hello there.

this is the final entry in our 5-part photo essay about the doe girls’ spring break trip to japan. we saved the best for last!

below are images from our day excursion to the temple town of nara.

from kyoto, nara is about 45 minutes away by train. nara was the capital of japan from 710-784, and deer were considered the ancient city’s protectors.

this year would be the 1300th anniversary of nara as the capital city. we saw this buddah with deer horns everywhere on commemorative posters and all sorts of adorable merchandise:

evidence of the city’s love of deer is everywhere…

best part of visiting nara?

tame deer!

street vendors sell deer biscuits to visitors:

of course, every tourist shop in nara was dedicated to the city’s animal protector…

thanks for following along on our adventures. til next time!

xo,
ktk & the doe girls

p.s. we’ve got new goods! if you share our love of all things japanese, you’ll adore the decole and other japanese housewares just added to the shop.

kati here.

the first time i traveled to japan was with penelope, when she was three years old. one of the things i remember most from that trip is taking her shopping for toys, especially at kiddy land – tokyo’s 6-storey toy store in the harajuku district:

visiting japan with sabine as a three-year-old was serious deja vu. taking the girls toy shopping was top priority, and, once again, kiddy land was a highlight of the trip:

for doe girl kate and i, adventures in kiddy land were a trip down memory lane – we stumbled across many characters from our childhoods:

penelope was intrigued by the number of japanese people wearing medical masks on the streets – they’re available in an endless array of colors, patterns, and materials. here’s one for baby dolls:

the first time we visited japan, grow-it-yourself plants in adorable packaging were all the rage. this time, the most popular toys were diy kits – make your own stickers, bath bombs, make-up, hair ties….here’s a diy sushi kit:

anpanman sushi

i’ll confess to being even more excited about the doll selection than the little girls were, especially these fancy blythe dolls:

blythe

dal doll

we found so many treasures, we had to find a chest to cart them home:

treasure trove of toys

next: a day trip to nara

we were lucky that our spring trip to japan (has it been a month already?!) coincided with cherry blossom season.

cherry blossom viewing is a national past time in japan, and parks and temples become crowded with people picnicking under the sakura trees and photographing their blossoms.

next: japanese toys!

part research mission, part vacation – the doe girls’ trip to japan was mainly about two things: shopping and food!

we sampled local delicacies from tokyo to kyoto – pictured here are some of our findings.

a local favorite in the temple town of nara, this udon-filled tofu pouch is tied with seaweed and served in a steaming bowl of broth:

among the many delicious things we found to eat, there were also some pretty strange ones. the following oddities were found in convenience stores:

amazed though were were by unrecognizable processed foods, we mostly stuck with more traditional fare:

kate samples late-night street food in kyoto:

of course, japan is famous for having perfected the art of fake foods, and nearly every restaurant offered its own version. below, spanish tapas, japanese style:

we tried many things we never thought we’d love – chicken gizzards, ox tails, fried chicken in a can (okay, maybe we didn’t _love_ chicken in a can!). below, pig knuckles, eaten at a korean restaurant near shinjuku station:

traveling with two little girls, we received many requests for the “d word.” some of our sweeter findings:

visiting japan during the cherry blossom season, we found many sakura-themed products, as well as these beautifully packaged sakurambo (actually from a different tree than the blossoming cherry) flavored green teas:

true to our name, the doe girls were thrilled to find many deer-themed foods and drinks on our adventure. especially in the temple town of nara, where wild deer roam freely and are fed by temple-goers, we found plenty of foods and beverages adorned with the local mascot:

even little popo, sabine’s new japanese baby doll, got in on the daily feasting. here, sabine feeds her at the same korean restaurant where we sampled the pig knuckles:

next: cherry blossom season!

hello!

if you follow us on twitter, or caught our postcard from kyoto a couple weeks ago, you probably figured out that the doe girls spent spring break in japan!

our adventures were happy ones, and we love sharing pictures from our travels:

you probably also know that the doe girls love to go shopping! we spent hours exploring multi-level department stores surrounding the various train stations in tokyo – shibuya, shinjuku, harajuku….

one of our favorite stores was the muji. we stumbled upon this one in the shopping plaza above the shinjuku train station:

our tiniest traveler, toddler sabine, was on a mission for new shoes. we found rows and rows of adorable shoes for baby:

the little girls tired of shopping more easily than the ladies, so we stopped for a break at a high-rise playground, where the kids played and our photographer, kate, snapped some playful scenes:

many japanese department stores also house pet shops, and we spent some time hanging out with this little guy:

one thing that didn’t impress kate and i? the swimwear selections! the styles we found confused our west-coast sensibilities:

all the swimsuits looked like this!

something we found in common with fashions found in the states? a mutual love of rose gold! every department store we visited housed cases of dainty rose gold jewelry:

we like!

carefully packaging a pair of rose gold hoops. check out those nails!

next: doe girls love to eat! delicacies sampled on our journey to japan.