Where Globe-Trotting meets Beach-Combing
The directions to Hakuba House took us along expressways, tiny streets, black wing-tipped castles, snow-dusted valleys, all the way along known and unknown roads to Hakuba in Nagano Prefecture. We bisected the five-hour drive with a stopover at Matsumoto Castle in Matsumoto City. It’s the second-oldest castle in Japan and is more than 500 years…
The raw squid I ate in Nagasaki was completely by accident—I’d ordered it because the picture on the menu looked like a delicious tender white fish. Not in fact the case. I gagged in the restaurant and Chris laughed. So I cautioned Justin when he chose the raw, tentacled squid from the sushi go-round to…
This monk practiced calligraphy in a temple just off the main drag through Ueno Park, and we arrived at the Tokyo National Museum to a performance of modern taiko drumming and koto music celebrating the opening of the Year of the Tiger exhibit. The museum was everything we’d hoped for in a national museum of…
I had been a little concerned about meeting the expectations of our first Japan visitors. Would Japan seem foreign enough? Exotic enough? Would they like it?? Chris and I were gratified to hear Hannie and Justin say at the end of day one, “I am over-stimulated. Everything is so…Japan!” Excellent! The four of us spent…
The streets of Tokyo were nearly empty a half-hour before midnight near Hiro-o Station. We lowered our voices as we approached Shounji Temple, trying to be invisible when we were the first visitors to show up. A bin burned wooden planks with prayers written on them. A monk handed one to each of us to…
Every shrine and temple is decorating and gearing up for New Year’s festivities! This is a great time to visit Japan! …although lots of non-temple things are closed between Dec 28 and Jan 3, but for seeing temples and shrines, this is a GREAT time to visit Japan! Chris and I wanted to show Hannie…
Yay! Hannie and Justin, my sis and bro-in-law, are our first visitors! They arrived predictably jet-lagged from Texas yesterday afternoon, saw Tokyo Bay and the city skyline at sunset as we crossed the Rainbow Bridge, and today we headed off for fun in Kamakura. Yokoso Japan! Welcome!
