March 22

We decided to spend our last full day in japan back in Kawagoe. Jill had a purse she regretted not buying, and we figure the traditional candy would be the best way to round out our gifts for those back home. We wandered around for a while, trying to take different roads than last time. […]

March 21

Mitzi’s eldest brother and his wife came over to see Nancy’s new apartment and visit for lunch. Jill, Miwa and I went out for a quick walk to get some groceries for lunch and to the local shrine to get some omamori, but the omamori shop was closed. However, we realized at about 11:30 that […]

March 20

After a fairly fuzzy start to the day, having been woken by the wind at 3, and the girls at 6, we manage to get out the door at 10 to head to Asakusa and Sensoji. Unfortunately, the rest of Tokyo appeared to have the same idea. The trains were crowded, the streets were crowded […]

March 19

We hung around the house until 11, then wandered through Kodaira Raien to the family lunch at a restaurant in Kodaira. We ate, talked, made speeches, exchanged gifts and posed for the obligatory picture at the end (not on one of our cameras, so no copy here). Nancy’s boyfriend Bobby arrived around 4:30. We had […]

March 18

We headed out for Kawagoe this morning to visit Kashiya yokocho. It’s a little neighbourhood in the style of old Edo that specializes in traditional candy, though that was only about 5 of the 200 some-odd shops aimed at selling things to tourists. It was a fun walk with lots of interesting things to see. […]