Life in Japan: My Travels

I came to Japan to see it all. Did I? No, not at all.  But there are some things I am very happy to have seen.  This week’s question is from S. R. Carrillo. She asked many questions, didn’t she?

Where all have you traveled?

Odawara Castle in the rain with a couple cosplayers in front.

Surprisingly, I haven’t traveled very much in Japan. I live in Kanagawa, which is just south of Tokyo. I’ve also been to Tokyo, of course. The other prefectures I’ve been to are Saitama, Chiba, Yamanashi, and Shizuoka.

In Kanagawa, I’ve lived in Yokohama, Kamakura, and now Fujisawa. I’ve also visited Odawara, Yokosuka, Kawasaki, Sagamihara, Isehara, Chigasaki, Hiratsuka, Zushi, Hayama, Miura, Oiso, and Yamato. I think the highlights are Kamakura (many temples and shrines), Odawara (castle pictured above), Fujisawa (with Enoshima), and Yokohama (technically the largest city in Japan).

In Tokyo, I’ve been mainly around the main city area, but I’ve also been to Machida and Hachioji (Mt. Takao).

In Saitama, I’ve been to Saitama, Warabi, Tokorozawa (for a baseball game), and Kawagoe (a city with many old buildings).

In Chiba, I’ve been mainly to Narita Airport.

In Yamanashi, I’ve been to Mt. Fuji.

In Shizuoka, I’ve also been to Mt. Fuji, but also Atami and the Izu Peninsula, which is famous for resorts and hot springs.

Out of all the places, I think my favourites would have to be Kamakura, Tokyo, Yokohama, and Mt. Fuji.

If you have any questions about living in Japan, please see the original post and leave your questions in the comments.

We’re Back in Business!

I’m back!  It was a great week with my sister, but it was far too short.  The time went by so quickly, I can’t believe it’s already finished.  We did so much, but we needed more time to do everything we wanted.

I felt a kind of rejuvenation with her visit.  We went to so many places I’ve been before, but also a few new experiences.  On our first day, we visited Kamakura, and while we only visited three of the five places we’d planned, it was a great day.  The second day was a slightly rainy day in Yokohama with most objectives completed.  The third day was a complete change from our original plan because of the rain, but we had a good time.  We went to Odawara to see Odawara Castle, and we also ate sashimi.  We’d planned to go to Enoshima Aquarium, but my daughter had a different idea: diarrhea.  We went straight home.  Monday was our first day in Tokyo, and we visited the beautiful Koishikawa Kourakuen, the busy and fascinating Asakusa and Sensoji Temple, and then Tokyo Tower around sunset.  My sister got to experience the packed subways during rush hour, too.  On our fifth day, we went back to Tokyo and saw Ueno Zoo.  My sister got to see the panda, which was on her bucket list. On our final full day, it rained heavily, but we got to visit a couple great museums in Tokyo.  First was the Edo-Tokyo Museum, one of my favourites.  The other was the Tokyo National Museum, which was so big, we only had time to see a quarter of it.  I really want to go back to see the rest.

I took nearly 500 pictures, but my sister took more than 1500.  This is just a quick sample.

Odawara Castle in the rain with a couple cosplayers in front.

I’ve gotten a lot out of her visit.  One is a renewed appreciation for Japan’s culture and history.  It’s also inspired me to work hard on developing new cultures for the far distant future of Ariadne and my fantasy projects.  I also got a new computer.  I still have to set everything up, but I can now write in Word, which will be incredibly useful.  It’s about the same size as my Toshiba, but lighter.  I’m going to be taking this computer places to work on my writing.

I’m going to apologise in advance now.  Be prepared for a flood of blog posts over the next couple days.  I only have the rest of today and tomorrow off before going back to work.  I have a lot to write about, including three book reviews.  Keep checking back!