More Japan Adventures

During their last couple of weeks in Tokyo, the kids attended Noh and Kabuki plays.

And tried Sushi.

They wanted to go up the Tokyo Sky Tree, but weren't able to.

The kids have been busy since they got back from Japan, starting classes at University of Portland and working as Orientation Advisors. Yesterday Jennifer went down to Salem to help Cherry Assembly initiate a new member.  She performed the part of Faith.

Tokyo Adventures

Bryan and Jennifer continued attending classes at Sophia after Susan and I returned to Oregon. 

One of their weekends, they traveled down to Kamakura.

They often checked out different shopping areas in the evenings after classes.

Besides hitting most of the Disney stores in Tokyo, they took the train out to Pokemon Centers.

They also returned to Disney Sea with some of their classmates.

Flight home

Saturday was the last full day in Japan for Susan and I. We did some shopping with the kids then returned to Roppongi for Jennifer's birthday dinner.

On Sunday Susan and I checked out of our room and we headed to Tokyo Station with the kids.

We ate lunch, then Susan and I boarded the Narita Express.

At the airport we caught our flight back home. 

Afternoon Tokyo Tour

After a traditional Japanese lunch at Shiodome, we continued our tour.

Our first stop was Hamarikyu Garden. The gardens were pretty, but the heat and humidity made it hard to enjoy.

From there we drove to Tokyo Bay, near the Rainbow Bridge to Odaiba. There we boarded a boat for a cruise up the Sumida river.

Our cruise ended at the Asakusa shopping district.

From there we walked to Sensō-ji, an ancient Buddhist temple also known as the Asakusa Kannon Temple, the last stop on our tour.

Morning Tokyo Tour

On Friday while the kids went to class, Susan and I took a tour of Tokyo. We started at the Tokyo Tower, the second tallest building in Tokyo.

Our tour only went to the Main Observatory, which 490 feet high, and not the Special Observatory, which reaches a height of 820 feet, but it still gave some nice views of the city.

From there our bus drove through Shibuya and Yoyogi Park to the Meiji Shrine.

 

We drove by the Diet building, where the Japanese Parliament meets. 

After that we stopped at the Imperial Palace grounds. On most days the tour goes to the East garden, but on Fridays the garden is closed, so we walked to the bridge to the main gate.

Sophia and the Edo-Tokyo Museum

On Thursday we looked around Sophia University, where the kids would be attending summer classes. 

While the kids attended orientation, Susan and I visited the Edo-Tokyo Museum. Most of the displays are on the 5th floor of the museum, with the entrance on the 6th.

The museum contained lots of models and displays showing what Edo was like during the Shogun era, and of early Tokyo.

That evening we all went to Roppongi for dinner. It started pouring while we were there.

Yokohama

Today we took the train to Yokohama, a port southwest of Tokyo and Japan's second largest city. We spent our day at Minato Mirai 21 (Port Future 21), a major urban development project on reclaimed land, and checked out the Pokemon store and Landmark Plaza.

While Susan and the kids shopped, I went up to the 69th floor of Japan's second largest building, the Landmark Tower.

On a clear day Mt Fuji is visible from the tower, but it was too cloudy to see it on the day we were there. 

There were good views of Minato Mirai and Tokyo Bay. 

After lunch we checked out the CupNoodles Museum. We learned about how the founder of CupNoodles came up with the idea of instant Ramen and made a custom cup of noodles. After dinner we headed back to Tokyo.