As Bill Carmody leaves Japan with his son Will and daughter Violet, he reflects on his second visit here with his family as well as the ten months leading up to this moment.

How do you take advantage of a 3 hour gap between bullet trains in Japan? How about going bowling and jumping on a trampoline? Violet, Will and Bill Carmody enjoy Matsuyama’s amusement complex.

Today, the Carmodys went out of our way to visit “Cat Island.” Technically, the island is called Aoshima, Japan, but to this day, the number of cats out number the residents. We wanted to check it out.

Bill Carmody reflects on life’s impermanence with the news of the death of his friend and minister, the Reverend, Dr. Natalie Fenimore on

Violet and Bill Carmody return to Universal Studios, Japan with Will so that all three can enjoy the incredible theming of Nintendo World together. We even had lunch in the most popular sit down spot in the heart of Nintendo World, Kinopio’s.

Will and Violet Carmody experience fully domesticated deer that bow for a biscuit. This was a wonderful day to spend our last full day together before Elena returns to New York.

Thanks to our friend, Michele Moul and her husband, Scott, the Carmodys venture beyond the Fushimi Inari Taisha temple (which is already spectacular) and explore the road less travelled.

“I’d rather be lucky than smart,” says Richard Knies, Bill Carmody’s father-in-law. This is how we felt staying in the Airbnb known as “Hideaway Hakone Sengokuhara.” Reflecting on these past few days we exit Hakone and make our way to Kyoto today.

Happy accident when I witnessed the sun setting behind Mount Fuji. Wow. Spectacular contrast between the reds of the sun setting and the pure white of the mountain.

Hakone’s Botanical Garden is unusual in all the right ways. Yes there are pretty flowers to admire, and there are also wide open fields with a lot LESS so that you are enabled to take in MORE.

The Carmodys join a pirate ship to tour around the Hakone Lake Ashinoko and we FINALLY saw Mount Fuji. The last time we were in the area, the rain hindered our ability to see Mt. Fuji.

TeamLabs Planets Exhibit in Tokyo, Japan, was a full immersion art experience. New. Different. A totally new take on what art can be in a fully immersive experience. Loved it!

Bill Carmody and son Will go trekking through the forests of Shiroi. We didn’t visit all 190 hectares of natural forest, but we discovered a hidden temple.

Not having enough Leo time (and Anne-Marie and Sean), the Griffins were kind enough to come visit us in our Airbnb in Shiroi (about 1 hour outside Tokyo).

The tenth anniversary of Re: Zero is happening live here in Tokyo on April 8th. We are all very excited. For Will’s birthday next month, we bought a number of anime figures from specialty stores.

We finally had the opportunity to meet Leo Griffin, the son of Anne-Marie and Sean along with our friends Michele Moul and husband Scott … in Tokyo!

Time of day DOES matter when you’re in Tokyo to take in the cherry blossoms. Evening was more spectacular as the trees are well lit up and even more glorious at night.

My niece, Laura Brooke Robson, launches her fourth book, Love Is An Algorithm. Just finished listening to it on Audible and really enjoyed this novel. Her incredible writing is not to be missed. Powerful. Inspiring. Brilliant.

The Carmodys visit Tokyo, Japan during the peak of Cherry Blossom season. This wasn’t the original plan as Bill Carmody explains, but we’re so happy we’re here.

April Fools Day falls on the first Wednesday of the month. This is when we have our Carmody Zoom call and have for the past 6 years starting with the Covid-19 pandemic.