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Japan 2023
  • Alan Chapman

Japan 2023

A 60-day adventure by Alan Read more
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  • Trip start
    September 9, 2023
    Alan ChapmanJapan 2023Traveler

    The Journey to Tokyo

    September 11, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    On Saturday September the 9th, I left home at 18.00 and took the Northern Line to Tottenham Court Road and then the Elizabeth Line to Heathrow. however, once on the latter, there was an announcement about the disruption to trains in West London and the suspension of trains to Heathrow, plus disruption on the the Piccadilly Line, an alternative route to Heathrow. passengers were advised to take the Heathrow Express from Paddington. At the latter, there were crowds standing around because all routes were suspended indefinitely. So I joined the queue for taxis, and shared a taxi to Terminal Five with two German ladies returning to Munich that evening,
    I checked into the Sofitel Hotel at Terminal Five which was franchised to Arora Hotels. There was no TV in the Sports Bar so I ordered room service and watched England v Argentina in the Rugby World Cup in my room.
    On Sunday the 10th, I checked out of the hotel at 10.00, walked to Terminal Five, and checked in for the BA flight to Tokyo which departed 30 minutes late at 13.50. The flight on a Boeing 787 took 13 hours plus an 8 hour time difference which meant that the plane landed at 10.50 on Monday the 11th at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Not being able to fly over Russia and the Ukraine, the flight crossed Germany, Austria, Hungary, Rumania, the Black Sea, Kazakhstan, China and South Korea.
    There was a 1km walk to the efficiently-organised immigration desks. A pre-arranged transfer by Inside Japan took me to the Agora Place Hotel in Asakusa. I had lunch in the cafe until the room was ready at 15.00.
    Tokyo was humid with a similar temperature to the heatwave in London of the low 30s.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanJapan 2023Traveler

    Tokyo

    September 12, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    On a humid day, the temperature was 31 degrees. After breakfast at the hotel, I walked to the Tourist Information Office in Asakusa for a 90 minute walking tour with a guide and a couple from Montreal after taking photos from the rooftop floor of the Office. The tour was mainly around the Senji Shrine. Afterwards, I walked across the bridge over the Sumida River and to the yellow Asahi Super Dry Hall. I took photos and had a light lunch plus an Asahi beer on the 22nd floor. Then I walked to the freestanding Skytree Tower and, after lots of queuing, ascended to the top level at 450m to take photos of a hazy Tokyo. There was a glass deck to stand on and look down.
    I walked back to the hotel through the Senji Shrine and the nearby entertainment district.
    It was noticeable that the Japanese respect the traffic lights even when there is no traffic. Birdsong plays when the lights turn green.
    There were few cycle lanes in Japan with cycles being ridden on the pavements.
    Back at the hotel, I moved room and started sharing with James Kennedy, a 25-year-old from near Hamilton, North Island, NZ. He had been travelling around SE Asia for a month with Contiki.
    On a number of early-evenings over the following week, we watched on TV one of the largest sumo wrestling tournaments in Tokyo.
    There were 10 at the group meeting for the first leg of the Intrepid trip entitled Ultimate Japan; James and myself; Alison and David from Edinburgh; Jason and Tracey from Pacifico, San Francisco; Donna from Victoria, Australia; Leona and her daughter, Eleanor, from Australia, and Lay (or Lai) from Toronto. Seiji was the Japanese leader. We went for a sushi dinner followed by a walk to the floodlit Senji Shrine with the floodlit Skytree Tower in the distance.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanJapan 2023Traveler

    Nikko

    September 13, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    It was very hot in Tokyo but cooler once we arrived in Nikko
    In the morning, we checked out of the hotel and took the Ginza Line to Ueno Station and left Seiji activating our 10-day JR Pass.
    Some of the group went to the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno Park which was free for over-70s. I walked round the Japanese civilisation and archaeology galleries and the garden with its tea houses, and had lunch in the restaurant at a nearby museum.
    I walked back to Ueno Station which was the first of many very large stations which I saw on the holiday with lots of entrances, railway lines, and services on different levels. The handle on my large wheeled holdall had stuck so I'd left it in the largest left-luggage cupboards.
    We took our first Shinkansen (bullet) train ride for 40 minutes to Utsonomiya followed by a local train to Nikko. The countryside was green with rice paddies and horticulture once we left the suburbs of Tokyo. Nikko was a small town with mountains nearby. Taxis took us to Hotori, our first ryokan with tatami floors and futons as bedding. Dinner was at a restaurant with an extensive menu. I had a meal with nine different items, a bit like an Indian thali,    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanJapan 2023Traveler

    Nikko

    September 14, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    The good breakfast included warm bread, jam, fruit, a boiled egg and orange juice. Afterwards, we walked a short way to the Kanmangafuchi Abyss with Jizo Buddhas wearing their red caps and napkins waiting for offerings. Then we walked to the Toshogu Shrine complex with lots of buildings and schoolchildren. There many steps up to the burial shrine of the Tokuga Shogun.
    Walking into town, we saw the red-laquered Shin -kyo Bridge on the way to a restaurant where the food was ordered on a tablet and delivered by a robot. It was also the first indication that meals were not as expensive as expected nor as in London.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanJapan 2023Traveler

    Nikko

    September 14, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    After lunch, we took a local bus up the mountain to Chuzenji Lake and the Kegon Falls which fell 100m. There was a smell of sulphur near the volcanic lake. A group photo was taken by the sign of the G7 whose leaders had met at a lakeside hotel earlier in the year. The town looked as though it was out-of-season.
    We returned to Nikko around the hairpin bends on a local bus, and bought food at a convenience store to eat at the ryokan.
    In the evening, some of the the group went to a very amusing drag show.
    There was no sign of obesity in Japan with few women being taller than 5 and a half feet, and people being slimmer than in the UK in general.
    The handle on my holdall was still stuck despite the ryokan manager hitting it with a hammer to try to release it.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanJapan 2023Traveler

    Hakone

    September 15, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    My wheeled holdall was forwarded from Nikko to Takayama whilst I took just my backpack for the two nights in Hakone. The luggage forwarding service in Japan was excellent.
    We did our previous journey in reverse leaving the Chinese Maples in Nikko to return to Tokyo Central Station from where we took a Shinkansen to Odawara where I had a udon noodle lunch.
    Greater Tokyo lasted for the 40 minutes from Utsonowiva to Tokyo Central. There was no Green Belt around Tokyo and other large cities.
    Using our Hakone 3-day Free Pass, we took a local train to Gora, the funicular/cable car to Sounzan, and the ropeway to Owakudani at an elevation of 1000m. where there were sulphur fumaroles and where I bought my Japan Number 1 cap having lost my other cap in Nikko. We took the ropeway down to Togendai on Lake Ashi and then a bus to Fuji Hakone Guest House. which was a ryokan with shared facilities as in Nikko. It also had a piano with Beatles and other sheet music.
    There was thunder, lightening and rain before we went down the road for a Chinese meal.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanJapan 2023Traveler

    Hakone

    September 16, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    We took a local bus to Lake Ashi. The Japanese obey the instruction not to get up from your seat until the bus stops. There was also little chatter on buses, metro and local trains. We went on a "pirate" boat across the lake, and then went into a magic box shop to see how the boxes are made with different woods and designs. They were very attractive and expensive. One of them had 35 things to do before it opened. I bought a sake cup.
    We passed through a gate which was the frontier between the Shoguns in Edo/Tokyo and the Emperor in Kyoto. It was part of the Post Road which I hiked on elsewhere later in the trip,
    We visited the Shinto shrine which was above the red Torri gate in the Lake. There was an archery class in one of the buildings in the complex.
    I had a good udon vegetable soup for lunch.
    Seiji, James and myself took a local bus to Hakone Yumato Station and then a shuttle bus to the alkaline hot spring public onsen at Hakone Yuryo, As in all onsens, there were separate baths for men and women since the bathing was nude. There were hot and medium cold pools plus a hot sauna with a temperature of 40 degrees; I lasted for less than 2 minutes in that heat.
    We took a local bus back to the guest house, passing through villages on windy road and completing our circumnavigation of Lake Ashi.
    We went to a local Japanese restaurant for dinner.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanJapan 2023Traveler

    Takayama

    September 17, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    We left Hakone by bus to Odawara Station, a Shinkansen to Nagoya, and a local express train for 150 minutes to Takayama situated at 573m the other side of the watershed in the Hida Mountains and surrounded by the Southern Alps at 3000m.
    Most Japanese obey the instruction not to walk up or down the escalators at stations.
    After checking-in at the ryokan, we went to Hida No Sato Open-Air Folk Museum where old buildings had been relocated around a lake which had carp.
    We sat on the floor for dinner at the ryokan where Hida beef was cooked in a heated pot. After dinner, we played various card games but mainly pontoon (21) with small coins to make it more interesting.
    There was an onsen at the ryokan as at a number of the accommodations on the holiday. Some were from hot springs and had minerals whereas others were just hot water. A few places had hot baths with silver foil on top to keep the water warm.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanJapan 2023Traveler

    Takayama

    September 18, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    We ate a typical Hida breakfast with lots of dishes at the ryokan sitting on the floor.
    We went to the morning market where there were lots of shops and booths with food to taste. There were many Japanese and foreign tourists, today being a public holiday to respect the older generation.
    Many old houses had been converted into cafes, shops or museums.
    We visited Takayama Jinya which was the branch office of the Shogun government from 1692 until 1868 when the Shogun was replaced by the Emperor. This Jinya was the only original one in Japan.
    We visited a sake shop for a tasting of three different sakes although I struggled to tell the difference.
    I went to the Tourist Information office at the Station to be directed to the only shop with rucksacks but there was nothing on wheels with a handle.
    For lunch, I had a Hida beef rice bowl, miso soup, and a Hida cheese pot.
    In the afternoon, we walked through a handicraft centre and a local museum to the Retro Museum which had lots of items from the mid-1950s.
    We visited a Shinto shrine and a Buddhist temple with a 1000-year-old ginkyo tree. These places were much quieter than the equivalent in Nikko.
    We had another Hida dinner at the ryokan, and played cards in the evening.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanJapan 2023Traveler

    Hiroshima

    September 19, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    I forwarded my holdall to Kyoto for Y2100 = £13.
    After another Japanese breakfast at the ryokan, we retraced our route back to Nagoya and experienced the only delay on a train on the whole eight-week holiday. It was only 20 minutes and meant that we missed our connection but there was another train soon afterwards.
    I bought a bento box to eat for lunch on the Shinkansen to Osaka, where we sat in our only unreserved seat on the whole holiday, followed by a Shinkansen to Hiroshima.
    After checking-in at the S Hotel, we took a tram to the Peace Park and saw the Dome which had not been destroyed by the atomic bomb in 1945 because it was at the epicentre of the blast.
    We walked through one of the many long, covered arcades in Japan to an upstairs floor where there were a number of booths with tourists eating okonomiyaki pancakes made on the hot surface in front of the counter. It was one of the best meals we had so we returned the following evening.
    There was a massive store selling all kinds of things close to the restaurant but it didn't have wheeled holdalls. Many shops had suitcases on sale.
    It was noticeable in Hiroshima and other cities that the average size of car was smaller than in the UK with few SUVs.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanJapan 2023Traveler

    Hiroshima

    September 20, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    We went to the Hiroshima Peace Park and Museum, the latter detailing the build-up to the explosion of the atomic bomb over Hiroshima in August 1945, and the aftermath in terms of the short-term and long-term damage to the population, the damage to property, and the rescue efforts immediately after the explosion. There was a group of schoolchildren at the Youth Monument in the Park.Read more

  • Alan ChapmanJapan 2023Traveler

    Miyajima

    September 20, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    The tram to the ferry port took an hour, and then we caught a ferry, together with lots of schoolchildren, for the 10 minute ride to the island of Miyaajima.
    Passing a deer, and after eating oyster croquettes for lunch, I visited the Itsukushima Shrine with its red torri gate appearing to float in the sea. Then I walked uphill through a forest to the first of two ropeways which reached a viewpoint at 1400ft. overlooking the Inland Sea and its many islands. I didn't continue to the top of the mountain because of the time it might take plus it was a hot and sticky day. It would have been good to spend a night on the island at a ryokan, and get up early to go to the top of the mountain for sunrise.
    After descending on the ropeways, I visited the 616 year-old five-storied pagoda next to the 434 year-old Hokoku Shriine.
    I bought a mano sundae before catching the return ferry and then the tram back to our hotel.
    I spent time on my iPad researching researching holdalls and finding Osprey dealerships in Kyoto and Osaka.
    We returned to the okonomiyaki cafe for dinner.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanJapan 2023Traveler

    Himeji and Kyoto

    September 21, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    After taking a tram to Hiroshima Train Station, we took a Shinkansen for the two-hour ride to Himeji. The train was pink, and one of the carriages was the Hello Kitty carriage where I had my photo taken and bought a Shinkansen model.
    Leaving the train at Himeji, we walked to the beautiful castle, and I walked around the bailey and up to the sixth floor of the keep.
    After lunch, we caught a Shinkansen to Kyoto, and went on the Metro to the Agora Hotel which was near the long, main shopping street with covered pavements to protect you from the sun and rain and many top-brand shops.
    In the evening, we got soaked walking to the Kyoto Traditional Musical Art Foundation in Gion. The one-hour performance consisted of the Chanoyu ritual tea ceremony, flower-arranging, 650 year-old Noh theatre, Koto music, Kyogan comedy, and a Bugaku and Kyomai dance.
    There were no wheeled holdalls at the first osprey dealership.
    I had my only burger of the trip for dinner washed down with a beer which was the usual drink at dinner, either draft craft beer or a bottle.
    Schoolchildren were usually in uniform with the girls sometimes having tartan skirts, and the boys wearing black trousers and white shirts, a combination continued by many office-workers.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanJapan 2023Traveler

    Kyoto

    September 22, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    We took a city bus to Arashiyama Kinkaku-ji. the golden Zen temple, plus its garden.
    We walked through a pachinko parlour where there were dozens of vertical pinball machines being played. We weren't allowed to take photos.
    Another bus took us to the Sagano Bamboo Forest, a lookout over a gorge with a tourist train passing through, and down to the Kano River and a good restaurant for lunch.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanJapan 2023Traveler

    Kyoto

    September 22, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    After lunch, we walked to the Tenryu-ji Zen temple and its garden dating from the 14th century.
    A bus took us back to the hotel for a one-hour break which I used to check out unsuccessfully a branch of Patagonia and another shop for wheeled holdalls.
    At 16.30, we took the metro and then a local train to Fushimi Inari, a shrine with its hundreds of red torri gates to walk through. We didn't have time with evening drawing-in to go through all of them which were spread up a hillside. Some of the gates are sponsored.
    We returned to Tokyo Central Station which, although seeming to be very modern, had been designed and built 30 years before, There was a multi-coloured stairway leading to the 10th floor square overlooking the city and the Kyoto Tower. There were illuminated walkways leading down to the ground-level.
    Whilst the rest of the group had dinner in the Porta shop and restaurant complex under the station, Seiji took me a massive 4-storey shop under or next to the Kyoto Tower which appeared to stock everything. It had a camping section with rucksacks and holdalls. I bought a 97L North Face wheeled holdall which was more expensive than in London but on which I got 10% tax relief because, fortunately, I was carrying my passport with its stamp of Mount Fuji and a QR code. I returned to the hotel with Seiji and bought salads, pear-in-jelly and creme caramel parfait for dinner in the bedroom.
    There was a noticeable lack of vegetables and fruit on menus, the latter being expensive apparently.
    There were few black faces in Japan, the few being tourists or maybe students. The population is very homogenous.
    Japanese started at traffic-lights on side streets, even when there was no traffic and it was raining in Kyoto.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanJapan 2023Traveler

    Kyoto

    September 23, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    After breakfast at a nearby cafe, we went to a Tea Ceremony, dressing up in kimonos and drinking matcha tea with a couple of sweets to take away the bitter taste.
    I walked across the river to the Gion district which had lots of old houses converted into restaurants and shops where one might hope to see geisha girls but none were to be seen. The roads were also private with guards directing the traffic. Photos weren't permitted.
    I continued through the Kennin-ji Zen Buddhist temple, the oldest in Kyoto., and then up a pedestrianised uphill road with lots of tourists, many in kimonos. I passed a few shrines and the five-storied Yasaka pagoda on the way to the Kiyomizu-dera Temple with a great view over the city. I walked down Goya-dori which had a number of kimono hire shops, crossed the river, and had a vegetable noodle soup and a beer for lunch whilst planning the afternoon's walk.
    This may have been the cafe where someone was making a terrible noise performing the Japanese. slurp. Perhaps there should a competition on TV. Fortunately, I was given a spoon whenever having soup, but you wonder why chopsticks are still preferred to knives and forks generally.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanJapan 2023Traveler

    Kyoto

    September 23, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    After lunch, I walked to the Higashi and Nishi Honganji Temples. There was a service in the latter which I sat and listened to. In bewteen these visits, I went up to the Observation Deck 100m up the Kyoto Tower at a cost of Y980.
    I had an ice-cream sandwich back at the hotel. In the evening, half the group went out or a farewell meal with Seiji using the tablet to order lots of dishes.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanJapan 2023Traveler

    Osaka

    September 24, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Seiji took the five of us who were continuing on the next leg of the Intrepid trip to Osaka by local train; James, Lai, Tracey, Jason and myself. After a metro ride, we arrived at the Bridge Hotel, Shinsaibashi.
    Seiji took us to see Pokemon and other attractions in a large department store and then said goodbye. We walked down a long shopping arcade to the centre of Dotombori with lots of neon lights and crowds of people.
    We ate octopus balls for lunch alongside the canal, and crab ticks and cheese tarts later in the arcade. Shake Shack was another stop.
    At 18.00, there was a joining meeting for the next leg of the trip. We were joined by Paul and Annette from Christchurch, NZ; Jim and Mary who lived on a milking cows farm on North Island, NZ, and Yuko Oi, our guide who spoke excellent English. We went to a pancake restaurant for dinner.
    It was noticeable how many more men than women frequented the bars and restaurants, especially after work midweek. Apparently, this reflected the male-dominated workplace.
    It was also noticeable how few black faces there were although the complexion of the Japanese varied from white to light brown, the latter more likely to look Mongolic, the Japanese having come from China originally. Some ladies applied lotion, powder or something else to make their faces, arms and legs look very white,    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanJapan 2023Traveler

    Takamatsu

    September 25, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    I forwarded my large holdall to Matsuyama and just took the small holdall and backpack to Takamatsu.
    Leaving the hotel at 10.50, we took the metro to Shin Osaka Station. "Shin" means "new". When the Shinkansen was being built, there wasn't room for the rail tracks to go into the centre of some cities so stations, such as Shin Osaka, were built on the outskirts.
    We took the Shinkansen for an hour hour to Otayama, and then the bottom tier of a two-tier local train to Takamatsu for one hour, crossing the Seto Inland Sea, dotted with small islands, on a spectacular bridge from Honshu to Shikoku. We went to the Tokyu Rei Hotel by taxi.
    We went by taxi to the Ritsurin Garden which is a "strolling" garden with viewpoints to see the landscaped gardens and ponds with carp and turtles. There were pines and bonsai trees with Mt. Shiun as a backdrop.
    We returned to the hotel by local bus, and then went t a chicken restaurant for dinner, O ordered the mature chicken whilst the others had the young chicken.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanJapan 2023Traveler

    Naoshima

    September 26, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    On a sunny and hot day, we left the hotel at 07.30 by taxi for the ferry port to catch the 08.00 ferry for the hour's ride to the island of Naoshima. Some of the group hired bikes but I walked around the island, visiting various art installations. The first was the Ando Museum and the Community Centre in the Honmura District with their distinctive architecture.
    The Benesse House Museum adjoining a hotel was on a cliff with some Hockneys amongst the paintings, and art objects on the ground near the landing stage.
    The Lee Ufan Museum and Valley Gallery had 88 buddhas in a field plus reflective silver balls in the Narcissus Garden, both very attractive.
    The Chichu Art Museum, in a brutalist style with lots of concrete, had Monets plus the illusion of an infinite staircase.
    There were public sculptures dotted around the island such as the Pumpkin.
    The quiet walk took me past deserted beaches and probably a warm sea.
    The island had been dedicated to art, partly to give it a purpose, with young people leaving for the greater opportunities in the cities.
    With time to spare before the next ferry, I went to the Public Bath which was itself a work of art.
    The 17.00 ferry took us back to Takamatsu. We went to a sushi and fish restaurant for dinner.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanJapan 2023Traveler

    Kotohira

    September 27, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    We took a local train from Takamatsu to Kotohira, staying on the Park Hotel,
    In the morning, we visited Kanamaru-Za, the oldest extant Kabuki theatre in Japan dating from 1835 to provide entertainment for pilgrims to the Kotohira-gu shrine. There are rare performances now. We walked under the stage and saw the equipment for the revolving stage which would be operated manually.
    Some of us climbed the 1368 steps to the Okusha Shrine near the top of Mt. Zozu at 521m. The walk was very steep but there was a great view of Kotohira and the surrounding countryside. On the way down, I stopped for lunch at a posh cafe.
    Continuing my descent, at Omote Shoin, there were 90 painted door panels, some from the Edo period, with cranes, tigers and Mt. Fuji amongst the scenes, plus a garden. There was only one other visitor at this Important Cultural Property.
    I visited an art gallery and then the Homotsu-kau Museum with lots of wall paintings, Samurai headwear, and statues.
    I couldn't find another museum so I walked back to town down a rarely-used path in a forest of very tall and straight cedar trees. To end the walk, I visited the covered bridge over river.
    We went to a beef bbq restaurant for dinner.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanJapan 2023Traveler

    Iya Valley

    September 28, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    We left Kotohira by train for the 42 minute journey to Oboke where a coach took us on a tour of the thickly-forested, mountainous Iya Valley. We reached 1000m. We visited the Scarecrow Village which was virtually deserted apart from hundreds of scarecrows designed as people, with some sitting on benches and others in the gym of the former school.
    We walked across the vine bridge which was also supported by cables.
    The Henke Yashuki Folklore Museum was a former Samurai house.
    I had a wild vegetable noodle soup at a restaurant overlooking the river valley.
    In the afternoon, we took an all-stations Shinkansen for the 90 minute journey from Kwanoe to Matsuyama, and then a taxi to another Tokyu Rei Hotel. We had pizzas for dinner.
    Out of the cities, the attraction of towns and villages are the two-storey house with attractive tiles on the rooves. The house are mainly painted brown or white with few bricks noticeable. Some have small rice paddies rather than gardens. There are few high buildings, maybe a protection against earthquakes. There are lots of cables above the streets rather than underground, maybe because it would be easier to repair or replace them if there was an earthquake. That's a reason why there are many communication towers either on tops of buildings or standalones.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanJapan 2023Traveler

    Matsuyama

    September 29, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Some of us walked up to Matsujama Castle whilst others took the ropeway. The castle was well-preserved. On one floor of the main tower, there were samurai costumes which you could put on. James and I started to but it wasn't easy to do all the straps etc. oneself, partly because the tunic was so heavy. Two Japanese ladies came to help, and others stopped to watch. It was good fun.
    I bought stamps for postcards. The price was increasing in October to Y100 anywhere in the World, equivalent to about 60p which was cheaper than 2nd class mail in the UK.
    We had lunch in a restaurant in a shopping arcade.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanJapan 2023Traveler

    Matsuyama

    September 29, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    After lunch, I took a tram to the Dogo district. After visiting two shrines, I went to a beautiful museum which exhibited Edo/Mejii glass in many shapes, colours and purposes, e.g. sake bottles.
    I went to the Dogo Onsen Honkan which was on the site of the oldest onsen in Matsuyama, having been used by the Emperors in 596 AD. The present building was constructed in 1894. It was also the smallest and warmest bath I went in that afternoon.
    The Dogo Onsen Annex Assuka-no-yu had two pools with a small garden.
    Tsubaki-no-yu was relatively modern and larger with an outdoor area with ceramic wall panels and decorative wooden panels.
    I took a tram back to the hotel.
    We had dinner in an arcade in the Okaido district of the city.
    A cold and cough started that night and lasted for four nights. It may have been cause by the air-conditioning in the bedroom being set too low.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanJapan 2023Traveler

    Nagasaki

    September 30, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    There was no railway bridge from Western Shikoku to either Western Honshu or Kyushu and any ferry would be time-consuming. So we had an uneven ride on a limited express back east to Okayama before turning west for a two-hour Shinkansen past Hiroshima before changing on to the local Kyushu service before changing again on to a Shinkansen for the final 30 minutes into Nagasaki. The intention is to extend the Shinkansen so there will be a complete service from Honshu to Kyushu and on to Nagasaki, saving the necessity for the quick changes between trains.
    We had a snack lunch on the train and, when we arrived at Nagasaki, we took taxis to the Dormy Inn.
    We walked down to the marina and had dinner, a speciality being Nagasaki noodle soup.
    The Japanese don't look stressed despite rushing around in the cities and at the enormous stations. The children seem happy.
    On the rail journey, I saw more solar panels but no wind farms. Japan has many nuclear plants.
    As elsewhere, the countryside was very green with densely-forested hills.    Read more

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