country #6: Japan

Japan was AWESOME. Hokkaido, Kyushu and Kansai (Osaka/Kyoto/Nara). Not nearly enough time.

Highlights:
Rishiri Island: Island off the NW coast of Hokkaido. Features a giant conical mountain, would have climbed but it was raining.
Rebun Island: Island beside Rishiri. Here, alpine flowers grow at sea level.
Wakkanai: Russian souvenirs and signage.
Asahikawa: Asahiyama Zoo
Kamikawa: ... Kamikawa. Specifically Romance (snack bar).
Sapporo: Ramen Alley, Odori Park
Takino Rei-en: A graveyard with full-scale replicas of Stonehenge, Easter Island's giant stone heads, a Chinese courtyard, the Big Buddha at Kamakura, and Venus and Milo.
Fukuoka: The Lockup, a horror themed restaurant
Goto Islands: Gorgeous views
Nagasaki: A-Bomb museum, Mt. Inaho.
Kumamoto: Kumamoto Castle, Kumamoto Art Centre
Beppu: The 'hells' (specifically White Pond, Sea, Monk's Head, Oni Stone, Blood Pond)
Mt. Aso: The volcanic crater
Osaka: Osaka Castle, Dougusuji (cooking shopping arcade), Dotonbori (entertainment district)
Kyoto: Fushimi Inari Shinto Shrine (the one with a million Torii gates), Jinya (old house with trap doors), Nijo Castle (with squeaking nightengale floors)
Nara: Sacred deer chasing after terrified children with ice cream, Tohji (the biggest wooden building in the world), the Big Buddha