Looking Forward to Visiting All the Prefectures in Japan!

When I moved to Japan, I didn’t know much about its geography. I didn’t even know that it has 47 prefectures! Then, I get to know Japan more through my Japanese teacher, friends, and by traveling--- which triggered my desire to travel to all the prefectures in the Land of the Rising Sun.

Yuushien Garden in Shimane Prefecture

At first, I thought it would be impossible, but I was fortunate to be able to live in Yamagata, Saitama, and Fukuoka. This made my goal more convenient to fulfill. I didn’t need to spend that much money on Shinkansen (bullet trains), plane tickets, staying for long periods in hotels. My husband and I could just visit some prefectures on the weekends and travel by car.

Current Status

Currently, I’ve traveled to 45 prefectures--- only two left!

Hopefully, next year I’ll be able to finish them all. It’ll be a dream come true! I never thought that a simple country-bumpkin like me would be able to live and travel around Japan.

When I was a kid, I was just dreaming of traveling to Tokyo, Osaka, Himeji, and Kyoto. However, I’ve reached places in Japan that some of my Japanese friends/ acquaintances haven’t been to or haven’t even heard of!

How do I manage to travel that much?

Aside from moving to three different areas, I carefully plan my trips with holidays, weekends, promos (flights, hotels, etc.), and I have a travel buddy--- my wonderful husband.

We both like history and exploring new places, but it doesn’t really matter for him if he visits all the 47 prefectures. He just likes to see interesting stuff and do some activity while traveling if we could.

Despite not sharing the same goal, my husband helps me to reach my goal by taking an extra day off so we could thoroughly travel and rest. Sometimes, he even does overtime so he could finish all his work and take a longer holiday with me. In addition, he also drives me around (I can’t drive) and take my photos.

He is my superhero!

Am I going to stop traveling around Japan once I hit my goal?

Of course, no!

There were prefectures that I visited more than once because there were some places that I missed or wasn’t included in my previous itinerary because of a schedule conflict.

What’s my favorite prefecture?

A lot of people ask me this question, so far, I can’t answer it until I visited all the 47 prefectures. On the other hand, some prefectures are very special for me.

 These are Yamagata, Ishikawa, Ehime, and Gunma.

Yamagata--- I lived in Yamagata for 3 years and it was my first home in Japan. Hence, whenever I can, I always go and visit it.

Ishikawa--- It was the first prefecture that my husband and I visited together. Plus, there are so many things to do in Kanazawa (its capital) and it’s very foreign-friendly. There are a lot of instructions written in English and other languages. For example, its bus station is very organized. There are screens around the station where you can see the bus schedule and when are the buses going to arrive.

Ehime--- I’m a big fan of Natsume Souseki (a Japanese writer). One of his books is based in Ehime, so being able to visit the place that I once read is very surreal.

Gunma--- There are so many things to do in this place! There are arts and crafts, it’s close to nature, there’s an onsen, and you could also do winter sports!

Conclusion

Before traveling to all the 47 prefectures, seemed a bit impossible to me, but now I’m pretty close to it! Hopefully, by next year I’m able to visit all of it!

Dreams do come true! So, don't give up!

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