Talofa Sister Wihongi,
Today is Monday April 13th. Last night I couldn’t sleep, because of jetlag from Japan. I don’t know why I couldn’t sleep. Anyway now I’m at work (school) subbing, and it’s been a good day so far. I will probably go home and conk out. We spoke to you yesterday, that’s when you told us about your lice you have -eww! No worries, Mum and Dad had lice when we were little in New Zealand. Here’s what we did in Japan, short version:
Japan Family Adventure: April 2026
Day 1 & 2: April 1st (April Fools’ Day) – The Journey Begins
4:30am: Arrive at airport
7am SLC → 9:58am HNL
3 hour layover
1:00pm HNL → 5:10pm HND (April 2nd)
Flew from Hawaii to Japan. April Fools’ surprise: Erana finally realized we weren't actually heading to Orlando for Spring Break! A very loooong day, a 6-hour flight from SLC to Hawaii, followed by another 9 hours to Japan. By the time we landed, my ankles were swollen. And they stayed swollen the whole time due to all the walking we did. After landing in Japan the airport was "kkraazzee", we navigated the Keikyu Line to our Airbnb in Sumida-ku. Exhausted but excited, we ended our first night with a classic Japan experience: a 7-Eleven run for snacks and munchies - chicken balls, spicy chicken, custard cream puffs, onigiri, lollies, ice-cream.
Day 3: Disney Sea – Politeness & Playfulness:
6:00am Wake up and get ready/Konbini Run for breakfast
7:00am Head to Maihama station (44min)
8:00am Arrive to Tokyo DisneySea (Adults around $74 and Teen around $61 via klook. $10 - $17 for lightning lane per ride)
9:00am Doors Open, it was crowded!
We tried getting premier passes for rides but had issues with our bank, mum had to call the bank so the payment on our cards can go through. It was annoying. The first ride they got a pass for was Journey to the Center of the Earth ride. We walked around mostly and tried different treats. They liked the gyouza dog. Because of the issue with our cards, I had to call to get their second passes for the tangled ride. After disney, we went back to the airbnb on a bus that stopped at the mall by our airbnb. We walked into the pokemon center store and looked around a bit at the mall. Did another konbini run
Cleanliness: Hardly any rubbish bins to be found, yet the streets are spotless.
Etiquette: The trains are incredibly quiet. At the park, the "lines" were more like chaotic bunches of people, yet everyone remained polite and patient.
The Vibe: Japanese people love to wave while you’re on the rides! Also, the dress standards are so high, everyone looks so cute and put together.
The Disney Sea App does not play well with foreign Visa cards. So frustrating, we only could pay for one ride, and it was the Journey to the center of the earth, which was a lot of fun.
Public toilets with bidets and they play music or rushing water sounds to hide the bathroom noises.
Day 4: Shrines, Samurai, and Shopping:
8:30am Head to Samurai Museum
9:30am Be at reserved time at Samurai Museum ($28 per person)
The Museum was a little cheesy but still learned interesting facts about the history of the samurai
10:30 Walk around Asakusa Shrine -Asakusa nishi-sando shopping street for treats. It was crowded and rainy. We bought food by the food stalls near the shrine. And had our umbrellas up most of the time.
1pm Head to Harajuku/Meiji Shrine
We walked down to meiji shrine and it was a rainy peaceful walk in the middle of bustling Tokyo. Afterwards, we ate at a ramen place at the beginning of takeshita street. Then still had to rest feet afterwards. We didnt go down takeshita street. But we saw the Harry potter store
Afterwards, we retired to the airbnb and skipped going to shibuya and shinjuku. Early night at airbnb to rest
History: Toured the Samurai Museum and finally learned why people here walk on the left side of the street. Tane and Erana made it to the champion round of the throwing stars, but blew it at the end against a Dad who had twin sons - he made them proud.
Asakusa: Strolled through Asakusa Shrine, they had some food stalls right next to it. We ate some cabbage and meat flat bread, takoyaki, fish pastry filled with cheese and another filled with custard.
Nishi-sando shopping street for local treats. Navigating the open markets in the rain was an experience—we were all cramped together, dodging everyone else's umbrellas while trying to see the stalls. Umbrellas aren’t allowed in stores even when closed, you have to leave your umbrellas at the front entrance of stores, if you want to look inside.
Ramen: To take a break out of the rain, we went to eat at a Ramen restaurant near the end of the market street. It was so nice getting out of the rain and just relaxing eating our amazing ‘Ramen’ bowls.
KDRAMA SCENE: Coming out of the Ramen restaurant the ground was uneven and I began to fall over, stammering trying not to fall. I was able to turn my body around and reach out my hand to Jay and not saying anything but thinking in my head, ‘PLEASE grab my hand, because if you don’t I will fall’. I’m pretty sure my face said it all and luckily he read my mind and grabbed my hand and saved me - Yay, my hero!
Retail: Shopped at Uniqlo, you need to remove your shoes if you want to try anything on.
Harajuku: Visited the Meiji Shrine, looked at a very small anime art gallery, and checked out the Harry Potter store. Bought Erana a Harry Potter long sleeve top that had Harajuku, Japan on it.
Day 5: From Tokyo to Osaka:
6:30am Check out of Airbnb and head to Tokyo Station (30 min)
7:00am Have breakfast at the station and find the gate. Buy ekiben
8:00am - 10:30am Shinkansen Tokyo Station to Shin-Osaka Station($107.14 each, paid)
10:45am made our way to Osaka castle (36min train ride) We put our luggage in some coin lockers on the Osaka Castle garden grounds and walked to the castle. The cherry blossoms were beautiful.
3pm Head to airbnb (40min train ride)
4:00pm check in Airbnb at Taisho-ku and leave luggage, head straight to
Solaniwa Onsen spa/rest day ($10 bathing tax still need to be paid) chill. 5pm private onsen for mum and dad
Had a fun relaxing time at the onsen. Tane, Erana, and I just did the footbaths, ate at the restaurant, and walked around while mum and dad had their private bath. Then ate again at the restaurant when they were done. Went to airbnb at night
First Impressions: Osaka feels different—not quite as pristine as Tokyo, with a bit of trash on the ground, and interestingly, people here walk on the right!
Exploration: We had to put our carry on bags and back packs in lockers at the park. Visited the iconic Osaka Castle, the museum, and the gardens. Bought gifts and souvenirs.
Checked into our Airbnb in Taisho-ku. Two rooms upstairs with a single bed in one and two double beds in another. Kitchen, couchbed, bathroom and toilet downstairs.
Relaxation: Ended the day soaking at Solaniwa Onsen. Jay and I got some much-needed alone time in a private spa room. Soaking our sore muscles and feet was heaven. We loved wearing the Japanese robes (yukata). After our time was up we joined the others and ate a delicious meal, watched a little bit of entertainment with guys doing skits, but we couldn’t understand them.
Day 6: Temples, Waterfalls, and Daruma
7:30am Head to Tour Meeting Spot ($55.75 per person)
8:30am Meet at Kani Doraku Dontonbori East Branch
-first tour bus stop was at a Yodogawa Seiwari Cherry Blossoms area, it was a long beautiful strip of cherry blossoms
-Second stop was at Uji, a city known for their Matcha. It was an older looking town with many shops by a river. We also walked through Byodo-in temple, the temple on the 10 center coin
-3rd stop was Katsuo-ji temple, a temple in the mountains with many daruma dolls. It was very beautiful and we walked around to different stamp stations to make a postcard.
-4th stop was Minoh Falls. It was a steep walk to the falls, saw a wild monkey in the trees on the way there. Our tour guide HuaHua was fun
6:30pm return to Dontonbori
Had yakisoba and Okonomiyaki and walked down dontonbori strip
Spiritual Sites: Visited Byodoin Temple in Uji, where the town is really old and they make ‘matcha’ or green tea. We got a strawberry ice-cream, because the other flavor to everything in this town had ‘matcha’ lol. That’s when we were talking with Leila on the phone.
Katsuo-ji Temple it’s famous for the thousands of Daruma dolls that are tucked into every corner. They are so dang cute and they were absolutely everywhere! At the start, we were given a postcard to carry through the grounds. As we explored the historical monuments, we found six different stamp stations; by the time we reached the end, we had a completed picture of the Daruma dolls to take home as a souvenir.
Hiked to the beautiful Minoh Falls, and saw a wild monkey in a tree on the walk there.
The Highlight: Our guide, Huahua, sang to us in multiple languages! We capped it all off with dinner and market exploring back in Dotonbori.
Day 7: Universal Studios Japan:
7am Wake up eat brekkie
7:30 leave Taisho St. to Universal City St. (30min)
Universal Studios (Paid)
Had fun at universal studios, mum, dad, and erana had express passes for 4 rides. It was a little Sprinkle rainy that day.
After being at the park all day, everyone rested at the airbnb while tane and I went to shinsekai
A massive day at USJ. Erana and I went on the Harry Potter motion ride. And then joined up with Jay, Mina and Tane in the Broom Restaurant. We got hot butterscotch and a butterscotch treat. Both of those made it too sweet, but it was yummy. By the end, Jay, Erana, and I were totally wiped out—too tired to join Mina and Tane when they headed off to explore Shinsekai!
Day 8: Kyoto Highlights & The Return to Tokyo:
Kyoto
Check out at 9am
Take train to Kyoto (1hr train)
Dropped bags off in a locker at the train station.
Went to Nijo Castle , it was less busy than we thought. Walked the grounds and went inside the castle of Tokugawa shogun
Took a bus to Nishiki Market and bought some wagyu beef sticks and other food . Then made our way back to Kyoto station for the bullet train
6:01pm - 8:08 Kyoto to Shinagawa Station to Kamata Station 2 hr 32 min ($101.64 each paid)
Check in to Kamata Hotel in the evening, konbini run
Explored the stunning Nijo Castle.
Wandered through the "Kitchen of Kyoto," Nishiki Market. Ate ‘wagyu’ meat on a stick $$$ and other tempura treats.
Travel: In the afternoon, we headed back toward Tokyo, traveling from Kyoto to Shinagawa, on the ‘Tokaido Shinkansen’, bullet train and eventually settling into our hotel in Kamata.
Day 9: Final Farewells:
Spend all day in Kamata
Bought clothes at GU and rested at McDonald's and also bought treats at Donki.
6pm leave Keikyu airport line to airport
Be at airport at 6:30pm
9:20pm HND → 10am HNL (april 9)
***7hrs hour layover at the airport
7:11pm HNL → 5:25am SLC (april 10)
Our last day! We spent the entire time in Kamata doing some clothes shopping at GU, a sister store to Uniqlo. They had some really nice quality clothes for cheap and us girls spent over an hour in there, trying things on. This time we were given a head cover, so makeup wouldn't get on clothes. We had one last delicious feed at a small restaurant where you order from a tablet, food was yummy. We walked over to an arcade across from Donki and I was videoing and then tripped at the doorway because the floor level rose and I fell on my hands and scraped my knees and banged my head on the wall. A guy saw me and I was embarrassed. Jason was in the arcade and saw someone falling from the side of his eye and was hoping it wasn’t me, lol. We took our very last subway ride (thank goodness, lol!) to the airport and finally flew to Hawaii. We tried to go to Pearl Harbour but decided not to, due to the bad weather and just didn’t want to bother with everything. We aren’t very adventurous. It was a long lay over and we just chilled by our gate. Jay and I sat in the seat massages and got a nice massage. It was good to get home from that day of traveling, and to go to bed.
4/10/26 - Back Home
We got home and went to bed at 8am and woke up around 3 or 4pm and stayed in bed another couple hours. We were wiped out. Went to sleep at about 3am then had another long sleep and lazy day. It was nice to sleep and lounge around for a couple days before getting into the swing of things again. I think we adjusted faster in Japan to the time change than we did returning to Utah. Tyrell and Alisa came over Friday and brought us In N Out burgers for dinner. We showed them our treats and talked about our trip. I gave Jaxon a paint job in the kitchen and said to finish it before we came back, but it wasn’t finished. All the lower cupboard doors are off and he still needs to paint those.
Friday 17th, Erana performed a Tahitian dance from Tausala, for her Seminary Talent Show. It was early in the morning and I went and filmed her, she was AMAZING!
Saturday 18th - Went to Uncle’s and did some carving, my tewhatewha and patu. I went and had lunch with my Hiona buddies, it was Ali Sitake’s Birthday. I went and picked up Keala and then we went to ‘Tucanos’ in Orem. We were on time and everyone was late. There was Cher, Karen, Monica, Shallyn, Keala, Ali and I. The food was yummy!
Other’s things that happened this month was, been going to Uncles after work on Monday and Tuesday to do my carving. Went to the dentist, no cavities. Our garage door broke and had to get fixed, we upgraded to 2 springs instead of 1. We had one spring and that was what broke. Made Homeless Lunches for our YM & YW combined activity.
Saturday 25th - Hiona did a show for Julia Prime and her Widow/Widowers church community. We did good, except the girls messed up the boys with Tika Tonu and chanted it wrong… anyways ate some yummy Luau food there.
