Japan (Tokyo and Izu-hanto peninsula)

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Hello Everybody,

We have been very busy in Japan and I did not sit in front of a computer a single time. So here we are in Korea, in a guesthouse with internet access. First of all: Japan was just unbelievable! What a great place! We left it two days ago and I already miss it. The people were kind, friendly and VERY helpful! We arrived at the Tokyo airport late afternoon and took a train to the center of the city, then switched to another train to get to Ikebukuro, where we stayed in a little guesthouse. Our neighborhood was fun: One side of the station was heavily neon lit and borderline red light district, the other was full of tiny crooked one lane street and residential (where we stayed). So our 4 days in Tokyo were mostly spent walking around, going from neighborhood to neighborhood and riding the amazing train/metro system. Tokyo was everything I imagined and even more. The crazy places where insane (Shibuya, shinjuku, Harajuku), the more traditional ones where closer to what you could find in south east Asia (Ueno Market). And all the tokyo parks and shrines were wonderful. The language was a bit of a problem sometimes as our 10 words of japanese did not get us too far and the vast majority of the people does not speak any english. But sign language goes a long way somehow and everybody was so helpful. Several times, people walked us to where we were trying to get to. Needless to say, the food was great!!!The last three days were spent on the Izu-hanto peninsula, about 100 miles south of tokyo: We went to Shimoda, Matsu-zaki, Dogashima and finally Shuzen-ji. the first three were beach/coastal towns. The last one was in a valley. The peninsula is known for its Onsen (natural spring bath) and we soaked all the time, it was great!And after a way too short stay, we headed back to the airport and off to South Korea where we will stay a way too short week...

I hope everybody is well. More news soon.

Christophe

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Photos

Tokyo 2016
Tokyo wants the olympics in 2016. We met a member of the olypic comite in a park. He was sorry for France and the failed attemps to get the Olympics...

In lines for the slots machines...
These guys were waiting for the Pachinko (slots) place to open...

Ueno park philosopher and friend
We chatted with him for over an hour and he directed us to the best Tokyo dinning experience!

Hiroshima flame
Remembering the Hiroshima disaster by keeping the flame alive.

Comments

[alexis]

Super photos. Pff ça donne envie d'aller au Japon, bande de petits veinards.

[Bash]

Nice - thanks!
Hi Tara - nice to "meet" you, Christophe! Thanks for sharing your photos and experiences so far. Hope you continue to have a great time. Miss you, Tara!