japan

While staying at our Mitsui Garden Hotel in Kyoto, we decided to venture to nearby Osaka. Osaka is known for its fantastic restaurants and is considered Japan's culinary capital.. . . . On arriving at Osaka Station by train from Kyoto, our first stop was the Kuromon Market. This was a large outdoor market with roofs (to protect from rain).. . . . Like the…

We arrived at Kyoto Station from Kanazawa (our last major stop on our two-week tour of Japan). We removed our luggage from the train and headed to the Kyoto subway station to get closer to our Mitsui Garden Hotel. The hotel was near our subway stop at Karasuma Oike Station. I was relieved that my Pasmo travel card still worked in the subway!. . .…

Our train journey from Matsumoto to Kanazawa was smooth and uneventful. The Shinkansen "bullet train" sped along at a brisk pace. I used my iPhone to measure the speed and saw it reach 150 mph.. . . . We arrived exactly on time - around 11:50 - and proceeded to board a taxi for our Hotel Pacific downtown.. . . . When the taxi dropped…

I have only read a little about Kamakura. It is often described in history books as a former de facto capital of Japan, the nation's most populous settlement from 1200 to 1300 A.D., and the seat of the shogunate and the regency during the Kamakura period.. . . . Since our Rose Garden Shinjuku hotel was in Tokyo, we took the train from Shinjuku Station…

I have always wanted to visit Japan, but airline tickets from San Jose to Tokyo have always been out of reach. However, Inna found an exceptional offer ($439 round-trip) for June, so she purchased 3 tickets on Japan Airlines (JAL) from Los Angeles to Tokyo (Narita Airport). Since we live in San Jose, we also needed airline tickets from San Jose to Los Angeles, and…