Archived:ThingsWeDidInJapan

It was suggested that we record what we actually did:

• Sun 18th:
  • Arrive in Tokyo, early am.
  • Wander around Tokyo near the station, glimpsing Imperial Palace. See lots of shops that aren't open yet.
  • Breakfast in a 24hr noodle bar in Tokyo.
  • Collect JR passes and train to Odawara, onward to Hakone.
  • Various modes of transport around Hakone (Train, bus, Pirate Ship, ropeway (cable car), cable car (funicular), bus again).
  • Share an umbrella with an old lady who is amazed at John's stature and finds us the right bus stop.
  • Get to 'Fuji Hakone' ryokan in Moto-Hakone Sengokuhara (having discovered in time that there are two ryokan with the same name).
  • Eat horse mackerel and tempura everything at a restaurant around the corner.
• Mon 19th:
  • Breakfast at the ryokan with slightly underdone toast.
  • Take a series of trains to Osaka. On arrival, Phil goes to find Mickey and Emma; Ben, Dan, John, and Mike to find Mielparque.
  • Fail spectacularly to meet at noon, on account of (a) not getting to Osaka soon enough, and (b) confusion over which branch of the Plum chain to meet at. Meet eventually.
  • Lunch at a spanish cuisine sports bar.
  • Head to the castle, narrowly missing a Funky Monkey Babys concert. Wander round the castle, eating octopus balls and jaywalking like crazy.
  • Look at the centre of Osaka. Light shopping and a Ferris wheel ride.
  • Phil stays in the hotel and sleeps off jet lag. Everyone else goes around the corner to a sushi restaurant.
• Tue 20th:
  • Breakfast at Mielparque.
  • Day trip to Kyoto.
  • See awesome railway station.
  • Drink the waters of Kiyomizudera.
  • Temple fatigue.
  • Lunch in a trendy cafe in Kyoto.
  • Eat ice-cream and cake in the awesome station again.
• Wed 21st:
  • Breakfast at Mielparque again.
  • Take a slightly odd (but JR powered and involving a boat) route to Osaka aquarium, and spend all morning there.
  • Train towards Fujiyama for most of the afternoon, and then a bus to K's House.
  • Both K's House and the bar around the corner turn out to be full of gaijin.
• Thu 22nd:
  • Train to Fujikyu Highlands almost in time for opening. Some consternation over dropping off bags.
  • Rather large lunch at Fujikyu. The Q in its name turns out to be appropriate & not much gets done in the afternoon.
  • Leave just in time for the train to Tokyo.
  • What did we do for dinner? Was that the restaurant with the buzzers?
• Fri 23rd:
  • Get up unsure of what to do. Decide to see kabuki.
  • Route march through the government building district to Tokyo Towers. Glimpse it as we rush past to the National Theatre.
  • What did we do after that?
• Sat 24th:
  • Go to the anime fair. It turns out not to actually contain much
  • Lmm sees the awesome pretty cure stage show. Everyone else discovers the maritime museum to be closed
  • Science museum. Asimo walks a bit
  • Evening trip to akihabara, I think?

The remainder of this list is ripped from ThingsToDoInJapan and has yet to be updated to indicate what we actually did:

• Fri 23rd: Tokyo! lmm suggests Nagano trip this day, while Emma's train ticket is valid. Stay in Tokyo BOOKED
• Sat 24th: Anime fair. Stay in Tokyo BOOKED
• Sun 25th: More Tokyo. Stay in Tokyo BOOKED
• Mon 26th: More Tokyo. lmm suggests visit fish auction. Stay in Tokyo BOOKED
• Tue 27th: Emma flies home. Others get up ungodly early and train to Osaka to fly to Yakushima. Stay Yakushima BOOKED
• Wed 28th: Yakushima. Stay Yakushima BOOKED
• Thu 29th: Begin travel north. Stay in Fukuoka BOOKED
• Fri 30th: See the sights in Hiroshima. Stay in Hiroshima BOOKED
• Sat 31st: Castle tour, Himeji (scaffloding mafia), Kyoto, and Hikone all on Shinkansen line to Tokyo. Stay in Tokyo. BOOKED
• Sun 1st: All but Ben fly home. Ben does some more stuff mostly booked.