Japan (2025) on The Neumanns

Flight Back Home

Tue, 03 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

We spent our last hours in Japan packing then getting breakfast in one of our hotel’s restaurants. It was bittersweet as we fell in love with Japan, but we missed home and wanted to see our dog Emmy. We got to the airport four hours early, and spent a while in the Delta lounge waiting until our plane to be ready for boarding. The Delta lounge had some amazing food, especially the ramen and curry, most of us had second helpings. They also had a fantastic take on an Old Fashioned which I have to sometime try to recreate. The plane ride was two hours shorter on the way back due to going with the wind this time. Nico actually slept a few hours, which he hadn’t on the flight out. The food on the flight was very good, we enjoyed butter chicken and later on Japanese curried chicken. We finally made it back home and spent the rest of the day unpacking and fawning over our dog. It was such a great trip and Lee had done such a great job planning it all out for us. Finally Nico drew a picture that summarized the trip for him.

Japan - Day 13 - Kyoto

Mon, 02 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This morning we got up bright and early for our last day in Japan, so sad! We took the bullet train to Kyoto for the day. The train is so fast, it goes 125 mph! We made it to Kyoto in about 2 hours. We all took a nice nap on the train, while Nico got some much deserved iPad time. After arriving in Kyoto, we took another train to get to Fushimi Inari Taisha. Fushimi Inari Taisha is the primary shrine dedicated to Kami Inari, a deity revered for its association with rice, fertility, agriculture, and prosperity. Kami Inari is frequently depicted with foxes as its messengers. The shrine is situated at the foot of the Inari mountain, which stands at an elevation of 233 meters above sea level. The mountain is home to numerous smaller shrines, each accessible by trails that wind their way up the mountain. These trails span a distance of about two and a half miles and take approximately 2 hours to complete. We made it up about a quarter of the way but decided to turn back because our limited time in Kyoto.

Japan - Day 12 - Imperial Gardens

Sun, 01 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This morning Lee let me and the boys sleep in (after my late night with Lee the night before). She and Nana went to the Imperial gardens, which is just across the moat from our hotel. There they had a guided tour with two guides. The gardens were the Shogun fortace from the Edo period. Lee and Nana really enjoyed the tour and found it very interesting.

Japan - Day 11 - Tsukiji Market

Sat, 31 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This morning it was raining and looked like it was going to rain the entire day. We met up with our tour guide, a Japanese college student here in Tokyo. He showed us around a near by Buddhist temple. It was very interesting to see the inside and learn about some of the local customs regarding prayer and worship. After the temple we headed over to the famed Tsukiji market. The market is a sprawling mass of retail vendors, covering a few city blocks. There are nearly 500 vendors selling everything from fish, vegetables, wagyu beef, knives, ceramics and everything in between. We meandered through the vast array of stalls for a couple hours tasting samples and looking at the interesting things for sale, all while trying to avoid the rain. The last stop of our tour, our guide took as to a fish cutting demonstration where we got to watch a chef cut up and present a fish. Afterwards we got to use the fish to create out own fish bowls and then eat them. It was a fun experience!

Japan - Day 10 - Asakusa

Fri, 30 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Today we headed to Asakusa, a borough of Tokyo. This area has the big temple we went to on another day. First thing we did was go to a sushi making class. Nico had so much fun and Matthew made so many nigiri! We learned about how to make the special sushi rice and how to roll sushi rolls. After our sushi making class Nana and Lee rented kimonos and we had a little photo shoot in the temple area. I think both Lee and Nana really enjoyed the experience. They said there were so many layers and it took over 30 minutes to put on even with someone helping them! Once the ladies were dressed up and got their photos taken we spend the afternoon meandering the area. While we were in the temple area Nico discovered a fish catching game and played it and even caught a fish! After Nana and Lee returned their kimonos we headed back to the hotel for a quick nap before dinner. We had dinner at a fancy Chinese restaurant in our hotel. We are having such a wonderful time here in Japan, we are already talking about coming back!

Japan - Day 9 - Nikko

Thu, 29 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Today we headed to Nikko. Nikko is a city in the mountains about a two hours car ride outside of Tokyo. Lee hired a private driver for the day to take us to Nikko and show us around. The mountains in Japan are absolutely stunning, so lush and green. If you’ve ever seen Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbor Totoro, it’s like a scene out of that movie. We first started out with a gondola ride, they call them ropeways here, up the mountain to a scenic viewing spot. Then we drove to a beautiful mountain lake called Lake Chezenji. It was a stunning photo opportunity. We also learned that the 2023 G7 summit was in Nikko. After Lake Chezenji our driver took us to a scenic river with a waterfall, where we walked across a couple of very old wooden bridges to see some gorgeous natural sights. Once we were done with the river, our driver took us to another river spot in the Nikko National Park that had some beautiful waterfalls. Nico loved being in “his” park. When we were done taking in the wonderful scenes at the park, we headed off to the Imperial Summer Villa, where the imperial family used to summer. It was a very large traditional Japanese house, which part of the building was built in the Edo period. Our final stop before heading back to Tokyo we stopped to see an ancient bridge and Rinnoji Temple up in the mountains. Nico and I stayed back in the town and got a bite to eat. Then we headed back to Tokyo, where we got a bite to eat in the “basement” of our hotel, an arcade of shops and restaurants connected to the subway. Finally Lee and I went out to a liquor store in Ginza where we got some gifts for friends. After that we got a drink in the hotel bar and headed to bed. Such an amazing day here in Japan!

Japan - Day 8 - I Dream of Jiro

Wed, 28 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Today Nico let us sleep in, and then Matthew had a moot court call so we didn’t leave the hotel until about 11am. Then we took the train to Shibuya where we did some shopping. First we found a Pokémon store, then we went to the official Nintendo store where we found a lot of cool souvenirs. Then we headed to a Kintsugi class. Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing pottery with gold. We all had a lot of fun learning about the art and then doing it ourselves. Our teacher is a renowned Kintsugi artist and it was amazing learning from such a master of their craft. After the class we sent Nana and Nico packing back to the hotel while Lee, Matthew and I headed to the world renowned sushi restaurant called Sukiyabashi Jiro Honten. There is actually a documentary about the restaurant, which has won many three star (the highest honor) Michelin awards. We enjoyed a twenty course sushi menu and paired it with some delightful sake. Afterwards we took the train back to the hotel where we joined Nico and Nana as they finished their dinner. Then Lee and I went down to the hotel bar and had a couple drinks to end the day. Another amazing day here in Japan!

Japan - Day 7 - Mount Fuji

Tue, 27 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Today we had to get up bright and early to meet our tour group for our day trip to Mount Fuji, Japan’s tallest mountain. Once on the bus, it took us about two and a half hours to arrive at our first stop at Mount Fuji. Lee, Matthew and I slept most of the ride. Our first stop on the mountain was mostly a tourist trap, a large building selling knick-knacks and food, but we did get a nice photo opportunity and to refuel after the long bus ride. After about an hour we re-boarded the bus and headed to our next stop which was lunch. Lunch was at a road side restaurant that our tour company had booked out for us. Next on our itinerary was a gondola ride up the mountain. Again we took the bus to the gondola station where we got on. We got to see some beautiful views of the surrounding country, but unfortunately it was a pretty cloudy day. One thing of note was the sulfur mine we saw from above, it was quite interesting to see and of course, quite pungent. Once we were done with the gondola ride our bus took use to a beautiful alpine lake where we boarded a catamaran and took a very relaxing ride around the lake. Finally, after the boat ride, we took our bus to the train station, where we got to do something every exciting, take the BULLET TRAIN! The bullet train’s max speed is 200 km/h or about 125 mph. We made it back to Tokyo in about 30 minutes! It was so cool, and it was a super smooth ride! Once we got back to hour hotel we ended the day with a fancy dinner at our hotel.

Japan - Day 6 - Asakusa, Tokyo

Mon, 26 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Today was another fully loaded day! We started off again, with breakfast at our hotel. Lee and Matthew split the traditional Japanese breakfast, Matthew said next time he would pass . . . Then we headed to the Sky Tree Tower, one of the tallest buildings in Tokyo. On our way to the tower we encountered the Pokemon store! Nico’s very good friend Calvin requested we get him some Pokemon merch from Japan, so we stopped. The tower has a viewing deck that we waited a long time to get to. While we were there we had some drinks and snacks while taking in the incredible views. After the tower we headed to the base of the tower where there was a shopping center, and what do you know, it had an animal cafe! So we stopped and Nico was able to feed bunnies and Guinea pigs, and he was also able to hold some mice, a gecko and a snake! The also had a capybara, so Nico was very excited about that. After the animal cafe, Matthew discovered a playground in the same shopping center so Nico and I explored that for a while. Next we took the train to Senso-Ji Temple where we took in the sights and sounds of this awe-inspiring place. Then we got a quick bite to eat in the area before the main event . . . SUMO WRESTLING! We got to dine and watch a real sumo wrestling match. And after the match they asked for volunteers to wrestle the pros. Nico volunteered and I seconded him. They dressed us up in silly inflatable sumo suit and we fought the real wrestlers. Nico won his wrestling match and had such a blast!

Japan - Day 5 - Shinjuku, Tokyo

Sun, 25 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Before heading to heading to Shinjuku, we made a pit stop in Ginza, the premium shopping district in Tokyo. I am very much a watch fanatic and had researched a watch from Japan I wanted to get while were where here. We went to Citizen’s flagship Tokyo store where I picked out the one I wanted, then from there we hopped in the train to Shinjuku.

Japan - Day 4 - Shibuya, Tokyo

Sat, 24 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Today was Nico’s favorite day so far. We started out with breakfast at the hotel where he had Japanese pancakes (they are very much like the ones you are familiar with, but they are much fluffier). Then we took the train to Shibuya, a borough of Tokyo. There we had crepes, and visited three different animal cafes. We went to an otter cafe, where Lee quickly was bitten by an otter on the foot, a pig cafe, where the pigs would fight over who got to snuggle with you, and finally a Samoyed dog cafe, where we got to pet the white fluffy dogs. After all that we met up with a ramen tasting tour. We went to three ramen restaurants and had two bowls at each restaurant. Surprisingly, Nico loved that. He couldn’t stop talking about how much he loved the ramen. And finally when we had to head back, Matthew picked up the reigns as our navigator. He got us to the train stations, navigated us through a train transfer and got us safely back to our hotel. A very successful day for us!

Japan - Day 3 - DisneySea

Fri, 23 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Today we spent our last day at Disney at DisneySea again. We hit the last few rides we missed for the day before. We stayed all day in the park, including having dinner at a fancy Chinese restaurant called “The Silk Road”. After dinner we packed up and headed to our hotel in Tokyo where we will stay for the rest of our trip.

Japan - Day 2 - DisneySea

Thu, 22 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Today was our second day in Japan and second day at Disney. This time we headed to DisneySea, a Japanese exclusive Disney park. Nico had so much fun, he rode 13 rides according to Lee’s records. We had breakfast at our hotel and ended the night with dinner at a Japanese restaurant in the park.

The Indiana Jones ride was the last ride of the night. Nico could barely keep his eyes open, that is until we did this ride. He was ready to party after that.

Japan - Day 1 - Disneyland

Wed, 21 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

What a great day to start our first day in Japan! It was Nico’s 7th birthday and he got to spend it at Tokyo Disneyland! We got to go on a bunch of rides and by the end of the day we had to carry Nico around because he was so tired and fell asleep.

Flight to Japan

Tue, 20 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

We headed out this morning for Tokyo, Japan. Nico has been very excited! It was the longest flight we’d ever taken, 12 hours! Nico didn’t sleep for a single second.