PHOTOS & MEMORIES OF MY TRIPS TO JAPAN FROM 2002 - 2013

I have taken the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto (and back) many times.  Always thrilling to catch a glimplse of Mount Fuji's peak. 

Once, late in the afternoon, the snow was pink.  I couldn't move fast enough to take a photo, but it is engraved in my mind's eye.

Walking in the Pontocho area in Kyoto one evening, I spotted this Maiko walking to work in a nearby ryotei, traditional Japanese restaurant.  Look at the two men oggling her.  She was gorgeous.

In Koyasan, the center of Shingon Buddhism, I stayed at Eko-in, a Buddhist monastery.  It rained heavily one afternoon so I just rested and enjoyed looking at the downpour from the window of my room.

Kokeshi dolls -  these offered in Akiu, near Sendai in Tohoku

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One of the joys of traveling in Japan is taking the train. Always a thrill to pick up an ekiben meal to enjoy on board.  These were in Okayama Station.  What a great value for about $10.

2002 The famous Kaminarimon (Thunder and Lightening) Gate, and entrance to the pleasures of Asakusa, Tokyo

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I was fascinated by the sweet countenance of this older gentleman who was blind.  He was doing a divination for two young people in the Teramachi arcade near the Oike Dori entrance in central Kyoto.  Yet another time I wished I could understand spoken Japanese.