Saturday, we will be off on our long-awaited journey to Japan. The trip was cancelled many times because of Covid, so we are excited that we will finally be able to see this beautiful country. We’re hoping the cherry blossoms will still be in bloom, as they are blossoming a little earlier this year than usual. (Although, seeing the pink and white petals carpeting the lawns will still be a beautiful sight I’m sure.)

There will be 15 folks on this Overseas Adventure Tour, hailing from California, Florida, New Mexico, the state of Washington, and of course, we will be representing Pennsylvania. The itinerary looks amazing – lunching with sumo wrestlers, sushi making with Japanese ladies, learning how to play the taiko drums, visiting the Ashigara Village to learn the customs and traditions of the residents – and that’s just a sampling of what lies ahead.

The flight will be non-stop and take about 14 hours, and we will arrive in Tokyo the next day at about 1:30 in the afternoon. The plan is to go to our hotel, meet our guide Hiro and our fellow travelers, and then take a walk around the area before we find a place for our first Japanese dinner.

We have been in contact with Hiro – we zoomed with him yesterday for the first time – and it was a delightful encounter. He reminded us that we had to complete the questions on Japan Web, to facilitate our entry into the country. Japan Web is a web service that people entering Japan can use for Immigration and Customs procedures in order to enter/return to Japan. Hiro said that having this information available before our arrival will eliminate waiting in customs for over an hour or more. They require proof of at least three vaccinations for Covid that must be shown on photos of our Vax cards, that we uploaded to the site. They also require documentation as to where we would be staying, how long we plan on being in the country, passport info, as well as a myriad of other travel information. Hopefully we filled everything out correctly, so we can breeze through customs.

I’m hoping to post every day, as long as the internet cooperates. Hope you join us for our adventure!

さようなら 
(Sayōnara)