Japan

The Pacific crossing was leisurely enough that I was able to catch up on posts for Vietnam and China, but I'm afraid the need to grade 320 "power journals" (the only written assignment in my class) kept me from completing a post on our time in Japan until today. Since our entire family had lived in Japan from 1993-94 and again in 2000-2001, our visit there was all about enjoying time in a country we already knew and loved.

Although we've spent lots of time there, we had never been to Kobe, our port of arrival. We explored it the first day, enjoying some great Japanese food for lunch and dinner and a trip up to the top of the hills overlooking the city.

We had also never managed to get to Kyoto during the peak autumn foliage period, so it was wonderful to have a chance to see Nanzenji (shown here) in full fall colors. We walked along the Philosopher's Trail from Nanzenji up to Ginkakuji and then visited Kinkakuji.

Kinkakuji was a bit of a disappointment because the crowds, which filled every inch of the trails, kept us from getting many clear views of the pavilion, but we managed to get a few pictures. That is part of the experience of Kyoto at the peak of fall colors too, I guess.

The nicest part of our visit to Japan, though, was the chance it gave us to catch up with old friends. Steve and Yukiko, shown here, hosted us in their home in Oiso for two nights, giving us a chance to visit with their son Seiji and enjoy some home-cooked meals. Thanks, guys!

It happened to be one of the two weekends each year when parents of boys and girls in the "shichi-go-san" years (7- 5- and 3-year-olds) take them to shrines to bless them for continued growth and health. Steve and Yukiko took us to their neighborhood shrine to join one of their friends whose daughter was going through the ceremony. Cute!

Then we spent much of the next day with our old friends, the Uesugis, whom we met and spent a lot of time with during the year we lived in Mitaka in 2000-2001. It was a reunion for Isabelle and their daughter Yoko, who had been six when they last saw each other and are now 13. We went to Yoko's middle school to see what that was like. Quite a bit like middle schools were when I taught in them in Kumamoto over 20 years ago! Then we caught up over another wonderful home-cooked meal.

On our final day in Japan, back at the ship (which had moved from Kobe to Yokohama), we enjoyed catching up with the Suzuki's, a family we had met when we liked in Yokohama in 1993-94. At the time, their girls were 13 and 15 and took English lessons with Gabrielle. Now they are vibrant young women in their upper-20s, both working and living on their own (they were still living their parents when I visited the Suzukis a couple years ago). They took us to a wonderful restaurant at the top of the Landmark Tower, and we enjoyed a ride together on the giant ferris wheel.

Japan was an incredibly popular place for the Semester at Sea students, most of whom struck out on their own with rail passes to explore places ranging from Fukuoka, where some went to attend a sumo match, to Hakone, where they went in search of Fuji-views and hot springs. We didn't get to Hakone but got this great view of Fuji from a spot near the Greens' home.

Thanks everyone for making our stay in Japan so pleasant and memorable, and we look forward to seeing you all again!