Introduction


About five months ago I had a rush of blood to the head.  Why don’t we go to Japan instead of the islands for a week.  This was prompted by a special from Air New Zealand.  Getting the right dates was a bit of a challenge as the preferred dates coincided with the school holidays (and higher prices) whereas later dates conflicted with a wedding and a couple of organised bike rides. 

Bev did all the research for a place to stay in Tokyo and what we should do while there. As a result we have a packed itinerary that involves a cycling tour, a walking tour and a night at a traditional inn.  On our penultimate day we are going to go to Kyoto to see the old capital which is meant to be very beautiful with many temples.  This will allow us to experience the bullet train.  We are staying in an AirBnB in Shibuya.  It will be interesting to see how tiny it is. 

For the past couple of weeks I have been keeping an eye on the weather.  It is still very warm and there is also quite a bit of moisture around.  At least there is no typhoon bearing down on it at the moment. 

I expect it will be quite a culture shock, with interesting foods to try and a bit sake to taste.  I suspect a good wine will be a rarity and what is available will cost a lot.  Nonetheless everyone I have spoken to  who has been there really enjoyed it for its differences culturally, and of course the food. It will be very nice to taste it how it is made in Japan.

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