Day 2 - Cherry Blossoms

Of course, one of the primary reasons Hannah and I came to Japan in springtime was to see the cherry blossoms, and they did not disappoint. We spent several hours today in the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. Today is the Spring Equinox — a national holiday — so families off work and school filled the garden, picnicking under the trees and enjoying the coming of warmer weather. Toddlers were running around, chasing bubbles. Girls were dressed in kimonos and fancy Harujuku doll outfits. Couples walked hand-in-hand. And we were there,too, with our own little picnic (see later post on our food adventures today), among the gorgeous blossoms in various shades of pink and white.

All I can add is that I feel incredibly blessed to be here to witness this natural beauty among the friendly, polite and warm people of Tokyo. I feel so, so happy today.

Day 2 - Meiji Jingu Shrine

This day has been a dream-come-true and it’s only mid-afternoon. I’ll try to give you a flavor of the beauty of Tokyo in several short posts.

Having woken early because of the time change, we started our day shortly after 7 AM at a GIGANTIC breakfast buffet at the hotel. So many kinds of eggs, pastries, fruit, salads, porridge, seafood, seaweed, rice, I literally can’t even name everything. Certainly couldn’t even try it all… but felt like eating like royalty.

Got outside early to mixed sun and clouds and, guided by Hannah and her cell phone, walked through the Shinjuku and Yoyogi neighborhoods to the Meiji Jingu Shrine, a Shinto shrine built to honor the late Emporer Meiji and the Empress Shoken. We entered through a forest of 100,000 trees donated and planed by volunteers in their honor in 1920.

Once inside the main shrine area, we were so fortunate to see a bride and groom and their wedding party.

Then, a procession of Shinto priests — the most senior in black, the novices in turquoise and white, as they bowed in prayer and then walked in silence through the shrine.

We pray that people

Be just unassuming

Like the bamboo

Which grows without pretension

Or unsightly gnarls.

— Empress Shoken

LAX to Narita on zero sleep - Day 1

It’s 11 PM Monday here in Tokyo, and I’m pretty sure I should get some sleep, but it’s been such an exciting I-have-no-idea how many hours that all I can do is try to make sense of it all, which honestly I can’t yet. Anyway, here are some pix from Day 1.

Baggage check at LAX. 

We enjoyed our wait in the Singapore Airlines lounge, where we toasted to Japan 2023!

Here I am in my airplane bed. No sleep. A movie. Several hours of TV. Two podcasts. Yoga Nidra. Two meals. Snacks. Stretching. Conversation. Photos. Lots of goofing around. (Pa, the seats were 1-2-1… tons of space per person, as you can see.)

After going through vaccination check and customs, we met this very nice lady from the travel agency, who helped us get situated and into a very fancy car for the 80-minute ride from Narita Airport to Tokyo.

Once we checked into our hotel, we walked a few blocks to pick up our Wi-Fi, then stopped into a bar for a drink, some food and a listen to this very good jazz singer and pianist. With an international vibe and people of all ethnicities speaking many languages, it felt like we could have been in any major international city. We’ve been practicing our Japanese, but everyone speaks English.

Finally, our first glimpse of the famous cherry trees. Hoping to see lots more tomorrow. Konbanwa.