From Kyoto we took the short train journey to Osaka and our hotel New Hankyu, next to the main stations in Osaka. Trips on the menu included the castle at Himoji (Himoji-ji) and then a general wander around Osaka itself. Another of the strange sights we saw in a vending machine. This was 12 year …
From Kanazawa we took a few trains to Kyoto. The journey wasn’t particularly interesting as ended up standing for the whole two hours but we were glad that our bags were being shipped around without us having to carry them, making good use of the Japanese baggage shipping system which really did seem very efficient. …
At the end of a day in Shirakawago we took another bus to Kanazawa. The journey between the two was particularly impressive as rather than navigate winding mountain routes the road cut right through mountains, with bridges over valleys, getting us to Kanazawa in under an hour. We must have travelled a fair distance and …
From Nikko we took a bus to Shirakawago, further into the mountains. Shirakawago is similar to Hida No Sato in that there are a collection of authentic traditional buildings, but the difference is that they’re all lived in and the whole place is a combination of working village and tourist attraction. Shirakawago nestles nicely in …
Following on from Nikko we took the train to Takayama. Takayama is a fairly touristy place, popular with Japanese as well as Western tourists due to its authentic old buildings. We also had our second stay in a ryokan, this time more upmarket. Takayama itself is very picturesque, albeit in only a small section, and …
From Tokyo we took a bullet train (or Shinkansen, as they prefer to be called on the train station signs) to Nikko which is up in the mountains northest(ish) of Tokyo. There’s a large temple complex up there as well as our first taste of a Japanese Ryokan, which is basically a type of hotel …
We started with Tokyo for three nights. The airport is actually about an hour and a half outside of Tokyo and not the most interesting of drives in. In fact, Tokyo didn’t appear that spectacular on the way in. I think it’s a city that takes a while to get used to in terms of …
Having just come back from Japan I can say it’s a most amazing and very strange country. A lot of things seem very familiar from any Western city, but everything is just slightly different. It’s interesting just how similar some things are but how different others are. It’s a lot more subtle than, for instance, …
This has to be the most optimistic phishing attempt I’ve seen yet. I can’t wait to collect my 500 pound shopping cheque, though. I just feel so devouted. Dear Co-operative Bank p.l.c. Online customer, The bank congratulates you as a devouted customer and rewards you with a shopping cheque of 500 pounds, but We were …
McDonald’s have jumped on the ‘user generated content/corporate communications’ bandwagon and produced a site that allows anyone to ask a question and have it answered by the company. The site, built in Flash, is called Make Up Your Own Mind (and is not to be confused with the Eurovision song contest’s Making Your Mind Up). …