One of the three best views in Japan, who makes these lists anyway, who takes considerable effort to corral such wildly subjective opinions into measurable lists? Tourism Japan does, that’s who, just like the tourism boffins in every other country around the world. Well it has worked, we’re here with an ATM full of tourist […]
Tall stacks of aged red brick reach to the stormy sky, pillars of industry that have stood the test of time endure against the storm. Our post storm adventure takes us to Saijo, the home of sake making in Hiroshima province one day after the storm. A typhoon has hit Hiroshima but instead of delivering […]
The most amazing thing happened to us this morning, we walked into a building and through a door into a capsule; then voila, we’re in another town. It’s called a train here, the same name as the thing we have at home and although there are similarities the result is oh so different. Trains are […]
Our feet with the rubber thongs that carry too many rough traveller credits pad a little out of place on the wide paved footpath of Osaka’s central business area. Charlie’s green T-shirt has that little rip near the tag that is getting wider and wider by the country but it’s so warm at altitude while […]
It’s all very confusing this Japan thing, technology and culture just don’t get along, plastic single serve packaging rarely has anything to do with the warm fuzzy textures that make us human. Rounding the bend at the top of an informal cobbled pathway to the main street of Tsumago is one of those places that […]
There’s a definite food hangover in Aki’s house, a hectic few days of hiking, eating and sightseeing has us sitting in the lounge room in front of the biggest TV I’ve ever watched to gorge on fat toast slices with ham and egg. We were going to do a short hike today but six sore […]
The band is back together, Ken doll is joining us and Aki who’s name henceforth is Barbie, for a day trip to Ise and the grandest, most important Shinto shrine in Japan, Ise Jingu. With amazing grace and beauty preserved in Japan at every turn it can be hard to know exactly where to look, […]
Love the sinner, hate the sin; that’s how the saying goes I believe. We love this mountain climbing thing but there’s no avoiding it, this 2:45am wake up is an abomination of biblical proportions. It’s not an abomination in the gay sex, eating shellfish or wearing different fabrics at once kind of way, that just […]
A dreary day beckons outside while breakfast greets us safe inside the dining room of the ryokan for our introduction to natto. What is natto? The correct answer is that it’s sticky fermented soy beans enjoyed with rice, the realistic answer is more like a combination of vegemite, anchovies and warm beer with the texture […]
Kicked out of the apartment at 8am I find myself wandering the streets of Tokyo while Charlie takes a call back home to a prospective new employer, not happy with the title ‘unemployed, kept husband’ it seems. A light spatter of rain gives the city a sheen in the subdued morning hour, there’s little trace […]
Charlie and Steve's Excellent Adventure 