A perfect day at sea on Saturday 31 August

Awoke to clear blue sky as we sailed north up the west coast of Honshu island and between its northern tip and the southern tip of Hokkaido island, before heading south on the east coast of Honshu towards Yokohama.
About 8am at our furthest point north, we recorded our lowest temperature of the trip at 22C, but by mid-morning back up into the mid 20'sC. This morning was the last time I will be asked at breakfast "are you travelling alone?" Disembarkation day tomorrow has no Room Service Dining, so Pat will need to come to the Dining Room!!!
On this leg, our most cruised cruisers are an American couple with more than 1700 Princess days.
Spent time walking on the Promenade Deck, lots of time in the sunshine on our balcony, and afternoon up on deck 16 for time in the whirlpool and the sun.
Earlier in the day, I dropped into the "clearing sale" of souvenirs, clothing,  jewellery etc, etc - reminded me of the Myer Bargain Basement of the 1970's! Left packing to the last minute so we could enjoy all the sunshine. Cases need to be out before our 7.45pm dinner, but we need to meet our neighbours in Skywalkers for pre-dinner drinks, so it was 6pm for us.
Final dinners are always a bit sad, but the traditional Bombe Alaska parade through the Dining Room always livens things up - and then there is the good natured "encouragement" of the wait staff to rate them a "10" in the passenger feedback survey.
One of the big wrap ups is also the Crew Show, and it was a "standing in the aisles" drawcard. We enjoyed extremes of talent and it wound up with some good old fashioned comedy farce - to great applause.
Almost mid-night tonight and an early morning tomorrow with cabins to be vacated by 8am. We however, will have a leisurely day, including being among the last to disembark.

Friday 30 August in Sakata

Japan has been experiencing widespread rain for the last three days, but we have avoided most of it. Western Japan has been impacted most by these apparently unprecedented downpours, with 3 people perishing in flood waters, and almost 1 million under evacuation orders. The weather bureau forecast 100mm of rain for Tokyo in the 24 hours from Thursday night.
We arrived into Sakata (our last stopover) under threatening skies but with a hearty welcome from the locals, including many secondary students volunteering their time to offer assistance as "english speakers". They are so keen to talk and I love to engage with them because they get so little opportunity to use their "english"!!
Sakata is a city of around 110,000 people on the Sea of Japan on the north west of the island of Honshu and the area has a reputation for growing high quality rice. Very little english is spoken and virtually no english signage, so for the students, the arrival of a cruise ship is a great opportunity. Not many cruise ships come here, and the town went all out for us.
We shuttle bussed into town and headed to the Abumiya Residence - the historic residence of a famous merchant family which depicts what life was like in the Edo period of 400 years back. Very big house, with a lot of rooms, displays and some hands on. As we left to walk to the Sankyo Soko Warehouses & Rice Museum via the Honma Residence (the historic residence of one of Japan's former richest merchant families), the rain began, and it persisted. The very large Soko warehouses (which played a pivotal role in Sakata's rise as a major merchant port in the Edo period) had a very big gallery & gift shop (the food items in particular were very popular with the Japanese) as well as a very informative rice museum.
Despite time out for a coffee, the rain persisted so we again tackled it to head back to the town centre. There are umbrellas everywhere you go in Japan and bags to carry them in when wet. Mine is quite thick and I could not get it into the narrow bags, so left it in the stand on its lonesome. Despite the very heavy rains, it was still there an hour later when we left!!
Needed to take shelter for a period on the way back before the rain eased off a little. A covered colonade in the town centre provided some relief as well as some entertainment. I had a couple of photos taken as a Samurai (including with the full outfit), engaged in a number of conversations with the students, and even purchased a brightly coloured Haori (a traditional Japanese hip length kimono style jacket).
We then headed back to the ship, and, on the dock with the rain almost stopped, were provided with free food samples, drinks and some small gifts from the town - very touching and I felt so sorry for them that the rains had come on their parade. By mid afternoon, however, it had reverted to just the occasional shower.
Wonderful send off from the people of Sakata with a big group of around 70 brightly costumed dancers on the dock. Pleasingly for everyone, the rain had stopped and the dancers were enthusiastically applauded.
Despite the rain, the temperature remained in the mid 20'sC (and was still 24C at 11pm).
Another formal night tonight so I gave my Haori a run. It attracted quite a few looks and a number of comments. Embarrassed to say , but, again, I could not go past repeating the escargot, calamari, lobster & creme bruise menu selections.
Finished the night off by attending the "Born to be Wild" stage show for a second time - great show and great entertainment, and then the 3 deck attrium "balloon drop" - which always attracts great excitement.

Thursday 29 August in Kanazawa

We woke to steady soaking rain in Kanazawa. Temperature was quite warm but clouds low and solid rain looked in prospect for the day.
Kanazawa is on the west side of Honshu Island, almost opposite Tokyo on the east coast. It is a city of almost 500,000 people and it features another huge port including petrochemicals, gas, containers of all sorts, as well as Komatsu tractors and earth movers. There was a big Komatsu export facility on our wharf as well as many machines awaiting loading. Breakfast came and went, but the rain did not - and it did not look like it would. We decided that notwithstanding the rain, we would shuttle into town and use our time around the Kanazawa Station area as I understood it was a new station and anticipated that it would be a shopping precinct. As we prepared to leave the ship the rain stopped and the humidity built. The trip to the station was through more lush market gardens as well as areas of light industry, and then a wide boulevard featuring many modern buildings and car dealerships. The Japanese seem to have strong regard to ensuring the ongoing existence of their market gardens, irrespective of how close they are to surrounding housing and industry. A pity we don't seem to be doing the same thing.
The railway station was indeed new (and big) with large associated retail shopping areas. With the rain still absent we decided to venture further and bought all day tickets for the Kanazawa Loop buses (buses that run a loop in opposite directions around most of the tourists spots). We first went to the old Edo period Higashichaya Machi district with its narrow paved streets, wooden houses and tea houses. While we did not catch a glimpse of a geisha, we saw plenty of gold (including gold ice creams and gold fruitcake). On then to the 21st Century Museum where we wandered through without entering any galleries, as well as around its gardens. Back to the Station passing Kenrokuen Garden and Kanazawa Castle on a Loop Bus, but not before some exchanges with students (not sure how it all works as we understood this was the summer holiday period). Google Translate proved useful.
Pat and I continued on to the 300 year old undercover Omicho Market where seafood, fruit and vegetables of all sorts were readily available from a multitude of stalls - as was pretty much anything else you would wish to buy.
Another bus back to the Station which is surrounded by modern buildings of all sorts and is itself a very pleasing (and big) architectural construct. Shared a bun and had a coffee in a bakery within the complex, then wandered through some of its retail precinct - another place that reinforced the civilised nature of shopping in Japan (as indeed did the Market, although I am sure not everyone would want to buy the tuna eyeballs that were available at one place). Kanazawa had proved a most enjoyable stopover, just a pity it was impacted by rain - and rain it did, again, as we headed out to catch the Shuttle back to the Diamond Princess. The ingenuity of the Japanese, and their dexterity with umbrellas, however, ensured we pretty much managed on and off the buses and back on the ship with barely a drop hitting us. Of course, half an hour later the rain had cleared!!!
With that cleared sky, we were treated to another drumming farewell from volunteer locals (including a couple of very small children) - most enjoyable and lots of towel waving from on and off shore. Our farewell also featured quite a few inquisitive eagles circling the ship.
Pat had watched the farewell from our balcony in her dressing gown, and there is now a view that as everyone has seen her wearing it, she should be able to wear it in the Dining Room.
Before dinner we again saw Diane Kichijitsu, this time performing Rakugo (Japanese storytelling). She is outstanding and her ability to move seamlessly between english and japanese is amazing.
Our dinners are coming to an end, but tonight's was again most enjoyable, and then we headed off to see a New Zealand comedian, Andre King. At his best he was very funny, but overall inconsistent.
Back in our cabin just after 11pm, I noticed bright lights through our drapes, and investigation showed them to be very big squid/calamari fishing boats in full fishing mode with their multitudes of powerful catch attracting lights in full brightness. One was only 200M off our starboard, with two others on the horizon, as we passed in the night.

Sakaiminato on Wednesday 28 August

Arrived into Sakaiminato under a cloudy sky and after periods of drizzle overnight. Seas still quite flat, even on our overnight crossing back to Japan from Busan, South Korea.
Although it only has a population of 35,000 Sakaiminato has a huge port. Once again a focus on timber and wood chips is obvious, there is a very big fishing fleet (of very big boats which look they can spend long periods at sea) and seemingly quite a bit of petro chemicals/gas, as well as fish farms in the harbour.
This town has a strong tourist focus, largely built around the celebrated manga artist, Mizuki Shigeru, whose 174 quirky Yokai characters line its main shopping street. The shops all feature the principal characters in a vast range of products and there are many murals, stamp stops, footpath plaques etc, etc - in fact an industry built around them.
After proceeding through immigration and customs because we were now back on Japanese soil (so far we have entered Japan three times and South Korea twice, so lots of forms to be filled, photos to be taken and fingerprints to be checked). We then took the Shuttle Bus into town and spent time in the main street to see the Yokai characters before wandering off to look at some of the fishing fleet. After meeting up with two of our dinner colleagues, we took a taxi to the out of town Yushien Garden, travelling through market gardens with what seemed very fertile soil. Yushien is a classic Japanese manicured circuit garden which particularly features peonies, streams, small waterfalls, clipped grass, shaped pine trees etc. It is open at night and would look truly exceptional under lights. With the drizzle getting beyond annoying we caught a shuttle back to town then took the opportunity to have a hot spring leg & foot spa (a free, undercover, community facility catering for up to about 10 people at a time) - hot & relaxing.
Back then to the ship (needed to use the covered walkways as the drizzle was getting heavier- and by late afternoon was steady rain but temperature still in the low 20'sC).
Time up in Skywalkers Lounge on deck 15 for drinks and prawns before dinner. The food keeps coming with dinner in our Dining Room and sometimes you just have to say "no" - very difficult to do when such beautiful creme brulee is on the menu every night.
Finished the night off in the Princess Theatre for the big cast "I got the Music" - tributes to the icons of popular music.

Tuesday 27 August - back in Busan, South Korea

Drizzle overnight and early morning as we arrived in Busan but clearing up during breakfast. Pat has yet to make a breakfast appearance in the restaurant, so most people believe I am travelling alone rather than accept my explanation that her absence is because "robes are not allowed in the restaurant".
Blog is falling behind because my portable WiFi is limited to Japan and I am not taking my tablet ashore today - should catch up with publishing tomorrow.
Easy exit from the ship (which was refuelling from ship alongside that was serving such purpose) after the masses, breezed through Immigration and picked up some Korean Won. Plan was for the four of us to taxi up to the UN Memorial Cemetery then taxi & train into the city. Our taxi driver (Mr Kim) was keen, however, and offered us a four hour tour for the equivalent of $A30pp, so off we went. First to the UN Memorial  Cemetery which is beautifully presented with the flags of all 16 participating countries flying (as well as that of the UN). Established in 1951, this is the only UN Cemetery in the world and covers 35 manicured acres with rows of neat stone markers on the graves of those who lost their lives and are buried here. In recent years, a number of the wives of the fallen have also chosen to be buried alongside their husbands - including, the first of them, Mrs Nancy Hummerston from Australia (whose husband of 1 year lost his life soon after arriving at the front). Her cremated remains were buried beside him in 2010 (2 years after she died in 2008, aged 91). 11,000 military dead from the Korean War are interred in this UN Cemetery, including 885 British, 378 Canadians, 462 Turks and 281 Australians. There were many thousands more military deaths, where the bodies were repatriated to their home countries, including almost all the 40,000 Americans who were killed.
We then travelled via Songjeong Beach, a long sandy surf beach (plenty of surfers & surfing lessons in progress), a fishing port area and market to Haedong Yonggungsa Temple. This temple is located on the coast, has a dramatic rocky backdrop and is tied to the legend of a great sea goddess. We all snacked on Hoddeok fried cakes (deep fried, hot and filled with banana and sunflower seeds). By this stage the drizzle had restarted but Mr Kim had umbrellas for those without them. Then up through the foothills via a huge colourful cemetery, with numerous flower stalls on the roadside, an extensive market garden area (with roadside stalls), forested hills, and an area of garden themed restaurants, to Beomeosa Temple. This hilltop temple is more than 1300 years old and features many "prayer halls" (with plenty praying and/or meditating). More than 400,000 attend here for the first new year prayer sessions.
We came back via a specialist crab area. An area of 3 blocks x 3 blocks is given over to shops/stalls selling large red crabs and to restaurants cooking and serving them. We then returned to the ship via areas densely populated with huge high rise apartment towers. We covered a big area in our 4 hour tour and were all quite impressed with what we had seen and what a contrast it had been with the inner city area of multiple markets and market like areas that we had seen eight days earlier. Mr Kim had provided great value for money, as well as saving us from what would otherwise have been quite a wet adventure.
One abiding impression of Busan is that, irrespective of where you are, it is most unlikely you would have to walk more than 100m for a feed.
Soon after we had returned to the ship and had a bite to eat, the drizzle stopped. Our departure from Busan again saw plenty of activity on what is a huge and super busy harbour.
Before dinner we went to a great Latin American dance performance by a couple from Poland, then to another excellent dinner.

Monday 26 August- at sea

The forecasted rain has finally caught up with us and our sea day today was on and off drizzle, but with the temperature around 23C.
Fairly restful day and mid-morning attended a talk on Japan (primarily its education system) from one of the young crew members who was born in Japan and has spent most of his life moving variously between Japan, US and Taiwan - experiencing the education and cultural differences of each. He was very interesting and explained how much of the discipline, responsibility, respect and focus on tidyness of the Japanese has its origins in early schooling.
After lunch we attended a performance of the ship's orchestra and particularly its Japanese saxophonist. It was outstanding, a near full house (vast majority Japanese) and included his great interaction with the audience.
Spent time in one of the open air spa pools, sharing it at one stage with 4 Japanese, a woman from Portugal and a Maltese from Craigieburn - so some good conversation.
Dinner tonight with our neighbours after pre-dinner drinks in Skywalkers. For dinner we were at the "exclusives" Sabatini's Restaurant compliments of one of our bonuses - no cover charge for us and included wine as well. I very much enjoyed my calamari, small sea food plate, lobster and caffee creme brulee, but with the food quality in our usual Savoy Restaurant, it is highly questionable whether the cover charge at Sabatinin's is value (unless, of course, you get it as a bonus)!!! We were pretty much last to leave, so the night was quite late.
During the day, I had heard the Test result - unbelievable!!! When I lost WiFi off the coast the previous night England had only 3 wickets left and needed 97 runs. An easy dropped catch, a fumbled run out and injudicious use of reviews was obviously costly - an incredible opportunity to wrap up the Ashes lost!!!

A not so good start at Takamatsu on Sunday 25 August

The six of us had settled on a plan to grab a taxi to tackle Ritsurin Koen Park then walk back 2km through its colonaded shopping centre to Takamatsu Castle.
Takamatsu is another port where we were breaking new ground as the first cruise ship to arrive. The city of 400,000 people is the capital of Kagawa Provence (Japan's smallest Provence) on the island of Shikoku. It is surrounded by green hills, lots of islands around its harbour and plenty of activity on it. Very enthusuastic welcome from a big group of girls, plenty of volunteers, and plenty of tourist information, but unfortunately someone forgot to tell the taxis as it proved just on an hour wait (shuttle busses almost as bad) - and no maxi-cabs. Another mid 20'sC day with quite a blue sky, and despite the forecast 80% chance of rain.
Ritsurin Gardens are 400 years old, are Japan's largest Cultural Property Garden, with a Michelin Green Guide 3 star rating (the highest available). It extends over 75 hectares, has 6 ponds/lakes (some large), 13 landscaped hills, more than 1400 pine trees (with around 1000 individually tended to, shaped, trimmed etc), as well as tea houses etc. We spent 90" or so wandering the paths before heading down the road. The shopping colonade was busy, with shops of all sorts, top end, low end, with entertainment and plenty of volunteers. I spent time with a young mum, her 8 year old daughter and 3 year old son (all sporting their volunteer "ask me anything" shirts). It was still a distance to the castle and the other 2 couples grabbed a taxi (in 30 seconds) to head back to the ship. We wandered on to the castle ruins, with an intact moat, some reconstructed walls and pleasant gardens before also getting a taxi (in 30 seconds) back to the ship. My feeling is that Pat would have preferred the last hour in the shopping colonade.
At shipside there was a complimentary, on-site produced, udon noodle dish put on by the volunteers to enjoy, as well as sake sampling. One of the girls told me that 80% of the flour used to produce Udon noodles comes from Australia - "so we have a common link".
As we will now head back to Busan,  South Korea, everyone was required to process Japanese Immigration once on board. At "all on board" time, 200 on board passengers had still not done so, thus risking our on time departure. Not sure how much these recalcitrants would have cost the cruise line, but we had at least 4 tugs idling alongside us until we eventually got underway about 1 hour late.
Pre-dinner drinks with our next door neighbours in Skywalkers Lounge on deck 18 at the ship's aft. This area of Japan has plenty of islands and sailing through and past them is quite spectacular. Great sunset, then our usual late dinner (7.45pm) in the Savoy Dining room. After dinner, time on the Promenade Deck as we sailed about 2km off the coastline with bright city lights, a sky wheel and a big, colorfully lit bridge. All of this on our starboard so we were able to watch it from our balcony.
An opportunity for a rest tomorrow as we have a sea day.

Toba on Saturday 24 August

Had no great expectations of Toba, it was a tender only situation, a relatively short stop - and the forecast was 100% probability of rain. Woke early to the sounds of the tenders being launched and had a comfortable early morning to let the hordes disembark. When we went to get our tender tickets, we were told, it could be a wait of 1 hour, "or maybe a little more".
It turned out to be a whisker under 30", then onto a tender and on then to the dock. Toba is the smallest place we have been to, but a very nice harbour, filled with small islands (many with villages) and surrounded by green hills. The harbour is a hive of activity with fishing boats, ferries, yachts and small craft crisscrossing it constantly.
Despite the forecast, not a drop of rain, plenty of sunshine and mid 20'sC temperature. Other ports have had a great focus on our arrival, but this one has outdone them all so far with just so many volunteers (mainly students) to assist. A welcome green tea and sour plum before Pat put her hand to making a Japanese ink print.
Then off to Mikimoto Pearl Island, which I had anticipated to be a tourist trap. How wrong I was!!! It was just off the mainland and accessed by a short walkway and about 600m in circumference with stunning gardens and many, many shaped pine trees. First stop was a small cafe for a coffee - beautiful Japanese crockery. Then around to the modern Pearl Museum, which, across its two levels, told a comprehensive story of the industry around the world - but particularly of Mikimoto and Mikimoto Pearls. Lots of hands on and photo stops. While the industry is now so technologically advanced, it continues to employ more than 3000 Ama divers. These are women who free dive to collect wild oysters to ensure stock diversity and hardiness. Three of them put on an exhibition which was most enjoyable. We had got to the viewing area a little early and one of the guides told us we needed to go to the English language area (a beautiful sit down, air conditioned lounge where we had front row seats). Loved that show.
On then to the Pearl Plaza which featured numerous stunning pieces of Mikimoto' s artistic works, including regal crowns, tiaras, a model pagoda act, etc, etc as well as stunning jewellery. Last stop was the retail outlet - divided into three galleries: up to about 100,000 yen (about $A1500), then to about 2,000,000 yen (about $A30,000), and then up to multi millions of yen. The Princess was gifted some ear rings (from the bottom end of which gallery????).
Back then to the tender, a reasonably short time queue, and then to the Diamond Princess for another late, light lunch and early afternoon departure.
Toba had proven to be wonderful stop, people so friendly, town so full of volunteers, and so keen to receive feedback (we participated in 3 different surveys). The send off was another highlight, with water cannons and pleasure boats etc carrying singing, waving passengers (even a trumpeter) and surrounding us as we headed out of the harbour.
Good food, good company and good wine kept us at the dìnner table until after 9.30pm, and then it was off to Club Fusion for a musical end to the day.

Friday 23 August- Yokohama

Sad news last night that Barry O'Sullivan, my ex Telstra boss and colleague, passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday. I had only emailed him 10 days earlier to wish him well with a new round of radiation therapy.
A slow start into Yokohama with some drizzle and the non-arrival of Pat's room service breakfast (we later learned that two attempts had been made to deliver it to our neighbours - strange!!). Soon fixed, we were on our way - and the drizzle had cleared, but a bit slow battling those who had finished their cruise). Short shuttle to the local station, then subway train to Yokohama Station, which is another huge station (and busy, busy, busy) with multiple entrances, around 12 lines running through (including the city's own Metro network), as well as many shops and department stores. Time in one of the big ones - particularly its food hall. All the attendants in uniform (many staff and many uniforms), perfectly presented products, ready smiles and considerable bowing make shopping so civilised.
Located an Optometrist in the Station complex, and a very pleasant and professional young man was able to repair Pat's glasses - and refused any payment.
We wanted a coffee and as we entered one shop, the young attendant told us it was a "smoking shop" (interesting that it was underground and within the Station complex). We moved on, had our coffee and went for another subway line to go to the Red Brick Warehouses on the waterfront. A train was in, so we jumped on, only to discover it was a limited express and overshot our destination station. There was a train on the opposite platform, and wanting to be sure it was the correct one, I asked one of the platform attendants. He spoke no English (or at least, could not understand mine) but immediately whipped out his tablet, accessed Google Translate, and had me speak into it. Somehow my question translated into "am I a boy?" - so we all had a good laugh before establishing that it was the right line for the right destination.
Walked down to the Red Brick Warehouses (old complexes that have been rebirthed as cafes, restaurants, galleries etc). One floor of one Warehouse was given over to cats - a gallery and a huge shop selling every item imaginable, all with a cat theme). Yokohama is a very modern and pleasant city. Like everywhere it is spotlessly clean (even at 1.30pm there is not a scrap on the train floor) and, like everywhere else the inner city streets seem remarkably free of traffic (not so people).
A wander back along the waterfront to re-board and a late light lunch before we set sail again - just made it back before the drizzle returns.
Pleasant dinner as is usual - good company, good food and good wine.
Show tonight was a repeat performance by the very energetic pianist - disappointingly it was identical to his earlier show, same script, same music - not even a couple of substitutes.
I expect this situation will continue as 40% of the ship turned over yesterday (doing just a 9 day cruise). I expect we will be looking to some of the lounges rather than the showroom for the balance of our time. Australians remain the second largest group on board (500+), with the Japanese numbers having increased to 1400+.

At Sea on Thursday 22 August

Beautiful day to relax - flat sea, full sun and back up into the 30'sC.
This cruise was primarily sold into Australia as a single 17 night cruise, but for the rest of the world (including Queensland), it seems to have been sold as two individual cruises. As a result, tomorrow we have about 40% of the passengers turning over in Yokohama. This required the rest of us to attend a briefing this morning on what was happening - to summarise what took 30" to say was "you will get an envelope before 7pm today and it will tell you"!!!
As normal, off to breakfast, as a single, before time at the top around one of our pool areas.
Should mention here that I received an overnight letter to tell me my credit card had been rejected - very strange as it has plenty of credit and seemed fine for purchases in Tokyo and even in Busan, South Korea, just a few days back!!! No messages from CBA before losing WiFi access after departing Aburatsu late yesterday, and naturally a call to CBA told me all their operators were busy and the queue was long!! I will see what tomorrow brings when we are in Yokohama, but I always seem to have credit card issues with Princess once on board.
I went to a wine tasting after lunch - 5 wines, France, New Zealand, Argentina, USA & Portugal. Quite enjoyable, but they were all from the lower end of the ship's cellar.
More time relaxing and back up the top. Then time on our balcony - we have never had so much value from our balcony on any previous cruise. The weather is so hot, the seas so flat and the atmosphere so balmy.
Off to an early show tonight as show times have changed to accommodate those who leave tomorrow.
The most "Princess cruised" passenger on the ship at present is a woman from NSW with 945 days!!!
Very good early show with a night club type singer, and when he performed Mr Bojangles he had with him a tall slim negro dancer who was just so flexible. Another excellent dinner and an early night.

Aburatsu Port and Obi - Wednesday 21 August

Back on the island of Kyushu and to the Port of Aburatsu. This port is a significant commercial port - and very obviously a major site from which logs and wood chips are shipped, as there are massive amounts of logs, big chippers and huge mounds of chips awaiting shipping.
Some good advice from a WA couple (Bunbury) who have been before, saw us make a change of plan and we headed for Obi, a small town about 15km away (and said to be the Kyoto of Kyushu) via the ship's shuttle into Aburatsu, then a local bus, and we were in Obi before 10am. Obi is a very neat small town with a tourist friendly approach. It has about eight tourist sites, from a castle, to museums and old merchant houses etc, and wraps everything into a comprehensive pass, including five vouchers which can be redeemed for food and/or other small items from more than 30 local shops and cafes.
The town is in a setting similar to Bright, surrounded by hills and trees, very neat streets and housing. It also has a small moat (gutter) running permanently through it, and with some gates for deeper water with observation points for large coloured carp.
Most of the castle no longer exists (It was originally built in the 1500's), but the grounds are wonderfully relaxing with huge trees and a cooling breeze. Parts of the castle grounds remain (gates and steps) and a number of museums have been established to tell its story and highlight its samurai past. The Obi elementary school is also within the grounds, with big playing fields, views and woods.
We then walked through parts of town, visiting a number of the other museums, merchant houses etc and redeeming our vouchers for food, drinks - and even a small bottle of on-site produced Soy Sauce. Most of these shops are very small, and on a number of occasions, no one was around, but their shops were all open (perhaps at lunch??) - with everything there for the taking!!!
The further you are away from major cities, the less English is spoken but it is always possible to get information and locals are ever helpful. One interesting experience today was exchanging a voucher each for one of three items (two food & one non-food). I wanted one food item for me and the other food item for Pat, so we could each taste both - not sure why, but the lady seemed to think this was quite stange, but of course obliged. One was a cold bean soup, the other, quite solid blocks of custard (looked like cheese) - both very nice.
Local bus back to Aburatsu Station and shuttle back to the Diamond Princess.
Beautiful day today, clear blue sky, with a high 20C temperature and much reduced humidity. We again set sail to the sound and sight of a vibrant drum band, with accompanying samurai warrior. One of the highlights of this cruise has been the amazing port greeting and departure performances (much more so than any other cruise we have been on). We have more often than not been on the "right" side of the ship to witness from our balcony.
Heaven came in the form of dinner tonight, with escargot, baked calamari, lobster and creme brulee - I don't believe life could get better!!!  The show this evening was another outstanding performance, with a full house. "Bravo" featured a brilliant set, large orchestra and 14 very talented singers - and the night was topped off with the traditional 3 deck balloon drop in the Atrium.

Nagasaki on Tuesday 20 August

Drizzly arrival into Nagasaki on the island of Kyushu this morning. The city has a very nice "in town" International Cruise Terminal and is surrounded by hills and hillside living.
Disembarkation was slow as we were re-entering Japan (with the forms, immigration, customs, walking on the disinfectation mat - seemingly it was not changed despite all the shoes crossing it, heat sensing cameras, photo recognition and fingerprint recognition - on which score, I again failed).
With an ankle back to normal and the drizzle stopped, we tackled the local trams with our dinner colleagues. The target was the Nagasaki Peace Park and associated Peace Statue, Fountain of Peace, Atomic Bomb Hypocenter and Atomic Bomb Museum. Nagasaki was hit just 3 days after Hiroshima. It was only bombed because the target city that day was blanketed by cloud - as was Nagasaki, except that a small break opened and the Mitsubishi engineering complex became the target epi-centre. The area immediately surrounding the Hypocenter included many schools, the Nagasaki Medical College - and a POW camp (which contained Australians, as well as many other nationalities) was close by. Effectively, the bomb wiped out just on 7 square km (razed to the ground in an instant) as well as starting widespread destructive fires. 75,000 killed instantly and about the same dying as a consequence.
It ought to be a compulsory group attendance site for about 25 current world leaders. It might make a difference, but I doubt it!!!
Pat and I then headed back to City Hall and wandered along the Nakashima River, passing a number of its heritage bridges, including the Meganebashi (or "Spectacles Bridge" - because, with its reflections, it resembles a pair of spectacles). This bridge is Japan's oldest remaining  stone bridge, built in 1634.
Back on board for a late lunch snack. Farewelled from Nagasaki by a big group of secondary students with brass band, singing, dancing etc.
We have a big number of kids on this cruise, many Japanese toddlers and a group of around 100 Japanese secondary students (so unobtrusive). I observed my first "pain in the bum" kid today (an Adelaide Crows supporter, aged about 11), who needed a foot up the bum, and should have been an embarrassment to his parents - but I doubt he was!!!
Beautiful dinner again (so lucky to have our dinner companions, based on my observations of a handful of other Australians). The "Spectacle" bridge must have been an omen - because as we got to dinner, Pat's glasses lost a lens - so a job for an Optometrist.
Another great show, with an absolute showman pianist accompanied by the ship orchestra.

On to Busan, South Korea - Monday 19 August

The last 3 nights have been so tropically balmy we could have slept on the balcony. This morning, between 6am and 8am, we passed through the Kanmon Straits, a long narrow passage between the islands of Honshu and Kyushu. This passage requires an on board pilot and is one one of the world's busiest shipping channels, with ships everywhere. At one point we had at least 15, just on our starboard side.
On this cruise, we have some extra benefits thrown in - so with hours up our sleeve until we reach Busan, we ordered our balcony champagne breakfast this morning - stunning. Without ordering "extras", it comprised 6 plates of food, from salads, salmon, quiche, bacon, cheese, strawberries, blueberries, melon and cream (and that's ignoring about 10 pastries left unbeaten). Decadence, and thankfully, just a one day experience!!!
Naturally this required follow on exercise, so it was time on the Promenade Deck (a greater distance for one of us) - and a late, light lunch.
We arrived into Busan mid afternoon. Busan is South Korea's second largest city and has undergone rapid development. It has a huge port area, with dozens of wharves and many hundreds of container cranes - and it was a hive of activity. Off the ship we were required to go through immigration (and again when we returned) before a shuttle bus into the city. Busan is very different to Japan - it's rapid development and growth sees very big numbers of very tall skyscrapers (in comparison, building heights in Japan are generally much lower - even than Melbourne). It also appears that  South Korea is ever ready for defence, as we saw two big, heavily armed, groups of troops as well as naval presence in the harbour.
Despite the time of day, the Jagalchi fish market was still in near full swing. Dozens of stalls with every variety of "seafood" you can imagine (and many you cannot) - and most of them live. You can buy them and take them over the road to many restaurants, shops and stalls which cook them on the spot any way you want.
We then walked via Biff Square, the centre of the the principal shopping area, to Yongdusan Park, a big hill top park in the centre of the city and the home of Busan Tower. It is quite a large hill, and 5 steep and long escalators take you to the top - regrettably, there are no escalators going down. A quick search, however, turned up a long and winding path down the other side of the park and we gradually wound our way back via numerous small alleys/laneways, all full of retail shops and stalls, selling all varieties of goods (prices seem to be cheaper than Japan).
A cool drink and a wander in the other direction, took us into a big area of food stalls, where all manner of street food was available. Back then to the shuttle bus and return to the Diamond Princess. We will be back in Busan in a week or so's time - for a full day.
Excellent show tonight with an incredibly talented group of 5 young Korean drummers and who had the audience jumping.
Sail away tonight is under the Busan Harbour Bridge which crosses the port areas and joins two parts of the city - and it is a spectacle of coloured, sparkling and moving lights as we pass under (with minimal clearance). The night ended with the discovery of one of Pat's ankles being swollen.

Kochi - Sunday 18 August

Smoothe seas, clear skies and the beating of drums greeted us into Kochi on the Japanese island of Shikoku. The Holland America, Maasdam is also in port (but quite a bit smaller than us). Nice new port terminal about 10km out of town. Plenty of stalls and tourist information as we proceeded on shuttle bus into city centre.
Kochi is also going out of its way to support tourism with welcome signage, volunteers etc everywhere. Very nice city centre with wide streets and long, covered, pedestrianised malls leading to Kochi Castle about 1.2km away. Helpful volunteers everywhere.
Pat retrieved her walking stick for a little old lady who was out shopping on her trike. Five minutes up the mall when we made a stop, there she was beside us, insisting that Pat accept a small bag of mandarins in thanks!!
We wandered the park at the foot of the very impressive Kochi Castle (too long and steep to climb after yesterday's efforts). I have been a little ambitious with my intentions and have had to wind back - including resorting to my walking stick. Then back through the very long (1km) parallel, and operating for 300 years, Sunday Market with shops and stalls of all sorts - from knives, to fruit, vegetables, bonsai, flowers, fish, pet crabs in shells of various types etc, etc.
Then for a coffee, more street wandering and a little shopping, including Daimaru for Pat. We even encountered a friendly robot (I wanted to buy him for Christian, but he was not for sale!!).  Walked to Kochi's iconic small red Harimaya Bridge for a photo. Lots of volunteer assistance in town, girls in kimono etc. Quite a few children have been keen to talk - one boy, about 10 and walking with his mother, stopped me to introduce himself and have a chat. He is learning basic English at school. Other small boys stopped to make acquaintance, or for a photo.
Back to the shuttle bus (after trying for a foot massage - but booked out), where we encountered enthusiastic year 10 students, volunteering on a Sunday in school holidays, to undertake a tourist survey (they also have "big homework" to complete in their long summer holidays). Back at the ship, with young undergraduates, also doing a research project on Kochi tourism. As we will be in South Korea tomorrow, we were required to exit Japanese Immigration to reboard the ship.
A late snack for lunch, then time at the pools and spas for one of us (not the one who "loves the water") - beautiful clear day, low 30'sC.
Departing Kochi at 5.30pm, we were farewelled by the sounds of the Japanese taiko drums, other instruments, and singing and dancing.
Very nice dinner again. We have again been lucky to have four very pleasant and compatible dinner mates (the couple from Adelaide are in fact in the next cabin). The late show was a young Spanish magician. Very talented, but for me the show was too much production and too little magic - give me the old style sabres and saws anytime!!!

Wakayama - Saturday 17 August

An early check from the balcony sees the winds having blown out and the seas flat. Breakfast as per yesterday, but I sat with a couple from Florida who have been on more than 100 cruises (of a similar age to us).
We are passing many ships travelling north which had presumably been held at safe harbour in southern Japan to wait out the typhoon (appears to have been just 1 on shore death attributable to Typhoon Krosa). A lot of islands on our starboard side - Japan has more the 6800 islands (just under 600 are inhabited). Scheduled arrival time is 12 Noon and sun is shining on a forecast 32C (feels like 38C) day.
As we approach the port for Wakayama just before Noon, dulcet tones can be heard, and as we get closer, it is a young persons choir of 45 singers. With this their first ever cruise ship, the prefecture has gone all out with big crowds, welcomes, tourist information and assistance. We take the ship shuttle into the centre of town and start at another amazing food hall. The range of foods, presentation and service is just stunning - you feel like you want to buy at every site. I bought a light lunch of tempura - beautiful, and then we caught a local bus to Wakayama Castle which sits on a hilltop about 1.5km out. Winding, climbing path (difficult) to the foot of the castle for a good view without climbing further.  Once again, the temperature is in the high 30'sC and quite humid. While it is summer in Japan, it is apparently unseasonably and consistently extremely hot without a break. At the foot of the Castle, a Ninja Warrior was helpfully providing a cooling water spray. Then down, with a passage through a sloping, covered bridge (shoes off) across the moat, and a garden path where we watched an outdoor event (Rainbow Children's Project) featuring numerous, enthusiastic, costumed dancing/performing groups which we sat, watched and really enjoyed for quite a while.
Headed back to the Wakayama Station food hall (1.6km by foot) for a cooling drink and return shuttle. Clothes don't get dirty, they just get wringing wet from the heat/humidity. Back to the ship on the shuttle for a shower and "anytime dinner" - we had Curtis Stone's pork belly for a main (and at a table just for two, I was the only one having to listen to the "Curtis Stone" story), although our waiter came close!!
Our Showtime plans were thwarted when we saw the enthusiasm of the locals to bid us farewell, with big crowds, enthusiastic performing groups, a clear sky under a full moon, and even the prefecture's newest tug boats out for us. Lots of waving, cheering, "arigato's", "cooee's" as we bade Wakayama goodbye.
Early night, but not before I saw the Kangaroos result - a 14 goal win, after last weekend's disaster. How do you make sense of it???

A "sea" day - Friday 16 August

A 5am sneak peak was less than encouraging, solid seas, strong winds, and, despite it being daylight, little visibility. The Captain obviously received the all clear however, and we pulled anchor around 6am to set sail.
One of us for breakfast in the restaurant and one of us for "in the cabin", then to port talk before going to see Diane Kichijitsu talk about the journey that brought her to Japan and discovering the importance of laughter in our lives. She would be one of most entertaining speakers I have ever seen - one hour of absolute entertainment, never used a note, never missed a beat, and seamlessly moved between english and Japanese over the full session. Truly outstanding.
Seas still big, winds up and visibility down to about 300m before some improvement after lunch - better visibility and even some sunshine that allowed time on our balcony (deepest we have ever had and provided a good wind break). Temperature is high (about 33 l.p.C), but cloud back and low by mid afternoon.
Feet up, and then off to Captain's Circle welcome with some entertainment. Naturally, the Japanese make up the biggest component of the passengers, but it appears that Australians come in second. Formal night tonight, kicking off with the Captain's Welcome and champagne waterfall.
Perhaps it's the nature of the crowd, but the numbers in smart formal wear on this cruise seems high - perhaps a result of the Japanese influence (including quite a few kimonos). As always, big numbers for the Captain's Welcome and champagne waterfall, and then to an excellent dinner. Finished the day with a great live show in the Princess Theatre - Born to be Wild, with a cast of 12, stunning sets (including a Cadillac) and lively rock music.
A word on japanese toilets - very, very good! The one we had at the Oakwood Premier was brilliant and had numerous features and adjustments, including direction, pressure, and even oscillation. With the Diamond Princess largely based in Japan, a number of its toilets, including ours, have been converted (although some contortionist skills are necessary to use it).
Tomorrow, subject to clearing the outer reaches of the typhoon, we should be in Wakayama - apparently the first cruise ship to do so. The area is planning big celebrations, a water cannon welcome, and the prefecture Mayor is coming on board for a welcome ceremony.

A "relaxing" day on Thursday 15 August

Today we departed the Oakwood Premier and headed for Yokohama and the Diamond Princess. Very easy start to the day, laundry up to date (we had a washing/dryer machine in our apartment) and no time pressures. So a coffee in the lounge, at which time we saw the press headlines that Typhoon Krosa is heading directly into our cruise path. Lots of flights and long distance trains cancelled (with JR West suspending almost all of its bullet train services in the Kyushu area) and ships having many restrictions placed on them.  Despite that news it was an 11am checkout before tackling Tokyo Station with the full kit of luggage to see what we faced.
A little prior researching and some forward scouting saw us navigate to our track and train without one stair to ascend/descend and to a comfortable 30" train trip. Yokohama Station is a very modern station (at least what we saw of it), with smart and bright shops and facilities. Once again, avoided any staircases and took a snack before getting to the well signed, covered taxi rank (perfectly clean car with auto opening doors, perfectly dressed and groomed driver) for the 2.5km trip to Osanbashi Cruise port terminal. Straight to the terminal doors, seated in 5" and in our cabin in 30". The Osanbashi terminal is quite new, uniquely ladscaped to resemble a ship, and is quite a tourist attraction in itself.
At check in we were advised of typhoon impacts on the early days of the cruise - in particular, some rescheduling and cancellation of Kumano's fireworks festival tomorrow evening. This is one of Japan's biggest fireworks festivals and is only held on one day each year, so, as an advertised highlight of this cruise, it's cancellation due to the typhoon threat will be a disappointment to many passengers.
After our safety briefing and just before our 5pm sailaway (in front of a reasonably sized towel waving crowd), the Captain advised that we will be taking safe harbour within Tokyo Bay this evening (as is apparently required of all ships heading south). The Holland America Maasdam has been at safe harbour since yesterday morning.
After less than 80" sailing, and after coming under a wide, two level bridge, across Tokyo Bay, we were anchored, at safe harbour with 5 other ships on our starboard side.
Very enjoyable dinner on a table of six (one couple from Safety Beach and one from Adelaide) - looks like a compatible group. Took to the end of the main course for Curtis Stone's name to come up!!!
Off then to the late show, a Canadian juggler/comedian - not the greatest juggler, but did an excellent job of integrating japanese and english into his act. Strong winds and threatening skys brought the day to an end. What will tomorrow hold?

Another very hot one on Wednesday 14 August

Unlike yesterday, could have been out of bed at 2, 3, 4, 5am but held off until 7am for breakfast etc and our Guest Lounge coffee before heading out to Ueno (although delayed by 15" due to a burst of rain). First to the student guides tour desk at the Green Salon - and guess what??? Three strikes for the students, with the third of our three planned student led tours all cancelled due to the "extreme and dangerous heat". It was "do our own thing" again!!
Into Ueno Park and a wander across the small bridge through Shinobazu Pond, which is quite a large lake covered in lotus plants. It is the end of the season and so there are just a few flowers left - but a number in full bloom are about 70cm across. The Pond would look spectacular in full bloom.
On then to the adjacent Shitamachi Museum which focusses on the local life of the ordinary people and the serious impacts of the 1923 earthquake and associated fires which saw the loss of 100,000 lives in the area. We spent some time with one of the guides, who, during his working life with NEC, spent 3 years in Melbourne.
Then a wander to, and through, part of the Ameyokocho market area (built under and adjacent to the elevated tracks at Okachimachi Station) before a cooling drink. The temperature continues to be in "feels like" high 30C territory, very humid, with the continuing threat of thunderstorms.
Train to Komagome Station, where a misread sign by me and some Google Maps inexperience, resulted in extra walking in a very local area before getting to a gate of Rikugi-en-gardens (closed) and another 500M to the main (open) gate. The rain arrived as we did, but we were soon able to wander the gardens, over the bridges, and around the ponds. Very pleasant and relaxing gardens and surely the least populated space in Tokyo.
With one if us tiring, we cut the day a little short and headed back to the Oakwood Premier - but not before an incident of spilt drink and broken glass in a local cafe. Lots of apologies!!!
This evening I headed to the baseball at Meiji Jingu Stadium (the risk being thunderstorms at an open air venue). Negotiated the trains and walk to the Stadium and found my great seat (adjacent and directly above first base) in time for 6pm hit off. Open air stadium with capacity for 35,000 spectators and numbers ran to about 28,000 with supporters of each team essentially in different areas.
Each cycle of games see the two competing teams play 3 matches over 3 days and the Swallows had won 8/7 and 6/5 in two close games in the previous two days. Last night was a very big, and unusually high scoring, win to the Swallows and pretty spectacular to see. A 15/2 win with the Swallows scoring 7 home runs in the first innings (4 of them from an out of the field hit with 3 bases loaded.
Equal to the entertainment of the game is the "entertainmen" around it. Dancing girls after every few innings, fireworks after the fifth, team mascots, beer girls and the non-stop noise from supporters - trumpets, clicking of miniature bats, singing, chanting, and for Swallows supporters, the raising and twirling of miniature team umbrellas, whenever there is a positive for their team. I loved the night, and found my way back to the Oakwood Premier - a great night, and so glad I went.

Tuesday 13 August - Could have been an embarrassment

Oakwood Premier is a sanctuary - just 80M from an entrance to Tokyo Station, but a world away in serenity. Away from the road, and with serious blackout drapes, we are in a world of our own. And so it came to pass that this morning when we got up it was 8.30am (not the necessary 7.30am) - made worse by us not making that discovery until 8.45am, and having a 9.13am train to catch to Kamakura, 1 hour away. Very, very quick shower, breakfast and rush to a distant platform saw us catch the 9.24am train - just saving us from the embarrassment of being late to meet up with our local guide from the Kamakura volunteer guides.
I had made contact some weeks back and Chiyoka Matsumara had taken up the challenge, carefully planning our day to minimise walking, climbing etc.
Had a brief spell in First Class on the train before confirmation that we were Economy. Train progressively filled to the point where it could have been the 8.15am from Essendon - and then everyone got off at Kamakura.
Chiyoka is 60 and has been volunteering in this way for 3 years and travels about 40" each way to get to Kamakura. She was an absolute delight and we hit it off from the start. It costs nothing for the guiding (but you pay any fares, entry fees and food & drinks for your guide).
We first visited Hokokuji which is a small temple of the Rinzai Sect of Zen Buddhism. Very nice manicured gardens, ponds and grounds, but the temple is best known for its forested bamboo grove of more than 2000 towering "shoots" (about 15M tall). It was quite stunning with sun shining through the bamboo. The site also includes a series of shallow caves in the hillsides and which hold the ashes of some of the later Ashikaga lords.
On then to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu which is Kamakura's most important shrine - founded in 1063 and moved to its current site in 1180 by Minamoto Yoritomo, the founder and first shogun of the Kamakura government. The Shrine is reached via a long wide approach through the city centre and with multiple tori gates, with the main hall standing on a terrace at the top of a wide stairway. For new year prayers, more than 2 million attend, and horseback archery events are held in April and September.
Today was another 35C day, but the threatened storm finally arrived just as we entered a Japanese pastry store for lunch. Lunch came and went, and so did the rain. It was off then to the Great Buddha, one of Japan's national treasures. Standing 11.4M high, it is the second tallest bronze Buddha statue in Japan and was cast in 1252, originally in a large temple hall. Since the 15th century, after the hall was destroyed by various typhoons and tsunamis, it has been standing in the open air.
A wander down a street of shops to the Kosokuji Shrine (The Kamakura area has more than 125 of them), but having been "cleansed", "good lucked", "purified etc, etc, we elected not to enter - rather heading for a green tea ice cream!!
Back then to the small local Enoden line tram/train for return to Kamakura (this one was the closest we have come to needing "pushers" to squeeze everyone on).  Chiyoko accompanied us on the return train to Tokyo until her transfer station (and after ensuring we had seats). She was a delight to be with and we thanked her with a book of photos of Melbourne landmarks.
The Oakwood Premier puts on complimentary drinks & food every Tuesday evening for its guests, and this was most enjoyable as we met up with Graham Lawler (English but lives in Germany) and his wife Claudia. Graham is a logistics integrator with Airbus and they are in Tokyo until November as JAL takes delivery of its first Airbus planes. Earlier in the year they spent 2 months in Melbourne with Jetstar taking on some new Airbus planes. Very enjoyable company.
One of my bucket list items in Tokyo is to get to a baseball game and one of the Reception team came down below to the Lawsons Convenience Store, where you can do anything on an ATMlike machine, (but everything is in Japanese) to help me. Job done and I am off to see the Tokyo Yakult Swallows take on the Yokohama DNA Baystars on Wednesday evening.

Monday 12 August - Shibuya, Meiji Shrine & Inner Garden and Shinjuku

I have given up on including photos because of the "location" issues. Another day of high 30C temperatures. This heat is beyond the typical Tokyo summer - and, so far, it has not experienced its usual summer rains. Concern is being expressed about the 2020 Olympics from the perspective of heat risks, with planning proceeding that may see some extreme events being scheduled for a 5.30am start.
Interestingly, Japan does not have daylight saving, but sun is up before 5.30am.
Our regular coffee in the guest lounge after breakfast and before setting off again on the train system. Despite our apartment being just metres  from Tokyo Station, it can be up to almost 1km to get to some platforms.
First off to Shibuya (remarkably, on two trains that were almost empty and the easiest transfer so far - just cross the platform). It is a holiday period in Tokyo (yesterday was Mountain Day public holiday, today a "day in lieu" for that day), and the next few days are the Obon festival period (Festival of the Souls) - a period when residents go back to their roots (but I am sure just as many must have their roots in Tokyo - so come back here!!!).
Observed from above and experienced the famed Shibuya Crossing (where about seven roads intersect, and the home of the loyal Hachiko, the dog who continued to come back for nine years after his master passed away), by crossing it twice (supposedly the biggest and busiest pedestrian crossing in the world). Shopping centres of all sorts - but high end and low end only. Once again massive food halls in basements. The whole area is undergoing major infrastructure redevelopment - just like so much of Tokyo. Daniel Andrews would do well to bring in some experts as all seems to be happening without even the oversight of Stop/Go sign holders!!
On then to Meiji Shrine and the adjacent Yoyogi Park, a very large forested area - quite peaceful in the scheme of things. The Shrine was dedicated to Emperor Meiji in 1920 (he who westernised and modernised Japan when its feudal era came to an end), but was destroyed during WW11 before being rebuilt.
In the first days of the new year, the shrine welcomes more than 3 million for the year's first prayers.
The walk down and back will be shorter when redevelopment of the Harajaku Station is completed!!
Top up for our Suica Cards (they are one of my top three tips for Tokyo - reinforced every time I look at the queues to buy tickets at train stations).
Off then to Shinjuku and the Tokyo Metropolitan Building (actually twins, but one closed to the public at present -  resulting in a longer queue, but well worth it). 45 levels up to the viewing level, with spectacular panoramic views, including to Mt Fuji (barely visible in the summer "cloud"). The walk to the towers is about 800M, most of it along a moving walkway - sadly, it's just a one way trip. Should mention the efforts of a local lady who steered us in the right direction, and then followed us for 200M to ensure we had followed her instructions! Note also, that under two of the overhead railway lines we saw our first evidence of street sleepers - but the trains are devoid of any ill at ease.
Back then to our home at Oakwood Premier (of course via the Daimaru food hall for another fully prepared japanese dinner).
A most remarkable aspect of Tokyo is its cleanliness and its lack of graffiti - have not seen one scrap. One of our guides from yesterday attributes such things, including respect, to the Shinto religion.

Asakusa and Hama Rikyu

I have had a "location" problem preventing me attaching photos to Blog, but may have solved it - we will see. NO I HAVE NOT!!!
Forecast for today is again high 30C's as we head for Asakusa and a walking tour with student guides, only to be confronted with "tour cancelled due to extreme temperatures". So no student tours, but the senior Tokyo guides are in action and we team up with two for a walking tour of the Nakimise St lead in,  and the Sensoji Buddhist Temple and Shinto Shrine area.
Nakimise St is over 200m long and leads from the outer gate to the second gate and is full of shops/stalls of all sorts - the oldest having been there for 330 years.
The original temple was built in the 7th century but the area suffered serious bombing during WW11 and has since been rebuilt into one of Tokyo's principal tourist areas. The temple is entered via the Kaminarimon Gate (outer gate) and an inner gate (Hozomon Gate) where soul's are cleansed, offerings are made, fortunes determined etc. I was the receiver of good fortune and spent plenty of time touching the sandal that ensures strong, ongoing mobility!!!!!
Beyond the Hozomon Gate is the main temple hall and a five story pagoda.
The whole area was packed, one of our guides estimated 90% tourists (primarily Chinese) - lots of rickshaws, girls in kimono (many having hired them).
Our guides were both the quintessential Japanese senior gentlemen (although a little younger than me) and both with fathers who fought in WW11 - so it was a most interesting shared experience.
After farewelling our guides with lots of handshakes, arigato's and bowing we headed back for an iced coffee etc at Asakusa's Tully's Coffee (our chain of choice).
Then down to the river bank for a 35" trip down the Sumida River to Hama Rikyu, a large landscaped garden whose seawater ponds change with the tide. It was originally built as a feudal Lord's residence and duck hunting ground in the Edo period (1603-1867) but has later become a popular strolling garden. We took the ceremonial tea in the tea house, with obligatory sandals off, socks on - and sit on the floor!!!! Fortunately there was a bench option!!
A walk back to the local station and return to Tokyo Station - the most crowded train to date, before the obligatory stop off in the massive Daimaru food hall for dinner selection (this time a big mixed Japanese  plate & seafood). For the first time, it was a successful exit to the correct corridor for return to our apartment. (Oakwood Premier has 185 apartments and hotel rooms - last night, all but one was occupied.)
Then to our on-site Lawson's to buy a cold can - and divest some of the build up of coinage, a major issue in Japan, where everything below 1000 yen  (about $14) is coin (6 different coins, down to 1 yen - about 1.3 cents) - so it's a weight and disposal issue (particularly as tipping is frowned on).
Out for walk after dinner to a close and very impressive wide boulevard with exclusive shops - one had previously been the Grand Opera House and Pat was of the view that the basement food hall was the equal of Daimaru, another, a multi floor bookstore and galleries. All the streets are full of restaurants and bars, and every building has a basement the same.
Back to our guest lounge, where we pretty well seem to be its only users.

Beginning to get into Tokyo

OkGot away a little ahead of time and to our first attack on the Tokyo Metro system. Forecast is 34C (to feel like 38C). As earlier noted, Tokyo Station is huge about 10 lines on three levels and about 1 square kilometre with too many passageways to count.
Across the day, four train trips - one including a transfer, and all successfully negotiated. All the stations are huge and wherever we enter is distant from the relevant platform - and usually down 40+ steps. Stations are all perfectly clean, trains every 4 or 5 minutes - and so far not overcrowded.
First to Tsukiji Outer Market. Tsukiji was the site of the old wholesale fish market (with the tuna auctions) but that relocated a couple of years back. All of the retail market remains and there are dozens of stalls - seafood, meat, fruit, vegetables, hardware, knives etc, etc, both inside and out, and very busy.
Back to Maranouchi for a walking tour of the Imperial Palace gardens. Being a little ahead of time gave opportunity for a haircut, but negotiation skills failed to deliver an "old boys" price and had to have, and pay, the full whack! It was a David Beckham price, but I don't expect he has been there (blogger readers of Portugal will understand). Anyway a basic haircut in Tokyo is the full job - cut, shampoo, shave (including forehead), ears, nose and with head & shoulder massage. All of this in a shop with eight female hairdressers (none below 50 - and mine was probably older than me!!!).
Then to the Tourist Office for our Imperial Palace gardens walking tour, only to find that it is cancelled today because of the heat, "very, very dangerous"!! We head off to do it ourselves after a quick sandwich and iced coffee adjacent to a Tokyo 2020 Olympics promotion site.
Over to the outer Imperial Palace gardens, moat, main gate etc adjacent to a very nice boulevard area, similar to St Kilda Road. Then back to Ginza to give Pat a crack at upmarket shopping, but the heat took its toll after a while, so back to Tokyo Station for the Daimaru food hall. It is huge, plenty of samples and so much food - and so easy to get lost.
Dinner of seafood, salad and Paul Bocuse pastry, purchased and back to our apartment for a well earned beer. Portable WiFi has worked perfectly and Google maps is an essential - just wish I had familiarised myself more.
Only one of us made it back to the guest lounge this evening. It was hosting a Monopoly Tournament, supposedly featuring World & Japanese Champions - judging by the frivolity, it was not too serious.

Out of Tullamarine and into Tokyo

Early pick up with Shane & Jakob dropping us of at Tullamarine just in time for check in to open for JAL flight.  Everyone bowing to launch check in - very quaint. Leisurely time in the lounge and a few drinks before boarding.
Very quiet flight, lights straight off following midnight, on time, take off. Light supper of 3 Japanese tasting plates (failed to provide awareness of my dietary requirement, "no tofu").  Very, very nice - with the tofu egg custard tasting almost real - perhaps a rethink is necessary!!
A little screen time and an ok sleep for me, and a good one for Pat. Good "western breakfast" and we were soon into Narita and on time - very green. Easy through immigration, baggage and customs before a money exchange - poor value at the airport.
Limousine Bus from the terminal into the front door of our hotel/apartment, so luggage a breeze (not even loading/unloading) - but it is a long trip (close to 70km into Tokyo and a lot of it like the Monash in peak hour) . Have the benefit of an upgrade into quite a large apartment, with kitchen, washing machine, dryer etc and adjacent to Tokyo Station. I had rented a portable WiFi for a month and it was here waiting for me (about 25% of Telstra's roaming price).
Spent the afternoon getting familiar with, and around Tokyo Station. It is like a city in its own right with so many passageway, shops, platforms, entrances etc and so, so many people. Had a citrus, yogurt parfait in Maranouchi - the price made the airport money exchange look very generous!!!
Daimaru forms part of Tokyo Station and is adjacent to our Oakwood Premier Tokyo Apartments. It has a massive two level food hall so stocked up on supplies, including seafood dinner before, after a few missteps, getting back to the apartment.
I took a quick trip back to the station after dinner to buy two Suica (MYKI) Cards hoping that the station crowds might have dwindled - no such luck, even busier - but job accomplished. Down to the very nice resident lounge and it will soon be an early night.