This is how we wanted it to be: Japan celebrating under a sea of billowing cherry blossoms and the Hida, Kiso and Akaishi Alps still carrying thick duvets of winter snow; towns and villages a merry-go-round of thatched cottages, rustling kimonos scurrying along wooden porches, lizard-green thickets of bamboo, gabled pagodas, paper umbrellas and throngs of school students in their spring uniforms rejoicing in the advent of summer. And the two of us going on a ski-pilgrimage, hikingfrom temple to temple to pray with the monks – and ski the best runs of Japan… Continue Reading