Sakura!

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Wow...what can I say? The cherry blossoms are really spectacular! No matter how many temples, parks, shrines, castles, and gardens I go to, the cherry blossoms never cease to amaze me. I took tons and tons of pictures, so I hope you enjoy them.

As for the rest of Japan, most of the time I'm lost and confused. Thankfully there are tons of maps and brochures available. Sometimes that seems to only add to the disorientation, but in any case, I guess it's no more difficult than any other place. There is however, a huge amount of sensory overload...the neon lights, the constant noises, the smells, the crowds.... which I think is throwing me off more than anything else. The one thing that is not new is the Japanese tour bus. These buses are everywhere, here in Japan too! Haha...I thought they were exclusive to Australia, NZ, and Hawaii, but apparently they love to travel the same way even in their own country. It's pretty funny!

Oh! and one more thing...I thought Americans were obsessed with consumerism. These Japanese women can shop! I have never seen such a huge number of stores in a concentrated area. I thought LA had lots of malls. Here in Kyoto, there are 4 or 5 multi-leveled malls across the street from each other. Unbelievable. Even I feel like it's too much! Never again can I be accused of loving to shop too much ;p well...

Besides the citiness of it all, Japan has tons of sites to appreciate and most things are very esthetically pleasing. Much of their history is well-preserved and absolutely stunning. 2 weeks is definitely not enough to see even small parts of Japan, but long enough to get a glimpse of the major sites and get in a few baths.

More of Japan to come....

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Photos

sakrua snow
2 girls playing with the sakura petals