Japan Beppu back to Tokyo - 8hrs Why not

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My sole reason for going to Beppu was to try the famous Onsen there, this done I didn’t see much point stating any longer. I headed to Himeji castle, a world heritage site. The castle has appeared in numerous films including the Last Samurai and James Bond, there were throngs of tourists there, mainly Japanese, and I was among the very small number of Caucasians. The castle itself is stunning to look at, it is functional as well as aesthetic and it does contain more than Matsumto but still not enough to justify the entry cost, it has a few displays, mainly of roof tiles and the implements used in tending to the castle, the only case of any interest to me was the armor of the Samurai. Just as Matsumto I was in and out in under 20minutes as were the people in front and behind me in the line, I saw them at the exit. as id seen much more than I expected during my time here After the castle I boarded for Tokyo again where I went back to see Kabukicho, the red light district and Piss alley at night for the full effect. Along the streets here are soap lands, prostitutes, sex shops and just normal shops, I’m pretty sure I also saw some Yakuza. I wandered up Piss Alley and grabbed a bite to eat where my bill was comped by a Japanese business man who was trying to see how adventurous I was with the cuisine available. Not backing down and washing down the raw meats that they gave me with Sake and beer I definitely impressed them. I crashed in a hostel in the Asakusa district where the lobby was enough to put you off staying but as it was paid for in advance I was damned if I was throwing money away. The room was capsule hotel, the beds were old but served their purpose but words cannot describe the state of the bathroom. Walking through the door was like running into a wall of urine, it was an assault on the senses and I’m lucky I didn’t catch some horrible disease. In the morning I would leave for Osaka as early as humanly possible.

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