This past September Chris and I visited Japan. It’s a trip that we had been dreaming about (and saving for) for a very long time and…. It. Was. Amazing. The Japanese people were welcoming, friendly, and extremely patient with our limited Japanese language skills (though, I have to brag on Chris that we got around the country not because we found people who spoke English but by him reading and speaking Japanese . I was very impressed. Go Rosetta Stone. ;-). We spent our first few days in Tokyo, a city that both Chris and I were apprehensive about because of the large population in a fairly small plot of land and just a general aversion to big cities that we both have. We were both very pleasantly surprised to fall in love with Tokyo. The train system was amazing, everything was impeccably clean, the people were beautiful and VERY well dressed (if you want to see Americana fashion done well [far better then we do it here in the states], spend time in Tokyo. And don’t even get me started on all of the beautiful handmade blouses and dresses that the women were wearing), everything was very orderly, and there was a beautiful interweaving of ancient and brand spankin’ new. Plus, the exchange rate was very much in our favor so it was no more expensive to be in Japan then it was in California. More posts to come on Okazaki, Nagoya, and Kyoto – including the Shibori museum of Kyoto!! so, stay tuned!
Tokyo from our hotel room.
I wanted to pack these up and send them home for the shop!
This character is Hana – means flower. It’s on all of the flower shops. Had to take the pic for Hannah.
Akihabara, Tokyo. A playground for the anime enthusiast.
Tokyo Station. 1914.
Tokyo Station. 1914.
Bridge into the Tokyo Imperial Palace. Modern and New a contrasting background to the old stonework of the bridge and walls.
I took a ridiculous amount of pictures of stone walls.
Tokyo Imperial Palace. Guard Tower.
The beautiful trees in the grounds of the Tokyo Imperial Palace.
A lonely swan at the Tokyo Imperial Palace.
Kusunoki Masashige. Tokyo Imperial Palace.
Omoide Yokocho. Memory Lane. Shinjuku, Tokyo. Alley after alley of teeny tiny yakatori (bbq) eateries.
Shinjuku, Tokyo. Red Light District at Midnight.
So happy for you that you were able to visit. Also happy to hear it is not that expensive. My father was in the Air Force and we lived near Tokyo (Yakota AFB) when I was a child. We lived on base for a while and off-base as well. I have fond memories of the “full-immersion”experience while living off-base, from 1960-1964. We had Japanese culture studies in school and participated in many cultural events. Thank you so much for sharing your experience. Look forward to hearing more and seeing more photos!