Today was a good day but also a very sad one as today we went to Hiroshima. It was an early morning; we were up by 7 and on the Shinkansen by eight. When we got to Hiroshima, we immediately walked along a route called “The Promenade of Peace” towards the area where an atomic bomb was dropped on the city at 8:15 am on August 6, 1945. We first went to the Cenotaph (a curved structure with the names of all the victims) and then to the Children’s Memorial. The Children’s Memorial shows a girl and an origami crane on top of a rock. The monument is dedicated to a girl named Sadako Sasaki who was diagnosed with leukaemia ten years after she was exposed to the radiation of the Hiroshima bombing. When she was in the hospital, she set a goal to make 1000 paper cranes- a symbol of joy and longevity- because she heard that if someone made 1000 cranes, they would be granted a wish and her wish was to be cured. Although she reached her goal, her wish did not come true. Sadako died on October 25, 1955 at the age of 12. But Sadako’s spirit lives on through the thousand cranes her classmates made in her honor and the thousands and thousands of cranes people all over the world continue to make and send to Hiroshima in her memory. After that, we went to the “Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims” a tearjerking place for remembrance and contemplation with a beautiful fountain, lists with names of all the known people exposed to the nuclear blast, testimonies from surviving victims and much more. After lunch, we went to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, another heart wrenching space with items such as the scorched watches and clothes from the bomb’s victims, as well as maps and images of the devastated city. The Memorial Monument “expresses the spirit of Hiroshima - enduring grief, transcending hatred, pursuing harmony and prosperity for all, and yearning for genuine, lasting world peace.” On our way back to Kyoto, I wondered when this genuine, lasting world peace will come.

A few images from our first day in Kyoto, from Nishiki Market to the Manga Museum to the Kimono Fashion Show (with a Japanese muzak version of Smells Like Teen Spirit accompanying the models on the runway), to the grounds of the Imperial Palace, to the zen garden of Daisen-in at Daitoku-ji Temple and all the little streets in between… If Osaka was a feast for the stomach, Kyoto is a feast for the eyes…

Osaka is known as a city of delicious food and after today we know why! This morning, we set off after a delicious breakfast to The Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum. On our way, we met up with a filmmaker friend of Shinji’s named Kaori who came with us to the museum. The museum is dedicated to instant and Cup Noodles as well as Momofuku Ando. The reason Ando is famous is because he is the creator of instant noodles and the Founder of Cup Noodles. He was born in Taiwan in 1910 and after his parents died, he started a textiles company but moved to Japan after WWII. He created the first instant noodles in 1958 and in 1971 he made Cup Noodles. You can read more about his very interesting story here . The museum was cool, with a timeline of instant noodles and videos of how the noodles are made but the part that really stood out for us was the area where you get to make your own Cup Noodles!!! You could customize the outside with sharpies and also choose what kind of broth you want and what ingredients you want inside. We are saving ours until we get back to L.A, but it will be hard to wait even that long.

After, we went to a conveyor belt sushi for a delicious, light lunch. Later, we got some green tea ice cream, went to a book store, and browsed the food floor at a very fancy department store in Osaka station before saying goodbye to Kaori and going back to the apartment (stopping for some piping hot Takoyaki-octopus fritters!-an the way).

Shinji’s wife, Kazuna, and her mom made us an AMAZING traditional Japanese/Korean dinner, which (even though there was no ramen) was the best meal we have had in Japan! While Kazuna and her mom were cooking, Paolo and Kazuna’s dad were talking and drinking beer. Later, Kazuna and Shinji presented me with my very own pair of beautiful customized chopsticks. The perfect end to a perfect day of food!

Today we left our place around 10:30 and headed to the train station. On our way, we got some kaki no ha sushi, smoked sushi wrapped in a persimmon leaf. Beautiful and delicious! We ate it on the train ride to Osaka which was pretty nice except for us getting lost (again) while trying to transfer. But it didn’t take long for us to be back on track and soon we were eating mouthwatering Korean food with Shinji and Miyuki in a little market filled with food shops and restaurants. After the amazing lunch, we had and equally delicious dessert called Taiyaki, a Japanese fish-shaped cake filled with custard, red bean paste or chocolate that is believed to have originated in Tokyo in the Meiji period. We wandered around, and slowly made our way to the suburbs with a brief stop at a mall for some shopping (We brake for Muji!). We hung out for a bit at Shinji and Kazuna’s amazing high-rise apartment and watched a Hanshin Tigers/Tokyo Giants baseball game while we got a chance to relax for a while. We had another amazing meal at a Chinese restaurant for dinner and now we are getting ready for bed… I get to sleep in the tatami room!

This morning, the garbage truck came down the alley. It was tiny. It was clean. It was playing pleasant music. And two garbagemen were running alongside to pick up the trash and throw it in the compactor as the truck ambled along.

During lunch rush at the popular ramen place (Top 50 in Japan!), everyone stood very patiently in line at the front door while the wait staff came out to take orders so the food would be ready when you sat down.

On our way into town, the bus driver refused to pull away from the curb until the man on the cellphone ended his call.

Outside the bus station, two ladies propped up a flower that had fallen over.

In the afternoon, we noticed public signs encouraging kindness to animals.

In the evening at the Shabu Shabu place, the owner gave us an extra serving of delicious apple sorbet.

Sometimes nice is nice.

Today was like nothing I have ever experienced before. Today we went to Nara Park. Nara Park is special for multiple reasons but my favorite part was how the local Sika Deer (regarded as messengers of the gods in the Japanese Shinto religion) just wander around the town and the park. You can pet them, take photos of them, bow to them (and they will bow back!) and you can even buy special crackers to feed them. I found a much cheaper and more fun way to feed them: ripping up grass and hand feeding it to them. After we got over how cute the deer were, we ventured deeper into the Park towards the Tōdai-ji. The Tōdai-ji’s Great Buddha Hall is the largest wooden structure in the world and when it was built in the mid-8^th century, it almost bankrupted the entire Japanese government. After a series of natural disasters, the temple was built along with many other smaller temples in the Tenpyō Era by Emperor Shōmu, as he believed that such piety would inspire Buddha to protect his country’s lands from further disasters. The Great Buddha Hall contains a 49-foot-tall Buddha made of gold and bronze. Massive! Another funny part of our walk through the park was that several groups of school girls wanted to take random photos with me, and I still haven’t figured out why. For lunch, we had a type of Japanese pancake called Okonomiyaki, and then hopped the bus back to our new friend Miyuki’s traditional Japanese house on the outskirts of town where we are staying for the next couple of days. We made it home just before the rain started falling!

From Kanazawa to Nara, we’re loving our time on the trains!

Today was action packed and non-stop! We started with a walk to the Kanazawa Castle (also known as the Palace Of The 1000 Tatami). The castle was constructed in the 16^th century and was destroyed and rebuilt several times but after another fire in 1881 it was destroyed again, not to be restored until 2001. We only went to the main castle part but there was also two rebuilt storehouses. After that, we went to the Kenroku-en, a beautiful lush garden, that is considered to be one of the three perfect gardens of Japan. It was built in the 1620s and was built by the Maeda. It is designed to be beautiful and has the six attributes of a perfect Chinese garden (yes Chinese not Japanese): seclusion, artificiality, spaciousness, antiquity, abundant water and panoramas. The park also contains over 8,700 trees and 183 plant species. From the park we went to the Higashi Chayagai, an old district that in 1820 was set aside by the local lords for Geisha activities. We had delicious and expensive sushi at the local fish market for lunch followed by delicious and cheap sweet potato soft serve ice cream. From there, we took to the bus to the south of the city and explored some temples, a pet cemetery, and a samurai house. It had katanas, an armor set and letters to and from generals from the Edo period about conflicts in the armory, but also simplistic designs in the tea room and a gorgeous garden. The house was owned by a powerful lord under the Maeda clans rule but was sold when industrialists started moving to Kanazawa. We also went to the 21st Century Museum Of Contemporary Art and took a very fast look around. Besides James Turrell’s Blue Planet Sky, the highlight for us had to be the art piece that involved a Korean immigrant sitting in a bunny costume for seven hours a day (most likely sleeping). Afterwards, we got snacks from the market and had a tasty meal back at our ryokan.

Today, after a slow morning of last-minute packing, we headed to Shibuya Station one last time. On the way, we pondered some unanswered questions from our time in Tokyo: Why are there bird sounds piped out of speakers at the metro stations? Why are there clear plastic pristine-condition umbrellas lying around everywhere? How long will the beautiful little street of handmade structures made by homeless people continue to exist when the city is trying to “clean up” the area in preparation for the 2020 Olympics? Where IS the city’s best ramen shop? Should we have let the photographer from Little Friends Management whisk Max off for a career in teen modeling?

The Shinkansen (aka the Bullet Train!) for Kanazawa left Tokyo Station at 12:30 and we arrived at 11:00 so we got some food and hung out to kill some time. When we finally got on the train, we were surprised at how much room we had and took full advantage of it, spreading out luxuriously. During the three hour ride, we read, slept, played a board game and had quiet time. Before we knew it we were in Kanazawa!

We’re staying at a ryoken, “a type of traditional Japanese inn that originated in the Edo period (1603–1868), when such inns served travelers along Japan’s highways.” according to Wikipedia. It is sparsely decorated with only tatami mats, a little table, two low chairs, two futons and a pot of hot tea. Once we were settled, we took a nice little walk around our neighborhood and made our way to the river in time for a golden sunset! A delicious yakitori meal and a soak in the communal bath was a perfect end to the day.

After our whirlwind shoot, it’s a day of rest and rambling on a warm, sleepy Tokyo Sunday all topped off by a trip to the family onsen and dinner with our dear friend Shinji… We’re so relaxed, we fall asleep on the train home…