Japan New Year 2010
Japan New Year 2010
Sunday 27th December 2009 - Monday 11th January 2010
Two weeks in Japan over New Year 2009/2010.
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| Nozaki-Sensei and Ikebukuro Sunday 27th December 2009 First day of this trip to Japan. After checking in to our hotel in Shibuya we went to visit Chie's university tutor - Nozaki-sensei - out in the suburbs. In the evening we did a quick visit to Ikebukuro for my old favourite haunts, Rohlan and Quercus. | Monday in Tokyo Monday 28th December 2009 Lunch with Tanaka-san and his kids, followed by an afternoon spent working from my hotel room whilst watching a glorious sunset over Mt. Fuji. In the evening met up with a couple of Chie's university friends. | Tuesday in Tokyo Tuesday 29th December 2009 A wander around Akihabara and a visit to the Meiji Jingu shrine in the daytime, before getting the train to Hiroshima in the evening. | Kobe Wednesday 30th December 2009 A daytrip to Kobe from Hiroshima to visit Hiromuchan and have a look around the boat Yuka-chan works on. |
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| New Year's Eve Thursday 31st December 2009 Visited Chie's Grandparents in the daytime, then back to her parents' in the evening for nabe and some drinks to ring in the New Year. | New Year's Day on Miyajima Friday 1st January 2010 Visiting Chie's family on Miyajima on New Year's Day. | Kabe Saturday 2nd January 2010 We didn't really have anything planned today, so after a lazy morning we decided to randomly get on a branch line from Hiroshima and see where it went. It went to Kabe. It wasn't very interesting. | Sunday in Hiroshima Sunday 3rd January 2010 Another quiet day in Hiroshima without very much planned! Just went out to do a bit of shoping towards the end of the afternoon, then back home in the evening for okonomiyaki. |
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| Kyushu Monday 4th January 2010 My first visit to the island of Kyushu, one of the four main islands of Japan. Got the Shinkansen to Hakata / Fukuoka where we met up with our friend Ai-san, who then took us by car to Yanagawa for a punting style "donkobune" boat trip along a canal. | Ujina and Sushi-Tei Tuesday 5th January 2010 A late afternoon seaside stroll by the sea at Ujina in Hiroshima, followed by a visit to the bar on the top floor of the Grand Prince Hotel, and then dinner at Sushi-Tei in central Hiroshima. | Naoshima and Okayama Wednesday 6th January 2010 A day spent visiting the island of Naoshima, famous for contemporary art, followed by an evening meeting up with some old friends in Okayama. | Travelling to Tokyo Thursday 7th January 2010 Hardly took any pictures today. Spent the afternoon travelling to Tokyo from Hiroshima, then had a quiet evening in Ikebukuro visiting Watanabe-san at Quercus Bar. |
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| Asakusa Friday 8th January 2010 Spent the daytime working from my company's Tokyo office, then in the evening met up with my friend Tanaka-san for a night out in Asakusa. | Eating in Tokyo Saturday 9th January 2010 A day spent almost continuously eating in Tokyo - vege ramen in Akihabara for lunch, and a feast of Taiwanese vegetarian food at It's Vegetable in Kinschicho in the evening. | Enoshima and Ikebukuro Sunday 10th January 2010 Spent the afternoon on the island of Enoshima near Tokyo, including a visit to the spa there. In the evening met up with Chie's friend Miyuki-san and headed over to Ikebukuro for the usual dinner at Rohlan followed by a wee dram or two at Quercus. | Off to the Airport Monday 11th January 2010 I often don't bother taking pictures on the absolute last day of a trip to Japan, as pictures in airports are usually not that interesting! However I noticed on my camera I was just a few pictures shy of having taken 500 during this trip, and was determined to get there! |