Travel day to our last stop of the trip. We got some Seoul time in tonight.
While walking Kawaguchiko.
Lights of the nighttime hikers on Mt. Fuji. (3-second exposure.)
Cafe in Kawaguchiko.
The sting of leaving Togari is alleviated a bit after a travel day to a room with this view.
Wasabi chips are kind of amazing.
Some tears as we leave Rich, Meike, and Togari. 🥲
One more from last night of me and Takuya nailing Aerosmith.
Ended the night singing karaoke with the locals. Or as the kids said, “making a core memory.”
Visiting a minka (traditional Japanese farmhouse) under renovation to become a restaurant.
House swallow.
Today…was unbelievable. We climbed a mountain with the neighborhood, who open the shrine up once per year for a festival. We helped clean. The monks and neighbors refreshed the Shimenawa (ropes), including around a very miraculous tree. Then we celebrated, carrying a lantern in the procession.
Iiyama rice fields.
It’s bedtime in the storehouse.
Asahi in Togari, Iiyama, Japan.
Post box in Kanazawa.
When in Kanazawa one must have gold leaf ice cream.
Hitching a ride.
Travel day today. Hitching a ride, Omi-Cho market, when in Kanazawa one must have gold-leaf ice cream, various views from the streets of Kanazawa, and the lovely garden at the house of a samurai.
Today we were attacked by Nara deer, visited “big” Buddha at Todai-ji (including practicing cleaning his nostril), checked out the lanterns and wisteria at Kasuga Taisha Shrine, and the torii gates at Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine. Finding amazing bread while walking Nara’s small streets was 🧑🍳😘.
Today was a low-key break day. Walked to downtown Kyoto via Kamo River, hit the department store bubble machines, shopped Nishiki Market and surrounding area, randomly discovered a 2D Tea Room at the market, found a record store (with listening stations ❤️), and walked to all the stationary stores.
We had a fabulous bike ride around Kyoto, seeing Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavillion), rice fields, and the no-crowd bamboo forest at Nembutsu-ji Temple. Oh, and then a tea ceremony, seeing the original Nintendo building a couple of blocks from our hotel, and finally landing at an izakaya with our kids. 😃
Today we said goodbye to Tokyo, rode the Shinkansen to Kyoto, visited Kiyomizu-dera, walked in the rain through Sannen-zaka, happened into a Gion Festival parade, and wrapped the night on the rooftop overlooking the Kamo River.
