Shiroi, Japan (March 31, 2026)
Elena and I debated the trade-offs between one or two tiny rooms (primarily to hold beds) in downtown Tokyo like we did last time, or expand our Airbnb search to look for a baller home up to an hour outside of Tokyo. Despite the long commute, I’m really happy with where we’ve ended up.
Traditional Japanese house with all the trimmings. Love it!
I knew the main issue we’d have after the 1-hour train ride was the distance from the train station to the house. We didn’t want to rent a car where none of us speak or read Japanese, so we figured we’d grab a cab or book one via Grab or Uber. When we arrived, however, they were all busy. This is the first time this has happened to us. So we ended up schlepping our stuff over a mile by foot.
Ultimately, totally worth it in my opinion. You can check out the full listing on Airbnb. There are four rooms and two and a half bathrooms … sort of. That is, there are two separate toilets and a urinal. The living room and dining room have a blend of traditional and modern Japanese furniture. And the kitchen is huge and modern. All in all, this house is bigger than the one we live in New York. My favorite part is all the artwork.
Out here, we are most definitely in farm country. here’s what the outside looks like:
Our next door neighbors are tractors and fields. Very peaceful!
And, when the weather is better, I’m looking forward to exploring the nearby forrest with Will and Violet:
Thick brush at the edge of a beckoning forrest I’m ready to explore.
It has rained all day. That didn’t stop me from exploring the nearby grocery store. It was quite fun to seek out our staples in a Japanese grocery store. I don’t know what this vegetable is, but it’s HUGE!
What is THIS root vegetable? Google Translate couldn’t help me.
Tomorrow we’ll assess the weather and head out to see the cherry blossoms (and/or the National Museum). Will and Violet are excited to explore Tokyo together. This time, Violet will show Will around and take him to her favorite stores she discovered just five months ago herself.
I’m happy we have all this time together and space to hang out. True, going into Tokyo is more effort and takes more planning ahead of time, but relaxing here is uniquely different than our last visit.
“Explore Japan.” Indeed we will & are very much looking forward to it.
