Japan part I

Flying over the Arctic on our way to Japan...


Hello everyone, yes we are back from Japan!

The trip was amazing; we saw, heard and tasted many many different things, including seaweed and miso soup for breakfast. Everything was a bit of a culture shock, from the undicepherable writing, the madness of Tokyo, to the bowing and the high-tech toilets, yet the country was very easy to travel around. We had got rail passes before we left, and used them extensively. We stayed in Tokyo, Kyoto and Matsumoto, and took the train to go on various day-trips.

Here is part 1, views of Tokyo taken in the first couple of days. It's all very colourful and vibrant...

Well, this one is not so lively! This is the main shopping street, in the Ginza area (central Tokyo, very near our hotel), empty as everybody was still on holiday...


This park in central Tokyo hides in its midst the emperor's palace (it's impossible to see it!)


A view over the park towards central Tokyo:


The Akihabara area, where the latest electronic gadgets can be found in the multitude of electronic shops lining the streets:


Visiting a temple; it was extremely busy as the Japanese go to their temple in the first few days of the year...