Tokyo—> Kyoto —> Tanabe —> Kumano Kodo Trail —> Osaka —> Kyoto —> Tokyo

A brief photo re-cap of our 18 day trip to Japan in June 2018.

After a 12 hour flight, we were initiated into Tokyo by arriving at Shibuya crossing where it’s rumored that at the busiest of times, over 1000 people cross the intersection at a time.

Before the crosswalk sign…

After the crosswalk sign

Checking out the Shibuya neighborhood

Yoyogi Park-a ‘locals park’ that reminded me of Prospect Park in Brooklyn in the sense that it was full of people just living their lives rather than tourists (except for us :P)

Meiji Shrine (first shrine of MANY on this trip)

Tsukiji Fish Market

You order ramen by selecting the type you want from a vending machine! You press the button, pay the machine and it gives you a ticket to bring to the counter. Fast, easy (except for not understanding Japanese!) and efficient. We learned that for the most traditional/classic option, select the top left button.

Nakamise Shopping Street; It’s one of the oldest shopping centers in Japan and leads up to the Sensoji Temple.

Sensoji Temple

Standing Sushi in Shibuya. A tiny place with no seats, just room to stand at the sushi bar

First day in Kyoto! We stayed in Gion, the geisha district. There were so many ‘instagram photoshoots’ in this area! (Clearly Andrew’s photo went viral :P)

We got adventurous at the Nishiki food market. We ate a lot of things that we didn’t know what they were and later looked up. One of these was Takoyaki-Japanese octopus balls.

Kinkaku-ji

(It looks like we had it to ourselves until you see the next picture…)

We got to Kinkaku-ji as soon as it opened, but we still got to share it with a few of our closest friends! There were large school groups touring all of the shrines in Kyoto while we were there.

Ryōan-ji zen rock garden

Zuiho-in Temple

Lost in translation

Imamiya Shrine

Ichiwa, a 17th century tea house

Aburi mochi-charcoal-grilled and skewered rice-flour cakes dipped in sweet miso sauce…my most favorite food I tried in Japan!

Fushimi Inari Shrine

Typically this shrine is PACKED with visitors but since we woke up naturally at 4am every morning, we arrived here before the crowds and shared the visit with only a few instagrammers