Strauch/Bruno Web Photo Album

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4/29-5/16/2025 Our first trip to Japan: 2 day Walk Japan tour in Tokyo; a week on our own using Japan Rail Pass and airbnbs to Hiroshima, Kyoto and Osaka; 7 day Walk Japan tour following the path of the famous Japanese haiku poet Matsuo Basho walked in the 17th century up north. Google Photos

4/30/25 (Wednesday) – Had two good flights: from Portland to San Francisco and then San Francisco to Tokyo. After arriving in Tokyo, we took the train and subway from the airport. Had a little trouble with the trains, but arrived at the Airbnb with no problem. We loved the apartment, even though it was small, but spotless. Picked up food at the 7/11 around the corner. Went to bed a little early after the 11-hour flight from San Francisco, and going through the passport control and customs.

5/1/25 (Thursday) – Still having a little trouble with the subway trains and had trouble finding our Walk Japan (Tokyo) meeting spot at the Nihonbashi Bridge which was Edo Period downtown, but still made it on time at 8:45. Very nice Japanese tour guide named Ryo and two nice couples from Australia, so just the six of us on the tour. Beautiful day in the 70s and sunny. Edo Castle, now the Imperial Palace, tour today and department store opening (the clerks bowed to everyone as they entered). Nice Koishikawa Korakuen Japanese Gardens, currency museum, main Tokyo train station, Edo Castle Park, but no real castle, just nice gardens. Azalea Park with a stop in the north part of Tokyo, good chestnut ice cream, and a tasty chocolate croissant. Walk through narrow streets in a residential section with an old wooden house like ones in the Edo period (1600 – 1880s) and an old Christian church.

Walk Japan Tokyo Itinerary

5/2/25 (Friday) – Met Ryo and our group (Karen, Hugh, Sandra, and David) at 9:00 a.m. in the Ginza area. Took the subway to see a 17th-century Shinto Shrine (Senso-ji temple complex). Laura got her fortune by shaking a metal container with sticks inside, which determined your fortune. (Laura’s fortune was not very good. Turns out that a lot of people get bad fortunes, so that is an incentive to keep buying fortunes.) There were a lot of tourists and souvenir stands. Next, we spent an hour or so at the Tokyo National Museum. Late lunch at a sushi restaurant, but Laura did not enjoy it. She doesn’t like sushi. Our last tour for our Walk Japan 2-day Tokyo tour was the Fukazawa Edo Museum. This was a typical Edo village with all wood structures. There was a downpour today, and Ryo did a great job keeping the tour inside. He was a great tour guide, and we had a very nice group.

5/3/25 (Saturday) – Today was the first day on our own, and time to take the bullet train south to Hiroshima. Tokyo Station was a mess with tons of people. It was difficult to figure out where to go, and we ended up on the wrong train. We found an attendant, and she said to get off at the first stop, and then we could switch to our correct train. It worked out fine, and we enjoyed our smooth and very fast ride on Shinkansen trains. We changed trains in Osaka with a very close connection. Once we got to Hiroshima, we took the streetcar to our next Airbnb, which was similar to the one in Tokyo. For dinner, we hit the grocery store and cooked dinner in our Airbnb, which was on the 6th floor. It was fun picking out weird food and using Google Translate to find out what it was. The Japanese eat a lot of fish.

5/4/25 (Sunday) – Toured the Peace Memorial Park in the morning, first stopping at the Tourist Information. It was a beautiful sunny day in the park, and they were having a flower festival. Lots of people. The museum was very dramatic, showing all the destruction from the A Bomb. A lot of photos and exhibits. The One-Dome Skeleton is a good reminder of how awful nuclear weapons are. For the afternoon, we took the streetcar out to Miyajima. Had a good lunch and then headed to Miyajima island on the short ferry ride with a lot of people. Walked along the water to see the Great Torii Gate and some Shinto shrines. Then back to our Airbnb on a long streetcar ride.

5/5/25 (Monday) – Dropped our bags off at the train station in the morning. Took the bus over to the Shukkeien Garden, which was very nice on a beautiful day. Caught the 1:33 p.m. bullet train to Kyoto and got a box lunch called a bento to eat on the train.

5/6/25 (Tuesday) – Rainy day, but we still managed to get out and walk the Philosopher’s Path in Kyoto. We toured Ginkaku-ji and Honen-in Temples and walked along the canal. Had a nice lunch in the shopping district of tempura shrimp and veggies. Took a respite back at the Airbnb before heading to the theater to see 7 traditional Japanese performances, including dance, music, play, comedy, and beautiful costumes.

5/7/25 (Wednesday) – Got up early to catch the train to Osaka. We stored our luggage at Shin-Osaka Station and then took the subway to the World Expo. Another beautiful day with tons of people. Very interesting structures everywhere, with a big circle of a tall wooden structure, that you could go up and walk all the way around. We had reservations at the Future of Life Pavilion, which had a lot of robots and showed how life would be in the future. A lot of the pavilions had long lines and waits, so we just enjoyed walking around. 3 million people has visited the World Expo so far in the first month. We took the subway back to pick up our luggage, but went to the wrong station. There were two stations: one called Shin-Osaka and the other just Osaka Station. We figured that out, picked up our luggage, and returned to our Airbnb. Another good day, but we were pretty tired.

Osaka World Expo

5/8/25 (Thursday) – Our last day on our own in Osaka. We toured the Osaka Castle and Museum. They had interesting holograms to explain one of the best-known Shoguns. It was a beautiful day with parks around the castle. Headed off to the shopping district and had lunch there. Tomorrow, we head to Sendai on the bullet train to do our 7-day Walk Japan in the North on the Basho Tour.

5/9/25 (Friday) – Took the bullet train to Sendai to join our 7-day tour. Almost missed our connection in Tokyo. Very quick ride with hardly any stops. Got booked into our first hotel. Met our group at 6:00 p.m. in the lobby. Nice group with 4 more Americans, Finian, Allie, Bhupi, Gurinder; 4 Aussies, George, Peter, Aloha, John, and Pookie from Thailand. Tom Orson, our guide, was British but spoke fluent Japanese. We had a long dinner with all sorts of Japanese food (a lot of raw fish) that Tom, our guide, ordered for the group. We went to bed by 9:30 p.m., the latest yet.

5/10/25 (Saturday) – Met at 8:00 a.m. in the lobby after the hotel buffet breakfast, instead of our Seven 11 breakfasts we had been having all week. Took the train out of town to start our walk to Kokufu Taga-jo. We are in the Tohoku district, and toured the Tohoku History Museum in Honshiogama. Walked through town and saw many Shinto Shrines. Laura had a tough time climbing all the steps to one of the shrines. Lunch in Shiogama where we catch the boat to where we stay that night in Matsushima. After lunch, the restaurant owner took us over to the tea store of the local tea we enjoyed at lunch. The boat ride was through the mist and all the many islands. We had a nice private Onsen (hot baths) that night, which was fun in our hotel. The hotel was more luxurious than we were used to. The next morning the mist cleared and we had a beautiful view from our room of the many small islands this place is famous for. Another good dinner with George, reading some of Basho's haiku poems. Tom, our guide, had us all work on creating haikus (5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables), and different people would read theirs each night. Finian even did one in Japanese.

Walk Japan Basho Tohoku Tour: Narrow Road to the North

Photos from our Basho Group (our photos are here on this web page and not included with everyone else's)

5/11/25 (Sunday) – We visited the Zuigan-ji temple in town, that had many caves and sculptures carved into the rock face, which was used by the Buddhist Monks. We moved on to the nearby Entsu-in, famed for its beautiful gardens that include a heart-shaped pond. Took a 45-minute bus ride to Hiraizumi to see a couple more temples, Chuson-ji and Motsu-ji. Nice buckwheat noodle dishes (Soba) for lunch, then we walked a few miles over the hill to Konjiki-do (Golden Temple), the most elaborately decorated Buddhist Temple in Japan. Nice statue of Basho, so we all got a group photo. Tom read his haiku at dinner to everyone. Tom did the public Men's Onsen. We stayed in a Japanese Inn and slept on futons on the floor for the first time.

Tom's 2 Haikus (5 syllables , 7 syllables, 5 syllables)

Taking A Boar Ride

Thru A Mysterious Mist

Thru Many Islands

Then The Next Morning

The View From Our Hotel Room

The Mist Is All Gone

5/12/25 (Monday) – Took a couple of trains this morning, including a 12-minute bullet train. This is the ninth one we have taken so far. A lot of hiking today through forests, and even a river crossing on rocks that was a little precarious. Laura was worn out as we did 19,000 steps today. We did a private Onsen in our inn and slept on the floor for the second time. There was good food, as usual, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We stopped at a guard station where Basho stayed 400 years ago. We listened to a nice talk about Basho’s journey from an old Japanese man. Our guide, Tom, interpreted. At dinner, we were entertained by two Japanese men reenacting Busho’s travels. Very cute.

A note on the Japanese Inns.
When we arrived at Japanese inns, we had to take our shoes off and put on slippers, which were waiting for us. Then, after we got to our rooms, we had to put on a yukata (an unlined cotton summer kimono), which we would wear to meals and the Onsens. There would also be an obi (a cloth belt). When we finished our dinner, we would return to our rooms, where the staff prepared our futons on the floor (on tatami mats). The futons were very comfortable.

5/13/25 (Tuesday) – We hiked over Natagiri Pass, which gave Laura a hard time, but she made it. Then we had lunch before taking a short boat ride down the Mohagami-gawa river. The guide on the boat told us about the river in Japanese with Tom, our guide, translating. He also sang us a song. Next, we climbed up 2,400 steps to Mt Haguro-san, a sacred mountain. Laura, Aloha, Bhupi, and Gurinda rode the bus up. The 8 of us who hiked up all those steps stopped for tea and snacks halfway up at a nice teahouse with a view down into the valley. This inn was basic on top of the mountain. Again, we slept on the floor on a futon mat. We saw a 1,000-year-old cedar tree and a nice pagoda temple. Laura read her haiku tonight at dinner.

Laura's Haiku:

The Walk Japan Tour

With Many Nice And Fun People

With Too Many Steps

5/14/25 (Wednesday)._. Tom got up early to watch a Buddhist service with a priest chanting. (Most of our group plus 20 more people.) It lasted about half an hour and was very interesting. We also had a Buddhist priest (dressed formally just for us) bless us the traditional way at one of the temples with Tom, our guide, interpreting. The hike today was the ancient Rokujuri–Goe Kaido trail. The bus dropped us at the top and we climbed down with a local guide. He was with us for most of the day. He was dressed like long ago with a walking stick and a conch shell, which he would blow. We had views of Mt Gassan, the mountain of the future, and Mt Haguro-san, the mountain of the present. There are three sacred mountains, and the last mountain Mt. Yudono-san is the mountain of the past. Tonight’s hotel on the base of Mt Gassan was still surrounded by snow and was very nice. Laura and I did the private Onsen again, which we enjoyed.

5/15/25 (Thursday)._. We had a leisurely breakfast at our hotel. John and I walked up the road and into the snow. Our bus left at 9:15 a.m. to take us to Yamagata and the train station. Tom, George, and Peter remained in Yamagata, and the rest of us took the bullet train to Tokyo. From the Tokyo station, we took the subway to our last Airbnb near the airport. It was nice to relax there and eat more Japanese food that we picked up at the grocery store. We had to walk up four flights to our Airbnb, but the Airbnb was nice.

5/16/25 (Friday, our last day)._. We went for a walk in the morning along the water, not far from our Airbnb. We checked out at 11:00 a.m. and took an Uber to Terminal 3 at Haneda Airport. We flew into the other airport, Narita. It was a 9-hour flight to San Francisco, and then we got into Portland at 2:58 p.m., an hour before the time we left.