You can't be a true tourist of Japan without getting lost.  I felt like a Japanese tourist, except those didn't exist here.  Gunjan was really good with body language to communicate our needs.  I could read some Kanji, so that helped.  We were forced to ask people for directions.  Fortunately, people were more than willing to help us.  It was a great welcome into this country, especially since I've never traveled to a place where I didn't know the language. 

I'm not a big fan of fast food, but when you're in Japan, you have to try MOS Burger.  They have buns made of  sticky rice.  My pork burger was pretty tasty.

Popular burger chain in Asia.

We were lucky enough to meet a "celebrity" at the subway station.  More awesome than a J-pop singer, it was a sumo wrestler!

I don't think sumo wrestlers smile much.  It wouldn't give off the right mystique.

After slurping up some delicious handmade ramen, we visited our local Lawson's convenience store in Mitaka to purchase tickets to Studio Ghibli.  It's the recreated home of artistic mastermind Hayao Miyazaki, who created the only anime I'm willing to watch, including Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle.

Studio Ghibli is like one big playhouse that had extremely creative ways of showing how animation works.  We got to see original screenplays and sketches that Miyazaki made.  We were only allowed to take pictures from the outside, but we did get to keep a souvenir film strip.

This is my neighbor Totoro.  There are some soot sprites peeking out at the bottom.

Studio Ghibli would prove to be my favorite part of Tokyo.  You don't even need to have an inner child to enjoy this wonderland.  The best part was this carousel-like display with Totoro characters in slightly different poses. A strobe light is used to create the illusion of movement to show the science behind animation.

After Studio Ghibli, it was time to check out Tokyo at night.

Shinjuku

We went to the expensive shopping plazas in Shinjuku.  Fun to browse through.

But who would pay $300 for mangoes?!

Advertisement for love hotels (where you pay by the hour...)

We went to an izakaya (Japanese-style pub).  Don't go there for the food.

Shinjuku:  By day, it's a great place to go high-end shopping.  By night, lots of sketchiness goes on.  We even saw some yakuza (Japanese mafia who own many nightclubs and legitimate businesses).  We saw one with a black eye, but I didn't take a picture :p

As a Buddhist, it was really meaningful to see this HUGE statue of Amitabha (and then to walk inside the statue!).

It's like the Statue of Liberty for Japanese folk.

Giant Buddha's giant sandals

After we picked up the requisite good luck charms at Kamakura, it was off to Harajuku.  It's a city made famous by one Ms. Gwen Stefani, with her own line of overpriced streetwear and handbags.  I wanted my own authentic Harajuku goth-punk gear from Harajuku, but found the prices to be almost as outrageous as Gwen's.

Don't touch!

That McDonald's seriously had the coolest restroom I've ever seen.

I love the various subcultures of Japan.  You've got your goth-punk paradise in Harajuku, gorgeous temples in Kyoto, some of the best food in Osaka, and then Nerdville in Akihabara.

The Electric City

At one shop, there's the smallest, fastest laptop you've ever seen, next door there's a foldable bicycle, and then just next door there's a place that sells hentai.  We took a snack break at the popular chain Mister Donut.  They're healthier than American donuts, or so I'd like to tell myself.

Forget Krispy Creme's.

My favorite donut is this strawberry crueller.  Worth every calorie.

After Akihabara, we took the bullet train (shinkansen) to Hakone, where our onsen awaited.

We had a private air gondola take us to the natural hot springs (onsen).

Aerial view of paradise at a Japanese-style resort.

I snuck a photo of this co-ed onsen.  It looks tame enough, but it's super-hot.

Waiting to get our grub on.

Mmm ... and so our feast began!

Miniature fried crabs are scary but incredibly tasty.

Just as yummy as the Tsukiji Fish Market.

After one of the best meals on the trip, we slept on futons on tatami mats.

My jammies!  Later on I'd go buy my own yukata.

Lights out.  Time for bed.

I love nature ... I just don't like working for it.  Or the icky mosquitoes.  But here I was in Hakone on my first hike.  I figured if the eldery couple next to us could do it, then so could I.  Nature is beautiful though :p

Seriously, a picture just can't capture the effect a waterfall can have on you.

Man-made waterfall, but still very cool.

Bodhisattva of Compassion atop a dragon.

No hike is incomplete without a suspension bridge.

Took the Hakone Ropeway on the way back to civilization.

This led us to our very cool mode of transportation ...

... a pirate ship!!

Yoho!

I skillfully took this photo from the bullet train.  On the Hakone side, you can catch a better view of Mt. Fuji.

Kyoto was the first time Gunjan and I had to fend for ourselves with no Japanese skills.  Strangely enough, we found more English-speakers here.  We hear that people come here to look at all the various temples, so that's what we aimed to do.  I didn't really understand why until we did it ourselves. 

We did the whole obligatory Silver Pavilion/Golden Pavilion/Path of Philosophy combo.  One tip is to rent a bike so you can visit many more temples.  Also, going off the beaten path on the Path of Philosophy is definitely the thing to do.  It's not as touristy and every little thing you find is like rewarding yourself.

The must-see temple:  It's covered in gold leaf.  Too bad you can't go inside.

Found on the Path of Philosophy.

After a number of temples, we went to Nijo Castle.  It had a building where the floors creaked to sound like nightingales.  This would alert the guards that intruders were near.

Nijo Castle isn't the typical European style you'd conjure up in your mind.

Looks like an ordinary lake, but it's a moat!

After a long day of sightseeing, we went to an okonomiyaki restaurant near our hostel.  This was the one of the few times we encountered "danger." There was a drunk guy outside the restaurant soliciting himself.  We quickly walked into the restaurant and had our well-deserved meal.

Okonomiyaki (seafood pancake)

We decided to hit up a few more famous temples before heading to the famed Himeji Castle.  Kiyomizu-dera was a cool temple.  It had one section that was put together without nails.  Below I'm drinking magically blessed water (mizu) sterilized by a laser.

Kiyomizu-dera

Fushimi-inari Shrine is the famous one with all the red gates.

Scored free tickets to Kyoto Tower.  It was fun and touristy.  We got to zoom in on temples we missed out on.

Kyoto Tower (Japan's version of the Space Needle)

It was finally time to leave Kyoto, even though I'd miss my Asian Australian attendant at our youth hostel.  We went to check out Himeji Castle.  It was hyped up and we actually liked Nijo Castle more, but it definitely had more castle-like qualities to it.

Himeji Castle

Stone-throwing hole

The castle was huge!  We took a nice break by visiting Osaka for lunch.  That's right, we went to a city just to grab lunch.  We had to choose between awesome food and feeding deer at Nara.  It's a good thing we got JR rail passes.  If you're going to Tokyo and Kyoto, you kind of have to.

We had more okonomikayki.  It was better than the one in Kyoto, but I still wasn't too fond of it.  Or the takoyaki that Osaka is known for.

Making takoyaki (octopus balls)

They taste better with Japanese sweet mayo :)

Monaka is kind of like a wafer mochi.

Then it was time to visit Gion.  It was straight out of Memoirs of a Geisha.  We went to Yasaka Shrine, hoping to find a geisha accompanying a client.

Yasaka Shrine

We waited forever in a famous district trying to spot geisha.  We staked them out and were able to find them scurrying from one appointment to another.

They're very talented.  They can walk super-fast in those clogs (geta).

Our best photo was scored after waiting a number of hours.  We grabbed a quick sushi dinner and ate on some steps near a restaurant.  Most geisha refuse to have their pictures taken, but we found a geisha apprentice (maiko).  A woman and her son asked the maiko for a photo and she smiled at the little boy.  She accepted and Gunjan swooped in, knowing it was her best shot.

Cutest maiko ever.

Our last touristy destination was Asakusa.  It was everything I thought Japan would be about:  great food, cutesy items, people dressed up in cosplay, and pagodas.

Asakusa

Fresh rice crackers being made (sembei)

I prefer the packaged ones at home because they're sweet and filled with preservatives.

Singularly the best food I had in Japan.  Almond ice cream, not sushi :P

Oh, the shopping!  Too bad you can't really bargain here.

My very own yukata!  Best purchase ever.