Kyuu Kyuu Sha Diaries 救急車日記: Mama's in the Uchi

アメリカからの挨拶、読者！
Greetings from the States, readers!

Yes, I'm back! 家に帰りました! I flew into SD's airport last Thursday around noon, fighting off jet lag while relishing the cool coastal breeze foreign to Japan's summer heat. Though southern California has warmly received me, Tokyo and the rest of Japan still beckons.

To recap on my final days abroad, here's a photo timeline of my adventures playing tour guide for my guest: the madre.

7/30 Day 1: Tokyo
7月30日　一日：東京

Mom asked me if she should wear tennis shoes on our first day. I told her sandals would suffice. After our nine hour day out and about, she never wore sandals for the rest of the trip.
Sorry, Mom. すみません、母。

Imperial Palace 皇居

Gray Sky & Green Gardens
グレイ空とみどり庭

Aoyama Flower Market Tea House

青山フラワーマーケットティーハウス

Sipping the day's special: mango tea マンゴ茶

Harajuku 原宿

Strange prints & Western influence

変なプリントと西洋の影響

7/31 Day 2: Hiroshima & Miyajima

7月31日　二日：広島と宮島

My mom has wanted to go here ever since she first learned about Hiroshima. After stepping off the street car, silence set in as the Hiroshima Peace Memorial 広島平和記念碑 sat before us. The Atomic Bomb Dome 原爆ドーム exists as the only surviving building from that tragic day. It serves as a tribute for the victims. It stands. We remember.

Atomic Bomb Dome 原爆ドーム

Children's Peace Monument
原爆の子の像

Cranes for Sadako Sasaki
佐々木禎子さんのための折り鶴

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
広島平和記念公園

Miyajima 宮島

On the ferry

フェリーで

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Deer sighting

鹿の目撃

Miyajima Torii (through lantern)

宮島鳥居 (ランタンで見える)

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Floating Torii

フローティング鳥居

8/1 Day 3: Osaka

8月1日　三日：大阪

For many, Osaka Castle 大阪城 is considered the most famous castle in Japan. Besides its history, the castle is a hot tourist spot due to the fact that there is little else to see or do in Osaka. My mom and I enjoyed viewing the city's heights from the castle's top, watching the skyscrapers of new and temples of old blend together.

Osaka Castle
大阪城

Hitachi "Tower Reaching Heaven"
通天閣

Umeda Sky Building
梅田スカイビル

Tanabata Decor

七夕飾り

8/2 Day 4: Kyoto & Nara Tour

8月2日　四日：京都と奈良ツアー

Although I had journeyed to such famous landmarks as the Golden Pavilion 金閣寺 in Kyoto and the Buddhist temple 東大寺 in Nara, I felt a renewed appreciation for these historical sites from my older, and hopefully wiser, college-student perspective. I felt a wave of gratitude brush over me for sharing these special places with my history-buff mom, who always wanted to see what Shelby and I had seen and experienced.

Our tour guide (with electric green loofah)

ツアーガイド(とはでみどりヘチマ)

Nightingale floor of Nijo Castle

二条城のナイチンゲールの床

Shogun's Garden (rocks symbolized power)

将軍の庭 (岩の意味は象徴)

Mom and me at Golden Pavilion

金閣寺で私と母

Emperor's Garden (less rocks, more nature: place of peace)

天皇の庭 (岩が少なくて、たくさん自然がある：平和の所)

Deer in Nara

奈良で鹿がいる

Japanese lanterns
日本のランタン

8/3 Day 5: Kyoto

8月3日　五日：京都

Every time I perused my friends' photos of Kyoto, I always envied their Thousand Torii 伏見稲荷大社 snapshots. It became my goal to witness the beauty of the renowned shrine with the reddish orange painted Shinto gates threading the mountainside like pieces of a scattered snake's skin. My mom and I survived the hike up and found the view of Kyoto well worth the trek.

Shabu Shabu

しゃぶしゃぶ

Praying man at Thousand Torii

伏見稲荷大社でお祈りしている男

Torii pathway

鳥居経路

Arashiyama Bamboo Forest

嵐山竹の森

Iwatayama Monkey Park

嵐山モンキーパーク

Man-drawn carriage ride

男車に乗って

8/4-8/8 Days 6-10: Tokyo, Hakone, & Yokohama

8月4日から8月8日　六日から十日：東京や箱根や横浜

While the historic relics of Kyoto, Nara, and Osaka capture the heart of Japan, the city lights of Tokyo speak to my inner self, which brings me to my feet each morning and says, "You're alive. Go out into the world and find reasons to smile." Fashionable mothers bike with their child safely strapped in the seat behind them; their conversation bounces forward and behind. Businessmen, dabbing the sweat that dapples their forehead, chuckle with one another in the packed train car. My mom grins as I translate an ad or engage the taxi driver in a recount of our ten-day tour of Japan. This is another place I can call home.