Japan Bucket List Update...Final Months

All I can say is that 4 years flew right by!  Just a few more months and we are on to our next adventure.  The last time I updated this list was over a year ago, back in March 2014.  I know I didn't get to cross everything off my list, but 100 items is definitely a lot and I am just glad to see I have made it through at least 50 of them.

1. Take Survival Japanese (November 2011)

2. Visit Tokyo (November 2011- Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)

3. Visit Kyoto (September 2013- Part 1, Part 2)

4. Visit Osaka (September 2013- Click here)

5. Sapporo Snow Festival (February 2012- Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4)

6. Ride the Shinkansen (November 2011) 

7. Go horse back riding- Sadly, I don't think this will happen

8. Learn to ski- I wish we had just gone ahead and did this, but we didn't.  Part of the problem was that this past winter was mild.

9. Learn to snow board- Same comments as #8

10. Visit Hirosaki Castle for the Chrysanthemum Festival (November 2011- Click here)

11. Visit Hirosaki Castle for the Cherry Blossom Festival (May 2012- Click here), Did it again in April 2015

12. Aomori Nebuta Festival (August 2012- Click here, August 2013- Click here)

13. Make okonomiyaki (December 2011- Click here)

14. Try takoyaki (February 2012- Click here)

15. Make my own sushi (December 2011- Click here)

16. Take Beyond Survival Japanese (January 2012)

17. Buy a kimono (December 2011)

18. Visit Oirase Gorge- We didn't hike the Gorge but we did make it out to the general vicinity

19. Visit Big Buddha in Aomori (October 2011- Click here)

20. Visit Aomori Art Museum (April 2012- Click here)

21. Visit Towada Art Museum (October 2011- Click here)

22. Take a cruise on Lake Towada

23. See a snow monkey

24. Go snow shoeing- (December 2014- Click here)

25. Take a trip to Thailand (June 2013- Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8)

26. Take a trip to Australia (September 2012- I have 18 posts from my roughly 3 weeks in Australia, so here is post 1 to get you started.  The rest are easily located from there.)

27. Climb Mt. Fuji (July 2012- Click here)

28. Go to an onsen (October 2012- Click here)

29. Go to Tokyo Disney (July 2012- Click here)

30. See Tsukiji Market (November 2011- Click here)

31. Travel to South Korea (September 2013- Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5) 

32. Go to Universal Studios (in Osaka)- Missed out on this one too

33. Buy something with Hello Kitty on it (November 2011-Hello Kitty Hard Rock Shirt)

34. Write a blog post during an earthquake (any idea what just happened! LOL) (December 2011)

35. Visit Okinawa- Also another worthwhile adventure that just didn't happen, but at least my husband got a chance to go there.

36. Go to a Sumo tournament- (May 2014- Click here)

37. Drive to Tokyo- Although we didn't drive ourselves, in April 2014 we went on a bus trip down to Tokyo so I had the chance to experience the drive all the way there.

38. Go to the beef and garlic festival- (October 2014- Click here)

39. See the Ryusendo Caves- This is seriously the next thing on my to-do list for activities

40. Volunteer for Tsunami/Earthquake relief (from 2011 Earthquake) (September 2012- Although no major active efforts have been taking place, I was able to donate 1 hour of nutrition counseling to an auction where the proceeds went to directly support a community still rebuilding from the tsunami.)

41. Go to a Japanese baseball game

42. Go ice skating

43. See Kabuki theater performance- (May 2014, same trip as Sumo- Click here)

44. Travel to Hawaii

45. Take the ferry to Hokkaido (February 2012- Click here)

46. Try green tea ice cream (Can't recall a specific date, but I have had it a few times now)

47. Visit Sendai (May 2013- Part 1, Part 2)

48. Attend Shabbat services in Tokyo

49. Go apple picking- Since we missed apple season we won't be able to do this before we leave

50. Go cherry picking- (June 2014)

51. Visit a Buddhist Temple (August 2011- Click here)

52. Visit a Shinto Shrine (August 2011- Click here)

53. See the wild horses-( September 2014- Click here)

54. Go to the Rokkasho Salmon Festival (September 2013- Click here)

55. Drink sake (July 2012- Click here)

56. Visit Tokyo National Museum (November 2011)

57. Visit Hiroshima

58. Visit Kenji World- Too bad it closed down

59. Visit Morioka (March 2013- Click here)

60. Eat shabu shabu- Never found any with just seafood and vegetables

61. Visit Tokyo Tower- (May 2014, Click here)

62. Have a traditional vegetarian Buddhist meal (September 2013- South Korea)

63. Buy fresh fish from a market- Visited a lot of markets, but never left with more than taiyaki (fish shaped pancake filled with bean paste
64. Buy an antique (January 2012)
65. Attend a tea ceremony (September 2013- Click here)
66. Dine Japanese style (sitting on the floor) (January 2013- Click here, we've actually dined this way a few times)
67. Go to a concert in Tokyo
68. Learn to use chopsticks (August 2011-This was a tough one for me, but I have it mastered now!)
69. Use a Japanese toilet (August 2011-Squatty Potty!)
70. Buy a heated toilet seat- We are still contemplating this!
71. Go hiking (September 2012- Click here)
72. Go camping
73. Visit Nagoya Castle
74. Visit Nagano
75. Visit the Imperial Palace in Tokyo (July 2012-Click here)
76. Dine along Dotonbori (September 2013- Click here)
77. Visit Ueno Zoo (July 2012- Click here)
78. Buy a Hard Rock shirt from all locations in Japan- I've come close, but the one in Narita closed after we moved here and I wasn't able to get to Osaka Universal Studios (I did get just Osaka) or Fukuoka.  I did go to 4 out of 6 locations.
79. Visit a Japanese beer brewery (February 2012- Click here)
80. Play a round of golf (all 18 holes!) (June 2012)
81. Drink apple wine (February 2012- Click here)
82. See a fire works display
83. Swim in the ocean (July 2012)
84. Visit Shipwreck Beach- Can you believe they cleared off all the ships?!?!?  So we never went.
85. Build a snow man
86. Eat tofu on a stick (February 2012, Click here)
87. Visit the Tokyo Sky Tree observation desk- (April 2014, Click here)
88. Visit Disney Sea
89. See a professional Taiko drum performance- (I will count the Yokohama based group that played on my mom's cruise ship the first night, so this was April 2015)
90. See the deer in Nara (September 2013- Click here)
91. Visit Sensoji Temple (November 2011, click here)
92. See a Noh theater performance
93. Go dolphin and whale watching
94. Check out Harajuku- (May 2015)
95. Sing karaoke
96. Eat a sea urchin
97. Make a kanji painting (I did a calligraphy painting of my name in kanji, but I can't remember the date.)
98. Learn how to spell my name in Japanese
99. Ride the subway in Tokyo (November 2011)
100. Be a good ambassador

Well I have counted 65 so far!  I am happy to say that even though we did not and will not get to all 100, there were many other amazing adventures and opportunities that we came across while here and those things were truly amazing.  I have more posts to come.  I am pretty behind on everything because I have been busy with work and school, but I hope to get caught up soon so that I may be able to more quickly share about our upcoming adventures.  I don't think I mentioned this yet, but we are headed back to Europe.  The big move isn't too far off, so stayed tuned for the rest of our Japan adventures followed by plenty more fun, travel, sightseeing, food, and culture.

QUESTIONS:  What have you recently crossed off your bucket list?  What was the last thing you wished you had done but sadly had missed out on?