We are in Kyoto now at the Westin Miyako. Were upgraded to a Junior Suite, so we have plenty of room. The staff here is wonderful and the view from the exec club is grand. Almost missed breakfast because of the heavenly bed.

We were treated somewhat rudely at two restauants in Kyoto yesterday. One place by the river, west of Gion, was a sushi place whose clientele was Japanese so I suppose they dont need our business. The other place, in Gion, probably just gets too many foreign tourists and are tired of them. And I think they tried/did cheat us.

Shimonoseki was great stayed at a wonderful ryokan called Mimonosusogawa Bekkan. Okamisan was a delightful, tiny, ancient lady. Dinner included a plate of fugu sashimi. Sliced very thin and each slice was arranged in a flower petal design. Terrific view of the Kammon bridge and the shipping in the channel (Danoura, I think). Man of the house drove us to the fish market in the morning.

Room at the Rihga Royal in Hiroshima was very nice, better than I expected considering it was the internet special rate. Breakfast was excellent. Great view from room of Hiroshima-jo. It is great travelling with my nephew Mike. He is impressed with Japan. The Carp beat the Fighters!

It all sounds wonderful (ok, exccept for the two restaurant expereinces). Thanks for keeping us posted!

Hey! I just got in from L.A. trip and saw this. So glad you are having a good experience and getting your yens worth at Miyako. You got a junior suite, how cool is that. I love that view from the club. The observation deck on 9th floor right under the club is a nice place to go outside. And I suppose you were at that computer in the library when you posted. Don't know what to make of the bad restaurant experiences. Maybe they are a bit burned after the heavy tourist spring/sakura season. So you saw the Carps, but have you been to Koshien to see the Tigers yet, or maybe that didn't work out.
I spent the United flight back from LA (called way ahead to get economy plus) reading the DK chapters on Honshu, mostly Kyoto day trips (definitely going to Sagano, and maybe Uji, so many places to choose from) and Kiso Valley. I can make my FF reservations for the ANA flight on Friday. Yippee!
Say hello to Mike. He's in good hands there, lucky to have you showing him around. Tell him we said that too, and that we appreciate the job he is going back to and doing for us all.

mrwunrfl-sorry we missed you in Nagasaki-ahead a day or two in our schedule as we did not go to Kanagawa. Have a great time and try not to sleep in too much!

bill-san; too bad about the two restaurants, other than that, you seem to be ahead of the game.

glad to see that you are coherent after eating the fugu. i guess the fish cutter did the job right.

don't forget to give eileen the name of the restaurant so she can go there in the spring. right, eileen? .

keep posting...ja...

We visited Kiyomizu Dera, Kinkakuji, and Ryoanji today then back to the hotel for the afternoon coffee and off to Koshien via JR. Sat out in right field. We got some very excellent Tigers caps on the way in. Tigers beat the Buffaloes 10-0. It was a 2-hit shutout. The stadium is a bowl, i.e. no upper deck. It was a great crowd. Taxi between JR Koshienguchi station and the ballpark is 900Y. Took JR rapid train from Kyoto to Osaka and then a local train to Koshien-guchi. It went via Amagasaki station but on the JR Kobe line (yesterday was 1 month since the wreck on the Takarazuka line, according to the newspaper stories about the memorial services held yesterday).

emd, we missed both happy hours so didnt make to the 9th floor terrace. I will pass on your thoughts to Mike

lyndie, hope you said hi to george for me! Saw a woman in Kyoto today that I thought might be you, but I know you already blew through here.

ken-san, we both realized tonight that, yes, the chef must have done the job right with the fugu. What luck! Did I mention that we did have some fine and inexpensive toro sashimi at the Karato fish market in Shimonoseki. Almost balances out the Nagasaki toro sushi.

10 to nothing! The Tigers fans must have been absolutely crazed! The two times I saw them they lost, and the fans were still wild, and high fiving us as we left the stadiums. I can only imagine what they do w/a 10 to nothing win.