Category: Japan

Japanese Baseball Tour: Part 1

As you certainly know by now, I’m a big baseball fan.  As of this writing, I’ve been to 21 of the 30 current MLB ballparks (and 3 that have been torn down).  I wrote about my 2024 Midwest road trip here and here.  When I received my assignment to Japan, I was immediately excited to check out the baseball scene.  Japanese stars have been coming to the US for decades, and I’d love to say that I saw the next Shohei Ohtani or Ichiro Suzuki when they were tearing it up in Japan.

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Osaka and the 2025 World Expo

Following our stop in Kyoto, we hopped on another bullet train for Osaka.  The trip made up over 55km in under 15 minutes, enough time to drink a beer but little else. The next day was all about the World Expo, an event that moves around the globe every five years.  Nations are invited to join and showcase different innovations and cultural aspects around a central theme.

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Bullet Train to Kyoto

Misha recently stopped in Japan to visit me while reporting for duty at Embassy Hanoi.  It was great seeing her after two months apart.  We had a little down time in Tokyo as she tried getting over the jet lag, though it takes about a week to truly adjust (or three weeks according to Misha).  On a day when the heat and humidity made the air as thick as pudding, we hopped aboard our first bullet train (shinkansen) to visit Kyoto and Osaka. 

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First Weeks in Tokyo

I planned my arrival in Tokyo for Memorial Day Weekend to give me an extra day off to get over my jet lag.  I also booked a 9am walking tour of the more popular attractions close to my neighborhood.  This way I could get my bearings on the area before diving headlong into work.  Some of the highlights included Shibuya Crossing, Tsujiki Fish Market, Hongan-ji Temple, and Senso-ji Temple. 

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First Impressions of Tokyo

I’m three weeks into my tour in Tokyo, over the jet lag, and am starting to settle into life here.  The flight over was the longest I’ve ever been on: 14 hours direct from Dulles in Virginia.  It wasn’t quite as bad as I expected, but the food service came three times (and with it the lights) making it hard to get any real sleep. 

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