Shiojiri, Nagano β†’ πŸ“ Shiojiri Pass β†’ Upper Suwa, Nagano

Map of Nagano with author’s route from Shiojiri to Upper Suwa highlighted. πŸ—Ί Open map in GaiaGPS β†’


T-shirts drying on a pole.

A very green ricefield with a line of snow-capped peaks on the horizon. πŸ“ Shiojiri, Nagano


A bosozuku-style purple Nissan.

Closeup of a rear wheel of the bosozuku-style purple Nissan.

Rear view of the same car, with mountains on the horizon. πŸ“ Shiojiri, Nagano

Holy mother of purple bosozuku Nissans! Parked in the weeds, on rims the size and shape of medieval mortars, with a panoramic view of the Kiso Mountains, it was the most delightful thing on wheels I’d come across since I left Kagoshima.


A panoramic view of Lake Suwa, the Yatsu-ga-dake Mountains, and Mount Fuji on the horizon. πŸ“ Shiojiri Pass, Nagano — πŸ—» First view of Mount Fuji


Looking down on a twisting road, village houses, ricefields, and mountains on the horizon. πŸ“ Lower Suwa, Nagano

These Walking Dreams is a visual field diary of a 4,300-kilometer walk from one end of Japan to the other, in the spring and summer of 2017.