Although I had briefly studied Japanese about thirty years ago--of which endeavor only about thirty scattered words remain--this November journey was my first visit to the Land of the Rising Sun. Stephanie had been there twice before, but I arrived with only a few vague preconceptions about the land, the cities, and the people. These photos thus represent the impressions of one person relatively familiar with the country, and another who saw, or hoped to see, whatever he encountered with a "beginner's eye."

Tokyo, truly one of the great cities on this planet, is famous for glitter, crowds, and energy, but, as the pictures will show, it has a gentle side that coexists, sometimes within a few meters, with the glare and the hurry. In Osaka we saw that an industrial town need not be dull or ugly, while Kyoto tellingly shows us a city, famous for its shrines and its surrounding mountains, that is not itself particularly charming--though its railroad station is magnificent both in itself and as part of the city core. Finally, Hiroshima was the most attractive of the cities that we saw--and, for reasons relating no doubt to its unfortunate history and its citizens' honest and compassionate assessment of the event, perhaps the most cosmopolitan, though it is small.

You will not see pictures of us standing in front of famous monuments here, but you will see much of what we saw as we saw it, moving through Japan as do the Japanese, by foot, by bicycle, and by train.

We will go back there soon.