After spending a week in Kansai province exploring some of Japan’s historic cities, Kobe, Osaka, and Kyoto, I activated my three week rail pass and travelled first to Kyushu and then back north to the mountainous central regions of Honshu. I then travelled further north to visit the remote volcanic island Hokkaido. When my rail pass finished, I ended my tour of Japan in Tokyo, where I was lucky enough to stay with my friend Alexandre, who I’d met on the ferry coming over to Japan from China. Finally I headed back to Kyushu to take another ferry, this time to Korea.