I stayed at Tokyo's Capitol Tokyu Hotel until May 16. During that time it was all work. On Saturday, May 13, I met Heisuke Wada (who with me had opened the Wakayama Branch in 1970). After we had some cheesecake at a restaurant, he left for the Narita Airport for an around-the-world business trip for Levis Japan. (His trip would take him to Las Vegas, Mississippi, and Stuttgart.)
On Sunday, May 14, I met Minoru Kamada. We went to Shibuya for lunch. It was good to see him again.
Barbara was tired and suffering from jet lag when she arrived on May 16. Thanks to our homework in finding maps and printed guides of Tokyo and Japan, she was able to make her way around Tokyo without getting lost while I worked at TSEL until the weekend.
On our first Saturday together (May 20), we took the Shinkansen to Kyoto and Nara.
In Nara and Kyoto we saw many beautiful Buddhist and Shinto temples. Here are a few photos:
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| Barbara and me at Southern Octagonal Hall of Kōfukuji (興福寺), Nara |
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| Barbara and a deer against the backdrop of the Kōfukuji's five-story pagoda in Nara |
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| Nara's Tōdaiji Temple (東大寺 = Eastern Great Temple), site of Japan's largest Buddha. (Sorry about the blur. The photo of Buddha didn't turn out.) |
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| Barbara in front of Tōdaiji, Nara |
Then we proceeded to Kyoto
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| Kyoto's Heian Shrine (平安神宮) |
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| Barbara in the Heian Shrine, Kyoto |
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| Kyoto's Kinkakuji (金閣寺)—Gold Shrine |
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| A gate (one of many) at the Kyoto Imperial Palace |
During the following week, Barbara rode the Shinkansen to Kyoto by herself. She got lost in Kyoto, but made it back to Tokyo Station on Monday night at midnight. She continued her solo exploration of Tokyo.
I left work early on Friday, May 19. We shopped in Tokyo and walked through Meiji Shrine.
Our last Saturday in Japan we visited the Sensōji Temple in Asakusa (a section of Tokyo).
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| Me (left of center) at Kaminari Mon (雷門)—Thunder Gate—the outer of two gates that eventually lead to Sensōji Shrine |
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| Five-story temple at Sensōji (金龍山浅草寺 = Kinryū-Yama Sensōji)—Gold Dragon Mountain Asakusa [short grass] Shrine, Tokyo. Note: The characters for Sensōji can also be read Akakusa-tera, meaning Asakusa Shrine. |
We flew back to Minnesota the next day, Sunday, May 28, 1989.
