Five Thousand Miles by Emma Prew

Five THOUSAND miles One girlâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s adventures in Japan April, 2014

Emma Prew

Five THOUSAND miles One girlâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s adventures in Japan April, 2014

Emma Prew

I did a lot of planning. A lot.

CONTENTS THE ROUTE 4 INTRODUCTION 5 DAY 1: THE FLIGHT 6 DAY 2: TOKYO 8 DAY 3: TOKYO 20 DAY 4: TOKYO 32 DAY 5: KANAZAWA 44 DAY 6: KANAZAWA 56 DAY 7: SHIRAKAWAGO 70 DAY 8: TAKAYAMA 82 DAY 9: TAKAYAMA 94 DAY 10: MATSUMOTO 106 DAY 11: MAGOME & TSUMAGO 120 DAY 12: KYOTO 130 DAY 13: KYOTO 142 DAY 14: KYOTO & OSAKA 156 DAY 15: HAKONE 166 DAY 16: ODAWARA & TOKYO 178 DAY 17: TOKYO & HOME 190

THE ROUTE Friday 11th April Saturday 12th Sunday 13th Monday 14th Tuesday 15th Wednesday 16th Thursday 17th Friday 18th Saturday 19th Sunday 20th Monday 21st Tuesday 22nd Wednesday 23rd Thursday 24th Friday 25th Saturday 26th Sunday 27th

Depart London, UK: 13:05

Arrive Tokyo, Japan: 08:50 Tokyo Tokyo

Tokyo–Kanazawa Kanazawa

Kanazawa–Shirakawago Shirakawago–Takayama Takayama

Takayama–Matsumoto

Matsumoto–the Kiso Valley, Magome–Tsumago Tsumago–Kyoto Kyoto

Kyoto–Osaka–Kyoto

Kyoto–Odawara–Hakone (Mt Fuji National Park) Hakone–Odawara–Tokyo

Leave Tokyo. Depart: 11:15. Arrive London: 15:45

I made this map well before my trip. I realise now that it makes

it seem like I planned to climb Mt. Fuji but that was not the case. I just hoped to see it from Hakone!

INTRODUCTION I’m not quite sure exactly when I first became fascinated by Japan. Perhaps when I started reading historical (and some fantasy) fiction set in the Samurai/Edo era, or maybe when I discovered Japanese art (ukiyo-e), or possibly it was watching Studio Ghibli films that did it for me. Although it also could have been, subconsciously, as far back as playing Zelda and Pokémon on the Nintento Game Boy. All I know is I had wanted to visit the so-called ‘land of the rising sun’ for what seemed like forever. It was not something that I thought I’d actually get to do as early in my life as 2014 – at 23 years old – mainly because I figured I’d have to work and save for a few years first, plus find the right person to travel with. Well, I decided after a year of employment that I would be able to, and deserved to, make my Japan dreams a reality. As for finding the right person to travel with… in the end I decided it would be better for me to go alone, rather than sitting around and waiting for someone who not only wanted to go with me but would actually be interested in the things I wanted to do and see. I do not regret that decision one bit.

I planned my holiday with Inside Japan Tours which seemed like a great option for a first time (and lone) traveller to Japan. But I wasn’t on a guided or group tour in the traditional sense, I was on my own for the most part. It was more of a self-guided tour. They tailored my holiday to my specifications, meaning that I stated the kinds of things I wanted to do and the places I wanted to visit and they arranged accommodation for me in those places as well as transport between them. As for what I did in each place, that was mostly up to me – although they did throw in my ticket for the Studio Ghibli Museum. They also planned for me to visit traditional samurai villages, take part in a tea ceremony whilst wearing an authentic kimono and stay in some traditional Japanese inns. I don’t think I could have organised much of that by myself – not without intense research and planning anyway! On the 11th of April, 2014, I boarded my flight to Tokyo – completely alone and having never before left Europe nor been on a flight of more than 3 hours – to begin my adventure of a lifetime in Japan. And so, here is my travel journal, written whilst in Japan and accompanied by just some of the 4000+ photographs that I took on my camera and iPhone. Previously in website form (www.emmaprew.co.uk/5000miles/japan2014.html) and now, after much hard work, book form. Enjoy!

BY THE WAY: The title for this travel journal, both web- and book-based, ‘five thousand miles’ comes from the song Transient Love by The Menzingers, who are one of my favourite bands. Their album, Rented World, was basically the soundtrack to my Japan trip. Now when I listen to it, I feel like I’m back on a Japanese highway bus or shinkansen, also it is a really great album and I adore that song. And, of course, Japan is 5000 miles away from the UK (well, closer to 6000 actually…).

Ready for adventure!

DAY ONE: THE FLIGHT The flight, despite being almost 12 hours, was actually fine. I’ve never been on a flight anywhere near that long before, nor such an ‘up market’ airline. They give you so much food on Virgin Atlantic! I watched the film Inside Llewyn Davis but it was a bit boring – more of the cat(s) and it might have been alright. I could have watched loads more films but I ended up doing a combination of reading and listening to music, then snoozing, rather watching any more films. I also had a really friendly British man, Neil, next to me and we talked a lot. He lived in Japan from the age of 22 to 29, teaching English, and then married a Japanese lady. They moved to England and he works in London now. He was going to join his family who were on holiday in Japan for Easter (they all live in London too). I didn’t actually get to say goodbye/thanks for being good company after immigration (but I saw him again on the return flight and said hello again which was nice).

I saw some snow-capped mountains from the air, over Russia/Siberia, which was a first for me. And the sun was shining in Tokyo on arrival which put me in a good mood. I settled surprisingly well into the time difference – 8 hours ahead, and technically the next day. Jet leg never actually happened for me.

My first photos in Japan, out of the window of the train en route to central Tokyo.

DAY TWO: TOKYO It took a while, almost an hour, to get through immigration at Narita airport – Neil said he’d never seen it so jam-packed before. But when I did get through, I found a man holding a sign with my name on it. I know, like in the movies! Anyway, he was friendly and welcomed me to Japan. He was only really there to buy me my train ticket and put me on the right train. This was something arranged by Inside Japan Tours. It was helpful although I think I could have worked it out myself. Still, nice to have someone hold a sign with my name on it! I got from the airport to Ueno station very smoothly and then took the subway to Asakusa. Japanese transport is so efficient, I had no trouble at all.

I got a tiny bit lost finding my hotel but mainly because I didn’t have a decent map with it marked on. A nice rickshaw-tour-guide-man helped me and gave me a better map – free of charge. I dropped off my suitcase at my hotel and went to explore Asakusa, with another map courtesy of the hotel. It was very busy around Sensō-ji Temple and shrine, but this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing – it added to the atmosphere. Plus, it was Saturday and there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky.

I wandered the side streets and braved a very Japanese cafĂŠ for much needed coffee. The clientele were all middle-aged men who were smoking and watching horse racing. Nevertheless I enjoyed my coffee and had some cake that tasted remarkably like cheesecake.

Beautiful blossom – or ‘sakura’ in Japanese.

I found my way to Komagatabashi (a bridge over the river) and took a lot of photos on the way, including a sign for a cat café – sadly, I didn’t cross the road for a closer look at it. I admired Tokyo Skytree from afar – it’s not a tree at all, just looks like any other tower in a big city.

I tried my first drink from a vending machine, more to try to use the vending machine than actually wanting a cold oolong tea drink. I was thirsty, though this perhaps wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t the best choice. Interesting though.

All of the little shops in Asakusa have ukiyo-e style illustrations painted on their shutters, so the place is just as interesting when shops are closed!

I headed back to my hotel to check in and try out the wifi – pretty much just to make sure the Internet (Twitter/Facebook) was aware that I had made it to Japan. My hotel offered apartment-style rooms so I had a little kitchen area as well as the bedroom and bathroom areas. After a short rest, I went back on the subway the way I’d come in the morning and visited Ueno Park.

This was one of the first of a handful of manhole covers that I photographed.

Prettier than your average manhole cover.

By this point my feet were hurting so when my camera died, because I didn’t realise it was low on charge, I took it as a sign to call it a day. The park was lovely though and there are some bits I didn’t see/photograph so I wanted to try and fit in another visit. I picked up some sushi in a supermarket/corner shop-style small store – ¥500 (less than £3) – and had that as my dinner. I ate so much on the plane that I wasn’t too hungry. It was a million times better than Yo Sushi anyway! And for a quarter of the price. Who says Japan is expensive? I looked through photos on my camera – which I revived with a charge, of course – and uploaded some from my phone to Instagram. Making the most of the wifi while I had it. (Although, it turned out that I did have access to wifi in almost every place I stayed and I did end up uploading a lot of pictures to Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.) That evening, I looked through leaflets I had gathered and readied myself for the next full-packed day.

The view out of my hotel room window in the morning.

The man getting in the way in

this photo was my tour guide!

DAY THREE: TOKYO I was up at 7.40am after a couple of snoozes on the ol’ alarm. I slept okay, after I put earplugs in – as I went to bed at 10pm (after being awake for 31 hours!) and it was still lively outside, with it being a Saturday night in Tokyo. I’m glad I decided to be a typical girl and pack hair straighteners because my hair was sticking up all over the place in the morning! I don’t do much in the way of make-up, but my hair is another matter. Breakfast was a pastry I saved from the plane and the wrap I bought at Heathrow (well travelled, but I didn’t want it to go to waste) so nothing too exciting. It was looking bright outside my window and strangely quiet, but I suppose it was a Sunday morning. At 9am my tour guide for the day, organised by Inside Japan Tours, met me at my hotel – his name was Makoto Hirata. We talked briefly about what I wanted to see and quickly set off for Ueno Park – as I didn’t see everything I wanted to the day before. We went via a different subway station, too, so I saw some more of Asakusa area. Mr Hirata was great, telling me a lot of historical background to the things that we saw and taking photos of me under cherry blossom and in iconic Tokyo locations. The two images below are of Ueno Park before and after the civil war, during which a lot of the old buildings and land were burnt down. You can see how the first image looks typical of the Samurai era whilst the second is more Westernised.

We re-visited the Kiyomizu Kannondo temple, which Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d briefly seen myself the day before. Apparently it is a miniature of Kiyomizudera temple in Kyoto. I hadnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t known that it was based on a larger temple in Kyoto until Mr Hirata told me, so already I was learning lots. It was also the temple featured in a famous Hiroshige print with the tree and its branch that curls into a ring.

We saw the shiny golden Toshogu Shrine and five-storied Pagoda that I hadnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t found myself the previous day (although the pagoda is situated within the grounds of Ueno Zoo so we could only see it from behind a fence).

Next, we went to Kaneji Temple and cemetery, on the edge of the Ueno Park grounds. This was my first time entering a temple â&#x20AC;&#x201C; taking my shoes off of course. It was incredibly quiet.

This is the Tokugawa shogunate family crest.

And this is a Tokugawa tomb.

Walking back to the main part of Ueno park there were lots of people gathered around watching a performing monkey. We watched for a little bit but it made me feel uncomfortable as in my eyes this was animal cruelty. Mr Hirata asked me afterwards if we have performers like that in England, I said we have street performers but not animal performers like that as it would be illegal – I also made it clear that I wasn’t happy about the monkey being treated in that way. Leaving the monkey behind, we walked across the Shinbazu pond – a lake, not a pond, but the Japanese like to call lots of bodies of water ‘pond’. We walked past Bentendo temple which was unusually octagon shaped, but there was a fair bit of scaffolding and fencing around it so it wasn’t as picturesque as perhaps it could have been.

Leaving the park behind, we went to Yushima Tenmangu shrine which is for the god of learning – it is the shrine students come to to make prayers before they have exams. They write their hopes and wishes on little wooden boards called ‘ema’, although I only learnt that name when I looked it up later on. Obviously, I remembered it due to it being just one ‘m’ short of my own name.

Leaving historical Tokyo behind for a bit, we walked through a market and I tried some dried shrimp, dried small fish, wasabi coated something or other and dried soya beans. I also bought dried nori strips which were tasty and make for a good snack. I ended up carrying the bag around with me for much of the trip as it slowly deplenished. We had lunch in a small restaurant close to the train station. I had udon soup and tempura vegetables. Mr Hirata said my chopstick skills weren’t bad and I did well to not make too much of a fool of myself! I’m afraid I didn’t photograph this meal as, at the time, I thought it would be inappropriate.

Then we went down the road on the Subway to the so-called Electric City area and popped into a busy electronics store with 6 floors! I didn’t buy anything but it was interesting to see. Mr Hirata showed me all of the rice cookers and we sampled the rice that was cooked by them. You were supposed to be able to tell the difference between rice cooked in the most expensive machine and the others… but I was clueless. Back outside, we wandered around on the road – because they close the roads on Sundays. Mr Hirata asked me what I thought of all the advertising as a graphic designer. I said if it was in English in England I would probably dislike it but it’s Tokyo, which makes everything seems exotic to me, so it works.

I liked this like leaf-hatted computer character –

referencing Godzilla too! The Japanese can’t get

enough of cute characters, they are everywhere on everything whether it’s deadly serious or comical.

We visited the Imperial Palace next, or the gardens at least. Again I had another history lesson here but that was no problem as everything was fascinating to me. The land the palace is in is very large, surrounded by a moat and includes where the old Edo castle once stood. A lovely old tree on the edge of where Edo castle once stood.

There was some more cherry blossom still in bloom and a lot of pine trees too – really interestingly shaped ones, like big bonsai trees. This is one of the better photographs of me from the day – Mr Hirata took some others that I’m not including here. There are no random people getting in the way of my personal tourist time here!

One of the remaining turrets. We couldn’t go any closer as it was fenced off.

You can only go in the Imperial Palace itself twice a year – 2nd January, 23rd December. But I think the grounds were more interesting anyway.

This is apparently where all Japanese people must get their photograph taken – standing in front of the double bridges (there are two bridges that must be crossed to get to the Imperial Palace itself), but I’m not sure the second bridge is visible here.

Then we wandered on down to Ginza, where I found pretty much the only Godzilla I saw in the whole of my time in Japan. I’m sorry Steve, but the Japanese just don’t care about Godzilla anymore (he wanted me to bring one back for him). We walked past a famous kabuki theature, Kabukiza. Kabuki is a Japanese style of dance/drama with elaborate make-up and costumes. Traditionally, male actors play both the male and female parts. Although there is a specific theatre in Japan where the tables are turned and only female actresses perform both roles. Hurrah for women! The theatre even had its own shrine.

Ginza was lots of people and lots of tall buildings, much like Shibuya where we finished our tour. Below is the famous Shibuya crossing as viewed from the train station window above. It is the busiest crossing in Tokyo and probably, therefore, in the whole of Japan. Shibuya is also home to a statue of a dog called Hachiko. Hachiko was a real dog who was incredibly loyal to his owner, even after the owner’s death – read his story on Wikipedia. He is the most famous dog in Japan and probably the world in general! I think my tour guide was particularly keen to show me Hachiko as he had a similar dog himself – he showed me a photo earlier in the day. Mr Hirata left me there so, after our thank you and goodbyes, I made my way back to Asakusa. Asakusa was all the way from Shibuya, the beginning of the subway line, to the other end. 30 minutes to rest my feet, which felt like they were going to fall off after so much walking. But it had been a great day and I felt I had seen and learnt a lot.

My evening snacks.

All was quiet in Asakua that [Monday] morning.

All aboard the Ghibli bus!

DAY FOUR: TOKYO I woke up with a bit of a headache but was soon cured when I found proper cup of coffee. I had some kind of butter coated sweet toast for breakfast in an American style place called Denny’s. Which was amazing – the toast, not the place, although the place was fine. I wish I’d taken a photo of my food. I thought I’d left plenty of time for getting to Studio Ghibli Museum but changing to the JR (non-subway) train at Kanda proved problematic. I got help from three different people and eventually got on the right train, later than planned. Kanda station was lacking in a romaji map of the rail network so I couldn’t easily work out what ticket I needed despite the machine being in English – you have to select the price rather than destination.

But anyway, I made it to Mitaka station and hopped on the Ghibli bus that was just about to depart. Initially I was planning on walking to the museum but I didn’t want to be late for my 10am entrance slot. The bus arrived with 5 mins to spare, phew.

It wasn’t long before I was inside and wandering around the museum. Photography is not allowed inside the museum but I took plenty of photos outside and bought 2 booklets and a poster to take away with me, as well as a little stuffed catbus! Sadly I couldn’t play on/in the life-size cat bus as it’s for little children only. It did look amazing though. My favourite part of the museum was a huge collection of sketches and watercolour illustrations of scenes and characters from a variety of Ghibli films. It was simply awe-inspiring. There were also areas set up like an animator’s desk with books and other things that may have inspired them. Up on the roof of the museum was a large robot from the film Laputa: Castle in the Sky which I was able to photograph but I didn’t get one of me with it. There were a lot of other people up there with me anyway, so I was content to admire it from afar.

Every visitor is given a ticket for the on-site mini cinema – the animation was about some school children that build a boat and meet a friendly chuckling whale. Of course it was in Japanese but I got the gist of it. The cinema ticket itself has a little film slide – mine is from Nausicaä Valley of the Wind, but I didn’t work that out until much later! In the café garden area I sat in the sunshine and ate green tea ice cream which was lovely. It was actually the first of many green tea flavoured things I sampled during the trip. The Japanese sure love their green tea flavoured things and I did too.

After another brief wander around, I left the museum in search of Totoro. I found him and snapped some photos of him alone. I was going to leave without a photo with him until a friendly, I think American, woman with bright pink hair asked me to take her photo. So of course she took mine as well. She seemed to be on her own too and IÂ think we both recognised that about each other, as well as clearly not being locals as a lot of other visitors toÂ the museum seemed to be. Well, Japanese at least.

I had a little wander around in the trees surrounding the museum and then headed back to the station. The stroll was along a pretty tree-lined road with interesting little side streets. I took my time and took plenty of photos.

They all ride penny farthings in Japan, did you know?

It was very quiet compared to the centre of Tokyo, as you can see here!

I also saw some really bright pink cherry blossom unlike any Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d seen so far.

I hopped back on the JR line, this time knowing what ticket to buy and where to go! I headed back to Asakusa and took a leisurely stroll through the Sensō-ji Temple area again before heading to my hotel.

Interesting hippo in a kiddies play park – encouraging kids to go inside open mouths of large animals, why not?

I discovered some new things I hadn’t seen on previous days including a pagoda (on the right) that reminded me of the Peace Pagoda back home in Willen, Milton Keynes!

After dropping of my Ghibli purchases and a short rest, I headed back out for a spot of souvenir shopping. I also came across the Asakusa Starbucks and thought I ought to test their free wifi – and have a coffee. Both were good. After some more wandering, I found myself having a cheap and cheerful meal – literally cost about £6 and I was well and truly stuffed. Back at the hotel I packed away my things ready to leave Tokyo behind me on the next day. These (above) were my souvenir purchases from Asakusa and my Studio Ghibli Museum goodies. I was quite pleased with my own little stuffed catbus as well!

Double-decker ‘bullet train’!

DAY FIVE: KANAZAWA On Day 5 I left Tokyo behind and travelled to Kanazawa. But before leaving, I had to stuff everything back into my suitcase and check out. My suitcase seemed a lot more full although I didn’t think I’d purchased that many more things – certainly nothing large. Nevertheless it was a struggle but I got there in the end. So I checked out of my hotel and wandered on down to the Asakusa subway station, safe in the knowledge that I’d left more than an hour spare to get to Ueno. This gave me time to work out where I needed to go to get the shinkansen (bullet train) and grab some breakfast. I got to Ueno before 9am and my reserved train ticket was for 10.22am, so plenty of time! I took this opportunity to activate my Japan Rail Pass that I’d be using for the second week of my trip. You can only exchange it at big train stations and Kanazawa was to be the last point to do this – although I didn’t need to use the Japan Rail Pass until Matsumoto. After the ticket exchange and receiving my actual JRP I looked for breakfast and found it in another Starbucks. I found the platform for my shinkansen, after buying a few things for lunch in a small train station supermarket – triangle of rice wrapped in nori (onigiri), a pot of citrus fruit and some kind of cake/pastry. Japanese train stations are so organised that you know where to stand for each carriage. I was in ‘car’ 4 which was easy enough to find, when the train arrived it was a double-decker bullet train! I was on the top floor, window seat. And a window seat meant that I took a lot of blurry out-of-the-window photography. It was also my first experience of Japanese train travel other than the train from the airport, so I think it was understandable that I was excited by the scenes outside. As we got closer to Echigo-Yuzawa, where I was to change trains, mountains became more visible on the horizon.

The first part of the journey was only just over an hour and I got off at Echigo-Yuzawa where I then changed to a standard train. Echigo-Yuzawa is in the mountains and there was quite a bit of snow around! Of course, I took some more blurry photos out of the window. The journey to Kanazawa was longer – 2hrs 40mins – and on a single-story train. But this train was less busy and with far prettier views outside. Pine trees, snow-capped hills and mountains and a wide assortment of houses, buildings and roads dotted in between.

My lunch. The cake was actually stuffed full of sweet

red bean paste – something the Japanese use in a lot of

sweets and cakes, it ends up tasting similar to chocolate.

We even went along the north western coast of Japan for a little while â&#x20AC;&#x201C; so I saw the sea! And I love the sea, so this was very exciting. I crossed the train and sat on the opposite side of the carriage to take these photos. The train was pretty empty anyway.

When I arrived in Kanazawa I went straight to the tourist information place in the station and picked up some maps and leaflets. I took a bus from outside the station to my hotel â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a big 11 floor hotel!

After checking in and unpacking some of my things in my room, I went out to wander the temple district across the river. I photographed the pedestrian crossing light purely because the guy is wearing a hat, much like some crossings and signs in Europe – but not Britain, as far as I’m aware. I appreciated the little dude anyway.

In Kanazawa there are many small temples tucked away in side streets and next to normal homes and restaurants. I have no doubt that there was a great deal that I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see, too.

I grew to love these sort of demon statue creatures in my time in Japan. TheyÂ are called onigawara and are comparable to our gargoyles on cathedrals in the UK (well, and other countries). I love gargoyles, so that probably explains why I loved these too.

I saw so many crows in Japan.

I saw the so-called ninja temple (below) although it just looked like any other temple outside. I think itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the insides that are special! Of course, it was late in the afternoon by the time I got there so it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t open anymore.

A kitsune (fox) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; one of the few non-conversational

words I know in Japanese.

Blossom is pretty but it sure

makes a mess of the ground!

Leaving the temples, I walked along the river, across a bridge and back along the other side.

Spotted a little Totoro hiding here.

For dinner I picked a random restaurant, near-ish to my hotel. Most looked a bit tacky and/or dodgy – at least to my graphic designer’s eyes! But the one I chose was fine although I was really starting to realise that not understanding Japanese when you’re on your own is unfortunate. And not being able to speak much more than ‘hello’, ‘excuse me’ and ‘thank you’ is kind of shameful. However, I got by just fine with pointing, nodding and smiling. Picture-based menus are great too… although not so much when you don’t eat meat and it is difficult to actually work out what’s in the picture. I ended up with a noodle and vegetable based soup again but it was really tasty and had some exotic mushrooms in it too. Oh, and they left an origami crane for me in my hotel room. Sweet.

DAY SIX: KANAZAWA Kanazawa is not a big town, compared to Tokyo, so it was fairly easy for me to see everything I wanted to see in one day – and on foot. Especially bearing in mind that I’d been to wander through one of the temple districts and along the river already on the afternoon of my arrival in Kanazawa. I started my morning, after having breakfast in the café underneath my hotel, by walking to the Oyama Jinja shrine. This is not something I’d heard of before looking at the map but we passed it on the bus from the train station so I had seen what it looked like and was keen to check it out up close. It’s an odd shrine in that it takes inspiration from European architecture as well as Japanese using stained glass.

I never turn down the opportunity to photograph a nice-looking tree.

I walked through the grounds of the shrine, enjoying the garden and particularly the pond that had stepping stones across it.

Leaving Oyama Jinja shrine the opposite way to where I entered, I headed across the road to Kanazawa castle park. Suddenly it dawned on me that perhaps there wasn’t a whole castle anymore, like Edo castle in Tokyo…

I was right, there isn’t a complete castle but there are quite a few turrets, storehouses, gates and other bits still there. They are also currently re-building and renovating parts of the grounds. It was very quiet whilst I was wandering around, I guess it was before 10am and, anyway, I wasn’t going to complain. There were lots of still-in-bloom-unlike-Tokyo cherry blossom trees around too which, teamed with the black and white of the castle buildings, made for a picturesque setting.

They really like their trees in Japan. So much so that they prop them up with sticks if they need it!

I spent an hour or two in the castle grounds then headed over the bridge to the Kenrokuen garden. This was a beautiful garden and well worth the entrance fee. There were ponds, streams, bridges, lanterns, shrines, statues, pine trees, cherry blossom trees, steps up and steps down, winding pathways and just generally all-around stunning scenery.

Lots of stone lanterns and even

more old trees held up by sticks.

I also had my second green tea ice cream â&#x20AC;&#x201C; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s really tasty stuff, although this one was more like a Mr Whippy-type ice cream.

Somehow I’d managed to do the two main things in Kanazawa, and not without pausing a hundred times to take photos, in just one morning. I still had the rest of the afternoon to do things. The 21st Century Museum of Art was next to the gardens so I popped in there but found the layout weird and confusing so I left without really looking at any art. What I did see was very ‘modern’ anyway, the only art I’m really interested in in Japan is ukiyo-e! Walking across town towards the Nagamachi samurai district, I stopped for lunch in a small café-restaurant. And I didn’t have a soup-based dinner! Well, it came with miso soup but I had ‘fried’ prawns (not quite tempura but coated somehow?) with rice, salad and what I think was pickled ginger or something like that. It was all very tasty and I am pleased I can use chopsticks correctly and functionally! They had an interesting looking macha (green tea) cake on the dessert menu but I was stuffed. I planned to look out for it elsewhere.

I liked this little bike-riding man. Plus diggers painted to look like giraffes!

The Nagamachi samurai district is an assortment of old samurai homes amongst the modern day houses and businesses. Most are fairly well intact which is what makes it worth a look around. So I wandered the streets, trying to avoid getting run over by Japanese cars as paths and roads are narrow – why are all the cars in Japan square by the way?

After I’d finished in the samurai district, it was still only about 2.30pm so I figured I ought to go check out the large market area, Omicho. It was a little bit of a walk from Nagamachi but I had the time! When I got there I basically just wandered through the middle taking in the sights, sounds and smells – mostly fish. I didn’t stop to buy anything but it was good to see anyway. Still too early to go back to the hotel and call it day yet not much else left I wanted to do, I went back to Kanazawa castle park and just sat and read my book for a while. It was warm and although my BBC weather app insisted the day was a cloudy one it was quite sunny just with an overall haziness keeping the sky from being bright blue. Here I also spotted some unknown birds of prey that circled over the castle. I tried taking some photos but I’m not sure even my super zoom caught them particularly well. When I did decide to leave and head back to my hotel, I popped into a 7-11 first to buy some snacks and something for my evening meal. I didn’t want anything big as lunch was my main meal so just got a little nori/rice/fish ball and some Pocky for my travels. I also managed to find an elusive green tea KitKat, which I had been looking out for since I got to Japan. It was delicious, as were the edamame crisps I picked up – they simply sounded intriguing. I planned to use Japan’s luggage forwarding system for the first time the next morning – a popular and common process in Japan and not too expensive really. I would be sending my suitcase on to Takayama, whilst I took only my rucksack to Shirakawago for just one night. I would then travel on to Takayama, bulky-luggage-free, to be re-united with my suitcase on arrival at my hotel. I asked at my Kanazawa hotel reception and I thought we had worked out all the details. Unfortunately the person I spoke to didn’t speak the best of English and I was unable to write the Japanese address on the form myself. I didn’t want it to mistakenly end up elsewhere! So, we got the form filled out and I just needed to drop off my suitcase the next morning when I checked out…

DAY SEVEN: SHIRAKAWAGO I got up and packed away my things, this time loading more into my rucksack as I was to be travelling to Shirakawago without my suitcase. So travelling light, or as light as one full-packed rucksack can be, I checked out of my hotel and had some breakfast before leaving. I took a little wander down to the river again as I still had plenty of time to get to the train/bus station, then got a bus about 10am. My bus to Shirakawago didn’t leave til 10.50am so I just pottered around the station a bit then found my bus stop. Conveniently there was a Starbucks next to the stop so I could steal their wifi for a little bit. My reserved seat was right at the front of the bus which was nice.

Road systems don’t really seem too different to the UK – they drive on the same side as us as well! A lot of the journey was inside tunnels through the mountains but what bits were out in the open were very pretty. The bus stop for Shirakawago was not in the centre of the village but equally it’s not a very large village so it was a short walk over a bridge and into the centre. The bus stopped next to the tourist information place which was helpful and I picked up a map there. I circled where the bus stop was – I would be needing it the next day for Takayama – and where my hotel was located. In my info pack, provided by Inside Japan Tours, it suggested I get a taxi but I was in no hurry.

These buildings, with their

tall sloping roofs, are called

‘gasshō-zukuri’ and they are what Shirakawago is most famous for.

I wandered across the bridge and past the many traditional buildings and streets heading for the viewpoint high above the village, stopping to photograph the quaint little homes and shops on the way. On the right, is a whole family of tanuki – these Japanese ‘racoon dog’ creatures (depicted with big bellies, giant scrotums, a straw hat and a sake

flask) creeped me out. Rightly so. There were a lot of them in Shirakawago, for some reason.

I somehow befriended a Japanese guy when he asked me to take his photo, then in turn took mine. He said he was studying car mechanics, I think, and just happened to be on a day out. He’d been to Australia to study English but really wanted to go to England. When I said I was from England he said “oh! Doctor Who!” I let him add me on Facebook because he seemed genuinely friendly and it may be helpful to know someone in Japan in the future!

Yes, that is a random big mound of snow there! It was not cold at all.

Strange looking dog. More like an ugly teddy bear. Plus a lizard of some sort!

Next, I followed the signs for the viewpoint and then realised that it was going to be a very steep but hopefully short trek up the cliff side. Ordinarily this probably would have been fine – I’m not that unfit – but I did have a heavy over-night rucksack on my back. But I went slow and did make it to the top, of course a little short of breath.

It was well worth the climb because the view of the whole village, river and surrounding mountains was stunning. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a shame the sky was a bit hazy and the mountains werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t as clear as they could have been but still beautiful.

Admiring the view whilst

eating another of my mini green tea KitKats.

I spent a while at the top, enjoying the fresh air and scenery before heading back down. ThereÂ was actually an easier way to get down than the treacherous way I had come up. A longer, flatter and less steep pathway was the route I took down, with lots of nice pine trees about.

I took this photograph purely for the addition of a satellite dish.

Vending machines really are everywhere in Japan, even remote villages like Shirakawago. This one isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even a drinks vending

machine, it was for cigerettes (boo!). I liked the post box too though.

So much My Neighbour Totoro! And more evil tanuki.

The first, but not the last, alcohol I consumed in Japan.

Bought by accident… I totally didn’t notice the ‘3%’ part. Quite pleased with this bird shot too!

I spent the rest of my time just generally wandering around and found my minshuku – a traditional Japanese style inn – at about 3.30/4pm. I was a bit confused as to where to go when I entered the building, although I did at least know to take my shoes off at the door and put slippers on my feet instead when inside. In the end I had to ask another guest who I found in the communal bathroom/sink area.

There wasn’t any kind of reception as such, just an entrance hall and then corridor with several sliding doors offering no clues as to where they went. Of course I couldn’t just open them to find out, that would be rude if there was someone in there. When I did get shown to my room and told the times for dinner and breakfast plus pointed to notable locations on the village map – most of which I’d already seen – I was able to relax a little. The room was fairly large with a tatami mat flooring – no shoes allowed. The sliding doors were not made of paper, thankfully, but wood and glass. Everything still looks very authentic, including a nice crane and tree illustration on some doors on the far side of the room. A teapot, tea bowl, tea bag and some kind of wafer biscuit had been left for me so I enjoyed these whilst deciding what to do next. Reading through the information given to me – the English was amusingly worded – I discovered that this minshuku did in fact have wifi. The modern world! I think it helped me to have the Internet available to me this far into the trip, not only to share photos on Instagram and posts a few things to Twitter, but to not feel quite so alone. I’d met a few nice folk and generally people are friendly but it’s no secret that I am rather shy. I very much enjoyed the travelling and exploring on my own but really it would have been quite nice to have someone with me, someone I already know. Next time, eh?

Here are some real â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;tanukiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, among other weird and wonderful things, in the minshuku entrance hall.

I went out for another short wander, spotting some mandarin ducks paddling in the stream down below aÂ high bridge and taking a few more photos.

Dinner was served at 5.30pm and I had my own place in the ‘dining room’ assigned to me. I think it was mostly because I wasn’t going to be having Hida beef – a specialty in the area but not for my pescetarian palette. I stupidly didn’t take my phone or camera in with me – I’d have had my phone in my pocket had I not left it charging in my room. So no photos of the dinner but there were lots of little dishes including tofu, tempura vegetables, pickles, Japanese purple rice (the most delicious of rice!), miso soup, aubergine, orange slices and a small whole fish of some sort, head and all. I ate everything. Well, not the fish’s head or tail but I ate the flesh… even when it was staring at me. I’ve eaten fish for over two years now, since being a strict vegetarian for more than ten years prior to that, but I still find it a little weird. I could happily settle for being a vegetarian again, but not in Japan. In Japan it would be difficult. Although! All Buddhist monks are vegetarian. During the meal I spoke to three friendly Malaysian people. Two of them had lived in England in the past, in both London and Manchester. And they spoke fluent English too, which I guess surprised me after not experiencing that from most Japanese people. It was nice not to just sit in silence and eat, as I was on my own. I have found eating to be the hardest thing to do alone on this trip. I mean, it’s fine to do but you feel uncomfortable about it and end up just wanting to quickly eat and leave. It’s a shame because the food I’ve had has been great! I was well and truly stuffed after the meal. Did I mention I’d had some sake and almost a full (larger than a pint?) bottle of Asahi beer? So, I didn’t do much after the meal. When I returned to my room, I found my bed had been laid out for me in the middle of the room. I was originally concerned I might be cold in the room, with the thin walls, but the bed had lots of blankets.

These are sarubobo â&#x20AC;&#x201C; traditional red human-shaped dolls, with no facial

features, made by grandmothers for their grandchildren.

DAY EIGHT: TAKAYAMA I slept fine in my cosy blanketed floor futon and woke to the sound of rain at 6am. It sounded like it was raining a lot but I think it was just emphasised by the pond and stream outside, just a few metres away. I had my full Japanese breakfast at 7.30am. I ate most of it but I am definitely generally more of a toast and/or cereal for breakfast person! I mean, as a non-meat eater, I wouldn’t eat a full English anyway and not a huge fan of the veggie variations either. So anyway, it was nice to have and nice to try but give me a buttery slice of toast and large black coffee any day and I’ll be content. There was coffee… instant. But better than none I suppose. I did however remember to take my phone with me, so there is photographic evidence of this breakfast and the ‘dining’ room.

I left the minshuku probably earlier than I needed to but there wasn’t much to do whilst hanging around so I wandered back through the village, admiring the surrounding mountains shrouded in mist. It wasn’t actually raining and, although cooler, it definitely wasn’t cold or unpleasant. It was very quiet in the village and most shops weren’t open yet. I went back to the information centre, also where my bus would depart from, and bought a coffee – from a proper coffee machine at a food kiosk so not quite instant. I also bought two things in a souvenir shop. I think I must have been the first customer of the day as the nice shopkeeper lady gave me two bonus foodie things – an apple pie and a chocolate pie biscuity things. I bought a little model of a gasshō house and a mini sarubobo, the town mascot (similar to the one below). It was a keyring but with one of those sticky things for attaching it to a window – my car window perhaps. I didn’t have a reserved seat on the bus to Takayama but did manage to get a window seat, although most of the journey was through mountain tunnels again anyway!

The bus arrived in Takayama just before midday. I picked up a map from the information place next to the bus station and tried to work out what to do/where to go. In the end I just walked off down the main road away from the station. I started with some aimless wandering, photographing the streets and a few amusing things that caught my eye â&#x20AC;&#x201C; like these Hello Kitty business woman advertisements.

Although I saw my first red sarubobo dolls in Shirakawago, they are most famous for coming from Takayama. ThereÂ was certainly no shortage of them here at this shrine.

I found the Hida Kokubunji temple. The oldest temple in Takayama, with a three-storied pagoda alongside a very old tree.

From there, I walked down the main street lined with lots of shops and restaurants, over the river, looking for nothing in particular. Just enjoying taking in the new sights.

Another example of my super zoomy camera here.

I am not actually sure what this building is… But it had the Tokugawa shogunate family crest adorned on the gate.

After that I made the vague decision to head in the direction of Shiroyama Park, but stopped off at a lot of places along the way. I had my most expensive meal so far for lunch – just over ¥2,000 although that did include a beer. And anyway that’s not expensive, I’d just been eating cheaply up to that point. Also, it wasn’t even a Japanese meal I had! I had a salad with scallops and bread. I don’t think I’ve ever had scallops before – maybe tried one but not had in a meal – and I thought they were delicious. The food was well presented, although I forgot to take photos until I’d already started eating. As it wasn’t a Japanese meal, I used a knife and fork which was strange after getting used to chopsticks! On the right is the restaurant from the outside.

After my lunch, again heading for the park, I found the famous red bridge â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Nakabashi.

Eventually, I wandered up hill through some backstreets hoping I was going in the right direction of the park. If not, at least it was a good view of the town. You may notice that orange building is next to the red bridge in a previous photo. In fact, if you look closely, you can see the bridge in this photo. Thankfully it was the park that was at the top of the hill. Although, when I say park, it was more like a woods with some cleared areas. I snapped some photos of the view down to central Takayama and the Japan Alps all around, then stumbled across Shorenji Temple. I thought it looked very rundown compared to other temples I’d seen on my trip. But perhaps that is due to the fact that they had to move the temple all the way from Shirakawago in 1960!

A different crest – not the Tokugawa shogunate.

This little squirrel was adorning a map of the park. Cute.

There was a rather leafy and unkept shrine but that made it no less interesting.

Around the corner from the temple was a children’s play park with a large statue of a man (Kanamori Nagachika) upon a horse in the centre. There were also more good views from here, although mostly through trees.

I didn’t have time to wander around the whole of the park – I imagine it is rather large – so I took a different route back down. The route ended up being more off-road than the way up, but I knew I was heading in generally the right direction even without signs. At the bottom I found another temple and bell tower.

Check out all the bridges, here including the

Nakabashi red bridge!

I then worked my way toward the station and where I assumed my hotel was. I didn’t even make it back the station before I realised I had ended up in exactly the right place – completely by walking random backstreets. The hotel looked impressive from the outside with it’s own temple-style gate with lanterns and landscaped garden bits up to the entrance. Inside, I checked in and found that my suitcase had been safely delivered to the correct place, hurrah!

The hotel was a modern Japanese-style with 13 floors including a hot spring/bathing floor and a free noodle bar. But I guess the thing that made it most Japanese is that, aside from the entrance hall, the whole building had tatami mat flooring. This meant that you took your shoes off downstairs and put them in a locker, then walked around in socks. My room was on the 11th floor with a great view of the town and surrounding mountains.

The hotel didn’t have any wifi available (this actually ended up being the only place where I didn’t have wifi access in my whole trip!) but there was a free computer to use for Internet access on the 2nd floor. I used this briefly just to let the world (particularly mum and dad) know I was alive and well. Plus, to check the weather. Incidentally, I had managed to get quite a rosy sunburnt face despite it being cloudy for two days prior! I had dinner arranged for me in the hotel restaurant at 8pm. Had I not forgotten dinner was included, I might not have had the lunch I did! But by 8pm I was certainly hungry anyway. Good thing too because it turned out that dinner was a buffet which worked out quite nicely. I had vegetables with some salad, a piece of marinated salmon, tofu, tempura prawns/veggies. They also brought me a tasty miso/egg soup with clear noodles and, strangely, a small portion of spaghetti with a sauce similar to pesto although it tasted slightly different. It was weird trying to eat spaghetti with chopsticks – I just treated it like noodles. I particularly liked the mini cheesecake-style thing for dessert. Yummy!

It looked like a nice day out of my 11th floor window!

DAY NINE: TAKAYAMA I got up at 7am and headed down for breakfast when I was ready. I had a mixture of Japanese and Western-style foods for my breakfast, making the most of the coffee and bread. Something that I’d had for my minshuku breakfast was on offer here as well – mushrooms combined with beans and something that gave it a nutty flavour, delicious. My plan for the day was to visit the Hida Folk Village and the Forest of the Seven Lucky Gods, both a bus journey away. I knew this wouldn’t take the whole day, but didn’t have any other plans set in stone

anyway. I got a bus from the station, after using their free wifi for a little bit, and got off at the Folk Village. Being before 10am, it was very quiet which was nice. It meant being able to take photos without random people getting in the way! Some things look better without people.

I wandered around the ‘village’ for an hour or so, looking at and inside the gasshō buildings and admiring the super tall trees.

Shoes off inside, of course.

I found the sign here quite amusingâ&#x20AC;Ś

I found a wood carver at work and spent some time watching him, fascinated by the work he could produce. I also spotted some sort of natural sculptures formed by twisted remains of trees which were equally fascinating – although I’m sure most people didn’t stop to photograph them as I did.

Too pretty a setting to not photograph myself in it.

This is a nice example of a traditional circular rice field.

The folk village was nice and definitely a must for any visit to Takayama but what was really amazing was the place next door. Had I not read about it beforehand, I wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have even known it was there.

The Forest of the Seven Lucky Gods is a collection of seven huge carvings from different ancient trees. The man who took my money upon entering was very friendly, showing me the first carving and telling me that it was okay to touch and photograph them.

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They were massive and truly magnificent. I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t begin to get my head around how someone would go about starting a carving that large. Hotei, the God of Happiness, was my favourite and I took a sneaky selfie with him.

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They were really difficult to photograph, especially for an amateur like me. Because of the houses they were each standing in, the gods were left in the shadows when trying to capture them from a distance. But then it was difficult to photograph them any closer due to the immense size of them! Really they were just amazing to see with my own eyes regardless of whether my photographs do them justice or not â&#x20AC;&#x201C; so just take my word for it, they are awesome.

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After I left the giant gods behind, I had a 40 minute wait for the next bus back to Takayama station so I popped in the café/gift shop opposite the folk village and had a coffee. I was also feeling pretty chilly as although the sun was shining there was a bitter wind and I wasn’t really dressed accordingly. Something I’d begun to notice in Japan is that shopkeepers are more than happy to give you things for free. Maybe because I’m a tourist or a lonesome traveller? I got some kind of popcorn-like wafers with my coffee – no extra charge – which was lovely. Back in Takayama, I popped back to my hotel briefly to stick on another layer then went for a stroll through the town. I couldn’t resist taking this mirror photograph in the hotel lift – something about being on holiday alone, made me take more photographs of myself than usual, haha. You’ll also notice that even the lift had tatami mat flooring.

Just a baby-thing riding a carp.

A kite… of the bird variety.

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This is of one of the famous Takayama festival floats. I wasn’t in Takayama at the right time for one of the festivals – I’d missed one in March and the next would be inJuly.

A bridge like Nakabashi, but green!

I looked in shop windows and took some photos on my way, including some new views of the river and an impressive wooden shinto gate.

Bridges of all kinds can be found in Takayama.

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Many torii gates.

I ended up at the Festival Float museum but didn’t actually go in. I did wander around the shrine next to it though and bought two small things in one of the gift shops – a set of beautiful illustrated/printed Takayama postcards and a little carved wooden dragon head charm. I wanted to buy something carved, after being impressed by the skill of the wood carvers earlier in the day, but couldn’t get anything too big. Again, the shopkeeper was ever so friendly and for some reason knocked some money off! Japanese people are lovely.

By that point I knew shops and museums etc. would be closing for the day so I wound my way back to my hotel, down some different streets. I’d requested an 8pm dinner slot again so I had plenty of time to relax and refresh myself for the journey onwards to Matsumoto the next day.

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This is where we stopped briefly mid-journey.

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DAY TEN: MATSUMOTO I got up at 6.30am with the intention of getting the earliest bus to Matsumoto (7.50am) – I only had one day there and wanted to get to the Ukiyo-e Museum as well as general wandering around (castle!). I packed up my things ready to leave immediately after breakfast. I ended up being the typical Brit on holiday and eating entirely western food for my breakfast, unless you count the strange sweet and slightly curdled yogurt they had on offer. So, I quickly ate my breakfast and shot back upstairs – easier said than done at 7.30am in the morning

and when your room is on the 11th floor. I grabbed my suitcase, rucksack and jacket and went back downstairs, squeezing into the lift full of people – I was not going to attempt to walk down 11 flights of stairs with my suitcase! I retrieved my shoes from their shoe locker, handed over my room key and was off to the station. Luckily it was only a few minutes from my hotel. With a few minutes to spare, I quickly checked Internet things using their free wifi then got onto my bus (suitcase stowed away in the luggage bit underneath – my first and only time on a bus with my suitcase). I was sat down for only a few minutes before it pulled away. The journey would be just over two hours long so I made myself comfortable, got my camera ready for the stunning mountain scenery and put on The Menzingers on my iPod – the soundtrack to the whole trip (and, not forgetting where the title to this book comes from). We stopped briefly halfway into the journey and I took the opportunity to hop off the bus and photograph the snow and mountains surrounding the car park. Back on the bus, we wound our way through the mountains and along a sparkling turquoise river with a number of industrial-sized dams along it. At certain points, the road was far above the river and the drop looked a little scary. But generally the stunning scenery made up for the slight fear. I didn’t have my camera at the ready, but I spotted some kind of mountain dwelling Japanese primate at one point!

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We arrived in Matsumoto just before 10.30am and I went straight into the train station building in search of the tourist information place. I ended up with many more maps and leaflets than I needed for my one day in Matsumoto, but it’s somewhere I’d definitely like to visit again. I also asked the lady behind the counter what the best way of getting to the Ukiyo-e Museum was. She gave me a more detailed map – the museum is not in the central touristy area of the town – and a bus timetable. Although in the end I decided it was cheaper and quicker to get a train there. I had my suitcase with me from Takayama so I located my hotel and dropped off my suitcase to collect when I checked in later.

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I have no doubt that the people of Japan found it very strange

that I – and no doubt other foreign tourists – took photographs of manhole covers. But they are really pretty! Matsumoto had some of the best.

I then went back to the station. I first bought some lunch then bought my train ticket – from a machine, unaided! – and got the next train to Oniwa station. Getting to the right train station was fine but then finding the actual museum was the difficult bit. Oniwa seemed to be quite a deserted place, if I had needed to ask someone it may have been difficult.

I sampled some of these chocolate mushrooms on the train. Delicious.

However, my map reading skills were a success and I even managed to read the Japanese on a sign and match it to the Japanese for the name of the museum on my map. So I knew I was in the right place in the end!

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The Ukiyo-e Museum itself is supposedly one of the best collections in Japan, maybe the world. It wasn’t a huge museum but there was a lot packed into it and it sure was worth the trouble of finding. I didn’t think it was appropriate to take photos inside, although I did sneak a couple but not of specific artworks. I bought a museum catalogue instead. Ukiyo-e (a kind of woodblock printing) is not only my favourite Japanese style of art, it is one of my

favourite art forms overall. Hiroshige is one of my very favourite artists – I referenced him on my personal statement when applying for university, rather than an actual graphic designer! The museum had a selection of prints for sale, which I would love to own but, alas, they would not make it home in one piece. Upstairs in the museum there was a video showing how the carving of the wood block and printing of various layers is carried out. It was in Japanese but still fascinating to watch, especially to appreciate how much time and effort goes in to the process.

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Cute barber shop character!

Deciding that I was finished at the museum, I headed back to the station slightly less lost than on the way there. I had to wait a little while for the train (it was just one track, so the train went one way and then came back again) but that gave me time to eat my lunch at least – a brown rice ball wrapped in nori with fish inside… tuna, maybe? Once again, very tasty. The train had a manga-style character painted on it… for some reason. The Japanese don’t need a reason really. When I got back to Central Matsumoto it was time to check into my hotel so I did that before heading back out, bag unloaded of a few things, to the famous black crow castle.

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On the way to the castle I found a very peculiar large statue of two frogs in samurai attire attacking a toad, so of course I photographed them. There were quite a few other frogs around. I probably should have looked into their significance! This was also the location of a shrine. I didn’t stay at the shrine/temple for too long, as by this point in my trip, I’m a little ashamed to say, all the shrine and temples were beginning to look very similar to me. It was about time for a castle!

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Feeding the fishes.

Arriving at Matsumoto Castle, I was both impressed by its beauty and surprised by how small it was. I guess compared to British-style castles it was small. I had no trouble taking decent photos as the moat surrounding it meant that no people could get in the way! Just the odd pigeon or two.

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I did a full lap of the castle moat, snapping plenty of photos as IÂ walked around, and explored one of the castle gates to one side.

I really love onigawara.

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I decided it was worth paying to go inside the castle, and the grounds, as it was unlikely I’d do that anywhere else – as it turned out, I ended up visiting a few more castles but Matsumoto was the best. It being already gone 3.30pm, I got a discount on the entrance price – more discounts from friendly Japanese people! Inside the castle itself you have to take your shoes off and carry them with you in a plastic bag. There is a specific route set out inside the castle that takes you up through each floor, until you get to the top, then it goes back down another way and finishes in the moon viewing room. On certain floors there were things to look at – samurai armour, swords, guns, architectural drawings, etc. – and information about what each floor was used for. There were also a variety of differently-shaped windows, shaped according to their purpose – for example, narrow windows for shooting arrows out of – and I took some photos of and out of these. I found it crazy how most fellow visitors to the castle, Japanese and foreign tourists alike, just stormed straight to the top and didn’t read any of the information or really look at anything on the way. I took my time. Well, everyone took their time of the stairs because they were really, really steep.

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The stairs were indeed steep!

The view from the top was just as impressive as the building itself.

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In the ground surrounding the castle there was a mini exhibition showing the 48 castles around Japan. Oh, how I would love to see them all one day! When I was satisfied that I’d seen enough of the castle, and taken enough photographs, I wandered off in search of nothing in particular. I must have happened to wander in a good direction as I found a lovely little fox (kitsune) shrine next to a normal-looking temple that was closed off for the evening. The shrine, however, was not gated off and I could go right up to the foxes – a pair of stone foxes and two large… actually I’m not sure what they were made out of, maybe wood but not stone… painted foxes.

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When I left the shrine, I didn’t do much else. I headed back to the station and on to my hotel from there, popping into a 7-11 on the way to buy something for dinner. I also picked up another green tea KitKat but after eating a whole box of chocolate mushrooms that day, I decided the KitKat would be for another day. As everything closed by 5pm and I didn’t have much else in mind to do, I went back to my hotel to rest my feet. The next day would involve a three hour walk from one village to the next, so a relaxing evening would do me good! I ate my dinner of noodles and salad, went to organise my luggage forwarding for the next day – nicest hotel staff member so far and spoke fluent English – and then had a quick bath to relax.

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Oh so damp and grey, but the low misty clouds were quite alluring.

On a Japanese bus, you get on at

the rear doors (if it has rear doors) and then pay the driver when alighting the bus at the front.

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DAY ELEVEN: MAGOME & TSUMAGO I needn’t have got up quite as early as I did – 7am-ish. I packed up my things, including loading my rucksack with a few extra things as I’d be forwarding my suitcase ahead without me to Kyoto. I had my breakfast at the hotel – a basic breakfast of toast with butter and jam, fried eggs (and it should have had sausage but I asked for it without) plus yogurt. I consumed plenty of coffee and some melon from the salad bar too. But actual salad is not something I wanted to eat much of at 8am. I checked out soon after and left my suitcase with the hotel staff, as I was to be doing a three hour walk from Magome to Tsumago and a suitcase really wouldn’t be helpful! Having successfully had my suitcase delivered for me to Takayama previously, I was less worried about it getting lost. I headed over to the station, very aware that it was probably about to rain. In fact the weather forecast had said heavy rain for Nagano – just how far away that is from where I’d be, I didn’t know. I booked myself a seat on the 9.52 to Nagoya using my Japan Rail pass for the first time and waited for the train. The train only took just over an hour and I got off at Nakatsugawa where I hopped straight onto a bus to Magome. The train journey was through rain and mist – both of which actually made for nice views, especially when safely inside. It didn’t seem to be raining when I got off the train and swapped to the bus.

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However, when I got to Magome and wandered up the hill to the tourist information place, to pick up a map, it had started to rain quite a lot. It wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t walking in the rain that I was worried about, it was more that my camera would be damaged if I tried to take too many photos! After getting my map of the walking route from Magome to Tsumago, I looked for somewhere to buy an umbrella as I needed it to at least shelter my camera, if not my own head.

Nobody mentioned bears!!

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Magome seemed fairly busy with tourists, particularly those from tour groups, but when I left the centre of the village and began my walk to Tsumago, it seemed I was doing it alone. The walk was about 8km long, which I only realised afterwards is 5 miles â&#x20AC;&#x201C; I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t work in kilometres! And it followed part of the Nakasendo Way, the old samurai road that went from Kyoto to Edo (Tokyo).

Well-worded sign here! Slight translation error I suppose.

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I was previously informed that it would be with some ‘gentle inclines’, but I struggled for the first bit with my heavy bag on my back. It didn’t help that the rain was making me irritable either. But after the two kilometres or so the roads got less steep and tended to go down more often than up. Some parts were a bit slippery which wasn’t great but the scenery was quite pretty despite the rain – with plenty of trees.

There were several bells along the route that you were to ring a few times to ward off any nearby bears! It was only later at my minshuku when the lady who runs it, a grandmother, said she had never seen a bear that I realised I needn’t have bothered. Still, it was a little nerve-racking knowing you’re out walking on your own for three hours and there could be bears around!

I tried to befriend this cat but it wasn’t interested.

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Ice certainly wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t an issue, just slippery damp leaves on the uneven ground.

I never did find out why these trees had tape wrapped around themâ&#x20AC;Ś

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I enjoyed the many trees en route and

mini waterfalls that ran with the stream.

Note how my hair was well and truly not straight and neat anymore!

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When I got closer to Tsumago there were some great views of mountain mist and some cherry blossom trees in the foreground. I saw very few people on my walk, most going the other way, but one (I think) Australian couple asked me if I knew where the Odaki-Medaki waterfalls were. I didn’t, and I wasn’t going looking for them myself. They caught up with me later when I was admiring the view and the man took

my photo with the trees and misty mountains backdrop (which didn’t come out particularly well!).

Crazy word spacing, or sentence

spacing even, going on on this sign.

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Sleepy looking doggy. I think I woke him or her up.

Random little

Australian koala.

It wasn’t too long before I found myself in Tsumago. After a little bit more wandering around, I attempted to find my minshuku. If it hadn’t have been for the photo that Inside Japan Tours provided in my info pack then I’d have stood no chance. The map wasn’t very helpful! I had to match the trees and lanterns to the exact building in the picture in order to find the right one. The minshuku seemed bigger than the one I stayed in in Shirakawago, it had two floors for one thing! But the rooms weren’t quite so traditional. Whilst they had tatami mat flooring, the door was an actual lockable door rather than a sliding screen and the walls were, well, walls. Nevertheless, it was great.

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This was my minshuku!

Dinner was served at 6pm and I met some more Australians, two different groups of them, and they were friendly. It was nice to speak in English anyway! Although our host was quite good with her English. She told the Australians that she had visited Australia herself several years ago. Dinner was similar to my previous Japanese meals but with the addition of grasshoppers. Now bearing in mind, they knew I didn’t eat meat and hadn’t given me any horse, I thought it would be rude not to at least try one. They must have assumed grasshoppers were an exception or something and to be fair, I only don’t eat ‘meat’ because I don’t like it. So after 13+ years of not eating anything but fish (and that being only the last two years), I ate two grasshoppers and, actually, they were alright. Whatever they were flavoured with made it okay. Other than grasshoppers there were soba noodles, tempura veggies, salmon sashimi (raw), a whole small rainbow trout (she wanted us to eat the head, but I didn’t), pickles, purple rice and mushrooms. I ate most of it, leaving just a few things because I was stuffed. I sat a little while telling two of my fellow travellers about my trip. They seemed interested in how I was travelling alone and so far from home. In fact, anyone that questioned how I was doing it alone seems impressed. I was impressing and surprising myself everyday. After dinner, I considered going outside but it looked very dark – no streetlights – and shortly after that it began to rain. Instead, I rested my weary legs and set my alarm for 6.30am!

Dinner.

…and dessert!

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I could see that it was a lovely

day before I even went outside.

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DAY TWELVE: KYOTO Waking up bright and early after a good night’s sleep – I couldn’t keep my eyes open past 10pm – I quickly got up, dressed and packed my things away. Breakfast was served at 7am which was convenient for me as I was to catch a bus at 7.44. I think the lady running the minshuku took this into account though, she was very accommodating. Breakfast was slightly different to my previous Japanese breakfasts which meant variety. Nothing too terrifying like the grasshoppers from the previous night’s dinner either. Again, only instant coffee but I knew I’d get a real one later in Kyoto. I really liked the beans, whatever they were.

I wished my fellow travellers well on the rest of their walking holiday and was on my way in time to catch the bus. Outside it was bright and didn’t feel too chilly. I snapped some photos on my stroll down to the bus stop – it was only a 5 minute walk. The bus arrived soon after I did so I got on prompty. It only took 7 minutes, which meant I was soon at Nagiso station.

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The train I was getting from Nagiso was a limited express train to Nagoya, at 8.08am. If I hadn’t got that train, and that bus before it, it would be been a much slower journey and I’d have had to change at Nakatsugawa. It was an unreserved train so I didn’t need a ticket, just my JR pass. Unfortunately, this meant no widow seat so no train photography. But I did enjoy reading my book for the hour journey instead. At Nagoya station I went to book myself a seat on the shinkansen to Kyoto. The next one was

all booked up so I got a seat on the 10.11 – I wasn’t in that much of a hurry anyway, and it was all-in-all quite a short journey. Sadly, again, just an aisle seat but my photography out of train windows wasn’t great anyway! When I arrived in Kyoto, I headed straight to the tourist information place inside the main station building and bought a two day subway/bus pass. I also picked up some maps and leaflets. Not knowing where to begin, I located a nearby Starbucks and decided where to go first – whilst drinking a coffee, of course. I settled on the vague plan: Nijo Castle, check in to hotel, Nanzen-ji Temple and Philosopher’s Walk. I worked out how to get to Nijo Castle on the subway and was soon on my way. Kyoto subway was not too dissimilar to the Tokyo subway. Although, the subway network in Kyoto is nowhere near as vast – it’s more common to take buses around Kyoto. Unfortunately, when I left the subway station at the other end, I spent some time walking towards to wrong castle gate and had to walk all the way around the whole castle area to get to the entrance.

Whoops!

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Not much was visible outside, and I wanted to walk on the famous nightingale floors anyway, so I paid to go inside the castle grounds. It’s called a castle but aside from the moats and outer walls, the insides are not very castle-like. There are two ‘palaces’ – Ninomaru (outer citadel) and Honmaru (castle keep). Ninomaru is the one with the nightingale floors – floors that squeak whenever anything touches them.

I still don’t ‘get’ this sign. Scribbling? Really?

There was some amazing detailing on the castle gate, as well as other places around the grounds. I was particularly excited to walk on the nightingale floor as one of my favourite books is called Across the Nightingale Floor – the floors in the book are obviously based on Nijo Castle. Photography wasn’t allowed inside Ninomaru Palace but I took some outside, including of the grand-looking gate and surrounding gardens.

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The other palace, Honmaru, wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t open but there was a good viewpoint to see the building (and the mountains!) from further away.

Honmaru Palace was located inside a second moat.

These trees were pretty interesting. Known as phoenix trees, these are offspring of those exposed to the atomic bomb of Hiroshima.

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Such pretty red leaves and it wasn’t even autumn.

I had a further wander through the gardens, then left to go find my hotel. It was relatively easy to find, once I’d got to the correct subway station and used the right exit as well. There was a convenience store next to my hotel so I bought some food and then went to check in – eating the late lunch in my room, once I’d got to it. I unloaded some things from my backpack and worked out a route to get to Nanzen-ji. By the time I got there it was gone 4pm and a lot of the temple buildings were closing for the day. I mostly just wanted to look at the outsides though anyway.

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The largest stone lantern in all of Japan (well, all of Japan that I saw).

The man you can see walking towards me in this photograph (top) said hello to me and offered to take my photo (bottom). Friendly people, yay.

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Very Western looking bridge-type construction.

Those darn tanuki get everywhere!

When I was done looking around Nanzen-ji itself, I started to walk the Philosopher’s path. At least, I think that’s what it was! It was uphill and through trees, with a little stream running alongside. If it was the Philosopher’s path then that means the stream was in fact a canal – at least that’s what the Japanese would call a canal.

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I began walking through the trees, off-road at one point, then decided to turn back in favour of not getting lost!

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I loved these little metal birds used

simply to make this mundane metal road block more interesting.

I headed back to Shijo (the station closest to my hotel) at about 6pm and found a restaurant for dinner on the way back to the hotel. It was, accidentally, my first experience of ordering and paying for my food using a machine by the entrance and then sitting and being served. I thought itÂ was a normal restaurant. Well,Â theÂ food turned out to be perfectly normal, very cheap actually but tasty. At least now I know for next time what to do, as well! At different points in the day I also sampled two new green tea flavoured snacks. Both yummy.

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Pretty illustrated map on the wall of the hotel reception.

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Tada, my tour guide, was taking my photo before weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d even entered the shrine!

DAY THIRTEEN: KYOTO On Day Thirteen I was to have a tour guide from 9am to 5pm, similar to what I did on my second day in Tokyo. I thought it would be good to have someone who knows Kyoto and can show me the interesting things away from the tourist spots, as well as the must-see places. To be honest I really had no idea where to begin. Nijo Castle was one of the only things I definitely wanted to see. Breakfast in my hotel was buffet style again and I had mostly an assortment of Japanese foods but also some yogurt and bread. Plus the coffee, always the coffee! I was ready in plenty of time for the arrival of my guide, Mr Tadashi ‘Tada’ Ichimaru so I went downstairs to the hotel reception area to wait for him. He was actually there already waiting for me so after a brief introduction we were on our way. It was a lovely day outside, not a cloud in the sky, so I was glad I’d decided to wear shorts – happy they hadn’t come all the way to Japan with me only to return home unworn, as well. Tada was both pleased and disappointed that I’d already been to Nijo Castle – pleased because he appreciated that I liked that part of Kyoto’s history but disappointed because he wanted to tell me all about it! However, there was plenty of time in the day for history lessons. We decided to go to the Fushimi Inari shrine first of all, to see the 5,000+ torii gates. It was somewhere I had heard about but hadn’t looked into where exactly it was – in fact, it wasn’t even on my map of central Kyoto! We took the subway to Kyoto Central Station then took one of the JR lines (using my JR pass) just two stops.

My first, and probably only, fax that I have ever received in my life.

Whilst we were waiting for the JR train, Tada gave me a short history lesson on William Adams – the first Englishman to visit Japan and become samurai. He showed me a picture of the Shogun DVD cover. ‘This was out before you were born’ he said. I said, ‘Yes, but I’ve seen it! It is based on one of my favourite books.’ He also talked about Thomas Blake Glover a Scottish man and Jules Brunet a French man who was the real last samurai – not Tom Cruise! I didn’t even realise that story was loosely based on anything true. Then, he showed me a timeline for the basic history of Kyoto and pointed out when the samurai period began and ended. It ended in 1867 when the 15th Tokugawa Shogun surrendered to the emperor. So anyway, the Fushimi Inari shrine was wonderful. There were kitsune (foxes) everywhere – Tada explained that the kitsune is a messenger.

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Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Tada, the tour guide, appearing in my photograph â&#x20AC;&#x201C; I decided not to crop him out!

These colourful ribbons were, in fact, all made out of paper and origami cranes at that.

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Tada was keen to take photos of me on my camera as and when, so I got quite a few photos on this day of me standing in various Japanese places. Always nice when I had mostly been travelling alone, with no one to take my photo. Generally I’m more interested in photographing the things around me anyway!

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Here I am lifting a rock. You’re supposed to imagine how heavy the rock is going to be, then make a wish as you pick it up. If the rock is lighter than you imagined it to be then your wish will come true. It was pretty heavy though…

There were indeed thousands of torii gates. We only saw a mere fraction of them as they go all the way up into the mountains. WeÂ walked through a small section of them.

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After Fushimi Inari we hopped back on the same JR line and went back to previous stop. Here we visited the grounds of an old zen Buddhist temple, Tofuku-ji. Tada explained something that I had been wondering the whole time I was in Japan, Shinto and Buddhism (two entirely different religions) work together in most Japanese people’s lives. So although this was a Buddhist shrine, there were still Shinto torii gates alongside. He said Shinto is for happy or positive prayers and Buddhism is, for example, if a family member has died or something.

So we wandered around Tofuku-ji and some of it’s sub-temples, which I photographed along with some nice looking trees. Japan does have some great trees.

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Waiting for our next train, we got talking about the English language and differences between British and American English. I mentioned that designing ELT books is what I do for a job, and that I’m a graphic designer. He told me his son is also a graphic designer! So that was pretty cool. From Tofuku-ji, we went ever so briefly to the outer grounds of the Imperial Palace but as I wasn’t interested in going inside (and you have to pre-book anyway) we didn’t hang around. There were also some more great trees here!

This is one of the long, long walls around the palace.

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Tada found an amazing vegetarian café-restaurant that used tofu in place of meat in all of it’s dishes. The food looked great but there was going to be a half hour wait – popular place! So we took a walk through the 400m stretch of Nishiki market and shops, before turning around and winding our way back to the restaurant. The food was amazing and even Tada said it was great. He thanked me because he had previously assumed vegetarian food to be bland and uninteresting but he was proved wrong. Veggie win! Just look at it all!

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Genuinely so pleased with my food – and

this was even before I sampled it!

Feeling full and well rested, we walked from the Teramachi shopping area, where the café was, to the Gion area, crossing the Kamo river on the way.

I was quite pleased that I was finally able to capture a fairly decent

photograph of one of these mystery birds of prey. I now know that it is a kind of kite.

The Gion area was very busy with tourists and general Japanese folk alike. It is the area associated with Geisha, or as they are correctly known, Geiko. We didn’t see any Geiko or Meiko (apprentice Geiko) as they would be shut away in their boarding houses until nighttime. But there were plenty of ‘normal’ people dressed up in kimonos anyway. Tada showed me the main Geiko streets where they live and entertain as well as some theatres where they perform. I have to say I wasn’t really all that interested. Some of the streets were pretty and there was one area in particular where Tada said Memoirs of a Geisha was filmed, and I do like that film (and book). But in general, I found the whole idea of Geisha, or Geiko, and people’s infatuation with them to be a bit unnerving. I found myself thinking that I’d much rather return to samurai history and all that kind of boy stuff!

I say it was busy, but I still managed to photograph some quiet side streets…

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Tada soon realised that what I was most interested in was all the old temples, shrines and that kind of thing. He had been planning to take me to a ‘culture house’ after Gion – where they sell all kind of craft things. It might have been nice to see but I wouldn’t have bought anything. Instead I asked if we could visit the Golden Pavilion, cliché and touristy as that was. But it isn’t referred to as Kyoto’s, and even Japan’s, most famous temple for no good reason! I’m really glad we made the effort to get there. Kyoto’s subway only runs north–south and east–west through the middle, so we had to combine the subway with a bus. This wasn’t too difficult though, especially with an expert, and my two day pass was valid on buses, as well as the subway, anyway. The signs at bus stop in Kyoto use GPS to show when each bus is 5 or 2 minutes away, as well as when it is approaching. Clever!

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It was nearing 4pm when we arrived at Kinkaku-ji Temple, the Golden Pavilion, but this was actually a good thing as it meant the temple wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t quite flooded with as many people as it could have been. There was still the odd tour group around but we got into the temple grounds fairly quickly and were soon gazing upon the temple.

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It was absolutely beautiful. I think the fact the sun was shining helped as it made the gold of the temple shine even more brightly, plus it reflected wonderfully into the pond it was sitting in. As well as the temple, the pond had several other islands with picturesque almost bonsai-like trees. I felt these framed the temple wonderfully, rather than it simply being the temple on its own.

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This bus seemed to

have a sealife theme.

Another green tea

We finished our sightseeing for the day here and got a bus to where we could catch the subway to Kyoto main station. Here Tada left me to catch his own train home, and I wandered the train station shopping mall for a little while. I considered getting a coffee or some food but everywhere seemed busy and I didn’t want much.

flavoured thing!

So I headed back to my hotel, stopping off in the convenience store next door first to buy something for tea – a nori wrapped rice triangle and a green tea topped pastry/cake. I also tried a matcha latte, which was pretty good. I was definitely getting addicted to green tea flavoured things by this point. I spent the rest of my evening planning the next day – how I’d get to the tea house, where I had a tour and tea ceremony demonstration booked, and how to get around in Osaka. As I was planning on briefly visiting Osaka using my JR pass in the afternoon, mostly just to see the castle.

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DAY FOURTEEN: KYOTO & OSAKA I got up at 8am, knowing it was okay to have a leisurely start as I wasn’t due at the tea house until 11am. Unfortunately after I got ready to go down for breakfast, I found I was unable to find my breakfast tickets for that morning or the next. I was sure I’d left them on the table in my room but they were nowhere to be seen. Either I was going crazy or the cleaner had [re]moved them. It was okay though, I just went down to reception and explained the situation. The nice chap gave me replacement breakfast tickets. I went straight from reception to use that days ticket and enjoyed a slightly different buffet breakfast to the day before – more fish, no yogurt, more bread, no salad and additional juice. After breakfast, I popped up to my room to get my bag then headed out to catch a bus. I got on bus no. 12, near my hotel, and rode about ten stops to Ichijo Modori bashi which was near the tea house/museum, Tondaya, I’d be visiting. I still had plenty of time to spare so I looked around the area. I visited the Seimei shrine which was practically next to the bus stop then wandered around the backstreets trying to find Tondaya. After walking down endless nameless (even in Japanese) streets I had to ask someone. They spoke only Japanese but I had no problem understanding ‘down that way and turn right at the post box’ accompanied with hand gestures, so then I soon found it. There was a bench outside but I thought that 45 minutes early was perhaps a bit too early so I walked further down the street and sat in a kids park-come-shrine instead. I made sure I knew exactly how to get back to the tea house! Whilst I was in the park, I read about the place I was about to visit. It was actually more of a kimono shop that a tea house and is now a museum of traditional life in Kyoto.

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Apparently I was the only one booked in for 11am which meant I got a private tour. When I arrived I was greeted by a lovely young Japanese lady (unfortunately, I didn’t catch her name) who spoke near-fluent English – I imagine she was assigned to me because of her English language knowledge, rather than the woman who ran the place (who showed the people around that arrived after me). I took my shoes off at the door and left my bag to one side but kept my camera with me, as photos inside were fine. We wasted no time in getting me dressed in my first ever real kimono. I picked the colours for the kimono, obi and other bits (I don’t know what they are called!). It took

a little while, with all the different componants, but she seemed to know what she was doing – well-practised no doubt. Once I was kitted out in my kimono, she took some photos of me and then took me for a tour of the house.

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The inclusion of garden spaces within the house was lovely and allowed light and air to flow in from outside. Even with my kimono on on top of my clothes, I didn’t feel ridiculously warm. And it sure was warm outside! My guide told me the purpose of each different room and garden space. Then, finally took me through to the tea room used for hosting visitors – general visitors rather than super special guests.

First she talked me through the process of how a proper tea ceremony is conducted, including how to hold and turn the tea bowl. Then she prepared the green tea. As she was preparing, I ate the two sweets provided. Soon, I was trying to drink the tea in the correct manor. She said I did well and was surprised I didn’t find the taste unpleasant. Clearly I had got too used to green tea flavoured things. She took my photo holding the tea bowl and then we went back into the main space.

You have to enter this room by sliding in

on your knees – I gave it a go but needed more practice to perfect the movement.

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I also had a bento-style lunch box provided for me which I ate next. It was mostly various pickles with rice and miso soup. But also my first taste of unagi – eel – which just tasted like, maybe, mackerel (I’m not good with fish). I ate everything, although it was only midday and not long since I’d had breakfast! Again, she was surprised I liked it all. I’m not one to waste food unless I’m really full though.

We forgot to photograph the

tie at the back of my kimono

until I was about to take it off.

That was the end of my visit to Tondaya but the whole experience was wonderful and very insightful. From there I went to get another bus to Kyoto central train station. Conveniently, the bus turned up not long after I did – this never happens in the UK! (Not that I really take buses.) When I got to the station I went to find a train to Osaka. I booked a seat on the next train with my JR pass but it turned out the train was delayed by 15 minutes. I thought Japanese trains were never late! Whilst waiting I tried an actual hot coffee from a vending machine – my tour guide from the day before had explained to me how to tell which ones are hot. (They are marked with red labels rather than the standard blue – makes perfect sense.) Some were sold out though so I couldn’t have just a black coffee. It wasn’t great, obviously with milk and added sweetener. It didn’t really taste much like coffee to be honest. But it was hot, or warm enough at least, so I can’t fault it there. I didn’t expect much, anyway, and just wanted to say I’d tried it!

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This is the Kyoto Tower,

right next to the station.

When my train arrived it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t very busy and the journey to Osaka took about 30 minutes. By the time I arrived in Osaka it was nearly 3pm so I headed straight for the castle using my JR pass again on the loop line. The castle wasÂ really all I wanted to see anyway, given the time I had. Later, at the castle gift shop, I bought

a fridge magnet of this manhole cover.

A model of Osaka Castle.

It was a little bit of a walk from the station around the outer part of the castle to the entrance but there were some good photo opportunities along the way including trees and the moat, as well as the actual castle.

The station was decorated with images of samurai battles from the past.

First sighting of the castle, peeping out above the trees.

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I paid to go into the castle but I wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really recommend it aside from the views from the top. I was expecting it to be like Matsumoto Castle inside but it was actually a modernised museum inside. Some of the information was interesting and I liked seeing the samurai armour â&#x20AC;&#x201C; which I was unable to photograph due to restrictions â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but generally I skimmed through most of it. But as I said, the view from the top was pretty good. I have at least seen more of Osaka from above than on foot! Lots of tall buildings but also lots of trees and a river which flows out into Osaka Bay.

I found this sign in the castle gift shop amusing. I assume it says something about this till being closed so use the other one, over there.

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I left the inside of the castle at around 4.30pm and wandered over to buy a green tea ice cream from one of the stands in the castle park. My third green tea ice cream of the trip, and probably the largest! I sat in the sun and ate it. I took a few more photos before I left the inner grounds through the main gate – not where I had entered originally.

Across from the castle gate was a shrine and temple with a statue of, I can only assume, Hideyoshi Toyotomi – the founder of Osaka Castle. I headed back the the station, although I had to walk all the way back around the castle so it wasn’t so quick. I stopped to take photos on the way as well, including photographing a cat that was sleeping in the park.

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From the station near the castle, I took the JR loop line back to Osaka main station and went to book a seat on a train to Kyoto – I also had no idea what trains went to Kyoto. Unless where you’re going is the end destination, it’s hard to know what train to get just by looking at the arrivals boards. My train was at 18.12 and, as on the way there, it only took 30 minutes. The sun was setting as I left Osaka which made a pretty view out of the window

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This is what a shinkansen (bullet train) looks like.

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DAY FIFTEEN: HAKONE It was an early start this morning, not only because I wanted to get to Hakone as early as possible but also because I needed to reserve a seat on the shinkansen to get there! So I got up at 6am and had eaten my breakfast by 7am, ready to leave the hotel not long after. I checked out and handed over my suitcase to be forwarded ahead to Tokyo – by this point I was an expert at how the luggage forwarding system worked. The same man who helped me fill out the luggage forwarding form the night before checked me out and took care of my suitcase for me – it was nice to be remembered. I left the hotel and headed to the subway where I made the quick journey to Kyoto station. Quick but busy, as it was only 7.30am and there were lots of people travelling to work and school. At Kyoto station I followed signs to the shinkansen and was able to reserve a seat – not a window seat but a seat nonetheless – on the 8.33 to Odawara. With half an hour to kill before the train, I popped outside and photographed some pigeons. When on the right platform, I took some photos of the station and surrounding buildings and was able to photograph the front of another shinkansen. I was seated in car 16 right at the front of the train. When my train arrived, I hopped on and found my seat. It wasn’t very busy until Nagoya (over an hour into the journey) so I snuck a few photos from the window seat before settling in my aisle seat and taking out my Kindle to do some reading.

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The train arrived in Odawara at 10.36am, so just over two hours travel time in total. Off the train, I found the tourist information place and got an English map of a Hakone area. I got a coffee and circled things I wanted to do on the map – and could realistically do in the time I had (which wasn’t very long). The main things were taking the cable car (or ropeway as they call it) up high to maybe glimpse Mt Fuji and then going on a pirate ship cruise on Lake Ashi.

So, from Odawara train station I used my Hakone Free Pass (2 day ticket) to get a train to Yamote Hakone which was sort of the gateway into Hakone. You could get various trains and buses from there. I picked up a Hakone Free Pass leaflet which was far more helpful than the map I had, as it showed all the different transport routes more clearly. I got a train all the way to Gora – the end of the line. This was quite a slow train and it seemed to go backwards and forwards, I’m not sure whether that was just for certain views for passengers or because the train going the other way had to pass by. It took about 45 minutes in total and did pass through some lovely mountain and forest scenery – although I was sat on the wrong side of the train to take any decent photos. At Gora I took the ‘cable car’ 553 metres above sea level and up a cliff side. I say ‘cable car’ but it was a funicular railway. The one I got on was absolutely packed so, again, no photos but there wasn’t much to see outside but trees anyway. At the top, I waited a little to let the rush die down and ate the sweet bun I’d bought back at Hakone Yamote station – it was basically a bread roll with sugar on, but pretty nice anyway.

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I then joined the short queue for the ropeway – or what I would call a cablecar! This ropeway was in three parts and took you up inline with Mt Fuji (although obviously nowhere near that high up) then meandered down through the trees to Lake Ashi. I was very fortunate in that I was first in line for a new ‘car’ and picked my seat first. I went for one at the front corner. I think I picked well as the views were stunning. I did even catch the slightest glimpse of Fuji but it was very much hiding in the clouds. I could just about make out a snowy sloping side, but I’m not sure even my camera could capture what I could see with my eyes. How does a mountain of that size just hide anyway?

I took a short break at the next ‘station’, taking some photos outside the building, before making my way to the next cable car. I wasn’t on first this time but still had a decent view out the front. This time the cable car went down, down towards the lake but with no less stunning views. It stopped halfway but I’m not sure what was there – no one got off but two people did get on.

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As we got closer towards lake Ashi, one of the pirate ships became visible docked near the building we were heading into. So, when I hopped off the cable car I went straight to join the queue for that exact pirateÂ ship.

I was about 20 minutes early for the next departure but it meant I was near the front of the queue and when we got onto the ship I could claim a good spot. Which is exactly what I did and then didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t move until we docked in Motohakone. Soon, we were off!

Another pirate ship, a red one, docked next to us before we set sail.

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The boat took about half an hour to cross the lake and get to the first stop. We passed the stunning mountain scenery surrounding the lake (although no more glimpses of Fuji), small fishing boats and the famous Hakone shrine torii gate by the edge of the lake.

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I got off at the second stop on the boat, Motohakone, rather than staying on the boat for a round trip. Here I walked for about ten minutes around the edge of the lake to the same torii gate as seen from the pirate ship.

Random German restaurant?

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It was fairly quiet at the waterside torii gate, in a lovely setting surrounded by enormous pine trees.

Behind the torii gate were some stairs which I climbed, then crossed a road, then climbed some more stairs to get to the top and to Hakone shrine.

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At the top, there were a bunch of smartly dressed people having their photos taken – pesky tourists getting in the way. I assume the couple had got married, although I have no concept of what Japanese weddings are like. So anyway, I snuck past the wedding crowd and had a look around the shrine. Particularly admiring all of the dragons on the spring water well, I was used to seeing just one in this kind of shrine but here there were eight or nine.

I didn’t stay for too long, at the shrine, as it was nearing 4pm by this point and I wasn’t really sure how long a bus to near my ryokan would take. I took a slightly different route through a wooded and lantern-lined path rather than along the lake edge, back to where the boat docked, also where the buses stopped.

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I worked out which bus I needed to get, as I had the name of the bus stop noted in my Inside Japan guide. My bus map didn’t have all of the names of all of the stops but I knew there would be a lot before mine. I had no trouble getting off at the right stop and could see the ryokan from the stop so that bit was actually super easy! The ryokan is a very old one, featured in an old ukiyo-e print by Hiroshige which was exciting for me as a Hiroshige fan. It was far bigger than I expected, completely different to the four or five room minshuku that I had stayed in. This ryokan had four floors, a restaurant, an onsen (hot spring spa) and even a gift shop. I was told the dinner times, where the bathrooms were, where to put my shoes, etc. and even given a map of the place – that’s how big it was! Then I went up to the second floor to find my room. Even the room was huge, well it had several rooms really – a porch, then a small room with bedding wardrobe, then the main room and then a small room with a sink, a table and windows. The view outside was of the river and the bridge next to the ryokan. Not bad at all! It was 5pm at this point and I had chosen 6pm for dinner so I just rested during that time. It had been a busy day.

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During my resting, I tried on the yakuta provided for me. These are simple kimonos designed for just wearing around the house – rather than outside – and can also be used as pajamas. A lot of my hotels, and the minshuku in particular, provided these but I’d been pretty lax about actually wearing it. But as it was my last night in a traditional Japanese hotel, it seemed only right. I managed to take a photo of myself kitted out in the yakuta using my camera’s self-timer. I went up to the fourth floor restaurant at 6pm and sat down in my designated spot. Unlike in the minshuku I had stayed in, this dining hall had actual western tables and chairs. Dinner was in three courses but with many parts to each – well, except the dessert which was just sorbet but that didn’t need to be over complicated! There was no shortage of food and tasty things to try, I was well and truly stuffed after all of it. Therefore, after dinner I just sat still for a long time! The walls of the ryokan were adorned with ukiyo-e prints. Hokusai’s Great Wave was near my room.

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This is the famous ukiyo-e print by Hiroshige, featuring the ryokan.

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DAY SIXTEEN: ODAWARA & TOKYO Breakfast wasn’t served until 8am in the ryokan, which was odd as most places start at least at 7am. Luckily I wasn’t in too much of a hurry to get away. I had very little to pack up, having done most of it the night before, so I was ready to go up to the dining hall not long after getting up. Breakfast, as always in a traditional Japanese breakfast, was made up of many parts. And I ate almost everything. By this point of the trip I was really looking forward to going back to simply toast and/or cereal for breakfast! Real coffee, not instant, was good though. I checked out of the hotel not long after breakfast, and asked the man who took my key about the Hiroshige ukiyo-e featuring the ryokan. He took me through to the back of the ground floor area to show me a selection of ukiyo-e of the Hakone area, including the one featuring the ryokan. He said they weren’t originals but that didn’t matter. I thanked him for showing me and then he asked about my trip and where I had been. He was impressed I made it to Tsumago as he said most Japanese people don’t even get there! He recommended, on my next trip, that I go to Miyajima near Hiroshima to see the famous torii gate out in the sea. I’ll remember that for my next visit to Japan. When I got my shoes on and was ready to go, he asked if I wanted my photo taken outside. I wasn’t going to refuse! I spent 10 or 15 minutes looking around the immediate area and photographing the ryokan from the other side of the bridge.

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Then I waited at the same bus stop I had got off at the previous day. I took a bus to Odawara station which took maybe half an hour, probably less. When I got to the station, before 10am, I booked a seat on the shinkansen to Tokyo for later – 11.42am – before heading out of the station to find Odawara Castle. I hadn’t actually known that there was a castle there before I saw it from the station the day before. Researching it briefly on the Internet the night before, I had decided it was worth a visit before going back to Tokyo. It was indeed worth visiting. Again, not as good as Matsumoto Castle but better than Osaka Castle, I thought. And Nijo Castle didn’t really count as it wasn’t a castle in the same sense.

I wandered around the grounds, spotting some symbols that looked remarkably like the triforce from Zelda – I see where Nintendo got it from!

There was lots to see on the ground in Odawara!

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First glimpse of the castle,

walking from the train station.

I spotted some sad looking monkeys in a cage that probably wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t big enough for the amount of them (there were a lot more than just these guys here). Smelt pretty bad too.

Big fan of this tree.

I decided it was worth paying to go inside the castle and I had the time to spare before my booked train anyway. Inside there were three floors of museum exhibits, but interesting things like models, samurai armour and swords rather than loads of text like in Osaka Castle.

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This little girl was clearly

And at the top, there was of course a viewing platform. I could see the sea from the top as well as the surrounding mountains and the train station. Not a bad view at all.

in awe of the tri-force.

Inside on the top floor there was a shop and I used one of those little toy dispenser-thingies for the first time to buy a samurai. It was kind of like a Kinder egg in that you don’t know exactly which one you’re going to get and you have to put it together. So that was fun! Leaving the castle, I followed signs to a shrine but there seemed to be only smartly dressed people around – possibly another wedding – so I didn’t intrude.

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Instead, I walked back to the station and bought yet another green tea themed snack, thenÂ found my platform. Soon I was on my way to Tokyo. Well, Shinagawa at least which is where I took a JR line train into Central Tokyo. I spotted a Starbucks and quickly stole their wifi to check how to get to the Ukiyo-e Ota Memorial Museum. It was too early to go straight to my Shinjuku hotel so I went to an exhibit of Hiroshige prints instead, via Harajuku station. I had been hoping that I would be able to attend the exhibition, especiallyÂ as it was fairly near to my hotel (Shinjuku), so it worked out quite well.

A pair of well-dressed pooches.

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Some ukiyo-e cats – this was

available to buy as a tea towel!

The museum was small with only a limited number of prints on display – apparently they rotate from a larger collection regularly. But anyway, it was an excellent and well presented exhibit with just the right amount of information and artworks to look at. The ground floor even had a small landscaped rock garden with stone lantern in the centre, although it wasn’t outside.

This is a scan of the A4 Hiroshige Blue exhibition poster that I picked up in

the Ukiyo-e Museum in Matsumoto.

The special exhibition was titled Hiroshige Blue and in six or seven parts it explained the significance of the Berlin blue colour in his work. No photography was allowed inside but it was enough for me just to take it all in and enjoy it there and then. There was also a decent explanation of the ukiyo-e process: from the initial drawing to the carving and printing of different layers. It was simpler and easier to take in than the video I watched at the Ukiyo-e Museum in Matsumoto – not mention it was in English as well!

The museum ticket featured [probably] the most These ukiyo-e are not blue, but they are by Hiroshige. I picked these up at the beginning of my trip, in Tokyo, as well as four others (that now have pride of place on my bedroom wall).

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famous of all Japanese art prints – The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai.

Heading back to Harajuku station, I crossed the bridge and entered the park where Meiji Jinju shrine was located. I walked through the large wooden torii gate and took a stroll down to the shrine. It was very busy – which I guess reminded me that I was back in Tokyo! I didn’t hang around for very long really, but took some photos.

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These empty sake barrels were pretty cool. Each with a different design.

Biggest wooden torii gate in Japan, eh? So I photographed it from all angles!

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There seemed to be another wedding or at least a formal procession of some description. Must have been the time of the year/month/week for it! A couple asked me to take their photograph in front of this very round-looking tree. Because it was a nice tree, or so I thought. So I did and showed them the picture on the camera screen. The man then asked for me to come closer/zoom into the image more so that the nice tree wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t so visible! Haha.

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I was beginning to feel very tired – the whole two weeks catching up with me by this point. I went back to Harajuku station and got on a train to Shinjuku, only a 5 minute journey. Shinjuku station is huge and was very busy but I knew I had to take the south exit in order to follow the directions I had to my hotel. It wasn’t very far to my hotel from the station either so that was good. I was soon checked in and settled in my hotel room. It was only 3.30pm by this point but I decided to unpack/re-pack my things ready to leave Japan the next day and take a shower. After that I felt revived and ready for the evening ahead.

At 5pm, I left the hotel in search of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building where I knew they had a free viewing floor at the top – the 45th floor – with views of all of Tokyo. There was a long subway, just the walking kind of subway, from one of the main Shinjuku roads all the way to the ‘observatory’ entrance. When I got to the entrance there was a queue for the lift, unsurprisingly, and I was worried I might be too late for the prime part of sunset. But all was well and the sun was mid-sunset as I got to the top. I took some photos and admired the views from various points around the room, then bought a few gifts in the toy and souvenir shop they had on that floor.

As dressed up as I could possibly get,

with my limited traveller’s wardrobe, for my final night in Japan.

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I thought about having dinner in the restaurant up there, which would have been nice as my last night in Japan, but they were all booked up. So, instead I went in search of a pizza place because I really fancied pizza. I found somewhere and selected my chosen pizza. When it arrived it looked well presented on a little wooden board with a pizza cutter but it was

limp and fairly tasteless. I should have known better really!

It was a quick meal though and I was soon on my way again. On the way back to my hotel I picked up a chocolate muffin in a Japanese bakery. I hoped that would make up for my poor quality dinner, and in a way it did – it was tasty at least. By 8.30pm I was all prepared for leaving in the morning so all that was left to do was relax, do some reading and get a good night’s sleep.

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DAY SEVENTEEN: TOKYO & HOME I had an alarm set for 6am but actually woke up even earlier than this. Having packed up everything the night before, there was barely anything for me to do and I was soon ready to check out. I went downstairs at 6.20am and quickly checked out, leaving my suitcase at reception whilst I went off to have the speediest hotel breakfast ever. I was first in line when they opened the restaurant at 6.30am for breakfast and I quickly helped myself to my final Japanese buffet breakfast. I managed to devour everything in about 15 minutes and then popped back to collect my suitcase from reception. I said farewell and went outside to join the other people waiting for the airport bus. It soon arrived and our luggage was loaded onto the bus before we ourselves got on. I took some last blurry photographs of Tokyo as we headed for Narita airport and I said goodbye to Japan.

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I arrived at the airport with loads of time to spare before my flight at 11.15am, even after the slow check-in, security and passport control. I had plenty of time to wander around the duty free shops and buy lots of things to take home with me. Although there weren’t actually that many shops, the airport is a lot smaller than Heathrow. I stocked up on green tea KitKats by buying a box of 10 packs. I also decided to sample a red bean KitKat – funny how at the airport they had extra flavours that I hadn’t found anywhere in Japan prior to that. I also bought some Japanese green tea for my mum, three boxes of Pocky, an assortment of rice crackers, a selection box of mochi (traditional Japanese sweets made from rice and sweetened red bean paste) to take in to work and a few last souvenir bits – fridge magnets, etc.

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Oh so tempting to steal one of these boxes full of Japanese KitKats.

Finally it was time to board the plane and say sayonara (no one actually says sayonara in Japan, I found) to the wonderful country. It had been an incredible holiday and an experience I will never, ever forget but I was more than ready to get home. I was looking forward to being back in Britain and couldn’t wait to see my cat… and family, of course. The return flight seemed a lot longer than the flight out to Japan. Probably for several reasons: a) it actually was – it was something like 13 hours in the end instead of the 11 it had been on the flight out. b) it was daytime so I couldn’t really pass the time by sleeping. c) I was just keen to be home. I watched a total of four films on the plane before I couldn’t bear to watch another and resorted to simply reading and listening to music. All of the films I watched were good though, and very different from one another: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Dallas Buyers Club, In A World… and 12 Years A Slave. As on the flight out, they provided us with a hell of a lot of food which if anything made me more sleepy. But I didn’t sleep! And when we did eventually arrive at Heathrow, I felt fairly awake when I stepped off the plane. It took a while to get through passport control at Heathrow and a little while longer to wait for my suitcase, but by something like 5pm I had met my brother and we were on our way home. Miraculously, jet lag never hit me. Sure, I felt tired but I went to bed at 10pm – a fairly normal time! And so ends one girl’s adventures in Japan, April 2014. Until the next time…

Here’s my duty-free foodie haul.

And everything I brought back with me – leaflets, maps, posters, train tickets etc.

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WHAT NEXT? In the process of designing and laying out the pages of this book I have, unsurprisingly, begun to think about my next trip to Japan. Although, as you’ve seen in the pages of this book, I did pack a lot into my April 2014 first-time trip to Japan, there is so much more that I want to see and do there! I would really like to visit Hiroshima next time around, including the Miyajima shrine – as recommended by the member of staff at my ryokan in Hakone – and the peace park. Plus, the peace pagoda at Mt Futaba-yama, commemorating peace since the atomic bombs of World War II. Peace pagodas, in particular, interest me as my hometown of Milton Keynes is home to the first peace pagoda in the Western world. I have yet to see my first peace pagoda in the East, but hopefully it will be in Hiroshima.

I’d also like to visit Nagasaki, for similar reasons. But also because many of the books I have read (historical fiction) feature Nagasaki – as it is the port that many Dutch, Portuguese and English trading ships first docked at, upon ‘discovering’ Japan. However, I realise that Nagasaki is quite a bit further west than some of the other places in Japan that I would be likely to visit – it’s actually on another island (Kyushu, rather than Honshu). This means that it may prove a bit more difficult, and certainly take a bit longer, to get to. As I discovered on my first trip to Japan, I have a huge love for Japanese castles. I was lucky to be able to visit five in a single trip – well, three actual castles (Matsumoto, Osaka and Odawara), one set of castle remains (Kanazawa) and one castle that wasn’t really much of a castle (Nijo, in Kyoto). Himeji Castle is reputedly the most magnificent of all of Japan’s castles. Conveniently, it has been undergoing a lot of renovation work over the past few years, with the work coming to an end in March 2015. So, although it wouldn’t have been viewable in it’s full glory for my 2014 trip to Japan, it will be for my next trip. I would very much like to visit Hakone again, perhaps for a couple of days rather than just one. I would really like to properly see Mt Fuji with my own eyes, too! I intend to spend several days each in both Tokyo and Kyoto again, as both cities have so, so much more to see. There’s more of the modern and technology-fueled side of Tokyo to explore and I must make it to the bamboo forest of Arashiyama, just outside Kyoto, this time! Lastly, I hope that for Japan trip two I won’t be travelling alone. My current choice for potential Japan travel buddy is well aware of this, and as long as he gets to see the giant Godzilla outside a hotel in Shinjuku, Tokyo, he seems pretty open to seeing all of the above and more! If I can get him on the plane… I really can’t wait for March/April 2016 for Japan trip number two!!

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