Day 14 in Japan

We're on our way to Kyoto! Jessica, Patty, John, Miho, me, Kotoe, Mommy, Fred and Noriko. Noriko didn't go with us. She just made sure we got to Tokyo Station without any incidents along the way. She's on her way home.

Fred waiting patiently -- maybe not -- at Tokyo Station.

The front of the Shinkansen or bullet train. These trains can go as fast as 150 miles or faster an hour.

Miho and Fred just before boarding the Shinkansen or bullet train in Tokyo Station.

Kyoto Station was busy, too.

The gardens in Maruyama Park in Kyoto was just gorgeous.

The beautiful garden inside Maruyama Park in Kyoto.

Fred in the Gion or geisha district. He's not looking for geisha, though. He's looking for a restaurant.

The Gion or geisha district in Kyoto.

The Gion or geisha district of Kyoto.

The entrance to the Yasaka Jinja (shrine) in Kyoto.

Fred on one of the bridges over the Kamo-gawa. He's eating tako-yaki, these savory doughnut-like balls that are filled with octopus.

We had the waitress that this photo; from left-right, Cheryl, John, Patty, Mommy, me, Jessica, Rumiko, Fred, Kotoe and Miho

Jessica, me and Miho in front of the riverside restaurant in Kyoto.

TUESDAY, JUNE 3

Today is Patty's birthday. She's 45.

As usual, we're up early. And we've packed our bags because we're on our way to Kyoto. Kyoto, in central Japan, was once the capital of the country.

Mariko-san shuttled us to Minami Kashiwa so we can take the train to the huge Tokyo Station. Noriko, who spent the night with her mother (our Auntie Keiko), is with us, to help us buy tickets.

Buying train tickets is a complex process. You've got to know where you're going and which train line to take. There are something like 20 different train lines.

So once everyone is at the station, we buy our tickets to get to central Tokyo.

We get to Tokyo Station with no problem.

We meet our cousins Miho and Kotoe and friend Rumiko, who are going to Kyoto with us. Miho and Kotoe took time off from work, while Rumiko, who is a designer working with Yukiko Hanai, was going to Kyoto on business. She creates the designs for the fabrics that kimonos are made of. She showed us the brochure and they are gorgeous.

We bought Japan Rail passes before we left the States, but we had not activated them. Kotoe said we didn't have to do it in person, so I gathered up everyone's passports and rail pass receipts and Kotoe and I went to find the Japan Rail kiosk.

We went from one Japan Rail office to another. They kept saying it's around the corner. We finally found it, got all seven passes activated and then had to find the others. Like I said, Tokyo Station is HUGE.

We finally all got together. Then we had to buy tickets on the Shinkansen or the bullet train. Yes, these are the trains that can go as fast as 150 miles an hour.

We got the tickets, checked the schedule and found we had something like 20 minutes to get to the train.

We hurriedly said good-bye to Noriko, and off we went. But before we left, we bought some snacks and bottled tea.

In 1970, Daddy got orders to leave Okinawa and go to Fort Benning. We spent a couple of weeks in Japan before we came back to the States.

We went to Kyoto then. It took 10 hours on a bus from Tokyo to Kyoto. On the way back, we took the bullet train and it took three hours.

It still took about three hours.

Because it was the end of the morning rush hour, it was still busy. Our car was pretty full. In fact, we couldn't get seats together. We were scattered around the car. But since we were going to Kyoto, more and more of the other passengers got off as we left Tokyo. Toward the end of the ride, we practically had the car to ourselves.

Our hotel in Kyoto was right across the street from the train station. But Kyoto Station is pretty big. We had to make our way to the end of the station and then go around to find a place to cross the street.

Miho, who is 27 now, was in charge of the trip. So she got us checked in. We had four rooms. One of the rooms had three beds, so we thought Miho, Kotoe and Jessica could stay in that one. Jessica wanted to stay with her parents, so they swapped rooms.

Because we had time before dinner, we decided to go to the Yasaka Jinja and the adjoining Maruyama Park.

We took taxis to get there. It was a beautiful shrine and park.

Then we walked to the Gion or geisha district. We didn't see any geisha, but we saw two maiko. A maiko is a young woman who is 20 or younger, being trained to be a geisha. I know what you think a geisha is, but you're wrong. A geisha is a trained entertainer, who can sing traditional songs and dance to the music. They also serve dinner and pour drinks. They're trained to listen and tell stories. And that's it. They are not prostitutes.

We walked and walked and walked. Just as my mother was reaching exhaustion, we arrived at a riverside restaurant. The river running through Kyoto is the Kamo.

Dinner was excellent, with the smoked duck as the highlight of the meal.

After dinner, we said good-bye to Rumiko, who was going back to Tokyo.

The rest of us took taxis back to the hotel.

And that was the end of our very tiring first day in Kyoto.