Having waved goodbye to LA (but not without sampling the famous cupcakes at Sprinkles, Rodeo Drive, being caught on camera and going to my first Bollywood party); endured the flight to Tokyo, and the train journey to Mizusawa-Esashi station in the middle of nowhere (or so it seemed to me), I made it through my first day in Japan. I'm in Mizusawa, a town so small it doesn't even register on the blog map (although that's hopefully being remedied as I write). Quaint, pretty and extremely friendly. I set out mid-morning, on foot, to explore; managed to find the high street, with various fascinatingly unfamiliar shops and restaurants and the train statiion. One highly confused conversation with a long-suffering train master later, and I am armed with a train timetable and the knowledge that I can
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