Japan - Angie's Take

My sister sends a bi-monthly email to family and friends back home that infos the events of her life in Japan. She just sent an update. I thought it would good to post her perceptive of our trip.

...This past week my brothers Chad and Brock came to visit over Brock's spring vacation. I was able to take four days vacation and we traveled to Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Fukuoka. We saw many beautiful things, stayed in hostels all along the way, and got lost many many times. Luckily, some slightly-drunk salary man always came to our rescue and spoke enough English/simple Japanese that we always found our way. My favorite sight we saw was Fushimi Inari Shrine in Southern Kyoto. It is one of the sole reasons I even wanted to go to Kyoto and I had no idea how spectacular it actually was until we saw it for ourselves. Over 40,000 of these red tori gates (atori gate symbolizes an entrance to a Shinto shrine)were lined up and winded through over 4km of amountain. It was quite a hike through gorgeous forestand scenery. If you have seen the movie Memoirs of a Geisha (if you haven't, please watch it), you may recall the young Sayuri running through many red torigates at the beginning and end of the movie. That part of the movie was supposed to be this Fushimi Inari Shrine. My other favorite memory happened in my little town. Three of my closest office colleagues threw a small welcome party for Brock and Chad with delicious food, followed by karaoke. Brock and Chad were able to experience the wonders of Japanese karaoke as well as feel the kindness and generosity of the people I am surrounded by. As a whole, we had such a lovely time together. I was proud of them for plunging right in there and not being too overwhelmed by the language barrier and differences in culture. After this trip, Brock now has the travel bug and is already talking of another trip to Japan and uspossibly traveling elsewhere in Asia... .