Here is a very colorful map of

JAPAN

The orange area known as the Kinki or Kansai Region is where we live.

Wakayama is just below Osaka. On Earth Wakayama is at about the same latitude as the State of Georgia in the United states of America, and the climate is very similar as well.

Hokkaido is the big red "Manta Ray" all the way to the north. It's at about the same latitude as the State of Maine in The USA, where Atsuko and I got married for the third time! The two areas though separated by thousands of miles of sea and land also share similar climates. I suppose somewhere in the olive green area there would be weather very similar to that in Long Island, New York - my hometown!

Japan's geographical placement makes it quite a dinamic country for it's small size. Because the islands are a long chain running rather "up-down" or "down-up", however you want to look at it, the climate varies quite a bit from place to place. Like I said before, it is the size that makes this feature so interesting. In the United States there are tremendous differences in climate, topography, flora, and fauna, depending on the region, but don't forget that America occupies quite a large land area.

I will fly from Kansai to Kushiro in the east of Hokkaido

Hokkaido
The National and Quasi-National Parks in Hokkaido