Amerika-mura, Osaka-jo and Aquarium Antics

Yesterday I didn’t update the blog as I did not really have all that much to report. We started off early, and headed by subway to Amerika-mura, as we ran out of time the day before to really check it out. Unfortunately it was very cold and rainy, and most of the shops weren’t open [...]

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So long Sapporo

Today was our last day in Sapporo, and so we had to attend to a few ‘chores’ as is usual on the last day before travel. Our most pressing need was to sort out what to do with all of our purchases – James had purchased several large Gundam sets, and we had bought a [...]

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Sapporo Sapporo Sapporo

I have two days worth of news to catch up on, but luckily I have just had a dinner of the Jumbo size seafood cup noodles, so I am feeling fortified for all of the typing!
Yesterday we caught the train to the Chitose Rera Outlet mall, which is like a DFO in Sapporo. Rera means [...]

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Shopping in Sapporo

Today was a day spent sightseeing and shopping in Sapporo – and we had lots of fun!!
It was 7 degrees when we set out at about 8.30 am directly to Mr Donuts for a yummy breakfast. We will both sincerely miss Mr Donuts when we get back home, but I think James will suffer a [...]

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Super Samurai Scenes in Kakunodate…and out and about in Morioka

Yesterday despite the heavy and cold rain in Morioka, we boarded the shinkansen for the 50 minute trip to Kakunodate. Kakunodate is a tiny town whose big drawcard is the fact that during the Edo period it was home to about 200 samurai, and a few of their traditional houses remain standing and are open [...]

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Nanananana Nagano!!

The last two days we have spent in and around Nagano, and they have been very pleasant. It is not as high up as Takayama, it appears to be nestled in a valley, and so it has not been quite as cold, although when we went outside this morning at 7.30 to buy breakfast, the [...]

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Welcome to Kyoto

Yesterday we took the shinkansen from Hiroshima to Kyoto, which only took  a couple of hours. After leaving the Hiroshima Grand Intelligent, we had hopes that the Rhiga Royal, our hotel in Kyoto would be more comfortable.
Upon arriving at Kyoto station, we headed out in the pouring rain to find the Rhiga Royal. 30 minutes [...]

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Magic Miyajima

This would have had to be our fullest day yet, hence the fact I am typing this the next morning. Starting out at around 9am, our plan was to head to Miyajima, a small island very close to the coastline of Hiroshima, in the Seto inland sea. Miyajima is most famous for its ‘floating tori’, [...]

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Hiroshima – War and Peace

Welcome to Hiroshima, the city best known for it’s tragic history, being the first city ever to suffer the effects of a direct atomic bomb hit.
Today we headed to do the Hiroshima ‘thing’ – visit the bomb dome, the peace park and the peace memorial museum. There are many more ‘gaijin’ (foreigners) in Hiroshima, and [...]

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Canal City and Hitting Hiroshima

I was really grateful for the chance to sleep in today, as my cold has worsened and I have almost no voice! Today was our last day in Fukuoka, before heading to Hiroshima, and I am typing this while sitting on the Shinkansen travelling through the countryside at 300km/hour!

We got up at about 8am this [...]

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