{"id":13170,"date":"2024-07-18T18:05:50","date_gmt":"2024-07-19T00:05:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eaumaison.us\/?p=13170"},"modified":"2024-07-18T18:05:50","modified_gmt":"2024-07-19T00:05:50","slug":"japan-day-4-asakusa-with-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eaumaison.us\/index.php\/2024\/07\/18\/japan-day-4-asakusa-with-friends\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan Day 4 – Asakusa with friends"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today we played tourist with some locals! Ben has been penpals with Koichi for years. We were thrilled that he and his wife Kaho wanted to meet us. Not only that, they planned a whole day of fun together! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Meeting for the first time in our hotel lobby! <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

They wanted to show us the Asakusa district of Tokyo. We took a cab to a kimono rental shop to play the part. We saw many people wearing rented traditional clothes in many cities during the trip. I think we would never have been bold enough to try it without our friends as guides. Ben knows some Japanese and Koichi speaks English very well. But Kaho and I were completely at odds with language! I wasn’t sure how it would go when we had to separate by gender to get dressed. Luckily we both had translator apps, and mine had a strong signal in this particular building to cover when she lost her signal. She was very friendly and fun. We helped pick out colors for each other and got our hair done. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kaho handling the payment and contracts<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Trying out purses<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Trying to see our obi wraps!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Hair time!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We met up with the guys who looked just as good! Ben and I both had trouble getting shoes to fit. Our friends were shocked to hear our feet are pretty average sized for Americans. Then we met the rickshaw driver who would be giving us a tour. A rickshaw!! Another activity we would never have booked ourselves, but ended up being so fun! The guide Mako had heaps of enthusiasm and said he was also a photographer. He took a lot of fun shots for us. We waited a little for our special guide who knows more English. We felt bad when this tiny woman appeared! Sion was more than capable though, and kept up a casual banter while huffing and puffing us through Asakusa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And take-off! First we stopped at part of Sens\u014d-ji Temple. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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