I was lucky to marry a guy who grew up traveling. Being born and raised in a small town, traveling to me meant a trip to Fish Lake. . . big time vacations were to Yellowstone! After a honeymoon/vacation to Europe (Brent's family were living in Belgium at time) I quickly fell in love with the notion of visiting far away places. We have been fortunate to see much of Europe, Hawaii, Australia, Alaska, and Mexico. I had never been to the Far East, and quite honestly, didn't have it on my "vacation radar."
Well, fast forward to 2009 and watching my son open that wonderful envelope which contained his mission call. When he said "Kobe, Japan" I know I was stunned--I didn't even consider "that" side of the world!! He was so excited, and after receiving such wonderful letters about Japan and the Japanese people for 2 years, we knew we wanted to visit someday. At Christmas Jace and I planned our trip for this Spring. We knew that if it was going to happen, it had to be now before Jace got busier with school, internships, jobs, spouse, etc.
Brent had never visited Japan himself, so it was a first for both of us. It was great having Jace as our tour guide. The language is crazy, crazy, crazy!! It helped so much to have him speak and translate for us. The people are super hospitable, kind, and respectful. Even though we were frequently in crowds, they still have so much quiet dignity. They take pride in everything--taxi and bus drivers all wear uniforms and white gloves; litter was none existent; it is customary to wear a hospital mask if you are sick or have a cold--nobody is embarrassed by that, but it is a courtesy to those around you so you don't spread germs. Here people would be too self-conscience to do that. Needless to say, we had a wonderful time and hope to visit again sometime. We would recommend Japan as a vacation to anyone now. We left SLC on Friday, April 26th and returned on Sunday May 5th. It was a busy 9 days, but oh so awesome! Here is the OPVP (other people's vacation pictures) in chronological order. Warning: There are a lot!
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| Sunday on the train to Fushimi to church. |
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Jace enjoying his visit with beloved Fushimi ward members.
They had a light dinner after the block of meetings for everyone. Brent and I just smiled and nodded a lot!! |
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| This is the Bishop (at the time Jace was there) and his family. So, so, so very nice. |
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| After church we visited Fushimi-Inari. There are thousands of orange arches all throughout this HUGE park. We climbed way up into the mountainside in our Sunday best! It was a gorgeous day. |
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| Jace's friend (and convert) Masaya joined us there. It was obvious that Masaya was so excited Jace returned to visit. |
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| Entrance to arch path. |
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| A stopping point in the park. There are thousands of Buddhist shrines, many different sizes. |
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The writing on the arches is personal--whoever purchases the arch can decide what "prayer" or devotion
they want to inscribe in the arch. |
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| On Monday we took a bus to Kankakuji (The Golden Temple). It was very serene and beautiful. |
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| This is Gosho--The Imperial Palace. Unlike the castles of Europe, their palaces are really quite simple and minimalistic. They are mostly constructed out of wood. |
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| This is Nijo Castle in Nijojo. It was a very busy day at all these sites. . . it was the beginning of "Golden Week" in Japan. Most of the children were out of school and it was a holiday for many. |
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This is in Kiyomizudera -- The Kiyomizu Temple or "Pure Water Temple." It was a hike up narrow streets full of tiny shops to this spot. The mountainside and trees were so beautiful. This picture was taken at a lookout spot which gave a
better view of just how large this temple is. |
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| Leaving the Kiyomizudera area. |
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| Get a peek at that super large Buddha! |
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Monday night we were invited to dinner at the Sato Family's home. Sister Sato cooked us a Japanese feast!
It was so fun to spend the evening with them and feel the love they have for each other and for the gospel.
Their oldest son (bottom left) is 19 and waiting a mission call. They spoke very little english,
but it didn't matter! Jace had a blast chatting with them all evening. Brent and I just ate and smiled. |
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| Tuesday we took the Shinkansen (the Bullet Train) to Hiroshima. Their public transportation system is amazing. It sure helped having Jace around to read the maps and boards in the train and subway stations though. |
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| This is the Peace Park Memorial in Hiroshima. That building on the right actually survived the bomb blast. Much like the historical sites in Europe that we've visited, it was a reminder of the tragic consequences of war. |
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| We saw a lot of Buddhists, monks, and Japanese in their traditional clothing. |
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We depended on Jace to keep us fed! He took us to a fun eating place every day. This is Yakuniku (the grilling of your own meat) in Hiroshima. We also ate traditional sushi, ramen noodles, Japanese curry, Chinese food,
Indian food, McDonald's a few times, and even at a Shakey's Pizza!
It's fun to have American food in foreign countries--a hamburger at McDonald's in Japan definitely
tastes different (almost better!); and I doubt tuna fish on a pizza would sell very well here.
On Wednesday we went to Osaka. We visited a huge brand new shopping mall. Boy, the Japanese love their shopping!
This is the Namba area in Osaka. This is where we found a Sushi restaurant for lunch. I ate a few
things. . . not a big fan of raw fish, which kind of makes it hard to eat a lot of sushi!
After Osaka we traveled to Kobe, where the mission office is located. This is where Jace spent the last 6 months or so of his mission. We visited with Pres. and Sister Zinke, who Jace served under only a few weeks before being released.
It was great to see his apartment, the office and church, and just where he lived for so long.
The town of Kobe was clean, quiet and really very beautiful.
This is a mission quilt that all the missionaries sign when they arrive. Jace and Elder Nielson
were the first to sign. . . he is pointing to his signature.
This is the Kobe Harbor. It was kind of funny because in the tents below they were having a "German Beer Garden Festival."
I guess the Germans were trying to drum up some business!
After Kobe we returned to Namba in Osaka for a ramen dinner. The lights at night were reminiscent of Las Vegas. . . lots of neon. I guess Osaka is a little "looser and wilder" than the other cities, if you know what I mean!
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| This is Ryu. He is another friend/convert of Jace. He is from China and is in Japan as a student. We enjoyed breakfast with him on Thursday morning. He was also so very happy to see Jace again and to meet us. Such a kind man. |
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| This is the entrance to Nara Koen. Nara was the ancient capital of Japan before Kyoto. |
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At Nara there are thousands of domesticated deer roaming the park! They come right up to you looking for food.
You can buy biscuits to feed them, and boy do they know it! |
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For a small-town girl from Utah where they save a weekend every fall to hunt these little guys,
it sure was crazy to have them nipping at your heels! |
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| This is the GIANT temple at Nara which enshrines the Daibutsu, or giant Buddha. It really is HUGE! |
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| Just outside the Nara Buddhist Temple. |
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| We were able to see a Buddhist ceremony going on. It was interesting to listen to their chants of devotion. |
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This is the Daibutsu, or Buddha. It really is super, super big. Very interesting to note his hands.
Sometimes all of us are more alike than we realize in our religious practices. |
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| Still at Nara Park. This park is massive. This was a beautiful little pond and Gazebo. Jace said he came here several times while serving in the area. I can see why. . . it is a good spot for pondering and reflecting. |
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| Pondering away. |
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On Friday we went to Arashiyama (Storm Mountain) to visit a monkey park! We hiked up this pretty steep mountain to a place where monkeys native just to this place in Japan live. We also got a beautiful view of the Kyoto area.
Jace feeding the monkeys. Like he said, we were the ones in the cage, so it was like they were visiting us in the "People Zoo!"
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On the bridge at Arashiyama. This place is supposedly very beautiful in the fall. . . all the leaves change color.
There is a bamboo forest in Arashiyama. Masaya joined us for the afternoon as we toured the park and town.
A typical map at these places in Japan. Can you see why we were so glad to have Jace with us? |
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We enjoyed browsing and shopping at the outdoor shops. . . tons of stuff. . . tons of people. One thing they do there is have an employee stand out in front of the store and in this high-pitched, sing-song voice encourage customers to come in and buy. This drove Brent crazy! Considering how reserved and polite they are otherwise,
they aren't shy about inviting buyers in! |
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| Lots of weird fish, sea food, vegetables, you name it! |
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One of my favorite signs! I just cracked up when I saw this. . . feelings to the structure, say what??? And "bone" in the USA??? I guess Springsteen needs to work on his diction a little!! Ha ha ha.
After Arashiyama we went to the Kyoto train station and met another friend of Jace--JJ. He is the one in the red t-shirt. Jace met him playing basketball--he loves the NBA. He hasn't "yet" joined the church. . . he's also Chinese and a student studying physical therapy. Jace admires how every time they taught JJ he always asked if he could bring a friend. . . and apparently still does! Jace thinks that when missionaries are finally allowed to teach in China it will spread like wildfire because they want to share good things with their friends.
What a great example.
On Saturday we took the Shinkansen to Tokyo. We checked into our hotel and then decided to visit the Shinjuku area. . . again lots and lots of shopping. Brent loved the electronic stores, which were floors and floors of gadgets galore. It just made me nuts because I couldn't figure out what anything was. . . I barely know that stuff in English, let alone in Japanese!
This is shopping in the Shibuya area in Tokyo. . . supposedly the busiest intersection of foot-traffic in the world. No cars, just tons of Asians shopping. We noticed very few Americans or Europeans. Notice the few people in the surgical masks like I mentioned. Also, even though there was a ton of people and huge crowds, I never felt like it was noisy.
Ok, this was kind of strange. Adult women dressed up like little girls (or Little Bo Peep, really!) Notice the middle girl/lady with her arms crossed? She didn't want us to take their picture. She came up to Brent and in her little girl voice said "Delete!"
Sadly, it's time to go home. We got lucky though. . . both coming and going we each were
able to have a whole row to ourselves!
It was a wonderful vacation and we truly enjoyed every minute.
I'm grateful I was able to visit The Land of the Rising Sun.
Sayonara!
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