Japan trip 2023

[Bakersdozen]

The main purpose of this trip was so see our granddaughter.  She is almost 15 months old now.  She is walking.  Pointing and saying Aahh! gets her everything she wants so the verbal skills will come.  Did I mention she is so smart?  I was talking with my daughter in law about how to spell Hachimitsu and Hachi (honey bee and honey).  The baby was playing on the floor with her maternal grandmother when she suddenly went over to her books, went through them, and pulled out a book I had sent her. 


I was amazed.  I realized she had been listening to our conversation, made the connection, and was bilingual.
The kids are protective of her image on social media so I will only include her in one picture.

Overall it was a great trip,  Our goal was to spend time with family.  We accomplished that.  The value of the Yen is down so our $$ went further.  We landed at Haneda Airport, Tokyo and took the Shinkasen to Kobe, where the family lives.  They have a traditional Japanese home with Great Grandma, Grandma and Grandpa, my son and his wife, and now the baby.  4 generations under one roof.  FYI:  great grandma can run circles around me!

My daughter in law's father, who suffers from macular degeneration occupies his time by cooking and he's a wonderful cook.  He also walks the dog for hours at a time.  While walking, he seeks to find restaurants off the beaten path that are amazing and Buddhist Temples.  He took us to about 5 Buddhist Temples.  He also took us to a soba noodle restaurant that turned out to be the best meal of the trip.  This restaurant had about 5 tables and a straw mat floor.  Homemade noodles, broth, dumplings.  A big bowl of mushroom soba with tea was about $6.50 US dollars.  Pure heaven!

Ume no hana was in bloom. (Plums) Too early for the cherry blossoms.
Everyone we met was warm and generous.  Even strangers on a train would go out of their way to help.

Anyway, here are some pictures.  The Mount Fuji picture was taken from the Shinkansen on our way back to Tokyo. 








I also got a picture of Mount Fuji from the plane when we were flying in to Tokyo.  I understand that the opportunity to see it twice, due to cloud coverage, is very rare. 

[The15thMember]

Sounds like you had an amazing time!  Your granddaughter is so precious! 

[Jen]

Oh Wow! I am happy for you, and envious of you! The food and the temples would interest me the most. Great story! <3

[LazyBkpr]

Great Pictures! What did you think of japan?

[Bakersdozen]

Great Pictures! What did you think of japan?

I love Japan.  I would live there if I didn't miss the other grandchildren so much.  They have a shrinking population in the rural areas and are desperate for people to move out there, but they don't want my age bracket.
 Our first trip there was in 2019 right before Covid struck.  The people are polite and we experienced nothing but kindness and generosity from school boys to strangers on a train during rush hour.   
The US dollar was strong and goods and food were incredibly cheap.  A French Bakery in the neighborhood sold excellent pastries and lunches.  A product they sold called a Shrimp Burger was about $2.60 US.  It was so good I had the shrimp burger twice.

Being from the Midwest, the one thing that is so different is that it takes a lot of time and planning to get somewhere.  Cars are the exception even though there are plenty of them.  It's a privilege not a necessity to have a car.  They have invested tax dollars in public transportation instead of highways.  In 2019, I thought we could easily visit Hiroshima.  It looks close on the map but in reality means most likely a two day round trip by train.  My son has a car out of necessity.  He works in a nearby manufacturing city where public transportation doesn't go. 

Tokyo was humid, even in February.  The air quality was poor too as you might expect.  There were air purifiers in the hotel rooms.  Kobe was great though and very clean.  No litter.  People carry their trash until they can find a trash can.  No matter where we went, masks were worn 100% of the time by everyone.  The mask order was still in place at that time.  I believe it's been lifted since our return.  People cooperate and do as they are asked.

We didn't want to spend two weeks in a hotel room.  A friend of our family connected us with someone who was willing to rent out the 2nd floor of her studio to us.  She is a textile artist.  Ms. Okumune-san is a fantastic, generous person.  https://www.maison-japon.com/ We slept on tatami mats (with a little extra cushion).  She gave us several things that she had made and also a decorative plate that is around 100 years old.  It's from the Taisho Era.  Thanks to my daughter in law's packing skills we got it home in one piece.  In the entry way of the house she displayed an embroidered piece she made for a bride in another city.

[neillsayers]

Sounds like a blast B13, thanks for sharing it!