Day two in Kyoto: bus to Kinkakuji, Kitano Tenmangu, then on to Kobe — 52,000 steps and 32 km over two days. Kyoto rewards exploring on foot.

Stopping over in Kyoto at last, with one theme: walk as much as possible. Day one covered 32,881 steps and 20 km, from Kiyomizudera to Arashiyama.

Happy New Year. Please keep reading this blog in the year ahead. Over the New Year break, I went to photograph Akashi Kaikyo Bridge and Himeji Castle.

Hit with an overtime restriction and told to take four days off, I grabbed a Seishun 18 ticket and headed north — to a gyutan restaurant in Sendai, DSLR in hand.

A log cottage in Hakuba with colleagues from Tokyo and Nagoya — curry night, Wii battles, and a 45 km traffic jam on the way courtesy of the ¥1,000 expressway weekend.

This is from a trip to the Ise-Shima area from January 2 to 3, when I visited Daio-zaki Lighthouse.

A 600 km Shinkansen trip to Hyogo, with a free Sunday in Osaka — saying a proper goodbye to Kuidaore Taro before the restaurant’s July closing.

I’m heading to Hokkaido next week. A 1,600 km drive one way from Nagoya. If a cold front hits, it’s over.

A friend brought me souvenirs from Okinawa. · Drinkable Luxury Rice: Miki · SPAM Two items. This SPAM — not spam. Spam (lowercase) refers to spam email.

I went to Osaka. My main purpose was to help out at the RoboCup World Championship held at Intex Osaka.