Looking at the map, we thought the Imperial Palace would be about a 15-20 minute walk from Nijojo Castle. Unfortunately, our estimate was way off. The streets were longer than we expected. Once we reached the palace grounds, there was still a LOT more walking to do. I sent D to go ahead so we would have some chance of making the appointment for our tour. Luckily, the tour starts with an introduction while you sit in a room, so the group was still there when we arrived.

This was the only official tour we went on during our trip. It was still raining, but our tour guide said some people think the gardens are even prettier in the rain. We were not allowed inside any of the buildings, but the structures themselves were impressive. I felt like I was on a movie set.

The Emperor’s Garden

I never realized that Japanese gardens are set up to resemble landscapes. The trees in the background are supposed to be the mountains. The rock in the foreground is an island.

By this time, we were pretty wet, but we had one more stop on our whirlwind tour of Kyoto…

We stopped for a quick snack of momiji manju (maple leaf shaped cake with red bean filling). Miyajima is known for these, and there were tons of different shops selling them. The momiji manju machines were fascinating. We were able buy a couple of manju hot off the press.

This place was cute. There was a tiny seating area, and they had free tea.

There were two choices, skin on and skinless bean filling. I thought I would like skinless, but it turns out I like the texture of the skin on better.

Other places had other fillings like chocolate and custard. There was also a place that sold deep fried momiji manju on a stick, which my sister and BIL tried.

Hello Kitty Momiji Manju!

Next we took the ropeway up Mt. Misen. We bought a one way ticket and planned to hike down.

Whaddayouknow? Another pictorial map!

I had read there were wild monkeys at the top of the mountain. These signs would certainly indicate that is the case.


And my personal favorite:

However, no monkeys were to be seen 🙁 There was a nice view of the Seto Inland Sea, however.

We started the trek down and realized maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to do the one way trip. I especially felt bad for K, who had j on his back! Fortunately, it was not a hot day. After tons of stairs (some of which were a bit treacherous), we finally made it down the mountain. Someone told us it would take about an hour, and I think that was about how long it took!

j was a trooper!

Having worked up a good appetite, we were ready for lunch. We found a place serving Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki, so we thought we should give it a try.

Here is the front window display complete with a diagram and felt model. Love it!

Unlike regular okonomiyaki, which has all of the ingredients all mixed up, Hiroshima-style is carefully cooked in layers. It takes some skillz!

The final result was delicious, all the more so because we were so hungry. We split two among the four of us.

I also appreciated that they didn’t cover it in kewpie mayo as I have had on previous occasions. I think we have a new food truck concept!

After we finished, we saw a place selling Hiroshima buns right across the way, so we gave them a try too. Beef or conger eel? Beef, please.

These were very hot, temperature-wise. I imagine they would be really good on a cold winter day.

To top it all off…one green tea soft serve. D really liked this one.

Finally, we saw the world’s largest rice paddle:

Impressive.

I think we returned back to my sister’s place around 3 p.m. My sister and I then headed back out for a brief visit to a nearby fabric store. (Very exciting, about five floors of sewing/craft supplies). My BIL showed us his Japanese cooking by making beef-rice bowls for dinner. Yum. Also, we learned that Lawson’s (a popular convenience store chain) makes a mean tiramisu. Who knew? We briefly considered going out on the town after dinner, but decided to take it easy. This was probably our most relaxed day of the trip, and we needed it.

After the Mazda tour, we ate at Chikara, which was recommended by one of D’s co-workers. (Others laughed when D told them the recommendation, but the recommender knew we were on a budget). Turns out that a few of the other people on our tour had the same idea. The food was simple, but good. We had udon and bought a roll of futomaki to go.

After returning to Hiroshima station, my sis and her family went back home while D and I caught the trolley to the Peace Memorial Park and Museum.

At the entrance we saw this memorial with water bottles, which I believe were in honor of the earthquake/tsunami victims.

The A-Bomb Dome, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

This was a chilling reminder of the destruction that this city experienced.

Children’s Peace Monument

There were tons of school kids on field trips that day.

1,000 Origami Cranes in honor of Sadako Sasaki

I thought these bush-trees were interesting:

Peace Flame

The flame has burned continuously since it was lit in 1964, and will remain lit until all nuclear bombs on the planet are destroyed and the planet is free from the threat of nuclear annihilation. (-Wikipedia)

Peace Memorial Hall

No pictures were allowed inside and admission is free. It feels modern and somber at the same time.

Our last stop in the park was the actual Peace Memorial Museum.

The exhibits were educational and well done. Talking it over with my sister, we were struck by how the people of Hiroshima do not just see themselves as helpless victims. Instead, they continue to take an active role in seeking to end the possession/use of nuclear weapons around the world. For example, the current mayor of Hiroshima writes a letter to the president of foreign countries each time they engage in nuclear weapons testing, pleading with them to stop (there were copies of all of the letters on display). The whole topic seemed more relevant with the current reminder that even nuclear power that is used for good (energy) can be very dangerous.

After the museum, D bought an iced coffee from a vending machine and we sat down on a bench. A couple of school kids on a field trip approached us and asked if they could practice their English with us. They asked us our names, our favorite animals, etc., and they told us theirs. Then they asked us where wer were from and told us to put a sticker to mark the location on their map. They had a lot of stickers, but we were the first ones from the United States. This was consistent with our observations, since we didn’t run into too many Americans during our trip, except at Narita when we were going home. D, who likes to start conversations with strangers, ended up talking to people from the UK and Canada, but no Americans. Anyway, back to the story, the kids gave us a couple of origami bookmarks as a present. Very sweet.

It was so nice to be able to stay at my sister’s place for three nights.

We had our own room (this was actually bigger than our room in Kyoto, if you can believe it). The built in storage (which they have in all of the rooms) was nice.

Internet access…yes!

We were able to skype with my parents and the kids.

Even a hot breakfast…yum!

I think my nephew wanted some too.

We had reservations for the English language tour at 10:00 a.m. D was able to visit some co-workers with my BIL while my sister, her son, and I waited in the lobby.

Slick.

I actually didn’t notice that j had cars on his shirt until just now. How appropriate.

The Mazdas in Japan go by different names. For example, the Mazda6 is called the “Atenza”.

Our tour guide was very informative. I was impressed with the long spiels she had memorized. The (unintentionally) funniest part was when we were riding on a bus, and she noted that the bridge we were passing was “…one of the longest in the world…(dramatic pause)…owned by a company.” (No pictures were allowed on the bus).

The old logo.

Funky interior.

This car won the Le Mans 24 hour race.

New employees were taking a tour, too.

Crash test.

Cars of the future.

Future driver.

The best part was at the end, when were able to see the actual production line. I was surprised at how close we were able to be to the action. The combination of robotics and human skill was amazing to watch. It really made you think about how much work goes into making a car.

As a side note, I got a good chuckle out of this sign.

After stopping by the hotel to pick up our bags, we headed back out to catch the shinkansen to Hiroshima. Our departing station was Shinagawa, which felt very new and modern. We left enough time to grab some dinner since we would be on the train for around five hours. I picked up an ekiben (bento made for train stations) with a variety of little nibbles.

D is not a fan of bentos since he likes his food hot. Therefore, he had spring rolls, which are supposed to be cold, along with some other goodies.

This is the mocha bun that I brought along from Johan.

A single coffee bean capped the light and airy top, and inside was a moist mocha filling. I’ve never had anything like it before.

I was concerned about catching the correct train, but it was not a problem. Hyperdia had told us which platform to wait on, and our transfer went smoothly.


All the trains were right on time. I read somewhere that the average delay over the last year was around 30 seconds!

Even though eating is allowed (and encouraged…they sell food on the train), the trains are very clean. They do a thorough cleaning job between routes.

The train conductors and the women selling snacks all bow to the occupants of the car of the train upon entering and leaving.

D pointed out Mt. Fuji when we passed by. I would have probably missed it. (It doesn’t appear this close…I zoomed in).

Sunset.

It was a nice, relaxing ride. I especially appreciated being off my feet for five hours after all the walking. My brother in law K was able to pick us up at the station just before 9 p.m. We chatted with my sister and K for a bit and had our first good, full night’s sleep.

Ginza is the “Beverly Hills” of Tokyo. Upscale shopping is not really our thing, but it was interesting to look around. My must stop was Itoya, a multi-story building dedicated to stationery supplies. D couldn’t believe there could be so many floors to a stationery store.

Running low on blood sugar, D stocked up on sakura mochi and stopped at McDonald’s for a breakfast meal. We also bought a chocolate croissant at a cute store called Choco Cro and saved it for our afternoon snack. I had actually not heard of this chain during my extensive culinary research of Japan, and was pleasantly surprised. The croissant is nice and flaky, and the chocolate was melty inside.

Tokyo had been cloudy since we arrived, but for the first time, it started to sprinkle during the daytime. We ducked into a place called Ippudo for hakata-style ramen. There is an English menu, and we ordered one “white bowl” and one “red bowl”, and upgraded with gyoza. They also gave us a pitcher of cold ice tea which had a menthol-aftertaste.

The red bowl has more of a kick. There was also fresh garlic cloves along with a garlic press to add even more kick.

Perfect for a rainy day.

By the time we finished lunch, the sun came out!

D checked out the fancy showroom in the Sony building.

I was more interested in the fancy Hello Kitty store by the subway station. (I was unable to go to the HK store in Shinjuku, with the largest statue of Hello Kitty in the world.)

They were selling these bouquets outside of the store. There was also a nail salon for HK manicures inside.

Blinged-Out Hello Kitty

There wasn’t too much selection and I didn’t buy anything, but it was fun to gawk.

Wako building. We stepped in, immediately felt underdressed, and walked out.

Our final stop was another famous department store, Matsuya. D looked at the clothing/shoes in the men’s department and felt weird having several employees bow to him every time he walked by.

We also checked out the depachika (department store food hall).

One place sold fancy fruits. One mango was over $100! Can you imagine? It is meant to be given as a gift, but still…

Crazier still…

White strawberries, also around $100!

More lovely looking dessert display cases:

When we first walked past this bakery, there was a long line of people standing in a queue separate from the regular cash register.

Turns out they were waiting for Ginza Choco bread, which apparently is only available during certain times of the day.

Cute Easter-Springtime pastries

I chose a coffee bun from Johan to eat later on the shinkansen, and it was my favorite sweet of the trip. I guess I can understand why people wait in long lines for the choco bread!

Due to jet lag, D wasn’t able to sleep much on Monday night. While I was taking a shower, D asked if I had moved the cash (yen) that he had left in our suitcase. I hadn’t, and my heart sank. D is not one to misplace things, and the first night we had carefully divided our yen between ourselves, leaving some money in the room, “just in case” something happened to us while out and about, e.g. stolen wallet/purse, etc. So, we knew the exact amount that was missing: 20,000 yen (~$240). Our only conclusion was that housekeeping must have taken it. D went downstairs to talk to the receptionist, but we knew nothing could really be done. The receptionist said he would talk to housekeeping, (only 1 person) and he/she denied touching our bags (of course). By that time, we didn’t have time to file a police report, so it was a lost cause. I must say, that D and I handled the situation surprisingly well. We were upset, but at the same time realized that: 1. God is in control, it is only money, and there are much worse things that could have happened; and 2. We couldn’t let this incident spoil the rest of our vacation. We even made up a story that maybe the person who took our money had relatives who were victims of the earthquake, and we had made and unwitting donation to the cause!

After eating another lunch-breakfast at the cafe next door, we set out for Imperial Palace, in the heart of Tokyo. It is strange, because the palace is an imposing compound, stuck right in the middle of busy intersections and high rises. It is difficult to imagine what the landscape looked like back when it was first built.

There is an actual moat, and imposing walls made of stone surrounding the palace.

We knew that we wouldn’t be able to tour the actual palace, but thought we would have access to the East Garden. Unfortunately, we were there before it opened, so we decided to walk along a path that circled the grounds. (Facing the entrance, we started to our left). We had no idea how HUGE the property was. People were jogging along the path for exercise, and some were walking in their suits to work. It was definitely good exercise…probably, around three miles. However, my feet/legs didn’t think it was a good idea, especially considering all of the walking we had done the day before. Our recommendation would be to walk until you come across this scene:

You can see this double tunnel bridge without even going into the official entrance. This is one of my favorite pictures from our trip.

There are some interesting trees along the way.

Then, if you turn back, go past the main entrance, and past the East Gardens entrance, there is a small park with some lovely cherry blossom trees.

Flowers along the moat.

We did finally enter the East Gardens. There was a lot of open space, good for a picnic, but we didn’t see too much of what you think of when you think of a Japanese garden. Maybe we were in too much of a hurry. We were anxious to get to our next stop of the day: Ginza.

Shibuya, or “She-boo-yah!” as D likes to say, was the highlight of Tokyo for me. Funny to think that I lived there 33 years ago! There is so much energy, people are dressed up, and it definitely has the feel of New York.

When we exited the station, we had to look for the famed Hachiko statue. We actually missed it the first time, and had to go back.

While we were walking, I happened upon a fabric store and bought a couple of meters. One of D’s co-workers said we should check out Shibuya 109, a high rise dedicated to outfitting the 25 and under set. Almost as soon as I walked in, I wanted to walk back out, it was like Forever 21 on steroids. However, I did pose for this picture because I thought this trend that we saw all over Harajuku is so funny…huge glasses!

(Without the tag, of course).

Next, we went to Starbucks for its prime viewing spot of Shibuya Crossing (also a tip from D’s co-worker). This tip was spot-on, and it was really crowded.


D tried to order the Sakura (cherry blossom) latte, but it was sold out. We settled for the matcha (green tea) frappucino instead. It seemed less sweet than over here, which was good.

D managed to squeeze his way next to the window and captured this shot:

Here is D in the middle of Shibuya Crossing. Next, we hit up UNIQLO, Muji and The Loft, which turned out to be my favorite store in Japan. They have a wide selection of stationery, as well as home and kitchen items.

For dinner, D wanted an izakaya experience, so we went to Za Watami. We took our time perusing the menu. Even though you take off your shoes, and there is tatami seating, it feels oddly Americanized. I think it has some sort of connection to TGI Friday’s, which was right next door. On the other hand, I don’t think you would find this on the menu at TGI Friday’s:

Tasty Horse Sashimi, anyone?

We decided what to order, and waited a good while for a waiter to come by to take our order. Ususally, service seemed so prompt it Japan, what was going on? Finally, D noticed the unassuming bell located at the edge of the table. Once pressed, a waiter appeared at our table in no less than five seconds!

We weren’t feeling too adventurous: tuna roll, chicken karage, and gyoza.

We did, however, try Osaka-style Okonomiyaki.

Not sure how authentic this was, but it was basically an omelet with ham. They topped it with mayo and mustard (something I have never seen before).

After dinner, we headed back towards the station. Due to the energy crisis, not all of the signs were lit up:

Underneath the station is something called Tokyu Food Show. Much like all of the big department stores have, it is a large food hall consisting of endless displays of fancy, interesting foods that the Japanese seem to buy on an ordinary basis. It is a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach.

This cute Lego chef greeted us at the entrance.

I mostly took pictures of the desserts/bakery, but there are plenty of savory foods, as well, including sashimi, bentos, and yakitori.


After all our eating that day, we didn’t actually buy anything. Our feet and backs were aching from our first full day and we anxiously headed back to the hotel for some rest.

Using our JR pass we were able to take the JR line one stop down to Harajuku. We had a tempura lunch at Tenya. D had the full meal set (miso soup, tempura/rice and udon) and I had the tempura/rice bowl which also comes with miso soup. They also served us tea, which was nice.

This was D’s favorite meal of the trip! They dip the tempura in sauce before serving, so it wasn’t as crispy as I’m used to, but it was very tasty. And filling. And not too expensive. For those who may look for this restaurant, it is on Meiji-dori, just to the north of the Meiji-dori/Omoto-sando intersection. The sign is in Japanese, underneath a yellow “Blitz” sign, across the street from a huge H&M.

We walked down Omoto-sando, which is a nice tree-lined street full of fancy stores. We also stopped in at the temporary location of Kiddyland.

Three stories of kawaii (cute)! Of course, I had to buy a few things there. I really like that bear character on the building, along with Miffy. I even passed up Hello Kitty, since she is much more commonplace in the U.S.

Then we headed back to the station towards Takeshita-Dori, the “Harajuku Girls” hang-out. It wasn’t the weekend, so they weren’t out in full force, but the fashions were still interesting.


Although not really pictured here, we saw a Rasta girl (full dreadlocks), a bunch of “forest girls” (natural, Heidi-like), Lolitas, etc.

Harajuku is known for their crepes. They even make a Hello Kitty charm with Hello Kitty in a crepe. Needless to say, my expectations were high. There is a rivalry between Angel Heart crepes and Marion crepes, which are right across the street from each other on Takeshita Dori. After some internet research, I decided we should try a crepe from Angel Heart.

Big Disappointment. I guess they make the crepes in the cart, but it was completely cold, and tasted like a prepackaged crepe from the supermarket. There was not too much filling, and it was expensive for what it was. However, this was probably the only time during our trip where our experience did not live up to the hype, so I shouldn’t complain.

Tokyo is a large city made up of several distinct areas. Our first stop was Shinjuku. I was anticipating heavy rush hour traffic on the subways. I had read that the subway employs “pushers” whose job is to cram people into the crowded subways. However, it seems that the Japanese go into work later (and stay later) than Americans, so we actually beat rush hour.

Our main destination in Shinjuku was the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building’s Observatory. However, it was not open when we arrived, so we had some time to kill. We walked over to nearby Shinjuku Central Park. It is a nice park, but apparently, it is home to the homeless. It still felt safe, as the people were non-threatening and kept to themselves There were also several office workers walking through the park to get to their jobs.

We happened upon the Shinjuku “Mini Museum” which is connected to the park.

We had heard it was the end of cherry blossom season, so we weren’t sure if this was a cherry blossom tree:

It was pretty, whatever it was.

We thought the observatory opened at 9:30, but we found out it opened at 10:00, probably due to the earthquake. So, we decided to check out a nearby 7-11. I wish the 7-11’s in the U.S. were like this!

Notice all of the suits in line for their morning pick me up. This branch had a nice little seating area, too.

There were lots of freshly prepared onigiri (rice balls) and bento lunches. I only wish they would have a standardized color code for the onigiri so we could tell what was inside.

Our cashier was able to tell us that we had chosen tuna salad and salmon. We also bought a green tea and pork bun to round out our “brunch”.

Finally, it was time to head back to the Observatory.

View of the building from the park.

It was funny, because at precisely 10:00, it seemed that the employees were in a mad rush to prepare for the grand entrance of someone important. Turns out, they were just getting ready for us, the tourists. (I had read that the daily opening of department stores is very “ceremonial” in Japan). It wasn’t until just now, when I looked at the website, that I realize that we went on the first day it was open since the earthquake. Good thing it was open after all that waiting!

Cafe surrounded by windows on the 45th floor.

There was a nice view of some interesting architecture.

Modern “Mode” Building

D was excited to see the Tokyo Skytree off in the distance, a work in progress, slated to be one of the tallest towers in the world.

Meiji Shrine (We didn’t make a stop here, so this was the closest we got).

I was fascinated by the signage in Japan. This one depicts the consequences of sticking one’s hand in the elevator door.

Overall, we were quite impressed with the view. Best of all it was free…worth every yen!

We hit some shops on the way back to the subway station.

Here I am in the kitchenwares section of Tokyu Hands in Takashimaya department store. My first purchase was a Miffy mug–could not resist. At first we entered the first floor and all I saw was luggage and travel gear. Little did I know that there were several stories, and much, much more to browse. We also stopped by a Kinokinuya bookstore, but I didn’t buy anything.

Next stop: Harajuku