Due to my wife’s physical condition, there are many places we cannot and dare not visit; additionally, since we have already been to many parts of Japan, we have little interest in “standard” tourist attractions.

For this trip, my wife has designed an itinerary that includes many revisits to places we have been before but want to explore in more detail. Take Karuizawa as an example: although we visited last summer, it was a day trip based in Nagano; this time, we decided to stay for two nights to fully savor it. Similarly, we have visited Matsumoto before, which was also a one-day trip based in Nagano. As for Niigata and Yamagata, this will be our first time visiting them.