Travel Review: Handcrafted Japan Cultural Tour, Tokyo, Akihabara, Kyoto, Osaka, Koya-san, Nagano, Tsurunoyu Onsen, Akita...

Japan was filled with amazing experiences, culture, locations, people, and food from beginning to end. Tokyo was larger-than-life. The city is incredibly efficient, wonderfully varied, filled with unique food and experiences, and, for being the worlds largest city, there is an amazing sense of community. Tsurunoyu is a truly incredible place. This was our first onsen; the scenery was beautiful and facilities were one-of-a-kind. This authentic experience will be with us forever. At Koya, we stayed at Shojoshin-in and we were blown away. We expected relatively humble accommodations, and were quite shocked at the "house" we received instead. We were served traditional vegetarian Buddhist meal - afterwards I remarked that if I were a vegetarian, this would be the place to do it! We wished we had more time up here. Beautiful location. In Kyoto, we stayed at Shiraume: this was a really special place. Tomoko-san runs a welcoming, up-scale, and all around amazing ryokan. We were treated to impeccable service, gorgeous accommodations, incredible proximity to the historic Gion, and we enjoyed a traditional Kaiseki meal. We'll remember the stay, food, and staff forever. Finally, we stayed at Shimaya in Nagano. This stay was a bit more humble after Shiraume, but as everyone attests, Ichiro-san is an incredible, self-less person. And we got the best snow monkey pictures ever!