Japan Trip Preview

A quick rundown of my trip for those of you who are interested... I fly out next Tuesday abroad United Airlines from SFO. I'll arrive in Japan the following afternoon, where I'll meet up with my friend Jason, who's teaching near Chiba. I'll spend "Golden Week" (the week I fly in also happens to be a major holiday in Japan) in and around Tokyo, staying at my friend Milli's apartment. At the end of the week, I leave on the Grand Tour portion of my trip.

Essentially, I've chosen to ride the Shinkansen (high speed train) around Western Japan, visiting major cities and taking in the sights. In no particular order, I'll be visiting Nagano, Nagoya, Gifu, Kyoto, Kobe, Nara, Osaka, Himeji Castle, Okayama, Hiroshima, Miyajima, and Nagasaki. I'll spend just a day in most of those places, a few days in the larger ones (like Kyoto.) I plan to stay at a mix of reasonably priced places, such as youth hostels, small hotels, and ryokan (traditional Japanese inns.) After those two weeks, I'll return to Tokyo and hang out with my friend Lorraine and the rest of our crew from Santa Cruz!

Expect to see frequent posts on this blog, as this will be my main way of keeping in touch with you all while I'm gone. If you'd like a particular souvenir from Japan, let me know and I'll add it to my shopping list (I'm glad to oblige!) And by all means, if I don't have your mailing address, email me - anyone who knows me knows that I love to write postcards!