The second sake brewery we briefly visited was Kizakura Kappa Country. We just took a quick walk through the public areas and made it to their restaurant in time for lunch. With their sake, of course.

We just had a glass each, but when the waiter saw us taking pictures, he brought the bottle over.

Worth the trip.

We had originally planned to go to Himeji, until we discovered that the castle there is in the middle of extensive renovation, and will be for quite a while. Hikone, despite being close to Kyoto and highly-recommended, had few non-Asian tourists. Not only did a group of old men eagerly photograph my tall, blonde sister, one of the many schoolboys marched up and read his report to us.

He was so earnest that we tried hard to get a picture of him, but not only was he shy, the report was written on the back of the poster.

I hereby nominate her for Empress of Toei Studio Park.

…right next to the men’s room. Which is why this lovely tree in the lovely park at the lovely Hikone castle is cropped so tightly.

Sometimes, you need to escape from the pressures of 21st Century life and retreat to an earlier, simpler time.

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Katsukura is a chain of tonkatsu restaurants. Good tonkatsu. We only tried the one in the Teramachi shopping arcade just off of Shijo-dori, but it was so good that we went back another day and paid extra for a higher grade of pork. The restaurant itself is an oasis of calm in a busy shopping area.

They have a number of locations around the country, including Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, and several in Tokyo.

…doesn’t mean you can’t have fun.

At the airport, when airline employees are calling customers up to the counter for checkins and upgrades.