World Heritage Sites

Another Patricia Find....

CLICK HERE for UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITES IN JAPAN

5 Unforgettable Trains Trips

Patricia’s Latest Find...

CLICK HERE: Unforgetable Train Trips Into Japan

Most people believe that a guided tour is the best way to travel to a new country. Epiphany, I just realized that using the following article, one can explore Japan without a guided tour or any prior experience.

“This is the land of your ancestors...”

“This is the land of your ancestors. Your family lived here.”  Yuji Ishihara

Growing up in the San Luis Valley of southern Colorado, I walked the land of my Manzanares ancestors, cast my eyes up to see the same migrating Canadian Geese flying in long breath taking V-formations.

Yet long had I the dream of walking in the footsteps of my Ishihara/Kobayakawa ancestors, until in the year 2015, I boarded a flight to Niimi, Okayama, Japan, where I met Sohji and his father Yuji Ishihara.  To make short the story of a long adventure with Yuji, the genius of Niimi, we skip forward to the place where Yuji tells me of a very old Buddhist monk who carried in his memory the long history of the families of what was once the tiny village of Niimi.

After meeting the old Buddhist priest who knew of my family, Yuji took me to the Nichinan Shiaksho (city hall) near Niimi to research the Kobayakawa family records and examine the books of maps. In those historical records we found “the land of my ancestors.”

Yuji then drove to the map location, parked and walked to the edge of a rice field. With a different set of ears I heard Yuji say: “Your family lived here.”  I could see them, Jotaro and Taka Kobayakawa, and their ancestors quietly walking along the mountain margin of the cedar forest above rippling fields of rice.

Click HERE to see the Documentary Short: My Friend Yuji

We Were Married In Japan!

The document below, our wedding promises, was given us  by our Shinto Priest four days prior to memorize for the wedding ceremony. Promises was the perfect word because I felt the emotion of our engagement rather than the legalistic sense coming from the term wedding vows.

Why get married in Japan? #6  This is what Matthew was wanting to read: our Japanese wedding vows, which are wedding promises to the Japanese.


Another unexpected and wonderful consequence of a Japanese wedding is saying your wedding vows in Japanese! Hearing our wedding promises in Japanese was wonderful.  The term "vows" feels ... legalistic while in Japan the concept is one of promises, which reflects how we feel, not because the law says we have to but because our love inspires promises of the heart.

We're Getting Married In Japan !!!

Why get married in Japan #5.  Unexpected and joyful the rain of happy energy as we boarded Singapore Airlines for our wedding flight to Narita Airport. Effervescence spilling into each step. Once we landed, I continued saying to anyone who would listen: "We're getting married in Japan!" Common was a questioning look: "Why?" Looking into their eyes I'd wonder: do they want the short answer or the long answer? Almost always I chose the short option, and wait a millisecond or two for an example to come to mind.

Why indeed. Our destination wedding in Japan incurred a level of complexity not for the faint of heart. Why complicate things when you can go to Las Vegas? Slam bam, it's over and done with! 

Example #5, so subtle it didn't surface for a month and a week after our wedding. Our friend Matthew Ma explained it this way when he said the phoenixes (symbols lost in the mists of antiquity) on the top of your wedding certificate "symbolize that birds gather when something good is about to unfold." This often echoed on our wedding journey, the many good things that unexpectedly unfolded along our way, like the pleasure of signing our names in Japanese for the first time on our Shinjuku City Hall wedding documents.  Think about it... When has it ever happened, joy, from singing your name.

Xie xie.     Domo arigato gozaimashita.    どうもありがとうございました      

Thank you Matthew.

At our reception, Jim Reed said: "I've been to all of Toby's weddings!" When we stopped laughing I realized, he wasn't kidding. True it was. He was speaking of my third (and last) wedding. But this one was designed on a remarkably divergent and most dependable foundation. I've come to learn that the more I put into the wedding, the greater and more profound would be it's impact on my mindscape. Thinking of all the weddings I've ever attended, including all of my own, I see now that the groom was basically along for the ride, with the bride, her mother and her friends planning and executing 99.9% of the details. Recently, I've been hearing the word: bridezilla, which I assume is a reflection of the accumulated over-the-top stress stuffed into the journey.
Now, I was in a foreign and unfamiliar territory. I'd never planned a wedding, and this made for me, all the difference.   More to come.

Studio Ghibli Museum

When in Tokyo, Studio Ghibli Museum is a must visit for Spirited Away movie fans of Japan’s most celebrated Hayao Miyazaki, who has transformed feature animation movie making into museum art. 

Ghibli Museum Tickets click HERE on Viator site.

There are Ghibli tickets available once a month at Lawson’s (ubiquitous Japanese convenience stores) for a much better price, but we haven’t figured out how to reserve them in advance. Patricia’s research turned up this site when we needed to lock in reservations on a specific date.  



Lawson's $10 Ghibli Ticket Instructions click HERE using Loppi Ticket Machine
I'll try this the next time I'm in Japan (on the tenth of the month).

How to Browse the Blog

There are two ways to use this blog.

1. Use the Interactive Table of Contents.  --------->

Click on a title that takes you in a flash to that specific site.  As of November 2021, this Interactive Table of Contents is 15% complete.

2. Normally one browses through a blog by using the Blog Archive in the right column. --------->

Click on a date range and click again on a specific date to pop up the title.  The earliest posts are at the bottom.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

*    A Toto in Your Water Closet
*    Tokyo Car Culture
*    The Giant Wave of Kanazawa
*    Wonder Filled Japanese World Heritage Sites
*    An Unforgettable Journey by train.
*    “This Is The Land Of Your Ancestors.” —Yuji Ishihara
*    Why Get Married in Japan #6
*    Why Get Married in Japan #5
*    For Rochelle’s Family is headed to Tokyo
*    Table of Contents 
*    Can a Foreigner Buy a Home in Japan?
*    May 1, 2019 First Day of the new Japanese Era
*    Finding Japanese Ancestors
*    Space Saver

Tip 34
*    10,000 People: Japan Art Book Project
*    Forging a Katana (Samurai Sword)
Tip 33 The Narita Express (Train)
Tip 32 Book:  Meeting With Japan by Fosco Mariani 
Tai Chi and Mount Fuji

Tip 31 Mobile Passport: breezing through customs.

Tip 30 Jet Lag Part 2
*    How To Get Married In Japan
*    Moon Restaurant: 58th Floor of the Mori Museum Building
*    Senju Shrine: Perfect for an Intimate Shinto Wedding
*    10,000 People Art Book Project:  Misata
*    Discovering Immeasurable Treasures
*    10,000 People Japan Art Book Project:  Milo @ Beer To Go
*    Eyes Open Wide Day In Tokyo

Tip 29 The Thirty Types of Japanese Restaurants

*    The Diaries of Patricia and Tobias 
*    Jim Reed: "What is Shabui and Wabi Sabi?"
*    Chucky Thomas in Asuka Village
*    Shinto Wedding Purification Ritual
*    Tai Chi Wedding Sendoff
*    The Diaries of Patricia and Tobias
*    Patricia's Fan Fold Temple Book
*    Sakura Zensen in Tokyo:  Following the Cherry Blossom Wave
*    Godzilla & Staying at the APA Shinjuku Kabuki-cho Tower 
*    36 of Japan's Most Stunning Places
*    Japanese Phrases for Your First Day
*    First Kimono
*    Calligraphy and Sumi (Japanese Ink Making)

*    10,000 People: Japan Art Book Project # 10

*    10,000 People: Japan Art Book Project begins.  

Tip 28 Cherry Blossom Report: Sakura Zensen Tracking

Tip 27 Nara:  Miwa Mountain of 1,000 Shrines

Tip 26 The Great Buddha of Todai-ji 

Tip 25 Folding steel for Samurai Swords and bringing home a fine folded steel kitchen knife from Nara

Tip 24 Akiko and her new Tour Company (highly recommended)
Tip 23A No need for Electrical adaptors and drinking water

Tip 22 Hiroshima:  Peace Park and ringing the Peace Bell

Tip 21 Using Google Translate

Tip 20 Temples, Shinto Shrines and Japanese Culture

Tip 19 Way Finding in Japan and Restaurant Culture

Tip 18 “Do not hesitate to ask when you need help.

Tip 17 Google Maps: A great way to navigate Japan

Tip 16 Kanji: Japanese Writing

Tip 15B My Friend Yuji Short Documentary

Tip 15A Home Stays: the best way to learn about Japan

Tip 14 Japan Rail Pass

Tip 13 Pasmo card for easier Subway use

Tip 12 Travel Light: Using Roll Aboards

Tip 11 Conversion of $ to Yen

Tip 10 Ghibli Museum: Home of Japan’s greatest director/animator.

Tip 9 Tokyo Subway: A wayfinding introduction.

Tip 8B Copious ideas to build your own Japan Itinerary including World Heritage sites.

Tip 8A Miyabidado Takemine Ryokan in Tokyo, wedding night.
Tip 7 Introduction to Ryokans: Japan’s historic, traditional inns. 

Tip 6 Hotel APA Shinjuku Kabukicho Tower 

Tip 5 Portable charger for you phone and Pocket Wifi

Tip 4 Pocket WiFi across Japan, Google Translate, & Maps

Tip 3 Hitching Rides with Buddha: a first book to read.

Tip 2 b Shinjuku Station, busiest in the world. 3.5 million passengers each day.

Tip 2 a Japan Rail Pass (perfect for beyond the big cities)

Tip 1 Minimizing Jet Lag April 16, 2018

000   In the beginning: Jotaro and Taka Kobayakawa  Nov. 17, 2015