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Final thoughts

We both enjoyed our trip to Japan.   It was an unexpected experience.   The best way to explain Japan was that it is thoroughly modern, yet very Japanese in that they have not lost their culture.   Rather they have incorporated the technology into their culture.  As a visitor it makes it fascinating as everything is so different yet in some things there is familiarity.   There are not a lot of signs with English script we would recognise but they are in most critical places like railway stations and the airport.   Many of the restaurants have English menus and if there isn’t there are always pictures.   English is not widely spoken but pointing is very useful way of communicating.   The other noticeable thing or should I say it is notable that we did not see one bit of graffiti in Tokyo or Kyoto. There are no beggars that we saw.   We were told that there is not a homeless problem although we were told that t...
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Day 8: Final hours

On Friday there was news that a typhoon was threatening Japan.   Fortunately it was not predicted to hit Tokyo before we left.   However, by the time we were due to check out of the apartment it had begun to rain.   Our intention was to go to Akususa but when we got to Shinjuku the rain was very heavy making a decision to stay inside the most sensible one.   We booked our seats on the Nex, the express airport train which would take us to Narita.   Then it was making a decision on what to do for a couple of hours before went back and got our bags and headed for Narita. While we were standing contemplating our choices, three lovely helpful Japanese people came up and asked if we were lost.   We told them what we wanted to do, which was to and eat, and they suggested a place to go. Their advice was taken and we found a  popular restaurant, it had a queue of people waiting to be seated.  when served the Japanese version of Kentucky Fried Chicken. ...
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Day 7: Kyoto – city of temples, shrines and tourists

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The elusive Mt Fuji It was an early start for our day trip to Kyoto.   We were on the train to Tokyo station by a little after 5:30am arriving in plenty of time to find our Shinkansen.   It was our first really sunny day.   There was barely a skerrick of cloud in the sky so we held out hope that we might see Mt Fuji on our way to Kyoto.   We were not to be disappointed. The perfect cone was visible quite early on our journey once a few high rises disappeared.   It is so like Mt Taranaki only larger!   Statues beside a temple We travelled about 512 kilometres and while we were speeding along quickly, what became apparent was how crowded the place was compared to New Zealand.   NZ has vast areas of open farmland without a village or town nearby but this is   not   the case in Japan - at least not the part we went through.   While there is farmland it seems to be small holdings only.   The trip took 2 hours 40 minut...
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Day 6: An unexpected delight of the food kind

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It is very weird to wake up so close to the ground.   It is a long time since I   have slept on the floor and the last time I did, I had a much thicker mattress.   Despite that it was a very refreshing sleep. Breakfast After another soak in the onsen and a rinse, we went for breakfast.   This was another traditional meal with a dried fish which was delicious.   We also had   soup and a boiled soft egg to be eaten with some rice, and of course no meal is complete without pickles.   It was very delicious and certainly not something I would normally eat for breakfast.   We left our baggage at the Ryokan and slowly walked up the hill to our train station with the hope that when we got to Gora (the station for the cable car) that the cloud may have lifted.   Big drops of rain suggested it would not be so.   On the way up the path to the station, we came across a little Buddhist temple   next door to a lit...
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Day 5: Shinkansen, Hakone, Ryokan and Hakone Ropeway

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It was not raining when we walked the hundred or so metres to our subway station on our way to Hakone.  We were hoping that this portended well for the next two days since rain was predicted.  As it turned out it was not to be so.     Our little station near the Ryokan I wanted to see how long it took for us to get from the apartment to the Shinkansen (Bullet train) so that we had some idea of the timing for the trip to Kyoto given we will have a very early start on Friday .   It all went quite smoothly.   The train came on time and we quickly found our way to the Chuo rapid line. The train quickly got us to Tokyo Station and about 45 minutes later we had found our entry to the Shinkansen.   Given we are heading off on Friday for Kyoto a bit after 5:30am that should give us some leeway in case of packed trains.   Our destination today was Odawara Station where we would disembark and then get a local train to the Hakone...
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Day 4: Rain and Tokyo Station

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We were going to look around the grounds of the Imperial Palace and visit Akususa but heavy rain put paid to that idea.   It was in tropical proportions and was not fun to be in so we went to Tokyo Station to get tickets for the Shinkansen to Kyoto and for a train to Hakone.   All this on our JRpass.   I also found a fast train between Shinjuku Station and Tokyo Station, which was great as it took about 15 minutes off the trip.   The most difficult part of using the transport system is navigating ones way from the Oeio Line to the JR station and then finding the right line and platform such is the scale of the rail system.   Then it was a 15 minute or so trip to Tokyo Station with same issue of finding where we were to go to get out tickets.   Such are the challenges of travelling in a new city. The crowds were something to behold.   The previous three days we thought were busy but with people back at work all the trains were c...
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