Tokyo
First day in Tokyo and it rained for most of the day, but after that we had mostly good weather for the rest of the trip.
Second day was Tokyo Disneyland where there are two amusement parks, Disneyland and Disney Sea. We spent the day at Disney Sea.
Day 3 was a visit to the Meiji Shrine and some shopping in Harajuku.
Kyoto
We had five nights in Kyoto. First full day was spent walking around Gion and the Path of Philosophy.
There were cherry blossoms everywhere. We didn't time the trip for the cherry blossoms, we just went when we did as it was school holidays.
Arashiyama
Kyoto day 2 was spent in Arashiyama. Highlight is the bamboo grove, but there is also a temple and gardens.
Melissa's kimono, bought in Tokyo, got another outing.
Fushimi-Inari Taisha
Fushimi-Inara Taisha is a shrine complex featuring a lot of orange. The orange torii (gates) follow a 4km path up the mountain.
Nara
We did a day trip to Nara from Kyoto. Nara park is known for the deer wandering around the park.
The Todai-ji temple is famous for the large Buddha statue inside the temple (the large one is the dark coloured one, not the gold one).
Nijo-jo
As Osaka is less than an hour from Kyoto, we spent much of the day in Kyoto before heading to Osaka.
Highlight of the day was the Nijo-jo castle and grounds.
Osaka
We had one full day in Osaka, which was spent at Universal Studios.
Takayama
Takayama is up in the mountains of central Honshu, between Kyoto and Tokyo.
The Sanmachi-suji district is the old part of town, with plenty of traditional Japanese buildings.
Shirakawa-go
We hired a car for a day trip from Takayama to Shirakawa-go.
Shirakawa-go is best known for the thatched farmhouses, but also had some nice snowy mountain scenery.
Hakone
Hakone was our Mt Fuju viewing stop. We had just one full day here, and fortunately had good viewing weather for the day.
At Owakudani they steam eggs in the hydrogen sulphide, turning the shells black, hence the large black egg and Cameron's black ice cream.
Tokyo
Back to Tokyo for one night before flying home.
