Great Japan Road Trip

KYOTO

The 10,000 Torii gates of Fushimi Inari Taisha

After visiting many Japanese temples and shrines we've found stairs to be a common theme. We're glad we woke up early to see this, because this one had even more stairs than we expected! The number of gates was quite impressive.

Ramen Shop

We ate at a vegan ramen shop, which wasn't the best (they refused to use pungent herbs aka onions and garlic), but we absolutely loved the restaurant's entrance. 

Kyomizu-dera

This temple and pavilion were impressive.

Hokan-ji Temple aka the Yasaka Pagoda 

This temple was originally built in 589 and was said to have been inspired by a dream.

The Zen garden and Silver Pavilion of Higashiyama Jisho-ji

The gardens and the pavilion were beautiful, but the pavilion isn't really silver. 

The old Imperial palace and gardens

The ancient palace and gardens were large and impressive. 

Bamboo forest

Walking through stalks of tall bamboo was a surreal experience. 

Golden Pavilion

Nishiki Market

Nishi market was fun. As a dentist, Jared had to stop by the toothbrush shop. We ate at a delicious Indian restaurant. 

Otagi Nenbutsuji

The moss covered stone statues reminded us of the trolls in Frozen. Each one is carved by a different Buddhist follower and has its own unique story. 

Philosopher’s Path

Abby and Jared having deep thoughts on the Philosopher's path

Nijo Castle

The inside of this castle was really amazing, but we weren't allowed to take pictures. 

We got caught in a massive thunderstorm on the grounds of Nijo Castle and ended up completely drenched. Audrey embraced the rain and started jumping in all the puddles!

SHIRAKAWA-GO

We fell in love with this historic, little Japanese village.

The whole town was very picturesque. 

It was interesting to see their traditional building techniques. 

We learned how they produced silk in the traditional way.

Like the rest of Japan, this town had several shrines in between the houses. 

TUNNELS

We went through many tunnels on our trip!

SHIN-HOTAKA ROPEWAY (view of the northern alps of Japan)

We took a giant tram to get a view from the top

We stopped part way up to soak our feet in the hot springs. 

The mountains in this area are so majestic

We visited some of the nearby waterfalls

MATSUMOTO

This castle was one of our favorites. It looked so majestic during the day and at night we loved seeing it reflected in the water with the swans swimming. 

We got to tour the inside and go to the top level. 

 It was interesting to see this traditional building next to the modern ones on either side. 

We fell in love with this charming town. There is an interesting street near the castle known as frog street. 

MT FUJI

Views of the mountain and one of the many Fuji shrines

Starting out hike

We stayed on a hut on the mountain which allowed us to watch a beautiful sunset and sunrise.

Brooklyn and Audrey were tough, amazing hikers!

The views from the mountain as we hiked were spectacular!

We all made it to the top! It was cold and foggy without much of a view, but we were happy we did it!

Brooklyn was really worn out on the way down, but Jared was super patient helping her to the end. We barely made the last shuttle back to our car. 

YOSHINO-KUMANO NATIONAL PARK

Dorokyo Gorge

Nachino-Otaki Falls

Nachi falls is the tallest waterfall in Japan. It was surrounded by beautiful temples, shrines, and pagodas. 

HIMEJI CASTLE AND GARDENS

EXPLORING OSAKA!

We visited the LEGO Store.

We loved how bike friendly the city is. Most people rode their bikes everywhere, including moms with several kids. 

Osaka castle was impressive

We took a giant slide down Tsutenkaku Tower and enjoyed some delicious food.

We took a ride on the Tempozan Giant Ferris Wheel which is the biggest in Japan. It gave us a nice view of the city. 

TAKAYAMA

We spent an evening in Takayama and fell in love with the traditional style houses there