The Rents Visit Japan

Thursday June 10th, 2004 my parents arrived at the Kansai International Airport just outside of Osaka and I met them there so that we could set forth together on a whirlwind tour of the sites, sounds, and tastes of Japan. I wont go into an unnecessary amount of detail here, if you're looking for more info on the trip you should contact my father and try to wrangle a copy of his home video out of him. That will fill in a lot of the gaps I may create here.

On our first full day we went to Hiroshima by bullet train and saw the A-bomb Dome (left) and museum before heading out to the beautiful island of Miyajima (right).


I hadn't been to either of those two places since 1998, so both of them were interesting for me as well. Of course I had to take them a few places I had been to recently such as Osaka Castle (right), but even there I got to do new things like put on some silly deer antler helmet and pose for pictures.

We went to the Dotonbori river (left) where we saw a new Ferris wheel under construction and we also ate at the Shakey's Pizza Buffet around there. Of course we had to go to karaoke with the crew (right) as well. And both of the rents got right into it.

We kicked down the cobblestones and found ourselves in Himeji as well to behold with our bare eyes and camera lenses the majestic Himeji Castle (left). For more on that castle check out my Himeji Page.

And what would a trip to Japan be without a visit to the Moon Viewing Bridge which is located at Heian Shrine in Kyoto. After all it's the bridge from the final scene in the 4 star movie "Big Bird Goes To Japan". And if Big Bird went there, you'd better believe you should be going there as well. In fact it was so fantastic I had to rest for a moment after being assaulted by the glorious vision of that bridge (right).

My folks didn't want to just see castles and temples though, they wanted a taste of my hobbies as well, so we went to the Osaka Dome (left) for a special Hanshin Tigers treat. They also had fun meeting some of the locals like these school children (right) that they exchanged coins with at Nijo Castle in Kyoto.

They did a few things without me as well, like going to Mt. Fuji, Tokyo, and Nara. They even saw a few temples I'd never seen before (left) and meet a few deer I'd never met before (right).

Throughout it all they and I had a wonderful time. It all culminated in a final birthday party at Mariko's house which was a surprise for me. My parents and them surprised me with a lavish feast, some gifts, and a delicious cake. It was an excellent way to end their trip.

My parents enjoyed Japan and were able to make some friends (left) and memories that will last forever.



CLICK HERE
To Return Home