Last updated 01Dec06

Our daughter and son-in-law are ending up a two year stay in Japan teaching English.

It seemed like a good time to go and visit, with built-in tour guides.

Our flight on United was purchased through CheapOAir and cost $890 each including insurance and service charges.

Their quote did not include insurance and service so until Dave purchased the ticket, he though he had another, lower price.

Dave also made an error in purchasing the tickets. Seems he mistyped the return date and we ended up staying 2 days longer.

Based on the schedule:

On 27Apr United 1533 left West Palm Beach at 7:51AM and 3h and 9m later landed in Chicago OHare  at 10:00AM on 27Apr

On 27Apr United   877 left Chicago OHare at 12: 33PM and 13h 27m later landed in Osaka at 04:00PM on 28Apr

On 17May United  878 left Osaka at 5:55PM and 12h and 8m later landed in Chicago OHare at 5:45PM on 17May

On 17May United 1564 left Chicago OHare at 05:54PM and 2h 55m later landed in West Palm Beach at 9:40PM on 17May

27Apr06 – Thursday through 28Apr06 - Friday

With help from my brother-in-law, we drove to the airport to catch an 8AM flight on United to Chicago. In Chicago we waited for a 12PM flight to Osaka. The Osaka airport is really on a man made island in the bay KANSAI AIRPORT . Arriving in Osaka, we followed the instructions Erin had given us and boarded a bus to the train station at Yamato Yagi. Erin & Corey met us at the train station, and joined us on the train trip to Takatori. So after 26 hours we arrived. Erin and Corey live in a small apartment on the 3^rd floor about 50 meters from the train station. The 31 steps up are a little rough and very steep. Erin had given us all a little sheet of paper which in Japanese said who we were and where we were trying to go (or at least I hope it said that) just in case we were lost.

One of the discoveries we found in Chicago was a plastic automatic toilet seat cover – never ran across those before. In Japan, we found that you want to use the “western style” toilet. The non – “western style” reminded Dave of the slit trench he used in the field while in the Army. Also, we found out that if you have a requirement for toilet paper, it is best you bring some with you or at least some tissues. Japanese Toilets

29Apr06 – Saturday

Dave woke up early and took about an hour walk around the town. About half way into the walk he realized he did not speak the language, had no money, did not have a watch, had no identification, and did not even know the address of where we were staying. After he returned, we took the trains to Hirahata Station in northern Nara where Mr. and Ms. Kyotani picked up us in two cars and drive us to Houryuuji Temple, the site of the oldest wooden building in the world.

Mr. Kyotani is an advisor at Erin’s school and had made us plans for the day. He had arranged for two English speaking volunteers to take us through the temple. We left around 1pm because Ms. Kyotani had prepared a lunch for us in their home. The lunch and the visit to their home was one of the highlights of the trip. (Ms. Kyotani was kind and even provided Dave with a fork instead of chop sticks.)

After lunch they drove us to Chogosonshi-ji Temple where the symbol is the tiger. The tiger images look strange, but it was explained that when the temple was built, the Japanese had seen tiger skins, but never a live tiger. So they took their best guess.

Then back to the train station and back to Takatori. Dave is getting tired of taking his shoes off every time he has to enter part of a temple or shrine. Not only are the roads crowded with cars, they are crowded with bikes. Even the sidewalks get crowded with bikes. And they drive on the left side of the road. However, we have never been in more courteous traffic than we found in Japan. They obey the traffic laws and are courteous to boot. The taxis have rear view mirrors on the fenders just ahead of the front wheel well. My guess is that it allows them to see traffic on their side easier. Many passenger cars also have an extra rear view mirror on the driver’s side in the same place. Cars even stop at intersections well behind the white line. At some intersections the white line is many meters from the intersection so turning traffic can use both lanes when turning on the narrow roads. Another interesting thing is megaphone the ambulances use as they pass through intersections. Seems they broadcast some sort of verbal warning, in Japanese, to get out of their way.

As part of our discussions with the English speaking volunteers, they pointed out that the Japanese government has made retirement mandatory at age 60. Seems there are not enough jobs for younger Japanese and the country is not creating jobs fast enough.

30Apr06 – Sunday

Getting up still early, Mr. and Ms. Komeda met us outside the door and took us to Himeji Castle. Mr. Komeda was the vice-principal of the elementary school where Erin works occasionally. Along the way, we stopped at a rest area where they purchased a local snack for us. They gave us tooth picks to pick up the snack. Dave took the tooth pick, stuck it in the back of what looked like a dough nut hole and picked up the snack. As he was picking up the snack, what looked like a fat worm seemed to be coming out toward him. He decided it was best to eat it fast and did. As they laughed at his reaction, they explained that the “worm” was not a worm, just a little octopus tentacle. Anyway he survived and it was on to the castle.

It seems each castle had a million steps to get to the top. After lunch, at a local spot (Dave chose for the noodle soup – nothing hiding in it) we went on to the castle garden.

On the way home we received an offer to participate in a nude hot spring bath. Not being into community nude baths, Dave declined. After our return from Himeji we immediately got on the trains and went to Kyoto where we took a bus to the Holiday Inn.

One of the interesting things about traffic and driving in Japan is the small size of the cars and the narrow width of the local roads. The cars are built for smaller people and the local roads are wide enough for one lane in places. The major highways are toll roads and cost a ton.

All the Japanese students wear uniforms. You see them walking to school or taking the train. Rarely do you see them go by car or bike. They also all seem to have the same straight, black hair.

01May06 – Monday

Today we toured Ginkakuji, the Silver Pavilion and Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavilion and both of their gardens, going all over Kyoto by bus.

On the way we stopped by McDonalds for lunch. Seems they do not normally have salt and pepper available. Nice thing about McDonalds is that you know what you are eating and it is normal American food. We also went to the Heian Shrine and the gardens there. We ended up at the Arashiyama area because we wanted to see the monkeys and take a cruise on the river, but we arrived after they had closed.

One of the interesting things about the busses is that when they stop at a red light, the bus turns off. It probably it saves a lot of fuel.

02May06 – Tuesday

We bused over to the local Sanjyusan Gendo temple and gardens which we slowly toured it. Then we walked to another temple.

We stopped at an all you can eat restaurant and Dave decided he liked “Hamburg Steak” which is basically mystery meat but tastes better than tentacles. Dave decided to walk around the city for an hour rather than another temple visit.

After the tour of the temple, walking swiftly down the sidewalk, one of us tripped and fell. We were two blocks from the local hospital, which we visited just to make sure there was no real damage. After cleaning up the wound, taking an x-ray, and being treated by the doctor, we paid the bill of Y85 or about $75. Think of the cost of that in the USA. We got on the trains and headed back to Takatori.

One thing we have noticed is that there are almost as many vending machines in Japan than there are people. The smallest currency is the 1000 yen note – about $10. They have 500, 100, 50, 10, 5, and 1 yen coins. They work well in the vending machine.

03May06 - Wednesday

This was a day of relaxation and rest. Dave took another long walk around town, but this time with identification and a note in Japanese on where to send him if he got lost. He walked so far; he found a place without vending machines. It is interesting how they run water out of the local streams along generally both sides of the streets and control it to flood the rice fields. Almost every piece of land is planted with something. Since many of the local roads are so narrow, care must be taken when walking to avoid cars. Later in the day, Dave went to the local food store and had no trouble buying Coke and cookies. He was looking for some chocolate cookies and the wrapper on the package looked promising. They weren’t anywhere near chocolate enough. Somehow chocolate in Japan is not anywhere close to the sweetness of chocolate in the U.S.A.

04May – Thursday

Dave took another walk around town in the morning. In the afternoon, we took a bus up to the local temple, Tsubosaka Temple. It seems to be a rather famous temple, is supposed to help with eyesight (both Dave and Ryan went, we’ll see…), and even has a Kabuki play written about it. We headed up to the remains of the castle but figured out we did not have enough time, so we turned around and walked down the mountain.

After arriving back, we bordered a train to Kashihara and the Yagi area. Ryan was looking for some stuff to buy so they took us to the local warehouse of stuff. I have never seen so many games, books, models, CD, etc. all in one place in my life. It was overwhelming. After that we visited a Y100 ($1) store were Dave invested in a watch. We had dinner in a café which featured food moving around the restaurant on sort of conveyer belts. You took the plate you wanted and paid Y100 ~ $1 per plate.

It seems that since Japan make you retire at 60, the retired Japanese seem to take up hiking. Every day at the Takatori, hikers would arrive to take the hike up to the mountain top and back. It was a trip of about 13km – about 10 miles. Dave also noticed that there did not seem to be as many birds in Japan. However, since almost every house is zero lot like, there is not as much room for forests. Birds also have a tendency to nest in the roof support beams in train stations, so you should watch where you walk.

05May – Friday

We took the train to the Ninja Village in Iga-Ueno. The last part of the long train ride was on a pink Ninja train, painted with a female ninja.

We spent the whole day reviewing Ninja lore. There was a volunteer guide who spoke English who helped us. He had however, never heard of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. After Dave got back to the US he sent him the story of the TMNT.

06May – Saturday

We took the trains to Nara. Seems Nara, in addition to temples, has a huge park where the deer roam free. Nara Deer Park. The deer are so domesticated; they wait for the walk signal when they cross the street. Obviously the local vendors had food for sale to feed the deer. Since this is Japan, you bow at the deer, they bow back, and then they take the food. However this week is one of the super holiday weeks in Japan. It is called Golden Week and the deer were generally not hungry. We went to one of the most famous temples in Japan, Todaiji just outside of Nara Park.

07May - Sunday

We got up today and hit the trains again. However, we switched in Kyoto to one of Japan’s faster trains, called the Shinkansen. The faster train was so full, like local trains at rush hour, there was standing room only. Traveling at 186 mph or so we made it to Tokyo, switched to another train and got off at the Disneyland station. From the transportation and ticket center we took a bus to our hotel, the Palm Terrace. The Palm Terrace is one of many local Disney related hotels. While the room was nice and expensive, it was a minimum hotel. Breakfast was one selection and there was no lunch or dinner available. The sundry store was a Lawsons (sort of a Japanese 7/11). The gift store was a Disney outlet. At Lawsons, in an ATM type machine, Erin paid her rent. Seems their banking system has books like the old savings passbook. You slide it into the machine, in another slot put a card which lists your landlord information (or gas company, or water company, or etc.), enter the amount and it is transferred to his account. You can do this in almost any convenience store in Japan. It was cool and rainy that evening.

The garbage had to be taken out today before we left. You put the recycle stuff in one color bag, the burnable stuff in another bag, and the rest in a third color. You pay for the garbage by buying the different color bags. They are priced to encourage you to recycle.

08May – Monday

We spent the day at Tokyo Disneyland. You can do Tokyo Disneyland in a day if it isn’t a crowded day. It was cool and rainy that evening.

Mickey looks the same

Adventures of the umbrella duck

He thinks he’s a pigeon

09May – Tuesday

We spent the day at Tokyo Disney Sea. This is sort of a water oriented Disneyland. It was cool and rainy that evening.

10May – Wednesday

We took the day to travel the Tokyo subway to find The New Sanno Hotel. This is a US military hotel in Tokyo. All of a sudden, in downtown Tokyo we were in a hotel which spoke English, dealt in dollars, and tips were expected. Nowhere else in Japan are tips given or expected. Anyway, after checking in, we got back on the subway and went to the Tokyo Stock Exchange. This interesting tour was another highlight in our visit. Seems the TSE went all electronic in 1999. After returning from the TSE, we took the evening to visit the Tokyo tower. This tower is 333 meters high and provides quite a view of the city at night. It was cool and rainy that evening.

TSE Logo

Dave and the stock chart

Tokyo Tower at night

11May – Thursday

We signed up for a bus tour of the city and went all over the place. The tour guide said that the Japanese education required you to learn two foreign languages. We covered many of the tourist type places in Tokyo including a cruise in Tokyo harbor. We went by the Meiji Shrine, Asakusa, the Imperial Palace grounds and gardens, and several other places. We had lunch on the 12^th floor of a hotel overlooking the park where Teddy Roosevelt had held his meetings with the Emperor during his visit. It was cool and rainy that evening.

A sacred pair of trees at the Meiji Shrine

Tori gate at the Meiji Shrine

Gates at the Meiji Shrine

A view from the bus

A friend in the Imperial Gardens

A Temple (Dave is in orange mid-right)

Place where a President once came for tea

She looked rather familiar. She is a replica, like the one in France.

12May – Friday

We did a tour of Ueno Park and ended up in the electronics shopping part of the city called Akihabara. You could buy anything electronic you wanted. It was quite a place. Lunch was at a place at a place called the Rose and Crown. It was a good a good place to eat, but not like the one at Epcot. As you walked through the shopping district, stores had representatives handing out various samples, generally tissues – which always came in handy.

Back at the hotel, Dave took a walk around the block to find the French Embassy. He said he just wanted to say “hello”. The map he had showed him exactly where it was. When he got to the end of the block, another posted map showed it in a different place. He tried following the posted map, but it was not right either. Anyway, he ended up finding the German Embassy and could not find the French Embassy. Later that night he went down to the sauna to warm up. The TVs in The New Sanno Hotel have several Armed Forces Network Channels, and several US channels. It was nice to watch TV and hear it in English.

Ueno Park Shrine

Akihabara Electronics District

13May – Saturday

We headed back on the train to Takatori. From Tokyo we took the Hakari Super Express train to Kyoto and then by regular train from Kyoto to Takatori. The local trains with their bench seats along the wall sure are a big comedown from the airline type seats on the super express. The Hakari Super Express, Shinkansen, used the model 300 train. It was a real cool looking train; except that Dave noticed some dents on the front where something got a little too close.

14May – Sunday

We went to cooking class where we learned to cook. Dave stayed home and listened to internet archived stock market radio shows.

15May – Monday

We went to Takada to visit the city and have lunch at a local restaurant which featured all you can eat of almost anything. After that we wandered to various local shops.

16May – Tuesday

We went to Osaka to go shopping. It as amazing the things you can buy. One of the more interesting events was our ride in the Ferris wheel located on the top of a department store in Osaka - Hep Five Giant Ferris Wheel. , We ended up leaving just after rush hour and found ourselves in a women only car on the train. Seems that during rush hour in Osaka, there are cars designated for “Females only” because the cars are so full, train attendants on the platform push the passengers in. There are advertisements all over the walls of the train with generally only one or two words in English. Most of the information on this one type of pink sign was in Japanese except for the words female only, so we thought it was a medical office, exercise gym, or clothing store. Then we noticed there were no other males in the car and asked. Since it was after rush hour and we were not packed in, we got off at two stops later at our stop.

17May – Wednesday

We had our baggage shipped to the airport on Monday. So today we took the trains, to the bus, to the airport with carry-on baggage. Went through immigration and security without problems, and ended up in Chicago about 12 hours later. The first thing we noticed was that Americans are fat, complaining, and rude. We have never met a nicer, kinder, or more courteous people than the Japanese. We went through immigration and customs in Chicago without anyone checking for anything. We went through security again and got to the gate to go to WPB with minutes to spare. However due to storms, it was 4 hours later that our plane arrived. Thus we ended up getting to WPB at 3am on Thursday and thanks to a very kind brother-in-law got home at 3:30am Thursday.

We cannot help but think how much better the world would be if every one was as nice and courteous as the Japanese.

It was really a fantastic vacation.