About an hour or so outside Tokyo is Hakone, which might as well be another world. Nestled in the mountains and accessed by winding roads, Hakone is quite simply stunning. We took off on a gorgeous late Spring day for the Hakone Open Air Museum, which had come highly recommended. It didn’t disappoint. The day was…
Category: Travel
Hattori Farm in Kanagawa
Just a short drive from Tokyo, we entered into what felt like another world with Hattori Farm. I’d been enticed by the rumor of pony rides, but when my friend and I arrived with our sons, we learned that they didn’t start until later in the season. Luckily, I hadn’t mentioned pony rides to my…
Taking a Toddler to Tokyo Disneyland
Disney is something of a running joke in our family. MBH grew up not far from Anaheim, home to the OG Disneyland, and I grew up not far from Orlando, home to the best one. When we first began dating and I lived in Los Angeles, we double-dated with two Disney-obsessed friends to both parks,…
Spring & Summer Festivals in Japan!
Experiencing spring & summer through Japanese festivals!
Mario Kart in Tokyo!
If it’s ever been your dream to drive through the streets of Tokyo on a go-kart, dressed as a character from a video game, this post is for you! I’d seen this in the news well before we knew we’d ever move to Japan, and thought ‘how awesome.’ Little did I know that less than…
Tokyo’s Animal Cafes: Dogs!
Ever since our beloved Lola passed away last fall, my family has been missing a dog in our lives. We joke all the time that our son is really our second child; by the time Lola was his age, I’d rewritten dozens and dozens of songs to feature her prominently. Our son… doesn’t have any. He has…
Nijo Castle in Kyoto
On our last morning in Kyoto, we stopped by Nijo Castle, a beautiful example of Edo period architecture from the 1600s. It’s so dramatically different from European castles from the same era, it was incredible to see the beauty and effort they’d put in to every last detail of the architecture. Inside the castle, we…
Finding Geisha in Gion
Kyoto was one of my favorite places in Japan, in part because it ended up being so unique. We’d gotten a tip to stay near the Gion district – the most famous geisha district in Japan – where travelers have visited since the Middle Ages. It felt like stepping back in time to see the…
Fushimi Inari-taisha
A bucket-list trip to Kyoto wouldn’t be complete without a trip to this iconic shrine, nestled in the foothills above the city.
Exploring Kyoto
Time & again, whenever I asked friends what their favorite thing they’ve done in Japan was, Kyoto came up. Famous as the birthplace of geisha, a former capital city, and left largely untouched during the American bombing runs of WWII all mean that Kyoto has spectacular history and architecture that is incredibly unique, even within…
Kate Has Thoughts 