Japan

After two days in China we woke up the next day and flew to Japan.  Carson's high school friend Chris met us at the airport.  Tokyo was such a dramatic difference from Beijing.  The air was much cleaner and and the taxi cab drivers wore suits with white gloves! Instead of dirty squatter bathrooms with no soap or toilet paper they had multi-function toilets with heated seats and touchless soap, water and hand dryers.  The people were so much nicer and not pushy, really just the opposite because they are so polite! And of course it was so much more comfortable to have friends there to show us around!  We went back to the Ericsons' apartment to pick up Nancy & their 3 boys and then headed out on the train to the new Skytree tower.  Unfortunately it was closed due to wind but we took this picture outside:

Spring came about 2 weeks early in Tokyo this year so most of the cherry blossoms were falling off the trees by the time we got there, especially after a big rain storm they had had right before we arrived.  But this tree had fake cherry blossoms on it!

Aspen's dream store

Looking up at the Skytree tower, the tallest tower in the world

 

Riding the trains with the Ericson family

We went to a sushi restaurant for dinner (Trey's favorite) and Chris recommended the bowl of fish heads... it actually tasted pretty good and Carson even ate an eyeball!

The Japanese people aren't as short as they used to be but Carson still stick out!  It seemed crowded on the trains but Chris said it was nothing like rush hour!

Marisa & Nancy walking down the street by the fish market

Trey wanted us to buy him a large knife or sword at the fish market

I bought one of these shaped like a cherry blossom -it's like a cookie cutter but a lot stronger and deeper so you can use it to cut things like radishes for garnishes.  I loved these so much I could have bought 100 of them - swallows, butterflies, lotus flowers, leaves - but things aren't cheap in Japan like they are in China! 

After the fish market we went to pick up the Ericson boys at their international school.  Nancy was the chair for this year's quilt for the auction and it turned out amazing!!!

I don't even know where this was but scenery like this made Japan so beautiful, everywhere.

The second night Chris had to work late so Nancy stayed home with all the boys and Carson and I went to the Tokyo Tower.  Like Beijing, Tokyo was buildings for as far as the eye could see. 

Inside the Tokyo tower.  I loved how everything was decorated with cherry blossoms for Spring.

The Tokyo Tower from the outside

Another view from the Tokyo tower.  We ate dinner there and then headed over the the club & party district called Rappongi, just to walk around and check it out.

The next day we took the train to the busiest intersection the world (not pictured) and then Nancy went dress-shopping with her friend and we split off to go to the punk fashion district called Harajuku (which you might be familiar with if you are a Gwen Stefani fan). 

It was busy and fun!  I actually found a lot of clothes I liked there and I could have stayed there shopping longer if Trey & Carson weren't bored by it!  A lot of the Japanese girls dressed so cute, with knee-highs and high heels and winged eyeliner and beautiful, shiny hair.  They wore a lot of black and white, with an eclectic mix of funky and elegant that was honestly kind of adorable!

Next we went to the Meiji shrine.  It's like central park in that it's a beautiful and natural forest in the middle of a big, grey city.  I absolutely loved the beautiful trees, and was actually glad that they had had an early spring because even though we missed the cherry blossoms, we got to see the leafy trees and especially the Japanese maples.  There was a couple getting married and the whole wedding party was dressed in traditional Japanese clothing.

I loved the beautiful combination of dark woods, faded green roofs, metal flower accents and simple, elegant designs on everything from the gates to the buildings to the lanterns in the park.  It was warm and sunny and gorgeous and I felt like I had died and gone to heaven!  (At least the heaven of architecture and gardening!)

We went back to the Ericsons and Nancy drove us down to the 5-lakes region by Mt. Fuji. We were able to see Mt. Fuji when we got close, before it was dark, which was good because the next day it was mostly covered with clouds.  Their weather is really similar to what we have here in Western Washington, except they say it's hotter in the summer.  The countryside was so beautiful, with a mix of evergreens, deciduous and flowering trees covering miles and miles of steep hills.  We stayed at a traditional Japanese Onsen, which is like a bed & breakfast featuring a hot spring bath house.  This first picture is all of us at the traditional 12-course dinner we ate.

This is our room, complete with a low table, straw mats and sliding rice-paper doors

Details of the dinner.  Something interesting about the Japanese meals is that they don't drink a lot with their meals, usually you have to ask for water and then you only get a tiny glass!  They had individual burners where we cooked our own soup, and tons of tiny plates with little bites of things to taste.  I didn't know what half of it was but it mostly tasted good! 

Then we dressed in robes and headed up to bathe & soak in the onsen.  The boys & girls are separate and you have to be naked!!

Under Carson you can see the little bed-rolls we slept on.  Not the best night of sleep in my life.

First thing in the morning we could see Mt. Fuji so Carson ran out to take pictures before breakfast. 

Since it's an alpine region, they were behind Tokyo in the progression of Spring so we got to see the cherry blossoms in full bloom! 

After more traditional Japanese food for breakfast we headed to a nearby Samurai village, turned into a tourist attraction.

Levi dressed as a Samurai warrior

old Samurai armor

Trey as a ninja

The boys took full advantage of their costumes!

bridge battle

irrigation canal down the middle of the village

We really enjoyed the Samurai village and the beautiful 5-lakes area.  We ate noodle soup and Gyoza and then went back to Tokyo to a big, multi-level store called Aeon where we bought toys for the kids like Hello Kitty stuff, nanoblocks, Pokemon and other Japanese brands they love, Trey got a Manga book, I bought some patterned nylons like the ones I had seen all the cute Japanese girls wearing and we bought some rice crackers and candies for the plane and to take home to the kids.  Trey and the Ericson boys had a blast at the arcade.  It was nice to feel comfortable letting Trey out of our sight in Japan since we felt like we had to keep him within arms length the whole time in China! We stayed up talking to Chris and Nancy one more time and the next morning we headed out early for the airport to start on our 31-hour trip home, complete with long layovers in Beijing and San Francisco.  Thank you so much Chris & Nancy for letting us stay in your home and showing us around Japan! 

Carson & Trey doing Sudoku in Japan

Trey asleep in the airport in China on the way back

Trey asleep in the airport in San Francisco
 - believe it it or not, he actually slept almost the whole flight from Beijing to San Francisco too!  He was one tired boy!

  I read quite a few books and it actually wasn't that bad, and we were ready to go to bed when we got home around 10:30pm in Seattle, even though it was the middle of the next day in Tokyo!  We all did better with the jet lag than we thought we would, although we have been more tired than usual over the past week, but there was really nothing we could do since bright & early Monday morning Carson had to go to work and Trey had to go to school!  Carson's wonderful mom watched Bex, Caeden & Aspen and they had a fun time while we were gone, and I was SO happy to come home to a clean house and all the laundry done!  Thank you Cerola!!!

It was such a different and interesting experience, one we will never forget!

Edit: I forgot to add the following two panographic pix

View from out hotel at Mt. Fuji

Shibuya, the busiest intersection the world.