I was blessed to spend seven glorious days in Japan “my “second home” - en route to and from Indonesia and Vietnam visiting our Body & Soul projects. The first night I stayed at a great ryokan right in old town Asakusa. The next morning I trained to the Hakone area a couple hours from Tokyo. A cruise on an old pirate ship on Lake Ashi with the iconic torii gate of Hakone-jinja Shrine onshore and majestic Mt. Fuji towering in the background was a breathtaking experience. On the bullet train back to Tokyo I disembarked to see the Odawara Castle, a short walk from the station - remarkable!
After returning from Vietnam, I spent another night in Asakusa at an ancient ryokan, a leftover from the Edo Period and a few hours at “Halloween Night” at jazz club “The Hub.” Early the next morning it was a 3-hour Shinkansen train to “Little Kyoto” Kanazawa. The historic Higashi-Chaya area was a photographic paradise - the district’s timeless architecture and allure, I must say, rivals Takayama. The Kanazawa Castle digital lighting exhibition was impressive - a unique juxtaposition of old and new. And the Kenrokuen Gardens were peaceful, serene, beautiful and spiritual - and enormous!
To wrap-up this amazing trip I set off on a long 7-hour journey - bullet trains, regular trains, subways and bus - to the Lake Kawaguchi Jazz Festival, with the beautiful and majestic Mt. Fuji as the backdrop. Jazz and Japan - doesn’t get any better than that!
