We visit four cities in one day – Kyoto, Nara, Himeji, and Osaka.
Amelia gets in a fight with a deer, Kat discovers there’s something better than world peace, Shawn plays it cool in the face of overwhelming adorability, and we all discover that we don’t know how to tell time.
We return to Kyoto to soak up the local arts and culture, take a somewhat-prurient interest in a partially-naked statue of a delivery boy, visit more shrines that you can shake a stick at (2), and experience the mind-blowing combination of flavours that is MOS Burger.
We meet up with our friend Shawn in Tokyo and hit up Harajuku, Akihabara, Gonpachi, and other pop-culture hotspots. Plus: sumo wrestlers and the imperial palace’s gardens!
We visit temples, drink holy water, stumble into a hidden Studio Ghibli gift shop, make friends with strangers, take over a sushi bar, and chase a baby monkey around.
Seriously, the baby monkey was adorable. I recommend skipping down to the end just for that.