A couple of weeks ago we took a family trip to Japan for Hideko’s father’s 15 year memorial.  It was a very quick 9 day trip and it flew by in a flash.  We spent a few days in Tokyo with Hideko’s immediate family (8 of us, total) and then flew up to Hokkaido to visit Hideko’s father’s hometown (where we were joined by some of his immediate family – at this point we became a group of 14) and then we spent 2 days at a natural hot spring hotel.

It was an amazing trip, but let me tell you, traveling with a toddler is not easy!  I don’t think I’ve ever been so tired, meltdowns were had by all, and we’re STILL trying to recover from jetlag.  Luckily, we had a lot of advice from you guys about traveling with a toddler (which I plan to do a post about at a later date), but we also had family with us at all times and that was a HUGE lifesaver.

Usually when I travel I’m a total shutterbug, but having a little one to chase after really held me back.  I think I only busted out my DSLR on 2 days.  Thank goodness for phone cameras!  As I was posting the pictures, I realized there were too many for one post and my poor computer was struggling to keep up with me.  So here are some photos from the first half of our trip in Tokyo.  Most of the photos are iPhone pics that have been “instagrammed.”  Hope you enjoy!

Cousins waiting at the airport before our 10+ hour flight to Japan

Sensoji Temple in Asakusa

Tokyo train

Yuki wearing her new jinbei before her first Japanese festival

Tanabata Festival in Hiratsuka

Wishes

Parade of dancers

Watching from the sidelines with her new friend

Breakfast

Taxis (they wait in line at stations and people wait in a line too, so everyone gets a cab in the order that they came)

Some gorgeous Nani Iro fabric that I bought in Nippori.

I read about Justine’s fabric shopping trip here and got some advice from the very awesome Novita of verypurpleperson about where to fabric shop in Tokyo.  Unfortunately I had VERY little time, so I only got to go to one (huge) store.  I wish I could have spend the whole day there, but it was cool to check out the “Textile Town” – it was somewhere I’d never been before!  I did get a few more fabrics besides this, but you’ll have to wait and see those come out in various projects since I didn’t photograph them.  What do you think I should make with these??  The bottom one is a super soft knit and the top two are a super soft double gauze.  I can’t imagine cutting into any of them!!!

Harajuku

Oh, how I LOVE convenience stores in Japan.  They are just so freakin’ fantastic (and yes, I took a bite of that bread before I took the picture).

The view from 52 floors up.

Haneda Airport.  And we’re off to Hokkaido!!

Stop by (hopefully) later this week for the rest of our adventures in Japan 🙂

All images are copyright protected.  Please do not use without permission.  Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.  THANK YOU!