Quite keen to visit Mother Farm because it is located at Mount Kanozan, which promises spellbinding views of Tokyo Bay and Mt. Fuji. My children will be quite happy with the sheep show (sheepshearing).

Lavender is said to relieve stress, so just the idea of savouring lavender ice cream at Tambara Lavender Park in Numata City whets my appetite. And maybe I will have the good fortune to make it to Horomi Pass in Hokkaido and enjoy spectacular views of the lavender garden juxtaposed again the city landscape.

As a former member of a Yosakoi dance group, I will relish the chance to partake in the Yosakoi Soran Festival in Hokkaido in June.

Furano, Hokkaido is known for its stunning lavender fields, but what piques my curiosity is its thriving wine and cheese industries. Will love to visit the Furano Marche to dig into funky products like wine flavoured cheese and squid ink cheese. Making my customised pillow filled with dried lavender at Flower Land Kamifurano could round out my Japanese experience awesomely.

Usually I hate winter, but fishing for wakasagi (pond smelt) through a hole in Lake Abashiri makes for a unique experience. Especially when travellers can rent an induction cooker and cook and tuck into the smelt directly on the spot.

Ikeda in eastern Hokkaido has an annual autumn wine festival. Seems like a great way to absorb atmospheric vibes that a group of passionate enthusiasts can conjure while sampling great local wine!

I love to tuck into an apple pie at McDonald’s, so I anticipate being ecstatic in Hirosaki, Aomori. There are so many shops (50 in fact) that Apple Pie maps have been launched to inform visitors of the myriad apple pies that they can purchase.

There are thousands of onsen in Japan, but Kusatsu Onsen in Gunma features the most plentiful hot spring water (30,000 liters per minute). Soaking in a hot dip at one of the Three Best Hot Springs should boost my street credibility. Fun fact: the waters could fill as many as 230,000 oil drums every day.

Speaking of onsens, I expect to be able to soak in the panoramic landscape while luxuriating in the hot springs at Jigokudani (Hell’s Valley) in Nagano. Located at 2320m, these are Japan’s highest onsens.

I love all kinds of seafood, so a trip to Hakodate, Hokkaido is in order. It boasts flavourful uni (sea urchin), hotate (scallops) and kegani (hairy crabs). And you can tell that I really love uni because I want to visit Niigata to dig into kiwami (a refined type of sushi that uses seasonal Niigata seafood in addition to sea urchin, fatty tuna & salted salmon roe).

This sounds like a weird place to visit, but as an ex-Science teacher, I’m interested to visit the Marimo Exhibition and Observation Centre in Hokkaido, where I can gain a deeper understanding of marimo (algae balls) and the impact they have on their environment.

Summer is notoriously unbearable in Japan, but dining over cool waters in a yutaka should enable you to keep your inner calm. Aizu Wakamatsu River Dining marries nature and Japanese cuisine by offering dining options by the serene flowing waters of the Yugawa River in Fukushima.

Castle towns abound in Japan, but Katsuyama, Fukui sets itself apart from other towns with its beautiful noren-dyed fabric curtains that hang from store fronts. I think they will complement the white-plastered walls of the merchants’ houses magnificently.

It must be amazing to admire fireflies at Sakakibara hot springs in Mie. They make their rare appearance in early summer.

I’m not into pearls even if they make my wife happy. Still, visiting Mikimoto Pearl Island to learn how Kokichi Mikimoto successfully cultivated pearls by hanging pearl oysters with ropes from wooden rafts and glass floats will be an eye-opening experience!

Arashiyama is renowned for its bamboo forest, so I’m keen to make my visit even more memorable by participating in the Arashiyama Momiji Festival. Apparently, on the second Sunday of November every year, performers will dress up in traditional Heian era costumes and sing and dance to usher in autumn.

Visit the Suntory Yamazaki Distillery in the town of Yamazaki, which is at the foot of a mountain outside Kyoto! This site was chosen for its awesome water as well as the humid and misty environment, which helps age the whisky. Kanpai! 🥃

In a spellbinding spectacle, thousands of light-emitting diode lightbulbs flaunt their light, be it individually or collectively as part of colourful installations during the Kobe Luminarie. These installations are actually designed and flown in from Italy, so if you wish to witness the Italian creative spark in action, head over to the Higashi Yuenchi Park in the city centre.

The Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum was designed by architect Kisho Kurokawa to look like a giant dinosaur egg lurking in the woods. I can already imagine my children jumping up and down with joy at the sight. Even arriving at Fukui Station is an interesting experience in itself. A dinosaur dressed in white - affectionately named Dr. Dinosaur - parks himself on the platform of Echizen Railway’s Fukui Station to welcome excitable children and the young at heart.

My son was so besotted with Pokemon recently that he spent 4100 sats to buy a Pokemon trading card. I know he will be overjoyed if we undertake a trip on the Pokemon with You train that runs on the Ofunato Line in Tohoku. Plenty of Pikachu-themed entertainment to capture his attention!

There are onsens, and there is an onsen. In my books, anyway. But soaking in a natural cave onsen while luxuriating in the gorgeous view of the Pacific Ocean has got to be one of the most unforgettable onsen experiences in Japan. Proudly presented by Bokido Cave Onsen in Hotel Urashima, Wakayama. Alternatively, I could partake in an ocean view while soaking in the Saki-no-Yu Public Onsen in Shirahama, Wakayama.

Kanazawa, Ishikawa has got to be one of my favourite cities in Japan. It straddles modernity and tradition so well. That's why I'm intrigued by the Hanayome Noren because it is dripping with the essence of Ishikawa craftsmanship. The red and black exterior is reminsicent of Wajima-nuri lacquerware; the pattern that overlaps with this exterior showcases a Japanese style of clothing called Kaga-Yuzen; and Kanazawa's signature gold leaves are displayed on the walls of this train. Just so exquisite and pretty!

A quirky transportation method that Sado Island, Niigata offers is the taraibune tub boat. Invented in the Edo era, around 1800, by women divers to collect wakame seaweed and scallops, this humble tub boat is still in use today. Gungho travellers (like me) can gift themselves a hands-on experience by making their way to Rikiya Kanko Kisen near Ogi Port. They can simply take over from the instructor wearing traditional costumes (much like my 2-year-old daughter snatches the spoon away from me to feed herself).

Sado Island is famous for taiko drumming, so finding the right time to watch the Oni-daiko, a 500-year-old traditional masked dance could be a feather in the cap for my travel itinerary. Not only could I enjoy the mastery of the taiko drummer, I can also be amused by the movements of an oni dancing around attacking lions.

Hokusai is renowned for his iconic works "36 Views of Mount Fuji". Once, I even bought one handphone cover that depicted one of the views of Mount Fuji. That's why I am keen to visit the Sumida Hokusai Museum in Tokyo. The facade of this museum - designed by Pritzker Prize-winning Japanese architect, Kazuyo Sejima - boasts a sleek, metallic feel, with blocks leaning against each other.

Niigata is known for its koshihikari rice, which facilitates the continued growth of sake breweries. Needless to say, it organises a Sake no Jin (a sake festival) that features full-bodied sake - a whooping 500 types - from about 90 local breweries. I just want to go there and drink and be merry.

Kobe beef is known the world over, but Hida beef that hails from Gifu is said to be worth a try. It has thinner muscle fibers and a fine marble coating that appears on the flank, shoulder and round cuts. As for the question about where to try it, Hida Takayama emanates pleasurable vibes that make it permissible for people to stroll the streets, snacking on Hida beef sushi and skewers. Hida Takayama still retains its vestige of its Edo-era past as you can see wonderfully preserved merchants' shophouses.

Studio Ghibli enthusiasts who watched "Princess Mononoke" will definitely put Yakushima on their bucket list so that they can admire the cosmic scale of the ancient sugi (Japanese cedar) trees. I just need to burnish my fitness because it demands a 10-hour round-trip hike from me!

I am not into kabuki, but the idea of children performing a kabuki play makes me want to explore Orabi Festival in Ishikawa. Children will enrapture you with their enthusiasm, along with the eye-catching floats adorned with lacquer, gold leaf and intricate carvings.

Since my wife comes from Kumamoto, I want to ride the Orange Restaurant Express that runs from Sendai, Kagoshima to Shinyatsushiro, Kumamoto to support local farmers. As Japan's first restaurant train that was launched in 2013, I'm sure that it has streamlined its processes and will hit the ball right out off the park, culinary-wise.