I lived in Japan twice. The first time was a yearlong stay from 1997-1998 in Tokyo, teaching conversational English. The second time was when Heather and I lived in Nara Prefecture for two years, from 2004-2006, on the JET Programme. This summer we returned to our old stomping grounds for two weeks, with Lucy and Ingrid in tow!

Above is me posing in front of the “saru-ishi” (monkey stone) near the ruins of Takatori castle, which is near where we used to live. Have I changed much? I’m certainly much sweatier in the second picture . . .

Instead of zipping all over Japan for our two-week trip, we settled in to a traditional-feeling house (tatami mats! shoji screens!) in Kashihara City, which is where we used to live, and is within striking distance of Kyoto, Nara City, Yoshino, Asuka, and other great places in Nara . . . and many of our friends are still around, and we got to hang out with them and catch up with them! Lucy and Ingrid even did a presentation at an elementary school.

I kept my family and friends abreast of our Japanese adventures through short videos I shared out on Instagram and Facebook. Here they are below!

The first video is something I put together after our first full day. It’s our visit to Nara City, with its famous deer who come right up to you and you can feed (and they sometimes fight each other!), and the huge and gorgeous temple Todaiji with its giant Buddha and various other temples and shrines such as Nigatsudou and Kasuga Taisha, finished off with a splendid bowl of ramen at Susuru Susuran. It was way too hot, though—as it was almost every other day of the trip!

In this next video, we go up Yoshino mountain to visit the off-the-beaten-path Kimpusen-ji temple (home of the ascetic wilderness Buddhism sect of Shugendo) and the nearby Shinto shrine Yoshinomizu, followed by delicious noodles overlooking the valley. We show the house we’re staying at in Kashihara City, and visit a nearby bamboo grove with the mysterious carved megalith of unknown origin “Masada Iwafune”!

In this third video, we explore the mountain vermilion gate maze of Fushimi Inari, hang out with Japanese friends old and new, and hike up to a mountaintop castle ruin (and the statues and temples beyond).

And finally, our friend Fumie takes us to a matsuri and to her house for dinner, we explore Asuka by bicycle (and go in an old tomb!), we tour temples and shrines in Kyoto, Murou, and Kashihara, and have parties with friends old and new!

It was so wonderful to see old friends and visit our old haunts. I will return to Japan again someday!