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Kon’nichiwa NihonKon’nichiwa Nihon
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JAPAN BY RAIL with Wendy Wu
This is the ultimate top-toe tour of Japan covering three islands in one trip – Kyushu, Honshu and Hokkaido whilst travelling on the bullet train! From rural villages to bustling cities, from coastlines to alpine. Read more
  • Janette and John

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  • Japan Japan
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Group travel, Sightseeing, Train
  • 19.4kkilometers traveled
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  • 56footprints
  • 24days
  • 487photos
  • 67likes
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  • Janette and JohnJanette and JohnKon’nichiwa Nihon
    The raw materials.Presenting the tuna.Demonstrating sushi making.

    Sushi making.

    May 23, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    In order to have lunch today, we would have to make our own and we would be taught by a master sushi chef.

    Chef presented a tuna for us to appreciate and then filleted it. Some was first sliced for sashimi and then some sliced for sushi (finer slices).

    He then demonstrated making sushi at his normal speed - it was a blur! He can make 500 an hour.

     Next we were shown step by step and we followed, making our first. Take some rice, make it into a ball about the size of a golf ball, put some wasabi on it and then a slice of fish. Squeeze it in the palm of one hand then shape with the first two fingers of the other hand.

    We then continued to make our own using the slices provided.

    During this process, our burners were lit to cook the soup which was on top. The extra fish we were given went into the soup to cook.

    A photo of each of us was taken during lunch and was then used to produce our graduation certificate.    Read more

  • Janette and JohnJanette and JohnKon’nichiwa Nihon
    First gate to Sensoji Temple.
    Now that's an incense burner!

    Asakusa and Sensoji Temple.

    May 23, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    Asakusa is the centre of Tokyo's Shitamachi (old town) district with traditional craft shops and street food stalls.

    Walking through this district leads to Sensoji Temple, an ancient Buddhist temple and the oldest in Tokyo. It was originally founded in the 7th century. The temple has an image of the Buddhist goddess, Kannon who was said to have been rescued by two fishermen from Tokyo's Sumida River.

    On the drive back to our hotel we drove past the Imperial Palace, the main residence of the Emperor of Japan.    Read more

  • Janette and JohnJanette and JohnKon’nichiwa Nihon
    The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building.
    Meji Jingu Shrine amid high rise buildings.Meji Jingu Shrine.Ready for a Shinto wedding.Two trees - one canopy.Lunch restaurant.Shibuya crossing.

    Around Tokyo.

    May 24, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    First today was a visit to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. The 243 metre tall building has two towers, each of which houses an observatory at 202 metres.

    The views across Tokyo are spectacular. Very obvious is the large green space visible among the high-rise buildings. This will be our next port of call.

    The Meji Jingu Shrine was built in 1920. It is a Shinto Shrine dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meji and his wife, Empress Shoken. The Meji period in Japan brought modernisation and westernisation.

    While we were there a couple arrived to be married.

    We had a traditional lunch in a local restaurant before heading back to our hotel for a bit of shopping time before meeting for dinner at 6.00pm.

    On the way we drove through the famous Shibuya Crossing, considered to be the busiest pedestrian intersection in the world. It is certainly the busiest in Japan. At times it has 30,000 people crossing at once.

    Dinner tonight is a dinner cruise on Tokyo Bay.    Read more

  • Janette and JohnJanette and JohnKon’nichiwa Nihon

    Dinner cruise on Tokyo Bay.

    May 24, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Caught the local train to the bay cruise jetty. Boarded the Symphony Classica at 7.00pm. We had our own dining room and ate a four course western style dinner.

    During dinner we cruised around Tokyo Bay enjoying the view of the Tokyo lights.

    After dinner we were able to go up to the top deck.

    Yet one more great experience.    Read more

  • Janette and JohnJanette and JohnKon’nichiwa Nihon

    Bullet train northwards.

    May 25, 2024 in Japan ⋅ 🌬 17 °C

    Today we travelled from Tokyo to Sendai by bullet train - 305kms in less than two hours.

    We left the hotel at 8.00am and went by coach to the station. There was a train at the platform when we arrived and some of our group assumed it was ours and boarded.

    It wasn't ours, but Janette managed to save the day by getting them off the train before it left. However it left her feeling very unsettled for the rest of the day thinking about what could have happened.

    From Sendai Station we walked the short distance to our hotel, left our bags at reception and had a lovely lunch in their restaurant.

    After lunch, we went by coach to visit the Miyagikyo Whisky Distillery.

    During the one hour journey, Inage reminded us that the train station before Sendai is Fukoshima well known for a major nuclear accident at its nuclear power plant. The cause of the accident was the March 11th, 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.

    At this time, Inage was an office worker. On that day he was travelling north with his manager by bullet train. The train suddenly started to slow and then stopped. The train was between two stations and the passengers had to wait two hours to be rescued, all the time not really knowing what had happened.

    At one point the train moved sideways, presumably from an aftershock. By now it was dark and there was no power. They were taken to a hotel and they were given space in the lobby to sleep.

    They couldn't go eastwards because of the damage caused by the quake and the tsunami. They took a taxi westward and managed to get a flight back to Tokyo.

    Listening to him, it seems that recounting the story brings back the fear and anxiety everyone must have felt.

    I cannot help but see a parallel with this and a massive bomb being detonated above a city leaving the people not knowing what was happening…    Read more

  • Janette and JohnJanette and JohnKon’nichiwa Nihon
    Matsushima Bay.Repair/restoration/strengthening work after the 2011 tsunami.

    Miyagikyo Distillery and Matsushima.

    May 25, 2024 in Japan ⋅ 🌬 20 °C

    After lunch we were coached to a whisky distillery. Masataka Taketsuru built this distillery in 1969 in the pursuit of the perfect whisky.

    It was very interesting to look at the history and the warehouse, but, as we're not whisky drinkers, the tasting bar and gift shop didn't really hold much interest for us.

    From the distillery we were driven to Matsushima Bay for a 45 minute cruise around the bay. It is dotted with over 200 small islands covered in pine trees.

    When the 2011 tsunami hit, these islands acted like a sea wall and minimised damage to the town.    Read more

  • Janette and JohnJanette and JohnKon’nichiwa Nihon

    Zuigani Temple, Matsushima.

    May 25, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Zuigani Temple is one of the most famous and prominent Zen temples in the Tohoku region. It was originally founded in 828.

    It was restored in 1609 and is famous for its beautifully gilded and painted sliding doors.Read more

  • Janette and JohnJanette and JohnKon’nichiwa Nihon
    Our last bullet train.
    Our last bullet train - Sendai to Hakodate.Nice lunch.Goryokaku Tower, Hakodate.View of the star fort from the tower.Hijikata Toshizoh - a heartthrob of today's young Japanese girls.

    Sendai to Hakodate.

    May 26, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    7.30am start today. Walked to the station and caught the 8.00am bullet train (our last) to Kikoni which is as far north as the bullet train goes. To get from Kikoni to Hakodate, we took a 15 minute ride in a local commuter train.

    Sendai to Kikoni is about 382kms which we covered in about three hours. The line is to be extended to Sapporo by about 2030.

    To get from Honshu to Hokkaido, the train travels through a tunnel 53kms long, 23 of which are undersea.

    A coach was waiting for us at the station to take us to our hotel. We left our bags at reception, went into the restaurant and had lunch. Afterwards we visited Fort Goryokaku.

    Goryokaku is a star fort. The fortress was completed in 1866. It was the main headquarters of the short-lived Republic of Ezo.

    Goryokaku was designed in 1855 by Takeda Ayasaburō. His plan was based on the work of the French architect Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban. The fortress was completed in 1866, two years before the collapse of the Tokugawa shogunate.

    It is shaped like a five-pointed star. This allowed for greater numbers of gun emplacements on its walls than a traditional Japanese fortress, and reduced the number of blind spots where a cannon could not fire.

    The fort was built by the Tokugawa shogunate to protect Tsugaru Strait against a possible invasion by the Russian fleet. It became the capital of the Republic of Ezo, a state that existed only in 1869. It was the site of the last battle of the Boshin War between the Republic and the Empire of Japan. The fighting lasted for a week (June 20–27, 1869).

    Today, Goryokaku is a park declared as a Special Historical Site, being a part of the Hakodate city museum and a citizens' favorite spot for cherry-blossom viewing in spring.

    There is a tower next to the park with an observation deck at the top - this is the only way to see the star shape of the fort.    Read more

  • Janette and JohnJanette and JohnKon’nichiwa Nihon
    Hakodate.
    Going up.Hakodate Ropeway.'Borrowed' from google.Our penguin.

    Gondola ride to Mt Hakodate.

    May 26, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    A big attraction in Hakodate, for both locals and tourists, is to take the gondola (the Hakodate Ropeway) to the top of Mount Hakodate.

    The view from the top is really spectacular but most people go there at sunset to look down on the town lights.

    We travelled up but had to leave before it got dark in order to go to dinner.    Read more

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