Blog
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Today we are traveling from Kyoto to Ise to meet my friend Hisashi to visit his family and the “holiest city in all of the world”! Amaterasu (天照) I am glad that we got an early start because the later train from Nagoya to Iseshi was full. We are very relaxed now on the Shinkansen.…
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Owen is sleeping in this morning. I am hitting the city. We have plans for this evening. Teramachi-dori I explored the shopping area of Teramachi-dori Street. There were so many things I would have liked to buy as gifts. We are saving shopping for the end of the trip because we are carrying very little…
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Yamaboko Junko This morning is the procession of the floats through Kyoto. It’s supposed to be 97 degrees today with 80% humidity. I am working on getting hydrated and encouraging Owen to do the same. I understand that part of the intent of this parade is withstanding pain and adversity, both for the participants and…
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I woke up to get a coffee. At 8:00, the sun is out and it is scorching. We are planning on taking things easy today and getting ready for tonight: Yoiyama. Yoiyama Festival highlight. One “yoi” means one more night before the processions on July 17. All floats shrine areas celebrating their respective deities and…
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We are in the midst of the Gion Matsuri Festival. Today will be exciting. I started the day with an early morning stroll. It is hot and humid all ready at 9:00. I think we will have to hold off on our celebrations until it cools off a little. I took a little “photo safari”…
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Breakfast was incredible. I miscalculated a bit on our travel today. I assumed that the Shinkansen Fuji station would be near to Fuji. It turns out it is an hour away. We are now in a taxi taking what will be an expensive trip. It’s nicer than the bus but… I am going to try…
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We are comfortable in our little cubby waiting for the top of Fuji to clear. I am very glad we didn’t push to the top for sunrise because I believe it is all cold, rain, and clouds up there. We hope things will clear and warm. We did get an early morning coffee and step…
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What a day… We decided to go with “Plan E”. From where I am writing, I see it was the perfect plan. It was very disappointing when we found the Fujikyu Higland Park closed early. We figured that we now had time to enjoy the park during the day because we weren’t going to spend…
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This morning we checked out of out hotel to leave the city. First we stopped at the “convi” for a rice ball and again I made a mess out of it. Thankfully, I was able to unload half-a-pound of pocket change so I don’t have to lug that wad around. We have enjoyed city life…
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Today we go to Disneyland. Each evening, as we head home on the train, we see droves of people on their way back from Disneyland Tokyo. They all look happy. I am very excited. I don’t think Owen or I know what to expect. TDL Tokyo Disneyland was fantastic. We did get tired, and hot,…