Giles and Paula Hit Japan and West Coast - USA - April 2018

[Madame Buttonfly]

After a rainy start to the week, the sun appeared yesterday - we had a meeting yesterday in Shinjuku and were close to the Gyoen National Garden (completed in 1906 for the Imperial Household and opened to the public in 1949).  A large and beautiful botanical park in the centre of Tokyo, we took an hour out to stroll and enjoy the sun, fresh air and lovely landscapes.

[Madame Buttonfly]

We caught the last of the cherry blossom:

[Madame Buttonfly]

Was thinking of you @twin (and Bobby) 

[Madame Buttonfly]

Special tomato ramen lunch, at a ramen joint called… "Tomato"!

Giles was very tired - not surprisingly - long days, 8-hour time difference and late nights do take their toll, and we're not as young as we used to be! 

[img alt="IMG_0825.JPG"]https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/ihf-images/11471/12/e32b5ccd-ded1-437d-b8a0-4039d0cb3ab3.JPG

[UnTucked]

I (we) miss Japan….. 

[Madame Buttonfly]

@UnTucked - we must all come together, it's high time we had a big Iron Heart forum meetup in Japan 

[UnTucked]

That would be so awesome!!!

[rocket]

love love all the pics

[Finkster]

Great pics - thx for sharing

[Signal11]

@Madame:

@UnTucked - we must all come together, it's high time we had a big Iron Heart forum meetup in Japan 

2019?

[neph93]

@Madame:

@UnTucked - we must all come together, it's high time we had a big Iron Heart forum meetup in Japan 

This is quite the daring, ambitious and downright wonderful idea. I love it.

[Chris]

With appropriate timing and sufficient advance notice, I have no doubt I could get Julie onboard for this.

[Signal11]

We would be in too.

[Jett129]

My wife seemed intrigued as well.

[sabergirl]

Depending on the timing, this is a trek I’ve always wanted to take! Marcia and I may have to wait a few years, though, as she’s loathe to travel internationally until her next green card is issued. (We’ve only been waiting ~2 years [emoji849])

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[Megatron1505]

Forum meet up in Japan you say ….

[browniemcghee]

Sounds like a brilliant idea.  I would try to come as well.

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[ROman]

I would definitely be in for that, with advance notice.  And great shots of this trip, including the Kanreki surprise.

[Snowy]

It's close enough that I may be able to swing something with enough notice as well. Some of the flights are super cheap…I've done a weekend there before..why not!

[Madame Buttonfly]

We should make it happen!

Is spring 2019 (April or possibly May) too soon?  The big unknown is when the supplier shows will take place, and that does dictate when our retailers, and therefore IHUK, need to be in town.

We could ask Haraki san to kindly host a day at Hachioji, as well as doing some "strategic" (read drinking and eating) gatherings in Tokyo.

Do let me have your input, and we'll work towards setting some dates so that folks can investigate travel.

Just arriving at Haneda, leaving Japan today  - what better time to start planning another visit?