Shrek in Japanese-English

Americans are spoiled.

I guess that could be said about quite a bit of our culture.

I am speaking about a certain field though. We are spoiled with fantastic drama! We have wonderful live theater, mesmerizing movies and music that can make the most stoic person emotional.

When the opportunity came for us to see how the Japanese would perform we were hesitate. Don't get me wrong. The Japanese are just as talented, and in most cases, seem more dedicated that Americans. We only hesitated because we do not speak their language.

How were we going to survive a two hour performance when we don't speak the same language? How would the kids handle it?

Would we be able to understand through body language? Or maybe through hand gestures?


On post a few times a year, a Japanese University brings an American play to life in ENGLISH!

Yeah! It was the perfect way to see some Japanese talent, without the stress of trying to figure out what in the world the actors were saying =)

The drama team was performing Shrek Jr. We were excited to see how they would decorate the stage, and even more excited to see the costumes!

Well, the Japanese did not disappoint!

Shrek is such a great show. The drama crew did an awesome job! Their English was quite good. Shrek and Donkey were just spot on most of the time. Their pronunciation was good. Their diction was off in several parts. It was not a lack of talent. It was just a non-native speaker trying to work out a complicated language.

There were some characters that you even forgot they were NOT English. Then, there were other characters that you could not understand a single word. The actor who played Pinocchio was trying to  keep the "high pitched" young boy voice throughout the whole play. It was really difficult to listen to.

If I had not seen Shrek a few hundred times then I am not sure I would have followed certain parts.

The costumes were original and fun. The favorite costume and character was Lord Farquaard. He walked around on his knees with fake little legs. He 'danced' and 'ran' a few times to the hoots and hollers of the audience.

Fiona was a wonderful singer. The best scene of the night was one I had never seen before in Shrek. There were three females playing the role of Fiona as she aged. The first one was very young, maybe 10, then a 14 year old and then the college student who played Fiona for the rest of the show. We watch as Fiona sang a song about being trapped in the tower. As she spun around the tower an older Fiona would come out. It was really well done.

Even in English, on an American base the vast majority of the audience was Japanese. In order to accommodate for the locals the theater scrolled the play in Japanese on a side wall.  The locals didn't seem to mind the setup.

When intermission came, only the American stood up at first. We wondered if we were 'supposed to' stand and leave. We try hard not to offend the Japanese and to follow the parts of their culture we can respect without compromising our beliefs. When they all remained sitting we were puzzled. Finally, they start to stand and take a break. We were told that since they were 'visiting our theater' they wanted us to go first. How sweet they are!

At intermission, the theater students had set up a few photo backdrops for people to pose in front of. They had also set up a few areas for the kids to color Shrek pictures. The kids thought it was pretty cool.

We went back in to watch the second act. We were all getting a little tuckered. See, you don't realize how hard it is to try and translate all the time. After an hour you are often a little tired. Two hours in, you are starting to get frustrated. With three hours of active translating under your belt, you are ready for ice cream and a bath.

When the show passed two hours I thought we would lose the kids completely. Luckily, the young ones had been given clipboards with paper and pencils. This kept them entertained. They played games, passed notes and drew pictures. Who knew I would be so thankful for a simple clipboard?

We were about to hit three hours and even I was D-O-N-E.  As I said, I really like Shrek. I think the Japanese did an awesome job. But any play that lasts that long is just plain OUT.OF.HAND!

Finally, the show ended. Thank you. Then, for the encore, the whole Shrek crew came out to see "I'm a Believer". They danced and sang and ROCKED it! Everyone had a ball. If they could only have sang that song an hour earlier.

We thought the fun was over until we stepped out of the theater. The Shrek crew has lined the hallways to sign autographs and pose for pictures. The Japanese, again, let the Americans go first. It was adorable and sweet.

Overall, we had fun. We enjoyed the show and learned a few more Japanese-English words. We look forward to seeing a few more shows during our tour. Next time I will remember a fanny cushion ;)

Enjoy Your Show~

Aggie Amy

Breath-taking Sakura... AKA Cherry Blossoms

I have seen the Cherry Blossoms in Washington, D.C.

I have seen all the online pictures of Cherry Blossoms in Japan.

Please, I own every single Cherry Blossom bubble bath and smell good that Bath & Body Works makes.

I thought I knew about the flower, smell, look and coverage of the Cherry Blossom.

I have NEVER seen anything like the Cherry Blossoms here in our area of Kanagawa, Japan.

The flowers are called Sakura (saw-cur-a). Sakura Season is short and highly valued. There are national calendars to tell visitors when the trees will bloom in each geographical area. There are vacations that sell out in hours to simply go look at flowers! They have their whole school year set so they can have the vacation during Sakura season.

That is like Texas planning Spring Break around Bluebonnets.

It's nuts!!!

I thought people were just exaggerating. In my head I was going, "Come on, how GOOD could FLOWERS be?" I mean, I can go to Costco and grab some pretty flowers.

How could some flowers excite the calm and quiet Japanese?

How can a few buds on trees make people plan their whole vacation around the chance they might get to see them?

I was wrong.


The whole area is covered in hundreds and hundreds of huge, blossoming white and pink flowers. One day you go to sleep, and the next day you are assaulted by blooms.

The Sakura are tee.totally, overwhelmingly gorgeous! Just look at a few of these trees. They are HUGE!

Here's the only issue I have with Sakura season.

It is way too short! Once the blooms show, they will open completely and FALL OFF in less than 14 days! Seriously?!?!?

The locals call is "Spring Snow". You walk out and see the sidewalks and streets look like hail has hit the area.

You can, literally, watch as the Cherry Blossom "Snow" falls to the ground. You know the end is near. The site makes even those in a hurry, stop and take notice of the beauty.



I took the girls out to take their pictures on a Thursday. They were thrilled to play around in the fantastic park by post. They were even okay with posing for me, for "just a couple" of pictures. Look at that beautiful tree behind them.

Three DAYS later I went back with the boys to take their pictures are that same tree was EMPTY! I had to find another tree. It's no where near as full. How can that have happened in three days?

The beautiful park has only a few days left of Sakura season. The locals know it. There were people everywhere! It was like trying to take a picture in front of the Disney Castle, I just could not get a shot without other people in the background.

It is crazy! How can beauty fade that fast?

At least we got to see it. We will never forget it.

This is the simply beauty and wonder of Nippon.

This is Japan at it's best.

Take time today to smell the flowers, wherever you are in the world today!

Happy Sakura,

~Aggie Amy

Hiroshima & Miyajima

Our crew has been traveling a bit. We just left Kyoto and headed west to Hiroshima on the fabulous Shinkansen. I could get used to traveling this way!  The train station is impeccably clean and safe. Once you go through the 'turn stalls' there is a 'waiting room' where you can watch local TV (clearly not too helpful for this English- speaking American, though it's strangely 
entertaining.) or you can watch the board for information regarding your train. 

We have never had a train be late in Japan. Not once.  I hear it does happen, but we have not had that issue. We all really enjoy the train stations. I enjoy the shopping and people watching. Everyone else likes the trains and finding out where to go next. Go figure! 

On the road train again....The seats on the Shinkansen are comfy and large enough for even our big crew. The train is remarkably quiet. There are bento boxes- adult and kids versions- available for purchase. Who wouldn't want to eat those adore things?!? Please don't ask me what is in there. I have no idea. The food is good though and we eat well.

We arrived in the gorgeous 'river city'. Yes, Hiroshima is clearly a city with a tough history. However, we wanted to see some fun stuff first. 

Explaining to our young children all about World War II and the atomic bomb was going to be tough. We decided to save that for the next day. Delaying gave us a chance to catch our breath and enjoy our first stop.

Hiroshima sits on a breathtaking bay. It is known for the amazing views and rivers throughout the city. It is a town of about 2.5 miliion people. It's climate is close to that of North Carolina. Hiroshima is respected for it's education, cultural events and yearly Peace Summit. 

Enough background, time to get our tourist on. Our first outing was to the Itsukushima, which is more commonly known as "Miyajima" or the 'shrine island'.

In order to get to Miyajima we had to take another short train ride and then hop on a ferry. (The kids are going to know every single type of transportation in Japan when we finish our tour here!) 


Most people recognize
 Miyajima for its "floating" torii gate. The floating torii is the third most 'recognizable' symbol of Japan. (How do they figure that stuff out?) It is said to have been built to honor three female sisters, who became deities of the water, tides and sea life. 

The torii was first built in the 6th century. Wow, that was a LONG time ago! It has been repaired/ replaced several times since then. This sea is affected by strong tides. Most of the year the torii is sitting on island mud.  At low tide, the bottom of the sea is exposed. At high tide, the sea covers all the previously exposed mud and fills the areas underneath the shrine. To view the torii floating is considered such a blessing that there are online maps to predict the days you should visit. We didn't consider any of that. We had to travel when we did. It was pretty cool that it was floating when we were there though. We were "blessed". I'll take it :)

The island of Itsukushima is considered a sacred place. This is a very serious belief. No one is allowed to give birth or die on the island. If a woman is pregnant and close to her due date she has to return to the mainland. If someone is eldery and feeling poorly, they have to return to the mainland. Talk about pressure! You are not allowed to cut down trees or encroach on nature in any way. 

Deer and monkeys roam freely on the island.(The monkeys must have been on vacation when we were there. We didn't see a single one.)  Deer are thought of as sacred in the native Shinto religion because they are considered messengers of the gods. They walk the streets of the city, not afraid of the tourists. Actually, the deer are not afraid of anything! Look at this one we caught trying to get into a restaurant! He kept trying to push the 'open' button with his nose. Poor guy didn't understand why the people inside where holding the doors closed. 

AJ just had to take selfie with some of the deer. It looked like the deer was actually posing! (We didn't touch the deer or feel threatened by them, in case you were wondering.) There were- no joke- probably 75 of them roaming around as we toured the island. It's a little weird. They walk around the tourist and don't seem to bother the many open shops. (The shopping here is similar to most of Japan. It is long rows of three sided buildings with a large garage door-like side that faces the street. When you go from shop to shop you never have to open a door, because the shops are all 'outside'.) 

What is your town 'known for'? This town has a unique claim to fame. The "shamoji", or "rice paddle" in our house, is a style of wooden spoon used to serve cooked rice without impairing the taste. It is said to have been invented by a monk who lived on the island. The shamoji is a popular souvenir- we should know since we bought a tiny one for our Christmas tree. Here is the world's largest Shamoji. Don't say you never saw anything nutty on my blog!

Being a tourist destination there is bound to  be a Hello Kitty store. (Don't ask me about the whole she is really a girl, not a cat thing. I don't get it.) This Hello Kitty had some of the elements of Miyajima: the Torii, the rice paddle and the bell from the shrine. Carson was taking this shot, so hubby took the 'artistic version' with us gals looking away. Whatever. I have a picture. I'm happy.

Here's the little miss with ALL of the elements of Miyajima Island: The Torii, the rice paddle, the deer and dressed in the traditional clothes of the Emperor who established the sacred island. 

She wanted to know what kind of warrior would wear flip flops into battle. I didn't have an answer for that one! Anyone have a clue?

We enjoyed our afternoon on the island. It was a really relaxed, easy way to learn about Japan. Plus, where else will we get to have bacon wrapped, fried lotus flower and fried asparagus with cheese? You never know what you are ordering when you can't read the menu!

We got back on the ferry, to the train, to the hotel. We fed the troops and retired to our rooms exhausted. Well, wouldn't you know it? The kids weren't that tired. They were excited to find the famous "hotel shirts & slippers" we had been hearing about. All the hotels have their own version. The minute they saw the nightshirts and matching slippers, they just had to see why the Japanese loved those things so much. What ensued was a good 30 minutes of nightshirt wearing, picture tasking goofiness. Oh to be young and silly. Wait, I am!

The next day was going to be a doozie. We had all day to tour Hiroshima's historical sites before we got on the late train back to Tokyo. 

We started out the day by telling the truth of war, as best we could, to our military brats. 

We believe in honest conversation. We knew the museum would have pictures and stories that our young kids would be bothered by. Here is the jest of what we said. 

"Countries do things in war that have to be done in order to end the war. People get hurt. Children get hurt. Innocent people die. It sucks.(We never say this word in our house. This was said to enforce how strongly we feel about the subject.)  In the end sometimes the only way to have peace is to face war. "

Then, we gathered our kids and went to one of the most well-done museums I have ever seen. 

Welcome to Hiroshima, Japan.

Walk with me. See what I saw. 

The museum is quiet. You don't hear another soul.  You are forced, due to the small space, to take a solo walk down a long and windy hall. 

For the first 45 steps or so you don't see anything except the walkway. 

It is silent, and hallow. 

Then you come upon the first plaque. It sets the tone for the entire interaction to come. 

I had to pause. Did I read that correctly? I read it again. 

Japan- in it's own museum, in it's own country- just took part of the blame for the tragic history of this town. I was in awe. 

I have been to many, many museums. I have been to Dachu, seen Auschwitz, stood silently at the World Trade Centers, Oklahoma City Memorial, even the Aggie Bonfire Memorial just to name a few. For some reason the tone that was set by this simple plaque touched me. I'm not exactly sure why, but it is a different feel. 

You continue to walk around the circle and read a few more plaques. Then you round the corner to a massive diorama.

On Monday, August 6, 1945, at 8:15 a.m., the nuclear bomb "Little Boy" was dropped on Hiroshima by an American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, directly killing an estimated 80,000 people. Within the next few months, another 80,000 people died. The city's population at this point was about 350,000. That means half the city perished in a matter of five months.  At least those are the numbers the Japanese believe perished. A strange effect of blowing up the town was all the records were destroyed, whole families perished and diseases never seen before were taking the lives of people faster than the survivors could keep track of. 


The bomb exploded about 2,000 feet above the city. The famous mushroom cloud soared up to over 40,000 feet before returned it's poison to the ground. For comparison's sake, most commercial airlines fly at about 30,000 feet. Anyone outside within 3 miles of the blast was said to be 'instantly vaporized'. The image on the left is where a person was sitting on the steps of the Hiroshima bank. There was nothing left of the person. Not ash or clothes. The temperature at the time of the blast was said to be about 1500 degrees F for approximately 2 seconds. 

92 % of the buildings with 4 miles were incinerated instantly. Some of the reinforced concrete buildings were of a far stronger construction than is required by normal standards in America, because of the earthquake danger in Japan. This exceptionally strong construction explained why the framework of some of the buildings in the center of  the city did not collapse. The concrete buildings were only shells though, their insides instantly burned or collapsed killing all inside. This phenomenon explains the most famous surviving building, the "A-Bomb Dome". 

Those who lived through the initial blast were in various stages of injury and shock. 94% of the doctors in Hiroshima died the day of the bombing. They had been in town for a training session and were very close to the epicenter. The lack of doctors left those who did survive without anyone with medical knowledge to help them. 

The survivors were tested again when 20 minutes after the explosion the typical summer rains started. Only this time the rain was different. It was called 'black rain'. The 'black rain' reached ground level as sticky, dark, dangerously radioactive water. It not only stained skin, clothing, and buildings, but also was ingested by breathing and by consumption of contaminated food or water, causing radiation poisoning. The picture is from a building 7 miles from the epicenter with the stains of black rain running down the wall.

Inside the museum, there is a circular shaped room that is covered with 140,000 tiny tiles. The tiles are each only 2 inches square and show the remaining town of Hiroshima. Each tile represents one life lost due to the atomic bomb. It is an overwhelming eerie and heartbreaking display.

The sickness and death would last for not just days or months, but years. The most well known story is perhaps that of Sadako Sasaki. Sadako was 2 years old when the atomic bomb was dropped near her home. She was at home when the explosion occurred, about one mile from Ground Zero.  She survived the initial explosion. Ten years later, when Sadako was 12 she developed swellings on her neck and behind her ears. Purple spots formed on her legs. She was diagnosed with leukemia (her mother referred to it as "an atom bomb disease" since so many of the survivors developed this condition). 

Sadako spent her time in the hospital folding origami paper cranes. She was inspired to do so by the Japanese legend says the person who "created 1,000 origami cranes would be granted a wish". She spent months on end folding cranes. Her wish was simply to live. 

Sadako died on 25 October 1955.

In 1958, a statue of Sadako holding a golden crane was unveiled in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. At the foot of the statue a plaque reads: "This is our cry. This is our prayer. Peace on Earth." You can see the cases behind the statue that holds just a small portion of the paper cranes that are still collected each year. On the right, an up close image of the tiny paper origami  cranes. These are about the size of an American dime. They are combined with other cranes to make incredible pictures. 

Her older brother Masahiro Sasaki, who speaks on his sister's life at events, says Sadako died having folded approximately 1,300 paper cranes. Mr. Sasaki and the family have donated some of Sadako's cranes at places of importance around the world at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and in NYC at the 9-11 memorial. I know because years ago when I was working with wounded warriors I walked under 1,000 paper cranes at that same 9-11 memorial. Being in Hiroshima now is like making a full circle to me. What an blessing to see these pieces of art on two continents. 

Paper cranes from all the world still pour into Hiroshima. They can be seen throughout the country at shrines and temples everywhere. The simple paper crane is seen as a wish for peace and a prayer for longevity. 

On the peaceful grounds of the Museum complex burns an eternal flame. The flame will burn "until the last atomic weapon has been destroyed and the threat of atomic warfare no longer exists." Above the flame, there is an arc that hold the ashes of survivors who died in the years following the bombing. When you look from the museum, through the arc, you see the flame and then the A-Bomb Dome. It is striking. 

We walked away from the museum with heavy hearts and tons of questions. 

Some of the questions we can answer. 

"Why was Hiroshima chosen?"

Hiroshima was selected for a bomb site for many reasons. It was was a city of considerable military importance. It contained the 2nd Army Headquarters, which commanded the defense of all of southern Japan. Also, Hiroshima was a communications center, a storage point, and an assembly area for troops. It held a military manufacturing center that was considered key to the success of the Japanese. 


"Could it happen again?"

 Yes, it could happen again. This graph was updated in the museum, but my picture did not turn out. These were the figures in 2011. 

"Why do people want to remember such horrible things?" 

There are over 1.5 million visitors to the Hiroshima Peace Museum every year. Only 200,000 visitors are foreigners. The vast majority of visitors are Japanese. We visit to remember. We visit so we never forget, and our children's children never forget. For we know,  'those who forget history and are doomed to repeat it'.

"Will we offend the Japanese by visiting the site of so much death and destruction?"

They visit Pearl Harbor. The Japanese did that to Americans. They brought the war to our country and we still let them visit Pearl Harbor. We are not offended when they visit Pearl Harbor. 

"Does that mean we still don't like each other?"

Well, everyone has a right to think what they want to think. We "like" the Japanese and they "like" us-- officially. We, as a family, adore Japan and it's amazing people. We honor the fallen by repairing our differences daily as we make new friends with the local Japanese. 

Some of the questions we could simply not answer. 

"Mom, why did it happen?"

War is brutal. It doesn't care the age of it's victim, or discriminate based on race. War is living hell.

I don't think our older children will ever forget the images, sights and sounds they saw in Hiroshima. I know I won't forget. Ever.

I combined this museum with our lighter visit to Miyajima on purpose. 

You see, life has moved on. 

Friendships have been forged. 

The Japanese are not only our allies, they are looking to the future with us as their partners. 

They want peace more than anyone else I have ever met. 

Now my children understand the "silly" hand gesture every Japanese make when they have their pictures made. We see this gesture all over Japan, by all ages of Japanese.

Peace. 

How fitting. 

Peace be with you my Friends,

~Aggie Amy

Kyoto, Kimonos and C-C-o-o-o-l--d

Kyoto is well known for beauty, history and for very tourist-friendly. It is one of the  few places on our "Must Do" list to visit while we are stationed in Japan.

We recently visited this amazing city. I have been oh.so.anxious to tell you all the details.

A little bit of knowledge before we start our tour. (What can I say, once a teacher- always a teacher.)

Kyoto (京都, Key-oh-toe) served as Japan's capital and the emperor's residence from 794 until 1868. It has a population of 1.4 million people.
In Japanese Kyoto is written as 京都.
Tokyo, the current capital, is written as 東京.
Notice the same kanji '京 is used for both?

Tokyo means "eastern capital"  while Kyoto means "capital city". Tokyo is also called the 'new capitol' since it has 'only been the capital for 140+ years'. 

We live near Tokyo. First we had to decide how we would get to Kyoto, which is about 330 miles. Normally, with a large family, we find that driving is the most economical way to travel. That all changed when we moved to Japan. 330 miles could easily turn into 20 hours on the road and over $400 in tolls. The tolls were actually the least of our worries. We simply don't get a ton of days off to travel and hated to spend our time sitting in traffic.

I researched taking the "normal" train to Kyoto. It would have been an okay option. A ton of stops, not too comfortable and not cheap.

Then, I looked at the shinkansen. For those of you who don't know what the shinkansen is by it's 'real name', I bet you will recognize it by it's slang name- the "Bullet Train".

I have been looking forward to riding the bullet train. The train travels right at 200 MPH and makes very few stops. It is incredibly safe, having never had a fatality crash. When you can travel far and fast it comes at a price. Each ticket is about $300 round trip. However, if you know me at all you know I found a deal on our travel :)  Bonus: We got to pass right by Mt. Fuji as the sun was rising. It was breathtaking. (The train goes too fast for pictures! I got this one online.)

There is an amazing amount of things to see in Kyoto. Even the kids got into planning our trip. Our oldest was excited to try out his new camera, and the other kiddos wanted to see the sites they had heard about in Japanese class. 

We started out with the Fushimi Inari Shrine (伏見稲荷大社, foo-she-me in-our-e). There are said to be over 10,000 torii gates here!!!!


Fushimi Inari is dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice. Foxes are thought to be Inari's messengers, resulting in many fox statues across the shrine grounds.

The toriis are all the same orange-red color. It is called vermilion, but I surely didn't know what color that was until I looked it up.  The toriis are mostly the same size standing at 8 feet tall. You can easily walk through them with a few thousand of your closest friends.

On the back of each torii gates are various "good wishes" and "blessings" messages.  The torii gates are in various conditions. Some are brand new and perfect. Others are quite old and damaged.


Hubby wanted to see Every.Single.One. I heart that man of mine. I really do. He just gets a little compulsive competitive about seeing ALL the sites when we travel. I am more of a 'hit the highlights type' gal. We try to compromise. The 10,000 torii gates is a classic example. 

Here is the map ----->  Now unless you like our crazy friend. cough. cough. Joel, then you don't have to climb the entire thing! In an hour of climbing, we got to where the big red dot is about halfway up before this wife won the battle of climbing. 

This was just our first site of the day. We were trying to get to more sites this day, so- thank you Jesus- I convinced hubby we didn't have to climb ALL.the.WAY.up the massive hill.

Then, IT happened. It started snowing. Now this normally would not stop Matt us from doing anything. But, as is typical for my 'murphy's law', we were not ready for snow. I had checked the weather before we left. It was supposed to be in the low 50's our entire trip. It does not snow in the low 50s!

We had packed sweatshirts and umbrellas. We had packed swimsuits for the pool. We had even packed snacks, drinks and breakfast foods- I told you we hubby is frugal. The boys had packed shorts. They want to wear shorts all the time.  I had insisted the each pack one pair of jeans. We had NOT packed big winter jackets. 

How were we going to tour if we didn't have  jackets? Of course- we had to drive on. We are Army Strong, after all. 

We ran to Daiso (which is like a classier dollar store) and bought gloves, hats and random earmuffs. We put the kids in every shirt they packed. Seriously, every shirt. Over that we put whatever sweatshirt we had. We would have just bought sweatshirts or raincoats if we were in the States. The Japanese people are so tiny that we just can't fit in their clothes. That is why we are wearing the same clothes in all of our pictures. They are-literally- ALL the clothes we had!


We were looking pretty... eclectic. Oh well. No one knows us here.

Next stop: Gion. This is the district where most of the gieshas live, train and put on nightly shows. Beautiful wooden tea houses lined tiny alleyways and 'hid' the traditional  women away. We just wanted to see the women with costumes on. (Obviously we weren't going to see the shows. They can cost about $3000 a night to watch! And, no, geishas are not prostitutes in case you have heard that.) We didn't see any geishas. Not one.  Oh well, it was on our way home anyway. 

Near the Gion district, there's a lot of SHOPPING. I'm talking about high end brands like Dior, Chanel, LV... clearly too rich for my blood, but we looked around. We enjoyed the area, but only after we found some normal priced shops. It ended up we had stumbled on Nishiki Market. This famous "fish market" was already done selling fish for the day.  It was full of cool shops under a dome-like awning. We casually walked around and took in the sites, smells and sounds of Kyoto.

After grabbing dinner, we went back to our fabulous Kyoto hotel. For those of you who will never get to stay in a Japanese hotel, let me point out a few of the cool features. We stayed out at the New Mikayo Hotel right by the Kyoto train station. The hotel is large, very clean and has impeccable service. We had reserved two rooms, each sleeping three people. The hotel had pulled out the couch and made it into the third bed for us. 

Japanese hotels have a ton of goodies for the guests. In the 'bowl of goodies' there are bath sponges, razors, hair bands, brushes, combs and cotton swabs. The shampoo, conditioner and body wash are in large bottles that get refilled every night. They think the small little bottles are a complete waste and harmful to the earth. 

The hotel had the funniest brochure on how to respond in an earthquake.

Come on, did you know you had to put your cigarette out if there was an earthquake?

We slept well and awoke to an even colder day. Ugh! Who write those crazy weather reports anyway??? I mean they were off by 20 degrees! We bundled up in five or more layers and headed out to enjoy ancient Kyoto.

Even a rainy day could not dim the brilliance of the Kinkaku-ji Temple. This temple is better known as the "Golden Pavillion". Kinkaku-ji (金閣寺, Golden Pavilion) is a Zen temple in northern Kyoto whose top two floors are completely covered in gold leaf. Five layers of gold leaf actually. It is meant to "shine forevermore".  Kinkaku-ji is a very popular site. It was crowded! 

For the record, they are cuddling with me because it is THAT cold! I knew it was bad when with six layers on I thought about buying a blanket to wrap around me. Luckily, it warmed up after awhile. Or I went numb. I'm not sure which. 


One of the strangest things was that several younger visitors kept taking 'selfies' without even getting the temple in their picture. Most people were trying to get the temple in their pictures and then you would turn and see this chick. The temple is the opposite way, but she was to into getting her own picture to realize. Oh, selfie sticks are everywhere here. It was ridiculous to see! 

After a few more pictures of the Golden Pavilion, we walked around the grounds. There is, of course, a temple. That means there are incense burning and bells to ring. The worshiper rings the bell "to awaken the god" . Then, they clap, bow and pray. 

You can purchase 'fortunes' at the Golden Palace, and many of the shrines and temples throughout Japan. After you read your fortune you tie it to wire racks around the shrine area. They have fortunes in several languages. (We have never bought one, just observed.)

We headed back to the bus. Or was it a train? 

We decided to head off to Sanjusangendo. No, I cannot say it. I just know how to get there. What am I saying? I don't know how to get there! I know how to follow my geography master hubby. First rule of travel, always let the "map man" do his thang and find the way. Second rule: smile while you say that to him!

Sanjusangendo houses 1001 Buddha statues & Hindu deities that are in front of the statues. 

Time Out: I see this type of sites in two ways. We are not in a Judeo-Christian country. We live in Japan. It is not America. Christianity is a tiny percentage here. The Japanese are primarily Buddhists and Shintos. They honor, worship and adore these statues. My family and I do not. However, we believe everyone should have the right to worship the way they want. We will not step on their beliefs. We will not change our beliefs. We explore these temples, shrines and religious places but we do not bow, pray or honor their gods. We pray to a living Jesus and that doesn't change depending on our geography, our mood, our age or audience. Back to the blogging part. Oh, and photo bombing a bit. 

You have to take some mental pictures though because photography is forbidden. Shoes are also forbidden. Which is only funny because you have to put on this slipper things. Not a single pair would fit anyone in my family over the age of 12. Our size 14s were so large they hung off the ends of the shelves!  Like I said, we are large- let's just say "Southern Grown"- people. We had to slip the slippers on and never lift them off the ground. If we lifted out foot the slippers came off and we had to bend down to put them back on. All of that is just disrespectful when people are praying and bowing. So, this large ol' group of white folk were walking through the very long hall trying not to lift their feet or giggle at the situation. Yep, we are that easily amused. 



I was able to find some professional pictures online to show you what we saw. (Why is it okay for professionals to take the pictures but not me?)


After seeing 1001 Buddas we were hungry. We headed to lunch at McDonalds. I know that sounds silly, but we are a large family eating two meals out a day. We have to watch our funds. Mickey D's costs us under $30 to feed 6 people. Then, we eat great Japanese food for dinner. That costs us about $50 a night. So, french fries were our friends on this trip.

Hubby wanted to head to some temple names Kiyomizu-dera next. I had not heard of, but okay. You know what to do...Follow the "map man". Now you are learning! 

Kiyomizu-dera (清水寺, literally "Pure Water Temple") is one of the most celebrated temples of Japan. It was founded in 780! That was many centuries before the US was even founded! Kiyomizu-dera (key-oh-me-zoo) turned out to be a simply stunning Buddhist temple on a very steep hill. In order to get up to the temple you have to walk up with a ton of tourists. 

Here's the twist. A ton of the visitors are wearing traditional clothes. The are stores that "rent the clothing" at the bottom of the hill for $35 a day. You get dressed and have your hair done down at the base of the hill. Then, you climb up to the temple and enjoy the amazing views of Kyoto. We had no idea that was done or we would have brought all of our kimonos and yatakas. I am glad we didn't have to climb in our nice Japanese clothes clothes though. Mainly because they wear socks with wooden sandals that resemble flipflops. I would not want to climb a steep hill in wooden flipflops! 

After a steep climb we arrived at the steps of Kiyomizu-dera. This temple was not only built in 780, it was built WITHOUT nails! What? Yep, no nails in this baby! This temple is best known for its wooden stage that juts out from its main hall, 40 feet above the hillside below. The main hall, which together with the stage houses the temple's primary object of worship, a small statue of the eleven faced, thousand armed Kannon.

The views were worth every single step we took. The kids will always remember this temple simply because we were in awe of how it was built.

Our bodies were exhausted so we headed back to find some ramen and miso soup. (Maybe if Americans slowed down long enough to drink some hot soup before they ate, it would help us not eat as much.) Train stations are a great place to find ramen so we knew just where to go. 

On our way back we came upon a fun surprise. The Kyoto train station is a very modern building with some amazingly cool sections. Almost all of it is 'outside', but under an awning of sorts that keeps the weather at bay. The "stairs" are over 8 stories of quite steep outdoor steps. On either side of the stairs are escalators that run constantly. (There are elevators inside the building. 

Earlier in the day we had seen hundreds of people lined up around the stairs. They were cheering on athletes who were "running the stairs". There were news cameras and announcers. Well, we thought it was neat, but we didn't really understand what they were saying so we moved on.  Chalk that one up to another random thing we have seen in Japan. 

We went about our day and returned that night to eat. We arrived to see some random lights coming from across the station. We decided to walk toward the lights are see what they were. Well, lo and behold, the lights were coming from the stairs! The stairs turned into art the minute the sun went down. It was Valentine's Day, so that was the theme. There were bears giving each other gifts, a bunny eating a Kyoto chocolate bar and random other designs. The kids ran the stairs and "oooed and aahhhed". It was a creative, fun surprise and typically cute Japan.

After a few donuts from Mister Donut, we headed off to dreamland in our comfy beds.

We woke up early the next day to head out to another temple. Do you see a theme here?

This time we hit Toji Temple (toe-g). This temple was close to our hotel and we only had a few hours before our next train.  The Zen gardens were peaceful and relaxing. The area made for some great pictures as well. There were red buckets filled with water at every temple we saw. Apparently, if a fire starts you can are supposed to grab the bucket and put out the flames. OK. I think we made need some more buckets?

Finally, we shuttled off to our fabulous bullet train. Did I mention that the train only stays in each stay for 65 seconds! The car we were supposed to get on had so many people getting off that the 15 second bell went off. Luckily, Matt yelled, "Jump on the next car!" We did and barely got on the car before the buzzer went off. It was nutzo!

Kyoto was an education, a joy and a pleasure. It may be one of my favorite cities ever. It is that cool to see the mix of new and old Japan. We saw so many foreign tourists in this town! It has over 15 million visitors a year, but only about 500,000 of those are non-Japanese. Japanese love their own history as much as we do :)

Off to Hiroshima my huge crew goes. Trying to teach these kiddos about the world is exhausting. Good thing they are so cute! Back on the train we go!

Stay Tuned, we're not done yet ~

Aggie Amy