TOKYO — We began today by heading to Nagano Bakery, perhaps one of my new favorite bakeries. They have this fried pork sandwich with spicy mustard. Amazing. I enjoyed it with a Caffe Latte (milk and honey flavored this time; I thought I would branch out).

After grabbing a bite to eat, we headed to Yasukuni Shrine. The shrine is dedicated to Kami — the spirits of soldiers who died while fighting for the Emperor. What makes this shrine so unique is that it also houses the spirits of Japanese war criminals from World War II. Of the nearly 2.5 million souls houses in the shrine, 1,068 were convicted of war crimes following World War II.

After lunch, we headed over to a science and technology museum to see Asimo — a robot that can run, walk and talk. It was interesting to see all the technology. Japan, after all is known for its technological innovations.

On that note, it’s been interesting to see just how much Japanese culture is like American culture. Everyone here has a cell phone and text messaging (or, more correctly, cell-to-cell e-mail) is popular here. Many of the school kids I’ve seen in the various cities we’ve visited have cell phones. No surprise, perhaps. Kids are the same everywhere.

We also took the time to stop in an upscale department store to see where the locals shop. This particular department store featured its own food court with people lined up at the various counters. Also, we stopped at a four-story Apple store. Very hip and trendy, this city of Tokyo.

We’re getting ready to head to dinner. My friend is taking us to a place his grandmother took him to. From my understanding, it’s a local hangout and by no means a tourist destination. That usually means it’s a fantastic restaurant.

After dinner, we’re going to have a cocktail or two at the bar featured in the movie Lost in Translation.

More to come…