JAPAN 2017

DURING this trip we went spent 2 days – Tokyo, 1 day – Mt Fuji, 3 days – Kyoto, 2 Days ‎⁨Hatsukaichi⁩ and Hiroshima⁩, ⁨then 3 days in Yakishami Island.

DAY 1

After a long 11 hour flight from Dallas to Japan we landed and then had a 40min train ride to Tokyo, luckily some of the signs were in English.

One thing to remember is the Japanese are so helpful so no need to worry at all. Upon arrival we purchased two JAPAN RAIL Passes for the train network although it does exclude some High Speed trains so be careful.

Once we got a good nights sleep we headed off to get some suchi and visit the local market in Tokyo.

After sushi for breakfast we went to see the SkyTower, taking the train was fun, luckily we had some help by a local.

The Skytower is super high and the view is worth the visit, not only of Tokyo but of Mt Fuji. Standing above Tokyo was a little worrying for some.

As you walk around the city which we did, it is full of interesting things we could not stop taking pictures….. shame the SUMO guys were out of town in another city.

After a walk around Tokyo , it was time for some saki and more food.

After a lovely lunch we headed to a temple which meant more trains…..

After the Temple we headed to Shunjuki by underground train to hit up the Golden Gai area, over 250 hovel bars…… unfortunately we were too early in the day for a drink, they all open at 6pm….. but we walked around anyway.

Then we headed to Shibuya Crossing, truly crazy, see the video below.

Following on from the craziness of the crossing we headed to a local food place for some yummy dinner, we met a good friend Rob Mosley who showed us how to order and what to order.

DAY 2

I was told we had to visit the Tsukiji Fish market whilst in Tokyo, it did mean a 4am start. It was worth getting up early to see and hear it, see the extra pics by clicking on the link.

Then we left the hotel and Tokyo to head to Mt Fuji to stay in a traditional Ryokan.

When we arrived at the town of Fugikawaguchiko which was about 2 hr train ride from Tokyo we were picked up and taken to our new home for the night. We stayed at a Traditional Ryokan, please view this post as the dinner was unbelievable.

At the end of the evening we slept well

Day 3 – Kyoto, Japan

‎⁨After a breakfast of dumplings and tea we headed to the train station for our next city, it did mean taking the Bullet train… my excitement was huge but first a local train was used.

The main issue I had was the motion sickness I felt from going so fast and looking out the window, I had to stop looking out and focus looking forward, yuck, it is just so fast.

After traveling for several hours we reach Kyoto main station and changed to the underground train to take us to the North side of Kyoto where we were staying. We changed and headed out to a very fine restaurant but had time for a aperitif in a bar we had seen a few hours earlier….

Not everyday you find whisky this old in a small bar like this.

After a 30 min walk we find our restaurant “Jukusei Yakiniku Pound Kyoto Ekimae” is the Yakiniku restaurant specializing dry-aged Japanese beef, see review for more pictures.

After this we headed across the street to another whisky bar… yes we like whisky.

After being here we headed back to our AirBnb which was not built for someone as tall as me.

DAY 4

We started the day by taking a train to South Kyoto to see the Fushimi Inari Shrine which from all the pictures was beautiful. The entrance is below.

First of all we washed our hands.

Then we headed in to the shrine itself and walked around for hours.

Just peaceful and it was a time to reflect and let the last few days catch up with us. But I was getting hungry so we headed to the local market …. and yes I did have one.

After some local tasty snacks we made a short walk to the Kyoto Fushimi is one of the greatest old sake brewing areas Japan has to offer, a place where sake has not only been made and served for the past 400 years but were it’s history is visible and palpable at every corner, the walk was beautiful.

We visited the Gekkeikan Sake Museum which was full of history and some sampling, below though was the water they use to make the saki.

Once we had walked around the museum we got to taste some of the local saki.

Next we did take a taxi to the Yamazaki Distillery, see more details by clicking the link, this was what I had been looking forward to all day.

After this we took a train from Yamazaki back to Kyoto to see one of the most prolific and well known temples Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion). I will let the pictures do the talking.

Following on from this absolute stunning building we headed back to Kyoto near our AirBnB and randomly walked in to a small lovely restaurant which had only opened the night before, they did not speak English and the menu was 100% in Japanese I kid you not. we made it work using google translate apart from everything was sea-bream or sea-food but we agreed a fixed price for a dinner and they got to work, I will never know if we got a good deal or not but for 50$ each this is what we got and it was the best fun ever and the two chefs really wanted to impress as do most Japanese people.

Our Saki arrived in a 1.5 litre bottle, apparently it is an honour system.

Now you have seen the pictures, there was Ahi Tuna, Sea-bream Ovaries, Whitefish ? Sashimi, rice and we still dont know what else. The last dish was duck for sure we believe. Anyway, these guys made it so much fun. Anyway time for bed.

Day 5

We took a train out to Kameoka to a Monkey Sanctuary for the day.

After walking up what seemed like a million steps we reached the top.

The view was spectacular to be honest and the monkeys were fun.

We headed back down the million steps and grabbed a snack, again not quite sure but something deep fried must be safe ?

DAY 6

After an early night due to being very tired we headed to Hiroshima which for me being British and a history buff I needed to visit. The one building remains and they built a beautiful park and all the new monuments are in a line so you can see beauty before the beastly.

After we walked around for a while we headed to a local bar to grab a Hightail and we ended up eating there as well.

We left the restaurant and googled bars near me and we found a little beauty with only 10 seats, you walked in a back door, up some stairs and then opened another door and here it was.

Then on our walk back from the bar we hit upon a art light show which was superb.

After our walk home we hit the bed pretty fast.

DAY 7

We had to leave our luggage at the trains station in huge lockers and we took a local train to the city of Hatsukaichi in Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. The shrine complex is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We had to get there early as if you want to put a coin in the shrine then it needs to be low tide.