our trip to japan

alex and i went to japan for ten days in the middle of april. he was invited to give a talk at the annual meeting of the japanese pediatric society. this year, the conference was in morioka, in iwate prefecture. morioka is known for its rock-splitting cherry tree.

the people organizing the conference hosted a welcome dinner that friday evening at a restaurant on the sixth floor of a building (a common thing in japan). initially, alex was a bit reluctant to go but was very happy that we did. we sat near a very nice resident from the local medical school and a stanford university professor and his daughter. there were around 15 courses to this meal, including half a broiled lobster tail, sushi, blowfish (both cooked and raw), and cherry blossom ice cream. half the time, though, i didn't know what i was eating. it was all pretty tasty. i would say that dinner was one of the highlights of the trip and definitely one of the highlights of our time in morioka. did i mention there were some games and also singing?

we started out the trip in kyoto, where we stayed at a hotel right in the train station--very convenient! we went to a number of shrines in kyoto and to a bamboo forest on the outskirts of town. we stayed one night at a ryokan, a traditional kyoto inn--kind of like a bed and breakfast, but also with dinner. that dinner was kaisekai, also with many courses.

in tokyo, we wandered around many different neighborhoods. our hotel was in an area called shiodome, which didn't have much to recommend it, but was also located at a subway stop. we went to the canals in the western part of the city, which had many hipster-y shops. we walked around ginza, which had many fancy shops. we ate yakitori, sushi, and eels. we went to a bar called bar minimal that definitely lived up to its name--there were ten seats and only two other patrons there.

japanese fashion perplexed me the whole time we were there. women wore high-heeled shoes all the time and, probably because everyone takes their shoes off in the home, very fancy peds. like, with lace and straps and in many different colors.


also, nearly three-fourths of the women seemed to be pigeon-toed. perhaps i noticed this because i, too, am slightly pigeon-toed, but it was kind of extreme.

everyone had either a designer handbag or a le sportsac. the trend was towards a cowboy laura ashley--lots of florals (including some kind of heinous floral jumpsuit--the jumpsuit was quite popular) mixed with cowboy boots, denim, white eyelet skirts, etc. also: formal shorts with tights, which i haven't worn since 1995. i hope that this is not the future.