Cherry blossoms, or sakura, are a big deal in Japan. So big that the news has a special weather segment on every night when cherry blossom season starts so you know when they will be in bloom. I think that plum blossoms, or ume, are equally as beautiful, and we were in Japan during prime ume viewing. I practiced using my digital macro setting. A lot. Here are some of my favorites–please vote on which one I should frame (if any)!
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Home, thoroughly tired, and missing Japan and Mom and Dad! I think I will actually be in bed before 7:00 tonight, so here are the trip highlights for now.
Day 1, Harajuku:
Day 2, Roppongi Hills: 
Day 3, Kichijoji: 
Day 4, Asakusa:
Day 5, ume: 
Day 6, Meiji: 
Day 7, Asakusa, again! 
Day 8, Kabuki:
Day 9, Kyoto:
Day 10, Kyoto: 
Day 11, Jindaiji: 
Day 12, Ghibli and Ukai Toriyama: 
Day 13, local matsuri: 
Yesterday was my first full day in Japan. Of course, I went shopping. I got almost all of my omiyage taken care of in one day, thank you very much. Tokyo is the same. The wondrous thing about Tokyo (and Japan, really) is that construction is always taking place, buildings are always being torn down and built back up as something new and improved, and fashion changes every time you blink. But the atmosphere stays the same. After a few slip-ups (handing my money directly to the sales woman instead of placing it in her money dish) and language barrier problems, it easy to get into the groove. Boy, I’d like to prove that I still still hang here.
This post contains some great pictures that my Dad took yesterday. I am using my parents’ computer and my photos are not on it, so I am using license to publish photos taken by someone else. Thanks, Dad.
This is my favorite of the day. I love the Gap here. I know it sounds so wrong, and even more wrong because I always have to buy the pants two sizes larger than what I buy in the States. (I wear a 6 and 10 size pants fit me in Japan.) When I lived here, the notion of not “fitting in” wore on my mental state and actually caused me to lose a little too much weight over a couple of years. But I digress. Here is the photo that I am submitting to Gap (too bad my sweater is JCrew and my mom’s jacket is Eddie Bauer):
And actually I lied. I forgot that my mom put my photos on her computer. Score! Continuing below are some shots my dad took:
I got some very mixed advice from many fashionistas about this pattern combo (Burberry and tweed). I tried it and I love it. So there. And I also added a new accessory from my mom:
Here are some shots that I took (side: for some reason WordPress decided to not save the rest of the post that I had completed 5 minutes ago so this next section may be half-hearted.):
Harajuku station–hasn’t changed in at least 23 years.
Takeshita-dori (famous street for new fashions)
Ume blossoms trying to bloom
We are too early for fully-bloomed sakura and ohanami (I wrote about it here) but hopefully before we leave we will see some ume blossoms, which I sometimes think are even more beautiful than sakura.
Timing today: left Tamachi at 10:00 and arrived in Harajuku at around 10:45
Ticket cost: 190 yen each way per person on Yamanote-sen
Time elapsed: 4 1/2 hours
Accomplished: omiyage shopping, walking around Harajuku, eating lunch
Lunch: Shakey’s pizza: 850 yen all you can eat
Stay tuned!
Today: Roppongi Hills, Muji, local sites
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