Early this morning, we left our hotel for the Kyoto train station to take the Shinkansen (bullet train) back to Tokyo for our return flight home. The Japanese are known for the impeccable punctuality of their trains, and the very quick and on-time Shinkansen did not disappoint. As an added bonus, we got to see […]
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Japan Day 10: A Rainy Tour of Kyoto
Today started with a spritzing of rain which turned to a downpour. This was disappointing, because today we visited the Fushimi Inari Shrine, an outdoor park with thousands of orange torii gates. These beautiful gates snake up a mountainside that our guide told us would take about two hours to walk. We only had an […]
Japan Day 9: The Golden Pavilion
This morning, we traveled from Kanazawa to Kyoto via the Thunderbird train. It’s not the bullet train most folks think of when they think of Japan (that’s the Shinkansen), but it was still fast and comfortable. It got us to Kyoto around lunchtime, where our tour guide had a special meal planned for us. Lunch […]
Japan Day 8: Treasures of Kanazawa
On our bus ride to Kanazawa this morning, our tour guide showed us a video on the art of Sake brewing. During our tasting yesterday, the complexity of the brew process for Sake was lost on us, but today we fully appreciated the skill that goes into creating Japan’s famous rice-wine. Since rice itself doesn’t […]
Japan Day 7: Sampling Hida Specialties in Takayama
After a filling breakfast at the hotel, we made our way to Takayama for shopping in a historic market. At about 10 o’clock in the morning, our group stopped into a sake brewery for a tasting (we were confused about timing too, but the Japanese seem to have a more lax attitude towards alcohol in […]
Japan Day 6: Lake Yamanakako
We started Day 6 of our trip with a visit to Oshino Village. There were quite a few places to shop with interesting food and souvenirs in this area built around several natural springs. It was drizzling today, but we did get a good look at lots of Koi fish swimming in the deep, mossy-green […]
Japan Day 5: Touring the Imperial Gardens and Making Sushi in Ginza
After breakfast at our hotel, I spent some time wandering around The New Otani’s Japanese garden. This carefully manicured sanctuary featured waterfalls, Shinto gates, statues, lots of Koi fish, perfect flowers, crimson bridges, and more. After my stroll through the garden, I joined our tour group to visit the imperial palace in Tokyo. Our tour […]
Japan Day 4: Sensoji & The Skytree
The first day of our guided tour began with a visit to the Sensoji Buddhist temple in Tokyo. With the help of our guide, we took part in rituals like cleansing ourselves at the basin, getting a fortune from inside the temple (we didn’t get good fortunes—yikes), covering ourselves with holy smoke from incense, and […]
Japan Day 3: Tsuta Noodles
On Day 3 of our adventure in Japan, we went for breakfast without straying from the safety of chain fast-casual restaurants; but this time, we opted for a Japanese restaurant—Yoshinoya. My dad bought a ham, egg, and rice bowl while I chose a beef bowl. It wasn’t the best breakfast I had ever had, but […]
Japan Day 2: Exploring Odaiba & Yodobashi Akhibu
Waking up bright and early (a result of the 13-hour jet lag and early-rising sun; 4:30am), we ventured out of our hotel to seek breakfast at a safe bet: McDonald’s. It wasn’t far from our hotel, and we were able to recover from our freaky food experience the night before with the familiar: a chicken […]