Japan

My mom, husband, daughter, and I took the very long flight to Japan in March and spent a little more than two weeks traveling around the country. We visited Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Osaka, and Hakone (to see Mt. Fuji). While the memories are too many to count, some highlights from the trip (in the order that they occurred) are:

• Saoirse saying “Arigato gozaimasu!” (which means thank you) everywhere we went. She picked that up within 24 hours and still says it all the time.
• Visiting TeamLabs, which is like an interactive art museum. The lights recognized where you were in the room and would change based on what you were doing. For example, when we were standing in a room filled with knee-high water, there were lights reflecting off the water resembling fish, and the fish would swim around you. Saoirse got the biggest kick out of this because the fish jumped away when you tried to catch them. I have NO idea how this was possible, but the technology was very advanced.
• Meeting up with one of my former colleagues to go to the coolest kid’s play area that I’ve ever seen. It was so special to meet her on her side of the world; when I last saw her, we were both in Boston.
• Visiting a bamboo forest: they grow to be SO tall!
• Climbing a mountain to go to a monkey sanctuary – it was like a reverse zoo, because the people entered a cage at the top and the monkeys were roaming free.
• Seeing Hiroshima in person. It’s a beautiful bustling city, which I was very surprised by. Standing outside the Atomic Bomb Dome after reading about it in high school will live in my memories forever.

I can’t begin to describe what a different atmosphere it is compared to everywhere else I’ve ever visited. What really stood out to me was the cleanliness, amazing public transportation, and politeness. I can hardly wait to go back again someday!