Japan

The parks and shrines were so beautiful. This tree was carefully propped up.

Inside the Kyushu National Museum. It was a great day with Sarah, my friend and her family.

Kyushu National Museum, where we saw a beautiful calligraphy exhibit with my friend from Kagoshima.

Walking up the shrine.

Lining up to pet the bull statue for good luck.

Small walking street near the Dazaifu Shrine.

Neighborhood Association poster.

Temple, right downtown.

Another photo from a walk.

Little tent restaurants, a popular place for a meal on the way home from a long day at the office.

Cosplay stores in the downtown fashion malls.

I think these barricades are One Piece, a popular anime show.

Art supplies. So many beautiful pigments.

More beautiful canals on our favourite walking route.

Reminds me of Spirited Away.

More beautiful torii gates.

With our friend at the Dazaifu Shrine.

Super Cookie Land. A popular Japanese comedian. People were lined up for the exhibit.

Harbour view.

Sarah perusing one of many stores.

One of several hot/cold beverage vending machines right outside our apartment, so convenient!

Heading downtown, beautiful canals.

The streets remind me of Vancouver.

View of the barbershop across the street from our Airbnb.

More Cosmos excitement.

Inside Cosmos there are three friendly cats.

The town becomes so beautiful in the snow.

Snow day at the train station. Nothing stops the trains though.

View from hill behind our cabin overlooking the village.

Nearby Honda factory.

Our daily walking route.

Kept pigeons at a house.

Typical Ogawa house.

Abandoned creepy house.

Old Gashapon machines.

By the river, downtown Ogawa.

Cosmos, our favourite cafe.

Ogawa-machi’s downtown.

Arriving in Ogawa-machi.

Composting toilet.

The cabin seemed very well built.

John’s workspace.

Our cabin.

Super Famicom – the attention to detail on these little guys is astounding. I picked up two Gashapon and then the Super Scope and Mariopaint set separately for 700 yen.

The whole Ojisan Zukan gang enjoying the morning sunlight.

Tough day for Ojisan Zukan.

Quiet bamboo forest behind our Kawasaki apartment.

Walking through Akihabara, Tokyo.

Our second Yokohama apartment. In a quiet residential neighborhood. Mt. Fuji is visible on horizon

Downtown Yokohama

Harajuku entertainers. Harajuku is known for youth fashion

Yokohama, with our Airbnb host

Downtown Yokohama by the piers

Lineup for photos

Sarah in our Yokohama apartment

This is our Yokohama apartment, one of the nicest places we have stayed yet

Shibuya, Tokyo alley with variety shops

Kichijoji restaurant

Tokyo Ginza neighborhood

Conveyor built sushi

Packages left in public, very safe!

Cantaloupes for sale, some are a couple hundred dollars each

Stairways in malls sometimes have calorie counters

Akihabara neighborhood, our favorite Tokyo neighborhood. We spent a lot of time there

VW bus driving Tokyo

Harajuku is known for its crepes

Decorated for Christmas in Kawasaki

Our Kawasaki apartment building

Kawasaki neighborhood (just west of Tokyo)

Futon bedroom

Tokyo Imperial palace

Sarah checking out the fruit

Cat sculpture downtown in Ginza

Arcade machine in alley (Akihabara neighborhood)

Our KFC Christmas barrel

And a capsule hotel

With a manga reading room

Yes they are

Video game-themed convenience store

Very special lobster

Owl cafes

Star Wars comes to Japan

Battery dispenser

Kyoto Police mascot

1-foot thick subway door, maybe for floods?

Small bar with video games

Real-life Mario Karters

Extra counter space: floor

Zebra hotel

Crepe-mobile

CNN cafe

Gundam cafe

Back home from a hard day. Ojisan Zukan will miss Osaka.

Giant gyoza

Daily Kindergartners stroll past our window

Airport robot greeting

Cabbage stool

Cat rocks…of course

Polly, our house plant. We had to leave her behind (right side)

No shrine is complete without – capsule toys!

Perfect parking #2

Cat-shaped bread

Toilets with faucets

$130 fruit basket

Even the corporations are cute

So pretty (intricate miniature food models)

Capsule toy – for cats

No idea

Bathroom stall noise generator

I want four of these

Cleanest train station bathrooms

Shoe cleanser for entering airport

Toilet instructions

One of the capsule toys. This is a fellow from the anime movie “Your Name.”

World famous Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto.

Thousands of Torii gates line the shrine’s paths.

Train workers riding the local train.

Night walk along the downtown Osaka canals. This is the very lively Dotonbori neighborhood.

The trains are quiet, clean and, naturally, colour matched.

Our Nanjing hostel’s backyard. We spent two nights here as we passed through China.

Cute traffic signs in Kyoto.

North of us is Minoo Park. There are monkeys, but unfortunately we didn’t see them.

So much attention to details. Cute (kawaii)!

Numerous running, biking and walking paths in our neighborhood go along the canals.

We walk this way to the local supermarket. The streets are so clean and quiet.

Our Osaka apartment. It’s very small. The top bunk bed is motorized to provide more space.