Japan is unlike anything else we’ve seen. It’s as foreign as the deepest jungle of Peru, or desert of Egypt, but it’s strangely familiar because it’s the most obsessively developed country on the planet. Add to that a centuries old culture of intensity and specificity and tradition and you get an amazing adventure.
Was it expensive? Not really. Sure, hotels are expensive because space is a premium, but everything else seemed European in price, or even cheaper. We traveled very comfortably.
We’d go back for sure, if only to get to the mountains to the West, and snow up north. Japan has so much to explore.
Tokyo National Museum, wind god and thunder god protecting Buddhism.
Tokyo is alive and bustling after our long flight and finding food is harder than we expect.
Day Two: Tokyo Museums and old city
The old city areas of Tokyo are surprisingly quiet and even quaint. Cherry blossoms are ending, but still present at the shrines. The Tokyo National museum is filled with amazing artifacts. Shimokitazawa is Tokyos hippest new neighborhood.
On the JR line train into downtown Tokyo
Day Three: Harajuku and Tokyo shopping
Tokyo’s latest food craze? Pancakes, which we wait in line to eat. Harajuku is shoulder to shoulder with teens and tourists, and the Odeo Antique market is surprisingly unexciting.
Day Four: Tokyo Shibuya and Akihabara
We are huge fans of the Japanese Akita and visit the famous Hatchiko monument at the worlds busiest intersection. Nighttime is filled with nerd and geek collectables and technology at Akihabara.
No Mt. Fuji – it’s straight ahead somewhere.
Day Five: Skytree and Tokyo Bay Arcades
To no avail, I go to great lengths to catch a photo of Mt. Fuji. We head to the Tokyo Bay area and strike out. Time to depart Tokyo! But first, a completely different world… the Magic Kingdom.
Day Six and Seven: Tokyo Disney
Tokyo Disney is a break for the girls, although you wouldn’t know it. They open and close the park two days in a row.
The theme is Jules Verne, one of my favorite authors. Gotta love it.
Day Eight: Bullet Train to Kyoto
After some shocking news about the price of my Disney Hotel, we take the bullet train to slower Kyoto, the ancient capital and one of the top tourist destinations on the planet.
Day Nine: The Shrines of Kyoto
Kyoto is full of beautiful shrines, a must for any world traveler.
We tour all the major ones in the north.
Beautiful.
The Arashiayama bamboo forest, one of the most unusual places on earth.
Day Ten-Eleven: Kyoto and goodbye to Japan
This may be our favorite day of all – an amazing ten thousand statue shrine and a one of a kind bamboo forest.