Ueno Terminal Hotel Taito

... I did like the beginning history, which showed the early armor and swords and talked about the unification of Japan. There was a timeline shelf that extended out from the display case and showed from the 1200s to the 1500s. We were both surprised by how small the clothing looked up until the Meiji Era. The Meiji Era people seemed to be about my height and that`s not so bad for a modernizing country. There were a lot of really nice ...

... they had anything Jackie could eat. We tried quite a few places to no avail so made our way to a multi-storey building that housed a typical Japanese Tapas style restaurant. Shoes had to be locked away at the door - I quite like this concept - it makes places feel quite homely like your walking around your own house! We were given a large menu all with helpful pictures & all picked some dishes. When you're ready to order you press the button on your table & a wee waiter comes ...

... se me hizo muy corto, fueron tre horas que entre que conoces un poco a la gente con la que vas y echas una cabezadita ya han pasado. El aeropuerto de Helsinki es como muy Ikea, muy fashion y muy limpio y son todos muy rubios y muy escandinavos ellos. Allí esperamos poco más de una hora, el avión que cogimos para Narita era enorme. En el avión nos dieron la cenita nos pusimos una peli y a dormir. El vuelo de 10 horas a mi no se me hizo largo en absoluto, entre dormir, ver peli, cena ...

... away they have been on the whole lovely warm people and really receptive to the whole thing. I can feel them happily lapping up the uninterrupted time in our company, as am I theirs, and I am can sense already that more generally this whole time will help to broaden their horizons, and help them grow into more rounded young people with an appreciation for the big wide world there is out there, beyond their ...

... we went to a small Buddhist temple called Daien-ji. It was a very pretty place set in a grove of trees, with Jizos and statues of 500 Buddha followers. We also saw 2 of the cutest little girls in their kimonos learning to walk in their wooden platform thongs. It was definitely worth walking around this different part of the city. We went to the Imperial Palace gardens. It's a big, peaceful park in the middle of the city financial district ...

... no idea which way was up but we slowly figured it all out. We found out that you can't visit the palace unless you give 5 days notice which wasn't going to happen. So we visited the gardens instead. It was all really pretty. We took lots of pictures. It has a moat surrounding the palace and the gardens and they still have the locations the samurias had previouly used as checkpoints. After a long walk around the gardens we decided to head back tot he hostel because I was ...

... were joined not only by our Waseda student assistants, but also by about 10 Waseda students who spent last year abroad in the US. Many of them attended the same schools that we all go to. Yang and Sachiko were both there, two students who studied at my university last year. I was able to spend a lot of time with them over the weekend, talking about our experiences of study abroad and about their experience of reentry in Japan. And we also ...

... consumed in Tokyo each day passes through this massive open air market where enormous slabs of fish are bought and sold well before the rooster even thinks of getting out of bed. Tuna, as the primary component to Japanese cuisine, is the main attraction in this auction, but all forms of sea life find a market in this industrial-scale wholesale operation. Aside from the fact that all transactions were conducted in Japanese and participants and passers-by had to watch out for large ...

... Though I couldn't tell if they were playing by National League or American League rules, the game is pretty much the same. In the end, its the fan experience that makes it Japanese, and fun. Tokyo Dome is your average run of the mill domed stadium. Astro-Turf. Sterile concrete. Its everything the american sports experience was until a couple of architecture firms in Kansas City brought the shopping mall to the ballpark. Since you can't ...

... when we went out that evening into the city centre, to a traditional Japanese restaurant. We left our shoes behind the rice paper doors and and knelt before a low table. Ian & Miho guided us through the courses - dip your tuna is this sauce, don't rest your chopsticks on the bowl, try the tofu. The saki flowed and we did our best to learn a few words of Japanese. "What's 'delicious'?" I asked. "ouwishi" said my brother. (That's my best ...