Small Kine Adventures

Rainbow over Kapiolani Park volleyball courts

Hawaii

2026·5 min read

Kapiolani Grass Volleyball: Where Honolulu Plays

Every Wednesday and Saturday, the Honolulu Volleyball Club sets up at Kapiolani Park. Diamond Head as your backdrop. All skill levels welcome. Just show up.

Summit view from Kuliouou Ridge looking over the windward coast of Oahu

Hawaii · Hiking

2026·6 min read

Kuliouou Ridge Trail: East Oahu's Most Rewarding Climb

1,633 feet up. 3.5 hours of forest, birds, and stairs. Then shave ice in Kaimuki. A morning hike with Ayumi visiting from Tokyo that delivered on every front.

Lotus glamping tent glowing at night at Motegi Mobility Resort

Japan · Travel

September 2022·8 min read

Glamping at Motegi: Camping Next to a Race Circuit

Lotus tents, a BBQ plan with s'mores, a forest path to an onsen, and go-karts at a resort built around one of Japan's famous race circuits. Not your typical camping trip.

Otaru city lights wrapped in fog at night, seen from Tengu Yama

Japan · Hokkaido

July 2024·6 min read

Otaru: Sea Caves, Sweets, and a Kitsune Mask

The Blue Cave cruise, Masazushi for Hokkaido uni and ikura, the umbrella alley on Sakaemachi, and Tengu Yama at night wrapped in fog. Summer in Hokkaido, Part 1.

Mt. Yotei rising above Hokkaido farmland

Japan · Hokkaido

July 2024·6 min read

Niseko: Ostriches, Whisky, and a Cuban at the Park Hyatt

The Mushroom Kingdom on the drive in, an ostrich farm in open countryside, the Niseko Distillery, mountain lights in the fog, and the Park Hyatt cigar lounge. Summer in Hokkaido, Part 2.

Glowing paper lanterns floating on the ocean at dusk during Lantern Floating Hawaii at Ala Moana Beach

Hawaii · Culture

May 2024·6 min read

Lantern Floating Hawaii: How Honolulu Remembers on Memorial Day

Every Memorial Day, tens of thousands gather at Ala Moana Beach to float handwritten messages into the Pacific. Around 6,000 lanterns. One of those nights that's hard to explain to anyone who wasn't there.

Matsushima Bay at low tide — pine-covered islands in still water, the red Fukuurajima bridge in the distance

Japan · Tohoku

April 2024·7 min read

Matsushima: Pine Islands and the View That Stopped a Poet

Matsuo Bashō came here in 1689 and reportedly couldn't find words for it. We came for the Joke Bear curry bread at Pensée and the grilled oysters at Bay Oysters — and stayed for the bay.

Looking out from the Aso caldera rim over a sea of clouds filling the valley below — golden winter grass in the foreground, dense white cloud layer stretching to the far caldera wall

Japan · Kyushu

December 2020·12 min read

Kumamoto: Steps, Steam, and a Sea of Clouds

A shrine in the mountains, a drive over the Aso caldera above a sea of clouds, and a night at a ryokan in Kurokawa where a cat met us at the door and the onsen smelled of sulfur.

The full-scale replica of the Dresden Zwinger Palace at Arita Porcelain Park in Saga — elaborate baroque stone façade with formal gardens in front, mountains behind

Japan · Kyushu

December 2020·13 min read

Saga & Fukuoka: Porcelain Towns and the City That Feeds Japan

Kurokawa to Fukuoka, via Saga. A 2,000-year-old Yayoi settlement, a replica of the Dresden Zwinger in the mountains, four hours in Arita's porcelain shops, and Fukuoka's famous motsu-nabe to close the trip.

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Coming Soon

Japan·In Progress

Nikko: Shrines, Cedar Forests, and a Waterfall Worth the Drive

Tōshō-gū, Kegon Falls, and the cedar-lined approach up to Rinnō-ji. A day trip from Tokyo that earns its reputation as one of Japan's essential destinations.

Story coming soon

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Coming Soon

Japan·In Progress

Chichibu: Temples, Sake, and a Town That Moves at Its Own Pace

A day trip out of Tokyo into the hills of Saitama. Chichibu-jinja, craft sake distilleries, and the kind of quiet that's hard to find two hours from Shinjuku.

Story coming soon

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Coming Soon

Golf · Hawaii·In Progress

Turtle Bay: Golf on the North Shore, Where the Tradewinds Win

Two courses, ocean views on nearly every hole, and the constant negotiation with Oahu's tradewinds. Turtle Bay is the best golf on this island and it's not particularly close.

Story coming soon

Small Kine Adventures is written and produced by John and Ayumi — based in Honolulu and Tokyo, respectively.

In the logo, the manta ray is John. The whale tail is Ayumi. That was decided for us, and it felt right.

John grew up on Oahu, went to Roosevelt High School, and played college golf at UH-Hilo on scholarship. He won the OIA Golf team championship in 1991 and the OIA Golf individual title in 1994. Golf has been part of his life as long as he can remember. Volleyball came later — he picked it up to understand the sport when his son Jace started playing, and ended up completely hooked. After college he joined the JET Program and spent three years teaching English in Osaka. That’s where Japan got under his skin — and where he picked up snowboarding.

Ayumi is Tokyo-based, bilingual, and handles editing, Japanese translations, and content. She has spent over 20 years working in sports as a professional interpreter, including multiple World Track and Field Championship meets. She is the Japan half of this operation in more ways than one.

They’ve been together seven years — Honolulu and Tokyo, with a lot of miles in between.

The site started simply. John had years of photos and notes sitting on a hard drive and figured some of it might be useful to someone. Travel accounts, golf course reports, random days worth remembering. Small Kine Adventures is where that stuff lives now.

Small kine is a Hawaii expression. It means small-scale, no big deal. Most of the adventures here are exactly that. Some aren’t.

Small Kine
Adventures

The Islands
of Hawaii

From the Field

Kapiolani Grass Volleyball: Where Honolulu Plays

Kuliouou Ridge Trail: East Oahu's Most Rewarding Climb

Glamping at Motegi: Camping Next to a Race Circuit

Otaru: Sea Caves, Sweets, and a Kitsune Mask

Niseko: Ostriches, Whisky, and a Cuban at the Park Hyatt

Lantern Floating Hawaii: How Honolulu Remembers on Memorial Day

Matsushima: Pine Islands and the View That Stopped a Poet

Kumamoto: Steps, Steam, and a Sea of Clouds

Saga & Fukuoka: Porcelain Towns and the City That Feeds Japan

Nikko: Shrines, Cedar Forests, and a Waterfall Worth the Drive

Chichibu: Temples, Sake, and a Town That Moves at Its Own Pace

Turtle Bay: Golf on the North Shore, Where the Tradewinds Win

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