Japan

Japan is one of those places that I just can’t get enough of. It feels I have always had an attachment in some way. 

When I was a kid (80’s), my neighbor moved from Okinawa. He was half Japanese and his dad was Navy (we were Army). One day, he let me into his house to see his room and it was full of 70’s/80’s Japanese mecha. Those images ARE BURNED into my head. It was amazing. 

In middle school, I took Judo and Goju Karate and in high school (90’s) I was into anime, manga and video games. I always loved seeing magazines cover Japanese version of games. One of my favorite systems was a Neo Geo and the game Sengoku (side scroll fighting game). 

In ’99/2000, I got into Japanese cars because I had a Honda Civic hatchback. At the time, it was called the ‘Import scene‘. In that era, I would reach out to Japanese car owners in Japan and connect with them, which lead to friendships. This motivated me to go to Japan. 

In 2001, I saved up money and took a vacation to the Philippines and then Japan. 1st time for both places. Since then, I have always been in love with Japan. 

 

 

2001-2006 (all car related)

Most of the pictures can be found on the main site since it is all car related. https://www.f31club.com/f31rogers-car-blog/

*My mistake during these trips were I just focused on car stuff. I didn’t take in the culture as I should have. Something I realized during the years later when I returned.

 

2016 (car and culture related)

This was my return trip after 10 years. This time, my wife was coming.

Leopardess train experience

 

2017 ( 3x in Japan)

May 2017 – Wandering Leopard Pilgrimage

This was my trip to criss cross Japan. I’m working on a post that is traveling between the cities and what days. Some of the days were super interesting as I jumped multiple systems to get to one location.

WLP train experience

The list of the days here were short break downs on what I did that day. These are on the main f31club website. Since I made this sub directory for traveling and family, I’ve added more pictures below of the NON Car related stuff.

  1. Sunday – Arrival in Japan and to Takamatsu
  2. Monday – Okayama, Hiroshima, Iwakuni, Yamaguchi and back to Hiroshima
  3. Tuesday – Hiroshima, Osaka and Shiga
  4. Wednesday – Gifu, Nagoya and Sendai
  5. Thursday – Sendai
  6. Friday – Tokyo and Saitama
  7. Sunday – Hakone to 31st Leopard meeting
  8. Monday morning Japan – Leopard cruise to Mishima Skywalk Bridge
  9. Narita airport to Vancouer Airport to San Francisco International airport

 

 

August 2017 – Wandering Leopard and cub

This was a 5 day trip was with my son Jacob. Initially it was a joke. We were already in the Philippines and for his birthday, he wanted to see Japan, so we went. Going to Japan is not without meeting my F31 family, so I contacted people to let them know I’ll be there. My focus was Tokyo and Yokohama. I did want to expand out, but since we kept it cool.

WLC train experience

  1. Thursday – Narita Airport, Shinjuku (Godzilla head), Reiyukai Shakaden Hall, Tokyo Tower, Zojo-ji Temple, SL Plaza, and Hakuhinkan Toy Park.
  2. Friday –  Akihabara (Tam Tam, Golden Age Toys, Trader 3, Animate, Mandrake), Shikansen Festival, Ryōgoku Kokugikan (Sumo Hall), Odaiba (Trick Art Museum) and Iidabashi mini meet.
  3. Saturday- Yokohama – Pokemon Festival, Yokohama mini meet and Iidabashi mini meet.
  4. Sunday – 47 Ronin gravesite, Tokyo Dome City, Sunshine City (Pokemon Mega Center), Nakano Broadway, and Akihabara (cars)
  5. Akihabara Night – 8/13/2017

 

 

September/October 2017 – Wandering Leopard Saga

This as the final journey in Japan for 2017. This was my 3rd time this year and again, this was gonna be spread out. My last 3 trips have embolden me again to wander Japan and this is what I did.  I wanted to hit places that I tried to do in May, but wasn’t able to do so because of time. Some of the goals I had for this trip also didn’t materialized for a few different reasons.

WLS train experience 2017

  1. Thursday – Arrival to Yokohama and going to Saitama
  2. Friday – Saitama Tuning shops, Enoshima Island, Shinjuku Dinner and Sunrise Seto train
  3. Saturday – Okayama > Kobe > Kyoto > Tokyo > Shizuoka
  4. Sunday – Shizuoka hotel and F31 meeting > Yokohama

 

WL 2019 Trip

WL 2019 Train experience

 

 

WL 2020 Trip

WL 2020 train experience

 

 

 

 

 

Wandering Leopad 2023 – Post Pandemic

 

 

 

Wandering Leopard in Japan 3x again!

It wasn’t suppose to happen, but it did! March, July and November of 2024, it was all EXPLORING.

 

 

 

Wandering Leopard – Sakura season March 2024

I was back in Japan. There was a lot more on my mind this time. Of all the times I have been to Japan, I ignored quite a few things. I was going through my old pictures and came across some ‘stamps’. I never paid no mind, but I found an FB page talking about eki stamps… then I fell down the rabbit hole. Castle seals, Goshuin seals… Stamp rallies… etc. Now I had a lot of purpose to revisit many places. 

I was also suppose to go to Sapporo for 3 days, but my flight leaving out of Narita was cancelled due to weather. 

  • Sleeping at Narita Airport
  • Tokyo wandering
  • Nagoya wandering
  • Osaka
    • Shinsekai
  • Himeji
  • Okayama
  • Takamatsu
  • Kitakyshu/Kokura
  • Fukuoka
  • Dazaifu
  • Kobe
  • Nara
  • Uji
  • Kyoto
  • Okazaki
  • Shizuoka
  • Yokohama
  • Ofuna
  • Enoshima Island
  • Oya Caves
  • Nikko
  • Nikko Circuit
  • Utsunomiya

 

Wandering Leopard – Summer July 2024

This return trip was very cool in hot weather! I went to a lot of places I have been wanting to go or check out. I had a lot more places marked, but due to time or train scheduling, I wasn’t able to make it. 

This trip I used the Hokuriku Arch Pass, which let me get from Tokyo to Kansai via Hokuriku Arch. I would also use the Fukuoka Wide Area pass to explore Kansai. When I did get to the portion of this trip, my family joined me in Kyoto. This was also the 1st time I rented a car as we drove to Gujo Hachiman. 

  • Omiya station
  • Nagano
  • Matsumoto with Ogawara and Itabashi-san
    • Ueda
    • Komoro
  • Takaoka
  • Joetsu
  • Fukui
  • Tsuruga
  • Shiga
    • Azuchi
    • Hikone
  • Gifu 
    • Gifu Castle
    • Ogaki Castle
  • Sekigahara
  • Kyoto
  • Osaka
  • Nagoya
  • Seki
  • Gujo Hachiman
  • Mishima
  • Atami
  • Odawara

 

Wandering Leopard – November 2024

This trip was something I wasn’t planning, but I was able to pull it off. I have never gone pass Sendai. I really wanted to go North on this trip and focused on places I have never been. The whole 2024 was about expanding my trips in Japan. While doing that, I could also get castle seals and stamps. I was doing a 3 day online conference, so I stayed in Chiba and was able to explore.

  • Chiba
    • Sakura
    • Narita station
    • Chiba station
    • Choshi
  • Tokyo
  •  Asakusa
  • Haneda Airport
  •  Kichijoji
  •  Nakano
  • Ueno Park
  • Fukushima
    • Iizaka Onsen
    • Tired Gundam
  • Sendai
    • Sendai Castle park
    • Shotengi
  • Morioka
  • Hirosaki
  • Aomori
  • Hachinohe
  • Kawagoe
  • Utsunomiya
  • Nasu-Shiobara