Hi I have visited #7 #18 #46 #48 # 49 . #7 is my hometown. You shold visit to Saitama shokubutsu mihohen, Kawaguchi city, Saitama. where you want go is depend your time abelible . traveling budget. some place you have mentioned are new, some are few hundred years old. #7 Hachioji Asakawa station is famus of collection of cherry trees. it's name has been chaneged however .The place is about 10 minuts taxi ride from Takao station or you can take bus. near by Mt Takao you can see towering Cryptmeria japanica 150 feet tall 3 ~ 5 feet diameter. also Mausoleum of Taisho empror is near by. each place are 3~5 miles part. #46 If you are intersting Bamboos # 46 is good place to visit. also kyoto has 3 bamboo gardens. Dr kashiwagi is reserching over there. It may take 3~ 4 hours from Tokyo some place is purly for academic, some place are for entertainment. If you are going to visit your self you have much more choice , If you are takeing your wife and kids, then when you visit # 7 you have to waer sneker and have towel and bottled water. And carefull with poisin snake. No English sign warning you . no visitors bit by snake yet. ^-^ . #23 Makino memorial Botanical garened is nice place to vist. I have not visited yet. Dr Makino is father of Japanese society of Botany. many plants are named after him. .........mike

Tony C: It is very late in the evening and I am too tired to read all of the responses in your post, but I wanted to at least post something in the wee hours of the morning. The Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis is well noted for having the largest Japanese Garden in the continental United States and is also noted for its Japanese Festival held over the labor day weekend. If you link to the site below, you find that there are various links to take you to the international gardens located within this wonderful gem - one of which is the Japanese Garden. While these links will provide some "inspiration", there is nothing like a 2 day visit to this outstanding garden. While I currently live in northwestern Michigan, I was born, bred, and lived for more than 5 decades on the Illinois prairie, where I was able to visit this garden more frequently. If you plan to head in that direction and are the type of person who enjoys staying at a bed & breakfast, I recommend that you contact Maggies Bed & Breakfast in Collinsville, Illinois. She is a retired Librarian who has traveled in the far east via freighters and other means of transportion. Her rates are reasonable, the conversation is excellent and the breakfast are very delicious. If you're a person who enjoys staying at a motel/hotel, there are several excellent choices in the Collinsville, IL area. Collinsville is located very close to one of the Interstate Highways leading into St. Louis and the MBO - not too far west on I-44 - is about a short 15 to 20 minute drive. Hope this information is somewhat helpful and/or inspiring. Bill Here is a link that might be useful: Missouri Botanical Garden - Virtual Tour - International Gardens

I'm not from RI but have relatives living in Tiverton. What kind of dining experience are you looking for? Roberto's in nice...overpriced for the quality, but nice, with a good atmosphere. It's a nice place to linger over dinner, as long as you're not sitting at the table nearest the door in cold weather. You will need a reservation there, most likely. There's a little Italian/pizza place in..I believe...Warren. I'm going to have to ask my mum what its name is (I've only been there once), but it's good if you're looking for the opposite of Roberto's--I recall plastic tablecloths & chairs and some noise; good salads; pasta okay; didn't try the pizza, I'm afraid. If you can make it into Providence and are up for Roberto's-type prices, I would highly recommend Rue de l'Espoir. Really good food! Roberto's has a slightly nicer atmosphere, but I'd say try for Rue de l'Espoir if you really like to eat and it's not too far for you to drive. Make a reservation. I've only been to Blithewold in the spring, but that was wonderful. They have a magnificent daffodil display. Enjoy your trip! Amanda Here is a link that might be useful: Rue d l'Espoir

Of course the kids love the city life. If either is a shopper, they might like to go to the upscale Ginza shopping district. They have a fun Hello Kitty store there, but your kids might be too old for that. Here is a link to one site for Todaiji with some hours and walking information. I'm not at all sure how far it would be to walk or even where you would be coming from. http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4100.html We were not extremely early or late for the temples and shrines, and they were always open. You don't walk around outside, you go in. All the places we visited were busy, lots of people. The only really crowded one was Kinkakuji in Kyoto, so if you can make that one early, I would think it would be a good thing. By the way, did I mention that people don't tip in Japan? To privately message me, click on my name socks, and you will go to my page. There should be a button to send a message.