Re: trip to Japan

Joi,

Jeffrey has advised that I contact you regarding the trip to Japan... It is so kind of you and your wife to help us, I very much appreciate it and hope that I can return the favor if you ever need assistance.

Please let me know what would be the best way to contact you or your wife about it. Maybe we could set up a quick Skype call if that is convenient.

Thank you so much!
Karyna.

Hi Karyna,

We can try to Skype today or you can tell us what you're looking for and we can help. One thing Jeffrey said was that you wanted to take some cooking lessons. Mizuka might be able to help. We'd need to know the what kind of cooking and you and Jen's level, etc.

• Joi

Hi Joi and Mizuka,

Thank you again so much for your help!
Yes, we would love to take some cooking lessons. Neither of us has learned about Japanese cooking, so we would probably need to start with the basics although Jen is a chef, but she has experience only with European/American cuisine. But we do love Japanese food a lot! at least the American version of it.

Other than food, we probably will do lots of sightseeing, since this is going to be our first time in Japan. I would love to get to know more about traditional Japanese architecture and design. We would also like to see sumo and kabuki performance, as well as kodo and tea ceremony. So if you may have suggestions on any of the above, it would be amazing. Otherwise, we are open to any other recommendations you might have and very much looking forward to this trip!

Thank you both very much!
Karyna.

Can you tell us your travel dates?

What would your priorities be of the list of stuff below?

Sumo tickets are harder, Kabuki is easier. Do you need a guide for all of this?

• Joi

Most likely we will be there from September 18th till 29th (will know for sure on Friday after I get my visa).

If you could recommend a good cooking class and where to see an incense ceremony, it would be great!

Also, which hotel would you recommend to stay at in Kyoto?

Thanks a lot!
Karyna.