We were in Japan for about two weeks a few years earlier but did not have the opportunity to visit Hakone National Park. We also were eager to stay in a real ryokan (a traditional Japanese inn) and to spend some additional time in Tokyo. We had planned to go to China in September/October 2003, so we thought that on our way to China was a good opportunity to again visit Japan. So we did it!
Our stay in Japan was very short, only about a week, but very enjoyable. The story of that visit follows on the next few pages.