Even with no command of the Japanese and poor maps of Kyoto and Tokyo, I still had a really good time. Japanese people are extremely friendly in general, almost all of them speak English as a second (or third) language and they are really accommodating.
Kyoto had lots of historical Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, which were really neat to visit. We took an overnight bus (think red eye) from Kyoto to Tokyo which arrived around 6:30 am. We decided to visit a park in the city (there are many beautiful parks in Tokyo's downtown) with a Shinto shrine and happened upon a religious service which was a really neat spiritual experience (especially when cracked out that early in the morning). The concept of a given individual practicing more than one organized religion (i.e. Buddhism and Shintoism) still seems very foreign (and maybe unnatural) though.
Food has been really good in general; lots of ingredient combinations that are odd to westerners. Bean paste inside pastries. Fermented rice (Amy hated this). Pocky chocolate sticks. Chocolate and banana dumplings. Almost any vegetable tempura style. Soba noodles. Plethora of different grade teas. Mmm. And American and European cafes all over.
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