A Shinkansen ride of just over an hour from Tokyo Station will have you arriving at one of the most beautiful areas in Japan. Karuizawa is well known for its cool summers and cold winters and acts predominantly as an upmarket mountain resort and summer retreat for wealthy Tokyoites. Karuizawa is a wonderful destination for outdoor types and personally, I think one of the best kept secrets in Japan for the traveling golfer.

As I began to travel more I found the golfing experience in the Kansai region to be more varied and cultured than in Tokyo. I am not saying that Tokyo is not cultured, because it is, but Osaka and Kobe and specifically Kyoto offers much greater cultural diversity.

If you and your friends are considering a destination for your next golf trip then Japan should be at the top of your list. I believe most golfers are intrigued at the idea of playing golf in Japan but the common perception is golf is extraordinarily expensive here. That may have been the case a few decades ago but these days it could not be further from the truth.

Taiheiyo Club Gotemba West course is quite simply a gem. Some twelve years after Shunsuke Kato designed the Taiheiyo Gotemba course, this beauty opened its gates. “Gotemba Lite” is the best way to describe the course as it cuts through the same beautiful Japanese cedars and sits just a few hundred yards away from its older and more famous sibling.

If you are traveling to Japan and playing golf, both Taiheiyo Club courses in Gotemba should be at the top of your list. The Gotemba West property has a newly renovated, 23 room boutique hotel that is the perfect location to stay while playing both courses. One of the questions I am often asked is to suggest the best mode of transport to get to Gotemba so I decided to share all of the options.

In January 2020 Golf Digest ranked Taiheiyo Clubs Gotemba course as the fifth-best in Japan. If courses were rated purely on the iconic status I have no doubt Taiheiyo Gotemba would be positioned at the top of the list. Its illustrious reputation is due to many factors and its position at the base of Mt Fuji makes it a truly spectacular place to play golf.

Taiheiyo Club has opened a town club in the center of Tokyo. This new destination is quite special considering it is the first time a golf club has operated something this unique in Japan.

It's a bold statement but I firmly believe that Japan has the best caddies in the world. I have been lucky to have played golf all over the world and always made an effort to employ a local caddie if they were available. As wonderful as those caddies were they cannot hold a candle to their Japanese counterparts.

You know those very quiet courses you play where you can hear the ball fizz through the air from a well-struck shot? Well Taiheiyo Clubs Mashiko PGA course is one of those. The combination of the still air amongst the dense canopy of trees and the lack of traffic noise provides an atmosphere of isolation.

Upon entering the Minori gates it is immediately apparent that you are somewhere quite special. The heavily tree-lined driveway gives an occasional glimpse of the course which will be enough to increase your anticipation.

When you look at players like Hogan, Palmer, Seve, and more recently Adam Scott you cannot deny they were, and still are some of the most stylishly dressed players who have graced our game. All of these players have worn Footjoy Classics and as the saying goes … shoes maketh the man.

In 2003 `Lost In Translation’ was released and was a movie that I believe spurned a generation, including me, to travel to Japan. There was an added element of intrigue for me as there is a scene in the movie where the lead actor, Bill Murray, plays golf on the most stunning looking course I had ever seen.