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A day out during the summer holidays to see the Akeno Sunflower Festival in Yamanashi with our friend Nobu. At the end there was this beautiful sea of sunflowers that seemed to go on forever. As the wind blowed they would all sway gently in the breeze. Sunflowers are my most favourite flower ever since I can remember. They are the flower of summer and never fail to make me smile.

A day out during the summer holidays to see the Akeno Sunflower Festival in Yamanashi with our friend Nobu. The whole area was split into sections where you could experience them all up close, but as you can imagine with thousands of sunflowers comes just as many bees. We ventured through the sunflower maze which suddenly became more like a trail for the visitors to challenge, particularly for children who would find it too scary to go in alone! 

A day out during the summer holidays to see the Akeno Sunflower Festival in Yamanashi with our friend Nobu. Alan always loves a good close up, enjoying all the colours way up close. 

A day out during the summer holidays to see the Akeno Sunflower Festival in Yamanashi with our friend Nobu. There were plenty of farms around the area selling seasonal fruit. This store specialised in raspberries and we treated ourselves to some raspberry soft serve ice cream, topped with more frozen raspberries!

A day out during the summer holidays to see the Akeno Sunflower Festival in Yamanashi with our friend Nobu. 

A day out during the summer holidays to see the Akeno Sunflower Festival in Yamanashi with our friend Nobu. More sunflowers than I have ever seen before stretching across the horizon - truly magnificent!  

Last day of the trip we all went to Universal Studios Japan during one of the hottest days of the summer. Ticket entry was steep at almost ¥9000 per person! Super expensive, super crowded, it was hard to get into the theme park when all you want is to sit indoors! We did manage to go to a few attractions though, including ‘Jurassic Park: The Ride’, ‘The Wizarding World of Harry Potter’ and ‘Attack on Titan: The Real’.

Last day of the trip we all went to Universal Studios Japan during one of the hottest days of the summer. Ticket entry was steep at almost ¥9000 per person! Super expensive, super crowded, it was hard to get into the theme park when all you want is to sit indoors! We did manage to go to a few attractions though, including ‘Jurassic Park: The Ride’, ‘The Wizarding World of Harry Potter’ and ‘Attack on Titan: The Real’.

Last day of the trip we all went to Universal Studios Japan during one of the hottest days of the summer. Ticket entry was steep at almost ¥9000 per person! Super expensive, super crowded, it was hard to get into the theme park when all you want is to sit indoors! We did manage to go to a few attractions though, including ‘Jurassic Park: The Ride’, ‘The Wizarding World of Harry Potter’ and ‘Attack on Titan: The Real’. 

The Sand Museum in Tottori is the first of its kind. Giant sand sculptures created by a team of incredibly talented artists from around the world. Every year the sculpture theme changes and this year it was all about India.

The Sand Museum in Tottori is the first of its kind. Giant sand sculptures created by a team of incredibly talented artists from around the world. Every year the sculpture theme changes and this year it was all about India. 

The Tottori Sand Dunes is the only place of its kind in Japan, like a small desert by the edge of the sea. Coming here with my friends we were equipped with parasols and walking shoes, as we were warned flip flops don’t provide enough protection from the burning hot sand. Even in spite of the hard climb to the top of the dune, Alan still felt he had enough energy to do jump shots! 

Recently be bought a scratch map of Japan by Good Weather. On it we have enjoyed scratching off all the places we had been to whilst also looking forward to visiting new ones; this was one of those places. The Tottori Sand Dunes is the only place of its kind in Japan, like a small desert by the edge of the sea. Coming here with my friends we were equipped with parasols and walking shoes, as we were warned flip flops don’t provide enough protection from the burning hot sand. 

On our trip the next beach we pulled over to gaze at the view. The ocean was so vibrant and there you could also see Kinosaki Marine World from above.

Staying the night in a nice ryokan with our friends waking up to the most spectacular view was breathtaking. The Japanese countryside is truly picturesque.

We played with our volleyball in the water and then ate peach kakigori, yakisoba and fried rice at the nearby beach. Downing bottles of cool ramune. This is what the summer is all about.

We played with our volleyball in the water and then ate peach kakigori, yakisoba and fried rice at the nearby beach. Downing bottles of cool ramune. This is what the summer is all about.