Tokyo to Adelaide

We both wake shortly before the 0515 alarm. A person from the hotel wheels Carol to the shuttle bus as CJ pushes the luggage trolley.

Getting two large suitcases, a roller, and two backpacks onto a shuttle bus amidst a crowd of travelers is no easy chore. The bus driver is very helpful getting Carol and the wheelchair off the bus.

We enjoy a light breakfast in the ANA lounge. This lounge has the same cool beer dispensing machines that tip the glass when pouring. This lounge also has four beers on offer. It also has two Japanese whiskey's, various spirits, and a sake, the same one we have packed in our luggage.

Service to and onto the aircraft is brilliant. There are two meal options: Japanese and International. We select Japanese. Three courses are too much but the many offerings are mostly very good. They offer an 8-year aged sake which is very good. 

Haneda Airport

After checking into the hotel at the airport, we go in search of lunch. The first three places in the Terminal 3 food court are "fast food". The next place is a sushi restaurant. Have a seat.

This is a hi-tech place. Each position at the sushi bar has a tablet. Ordering is done on the tablet. Sushi orders are sent to the sushi chefs. Drink orders go to what passes for a bar.

Carol orders a small tuna platter, CJ a larger one with two pieces each of four different tuna types and two tataki pieces of sushi. A beer disappears almost immediately after lugging the heavy overnight roller.

More incredible uni.

The uni sashimi is excellent. We order a second. Carol orders two more pieces of tuna. Who would have thought we'd find sashimi and sushi of this quality at the airport.

As has been true throughout Japan, the wasabi is always fresh grated and never the powered crap. At this restaurant, they celebrate the fresh wasabi with a poster.

The sushi chefs see CJ admiring the poster. They demonstrate the reality. Look at this amazing collection of fresh wasabi. If Australia's laws against bringing food into the country weren't so strict, he'd try to bring some home.

It will be an early night followed by a 0515 alarm.

Izokogen to Tokyo on the Odoriko Rapid Train

There were two Japanese breakfast selections and one Western. We both selected the same Japanese meal.

The grounds of Hanafubuki Ryokan are very well done and maintained.

We were originally scheduled to take the train to Kawazu to view the cherry blossoms. Since they are not yet in bloom, we decided against that trip.

We arrive at Izukogen Station with tickets from Kawazu to Tokyo. There is a translation device popular in Japan. At the station it comes in handy. CJ is able to exchange our tickets for an earlier rapid train, in the same class of service, and with the desired ocean side reserved seats.

Once again we are saved by a translation device. With CJ speaking no Japanese and the station ticket agent speaking no English, CJ manages to get the Kawazu to Tokyo ticket exchanged for the shorter Izukogen to Tokyo in the same class of service, in the same car, and on an earlier train. The nice agent even puts us on the ocean view side of the train.

The Odoriko train is called a “rapid” train. It is an express train meaning it bypasses many stations. Once again we marvel at how mountainous Japan is. The train route is along the coast. Mountains reach to the sea. The train passes through a tunnel passes by a densely populated city nested in the area between mountains, and then the train enters another tunnel. This is repeated over and over. The only differences are the lengths of the tunnels and the size of the cities.

There is no way the US could have invaded Japan and won the war. It would have gone on for years fought to a stalemate. It would have made Vietnam look like a cake walk. All estimates of the number of lives saved by dropping the two bombs is grossly underestimated.

A taxi delivers us from Tokyo Station to Haneda Airport. Even though we saw the hotel from the taxi, once inside the terminal we miss the sign to the Royal Hotel Haneda. After walking the length of the terminal, we’re informed that the hotel is on the opposite end, the end where we entered. Bugger.

An Evening in Cultural Japan

We set off to experience cultural Japan. Our destination is Hanafubuki Ryokan in Izukogen on the Ito Peninsula. The original purpose of this trip was to see early cherry blossoms. We picked a year when the cherry blossoms are late. 

It is late in the trip and we are tiring. We decide to dive into the cultural experience of the hotel and forego touring and the trip to Kawazu in the morning.

Again, Michael has provided us with outstanding directions. Our train tickets were handed to us when we checked into the Tokyo hotel. Today we take the Odoriko rapid train. It is an express train that bypasses many stations. We have seat reservations in Green Car #4. The trip is two hours and four minutes to Izukogen.

We need lunch on arrival at the station. We pop into a 20-person restaurant at the station. Only cash is accepted and not a word of English is spoken. We are saved by the Google translation app. It allows us to order two meals, a beer, and sake. Everyone else in the place is Japanese.

The only menu. Google translate gave us English,

Hanafubuki Ryokan is a beautiful place. We are delivered to our traditional Japanese room with one slight accommodation for our aging bodies. We have booked one of their few rooms with beds.

There are more than 10 natural spring fed Onsens on the property. Two of them are mere feet from our room. We enjoy the relaxing experience before dinner. For the record, bathing suits are not allowed in an Onsen. 

Unlike the Onsen in Niseko which was indoors, this one is open to the gardens. On arrival, the naked CJ closes the folding glass doors to the Onsen. What was very cold becomes very hot in minutes. Did you really want the two pictures of us naked in the Onsen?

Traditional Japanese clothing is provided to guests. The one big flaw in the hotel's management is that they have neither footware nor a Japanese outfit that fits CJ; not a single one! He wonders what would happen if a sumo wrestler booked a room.

Dinner is a fixed menu. It is excellent.

Dinner with Yuriko and the Admiral

We have been looking forward to this get together for months. We dine at a very good sushi restaurant near our hotel. 

CJ and the Admiral have much in common and chat away the evening. Carol and Yuriko do the same at their end of the sushi bar. It is a magical evening!

Ukai Toriyama Restaurant and Train Adventure

We are off on a solo adventure. Armed with the Suica rail cards Yuriko helped us purchase, we find JR Chao Line to Takao Station. Our agent prepared us well by informing us the train departed from Platform 1. 57 minutes later we transfer to another train on the Keio Line for a three-minute ride to Takaosanguchi.

A shuttle bus delivers us to Ukai Toriyama Restaurant. Being early, we tour the magnificent grounds.

Our reservation is for a private dining room.

We asked for recommendations for a premium sake. Best sake ever! It was the one in the white box.

Lunch is such an elaborate and time consuming affair we must blow off the cable car ride up the mountain to return to Tokyo for dinner with Yuriko and her husband.