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  • Christine Perkins
  • Christine Perkins

Japan

Adventures in Japan with family and friends Read more
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  • Trip start
    November 9, 2025
    Christine PerkinsJapanTraveler
    1

    The odyssey

    November 10, 2025 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Eleven hour flight from Seattle after six hour flight from Boston day before; navigated multiple lines in an amazing maze of a train network system. Hardest part was determining how to get out of Shinjuku station. Survived! Ended with a bowl of ramen self-ordered from an arcade-like machine.Read more

  • Christine PerkinsJapanTraveler
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    Tokyo

    November 11, 2025 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Meiji Jingu Shrine with sacred husband and wife camphor trees. 💕Collected first Goshuin - proof of temple visit. Chrysanthemum exhibition at Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden “Ozukuri bed: It takes a year for one root division to produce hundreds of flowers in a dome shape by unique technique of pinching and training.” 😳Read more

  • Christine PerkinsJapanTraveler

    Mr Fuji

    November 12, 2025 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C

    Such an auspicious day - incredibly memorable, picture perfect reunion with dear friends, with Mt Fuji beatifically presiding over all. Feeling so blessed!

  • Christine PerkinsJapanTraveler
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    My Fuji: Kimono museum

    November 13, 2025 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    Mount Fuji is typically only visible 60-70 days of the years and yet for both of our days there it was crystal clear, with even the snow pattern resembling the famous Great Wave woodblock print. It was really emotional to be in its presence for me - truly feels spiritual. We also got to see a famous kimono art museum (thought of Nancy whole time, wishing we saw together) Pretty incredible story of man who revised the art of Kimono https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3uT548CayB4

    Had a Mont Blanc chestnut dessert in Japan - very fun!

    Best of all, Malcolm and Cecilia arrived last night and immediately went to three different food places!    Read more

  • Christine PerkinsJapanTraveler

    Shinjuku, Tokyo

    November 14, 2025 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Taking in all the sights and sounds of Shinjuku, literally. Metropolitan building nightly light show, Lovot robots at department store, and after work gamers, something for everyone. Malcolm and Cecilia put in 18+ miles exploring Asakusa and all kinds of food! https://lovot.life/en/Read more

  • Christine PerkinsJapanTraveler
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    Last night Tokyo (until leave)

    November 15, 2025 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Incredibly memorable dinner/reunion with Komiya’s. Never could have imagined how wonderful it would be to reunite with them again. Hoping (and working on) way to get Ryuji’s children to immerse in English in Boston. Also noting (in case it wouldn’t already be obvious) touristy Samurai museum was Jay’s idea 🙄But also he killed it with the ninja star shriken! Malcolm and Cecilia put in lots more miles and visited architecture museum. Also note Jay and Malcolm at dinner - two peas in a pod!Read more

  • Christine PerkinsJapanTraveler
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    Tokyo to Tanabe

    November 16, 2025 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Bullet train + to travel to Wakayama prefecture - super exciting and a little stressful (once or twice), but remarkably made it - with awesome coffee from vending machine (machine even plays mesmerizing tune as you watch video of it being assembled. 😋) Best of all, Syd met us in Tanabe to start the hike tomorrow on her 30th birthday!! 🥳Read more

  • Christine PerkinsJapanTraveler
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    Kumano Kodo: Day 1

    November 17, 2025 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    First day of Kumano Kodo. Started the hike with the Tainai Kugari, or Test of Faith (pass through the womb, or be reborn.) 8+ mile hike with steep up and slippery stone steps down . 😓 Same thing tomorrow, but plus 5 more hike miles 😳 (Malcolm will do full 16) Airbnb provided delicious bento box dinner and Cecilia and Malcolm bought local juices for Sydney bday juice tasting celebration! Almost 6:00 - heading to bed 😴Read more

  • Christine PerkinsJapanTraveler

    Kumano Kodo: Day 2

    November 18, 2025 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    “For millennia the mountainous region of Kumano has been thought to be the mythical “holy ground where gods dwell.” During the Heian period (794 - 1185), the Imperial household and court made the 30 to 40 day arduous journey from the ancient capital of Kyoto to this remote area, in search of heaven on earth. It is here that Kumano Sanzan, the three grand shrines and Nachisan Seiganto-ji Temple, were established.”Read more

  • Christine PerkinsJapanTraveler
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    Kumano Kodo: rest day

    November 19, 2025 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    Spent today’s rest day visiting Kumano Hongu Taisha shrine and three different onsen towns. We woke up across from Yunomine Onsen, one of oldest hot springs in Japan (Cecilia started her day boiling breakfast eggs 😄. We all spent morning at the shrine - Jay and I wrote out wish for “relationship fortune” on goma wood 🤞; (took pic at visitor center of diorama of ancient pilgrimages on Kumano Kodo (way more crowded then than now!) ; bussed to Wataze Onsen, largest open-air onsen, for a soak; and then walked to our house stay where Malcolm and Cecilia dug out a hot spring spot in the river for a second soak! Jay’s getting the hang of sleeping on futon on tatami mat 😴Read more

  • Christine PerkinsJapanTraveler
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    Kumano Kodo: Day 4

    November 20, 2025 in Japan ⋅ 🌙 13 °C

    Early morning start by the hot spring river and then a beautiful hike through lush landscape —towering cedar, groves of bamboo, walls of fern, camphor and maple trees adding sweet smells and color, and then a hard won vista of undulating mountains. Magical. The bento box lunch prepared by last night’s host was no PB&J 😋 Jay got clocked in the ear by a 🦅 (hawk) that swooped in for his salmon and then it and it’s buddy bird taunted us as we left 🤭 Jay also got alarming news about a close friend, he thought, as we started the hike, but thankfully it was miscommunication/false alarm. Important reminder to hold friends and family close 💕 Closed out day with outdoor onsen and hiker group dinner at inn (feeling guilty posting the food 😋 it’s so unbelievably good) and beautiful chimes/bells (?) the town tolls on specific hours. Dreading brutal climb tomorrow and sad our time on Kumano Kodo is coming to an end. ☹️Read more

  • Christine PerkinsJapanTraveler
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    Kumano Kodo: Last day

    November 21, 2025 in Japan ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    Last day of Kumano, so sad for it to end. Incredible experience and for sure a lasting impression hiking the Dogirizaka, “body-breaking slope,” (2,600ft over 3 miles 😓). See Malcolm and Cecila at the top, at the Echizen-toge Pass. If they’re sweating you can only imagine how it went for us 😂. The sign at the pass says ‘In the year 1201 the famous poet Fujiwara Teika climbed to the Echizen-toge Pass and wrote in his diary: ‘This route is very tough and difficult; it is impossible to describe precisely how tough it is.’ At least we’re in good company! 😉 On the other hand, it easy to believe why the deities would choose this place to live. So beautiful, so green. As Syd says: ‘vitamins for the eyeballs’ 😄 Syd and I passed through the hollowed trunk of an 850 year-old camphor tree at the Kumano Nachi Taisha shrine with wishes in hand 🤞

    Malcolm and Cecilia bolted ahead to make the train Kyoto. 🚆Jay, Syd and I bussed to an island hotel and took in the cave onsen. Great end to a great day and a fantastic way to celebrate our 33rd wedding anniversary!! Who knew Jay could rock a yukata and clogs?!?

    Thanks and gratitude to all who were with us on our wedding day 33 years ago today. 💒 So happy for Malcolm and Cecilia, McCaela and Henry, and Christine and Nick as they begin their marriage adventure in the coming months 💕💕    Read more

  • Christine PerkinsJapanTraveler
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    Natchi-Katsuura to Okayama

    November 22, 2025 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    Lovely night at Hotel Urashima. Syd got best room (or spot on family-room tatami mat). Missed the tuna auction in the town (Natchi-Katsuura is one of Japan’s largest tuna ports), but caught the sunrise. At all you can eat buffet of local specialities, Jay opted for … donuts 🤦‍♀️. On the move again - ferry to train to train - following the coast to Okayama, with bowls of tuna (from this morning’s catch!!) So fascinating watching the care — and time — he took to prepare these bowls 😋 Cecilia and Malcolm continue their gastro adventure sampling all the best food in Kyoto, while we’re doing beers and cheap fast food ramen because we didn’t figure out Okayama’s reservation system early enough 🤷‍♀️Read more

  • Christine PerkinsJapanTraveler
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    Naoshima: Sydney’s Disneyland

    November 23, 2025 in Japan ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    Official celebration of Sydney’s 30th with an overnight stay glamping on Naoshima Island (including bbq’ing our own food 🍗🏕️Fascinating history of how it went from a polluted outpost of the Benesse Company to a global art mecca. https://www.remotelands.com/travelogues/affairs…. You can’t take photos inside most of the museums - which is terribly disappointing on the one hand and exactly the right policy on the other. Makes you really focus on the now to hold the memory for later. No words to describe how amazing this place is. The ideas being expressed and the architecture are mind-blowing. I took the bus in the total wrong direction at end of day and had to wait an hour for the next one - not fun in the cold and dark, but now better appreciate reading/confirming bus schedules for next time! Malcolm and Cecilia tooled around inland islands (Shimanami Kaido) ending with beers. Jay and I will meet up with them tomorrow night in Hiroshima. Big thanks to dad for pointing out 11/22 is the Feast of St Cecelia ( the patron saint of musicians, appropriately enough!)Read more

  • Christine PerkinsJapanTraveler
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    Naoshima to Hiroshima + biking Rabbit Is

    November 24, 2025 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Left Naoshima - and Sydney 🥲- this afternoon. She’ll make her way to Osaka, then Thailand, Philippines for December, and yoga training in India 🧘‍♀️ in January, before we next see her in May for Malcolm’s wedding. Malcolm and Cecilia have been biking across the islands - cheeseburger lunch before biking over Kurushima Kaikyo bridge, Rabbit Island (actual rabbits!) We’ll tour Hiroshima with the both of them tomorrow, before we wrap up in Kyoto.Read more

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    Hiroshima

    November 25, 2025 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Early morning start in Hiroshima to see Peace Museum before opening hours. So heavy to take in the devastation - not a person spoke as we all took in the exhibits. We took a walking tour of Hiroshima with a fantastic guide and learned so much about Japanese history and culture as we took in Hiroshima Castle and Gokoku Shrine and details of why and how Hiroshima was targeted. An Eucalyptus Tree (at Hiroshima Castle Ruins), located just 740 meters from the hypocenter that still grows today. At the Orizuru Tower you can learn how to make an origami crane and then drop it down from the top into the panel the decorates the front of the building. Glad we took the time to visit Hiroshima. Malcolm and Cecilia stay the night and fly out to Taiwan in the am. Jay and I headed on the bullet train to Kyoto.Read more

  • Christine PerkinsJapanTraveler
    1

    Kyoto

    November 27, 2025 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

    Made early morning trek to Heian Jinju Shrine yesterday to take in the gardens, most designed in late 1800s by famous Japanese landscape/rock garden designer. Getting back was its own challenge. I watched the bus I intended to take (as I stood on opposite side of street), tried another bus line (and then rode bus three stops in opposite direction). Trial and error but am getting it down — just in time to leave!

    Not to miss New Year’s Eve - or on Dec 30 for us in U.S - livestream of ringing the Chion-in Bell in Kyoto. Cast in the mid 1600s, it’s almost 10ft high and weighing 70 tons. No idea how they got it to hang. On New Years Eve, 30 monks take part in a ritual ringing the bell 108 times, using a beam and rope system. https://youtu.be/qOwQN8zsiKk
    The number 108 depicts the number of worldly desires (believed to cause pain and suffering to the human heart.) Ringing the temple bell is so that each pain afflicting worldly desire vanishes one by one upon hearing the sound of the bell, to start year fresh.

    Also found one (of five) Pokémon manhole covers, and visited an art museum on culture of maiko and geiko, and saw two small dance performances. Totally captivating!! I would schedule another trip specifically to see a full scale performance of this.

    https://www.discoverkyoto.com/event-calendar/ma…    Read more

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