Before anyone thinks of it: NO, I do NOT speak Japanese. And my 9 years of French study were not of much use either. After 8 days, here is the extent of my Japanese:
Dōmo arigatō. (doh-moh ah-ree-GAH-toh) - thank you
Sumimasen. (soo-mee-mah-sen) - excuse me
Konnichiwa. (kon-nee-chee-WAH) - hello
Gomen-nasai. (goh-men-nah-sigh) - I'm sorry.
Yup, I managed to navigate the entire trip with those four phrases. And Bethany's Japanese isn't a whole lot more advanced. Many of the signs on the train and subway were also in English, which was a huge help. It was also helpful that Bethany's been there for a year already and really knew where we were going!
One of my favorite parts of the experience was the English translations. Here were some of the cute ones, but there were too many to photograph them all!
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| Outside of Senso-ji Temple. |
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| Imperial Palace in Tokyo. |
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| Part of the temple at Kamakura. |
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| The Money Washing Shrine. Bethany is pointing to the thousands of paper cranes that are hanging from the cave ceiling above us. |
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| Torii gate lined path to one of the shrines in Asakusa. |
These animals seem to be the Japanese version of the "Alpha and Omega" that are so commonly seen in Western culture. The open-mouthed lion is saying the "aahh" sound that is the first letter of the Japanese alphabet, and the closed-mouthed lion is saying the "nnnn" sound, which is the last letter. These two statues were seen in pairs everywhere we went to visit a shrine or a temple.
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| The Japanese "Alpha." |
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| The Japanese "Omega." |
It was a wonderful trip. I missed the Asst. Zookeeper and the three Heathens. I was happy to be home at the Zoo. But I saw fascinating things that I never thought to see. Definitely on the list of "Places to Return."
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