Born as a tenth generation Tokyo native, I had spent my early youth around that city. My memories tell me that I have visited many of the surrounding areas, but limited to a day drive range from Tokyo which makes myself one of the authentic local boy who knows not much of the outside, the safe areas. Many of my friends had been to areas outside of Tokyo and the surroundings, and I had my desire to join the club ever since I was little, but I remain with having a very limited local life cycles before I left my home for Australia at age of fifteen.

The flight to Australia was my first ever flight in my life. Without much knowledge and observations of Japan except the local, I chose to put myself to stand on the foreign soil alone to continue with my life. Quite a drastic change for a young boy, and a truly colorful journey of my life began then. There I encountered a lot of incredible experiences some people might be interested in being shared with my stories, but that shall be on another occasion……

(I write those stories elsewhere and you may encounter them at some point……)

It was until more than a decade later, thirteen and a half years to be exact, I moved back to my motherland to join the music industry mainly promoting international acts. Worked with so many acts big and small, from Paul McCartney to various up and coming indie bands, each tour introduced me to many of the great areas of Japan on the road.

I was already such a frequent flyer before coming back to Japan and had been to so many different places on this planet, but not domestically in Japan before those days with live tours. It was not hard for me to realize that the areas outside of the large cities of Japan offer so much incredible things. So often you will find things you like about Japan in those not so typical tourist destinations. Those are something people in large cities have forgotten; precious something making Japan and its culture very special.

Now with my occasional road bike trips around Japan in my spare time, the list of places I have visited has grown so much  including very remote areas and islands where not much people have been, hidden gems I call.

There are so many beautiful areas in this country. Each has its own history and culture. Seasons can change impressions as well. In general, food is great and most people tend to have decent ethics everywhere you go. That is what I used to think and I still do think that way most of the time.

But after a while, especially after seeing so many different areas, I see some areas stand out more than others by having real authenticity of Japan even in this modern era. You will find more of the great sides of Japan and its culture at those places. I am not talking about what is obvious, not the things most of the tourists praise about, not those materialistic things, not the physical history some areas use for their branding, but rather something very modest. The modest nature is one of the precious part of Japan and its culture, and that is something very rewarding to find when you travel around this country.

When I list up my favorite places in this country focusing on those places I find very special, places I feel great things about Japan and its culture, yet modest enough to avoid becoming too materialistic with too many tourists, somehow places from Saga become prospective contenders for the list. Saga is often considered as one of the lesser-known areas in Japan, having not much strong points to attract people from outside. At least that is what most people have been saying in the past, but the fact is that there are so many places in Saga made it to the list.

I questioned myself…, “Why Saga?” My simple answer to it was that it just happened to be Saga when I looked up places and things I love about this unique and precious country, Japan.

Here I am contemplating on introducing some of the great places in Saga and the surrounding areas. Some people favor Saga as a territorial boundary just like people do for other areas. I am not interested in that at all. I am free from the politics, making myself very neutral position to write something I find special without considering the territories. I think what is great is great no matter where it happens to be, and any political nor territorial aspects should not bind it. The motto here is “it just happened to be Saga” as I have mentioned…

My strong interests and knowledge with geomorphology may make it differentiate this site from others as well. Most often, you can see deeper links between places and history/lives when you look up local terrain and geological features carefully. You will usually find very interesting stories by doing so. It definitely helps my understandings with various different areas of Japan and Saga is no exception.

I am not sure when I will upload stories about the places as yet. Stay tuned if you are interested in finding out further……

In the mean time, you might encounter me around Saga, or even around Japan and abroad. You are more than welcome to fetch me about the places in person if you get a chance….