Japan...What we MISS

I've been asked quite often what I miss or liked most about Japan. It was a huge hunk of time, especially for our first international trip together, and even more so when we were camping the entire way. Alright, I wouldn't really consider it camping since we had nice restrooms (which also acted as laundry and shower), fresh water (drink-able too, which was great for cooking and refilling our water bottles), plus we were up off the ground. Even now I would probably state I'm not a huge camping fan, but when it comes to travel I love urban camping and the price tag of 0.00 USD. Ok, back to what I miss, since I have my hammock hanging up as a bed, I can't really say I miss it. 

I miss the people and culture. Everyone was very polite, carrying, hospitable, and willing to go out of their way to help. It was a huge shock coming back to the states...I bowed whenever I said thank you for the first little while. Even now (a whole year later) I sometimes start to bow when I really want to say "thank you". In a way I feel (at least in my mind) just words don't carry the same weight anymore. Action, and bowing, which takes your whole body to do, shows how much you appreciate it - ie the deeper the bow, the more appreciative you are. Well that was an interesting side note....

FRESH fruit!!!

Yes these fruit prices range from 18 USD to 98 USD, generally they were cheaper, but these are for presents/gifts, not for general consumption....they just looked SO pretty.

We miss fresh fruit. Yes, you can walk into any grocery store in America and get "fresh" fruit, but do they look like this? And, I swear that the carrots, cabbage, pretty much every fruit and vegetable we ate there tasted a WHOLE lot better than what we get here in the States. 

I would also say I miss 7-Eleven. I've even gone to their Japanese site to day dream again about the amazing food they always had at the ready. The caramel macchiato ice cream cones, the pasta and rice curry they would microwave for me and the sticky buns filled with delicious meat and vegetables. And to know that they had all been fresh delivered to the store that morning or afternoon and not sat there for a week or more. Man I miss the fresh, convenience store food. We had heard tales about street food, especially in some of the less developed countries, but I had serious withdrawals from 7-Eleven, Lawson's, Cirlce-K, and Family Mart food. Sometimes, just to switch it up we would stop at an actual Grocery Store to raid their fresh, ready to eat food. Ahh, the dreams about handing over yen and saying "yes" to having the store attendant microwave my food, to then walk to a nearby park that would be our home for the night to eat dinner. Yes, I've actually dreamed in Japanese about the food and having them microwave it for me, sad? maybe, funny? heck yes!

Val (left) and I (Ash on the right) in front of the first Onsen we visited. This one is located in Beppu, which is known for its many many Onsen. The person that was kind enough to take the photo for us is a native Japanese girl (mid 20's) that we met in the bath and started chatting with us. 

While we did utilize many public bathrooms to wash, freshen up, brush teeth, deodorize, ect. we enjoyed the opportunities to enjoy traditional Japanese bathing. Onsens and how the Japanese regularly bathe by having a little shower that you sit in front of to scrub and rinse and then a large tub to soak in afterwards, makes so much sense. I've found myself countless time wishing for one of those little seats in front of a shower faucet, trying to balance in a shower as the curtain starts to engulf you isn't much fun. I think they have the right idea. We weren't able to take photos inside any of the public baths due to wanted privacy (I would be a little wary if they were willing to allow photographs when you're walking around nude), but I did find some photos on the internet.

Demonstrates the little stool in front of the spigot to scrub and wash
Plus the large bath to soak.  

Onsen that has an outdoor section. 

Japan: Week 7

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1. Sapporo to Wakkanai to Sapporo
2. Sapporo to Okayama
3. Okayama to Takamatsu to Imabari to Onomichi to Tokyo
4. Mitaka: Studio Ghibli Museum
5. Emperor's Garden, Tskiji Market, Sailor Moon, & Capsule Hotel
6. Kimi Ryokan
7. Tokyo Shopping and Flight to Seattle

Here is a map of the route we took and the exact places. Wow did we make it far during our first week. We were traveling at the speed of a Shinkansen (Japanese bullet train)! Sadly Google Map doesn't allow you to have all those points while in public transportation mode, but we did travel the entire way on JR train.

Cape Soya, Wakkanai
Most Northern point
of Mainland Japan

We went from Akita to Wakkanai. Ever sense I had seen a Japanese animation I had wanted to visit the most northern point of Japan. Wakkanai has an actual monument about an hour outside of the city that marks the most northern point. Ending our main travel by going from the south to the north was mindboggling to say the least.

To round out our large Island hopping we visited the last of the four main islands, Shikoku. We travelled over the only bridge that connects the main island of Honshu with that of Shikoku by train. The ride was even on a sleeper train, which we really wanted to experience if only to ride on, and we were just in luck, we each had our own bunk! We originally planned to bike across the Shimanami Kaido which is a bike/pedestrian bridge that goes from Imabari to Onomichi. We ended up instead traveling the same route by bus, as we were a little short on time. At the transfer site we found an amazing vending machine that basically materialized a fabulous banana icee for 200¥ or about 2 USD.

All the girls going shopping

Goodbye Japan! Hello Space Needle
and Seattle

After this final travel adventure, we headed back to Tokyo for a stay at a capsule hotel and some souvenir shopping before heading to the airport. After leaving the capsule hotel we saw all these Tokyo-ites with their suitcases. It had become a regular site to see many people walking around with suitcases. It helps them when shopping as they are easier to manage when getting on and off trains while also going up and down stairs or escalators which are everywhere around Tokyo and most of Japan. After some last moment shopping around Tokyo we headed to Narita Airport and eventually lift off. Our last official photo for our first excursion overseas was a photo of downtown Seattle and the Space Needle Seattle. Coming home was a lot different since we saw everything in a different light, and a new perspective.  The way only traveling gets you to question and experience new things and allows you to make new assessments about your own Country, State, City, and life choices!

Japan: Week 6

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1. Wajima, Senmaida to Niigata
2. Matsumoto: Fireflies
3. Nagano: Monkeys
4. Matsumoto to Niigata
5. Niigata (Sea of Japan) & Hagurosan
6. Hagurosan to Akita
7. Akita to Sapporo

Here is a map of the route we took and the exact places. Wow did we make it far during our first week. We were traveling at the speed of a Shinkansen (Japanese bullet train)! Sadly Google Map doesn't allow you to have all those points while in public transportation mode, but we did travel the entire way on JR train.

Senmaida about an hour bus ride
from Wajima

Tree hugger in Kanazawa

From Kanazawa, we headed to Senmaida also known as a thousand rice fields flowing into the Sea of Japan. We took a whole day traveling to Wajima, a large city located by Senmaida, so that we could take the earliest bus to the rice fields the next morning. We were very happy to have finally made it to famed fields. They were miraculous and that they were by the Sea of Japan was fantastic, we could not have asked for more.

We headed back to Kanazawa, and then on to Niigata, were we found some amazing tree huggers. From there we headed on to Nagano and Matsumoto. After speaking with the information center in Matsumoto we found out that there was a local park that hosts firefly festivals. The park was a large mash area with a slow moving stream zig-zagging throughout. Circling the park was a nice paved or boarded walk where you could stroll to view the different areas and groups of fireflies. As the night continued on, it appeared that the fireflies became more and more tired. Tired enough for us to catch a couple and inspect them a little closer. I had only seen one in my life, on the east coast, but it was from a distance, while Val had never seen one. To be standing in a park that we only paid 300¥ each to enter and be surrounded by hundreds to thousands of these magnificent creates was dream-like.

In an area by Nagano, Jigokundani Onsen, they have monkeys that regularly bathe in the hot springs. Oh, we enjoyed taking photo after photo of them.

A new baby that was
watching the old folks
play nearby

Val and the monkeys

Just chillin' by the onsen

We wanted to head back to Niigata so that we could dip our toes into the Sea of Japan. Val got only her toes wet, while I got swallowed by the Sea. This long cement pier was a blast of fun, standing on the sea jacks, playing in the water, and greeting the gentlemen that were surveying the structure and watching what the fisherman were catching. What better way to enjoy the morning then by experiencing the little, everyday things.

Niigata and the Sea of Japan

Akita train station

Train stations had become a part of our everyday lives in the last couple of weeks. Akita was one of these stations that we spent a little time in on our way to the next place. They say: it’s not the destination but the journey that matters, or something to that affect. We were enjoying both: the destination and the journey.  

Japan: Week 5

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1. Kumano Kodo & Gorge
2. Katsuura, Nachi, & Nagoya
3. Nagoya & Yamaguchi
4. Akiyoshidai & Asa
5. Asa & Matsue
6. Matsue & Kanazawa
7. Kanazawa & Wajima

Here is a map of the route we took and the exact places. Wow did we make it far during our first week. We were traveling at the speed of a Shinkansen (Japanese bullet train)! Sadly Google Map doesn't allow you to have all those points while in public transportation mode, but we did travel the entire way on JR train.

 

Rice field in Takahara about 4 hrs
into our pilgrimage

Woods on between Takahara
and Jujo-oji

Val found the Kumano Kodo Pilgrimage on the National Geographic website. After the Onaida Nature Trail I was a little hesitant to go on another Japanese hike, but since National Geographic recommended it, we thought it shouldn’t be too hard, so we began our pilgrimage. The beginning of our hike began in a slight sprinkle but it eventually dried out. The cloud formations and atmosphere or the whole hike was miraculous. With the mist rolling in through the woods, the bright orange crabs crawling by, dark red wood chips covering the walkway, and the bright green leaves, the pilgrimage was interesting, but not as easy of a hike as we had hoped. At one point, we came out at a hilltop village surrounded by rice fields all the way near the top of this mountain range in the Kii Peninsula. By this time, we were completely exhausted, even though it was only six in the evening. We opted to set up our home and go to sleep. The next day we finished our pilgrimage, which ended at the next closest bus stop that would take us to the shrines.

Dorokyo Gorge in Shiko

Dorokyo Gorge in Shiko

Kurano Nashi Grand Shrine Torii

We eventually made our way the Grand Nachi Shrine, which was located by one of the tallest waterfalls in Japan. At the top of the stairs to the shrine, we were greeted by the unforgettable scent of incense. The pagoda with the waterfall in the distance was remarkable, even now it looks like it was photo-shopped, and the experience was surreal. The shrine was one of the best that we visited and the different shops that lined some of the walk-ways were nice. I found a fantastic re-usable bag for Val.

Kurano Nashi Pagoda
with "tallest" waterfall
in Japan

Leaving the Kii Peninsula we headed for Nagoya, which is also the closest connection to the Shinkansen to our next location. Interestingly we could not find a park in Nagoya to camp out in, but we did find a park-ish area that was around the Nagoya Noh Theater and that is where we slept. It was a great find for us. It was a little farther away from traffic, so it was quieter. In addition, it had less foot traffic as well, so we were able to sleep in.

After visiting a few other destinations, we eventually made it to Kanazawa. Before leaving this destination for the rice fields, we had to check out the castle. We had previously checked out Himeji Castle, but could not enter the main castle as it is under renovation. Here was us hoping we could see the interior of Kanazawa Castle…alas the actual castle was destroyed hundreds of years ago and they are working on reconstructing the castle following old photos, plans, and pieces that had survived from the original.

Japan: Week 4

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1. Toyota & Osaka
2. Osaka, Ikeda, & Takeda
3. Takeda to Shirahama
4. Shirahama
5. Shirahama
6. Shirahama to Kii-Tanabe
7. Kumano Kodo Pilgrimage

Here is a map of the route we took and the exact places. Wow did we make it far during our first week. We were traveling at the speed of a Shinkansen (Japanese bullet train)! Sadly Google Map doesn't allow you to have all those points while in public transportation mode, but we did travel the entire way on JR train.

We went from a rain forest to an automobile factory in Toyota. Yes, it’s named after the Toyoda family which owns Toyota. Val found a sign out by the water fountain that said “this is not a gargle station”. Our response was “What is a gargle station and why is there a sign against it?” It was our next mission: where/what is the gargle station and why do they have it in an automobile museum. Going into the women’s bathroom there was a random spout maybe that is it…so we had to take a video of this new and amazing contraption. The spout shot amazing tasting minty goodness into your mouth so that you could gargle it and have lovely smelling breath. 

We both tried it out and really wanted one back in the states. Oh, the Japanese have so many cool gadgets all over the place. The gargle station was probably the highlight of our tour at the Toyota Kaikan Museum.

Osaka, Tempozan Ferris 

Wheel from the ferry dock

During our return visit to Osaka, we decided to stay near the Tempozan Ferris wheel, one of the largest in the world. It was a good place that was out of the main city, plus we could check one of our attractions off the list: riding the Ferris wheel. Although the major cities were one of the main things we were extremely excited about when planning the trip, they didn’t really live up to all the hype. The very next day we visited the Instant Ramen Museum and then off to Takeda.

Takeda Castle Ruins

Takeda Castle Ruins were in middle of nowhere. We had just reached Takeda city right before the last bus left to the castle ruins. The ruins have been quoted as being the castle in the sky, since on occasion it is completely shrouded in clouds. Catching the very last bus to the ruins, it allowed us to catch the sun setting, creating very beautiful photos and an astonishing atmosphere.

Shirahahama beach in Shirahama

Both Val and I were whipped out from all of the travel back and forth. We needed a little break from moving at the speed of a Shinkansen. We knew that if we wanted to go on the National Geographic hike on Kii Peninsula we needed to head near the beginning of the hike, which is located by Shirahama. Getting off the bus in complete darkness we were unsure of where the beach was as you could not see the sand or anything, you couldn't even smell the salt air of the ocean. The driver sounded sure and even insisted that we were at the Shirarahama beach, so we had to trust him. Low and behold, the bus drove away and poof there were the palm leaves rustling in the slight ocean breeze and the sound of the crashing waves in the dark; we were officially at the beach, which was very reassuring to both Val and I. The next morning we awoke to the sound of waves, crows, and toes in the sand. This beach is one of the most beautiful places we have ever been.  We had found a tropical paradise in Japan just by chance!                             

Japan: Week 3

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1. Sakurajima & Kagoshima
2. Yakushima: Onaida Nature Trail
3. Yakushima: Onaida Nature Trail
4. Yakushima: Onaida Nature Trail
5. Yakushima: Sea Turtles
6. Yakushima to Kagoshima
7. Kagoshima to Toyota

Here is a map of the route we took and the exact places. Wow did we make it far during our first week. We were traveling at the speed of a Shinkansen (Japanese bullet train)! Sadly Google Map doesn't allow you to have all those points while in public transportation mode, but we did travel the entire way on JR train.

The cats that had made Sakurajima
Island their home were very
friendly and more then willing to take
some of my left over food.

Waking up in the Dinosaur Park, the submarine was still there. I was happy to see it because then hopefully I would be able to watch it submerge. Just as I stopped filming the sub and turned my back, it went under. It was a little frustrating, but we had to make it to the ferry to head off to Yakushima and the forest that Hayao Miyazaki used as inspiration for Princess Mononoke, one of the films that inspired me to visit Japan in the first place. There are homeless cats everywhere in Japan, some more comfortable around people than others, but many of them are taken care of my locals that bring water and food for them.  The cats on Sakurajima that we fed with some leftover lunch were very friendly. One of them even snuggled up with me after eating and drank some water that I put into the plastic base that my ice cream cone had come in – yum yum ice cream by the way.

Ash on Boat with Yakushima Island behind her

The portion of trail I went on was under the forest canopy the entire way except at the very end where I was surrounded by misty clouds and amazing ancient trees! Although lonely planet and the Yakushima tourist center both quoted that the Onaida Nature Trail would only take 7-8 hours it took me a total of two and a half days. It was ridiculous how crazy the trail was; the people seriously marked trees in the complete wilderness with pink plastic tape and then called it a trail. The trail was full of obstacles, large boulders, streams, mountains after mountains to climb, river, and two groups of monkeys. It was so rigorous that I had to camp out in nature two nights and filter water. The first night I slept under a wonderfully placed rest hut that was stuck to the side of a very steep section of the trail; luckily the huts pillars were far enough apart for me to hang my hammock because there were benches right in the center, but not big enough to do anything except cook or sit on.

Near the end of the Oneida Nature Trail their is a clearing
where you have to climb over this large fallen tree. The
View was incredible and mystifying.

The trees were so close together, it was difficult finding a place to hang the hammock on the second night, but if there is a will there is a way! After emerging from this beautiful but exhausting hike we were then off to see the sea turtles.... We got to the beach earlier in the day and went cross the highway into some trees and hung the Nubé (our home). We watched a long video of what type of turtles we may be seeing (all in Japanese of course). During this video all the non-Japanese speaking tourists’ followed two gecko's as they searched for their next meal near the lights, that were on the hut we were all huddled under, trying to avoid the torrential down pour, and one very large spider that just stayed half way hidden (don't think his whole body could fit in the crack he called home). We after much dead silence (10 pm rolled around and some people went home) we were suddenly ushered single file holding onto the shoulder of the person in front of you out deep into the sand.  This beach is where they allowed us to see a female Loggerhead Sea Turtle laying eggs. She was beautiful, she was approximately 5 foot in length, 4 foot wide with a neck of about 8 inches in diameter, as she began burring the eggs, wildlife officials took blood samples, tagged her back fin and replaced a GPS tag in her front fin.  They dig up the eggs to count and protect them; in July you can watch the babies scurry back to the sea, from human dug nests. We loved this experience!
After leaving the southern island of Yakushima, we took the four-hour ferry ride to Kagoshima and some of our beloved 7-eleven food, and then slept in our fantastic hammocks. Luckily, we had grown accustomed to hanging the Nubé no matter what the weather, so when it rained that night we were nice and dry. The puddle that was similar to a lake under our Nubé was something else. It made it a little interesting when getting out and breaking down camp. 

Japan: Week 2

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A day by day account of where we were and some of the experiences we had.

1. Nara
2. Himeji & Banshu Ako
3. Banshu Ako
4. Banshu Ako & Osaka
5. Hiroshima & Miyajima
6. Miyajima & Beppu
7. Beppu & Sakurajima

Here is a map of the route we took and the exact places. Sadly Google Map doesn't allow you to have all those points while in public transportation mode, but we did travel the entire way on JR train.

Nara, a little town outside of Kyoto, was one of the few places that we saw a bunch of other international tourists and we were all there for the same reason, to feed the famous deer. I believe that since of the high volume of visitors they had a higher proportion of street markets. We enjoyed visiting this city that offered some decent food from the grocery store in the train station and some photogenic and feisty deer.

Nara, Japan Market

Hiroshima, Japan
A-Bomb Dome and Eternal Flame

We felt that no trip would be complete without visiting Hiroshima and really respect our two countries history. The visit to the memorial museum was a somber event. Leaving Hiroshima, we took a ferry to Miyajima and the famous floating torii of Itsukushima Shrine. We did not feel that it would be right to urban camp in Hiroshima city so we opted for a more appropriate location on the island. Plus it would be a lot more secluded area meaning that we would not be anyone’s way. We found a perfect place that ended up surrounded by native deer and we even heard a couple of very load monkey screeches as darkness fell over us.

Miyajima Island
Floating Torii

Banshu Ako, Packs off to eat our
7-eleven cappuccino ice cream before
walking the rest of the way to the camp
ground

Ohmoto Park, Miyajima Island

By week two we were becoming overwhelmed by the big City, concrete, people everywhere, trains moving, and cramming into those trains and well.... Val was just exhausted and needed some down time. Information women at the train station called a campsite she knew of way out in the middle of nowhere... Banshu Ako.  During our walk to this campground we found a 7-11 store where we bought ice cream, we stopped at a shaded picnic bench, and I had Ash take a photo, all I wanted was there!  A bench, shade, ice cream and no pack, and better yet a nice view!  We finally made it to this campground, where we stayed 3 days. This place had showers, laundry, picnic tables, vending machines, kitchen set up for all to use... even a TV where we watched sumo. They were very kind and lent us two bicycles to get groceries. After realizing many people were there to go clamming, we purchased a sack and dug in the sand at low tide with all the locals.  I promptly got a slight burn, and many little tiny clams.  The campground personnel took our clams, poured them into a plastic tub, then poured lukewarm water over them and placed them in the shade with a piece of cardboard over the top, and motioned with their mouths that the clams needed to spit the sand out. Ash was new to the entire process... but found her fair share of clams too. They then loaned us a frying pan to cook them up in!  On our next trip to the market we purchased two boxes of ice cream and gave them to the staff to say thank you!  (They close the campground on a Tuesday I think, and were becoming worried we would never leave... we did little but rest) Upon our departure they had made a little care package of food (one of the gifts included were Ritz crackers filled with lemon cream filling... quickly became a favorite) and then drove us back to the train station so we didn't have to ride the bus or walk.... so very kind. This couple and their staff hold a special place in our hearts!

Beppu Park, Beppu

After such a great experience at Banshu Ako we wanted to take our chances in a Japanese Onsen. I knew that one place that we would be sure to find an onsen, Japanese bathhouse, was in Beppu. We picked out one that was relatively cheap and included about seven different types of baths, a sand bath, and a sauna.  After a nice soak we headed to a computer café and then on to bed in our hammocks. It was pure luck that we were able to camp next to a grove of bamboo.

Dinosaur Park, Sakurajima

From Beppu we headed even farther south to the city of Kagoshima and across the bay to Sakurajima. We had a bit of a hike up steep switchbacks to the Dinosaur Park, so named because of the life size dinosaurs and other animals statues located there. We found a perfect spot that had a functional bathroom, a little on the icky side, a nice outdoor sink, a rooftop patio, and a beautiful view of the active volcano and bay. It was the perfect place to camp out and we even had a pet hawk. We really liked this location except for the steep climb up side of the hill.

Japan: Week 1

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Day by Day account of the locations we were at:

1. Flight to Japan & Kimi Ryokan
2. Ueno Zoo & Imperial Palace
3. Daiba, Shibuya, & Yokohama
4. Yokohama & Hakone
5. Hakone & Expensive Ryokan
6. Kyoto
7. Kyoto, Torii Shrine, & Bamboo

Here is a map of the route we took and the exact places. Wow did we make it far during our first week. We were traveling at the speed of a Shinkansen (Japanese bullet train)! Sadly Google Map doesn't allow you to have multiple points while in public transportation mode, but we did travel the entire way on JR train except on our excursion to Katahara Hot Spring where JR trains did not reach and thus had to use the local train run by another company.


It is unbelievable how much we accomplished in the first week. Traveling from Seattle, WA to Tokyo was strange enough all by itself, but then to make it all the way to Kyoto in the same week, going from one great experience to another, and another, I just can't find the words to adequately express how much I loved and learned about Japan from the first day I arrived, through the first week, and then the 6 weeks to follow. We took the time to explore Tokyo for two and half days to head off and get a better bearing on where we were and how to travel in this amazing world on the other side of the Pacific. We definitely wanted to hit the highlights of Japan before expanding our exploration.

Our first destination was Ueno Zoo and the giant pandas. We ate some super delicious, freshly made pot stickers in the park before purchasing a vending machine zoo pass. Surrounded by school tour groups, families, and others we proceeded to through the gate and saw everything from Giant Pandas, Elephants, and Rhinos, to California Sea Lions and Otters. It was somewhat funny to have California Sea Lions as an exhibit, but I guess they would not be able to see them in the wild. Ueno Zoo was a nice place to start our visit to Japan by seeing the Giant Pandas.

It was getting late and we needed to locate a place to hang for the night, were planning to sleep in a park somewhere in Tokyo as the Ryokan we were staying at had checked for other hotels and campgrounds that may have vacancies and there were none. The biggest park in Tokyo, minus Ueno Zoo, is the park surrounding of the Imperial Palace, so that is where we chose to have our first urban camping experience. After exploring the Western Garden we nervously went tramping through layers of loud crunchy leaves in the dark all sneaky like to set up our Nubé and hammocks. Later that evening, we realized that there were many people sleeping in the same park, but right under the streetlights, so much for us trying to be sneaky hiding in the bushes.

Shibuya Crosswalk, Tokyo

During the second full day in Japan we tried to visit the Tskiji Fish Market – sadly it is closed on Sundays and we would have to visit it another time when we came back to Tokyo at the end of our stay – Daiba, Shibuya, and finally Yokohama. Since, Tskiji was closed and it was about 4:30 in the morning we decided to take some time and travel by train to an area that might be a little out of our way compared to how central a lot of attractions are in Tokyo, off to Daiba and the Gundam we went. Still nothing was open just yet, so we found some yummy vending machines and created a whole bunch of funny photos along the waterfront of this partially man-made island. Once things were open, we hit the stores, first for food and then to see what the different shops offered. This way we would have ideas on what souvenirs to get on our way back. We heard that Sundays were the best time to see the crazy outfits of the Harajuku teens, se we headed off that way and saw the famous Shibuya crosswalk. We soon became overwhelmed by all the people, navigation, and oh my all the things we had left to learn about our new life for the next seven weeks. Val and I decided that this was a good time to head out of the major city and get some breathing room. We headed to a smaller town that was a little ways out of Tokyo, Yokohama; we found a fantastic little park that was right on the river that had little piers side by side jetting over the water that would be perfect for hanging our hammocks from the railings. This was our second day of urban camping and we loved this amazing location. In the open, yes, but the locals were kind; there was a bathroom close by for clean water to cook and for late night nature calls. Overall, Yokohama was one of our favorite places to urban camp. Laying side by side on a small pier as dusk fell over Japan, we lay watching each high-rise light with different shades until they were all lit and their reflections found their way across the water right to our hammocks was a remarkable sight. We both thought, well, if this is urban camping, we were in love!

Hakone Open-Air Museum
Foot Bath

The Hakone region took two whole days to explore as we went up a mountain by almost every form of land transportation: train, bus, tram, and gondola. On this mountain, they also have an open-air art museum; where they have a Picasso exhibit of some of his less well-known pieces. This art museum also had a footbath that used natural hot water pouring from the mountain. At the very top of the mountain the Gondola stops and we elected to hike further up a mountainside to where natural hot spring pools sprouted from the earth, here they would dunk eggs into the hot pools where they would turn black and boil then be sold as good luck eggs. On the second day, we proceeded across Lake Ashi on a large boat styled like it was afloat during the days of pirates and such; we then caught a bus to a nearby JR station.

Fushimi Inari Shrine
Backpack holder

From Hakone we continued on to Kyoto, hoping to catch a performance by the Pontocho Geishas and maybe a tea ceremony. That night we were happy to get tickets to both events. We wandered around the Geisha district of Kyoto as we waited for the event times to grow closer and found a nice park that had many shrines and areas that would work perfectly for our next home. At the tea ceremony we learned here that matcha (green tea) is an acquired taste that we have not acquired, this was a once in a lifetime experience and we drank the thick green concoction despite our bodies telling us not to, for politeness sake. Giving thanks that they would only give us one serving, they then ushered us to the Geisha performance. To celebrate the end of our first week in Japan, we visited a famous shrine and famous temple in Kyoto. The first was Kiyomizu-dera Temple with a fantastic view of Kyoto from the observation deck and the second was Fushimi Inari Shrine with the famous torii gates all lined up. They were fantastic places to visit and at Inari Shrine we even strapped our backpacks to a lamp pole so that we didn’t have to carry them all the way up the mountain side that the shrine was located at. You could tell that some people were worried about someone coming to claim the bags and were very relieved when we came back. It was so sweet to see people really care and about somebody else’s items. Do not get me wrong we were a little worried about leaving our stuff there unattended, but were happy to find that people in Japan were a lot more carrying about other people’s possessions.

 Our first week in Japan had some amazing experiences. We met plenty of great people that helped us find an attraction or 7-eleven, the correct train platform, and one nice man even drove us in his personal car to two hotels before finding one that was open with a vacancy. We rode a Shinkansen for the first time. The highlights of these first seven days were endless, breathtaking, and a complete dream, even now – looking back through the photos.

Japan Day 1 & 2: Flight & First Glimpse of Tokyo

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Set up our SMr Nube and Hammocks to make sure
that we both knew how they worked and what all
the components were.

The flight over the Pacific was an emotional one. Not bad emotions per say, but they did make the flight a lot longer  then the quoted nine hours. It was like being on a roller coaster. First me were super excited, then anxious - what if Japan didn't live up to our expectations? what if it was horrible? what if...? - then we were tired, it is a nine hour flight after all, then we would get happy - we are really flying to Japan, other people do things like this...not us, right?. Well I think you get the idea, every emotions was coursing through our veins, minus anger.

Man! have flights changed since the first time I flew back in the 1990's as a child....

• Head phones actually look like headphones, not stethoscopes that doctors use to listen to your breathing, minus the metal piece at the end.
• You actually get your own TV that has a bunch of recently released movies, instead of multiple monitors that are attached to the ceiling that play the same movie on all of them. Oh, and the you have right in front of you provides information about the flight, music, games, and shopping too.
• They feed your really good food and unlimited drinks. It also appeared that they gave an allowance of alcohol to those of age.
• There's no longer a pull down shade, you press a little button down below to set what kind of darkness you would like and then before landing it gradually brightens back up to mimic a sun-rise.

We arrived into Narita Airport at a little before 4pm Japan time. We were through customs with no hiccups and on the Narita Express into Tokyo Station. The Express was a little expensive...but we really wanted to get into the city quickly and we were new to the train system.

Or at least that's my excuse, since I was the money manager and the navigator and the translator during the trip - not that I knew very much Japanese, but since I was the one carrying the money and knew where we were going, it was kind of a default . By the time we were into Tokyo station it was a little after 6 and we were headed to Kimi Ryokan in Ikebukuro. After taking a couple moments to get our bearing and figuring out the rail system we were off.

In our Yukatas in our room at Kimi.

Once settled out our Ryokan we were back out on the town to find food. We were hungry. After wandering around for about an hour we went back to the Ryokan and asked for any recommendations for food. They recommended going back to the train station as there are food malls with plenty of options, but after a long flight and being up super early to go through TSA we did not feel like walking all the way back, so we settled for the closest decent looking restaurant.

Our first restaurant in Japan was Chinese... 

That restaurant happened to be a Chinese place named Ma La Gong Fang...alrighty, so we looked at the menu which thankfully was a picture book. And made two selections a celery, peanut stir fry and one that looked like sweet and sour. The server told us "no" and then started talking in Japanese..."uhhh, why not?" was our response. After trying to figure out some English to stick a sentence together that would make some more sense to us, which didn't work out very well, one of the other customers blurted out "chicken heads" to try and help the server and us out a little. "Well alright, we don't really want to eat chicken heads on our first night in Japan" is what was running through our heads.

We then asked for recommendations and ended up with a stir fry rice dish and some other things. Once the third plate arrived we were a little bit more confused by our food and how to eat it as they also provided a bowl of water with it. After tasting it was a sweet potato that had been caramelized in ginger which was still piping hot, so to make it cool enough to eat you had to dunk it into water and then eat, but first you had to pry it off the plate with your chopsticks. It was a decent meal and we even made friends with a couple of the other customers. Our fellow neighbors ordered us a traditional Chinese tea...oh, goodness, it was better then the sweetened chilled tea that you can buy in the US. Sharing the experience with the fellow restaurateurs was nice and even fun. It was a fabulous welcome to the country, even if it was on the basement floor of a Chinese restaurant.