Itsukushima
Yesterday in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C
Today is our last full day in Hiroshima before returning to Tokyo. I have enjoyed visiting the city and have especially liked the hotel. It is very comfortable and more what I was used to from my days of travelling on business. It's interesting that Ben's favorite hotel remains the one in Kyoto, which reinforces my thoughts that it is mainly intended for younger travelers.
Apart from the Peace Museum, the other main attraction in this area is the Shinto shrine on the island of Itsukushima. The island is also known as Miyajima (shrine island), so that gives a clue to what else there is to do there. Granted, there is a cable car that carries visitors to the top of Mount Misen, which is optimistically named as it falls 245 feet short of the recognised definition of a mountain. Similar to Nara, wild deer wander the foreshore on the island, bowing to the tourists, ever hopeful of a bite to eat. Fortunately, there are not so many as were roaming the grounds of Todai-ji and the footpaths are consequently far less hazardous.
A torii gate marks the sacred entrance to a Shinto shrine. Its spiritual purpose is to act as a boundary (kekkai) separating the secular human world from the divine realm of the kami (spirits). Passing under a torii purifies worshippers as they transition into sacred space. The main torii of the Itsukushima shrine is one of the most recognisable images of Japan - a huge vermilion gate standing alone and seeming to float in the sea. If you have seen postcards or guide books about Japan, it is likely that you've seen a picture of it. It is hard to put into words what it is like to see it for real. Beautiful, peaceful, simple, serene. It's all that and more.
The Itsukushima Shrine torii is an engineering marvel, dating back to the 12th century. The current gate (the 9th) was built in 1875 and is over 16 meters tall. The massive wooden pillars simply rest on the seabed, held in place by the gate's own weight (about 60 tons). It has withstood centuries of tides and typhoons by sheer mass and the ingenuity of the craftsman who made it. But for what purpose? In ancient times, the entire island of Miyajima was considered so sacred that ordinary people were not permitted to set foot on its soil, for fear of defiling holy ground. So when the shrine was built on the shoreline, its torii gate was placed out in the sea, allowing pilgrims approaching by boat to pass through and enter the shrine without ever treading on the sacred island itself.
We were back in the hotel just after lunch and spent a couple of hours in the bar area relaxing and reading books on our Kindles (mine is a Kobo but you get the idea). These clever wee electronic devices have revolutionised the art of holiday reading, and globally must significantly reduce the carbon footprint arising from lugging books halfway round the world. As the time got nearer 5 pm, I did catch myself looking across to see if the staff had started setting up the drinks table. A word to the wise - the important thing in a free bar is to plan ahead. There is no need to fill your glass to the brim as soon as the bar opens. Pouring a modest amount allows you to make a second visit that doesn't end in you falling off your bar stool.Read more
Happy Birthday
September 10 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C
While yesterday may have celebrated the chrysanthemum, today held a far greater significance in the Young household, as this is the day we honour the birth of Mrs Y. In recent years, we have fallen into a pattern of organising a late summer holiday to coincide with the start of the new school term. Invariably, this has meant being away for Jackie's birthday. I have only once thought that a holiday with me in exotic climes would make an excellent birthday present. It is not a mistake I will make again.
This morning we visited Hiroshima castle. In keeping with the other temples and castles we have visited, this too is a reconstruction, although this one is much more recent. The epicentre of the A-bomb was not far from the castle and only the foundation stones remained after the blast. The main castle keep and the Ninomaru (a defensive structure within the inner moat) have been reconstructed, but the majority of the castle area has been lost. The main keep was restored in the late 1950s, a replica of the original structure but built of concrete and clad with wood to mimic the original appearance. The keep was closed to the public earlier this year as there are growing concerns that the aging concrete may not do well in an earthquake. Some of the wooden buildings in Kyoto have stood for over 600 years, a testament to traditional building techniques.
I do like Hiroshima. There is a vibrancy here of a modern city that makes Kyoto seem stiff and formal by comparison. Rules are usually still rules, but sometimes can be just guidelines. The pavements are buzzing with cyclists weaving between groups of pedestrians at a speed that makes you nervous about changing direction. I almost became a statistic just stepping out from the hotel on the way to dinner tonight. And the only cycle helmet I have seen all week was for sale in a department store. The early afternoon was taken up by a trip into Hiroshima Station area to secure a present for the birthday girl and to check out the logistics for tomorrow's trip to Itsukushima. I agree that on the face of it, my birthday planning seems a little tardy, but my suggestion that a present would be all the more special if it was bought in Japan was well received (better than I thought it would be). We made sure we were all done shopping and back in the hotel in time for happy hour.
The bar area is much busier than yesterday and the free bar is proving to be a popular amenity. During our visit to Nara, I mused that other than schoolchildren on a day trip and transportation announcements, people tended to be quiet in public. Tonight however, I was reminded that there is a third group to add to the list, namely middle aged Japanese males in a free bar. There are six such gentlemen sitting behind me and they are getting louder (and presumably more drunk) by the minute, although to be fair to the rest of the group, it is mainly just the one guy. It is, however both understandable and forgivable. Enzymes play many important functions in our bodies, one example being alcohol dehydrogenase, the enzyme that breaks down alcohols and thus renders them ineffective. Genetic differences mean that 40% of the Japanese population have a low or totally absent activity of this important enzyme. I am just grateful that the laws of random selection only gave us a 12.5% expression of this genetic anomaly in the group behind us.
One peculiarity about restaurant dining in Japan is that food arrives when it's ready. Order a starter and a main course and they may arrive together or the main may arrive before the starter. Tonight we each ordered a main dish and also shared a side portion of potato wedges (a well known Japanese delicacy). The potato wedges were long gone by the time the other dishes started to arrive (one at a time) and both Jackie and I had finished our meal long before Ben's arrived. This is not bad service, it is just the way it is done.Read more
Hiroshima
September 9 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
This morning we left a rainy Kyoto and headed west for Hiroshima. It is a good day to leave as over 20 mm of rain is forecast for this afternoon. Nagoya, about 60 miles to the east, had serious flooding yesterday, disrupting even the shinkansen routes for a few hours. We checked out early and headed straight to the station for breakfast. Kyoto station, despite it's vast size, is so easy to navigate. Like everywhere we have been, all signs are in both Kanji and English and there are coloured lines on the concourse floors to direct you to the major intersects; shinkansen tracks, metro lines and taxis. As expected, the shinkansen train was on time and almost full, even though this route has a train every 15 to 20 minutes. Seat reservations are essential. We covered the 240 miles to Hiroshima in 96 minutes and soon left the rain far behind us.
When I booked our rooms in Hiroshima, I just assumed that the higher price tag was related to the number of visitors and increased demand for accommodation. Not so, it is just a much better hotel. It is in an excellent location and you could fit both our previous rooms into this one. It also has a happy hour from 5 till 7 (a happy 2 hours), with free drinks and nibbles. It is a bit upside down, with reception and breakfast on the top (14th) floor and the rooms on the floors below. There is a nice view across the city from the restaurant and if you look down, there is a small graveyard tucked between the high rise buildings.
There was just time to fit in a visit to the A-Bomb Domb and Peace Museum this afternoon. I have avoided Hiroshima as a destination on previous trips, but Ben was very keen to come here and I am so glad we did. The museum was very well presented and not only told the big story, but also spoke to individual tragedies, from a shadow left on stone steps where someone had been sitting waiting for the bank to open, to a tiny twisted tricycle belonging to a 3-year old child. It was not an easy visit, and after we finished the tour we sat in stunned silence, while the young Japanese schoolgirl sitting next to us wept. Trying to put the experience into words seems inadequate, but we are so grateful for having the opportunity to learn a new perspective on this horrific event.
Hiroshima has been rebuilt and the people have returned but the scars left from such an atrocity are easy to find. From the Cenotaph bearing the names of all 140,000 victims of the bomb to the Peace Flame, lit in 1964 and vowed to burn continuously until all nuclear weapons on the planet have been destroyed. Walking home along the Motoyasu-gawa river terrace, we came across a simple ceremony, part of today's Chōyō no Sekku (Chrysanthemum Festival). A small group of people offering prayers to Ten-Chi (天地, Heaven and Earth). Prayers for peace for a broken world, from a broken people. The spirit of Hiroshima.
Translated from Japanese from a leaflet we were handed:
Rebinding with the Ten
Rebinding with the Chi
Rebinding with your core and feelings
Rebinding with those who are gathered
When all colors of paint are mixed together, they become black. When all colors of light are combined, they become transparent. We can pray alone, but when we gather and pray together, our individual prayers become a collective consciousness, opening the way for the support of the universe.Read more
Kyoto in the Rain
September 8 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 27 °C
This morning we finally got breakfast sorted - we ate in the hotel. I hadn't managed to book breakfast when booking the rooms and we misread the menu on the first day and thought it wouldn't be suitable. There was the usual combination of egg and bread, but there was also a set with croissants and pain au chocolat, instead of the toast and a choice of coffee, tea AND orange juice. The set included a salad, which even for me is a breakfast no-no.
It is raining this morning so we made a plan for Jackie and me to return to yesterday's shopping streets and for Ben to join us later for lunch and a wander through Gion, after investing in some me-time in the hotel. It all went to plan and we were able to meet easily using WhatsApp's live location sharing feature. As a bonus, our deeper dive into the shopping streets uncovered a Burger King, which is Ben's preferred fast food outlet at home, so that took care of lunch.
Dodging the rain all day doesn't make for interesting reading, so here are a few thoughts about the locals. Japanese culture emphasises subtlety, discipline and respect for others, both in the way people communicate and in their daily habits. Other than teenage children on a school trip, and the incessant announcements on the transport network, there is a quietness here and it is considered rude to talk loudly, especially on a mobile phone. On trains and lifts there are warnings not to do so and also to beware of sound leaking from your headphones. Amongst the other announcements on the metro is a suggestion that you wear a backpack at the front for the convenience of your fellow travellers.
Wearing a mask when feeling unwell or during allergy seasons is seen as a polite gesture to avoid spreading germs or allergens and blowing your nose in public is the height of bad manners, while sniffing is acceptable..
It is also almost impossible to out-polite a Japanese person. Approaching an escalator this morning at the same time as 2 elderly Japanese ladies, my thinking was "here are 2 elderly ladies, they should go onto the escalator before me", whilst they were most likely thinking "here are 2 (elderly?) tourists, we will show deference". And so, after exchanging 2 or 3 international gestures of "after you", we had no option but to go ahead.
Forget the temples, for me the Kyoto main station building is the most breathtaking site in the whole of the city. It is one of the country's largest buildings, incorporating a shopping mall, hotel, movie theater, a department store and several local government facilities under one 15-story roof. It is massive, some 70 metres high and 470 metres wide. There is a scale model of the station building made from 310,584 pieces of Lego in a covered area adjacent to one of the roof terraces and even that is massive (for something built of Lego). https://youtu.be/zgK9FCxVABo?si=yofAJGEyuFM3pBpR
Although we have passed through the station a few times this week, we had not taken any time out to explore until tonight. At night the station takes on a new persona, brightly lit in multiple colours and with stunning views across the city. Right up in the roof space is a suspended walkway linking the east and west roof terraces, and stretching from the 3rd to 10th floors is a spectacular Daikaidan (Grand Stairs), comprising of 171 steps and thousands of multicoloured Led lights. The Daikaidan displays a series of colourful images which, depending on the time of the year, can be anything from Santa on his sleigh to springtime cherry blossom or autumn leaves. It it's hard to imagine that the primary function of this building is to receive trains and distribute passengers.Read more
Constantly Changing Plans
September 7 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 25 °C
There are plenty of cafés in Kyoto offering a breakfast set for a modest price. However, all available options are some combination of very thickly sliced toast, egg and maybe cheese. Drinks are coffee or tea and you can't have orange juice instead. But with a bit of lateral thinking, you can buy it as an extra from the non-breakfast menu and still keep the price below £4 per person The food when it comes is fresh and hot, except for the earl grey tea which has ice cubes in it.
After breakfast we decided to visit the Shinkyogoku Shopping Arcade as Jackie remembers it as a place of many purchases from our last visit. It quickly became clear that Ben's love of shopping was not nearly so well developed as his Nannie's, so a new plan was required. A quick Google suggested we visit the Nintendo Museum which was only 2 trains and about half an hour away, but didn't mention that tickets were sold out well into October - we only discovered that when we got there. So we caught another train to Nara, Japan's first permanent capital city, instead.
In the centre of Nara is a large green forest park, home to some of Japan's most important historic sites. We visited Todai-ji (Great Eastern Temple), built in 752 as the head temple of all provincial Buddhist temples of Japan. The temple today is a reconstruction, completed in 1692, after the reconstruction from the 12th century was destroyed by fire. The original Grand Hall burned down in 1180. Fire was a constant risk to these old wooden buildings, especially in times of conflict. The main temple hall is one of the world's largest wooden buildings and houses a 15 metre high bronze statue of Buddha. Seated with one hand extended outward in a stop or high-5 gesture, it is a very impressive site. The long pathway leading up to the main temple gate is packed with tourists, noisy schoolchildren and deer, and yes I said deer as in Bambi and Rudolph..
The Nara deer are wild animals and have inhabited the surrounding parkland since before the first temple was built. Once considered to be sacred messengers of the Shinto gods, and now with National Monument status, they are a protected species. There are about 1,400 of them wandering around the park, the temple grounds and the surrounding streets. It's not unusual to see them hold up traffic while they march slowly across the road and there is no doubt who owns the place. Tourists can buy special biscuits to feed them, so you are likely to be nudged to check if you have any, and mobbed if you do. And don't let the view of the majestic temple buildings be the complete focus of your attention as you have to be very careful where you plant your feet. At least in Nara, the Japanese custom of removing your shoes before entering an indoor space makes complete sense.Read more
A Trail of Three Temples
September 6 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
Today's plan was to visit three of Kyoto's many temples and shrines. First up was the Kinkaku-ji Temple (The Golden Pavilion). It is perhaps the most widely-recognized image of Kyoto. Seen reflected in the adjoining “mirror pond” with its small islands of rock and pine, Kinkaku-ji Temple, “The Golden Pavilion,” is a breathtaking must-see (Kyoto Travel website).
The building initially served as a retirement home for Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. On his death in 1409, it was converted into a Zen temple. The walls are coated with gold leaf both inside and out and as you gaze at it across the water it is amazing to think you are looking at over 600 years of history. Except you aren't, as the original building was burned down by a 'mad' monk in 1950. The temple was rebuilt in 1955 and continues to function as a storehouse of sacred relics.
Just a short walk away is the Zen Temple of Ryōan-ji (the Temple of the Dragon at Peace). Originally the villa of an aristocrat, the site became a Zen temple in 1450. At the centre lies a rectangular rock garden. On the surface it is just 15 stones scattered about on raked gravel but there is a peacefulness sitting here that is far deeper than the silence that surrounds you. It is almost spiritual and healing. The temple grounds include a spacious park area with tree-lined paths and a large lilly pond (or small lake). We enjoyed a quiet stroll through the park and rewarded our efforts with an ice cream.
The third place we visited was in stark contrast to the other 2, with garish rather than peaceful being a useful adjective to describe it. Fushimi Inari Taisha is a shrine dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of prosperity, fertility, agriculture and commerce. The buildings were constructed at a time when bright orange paint was popular, or cheap -it's everywhere. Behind the shrine is a walking trail that leads up the sacred mountain. The entire trail is covered by about 10,000 torii, also painted orange, although the guide books calls it vermilion. We walked up through the first couple of hundred or so before turning back.
We covered a lot of ground today, not only on foot but also using the metro, a bus, a local tram and 2 local trains. I don't think we ever waited more than 5 minutes for a connection.Read more
Moving to Kyoto
September 5 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 25 °C
The first Shinkansen line opened in 1964 just before the Tokyo Olympics. Since then the network has expanded and now links most of Japan's major cities, carrying over 16 million passengers a year. The trains are fast, running on dedicated tracks built on stilts and with shallow curves. We are travelling on a Nozomi train this morning, the latest and fastest Shinkansen train, with a maximum speed of 186 mph, covering the 280 mile journey to Kyoto in just over 2 hours. The seats are very comfortable and there is even more legroom than on a KLM flight.
The name Kyoto, is written as 2 kanji characters (京都). The first character (kyo), means "capital" and the second character (to) means "city" and Kyoto was the imperial capital of Japan for approximately a thousand years until 1868. You could be forgiven for thinking that Tokyo must therefore mean "City Capital" but the "to" sound in Tokyo is a different kanji character (東 meaning "eastern"), so Tokyo is "Eastern Capital". There ends the lesson in Japanese history (and/or geography).
On the itinerary for today was a visit to Nijo Castle. Gaining entry was always going to be tight as check-in to our hotel was at 3 pm and last entry to the castle was at 4 pm. We made it with about 30 seconds to spare. As we were rushing towards the entrance, we could see 2 security staff getting poised to hold aloft their signs that said the gate was closed, while behind them the gate staff were waving frantically for us to hurry. As we arrived. one of the staff was already using the ticket machine for us. In Japan rules are rules, not guidelines, and I firmly believe that 30 seconds more and we would have been turned away at the gate.
Nijo Castle was completed in 1603 and served as the Kyoto residence of the Tokugawa Shogunate until 1867. It was eventually donated to the city and opened to the public as a historic site. The castle is one of the best surviving examples of Japanese palace architecture and is a World Heritage Site. The first thing you notice as you walk along the wooden corridors (in your socks - no shoes allowed) is the noise. The ancient wooden floors squeak and with groups of people treading the boards the sound is like birdsong, hence the reason they are known as nightingale corridors. Sadly no photos are allowed inside the building and words alone don't describe the serenity and simplicity of the decor. But it is definitely worth a Google.
Our hotel is reassuringly of a good standard. I have been quite concerned about that for a few weeks as it cost about half the price of the others we have booked. The room is smaller but it is better laid out and I even have a desk to write at and there is a nice communal area with free biscuits and saki. Ben has a room on another floor but he visits often.Read more
Mount Fuji in the Rain
September 4 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 23 °C
No visit to Japan is complete without catching at least a glimpse of Mount Fuji. At 3,776 merres, Mt. Fuji is Japan's tallest mountain and is an active but dormant volcano last erupting in 1707. Late last night we decided to abandon our carefully made plans for today, throw caution to the winds and see how near we could get to Mt. Fuji and still be back in time for tea. The answer is 10 miles.
We travelled through Shinjuku and on to the Fuji Excursion Limited Express like seasoned professionals. Navigating Shinjuku station and buying the right tickets was a breeze. Although available online and at the many automated ticket machines, my preference in Japan is to buy rail tickets from a real person. Partly because a conversation with a Japanese person is always nice and partly because you have the reassurance you are getting it right. The express train comprised of 10 coaches, but only the first 3 went to our destination, Kawaguchiko, the other 7 heading off in the other direction. There were no seats left in the 3 tourist coaches so we changed about halfway and caught the local train. All perfectly explained on advance by our ticket agent.
It has been a wet afternoon with low cloud and Mt. Fuji has been playing hide and seek, but we still got to see enough justify a photo or two. My initial reaction was "that hill looks a bit like Mt. Fuji, but it is too small and has no snow on top". It was Mt. Fuji, which I now know is always snow free in summer and early autumn. And it's not small, just far away (about 10 miles).
The rain started meaning business just after lunch and we retreated back towards the station for shelter. We were intercepted en route by a street tout wanting us to visit his 'free' rooftop view of Mt. Fuji. I'd normally avoid such invites as there is always a catch, but the rain was getting heavier and we are in Japan so we ventured upstairs. And so, for the price of a cup of coffee we got to sit in a dry, comfortable upstairs lounge for over an hour. The staff were so welcoming and friendly and one even played a couple of Scottish tunes on a piano just for us. Just a normal day in Japan and one of the many reasons why I love it here.
The journey back was easier as we had been able to book seats on the Fuji Express right from Kawaguchiko. There was a short delay at Otsuki while both sections of the train were reunited and thereafter the speed significantly increased. Things to note about trains in Japan, they are very clean, very punctual and very quiet. It is frowned upon to talk loudly on board and if you want to make a phonecall you have to go outside the seating area to the spaces at the doors. It almost makes you long for ScotRail.Read more
Shinjuku, Shibuya and Meji Shrine
September 3 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
We set off early today, heading to Shinjuku station, the world's busiest railway station, a record set in 2018 when an average of 3.6 million passengers per day passed through the station. Although it is possible it was just 1.8 million people on their way to work in the morning and then coming home again in the evening. The station houses 53 platforms over 5 levels and has more than 200 exits. Navigating through it is easier than it sounds but I have got lost in it once. Not so this time though as on Day 2 Ben is already earning his keep as our guide and is almost as reliable as Google Maps. We headed straight to the Government Metropolitan Building and ascended to the 45th floor observation deck. At 243 meters, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building was the tallest building in Tokyo until 2007 and remains the 6th tallest in the city. Access to the observation deck is free and the panoramic views of Tokyo it offers are quite something, with the city spreading out almost as far as you can see in every direction. There was time for quick coffee before descending and continuing our walking tour.
Next stop was the Meiji Shrine, completed in 1921 and dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife Empress Shōken. They must have liked the good life, as the shrine gardens include 2 long and high walls constructed of consecrated barrels of wine and saki, respectively. The barrels are now empty of alcohol but are full of spiritual significance. The shrine is in a large forested area in the heart of Tokyo, consisting of 120,000 trees of 365 different species, which were donated by people from all parts of Japan when the shrine was established (thank you Wikipedia). It was peaceful walking through the park in the shade of the trees which was in stark contrast to our next destination.
Takashita Street could so easily be renamed Bonkers Street. It is full of animal cafes where, for a modest price (about £15), you could sip a coffee in the company of various animal species. There were cat, dog, micro pig, hedgehog, otter and even parrot cafes. The street is also a fashion centre, and by fashion I don't mean clothes you could wear to the office or to church. Suffice to say that Lady Gaga likes to shop there. Clothing styles include gothic lolita (Victorian elegance), Kawaii (cute) and anime (cartoon), none of which I was tempted to purchase. After lunch in a Korean chicken fast food outlet, we continued our walk south into Shibuya.
Before we reached the famous Shibuya crossing, we came across the Tower Record store, in a bright yellow 10 story building. It would have been rude not to, so we dived in and made our way to the 6h floor. I don't think I have seen so many vinyl records in one place, so many that I was even able to find an early live album by Barclay James Harvest, one of my favourite bands from the 70s prog rock era.
Shibuya crossing is the world's busiest and most famous scramble crossing (a junction where traffic stops in all directions simultaneously). The crossing is strategically situated near Shibuya Station, one of Tokyo's main transit hubs, and is the gateway to a major commercial and cultural centre. Up to 3,000 people cross every time the lights change (every 2 minutes) and the daily total crossings can reach north of one million, Today we swelled those numbers by 3 (or 6 as we crossed twice). And if you are wondering why the world's busiest crossing isn't near the world's busiest railway station I would remind you that Shinjuku Station has over 200 exits.
One last piece of madness before I finish. While waiting at the crossing for the lights to change, Street Kart Shibuya zipped past - imagine Mario Kart played for real on the streets of Tokyo! Before Nintendo objected that's what it was called and the drivers could dress up as Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach or any of the other characters from the video game. It has now been renamed but the drivers are still wearing colourful onesies and it's still a bit bonkers.Read more
Tokyo Tomorrow
September 2 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
For the next 2 weeks, Jackie and I will be travelling in Japan and I felt that may just be enough of an excuse to dust off my travel keyboard and indulge myself in putting pixel to virtual paper.
Japan is a beautiful, spiritual and peaceful place for me and I have loved visiting over the years, even though most of the trips were business related. The Japanese people are very gentile and gracious and they seem to get my sense of humour, or at the very least are too polite to mention that it sucks. And this visit is all the more special as we are being accompanied by our eldest grandson, Ben. I feel myself adopting the role of a tour guide, desperate to show him some of the wonders I have seen in this amazing country, although I suspect Ben sees himself as more of our carer for the next 2 weeks, helping us overcome the various challenges that travelling in the digital age brings.
I won't lie, getting to Japan is a bit of an effort. It always was a long flight time, but now the need to thread your way between the various conflict zones has added at least another hour, and the impact of these conflicts and other recent crises on airline costs has meant the airfare has more than doubled since our last visit 8 years ago. We chose to fly KLM for this trip which gave us an almost civilised 9 am flight to Amsterdam with a relatively short connection time before our 13 hour direct flight to Tokyo's Narita Airport. You are likely to have noticed that I am much shorter than the average Dutchman, which pays dividends for airline travel, with even Economy seats on KLM flights having more than enough legroom for me.
I first realised that I missed the 95% percentile for males born in the Netherlands when visiting the gents at Amsterdam airport many years ago. As a male reader, you will understand, but to anyone of the fairer sex reading this, apologies if it is TMI. The architects have assumed a certain average leg length when specifying where to place the line of urinals on the wall of the toilets in the airport. For me to make use of them means having to stand on tiptoe and the resulting loss of stability that brings is not conducive to the required function of the facility. I learned that quickly and now wait in line for the seating area, or if I am lucky, there is a lower urinal at the end of the row intended for children.
We arrived on time at Narita Airport and passed through immigration and customs very quickly and efficiently and were soon aboard the Narita Express en route to Tokyo Station and Kudanshita. Adjacent to Tokyo station is the Marunouchi metro station. A huge complex with numerous interconnecting lines and underground shopping and restuarant areas, but are very easy to navigate. We decended to the Tozai line platform to buy tickets and there the decision to not get any currency in advance came back to bite us as the ticket machines only accepted cash or Japanese bank cards. Fortunately my tired brain finally remembered you can withdraw cash on an international credit card at many of the Family Mart convenience stores and that we had passed on on the way to the platform.
Our first hotel is the Villa Fontaine Kudanshita, located in an area very familiar to me from previous business trips. We always stayed in the same business class hotel in Tokyo, the optomistically named Grand Palace, which unfortunately didn't survive the covid years and has now been demolished. It is fair to say that our current accomodation is not so grand, but the rooms, although small, are very comfortable and most impartantly are air conditioned. Breakfast is included which is a bonus.
After we checked in and showered we headed to Akihabara, or Electric City, one of my favourite places in Tokyo. It is a busy and vibrant area, full of electronic shops, restaurants and Japanese girls dressed as cats. Every 5 minutes or so a Bandori truck with a brightly lit trailor advertising and playing the latest release by Japanese boy or girl bands drives past. Unfortunately we were too tired to fully appreciate the madness, so we ducked into a tiny restaurant called Spaghetti and ordered the Japanese interpretation of spaghetti Bolognese.Read more
