On day 9 of the trip we headed back near Tokyo for our last night in Japan.

Our bullet train left Osaka Station at 1:43PM and we arrived in Tokyo around 5PM. We then headed to our Airbnb in Chiba, which is on the north side of Tokyo and closer to Narita Airport, which we’d all be going to the next day.

The house we stayed in was a lovely traditional Japanese home where a family of three lived. The mother and daughter were learning English together, and one of the ways they practiced was by giving guests a tour of their house.

We headed out to find dinner, but on a week night this far outside of Tokyo most places were closing early. We ended up in a mall that was eerily empty but had some snack food to try out. For dinner we of course chose the place that spoke zero english, and google translate wasn’t much help. The meal ended up being really good though.

Afterwards we walked in the rain to an American bar which was run by a Japanese-speaking Persian man. At the bar we watched the movie Bartender starring Tom Cruise, and enjoyed our last night in Japan.

On day ten of the trip: we leave our Airbnb and head into Tokyo one last time, before making our way to the airport to fly home.

On day 8 we travelled to Osaka, where we ate the most delicious meal of the trip and also rode on a ferris wheel.

We left at 11A.M. to head to Kyoto Station. Our Japan Rail train left at noon, and the trip to Osaka was about 30 minutes long.

After arriving we made our way to our Airbnb, then Nicole and I went out to get massages. We had to make appointments for later in the day, so we wandered around a pet store in the meantime.

We all then met at a restaurant for dinner. We chose a place that served okonomiyaki, which is a grilled pancake / omelette from heaven. The restaurant had a map where customers could pin where they were from.

After dinner we went to ride on a ferris wheel!

Brandi then left for Thailand, so we said goodbye to her and then went back to our Airbnb to do laundry.

On day nine of the trip: we take yet another train ride, and stay with a family for our final night in Japan.

During the second half of day seven we visited two shrines in Kyoto.

Before getting to the shrines, Nicole and I went in search of an afternoon meal. Most restaurants close between 2 and 5P.M., so all we could find was a cafe that had some alright spaghetti.

The first shrine, Kiyomizu-dera, was under renovation so we could only see part of it.

All of the the buses were packed on account of it being tourist season, so we decided to take a taxi to the next shrine. That shrine, Fushimi-inari, is famous for having thousands of gates winding through trails in the woods. The cicada bugs were really loud here too.

Afterwards we tried to get into a fancy restaurant but it required reservations, so nicole and I split off to get tacos while Brandi, James, and Paul went to eat at a hotpot restaurant.

On day eight of the trip: we eat okonomiyaki in Osaka.

We began day seven of the trip eating street food at Nishiki Market in Kyoto. All of us tried some interesting food, and we wandered around the little shops in the market as well.

Nicole tried a fried octopus ball and did not enjoy it. Paul was very adventurous and tried just about everything.

After we’d had our fill we all got ice cream or slushies then went back to our Airbnb to take naps around 2. When we woke up we were hungry for a full meal but unfortunately most restaurants close at 2 and open again at 5. Nicole and I went to find a cafe that might be open. We found a place that had some okay spaghetti which held us over for a while.

During the second half of the day we visited a couple of shrines.