outdoors (Page 6)
Mountain hiking trail looks as congested as any Tokyo-area expressway.
You and your bushido buddies heading into the wild this fall? Then don’t forget your camping kimono.
Carefully designed features promise to keep you warm and bring you closer together at outdoor events.
Japan’s tallest mountain loses its icy top covering as storm blows through eastern Japan.
Mie town’s garden opens its gates after nightfall so guests can see the gorgeous blossoms in a whole new light.
This incredible promotion lets you ski all day for free, in a powder snow paradise just a few hours away from Tokyo Station.
The conditions are just right to surround Takeda Castle with a sea of clouds.
Sleep in a traditional Japanese house while surrounded by rice paddies, beaches, tree-houses, zip lines and a lighthouse on your very own private island.
Clever design even takes into account how to keep you entertained during those long, lonely nights.
Single-person sleeping areas connected by a common space give you a living room in the great outdoors.
There are a few things you’ll want to make sure you have before setting out on a long hike. Proper footwear is a must, for example, as is a sufficient supply of water.
Especially if you’re heading into the mountains of Japan during the summer months, a hand towel is something else you’ll definitely want to have with you. The high humidity means you’ll be working up quite a sweat, and having something to wipe yourself off will go a long way towards making your day outdoors more enjoyable.
Of course, even more so than being drenched in sweat, getting lost is an easy way to ruin your day out. Thankfully there’s now a way to prevent both of those problems with a towel that doubles as a map.
It’s no secret that Japan is a hard-working society. Thankfully, there are a few times each year when more or less the whole country goes on vacation for a few days. There’s the string of holidays collectively known as Golden Week in early May, plus o-bon in August where people traditionally head back to their home towns, spend time with their relatives, and pay a visit to the graves of their ancestors.
However, there’s not much to stem the flow of work or school responsibilities between those two blissful periods, except for the oasis of Umi no Hi, or Marine/Sea Day, on the third Monday in July, which encourages people to take a trip to the beach and splash about in the sea.
Of course, this leaves June without a holiday of its own. And while Marine Day is great for people living in the coastal regions of Japan, residents of the country’s eight landlocked prefectures feel understandably left out. Thankfully, a group in mountainous Tochigi Prefecture has a solution to both problems.
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