Pictured here is Tokyo Pipe Band's pipe major, Atsushi Yamane. When the fellow next to him took his sip from the Quaich, Atsushi decided to accompany him with the bagpipes.







The next morning, my wife and I left our hotel and had a chance to explore one of the parts of Tokyo we have not been to before, and got some amazing cherry blossom shots near the river.





My final excursion, several days after our return from Tokyo, was ascending into the Japanese South Alps, sometimes referred to as the Japanese Highlands. I felt that it would be a nice tribute to the Scottish Highlands, which is so closely associated with the kilt and many of the Scottish customs we are familiar with today.

The area near Kofu known as Shosenkyo is a picturesque natural area of small peaks, waterfalls, and forests. One of the best places to be, in my opinion, is the peak of Mt. Yasaburo (Yasaburo Dake). It's only about 1058m, making it about a third of Mt. Fuji's height, but it's nice, short climb that can be done by even inexperienced hikers and climbers, but it's not overrun by visitors, making it very peaceful. The view from the summit is fantastic, offering a 360-degree view of the entire area, including Mt. Fuji in the distance. It's also an area where I hid a geocache near the peak, so I must admit that my visit also had an ulterior motive, and that was to do a maintenance check on the cache, as I had not done so for well over a year.