Japan – Land of the Rising Sun (more importantly, Sushi!) -

Our long awaited flight to Japan came quicker than expected. After flying to Bangkok from Colombo we made our way down to Kao San road and managed to find a return flight to Tokyo the next day. So we ate some noodles, had a big sleep and then made our way back to the airport...to take our flight with...wait for it....Bangladeshi Airlines! It was about as good as the name suggests. I think it’s the oldest plane either of us have ever been on...it rattled and jolted as we could actually see the interior falling to bits...think it had been in service since the second world war judging on the decoration and textiles! Anyway, we arrived safe enough and were soon introduced to a completely different climate. I thought I’d heard the temperature was going to be like 10-15c before we set off...turns out it was much colder. Luckily we’d picked up some warmer clothes from a big and amazingly cheap shopping centre in Bangkok..but as we realised later...wasn’t really enough.

Tokyo was such a welcoming luxury compared to the rest of our trip so far. From developing / third world countries we’d stepped into an airport with a shuttle train across to the main terminal...an amazingly helpful tourist information service that booked us accommodation immediately and a train / subway service that eclipsed the London tube.

We stayed in an area in north west Tokyo called Minowa. There wasn’t much there but it had the cheapest accommodation (still over 30 quid a night) and was well connected with the rest of Tokyo. The rooms were tiny, but it was a traditional Japanese (Ryokan) style guest house where we rolled out a mat and slept on the floor…sounds uncomfortable but was actually quite cosy.

So what did we do in Tokyo? Well, to be honest we mostly ate! (of course). Japan has the most amazing cuisine!!! We feasted on Yakitori, Sukiyaki, Tempura, Sushi, Sashimi, Sushi trains...We had the best sushi train at a restaurant next to the Tsukiji fish markets.

We walked around and saw literally tons of fresh fish from huge squid, octopus, lobster to shark and snapper and mullet and a load of others that I couldn’t even begin to name. The restaurant next to the market of course took all of the fresh produce and the food was delicious. It was here as it was characteristically present in the rest of Japan that we were greeted by the entire restaurant staff as we walked in and as we paid and walked out. This happened in every single restaurant, shop and cafe we entered...the Japanese people were tremendously hospitable and at the same time extremely professional. It didn’t matter what job they were doing...whether it was serving tea, sweeping streets, manning the underground stations...it was a refreshing change to see people enjoying their jobs compared to anywhere else in the world I’ve been.

After the fish markets we managed to catch a popular Kabuki performance in a large Japanese theatre. The actors were all male and accompanied on stage by a seated line of men playing instruments and making strange harmonic (sometimes screaming) noises. To be honest, the whole performance wasn’t really my cup of tea…we stayed for an hour – the actual performance (although split into 3 parts) lasts all day! The two acts we saw were quite slow but as with anything Japanese (from what we could see) the parts were perfectly played and flawless.

Near our Ryokan we enjoyed a great set meal of sushi in a very small restaurant next to Minowa subway station. The guy who ran the place (which was probably as big as the hallway in our flat) was hilarious and very animated. And, although we could hardly understand a word he said, he was made up when we’d made the effort to say that his food was very tasty (Oyshikatta). Another example of the helpful nature of the Japanese people was the business man that sat next to us and helped to translate our conversation. The sushi chef soon became “The Sushi Man” as we referred to him thereafter.

Tokyo of course was the most technically advanced place we’d seen. From heated toilet seats with sprays, to the most efficient tube system ever, to the Sony centre where we met the latest Aibo dog, MP3 players and Home Entertainment systems. We used awesome (ok sounds a bit geeky) Internet cafe’s where you had your own separate booth with full-on leather reclining chair, PS2, DVD’s and PC with the fastest internet connection (of course!). We also visited the Karaoke rooms where again you’d get your own little booth, telly, microphones, english song book. (In fact, Karaoke was even better when we got to Kyoto- but you can read and see about that later). The other incredible thing was the use of space. In the main districts of Ueno, Shibuya, Shigiyama, Ginza (and I’m sure all over Tokyo) each floor of a 7 storey building would have a Karaoke place, Internet Cafe, restaurant etc. So when you were looking around for somewhere to eat etc. you weren’t just walking from building to building and along the street, you were having to look and go vertically as well. Whilst I remember as well, Vanessa and I were completely gazumped by the quality of the cakes and sweets here. We ate the very best chocolate éclair of our lives and subsequently probably ate some sort of cake everyday!

We did visit some cultural bits in Tokyo too…the national museum was a great place and we were lucky to catch a special exhibition on Hokasai famous for painting numerous views of Mount Fuji through block printing. Japanese art really is fantastic and I found it fascinating in every way. Especially when it was painted on the screen doors in temples.