We arrived in Japan yesterday afternoon at narita airport. Our first stop was at a 100 year old restaurant where we had lunch in narita. It was a cute little town with lots of restaurants and shops.
Thursday is our only full day in Tokyo. This trip is designed to give you a flavor of Korea and Japan. Therefore we are only seeing a few things in each city. Our morning started with the view from Tokyo tower with spectacular panoramic views of the city. The sky is very clear today and we had a clear view of MT. Fuji. After a sushi lunch we attended a special dance program at a well know dance studio. We had several engaging performances. Some of us dressed in kimonos and learned fan gestures to music.
Friday we took the bullet train and a local train to toba island. We first toured the Shinto temple of Ise. We then checked into a Japanese inn called a ryokan. Our inn has hot springs mineral water in an onsen, a public Japanese bath. After a short soak we had a traditional Japanese meal. So many dishes and so much food! I have never eaten so much fish!
Saturday we saw a demonstration of the ama pearl divers. Almost all divers are women because they can hold their breath longer than men. After touring the mikimoto museum we took a boat to the island of Toshi. There the ama women made us a freshly caught grilled fish lunch. We had some funny question and answers from them. One women saw an ad in the newspaper for an event where the men of toshi were looking for wives. She attended and has been married 15 years.
We then went to visit a pearl farmer where we were able to open shells and find our own pearls as a souvenir.
Last night in toba and then on to Kyoto our last stop in Japan and our trip.

Sunday we visited the Todai-ji temple where the largest wooden structure housing a bronze statue of Buddha. This building was destroyed during a war in 1180 and was totally rebuilt by 1185. The Buddha is 52 ft high.

On Monday we spent most of the day in the Arashiyama district in western Kyoto. We took a stroll through a large bamboo forest which led to an incredibly peaceful garden. The garden was done by a famous Japanese actor. In the afternoon we visited the golden temple which also had beautiful gardens.

On our last day we started by visiting the town of Fushimi where the there are 5 Shinto shrines dedicated to the god of rice. We walked through a tunnel of red gates (Tori’s). Companies who have made donations are inscribed on the gates. We watched a Shinto ceremony with priests paying homage to the natural world. We ended our tour with Nijo castle with paintings on the walls in
Many rooms. The painters had never seen tigers and painted their likeness from their imaginations. The wooden floorboards were designed to chirp like nightingales.

We have enjoyed both countries especially the people. Anytime we sat next to Japanese people they engaged us in conversation. The Koreans were the same. These are 2 very different cultures but share a lot of the same history. A love hate relationship definitely exists. We would like to come back and spend more time in each county.