Sandy and Pat's Wonderful trip to Japan in 1999

Trip to Japan September - October 1999

We left for Japan September 22 and arrived at Narita Airport in Tokyo September 23. We lost a day because of crossing the international date line. The purpose of our trip was to visit friends. We spent 6 days in Tokyo, 5 in Fukuoka, and 5 in Osaka. We left for home from the Kansai airport near Osaka at 4:15 in the afternoon October 9 and arrived home before noon on the same day.

You can read about Pat's stay in 1975 and her dog Hanako by clicking on Hanako.pdf. If you don't have acrobat, you can get it at www.adobe.com.

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Pat's long time friend Mihoko took us to a kimono shop. I saw my first hanagatsuji kimono. Pat has known Maki since she was a little girl. We enjoyed lunch at a little shop in the Sunshine City shopping center.
The hotels in Japan provide yukata for sleeping. They also provide toothbrushes, hair dryer, razor, and other things

Outside Ikebukuro Station there was a small festival going on.
The produce is unbelievable.
We took the train to Kofu to visit our friend Yasuko and her daughter. She lives in a very traditional Japanese house.
We drove near Fuji san and stopped at the Kubota Ichiku museum and saw his beautiful hanagatsuji kimono.

Our friend Midori met us at the hotel and took us to the top of the Sunshine 60 tower for a panoramic view of Tokyo.
We met Mihoko at the Mitsukoshi department store to see the art opening of Eriko Hiroki's washi (hand made paper)
We went sight seeing at Asakusa with Mihoko and Midori.

We took the bullet train to Fukuoka. Yuko Kubota met us at the train and took us to her home where she cooked us a wonderful dinner of Mizutaki and sushi .
Yuko took us to Dazaifu shrine the next day and then showed us around Fukuoka. It has really changed since Pat lived there in 1975.
Pat was pleasantly surprised to see the sushi shop she used to frequent in 1975 was still in business and operated by the same sweet couple .
Pat's dear friend Yoko picked us up and took us to a beautiful riverside restaurant for a wonderful lunch.

Outside the Hita restaurant
Dr. Tanaka and his wife Katsue drove us to two pottery villages south of Fukuoka. We had unagi lunch in Hita on our way.
You can see the rooftops and a climbing wood burning kiln called a noborigama.
These huge logs use water power to crush the clay.

We stopped at Koishiwara and bought more beautiful pottery.
After returning to Fukuoka, Dr Tanaka took us to restaurant Chikae, a place Pat had always wanted to visit.
We took the bullet train to Osaka and were met by our dear friend Kumiko. We ate at Kakiyasu.
The next day the 3 of us went to the Nakamura's house where Hideko performed the tea ceremony and fixed a wonderful lunch.

This is were we had a delicious lunch.
Hideko and her husband Tohru
Front entrance to Hideko's house.

Kumiko took us to Kyoto to see the Golden Pavilion.
Then we went to the Heian Shrine in Kyoto.
You don't want to miss the garden behind the Heian Shrine. After this we went to the Kyoto handicraft center.
The next day we went to Osaka Castle originally built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi

The last day Kumiko took us to a famous kimono shop in Kyoto.
Pat tried on a Kubota Ichiku hanagatsuji kimono.
We visited the Nijo castle which was used by the Tokugawa shogunate once a year when the

We had a fabulous banquet that featured a Noh play, shamisen music and Kyoto dancers. It was a perfect ending for a wonderful trip. shogun would visit the Emperor in Kyoto. It is famous for its nightingale floors that squeak when walked upon to warn of possible assassins.

This trip we learned about hanagatsuji kimono. It is an ancient technique of tie dying silk that has been rediscovered by Kubota Ichiku after spending a lifetime working on the technique. The individual tie dyes are very tiny and when they are unwrapped, they leave texture marks on the silk that are not ironed out. Kubota Ichiku's kimono were given a special exhibition in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.

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Pat's long time friend Mihoko took us to a kimono shop. I saw my first hanagatsuji kimono.	Pat has known Maki since she was a little girl. We enjoyed lunch at a little shop in the Sunshine City shopping center.	The hotels in Japan provide yukata for sleeping.	They also provide toothbrushes, hair dryer, razor, and other things
Outside Ikebukuro Station there was a small festival going on.	The produce is unbelievable.	We took the train to Kofu to visit our friend Yasuko and her daughter. She lives in a very traditional Japanese house.	We drove near Fuji san and stopped at the Kubota Ichiku museum and saw his beautiful hanagatsuji kimono.
Our friend Midori met us at the hotel and took us to the top of the Sunshine 60 tower for a panoramic view of Tokyo.	We met Mihoko at the Mitsukoshi department store to see the art opening of Eriko Hiroki's washi (hand made paper)	We went sight seeing at Asakusa with Mihoko and Midori.
We took the bullet train to Fukuoka. Yuko Kubota met us at the train and took us to her home where she cooked us a wonderful dinner of Mizutaki and sushi .	Yuko took us to Dazaifu shrine the next day and then showed us around Fukuoka. It has really changed since Pat lived there in 1975.	Pat was pleasantly surprised to see the sushi shop she used to frequent in 1975 was still in business and operated by the same sweet couple .	Pat's dear friend Yoko picked us up and took us to a beautiful riverside restaurant for a wonderful lunch.
Outside the Hita restaurant	Dr. Tanaka and his wife Katsue drove us to two pottery villages south of Fukuoka. We had unagi lunch in Hita on our way.	You can see the rooftops and a climbing wood burning kiln called a noborigama.	These huge logs use water power to crush the clay.
We stopped at Koishiwara and bought more beautiful pottery.	After returning to Fukuoka, Dr Tanaka took us to restaurant Chikae, a place Pat had always wanted to visit.	We took the bullet train to Osaka and were met by our dear friend Kumiko. We ate at Kakiyasu.	The next day the 3 of us went to the Nakamura's house where Hideko performed the tea ceremony and fixed a wonderful lunch.
	This is were we had a delicious lunch.	Hideko and her husband Tohru	Front entrance to Hideko's house.
Kumiko took us to Kyoto to see the Golden Pavilion.	Then we went to the Heian Shrine in Kyoto.	You don't want to miss the garden behind the Heian Shrine. After this we went to the Kyoto handicraft center.	The next day we went to Osaka Castle originally built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi
	The last day Kumiko took us to a famous kimono shop in Kyoto.	Pat tried on a Kubota Ichiku hanagatsuji kimono.	We visited the Nijo castle which was used by the Tokugawa shogunate once a year when the
	We had a fabulous banquet that featured a Noh play, shamisen music and Kyoto dancers. It was a perfect ending for a wonderful trip.		shogun would visit the Emperor in Kyoto. It is famous for its nightingale floors that squeak when walked upon to warn of possible assassins.