Many place names in Hokkaido are derived from the Ainu language, like "Sapporo," which means "dry, large river."

In Hokkaido, we met a traveling Buddhist monk who had been walking along the coast of Japan for the past 6 years, relying on handouts for meals and sleeping on a thin plastic mat.

In the summer of 2009, my 8-year-old son, Sho, and I set off on our own to ride connected bicycles the length of mainland Japan, covering about 2,500 miles in 67 days.

Gion Hatanaka is a very lovely ryokan with the concept of 'comfortable silence in the city'.