Tokyo – Mt Fuji

The iconic highest mountain in Japan,

Mt. Fuji, was as spectacular to view in real life as it is in all the art and photographs you see it in. We viewed it from Chureito Pagoda as well as Lake Kawaguchiko. Fun fact: my favorite apples, Fuji apples, carry the Fuji name, but are actually from Fujisaki, Aomori, more north on the island of Honshu. However, the Fuji apples I devoured in Japan were also the best I’ve ever had.

And thank you, Nika, for the gyoza recommendation in Harajuku!

The world’s largest wholesale fish and seafood market, Tsukiji market, is a place buzzing with activity, sights and smells. On our last morning in Tokyo, we wandered through the market briefly but our key mission was sushi lunch at Sushi Katsura, about a 7-minute walk from the market. Knowing how close you are to the market, you know the sushi is going to be mind-blowingly delicious. And that is exactly what happened. We got seated at the bar top so the chef made each piece of sushi right there and put it in front of us as he molded the rice up under the fish.  The color pallette of the seafood waiting to be pressed on the cloud of rice was one of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen. Going for lunch was an awesome plan (thanks to Google research), as there is a lunch set that is the same great quality seafood, but for a lunch price. High on happy sushi bellies, we wandered the neighborhoods of Tsukiji and Ginza, popping in to small shops and even an izakaya under the train tracks. We even went on a mission to find the Godzilla statue nearby, according to Ulmon Maps app, with no success. How can you miss that?

Later that evening, we had the pleasure of reuniting with a Japanese family friend, Masako, for our final dinner in Japan. We met her at a restaurant that serves pork cutlet with red miso sauce, miso katsu, a dish typical from her home region of Nagoya. Besides catching up with Masako, we got to ask her about things we had noticed or were wondering about Japanese culture. Why did she choose to do a student exchange in Wyoming? What is home life like for you now, are there traditional roles? What makes Japanese curry unique from other types of curry? We treasure this opportunity not only to see her again, but also to spend three weeks in her beautiful (and delicious) country.