Today I went with Noriko's dad on an English speaking guided tour of some of the hot spots in the city.  We left around 730am and walked to the bus station...took the bus to the train station and road the train for about 45 minutes to the World Trade Center building in the heart of Tokyo where we found our bus.  The tour guide was Japanese but spoke very clear English.  The first stop was Tokyo Tower.  This tower is supposedly slightly taller … [Read more...]

Today has been kind of a lazy day.  Noriko, Kazu and I went to a water park this morning to cool off.  It was a really big place and really crowded because of this hot weather.  My observation there was that you rarely see over weight Japanese people.  Tokyo supposedly has the highest life expectancy rate in the world and I can see why...they eat healthy and get a lot of exercise...bike riding, walking etc.  Women do not wear the skimpy bathing … [Read more...]

Today we woke up early and had breakfast with Noriko's Dad...I had not seen him since 2007 on my second visit here so it was nice to catch up :)  We got ready to go meet her brother Ken and his family at her mom's cemetery.  It is tradition for the family to all go there together twice per year to add fresh flowers, clean the grave with water and pray.  I was honored to be a part of this.  I met her mother on my first trip here in Dec … [Read more...]

Today was a VERY long day but I made it safely to my friends house in Japan.  It started with a 3 hour drive Thursday to Indianapolis in the pouring rain.  I slept in the car for 4-5 hours before going to the airport (yes, I was safe :) )  After departing Indy at 7am I arrived in Toronto, Canada for a 5 hour delay.  The highlight there was finding a Tim Hortons! My flight from Toronto to Tokyo was 12 hours and I somehow lucked out and had 3 seats … [Read more...]