Chilly winds, and scattered rains. Crowded temples, and narrow pathways in between bamboo forests. Warm ramen, and much warmer sake. noisy pubs, and quiet streets. Japan is a country for the senses that much I can't deny. A month is hardly enough, we've barely scratched the surface of the country and culture--from traditions to contemporary particularities, the growing complexities that is rooted in the past as much as it is influenced by the present.

We were thrust into a curious world built of amalgamations, of the traditional and the modern, taking it all in one day at a time, one train station at a time. We chose the destinations but not the circumstances, whatever and however they came to be. And Japan came in such a wide variety of circumstances, a whole spectrum. A month that left us with strained backs, dry skin, sore feet, and tired but wide smiles.