I enjoyed so much my 3 weeks in Japan during the summer of 2015 that I decided to return and work at a hostel in Osaka at the end of that year. With my intention of possibly opening my own hostel in the future, this gave me an opportunity to really find out how things work behind the scenes.

In early December I had a chance to check out the autumn colors in both Kyoto in Nara. Living in Osaka made it very convenient to visit these cities.

I always get a special feeling when I arrive at a big historical city like Tokyo. The setting of so many movies, books, and photographs, it gave me a similar feeling than when I visited Rio de Janeiro, New York, Hong Kong, and big European cities in the past.

A priority destination for this round the world trip, I timed my visit to Japan to coincide with the climbing season of Mount Fuji. The route to the top is an easy walk, and can only be done from July to mid-September.

On my way from Osaka to Tokyo, I wanted to spend 2 half-days visiting Takayama. I ended up losing half a day when I left my JR Rail Pass and my Kindle reader on the shinkansen train before getting off at Nagoya Station. After I got off the train, and as it was closing its doors, I realized what I had done.