The Magical Deer of Nara, Japan

If the idea of deer as deities, roaming throughout a Japanese city and welcomed wherever they go doesn’t fully convince you of the awesomeness of Japan, I don’t know what will. We took an amazing day trip out from Osaka to visit the magical city of Nara, and love on some of these deer. Our…

Kobe Beef in Kobe & Takoyaki in Osaka

I’m a pescatarian, and when we first had children it was important to me that they be raised vegetarian and they could choose for themselves whether to have meat or not, once they understood what it was. My Better Half, however, is emphatically not a vegetarian. Whenever I’m out of town, he’ll go on ‘meat…

Sake Brewing in Osaka

Since I was pregnant most of our first year in Japan, once our second year began (I mean, obviously once our daughter was born) I was most excited about learning to love sake! To get ready for that momentous occasion, we stopped into a sake museum/brewery in the Osaka area and learned how it was…

Himeji Castle

Himeji Castle is one of Japan’s most beloved. The ‘White Heron’ castle is one of the few surviving originals in the entire country.

Osaka Castle

Osaka Castle brings Japan’s samurai history to life.

Tokyo Toy Museum

Just before my daughter was born, in the high August heat, we had a last day date in Tokyo, just my son and I. He had a modeling audition and once it was over, I had the genius idea to head across town to the Tokyo Toy Museum. It was inside, it was air-conditioned, and it….

Tokyo DisneySea!

On what started out as an overcast, cloudy day this summer, my son and I drove out to Tokyo DisneySea to enjoy some one-on-one time before his little sister arrived and gave him some competition made us a family of four. He’s not much on rides yet at this age (2), so the Toyville Trolley…

Out & About in the Izu Peninsula

Our girls weekday trip to the Izu Peninsula was a pretty awesome respite from the hustle-and-bustle tourism we always get up to in Tokyo. We had gorgeous weather during our short road trip and we took full advantage, hitting up a local geopark that boasted a pretty cool cave and sand ski area. What’s that…

Fuji Peace Park

In early summer, we took a quick day trip to Fuji Peace Park, a couple hours away from our house. We’d seen some incredible views of Fuji-san from here on a friend’s Facebook photos, and my hardcore FOMO kicked in – I had to see it for myself. The views didn’t disappoint. From the moment…