Off to Japan: Spring in Japan (March & April)Cooking

Hello everyone!

It's been a while since my last blog, so I will do one today for March and Apri and will try to do a few more over the next few weeks.

Sakura Season

Spring was by far, the best season we experienced in Japan. The main reason it's so amazing is because it's Sakura season (cherry blossom season). Back in Canada, I had seen advertisements that said Sakura season, in Japan, is a Trip of a lifetime, and now I know why. The weather is warm and the cherry blossoms bloom, which makes everyone here so friendly and happy! From the end of March until May cherry blossoms bloom across Japan. Here in Tokyo the Cherry blossoms started at the end of March and lasted roughly 2 weeks. It's a short period of time, so we made sure to make a list of some of the best spots and visited several of them. During this time we experienced a couple Hanami's. Hanami mostly consists of having an outdoor party beneath the sakura during daytime or at night. Usually you will enjoy friends, family, food and drinks, the drinks are often wine, sake and beer. March is a time when many people have time off work, it's also the end of the school year, so everyone is in a good mood and takes advantage of the nice weather and scenery, before back to school time which comes in April.


Hanami at Yoyogi Park

Dad's Trip

My dad also visited in Spring and it was a great visit! We all had a great time and Brooke was very happy to have her Grandpa in Japan. We traveled around Tokyo, took an overnight trip to Ito and a day trip to Kyoto. We visited temples, Japanese gardens, coffee shops, restaurants, museums, and more. We also got a babysitter one night and the three of us went to a baseball game, which is always a riot filled with constant singing and cheering, girls walking around with kegs on their backs serving beer and of course watching the game:) We also got to hear about his wonderful time in Vietnam, which has helped inspire us to want to visit there.

During my dads visit, he went for a walk around Akasaka-mitsuke, which is about a 10 minute walk from our home. During his walk, he was offered a "special massage" LOL! This is pretty common in some areas of Tokyo, especially if your a male walking on your own at night.

Just outside our apartment gate


Japanese Garden by our home (Brooke's favorite spot at the garden)


Japanese Garden by our home


During our walk around the river (wish the lady took the picture from another angle)

Trying Sake at one of our favorite restaurants


Tea room at a park we visited on one of our outings

One of the highlights during his trip was when we traveled to Kyoto. It was a bit rushed as there is so much to see in Kyoto and we only had a half of a day. We left first thing in the morning and traveled to Kyoto by bullet train, it was my Dads first time on the bullet train, so it was a nice experience. When we first arrived in Kyoto, I had a bit of a mix-up, and my Dad almost lost his 7 day train pass, which could have been really bad! I got mixed up at the station and he ended up putting his pass into a slot, which he wasn't supposed to. Luckily we had some friendly people around us, and even though they spoke very little English, they were able to help us call an attendant and get it out. We also had a taxi driver get lost, LOL. It was all part of the adventure. I did really enjoy our time at the riverside restaurant in Kyoto, where we enjoyed some nice views and food. It was also my first time visiting Fushimi Inari-taishi, which is a shito shrine with hundreds of tori gates, it was very beautiful! This was for sure a great trip and brought many good memories.

Fushimi Inaro-Taisha


Riverside Restaurant in Kyoto


View from the Riverside Restaurant in Kyoto

We also visited Ito, which is a peninsula around 2 hours from Tokyo. My favorite here, was the Ryokan (traditional Japanese hotel) that we stayed in. It had beautiful artwork, nice views and the best part was there was a 2 minute cable car that took us from the reservation desk to the area where the rooms were located. It was old and rickety, but was pretty cool to see, I don't think I'll have a chance to experience something like that again. Also, upon arrival, an elderly lady came into our room with us (which at first was a bit weird), but she continued on to serve us all tea and then left, it was a very nice gesture.

Ito

Ito - Ryokan (hotel) room

Ito - Ryokan Cable-car that took us to our room

Ito - Beach just down from our Ryokan

Easter

During Easter, we rented a cabin at Hakone. We have visited Hakone a few times now and this was my favorite visit there. I was able to do some google searching and found a campground with cabins. The cabin was warm and cozy and right on the beach. The weather was pretty rainy, but we were still able to make the most of our time there. Still to this day (November now), I ask Brooke about our last Easter, and she remembers we were at the cabin.