Fourth Fall Trip: Japan (Osaka, Nara, Kyoto, Hakone, and Tokyo)

Traveling for the fourth time in the fall might be madness, but these were short trips. The first trip in September was a weekend trip to Salt Lake City and surrounding areas to see the fall foliage and other things. The second trip was a nine-day adventure, mainly in Hungary, Austria, and Romania in October, as they gave us almost a full week off (this was our first official fall break). I took four days off around the first weekend of November to visit Madrid and surrounding areas. 

As this was during Thanksgiving break, I did not have to take personal days off this time. Nonstop roundtrip tickets were ridiculously expensive, so I chose Air Canada to pay less than half of what American Airlines was charging. I chose to start my trip in Osaka, so I had a quick layover in Toronto and another one in Tokyo. I'm not sure I would recommend flying to Japan from Dallas via Air Canada unless there's a huge price difference. Luckily the flight departed Dallas on time, but I had to run to a new terminal and scan my passport at Toronto Pearson Airport. People were already boarding the flight to Tokyo when I got there. After landing in Haneda Airport you have to go through customs and immigration before you can catch a connecting flight. I simply followed the signs that led me to a bus stop. This free shuttle takes you to all terminals. I don't remember the terminal number, but I do remember taking the escalator to reach the second floor and finding ANA check-in module (Air Canada's partner) to re-check my bag before going through security again. 

Leaving the US and heading to Japan during the day means that you arrive the next day without the sun ever setting until after you land. The first day (Monday) was a short trip to Nara from Osaka:

That night I visited the TeamLab Botanical Garden in Osaka:

Universal Studios had nothing too special other than the Super Mario World, which I missed last year, apparently due to strep: 

I did not spend the whole day there on Tuesday, so there was time for some walking:

Fall foliage in Kyoto seems to be different. Some gardens and parks still had trees with completely green leaves, while others had peak colors. This is what I saw on Wednesday, which is enough for me to say that this is the best time of the year to visit Japan. For some reason, pictures were uploaded in reverse order, starting from the ones taken at night until the ones that were taken early in the morning:

Unlike last year, there was more time left to spend in Osaka other than the castle. This is what I saw on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day:

On Friday I took the train to Tokyo. If you get to travel between the Tokyo and the Kyoto and Osaka area, be sure to get a window seat where you can see Mount Fuji. If skies are clear, you'll get some nice views:

There was not much left to see in Tokyo as last year I saw most of what was interesting to me, but the main reason why I went there was to visit the newly reopened TeamLab Borderless:

On Saturday I took a tour to Mount Fuji and parts of Hakone:

Back in Tokyo I visited the oldest temple in the city before going to Shibuya to visit the Nintendo store. while looking for the Nintendo store, just for the sake of seeing it, I came across other parts of Shibuya that I did not get to see last year:

On Sunday I had a chance to visit the Rikugien Gardens and walk around parts of Tokyo before flying back to Dallas. Fall colors looked different, as it was cloudy when I went there last year:

The cool thing about this is that due to the time change, you go back in time, so flights from Japan to North America usually arrive on the same day, but a little earlier.

Taking six personal days to travel is not what I usually do. Three of those were staff workdays at my school, but this is not something that I intend to do very often. Next year we will be having a full week off in October, as this seems to be a trend in school districts across North Texas. This means that I won't have to take two days off next year. If fall breaks become the norm each year, there will be more opportunities to see the fall foliage, whether it is in places like New England, Canada, or maybe even South Korea or northern Japan. If I continue to have the opportunity to live here in the United States, my plan is to visit the remaining 13 US states, mainly in the summer (I have already visited 37 US states). Only time will tell.