Our guiding hand around Japan

As well as the Lonely Planet (thanks Felix) and Rough Guides, our train travel and sightseeing was made much simpler thanks to the Japan Guide and Hyperdia websites. The internet really is great!!

Not everything in Japan is miniaturised

Either the chair was big or the drink Cheryl had just consumed was equivalent to the 'drink me' potion that Alice had...

A hotel for 'Love'

We stumbled upon a number of these hotels - known as 'Love Hotels' - whilst trying to find a restaurant that had been recommended. Why anyone would want only 60/90/120 minutes sleep I don't know...

Transport in Japan

Our Japan Rail passes have done us proud. We saved over £100 each on rail travel. We could use it on JR ferries and tubes too. The trains are always on time and as people have to pay for reservations, they are always used. There are markings on the platform which tell you where to get on for your car and where to queue up.

We could use the JR Yamanote tube line on our pass which was especially handy when we stayed in Tokyo Bay. The tube map is a little more complicated than in London! Don't be fooled by the fact that stations are linked. We had to walk 1km from the entrance near our first Intercontinental hotel to the Maranouchi line whereas the Ginza line was the closest. There were four lines marked with two different names (one was Tameike-sanno), each at varying distances away. They are long subways but the alternative is walking by busy roads and junctions.

Gonpachi - our last meal in Tokyo

After the success of the last recommendation we decided to try another one. We'd been doing a spot of last minute shopping at Oriental Bazaar in Shibuya and hot footed it over to Gonpachi to refuel. The atmosphere in here is great - the tables were all reserved but we could get two seats at the counter to watch the cooking action.

We had sashimi, of course, plus two shrimp dumplings for starter. Check out the dumplings in the first photo, not quite what we expected - they are a bit like the hairy prawns you get in Yo Sushi. Followed by Cesar salad, black cod and rice. The yuzu mojito was divine so I had to repeat the experience (it tasted like intense tangerine). Another great recommendation.

While the going was good we checked out the bar upstairs which had an amazing view (as we were on the 15th floor) for another cheeky cocktail. The decor in Legato was atmospheric and the lamps looked cool when seen reflected in the window.

What a good finale to a fantastic trip.

Tokyo Bay

On our return to Tokyo we stayed in the Tokyo Bay Intercontinental. We didn't see much of the bay area but had a fab riverside view from our 24th floor room. And I used the massage chair they provided us with a couple of times :-) These photos are from the opulent reception and lounge area and there's one rather hazy view from our window the morning we left.

Oh for an All Raisin

We've only seen these on snowy mountains. Fortunately we have a little stash for when Rich gets peckish.

Cheryl's sightseeing fuel

Give the girl chocolate and she can keep sightseeing all day!!

This brand is the most liked and is fortunately readily available. If only the same could be said for All Raisin...

Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil

We visited Nikko shrine today, about 2 hours outside of Tokyo. This is the most ornate shrine we've seen so I'm glad we did this after seeing all the others. The photos show the monkey relief depicting hear no, see no, speak no evil and elephants carved by an artist who has never seen an elephant before.

Toilet slippers

In the traditional places we've stayed we take our shoes off just inside our room. Sometimes we take them off as we enter the hotel and are given slippers. If Rich is really lucky he'll be given a special pair of slippers that actually fits, otherwise he's wandering around on tip toes and falling up the stairs in tiny slippers. Then when you get to any tatami mats you take your shoes/slippers off.

Because the toilet used to be outside it is considered a dirty area so you get special toilet slippers - even if there is only enough room to sit on the toilet! Then you've got to remember to take them off again when you leave. So much to think about...

Kushikatsu at Kushinobou

We're back in Tokyo and this restaurant was recommended to us. Kushikatsu is tiny deep fried nuggets of food on skewers. Yum yum. It doesn't sound very exciting but even 14 skewers down each skewer is a surprise if you get chefs choice. And what did we repeat for our last skewer - cheese!!!

You have a range of sauces to dip them in - including ketchup. As you feed yourself you feed the fish your used skewers (the photos show the fish at the start and end if the meal).

Probably the best beef in the world

Cheryl selflessly sought out a place near Kobe Shinkansen station for me to sample the renowned Kobe beef for lunch today.  It was extremely tender and tasted fabulous. I'm not sure I can eat beef anywhere else again...

Frustratingly though the restaurant was out of the prawn dish that Cheryl was going to have so she made do with roasted vegetables and some garlic rice much to the surprise and confusion of the Kobe beef chefs - why would anyone turn down Kobe beef :)

Back to Tokyo now for the last two days of the trip then homeward bound...

Miyajima and Hiroshima

We visited the peace park - the dome building that survived the blast is a stark reminder of the bomb as most other buildings still standing were demolished and replaced. The peace park is very well done and the museum gives a balanced view of what happened. Especially touching was the girl, Sadako Sasaki, who thought she'd be cured of leukaemia from radiation by folding 1000 paper cranes (the symbol of health and longevity). The children's peace monument statue has a continually replenished collection of paper cranes folded and sent in by people all over the world.

We spent the night over on Miyajima where they have a 'floating' torii gate which is best to see at high tide and where you can walk around and under it at low tide. The only drawback with both these places is the number of school children on trips (see the photo in the tram) and the ferries across to Miyajina were full of children. We thought staying overnight would mean peace and quiet but there were a couple of noisy groups staying overnight too. We were too late to catch the cable car to the top but we had a lovely wander round the island instead.

Shinkansen to Hiroshima

Waiting for the train at Shin-Osaka watching all the bullet trains arriving and leaving the station.

Osaka happy hour

View from our 24th floor Osaka hotel room

Koya-san visit

Today we took a trip into the mountains to visit Koya-san. As a centre for Buddhist study and training it's a big pilgrimage location. Given its mountain location it will provide a welcome break from the warmer climate of Kyoto.

Part of the experience of Koya-san is the journey to get there. The train and cable car (well more like a funicular railway) wind through some spectacular scenery on the way there.

When we arrived as well as being cooler it decided to rain constantly for our first day there.  Whilst we still fitted a lot in visiting the west area of the town where monks study and train at the temples, we returned early to our temple lodgings to dry off and get ready for dinner.

We were staying at Ekoin, a temple to the west of town. It's pretty well set up for visiting tourists. Being vegan the food was going to be interesting (see other post).

After dinner we set off to visit the mausoleum of Kobo Daishi the founder of Koya-san. It's a big pilgrimage spot and the 2km path to the lantern temple that sits in front of the mausoleum is lined with over 200,000 graves and memorial pagodas. Known as Okunoin it's a fantastic sight -  especially at dusk when lit by lanterns and shared with 1,000 year old cedar trees. The monk is said to be in eternal meditation concentrating on the liberation of all beings.

Returning to the temple we settled in for an early night as we had been invited to morning prayers at 06:30 which meant an early start.

The morning prayers were well attended by the temple guests and there were almost too many people there.  It was an interesting experience however.

The fire ceremony that followed was equally interesting but being in a smaller location was difficult to watch in detail. So we decided to go and take a wander back through Okunoin in the daylight before checking out and taking the journey to Osaka where we will be spending the day.

Shojin Ryori - Buhddist veggie cuisine

Shojin Ryori is entirely vegan and based on the concept of five flavours, five cooking methods and five colours. A meal should include grilled, deep fried, pickled, tofu and soup dishes.

The white square is Goma-Dofu (Sesame Tofu) and is made of roasted and ground white sesame seeds boiled together with starch from the powdered arrowroot. If it tasted of sesame seeds it would be glorious but somehow it doesn't - we found this with the ground sesame we had previously. I'll stick to whole sesame seeds next time!

Considering there was no meat fish cheese or egg in the meal the dishes were very inventive. Some were jelly-like, some were sponge-like, some veg was pickled, there were tasty sauces, there were colourful things floating in our clear soup. And at the end if it all there was rice and roasted green tea :-)

Luxury hotel in Kyoto

We spent our last night in the Hotel Kanra in Kyoto which was gorgeous. Have a look at our room and check out the cedar bath. I want one of those!

Dinner was good value although the appetisers were a bit hit and miss - some weird meat and fish. The main course, fish for me and beef for Rich, were yummy as was the cold potato soup (surprisingly) and fruity dessert.

Bye bye Kyoto.