This is all fascinating stuff, Jodi. Thanks for bringing your trip home with you and explaining it all to us. Like Zipper said, Konichiwa! I've been thinking about you, Jodi, all this week, since I cleaned and hung up on the wall in my work room, a round table (minus the legs) that Woody shipped home from Japan in the early 60's to his mom. After she died, we gave it to a friend who loves kimonos and all things Japanese, and recently she decided she didn't want it any more, didn't have room for it. She almost sold it at our joint yard sale! Yikes, I saw it there and gasped "can I have it back?" before anyone had a chance to buy it for a pittance. I would have been sick. It's black with inlaid mother of pearl, Mt. Fugi, mountains, men in kimonos, trees, etc. It's quite lovely. Woody is real glad we have it now. It holds fond memories for him. And now it's up on the wall in my craft room. Yay!

Schoolhouse, no not a tour. We leave tomorrow for LA, spend the night and the next day fly to Japan. I have family I've never met so they will be our tour guides for the first 2 days and then towards the end of the trip. One of those days we will go to visit my mom's two brothers in a city on the coast about an hour and a half from Tokyo. Our Japanese exchange student is showing us around on the 3rd day in Tokyo. The 4th day is on our own. Then we go to Kyoto for a few days. The next few days will be spent with cousins again near where my mom grew up after the war. Then another couple days at another cousin's house in Isesaki. My original plan was to go to Tokyo and Mito. lol Sjern, it is actually hotter in Kentucky than Tokyo right now but still not going to like the humidity. It'll be in the 80s at the hottest part of the day when we are there. My cousin said it is cool in the morning and muggy during the day. So, my daughter is a big Star Wars fan...I guess I am too. On the way back we are stopping for a side trip to Disney so she can see the new Star Wars area. I booked ANA airlines to and from Japan in hopes of getting on one of their Star Wars themed jets...and I found out that our flights coming and going are one of them! Hopefully that jet won't break and we will be able to fly on it. I hate flying but am kind of excited this trip.

When my mother graduated from university, she took a train trip from Dallas to NYC to visit one of her friends in Connecticut. She stopped in Cincinnati on the way back and enjoyed her time there. She never traveled by air and never visited me in California, even though there are trains from where she lived to Los Angeles. Her mother was much more adventurous and visited Europe many times - she had no fear of flying. She also visited Lebanon in 1957 and thought it was a beautiful place. She also went to Turkey and quite a few other countries. My grandfather used to go with her, but he got tired of traveling before she did, and then she just went by herself. When I was at university, I used to take the Santa Fe train between Houston and Temple, Texas, which is where I was born. Temple was built as a railroad town, has a Santa Fe Hospital, and is the location where the NorthSouth line intesects the East West line. I was not happy when Amtrak took over, but when I was at university, the Santa Fe railroad still operated the passenger trains. The train I took started in Houston and ended in Chicago or Milwaukee. At Temple, one could change trains to go west to El Paso and Los Angeles. I've also taken the train between Houston and New Orleans, which is pretty much a party train, especially around Mardi Gras. In California, I've only taken the train between Oakland and Vancouver. When Amtrak took over passenger train service in the U.S., they sold the nice stainless steel passenger cars to Mexico, including the sleeping cars, and I used to ride on those all over Mexico. Then Mexico ended its passenger train service and replaced it with "luxury" buses, which are not nearly as nice.

Personally, I would not spend a ton of time in Tokyo. It is an enormous, bustling city and in that way very much like all world class cities. I may be biased because I have been there mostly on business, and only once for pleasure (with the family on the way to other Asian locales). There is some interesting shopping, whacky pop culture, great dining, and, if you like city views, it is Times Square on steroids. Do eat at a Shabu Shabu restaurant (this is now a favorite dinner in our house, after a family trip to Japan 10 years ago). If memory serves, @KSWL recc the restaurant to us! For business, I stayed at either the Park Hyatt (aka the “Lost in Translation” hotel), or the Four Seasons Maranouchi (near the Imperial Palace East Gardens and Tokyo Station). When we went as a family we also stayed at the Four Seasons, since it was familiar to me (and they provide an escort from the zoo that is Tokyo Station. BTW, no one takes a taxi to Tokyo from the airport. It takes forever and costs a fortune. Ask me how I know this.) Tokyo station is a crazy bustling place, 8 levels deep iIRC. From Tokyo, we took a day trip by train to Kamakura (easy to do) and met a guide there to tour and learn about Shinto shrines and the giant Buddha. I was in Kyoto over 25 years ago, before kids and before DH. I adored Kyoto. I loved the way you could meander down a street and come across a charming tea shop, an arched bridge, or jewel-like koi pond. So romantic and exotic. No doubt your research will include suggestions for the Temple of the Golden Pavilion and Ryoanji’s Zen rock garden … both forever etched in my memories. I never did get to go to Saihoji’s moss garden, and have regretted that (required advance reservations). You will definitely want to stay at a ryokan and sleep on a tatami mat and use a traditional japanese soaking tub . In Kyoto, I think Hiragiya is one of the most famous. I was so long ago so my recc may be out of date. On the show Somebody feed Phil they just did a Kyoto segment.