"We Are Not Smart People"

This became the mantra of our travels with our friends Dave and Danielle, who recently visited us in Japan for two weeks. Despite the fact that Dave and Brian went to med school together at Boston University, and Danielle and I have our share of higher education, we continually found humor in our inability to think all things through. Of course, this mainly had to do with the fact that we're all gaijin navigating in Japan. That's our story and we're sticking to it...


In addition, Dave repeatedly walked into the doorways in our Japanese home, which excused him from any cognizance of his Japanese surroundings. But since Danielle came armed with her own Frommer's, she more than made up for any of his deficits.


Of course, our minor foils couldn't keep us from having a great time. We led our friends around for all but four of the days, which was quite a feat for us with two small kids in tow. We visited five cities together--after which they were likely ready to visit the sixth (Hakone near Mt. Fuji) without us. But here are a few of the new things we enjoyed together.

After spending one night at our house in Yokosuka (city #1), we took Dave and Danielle to Kamakura (city #2). We went to the usual spots (think "Great Buddha,") and Hase-dera, which is one of the great Buddhist temples of Kamakura that we had not yet visited. It is famous for a massive wooden statue of Kannon--the largest (30.1 feet) in Japan. But the main reason I was excited to visit this temple is because it's famous for its hydrangeas, which bloom in June and July. The magnitude of the blooms on the hillside was impressive, even though they weren't yet in full bloom.

The next morning, we whisked Dave and Danielle away to Tokyo (city #3) by train for two nights. After visiting some of our usual must-see spots, we enjoyed a child-free and delicious dinner at Wellington's restaurant in the New Sanno Hotel. (It's a small price to pay for a hotel room on a Saturday night.)

Sunday, while I took both girls to Sydney's Lego modeling gig (more on that later), it was up to Brian to lead the way to more Tokyo sights. Danielle was visibly anxious at the thought of laid-back Brian as navigator. But when I checked in half-way through the day, they'd actually accomplished more than expected without the kids and probably my commentary slowing them down: Meiji Shrine, Harajuku, Shibuya, Imperial Palace Garden, and Ginza all before lunch!


That night we were excited to try the Ninja Restaurant for dinner. After locating the somewhat hidden door, we were led through a series of dark, cavernous tunnels up and down steps and finally to our table, which was in our own little room.

I ordered the "Surprise Course," mainly because it came with "small Ninja magic" according to our Ninja waitress. This meant some foods were misleading in appearance. For example, you might think this photo was "cold tofu" served with bonito flakes on top. But it was actually lobster mousse. Good thing I didn't pour soy sauce on it.

There were also Ninja who came to our table and performed magic tricks involving sponge balls, coins, and cards. Sydney enjoyed participating and got to keep the card with her name on it.

On Monday morning, long after Dave and Danielle had risen with the sun to visit Tsukiji fish market, we all boarded the Shinkansen for Kyoto (city #4). I made sure we returned to Kiyomizu Temple for more Kiyomizu-yaki (ceramics) shopping--my kind of meditation. But Sydney tried her hand at meditating at Kennin-ji, an historic Buddhist temple (the oldest in Kyoto) in the heart of Gion. The rock garden here was beautiful.

But by far Sydney's favorite place in Kyoto was the Iwatayama Monkey Park in Arashiyama, which we ventured to by streetcar and then hiked uphill for about 20 minutes. She enjoyed feeding them pieces of apple from the fenced in resting/feeding area. I myself enjoyed the foot onsen (hot spring spa) in the train station.

Finally, we knew we must see Fushimi Inari Shrine with its striking 10,000 tori gates lined up one after the other before leaving Kyoto for the last time.

We boarded the "Shin" (when you've previously ridden the bullet train three times I think you can begin to call it that) and headed further southwest to Hiroshima (city #5). We somberly paid our respects at the A-Bomb Dome and the Peace Memorial Park and Museum.

We enjoyed eating okonomiyaki, a grilled "pancake" that Hiroshima is particularly known for. We were especially excited when we happened on the annual Yukata (summer kimono) Festival, where we also found a version of okonomiyaki on a stick! It seems Japanese people will put just about anything on a stick: all types of meat (yakitori), octapus, strawberries on a Ritz, candied Kyoho grapes, and now...okonomiyaki!

From Hiroshima, we spent a full day on the island of Miyajima, one of the top three scenic places in Japan. At first we enjoyed seeing the wild, tame deer on Miyajima, but after one tried to eat our map, and then eyed Miranda's blanket, we were no longer as fond of them."Oh, no! Deers!" Sydney said whenever we saw them.

I haven't seen the other two most scenic places in Japan, but Miyajima is certainly beautiful. The main shrine on the island is Itsukushima Shrine. Its red tori gate that appears to be floating during high tide is the most famous symbol of Miyajima, but the shrine itself is also built over water, which I found very tranquil and extraordinarily beautiful. In fact, it became one of my top three favorite shrines or temples in Japan. (The other two are Kiyomizu Temple and Hase-dera.) We visited all three on this--our last big--trip. I lost count of how many we've visited in total during the past two years. We may not be smart travelers, we are well aware. But we are well traveled!

See the photo album for all our photos from Kamakura, Tokyo, Hiroshima and Miyajima with Dave and Danielle!