{"id":56844,"date":"2022-10-11T14:44:51","date_gmt":"2022-10-11T03:44:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/?p=56844"},"modified":"2024-09-18T16:15:50","modified_gmt":"2024-09-18T06:15:50","slug":"now-is-the-perfect-time-to-visit-japan-this-intrepid-leader-explains-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/now-is-the-perfect-time-to-visit-japan-this-intrepid-leader-explains-why\/","title":{"rendered":"Now is the perfect time to visit Japan. This Intrepid leader explains why."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After two and a half years of border closures, Japan is finally reopening its doors to travellers. We chatted to Intrepid leader Alain Sabourin about how COVID has changed Japan and what he\u2019s looking forward to most with the return of visitors.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Up until March 2020, Japan<\/a> was one of the most popular tourist destinations on the planet. Travellers flocked to the region for cherry blossom season, to hike<\/a>, to ski, to eat<\/a> (oh, the food!) and to soak up the culture of this incredible, welcoming and unique country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then COVID came along, and everything changed. The Olympics were postponed, entire cities closed down, and borders were shut. A hush fell over the usually bustling country. But now, two and half years later, travel restrictions are finally relaxing and travellers are getting ready to return to Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a>
Shoppers return to Japan’s bustling markets.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Intrepid tour leader Alain Sabourin has just returned from leading his first trip in over two years (no biggie, but he received rave reviews and a whopping traveller feedback score 4.96 out of 5!) and can\u2019t wait to start showing people around the country again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m so happy for Japan to reopen its doors, especially seeing other countries taking these baby steps and allowing travellers back in,\u201d Alain says. \u201cJapan has played it a little more conservatively, but it\u2019s so nice to see these restrictions lifting and people being allowed back in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a>
Alain is looking forward to welcoming travellers back to Japan.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Twenty years ago, Alain moved to Japan from western Canada, where he\u2019d been living and working at two big ski resorts. \u201cI met lots of people visiting from Japan and that got me interested in visiting,\u201d he says. \u201cI first came over in 2001 and fell in love with the place, then moved to Nagano in 2002 to teach English and snowboarding in the Japanese Alps.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a>
Anyone for sake? Kampai!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a lot to love about Japan, and Alain has a hard time narrowing down exactly what makes it so special. \u201cBesides the beautiful people and amazing food, I also love the respect for nature, the elderly and the space around you. Japan is also very safe and clean.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Alain, it\u2019s the perfect time for travellers to start booking their adventures to the \u2018land of the rising sun\u2019. \u201cJapan is still a hot destination, and with the yen being quite low, the dollar will stretch further than it did in the past,\u201d he says. \u201cThere aren\u2019t as many big coach tours operating yet either, so travellers will be able to experience a Zen garden or temple without big crowds. When my most recent group visited the Golden Temple in Kyoto, which is an extremely popular site, we were almost the only ones there. There\u2019s the opportunity to have a far more intimate experience now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a>
Travellers and local mingling on the streets of Kyoto.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After spending the last few years driving for a rideshare company and working in a ramen restaurant, Alain\u2019s got a bit of brushing up to do on Japan\u2019s history before he starts leading tours regularly again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThings are a little bit rusty; I need to get those 10,000 years of history back into my head!\u201d he laughs. \u201cWhen you\u2019re in that group travel dynamic, you get up to 400 questions a day, which can be quite challenging. But all that knowledge is still there \u2013 I can\u2019t wait to start sharing it with people again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After two and a half years of border closures, Japan is finally reopening its doors to travellers. We chatted to Intrepid leader Alain Sabourin about how COVID has changed Japan…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15098,"featured_media":56859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3109],"tags":[21],"class_list":["post-56844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-good-trips","tag-japan","ipf_region-japan"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNow is the perfect time to visit Japan. 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