Japan - Final Thoughts

On Sunday, we woke up, Paid 80$ for a tiny breakfast, and then made our way to the airport. From our original vacation cash budget I bought lunch to take on the plane and had about 80 cents left over.
Not to be out-done, Jeff then bought a coke so we ended up with 15 cents left at the end of our vacation! Now we have a few souvenir coins and no money to change back into Won!

 So for anyone that dreams of going to Japan, here's the scoop. Japan is really, REALLY expensive. If you have 10 grand burning a hole in your pocket do it, but if you just want a really cool Asian experience, consider coming to Korea instead. I thought Japan would be really clean and spotless, kind of like Germany. It wasn't. There was garbage and urban sprawl that went on forever and the countryside even seemed kind of run down and messy. Now I haven't seen all of Japan, so I know there is unspoiled countryside out there somewhere. I just didn't get to see it.
You know in Korea we all live in these high rise apartments. They're not beautiful, but they are a good way to manage large populations in urban areas. The apartments keep the cities more condensed and leave the country side unspoiled. Japan is waaaaay more crowded than Korea, yet all the housing is 2-3 story homes so the Cities go on FOREVER and if you look at Japan on Google earth you can see that at this point that almost the entire country is infrastructure/housing/cities/suburbs.
I would also say that the shrines and temples that I have seen here in Korea are just as beautiful as the ones in Japan. Maybe more so because they tend to be nestled up in the mountains, not smack dab in the middle of cities with stained concrete houses all around them. It's much less crowded here and you can actually tour and see things without being in a shuffling mob.
Korea is a much better bargain for travel as well. You can get a great meal for 4 here for around 25$. When we went to the Amazing Dinosaur museum here admission plus parking was $12 for all 4 of us for the day! Some things are comparable to US prices like clothes, but most things are probably a bit cheaper.
Prices in Japan are staggering. Want an glass of juice at breakfast? 8$. Want a 500 sq ft studio apartment? $400,000. WHAT!?!
Yeah, Yeah, but there's cherry blossoms in the spring there right? Yeah, Korea has them too:

Here are some up in the hills where I hike everyday:

 And again, if I lived in a Japanese city, there wouldn't be miles and miles of hiking trails out my back door because they just don't have the wild spaces. Here's my friend Kari up in the hills:

So there you go. I'm not against going to Japan, I'm just saying there might be places to visit that will give you a similar experience for a lot less $$$. Plus you can visit US!!
That being said:
If you are a Disney Freak at all, (you know who you are...) Get a jar, no seriously go get one I'll wait here...
OK. Label it "Tokyo Disney Trip" and start throwing in the loose change. TDR is amazing and if you're a fan of the Magic, do try to get there someday.
Last but not least:
We flew to Japan on JAL. They gave the kids blow up airplanes and square paper to do Origami on:

Then we flew back on Korean Airlines. They gave us chubby plush airplanes plus an activity pack with colored pencils PLUS a Paint with water then let it dry then paint it again Pororo book and re-fillable brush! I'm just sayin'......