The Cherry Blossom in Kyoto

Mom came over for a week to check things out and we decided to go to Kyoto for a weekend to see the cherry blossom while she was here. Kyoto is about 3 hours away via the bullet train and is the home of LOTS of old temples and shrines and such. It was the capital of Japan for a long, long time before the capital moved to Tokyo, so all of the really old stuff can be found there. Seiko is from Kobe (where the quake was), which is only 20 minutes from Kyoto, and her parents wanted to play tour guide, so we all joined up in Kyoto and went to see the sights. Mom flew out from Osaka back to the US, as that was easier than going all the way back to Fukuoka, but Seiko and I hung out for another day. We went to a few places in Osaka and then a few in Kobe, including the small Chinatown there.

Click the names to see the pictures: