Louise: Day Two

I wake up feeling terrible - I have a super-strength mutant type of cold that's making my head gooey and my stomach turn, and it's making me feel homesick and tired. But, I'm in Tokyo, and I'm determined not to waste the day. I pluck up the courage to attempt the 15-minute walk to the train station, despite the fact it's baking hot, a confusing route and I feel mildly like I'm dying.

photo by Tradewinds

I get really lost amongst the elevated walkways and alleyways and eventually give in and use my basic Japanese language skills to ask for directions. A kind man not only gives me directions, but walks me to the station when he notices my blank, sick-looking face. I was literally about 20 steps away, but the overpasses makes everything so confusing.

I'm thrown by being lost, and feeling increasingly homesick, so I decide to head somewhere familiar and set out for Shinjuku to tread the same area that I stayed in 2008. I take the train to Ueno before joining the Yamanote line, and feel a massive lump rise in my throat when I hear the familiar station jingles. I miss Rob so much.

photo by destination360

I wander around Kabukicho, and feel comforted by the familiarity of the area, but also a little more homesick for being alone. I manage to find the 7-11 and withdraw some money from the cash machine, which plays me a friendly little tune, before presenting me with my money in a magician-like flourish.

I play in a few arcades, but the games are much harder than I remembered, and everything I do seems to remind me that Rob is many miles away, and I haven't seen him in three months. It feels wrong to be here without him. I head to the 100 Yen store in the Shinjuku Prince hotel, but being in lobby and lift of the hotel I stayed in with Rob is agony. I make a concious decision to spend lots of money to cheer myself up, and then to avoid areas that 'belong' to me and Rob.

After buying a months worth of ramune-flavoured sweets, lemon juice and Pocky, I eat dinner in a rough-and-ready counter restaurant among tired-looking businessmen. I eat greasy, but delicious gyoza and hot, salty edamame.

It's starting to get dark and my head is throbbing, and Tokyo feels like the loneliest place in the world at this moment in time. I head back to Minami-Senju station, I then get epically lost trying to find my hostel and resort to hailing a Batman-taxi again, which costs me 710JPY (about £5) on a 5 minute taxi ride. GRR.

I go to bed feeling sad and tired. Surely tomorrow will be better...

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Louise: Day One

Today is the day! I'm returning to Tokyo! Although, this time I'm missing something vital - Rob. I've been volunteering in Thailand for just over two months, and I decided to round off my trip by returning to my home-away-from-home. I'm pretty nervous about heading there all by myself, but I'm certain I'll find my feet and there's nowhere I'd rather be going that Tokyo.

I fly via Taipei and almost die of thirst, because 1. it's blazing hot in Taipei and 2. nowhere in Taipei airport will accept British pounds, Thai baht or Japanese yen, and as I'm only going to be spending a few hours in Taiwan I didn't think it would be worth buying any currency. Oh, how wrong I was.

I'm also pretty annoyed, because my digital camera gave up working in Phuket, so I have absolutely no camera to take pictures with in Tokyo. GRR. Still, stay calm and carry on. Tokyo awaits!

I land in Tokyo in the evening, pass immigration quickly, withdraw some money and head out into the hot Tokyo air via the Keisei Line. I change to the Joban line in Ueno, to help me reach Minami-enju - the closest station to my hostel in Asakusa. When I arrive at the station it's really dark, and I'm wary of a heavy suitcase and a 15 minute walk to my hostel (which is Japan is considered REALLY far), so I hail a taxi. The white-gloved driver, fake flower decorations and magically open doors make me feel a bit like Batman, but sadly Batman with a cold. My head is full of gunk, so I don't manage to follow the route to the hostel (and will regret this later, when I get epically lost about five times).

I get to my hostel, (I stayed at Hostel Fukudaya - which I really, really do recommend. It's a bit ragged around the edges, but offers air conditioning, tatami floors and a really comfy futon for a really good price) and check into my room. I thrilled to be staying in a room with tatami mats and a big, fluffy futon. I feel like I'm dying of exhaustion, heat and head-goo. So I climb into my womb-like futon and fall asleep with the TV showing a terrible gameshow, the aircon quietly buzzing and the sweet smell of tatami floating in the air.

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Louise and Rob: Day Ten

Today is our final day in Tokyo, so Louise begs Rob to add the Moomin Cafe into our itinerary once again, to which he agrees upon remembering how nice (and huge) the cakes are there. We also decide to head to Meiji Jingu in Harajuku.The day is boiling hot, so it seems like a good idea to wander around the leafy shrine gardens.

We sadly take the Yamanote line for what we know will be one of our last ever train rides in Tokyo and jump off a Harajuku. As soon as we begin to approach the park we notice buskers, cosplayers and people hawking art and music. We stop and buy a pair of paintings for about £7, before heading to the cool, shaded cafe standing to the entrance of the shrine. We refuel with chilled oolong tea and icecream and enjoy some people-watching before beginning the lovely shady walk to the shrine.

A lot of the wooded areas in Japan are so reminiscent of the scenery in Studio Ghibli's Princess Mononoke we half expect to see a kodama sitting amongst the bushes. We snap the obligatory pictures of sake bottles and the gigantic torii, and carry in tripping happily down the sun-dappled path to the shrine.

The shrine itself is beautiful, with lots of dark wood, gold and white - but it's baking hot in the courtyard, and the sun bleaches out most of the pictures - so we have a quick wander around before retreating to the cooler and less crowded gardens.

We pay around £6 to enter the shrine gardens, but are sadly told that we cannot visit Kiyomasa's Well, a powerful healing spot, as there is a problem with it that the ticket sellers limited English, and our even more limited Japanese can't quite translate. But the entry fee is still great value as the gardens are stunning.

We spend a long time sitting on a wooden platform over a greeny-brown pond full of golden, red, white and black koi swimming lazily around, and great big, blocky turtles gently drifting. We spot a kingfisher in the distance and bask in the sun while enjoying the peacefulness of nature. We both feel an overwhelming sadness about leaving Tokyo, but it's hard to feel sad in such beautiful surroundings.

We wander through beautiful sun-streaked paths of broad-leafed trees, stout bushes and the gentle sounds of a stream trickling. The irises aren't flowering, but there are signs of life in them, and big, black crows hop along the floor, crackling in the twigs. We spend hours in the gardens, before emerging to a sunny, and busy gift shop, where we pick up some incense and some ice cream from a vending machine. Our adventure is almost over.

We end our day in Korakuen's  Moomin Cafe with sweet non-alcoholic cocktails, before picking up a few Moomin souvenirs and some pumpkin-filled bread from the adjoining bakery to serve as breakfast the following day.

And then we say our goodbyes as we prepare for the long flight home.

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Louise & Rob: Day Nine

We wake up to cakes – which is the best type of waking up we can imagine! We fall into a tangley cuddle and end up setting off somewhat later than if we had gone with a tour, but since Expedia messed up our booking – we’re going solo!  We’re actually quite glad to be able to go at our own pace (particularly when we see tour groups milling around with silly hats and flags).

We get a bit confused when trying to book shinkansen tickets. When we ask the time of the train, the ticket clerk keeps showing us numbers on a calculator and it takes us a while to work out that she’s showing us the time, rather than massively expensive prices! We’re thrilled to learn the bullet train we’re catching is called the kodama – which is a type of forest spirit, which we’re familiar with thanks to Studio Ghibli.

The bullet train seems mostly normal, but slightly more fast and comfortable. And because you have to book tickets we don’t end up face-to-armpit like usual. The train is much quieter than inner city ones, but we’re seated across the aisle from a salaryman with an ekiben – and Rob keeps trying to peep to see what’s in there!

We arrive at Odawara station, and get a bit confused about where we’re supposed to go, but eventually get pointed in the direction of a tiny little train. Surely it can’t be that! We climb onboard and get nestled between a couple of tiny little old women, who carry on a conversation over us. The train reminded us of a toy train, with a weirdly-shaped track that was a series of hairpin bends –so it seemed we kept going one way, stopping and then going the complete other way – it seemed like we weren’t making any progress at all, until we noticed how high we were getting!

We find ourselves on yet another mode of transport – a big steep funicular that takes us up a big steep hill. It’s a bit busy to begin with, but lots of people get off half way up to go to a museum, with a garden full of strange statues – from what we can see! Louise is starting to get a bit travelworn, queasy and grumpy, but Rob cheers her up by reminded her she’ll soon get to see Fuji-san! If we can find him! 

Guess what’s next? Another mode of transport – yay! And this one isn’t for the faint-hearted. Louise hops happily into the glass cable car, while Rob edges in nervously – as we both realise just how high up we’re going. We get some beautiful views of sweeping green valleys and mountains, and eagle-eyed Rob spots the kanji symbol for big in amongst a forest. We spot lots of hot steam and sulphur spilling from the ground and it reminds us of iron town in Princess Mononoke – quite suitable about riding the Kodama! 

 

We stop halfway up the ropeway at Ōwakudani, which means Great Boiling Valley – and the name suits the place! We stop for some obligatory tourist snaps, and a meal. Louise gets some kind of noodle soup and manages to somehow get a noodle on her face –earning her the nickname of Noodle Nose. Rob eats katsu, and we both try the local specialty black eggs which are said to add seven years onto the life of anyone who eats them. Yum! 

Rob buys Louise a fox necklace from a local craftsman, and then we both search the skyline for the unmissable Mount Fuji – er, except we miss it. We can’t find it anywhere. Rob eventually asks a restaurant worker – who lifts a blind and points to the indeed unmissable Mount Fuji. It’s bloody massive. 

We clamber back into the cable car – after a short wait, during which we’re approached by a troupe of Japanese schoolchildren, who want to try their English skills on us. We eventually end up trapped in a glass car with some gobby Americans, who really annoy Louise by saying “Why can’t they use dollars here like the rest of the world? (It’s worth noting that at this time the exchange rate was 1 Japanese yen to 1 American cent. Braintingling eh!) 

We depart the cable car at Tōgendai, and sit a while near the peaceful waters of Lake Ashi – Rob is feeling a bit delicate – so Louise buys him a Hakone Ropeway badge, and hugs him until he feels better. We marvel at the pirate-shaped boats cruising the lake, but spurn them for a calming walk – where we bump into a pirate friend! 

We take our guidebook’s advice and take the coach home, but as it’s starting to get dark, and we’ve been on the coach for about an hour and a half Louise starts to panic, so we end up getting off the coach, and trying to find another way back to Shinjuku. This turns out to be a wise move in the end because, after some stressing and fussing and language issues at quiet ticket offices, we end up aboard the Romance Car – a wonderful, old-fashioned train with delicious buffet service and seats that swivel round through 90 degrees (thus removing the person behind’s legs if you don’t check first). It is indeed romantic, and we found ourselves wishing – for very much the first time that day – that our destination was actually further away than it was. There was time for Louise to enjoy a yuzu-flavoured sake drink, and Rob a large beer, from the well-stocked and friendly buffet lady, and for us to discuss the places we hoped to visit together in future – our adventure is certainly making us braver!

Alas, our journey did soon draw to a close, and we headed back to our hotel – albeit briefly, and before too long we were strangely reinvigorated and heading to Shibuya for a night on the town. We see the famous Shibuya Crossing, teeming with people, and pass many queues and excitable groups before deciding on a pizza restaurant for our evening meal. Here, Rob orders a spicy chorizo pizza and neither ends up with cheese on his face nor with the subsequent moniker “Cheesecicle-Face” (some of this last sentence may be inaccurate). 

Following our meal, we hit the arcades. Again. Seriously. This is becoming something of an obsession. But so long as we’re winning, what’s the problem? Laden with further armfuls of arcadian spoils, we stroll back through the seedier parts of Kabukicho (itself a pretty seedy part), before calling it a night. Night!

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Louise & Rob: Day Seven

We both wake up really excited this morning – we’re going to Disneyland! It’s been a dream of Louise’s to go for a long time, so she’s making herself dizzy with anticipation. We decide to eat breakfast and calm ourselves down with a quick play on Animal Crossing. We set off for the train station and take the Chuo line to Tokyo Station where we’ll catch our connecting train to Maihama. We take escalator after escalator following the Japanese rule of keeping to your own side, before realising how far we’ve gone down. Louise has a headache so we duck into a chemist and spend a while pointing at our heads and trying to master the Japanese words for my head hurts. Zutsu desu!

On the train we meet a fellow Brit who tells us about a Moomin Cafe in Koraku-en. Louise almost explodes with excitement – high tea with Moominmama sounds like a great way to pass the time!

When we arrive at Disneyland we cross a huge bridge, of which each of the knobs are a Disney character. It already feels quite magical. It’s October so the park is all decked out in Halloween splendour – Halloween is huge business in Japan it seems, with shops and buildings covered in spider garlands and pumpkin-related stuff. It’s also the park’s 25th birthday, so there are lots of Halloween-coloured 25s everywhere.

On our way in we notice fancy headgear on pretty much everyone we pass, Tiggers, Pirates and Stitches – oh my! It would be rude not to join in, so we head to the conveniently placed shop and Louise picks a Stitch hat, while Rob rejects the Cheshire Cat and Tigger before settling on a pirate bandana (but not before Louise snaps an incriminating picture!)

Rob tries to tear Louise away from the shop, but she manages to buy Stitch chopsticks before leaving. We’re so excited to be here that we wander around in awe for a while, viewing Cinderella’s castle, a collage made entirely out of thousands of smiles, and a peaceful corner where Snow White was hiding out by a waterfall, singing.

We join the queue for a Nightmare Before Christmas haunted mansion ride, just as it starts to rain – great big fat rain. We shelter under Louise’s umbrella and wait with anticipation...

After 40 minutes of non-stop queuing – Louise’s feet are hurting and Rob keeps saying “we’re almost there, I can see it! Oh wait, there’s another bend....”

After an hour and 15 minutes of queuing we’re mildly entertained by a parade, glowing lights and Daisy Duck in a raincoat.

After an hour and 40 minutes of queuing we finally pass our final pumpkin spiral and get to the front – whey!

The ride itself turns out, amazingly, to be more than worth the wait! We start out in a big, dark, scary room packed with people, where we are treated to Nightmare Before Christmas clips, before we move on to the ride proper – in creepy carriages flanked with giant claws, which take us past re-enacted scenes from the film, before we see a room of ghosts. Not your average sheets-on-robots ghosts – no, not here. These are actual, proper ghosts! Well, they seem like it: spectral, translucent figures drifting through a haunted ballroom with no strings, wires or video screens to be seen. Amazing,

Upon exiting the ride, we see the rain’s not eased up. We buy some disposable raincoats, which have to be among the least comfortable (and tiny) clothes in the world. They’re soon ditched in favour of Rob’s hoodie and Stitch’s waterproof properties.

We go and buy tortilla hotdogs, oolong tea and churro – all that queuing’s hungry work! We shelter in a tunnel lined with shops and huddled masses while we finish our meal, and go on our way.

Next stop – Splash Mountain! Well, it’s not like it can make us any wetter than we already are... What’s a nice fun ride for most children is actually a white-knuckle affair for Rob, so he’s apprehensive – but Louise convinces him, and he faces his fears... We’re once again fooled by the bendy queue (We’re nearly there! Oh no, there’s another bit...), and we’re once again in for a very long wait – but once again it’s worth it, and Splash Mountain lives up to all expectations! As always with these things, Rob spends the whole time terrified and clutching the safety bar, while Louise is unfazed and enjoys the whole thing – and yet somehow the photo at the end shows a cool-as-a-cucumber Rob and a scaredy-cat Louise. Just like always...

We head to Western Land, where we demonstrate our shooting skills. Rob gets 9/10 and can’t believe he missed one... Consarn it pardner!

We set a course for the illuminated Disney Castle, like moths to a giant, castle-shaped light, where we take the obligatory peace-sign pictures.

Hello Adventure Land! We queue for a River Cruise, and feel pleased when we’re on the ride in under half an hour! The cruise is great fun despite being narrated in Japanese, the hammy tour guide makes up for it with amazing facial expressions, gunfire and intermittent WAH!s

We head back to cafe where we saw a pumpkin-themed menu, but surprise surprise – there’s a mahoosive queue. We shun the queue and head over to Captain Hooks for a giant wedge of pizza and honey dessert.

We wander around, not wanting the day to end quite yet, and visit Pooh’s house, before buying a huge tub of chocolate popcorn – yummy!

As the rain is getting heavier yet, and Louise’s shoes have started to leak we decide to leave, but just as we are we spot a huge illuminated parade, all decked out in cute crayon-coloured macs and umbrellas.

After the parade we leave via the shops, where Louise picks up some dry socks (Stitch of course...), a couple of drinks glasses (guess who...) and a few other bits and pieces, prompting the sales girl to shout “Stitch!, you like Stitch!”

Louise’s secret is out! After a quick mop up and a change of shoes, we take the train back to Shinjuku, and curl up in the hotel with a few beers and munched on chocolate popcorn. 

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Louise & Rob: Day Six

We wake up to another konbini breakfast, scoffing down delicious  but unusually textured waffles and vitamin-rich lemon juce filled with odd jelly balls, all while watching commuters rushing on their way to work. We feel slightly smug about being awake this early without setting an alarm. So, the jetlag only took six days to get over then...

We discover the postcards that we’d chosen and written days ago (bought from a stationary shop that seemed to sell racks upon racks of postcards and nothing else, until we discovered it was about 10 times larger than we realised and quickly stocked up on Moomin goodies). We check the map to find the post office – it looks straightforward enough – and set off to post them at last. 

What we don't realise is that in this area, Shinjuku splits into levels and we wind up being in the right general vicinity, but completely unable to reach the actual building. Once we finally descend to street-level, we go in, only to find we’re on the wrong floor. The good news is, the staff are very helpful and deal with our language shortcomings very well, and we’re soon all done and ready to continue today’s adventure.

 As we’re heading to the Ghibli Museum today, we decide a stop at an ATM might be a good idea. We’re delighted by the fact that even the ATMs are polite, and not only that but they play you a little tune as they unveil your money dramatically from a secret compartment somewhere under the screen. Ta-dah!

We get the train to Mitaka, and relish the breathing space – this is the first quiet train we’ve been on! Upon reaching Mitaka we decide to catch the bus, rather than walk, when we see it’s a big, yellow, friendly looking thing covered in cartoon characters. It could almost be the Catbus!

The bus more than makes up for the spacious train, as excited Japanese children – and adults – clamber around eagerly. But before too long, we’re there. This is exciting – the whole reason for our journey in the first place, and we’ve finally arrived! We’re not disappointed, either. 

We’re greeted at the entrance and a friendly staff member swaps our coupons for real tickets – which feature cells from films – Louise’s is from Spirited Away, and we can’t quite work out which film Rob’s is from, but think it may be Tales From Earthsea. We’re then ushered into a bright blue room, which has the most spectacular ceiling, with a painted fresco featuring the studio’s most popular characters, but we’re too excited to spend much time searching.

Photo from: Studio Ghibli Museum

We head into the Central Hall, which has a tiny spiral staircase and a glass lift, Louise heads to the toilet and leaves Rob waiting as she explores the tiny details, which include Kiki’s Delivery Service’s Cat Jiji featuring on the taps, Totoro on doors and beautiful stained glass windows throughout the whole building.

We explore the exhibitions, which cover Hayao Miyazaki’s work prior to the formation of the studio, alongside pieces relating to their films. We’re bewitched by a moving statue with a My Neighbour Totoro theme, which uses strobe lighting to make the characters seem like they’re moving.  

There are storyboards, interactive exhibits and statues all over – it’s a Ghibli fan’s dream.

The next room we go into has a almost life-size plush catbus sprawled across the floor. We notice a sign stating that only school children can play – so watch jealously for a while, before heading on. 

Photo from: Studio Ghibli Museum

The museum has its own movie theatre, where they show limited edition shorts. We head inside and take our place on the coliseum-style seating to watch Miyazaki’s The Whale Hunt – which seems to involve school children heading on a fantastical journey. We interested to note this is the first film that was shown in the theatre – so we feel very lucky to have seen it.

On our way to the roof, we’re waylayed by the souvenir shop, where we absolutely load up on goodies, including a giant Totoro – which Louise spends the rest of the day proudly holding, keyrings, badges and a jigsaw. We’re in Ghibli-shopping-heaven, but it’s ok...we’re celebrating an engagement...

We’ve been in the museum for a while now, so we head towards the Straw Hat cafe, snapping a few pictures on the way (you’re allowed to outside...honest!)

We look over the queue for the cafe, before deciding to eat from kiosk instead, ordering cool drinks, chickin hotdogs (sic) and ice cream. The barley tea looks interesting, although Louise had looked at online accounts of Ghibli Museum visits and heard bad, bad things. So we stick with safe apple juice – which Rob confidently orders in Japanese. 

After a quick refuel we head up a cramped staircase – trying hard not to headbutt other people in the rear. Halfway up with stop to play with a musical bench and a water fountain – which turns out to be much more powerful than we realise and sprays Rob in the chops. Louise takes advantage of this and soaks Rob – much to the amusement of watching children.

When we get to roof, we’re rewarded with views of the sprawling ivy-covered museum and a giant statue of a Laputa robot – brilliant!

We also spot a Laputa-esque cube covered in engraved writing.

On the way back inside, we’re both thrilled to discover a Ghibli-themed bookshop – Louise loves books and Ghibli, and Rob’s pretty keen on them too!

We spend a huge chunk of time browsing the books, before settling on The Art Of Princess Mononoke, Hayao Miyazaki’s Daydream Note, Archives of Studio Ghibli vol.1 (Nausicaa & Laputa), a Totoro picturebook, and the accompanying books to the short films shown in the museum. Naturally the majority of these are in Japanese, but the wonder of Ghibli transcends language...

Then, when we think we’ve seen everything the museum has to offer, we stumble upon a mock-up of Miyazaki’s own office/studio, which is a treasure-trove of books, reference materials, art, scientific instruments, models and very random objects. It’s the sort of place you could spend weeks exploring and still find new items all the time. Now, suitably assured we have actually explored every bit of the museum, we decide to do our aching feet a favour and head for the bus. 

While waiting, we find the floor is littered with acorns, which makes it feel like a scene from My Neighbour Totoro. We also find what looks like another entrance to the site – a ticket booth, and we’re surprised to see this one’s staffed by Totoro himself.

It’s another squeeze to get on the bus, but before too long we’re back at Mitaka Station and ready to return to the hotel.

Walking from Shinjuku Station we notice that as it starts to rain, the residents of Tokyo react very differently to us. While we’re happy to ignore a light rain on a short journey, we see people going to great lengths to stay as dry as possible, even sheltering underneath their laptop cases or handbags. We take a slightly different route to usual, and stumble upon a greengrocer who’s open surprisingly late, selling slabs of fresh pineapple skewered with chopsticks. We stand to one side (eating on the street in Japan is a faux-pas) and enjoy a much-needed vitamin-C top-up after a diet that, we realise, has been a bit to centred on Pocky and cakes.

We finish the night with a meal of steamed dumplings from a 7-Eleven, and enjoy such flavours as pizza and chow mein balls. We sit in the room and watch the people 20 storeys below us go about their nights in the rain.

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Louise & Rob: Day Five

We wake early to a fresh fruit breakfast while watching Sunday morning anime, which appears to be about football-playing robots...’cept it’s all in Japanese – obviously. How we love Japanese TV. We make our way to the train station – excited about leaving Tokyo for the first time. We catch the train and end up nose to armpit with what seems like the entire population of Tokyo, including a group of anime-styled teenagers who spend the journey on their mobile phones and pulling faces at each other. Kamakura seems an awful long way away when you’re stuffed into a train car on a hot day.

When we arrive we decide to head downhill which Rob thinks will lead us to the beach, on our way we pass a tiny sushi shop, and after deliberating what’s in the interesting looking fishy ones pick cucumber maki rolls. Food in hand we pass by roadside shrines – filled with fresh flowers, incense, books and food offerings.

We’re also really amused by the sight of a KFC complete with full-size Colonel Sanders statue. Awesome.

The beach is a huge sandy stretch, surrounded by grassy hills and mountains – and the occasional mysterious sign, which seems to feature a huge black bird with some sort of warning...great. We debate whether this means we’re going to be eaten, or taken on a jolly flight. But by this time we’re starving so sit down to eat our sushi on the beach, watching local families paddle in the surf and poke sticks at crabs.

As we’re eating we become aware we’re being scouted out by giant black birds – which Rob suggests could be kites. However for now they seem to not be killing us – which is good. We do finish our meal more hastily than before though while keeping an eye on the birds.

After checking our guidebook we decide to head towards the giant bronze Buddha. We get distracted by a vending machine – Louise gets a peach drink, which tastes just like eating a peach. Japan feels a little bit like Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory sometimes. We get completely lost and end up in a suburb-style area with some seriously big houses. We finally give in and decide to ask for directions and after being set on the right track we shelter from the blazing sun in a German-style cafe tucked off the main street.

Louise orders a mouse-shaped bun and is enthralled by the weird spiky flower on the table. After a cooling drink and sweet treat we head back onto the Buddha trail. We dip in and out of shops and realise how big an influence Hawaii has here. All of the shops are tuned into Hawaiian radios, and all seem to sell surfing gear, alongside wooden novelties and string dolls.

The day is so hot we grab a triangular icecream as we make our final ascent towards the Buddha. We pay a tiny amount to get in and are handed a wad of leaflets. And then we see the Buddha – it’s huge. There are huge pots of incense burning and plates piled high with oranges, and fresh flowers, and people. The whole area is vibrant and busy.

We both light a tightly packed bundle of incense, and decide not to go inside the Buddha’s claustrophobia-inducing belly despite the fact it’s ridiculously cheap. We look around the surrounding gardens and sit down in a shady secluded spot – it’s such a hot day.

After a quick recharge Louise is eager to be up and off again, but Rob has other plans...

Unbeknownst to Louise, Rob has been planning to propose this holiday, and this seems like the perfect time and place. By and large it goes well – especially when she says ‘yes’! The ring is only a makeshift one, purchased on the sly from a gift shop earlier in the day, and costing the princely sum of Y380. It’s a pink heart set in silver metal and Louise had wanted it when she saw it in the shop, but it didn’t fit the finger she was thinking of. Fortunately it fits her ring finger just fine!

We spend the rest of the day in a happy glow, ecstatically hopping from shop to shop, looking at gifts and planning our future. We’re so overjoyed we don’t even mind being crammed in the train on the way back.

On arriving in Shinjuku we return to the hotel for a bit of a rest before heading into Kabukicho for our evening meal and another night in the amusements. We find a tonkatsu restaurant which boasts sublime complimentary green tea, as well as delicious tonkatsu which we eat surrounded by businessmen and enjoy the boisterous, but smoky, atmosphere.

In the arcades we win Spirited Away playing cards and a Catbus flannel on the UFO catchers – thanks to Louise’s sheer skill. We also have a good go on the Taiko drumming game – a fantastic way of expending calories and by the time we’re done our arms are ready to drop off. Rob scores high while Louise bops along to the cheerful J-Pop beats.

We head back tired but happy, and so ends the best day of the best holiday of our lives so far.

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