Japan Adventure (Wait . . . what? Did you say Japan?)

Yes, Japan!  LeRon served his junior mission in Japan from 1972-1974 and has never been back . . . until now.  We received permission from the Philippines Area President and from our Cebu Temple President to leave our mission and travel to Japan during the two-week temple closure.  We loved Japan.  So clean.  Friendly people.  Delicious food.

We spent the first week south of Tokyo where it was hot, hot, hot.  And humid also.  Almost worse than Cebu.  The second week, we traveled north to Hokkaido where it was delightfully cooler.  More on that later.

Here we are in the Cebu Mactan International Airport, ready for our 2-week adventure in Japan.  Traveling light, as always.  People are surprised when they learn that we even spent a month in New Zealand with just our carry-ons.  We wouldn't have won any fashion contests but it worked for us. 

A kind airport worker offered to take our picture next to the art installation that is described below.

Lots of cultural sculptures in Mactan Airport.  This one is made of driftwood and other native woods.  It's called "1521" and is by Filipino artist Kidlaf Tahimik.  This artwork was installed in 2021 in celebration of the 500th anniversary of Ferdinand Magellan's arrival in the Philippines in 1521.

LeRon's first time back in Japan after he left it 52 years ago.  Arrival in the Osaka Kansai Airport after a 4 1/2 hour flight from Cebu.  He's happy to be back and I'm happy to be with him.  From Osaka we took the train down to Himeji, where we will overnight.  Train travel is very slick here in Japan.

Monday, August 4, 2026.  Our first look at the Himeji Castle.  It's very hot and I'm glad I found a kid's hat that actually fits my tiny head. 
The Himeji Castle is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  There are about 80 buildings and other structures connected with the castle.

The Himeji Castle is also called the White Heron Castle because of its very white exterior that resembles a bird in flight.  It's Japan's best preserved and most visited castle.

The Himeji Castle began as a fort in the 14th century and was, amazingly, never destroyed by fire, earthquake, or war.  Amazing because Japan is on the notorious "Ring of Fire," which is known for its volcanos and earthquakes.  And amazing also that it survived WWII. 

The cicadas were out in full force.  I hadn't realized cicadas were such large insects -- about 1-2 inches long -- until we saw some.  Once, LeRon even saw a cicada fighting with a tree frog.
And what a noise they make!  Even LeRon with his limited hearing could hear them.  We heard them all over Japan and kind of got used to them, but at first, the sound was overwhelming.  Kind of like a buzz-saw going all the time.  See video below of the sound of the cicadas.

Click here for more information about the Himeji Castle.  And can you imagine learning to read Japanese characters?  Twenty-six letters in our alphabet is nothing compared to thousands of characters that one needs to learn just to read a Japanese newspaper.  LeRon, as a missionary, studied the Japanese language every day of his mission, right to the end of the two years.  He became quite fluent in reading as well as speaking.

The grounds around the Himeji Castle were gorgeous.  Delightfully green and the shade helped us feel somewhat cooler.

Bridges, greenery, rocks, and water with colorful koi fish feature prominently in Japanese gardens.  So peaceful.

LeRon has happy memories of so many kinds of stone lanterns.  I asked google if the different lanterns have meanings.  And yes, in Buddhist traditions, "the light of the lantern represents the illumination of Buddha's teachings, guiding believers through the darkness of ignorance."  (See https://www.japan-experience.com/plan-your-trip/to-know/understanding-japan/stone-lanterns).

You will see many pictures of lanterns.  In the early days they actually functioned as lanterns.  But they were functions with meaning, such as wisdom or luck.

LeRon likes lanterns and I like trees.  Bamboo is so interesting.  It grows quickly and is used in many structures and fences.  The bark is so smooth.  We have seen bamboo in many countries, including on our mission in Kenya.

It was so hot that sweat is running down my face and arms.  But what a lovely walk in a very lovely park.

So many kinds of stone lanterns.

We could stand the heat for only so long, so a closer view of Himeji Castle will have to wait for another time.  We're back to the taxis and amazingly we have the same driver.  Taxis in Japan are expensive but high class, with white-gloved taxi drivers in suits, and lacy white seat covers.  The driver opens and closes the door for us from his steering wheel.

I loved listening to LeRon and the driver conversing in Japanese.  He was so surprised that a "gaijin" (pronounced guy-jean), an "outsider," could speak Japanese.  But when LeRon's Japanese ran out, they both used Google Translate to communicate.  Here they are, talking together with their cell phones.  What a marvelous invention is google translate.  I remember more than 50 years ago at BYU, that it was determined that computers would never be able to translate like a human could. 

Through the years, LeRon has often mentioned how much he loved a cold drink called "calpis."  And today he found it again.  Calpis is a sweet (but not too sweet) milky-looking non-carbonated drink.  He remembers how much he, as a young missionary, loved a cold bottle of calpis on a hot day.

We're on a train, speeding from Himeji to Osaka where we will stop for a short visit to see places where LeRon worked on his mission.  I was impressed that my phone could take such a clear picture as we sped onward.  Old and new buildings.  Much has changed in the past 50 years.

So many rice fields everywhere.  Wherever there's a piece of land, they grow rice.  It takes a lot of rice to feed 122 million people.  Again, this picture was taken from the train.

LeRon used pay telephones like this to phone home once a year at Christmas time.  No cell phones back then.  We wondered if anyone ever uses these phones now.  There were several working green phones, so maybe someone uses them once in a while.

551 Horai is famous for its steamed pork buns called "butaman".  They are hand-wrapped sweet dough filled with pork and sweet onions.  No, we didn't try them because the line was too long.  It was a very popular place.  These pork buns are only found in this area of Japan.

We left our bags in a locker at the train station so we could explore a bit of Osaka where LeRon spent much of his time as a missionary.  For some reason, I can't find any photos of Osaka.  Did we take any?  My memory is starting to fade.  Anyway, back on to the train to Kyoto.

The Kyoto train station is like a city.  Huge shopping and dining areas.  So huge that we got lost several times.  Delicious pork don buri (pork cutlet over rice).  One of our favorite Japanese dishes.

No, we didn't stay in the very expensive Kyoto Tower Hotel, but we did stay very close to the train station.  But the train station is so big that we got lost and it took us an hour to find our way through the station to our hotel.

Another taxi ride and another attempt at Japanese and also Google Translate.  We're going from our hotel to the very famous Kinkaku-ji Temple, also known as the Golden Pagoda.  The top two floors are entirely covered with gold leaf.  So anxious to see it.

Seriously?  Policemen guarding the crosswalks?  Here's the entrance to the Golden Pagoda.

You know me and flowers.  I love them.  A beautiful lotus blossom.

First look at the gorgeous Golden Pagoda and grounds.

We were totally awed at the beauty of the place.  The original pagoda was built in 1397 for the ruler of Japan and then it became a monastery.  It burned down in 1950 but in 1955 an exact replica was built.

Click to enlarge this beautiful photo.  Then see the video below which LeRon took of the place.  You can hear the cicadas.

The golden rooster on top of the pagoda is not a rooster, but a phoenix.  The phoenix is a symbol of Japanese royalty and also symbolizes peace and harmony.  Also, because the mythical phoenix rose from the ashes, it becomes a symbol of protection from fire.  Interesting that a monk burned down the pagoda in 1950.  I wonder why.

The tree growing on the bamboo scaffolding in the very center of the picture is actually a pine tree that has been growing for over 600 years.  It has been pruned and trained to grow like this and is supposed to represent a sailing ship pointing west toward Buddhist paradise.

Notice the worker on the right who is sweeping leaves.  His jacket looks all puffy.  That is because workers in hot climates wear battery-operated fan-cooled jackets.  In Japan, they are called "kuchofuku."  We've also seen them in the Philippines.  That's the only way workers can survive in hot, humid climates.

Also zoom in on the picture and you will see the "split toed" boots this worker is wearing.  They are called "jika-tabi."  When the vulcanization process of rubber was invented, this rubber was added to the jika-tabi, making them perfect for outdoor work. 

Can't get enough of the beauty of this place.  The water is so calm and the reflections are perfect.  We are used to windy weather in southern Alberta, so the calmness is rare to us.

Close-up of the phoenix on the pagoda.  Hopefully it will protect from further fire.

Stone figurines with coins thrown at their feet.  I wonder what good the coins will do them.

Click on this picture and you will see a stone lantern in the far right.

LeRon pointed out the very thick thatch on this roof.  It's made of rice straw.  Very water-proof.

Look at how thick the rice straw is.

The above video shows the sound of the very loud cicadas.  Actually, LeRon saw the cicada and it was fighting with a tree frog.  So all that sound came from just one cicada.  Amazing!

Just as we were leaving the Golden Pagoda, we saw this sign for ice cream with real gold powder.  Yes, we need to try it!

Here are our golden ice cream cones.  Yes, it's real gold and yes, you can eat it.  It's tasteless and apparently just goes right through you.  So now we can say that we've eaten gold!

Well, that's not quite all of our adventures from Day 3 of our Japan Adventure.  More yet to come.  We rented kimonos and spent an hour walking in the heat in a beautiful park.  A photographer accompanied us for the first half hour and took many pictures.  It will take me a while to go through them all.  What a fun (if hot) trip so far.