The Cocolo Chronicles

Open Country

Beyond the cities: farmland, coastline, footpaths, and the slow turn of the seasons.

Seasons

Published in Open Country on 14 February 2025

Everything we say about activities in our articles and itineraries is based on an ordinary day. Waiting times, opening hours, how busy a place gets: all of it shifts sharply during the busiest periods. If your trip falls in one of them, read this article carefully. Golden Week is a week in which several public holidays fall one after another, which lets Japanese people take time off. It is the busiest travel period in Japan, and most Japanese people are away. Hotels cost more as a result, and the well-known sites

Read the article

Seasons to avoid in Japan

Published in Open Country on 14 February 2025

Planning a trip to Japan? Choosing the right dates does much of the work of making the trip a good one. If you would rather avoid packed streets, hotels at their highest prices and bad weather, this article sets out the periods to keep clear of. From 29 April to 5 May (dates shift slightly from year to year), Golden Week is the week Japanese people take their holidays: overloaded sites, crowded transport and hotel prices at their peak. It is the one week to keep clear of. Obon is the festival of the dead, the

Read the article

Ten places we send people first in Japan

Published in Open Country on 3 January 2024

You want to see Japan but have not settled on where to go. Here are ten destinations we recommend for a first trip. Pick the ones that pull at you. Visiting Japan without Tokyo is like going to France and skipping Paris. The capital does not show you every side of Japan, but it remains essential. Three or four days in Tokyo will let you take in its different quarters without rushing. Some ideas for what to do: Visit Meiji Jingu shrine. Visit Sensou-ji temple. Go to TeamLab. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government

Read the article