my next set of japan adventures started off with a bang when a good friend from LA came to japan to hang out with me, see some sights, and then escort me back to the states. before he arrived, i spent some time saying goodbye to friends in mie (三重), wakayama (和歌山), and tokushima (徳島). you can check the highlights from that trip in goodbye adventures: part one.

mt. fuji (富士山) from my shinkansen (新幹線) window

__tokyo (東京)__
immediately after picking up my friend at the airport, we headed out for some fun in the city that i currently called my home, tokyo (東京). in the span of just one day, we started drinking in a foreigner pub at 9am while watching the superbowl live, hung out in harajuku (原宿) and people watched, walked through the tranquil yoyogi park (代々木公園) to the meiji shrine (明治神宮), pet the statue of hachiko (ハチ公), one of japans most famously loyal dogs, and walked through one of the busiest intersections in tokyo, shibuya crossing.

walking through yoyogi park (代々木公園) to the meiji shrine (明治神宮)

petting japans most famously loyal dog, hachiko (ハチ公)

a five-story pagoda near senso-ji (浅草寺)

__nikko (日光)__
next we were off to nikko (日光). after eating at the best restaurant in town (for vegetarians, at least), hippari dako (ひっぱり・だこ), we took obligatory pictures if nikko's beautiful red "sacred bridge" called shinkyo (神橋). after that, we headed for the shoyo-en garden (逍遥園) to experience some nature. because we were there in the beginning of a cold february, the garden was covered in snow and the pond was half frosted over - which made it absolutely beautiful to explore.

curry udon (カレーうどん) at hippari dako (ひっぱり・だこ), nikko (日光)

standing in front of the "sacred bridge", shinkyo (神橋), in nikko (日光)

shoyo-en garden (逍遥園), nikko (日光)

we spent the rest of our day walking around tosho-gu (東照宮), where we got to check out various shrines, ornate buildings, and another five story pagoda. one of the more interesting parts of tosho-gu was the depiction the "three wise monkeys" (see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil). dating from the 17th century, its actually one of the first pictorial representations of confucius' code of conduct.

tosho-gu (東照宮), nikko (日光)

the three wise monkeys (三猿) in tosho-gu (東照宮). see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.

a five story pagoda in tosho-gu (東照宮), nikko (日光)