Our visit included Kumamoto, Kagoshima, Chiran gardens and Makurazaki. I enjoyed visiting all the sights, including the beautiful pottery and glass works in the factory showroom.

Of the dozens of castles - both originals and remakes - that dot Japan, probably none is more famous or more beautiful from afar than Himeji Castle.

Four talented and beautiful geisha from Akasaka, Japan traveled specifically to perform on stage at this Japanese Street Festival, located on 12th street and Pennsylvania Ave.

If I could time travel, I probably wouldn't choose 16th-century Japan, since it was a time of great upheaval and civil war, with feudal lords (daimyo) staking out their fiefdoms, sending their samurai into battle, and exercising complete control over people living on their land.