August | 2014 | lariyasui

Presenting the latest episode of

“Hawaiians in Japan”

starring: Lari and Jensen

March 17 to 31, 2014

Yumi had been asking for Jensen to come to Japan for several years, so we finally agreed to let Jensen visit with her son Kenzo. Jensen had to get his passport, so he could travel overseas for the first time. I booked Hawaiian Airlines to Osaka Kansai and we stayed in the Osaka area for two weeks. We stayed at Ibaramoto grandma’s home in Itami right next to the Itami train station, which was very convenient.

We took a day trip by train to Nara with Yumi and Audrey who came to Osaka from Tokyo by shinkansen. It was a rainy day, and our first stop by bus was to the Todaiji Temple with the deer and the large wooden Buddha in the temple. When I bought sembei to feed the deer for Jensen, the deer surrounded me immediately and started to attack me… they bit me and I yelled and tried to give the sembei to Jensen, but he refused take it, so I finally threw it on the ground and the deer stopped biting me. Then we went to the temple to see the largest wooden Buddha and walked to the back, where one of the poles has a hole the size of the Buddha’s nostril. The legend is that if you can crawl through the hole, you will have good health and wisdom. So I crawled through and nearly got stuck, and had to be pulled out. I guess I gained weight since the last time I went through it easily years ago. Jensen, Yumi and Audrey all went through it too.

The next day the four of us took an overnight bus tour to Kanazawa, stopping along the way at Shirakawa village, where it was snowing, and stayed at Wakuma Ryokan Onsen. Jensen enjoyed his first snow experience. After breakfast, we drove north to Wajima morning market, where we shopped. We had lunch at Togi where they have Ganmon rock, with an arch by the sea. Then we went to the lovely Kenrokuen garden in Kanazawa. It was a beautiful, sunny day and we saw some flowering ume, but it was too early for the sakura.

Before Yumi and Audrey went back to Tokyo, Mrs. Ibaramoto dressed Jensen, Audrey and me in beautiful kimono. When Yumi and Audrey left, Jensen and I took the shinkansen to Hiroshima. We stayed at the Hokke Club hotel near the Peace Memorial park. The first day, we took the streetcar and ferry to Miyajima Island. We got some beautiful photos of the famous red torii in the water at low tide. Then we walked around the island to the aquarium and had lunch. The next day we visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial park and museum, which Jensen was very interested in. Then we caught the shinkansen back to Osaka and Kenzo came from Tokyo to Grandma Ibaramoto’s home to stay with us. He took us around the neighborhood and we went to the Osaka Aquarium, the Transportation Museum, and to the nearby onsen.

The two boys and I took the train to Kyoto and met Koji, Yumi’s hubby/Kenzo’s dad there. The four of us went to Kinkakujin (gold) pavilion, Toei Movie Studio, and Hozu River boat ride. Riding through the rapids was great fun! After the river ride, we rode a rickshaw around Arashiyama and had lunch there. Koji took us to Kyoto Fire Ramen, which was a fun experience for all of us. Then we toured Nijo Castle at night, which was beautifully lit up. We saw Kiyomizu Temple, Sanjūsangen-dō Temple with 1000 buddhas and the Steam Locomotive Museum.

We had so much delicious food! -ramen, soba, curry, okonomiyaki, Kushi Katsu, tonkatsu, manjyu, mochi, robata sushi, miso soup, tempura, oyaku dombori, omerice, and the musubis at convenience stores and train stations are so good! In Osaka, we did some shopping near Osaka station and at Shimsaibashi shopping arcade which is 1/3 mile long between Umeda Station and Namba Station.

We would like to thank Yumi, Koji and Kenzo Ibaramoto for helping us to plan our trip and joining us for fun tours in the area. Also thank you to Yumi’s parents, Sosuke and Toshiko Kojima and Koji’s mom, Mrs. Ibaramoto for their warm hospitality.

Jensen’s top twenty: