No trip to Kyoto would be complete without dressing up in traditional Kimono's.  I knew my mom might take a bit of convincing so I told her it was a belated birthday surprise that I had planned for her.  She has quite cleverly learned to be slightly skeptical of my "surprises" but she seemed up for the adventure and we had a wonderful time.

The process of getting dressed up in the kimono is completely bizarre. Apparently in the past, when kimonos were worn daily, everyone could dress themselves, and they'd just shrug them on no matter how they hung on their bodies, tie on their obi, and get to work.

Fuji-san is an active volcano and although it last erupted in 1707 there has been much speculation recently that we could see another eruption in our lifetime.  I cannot even begin to comprehend the magnitude of a natural disaster on that level. 

The Tempozan Ferris Wheel was the worlds largest ferris wheel between 1997-1999. An interesting feature of Tempozan Ferris Wheel are the lights on its arms that predict the weather for the following day. If the lights are orange sunny weather is forecast, green equals cloudy, and blue signifies rain.  We were fortunate enough to see the wheel with orange lights indicating a sunny day ahead.


Osaka Castle was built as a display of power by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.  One hundred thousand workers worked for over 3 years to construct the castle, finishing the job in 1583. However the present structure is a 1931 concrete reconstruction of the original which was refurbished in 1997.

We started from the top floor to see a great view overlooking Osaka. We moved down each level but it was hard to grasp the history as it was mostly in Japanese. There were videos which helped.

Osaka Castle, the grounds of which was the estate of the Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the first man to unite all of Japan under one rule in 1590 after around 100 years of civil war. He rose from being a peasant to being one of the most powerful men in Asia at that time, the most powerful man in Japan, and one of the most powerful men in Japanese history.

After Toyotomi's death, Japan fell into more chaos when war broke out between Toyotomi supporters and the Tokugawa clan. Eventually, the Tokugawa clan lead by the patriarch of the clan, Ieyasu, and his son, the reigning Shogun of Japan, Hidetada, defeated the Toyotomi clan in 1614, destroyed the original Osaka castle, and ordered a new castle be built on the same grounds. The castle has a long and complex history but it was fascinating to learn a bit more about it.

Kingsley and my Mom had by this time become expert train travelers.  A little bit of bento box lunch and a quick nap and you have arrived before you know it.

Kingsley and I were allegedly "training" for a half marathon/ 10K race while in Japan.  We actually only got in about 3 decent runs the entire trip but...we did try.  One of our most memorable runs was in Nara when we ran through the deer park to the Kasuga Grand Shrine.

Originally the royal shrine of the powerful Fujiwara family, Kasuga Grand Shrine was founded in 768 and, according to Shinto concepts of purity, was torn down and rebuilt every 20 years in its original form until 1863. Since virtually all empresses hailed from the Fujiwara family, Kasuga Shrine enjoyed a privileged status with the imperial family.






Nestled in the midst of verdant woods, Kasuga Taisha is approached via a long pathway of stone lanterns intended to give the visitor time to prepare for worship. The natural setting is a purposeful part of the sacred site, since Shinto is rooted in nature.

As we walked/ran along the path up to the shrine we came across an astounding 3,000 stone and bronze lanterns. These lanterns were donated over the years by common people as tokens of faith and thankfulness, and used to be lit every night.

Before this trip to Japan, I had no idea that Nara Prefecture, which borders Osaka and Kyoto in western Japan, is known as the birthplace of sake. The longer we spent in Nara, I realized how much of a major significance it played in Japan’s history, Nara was even the capital from 710 to 784. During that time, there was a brewing department within the walls of the imperial palace in Nara. Sake back then, however, was a far cry from what it is today, and the Imperial Sake brewers focused their efforts for the most part on sake used in ceremonies and events. In fact, they produced upwards of a dozen different types of sake, some colored with ash of black, red or white hues, with varying degrees of alcohol content, mostly for use in ceremonies.  Not sure anything with ash added to it could taste very good but we certainly learned from the tea ceremony that it is not always about the flavor.

Established in 1880, the park is home to hundreds of freely roaming deer. Considered in Shinto to be messengers of the gods, Nara's nearly 1200 deer have become a symbol of the city and have been designated a natural treasure.

The deer are surprisingly tame, although they can be rather mischievous if they think you will feed them or are hiding food from them. One of the deer kept nibbling on my shirt when I was ignoring it to feed other deer.