Yoshi & Itsuko

Happy Valentine's Day!
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We have been visiting with Yoshi and Itsuko (friends of Megan's family) in Nagoya for a few days.  They have been kind enough to open their home to us and allow us to use it as a base camp.  In Nagoya we have been very entertained by the Sakae district, which is where the high-end shopping district is.  At night everything lights up with flashy-flashy sparkling lights.  It's very pretty.  The people-watching is good too.

From Nagoya we took day trips to Kyoto, Seto, and Takayama.  We did not have nearly enough time in Kyoto, but we enjoyed touring one of the temples there that is the largest wooden structure in the world.  Seto was fascinating.  It is where Japanese pottery originated a very, very long time ago.  We walked around some of the very old parts of town and got to visit one of the giant kilns that is built into a hill.  Takayama is where we spent a very wet Valentine's Day.  It is a little town waaaay up in the mountains.  The train ride was amazing and once you arrive there are many little temples and shrines to explore.

Mt. Fuji
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We will return to Nagoya before heading back to Tokyo and the airport.