, I was a bit concerned that it would be just another ski village in Japan overrun with Aussies, but that is actually one of the things that I think made it so great (more on that later).

We headed up to Tokyo the day before, then the next morning, caught the Shinkansen out to Iiyama station before getting a bus to Nozawa Onsen. I stupidly left booking train tickets to the last minute, which meant there were no reserved seats left. We had to get non-reserved seats and arrived at Tokyo station a good hour or more before the Shinkansen we wanted to get. The station was chaos because it was a national holiday and I think everyone was heading away for the long weekend! If possible, I definitely recommend securing Shinkansen tickets in advance if you're travelling towards Nagano during peak ski season!

National holiday madness for the Shinkansen

Lucky we managed to get seats on the train, and once we arrived to Iiyama station we headed to the supermarket next to the station to pick up some snacks before our bus left for Nozawa Onsen. This is a great idea because although there are a lot of places to eat in Nozawa onsen, there aren't really any convenience stores if you're looking to buy snacks or drinks between meals.

The day we arrived, there was actually minimal snow and I was a little worried we wouldn't get our white Christmas. We decided to stay at Lodge Nagano, which was pretty central to everything including the town and the ski areas. When we arrived we were welcomed by the friendliest Australian staff and shown around the place before being taken to our room, which was actually ready before check in time.

Giant Asahi and a lil' gulp

Lodge Nagano

We headed out for an early dinner (travelling with kids!) at Wakagiri, a little izakaya in town. The sashimi was delicious and super fresh and they even had kids meals and toys for the kids to keep entertained! During the ski season, the restaurants in Nozawa Onsen get full quickly, so it's a good idea to book some places when you arrive at your hotel (the staff were really happy to help as well as give recommendations).

The village

The next morning we woke to a snow covered winter wonderland and we were SO EXCITED! This was my first real snow experience, and it was lovely. Lodge Nagano offers a different cooked breakfast every morning and we got to eat our omelettes in the communal kitchen while watching the snow fall outside.

Nozawa Onsen, view from our room at Lodge Nagano

The view outside our room window

The village

Seeing as we were going on a tour to see the snow monkeys that afternoon, we headed up to the Hikage kids park area for the morning for some snow play! I was honestly so surprised to see how much fun stuff there was to do for free. You can borrow sleds and snow bikes for free from the information centre (which we did!) and we spent a good couple of hours playing with these as well as building snow men and having snow fights.

It was the perfect way to spend our first morning in the snow! After our trip to the snow monkeys we went to a new Mexican place in town called Juntas that had only opened the day before, but was fantastic and run by an Australian girl. After just one day in Nozawa Onsen, I could see why there are people that endlessly chase the ski seasons around the world. All the people we met working in the lodge, cafes and restaurants seemed so happy with their lives! I think this is one of the reasons that being surrounded by Australians even though I was in Japan didn't bother me at all because everyone was so happy. Another thing I really think the Aussies added to the place was the standard of the food. I honestly ate some of the best food i've had in Japan while I was in Nozawa Onsen, and this was because most of these places were run by Australians. Anyway, of course the Village is not completely overrun by Aussies, and it is actually just like a small Japanese village with people going about their normal days, and pretty shrines and traditional shops scattered around. All in all, a great experience and a good option for first-timers to Japan.

We booked our accommodations through Nozawa Holidays, and they were extremely helpful and kind! This post is not sponsered in any way, I just wanted to give a shout out to the awesome service we received from them.

Part 2, Christmas Day in Nozawa Onsen is still to come.....

Snowball stack

The most fun i've had in a long time :)

This christmasy person was handing out candy on Christmas eve

Lovely snow-covered shrine on the way to see the snow monkeys

Dinner at Wakagiri on our first night in Nozawa

My tips for staying in Nozawa Onsen

Try to book your Shinkansen tickets in advance if you're going at peak season
Book restaurants for dinner when you get to your accommodation to avoid disappointment (and wandering the streets trying to decide where to eat)
Go and see the snow monkeys! They're only an hour away
If you want to use the free snow sleds and bikes, get to the Hikage information centre early (before 10am) and they're all taken
Stock up on snacks and drinks at the supermarket next to Iiyama station before you get the bus to Nozawa Onsen

If you've got any other tips, be sure to comment below

21:03
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Arashiyama - Kyoto

Japan

Before I continue on with my snowy holiday in Japan posts, I have one post left from our trip to Koya-san and Kyoto this past November. Our last full day in Kyoto we ventured out to Arashiyama. Can you believe that i've been to Kyoto at least 5 times before and never been to Arashiyama!? How stupid I was to miss this area every time! Arashiyama is gorgeous and a prime spot for viewing the autumn leaves.

As soon as we stepped off the tram I was in love. The station was adorable and we walked straight onto a street full of cute shops and restaurants. We stopped for a croquette from a street stall, then continued on towards the bridge. Arashiyama was CROWDED, and it wasn't even a national holiday or a weekend when we were there. It was crowded for a reason though. The autumn leaves covering the mountain backdrop were stunning and the area is just so cute.

We only spent a half day here because we were tired from non-stop sightseeing for the previous 4 days, and we wandered off track and ended up kind of in the middle of nowhere and hungry with a small child, so ended up heading back into the city around lunch time. Still though, we had a lovely time. We walked by the river, through the park and came across the bamboo grove.

If you ever find yourself in Kyoto, I definitely recommend taking a day out in Arashiyama. It's not far from the city centre and everything is just so pretty! Also, I wish I had known about it before (it's obvious I didn't do much planning for this, isn't it?), but there's a lovely train ride in Arashiyama, that you can read about on my friend Ashley's blog.