Hello from Japan!

Day 10: Fushimi Inari and Himeji

Updated: August 9, 2026

Good thing we didn’t waste any time falling asleep last night! As planned, today we woke up at 5am and met the morning sunshine (and ~90 degree temps) out the door at 6am sharp. We jumped on the train heading to Kyoto’s famed Fushimi Inari Shrine.

The secret to Kyoto’s clean streets revealed at 6am

The Fushimi Inari Shrine is dedicated to Inari, the god of rice. But it is better known for the picturesque trail of several thousand vermillion red torii gates that head up from behind the Shrine to the top of Mount Inari (233m). It is very popular with the Instagram crowd. As such, the shrine can get really crowded after 8am. Per Lily’s suggestion and TikTok wisdom, we agreed the early morning start was the best way to go.

Contemplating the Fushimi Inari Shrine map

Twende!

There were already a few people at the shrine when we arrived around 7am, but the crowd was quite manageable. Melanie and Lily crushed the Instagram photos.

Happiness incoming!

Each torii gate and other stone markers have writing on them, but the markings are not ancient wisdom or prayers. It’s company names from the corporations that donated the gates hoping to get good fortune in return. A small gate goes for about 400,000 Yen, and you might have to shell out over 1,000,000 Yen for a big one.

Torii Gates in the morning sun Part 1

Torii Gates in the morning sun Part 2

Amid the gates are many smaller sub-shrines with statues of foxes (aka. kitsune) in various poses. Foxes were the messengers for the god Inari. The often have stuff in their mouths, such as balls, diamonds, keys (to rice granaries), etc. Some even look like they are wearing bibs in preparation for a fancy meal.

Very foxy

It was never our plan (depending on who you ask) to hike all the way to the top of Mount Inari. The heat and the growing crowds were a convincing argument. So, after about an hour-and-a-half, we headed back down the Senbon Torii back to the train station.

Looks like a fan-tastic point to head back

The day’s next mission was a side quest to go see Himeji Castle, which is located a 40-minute bullet train ride to the west of Kyoto… bento boxes, cold brew coffees, and air conditioning incoming!

However, Cordwood was more intrigued by a one-day Kyoto Temple walking tour itinerary that Don — our bike tour guide — mentioned a couple days ago (clearly somebody doesn’t have the Himeji Castle lego set waiting for them back home). So, team Castle rode the rails to Himeji, and Cordwood set off for a Kyoto Temple greatest hits adventure.

To Himeji Castle!

Upon our arrival in Himeji, we opted to take the bus to the castle instead of walking the 20 minutes to save some energy and stay out of the sun. The entrance took us very quickly to the main keep of the castle, where visitors are still able to go inside.

Easy to find this city’s main attraction

Walking up to the Castle entrance

Built in 1333, the castle grounds featured dead ends, maze-like paths, and lots of defensive flourishes. It was built on a hill for ideal position. The main keep was used mostly for weapons and armor storage. They did a good job of looking scary and deterring enemies because they never came under attack.

Inside the main keep, we climbed up stairs from the basement, all the way to the top (6th floor). Although the interior was spartan, there were informational plaques describing the architecture, armor, and weapons one would find inside the castle. The technique of replacing knots in the wood with shaped inlays was evident in several locations.

I think I get a free lollipop now

The wooden-based structure relies on two main pillars originating in the basement and extending all the way up to support the top floor. When we got to the top, we took some time to admire the view before coming back down and exiting the keep.

Massive East and West pillars holding up top floor

Braving the mid-day heat at Himeji

Also known as White Heron Castle

Shachihoko varieties at Himeji (mythical tiger-headed fish)

Himeji from Sangoku Moat

Himeji has a cute mascot featuring a white marshmallow-ish thing with the castle as a hat. Infinitely cuter than the moon crossing bridge. We had free 1,000 yen coupons for buying the castle tickets online, so… free marshmallow mascot magnet! (Turns out the mascot’s name is Shiromaruhime — “Shiro” means castle, “Maru” means circle, and “Hime” means princess.)

If you want to head back to the city ninja-turtle style

We walked back towards the train station, stopping at a definite hole-in-the-wall-style ramen restaurant on the way. We needed to eat at a “real” ramen place before departing Japan, as Lily noted. This place only had six counter seats. We arrived about 30 minutes after it opened, and one guy was leaving at the same time our party of six rolled up. We took this perfect timing as a good sign.

Amazing ramen place

Chop Suey ramen is up

We chatted with the owner/chef/server as he prepared our dumplings and ramen. Turns out he likes the Arizona Diamondbacks and jazz. He is from Tokyo, but moved here about 20 years ago because his wife’s family is from Himeji, hence the fortuitous reason we are in his restaurant today. When we left, we saw that he had put out a “closed for private party sign” on our arrival, which explains why no one else even attempted to come in and find the zero additional seats available for lunch.

We closed the place down for our private event

Meanwhile, Cordwood’s temple tour has progressed to physical challenges!

We finished walking to the Himeji train station and purchased our tickets back to Kyoto. On our arrival, we figured the best way to spend the rest of our yen was a good Japanese kitchen knife. We dialed up some reddit suggestions and found our target. Lily and Mel joined for moral support. Our sales guy was super helpful and patient with all of our questions as we narrowed down our selection.

Red, Japanese-style, and Black handled options (Black 18cm wins)

We returned to the hotel and hung out in the Cordina lounge for a bit, reviewing how many of the “Let’s Go! To Japan” cards we accomplished in the past ten days. We then ordered an excellent sushi tray for dinner and polished off all the complimentary beverages (delicious Yuzu Shandy beers, in particular) stocked in the Cordina suite fridge while catching up on the Nagoya Sumo Championship.

After dinner, Cordwood guided us (sans Jo, who stayed behind to pack n’ chill) to a nearby portion of his Kyoto Temple walking tour, featuring the Yasaka Shrine and the Yasaka Pagoda. Funny enough, this area was only a few blocks from the knife store we visited a few hours earlier, but had no idea what else was nearby.

The actual Yasaka Shrine

Hokan-ji Temple (aka. the Yasaka Pagoda)

Winding down for the night, we finished up packing — strategically collapsing and stuffing our bags with original luggage items and the newly acquired souvenirs, shoes, kitchen tools, etc. We reviewed our transportation plans to return to Haneda Airport in Tokyo. We’ll figure out what to do with our extra time after tomorrow’s 10am checkout.

Day 9: Gion Matsuri

by Joanna

Updated: August 8, 2026

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Gion Matsuri is one of Japan’s most famous festivals, which runs the entire month of July in Kyoto. Today (July 24) has the distinction of hosting Festival’s second major parade (aka. Yamaboko Junko float procession) which runs thru downtown Kyoto. And what luck! Our hotel is only 10-minutes away from the action.

Crowd control underway on Shijō Street

Like Inti Raymi, but with umbrellas!

We woke up early and walked across the river to join the fun. Belinda mapped out a great spot to view both the flower hat procession and the giant float parade. Even though it was definitely crowded, we got there early enough to snag a spot in the shade, but not so early that we were standing around for hours. Also, being tall has some advantages in Japan.

Hanagasa Junko (Flower Hat or Flower Umbrella Procession)

The original purpose of Gion Matsuri was a 9th-century Shinto purification ritual to appease angry deities, and halt a devastating epidemic. Today, it’s more of a big party with historic neighborhood traditions.

Today’s parade is the “Ato Matsuri” (Later Festival) which is a slightly less crowded affair than the first parade. This parade features 11 massive Hoko floats that didn’t appear a week ago. The Hoko floats are huge (up to 12 tons) rolling museums, with giant trees extending upwards (25 meters) to serve as “spiritual lightning rods” to attract and trap evil spirits. They are constructed using only timber and hemp rope. Teams of pullers use web bamboo to physically turn the floats 90 degrees to navigate the city streets.

Accurate parade float preview

Hoko approaching

Throw that Hoko in park for a minute

Cooling the engines

Waiting for the preceding float to turn 90 degrees

Souvenir Hoko replicas… much lighter

Amid the festivities, Matt and Jo realized an opportunity to cross the street, continue watching the parade from a slightly different angle, and ALSO get in line for the Onitsuka Tiger store. It worked out really well. Jo got in line and could still clearly see the parade while Matt handled the photos. When the store opened, we got in with the first wave of customers from the line — which had grown much longer as we were waiting.

Here’s the Onitsuka Tiger play-by-play for those interested: Jo wanted the pink foils — either the exclusive Japan-made version or the regular version (with slightly different shades) — but neither were the right size. Drat! Matt tried on a couple of Nippon-made Mexico 66s. One black pair with blue and red accents inspired by Kabuki design, and one white pair with a stylized standard logo in red (Japan flag colors). Couldn’t decide, so just got both. Then Jo tried the regular (not foil) pink Mexico 66s and liked them. By then, Lily and Mel joined us and confirmed we made good picks. (Thank you, youth correspondents!) Lily couldn’t resist a brown pair of the Kabuki Japan exclusives. Plus, the brown design was a brown new arrival this morning. So it’s possible Lily was the first person in Japan to buy them. Our very helpful sales guy approved. Success!

Onitsuka Tigers Round 2

Kabuki-inspired Tigers

The next mission was for Lily to find some clothes at GU. Belinda met us along the way to assist. Matt and Jo then headed back to the hotel, and picked up a couple Japan-inspired shirts at UNIQLO on the way. Turns out shopping in Japan is a real thing, folks.

We picked up some 7-11 lunch items and dined in the luxurious air-conditioned Cordina suite with Cordwood and Charles, all while watching Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament Recaps on YouTube.

Next on the agenda was a bus ride to TeamLabs Biovortex, an popular art “museum” filled with rooms of floor-to-ceiling light-based installations that are designed to interact/delight/mess with your powers of human perception. In some rooms, the exhibits respond to your movements. Other rooms were more physical, with moving objects you (sometimes) could touch. Everything was very cool and a lot of fun. (Emphasis on cool, of course, thanks to the air conditioning.)

Prepare to be immersed

Vortex immersion Part 1

Vortex immersion Part 2

Vortex immersion Part 3

Vortex immersion Part 4

Vortex immersion Part 5 (nice shoes)

Vortex immersion Part 6

Vortex immersion Part 7

We left to go back to the Gion area for a 7pm show called GEAR. We walked through the Nishiki market, a huge covered shopping arcade. The plan was to find some food on the way to the show. But, even though it was only 6pm, a lot of the shops were closing. As Melanie noted, it seems like every place in Japan is either a shop that closes early or a hole-in-the-wall that stays open all night!

Nishiki Market points

Plus, we were also trapped by a Gion Matsuri-related portable shrine traffic jam in the middle of the market. The 10-minute procession featured a gold float (that barely fit the aisle), horseback riders, and the chanting of songs. Not entirely sure what was going on, but it was fun. It looked like these were the same guys that were pulling the parade floats earlier in the day, which probably explains why they were all chugging water bottles like fish on dry land.

Portable shrine (mikoshi) traffic jam

Cordwood, Belinda, and Charles managed to find food at one of the stalls, while Matt, Jo, Lily, and Mel went to the 7-11 next to the theater. We made it to the show on time and found our seats. GEAR is a non-verbal theater show that is a mix of dance, magic, and mime. Matt was randomly picked to go on stage during the magic portion of the show and managed to not derail the show.

Tonight’s GEAR show performers

One additional performer

Thank goodness for the goggles

After the show, we made the short walk back across the river to the Rinn. We didn’t spend much time hanging out in the Cordina suite because the plan for tomorrow — as advised by Lily and other TikTok users — is to get up as early as possible to check out the Fushimi Inari Shrine. Good plan, see you in the morning!

Kamo River view at night

Day 8: Arashiyama and Nintendo

by Joanna

Updated: August 8, 2026

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Today we woke up and ventured to northwest Kyoto, the location of our bike tour scheduled for 8am. We figured going earlier would allow us to beat both the crowds and the heat. Well, it worked for the crowds, but when it’s 97 degrees out at 7:15am, there isn’t much you can do about that. Bring your towels and stay hydrated!

Ohhhh… these are salt tablets for the water bottles

We met our guide, Don, and got fitted for our bikes. We started our ride through the Arashiyama area of Kyoto, moving from the main streets to the quieter residential streets. Even on the main roads, there were only a few cars.

Don explained that the word “yama” means mountain, and “arashi” means storm. So this region is called “mountain storm,” because thunderstorms would build atop the mountains, but usually wouldn’t progress any farther. We continued to our first stop, the bamboo forest. We parked our bikes in front of a lotus pond, and headed towards the bamboo.

Ogura Pond in Arashiyama

Arashiyama Bamboo Forest

Bamboo is actually an invasive grass from China, so while this forest is well maintained and therefore touristy, you can find bamboo in many areas. This is also the type of bamboo you can eat (when it is young), and it grows super fast (50-60 meters in a month), so the Japanese didn’t mind the invasiveness too much.

Calming canopy

Within the bamboo area was the Tenryu-ji Temple, a Buddhist temple and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We learned that temples have walls and are Buddhist, while shrines are Shinto and feature torii gates. We saw the Zen Buddhist Gardens where the monks meditate. The gardens were created in 1339 and have essentially remained untouched. It was designed to look like the mountains in the distance behind. The monks planted trees from the mountains in the garden, and from the garden in the mountains so the backdrop would blend together.

UNESCO World Heritage Zen Garden

The dragon only works weekends, apparently

Before biking to our next stop, we visited one more shrine. The Mikami Shrine is Japan’s only shrine dedicated entirely to hair. It honors Fujiwara no Uneme no Suke Masayuki, the country’s first historical hairdresser. So if you’re an aspiring stylist, a cosmetology student, or going bald, this is the place to be.

Japan’s only Shinto shrine dedicated to hair

Notes (ema) at this shrine feature a comb design on the front

Riding onward through a rural area, we entered fields of the local farmers. We made a quick stop to see a roadside vending machine, where the locals put their vegetables up for sale in little clear lockers, and people drive up to buy the fresh produce.

Vending machine farmer’s market

Don taught us about the rice fields in the area. If someone owns land on a rice fields, they are required by law to grow rice, and nothing else. There are three types of rice: mochi, sticky, and table. All of the fields here grow table rice. Don gave us rice cakes to eat, and explained that it’s typical to say “oishii,” meaning delicious, as soon as you take the first bite. We then spent some time biking through the fields, admiring the mountains in the distance.

Col de la Rice Field

Next stop was the Seiryo-ji Temple. This is also a Buddhist temple, but for Pure Land Buddhists, a different sect than the one in the bamboo forest. Pure Land Buddhists pray for a good afterlife, rather than being in the present in this life. The temple features a large carved Buddha statue. We were able to spend some time further in the temple, tracing over Japanese characters to write prayers.

Seiryo-ji Temple garden

Contemplative Cordinas

The final stop of the tour was the Togetsukyo Bridge, an iconic symbol of Kyoto. We had to ride through a more congested touristy area to get there, but had no issues. The bridge is 94 years old, and designed to retain the look of bridges that came before it. The name means “moon crossing bridge” because at night, it looks like the moon is walking across the bridge.

Togetsukyo Bridge (Moon Crossing Bridge) over Katsura River

Japan tends to make cute cartoon characters for a lot of things, including towns, buildings, and bridges. Surely, the mascot they made for this bridge is adorable…

The Moon Crossing Bridge mascot is… something!!!

We biked back to our starting point by the train station to conclude the tour, where Don gave us stickers and magnets as our parting gifts. We had a great time and learned a lot – Belinda and bike tours are still batting 1000%. A quick train ride back to our hotel followed, which gave us all a chance to cool down, grab some lunch smoothies from our trusty 7-11, and prepare for our afternoon excursion to the Nintendo Museum.

We made our way southeast by train to the museum and checked in for our 2pm ticketed entry window. The level of security to enter the Nintendo Museum is incredible. We first had to match our tickets to our passports, then we had to scan our bags for liquids, then we had ID keycards printed which used to scan in and out of each area and when making purchases. I think they deport you if you lose this Nintendo ID.

Princess Peach has arrived, but does she have ID???

On the bright side, we do get to keep the keycard, which has the Nintendo 40th anniversary logo on it, which will no longer be an option after September.

Our new legal identification

Once we were actually able to enter, we surveyed the scene and signed up for Hanafuda card making. Yay, more crafts! There was a class available in ~20 minutes, so we quickly checked out the gift shop, buying what we thought might sell out, and plotting what to buy later. When it was time, we went to the crafts building and checked in. Nintendo started as a card game company, and Hanafuda was their first game. It’s a classic Japanese game, that we don’t actually know how to play. We’ll figure that out later. First, make the cards.

More arts & crafts! (Making Hanefuda cards)

There were 12 designs to choose from, one for each month (presumably, that is relevant to how the game is played). By chance, we all picked different months. Each kit included four cards for the month. Using stencils, we painted each card, glued them to backing, folded the edges, and displayed them. The entire process took about an hour, and we now have our own Hanafuda cards, though we would need to go back a few more times to make a full deck (the other five months).

May and July

With craft time over, we went into the exhibits. We started on the second floor, where there were displays of consoles games, and accessories from the entire history of Nintendo. There was an art gallery with original character development and game concepts. The art gallery sold the Official Museum book that each person is only allowed to purchase once. We understood the assignment, so we each picked one up.

Turns out we have a more complete Zelda amiibo collection than the Nintendo Museum

The most popular section of the museum is the interactive games. You get 10 coins on your ID card included with your ticket to play the various games. We split up to get in line for the games each person wanted. Matt, Jo, and Lily first went to Zapper and Scope, where you shoot the bad guys. Thirteen players share the giant screen for each round. Lily got first place and Matt got third. Jo had fun.

Next, we went to the giant controller games. We tried to defeat Bowser, grabbed and tossed him a few times, but ultimately ran out of time before we could succeed. We went back to Zapper and Scope, this time to try with the scope rather than the Duck Hunt gun. Matt got third again!

Alas, MarioKart 64 was not an option

Zapper… AND SCOPE!!!

With all of our coins spent, we made one more stop at the gift shop. One popular item are the blind box Nintendo System controller keychains. You can pick from new school or old school controllers, but you don’t know which specific controller you will get. Matt and Jo bought their maximum allotment of four old school boxes (two each per person) and ended up with an NES, GameBoy, Super Nintendo, and a Virtual Boy controller. Overall, we were pretty lucky – no dupes. We didn’t get a coveted N64 controller, but we got an N64 pin (that will be converted into a magnet) as a backup.

Happy 40th to Mario, Luigi and Jo

It was now about 6:15pm and we were hungry. Belinda (using her food-locating superpowers) found a conveyor sushi place just down the street. We weren’t sure if they were going to be busy since we couldn’t make a reservation, but it turns out we are basically in the Kyoto suburbs, and we were able to be seated right away. It took us a few minutes, but we eventually figured out the ordering system and soon had awesome sushi flying out at a breakneck pace. Extremely fun. All seven of us kept ordering until we were full, and the bill turned out to be… a whopping $52. What?!? Can’t get those deals at home.

Conveyor belt sushi is great

We took the train back towards the hotel. Once we got out of the station, Matt, Jo, and Lily decided to walk to the Oniksuta Tiger store (because Matt was having some Onitsuka Tiger FOMO). They closed at 9pm, and we arrived at 8:15pm, but they cut off the line at 7pm and it was still packed. We’ll try again tomorrow, but it might be harder than it looks to just drop in and pick up a pair of shoes. TBD.

We continued walking around to see if we could find any of the floats being prepared for tomorrow’s Gion Matsuri parade. We did not. But, we did find the downtown shrine where all the Shinto gods “temporarily” move to during Gion Matsuri week, so not a total bust. Like a Shinto god airbnb.

Shijo Otabisho Shrine where the Yasaka Shrine gods hang out downtown during Gion Matsuri

Amazingly, our quiet hotel is just a 10-minute walk across the river, literally three blocks away from a bustling city center with crowded streets and giant shopping centers. One the way back, we treated ourselves to 7-11 ice cream, so the excursion was not a total loss.

Tomorrow morning we will walk back across the river and brave the crowds to see the Gion Matsuri festival. Maybe we’ll figure out how to get Matt some Onitsuka Tiger shoes. And then we’ll do some more indoor activities to stay out of the heat.

Day 7: Nagoya

by Joanna

Updated: August 3, 2026

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After climbing Mt. Fuji, one might suggest we relax and take it easy for the remainder of the trip to Japan. But that’s NOT HOW WE ROLL!!! Based on the itinerary Belinda/Jo/Matt planned for the rest of the week, we are just getting warmed up! And that starts with today’s day trip to Nagoya for the 2026 Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament (Nagoya Basho). In American golf and tennis terms, it’s one of the six “Major” Sumo tournaments that take place across Japan each year.

This Cordina suite has it’s own zen garden!

To start the day, Jo walked 50 yards down the street (Yamatooji-Dori) and picked up a handful of various breakfast snacks from 7-11 (including egg salad and fruit sandwiches with the crust cut off, just like we are middle schoolers, awwww). On her return, we spent some time relaxing in the Cordina suite prior to our scheduled departure time at 9:30am. After a quick local train connection, we made our way to Kyoto Station and bought our tickets for the Shinkansen to Nagoya.

Japan’s Goofus and Gallant Sumo PSAs

Some backstory: Acquiring Sumo Grand Championship tickets for Day 11 of the Nagoya Basho was actually the most difficult “get” of the entire Japan Trip. All the other hard-to-get tickets (Ghibli Museum, Giants Baseball, Nintendo Museum) at had predictable and reliable ticket lottery systems. Meanwhile, our attempts to participate in the Sumo ticket onsale was a complete server sh*tshow. Crashed instantaneously! The internet wasn’t kidding when they said it would be nearly impossible.

So, what did we do? We planned ahead for the predictable onsale failure by booking a refundable seven-person guided tour of the event, which included tickets. This did turn a potential ~$20 ticket into a ~$220 per person experience, but we REALLY wanted to go. So in this case, it was worth it, and we hedged our bets successfully. Once the onsale was over, the tour slots evaporated as well. The guided aspects of the tour turned out to be well worth it. Plus, after seeing the box seats in person (where you sit criss-cross applesauce on a cushion), it’s probably a good thing that website crashed before we bought one!

All of this backstory, brings us back to the day’s itinerary in Nagoya… which has us meeting up with our Sumo Championship Tour Group outside IG Arena at 1pm. But first, having arrived in Nagoya around 11:30am, we had an hour and half to spend checking out Nagoya Castle — right down the street.

1-2-3-Nagoya, 1-2-3-Nagoya, 1-2-3-Nagoya

Nagoya’s manhole covers are not boring

We walked from the train station to Nagoya Castle in about 15 minutes — including a media junket stop with Belinda being interviewed by some local students practicing their English. We crossed a bridge over the moat and entered the grounds.

Nagoya Castle main keep (1959 concrete reconstruction closed to public)

The castle was completed as a military facility in 1615. The original main keep boasted the most floorspace among Japan’s castles and was adorned with real gold (not gold leaf). But it eventually suffered damage in the war, so it was reconstructed with concrete in 1959. And well, it’s not holding up so well to the threat of earthquakes, so it’s been closed to the public since 2018 and they’d like to rebuild it with wood for 2032. Rough timing for us in 2026! At least it is still standing… and looks good!

Traditional Japanese Ishigaki (dry-stone walls built without mortar)

Meanwhile, the Honmaru Palace is open to the public and represents an accurate recreation of the original Edo-period palace on the grounds. After stashing our shoes in a locker, we toured the inside of the palace, including four rooms decorated to depict the four seasons, rooms that were for the lower ranking guests, and rooms that were raised for the higher ranking guests and leaders. But most importantly, ALL rooms designed for people 5’10” or shorter.

Lifestyles of the short and samurai

Back outside Nagoya Castle main keep western view

After our tour of the Palace and stroll around the Main Keep, we didn’t have much time until we had to meet for the sumo tour, so we started our walk towards the arena, passing through the plum garden on our way out of the castle.

We found the meeting point for the tour and checked in. Our guide, Yoko, gave us tickets, guide books, and headsets. The meeting point was in a university, and we had about 15 minutes to chill (literally cool down – it’s 112 degrees out) in the cafeteria. We met back up with Yoko and the 10 other people in our group, put on our headsets so we could hear Yoko, and walked across the street to the IG Arena.

IG Arena’s 2nd year hosting Nagoya Basho

Yoko gave us a quick tour of the arena, including the gift shop and food vendors. She also showed us the trophy case and explained that the tournament winner gets everything – lots of money, 500 pounds of wagyu steak, a year’s supply of gas, etc.

Yoko showed us to our seats and explained the ranking and how the bouts work. When we arrived, the low-ranked wrestlers were near the end of their competition (which started earlier in the morning). There was a break before the next higher-ranked matches started, so ventured to the lower level to check out some sumo merch and order some fried Octopus balls.

New Onosato Daiki (75th Yokozuna) fans in the house!

IG Arena is great, still has that new car smell

Sumo action

Chillin’ with Takakeishō Takanobu, Hakuhō Shō, and Ōnosato Daiki (L to R)

Rikishi fan towels for each wrestler

When the middle rank started, Yoko told us about the wrestlers and explained what was going on. The wrestlers throw salt on the ring to purify it, and they stomp on the ground to ward off evil. The higher you can lift your leg, the better. There is one wrestler who can lift his leg nearly all the way, and he gets a big crowd reaction.

Sponsors circle the ring before the match

Once all of the bouts in the middle rank finished, there was another short break before the highest rank (and final for the day) started. It began with an entry ceremony where all wrestlers in each area (in this case east and west) came out, then faced the crowd. The yakazuma (previous champion) gets his own special entrance. From there, the 20 bouts begin. Matt bought a Nagoya event program from the gift shop which we used to look up the wrestlers in each bout, which was helpful. The entire experience was really fun.

Yokozuna Ōnosato Daiki trying to maintain a winning record

All ears for our guide Yoko on the radio

You don’t have to go home, but you can’t Sumo here

At the conclusion of the higest-ranked bouts, the arena emptied out and we made our way back to the train station to catch the Shinkansen back to Kyoto. It was getting a little late, so we picked up some snacks for the bullet train to keep the hangry away. Many of the bento boxes were sold out, so we opted for a solid backup selection of a pork cutlet sandwich, salmon sushi, and some good ‘ol Georgia Coffee cold brews. Yum.

Nagoya-Kyoto Nozomi snack

Back in Kyoto, we took advantage of being near Kyoto Station to make the short walk under the shadow of Kyoto Tower and visit the nearby Kyoto-Yodobashi shopping complex in order to complete a side quest for Melanie. Turns out the Dyson Airstrait is half the price in Japan and Melanie wanted to check it out. Luckily for her, Jo is a Dyson Airstrait power-user and was able to teach Melanie the complete ins-and-outs of using this magical device.

Not as many points as Tokyo Tower

Dyson Airstrait lessons with Jo

With Mel’s side quest complete, we also wanted to try a waygu beef place, and there was a Gyukatsu-style restaurant in the mall. Gyukatsu is a popular Japanese dish featuring breaded, deep-fried beef cutlets). We needed to split our party into two tables, but we were seated right away. The meat is already cooked, but there is a little cast iron skillet on the table that you can use to further sear the pieces. Everybody was clearly a bit hungry. Even though we accidentally ordered an extra dish of beef, we (Melanie) completely housed it. Delicious.

Matcha beer is… pretty good!

That’s some good Gyukatsu!

Finally, we navigated out way out of the shopping complex, took the train back to the hotel, and went to sleep. Tomorrow will feature a slightly earlier wake-up call to go biking!

Day 6: Mt. Fuji to Kyoto

by Joanna

Updated: August 3, 2026

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A common maneuver for many people hiking Mt. Fuji is leaving the new 7th Station hut around 12:30am-1am in order to see the sunrise from the summit. However, as noted yesterday, we don’t really care about seeing the sunrise FROM the summit, and much prefer to avoid the crowds of people who do! So, instead of fighting the crowds, we enjoyed a couple extra hours of sleep and woke up a bit more well-rested at ~2:30am (with some assistance from other noise and light in the hut) ready to go!

Hakone region at 3am

There’s the traffic jam of people who left at 1am

We started hiking just after 3am, with basically no one else on the trail near us. Perfect! We could see the line of headlamps closer to the top. We stopped at each hut along the way for quick rest breaks and to continue Mel’s mission to get stamps from each hut on her kongō-zue. The first few were still closed. We took mental note of which were missing so she could get them on the way down.

Too early for stick-branding services at Original Station 7 (3200m)

By 4:30am, dawn was breaking and we starting glancing behind us to catch the sunrise. Officially, sunrise was listed at 4:45am, but with a couple layers of clouds on the horizon it took a few extra minutes before the sun itself was visible. We didn’t have lines of people behind us, so we just stopped whenever we wanted to admire the view. And what a view.

Shortly after sunrise at 5:06am

The cloud cover really kicked it up a notch

The climbing Cordinas

The sunrise occurred roughly at the halfway point of today’s ~700m push to the top. We continued up, getting stamps at the remaining (and now open!) huts. As we got closer to the top, there were some more crowded sections, but there was always ppenty of room to pass if needed.

New 8th station? Old 8th Station? Station 8.5? Who knows!?!

Jo confirms… Original 8th Station (3400m)

Torii gate somewhere near 9th Station (3600m)

To the top!

Finally, we made it to the summit!!! Well… not really. Even though all the signage calls this point the “Summit” of Mt. Fuji, this point of the Subashiri trail is really just the crater rim – which features the Kusushi Shrine and some various shops. It is only 3715m, which is not the highest point of the mountain. The REAL summit is across the caldera at Kengamine Peak (near the weather station). So, we have a bit further to go. In the meantime, we took a minute to relax, Melanie collected her stamp from the Shrine, and we bought a couple souvenirs. One shop offered to stamp their metal keychains/magnets with the date as part of the purchase, so of course we took them up on that!

Collecting the Kusushi Shrine brand at crater rim (3715m)

After rejuvenating, we started toward the highest point on the other side of the crater. There were a few ups and downs, but compared to what we just did, it was essentially flat. Along the trail, there is a crater rim post office. But none of us had any snail mail to send.

Clockwise route along Mt. Fugi crater rim

Mt. Fuji caldera

When we got to Kengamine Peak 30 minutes later, we did have to wait in line about 20-30 minutes to take our picture at the summit sign. Thank goodness we didn’t have to wait in this line hours earlier. I’m pretty sure if we put Lily in charge of coordinating the photo line at the summit monument, Japan would be introduced to a new level of efficiency they have never fathomed.

Official marker atop Mt. Fuji (3776m)

Highest point in Japan!

After we ascended to the real summit for a couple photos, we continued clockwise on the crater rim loop — heading back to the Subashiri trail entrace. Having accomplished the summit, there was obviously only one thing left to do – get back down safely!

Completing the crater rim trail

Mt. Fuji crater map

600 yen well spent on a cold brew to keep Jo running

Meanwhile, checking in with team Hakone (What? No pizza!?)

The trail down Subashiri is somewhat different than the trail up Subashiri, which is unique among the four Mt. Fuji summit routes. The path down Subashiri offers the famed “Subashiri sand run” which is a steep, wide swath of “soft” volcanic gravel that you can “run” or bound down quickly with big, sweeping steps. The keys are to keep your balance, maintain some decent momentum, and USE YOUR KICKS! (Thanks Nico)

Ready for the Subashiri sand run

Fast descent thru deep volcanic gravel

Fortunately, we were also able to stop by the two huts (closed earlier) Melanie needed for a complete set of stamps. And when we arrived back at Taiyokan — the hut we slept at — we we took the opportunity to use the restrooms for free (since we were guests and they “remember our faces”) and take a snack break.

We covered a lot of ground in about an hour, but after the sand run ended, we still had a bit more to go. We stopped at one last pit stop to dump all the debris out of our shoes (for the gaiter-less) and mentally prepare for the last 30 minutes of hiking along the “normal” stony and rocky path we used yesterday.

Finally we arrived back at the 5th Station around noon, where the Mt. Fuji park staff members cheered for us, guided us to the shuttle bus waiting area, and offered some minor first aid to Lily. Mountain Cowberry and Chocolate ice creams were purchased immediately from the nearby snack shop. As a bonus, the shop also sold the perfect Hello Kitty Mt. Fuji magnet for the fridge.

Did Lily make it?!?!

…Yes!!!

Record of our excellent Mt. Fuji weather conditions

We caught the 1pm shuttle back down to Gotemba station to start our journey to Kyoto. There were plenty of trains and busses, but Jo figured out the best route was (1) JR Rail from Gotemba to Numazu, (2) Another JR Rail to Mishima (and not the bus!), (3) Then Shinkansen (bullet train) to Kyoto, and (4) whatever local trails are needed after that!

Unlike regular commuter trains in Japan where you are not supposed to eat or drink, they somewhat encourage you to eat on the shinkansen! The pro move is to purchase a bento box or other pre-packaged snacks at the mini-marts or vending machines in the Shinkansen stations before you board your train. We picked up a couple bento boxes and drinks for this trip. One box was a traditional meal and the other was a horse mackerel sushi roll.

For educational purposes, we snapped a photo of the items and asked Google AI to further describe what we just purchased. Turns out our boxes were from a “historic” and “popular” restaurant. We also figured out — too late — how to grate a fresh wasabi root on the rough bottom of the provided soy sauce dish. Now we know for next time!

“Historic” bento box selections according to Google

We made it to Kyoto and after a couple local trains, we arrived at the Rinn Gion Shirakawa just after 6pm. From the moment Belinda sent us a picture of her and Charles eating pizza yesterday, it was all we could think about. So, for dinner, Belinda found a pizza place near the Rinn and put in an order for us as we showered and settled in to our rooms.

We have a regular room (405), but the Cordinas have the master suite down the hall (401) thanks to Belinda’s sage decision (and MoJo’s excellent advice) to upgrade to the unit with EVERYTHING — including a kitchen, tables, couches, a view of the Kamo riverwalk, free bread, free beer, you name it!!!!! And most importantly, plenty of space to hang out and eat pizza. A great way to end the day.

Kyoto! Suite!

Team Fuji was all pretty tired and went to bed shortly after. Oh, our bags arrived safely from Tokyo as well. Tomorrow, our plans involve a day trip to Nagoya to see the Nagoya Castle and Day 11 of the current Grand Sumo Tournament.

Day 5: Tokyo to Mt. Fuji

by Joanna

Updated: August 3, 2026

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Good morning! As a testament to the catchiness of yesterday’s music selections during arts & craft time, Matt still has the Whitney Houston Bodyguard song stuck in his head as of 5:15am. That was when we set our alarms to wake-up today — giving us plenty of time to get dressed, finalize our packing, and be ready to catch our bus to Mt. Fuji.

Heading down to the lobby, we confirmed our luggage-forwarding service to deliver the bags we didn’t need on Mt. Fuji directly to our next hotel in Kyoto. Luggage-forwarding service in Japan is pretty smooth! After providing the next hotel’s address, the front desk agent completed the paperwork for us. Once all five bags were down, they measured them to calculate the cost. We paid and were on the way. Our bags will be waiting for us in Kyoto when we arrive tomorrow evening.

See you in Kyoto!

That process did not take long, so we were safely ahead of our scheduled 6am departure. Grabbed one last handful of squid peanuts and we bid adieu to the lovely Shiba Park Hotel. We walked to the Oeda line, and caught a train to Shinjuku, which runs about every five minutes. When we arrived, we walked about 10 minutes through the station and then across the street to the bus terminal. During last night’s planning summit, we bought tickets for the 7:35am bus to Gotemba Station. We arrived at 7am, so there was time to eat some breakfast and relax.

Cordwood is now our map

B-4. Make sure you board the 7:35 bus “B-4” it leaves.

Not surprisingly, the bus arrived and left right on time for the one-hour and 45-minute trip. We did have assigned seats (that we could not choose ourselves), and the woman who ended up sitting next to Matt was immediately grumpy that he was there. Or maybe she took offense to the Wierd Al movie he was watching on his phone. Another one rides the bus.

Grumpy seatmates aside, we made it to Gotemba station a few minutes early. Then we had to cross through the station to get to the shuttle busses on the other side. We found the stop for the Subashiri 5th Station and bought round-trip tickets. The shuttle only comes once an hour, but we timed it pretty well with the bus and only had a short wait… no stress.

The shuttle took another 45 minutes driving up to the 5th Station at 2,000 meters. When we arrived, we spent a few minutes getting ourselves ready to hike. We also bought some souvenirs in order to get change in coins for the mountain hut toilets. Melanie acquired an awesome stick called a kongō-zue that will be hand-branded with stamps (and one sticker!) at each hut we visit along the hike. Very cool.

When we were ready, we started towards the trail. Before we could officially start, we had to present our permits. And they were checking! No weakly-enforced Half-Dome Permit situation here. We also prepaid and had a QR code ready to go through the snazzy Mt. Fuji app. They seemed to appreciate this because anyone with a QR code got a commemorative Mt. Fuji pin.

1-2-3-Fuji, 1-2-3-Fuji, 1-2-3-Fuji

Now we officially started the hike! The Subashiri trail is one of the less popular routes (aka. “slightly” less crowded) because the terrain is a bit more tricky. But it also goes thru some really pretty forested areas. We had no complaints.

Shaded forest zone unique to Subashiri Trail

Tree-mendous scenery

To sleep on Mt. Fuji, you have to book a mountain hut, located at various stations up each trail. These huts used to be emergency shelters, but now they sell food and drinks and house bunks for hikers. Each trail has their own set of mountain huts spaced throughout the trail. On the Subashiri Trail, the trailhead is at the 5th station. After about an hour-and-a-half, we made it to the 6th station and decided to take the opportunity to order a bowl of udon noodles while we rested.

Osada Sanso Villa (6th Station, 2450m) udon is delicious

Meanwhile, checking in with team Hakone (foot bath not pictured)

From there, we hiked onward to the next station, the original 6th station, which only took about 30 minutes. We took a another short break before moving on. The next hut is the 7th station, which is where we are staying.

Above the tree line

Non-stop!

As the afternoon began, the sun was attempting to make an appearance in the sky amid the fog and clouds, which created some good views during our last push of the day. We arrived at the new 7th station in good time, a bit after 2pm, and had the rest of the afternoon to relax.

Taiyokan Hut (New 7th Station, 3090m)

We checked into our Taiyokan Mountain hut and were given a brief tour with the key information we needed — including locations of the toilets, the no-shoe zone, the mess hall/common room, and our bunks. After being shown to our futons, Mel and Matt immediately took power naps, while while Jo, Lily, and Cordwood ate some snacks, wrote blogs, and read until we were called for dinner.

Bunk bed and rafter sleeping arrangements at Taiyokan

Melanie power nap

Late afternoon clearing

Rice bros!!!!!

After dinner in the common room, we put on some of the hut’s communal slippers and stepped outside to see the view. The clouds had cleared, the air was a bit cooler, and we could clearly see both the peak of Mt. Fuji as well as the Hakone area to the east/southeast of the mountain. Because Subashiri is on the east side, we could also clearly see the shadow of Mt. Fuji projected on the land below.

Mt. Fuji does shadow puppets

Mt. Fuji silhouette in direction of Lake Ashi

Great evening weather on Mt. Fuji

Stock up for your summit push

Sturdy (???) Mountain Hut construction

For tomorrow, many people like to wake up VERY early (like, midnight-1am) to start hiking and reach the summit for the sunrise. But we are in no rush and would LOVE to avoid crowds by leaving a bit later. The mountain hut employee (who happened to be big Minnesota Timberwolves fan) confirmed this was a great call when we checked in and mentioned our plans to avoid the sunrise people crunch.

See you here at 3am

So, our plan is… play it by ear. We will certainly get up and start before sunrise. We’re heading to sleep at about 8pm tonight, so that shouldn’t be a problem. And then, because we are (still) on the east side of the mountain, we’ll see the sunrise no matter where we are! (Assuming the weather cooperates… knock on wood… which is very easy to do when you are sleeping in the wooden rafters of a mountain hut!)

Surprisingly warm and comfortable rafter sleeping

Day 4: Asakusa

by Joanna

Updated: August 9, 2026

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Today’s agenda included a full schedule of “Amazing Race” style activities — which (spoiler alert) were all incredibly fun. Thankfully, no judges! To begin, we grabbed our coffee and squid peanuts and took our now-familiar Oedo line straight to the Asakusa area of Tokyo.

Good morning Askausa! (and Sky Tree)

Last night at dinner, we pulled the trigger and signed up for the full Samurai Ninja Museum Experience. Initially, we were a bit skeptical about dressing up as Samurais and playing with swords, or as one YouTuber put it… “the most touristy thing I’ve ever done in Japan.”

However, as both that YouTuber and we discovered, it was actually pretty cool. Even better, we were the only ones signed up for the early class. The activity started by meeting our instructor Kenny and making introductions. For the next hour (or so), we enjoyed some Samurai 101. Kenny taught us about samurai clothing and how to properly put on a hakama and a haori. Next, we learned the proper handling and fighting techniques for a real (albeit dulled) katana blade. Finally, we learned and performed a multi-step routine with legit “swinging that sword around for real” moves. (Glad there was only seven of us)

We are samurai

Rehearsing our Kill Bill moves

This one’s for you, Nate!

After the experience, we toured the museum. Our new guide, Izu, explained samurai history, armor, and weapons as we went to different rooms of the museum. It was very informative and engaging. Plus, Izu had jokes. And they were pretty good.

(Now) We all know who the real last Samurai is

Card artwork checks out

After the Samurai portion, it was time to give the Ninjas some love. We got to use some fairly safe (rubber) throwing stars to hit targets on a styrofoam wall in a tournament showdown. None of us advanced to the finals, but Cordwood and Jo seemed to be the most competent ninjas.

Can you kill someone with a plastic throwing star??? Shuriken!

Accuracy matters

At the end of the tour, we successfully avoided purchasing any cheesy samurai and ninja-themed items from the gift shop, such as… samurai umbrellas, samurai sword scissors, samurai nail clippers, etc. That’s what Don Quijote is for, duh!

Fresh off our ‘Samur-high’, we ventured back onto the streets of Asakusa and walked a few blocks east to the Sensō-ji Temple. Along the way we passed thru the huge Nakimise marketplace. We managed to avoid buying any souvenirs here knowing it’s a bit of a tourist trap and overpriced. Eventually we reached the actual temple and looked around for a hot minute… heavy emphasis on the HOT (with the mid-day sun in full effect).

Sensō-ji Temple and Nakamise

Ni-Ou (open mouth style) Houzou-Mon guardian

Ni-Ou (closed mouth style) Houzou-Mon guardian

Just outside of the temple, you can pay 100 yen and draw a stick with a number on it. That number corresponds to a drawer with fortunes of various levels of luck. Belinda and Charles both got good luck fortunes. But the rest of us got bad luck fortunes (or nothing-burgers). This would be quite unfortunate, but thankfully, they also provided instructions how to tie these bad luck fortunes to a provided string, promising they will be collected and burnt soon, thereby cleansing the bad luck away! Phew.

Five-Story Pagoda at Sensō-ji

Purple sweet potato ice cream helps when it’s 1000 degrees

Next to the touristy souvenir market is an actual shopping area. We continued to browse and window shop, but our real mission was to find Taiyaki – a fish-shaped waffle snack with fillings of your choice. Traditionally, these are filled with red bean paste, but now there are several flavors to choose from.

Small shrine indeed

Found the Taiyaki

Apple, Sweet Potato, or Premium Custard (we all know what’s best)

Next Amazing Race task… We booked a chopsticks-making class at an art studio inside the shopping area we were already in. The studio was on the 10th floor, and the building only has one tiny elevator (and no stairs in sight). So it took a couple trips, but eventually we all made it. An instructor greeted us and helped us select the wood (different types for an upcharge) that would eventually become our chopsticks.

Choose your (future) chopsticks

With our chopstick wands selected, we used hand planers to shave the wood down to the proper shape with the assistance of some pre-configured molds. After that step, we sanded them to smooth perfection, and finished with a coat of oil. Without a doubt, this is the most zen enjoyment you can get from a $3 activity in all of Tokyo.

Make your chopsticks

We had so much fun, in fact, that we asked the art studio if we could stay and sign up for their kintsugi class. They had one available in a hour, so we ventured out to kill some time (really only 30-40 minutes with that elevator, lol). Charles hit up the Pokemon shop on the sixth floor, Lily seriously contemplated getting a tattoo on the 5th floor (alas, they were booked), and we all found another Don Quijote store a couple blocks away. After purchasing some desired Japanese kitchen gadgets, we returned to the shop.

Kintsugi is the art of repairing broken ceramic with gold, literally translated to “golden joinery.” We picked our base-package broken dishes and learned the steps. First, use a metal file to shave down the edges of the crack to actually make the space bigger. (Disclaimer!!! If you are adverse to the sound of nails on a chalkboard, this activity may not be for you.)

Next, glue the pieces together and put masking tape along the crack (like when you paint a wall). Finally, fill in the crack with some lacquer and apply the gold powder. It’s harder than it looks! This was also a really fun experience (made even greater by learning they just fixed the AC in their studio a few days ago). Plus, as one additional bonus, the easy-listening music they were playing in the studio (Olivia Newton John, Huey Lewis and the News, Whitney Houston) was lodged in some of our heads for the next several days.

I Have Nothing (if I don’t Kintsugi these plates), 1993

Where Do Broken Plates Go, 1988

By the time class ended, we were running ~10 minutes late for our dinner reservation at 5 pm. We booked it down the elevator, off to the train station, and back towards our hotel. Thankfully, our early-bird reservation time was easily adjusted by the Shabu Shabu (hot pot) and Sushi restaurant — even accounting for a few extra minutes to locate their secret entrance. It took four days, but we’re finally eating sushi in Japan.

After dinner, it was earlier than yesterday and still light out, so we made another quick detour to Shiba Park to check out Zojoji Temple before it closed. Success! Officially, Matt and Jo don’t get double points for seeing the Tokyo Tower again.

Zozoji Temple and Tokyo Tower at dusk

Do we get 7 points AGAIN?!?

Back at the hotel, we finished packing up and called a summit in the lobby to confirm our transportation and luggage logistics for the next two days. Team Mt. Fuji will be Jo, Matt, Cordwood, Lily, and Mel. Team Hakone is Belinda and Charles. Luggage-forwarding services will be employed to deliver anything we don’t need the next two days to our hotel in Kyoto. Teams will reconvene in Kyoto. OK!?! Ready??? “GO TO SLEEP” on three… two… one… “GO TO SLEEP!!!”

Day 3: Shibuya and Baseball

by Joanna

Updated: August 3, 2026

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A leisurely start to the day as everyone got ready this morning — or, you know, finished their morning run thru downtown Tokyo. We relaxed in the lobby drinking Americanos and breakfast snacks (those delicious squid-flavored peanuts) before meeting up and heading out at 9:30 am. We made a pit stop at 7-11 for additional breakfast items, including a custom Lily/TikTok-approved frozen grape and Mitsuya Cider drink.

Points for accidentally running a 10k around the Imperial Palace

The first destination of the day was Shibuya Crossing. The challenge is finding a good spot to view it from above (without going to the expensive rooftop bars). Our plan, according to the internet’s suggestion, was from the second floor of the nearby train station with large windows and a clear view. The plan worked, and we proceeded back to ground level to the Hachiko Statue — honoring a dog who came to the station every day waiting for his owner to come home.

Sheeee… Booyah!

Hachiko preview

Actual Hachiko Statue

Next, we actually made the Shibuya Crossing on the way to do some shopping. It was surprisingly not too crowded for a Saturday, but it may have been a bit early in the day. Most of the big shops and malls weren’t even open yet. Definitely no complaints though. It was still an experience and probably more enjoyable than when there is 3,000 people crossing at the same time.

Commence the shopping

We went to a shopping mall that had a variety of high end clothing stores as well as a top floor of several top gaming/entertainment retail outlets (Nintendo, Pokemon, Sega, and many others). We started there, but it was crowded, so we didn’t spend much time on that floor before venturing downward. We browsed but didn’t see anything we liked (that was also in a reasonable price range).

Next stop was the Mega Don Quijote store (after a brief power-up at Shake Shack for Jo and Lily). Expensive taste is not a problem here! Unlike yesterday’s two-level store (how pedestrian!), this Mega store had seven levels. We found more nail clippers and other various useful products.

MEGA Don Quijote

Finally, it was time for the main event of the day – a Yomiuri Giants game at the Tokyo Dome. We took the train and walked to the stadium. Tickets are somewhat hard to get, but we did our homework and scored seats a couple months ago online before tix sold out in minutes. Woo!

Tokyo Dome and Tokyo Dome City

As such, we were well-aware which seats were ours — despite one older gentleman’s strong protestations that these seats were his. We couldn’t really communicate this to him in English, but with the help of our phone and a beer girl, he and his wife were ultimately convinced to move to his correct seats… which were in the first row of the section! Lol, want to swap back???

Pure Metrodome nostalgia

We got some food (short ribs and rice in souvenir helmets) and beers for the start of the game. The atmosphere for a baseball game in the Toyko Dome is very lively. There is a large cheering section for the Giants (the home team) and a smaller cheering section for the opposing team — in this instance, the Chunichi Dragons. When your team is batting, your cheering section goes non-stop — singing, banging drums, waving flags, etc. The rest of the stadium is pretty even-keeled, but definitely enjoying the vibes.

Making some cyclone

Like in the US, there are beer vendors going through the aisles. But here, all of the vendors are women who energetically run down the aisles, turn around, bow dramatically, and work their way back up each section. They also sell mixed cocktails and sake. Being in Japan, we obviously opted for the sake.

Lamenting Giants’ failure to score with Sake girl

Foul ball signage and whistles warn fans

For additional sustenance at the game, the Tokyo Dome has a ton of gourmet options. We consulted the Giants-specific gourmet guide which lists each players’s favorite food item. But the choice was actually made months ago when we saw the souvenir helmet “full of sausages” option. We eventually found the booth, acquired the sausages, and collectively finished them off!

Mission Sausage Helmet underway

Everybody loves sausage helmet Part 1

Everybody loves sausage helmet Part 2

The game was a lot of fun, and since there is no pitch clock here, it took a while. Perhaps fans enjoy the extra time to chant and sing their songs. We all certainly enjoyed the extra air conditioning. And for one final treat, we also enjoyed the “getting blown out of the stadium” exit courtesy of the Tokyo Dome’s air pressurized roof. Ahhh, just like the good old days at the Metrodome.

Maybe Japanese baseball should consider the pitch clock

Great time cheering for another losing team

Thanks Tokyo Dome!

We trained our way back to the hotel to relax and figure out a dinner plan. After looking online, we couldn’t find anywhere that had the food we wanted and could accommodate a larger group on a Saturday night. So we ventured out to a nearby dumpling place that Cordwood noticed along our route to the subway. Sure enough, they were able to take us. We shared dumplings, spicy noodle soup, fried rice, and fried noodles.

Excellent ramen/dumpling spot right by the hotel

1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3…

Also ran by Tokyo Station accidentially

On the way back to the hotel, we made a small detour to Shiba Park — just west of our hotel. It was dark, so the Zozoji Temple was closed, but some of the outer gates were were visible. We tried to get closer to the Tokyo Tower, but most of the paths were also closed. Ok then, back to the hotel!

Tokyo Tower at night

Zojoji Temple Gate

Tomorrow is our last day in Tokyo and we’ll be heading to the Asakusa area. At dinner, there was a moment of contemplation if sleeping in was more important than an early-morning activity, but after a couple dumplings — we soon agreed with Belinda that we should absolutely pursue our Samurai (and Ninja) dreams tomorrow morning.

Day 2: Shinjuku

by Joanna

Updated: August 3, 2026

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The day after a trans-pacific flight, we thought we did pretty good by getting up at 7:15 am! But by this time, the Corindas already woke up, got breakfast at 7-11, walked to the Radio Tower Park near the hotel, and then — “for fun” — Cordwood went on a run. Impressive! Meanwhile, we got ourselves ready and headed down to the lobby for coffee and a breakfast of the hotel’s complimentary squid crunchy peanut snack mix. The Cordinas met us and we headed off to the train.

Shiba Park Hotel IS really nice!

The first stop of the day was Meji Jingu Shrine. The train stations were much more crowded this morning as it was rush hour on a weekday. A quick visual survey confirms the locals all know how to pass the time on their phones — playing cat games, watching boy bands on YouTube, and watching anime and Friends.

The Meji Shrine is located in a forest within the city. You can walk through the temple gates and wander the paths. We also saw a display of sake and French wine. During the Meji period, the people were somewhat taken by European influences, hence the French wine.

Meji Jingu Shrine

Sake in the Shrine

Shimenawa (hemp ropes) and Shida (paper bolts) at Meiji Jiingu

After viewing the sanctuary, we went to the gift shop and cafe. First, from the gift shop, we picked up a magnet of Maneki-neko (aka. waving cat), an iconic Japanese figurine believed to bring good luck, wealth, and prosperity, etc. Plus, this particular Maneki-neko has a cat as a hat, so that must be some kind of extra luck multiplier.

The second item was a special matcha ice cream cone. How it was different than the regular matcha cone, we have no idea. But it was certainly special on this very hot morning. Also confirms that Jo does actually like Matcha — at least in ice cream form.

Lily is a fan

Next on the agenda was the Studio Ghibli Museum. We had more than enough time to get there for our noon entry, but we figured might as well head in that direction. We walked back from Meji Jingu to the train station, and hopped on the train. When we reached the stop, there was a bus, but the walk was only 20 minutes, so we took a stroll.

First of many vending machines

As we made our way towards the museum, we found a Don Quijote store, famous for cheap snacks, souvenirs, and all sorts of other random crap. We were on a mission to find nail clippers – something we heard are amazing in Japan. After scouring the aisles, we found a few options. We added tweezers to the haul and moved on to the snack section.

Cordwood and Charles found strawberry KitKats, a liter of Fanta and some wild energy drinks branded “X-ASAP Synergy.“ The synergy was obviously because all the cans featured anime characters. The engery, while effective, remains a mystery because the cans said the drinks were caffeine-free and the rest was in Japanese.

To dream the impossible dream of shopping in Japan

Sad news… shopping took a while, so there was no time to visit the nearby Capybara Cafe! But now that we know such a place exists, we will keep it in mind for a later date.

Turns out the old ladies were nearly running us over

We continued walking through a park to get to the Ghibli Museum. We were there about 10 minutes before our entry time, but they let us in. We made it into the covered ticket line right as it started raining. Good timing!

Hottest ticket in Japan

Our friend Totoro

The building is fantastic and whimsical, much like a Studio Ghibli movie. The exhibits included displays on how animation works, art, and a screening of an original Ghibli short film (we saw Monmon the Water Spider which is about a diving bell spider who falls in love with a water strider). Eventually we made our way onto the terrace for lunch at the Straw Hat Cafe. Two sandwiches and two ice cream floats later, and we were ready for the next stop on the agenda.

All those cabin Ghibli movies paying off!

Mitaka neighborhood street art

We had a food tour scheduled for 5:15 in the Shinjuku area, so we headed to that area of the city by train and hit a few stores we had in mind. First was Onitsuka Tiger. Our youth correspondents Lily and Melanie said this is a popular shoe store store. Jo, Lily, Mel, and Cordwood all bought a pair while Charles and Belinda went to the claw machine arcade.

Jo’s new kicks

The correct yellow Kill Bills

New Onitsuka Tigers owners

With our footwear purchases secured, we sought our next objective: the Suica penguin store. Fortunately, this store is located in the Shinjuku station. We managed to navigate the maze that is the mall/train station/supermarket and found the store. A few penguin souvenirs later and we were on our way.

We completed all our shopping and agreed a hydration break would be nice. We found the Starbucks designated as the meeting point for our food tour and grabbed ourselves some yuzu and peach-based refreshments. At 5:00 pm our food guide Ken arrived and we were off to eat some local dishes.

The first restaurant was called Nanjamonja. We sat on pillows around low tables with flattop grills (DIY Ron of Japan!). We prepared two types of Japanese “pancake” dishes. First, monjaykai, a mix of cabbage, beef, flour, water, and seasoning. Ken said during the war, when there were no writing utensils, preparing this dish on the grill would also be used as an opportunity to help teach kids how to write their letters. So, the alphabet soup of Japan.

Food Tour stop one for Monjayaki and Okonomiyaki

The second dish was okonomiyaki, a similar mix, but this time with pork, squid, shrimp, egg, cabbage, and, flour. We mixed it up and cooked it on the grill in pretty much the same way as the first dish. Ken showed us how to use the toppings like barbecue sauce, mayonnaise, fish chips, and seasoning. When we finished our food and drinks, we moved on to the next stop.

Preparing the Monjayaki

Before going to the next restaurant, we stopped at a photo booth business to partake in some Shinjuku youth culture. One entire floor of this building was dedicated to multiple, large photo booths with the most ridiculous software filters. There are also costume rentals, changing rooms, and vanities to prepare your whole hair and makeup look for the booths. Worst case, the hair irons are somewhat useful until to venture back outside into the humidity!

Wild photo booth cultural pit stop

The next stop was Izakaya, a pub with a bunch of chicken-related food options. We stuck to the fried and skewered varieties. This place was certainly less traditional than the first, but just as good. It was very popular with tables filling up quickly as people left work to start their Friday night.

Shinjuku by night Part 1

Shinjuku by night Part 2

Food tour stop two for Yakatori

Finally, we went to a third restaurant for dessert. This was a unique store that sold some regular menu-item foods, but the main attraction was the nostalgic candy section. When you order a drink (and pay a little extra), you get unlimited candy. Since it was all Japanese candy, Ken helped us pick out what we would (probably) like. We supplemented the candy with a couple sweet bread ice cream sandwiches — which is definitely the equivalent of having a cat as a hat on top of another cat.

Food tour stop three for sweets

By the time we were done, it was 9:00 pm and we were beat. We made our way back to the train and went straight back to the hotel for the night. Tomorrow, we’ll do some more shopping, but most importantly, baseball!

Back to the familiar Oedo line jingle

Day 1: Chicago to Tokyo

by Joanna

Updated: August 3, 2026

2 Comments

Today is travel day! Our flight was scheduled to leave O’Hare at 12:15 pm, so we didn’t have to wake up too early. We got ourselves ready and took a cab to the airport. There was a bit of morning traffic, but our driver navigated it expertly and we made good time. Security was quick and easy (no yogurt this time) and we made our way to Terminal C to press our luck with the United lounge.

Good news! The lounge was open and accepting day passes (which we had). We relaxed with some breakfast, coffee, and mimosas. The lounge was also right next to our gate, so no extra travel time.

Hanging in the lounge

We went next door to our gate for the start of boarding. While in line to board, the agents made an announcement that the private first class jetway was 99(!) degrees, so even the Polaris folks would need to use the peasant-class jetway. Guess we are leaving one hot place for another.

When checking our seats a few days ago, we noticed the flight wasn’t full. We had an aisle and middle in the middle section, but moved Jo’s middle seat to the aisle in hopes that no one would pick the middle. It worked! We had enough space to be pretty comfortable for the entire flight. Plus, we arrived an hour early.

Economy life, but with an open middle seat!

Meanwhile, Cordinas flying in style

The flight went well, except for the dog a few rows back who barked at any turbulence (really???). We both caught a few hours of sleep and/or finished off Season 2 of Andor. When we landed, we made our way to customs with all of our paperwork completed ahead of time. This let us go into the “priority” line. Great! Until you realize this is also the line for the families with little kids. Still probably shorter than the regular line though. Once we picked up our bags, we used the QR code at a kiosk, and walked through the exit without any trouble. Kind of a long global entry-like of process.

Hello!

Next up! Let’s get to the hotel. Having arrived an hour or so earlier, Belinda tipped us off to get some cash first for the train card. We easily found an ATM, then we went to buy the Suica card. Be sure to ask for the regular card, not the welcome card, and you will receive a very special penguin card that will soon be retired.

Suica Penguin!

With Suica cards in hand, our last task was locating our train. Once we asked an agent and spent some time looking at Google Maps, we had it figured out. We arrived at the hotel and settled in as the Cordinas made their way back from shopping. We met in the lobby at 5:30 pm for our evening.

Even Jo feels tall in Japan! (But to be fair, the desk staff is a couple steps lower)

Shiba Park library hotel

Our main goal the rest of the day was stay entertained long enough to (somewhat) reset our body clocks to the local time — 14 hours ahead of home — by checking out the Odaiba shopping and entertainment district. To do this, we ventured back out to the massive Tokyo train system.

Stay awake for a few more hours

The train stations in Tokyo are absolutely wild. They are essentially huge department stores with multiple train lines. One station can be multiple levels and span several blocks.

We took the Yurikamome line, which runs over the Rainbow Bridge, and arrived in Odaiba. Everything in this area looks vaguely futuristic/dystopian. The buildings are big and have multiple levels. We made it to the mall with three objectives; Dinner, Giant Robot, and Water Fountain show.

First was dinner. We found a noodle soup restaurant that looked tasty, was kinda busy, and not too expensive. We split into two tables and ordered a tsukemen bowl (pretty much ramen, but with different noodles) and a couple pieces of fried chicken. I know hot soup when it’s 100 degrees outside doesn’t sound great, but it was really tasty.

Bibs came in clutch and didn’t embarrass Lilly at all

There was also a McDonald’s right across from the restaurant. We’re obviously not in Japan to eat at Mickey D’s, but it is worth checking out what crazy pie flavors they may happen to be selling in Asia these days – which are almost always delicious.

Morinaga Milk Caramel pie is solid

Just outside of the mall is a giant robot. I mean a 65-foot tall, light up, moving robot. Several times throughout the day, there is a short show with a video screen and a robot “transformation.” The face and horns move, and the lights change, but that’s about it. Still, it was pretty cool. When we went outside to the are where the robot is, there were hundreds of mostly teen girls and what appeared to be a boy band on stage. We couldn’t tell what they were talking about, but they were kind enough to pause for the robot show (which the crowd had zero interest in).

Unicorn Gundham

The giant crowd is here for the robot show, right? Right??

The final cool thing we waited for was the Tokyo Aqua Symphony. Basically, it’s like the Bellagio fountains, set to hip Tokyo music and synchronized to lights. The harbor was just a few minutes from the robot. The water show is 820 feet wide, and the center spout can reach almost 500 feet. It was impressive and a fun show.

Tokyo Aqua Symphony

Having hit all three objectives, we took the train back to the hotel and called it a (really long) day. Tomorrow, we have some ideas of how to spend the morning before going to the Studio Ghibli museum.

End of day check: Two points for eating at a tasty ramen restaurant

Back at the hotel for the night