We woke April 12th Japan time/April 11th Seattle time. James wanted to watch the end of the masters, so using the VPN we brought it up on the iPad and watched the last few holes in bed.

Then it was time to pack up and head to our last yummy breakfast at the beautiful outside deck at the hotel. Baba was moving slowly. He did so well on this fast paced trip, walking almost 12,000 or steps a day. Everyday he surprised himself, even though James and I knew he could do it. We used trains as much as we could and got pretty good at finding elevators, but sometimes we had to go up steps with Fawn providing an extra push from behind, which worked well. All good, no worries.

We had two last stops before we headed to the airport: Shibuya Crossing and a tour of the Imperial Palace Gardens. After analyzing our train vs cab choices, we decided to cab to the crossing.

At the hotel, we did a final look around our room, checked out and stored our luggage with the valet before heading out to the train for the Imperial Palace Gardens.

The sun was out and the temperature was perfect to tour the gardens. We met our guide at a Starbucks near the beautiful fountain park just outside the Palace.

Brandan, our Trip Advisor guide, was originally from the Vancouver (BC) area and was exploring his Japanese heritage by living in Tokyo for a year, learning Japanese, getting a black belt in Judo (he already had one in Karate) and doing history and food tours. His BA was in history so he was super pleased to be able to work in his field.

We were lucky to have such a knowledgeable, articulate guide. Learning history while walking through the flowering gardens is the a wonderful way to learn something new.

One thing new we learned is that Tokyo’s original name was Edo. When the Imperial Capitol was moved, after over 1,000 years, from Kyoto (which means “Capitol” in Japanese), Edo was renamed “To-Kyoto” (which means “Eastern Capitol”). Over time, To-Kyoto was shortened to “Tokyo”.

Another thing we learned is that the Japanese Imperial Family is, at over 2,000 years, the oldest royal family in the world. The reason is that for most of that time, the royal family was primarily the head of the state religion (Shinto), rather than the head of the government/military (usually one or more Shoguns), similar to the Pope and various Kings of the Holy Roman Empire between the years 800 and 1806.

The Imperial Palace Gardens used to be for the exclusive use of the Imperial Family. However, after WW2, the Gardens were opened to the public 5 days a week (on Monday and Friday the Gardens are still reserved exclusively for the Imperial Family.

The actual Imperial Family actually lives adjacent to the Gardens but for security reasons, the public remains completely excluded from that area, in fact, you can’t even see the living quarters of the Imperial Family because of the tall trees and walls that surround it. And no building in the surrounding area can have a view into the palace.

James and I talked about how most history books are so boring. There are so many better books than classroom-based history books. After a couple of hours of walking we took our last train ride with a transfer to the hotel. And we nailed it!

A quick cab ride took us back to Haneda Airport, the closer to downtown of Tokyo’s two airports. Security and check in was easy. I had heard the ANA lounge was quite nice and with good food and we weren’t disappointed. They had a fresh noodle bar and special chicken curry. By this time we were pretty hungry because we had a late breakfast we didn’t really have lunch. By the time we left the ANA lounge we were well fed and ready to sleep on the flight home to Seattle.

We couldn’t all sit together. The guys had two seats next to each other and I was separate. It really didn’t matter because we were all planning to sleep. Jim and I went to sleep almost immediately, while James watched a movie and ate some steak first.

Getting through customs in Seattle was a breeze. We were all pretty tired, but we loved going to the time machine across the international date line. We left Japan at 9:30pm on Sunday in Japan and arrived at 2:30pm in Seattle the same day!

Unbelievably, James went to a football practice that afternoon! We talked to him tonight and he looks good and says he is over his jet lag. JIm & I are both close to over it. Clearly, jet lag is easier for 13 year olds than 65 plus!

Unfortunately, our group cold that passed from James, to Jim got me a couple of days before we flew home. So, even though the guys are are over it, I still don’t have my full energy back yet.

Our time with James in Japan fulfilled all our hopes and created special memories we won’t forget. It was such a special time of learning and sharing together. We can’t wait for our next “grandparent adventure”, this time with Robert, in about 3 years.

Our last days in Tokyo contained James’ favorite experiences of our trip. Sure the bowing deer were cool, but going to a baseball game at the Tokyo Dome was really the main draw. And we had the added bonus of getting to go to the game with his baseball friends from the Jorris family. We knew they were going to be in Tokyo at the same time so we bought game tickets together.

The concierge at the Grand Hyatt at Roppongi Hills in Tokyo got us the tickets in advance for all 7 of us. We highly recommend this hotel for a lot of reasons, but the concierge was especially good.

We left Kyoto in the morning and took the train to Tokyo. This time we exited at the Shinagawa station instead of the Central Tokyo station. It’s definitely a more chill station, but we had to wait a ridiculously long time for a cab. We were on a tight schedule to get to the game early and meet our friends. The cab system is strange and inefficient. It cues up cabs in multiple waiting lines but then allows only one cab to load at a time, even though there is plenty of room for multiple cabs to load simultaneously. Weird.

I’ll let James fill you in on the game and the full experience below.

We tried to take the train back to the hotel after the game, but we turned the wrong way out of the Dome, gave up and ordered an Uber. In Tokyo, the trains are very crowded after the games but you can easily get an Uber or taxi, because most people don’t want to spend the extra $20. But after our extremely full day, and not being anywhere need a train station, it was the right choice for us. When we got back to the hotel we were all exhausted but happy with another full day.

TeamLab

I will attach some videos and pictures but they won’t do it justice I’m sure. One of the exhibits, the lily pads, made me tear up.

There was a clever room where you got to color in the paper outline of a sea creature with crayons, then it was scanned and added to the “ocean” room, swimming around and even interacting with a touch.

James really wanted to go back to Tokyo Dome City to buy another t-shirt and a souvenir for Robert, so we did! We arrived right before the next game so the energy was electric around the stadium. After that we did some shopping for Jim and experienced more of Dome City, because we didn’t have the time to do that the day before.

James said that, if he moved to Japan he would live in Dome City. It had everything he needed: a baseball stadium, a sports complex with batting cages, an amusement park, and lots of food options including of course, ice cream.

As we were walking around James spotted a “Splash Mountain” ride and Jim/Baba said he would go on it with him. Unfortunately, Jim wasn’t allowed to go because the emergency stairs had no railings and Jim answered honestly that he can’t navigate stairs without railings, so I stepped in at the last minute to take Jim’s ticket. A Splash Mountain ride was not on the itinerary, but sometimes you just need to go for it!

We had reached the end of our day, but this time we exited directly to the train station and enjoyed a very easy train ride back to our hotel. Maneuvering through a station transfer like pros, I think we have shown James how to use transit successfully in a foreign country, which we’re sure will be helpful to him in the years ahead.

In the train I said we were going to have to grab something to eat, but we were too tired to go out. So I said let’s just go to the Italian place and get a margarita pizza (which James loves) and salad. And James said, “but we are not here anymore.” And I laughed and said, “well then where are we?” He was thinking about the Italian restaurant in Kyoto vs the one in the Hyatt. We all laughed. It certainly has been a very full trip.

Tomorrow (Sunday) is our last day in Japan. We fly out at 9 PM and we will leave for the airport around 5:30 or 6. It should be a lovely day for our last tour at the Imperial Palace Gardens. We also want to see the super busy, multidirectional Shibuya Pedestrian Crossing. I think we will try to do that after breakfast, but before the tour. No doubt, we will be good and tired by the end of the day and will hopefully all get a good night’s sleep on the flight home.

The James Report at the Tigers/Swallows Game and the amazing TeamLab:

The whole Tokyo Dome City experience was epic. It’s hard to reduce it to just the game (although that was the best part). They have a giant amusement park, batting cages, bowling alleys, golf simulators, and more ice cream than even Baba could eat.

We went to the stadium slightly before gates opened to go to the team shop, and then went in. They did batting practice just like at home: Home team hits before gates open, while the Away team hits as gates open. Hendrick, Shea, and I were going to try to catch batting practice balls in left field, but that was the designated area for the visiting Swallows fans, and we needed a special ticket to get in.

Of course, with Japan being always respectful, the away seats were more cushy than the home ones. Their numbers were small, but they were loud. Both sides had designated chants for each player, for a strikeout, and for pregame. I would describe the atmosphere as a combination of a college football game and a soccer match. It was pretty cool.

The game started with a scoreless first and some good defense. The Swallows threatened, but couldn’t cash in. The Giants drew first blood in the second with a RBI single coming on the heels of a Trey Cabbage double (more on him in a bit). The Giants scored again in the third, putting the Giants up by two. That’s where the score stayed thanks to an impressive performance from Kazuyuki Takemaru, a rookie from Josai University. He was on the bump for five and a third innings, and really settled down after the first. The bullpen struggled a bit after him, giving up a run in the seventh that stirred the restless Yakult Swallows crowd into a frenzy. But, just as the Swallows started to gain some momentum… BOOM!

Trey Cabbage hits a freaking nuke to give some much needed momentum. It may have been the farthest I’ve ever seen a ball hit, in a real game at least. I saw some tanks at the home run derby in 2023, but that doesn’t count. It might have gone 450 feet. Cabbage is one of two Americans on the team, having come from AAA in 2024. Now, the Japanese are very strict about how you play the game: very respectful, no excessive celebrations, etc. When you hit a homer, you are expected to put your head down and run. Nowadays in the MLB, guys bat flip all the time, and always hit their trademark celebration. So, when you put a guy who has been in that atmosphere on your team, he is bound to celebrate. He did what one does when you hit a ball that far in a one run game: admired it for a while, flipped his bat, celebrated around third, and threw the home run stuffed animal (they love those here) into the crowd.

In the next frame, I was waiting for him to go out to left field, but instead I saw number 44 coming out. Well, the Giants manager is no different than the stereotypical Japanese baseball guy. It turns out he pulled Cabbage from the game for celebrating. It immediately came back to bite them too. That inning, the new guy missed a ball in left that turned a single into a standup double, putting a guy at third and most notably the tying run at second.

Thankfully for Yomiuri, their pitcher had ice in his veins and got out of the second and third situation giving up only one run. Their closer turned out the lights in the ninth with a one two three inning, giving the Giants the 3-2 win over their cross town rivals.

Oh yeah, and we also went to TeamLab. That was pretty cool, too. I liked the room with all the string lights reflected in the mirrors. That was the room that I could stay in there for a long time watching the patterns change all the time.

JIM: I loved James’ description of the baseball game! The Japanese are generally very reserved, but at a baseball game they are Super Fans. The fans in the Swallows’ cheer section had at least four trumpets and a big drum, and they sang their various fight songs over and over throughout the game. The Giants’ cheer section was twice as big and even more boisterous. It was a lot of fun.

The Giants have Cheerleaders (“the Venus”) to help root on the home fans, and there are 5 Cartoon Rabbit mascots (Dad, Mom and 3 kids). I’m not sure why the mascots are rabbits, although Dad Rabbit looks a little like the imaginary giant rabbit in the old movie “Harvey” with Jimmy Stewwart.

Unlike MLB baseball, everything was reasonably priced! Our tickets were only $40 and you could get a hot dog, curry beef bowl, or chicken skewers (and lots of other things), plus a drink for less than $10. Beer was $5.

TeamLab “Borderless” was an amazing, immersive video art experience. You should absolutely get tickets and see if if you are in Japan or if the exhibit comes to someplace near you.

We watched a bit of the Masters Golf Tournament this morning. Go Cam Young! Hopefully, we’ll be able to watch the end of the Final Round after returning to Seattle.

We’ve mastered Japanese subways and trains and today we are on our way to Nara. The day was perfect for our journey. First, we walked to the nearby Sanjo subway station.

We made it through the subway and then changed trains in Tambabashi to the fancier JR rail line to Nara Park. From there we took the bus the final mile to the park entrance as we searched for the “bowing” deer and the giant Buddha.

When we told James about the deer in advance he seemed skeptical. But, when confronted with the wild bowing deer he was intrigued and we might say a little enchanted.

I’ll let him describe the experience:

JAMES: (deer and Lawsons chicken)

Yesterday was definitely a different experience than any other I’ve had. The deer roamed wild all over the city, not just by the Buddha. We got some crackers and gave them some if they bowed. It was very cool and unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The Buddha and its building were huge. The building wasn’t just tall, but also very wide. And the Buddha inside was massive. It also had other cool gold statues next to it. We have now checked-out of our Airbnb and are on our way back to Tokyo. The game is going to be a lot of fun, and it’s exciting to see a building I saw on tv just a month ago in the World Baseball Classic.

FAWN: We strolled the beautiful park filled with deer and cherry blossoms on our way to see the giant Buddha. Jim and I saw it 10 years ago on our first trip to Japan and quite honestly it was just as remarkable the second time. Interestingly enough many people don’t go to see the Buddha even though it is an amazing historical site. They just go for the deer.

Because Jim has some mobility issues we could use the special ADA entrance, which was a real plus. Unlike the main entrance, the ADA entrance is totally uncrowded and provided a peaceful stroll through the outer Temple complex before entering the central building housing the historic giant Buddha.

Then it was time to stroll back to rail station to take our train and subway back home. After returning to Kyoto we decided to stop for dinner before walking the last 1/3 of a mile back to our Airbnb because we were all pretty hungry and didn’t want to walk any more than we had already.

Jim was exhausted so he stayed behind to soak in the hot tub while James and I went out to do our final laundry and get some more cereal and milk for breakfast.

Tomorrow we leave Kyoto to head back to the Grand Hyatt in Tokyo, drop off our bags and then immediately head out to the Tokyo Dome for the baseball game between the Giants and the Swallows. It’s going to be another packed day! But we get to see our first Japanese baseball game in person AND meet up with James’ friend, Shea Jorris and his family. It should be a blast!

JIM: It was great that we could walk to the subway, ride that to the train, and then take the train, and then a short bus ride, all the way to Nara Park. The giant Buddha was built over 3 years and completed in the year 752 as the center of the Todai-ji Temple complex. Over the years, the Temple and its giant Buddha were partially or fully destroyed, then rebuilt, after earthquakes, fires and civil war. Finally, in 1709, the current Buddha and its Temple complex were rebuilt again, and that is what we visited today.

James loved the giant Buddha, and even got a commemorative coin that was customized with his name and today’s date. But James loved the bowing deer even more, laughing and running around as the deer begged him for food, usually by bowing but sometimes by chasing him around and trying to snatch the deer food he bought right out of his pockets. The deer also ate grass from time to time, and even cherry blossoms if you gathered them up for them, but what the deer loved most was the “deer crackers” that you could buy from many vendors for 200 yen ($1.25).

The cherry blossoms are almost over but the dog woods and azaleas are blooming. Before boarding the train back to Tokyo, we noticed a local man collecting some of the fallen blossoms and feeding them to the deer. They don’t eat the petals alone, but they love the blossoms.

We are all getting used to our little Airbnb and Kyoto neighborhood. Tuesday was cold and windier than forecast. But we saw the rain coming so planned to do an indoor Sumo demonstration and lunch. On our way we planned to stop at a local coffee shop, but we keep running into the problem that the local shops are closed most of the time, so we ended up at a Starbucks to escape the wind and warm up a bit.

The Sumo event was part educational and part entertainment with a hot pot lunch held at the “Sumo Stable” located in the middle of a large outdoor-but-covered shopping mall on the 5th floor of an office building.

It was fun! The Sumo wrestlers are retired because of injuries, but they still love the sport. Our somewhat gimpy pair of wrestlers were still strong although no longer heavy weights. They demonstrated techniques and put on a show. In a strange, “it’s-a-small-world-after-all” twist the Master of Ceremonies was a skinny, Japanese-speaking, Italian.

There were also two geisha dancers. And then we all played a kind of “rock, paper scissors game” but with Samurai, tiger, & old woman. Everyone in the audience played the game and James won!

Eventually, they did a bit of a real three set match. The show ended with 8 audience volunteers taking on the Sumos. A few big guys thought they might have a chance (they didn’t) but the really cute part of the show were the kids, who all wore inflatable sumo outfits and won every match!

On the way home we tried to avoid the cold wind in the covered shopping area and found the Kit Kat motherload with the “72% Dark Chocolate” Kit Kats not available in the states.

We made it back but Jim was exhausted, unfortunately, and feeling the beginning of a cold. So Jim took a nap and James and I went out for a walk about and got some more breakfast stuff at the local grocery store. It’s always a fun way to get to know a new country and culture.

When we got back Jim was not up for joining us for dinner, so James and I went out again. The wind had died down and the evening air was still cold, but still. The two of us had a lovely date, and James picked out an Italian restaurant on the central Kyoto canal. I loved our dinner and discussion. We brought Jim back some pasta and some margarita pizza. On our way back we decided to stop and get him some ice cream too. As you all know this is again one of Jim’s favorite food groups.

The TV in our Airbnb is quite old and we couldn’t stream anything or screen share. We asked the proprietor about it and he ended up buying an AppleTV. So we all watched Blazing Saddles and laughed a lot before going to sleep..

Biking Tour:

On Wednesday, we signed up for an Old Kyoto E-Bike tour. We hoped for sun and no wind and that is was we got! The day started early and we needed a cab to get to the bike rental shop to begin our tour. We used an Uber and the pick up worked out perfectly, but the drop-off was confusing because the driver dropped us off close to the bike shop but couldn’t explain how we could get there, and our phone directions sent us off in the wrong direction. I had insisted we leave early in case something didn’t work out perfectly, so we had time to get lost a bit before we called and found our way to the bike shop. James doesn’t ride bikes often and this was his first e-bike experience but he did a great job over the 5 hour tour. The day started at 9 and we biked through an interesting twisting part of the old city. The tour included stops at two Buddhist Temples and one Shinto Shrine before sharing lunch at a little ramen restaurant.

This time of year, as expected, the flowers are beautiful and I’m glad we are here to see them, the temperature is warmer, but it is, as expected, very crowded.

The “Golden Shrine” was quite beautiful. Our group included the three of us, two other couples and our guide Jay. Jay did a great job. We learned some new things and we only had one person get lost. Unfortunately, that was Jim. Jim was at the end of line, and wasn’t able to turn right across a busy street because of the traffic, so he didn’t see everyone making a second right immediately after crossing the busy street. So Jim just kept going straight until it was obvious he had lost the group. After a couple of phone calls, texted pin drops that didn’t go through, and our guide telling Jim to stay where he was instead of coming back to the busy street, finally one of our fellow bikers asked me why I didn’t just use “Find My” app to find Jim. That worked! Jim was only a few blocks away. Personally, I was just glad it was Jim and not James. From then on, Jim rode directly behind the guide. Actually, Jim did such a great job. It was a very long day of biking and there was a lot more walking than we anticipated. But we all had a great time.

We left our place at 8:15am and returned at 3:30pm. All of us needed a bit of a break. Jim and I used the outdoor hot tub first and felt much better.

We ended our day with another walk to dinner and stumbled onto a restaurant that just opened that day. One of the employees sold us on giving it a try on their “soft opening”. It was a Halal Wagyu Raman Restaurant. We weren’t craving another Raman meal, but our hearts were with these small business owners and they were so pleased we came in. We were the second group they served that day. The broth, wagyu meat, fried chicken and noodles were yummy and if you scanned the QR code to leave a review you also got a free matcha. James especially like the Japanese fried chicken.

Taking a local train to the Giant Buddhist Temple in Nara is next on the agenda for Thursday, our last full day in Kyoto.

James:

The Sumo wrestling was a fun experience. In the prematch I was trying to follow the end of the men’s basketball national championship when Grandma said that if I didn’t put the game away she would “Throw my phone away”. Sports have taken the back seat anyway because we’re with Grandma and because, as any Mariners fan knows right now, things have been pretty depressing. The wrestlers weren’t very big, but they were good entertainers, and we had a great time. The margarita pizza they served at dinner was great. Ramen is great, but it is safe to say I am starting to get a little sick of it. Plus, no trip is complete without some Italian food, even if we’ve now had it twice.

E-biking was another great activity. Those bikes are powerful, so it took some getting used to. I got the hang of it though, and despite the uncomfortable seat, I had a good time. It was fun to get on a bike again. The Golden Temple was really cool too. I enjoyed the outdoor tub (which is a one person hot tub, and even then it’s a little cramped). To end the day we watched “You Only Live Twice” with Sean Connery as James Bond. It is set in Japan, with some Sumo wrestling at the beginning, so it was fun to watch while in Japan.

Jim:

The Buddhist Temples we visited next all charged admission and were very crowded, even after we got past the admission gate. This is the disadvantage of coming in spring instead of winter. The Golden Temple was beautiful, surrounded by a beautiful pond and gardens. The Zen Garden and Bamboo Forest Temple was a very large property but the most crowded, so it was difficult to find any tranquility there in April. When we visited it the first time, over 10 years ago, it was late January, so a lot colder, but not crowded at all. I actually enjoyed the Buddhist Temples in the winter season a lot more.

But I am loving my time in Kyoto with my travel buddies and looking forward to traveling to Nara and showing James the Giant Buddha there on Thursday!

First thoughts from the airport

Fawn: I’m so excited for our journey. Jasmine and James picked us up at the boat. Getting through security and checking in was a breeze. ANA Air opened their terminals with a greeting. That was a first for us. We are now sitting in the Centurion Lounge. It’s hard to believe in about 10 hours we will be in Japan . . . Tomorrow.

James: It’s really cool to go to the lounge. I’ve never been here before. Security was easy enough and our flight is on time. I am very excited to see Japan.

Jim: I’ve been looking forward to this trip for a long time and today is the day we begin! Very nice to be traveling with both Fawn and James. ANA is supposed to be a great airline and we’re flying to the Tokyo airport that is closer to downtown (HNA) but we’ve never been there before.

First day in Tokyo:

Fawn: We arrived last night after our 10 hour flight. Jim and I had some trouble sleeping. Unfortunately, there was some turbulence that triggered a very unhappy baby. Luckily, James was undisturbed. That being said it was a really pleasant flight. Our friend Anthony, told us that the Japanese airlines are extremely efficient and boarding everyone very quickly. We boarded 30 minutes before our flight and the flight left the gate on time. It’s really amazing.

After deplaning and traversing an extremely long path to customs we arrived at the cue. For those traveling to Japan here’s a pro tip: get your customs code online. The experience will be much faster. It wasn’t bad for us. James and I had trouble with our photos and finger prints, but Jim’s went through easily. The process takes one computer stop, two forms and two manned-stations. All and all it took an hour.

Getting a cab was easy and we made it to our hotel, The Grand Hyatt, about 30 minutes later and the efficiency with check in was impressive.

This is a great place to begin our journey. After we dropped off our luggage we explored the nearby food options and munched a late steak & fries dinner before getting into bed. We all slept well and had a pretty normal evening.

With some rain and wind expected the next couple of days, we ventured out early for some wandering in Tokyo’s Roppongi District in search of some pretty cherry blossoms.

We imparted the important travel wisdom of finding a good local bakery to James and found one very close to our hotel for breakfast before heading out on our sojourn.

It turns out that James is pretty spectacular at navigating with a real map. He has the gift! Which is fantastic because his young eyes are very good at reading the incredibly small type on most of our maps. Jim did a great job walking around and we found some blossoms, experience the subway and grabbed second breakfast at the local McDonalds before heading back to our hotel. All this accomplished before the rain started.

We’ve enjoyed the pool and workout area. Tonight we head out for an early dinner to a place recommended by the concierge called GonPachi.

Tomorrow, we will celebrate Easter at a nearby church, hopefully watch some of the Final Four games and maybe head out to Takashimaya Shinjuku by train so James can experience the giant food court at the bottom of the shopping mall there.

James: Japan, in summary, is a lot different than back home. The sidewalks are giant, there are ads everywhere, and apparently McDonald’s has two floors. The farthest outside the US I’d ever been was Canada, so this is a big step up. Grandma and Baba are used to it, but I still find all the differences really interesting. It is a very clean place. There are no trash cans on the sidewalks, and there is almost no trash on the ground. They are very strict when it comes to littering. It was a very nice temperature here before the rain, which was nice for our walk. I was able to get a good workout/swim in, and we are going to have linner at 4:00 (We didn’t have lunch and it’s too early for dinner). Tomorrow we will go to an Easter service and do more exploring.

Jim: I love Japan, especially when the cherry blossoms are putting on a show. We walked a couple of miles together, exploring the area closest to our hotel, where there are a lot of tall office buildings, separated by small but beautiful gardens. Before we walked to dinner, the wind picked up and the cherry blossoms were falling like snow!