Japan 2012

January 2012: On our way back from Shanghai to the US we stopped through Japan to see our friends in Yonezawa and play in the snow. See all the fun here.

Japan Trip 2011

January 2011: This year for our Chinese New Year holiday we went to Japan to see our good friends, enjoy some good food, and to have fun playing around in all the snow! See the fluffy white stuff here.

Narita, Japan

May 8th, 2010: My friend and co-worker Tsuji-san who works at the Tokyo office lives in the town of Narita. Narita is east of Tokyo in Chiba prefecture and is more widely known for it's large airport that serves Tokyo. On one business trip I left on a Saturday evening and had some extra time so Tsuji-san suggested that he take me to look around his town and have lunch at an unagi (freshwater eel) restaurant. I could not turn him down! Probably hundreds of times I passed by Narita on the train to the airport but I had never actually seen the details of the town. I had been missing a lot! See Narita, Japan here.

Mikoshi Festival - Tokyo

May 5th, 2010: I happened to be in the right place at the right time in Japan at the Shimbashi rail station in Tokyo. It was the last day of Golden Week and they held a Mikoshi parade right when I was there. Mikoshi are small portable Shinto shrines carried on long poles. Three Mikoshi were in this parade. See the festivities here.

Japan Trip

April 2010: In April we took a trip back to Japan to visit our good friends and the boys' Japanese grandparents in Yonezawa. See photos of our trip here.

Japan Rail Museum

January 24th, 2009: Train Heaven...Rail Nirvana... Shinkansen Shangri-la... all could describe this place! Grant and I have wanted to visit the JR (Japan Railway) Museum near Omiya, Japan since it opened in October 2007. All aboard here!

JAPAN LINKS - Click on the places in red (including the Sea of Japan and Mt. Fuji) on the map at the left to visit pages about those places.  Or for the page with all the links here and a few others click here.

In March 2003 Audrey and I took an extended weekend in the ancient cities of Kyoto and Nara. Kyoto was the capital of Japan before Tokyo for over 1,000 years from 794 to 1868.  See photos here.  (added August 2003)

In On our trip to Kyoto in March 2003, Audrey and I took a day trip to another ancient capital, the city of Nara.  Our friend Chikako graciously showed us around the city. See photos here.  (added September 2003)

In March of 2003, at the tail end of our trip to Kyoto and Nara, Audrey and I went with a couple of our friends to the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka.  See the fun here! (added September 2003)

Spring is the time for flowers!  Our friend, Atsuko, took Audrey and I to Hananoyama in Fukushima prefecture. See a spring gallery of flowers here. (Added August 2001)

My parents came to visit us during Golden Week.  The first two days after they arrived in Japan we stayed in Tokyo.  See the sights here.  You can also find links to other Tokyo photos on the map of Japan below. (Added August 2001)

Our friend Ikuko took my parents, Audrey and I to Aizu-Wakamatsu during Golden Week.  There we visited a castle full of history.  See photos here. (Added August 2001)

Mount Zao!  Another volcano!  Audrey and I add another volcano to our list (other than Fuji and Azuma).  Our friends the Yoneno's took my parents, Audrey, and I to the top of Zao where there is a crater lake.  See photos here. (Added August 2001)

See Tom fall off a volcano...just kidding! Visit Azuma here.

(Added November 2000)

Take a quick trip back in time to learn about a famous Japanese doctor and see a little of the mountain's fall color along the way here.

(Added November 2000)