Ikitai! I want to go!

I wanted to name this post "Places I Want to Go" but I'm not sure how to say that in Japanese. I'm sure I could figure it out pretty quickly, but I'm lazy at the moment. So... it just says "I want to go."

Anyways... this is a listing of many of the places I want to go. I'll start with the ones I have planned for the near future and then list places that are a bit further away and may or may not visit. Then the last few will be places that are very far away and I most likely wont be able to visit (at least not all of them).

Oh, and of course I didn't take any of these pictures. They're all stolen from places around the internet. Hopefully I will have pictures of my own from many of these places in the future! :)

Tokyo ni ikitai (I want to go to Tokyo).
So, the first place I plan on going after getting paid is Tokyo, specifically Akihabara. I've already been to Tokyo, but I didn't make it to Akihabara I plan on buying a new camera at the Yodobashi Camera store in Akihabara. It's the biggest camera store in the world. The camera I want is sold at a nearby store in Mishima (though last time I checked they were out of stock) but their price was really high. It's like a price difference of 120 dollars. It's crazy! I can take the shinkansen to Tokyo and back and still save money. Plus I'd have a lot more fun!

I want to get my camera before I do much more traveling, so I have a nice camera to take pictures with. :)

Kamakura
Soon I want to go to Kamakura, which is between here and Tokyo. Here's some info about it taken from japan-guide.com: "Kamakura became the political center of Japan, when Minamoto Yoritomo chose the city as the seat for his new military government in 1192. The Kamakura government continued to rule Japan for over a century, first under the Minamoto shogun and then under the Hojo regents. " Blah, blah, blah... okay that sounded a little boring like from a text book, but now you know it is old and has some sort of historical significance. Maybe I should learn more about Japanese history? Either way, I want to go because there are cool temples and shrines and trails through the woods. See the pretty pictures?




Disneyland!
Okay, now for a place not quite as old, but still pretty awesome. Disneyland!

I want to go to both Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea. :)

Kyoto
I have to go to Kyoto. Pretty much everyone that comes to Japan goes to Kyoto. Here's some information (from japan-guide.com) about why it's important:
"Kyoto was Japan's capital and the emperor's residence from 794 until 1868. It is now the country's seventh largest city with a population of 1.4 million people and a modern face.Over the centuries, Kyoto was destroyed by many wars and fires, but due to its historic value, the city was dropped from the list of target cities for the atomic bomb and spared from air raids during World War II. Countless temples, shrines and other historically priceless structures survive in the city today."


Oh, and I don't just want to go because it's THE place to go in Japan. I also want to go because I really do think it looks awesome!

One of the places I really really REALLY want to in Kyoto is Kokedera, a very very pretty moss garden.

I want to go to Kyoto both during the summer and in the fall. I've heard it's very beautiful in the fall!

Near Kyoto is Nara. I want to go and feed the deer, like this woman.

Yokohama
It has a cool ferris wheel, a ramen museum, and Chinatown! It's close to Tokyo so it's not far!

Hakone
This area is north of the Izu Peninsula. There are a lot of hot springs and you can walk around areas with a lot of steam coming up out of the ground. It looks cool!

Osaka
I don't have a specific reason for wanting to go to Osaka really. Well, it's just crazy so I guess that's why.

Yamanashi
The Yamanashi Prefecture is north of Mt. Fuji. It has an area known as the Five Lakes (well at least that's what it's known as in English) and has great views of Fujisan.


Climb Mt. Fuji
I really want to climb Mt. Fuji and see the sunrise. I've heard that it is a strenuous hike, but you don't have to like really climb or anything. So you have to be in decent shape, but not like train a lot to do this or anything like that.

Okay, now for the places that are way out of the way and expensive to get to... they're so cool though... I want to go!

Sapporo
Sapporo is the largest city in Hokkaido, the most northern island of Japan. Every February (I think...) they have a snow festival with MASSIVE snow sculptures. I have no idea how they make these!



Okinawa
This island is one of the most southern islands of Japan. It would be very nice during Christmas break! There are pretty beaches and an awesome aquarium.


Yakushima
I didn't find out about this place until today when I was looking around japan-guide.com. "Yakushima is a subtropical island off the southern coast of Kyushu and part of Kagoshima Prefecture. It is covered by an extensive cedar forest that contains some of Japan's oldest living trees. Trees more than 1000 years old are affectionately called yakusugi (a combination of Yakushima and the Japanese word for cedar, sugi), the most ancient of which may be over 7000 years old. "

It's so far away! Though not as far as Okinawa, but I'd still have to take a plane. I doubt I'll get to go, but it's soooo pretty!

This tree is known as Jomonsugu. "Jomonsugi, the main attraction of Yakushima, is a giant cedar tree which scientists estimate to be 2000 to 7200 years old. Said to be the oldest tree in Japan, it dates to the Jomon Period from which it gets its name. It is not very tall, standing around 25 meters high, yet it has a massive trunk about 5 meters in diameter. "
2000 to 7200 years old is quite a range, haha, but either way... this tree is OLD!!!!




Well, there are many more places I want to go, but these are all at the top of my list. Oh, and there are more places on the Izu Peninsula I would like to see but I forgot to list them. I will try and visit as many of these places as I can! Hopefully you will see many pictures in the near future! :)