Japan

...has always fascinated me.  I've been on business a few times, always to Tokyo, though once spent six memorable hours in Kansai  - Osaka's airport - in the middle of the night with my family (incl. two toddlers) after our Cathay Pacific flight needed to unexpectedly stop for fuel enroute from LA.

Japan is the Switzerland of the east - so well run, so efficient and just as picturesque.  From Fuji's iconic silhouette and the cheery blossoms in spring, to the hustle and bustle of Shibuya in downtown Tokyo.  Bullet trains to zen-filled shrines and temples, Japan is magical.

Which is why I've always wanted to spend some time there, get off the grid a little and get to know it more.  So that's what the next few weeks have in store for me and number one son.  I envision getting lost, confused, filled with mind-blowing sushi and sashimi, and various other delicacies we won't be aware of.  Plans including climbing the mountain above, getting to see the Hiroshima Carp in Mazda "Zoom-Zoom" Stadium (best stadium name ever? - I think so) , and sleeping on the floors in many rural inns.

To quote James Bond from You Only Live Twice (the one where he goes undercover in a Japanese fishing village)  and they notice his chest hair "Bird never make nest in bare tree." Japan is anything but a bare tree to me.