Japan

We had the opportunity to visit family in Japan for two weeks over the new year.  We had a very busy 13 days there; we experienced many parts of Japanese culture and the beauty there.  Over the next few days/weeks we will be posting pictures from our journeys across Kanto (the region of Japan we were in).  We were largely in the Kanagawa prefecture.  Kanto is where Tokyo and Fuji are located as well as many temples, shrines and other fun things.

A few general comments:

•  Their train system is amazing. You can get just  about anywhere by train and a few minutes walk.  Sometimes you have to hop on a short bus ride too, but their main mode of transportation is public and they seem to have it down pat.
• We were surprised at how little English was spoken there, particularly considering the United States' presence since the end of WWII
• Fuji is absolutely breathtaking, I kept calling it the lonely mountain
• Even through the language barrier we found that almost all people were extremely polite
• Cemeteries were everywhere - but they are not like western cemeteries (we saw 1 of those and about 100 Japanese ones), more to come about them later
• Tokyo Disney/Tokyo Sea capture the magic and childhood that is Disneyland

Here are some select pictures from the trip