A few photos from my trip to Japan

I'd hoped to post photos while I was in Japan, but I couldn't use my laptop there (they didn't have any 3-prong outlets and I didn't think to take an adapter). So here are a few photos and highlights from my trip. (I apologize for the poor photo quality - they were all taken with my phone.)

We had one relatively formal, fancy meal there - it's my favorite kind of Japanese food, and I loved the fancy ice bowl that the sashimi (sliced raw fish) came in:


And this was my tray of chirashi sushi, which is typically a bowl of sushi rice topped with slices of sashimi and condiments. This was fancier than the usual chirashi, and so delicious:


Staying on the subject of food, many restaurants in Japan have plastic displays of their food like this:


At this restaurant, I ordered the tororo soba, which is buckwheat noodles served with a sauce that's primarily grated mountain yam (the white stuff in the picture):


And here's the plastic version of the dish that was out front:


There's such incredible cuteness in Japan. Here are some cakes at a bakery:


And here's a photo from a department store - those backpacks are used by elementary school students throughout the country:


I picked one up in passing and was a little horrified by how heavy it was, given all the talk here in the U.S. about how bad heavy backpacks are for our children. But they've been using these backpacks in Japan since before I was a little girl, so it's probably fine.

One thing that hasn't changed is the funny way Japanese marketers use English - here's a poster I saw outside a little coffee shop:


Omou means "to think," and the poster says "Happiness is thinking of a loved one," which actually makes it one of the better uses of English in Japanese ads. But I still think it's funny. ^_^

It was fabulous being back in Japan for the first time in nearly ten years, but it is so good to be home too!