My family came to visit us in Japan. This is the catalog of moving eight people and ten pieces of luggage through six cities in Japan.
We were thrilled to have my family here and so excited to show them a little bit of the country that we have grown to love. My mom, brother, and his wife (minus their sweet baby, so sad, but understandable why he stayed behind) flew into Narita airport and took the bus to Haneda Airport where met them, having flown from Misawa to Haneda. Transportation #1 Commercial flights (we love JAL) and #2 Airport Bus. We then took a combination of subway and taxi to the New Sanno, Navy hotel. Transportation #3 Subway and #4 Taxi.
We spent two days sight seeing in Tokyo and got really used to the trains and subway lines (transportation #3).
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| Tokyo Skytree |
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| Gardens at the Tokyo National Museum |
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| Mochi- our favorite treat at the Tsukiji Market |
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| Kabukiza theater |
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| Kabukiza theater museum |
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| Senso-ji temple |
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| Senso-ji Temple |
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| We love stumbling upon cemeteries in the middle of the city. We always go inside. |
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| Bear finds her double at Yodobashi- Akiba |
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| Pants loves this find in Harajuku |
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| Street performers in Yoyogi park |
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| Meiji Shrine in Yoyogi park |
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| Hedgehog cafe in Harajuku |
We spent two days at the Disney parks, one in Tokyo Disney and one in Disney Seas. To get the the parks we took the subways (transportation #3) and the Disney monorail. Transportation #5 Monorail.
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| "Disney Bound" |
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| Pants' favorite ride with the stuffy from the ride that we purchased last time we were here |
We left Tokyo and took an hour commuter train to the beautiful cities of Enoshima and Kamakura. Transportation #6 Commuter train.
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| Enoshima Shrine |
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| View of Enoshima from the Lighthouse tower |
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| I wish this was my garden! Best Japanese garden ever! |
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| Enshima cave |
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| There are even shrines carved into caves |
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| Big Buddha in Kamakura. They claimed it was the largest one in Japan but I think the one in Aomori is bigger. Northern Japan pride! |
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| I enjoyed seeing the Tanabata lanterns already hanging on the Tsurugaka
Hachimangu Shrine in Kamakura |
We took the shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto and stayed in an Air B and B right by a subway station. Transportation #7 Shinkansen. Around Kyoto we used the subway lines (transportation #3) and our feet to visit the amazing cultural and historical sites. Transportation #8 Feet. I should have figured out the bus system because one time we had to take a taxi (transportation #4) to get to a desired temple location. I am not sure why the buses were more daunting to me than the subways. Perhaps it is because the bus stops are listed in Japanese which I cannot read.
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| Fushimi Inari Shrine |
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| Nijo Castle |
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| It was good to visit the Inari Shrine in a downpour because we had parts of it to ourselves for awesome pictures! |
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| Kyoto Botanical Gardens- we visited for this area, the Bonsai display. Josh is crazy about bonzai |
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| Nijo castle gardens |
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| Kiyomizu-Dera Temple |
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| The gardens outside of the Sanjusangendo Temple |
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| Bub loves the cleansing area of every temple. He washed his hands every time we came across one. He will not drink and spit the water back out though to cleanse his mouth. That is ok! |
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| Yasaku-jinja
Shrine |
There is not an airport in Kyoto so we took the Airport Limousine (basically a non-stop bus) to the Osaka airport. Transportation #9 Airport Limousine. We flew (transportation #1) to Misawa directly from Osaka. In Misawa we rented a car to get us around to the fun local locations that we love. Transportation #10 Rental Car.
Tanesashi Coastline
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| We ate at our favorite local places every night |
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| We had a great time at Lalala's Karaoke |
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| Day trip to Osorezan |
Lastly, as part of our exploration of Misawa, we took an ITT tour to Iwate Safari park where we rode a Safari bus to see the wild animals in the park. Transportation #11 ITT tour bus and #12 Safari Bus (no AC!). And finally, Transporation #13 an Elephant!
Wheew! I need a vacation from this vacation!!
