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Hi there! Because the baths are private onsens that means the well known tattoo bans (usually) don't apply. This (usually) only applies to public onsens - also when we were there filming the staff running the Inn were absolutely delightful and very open minded people. I think you'd safely be able to book in and have a fantastic Onsen experience :)

You're welcome! Thank you so much for watching & commenting, hope you have a fantastic trip!

Thank you so much for watching & commenting! This was filmed in the later half of October, which we might add is one of the best times to visit & see the beauty of Japan in our opinion.

That's awesome! We did a month-long trip in Hokkaido in September a few years back and it was one of the best trips we've done. Hope you also have a fantastic time! Unfortunately, we didn't cover Tohoku or Hokkaido much in this video. Some other places we really enjoyed in Hokkaido though for nature and hiking were Shiretoko National Park and Akan-Mashu National Park. In Tohoku, Oirase Gorge is lovely, as well as some of the mountains in Yamagata like Mt. Zao, Mt. Gassan and Yamadera Temple. But anywhere you travel, you'll definitely have a great time!

One of the prettier hikes we've done! Thank you for watching 😊

Hello, hello! Roy's certainly with you on the less sunny weather (he turns as red as a lobster if in the sun for too long). Oh we just Googled Mam Tor and the photos of the stone path and the rolling grassy hills look absolutely gorgeous. As you mention the scenery is quite different to the volcanic (more resembling Mars) hike we just did. But more than anything glad to hear you had a nice time out with the group, sounds like a blast! 😄 Thank you so much for your high praise 🙌 Best wishes to you and the family, and also sending wishes for a lovely weekend back your way!

@@RoyandAimee hiya guys thank you for the lovely reply. That’s also lovely to hear you checked out Mam Tor, it’s such an iconic part of the Peak District and also within a few miles of that area is so many options for walks, also wild swimming which is rather refreshing lol 😆 Thank you it was a great day with the group and fantastic to be out in the Peaks again, I managed another nice walk last week to White Edge which is just over from Curbar Edge which is a very well known climbing area and excellent for hiking too. Thank you as always for taking time out of your busy lives to ‘chat’ 😊 it’s always genuinely appreciated and its great to see the two of you are enjoying getting out and showing everyone some incredible places a little more off the beaten track. Have a great day and weekend guys 😊

In a previous video we did called "10 BEAUTIFUL Day Hikes in Japan" we did a tier list rating of day hikes. Honestly, I'm not sure exactly what "S" means (a quick google says "Superior", but it's commonly known as a ranking/tier which is even BETTER than A tier 🤩

Absolutely! If you pop "Mt. Yake Trail Head" into Google Maps, it should be first result. But just to be sure, the address is: Kamikochi Azumi, Matsumoto, Nagano 390-1520. If it's a weekend or a public holiday I would estimate the car parking spots will be full by 5 or 6am, so be careful there! If you're thinking of going, we're sending you the best of luck for a nice day hike!

@@RoyandAimee thank you for the details.You’re so kind!

Hahah yes! Another birthday hike enthusiast! Although Roy would certainly agree the way you do it is the better way to go 😉 Thank you so much for watching & enjoying the views with us!

Oh my gosh! Congrats on ticking off such an amazing hike! So glad to hear that you think it's an S tier as well 😁 Wait, if you just finished it that means you would've done it pretty much in peak summer! I bet you were eyeing off that lovely coolriver for a quick swim! But also glad to hear that we weren't the only ones feeling like starting at Nagiso is a bit rough, but man, finishing in the beautiful Magome is pretty nice too, right? Woo! Good luck on Mount Yake, we hope you have a wonderful time & get that perfect weather for those Kamikochi views! Take care & be extra careful of heat stroke 💦 Also thank you so much for the lovely comment & watching, we'll keep pumping the videos out!

@@RoyandAimee actually I just finished it yesterday 😅 so many tourists and it’s a little crowded especially in Magome, Tsumitai Soba after the long hiking is very rewarding, I also had the chance to experience the tea house, I beat the heat 38’c though I had to change my shirt like 5 times. Thank you for making video it’s guided me so well, looking forward for yours next trail adventure. Take care always and Keep Safe.

Ooh that's interesting to hear so many people are doing it in summer! Hahah that must have been a record for changing shirts - 5 times in one day 😂 Glad to hear you were able to experience the teahouse though and get some yummy soba! Take care!

Yay! Thank you so much for watching & the lovely comment. Ooh, that's a nice chunk of time, I hope you get to see lots of wonderful nature & enjoy your time in the mountains! 😁

Thank you again for watching & commenting! Iwate surely has just as many treasures! Japan is stunning no matter where you are :D We'll keep pumping out the videos! 💪

Totally agree. Thank you so much for watching! 😊

Us too! Unfortunately we have missed out on a few volcano hikes because of level 2 restrictions, but that's okay, this time was a victory! :D Thank you so much for watching & the lovely comment! 🤗

Yes certainly wouldn't recommend doing Kiso-Komagatake in a day from Tokyo! The video shows hikes that can be done in a day but not necessarily hikes that can be done as day trips from Tokyo. Most of them in fact would be better if you stayed nearby the trailhead for at least one night 😊 Did you enjoy the Kiso-Komagatake hike?

@@RoyandAimee Yes! The beginning is quite rough but it was worth it!

Oof, you would've needed a good layer of blankets that night! 😮 Wooooo! I hope you guys have the most awesome time here!

Yes! It means round-trip 😊

@@RoyandAimee Thanks. I enjoyed your video!

Aw thank you so much for such a lovely comment. That’s really made our day! ❤️ Hope you’re able to make it to some of these spots!

Thank you so much for watching them!

Thank you for watching! 😊

Oooooooof 42 degrees isn’t the summer we’re talking about out, that’s just straight up Armageddon. Glad to hear you survived!

Thank you for watching! This was filmed at the very end of October 😊

@@RoyandAimee Thanks!! Annie and I are coming mid October to mid November so trying to judge what the weather will be like.

That's a great time to come to Japan! It'll start getting quite cool in November but if you head to lower elevations, you'll still be able to see great autumn colours and stay a bit warmer.

Oh my gosh, 5th summer trip? I think we’ve found someone who appreciates summer more than Roy! Hope you have a spectacular trip! ✨(If you have time to share we’d love to know what you’ve got planned!)

@RoyandAimee one reason is to fit around work, I'm a lecturer so can only have holidays off, but Japan is so beautiful in summer. We are doing a few hikes, Tanigawadake, Tsubakurodake, Nakasendo and Fuji for the second time

Ah that makes sense! Sounds like you've got a great trip planned out. This is our first time hearing of Tsubakurodake, we'll have to look it up. If the weather is on our side, I (Aimee) will be hiking Mt. Fuji this summer with my mum as well! Maybe we'll pass each other on the mountain 😆

@RoyandAimee I chose Tsubakurodake on a friends recommendation, it looks amazing. Should be quite close to where you live now! What route is Amy taking? We did Subashiri last year and Fujinomiya this time

Yeah it looks like it's only an hour or two away from us, so it'd be a good one to do. Hope you have a great hike up it! We're also doing the Fujinomiya route 😊 We organised it a bit late though so we'll stay at the 7th station and then keep going up to the summit the next day, probably well after sunrise.

Thank you for watching!

Hello again! Going well as always! Glad to hear it’s a much cooler year this year over there. There certainly a point where it’s just too hot to enjoy things, right? Yes Gunma is a wonderful place! It’s got some of the nicest waterway systems and wonderful rolling hills. We really love driving through it! Ohhh, those certainly sound like happy memories floating down the river. Now that you bring it up It also reminds us of floating down the river on old tractor tubes on Roy’s family’s farm. ☺️Good memories! Totally agree with you on the onsen building looking best at night. One day we gotta stay there. But I think because of all the Spirited Away hype it’s pretty competitive to get a spot. 😅 Thank you again for watching! Hope you and your wife are having a wonderful weekend!

@@RoyandAimee Hi guys thank you for the lovely reply, glad to hear all is well. Yes it’s definitely much more pleasant here at the moment, temperatures have been averaging around 22 C which is much more comfortable for us lol 😆 Floating down a river on tubes sounds a great way to spend a few hours too, sounds very relaxing 😌 I can see how the onsen was said to have inspired Spirited Away, such a beautiful place. Having seen some of the onsen towns around Japan at different times of the year I definitely understand how difficult it can be to book sometimes. I imagine there are a few hidden gems that are worth exploring too. Always happy to watch and also share your brilliant videos with friends, your insights and experiences are very much appreciated and hopefully inspire others to visit some of the other areas Japan has to explore. We’re having a nice relaxed weekend thank you, I hope your weekend has gone well too? Have a great week ahead guys. 😊

22 degrees sounds beautiful haha! We'll have to wait until autumn to get those kinds of temps 😆 Japan has quite a few beautiful onsen towns, right? You can probably have a lot more luck if you're booking into one, even in a popular spot, on a weekday. Weekends are just always so busy with domestic tourism 😅 Thank you so much for such lovely words! It always inspires us to keep getting out there and filming more areas. Have a great week too!

Glad to hear that you loved it! Even going the same way as us haha 😅 Did you stay in one of the towns while there?

Hi there! This was filmed the first weekend of October.

We arrived by public transport 😊 We took the train on the Chuo line to Okutama Station and then caught a 40-minute bus to Kamosawa.

Hi there! We hiked it in the middle of May.

Hi there! Thanks so much for watching! A good amount of the hikes were done July through October. Mt. Kiso-Komagatake was the start of July, Mt. Tanigawa - September, Happo-ike and Tsugaike - the start of October. But yes you guessed right! It's mainly to avoid the snow in spring. After Golden Week though, you should be okay to hike mountains up to 2,000m without crampons. Mt. Daisen was done during Golden Week and the hike in this video: czcams.com/video/7YpYJy63n2o/video.htmlsi=PLr7MhyYlwQDK30o was also at the start of May of a ~2,000m mountain. For a lot of the hikes featured in this video, November will be too late with the first snow starting. Hope that helps!

@@RoyandAimee Very helpful thank you!

In late November, quite a few of these mountains - Mt. Kiso-Komagatake, Tsugaike Nature Garden, Happo-ike, Mt. Asahidake, Mt. Tanigawa - will have snow on them already. Some of the lower ones like Mt. Oyama and Mt. Jinba won't have snow but will probably be getting down to 5 - 10 degrees celcius during the day. We really can't comment on trail running as we've never done that before 😅 But if hiking them at that time, we'd usually have layers - a t-shirt, fleece and then larger jacket for near the summit.

Hi there! Thanks so much for watching and for the comment! Really appreciate that dates on the video could be helpful, thanks for bringing it up. We’ll try and add those in on our hiking videos from now on 😊 This hike was on September 14/15. Yeah for March and early April, the alps are still completely covered in snow. For that time of year, mountains up to 2,000m (6,500ft) are your best bet. The taller of those will still have some snow on top so crampons would be good to have too.

rofl

Hi there! We were first on working holiday visas, which as Australians, allowed us to live in and travel around Japan for 1.5 years. After that, we switched to working visas. So now we have our own van but we’re not living and travelling in it full-time. Usually just on weekends and sometimes working out of it during the week when work is slower 😊

@@RoyandAimee ah. Thanks for the response. I think I'm too old now for the working holiday visa and I'd prefer to not work if I can avoid it. 🤪

Hi there! The ones near Tokyo - Mt. Jinba and Mt. Oyama will be okay as well as the Nakasendo trail. For the rest, they’ll be seeing snow from around mid-October onwards so not really suitable for hiking anymore. If you’re coming in very early November, the gondolas for Happo-ike are usually still going until Nov 4th.

I'll be there in November too. Gotta stay at lower elevations or bring all my snow hiking crap which is heavy.

Hahaha gotta keep practicing to get to that level of native-sounding 💪

We did it mid-Feb 😊 This past winter season there was less snow around. If you get a better season, there should be a bit more snow there in Feb.