Japan in a Nutshell

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The Japan portion of the trip has flown by as Brett and I leave tomorrow for Thailand. We spent five days in the Kyoto area where we took day trips to other surrounding cities via the JR Railway Shinkansen Express trains. These trains were always on time to the second and extremely fast. I visited the city of Hiroshima where the first Nuclear weapon in history was used on mankind. The museum here was outstanding and most of what I got out of it was that the people here want peace and are determined to succeed. The city of Kyoto was really neat as we visited a number of Temples and Shrines and a Modern Art Gallery with some Matisse, Picaso and photos from Ansel Adams. Osaka was quite a busy city with lots of Modern Architecture and huge glass buildings. Visited a neat outdoor Museum based on old Japanese Farm Houses which I really enjoyed. In Tokyo I got to meet up with my brother Jeremy as he is living here now with his wife Masami and her family. Always nice to visit with family. Tokyo is huge as the population doubles from 11 million to 22 million during the day because of the business workers commuting in. I look forward to updating you more in Thailand.

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Photos

A-Bomb Dome
This is left as a reminder of the terrible destruction that took place during the bombing of Hiroshima, during WWII in 1945.

Shinkansen Bullet Train
This is one of the bullet trains Brett and I took all around Japan. They can reach up to speeds of 350km an hour.

Paper Cranes
This is just one of the displays of paper cranes made by children all over the world who have sent them to Hiroshima to help promote peace. A young girl who became sick a few years after the bombing, decided to try and fold 1000 cranes b/c she was told if she could then there would be a cure in time for her disease. Unfortunately she did not complete the 1000. People all over the world have continued this effort, with the idea of peace in memory of this young girl.

Japanese Archery
My brother Jeremy and his wife Masami, brought Brett and I here to see the formal archery practice being conducted. This took place on some temple grounds in the city of Kumakura.

Big Bell!
We found this bell at the top of a lookout in the temple grounds of Kumakura.

Biggest Golden Buddha
This huge golden Buddha is supposedly the biggest in the world.

Japanese supermarket!
You basically could buy anything off the street in Japan. Brett and I enjoyed eating ice cream from these despite the fact that it was winter time in Japan.