Camping in Japan

Saganoseki harbour

In general, Japan is not very foreigner friendly. So when it comes to camping, it's is even more difficult. Most of the campsites are only open in summer and are relatively cheap (about 1000yen per site) compared to hostels, hotels and ryokans. We went camping with our new tent at the beginning of April and the campsites were closed so we just setup on the beach. No one bugged us or was concerned, so that was a relief. However, the state of the beach was appalling. Fishing debris everywhere.

View from our tent! One of the fishing boats cruising into port.


Fishing is a huge activity in Japan as Japan is situated on one of the most active fishing breeding areas in the world. We even experienced heavy sea traffic from our tent as fishing boats moved in and out of the small harbour in Saganoseki, Oita Prefecture. Getting out of the city and camping is well worth it. Rural areas in Japan are really pretty and sometimes quaint!

Sunset from our tent!...


Cycling on from Saganoseki we found the Usuki Stone Buddhas, beautiful stone carvings into cliffs, and an old temple on the top of Mt Kurokui, a steep but pretty ascent of some 13km.


Temple bell tower: