Having finally gone through all of the pictures from our last Japan trip, I thought I’d post the best of the lot. Just the 5-star pics would make for a short gallery, so I included the 4-stars as well.

Kamakura

Most of our trips have been biased towards Kyoto, so it was good to finally make a day trip to Kamakura while we were in Tokyo.

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Byōdō-in, Uji

Uji is a big tea town, and we visited a lovely café that offers lessons in preparing various teas, including matcha. There’s also an excellent kumihimo shop where I bought all sorts of precut silk thread, an upscale liquor store that sells the best plum wines you’ll ever taste (our mom adores “Shira Ume No Tsuyu”, and I quite liked “Kaede No Mori” as well), and some amazing ceramics shops that made our return luggage quite heavy. And a highly-recommended temple complex, Byōdō-in.

Kiyomizu-dera

Despite being on pretty much every “must-see” list for Kyoto, neither of us had ever been to Kiyomizu-dera. Definitely worth it for fall colors, but it’s a pretty steep walk. They have a new monthly “1000 Market”, which had a few things of interest.

Shimogamo

Hanaroku

Amazing wagyu restaurant that we’ve been to more often than our wallets approve of. I’ve posted pics of the food before, but the decor is first-rate as well.

Sensō-ji Hozomon Gate, Asakusa

We were walking back from the Kappabashi kitchen district and saw this temple complex on the other side of the station. Very popular that day, and the shopping district to the south of it was packed.

(the 5-star pics are 1, 6-8, 14, 16, 18, 22, 28, & 30-31)

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