Chikuma City - Chikuma River

We finished our day (or at least our day before dinner and finally using the Onsen) by taking a walk along the Chikuma River and taking some photographs in the late afternoon.

Chikuma City - Chishikigi Buddhist Temple

We went for a bike tour of Chikuma City, at least the area rather near Kamesei Ryokan with one of the proprietors of the ryokan, Tyler. He runs Zukudashi Eco Tours. It was a fun ride and tour.

There are a few temples in the town, we visited the  Chishikigi Buddhist Temple and took some pictures.

Chikuma City - Mountain Road (to Arato Castle)

Anyone who has watched the anime or read the manga Initial D will understand why I took a picture of a gutter on the curve of a mountain road in Japan; even if it is on the wrong side of the curve.

I saw this on our way back down the mountain and had to take a picture even though I had previously put the camera away.

Chikuma City - Arato Castle Park

Arato Castle Park is an old castle / fort sitting above Chikuma City and was the fortification of a local warlord. The castle was reconstructed per the old techniques.

Chikuma City - Mountain Road (to Arato Castle)

We walked from Kamesei Ryokan to the Arato Castle. This involved a walk up a rather steep mountain road. We got a nice hill workout in. There was a shrine and Buddhist temple on our way up.

Chikuma City - Kamesei Ryokan

We took a shinkansen from Omiya to Nagano and then the Shinonoi Line line, maybe, to the Shinano Tetsudo Line to get to Togura Station in Chikum. We then walked from the station to the Kamesei Ryokan. This is a traditional onsen inn and we really enjoyed both it and the food. Also, temperatures in Nagano Prefecture were notably lower than anywhere we had been so far. We really liked this place and would likely go again. I did not take pictures of the onsen and public bath, but you can find images online.

Omiya - The Omiya Bonsai Art Museum, Saitama

We paid a visit to The Omiya Bonsai Art Museum, Saitama. They had many sections closed to photography but some areas where we could take photos. There were some nice trees, others decent but not great. The Omiya area has a lot of bonsai gardens and there are many beautiful trees to see.

Kagayaki Shinkansen

Continuing our tour of shinkansen interiors we took the Kagayaki Shinkansen from JR Tokyo Station to Omiya Station, again. Omiya has a lot of bonsai gardens and it was on our way to Chikuma. In this case we were in a Series E7 Shinkansen in the Green Car. This one was quite comfortable.

Tokyo - JR Tokyo Station

This day we were traveling to Chikuma in Nagano Prefecture. We took exterior photos of the JR Tokyo Station in the daylight before heading to Omiya for our second visit.

Tokyo - JR Tokyo Station

Our last walk around for the day was to take pictures of the JR Tokyo Station at night. One side of the station is modern, as you can see from earlier photos, the other side is an old brick structure that has seen extensive rehabilitation. It is also supposed to be quite a luxurious hotel.
As with all low light shots, due to exposure times, there may be some "ghosts".

Tokyo - Odaiba

We took the New Transit Yurikamome Line, an automated guideway rubber-tired  transit system. It is noted for the 270 degree loop it performs in order to gain enough height to go up over the Rainbow Bridge. If you look closely at the images you can see the guideway through the window while we were on the loop ascending.

Tokyo - JR Tokyo Station

We rode the shinkansen from Omiya to Tokyo. We then got to JR Tokyo Station and transferred from the shinkansen to the Yamanote Line, one of the busiest in Tokyo. We rode that Shimbashi Station and transferred to the Yurikamome Line to go to Odaiba.
I took some pictures of the local platform at JR Tokyo Station.

Komachi Shinkansen

We took the Komachi Shinkansen from Omiya to Tokyo. Another Green Car interior. This particular train was an E6 Series Shinkansen. I think these had an electronically controlled adjustable leg rest.

Omiya - JR Omiya Station

After the Omiya Railway Museum we returned to the JR Omiya Station. We picked up some bento boxes for lunch and ate them outside the station. We then caught a train back to Tokyo.

Omiya - Omiya Railway Museum

The first of the three railway museums we visited. This one may have been the smallest by number of cars and locomotives.
It was also the best one in terms of interactive learning exhibits for kids. Kind of reminded me of Madatech, Israel National Museum of Science in terms of demonstration of physical principals on which railroads operate.

Omiya - New Shuttle (Ina Line) - Tetsudo-Hakubustukan - Railway Museum Station

We took the New Shuttle (Ina Line) one stop from JR Omiya Station to the Tetsudo-Hakubustukan / Railway Museum Station. Pictured is 2020 series set 23. This is a rubber-tyred people mover, our first rubber-tyred transport mode of the trip. For the most part it rides on guideways to either side of the Shinkansen tracks. It was notably less smooth than other trains we had been on to this point (subways and shinkansen).

Omiya - JR Omiya Station

On our second full day in Japan we took a day trip from Tokyo to Omiya in order to see the Omiya Railway Museum. We started on the Shinkansen platforms and walked through to the New Shuttle (Ina Line) part of the station.

Joetsu Shinkansen

We took the Joetsu Shinkansen from JR Tokyo Station to JR Omiya Station in Saitama Prefecture. This is an E2 series Shinkansen and we were in the Green Car. Plenty of seating space, luggage space, bathrooms, rooms for nursing, rooms for smoking, etc. One thing to note, it is polite to say "excuse me" ("suminasen") before leaning your seat back if the seat behind you is occupied.

Tokyo - JR Tokyo Station

Our first day on the Shinkansen Platforms. We started the day at JR Tokyo Station on platform 22. JR Tokyo Station is not big on platform barriers for the Shinkansen. And yes, since this is me on a trip expect a fair number of train and train station pictures.

Tokyo - JR Ueno Station

After Ueno Park we took some night time photos of JR Ueno Station.

Tokyo - Ueno Park

To finish our day of cherry blossom viewing we paid a visit to Ueno Park. There were tons of people and lots of noise. This is a very popular spot for people to do an evening or night time picnic during the cherry blossom season.
Also, while we had  a monopod this was a difficult place to photograph well without a faster lens and tripod.

Tokyo - Tokyo Metro - Kudanshita Station

After the Chidorigafuchi Garden Road we took the Tokyo Metro to Ueno Park. I decided to take some photos of the platform barriers. Also, we ended up walking through a lot of this station, I think the initial entrance was a fair ways away from the tracks we needed to board at, so we probably walked 0.5-1 miles underground until we reached our platform within the station.

Tokyo - Chidorigafuchi Garden Road

Not being completely cherry blossomed out yet, and attempting to be so on our first day we then walked through the Chidorigafuchi Garden Road. I think more so than anything else we visited so far this day it was the busiest.

Tokyo - Chidorigafuchi Walking Path

After the Imperial Palace - East Garden we walked to the Chidorigafuchi Walking Path. This walking path is along one of the exterior edges of the Imperial Palace grounds and we were in Tokyo for prime cherry blossom viewing.

Tokyo - Eneos (Gas Station)

While walking from the Imperial Palace we passed this Eneos gas station. There are attendants and no visible pumps. The attendants would select the type of fuel to be put in the vehicle and the nozzle and hose would lower down and then be raised back up when fueling was finished. It was quite novel.

Tokyo - Imperial Palace - East Garden

From the Outer Grounds we went up and into the East Garden.
Pathways, flowers, barracks, guard houses, tea houses, etc. A lot to see here. Also a random Subaru royal guard car, or something, with a big non-Subaru medallion on the front.

Tokyo - Imperial Palace - Outer Grounds

After visiting the Seimon Stonebridge we proceded through the Imperial Palace's Outer Grounds.
Gates, cherry blossoms, a few old buildings, walls, and trees. Not to mention quite a few people.

Tokyo - Imperial Palace - Seimon Stonebridge

Next stop during a long day of cherry blossom viewing was the Imperial Palace, Seimon Stonebridge.

Tokyo - Reiyukai Shakaden

On our walk back from the Tokyo Tower to the subway I saw an interesting building I wanted pictures of and Holly wanted pictures of the stairway.

Tokyo - Tokyo Tower

The first thing we did on our second day was revisit the Tokyo Tower. We took the subway this time. I wanted a few images in the day time so that I could capture details that may have been missed at night. That and I got the color.

Tokyo - Tokyo Metro - Hatchobori Station

Our final stop on our first day. We got to sleep that night around 10:00 or 10:30 PM local time. We did well with jet lag. Short walk from the station to the hotel.

Tokyo - Tokyo Metro - Kamiyacho Station

We decided it was rather late and we were tired after the Tokyo Tower so we rode the subway back. Many turnstiles.

Tokyo - Tokyo Tower

Our first night in Tokyo we walked from Hotel Belken Tokyo to the Tokyo Tower. We have views both of and from the tower at night.

Tokyo - Hotel Belken Tokyo

Our first hotel in Japan was the Hotel Belken Tokyo, room 702. The statement that Japanese hotel rooms are small (by US standards) was certainly true. The layout was quite functional though. We also had some pretty views out our window and cherry blossoms on the streets immediately adjacent our hotel.
Our hotel was about a 10-15 walk from JR Tokyo Station, a bit longer with the bags.

Tokyo - JR Tokyo Station

Our second point of entry to Japan, after the airport, was JR Tokyo Station. I think we were at the second deepest platform in Tokyo Station. There are a ton of platforms.

Narita Express (N'EX)

We took the Narita Express (N'EX) from Narita International Airport to JR Tokyo Station.We were riding in the ordinary car of an E259 Series.

Narita International Airport - Airport Terminal 2 Station

The first of many train stations.

Narita International Airport - Terminal 2 (International Arrivals)

We arrived at Narita International Airport after a decent amount of rest and a comfortable flight. Nothing super fancy or extravagant about this airport.

American Airlines Flight 175

Holly and I flew on American Airlines Flight 175 from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to Narita International Airport (outside Tokyo, Japan). We used miles to book business class [B/E Aerospace Super Diamond seat] (our out of pocket cost for the flights for the two of us was under $90 round trip including Boston to Dallas/Fort Worth). Miles are wonderful. We really enjoyed the experience. Our flight was on a 777-200.
Further, we had not slept the night before so that we would fall asleep once on the plane, which we did shortly after the first meal. When we then woke up and took advantage of more food and the entertainment we were well rested and well time shifted for when we arrived in Japan. We thought this worked really well.

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport

We did not fly direct to Japan. We stopped at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to change planes. We had flown domestic first class from Boston to Dallas/Fort Worth.
First we needs to get to a different terminal so we took the SkyLink.

We then found an interesting art installation in Terminal D near Gate 29. This is in a large atrium area that has shops and restaurants as well.

Boston Logan International Airport – American Airlines Admirals Club B30-B36

Photos from our trip to Japan start in the early morning in the American Airlines Admirals Club between gates B30 and B36 at Boston Logan International Airport. Comfortable seats, bathrooms, and pre-flight snacks and drinks abound. The are main sections, quiet sections, children's sections, and a business / work section.

2018-03 Arlington, VA - Family Event

Holly and I took a trip to Arlington, VA for a family event from Boston, MA. We were originally supposed to fly out from Boston on Friday, 03/02/2018 in the evening after work but due to an incoming Nor'easter our flight got cancelled the night before. We therefore grabbed tickets for an early Amtrak Northeast Regional train from Boston to Washington DC. This did not work out well for us. The 7 hour 50 minute ride from Boston to DC took us around 12 hours to go from Boston South Station to New York Penn Station.
We were in an Amtrak Northeast Regional train in business class.

Our train stopped in New York Penn Station and did not continue. Amtrak was giving us no guarantees about departing the next day or what train we would be on.