I visited Japan in February/March 2020, as Covid-19 was emerging. I watched TV news closely as Northern Italy had begun to shut down it’s provinces as this mysterious new disease spread with devastating consequences for Italy.

In the skifields of Japan, life went on as usual, however once I left and travelled across the country, to Takayama, Kyoto and Tokyo, it became apparent all was not well.

Now early March, I’d arrived in Kyoto and began to receive notifications of museums and places I’d booked to see were closing. The virus had managed to escape the cruise ship quarantined in Yokohama and spread to Tokyo. At this point, I cancelled my visit to Hakone and took the Shinkansen train from Kyoto direct to Tokyo.

There was talk at home in Australia the borders might soon close, so I rebooked my flight and departed on 6 March.

I loved Japan, and below are some images from the Hakuba skifields, the Snow Monkeys at Jigokudani, Takayama and the historical stunning village of Shirakawa-go in the mountainous Hida region of Gifu Prefecture. 

Kyoto was gorgeous with so many stunning places to visit, the Gold and Silver temples, Arashiyama Bamboo Forest and the hike through the Fushimi Inari Taisha to the top of Mt Inari.

A day trip to Hiroshima and Miyajima Island was washed out with heavy rain and the Tori Gate in the lake covered in scaffold however on my way back to Tokyo, I did see Mt Fuji from the Shinkansen train before spending a few hours in Tokyo before my late night departing flight home. 

I will return to complete my visit one day…

Remember to click for a larger image!