Last summer we had the good fortune to visit our son in Japan. Even though it was the head of the rainy season, we didn’t let it steal our sunshine and sense of adventure. Japan is a place where tradition, modernity, and beauty collide in a wonderful and fascinating landscape and people.

Osaka is Japan’s 2nd largest city, located in a prefecture of the same name. Similar to NYC, it’s a modern bustling metropolis that is both culturally rich as well as diverse with restaurants and tourists from all over the world. We spoke to other Americans, as well as Europeans from many different countries. The sights and sounds were thrilling and every meal we had was simply delicious, without exception.

A night scene showing the cityscape divided by the river flowing through Osaka, Japan. — A tranquil summer night in Osaka, Japan

We traveled around the southwest area of Honshu, the largest of the ~11,000 islands, if memory serves, that make up Japan and visited multiple cities in the area.

Our visit to Hiroshima was moving and inspired a terrible beauty, as pictured in A Devastating Peace. I’ll post more of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, and there is a lot more to see, with some detail in trying to describe the experience.

That’s enough for tonight. Tomorrow’s another light.

From one sojourner to another, all the best.

Credits: Excerpt from a verse in George Benson’s On Broadway (1979), a hit by one of my favorite (semi-) modern jazz greats. Photo of Osaka courtesy of One Sojourner.

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