Category: Blog

To finish, here’s each of our best and worst things about the trip:

Best things…

Keith – Best thing is easy, the Shinkansen (bullet) trains. Just incredible.

Jo – Best thing was the opportunity to meet loads of different and interesting people. I had forgotten how much I love travelling. I spent hours just staring out of the window of the train.

Danny – The best thing was easily the chicken wings we had in Kanazawa. The restaurant was recommended by Audley and it was awesome.

Amelia – I just have to have two best things: sleeping, and the Onsen in Fujioto Ryokan.

Worst things…

Keith – Worst thing was our return journey, being driven by a taxi driver who was too tired to be at the wheel, who kept using his phone or iPad whilst driving, and was clearly lost, then to arrive at the airport to find our flight was delayed meaning our connection in Amsterdam (smoke and a pancake) was changed giving us a generous 5 hours in the airport and a total 25 hour journey….bah.

Jo – Worst thing was missing my bed!

Danny – Worst thing was the food in the temple at Mount Koya . Vegetables, tofu, and more vegetables that were entirely unrecognisable. The pears were salty, the grapes had very thick and bitter skins, and the broccoli tasted of fish. Case closed.

Amelia – The temperature in Tokyo.

1) When you are completely convinced that the noise you are hearing MUST be made by an animal larger than a Cicada, it’s not.

2) Japanese teenagers think their school uniform is cool and wear it most of the time, even though they are expected to follow the school rules when wearing it. They even wear it nostalgically when they have left school. Odd.

3) They keep building using wood and then putting up signs saying the various dates when the building had to be rebuilt due to its total destruction after a fire. Then they let members of the public light candles inside the same buildings. Go figure.

4) Historically, the Japanese appear to have been convinced that suicide would at some point be necessary as they would be attacked and lose the battle. We haven’t visited anywhere where this actually happened, but suicide rooms sure were popular.

5) If you ride a bicycle, none of the rules for pedestrians or cars relate to you. You can ride on the pavement or on the road (with two children on your bike: generally one on a seat in front of the handlebars and one on the back). You can cycle perpendicular to a pedestrian crossing that has just gone green and be justifiably upset when you have to put a foot down to avoid killing a pedestrian. Or you can just run into them… that is fine as well. If it is sunny, you can cycle in the pedestrian bit of the pavement to be in the shade. You can go to the left or right of people after you ring your bell, whichever seems more likely to cause an accident. It is also a good idea to use your mobile as you pedal along. Oh, and never, on any account, wear a helmet unless you are cycling to a baseball game and it is the easiest way to transport your baseball helmet .

6) Alcohol is a problem. We have seen middle aged ladies drinking spirits out of a bottle in a bag at 10am on a train. We have seen young people throwing up at 6pm in the evening. We have seen young people in nice clothes sleeping on the pavement at 8am in the morning. We have seen young people still drunk enough to be fighting in the street at 9.30am. More than half of all adult males on trains are drinking beer. You can buy beer from vending machines, even though the law requires you to be 20.

7) Hotels give away LOADS of free stuff. If we came again, I wouldn’t bother packing any toiletries apart from deodorant, toothpaste (only because I am fussy) and moisturizer. You can have disposable hair brushes, razors (in every room- I refer you back to my point about suicide), shampoo, conditioner, body wash, face wash, body scrubbing cloths, cotton wool buds, hair bobbles, cotton wool pads, toothbrushes and toothpaste. Every hotel has left yukatas out for us to use as well (Good left over right otherwise you are declaring yourself a ghost!), so you can save your clothes for outside the hotel and not bother with pyjamas.

8) There are hardly any children’s playparks. I reckon we have seen fewer than 10 in the whole trip. Perhaps this is a symptom of the aging population, or perhaps parents go back to work, the children go to day care and no-one goes to the park.

9) Work is everything. Everyone in Japan that has found out how long we have been away for has told us that they would be sacked if they took that much time off. No wonder there aren’t many kids!

10) It seems to be normal to work ridiculously long hours and then go out drinking with colleagues or customers. City dwellers do not seem to have a great quality of life, with little holiday or free time and work being the main focus.

11) Which leads me on to my next point. I expected all Japanese people to be scrupulously polite. I don’t know why. Anyway they’re not. Big cities here are just like London: no-one waits for you to get off the train, everyone pushes to get on escalators. Everyone in the service industry all over the country behaves how I expected the whole population would. Nothing is too much trouble and there is a lot of bowing and politeness particles.

12) Japanese health and safety is bonkers. They have barriers on train platforms with doors that open seconds before the train doors so you can’t accidentally fall under the trains (or deliberately I presume). We have seen up to four uniformed men managing pedestrian traffic when a car emerges from an underground car park. Anywhere there is building works, they have safety marshalls who stand in full heavy duty uniform (sometimes in direct sun) making sure no-one enters a restricted area.

On the other hand, they mix electricity and water in every bathroom. Craziness.

13) At home, we herald announcements with two tone “bing-bongs”. In Japan they play little tunes every time underground train doors open, or a train is due to arrive at a platform, or you have reached the top of bottom of a set of stairs or escalator. In Tokyo, each line of the underground plays a different tune, so you can tell which train you are getting onto.

14) Japanese scenery is beautiful and dramatic, but also ascetic. You have essentially four choices: Buildings, “rice growing fields”, trees or water. If it has trees on it, it is really steep, if it is flat it could be any of the other three! Now you can draw your own Japanese scene.

15) Japanese houses were taxed based on the width it takes up on the road. So old buildings are very narrow.

16) Some of the best restaurants we have been to have been in high rise buildings with nondescript frontage and really dodgy stairs or lifts. The best one had a lift all taped up with plastic, ready for the murder scene out of Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (if you haven’t seen it… graphic British comedy).

A very early start led us to our most traumatic journey in Japan. The driver of the Green Tomato airport link was very very tired. I am grateful for the accident that slowed the motorwat to a standstill admit forced him to come off and wake up a bit. He was weaving, braking at the last minute and blinking frantically. Not reassuring behaviour.

The other bonus (apart from not dying horribly) was that we got a crazy back street tour of a bit more of Japan, the highlight of which was the driver pointing out of the window and saying “rice growing fields” as if this was news. Cue slightly hysterical giggling.

Keith and one of the other passengers were desperate for a wee by the time we got to the airport and it had taken so much longer than scheduled that we had to arrange drop off by when our planes left. We were last and still had plenty of time- but there was running for the toilet!

Our flight had been delayed by just over an hour so we spent our last yen on some souvenirs and presents and then went to the gate.

The flight was long and dull but fairly uneventful. We were disappointed but not surprised to see a large pile of clouds where Mount Fuji was alleged to be. It is the wrong time of year to be mountain spotting and apart from a speck in the distance from the top of the Skytree we have not been lucky.

The children can not countenance sleep when watching films is an option so they were square eyed and exhausted by the time we got to Amsterdam. Our late flight had meant a missed connection and now we faced a 5 hour wait for the hour flight back to Manchester. The children had been awake for about 19 hours by this point and they were entirely beyond reason. We tried food- which worked briefly, and lying down on loungers- which allowed Danny to get about an hour. The inevitable safety announcements woke Mila every time she dropped off and caused much upset (understandably as it was very frustrating).

The flight to Manchester was very full and there was a late party of young Dutch men in 2018 Liverpool t-shirts carrying 8 packs of Jagermeister. This did not fill me with hope for a peaceful flight, but in the end nothing kept me awake and I happily snored through the 45 minutes we sat on the tarmac while they retrieved the suitcases of the people who had failed to make the flight. Then I snored through the entire flight, not even stirring for free food.

I believe Keith did the same but the kids stayed up again (1 on either side of me), choosing reading this time over sleep.

Keith’s Dad kindly collected us from the airport and whizzed us home.

Our last job was to unpack the suitcases as they had got very wet sitting on the tarmac in Amsterdam and then collapse. The adventure of a life time was over and we were finally allowed to go to bed!!

So many rude Italians. They can’t queue, they shout while they are eating and they do not act appropriately in a temple.

I feel better for getting that off my chest.

Breakfast was the same as yesterday and I had to bribe the children with promises of coffee shop cake to get then to eat their rice.

It was also as noisy as yesterday’s tea. Because of the aforementioned Italians.

The coffee shop wasn’t open yet so we went for a little walk first. We were going to be stuck on a bus or train all day, so some fresh air first thing seemed sensible. Cemetary time (again!!). This time it was cloudy/misty and it looked quite eerie….time for some more photos!

The coffee shop produced delicious cake and coffee for the price of a liver and two kidneys. Daylight robbery. But tasty.

While we drank our tea and coffee (made from ground diamonds and sprinkled with gold leaf) we got chatting to the tourists sitting next to us. It transpired that although they were Italians, they were quite nice. Probably because they had relatives living in Leeds, and weren’t part of the coach trip.

After our second breakfast, we collected our bags and checked out of the temple accomodation. I wrote a quick postcard to our lovely, lovely hosts at the Watanabe ryokan and then we hopped on the bus back to the station. It was busy and once we had got on we realised that we would have to be crafty. Our two day bus tickets had run out the day before. I sneakily covered up the date as we got off and the bus driver didn’t notice. Phew! My assumption was that we had paid for the journey in both directions, we just hadn’t validated the return part which would have covered the bus bit as well. Anyway, we pulled it off!

The return trip to Osaka was much the same: beautiful, crazy views with many, many trees, except Mila felt travel sick. She did exactly the right thing: she lay down on the bench seat on the train and went to sleep. When she woke up she felt much better.

Obviously, as she is a pre-teen, she wouldn’t take any hard won advice from her mother like: suck a polo, eat something, have a drink of water and all such suggestions were met with the utter disdain they deserved. I perceive the next few years are going to have their own unique set of challenges. And my mother is going to enjoy every minute. I believe she calls it payback.

We had to keep changing trains and buying more food as we were all starving, but the journey was largely uneventful and allowed me to read my book in relative peace. Keith sat next to me watching The Grand Tour and shaking with laughter.

Mila didn’t even realise we had arrived when we came out of the station at Shinawa station. She asked me which train we were getting on next!

The hotel was easy to find (follow the big flashing arrows to the red light district, which is not nearly as subtle as in Soho!) and look behind the Godzilla climbing down a building.

It was lovely inside and the rooms were nice but the configuration made life tricky. The kids were on floor 24 and we were on floor 19 (up different elevators from the hotel reception on floor 8). We decided it was only one night and they could always phone us if there was a problem but I think it made us all a little anxious.

I had successfully requested the hotel to book us a fancy bbq restaurant for tea by email. They had emailed me confirmation and printed out directions for when we arrived. That’s what I call service!

The restaurant was epic. I think places in the UK should adopt the practice of little blinds that can be pulled down between tables to give you some privacy.

Each table had a gas burner sunk into it with a griddle on top. The menu was in English but still almost incomprehensible. Our excitement was limitless when we realised that there was a vegetable selection!!!

We ordered pork, chicken and some of the cheaper beef cuts (the most expensive works out as about £200 a portion… and frankly the kids said it looked fatty!!), two salads and the veg for barbequeing.

The benefit of this type of restaurant is that you don’t have to wait very long to be served as it is all given to you raw. The downside is you have to keep the tongs away from the pyromaniacs in the family and try and make them wait until the chicken is cooked!

The food was delicious and I particularly enjoyed wearing the little bibs they gave you to protect you clothes from the sizzling fat. Very classy.

To give you an idea of how precious vegetables are in Japan: it was the same price for a bowl of courgette, onions, mushroom and sweet potato (about 4-6 pieces of each) as the plate full of bits of chicken thigh. The tomato salad was lettuce and a bit of grated carrot with a whole peeled tomato in the middle cut into 8 pieces. No-one can be able to afford to eat 7 pieces of veg a day here unless they grow their own. We are all craving apples and the only oranges we have seen were on an offering plate in a temple. I had to restrain the children. Bananas on breakfast buffets are cut in half.

Right, rant over.

When we had eaten our free ice cream (vanilla and matcha) we paid and headed to our next appointment for the evening… not karaoke as my family are all to repressed (actually we were all exhausted and I didn’t even bother suggesting it), but a quick trip to the underground to cash in the Pasmo cards and then a trip to make an offering of our own at the temple of stationery: Muji!!

Pure bliss. The kids had a budget, but I just bought random stuff.

After that we negotiated the drunken masses who fancied a bit of “how’s your father” in one of the many dubious establishments, and the invitations to the type of party you don’t take your children to and made it back to the hotel. We washed the children and put them to bed with the bare minimum in their rooms so we could get them up quickly in the morning. Then we repacked again.

Keith was not at all sure the cases would make it from Miyajima, but the system worked like clockwork and we didn’t even have to ask the hotel for them: they were just produced like magic.

Packing done, final photos taken of the view out of the window and alarm set for 5.15am we settled down to our last sleep in Japan.

This morning Keith and I got up for the Otsutome (Buddhist service) at 6.30am. Unsurprisingly the children did not wake up.

The service took place in the temple and was well attended by tourists. 3 monks led the service, with one obviously in charge. For nearly 30 minutes they chanted continuously with one covering the breaths of the other and joining back in as soon as they had breathed. I was very impressed with their breath control which told of much practice They used gongs and cymbals as well. At one point, the congregation were invited to come forward to pray for their ancestors.

At the back of the temple on the left, a younger monk held a book up and mouthed the words to the chants for the entire ceremony. His arms must have ached by the end.

We learnt last night that many of the monks are temple children. This means their dad is a married monk and they are expected (if they want to) to leave home to train and then return to take over the duties of their father in the temple he runs. I am not sure their definition of a monk gels completely with ours – these monks drink beer, can get married and generally seem to have a pretty relaxed time!

After the service, we went to another small temple for a fire ceremony. This is where the small and thin pieces of wood that people write their prayers on get burnt ceremonially. This occasion was rammed because the building was so much smaller.

As the burning and drum banging continued (I am glad that I only had one beer last night), the building filled with smoke from the top down and our clothes and hair absorbed all the woody smoke smell.

I loved the way they built the fire: supports across the top of the bowl with struts across that. Then they piled a massive number of prayer sticks on top and added oil and sprinkles to the conflagration. The ideal job for a pyromaniac! I was jealous of the burning job but not the drum banging job. He chanted and banged solidly for 30 minutes. It is a good job that it is cooler up here. It looked exhausting.

At the end of the ceremony, the congregation were invited to stand up and waft the smoke at themselves. Keith’s entire head was engulfed by the layer of smoke covering the ceiling so we didn’t bother wafting extra.

The monk in charge said thanks for coming and various other stuff in Japanese at the end of each ceremony. This took about 2-3 minutes, then he asked everyone to stand up in English. It was comical for some reason, as if all the Japanese he had spoken could be translated into three English words.

Our room was within 6 feet of the back of the fire ceremony temple and yet our precious moppets had managed to sleep through the whole thing! We roused them ever so gently (by throwing open the outside doors and taking photos of them in their pits) and got them up for breakfast. There was some confusion about where we should be…. when I sent to check I was told to wait in our room, but when the monk came to fetch us 40 minutes later, he asked why we weren’t in breakfast. Anyway it was cold so it didn’t really matter and mostly inedible to the children. Keith and I are now up to eating anything (vegetarian) anyway.

Our plan for the day was not complex. We wanted to go back to the cemetery we walked around last night in the day and watch the 10.30am meal offering for Koba Daishi. We set off after doing a bit of washing ( I did get a bit of help with how to use the machine but it was very straightforward) and getting Mila’s book inscribed, and then wandered into the graveyard.

This might sound a bit macabre, but it doesn’t have the feeling of a graveyard like we are used to. That might be because I can’t read any of the inscriptions of eulogies, but it feels very calming and peaceful. Oh and there are about 400,000 souls laid at rest there!

It was a little bit busy, but not as bad as I had expected. We think that most people only stay here for one night and as they have to check out at 10am, a lot of them had already gone.

We got to watch the food offering and stayed for the beginning of the service, but then we went to look at the building where they keep the spare lanterns. Your are absolutely NOT allowed to take photos. My husband is not good at following rules… as you all know. Thus the photos. [EDIT Keith: I can’t read Japanese warnings not to take photos, even the symbols of cameras with a red cross through – these are obviously Japanese script of some kind, note to self – must learn Japanese writing…]

It is an amazing place when you consider that the smallest lantern costs 100,000 Yen (about £700), a lot of money has been paid by believers to have their ancestors prayed for. It is also absolutely beautiful. Each lamp has the message etched onto the metal and the light inside (thank God it is electric so little risk of fire) shines through it making the most beautiful patterns. Of course, to the Japanese it is just writing, but to me it is beautiful. I can still only read about 10 Hiragana letters, so I am quite a way off being able to work out what any of them say.

When Keith had taken a thousand photos and the kids had skipped about and washed many statues (you can ask them why!) we hopped on a bus to the other end of town. This is the historical area, although the town has apparently had no less than 5 lightening strikes and burnt down almost entirely.

Now, if I was a religious person and the place I lived and worked kept burning down in what can only be considered an act of God, I might decide to move. Apparently that has not occurred to any of the people living here as they keep rebuilding. It must just be me.

We then visited the main temple of Esoteric Buddhism: Kongobuji , which has the biggest rock garden (raked gravel) in Japan and gives out sweet rice cakes and green tea. Mila got another stamp in her collectors book and Danny raced around, making the most of the cooler weather that means he can run about like a luatic as he normally does.

There is a character on signs and posters everywhere in Koyasan and his name is written in Hiragana. I decided to use my new found skills (and Google) to work out what he was called. I managed 4 out of 6 characters and then had to stop a Japanese couple to ask about the last one. It turned out that my bloody chart had more than one page and I was nowhere near as far through the learning process as I had hoped. Anyway, I did end up with the characters name:

Ko u ya ku n.

After I had recovered from using so much of my brain power, we had our free snack and saw Nobu doing a tour. He recognised us and said hello which made Danny very happy.

We also went to Danjo Garan which houses a number of temples and old buildings. There was one (with only a Japanese explanation, so I have no idea what it was) that had a kind of rotating belt around it with handles. The children, and some other small people, got behind the handles and pushed it around. All the Japanese adults smiled approvingly so it must have been the correct thing to do. We may never know why. Mila suggested it was a coffee grinder?! Another temple had coins balanced on their edges and the children pestered me to help them balance one. Again, no idea why!!

After an insubstantial breakfast (even for those of us who actually ate it!), we were all hungry, so Keith broke the habit of a lifetime and let us go into the first restaurant that we saw to feast on katsu curry and pork escalope. We all wanted meat! It was yummy and filled the children’s tummies with recognisable food. The gentleman who took our money at the end of the meal spoke excellent, if old fashioned English.

While we were waiting for our food, Mila decided to rest her chin on Keith’s hand as she had run out of energy. Then she randomly started singing “amazing face….” to the tune of the hymn. We literally have no idea what she is going to do next.

My favourite outfit of the day was a man in a t-shirt with a zebra motif paired with stripy trousers. I don’t even think it was deliberate. Classy nonetheless.

It is at least 10 degrees cooler in the mountains and it has been so nice to walk around and not be constantly planning where we can buy more liquid and how we can get into air conditioning… which is a good thing as the temple doesn’t have any.

Apparently, I am not the only one looking forward to getting back to their own bed. Today we saw an entire family asleep on a bench outside the FamilyMart. The little boy was spreadeagled on his dad’s chest and the mum was collapsed sideways on the suitcase. I am guessing they had a bad night.

We bought some water and mid afternoon snacks and then made our way back to the temple lodging for a rest. We had planned to get the bus, but the timings were such that it was easier to walk and we ended up with a quick, free look in a local art gallery where they gave us a present.

Mila managed to drop her chewing gum on the floor while panicking about a gigantic ant that was scurrying around on her leg, but otherwise the afternoon was quite relaxed. Only normal levels of bickering were experienced.

I took myself off to the meditation again but didn’t manage to get into the zone as successfully today. I will have to practice when I get home, even if I can never get my legs into that position.

Tea was mostly edible again although uninspiring. I don’t like cold tempura and the nasty goma-dofu (very smooth sesame seed tofu) is not going to make it onto my favourite food list. [EDIT Keith: It’s like congealed cat sick]

It was an entertaining meal, as on the other side of the paper screen was a coach load (I am not exaggerating as I saw the coach!) of Italians. They were very noisy and made very odd noises as they ate. The monks brought their beers in long handled milk carriers and there were plenty of trips.

The poached and peeled figs were my favourite and I got two as Mila didn’t like hers. We are still all having problems with the texture of some things. And why they feel it necessary to dip pears in salt water, I will never understand. Every time the poor children think they are going to get some fruit, they have messed with it in some critical way: pickling or salting it. Just no need.

Keith and I went back to the cemetery at dusk to try and catch a glimpse of the elusive squirrels. It was very quiet and it was a pleasant walk to the end and back. We didn’t see a squirrel fly, but we did hear the noisiest cicadas so far (apparently they only live for one day as they use up so much energy making all that racket).

On the way back it was mostly dark and we heard the squirrels chattering and saw one moving about in the trees high above our heads. I was satisfied with that as a sighting so I finally let Keith head back to the temple.

Our last day of sightseeing is done. Now we just have to travel over 500km back to Tokyo tomorrow to catch our flight home.

Random Japanese fact. All train stations in Tokyo’s underground line play a different jingle each time a train arrives and leaves. In the middle of the night there was a random tune outside the hotel. In my head it was accompanied with an impending earthquake announcement in the calm male Japanese voice used on every platform.

At the bottom or top of every staircase there is a jungle noise: birds tweeting. We think it is for visually impaired people, but it is quite relaxing none the less.

A quick Mystays breakfast in a freezing room got us ready for our day with the only exciting bit being that the apple juice was actually oolong tea.

Being the gurus of public transport that we are really helped with today’s epic journey. The first bit of the journey was fairly straightforward but converting the Nankai rail passes to tickets was not intuitive! Not only did we manage but then we also worked out that the extra vouchers were our seat reservations and passed on our hard won knowledge to a poor confused German couple sitting in our seats on the train!

The first bit of the Nanken railway felt quite normal: rice paddies and houses and shops flashed past, but then the gradient changed, the train slowed and the views became spectacular. Immense gorges dropped to one side whilst steep inclines rose the other. Tunnels were frequent and after a while the double track dropped to single with passing places. You cannot help but marvel at the engineering that made this train line possible. The gradient is way above what must be ideal and the crest on which the railway is built feels too narrow to be secure. I couldn’t recommend it to someone who was afraid of heights.

The station at the end of the line feels pretty high… until you see the funicular you are about to get on stretching up the mountain to your right. The angle at the bottom is not as severe as it is further up, so when you get on, the whole car is leaning in towards the mountain. It was quite disconcerting. The ride was very smooth; including the passing place where the other car meets you going down, until you get to the top and you slow right down and bounce just a little before you stop. Not a nice feeling.

Tim’s instructions for our trip have been fantastic and have displayed knowledge you could only get by experiencing this place. However… today didn’t quite work like that. We got on a bus as instructed by the guide according to Keith, only for me to find a different bus on another page. Take note Tim, you don’t want the Daimon bus!! Confusion ensued, but the bus organiser found us a map and drew on the stop we needed to get off at and where our temple was. We had been on the wrong one (it had lots of spare seats!) and of course the one we needed to be on was packed.

Once we had sorted that out the rest was easy and we successfully navigated the streets to our temple.

There is nothing here really apart from many temples, the odd restaurant and tourist shop and lots of trees. It is perfect for winding down after our hectic schedule over the last few weeks.

We went and got udon noodles for lunch, had a little wander around a couple of temples and then went back to our room for a lie down. The children read and watched YouTube and Keith and I both had a snooze.

At 4.30pm we went to the meditation hall for our initiation into Ajikan meditation. It wasn’t very comfortable having my legs all twisted round each other but I found it very relaxing. I am not sure that the rest of the family derived much benefit but I kept my eyes firmly (and incorrectly!) shut so I couldn’t see any messing about. Keith tells me he did it properly, but was distracted by someone making noise nearby – he said it sounded like a Spanish couple arguing….not ideal for meditation!

Supper was served shortly after meditation in a dining room in the main building. I think most people get their food in their room, but I don’t think they can fit it in when there are four of you. The food was as expected and Keith and I ate all but one noodle dish. There is something quite reassuring about knowing it can’t be offal! Nothing was explained though so I have no idea what we ate. The kids were not as keen and will be desperate for breakfast in the morning. I fear that might be the same as we had for tea!

We went in the Onsen after tea and got ready for our night walk. The registration process was somewhat painful and while we were waiting to leave, we played the ‘how long can you stand on one leg for’ game. Keith waited until I had won twice before challenging me to a game. My legs were too tired and he fell over so Mila won. She screamed her victory at the top of her lungs and made nearly 100 people stop talking and stare at her. Oops.

Nobu was our tour guide for the cemetery night walk. He told us that there are over 200,000 tombs and up to 300,000 other bodies interred in the grounds. The enormous fir trees are Japanese cedar and have an average age of 200-600 years. They are protected by the government.

Every day, monks make two meals for Kobo-Daishi (the founder of the village we were staying in) at 6am and 10.30am and take them to his mausoleum. The Shingon esoteric Buddhists believe that he is still sitting in there meditating where he has been for 1,200 years and one day he will emerge… enlightened. 30 years after he shut himself inside at 62 years old, a monk opened the doors and saw him still sitting there. He shaved his beard and cut his hair and gave him new clothes. Then he shut the doors again. Since then, only the head monk of the graveyard has been into the building and he hasn’t reported any change so they still make the food every day.

[Keith edit: if they all ate a proper meal with carbs and meat perhaps they’d stop seeing a living monk who is 1,200 years old….just saying….]

We heard the chatter of flying squirrels, saw a little frog and a massive spider on the path and wandered through the spooky graveyard for nearly two hours. Nobu told us some spooky stories about dying within 3 years if you trip up the stairs or if you can’t see your reflection in the well. We will walk carefully when we got back to check in daylight tomorrow!

The children were hilarious with the guide. They walked with him for the whole time and pestered him with questions about flying squirrels and tombs and where he had lived in the UK (Manchester for 18 months doing a course in English and the psychological effects of music). I think they need to go back to school! When we got back, Danny told me how much he liked Nobu about 4 times. Bless. Of course it could just be that they are both sick of us and are desperate for a conversation with anyone else in English!!

Nobu showed us a very typical grave decoration that used Gorinto- the 5 elements from which everything is made. This is represented on almost all of the tombs: earth, water, fire, wind and space. Just add consciousness to make people, animals, vegetables and insects. He told us that anyone can be buried here, from any religion and any country, as long as they believe in the teachings of Kobo-Daishi.

As we were finishing our walk, by the lantern temple, Nobu became slightly more philosophical. He told us that even though lotus plants grow in mud and dirt, they are strong and beautiful. He said our lives should be like the lotus. Then he chanted a mantra and asked us to wish for something. The other tour guide (who did his in Japanese) joined in the chant and it was very evocative.

Our final fact of the evening was that the little fat Buddha who wears a red bib and/or a little hat looks after babies and is called Jiza. Pregnant women pray to him, as do people who have lost a baby. If someone dies unexpectedly- say in a traffic accident, people tend to put a Jiza statue at the side of the road as that is the Buddha who takes people from this world to the death world and makes sure their spirits don’t get lost.

A fascinating evening, but I will have to go back tomorrow as I want to see a flying squirrel!

Most exciting thing to happen today… The temperature is 23 degrees. Epic.

This morning we had to leave the lovely, lovely man; the lovely, lovely lady and the lovely, lovely Ryokan. We are all a bit sad. The lovely, lovely man gave us another lift to the port and stood waving by the car until we had gone into the building. He was possibly ensuring that we had actually gone, but it felt very friendly.

They had got up extra early to make our delicious breakfast and cool the car down for us. Keith did his packing trick again (my packing trick is to stay out of the way as much as possible and then demand things he has already hidden…) and we arranged for the bags to be sent straight to Tokyo.

So, we had done the car bit and the ferry bit. Next we hopped on the local train to the Shinkansen station at Hiroshima and caught our bullet train. This one felt a little tired inside but it went just as fast so we didn’t mind. It is a slightly different experience when you don’t have reserved seats, but within 1 stop we were all sitting together.

About a third of the way along the route, Keith drew my attention to a massive castle we could see out of the window. It transpired that this was Himeji Castle, the biggest in Japan – one we were not scheduled to visit. We continued to speed along, but it was niggling at Keith. We both had a look at the stuff to do in Osaka (sorry Osaka) and decided that we would prefer to see Himeji Castle.

We dropped off the bags at the hotel and then hopped back on the Shinkansen with a picnic lunch (can you guess which meal went to which person?) to Himeji. It was so humid today that an extra few hours in air conditioning was no punishment and the castle in a thunder storm was awesome!

[Keith edit: Jo misses out how we got from the hotel to the Shinkansen. To do this, you have to get on a local train at Osaka and then pick up the Shinkansen from Shin-Osaka. We arrived at Osaka (not as much English signage as in other cities) and there was a train at one of the platforms. Nothing obvious to say it was the right train….so I shoved everyone on it. Much to Jo’s surprise we arrived at Shin-Osaka 5 minutes later. She was panicking. I was sure it would be the right train.]

It was very straightforward to get to the castle as there was an excellent lady in the tourist information who spoke excellent English and told us exactly which bus to get on and from where.

[Keith edit: Two note-worthy points about the castle. Firstly, ninjas did actually live here, unlike other places we’ve visited, like the Ninja Temple in Kanazawa, where locals pretend they lived there for tourists. Ninjas were a lower caste of warrior. Secondly, the ninja training camp scene in the James Bond movie You Only Live Twice was filmed at Himeji Castle. If you’ve seen the film you’ll no doubt remember Sean Connery’s appalling rendition of a Japanese person, with hair black and slicked down, and some rather dodgy makeup.]

The sky had darkened by the time we got to the castle and the heat was oppressive. We had an impassioned discussion about whether or not it was hotter/ more humid than it had been in recent days.

Mila went to get Keith a melon soda on the way into the castle and managed to press the wrong button. We all shared the resulting peach stuff that came out and Keith didn’t sulk too much, he just muttered for a bit!

The castle was amazing and showed the 1.2 billion Yen that they have just spent on it was probably worth it. I read a hilarious review on TripAdvisor by an American gentleman that complained it was empty and they really ought to put some more stuff in it.

Keith took some great photos as we climbed the levels and looking out of the window on the 4th floor revealed that it was raining heavily. Mila completed the journey to the top at break neck speed and then went straight back down to stand in the rain. When the rest of us made it down, it was to a very dejected little face. The rain had stopped by the time she got out and she had missed it. Poor baby!!

The temperature had dropped massively when we came out and the air felt clearer. In actual fact the pressure had probably dropped as well. We got a few more fat drops of rain and then the thunder and lightning started. It was right behind the castle from our vantage point but Keith didn’t quite manage to catch it on camera. Disappointing really. The children screamed when the lightening flashed and got looked at by all the sensible tourists.

It was well worth the journey back the way we had come to see the castle and the reduced temperature for a few hours was a much appreciated bonus.

Not having seat reservations was no problem and our Shinkansen back to Osaka was even quicker (for some inexplicable reason). I found a restaurant with good reviews in the Dotonbori district and Google Maps took us there very efficiently. I cannot cope with walking the wrong way so Keith has to drive it, but I can plan the routes!!

The restaurant was only just open and no-one else was there yet but we bravely went in. The English spoken by the waiter was not excellent but the English menu seemed comprehensive…. until we started ordering and he kept saying old… no more… at us. Then we had to look at the new menu (only in Japanese) and try to match the pictures from the old one. A little cranial challenge just increased our appetites!

The food was good. Who knew there would be a cover charge for vegetables? I mean we were excited to see vegetables but we thought it was a dish we had ordered accidentally. My only concern was that the chicken wings were not chicken. The bones looked wrong somehow. No?

Keith and I had lemon sours. They had gin in them and were strong. Caroline would have liked it…

The area of Dotonbori is crazy. It is all lit up and is the essence of weird Japan. There was even a kind of Ferris wheel inside a building. Mila was desperate to go up but the rest of us thought she was crazy and wouldn’t join in.

We had a little wander about the craziness and found epic waffle cup icecreams for pudding. I am a bad person as I failed to read the sign IN ENGLISH that told me the server was visually impaired. I tried my usual trick of pointing to the menu and saying “are o kudasai” which didn’t work. Argh….. we worked it out eventually, got the ice creams and then we headed back to our trusty MyStay for a well earned rest.

My bruise… for posterity:

… which has been knocked with a camera, tapped, bumped into and generally abused all day. Grrr.

This morning at 8:15am sirens sounded across Japan. We were asked by our hosts to put our names on origami cranes, which will be taken to Peace Park in Hiroshima.

The first atomic bomb was dropped 73 years ago today, killing an estimated 140,000 people between the 6th August and the end of 1945.

We had ordered western style breakfasts for the children, so they were offered coffee. The nice man must have seen our faces as he took pity on us and let us have coffee as well as our Japanese tea. It was epic. Both breakfasts were delicious and swiftly polished off.

When we went back up to the room to get ready, Keith made a funny noise. He had unearthed a massive insect in the corner of the room and did not look happy. We sent the children downstairs wih a picture of it on Keith’s mobile to get reinforcements. The nice man appeared moments later with his bug removal equipment. First he squished it. Then he used tweezers to collect it and take it away. No drama so it must be normal. It was massive though – probably a cockroach, based on previous encounters in Florida.

The lovely, lovely bug removing expert then gave us a lift to the port to catch the fast ferry to Hiroshima Peace park. This saved us a 20 minute walk, sweatiness and much moaning. Lovely man.

We were in plenty of time and got to watch and count in the 19 motorbikes lining up to get on the normal ferry to the mainland. I didn’t fancy the leather but I did enjoy the small Japanese child counting them in.

On yesterday’s ferry I spotted some rafts in the strait. Today’s ferry had useful information that popped up on the screen. They are oyster rafts and have ropes hanging underneath them to farm oysters. I wonder how much damage the tropical storm did to them last week? We saw at least one washed up on the beach.

The express ferry (well, large speed boat) had quite a turn of speed and on a mirror flat sea we went really fast. The bow lifted right up in the water and slammed into the bow waves from other boats with quite some force. It was Mila’s turn to be scared today and she hid for quite a lot of the journey.

We saw an emerging cormorant (who looked very surprised to see us) as we turned into the river and cruised up through the city to the Peace Park. Much of the information on the boat’s screen was now about the bridges we passed under and when they had been built or rebuilt.

What we were planning to do today started to become a bit more real first thing when our hosts were startled that we were taking the kids. I don’t think we could have come here and not seen it and we can’t pretend it didn’t happen and that the world is a nice place all the time.

Our first stop when we got off the boat was the Atomic bomb dome. This is a building so close to the detonation that the force was downwards and not outwards, so the stone structure survived. It has been fitted with sub-structure to preserve it in this state as a reminder of the destruction.

Right next to this memorial was a man talking to some tourists. He had a hand cart with him full of folders in every language of his experience. He was an “in-utero survivor”, in other words his pregnant mother was in Hiroshima when the bomb was detonated. The folder detailed his health problems and his mother’s and his perspective on what had happened. I expected vitriol and anger. I didn’t expect to find out that there were 7 years of press suppression and that it wasn’t until Japan had their sovereignty back nearly 20 years later that survivors could expect financial and medical aid. I didn’t expect that he would feel no aggression towards the US or that we would fully recognise the impact of Japan’s behaviour in the Pacific. I didn’t know that 1,000 Japanese leaders were executed. I didn’t know that all of this happened because Japan was desperate for resources that they didn’t have.

A shocking introduction to this place and rightly so. We took a moment to reflect.

My godmother would have been proud of me today for dragging my family around two art galleries. I had no idea that European Renaissance art was so well represented in Japan. The artists listed below are some of the works we have seen today (minor it has to be said but still…).

Van Gogh, Signac, Seurat, Toulouse-Lautrec, Rosseau, Munch, Gaugin, Cezanne, Bombard, Le Sidaner, Matisse, Picasso, Leger, Monet, Manet, Delacroix, Courbett, Renoir, Degas.

Photos are Picasso and Matisse.

We decided that all tourist venues we visit from now on will be judged on the following criteria:

1) quality of air conditioning

2) number of places to sit

3) vouchers for money off in the cafe.

You will notice that content no longer features!! We are simple creatures. Anyway, today’s first gallery (Hiroshima Gallery of Art) scored very highly on all criteria and led us to partake of a sweet bun, some cherry cake, a cold chocolate milk and an elderflower soda. The only downside was the vicious, bruise causing toilet door. Photos tomorrow probably when it comes out in all of its splendour!

Our next stop was via the street cars. We had to negotiate being in the middle of the road to catch one, but once you had dodged the cars it was just like a bus. Again we could use our Pasmo cards to hop on and off.

We made it to the Shuikeien Gardens surrounding the Prefectural Art Museum. They are beautiful and the ponds were full of enormous healthy looking carp and dinky terrapins. This is the park with the only tree that survived the atomic bomb. It’s seeds have been sent all around the world as envoys of peace. It now grows at an able of about 45 degrees due to the force of the bomb.

We managed to pick a different route through from the children, so when Keith sorted the photos that evening, it was to discover that Amelia had taken a number of pictures of a pigeon sitting on a bridge with a wide angle lens that made it tiny!

We came across a Japanese couple feeding the carp with the pellets sold in the park. The gentleman very kindly gave both kids a handful so that they could try and target the small, weak ones that kept being pushed out of the way by the big ones.

I felt we had exhausted the activity of watching fish (and none of the important criteria were being fulfilled) so we went into the Prefectural Art Museum. There was a special exhibition of children’s cartoons so it was heaving with toddlers queuing badly. We didn’t bother with that bit and just went around the standard exhibition.

We particularly liked the enormous Dali and the Hashimoto: dragon and tiger in quarrel! As you can see Danny couldn’t keep his hands off what is, we think, a pretty important painting in art circles.

After that cooling interlude we went off to get some lunch- more of the yummy pancake, omelette, cabbage, bacon, bean sprouts and bbq sauce (okonmiyaki). It seemed like a bit of a dodgy shop but the food was excellent.

Our final stop was the Peace park.

First we went to an underground cenotaph that listed the names and showed the photos of those people they know to have died. Because the records of who lived in the area were all stored locally, they were destroyed. Exact numbers will never be known. Visitors are encouraged to add names and upload photos to make the list more complete. It seems so sad that there must be so many “unnamed warriors” still unaccounted for.

The main museum is being reinforced to better withstand earthquakes, so the main exhibition has been moved to a side hall. It was absolutely rammed with people. Tomorrow is the 73rd anniversary and a big commemoration is planned.

The first display was a chronological history of the development of nuclear weapons and the reasons for that. It explained the pressure that countries were put under and the race not to be last.

The displays were 4 or 5 people deep and you had to dodge between them to read the English. The benefit of this was that the children didn’t see most of it. We gave them the general impresion without the specific detail.

In the second exhibition, survivors had donated items of clothing that victims had been wearing or possessions they had loved. Each item had a description of how the owner had died. All were filthy, some covered in blood. Most were charred.

A lot of the items were donated by the mothers of children who had died. One explained how she kept going back into the city to try and find her missing child and having to go back to bed every night without having found hem. Very emotional. And of course she would have gone anyway, but no-one had told her that by going into the area worst affected, she would receive a fatal dose of radiation herself.

The most harrowing section was that of photographs taken of injuries. I don’t think the children noticed them fortunately as they were very graphic.

I didn’t expect to be told that survivors were shunned by Japanese society as though they had something that could be infectious. I didn’t realise that the people affected didn’t know why they got ill and died of complications after they had recovered from hideous burns and injuries caused by flying debris.

Our return ferry was approaching so we walked back through the preparations for tomorrow’s commemoration. There must have been 1,000 seats placed under tents and awnings in front of the Cenotaph.

We were all a bit quiet on the way back and the sea was much choppier so cuddles seemed appropriate.

The lovely man collected us from the port and the children went into the Ryokan for their showers. Keith and I walked up to the massive temple right next to our lodgings. It was shut for the night and the staff were tidying and watering the plants. We squeezed in anyway for a look and rang the bell which had a big hammer you could swing back.

A quick shower before our last Kiseiki supper and then sleeping.

Fruit and vegetables are very expensive in Japan. Chemists must make a fortune on digestive remedies. That’s all I have to say about that.

We had booked a taxi for 7.30am to get us to Kyoto station in time to catch our next Shinkansen. It all went swimmingly and we even had time to buy breakfast and train snacks before we boarded.

Keith’s face every time he sees the front of a Shinkansen is worth every penny we spent on this holiday. Pure little boy bliss!

Even I would agree that they are a marvel of engineering and less vomit inducing than British tilting trains.

The views were not as spectacular on this leg… lots of tunnel… flashes of paddy fields and towns… and then lots more tunnel.

We changed to a very busy, boring, local train for the section of the journey between Hiroshima and Miyojima and then onto a RORO ferry across to the island. It tickled me greatly that we were directed a different (step free) way onto the ferry as we had big wheeled suitcases with us. Our way was straight into an air conditioned lounge… with a door on the other side labelled “Miyojima” so we got to use the ferry exactly as it was designed!

The second part of today’s journey was absolutely heaving with tourists. We particularly liked the gaggle of 4 girls and one boy in Armani shoes, Rolex watches, fake boobs and over-painted lipstick to make their bottom lip look enormous. My Dad would NOT have let me out of the house in any of their outfits and it made a marked contrast to the four principles of the tea ceremony from yesterday: harmony, respect, purity and tranquility. Hmmm. The older Japanese people on the train did not know where to look and there was one older lady pursing her lips on disapproval at the 6 inch high wedges they were in danger of falling off when the train moved.

As planned, the tourist office called our Ryokan when we arrived and they were kind enough to pop down to collect us. The hostess has excellent English and navigated the extremely narrow streets with great competency. I am glad I wasn’t driving.

The rooms weren’t quite ready for us, so after drinking our cold green tea and eating a local biscuit delicacy, we went back out to brave the heat. We started with Okonmiyaki, recommended by our lovely hostess before heading off to the Itsukushima Temple. It is built on stilts over the beach so that at high tide there is water all around. There are multiple buildings and platform connected by walkways.

It is a shame that the water was full of floating detritis. It was mostly organic matter but contained quite a bit of polystyrene. There were workmen on the beach trying to clean it up, so I wondered if it was a symptom of the recent tropical storm.

Anyway, the wildlife didn’t seem to mind. We saw crabs, little fish, hermit crabs, water snails and a stork managing to catch and eat one of the little fish.

Mila got another page completed in her stamp book and then we set off to our next appointment for the afternoon. I had discovered that the trek Tim and Keith thought was a good idea took more than three hours and was reportedly very steep. Using ninja-like transport skills, I found a free shuttle bus that took us right up to the first cable car. We bought some shaved ice on the way to wait for it and that cooled us down a bit.

The first cable car took us up to the next and then we were at the top. The views were spectacular but they both felt a bit rickety. Danny did not like it at all and didn’t really feel the benefit of the view.

When I say the cable car took you to the top, that is not strictly true. There were signs for a 30 minute hike to the summit. Right next to the sign that warned about venomous snakes in the area.

Deer: fine;

bears the size of dogs: ok;

boars: take care;

hornets: take great care;

venomous snakes: no.

So we took pictures from where we were and then went back down. The breeze at the top was very pleasant but I was very pleased that the children are independently mobile. There was an Italian family at the top with a nearly naked sweaty baby and very hot toddler. They both wanted carrying and it looked exhausting.

On the way back, Mila had a bit of excitement with a large wasp that wanted to get on the bus with her, but then we were back at sea level.

Air conditioning and showers were calling, so we returned to the Ryokan and got ready for dinner.

We were presented with another epic feast. The adults got more courses than the children got this time and the two winners were fish head cooked in soy sauce and sugar and the cloudy sake which was delicious.

Danny’s quote of the day (see title of post) was inspired by a lovely plain looking course of beef and vegetables. There was even broccoli which was recognisable, but sadly incorrectly flavoured!

After dinner we walked back down to the beach for the low tide. At this point the red gate was completely exposed by the low tide and you could walk out to it over the sand (we told the children it was sand but it was clearly a shifting mass of shelled creatures: wriggle…).

Having missed the fireworks in Kanazawa, I was very happy to see some fireworks over Hiroshima while we were on the beach. They were a long way away and clearly quite a lot were on the ground but the ones we could see were good. They also sparked a conversation about the difference between the speed of light and the speed of sound.

I made the mistake of turning the torch on my phone on and Mila immediately started screaming and put her flip-flops back on. The number of little hermit crabs was like a scene from Indiana Jones!

When we went out a bit further there were some small depressions in the ground. I put on my convincing voice and told the rest of the family they were the homes of the wiggly snake fish we had seen in the Tokyo Aquarium. You never know- it might be true. Anyway, it made them both hop about trying not to stand on them which was funny!

I was the only one with bare feet by this point and was getting a good pedicure from the rough and stony ground. I did have to stop and put my sandals back on once we got the path though as it was worse than Screw Road (Dorling family reference). When we did stop, we noticed that you could see bats flying in and out of the massive spot lights trained on the gate. This creeped Mila out even more so we walked at some speed back to the ryokan.

It is very disconcerting being so hot when it is so dark. More than 30 degrees and pitch black. It doesn’t do that in Yorkshire.

As we walked back up the road, Keith saw a little crab walking sideways across the road. I presume it had come up from the drain as it must have been more than 300m from the beach.

Our last encounter for the evening (who knew there would be so much wildlife on our walk!) was with a little lizard sitting on the door frame of our Ryokan eating insects buzzing around the light.

That was enough excitement for one day so we washed our feet again and went to bed.

(I thought it was raining when we got to our room, but actually it was a waterfall outside the ryokan. I hadn’t heard it before AS THE BLOODY CICADAS MAKE SO MUCH NOISE ALL DAY!!)

Washed feet and went to bed.

After another picnic breakfast, requiring minimal washing up…

… we headed off to our tea ceremony. We left plenty of time… or so we thought. Of course there is always something. Today it was that if you don’t swipe your Pasmo properly when coming out of a train line, you can’t get into the next one. This necessitated a return trip within a station so that we could carry on with our journey. Danny’s enthusiasm/lack of swiping accuracy made us slightly late, but as we weren’t last it didn’t matter and our host didn’t seem to mind.

The session started with our lovely host establishing where we were all from. There were two 4 person British families (including us), one young Italian couple (young enough to be asked to kneel on the floor!!) and one American mother and daughter in kimono.

We were taught how to bow- the four children got a private lesson. The most important part was the distance between the edge of the tatami mat and their knees- sixteen stitches.

Then the Italian couple demonstrated how to receive the tea, apologise for drinking theirs before we got ours, thank the host for making it, etc. The lovely host was labouring under the impression that we were all capable of remembering a multi-word phrase in Japanese. None of us were. Well, apart from the younger American lady who had cheated by learning some Japanese in advance! Clearly all Americans are highly tolerant of foreign cultures.

The host was lovely and only got slightly serious for the formal part of the ceremony. The rest of the time she happily laughed at us trying to eat our sweets with a little wooden stick and Keith’s face trying to drink green tea! [EDIT Keith: It was revolting. Think a lurid green frothy liquid, that should probably have a HAZMAT label attached to it. In fact it would make an ideal base paint for some of my models.]

After we had all tried the tea formally with the right phrases in the right places (although it should be pointed out that we did not

a) have white socks on

b) have a little fan to tuck into our kimono

c) remember any of the proper phrases!),

she invited all of the children and one person from each of the couples to make their own tea. The children then let their parents drink the tea they had made. Yay! Danny made mine rather strong so I didn’t quite finish the second cup.

It was really nice to have a quick chat with the other British family: the first we have seen since we got here. They were from London and had booked much of their trip with Audley as well. They recommended the Inca trail for our next adventure!

The other British family headed off to the Nijo-jo castle and we scurried between patches of shade in the other direction.

With some misgivings, after reading some reviews, we had planned a trip to the bamboo forest in Arashiyama. I did some research before we set out and plotted a course across the centre of town via the Tozai line and the San-in line to Saga-Arashiyama. My cunning plan was then to swap to another line to do one more hop that put us just outside the bamboo forest. When we got there, it became apparent that the other line was in fact the “Romantic Sagano Train Line”. This leaves every hour, is not air conditioned and had standing room only. Oh, and you have to pay for the whole trip even if you only want to go one stop. Less than ideal.

So we walked.

Hotness.

Moaning.

The bamboo forest was heaving with rude tourists. The trees were quite spaced out. The back drop was uninspiring. The bamboo forest at the Kodaiji temple was a lot better. I did try a matcha/soya ice cream. Not as good as salted caramel but edible. I was pleased that no-one else liked it as, for a change, I didn’t get pestered for another taste!

The children voted against another shrine or the monkeys- and I hadn’t even told them about the 20 minute walk to get there. I think they have a bad case of temple/shrine fatigue and not even the promise of a stamp can enthuse them when it gets to 39 degrees….again…..

We retraced our steps to the station, onto the train and back to the food market. I think this is by far our favourite place in Kyoto. We have been every day and found something new. Today it was a Japanese bookshop… the very definition of frustration! I was quite tempted by a Japanese jigsaw but the family guided me gently away.

I felt better when I found a stamp shop. There must have been 2 or 3 hundred stamps. The nice lady guided me to one that says well done in Japanese and has a picture of a samurai. I think I will use it for exceptional pieces of work!!!

I was very impressed today (although still unconvinced that it wasn’t accidental…) when Keith navigated us back through the grid of seemingly identical covered streets to the dumpling and bubble tea shop. We didn’t need any more dumplings, but there is always space for a bubble tea!

Our mission today was to try and get Danny a yukata to use as a dressing gown when we get home. We failed in the market. It seems to be a girl’s souvenir and he wasn’t keen on the silky red ones! We also failed in the shop Tim recommended. They had lots of second hand adult ones, but none that would fit Danny. Finally, having  previously learned a massive number of random adjectives in Japanese came on handy as Danny was trying one on and the sales assistant sucked air through her teeth and stated: “mijikai” which means short. Time well spent.

We eventually found a shop selling what were in effect kid’s dressing up clothes. The quality is not fantastic but hopefully a few washes will soften it up.

We had a fun time in another department store food basement buying a picnic tea as we couldn’t face a restaurant or the queue that would inevitably need to be stood in to get into one.

After tea and a little rest, the children went to read in bed and Keith and I went back out to see Kyoto at night. It was significantly cooler than it had been earlier but still very warm, well over 30 degrees. We had a little wander down a fashionable street all lit up with hanging lanterns and went back to a shrine that was heaving with people when we visited it with Lucky. It was much quieter and with a little open space and less ambient light we spotted Mars. The last time I saw it was on the Amalfi coast, on honeymoon nearly 15 years ago. Ahhh.

Thank you Kyoto and good night.

We had a planned early start today to travel to Fushima and walk up Mount Inori. A better night left us more rested but still slow to get moving, so we weren’t up and out until gone 8am. Our plan was further hampered by an accident on the Keida line leaving us stranded without a train. Like the troopers we are, we changed plan and told Google maps to find us a bus: which it did. User error meant that we got on the wrong direction so then there was a bit of a frosty atmosphere for a while. Ironically that bus service is a loop so we could have gone the other way around, but we didn’t realize that until later.

We did get to see a cormorant on the river while we waited, so every cloud…

We finally made it to the JR line and onto the Nara line, but by this point it was 10.30am and any hope of a cooler and less crowded walk had fled.

It was hot and busy at the bottom, but clearly not everyone is made of such stern stuff as us as the top was pretty quiet. It took just over an hour to ramble along under the hundreds or thousands of red gates and up the steps to the top, and we poured with sweat the whole way. It was pleasantly shaded under the trees and much cooler than on tarmac, but any kind of exertion makes your body leak all over.

Keith took hundreds of photos with annoying and impatient tourists popping a foot or head into them. I think he managed to get one or two that he liked but a lot ended up on the cutting room floor!

The way down was much quicker and we hopped on a return train just before lunch. Inari is a local stop, which means that the express doesn’t stop there. We had to go back to Kyoto station to swap to a faster train, but this meant that we could slurp ramen in air conditioning again so that was fine by us!

I braved some exciting rice crackers on the train to Nara and everyone tried the fish. Only I liked them: they were sweet and chewy, but the rest of the crackers were lovely.

Tim’s description of Nara left me a bit cold given it was an hour’s train ride away and TripAdvisor wasn’t that much more inspiring. We are obedient to the instructions however and set off on the train ride. An hour there and back in nice cool air conditioning was reason enough for me, but when we got there I was blown away.

There is a tourist loop bus that Google maps doesn’t know about (we thought we would have to walk!!!) and we hopped on that to get round to the Todai-ji temple. Just before the stop, the children noticed some of the famous Nara deer. They wander into the road with no fear at all (the deer, not the children). We managed to get off at the right bus stop and walked through the park and through the deer poo to get to the shrine (remember the poo- it features later!).

You go through a massive gate (still surrounded by inquisitive deer) and walk up to another massive building. Well, actually it is another gate, but because you can’t see through it and the tour leads you around to the left, you emerge on the other side and get slapped in the face by the size of the actual temple. Both Keith and I stood with our mouths open at the extent of it, but then it is the largest wooden building in Japan – so large as it contains the largest statue. I hope the photos do it justice. We purified as is customary and then climbed the steps. Directly in front of you is an enormous Buddha carved from wood. I think his hand would easily be taller than Keith. Either side of him are two gold covered guardian deities that would be huge in their own right.

Danny’s favourite bit was a staircase/ladder leading up to the second level. Thank God we weren’t allowed up there. Mila’s favourite bit was going to be the hollow pillar that she wriggle through, but then she found a stuffed deer that poos. Nuff said.

The views back from the temple towards the middle gate were spectacular and of course there were the requisite Koi swimming in a pond.

I was a bit depressed about the deer by this point. There were carts selling cakes that you could feed to them, but if anyone bought them they got mobbed. We saw a grandma bashing a deer on the nose as it pestered her small, screaming granddaughter who was clutching a plastic bag with a cake in it. We saw kids teasing the deer with bits of cake and then running away. All in all it felt a bit exploitative and I got a boo on and wouldn’t let the kids buy food. I also have concerns about what is in the cake?! I would like to presume it is nutritionally balanced to keep the deer healthy. They looked ok and had lots of babies.

The heat was unpleasant and our legs were tired so we hopped back on the loop bus to Nara station. Here I was allowed my first proper Japanese supermarket experience although it was rushed as we didn’t want to miss the train. We bought recognisable fruit, bento boxes for tea and various bits for breakfast tomorrow.

We did make the train even after captain worrywart declared it was impossible and then sat back to enjoy our lovely air conditioned trip.

The only exciting thing that happened on the return journey (apart from some bento box leakage) was the sight of a double decker carriage on a train going through the platform. Epic.

It was quite a relief to get back, showered and fed at a reasonable time tonight. Danny told us today that this holiday is exhausting. I think we all agree- magical with wonder everywhere, but exhausting!

I woke up this morning with bruises on my hips. This futon is more blanket than mattress. Sleep? Who needs it.

Danny’s cough is better! Hurrah.

Sweet baked goods and drinking yoghurt for breakfast and then out to the aptly name Nijo-jo Castle. Train and subway with Pasmo cards that are still functional.

It was sooo hot today and humid so it feels hard to breathe. The strength of the sun cannot be overestimated: any skin not covered up or slathered in sun cream prickles instantly and you can feel it burning.

A fascinating castle with nightingale floors that squeak as you walk across them. The rooms are full of weird representations of tigers, as though the artist had never seen a real one. Cranes, trees, etc. on beautifully detailed room sized paper screens. Gilt painted panels on ceilings undergoing restoration. No shoes, no photos inside and no air con.

Quick walk round green but hot gardens- mummy forgot the wet towels so she was in the dog house. Back out of the sun and onto the underground, then back to the food market for a very adventurous lunch; picking kebabs and nibbles from stalls: octopus, chicken, potato and cheese fishcake, followed by a kind of burger made with sliced beef between two halves of a potato croquette. All utterly yummy and easy to eat whilst walking.

Back to the house for bit of the “Grand Tour” (Amazon’ Top Gear) and a sit down to prepare for our half day walking tour this afternoon.

We met with our guide at 2pm outside the Machiya to start our tour. First stop via the local train was Sanjusangen-do Temple. This beautiful building was unaffected by 2nd World War bombing and hasn’t burnt down since the 1600s. Quite a feat for a wooden building that they still encourage people to light candles in.

It is 120m long and they still use the length outside for archery competitions: both professional and as a coming of age ceremony. Inside, there are 1,001 wooden, lacquered and gilded Buddhas. Each one is clearly built to the same pattern but each is slightly different, due to the 70 sculptors used to make them. Each face looks identical on first inspection, but the more you look the more differences you see. Each statue has 42 pairs of arms, each palm has an eye on to look out for people who need help.

Mila managed to get another stamp for her book and both children would probably tell you that their favourite part was the fan just outside blowing water onto the pathetically grateful visitors.

Our guide (whose name meant lucky books!) Then took us to have a wander round Higashiyama. It is a beautiful and clearly very old part of the city, where even Mcdonalds and Starbucks do not have enough corporate power to get full signage and ruin the atmospheric streets. She also took us to a shrine where they sell monkeys that are made from the leftover fabric from the kimono industry. The fabric did not look to meet that requirement to me, but there were lots of young people buying them and writing on them in sharpies to hang from the shrine.

Lucky explained why we have seen so many young people wearing kimono. Apparently, it is a government initiative to encourage the kimono industry and gives wearers discounts on taxis, restaurants etc. It just looks incredibly hot, but there is a huge market in having someone come to your hotel to do your hair and dress you in your rented kimono. I suppose the advantage is that you can give it back when it is sodden with sweat and stinky!

She found us a Toroto shop and we bought a key ring to add to our collection of Japanese memories. The stuffed one Mila wanted would have required its own seat on the way home!

Lucky showed us some Chinese yoof having their photos taken professionally in traditional Japanese wedding kimono on a decorative bridge. The poor boy was dressed head to toe in black and looked close to passing out. I hope their photo is good! The photographer’s camera gear wasn’t all that, either…! Lucky said that 99% of people wearing kimono and yukata in the city are in fact not Japanese at all – Chinese, Korean, and other Asian nationalities on their holidays.

She also found us an epic ice cream shop that had benches and air conditioning. Are you starting to see a theme?

Our next dose of culture was the Kodaiji Temple, built in 1605 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s second wife, who became a nun when he died and lived for 27 years consoling his spirit and praying to him. Maybe he didn’t have life insurance?!!! The actual building wasn’t that impressive after seeing the longest wooden structure in Japan earlier but there are 3 thatched tea ceremony buildings and a gravel garden which made our first Zen temple visit an experience nonetheless. My favourite part was the mini bamboo forest which was near the top of the hill and beautifully cool and breezy in comparison to the painfully still streets below.

The water level in the pond had sunk so low that the enormous (and apparently solitary) Koi carp didn’t fit and had to squirm along the mud in the bottom to make progress, with his dorsal fin exposed to the baking sun. My reference to microwaved salmon where a bit is cooked and the rest is not was deemed offensive.

By this time it was 5pm and the sun was sinking, rendering the temperature much more tolerable. We have used umbrellas borrowed from the Machiya for the last two days to try and protect us from the terrifying UV. Our bus stop technique is not elegant but is very effective!

We walked back to Gion through the Yasaka shrine, past rather buff young men in tight shorts pulling rickshaws full of giggling, yakata wearing girls.

Lucky told us the Japanese people see no conflict between Budhism and Shinto- using Shinto to celebrate births and weddings and Budhism to commiserate with deaths.

We had tried to book a restaurant for tonight but the one Keith wanted was completely booked up. Fortunately Lucky had a plan and led us around the warren of narrow streets. Unexpectedly we saw a Geisha and a Meiko heading off to an appointment! The Meiko can be as young as 16 and are apprentices. They can’t become full Geiko until they are 20. Lucky was very surprised to see them and we were all slightly saddened by the rash of tourists with cameras and smart phones pestering them. We stood and stared for a few seconds!

Then Lucky took us to a Teppanyaki restaurant where you could queue for your table in air conditioning sitting on chairs. Blissful.

Sat on the floor around a hot plate, the food was almost incidental but managed to be spectacular anyway- fried noodles tipped straight onto the hot plate, fried potatoes, beautiful buttered corn, steak and chicken thigh. We even had a Japanese radish salad and a big bowl of rice. Danny noticed that there were miniscule fish decorating the salad and then continued stuffing it in his face. I think we have cracked that one- he even tried the octopus at lunchtime!

Our stagger back to the Machiya included a detour to get yet more water and irritate a poor man in a sweet shop, where Keith counted out his pennies to pay for something worth 500 Yen. We had to leave quite quickly, but we had acquired some very crunchy biscuits and a rice-y peanut brittle that I would happily die for. Oh that reminds me… Danny has been hanging out for wasabi peas since we got here and today we managed to source some wasabi nuts. Very tasty, if a bit spicy, but anything that encourages us to drink can only be good.

Breakfast for tomorrow was also purchased from our favourite Familymart and includes yoghurt, fruit, sweet bread things and granola. Fish and rice would be easier to find!!

I am hoping that the double layer of mattress we have requested for tonight will leave my hips less bruised tomorrow!!

No annoyingly loud Chinese ladies this morning so 8am was nearly reached before we woke up. I am starting to feel a bit more human! It is amazing how tiring the heat is, even when we avoid it as much as possible by sun dodging.

Mila’s sun burn is much better today and her chesty cough has almost gone. Sadly, Danny’s chest tightness from yesterday has developed into a nasty, hollow sounding cough (the propensity for which he has inherited from his aunt and Granny!) and a requirement to carry his inhaler. Will keep you posted as to what transpires.

It is fortunate that the train station is so close to the MyStay hotel or we might not have had time to be frog marched there half an hour before the train was due to leave. It did however mean that we had plenty of time to choose our German Bread products to eat on the train. The fast walk with rucksacks rendered Danny speechless for a few minutes so planned to take the rest of the day gently.

Mila and I did some of her memory book on the train- until we felt sick and had to resort to boiled sweets. Then, with the rest of the family happily plugged in and ignoring the scenery, I went back to looking out of the window. I get travel sick so quickly that this is by far the most pleasant way of spending train journeys.

As we approached Kara Onsen, I could see an enormous golden statue on the hill. It is called Jibo Kannon which means “compassionate mother” and “Kannon” is the name of the god. It features a woman cradling a baby and is 73m high.

I also saw herons, cranes, kites, Japanese crows and the possible white tailed eagle again. The others miss so much….

I am going to suggest to Audley that they put a contents page and page numbers into the PDF of the itineraries that they produce. I don’t know how to do it, but I regularly use huge PDF files for work and they have clickability so you can navigate around the document without scrolling. The (heavy!) paper itinerary in the folder is easy to use, but the PDF is so big that it is tricky to find the page you want.

Once a process improvement specialist, always a process improvement specialist!

We walked to the office of the house agent and then got a taxi with the bags straight to the Machiya as it was already ready (thank God!).

We had a little rest in our lovely little house and put the first load of washing on and then did some route planning for our time in Kyoto. A whole new transport system to work out when we had just mastered Kanazawa!

We decided to do a short excursion to the Manga museum, followed by the food and Kimono market. We got distracted on the way to the Manga museum and bought Mila and myself a Yukata as souvenirs. We had aimed for a second hand kimono shop but ended up buying new ones anyway! It was lots of fun picking colours and trying to get the belts to contrast successfully. I have no idea if I will be able to put them on properly but we always have YouTube!

We stumbled on a restaurant selling epic dumplings and strawberry bubble tea. I didn’t take the title ‘soup dumpling’ seriously enough though and the soup ended up on the table after my tentative nibble! The rest of the family learnt from my mistake and shoved theirs in whole.

Bubble tea is lethal. It is like strawberry milk with small balls of jelly in. Sucked through a fat straw, it leaves you very prone to inhaling jelly balls. Too yummy to worry about the risk assessment but don’t buy it for toddlers!

The Manga museum was more of a Manga library, which is a little disappointing when 99% are in a language you cannot begin to read. It was reassuring how many people had paid the entrance to sit in a bean bag or on the floor and read a comic though. No photography was allowed, but Keith was super sneaky: shooting from the hip! There was a Manga artist doing portraits but the queue was completely full. We managed to find a few English/American comics, but we all found it hard to read from back to front. Is it top to bottom or bottom to top? Very frustrating. I need a proper book personally!

Our first underground and overground trip in Kyoto back to Geisha district went well, but was followed by a nightmare of impossible to find and fully booked restaurants. We ended up standing outside a 15 seat restaurant for an hour with our names on a lists and horrific heat still attacking us even in the dark.

Obviously once we got in, the food was amazing and well worth waiting for. We ate our body weight in delicious gyoza and took photos of the children drinking beer (the rules are 20 years today so we got some funny looks but it was non alcoholic!!)

Fate must have been involved in our stressful evening as we were lucky enough to see a Geisha in full dress on the way home.

Home, shower and bed.

We were woken this morning by some very shouty ladies who obviously thought it was time to get up. I didn’t mind too much as I had made a discovery:

wonderful bed + memory foam pillow + solid walls = sleep

Bliss.

A crazy breakfast was consumed, including chips, yoghurt, fried chicken with curry and cocoa pops. There are a lot of Asian tourists in this hotel (we are assuming they are Chinese, but we don’t really know) and I think that is reflected in the breakfast. The dining room host was very concerned about the door lintel. He must think Keith grew over night and has never been tall before. Oh well, he thinks he is helping.

We successfully bought day bus tickets from the front desk of the hotel and ventured outside.

Hot hot hot. 34 degrees and 58% humidity. Hot.

The nice lady on the front desk had also managed to book us onto a Japanese only tour (NO SMALL KIDS!) around a Ninja temple. The plan, concocted the night before, was to visit the market on the way but we were a bit late so we hopped on our first “left loop” bus from the station and set off to the other end of town.

We found the temple with no problems as everyone on our bus was heading the same way. There was barely any shade outside the temple and you were not allowed in until 10 minutes before your tour. We performed our ritual cleaning (although were disappointed that there was no incense for our souls!) and took our shoes off to enter the temple. We had been promised an English translation and I was slightly concerned when the Japanese recording started, but sure enough the lady appeared with two folders of information in English. They have obviously had ne’er do wells in the past as we had to sign them out and promise to return them!

After a Japanese interlude, a lovely lady asked us to stand up and started our tour. Once you had read the English, it was surprisingly easy to follow the context of what she was saying in Japanese: mostly “Mind your head”!

There were many features of the ninja temple whose description elicited audible gasps from the captive audience: pitfalls, secret stairways, hidden doors, secret rooms for praying and watching. Inside there was no breath of air and we were all melting. Then the lovely, lovely lady took us into a secret room (without taking us across the secret bridge as it was too old) which had an air conditioner. Sudden heaven.

Our next stop- via the wonderful bus- was the Omi-cho market. We were greeted at the entrances with blocks of ice for visitors to wipe their hands on to try and cool down. We found enormous crabs and oysters and eventually two useful little towels to soak in water and use to reduce the childrens’ temperatures. Everyone else seems to have them and they definitely seem to improve the level of comfort.

Another trip on a local bus (which was accidental, but still took us to the station) allowed us to experience the wonder of the German Bread shop. We weren’t brave enough to try the curry doughnuts, but the fried chicken sandwich and the apple pastries were delicious.

After lunch, we went for a wander around a fancy department store and Mila and I found a number of extraordinarily expensive bags and pencil cases. Keith wasn’t keen, Danny wasn’t interested!

The next stop on the agenda was the Ishikawa Prefecture History Museum. Expert as we now are at Japanese public transport, it was no effort to get as close as possible on the bus, but it still required a short walk. This was fortuitous as we accidentally went into a temple on the way. Mila decided to pay for a stamp and we handed over the book she brought with her for sketching. This provoked some conversation between the artist and the assistant which culminated in Mila being given a present of a book with the right paper in it! The artist then did his thing and produced a beautiful calligraphy entry in her new book.

Outside the temple was a path, decorated all along with the prayers that people had hung on them. A beautiful, calm space in the middle of all the tourist hustle.

The museum we had been aiming for was deserted, with only a handful of other people in it. We were given free English recordings of the displays and learnt a bit more about Japanese history. We saw some carbonised rice that had been made on the eve of a battle, a reconstruction of a burial mound and a model of the park at Kanazawa Castle with light up sections controlled by buttons. We learnt that the lords subjugated their followers by keeping their wives and children as hostages and forcing them to parade back and forth from their lands; walking hundreds of people for 13 days and 12 nights and costing so much money that they couldn’t afford to rebel. Keith took some photos, despite there being signs everywhere saying “no photography”.

The highlight for Mila was the section where you were allowed to dress up. She challenged some gender stereotypes and the ladies responsible for dressing the children, by requesting the samurai armour and not the pretty kimono. Obviously I just joined in to keep her company…

We hopped on the bus again, this time to the Geisha district: Higashi Chaya. The museum that was supposed to explain the gold leaf making process was expensive and looked dull, so we went to a recommended shop instead and were forcibly subjected to a demo and explanation of gold leaf making and using. Then they served us cold roasted tea with gold leaf floating in it. A lady sprayed Mila with body spray with gold leaf in it and everyone bowed and smiled a lot. We didn’t buy anything… not even a lolly with gold leaf wrapped around one end. Why?

In another shop we saw some of these beautiful decorations. They are shockingly expensive so we took some pictures instead – again surrounded by signs saying “no photography”. I am sure Granny will be able to reproduce them!

We didn’t see any actual Geisha, just tourists dressed up for the day, but we did see a lady cycling along with a toddler in the basket, so that more than made up for it!

Our bus status was upgraded to “public transport grand master” again as we got back on the loop, via the station and back to the Samurai district and Chochinya for chicken wings and skewers.

It was totally impossible to find as it was only labelled in Japanese (Keith took a photo to help future travellers!). Our wonderful WiFi had stopped working and we were back to low tech paper maps. Food panic. Fortunately, before we starved to death, the WiFi started working again and we found it… hurrah! The nice man shook his head and made a cross with his forearms. Not open, come back at 5.30pm. Sigh.

It was definitely worth waiting for. Epic chicken wings and all the skewers were completely delicious and the potato salad was very tasty. I managed: “toriniku wa oishii desu” then kicked myself for not squeezing in a “totemo” as well. Yum.

The left and right tourist loop buses stop at 6pm, but we managed to get a proper local bus back to the station (we are now officially experts!) for sweet snacks and an emergency wee before a quick walk back to the hotel. It was much cooler once the sun had gone down.

Mila and I went to the public baths in the hotel. They were pretty basic and uninspiring but it was weirdly nice to soak and relax in hot water after such a hot and sticky day.

Finally a bit of a relax and a bit of a blog and another sleep.

In the planning for this trip something to be considered was how to record the journey, bearing in mind we would be sending luggage ahead and living out of only what we could carry in rucksacks. We also didn’t want to take only one camera, in the event of a breakage, but couldn’t take more than a few lenses. Lenses could also not really be swapped once outside due to the humidity, meaning what you picked for the day was the body/lens choice for that day! Add to this the need for something to photo-edit whilst on trains and in the evening to keep on top of the hundreds (now thousands) of pictures being taken by everyone. So, we settled on the following:

Equipment list as follows:

• Canon 6d Mk2 body (full frame, so lenses zoom as indicated on the lens body) – a heavy but high quality camera.
• Canon 200d body (crop sensor, so lenses zoom 1.6x indicated on the lens body) – a light and reasonable quality camera, mostly taken as a backup.
• Canon 17-40mm L f4 zoom lens – a wide-angle lens, but also relatively lightweight. On the 200d it is effectively 27-64mm, so a good general use lens; on the 6d it’s a brilliant wide-angle lens.
• Canon 24-70mm L f2.8 zoom lens – a superb general use lens with wide aperture meaning great low-light performance, and on the 200d this is almost a decent medium distance zoom as it’s effectively 38-112mm. It’s really heavy though, at just under 1 kg….
• Canon 50mm f1.4 prime lens – really lightweight, general use and great for portraits. Coupled with the 200d the whole camera weighs very little and it’s great in low light.
• Panasonic Lumix compact camera – great quality compact, and very light. Good for when you can’t be bothered carrying the SLR around! For this trip, it was Danny’s to use.
• Sony compact camera – Amelia’s camera, point and click!
• Microsoft Surface Book 2 laptop – to edit photos at the end of the day, an amazing laptop with detachable screen making it a tablet. Not too heavy at 1.5 kg but the screen is incredible quality. Photo editing is done using a mixture of Lightroom and GIMP, with this blog running on WordPress.
• Samsung Galaxy S8 – Jo and I both have one, amazing camera and a lot of the blog drafts are done using the WordPress app for ease.
• Pocket WiFi – wouldn’t it be nice to have 187 Mbps with unlimited use for 3 weeks…..well we have it! Good job, as after a week we’d downloaded 19 GB and uploaded 7 GB of data!

So there you have it, that’s what we’ve brought to bring you what you’re seeing here!

A very weird and loud cuckoo clock outside in the garden woke us up at 6.30am. Neither child stirred. I was very jealous!

The paper walls in this ryokan meant that I had heard someone going to the toilet in the night, but other than that it really wasn’t too noisy. We opted for an 8am breakfast and it soon became clear that everyone else went for 7.30am. This meant that we got half an hour of peace after they had all gone downstairs and so subsequently forgot to wake up Mila. Poor child was dragged out of her bed and to the table in less than 5 minutes! Even she conceded that breakfast was excellent. It was a shame that the home-made yoghurt was clearly off and the children mourned the two little blueberries drowning in what would soon be cheese.

I stayed out of the way with he children while Keith packed the rucksacks again. This time we had to rearrange to make Mila’s as light as possible. Her t-shirt must have shifted yesterday after I put her sun cream on as she has burnt the side of her neck and it is very sore. She was very brave and managed to carry her pack all day with that special smile/grimace to make sure you are reminded of exactly how brave she is being.

While Keith had been packing, I had read about a certificate you can get for walking from Magome to Tsumago from the local tourist information. I checked with the host and got a stamped slip from her to take to get the certificate. You pay 150 yen (Just over £1) for a certificate produced on wood and it goes towards the upkeep of the path. The Japanese gentleman who organised it for us was very serious and wanted to do his job very well.

Keith went off to get our first Japanese Geocache while I took the kids to the bus stop. Some other foolish tourists were waiting on the right side of the road in full sun. We sat in the shelter on the wrong side. The bus driver still let us on. Shade is key in this heat.

Catching the bus to Nagiso allowed us to level up in our skill at public transport attribute. So proud.

We had to wait almost a hour to catch the train to Nagano in a waiting room with no air con, only to nearly miss it because someone decided to go and get a pocket monster. Grrr.

Due to the anxious attention of the lovely station lady we did make it (there was a little running involved) and spun our seats around once more to enjoy a peaceful trip to Nagano.

We had another wait at Nagano station for our first bullet train to Kanazawa. There was no time to get bored though as this waiting room had air conditioning AND karaoke on a massive TV. Mila almost combusted when she found actual sandwiches in the food shop! Real food as she put it. Poor abused children. Keith and I stayed slightly more adventurous with unidentified meat products, spicy crispy corn and a pork bento box.

[Note: in case you haven’t noticed… I am obsessed with food. Either I am currently eating or I am planning what I am going to eat next.]

Out patient wait was rewarded with our first close up of the Shinkansen! Keith turned into a proper train spotter and Danny was all ready to start rolling his eyes when he realised that there were men walking around under the platform! I presume for loading or maintenance.

We stood at the right number on the platform and sure enough, our bullet train pulled into exactly the right place. There is hardly any gap (maybe 1″) between the train and the platform and the doors slide sideways into the wall. The whole train looks like a grounded aeroplane as it is so aerodynamic and the pointy nose looks enormous when you see the super smart driver in his white gloves and cap perched at the top.

Needless to say it was quick. It was a bit disappointing that there was no screen telling you your current speed and altitude and what percentage of your journey you had completed. Maybe a suggestion they could take on board?

A lot of the journey seemed to be through tunnels, but then you would emerge (without the ear popping effect we are so used to at home) to the most vivid colous: bright green rice paddies and deep blue skies, even some seascapes with thousands of white horses.

At the end of our journey, we arrived in Kanazawa. The fabulous thing about the detailed itineraries that we are working from is that we know how long each journey is before we set out- including the walk to the hotel. It was crazy hot: 36 degrees and 80% humidity. Yuk. The 5 minute walk was entirely uneventful but left us dripping again.

The hotel is big and impersonal but all the staff seem friendly and speak enough English to be helpful.

We had a little rest and then followed Tim’s suggestion of taking a walk to Kanazawa Castle Park. This resulted in very unhappy children. I think it was hotter than it had been in Tokyo, or at least it felt that way due to the humidity. Once in the park, there was shade under the trees and we plotted a route through this beautiful park.

I tried to record the sound in the trees: cicadas, little chirpy birds and massive beaked scary Japanese crows. Mila was having a moment and had walked on ahead. Keith and Danny kept walking so they didn’t lose her and I found myself alone in the woods with a pair of enormous black and white butterflies. Then I realised that the crows had gathered round me….

I am not kidding when I say there were three in the tree above me, one about 6 feet from the path with his head on one side looking at me like I was food and two on an adjacent branch. Generally I like birds. I decided I would look like prey if I ran (and a big jessy) so I walked briskly to catch up with the rest of my family and cooled down gradually over the next 10 minutes or so.

The clever gardeners had decided to set up some rotating sprinklers on one of the lawns and the children ran straight for them. Danny thought to take his hat off. Mila had a cool head for a while after as hers got soaked. Keith and I were not too serious to join in and felt much better for the next 20 minutes or so until we dried out again.

The park was deserted by this point and announcements were being made about the closing times. Officious gentlemen in fawn uniforms beckoned to us urgently and then smiled and bowed in relief once we were on the correct side of his movable wooden barrier. Keith couldn’t understand how a 2 foot high wooden fence across each entrance would keen anyone out overnight, but then the highly respectful Japanese don’t strike us as being that keen on invading or destroying their local community…..take note Igirisu Jin (English person).

We made our way to the recommended restaurant for the evening: Oink, Oink. They specialise in pork (obviously!) and we chose from the menu somewhat randomly: Keith had a pork steak that was so delicious he forgot to take a photo until he had eaten half of it! I chose a salad just because I could, which was delicious, and the children both had spaghetti and tomato sauce! Red mouths and happy smiles all round once they had carbed up.

It was a strangely very quiet walk back to the hotel, but that might have had something to do with the huge fireworks display north of the station. We couldn’t find out anything about it and as it didn’t start until we were back in the hotel and into our hotel-supplied, beige pyjamas, we didn’t go out to investigate. I discovered that I could see the reflection of some of them in a shiny building from the end of the corridor in the hotel.

Speaking of the weird brown pyjamas, imagine my delight when Keith put his on and we realised that they were the same size for me and him. How the children laughed and how strange that the cameras all seemed to disappear at the same time?!?

The green fronds of rice

wave gracefully to the wind

as she passes by.

I am getting old. My back does not like change and complains about new beds. I regularly have to roll out of hotel beds onto my hands and knees to go through my stretches and warm up my back. Sleeping on the floor was no worse or better than normal, but the process of rolling out was less dangerous! What made getting up this morning more entertaining (in retrospect) was the fact that my right leg had gone completely to sleep so when I tried to put weight on it, it collapsed. I was only trying to close the curtain as the sun had risen but Keith woke up at my crashing and flailing about.

Anyway, once we were up it seemed only fair that we go back to the Onsen. At midnight, they swap sides so the men’s becomes the ladies’ and vice-versa. The boys weren’t bothered, so Mila and I went over to the dark side and got naked again. It is so relaxing to go through the process of cleaning and soaking and cleaning that we nearly missed breakfast.

Another meal of 7 courses stretched in front of us and this time we got to try horse, duck, a butterflied sweet fish and a minced chicken tofu parcel thing. The kids were keen on this as they got to cook it all for themselves on hot charcoal. EU regulations would never allow it. Then there was a ham salad, fruit in yoghurt, miso soup, Japanese omelette and various terrifying pickles. It is an exhausting process when nothing is familiar and Danny is particular is getting a bit anxious about the pressure to try stuff at meal times. Still most of it was lovely and we left with full bellies.

Keith did some clever packing so that we could leave the kids’ rucksacks in a locker for the day as our 8km hike was on the agenda.

We got the ryokan’s shuttle back to the bus stop in Tsumago and then caught another public bus to Magome which was the start of our hike. I would like to state at this point that we had almost infinite faith in the timeliness of the Japanese travel network. But this bus was no less than 3 minutes late. Needless to say I was panicking that we were at the wrong bus stop, in the wrong town or otherwise incorrect but it all turned out fine. Phew.

Magome was a total tourist trap and we were easily suckered into buying souvenirs. Danny’s favourite shop was a village food shop. He found an apple Danish and was beyond giddy to have recognised something edible! We found bananas as well and I encouraged Mila to get a yoghurt drink. We took it all to the bench outside and prepared for second breakfast (with reference to hobbits) before we began. Mila gave me a full on pre-teen evil when she tried her yoghurt. Imagine a peach flavoured jelly that you have spent some time sucking backwards and forwards through your teeth. Squeeze this into a foil bag and refrigerate. Oops. Not yoghurt. Once we got over the frogspawn-like consistency it was really nice but it was not yoghurt.

We had been encouraged by a sign telling us that it was only 24 degrees Celsius today and that we would have a pleasantly cool walk. This turned out to either be a lie or the temperature at that point in the day.

The first section was in full sun: bloody steep and bloody hot. Much moaning ensued… and that was just from me! It took us through a section of Magome and past a woodworking shop that smelled deliciously of local cyprus wood. Danny was fascinated by the shrink wrap process the owner was using to prepare the goods for sale but Mila found a wee dragon that we just had to have. The quality of the woodwork and the closeness of the grain was very impressive and it is a good job we were just setting out and couldn’t manage to carry the larger pieces.

The views from the top more than made up for the struggle and when we got to the cool of the forest, a lovely, older Japanese gentleman reassured us that we were nearly at the top, 450m higher than out start point in Magome. Sign language and smiling is all you need!

The children got adept at ringing the bells but I was a bit disappointed not to have seen a dog sized bear!

I turned around just as we emerged from the forest to view the panorama behind us and saw either a Harris hawk or white tailed eagle performing aerial acrobatics and soaring on thermals. I always think of my Dad at such moments and wanted to exclaim its genus loudly to passing tourists. In reality I have no idea what it was. It was big, had white patches on its wings and looked like it was master of the skies it soared in. I have checked Google images and made a good guess. That’s enough for me.

Just over half way was a free tea room – a cool dark wooden building where a Japanese man in traditional dress kept ashes hot enough to boil water for making green tea and served boiled sweets and water to the children. He even allowed Keith to take his photo. We left a donation and returned to the trail.

From here onwards the trail snaked back and forth down the hillside though the forest. It emerged occasionally into the fierce sun to cross the road and then dived back into the gloom. We all prefer the gloom to the glare when it is this hot. We were expecting rain and wind today as the edge of a big typhoon brushed this area. It was almost disappointing not to have the variety but I am glad we did not have to abandon our plan.

Keith and the children managed to get some epic photos of bamboo and rice fields while we were walking and I got to keep pointing out butterflies, dragonflies and enormous bees. For the first time today we saw an animal other than a cafe cat or a handbag dog. This is supposed to the region for Shin shu beef: fed on apples and cider and subjected to regular massages, except we haven’t seen a single cow. Where have they put them?

We saw a lot of farmed fish in tanks fed by the water pouring off the mountains that floods the paddy fields. We saw a single solitary goat and a handful of ducks. There were a few people fishing in the river for the invisible fish (they have another name I can’t remember but they are so good at hiding under rocks they may as well be invisible and are very hard to catch).

No chickens. No pigs. And no sign of these much famed cows. No wonder they eat bee larvae. But I am jumping ahead to supper.

When civilization reappeared at the side of the trail, we knew we had reached Tsumago and needed to dig out the instructions to find our ryokan for tonight. It is fair to say we were all stinky-hot and Keith and I could have wrung out our t-shirts under our rucksacks.

We completed our successful navigation (Google Maps is our friend!), checked in and agreed times for dinner and breakfast. This ryokan feels less pretentious than the last one. The lady who showed us around didn’t walk backwards for a start! There are fish in the pools front and back and beautiful traditional gardens.

The children voted to stay in the air conditioning while we went back to this morning’s starting point to retrieve their rucksacks. I would like to point out at this point that I was entirely vindicated in advocating the use of the lockers. The children moaned less and our stuff was untouched by the Japanese crime wave my husband seems to believe may swamp us at any moment.

By this time it was 3pm and second breakfast felt a long time ago. The lovely host at the ryokan suggested a local delicacy from a cafe directly opposite as a light snack to get us through to 6pm and dinner: oyaki. These are light bread rolls stuffed with various fillings. The children were practically delirious at the idea of a bread product and Keith and I were very pleased with the price at about £1.30 each. We tried spicy vegetable, vegetable and mushroom, pumpkin and apple. They were all delicious but I burnt my fingers trying to tear them all into quarters. Fortunately we had invested in a melon soda so I could cool the throbbing on the side of the glass!

We were not as fragrant as we would have liked by this point so we made a move to the shared showers and bath to scrub off the heady mix of sweat, sun cream and bug spray. The bath was super hot so there was not much soaking or relaxing this afternoon but clean was a huge improvement.

Going outside again did not get many votes so we rested and repacked and tried not to fall asleep for an hour or so.

By 5pm the sun had gone in – replaced by thick cloud so we thought it would be safe to go for a wander up and down the streets of this town from the Edo period. Hearteningly, this town has been preserved because the locals felt it should be and not because of a government initiative. It is a beautiful place where power cables are hidden behind the buildings and the mountains loom in green relief in every direction. It is so peaceful here, I will be sad to leave (the apple oyaki) tomorrow.

By the time we returned to the hotel, it was time to slip into our yukata and go down to dinner. You will be relieved that tonight’s offering was not nearly as scary as yesterday’s. Keith ate all of it and Danny managed a proper meal for the first time in days. Hurrah!

The only challenging items were bee larvae (and as Mila said- but we are not supposed to eat baby bees Mummy!) and the sashimi which they were kind enough to cook for the children and allow Danny to gobble it up. I did try the larvae but wasn’t a fan. I still struggle with the texture of raw fish when the pieces are too thick but this fresh water salmon was excellent and I managed more than yesterday. By the end of the holiday…..

The owner of this ryokan came around to explain the menu was all locally sourced and strictly warn us which order everything should be consumed. There was also a menu on the table which was very helpful.

Generally the food was delicious and seemed to be trying far less hard than last night. Roll on breakfast!

Standing on the balcony of the ryokan this evening, all I can hear is birds tweeting and the odd cicada. No shouting, no fire engines or police, no music. I can’t see any other dwelling- only trees. All I can smell is the steam rising from the onsen. Contrast is what this adventure is all about.

Our day started with the usual buffet (which I still did justice to after a ropey night) and a dash to the train station. For the first time we saw evidence of drunk Japanese who hadn’t made it home. Apparently this is a real problem but the first time we had experienced it. We also saw a fight outside our hotel and had to hustle our staring children away from it. Somehow it made the area seem much seedier than it had the night before when all the music was blaring and the neon lights were flashing.

I do not recommend tying to catch a 9am train from Shinjuku station as your first overland journey. It was terrifying. I have never seen so many people in one place so intent on their own business. I read that the population of Canada passes through this station every day. Now I believe it! We had to ask for help twice and an aggressive uniformed man armed with a stamp activated our Japan Rail passes. By the time we made it onto the train (which wasn’t a bullet train to the disappointment of the children) we were all hot and tired. And it was 9am. We were all instantly reanimated by the family in front of us who pressed a button on a pair of seats and SPUN THEM ROUND! You can choose which way your seats face so you can look at each other or not as you prefer. Japan is great!

Our plan was to hop off the train at Matsumoto to visit the castle recommended by Will. Everything was made a little harder by the day sacks we were all carrying. Neither Keith nor Danny have any padding on their shoulders and their straps rub on their collarbones. Needless to say my padding served me well!

We managed to look up, catch, pay for and get off the public bus in the right place and made it to the castle. We were very proud!

A lot of the places we have visited have volunteer guides- Japanese people who look to be of retirement age and who do a rota of free English tours of their local tourist sites. We decided that the castle would be a good place to get one and we were right. We had a lovely lady whose name meant “peaceful standing in a field” and her trainee whose first name meant “always beautiful”. After we had communicated how much we liked the shade, the tour was excellent and highly recommended. It was clear that they really enjoyed their day of volunteering and talked about spreading world harmony by helping tourists to understand their culture.

So, what did we learn? The castle at Matsumoto is the only one in Japan where you can see water (It has 3 moats) the Japanese alps and the castle all at once. It has 3 moats because it was built on a plain – not a mountain- and was therefore vulnerable to attack. It never was attacked, but they built a special place for the Lord to commit suicide just in case! Nothing like thinking ahead.

It was really hot again today and we were grateful to get inside. The castle is one of the oldest remaining in Japan at 400 years old, so it was built approximately when Shakespeare was writing plays. It has 6 floors (one secret!) With 60 degree angle staircases and was sooo much cooler than outside. We saw muskets, swords and Samurii armour. Mila had her photo taken with a ninja. Danny didn’t like the look of him so wouldn’t play that game!

To the south of the castle, the Lord had built a moon gazing room. He built it when the Shogun was planning to come and stay but typically he never turned up! Our guide told us that they regularly saw three moons: the real one, the image in the moat and the third one was caused by drunkenness.

The lovely guides spent over an hour showing us around, talking about construction and the protection from fire: “the greatest enemy of a Japanese castle”, but they looked a bit nonplussed when Mila asked them why they didn’t just build it from stone!

I felt a bit bemused. When you have spent time in stone castles in the UK with metre thick walls and draw bridges and enormous metal cannons you can’t feel safe in a wooden house where they have hand guns and rocks to drop on people. In fact I am not sure they should be allowed to call it a castle. Don’t get me wrong, it was fascinating and the guides were fab… It was just more of a pagoda than a castle!

Anyway, we managed to get back to the station (with a lot of moaning: heavy bags and sore feet and 34 degrees) and onto the next leg of our journey (also not a bullet train… sigh).

The views from both trains today have added to the intense feeling of contrast. It took an hour to get out of Tokyo and then almost immediately we were in the mountains. I don’t know how anyone moved between villages before the roads and railways were carved into the rocks. The mountains are not that high, but so steep you could go up and down all day and make no progress along.

It was exciting to see the paddy fields and some stands of bamboo. Really made it feel like we were in Japan, until Mila looked up from her phone and said ” it is just like Madeira isn’t it Mummy?”.

Our transfer to the ryokan was super smooth and required no thought at all. Our check-in was speedy and a Kaiseki supper was served 20 minutes later in a private dining room. 2 hours and more than 7 courses later we had all managed to find something we could eat. I am proud to be able to say that I tried horse intestine, a fish created by breeding trout and salmon together, and cooked and ate my own apple fed Wagu beef. I think even Keith is ready to crack on his pronouncement that no Mcdonalds shall be tasted on this trip. We are all desperate for ‘normal’ food and I am pretty sure the kids are losing weight!

After supper we tried the Onsen. No pictures I am afraid as you go in nude and taking a camera might have caused a scene. But imagine a hot tub with added oil outside in the dark with other random naked people and you have got it. Mila and I were lucky enough to have the ladies’ one to ourselves and it was very relaxing; Keith and Danny met a Australian man with his young son in their Onsen. Individual bubbly tubs and larger calm ones outside, then a small cold pool and a large calm pool inside. They must add oil to the water as our skin felt so smooth afterwards.

There was nothing to do but fall into bed, well onto the floor, after that and listen to the silence. One thing we are not having a problem with is getting the kids to sleep!

So, the plan for today was to visit three museums:

1) Emerging technology (robots and the best t-shirt selection ever!)

2) Sumida Hokasai (wood cut art)

3) Edo Tokyo Museum (Tokyo history)

The first issue was that we woke up at 9.15am. Breakfast ends at 10am so it was a bit of a scramble to get up and by the time we had decimated the buffet it made for a late start to our busy day. We tried the egg chef today. I can report that he makes a mean cheese omelette and the pork dumplings went very well with it!

The first museum was off the known map and across the Rainbow bridge on the Monorail again. Today we realised that without a day pass, the individual trip on the Monorail is really expensive. It is driverless though so you can sit right at the front… worth every penny! This time Mila didn’t give in to the cute Japanese toddler that cried because there wasn’t space at the front and held her place.

Asimo was well worth the trip. I didn’t know he could hop! They did a full demonstration of what he can do, including walking sideways and singing a song whilst signing in Japanese. I assume he got that right but obviously we couldn’t check! The explanation was all bilingual in English – which is weird as most of the tourists we have seen are Chinese. Everything assumes that all foreigners can speak and read English.

We were disappointed not to be able to do a robot tour- small sit-on robots powered by gyroscopes to travel in the direction your body leans. They are hands free and only take up the same floor space as a person standing. It seemed a little pointless to pay for the Japanese tour and the English one required a 4 hour wait. Now we will have to come back!

The rest of the exhibits were interesting and more intellectually challenging than our science museums. More questions than answers and much more advanced (although comprehensible) science. You didn’t feel that it was just for kids and stopped just short of GCSE. I really liked the display that showed synthetic photosynthesis and we had to stop and look at the polymer they have developed that conducts electricity- turning all primary school teachers that tell students that plastic is an insulator into liars!!

A slightly weird lunch of hot dogs was consumed (Mila had curry sauce on hers?!) and then we moved on: back down the Monorail, onto the underground and round to Sumida. I had made a fuss about seeing the wave so the rest of the family humoured me and we went to the Sumida Hokasai museum. The permanent exhibition is very small but very interactive. The children were free anyway, but the current special exhibition featured an artist who specialises in taking wood cut prints from Hokasai and putting cats in them. Odd even for Japan but very entertaining and we all found that it made us look at the originals more closely. Both kids enjoyed trying the single line drawing, the kimono design and other drawing techniques. Even Keith said it had been interesting… that makes two art galleries that he has quite liked!

Outside the museum was a children’s park with actual children in it. We released ours to go and play on the bike powered roundabout while Keith took photos and I collapsed on a bench. By this time it was gone 5pm and our feet were starting to complain. We have done 48km of walking in the last 4 days and boy can we feel it!

We bought yet more water and succumbed to the begging for crisps for the train back. In all honestly we need all the salt we can get.

A little rest in the hotel was followed by another expedition into Tokyo’s red light district. We couldn’t bring ourselves to spend the money on the Robot show in spite of all of the flashing lights and shouting waitresses so we just went back for nice safe ramen instead! I have warned the family that we are doing karaoke at some point so they need to prepare themselves!

Tomorrow is our first trip overland and out of Tokyo so our next job was to pack the suitcases and the rucksacks, getting the delicate balance right between weight and spare underwear! Large suitcases are not welcomed on trains so they have to be sent ahead. The next time we see ours will be Monday in Kanazawa so we need to make sure we have what we need for the weekend. Only a smidgen stressful and when you are travelling with a gadget freak: the rucksacks are bound to be heavy.

When we felt mostly organised we had pudding: cake from the bottom floor of a fancy department store. Think Selfridges and then take food very seriously and add a zero to the price of everything. The peach bun was my favourite, with pink coloured dough layered on top. We would have used icing but Japanese people don’t seem to have as much of a sweet tooth as we do. Faces stuffed and air conditioning on max it was bed time again.

The next part of our adventure awaits…

A reduced pace was decided upon today. Yesterday was exhausting and included a late night.

We decided to take Chika’s advice and head to the famous Tokyo pedestrian crossing to take some photos. We managed to find somewhere a little higher to get a good angle but the humidity was incredibly uncomfortable so we didn’t stay long.

Our next stop was the one that Keith was REALLY looking forward to… full on Tokyo weirdness as the Cat Cafe! You get to spend a ridiculous amount of money to be warned about the rules, lie about your children’s ages and be ignored entirely by the cats. I thought spending time with animals was supposed to be therapeutic but I left feeling thoroughly rejected. You could choose to pay another 500 yen to buy a cat lollipop that means they sidle up to you and lick it but still don’t tolerate touching! One Japanese lady sat down, bought a lolly and then sat looking at her phone for a full 10 minutes- which would have cost her 200 yen as they charge by the time you spend. We decided against the snake or owl cafe after that experience!

Next on the itinerary was a trip to the Ginza district. Think Oxford Street but massive and sprawling. We paid a rather dismissable visit to a statue of Godzilla and then moved onto the main event… a stationary shop called Itoya. No less than 12 floors (one of which was labelled farming but we didn’t get high enough to satisfy my curiousity) with one entirely devoted to special paper. Keith took a photo which will need to become my new background. The children couldn’t stop finding the next thing that was just too “kawaii” and we succumbed to some butterflies to decorate Mila’s journal in Japanese style. I could have happily spent another couple of hours in there but time was pressing.

We are getting quite efficient at working out how to get across Tokyo now but the journey to our river boat dinner cruise was a bit more challenging. Google maps came into its own at the other end and even with high rise buildings everywhere Keith managed to find the departure point.

It was shoes off again to get on the boat and a shared table of 6 with a Japanese couple who did their very best to help translate and guide us through the eating etiquette. The variety of dishes was astonishing and a little challenging. None of us managed to eat the water snail and Keith was the only one who bossed the sushi. One word… texture. I did much better with the unidentified vegetables (apart from the okra) and the kids managed not to starve. The unlimited drinks began to show after about half an hour and the Japanese diners lost much of their inhibited nature.

I had a very entertaining conversation with three ladies who now work as English tutors in Tokyo but originally came from the Philippines. They did apologise for being a “leedle drunk” a few times and took lots of photos of the “beautiful red hair”. Interestingly they told me that they take private clients- secondary school children- and teach them phonics. They just want the kids to be able to speak English, not necessarily read or write it.

The trip itself went up to the Rainbow bridge and moored us in front of the television centre with its weird sculpture. I particularly liked the ice cream boat that came up while we were moored to try and flog tiny pots of Haagen Das to the unsuspecting tourists! On the way back, when we were munching on tempura (eel, white fish, octopus, and shrimp), an older Japanese man chanted a song at us while making amazing shapes with a bamboo mat. It was clearly very traditional and a lot of the Japanese diners were able to join in but we didn’t have a clue what was going on! There is a lot of freedom in not understanding. We just clapped along. Danny (yes you are reading that correctly!) put his hand straight up to get one of the percussion instruments, which they then gave to him as a souvenir and Mila went up to the front to be taught how to use the bamboo mat. She managed to make a very convincing bridge!

The hosts and other guests were incredibly friendly and welcoming and as ours were the only children on board they got preferential treatment. Our only minor issue was that the waitress didn’t clear dishes that weren’t empty, so the snails looked at us longingly for the whole evening and we didn’t know how to ask her to take them away!

The boat got back to the dock at 9.30pm so it was late when we got back to the hotel but another great day so it was definitely worth it.

P.S. if it is really hot and you have been outside for most of the day and you are a little dehydrated, just a little beer can be too much beer.

Much happier children at the start of day two after 12 hours of unconsciousness! I didn’t manage quite that much, but could still feel the improvement.

Breakfast was an experience. I could tell that Danny had the fear after our excitement at lunch yesterday so relief was written all over his face when he found the bacon! Miso soup and extensive salad and dressings were also available. In the spirit of trying new things, Danny went for seaweed seasoned potatoes, I tried a pickled plum (don’t…) and Keith had fried chicken.

By 9am we were sun creamed and ready to meet our guide for the day. Chika San proved infinitely patient with our touristy delight in butterflies, cicadas that sound like car alarms and enormous Koi carp. She taught us how to use the underground, sorted our bullet train tickets for the rest of the trip and introduced us to Japanese beauracracy. The lovely people at Audley who sent us all our information had bought Amelia a full price Pasmo (equivalent of Oyster) card and she wanted to change it to save us 50% on each fare. The second office we tried in the underground station found us some paperwork to complete. The poor young man did NOT like the fact that there were not enough boxes for an international phone number, nor could he work out which part of Mila’s name was her surname. We filled in another form to make him feel better and then managed to leave with our mission complete.

Travel in Tokyo is not as scary as it first appears. All the lines are coloured and have a letter and each stop is numbered. The only slight complication is that each station has different exits which are given a letter and number. Thank God for Chika.

Chika took us to the original site of the Imperial Palace. We learned that it had been almost completely destroyed in WW2 by air raids and only one watch tower is still standing. The gardens were beautiful but very, very hot. Our lovely rep from Audley had emailed us to advise rehydration drinks and after some initial resistance (flavour related) from the children we all felt better for the aptly named Pocari Sweat!

The next stop on was a boat tour via an unmanned monorail (all fine but it felt like the beginning of a superhero film… there is always a derailed monorail in those!). We went all native and bought Bento boxes to eat as we cruised up the river. Danny was significantly braver with less jetlag and even tried the weird, sweet bean paste thing that I thought was chestnuts.

We were all wilting from the heat in the middle of the day so lovely Chika decided against another park and took us to see the Sensoji temple. She showed us how to purify our bodies (water) and minds (incense) before going in. We paid for the children’s fortunes to be read (another wonderfully interaction free transaction based on number) and then went to get our stamp. Apparently Buddism has a lot in common with Pokemon as Buddists collect stamps from each temple they go to. Our guide had a beautiful memento book with a stamp and calligraphy for each one. Sadly they only bother with the hand written effect if you have the book to put it in, so we had to buy a printed one instead for Mila’s memory book. Tomorrow we will start taking it with us! All Japanese tourist locations seem to have stamps to collect and Mila is very into it. More of that to follow I am sure.

Chika showed us the Shinto shrine near the temple and taught us how to tell the difference between the two- rope vs incense basically- so we didn’t embarrass ourselves or offend anyone. Then she took us to a traditional tea house where the menu is in picture form and in the window as you go in. We tried cold green tea (meh), two desserts where you pour syrup over crushed ice (strawberry: yes, matcha and sweet red bean paste: no) and a third; fruit salad and ice cream with more red bean paste (tastes like chestnuts so I liked it) and a green cream soda! Another culinary adventure but as we were all sitting down in air conditioning we were prepared to try anything!

Chika then took us back to the underground, pointed us in the right direction and waved us off. A lovely lady and a fantastic guide.

Our evening excursion (we are not done yet!) was to go to the 35th floor of the Tokyo Skytree building (2nd tallest building in the world but the first if you count the television antenna!). We had time before our scheduled ascension so we gave in to the pester power and took the children to the aquarium. It was exactly what you would expect- Japanese ascetism in every tank. I thought they had gone too far with genetic experimentation but it turned out it was just a large eel underneath a sting ray!

More queuing led us up another 35 floors to some more amazing views. It was very hazy today so visibility wasn’t great, certainly no chance of seeing Mount Fuji today although foothills were in view yesterday. Danny wasn’t keen on the glass elevator up to the 45th floor or the glass panels in the floor on the way back down but he lived to tell the tale.

By the time we had come back down in the super fast elevator (90 seconds to travel 30 floors), been to the Pokemon centre and grabbed some food it was dark so hotel and bed seemed a good idea. Our journey was made more entertaining by the tiny girl swinging between her parents’ hands whose shoes squeaked with every step. Children are few and far between in Tokyo: the low birth rate here was just a dry fact before we came but you soon realise that babies and pregnancies are uncommon.

Navigating ourselves back across Tokyo in the dark went off without a hitch, roll on tomorrow!

We were all a bit confused about when Sunday stopped and Monday started… I think it was somewhere over Russia anyway!

We arrived in security to be greeted by a sign (of which I didn’t dare take a photo…) telling us that no camels or products from camels could be taken into Japan. This did not help our sleep deprived delirium but we managed to sober up enough to convince them to let us in the country!

A lovely Audley agent met us on the other side and went full blown Keith on us checking we had all the listed tickets. Fortunately we are big fans of thorough.

The taxi ride into Tokyo was a revelation… it is enormous. 30 miles from the centre and it was already completely built up. The kids managed to sleep a bit which made the rest of the day much less painful…. for them!

Our hotel is lovely. The most important factor being the highly effective air conditioning. It has been 39 degrees all day. Enough said. We managed to navigate ourselves to the recommended road for “street food” and find the scariest restaurant known to man.

Immediately it became apparent why we had gone to such lengths to learn a bit of Japanese. We scarpered in great haste… only to realise that I had left my hat behind and had to slink back to get it. We survived the meat kebabs we were eventually brave enough to buy but at least two of them remain unidentified.

Our afternoon consisted of a very hot walk, a queue and then an amazing view of Tokyo from the Tokyo Government Building’s South Observation Tower.

Our main aim was to try and stay awake until something approaching bed time. We had a little rest in the cool of the hotel before braving the humidity of Shinjuku and finding Ichiran- a ramen restaurant that would be beloved of anyone with ASD- you order your food and pay at a machine that is reminiscent of the one found in car parks. Then you state your preferences by circling options on a piece of paper.

No human interaction is necessary. Even better, you sit in individual booths facing a closed curtain to eat your selection. The perfect choice for all jet lagged parents!

Our day ended at 6.30pm when Mila, Keith and I all fell asleep while doing something else… Danny is obviously better equipped to deal with less sleep and managed to brush his teeth and get into bed before he succumbed.

A mostly dull (and thankfully eventless) day. Enlivened only by the statistics of the flight we still had to do when we left Amsterdam (9000km!) and by being offered cornettos at 3 o’clock in the morning! No idea why, but then they turned the lights off. Cocoa before bed I could understand but ice cream?!

The Dutch are big on hydration too. We have been given water- forcefully- no less than 5 times and that does not include the juice, coffee, tea and pop. All of which may explain why Danny has disturbed the poor young gentleman no less than 8 times to have a wee!

Today has been our last day at home before our epic adventure to Japan. Tomorrow we catch a plane to Amsterdam and then on to Tokyo. Then we get to see if the time we have spent learning Japanese over the last twelve months was worthwhile. I am going to spend the flight practicing saying “my son is allergic to prawns”.

Let the adventure begin…