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 people preforming hatsumo-de. I felt like a small sardine while I was walking around the main alters and prayer observation areas and was more than happy to play around in the lines of torii gates. ... read more

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 seat from Tokyo to Osaka though, so I stood in line with everybody else to try an get a coveted seat in them. My line stopped moving after a while so I just jumped ship ... read more

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 places. It was ridiculously cold here last night. Though the walk was cold it was a lot of fun to see all the lights. A very nice way o end the day. I have been ... read more

My weekend started bright and early on Sunday; which really means before the sun was up. My co had gotten the earliest tickets to Tazawako, so we were out of Sendai by 6:37am. Lake Tawazako is the deepest lake in Japan. Legend goes that Princess Tatsuko and a dragon god fell in love and their passionate love making is what keeps the lake from freezing over in the coldest of temperatures. The tourist information center had nothing but good things to say about this and were very helpful in getting the bus schedule and everything to us. My co and I ended up at the Tazawako station at 8:30am and without further ado we set out to a little exploration hiking. Yes, we did this with our packs on. It being a Sunday and everything, there ... read more

The famous haiku poet, Basho once penned this famous haiku in his breathless wonder of Matsushima: Matsushima ah! A-ah, Matsushima, ah! Matsushima, ah! Matsuhima is considered one of the 3 views of Japan and it very famous for its over 200 pine tree covered islands that dot the Matushima Bay. My two visitors and I decided to make a day of it and get out of Sendai for Labor-Thanks Day. Matsushima is 400 yen and 20 minutes outside of Sendai via the Tohoku Main, or a little longer on the Senseki Line. Matsushima Station is a little walk from the attractions but its really a lot quicker and you can take a walk around the town before be hit with massive tour buses and tour guides waving flags. My friends and I started out our extended ... read more