Meiji Jingu, Tokyo, Japan

Amidst the hustle and bustle of busy Tokyo you will find this beautiful tranquil temple in the Yoyogi park. A nice place to stroll by, lots of trees, and gorgeous Tori gates. The colorful sake barrels from the past are treat to the eyes.
We were lucky to be visiting the temple during Spring festival and watched a traditional Japanese performance by a beautiful geisha.

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Kappabashi, Tokyo

Kappabashi is a cook's delight and not much of a touristy place at all. The whole street is lined with shops selling items related to cooking & food. This is where the restaurants shop. I shopped to my heart's content. My finds includes a few kettles, Bento boxes for the kids, chop sticks, tea mugs and salt and pepper shaker.

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Sansoji, Tokyo, Japan

Sansoji also called as Asakusa Kannon is one of Tokyo's oldest Buddhist temple. Apart from a very quiet sanctum sanatorium, you are bound to find red lanterns, pit in the middle of the temple for incenses, huge statues of Buddha and lots of people. 
The streets leading to the temple has all kinds of shops including local sweets, kimonos, fans and the usual suspects.

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Higashiyama District, Kyoto

Higashiyama district is one of the best places to experience historic Kyoto. The place is so well preserved you will see many Chinese visitors, usually young girls, dressed up in Kimonos. You can find small cafes, restaurants, shops that sells anything from fans, kimonos, pottery, many varieties of tea, scarves, knives, art works ...
..including green tea ice cream.

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Nijo Castle, Kyoto, Japan

Shogun's palace or Nijo castle is any history buff's dream destination to go to. This was an imperial palace and when the royal family moved to Tokyo, they donated this for public viewing. The entire castle is surrounded by moat, wall and a beautiful gate (pic above)
The castle has absolutely no furniture inside as Shogun's enemies could hide behind it. There are some small desks for the clerks to work on. The floors are squeaky so Shogun's enemies cannot sneak into the castle. If you look into the structure below the castle, even today you can see the nails that helped create squeaky wooden floors. The ones visiting the castle has to wear a certain type of garment.

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Golden Temple, Kyoto, Japan

The golden temple is a Zen temple and the entire second and third floor is covered with gold leaf. It has been burnt down multiple times in the past and has been reconstructed. The garden around the temple is as beautiful as the temple itself. This used to be Shogun's retirement house. 
We did a day trip to Kyoto and realize now that we should have stayed there the entire time we were in Japan. Most of the traditional architecture and structures are preserved in this part of the town.

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Kiyomizudera or Pure Water Temple, Kyoto, Japan

The Kiyomizudera temple is an architectural marvel. The logs simply rests in the carved wooden structure and has absolutely no nails. The entire structure can move this way and that. I am guessing it is to protect itself from the earth quakes. The roof is anything like what I have seen before. It was a hot day and the temple inside was so refreshingly cool. Our guide took us to this vantage point for a good picture of the temple.

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Shinto Shrine, Kyoto, Japan

The temple is a good hike up the mountain and through the Torri or the vermilion gates. The orange paint is the same color as that of the Bengal Tigers and the paint was imported from India. It always pays to have a Japanese guide to show you around. While there is a time to get lost in a new place and rediscover yourself there are times for a personal tour guide. We were glad we hired one who spoke English.

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Bullet Trains, Japan

Dallas is trying to build bullet trains and the first one is planned between Dallas to Houston, provided they get all the blessings from all the required stakeholders. While it might be new to USA, these have been around in Japan for over 50 years and the bullet trains changed the entire commerce landscape for Japan. We took the train from Tokyo to Kyoto. There's a train every 5 minutes. These are so punctual, you can set your watch on these train timings.

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Sushi in Japan

To say that there is "orderliness" in Japan is such an understatement. Everything is so perfect and awesome that it reminds me of the Lego movie. No body changes lanes while driving on roads, the cucumbers in the sushi are cut so perfectly .. and I can go on forever.
Almost everything is automated in Japan. Inspite of the automation, you will find business hire people to simply greet and welcome customers everywhere from airports to restaurants. Not too many people speak in English. However, when you find one, you get some amazing tidbits into their culture. We waited patiently for 2 hours to get into one of the best sushi places in Ginza. The table next to us was a Japanese family (just like the one next to it and the one next to). The daughter knew English and helped us understand the menu.

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Ginza, Tokyo

We stayed in Ginza, a popular shopping and entertainment area. The area might resemble New York city a lot, but at night, it is one of the best spots to look for neon lights in Tokyo.  Needless to say, there's tons of places to eat near by. 
Riya's favorite travel destination when she was 10 was Japan. She wanted to ride the Pokemon plane, buy tons of Pokemon cards. Now we are going through the exact same trend with Rohan. The obvious first destination right after we land in Tokyo is at Hakuhinkin Toy store to get some trading cards. The store had tons of architectural puzzles in wood, some cute wooden Japanese dolls and the usual suspects.

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