I feel like Tokyo was our initiation to Japan. We were thrown into the fire for a couple of days fending for ourselves and then we got backup when the kids arrived! Hakone was a beautiful and peaceful reprieve. We got there and never left the building, it felt like we spent the night at an all-inclusive spa. We left feeling more like we had a grip on Japan, and if we didn't, we had backup!
Understated Christmas decorations.
Christmas in Japan is definitely not like Christmas at home...or in Europe! There were simple decorations here and there but very understated. Many places did have Christmas trees. The streets also had a lot of trees with lights on them, very nice with the short dark days! You could tell it was Christmas, but it was not in your face! We spent 4 nights in Kyoto beginning on Christmas eve until the 28th. We stayed in a lovely home with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, full kitchen and living area. It had traditional yet modern Japanese decor. I think we were all ready to be settled for a while and Kyoto was a perfect place to settle!
Christmas Eve was when that nagging cold took me down! I volunteered to stay behind with Thomas while the rest of the crew went to what sounded like a lovely dinner that involved a lot of meat! Thomas and I had chicken sandwiches and salad from my new favorite spot, 7-11. We both needed an early night! One of my favorite moments of the trip happened when I put him to bed that night. We read stories and then he gets a song at bedtime...my "go to" is usually something like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star but it was Christmas eve. I sang two verses of Silent Night snuggled up with this sweet, tired boy who held my hair in one hand and sucked his fingers on the other hand as he drifted off to sleep. I wept. I was exhausted, feeling poorly and a little emotional. It was just the sweetest and I felt like it was my Christmas gift💖
I put up the 3 Christmas trees and dined on convenience store salad. Merry Christmas Eve!
Back downstairs I "decorated" for Christmas and went to bed with visions of sugar plums and feeling better dancing in my head!
Christmas morning came early! Augie was disappointed at first that Santa had not come...until we turned on the lights in the dining room! He did come! It was a minimal haul since we were traveling but both boys were thrilled with their new toys and super appreciative for each small gift! It was great!
There were vehicles, Legos, transformers, books, and robots...they were busy all morning and much of the rest of the trip. Thank you, Santa!
The moment disappointment turned into joy!
He came!!!
Smiles all around!
Christmas Mass in Japan was crowded! If you want to get many smiles from Japanese people of a certain age, bring a young child anywhere. Thomas was very popular with the older Japanese crowd...until he had enough of the sitting still and being quiet part of church. He made it to the homily and then he and daddy had to make an exit. Still, they seemed mostly hospitable and forgiving to our large "not always silent" group.
For Christmas, Chris treated Kelly and me to a flower arranging class and formal tea ceremony. We had to hurry from church to our class. We stopped at again, our favorite fast food chain for sandwiches before our class. It was a cold, rainy day and we dined al fresco under the overhang of a building. Nothing like a cold, wet day to make getting well a little more challenging.
The flower arranging class was lovely. I am not sure I loved my arrangement, but I did love the learning part. The tea ceremony was a highlight. Our host was so sweet and made us both feel special. She proudly shared her culture and knowledge with us through the history and rituals of the tea ceremony. Towards the end, when she was methodically cleaning the vessels, I felt it was very similar to the liturgy of the eucharist at Mass. The many steps taken, the care for cleaning, the humility of serving, the attention to detail and the respect for the tea and for the guests. It was an entire cultural lesson!
Our flower arrangements!
Our most excellent host modeling her beautiful dress at our request!
We did not plan to dress alike or to coordinate with the room...
Christmas dinner was over the top! Chris is a great cook/chef! His gift is preparing and serving amazing meals. For Christmas the menu consisted of 7 fishes, cabbage potatoes carrots ham and chicken stewed together to make an amazing dish! Chicken noodle soup and seared Wagyu beef, mushrooms and salad. We feasted on this meal a few times over the next couple of days!
Christmas dinner was amazing!
The next two days in Kyoto and the first day in Kanazawa were spent touring many temples, shrines, Torri Gates, markets and museums. We hired a private guide one day and we toured from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. and she was such a good guide! She customized the tour to what we wanted to see and read the group, allowing time to play in the rocks along the way or stop for matcha ice cream or snacks or shopping. It was great to be able to follow someone who took us on the scenic, less traveled routes to some of the major sights. We never would have seen some lovely parts of the city otherwise. I really appreciate being led by an insider. She shared a lot of history and culture along the way. This may have been one of my favorite days of the trip. It didn't hurt that the weather was perfect!
Our last day in Kyoto we did a self-guided tour. I wanted to see one of the most popular...and as a result one of the most crowded tourist sights...the Torii Gates at the Fushimi Imari Shrine. Think thousands of orange Japanese gates covering 2.5 miles of trails. We did not walk the entire trail. We did quite a bit though. I enjoyed seeing a beautiful bamboo forest halfway up to the end of the trail. The area around the Shrine has many shops and we had taiyaki, a fish shaped pastry filled with custard, Yum! Our next stop was the Nishiki Market. We love markets and Japanese markets are amazing! We strolled and gawked and had lunch in a Katsugyu restaurant. Beef cutlets that you sear to your liking at your table plus all the fixings. A ton of delicious food! Maybe a little stressful with two curious boys and a hot skillet on the table but we all survived!
Our final stop for the day was the Samurai/Ninja Museum. Quite fascinating and educational. Augie was very engaged and always had an answer or a question when the guide asked the group. It was neat to connect the history with my limited movie exposure to these groups.
A day of Shrines, Pagodas, Temples and a Zen garden
Kyoto gave me the feeling I was really in Japan. I loved the precisely manicured trees around the temples. I loved the zen garden with its raked rocks and peaceful gardens. The architecture was classic and inspiring. It was also nice to stay in a house for a few days! The boys had room to play, and we all had a bit of space to spread out. The weather in Kyoto cooperated for the most part! It was definitely a one-of-a-kind Christmas holiday for our family! Enjoy more photos!
Our Japanese whistlestop route. Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto, Kanazawa, Nagano and back to Tokyo
Our daughter and her family arrived very late on December 21, and we caught up at breakfast on the 22nd. Smiles and hugs all around! This was their only day in Tokyo, so we hit the ground running...slowly, because each of us was either under the weather or exhausted from traveling across the ocean. Looking back, I am shocked at how much we saw and did in one day.
To keep our audience (children) engaged, we took the train to the Shibuya area in the morning. We started by strolling down Takeshita Street, what can only be described as one of the most visually enticing streets...for a kid...or anyone interested in shopping! Welcome to capsule stores, Anime, food stalls, cute toy stores and many souvenir shops. We were a bit early, luckily, and many shops were not open yet otherwise we may never have seen anything else that day! Japan is a haven for toys! There are so many small, kitschy toys just screaming to be purchased everywhere you go. I am still not sure what the deal is with all the little stuffed animals hanging from the purses and backpacks of men, women and children everywhere. I did not feel the need to join the trend.
What cuteness!!!
My winner for cutest store.
So many capsules to choose from!
So many crepes to choose from... all plastic examples, and all so beautiful!
We walked...a lot...saw a lot...and headed back for naps all around. We went back out that night to explore counter sushi, convenience store snacks, a gigantic retail store with an entire floor of toys (I hear Santa did some of his shopping here), meat on a stick and more food on the Omoide Yokocho Memory Lane. A historic alley for street eats and spirits. We all squeezed into one of the tiny places to have some meat and drinks. The city is very alive at night! I am sure we could have stayed out later, but with jet lag setting in for some and a full day of Tokyo sensory overload, we called it a night.
Anthony Bourdain ate here, we did not.
So much sushi and he ordered like a pro!
Food and drink alley
When jet lag hits, it hits hard 💕
Christmas cake to go! The one on the right was amazing!!!
Our next stop was Hakone. We took the bullet train and were seated in the Romance car. This is the car at the front of the train with huge windows across the front. Perfect bullet train intro for 2 train loving little boys...and their grandparents. We did the Japanese thing and got our bento boxes and drinks for the ride. Still amazed at how so many people eat and drink on the trains and leave no evidence behind. Impressive. We all enjoyed the ride!
The Romance Car
Bullet train food to go!
Hakone, a small town of about 11,000, is famous for its hot springs. We stayed in a ryokan which is a traditional inn, complete with tatami matted floors (which were so nice to walk on), Onsens (hot spring baths), sliding doors, futon beds, traditional meals and traditional attire provided to wear during your stay. This was our full immersion experience, and it was lovely. I will admit, for some reason I was a bit apprehensive about this experience before we arrived. I felt like it was a very immersive experience and not knowing the language, how to honor the customs, what to expect as far as the meal...and my first Onsen experience were all playing into my apprehension. I shyly entered the peaceful ryokan and we were greeted by the polite bowing host and led to our room. After his instructions, which I understood "most" of, I explored our very spacious accommodations! Wow! Very large bedroom, 2 futon mattresses up on a wood platform...that should be fun in the middle of the night...a living room with a traditional low table and floor chairs, a balcony with chairs looking out over the valley to the mountains, and then the bathroom. The 2-room bathroom with a private (yes) Onsen! There were two kimonos with wool jackets and those Japanese socks with the thong toes for us to wear to dinner. It was peaceful and we felt like we were back in time. The welcome beverage eased my anxiety about making any cultural mistakes.
A lovely view!
Here is a video tour!
A word or more about the Onsen experience. It is luxurious! A natural hot tub! Like really hot tub. The fact that there is cold water to add to cool it off says something. The minerals naturally in the water make the water extra buoyant. It felt like an anti-gravity tub in addition to the heat and the mineral treatment. No wonder the Japanese people live so long. I really appreciated these little surprising ways to get warm in the winter. This may be TMI but sitting in an Onsen with its anti-gravity effects makes your body feel many years younger...all your parts feel like they are back to their original locations. We both agreed that we need an Onsen in our lives!
We stayed at one more ryokan on this trip. It was near Nagano and it was our last night together. It was a similar yet different experience. A much larger facility with more people staying the night. The Onsens were public not private, but you could use them privately for 45 minutes at a time, which we did. They were large baths! The place seemed much more traditional with our futons right on the floor and a smaller room with two low chairs at a low table. This was the point, or maybe it was just the end of the trip fatigue, that I decided I am just too tall for Japan. Maybe too tall and too old. I got tired of folding myself up to sit or go to bed. It wasn't that I couldn't do it, but everything just started feeling low and small, and I am neither. I am very thankful the tables and chairs for meals were "regular" height.
Finally, the food in a ryokan. You better come hungry...and be on time. Dinner was a multi course affair of about 20 different foods! Each in individual small portions for each of us. I tried everything but I can't say I loved everything. Definitely had my favorites, for example the oyster in the shell baked with sauce on top and a broccoli bite. Any and all fish was good. Some of the vegetable/sweet potato dishes were not my favorite.
A+ for presentation!
This display was just the beginning!
Definitely one of my favorites that night.
Again, when jet lag hits, it hits hard. He was so excited about this meal and after he ate his tamago and sushi, he was done.
Breakfast was a similar display of foods! I definitely preferred dinner. I was not quite ready for the number of different savory and fishy dishes we were served in the morning. I was quite surprised that we were each served an entire fish at breakfast! I hesitated to dive in but did so reluctantly. I will admit, it was one of the best fish I have ever eaten...and probably the only one I have ever eaten for breakfast! Another breakfast treat was the tamago (thin layers of egg omelet and Augie's favorite) served with 3 different condiments. My personal favorite was the pickled or fermented cucumbers and daikon radishes.
The winner...or loser my least favorite food...of the entire trip! Fishy broth, tomato, some kind of other root vegetable, a soggy fish cake and a whack of kale or seaweed on top... for breakfast!
A little more like a real breakfast food, tamago with sides.
Winner of most "surprising deliciousness", especially for breakfast!
I can't believe I ate the whole thing.
I love this! Breakfast shenanigans!
As you can tell, I could go on a lot longer, but I'll stop for now. I'll continue in the next post with Kyoto, Kanazawa and Nagano. We are definitely glad we had our son-in-law to plan so much of this trip! He made reservations at the ryokans and booked the trains along the way which made the trip so easy for us! It was nice to be led around instead of being the leader. I am sure he may have felt like he had 4 kids at times! It was a treat for us!
Let's just start with a few statistics. The population density of Tokyo is 6,224 per square km and the population density of Sugar Land, TX is 2,434 per sq. km. The population density of the Shinjuku train station is 18,232 per sq km! My initial impression of Japan was shaped by this reality. So many people! Shinjuku Station was the first place we visited on our first morning in Tokyo following our 14-hour flight. We dove right into the deep end! We wandered the crowded halls of the station, with a wide-eyed lost look on our faces, for what seemed like an eternity. We wanted to get a Suica card (a multi-purpose card used for subways, buses, taxis and some trains...and convenience store purchases!) and find the subway to see the Meiji Jingu Shrine. After several "discussions" about where to go for the things we needed and finally successfully procuring them, we left the station for some much-needed fresh air with a feeling of accomplishment. How that many people can commute in relative silence and order, in an immaculately clean station is amazing!
We had two days in Tokyo before our daughter and her family arrived. On our first day we explored a bit of Tokyo, a drop in the bucket, and managed to walk over 11 miles. We saw the Meiji Jingu Shrine and beautiful grounds surrounding it. We happened upon a traditional wedding procession. We walked back to our hotel...long walk. We also visited the food floor of a nearby department store, it's a thing! We are talking world class food...chocolates, pastries, sushi, Kobe and Wagyu beef, bento boxes, all artistically presented and gorgeous! It was overwhelming between the amount of beautiful food and the number of people shopping! We took a quick nap before our 5 p.m. food tour. We love food tours and love taking a tour on our first day. We get a lay of the land and a bit of inside information. The food tour was perfect! I needed an education in Japanese food anyway. Boy did I get an education! 3 stops and at least 15 different foods plus drinks.
The beef...oh, the beef!
Lisa learns to drink sake... At this place they fill your glass until it overflows into the box exactly to the brink. The sake in the box is exactly enough for another glass once you finish the first one. Yikes!
Where sashimi is delicious and fresh grated wasabi is next level delicious!
I guess it is an iconic location.
The crowd parted and made way for the bridal party.
Entrance to the shrine. Every shrine has a well where you wash your hands before entering. Shrine or temple? Shrines are Shinto and Temples are Buddhist
Just a small display in the food floor.
The next day was spent catching a cold. We took the bus to a village near Mount Fuji, hoping to see Fuji in all its glory and to visit the village of Oshino Hakkai in the five lakes area. It is known for its crystal clear eight ponds throughout the village. Yes, it was a bit touristy! Still beautiful. Fuji was shrouded by clouds, and we just had to imagine it. We climbed the 400 steps to the Churieto Pagoda hoping the clouds would break and we would get that iconic view of Fuji but no luck, all we got was a good workout. We managed the bus, train, bus gauntlet and filled our day with some interesting sights and noodles! On the ride home I felt a tickle in my throat...that tickle took a couple of days to develop into a full blown cold. Merry Christmas to me!
Churieto Pagoda
Just pretend!
The water is as clear as glass!
Soba noodles to warm me up!
This concludes the adult portion of Japan. Once Kelly, Chris and the boys arrived we shifted to family mode. Family mode made us very glad we arrived a few days early! With some good sightseeing and sleep under our belt we were ready for the energy level to change.
First Impressions at a glance-
Looking back, I would say arriving in Tokyo was overwhelming for me. I thought I was prepared. I knew it was a huge city and had no aspirations to see all of it, but I did expect to be able to see more than we did. I expected to struggle with the language and believe me...I did. Seldom do we go to a country that I make no attempt to learn at least some of the language. Aside from "arigato" and politely bowing, I had nothing! Thank goodness the signs we needed had English subtitles...and we had Google translate!
The people are so quiet! No one talks on the train or the subway. There is not a low hum of conversation in the stores. They speak quietly, which was not good for my increasingly hard of hearing husband. I have a new role..."his ears". The streets are relatively quiet, many electric cars which are quiet and not many sirens.
Everyone wears black or navy...mind you it was winter and everyone was wearing a coat. At least all the neon lights at night brightened up the world. With our first couple of days being overcast, it initially seemed a dark and dreary place. Once the sun came out the world changed.
Everything is so neat and orderly! I really liked this. The food is artfully plated. The merchandise in the stores is beautifully displayed. Everything has an order and the order is followed.
Talk about artful plating!
Convenience stores...namely 7-11 and Lawsons. Not your mother's convenience stores. There was a 7-11 in our Tokyo hotel (they are everywhere), a nice upscale hotel, and it had everything! I love going in and just browsing. The prepared food section was extensive and yes, the egg salad sandwiches are epic. I also discovered another favorite sandwich, paper thin pork ham, cream cheese, cucumber and wasabi. True confession, I can't tell you how many quick snacks we consumed from 7-11. From breakfast to road snacks to quick lunch to wine...yes, wine.
My personal favorites.
Bowing. I still am not clear if I was supposed to bow back...but I did. There is something about a person bowing to you that makes you just want to return a bow. It is both a sign of respect and a sign of humility. It seems gentle and kind. I appreciate this. My heart warmed at every bow. A simple acknowledgement of the other. Something our culture could use a little more of.
And now I digress...the toilets! I had heard about Japanese toilets before we went. Let me just say, I am sold! First, in winter...heated seats! Even in public bathrooms, the toilets are clean, warm and include many wash and dry features. Go to a nice hotel room and wow! Lights, music, heat, wash, dry, and then sanitize after use. I still wonder what it is about a culture that puts such an emphasis on pottying. No arguments from me. I am a believer.
The food...well, that will have to be another post.
I will leave you with this little video of an iconic location to make a point. There are a lot of people here! Our last night before the kids arrived...we did the Shibuya Scramble!
