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We’re checking out of our hotel in 20 minutes and heading to the bus station to catch the bus to Kanazawa. As before, don’t panic if no new posts appear here for a day or so; it merely means that I’m unable to obtain an internet connection. Also, since we’re arriving early in the afternoon [...]

Since I just wrote at some length about the Japanese medical system I suppose it’s as good a time as any to post a couple of photos I’ve been saving. Both of the hotels we’ve stayed in have rather elaborate toilets. My description of and commentary on these devices will require a descent into bathroom [...]

Here’s what you don’t want to see if you visit Takayama:

That’s the hallway of the emergency room of the Takayama Red Cross Hospital. We spent our morning exploring the health care system of Japan as represented by this local hospital. I won’t leave you in suspense: Tracie is basically okay but still does not feel [...]

I sort of blew it this afternoon. After doing my “Morning Stroll” entry and showing Tracie photos of the town, I set out again in search of lunch. I made several mistakes. The first was that I got a later start than I should have. The second was that I forgot to bring along the [...]

I plan to post an entry here devoted to the wonders of Japanese beverage vending machines, but first I need to comment on just one particular beverage: Bikkle.
Someone I know told me about Bikkle. It was either Dan or Gregory, I think. (Any guesses, guys?) I have to admit that I mostly forgot what I [...]

I just returned from a brief walk in Takayama. My main objectives were to locate various things to make Tracie feel a little better (e.g. cough drops, orange juice, Sprite, Vicks Vapor Rub). Remarkably I was able to find all of these things (yes, even the Vicks) within a very short distance from the hotel. [...]

I apologize for the somewhat anemic previous post. Our travels have been complicated somewhat by Tracie having fallen ill. She has a cold of some sort which we were hoping was just allergies, but no such luck. She’s going to rest in bed today while I make a solo exploration of Takayama.
Here are a few [...]

I just flipped through the photos I took en route to Takayama, and sadly they’re mostly not very good. It’s quite difficult to take a photo of something from a moving train. Things move by so quickly (or rather you move by things so quickly) that by the time you see something interesting, decide that [...]

We have arrived in Takayama and have checked in to our hotel (a Best Western, which doesn’t make much sense for a hotel in Japan but it is very nice). We took the bullet train, or shinkansen as it’s called in Japanese, from Tokyo to Nagoya. The shinkansen was fast and fairly smooth, the seats [...]

We’re about to catch a taxi to Tokyo Station to board one of Japan’s famous bullet trains bound for our next destination. Don’t panic if there is a lapse in postings for a couple of days; it simply means we are unable to get an internet connection. If that happens, we’ll catch up when we [...]