I traveled to Japan from April 2 through April 10 to visit my in-laws and to sightseeing the cherry blossoms and Fuji Mountain.

Arrived at Narita airport around 7:20 pm, I passed through the immigration, picked up my luggage and reached the lobby ~7:55 pm, bought bus ticket and boarded the bus at 8:05 pm. It took one and one half hour to arrived at YCAT. My wife met me at the bus waiting lobby and we took the Tokyo-Yokohama rail line to Kikuna, the next big station after Yokohama.

The weather was cold and it was raining the next morning. We went to Tamagawa (多摩川) Park to see the cherry blossoms. There were not many visitors because of the weather. Surrounding the Park are several luxury houses. We walked to the nearly Catholic Church and further away to a street that has cherry trees along the road side. The cherry blossoms are so beautiful in the light rain.

The next day was raining and we stayed at home. Day after the next, the weather turned sunny. We went to visit Kitanomarukoen (北の丸公園) and Yasukuni Shrine (靖國神社). There was a big crowd and many of them are travelers from foreign countries.

Early morning on April 6, Sunday, Mr. Kihara (my wife’s brother-in-law) and his daughter, Erico came to pick up us to travel to the hotel [土肥マリンホテル (海音亭)] at 静岡県伊豆市土肥 in Izu Peninsula. It was a long drive from Kikuna through Metro high ways and winding mountain roads. There was drizzling and the sky was cloudy. The peak of Fuji mountain was hid behind cloud, unfortunately.

April 7, the next day was sunny with clear sky, a beautiful day to see the Fuji mountain. I had traveled several times to near Fuji mountain but never was able to see the peak because of the weather. We stopped at Lake Yamanaka (山中湖),  and Lake Kawaguchi (河口湖).

April 8, we visited Kyu Shiba Rikyu Garden (舊芝離宮恩賜庭園) near Tsukiji fish market (築地市場). The garden building structures were destroyed during the big earth quake in 1923. After that, we went to Nakameguro (中目黒) to see the cherry blossom along the Meguro river banks.