Educating the Entourage

Hanging out on the apartment balcony

Konnichi wa! (Japan Trip Part I)
We recently returned from spending two fantastic weeks in Japan with Aunt E. Some friends of hers were out of town for the month, so we were able to use their 3-bedroom apartment in a Tokyo high-rise as home base while taking side trips to Yokosuka, Odawara en route to Gotemba, and Kyoto. In terms of the overall experience, I think the girls' favorite things were the food (so many tasty new things) and the playgrounds (so much more than your standard shoots and ladders here in the States). Here's our itinerary and some photos to enjoy!

Day 1/2: We crossed the international date line and did a bit of time travelling in the midst of our physical travelling. Over the course of 36 hours we started at our front door here in Hawaii, took an Uber, an airplane, a bus, and a taxi to arrive at the apartment in Tokyo. We had just enough time to acquire dinner, get settled, then crash at a reasonable bedtime.

Creating Pixar figures at the Mori Museum

Day 3: We spent a leisurely morning eating Japanese pastries (melon pan, bean paste buns, etc.) and planning some of our side trips, then met up with a friend of E's for lunch (local comfort food--I had the barbecued eel over rice. Mmmm...) From there we headed to the Mori Modern Art Museum on the fiftieth floor of a skycraper. In addition to great views of the city, it featured an interactive Pixar exhibit as well as a very cool, but untouchable exhibit of massive string art. On the way home we hit up one of the nearby playgrounds (old school swings, a jungle gym, etc.) and poked our heads into a tiny local shrine to a tree that was now growing inside and in between the surrounding houses.

Tiny shrine for a really big tree

Watching the music & water show at Mikasa Park

Day 4: This was a day trip down memory lane for me! We rented a car and headed for Yokosuka to show the girls the house I lived in as a kid, my elementary school, church, the hospital where E was born, and spent some time in a favorite park. Back in Tokyo, we hung out in E's apartment while she helped the girls try on her yukatas (summer kimonos). For dinner we tried out a monjayaki place (meat & veggie filled pancakes that you cook yourself at the table). Yum!

Melodramatically sad girls because the kabuki show sold out
right before we tried to get in line

Day 5: We walked through shaded woods in the middle of Tokyo to visit Meiji Shrine (built to honor one of the most well-known emperors) and arrived just in time to see several priest performing a sacred chant. For lunch we wandered Tsukiji market (open air food market), and stopped in a sushi-go-round to eat. The girls were very excited about being able to pull down whatever sushi looked good as it went by on the conveyor belt. The chefs working in the middle also seemed excited to have three such appreciative Caucasians kiddos to feed--they made some special tiny sushi just for the girls to share. After lunch we tried sesame ice cream (Lion and I are fans), and wandered through Shinjukugyoen Park.

The Meiji Shrine had massive torii gates at the entrance to the park.

Shinjukugyoen Park has beautiful traditional gardens.

Peek-a-boo! Fortunately, the park also had fun spaces for the girls
to get some wiggles out.

Monkey tries her hand at waving a
matoi (fire brigade standard). We
got to see the actual firemen waving
them at a festival the next day.

Day 6: We spent the morning at the Edo Museum--
a history museum that covers the samurai era through WWII and featured artifacts, intricate models, and hands-on exhibits. After a tempura lunch, we walked through a souvenir market street to Sensoji Buddhist Temple. Everyone was preparing for a fireworks festival that evening, so there were lots of people in colorful yukata visiting the shops and temple too. We found another fun playground for the girls (ok, Lion) to expend some energy. This one was made of car tires and massive concrete pipes, although the girls favorite part was the zipline.

Doing chores in 17th century Edo--in this case it took
Monkey and Bug to lift the buckets of "night soil."

Onward! Trying out a 19th century cycle rickshaw

Looking down on Sensoji Temple from a nearby skyscraper
(Those green roofs leading to the temple are souvenir booths.)

The leader of this group was very excited about
getting the huge American to help carry their
"god in a box." He was head and shoulders
above the crowd everywhere we went!
Walking behind him and catching people's
reactions provided endless entertainment!

Day 7: In the morning we headed to a neighborhood festival and arrived in time to see the parade--traditional dancers, drummers, and several "god in a box" floats. Daddy and the girls were all pulled into participating in the parade to help with the floats. We sampled festival foods for lunch--takoyaki (octopus), yakisoba (fried noodles), yakitori (meat on a stick), and choco bananas (frozen bananas covered in chocolate). So much yumminess! After lunch we went to a church where E had friends and where they provided translation for the whole service. The girls decided to go to children's church, had a great time, and even made some new friends! (They're scheming to be email pen pals, but we'll see if that pans out.)

The girls got to help pull a float too!
(This one was actually motorized,
but lots of kids jumped in to help.)

On our way to church we walked past the grounds of the Imperial Palace.
The palace itself isn't open for tours, but you can see it in the background.

Day 8: We hopped in a rental car again, and this time headed for Gotemba but stopped along the way in Odawara to visit a couple of museums. The first, Odawara Castle, was a reconstruction of a castle from the 1500s that presented the history and lifestyle of the samurai family who ruled there until Japan was unified. We also visited the nearby Ninja Museum, which turned out to be more of a themed indoor play space than a museum. It was very well done though, and the girls had a blast!