Himeji & Fushimi Inari Taisha

Another day. Another bullet train. Another memory made. My phone’s pedometer says I haven’t walked less than 15,000 steps since Christmas Eve. No wonder Japanese life expectancy is so high.

I’m going to actively suppress my tendency for length and let the pictures do most of the talking. They’re still unable to capture the glory of the sights we saw, but they’ll serve as a better proxy than my keystrokes. 

As awesome as Himeji Castle was, the gardens might have been even better. And this was during the winter. I’m sure the spring is magnitudes better. Maybe I’m just easy to please cause I’m a sucker for koi fish. I want some someday.

Fushimi Inari Taisha is another famous Shinto shrine situated along a mountain. Our legs were working overtime on that climb. It’s been inspiring to see the amount of senior citizens who are still active and doing the same things we are. As someone whose career focuses on the financial aspects of retirement, it’s so easy to overlook the paramount importance of health in that equation. As they say, a rich man wants many things. A sick man wants just one. Health truly is wealth.

Ignoring my own epiphany for a meal, I had the best steak of my life at lunch today. I’d climb a hundred holy mountains if that were waiting at the top for me.

Tomorrow, we leave for Okinawa - basically the Hawaii of Japan. Our plans are to do exactly nothing and simply soak it all in. Can’t wait.