My parents have arrived in Japan. They got into do Tokyo on Friday. They played tourists in Tokyo for a day or so and then hopped up to Sendai on the Hayate this afternoon. We got our tickets for Hakodate and then deposited their stuff in their hotel before headed to lunch. After lunch we walked up to my apartment and chatted for a while before they were both getting sleepy. We walked along the arcade and dropped Mom off at the hotel before Dad and I headed to Yobashi Camera to get him a headphone extension cable. We walked around [View Full Entry]

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It is that time of the year in Japan, Hanami, or flower viewing. All over Japan the beautiful sakura, or cherry blossoms, start to bloom and the Japanese celebrate with afternoons in the park, drinking, and karaoke. The cherry blossoms only last about a couple of weeks and traditionally they were viewed to remind us how fleeting our lives really are. The blossoms are short in beauty but last longer in memory. The Japanese national weather center has an equation so they know when the blossoms will bloom. This way companies can plan flower viewing parties where everybody from work gets [View Full Entry]

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Since the Yuki Matsuri was going on there was no chance of getting a hostel in Sapporo so I made a call to a backpackers hostel in Otaru and scored us some bunks for the night. Otaru is about 30 minutes by express or 50 by local train from Sapporo. We had to be in the hostel by 9pm and we ended up getting into Otaru around 7:30pm but we had another mission, we were looking for another Snow Festival. While I was reading the Japan Times Online I found a travel article about the Sapporo festival and about a small [View Full Entry]

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What a weekend! So much happened and so many pictures were taken, well into 200 of them. I will do my best though! So On Saturday my co and I left Sendai at 11:30 on the sleeper train and headed into Hakodate. The sleeper train was pretty nice. You get your own little bunk in a small compartment of 4 bunks; 2 on top and 2 on bottom.I had a top bunk for both trips. The train gives you a really thick blanket, pillow, hanger, and yukata to sleep in. My co and I headed straight to bed and tried to [View Full Entry]

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Wednesday was spent in a bit of a slow approach. I met up with my friend Yuki for a couple hours for a little shopping, talking, and some lunch. It was so great to catch up with her and hear about her plans for the future. I wish her the best of luck at the Hilton in Nagoya! After chatting with Yuki I headed into Kyoto for the afternoon and head out to a couple of the big temples/shrines that I had missed the first time that I was in Japan. My first stop was Fushimi-inari and it was full of [View Full Entry]

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My last full day in Kansai ended with Chiaki, myself, and one of Chiaki's friends going all the way out to Nara for the day. Nara is about an hour train ride on the Kintetsu Line from Kyoto Station and is full of temples from the Nara Period of Japanese history. Chiaki bought a guide book and everything and planed out our entire day on the train ride down. We headed straight for Todai-Ji after leaving the station with the other tourists, foreigners and Japanese alike. We grabbed some kasurate; which is basically fried dough in the shapes of Hello Kitty, [View Full Entry]

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Chiaki and I got up Monday and met our friend Megumi at Kuzuha mall and had lunch at Chiaki's sushi restaurant. Chiaki works at a kaiten sushi place; which means that all the sushi goes around on a conveyor belt and you grab a plate as it goes past you. There are different prices for different plates. It was delicious and a very good start to the long day was was ahead of me. I say that in a good way. Megumi and I headed out to Osaka for the day. We mostly stuck around Namba. She took me around to [View Full Entry]

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I have decided that this post would take way to long and would include ridiculous amounts of extra pages to show all of the almost 400 pictures that I took. So I will cut it up based on the cities that I went to. I left for Osaka Station at the unlovely hour of 7:08am. THe train down was a little crowded but it was to be expected for the New Years Vacation. New Years is when everybody goes home to visit family so the trains are packed and they make an insane amount of money. I didn't have a reserved [View Full Entry]

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I am sorry for the late update but it has been a little crazy around Sendai the last week. Well, Christmas has come and gone for me but I must say that it has been an amazing one. This was my first Christmas away from home and I must say, since I'm not in the US it sorta flew by without much thought on my part. When your in the US you hear Christmas music from the end of November until Christmas. In Japan there is, obviously, no Christmas music to be heard. I never really thought that I was so [View Full Entry]

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This week was the start of the Sendai Pageant of Starlight; which is a beautiful light display in the trees along Jozenji-dori. Lucky for me it is a quick walk to get to all the action. I was going out for dinner the other night when I found all the trees shinning with bright lights. It is absolutely gorgeous and a must see for anybody in the area. It's a small affair but there area some venders set up with food. My co and I walked down it and then headed for some Italian food. Sendai has a bunch of Italian [View Full Entry]

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