Each of us had a different reason to visit Japan. Architecture, ninja fights, sushi, the fastest trains in the world and the best sumo fighters. We wanted to see many places and to observe the Japanese everyday life from the closest possible perspective. The trapper’s style seemed like a perfect solution: freedom, light backpacks and experiencing authentic places. Unfortunately, our dreamed-off shinkansens turned out to be very expensive, and so did renting a car and staying at even the cheapest ryokans. Our plan started looking less and less likely. We were so preoccupied with making the plan happen, that we didn’t even take campervans into consideration. The luxury of having our own little home with a kitchen, sleeping rooms and transport didn’t go with our initial scout’s ideals. Nevertheless, for the Japanese trip to happen, we had to change our minds.
New direction
Campers aren’t popular in Japan. There were just a couple of companies renting campervans, we chose the one with the best location. It was a perfect choice! The reservation at Japan Campers was arranged by Mr. Andrzej, a Pole who has been living in Japan for quite a long time, 20 years of which he has been renting campervans. We received an iPad with internet and some useful applications. We had to re-think our original route because of a slower than expected moving pace. We decided to stick solely to Honshu island. At the beginning, we thought about making a round-trip from Tokyo to Hiroshima but in the end, the farthest point we reached was Kyoto. We rode across the Japanese Alpes, the Sea of Japan, the farm lands of Hokuriku, Kyoto, Nara and back along the ocean near the Fuji volcano, Izu peninsula to Tokyo. The wonderful thing about travelling by a campervan is the ease of changing the itinerary. When new ideas appear on the way, you can put them into action. You just need to take a different turn. We have been largely taking advantage of this freedom.
