Just returned from 10 days in my parents’ homeland - Japan. My seventh visit to the country, which continually fascinates me with its dichotomy of modern innovation and tradition.
Pictured above is the lovely bento lunch I enjoyed on the Shinkansen bullet train from Nagoya to Tokyo (just under 2 hours to travel the distance roughly the same as Los Angeles to San Francisco).

More “Only in Japan” video and photos follow …

This is not an Easy-Bake oven. It’s the above-sink dishwasher (capacity 5 plates?) in the tiny kitchen of a family friend’s lovely, very modern home, just outside Tokyo:

For the pet owner who doesn’t really want the hassles of feeding fish and maintaining the tank: an LCD screen playing video of fish inside an aquarium! (Spotted at a spa in Nagoya)

The Japanese love to use English in signs, on T-shirts, etc. Unfortunately, something’s usually lost in translation …


(Mark the date for THAT party on the calendar!!!)

And here’s a photo that’s not quirky, but represents the traditional part of Japanese culture that I so appreciate: a tea ceremony in a tiny, intimate tea room, lit only by candles:

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