I had been able to avoid the dreaded squatting toilets until this trip.  They have them everywhere, but they usually have regular toilets as well.  The Fushimi Inari Walk only had this type of toilet so I was forced to use it.  It’s not the easiest thing for an old American woman like me to use, and I hope I don’t have to make a habit out of it!

On Friday morning we went to the Tokyo Sky Tree.  It is a new attraction in Tokyo and has been open less than one year.  It was very crowded!  We had to wait in line for an hour and a half to get tickets to ride the elevator up.  2000 yen (about $25) got us to the first platform where we paid an additional 100 yen to get to the top.  The tower is the highest in the world, standing at 634 meters tall.  We were able to go up 451.2 meters.  From there we could walk around 360 degrees and see all of Tokyo.  They said on a clear day you could even see Mount Fuji from there, but we couldn’t see it.

The Sky Tree tower from the outside.

Scott and I at the highest point of the Tokyo Sky Tree .

 A small hole in the floor lets you look all the way down to the ground.

Picture taken from the top of the tower.

We went and found the LDS Temple on Friday late afternoon.  It is tricky to find in downtown Tokyo.  It does not cover 175 acres.  The grounds are very small.  It has a few flower pots out in front, but the Temple is beautiful nonetheless.

Later that evening we met my Japanese sister, Amy (she lived with my parents during her senior year of high school as an exchange student in 1980) and her husband, Hiro and their 13 year old daughter, Lisa.  We went to dinner at a fancy restaurant and the food was abundant and delicious.  It was great to visit with Amy and her family and we all had a really great time!

We were able to purchase Japan Rail Way passes before we came here.  They allow us to travel anywhere that the railway goes for one week.  We paid 350 dollars apiece for them, but they ended up saving us a ton of money.  We traveled all the way home from Tokyo to Shintomi on Saturday.  It took us 11 hours by train!

All in all it was a fantastic trip.  Scott's work is going well and we feel fortunate to be having this experience.