When I told friends in Japan that I was planning to drive for part of the time that my wife and I were taking my parents to Japan as their 50th-wedding anniversary gift, they said “don’t do it”. Well, I did it anyway, even in that era prior to GPS. It provided an opportunity to experience Japan differently. I rented the car for one week of our 18 days in Japan, departing Kyoto and arriving a week later in downtown Tokyo. For one thing, it enabled me to take the picture shown here in the Edo-period post town of Tsumago early in the morning before tourists would arrive on day trips.

Although Japan had to adapt to the western world following its forced opening to the outside world when U.S. Commodore Perry’s fleet sailed into the bay at Tokyo (then called Edo) in 1853, it has retained quintessential cultural features that outsiders are often permitted to experience. Onsen (traditional Japanese hot springs), ryokan (traditional Japanese inns), as well as visiting and even lodging in gassho-zukuri (thatch-roofed wooden buildings in the Shiragawa-go region) are some of these cultural touchstones.