Summer is the time to bask in nature's greenery, endless blue skies, discover nostalgic Japanese villages and authentic country cuisine, as well as great hot springs. With all the right elements, it is easy to make this a journey of the mind.

The first step begins at Shinyamaguchi, for a one hour and 40 minute journey to Tsuwano Station. You can tour Tsuwano which was once a 43,000 acre castle city, on bicycles or do things the old way – on rickshaw, which symbolizes the Japanese heart.

Meet a Japanese paper maker when you stop off at theTraditional Handicrafts Centre during the city tour. Traditional Sekishu paper is hand-made at the centre and if you drop by the workshop
you can try making paper from various material including colourful leaves and flowers.

In just 30 minutes, your hand-made paper strips are done.

The next stop is Nichihara-chiku where it is ayu fishing season. The challenge is to lure the fish from the rocks where they hide. If you can’t catch the fish, the next best option is to get yourself Takatsugawa's ayu. This is a famous ayu specialist, offering a variety of dishes from hot rice pot with ayu, to sushi made from one whole fish, pickled in vinegar or grilled salted ayu.

In addition, there is seasonal sashimi of fresh ayu. Apart from fish there is also a set which includes a turtle hotpot.

To feed the mind, stop off at Ura-hikimikyou, in Shimane a place with spectacular scenery. The greenery and silver water streaming down the valley and sunlight through the trees, makes it a magical spot. This a favourite spot for the local poets who often leave their tankas and haikus for others to appreciate. Accomodation in the area is a hotel that is near a famous hot spring.

The Onsentsu Hot Spring has been patronized by a long list of famous people, with a mixed bath costing just 300 yen (S$4.3) per person. It's said that a raccoon found this hot spring 1200 years ago and that’s why a raccoon is part of the hotel signage for Hotel Masuya.

It’s a traditional hotel founded in 1910 and the stylish rooms are furnished in the early 20th Century style that was the Taisho Period. Dinner is a 12-course seafood feast which includes sashimi of fresh Tilefish that’s in season. There are also appetizers that include many colourful seafood dishes and a main course of braised red gnomefish.

The next morning, head for Iwami-ginzan, a UNESCO World Heritage site that was once a famous metal refinery. The Ginzan silver refinery which was built from scratch on a slope, once produced silver. Explore the rugged area which includes a 600m passageway called Ryugenji-mabu, that leads to the mine. This silver mine operated until 1943.

The town that thrived from the silver mining Iwami, is now very quiet. It also appears to have stood still in time with old-fashioned vending machines, an old-fashioned general store selling items such as handmade metal lamps once used in the mines. Though no longer used, the lamp is now a popular souvenir. There is also a sweet shop that was founded in the Edo Period, selling getanoha, a local sweet made with wheat and sliced into triangles before being baked.

It is has syrup added to it, making a sweet but hard candy. It’s also worth taking a little trek to a viewing spot overlooking the sekishu tiled roof houses. The tiles are a local specialty and production of the tile is really complicated.

To catch a different view, travel from Tokyo to Niigata and then catch the car ferry or faster jetfoil to Satogashima. It's an hour by jetfoil to Sado which looks like a mountain island. With a population of 67,000, Sado is about 40% larger in area than Tokyo and serves as the gateway to Ryoutsu port. There are no trains on the island, buses are the only way to travel. Lake Kamo is the largest lake in Niigata and looks like the sea from afar, sitting with mountains around it. Being very picturesque, Lake Kamoko is a favourite spot for haiku tourists. In the middle of town is the island's most popular seafood restaurant. Try the square seafood set which includes 13 types of seafood and vegetables, and the sashimi rice bowl with fermented bean on rice and a layer of seven types of sashimi from seafood that is imported directly from the fishing port.

It will include whatever that is caught, including flyingfish, summer yellowtail.

Take the bus to the seaside and visit the old town which is full of history and nostalgia and looks like a movie set. Shukunegi was the origin of the northern cargo ships and the area has been preserved, including the houses which have kept their original appearance since being built in 1892. There’s even a triangular house called the Funagata house which is built to look like the hull of a boat. The design is even more special when you realize that to build a house here, builders had to carve away rock since flat land is scarce. The locals can be found down by the beach collecting seaweed or out fishing. They use Sado's special basin boat for the coast that is rocky and follow a traditional fishing method. Head out by sea for Ogichiku and discover an underwater world. Along the way meet Lady Mizu, a monument to a character in Sado's Romance and a bridge that is surrounded by the ocean.

Stay overnight at a hotel located on a cliff which offers Sado's best view of the sunset. The hotel is also stylishly decorated with stained glass windows and grand dining room.

The Japanses guest rooms come with an open air bath so guests can appreciate the view and sunset. Night time on the island of Sado will see a huge campfire, and lots of people out to indulge in Nou opera. Sado is an island of Nou operas that are performed at night in many places on the island. Dinner is of course, local catch such as horse crab and black uni. The Sado specialty is stingfish which is fried and served whole.

The array of fresh seafood dishes will also include grilled abalone, exclusive flying fish miso soup which guests create themselves with a bamboo tube of flying fish meat and miso paste mixed with spring onions. The next morning, head for the premier tourist spot, Onogame, an island in the shape of a turtle. The water is transparent and the colour changes constantly.

The last journey of discovery is a 3-hour ride from Tokyo on the Yamagata Line to Sakuranbo-higashine Station. You’ll see cherry fields laden with tiny but expensive cherries, about10000 yen (S$142) per 300g. The scenic spots in Yamagata also include rice fields with rice sprouts perfectly planted. Pay a visit also to Mogami river where a dam called Oyodo controls the flow and Megasuzu, a family restaurant famous for its homemade dishes.The place is also special as it’s 136 years old and resembles an old family lodge. Take in a meal of mixed rice with walnuts that are cracked by hand. Higashine is famous for its wheat-gluten used in bread and soba which is served at the restaurant with a walnut sauce. Look out too, for tempura of persimmon sprouts in the 10-course authentic country meal that’s simple yet healthy.