Good morning from Tokyo! We all had a great night’s sleep and were up early. Big thanks to our awesome hosts, The Kirtmans! Today we head out on our first Shinkansen (train) trip to Kyoto.

First full day in Japan! We slept well and woke up early. We had to tear Zoey away from her buddies, the Kirtman girls (The Kirtmans are our wonderful hosts in Tokyo. The dad, Khahlil, is one of Michael’s friends from high school.) We headed to Kyoto on the Shinkansen high speed train.

As soon as we arrived, Michael took the kids sightseeing while I got to do a shibori silk dyeing class.

After a short rest, we headed to a cooking class for dinner! The kids learned to make miso soup from scratch, tamago, kabocha squash and teriyaki chicken.

Can’t wait to see more of Kyoto tomorrow!

Kyoto, Day 2! We grabbed a picnic brunch from one of the amazing markets at the Kyoto Station and hopped on the local train to the Fushimi Inari-taisha shrine complex. It was incredibly beautiful \240but SO hot there. As we hiked up, there was thankfully a lot of shade among the trees.

After the shrine, we walked through the neighborhood around the temple and had the best shaved ice ever.

Then we took a couple of subways to the other side of town for the number one reason that Zoey wanted to come to Japan: The Pug Cafe! It was crazy - pugs everywhere and they jump all over you to get the treats they provide you with admission. Zoey was in pug heaven - while Michael and Alex tried not to get drooled on.

After a long rest in the air conditioning, we ventured out the the huge shopping mall near our Airbnb. Not only do they still have Toys R Us here, but they sell fireworks there! We didn’t let Michael get any. 😆

We grabbed a bite at the food court, and everything was fantastic! For fans of Alex Eating photos, I’m including one of him eating the best ramen we’ve ever had.

Tomorrow we head to Nara to see the deer! 🦌

Last full day in Kyoto - day trip to Nara

We hopped on the train to Nara today - about a 40 min ride from Kyoto. Nara is famous for its tame deer that run around all over the park by \240the temples and shrines. The deer were historically considered to be the sacred messengers of the Shinto gods that inhabit the shrines. They are still protected in the park area today. You can pet them and feed them wafers that vendors sell and some of the deer are very aggressive if you have wafers for them! Zoey had a great time taking selfies with some of the deer and the results are pretty hilarious.

We visited the Kasuga Shrine (Shinto) and the Tōdai-ji temple complex (Buddhist). Tōdai-ji’s great hall is ginormous and houses the world’s largest bronze Buddha.

We explored the downtown area of Nara for a bit and grabbed some sushi before heading back to Kyoto. After a rest, we headed out to the Nijō-jo castle area to see the special Tanabata light festival. Tanabata legend tells of two lovers, Hikoboshi (Altair star) and Orihime (Vega star), who are separated by the "river of the heavens" (Milky Way). They are allowed to meet once a year, on the night of July 7 (which is this week by the lunar calendar).

We found a little place nearby and had some amazing ramen for dinner!

Tomorrow - on to Osaka!

Ōsaka!

We took a quick 30 min train ride from Kyoto to Osaka. Osaka is much larger and more urban that Kyoto. We killed some time at the shopping areal adjacent to the train station while we waited for check in time at our Airbnb. Luckily there was a huge Pokemon Center that the kids were happy to explore.

After we checked in, we ventured out to Dōtonburi, the touristy restaurant and shopping area. There are giant signs and neon everywhere. After walking around for a while, we found a littlle restaurant with tatami mats and had a great dinner of yakiniku and okonomiyaki.

Tomorrow we get to sightsee with my friend from grad school, Sachiko, who lives here. So excited to see her after 15 years!

Ōsaka, Day 2

We did a LOT today! We met up with my friend Sachiko from my grad school days at Chapman this morning. She is from here and was a great tour guide! She recommended we visit the Museum of Living and Housing - its name didn’t do it justice! It’s up in the 8th floor of an office building. When you step into the museum, you are suddenly transported to a replica of Edo era Osaka. You can walk around the buildings and go inside, plus there are museum displays. It was very cool!

From there, we headed to the Osaka Castle. This 16th century castle is right next to many downtown business high rises, including NHK. You start at the top of the tower with a 360 degree view of Osaka, then make your way down through the museum inside.

After a yummy lunch at one of Sachiko’s favorite little lunch spots, we headed out \240to the Osaka Aquarium, which was one of the most amazing aquariums we’ve ever been to! I think it even has Monterey beat, especially if you factor in the Mermaid Cafe, where you can get soft serve and lattes that honor the aquarium’s mascot, the whale shark! Zoey took a ton of photos of the sea creatures!

After we said goodbye to Sachiko and had a short rest, we went to one of the places on Zoey’s Must Do List, The Gudetama Cafe. All the food is \240Gudetama themed (he’s the “Lazy Egg”). Very cute!

Tomorrow we’ll be at Universal Studios Osaka.

SO tired!

We spent all day at Universal Studios Osaka! It was huge, super clean and lots of fun! It was funny to see Japanese recreations of Beverly Hills, Hollywood and San Francisco.

Tomorrow, on to Hiroshima!

Hiroshima!

After a quick stop for “jiggly cheesecake” at \240Internet-famous Uncle Rikuro’s at the Osaka train station, we headed to Hiroshima on the Shinkansen train. Hiroshima is beautiful! And I’m not just saying that because this area is where some of my ancestors are from. 😏

We have a gorgeous Airbnb apartment here and I think we all wish we could stay here for a week! We explored downtown Hiroshima a bit tonight and had the regional specialty, Okonomiyaki in the “Okonomiyaki Village” Street where all the restaurants serve it.

Tomorrow we are taking a day trip to Miyajima Island and also visiting the Hiroshima Peace Memorial and museum.

Hiroshima Mon Amour

I’ve found my favorite, and it’s Hiroshima. The perfect size for exploring, easy transit, gorgeous scenery at Miyajima Island, great food, etc! Plus, my ancestors came from this area, and I definitely feel a connection to this place. I can’t wait to come back, and to stay in this awesome Airbnb apartment again for at least a week! It’s so easy to get around on the Shinkansen that this would make a great home base for exploring other cities as day trips.

We did a ton with our last full day here. First we headed to Miyajima Island, home of the famous O-torii gate in the water. Unfortunately, high tide was very early and late today, so we didn’t see it submerged, but we still got some great photos on the beach. We even got a great family photo, thanks to a couple girls who happened to be in the ferry line in front of us who were from Mission Viejo.

Besides shrines and temples, Miyajima is a cute little town with small shops and lots of food stands selling local specialties: oysters, fish cakes, okonomiyaki, maple cakes and more. We had a great time buying small bites for lunch.

We headed back into the city so we could see the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. The museum is very close to the “hypocenter” where the bomb hit. Part of a ruined building with a dome was left standing - the A-Bomb Dome. The museum is sad and very graphic, but its goal is beautiful - to educate about the horrors of nuclear war and to advocate for banning nuclear weapons.

After our long day, we headed back to the apartment and had dinner of instant noodles and some onigiri from 7/11 (it’s good, really!) plus Alex’s favorite thing here - katsu sandwich.

Tomorrow we’re back on the Shinkansen to Tokyo. We’re sad to leave Hiroshima, but very excited to spend time with our friends the Kirtman family in Tokyo!

Not many photos today - spent most of the day traveling by Shinkansen back to Tokyo. Beautiful sunset tonight! Tomorrow we explore.

Big sightseeing day in Tokyo!

We did some shopping in Omotesandō, super crazy crowded Harajuku, and saw the famous Shibuya crossing. After a much needed afternoon break from the heat, we headed out for kaiten (revolving) sushi dinner in gorgeous Roppongi Hills. Best sushi ever!

Big thanks to our amazing hosts, The Kirtmans, for showing us around all day! ❤️❤️

More fun in Tokyo today! We had much at the famous Ichiran Ramen. You pay at a machine outside and then go in and take an empty seat. We were very lucky to find 9 seats all in a row. The seats have dividers between them and a curtain in front of you. You never see your server. You turn in your order ticket and mark your preferences (amount of spiciness, onions, etc) on a paper and then press the button in front of you. A server comes and takes your ticket and returns quickly with your ramen. It was SO delicious - by far the best ramen we’ve ever had!

After Ichiran, Zoey wanted to hang out with the Kirtman girls, so Michael and I took Alex to Tokyo Tower. They have a huge 3-level exhibit dedicated to One Piece, a Japanese comic series that he reads. It was a huge thing, with interactive exhibits, games, a 4D movie and theme restaurants. We also went up to the Tower observation deck, which had amazing views of the city. At 333 meters, the tower is almost twice as tall as the Space Needle.

We returned to the Kirtman’s, and decided on takeout from the Japanese burger chain MOS Burger. Michael and I went with Khahlil to pick it up, and he drove through Shibuya to get there - we stopped right at the traffic light at the famous Shibuya Crossing and I got some great photos of from the middle of the street.

There’s some thunder and lightning tonight - hopefully it will be done by morning.

Rainy day!

Today we set off for the Akihabara electronics district, one of the top areas to see on Alex’s list. We had plans to head to the Edo Museum after that, and brought the two younger Kirtman girls with us. After walking around for a few hours, Michael took the girls to a cafe for ice cream while Alex finished up his shopping. They made a great choice, because right after that the skies opened up and it absolutely poured buckets of rain. Alex and I got drenched before we managed to duck into a large store for a while. The girls and Michael stayed put, played some Uno and waited out the storm. We decided to just head home after that, rather than try to get to the museum in the rain.

Our host, Mami, treated us to the perfect rainy day dinner of homemade curry rice. So yummy!

After dinner the rain had stopped, so Michael and I took Alex over to Shibuya (a quick 10 minute bus ride from the apartment) to go to the big One Piece store there to get some posters they were out of at the Tokyo Tower store.

Not many photos today because of the weather.

History and baseball!

Today we visited the Edo Museum - a huge place with incredible recreations of life in Edo (Tokyo before 1868), plus artifacts and history of the city through modern day.

After a little shopping in Shibuya, we headed to a baseball game! The Tokyo Swallows took on the Tokyo (formerly Yomiuri) Giants. It was a great game. Japanese baseball is very loud - there are chants for every player, each team has a band playing trumpets and drums, and there are even cheerleaders! There are a lot of fouls hit into the stands, so you really have to pay attention!

Yokohama!

Today we hopped on a short train to Yokohama. Zoey heard that there was a big Pokemon Go event going on...we had no idea just how big. From the moment we stepped off the train, we were surrounded by Pokémon stuff: paper hats, dancing characters and CROWDS of people there for this thing.

We headed to the Cup Noodles Museum first. Yes, a museum to instant noodles exists. Turns out it is a huge tourist attraction, and the “make your own cup of noodles” lab was fully booked for the day. We had a great time walking around the museum and eating at their cafe. The cafe featured noodle dishes from all around Asia, in small portions so you could try more than one. They seat you and then you walk up to the themed counter and order from a vending machine, take your ticket and exchange it for your noodles. Alex got a Cup Noodles ice cream at the end...which turned out to be actual Cup Noodles flavor. 🤢

After the museum, we walked down by the water to the Red Brick Park, where the main Pokémon events were going on. We watched a little bit of the shows before heading back to town to catch the train back to Tokyo. Yokohama is a gorgeous town with lots of modern buildings. Even with all the crowds, it was also incredibly clean.

When we got back, we went out for a delicious yakiniku dinner with our hosts, The Kirtmans. We head up to Hokkaidō tomorrow, so it’s time to say goodbye. Hopefully we will see them again soon! ❤️

We’re in the mountains! 6+ hours of train travel today took us out of the heat and humidity of Tokyo and up into the rainy and cool mountains of Hokkaido in northern Japan. We’re staying in a cute little cabin (with a sauna!) in the mountain resort area of Hirafu/Niseko. It is pouring rain, so luckily we found a great curry soup restaurant for dinner right down the street. The weather is supposed to improve a bit tomorrow, so hopefully we can do some exploring.

Didn’t take many photos today - we waited out the rain all morning and finally were able to go out in the afternoon when it cleared up. We went out to the the market for groceries, then headed up the hill to the Niseko Alpen Hotel to use their onsen (traditional Japanese baths). Zoey and I went in the women’s side of the facility, while Michael used the men’s side (Alex passed on the large group nakedness). It was so relaxing and beautiful to sit outside in the hot springs with a view of the mountains!

After a surprisingly authentic Italian wood fired pizza dinner (this is really an international ski town), we are back in our little cabin awating tomorrow’s adventures.

Today Michael went on a guided fishing trip and I took the kids to Sapporo. Two hours of train travel each way, with lots of gorgeous scenery through the countryside and along the water. Sapporo has miles of shopping malls connected underground from the train station, so you can minimize walking outside in the winter when it’s cold. We had some amazing ramen on the “Ramen level” of one of the shopping malls. Nearly the whole floor is ramen restaurants!

After we got back to the mountains, we met back up with Michael and headed to the annual Hirafu Festival, which just happened to coincide with our last night here! They had over 30 food booths from area restaurants, music, and performances. It looked like whole town was there and we realized just how many expats live here.

Tomorrow we are up early to head back to Tokyo for our last night in Japan.

It’s our last night in Japan, and after a long and arduous day on trains making our way back to Tokyo, the onsen in the little ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) we are staying at was amazing. We are all tucked in to our futons on the tatami mat floor.

Tomorrow we have about a half of a day to check out this historic neighborhood, Asakusa (we looked around a big tonight, but most of the small shops were closed). Then it’s off to Narita to fly back to the US!

Sayonara, Japan!

After a cozy night at the ryokan, we had a traditional Japanese breakfast before heading out to explore the historic Asakusa neighborhood for a bit before we had to head to Tokyo station to catch the Narita Express to the airport. We walked around the Sensō-ji temple and nearby Akamise shopping street.

Then it was off to Tokyo Station, where Zoey again spotted some Pokémon characters to take photos with. We grabbed out last train lunch picnic from the fancy food halls at the Daimaru department store, to eat on the very fancy and comfy Narita Express train.

We were all sad to leave Japan. It was such a amazing travel destination, not just because of all the amazing things to see, but also the delicious food, easy transportation system, and wonderful hospitality everywhere you go.