We met up at the airport for our early flight to Tokyo. We were all very excited and looking forward to our holiday in Japan. The flight was very long so we watched movies and tried to sleep as we would be arriving very early in the morning. Japan is 9 hours ahead of the UK so we would have no sleep on our first day!
日本
We landed in Tokyo and made our way to our hotel. It was not very far from the airport and looks amazing! As it was only 7am our rooms would not be ready till later so we had breakfast at the hotel and went out to try the subway system in Tokyo! We went to visit the Meiji Shrine, it is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the Emperor Meiji and his wife Empress Shoken, followed by a visit to Sensoji Temple. Sensoji Temple is an ancient Buddhist Temple and the oldest in Tokyo. The temple was originally founded in the 7th century. The temple adorns an image of the Buddhist Goddess Kannon, who was said to have been rescued by two fishermen from the Sumida River in Tokyo. As we arrived it started to rain so we all got some umbrellas to keep ourselves dry.
We walked around the temple and enjoyed a lunch in one of the underground restaurants. We then made our way back to our hotel to check in, we were all very tired as it had been a very long day!
Today we went to Disneyland Tokyo, we enjoyed going on all the rides, we first went on the jungle cruise followed by a ride on the steam train. We picked up some fast passes for Big Thunder Mountain. Of course we all loved going on 'it’s a small world’ and getting soaked on Splash Mountain, we then dried off on big Thunder mountain as it was our turn. We enjoyed Pinocchio’s daring Journey and Peter Pans flight. Jacintha said she enjoyed the steam train ride the most and both Josh and Miles agreed they enjoyed splash mountain. We then looked around some shops before catching the subway back to our hotel, stopping off on route to gets some dinner before we returned shattered at the hotel that evening.
Today we visited another Disney Theme Park "DisneySea". We spotted some Venetian Gondolas shortly after arriving so decided to go on them first. Whilst we were waiting in the queue a couple who had just got married came and went on one of the boats, everyone clapped and cheered. We road the DisneySea steamer line, and watched a show. After a lovely lunch in an Italian restaurant and seeing Mickey and friends we rode around the river and headed to the 20,000 leagues under the sea ride. We enjoyed looking round the shops, riding the electric railway and Aquatopia, everyone agreed this was the best ride of the day. We were all shattered so headed back to the hotel for a short rest before dinner where we packed our things in preparation for our trip leaving tomorrow.
This morning after breakfast we left our suitcases at the hotel and went with just our back packs to the main train station where we caught the Bullet train to Kyoto. When we arrived it was chucking it down with rain so we caught a taxi to our hotel. That evening we had a look at Nijo Castle before heading out to dinner.
Today we had a busy day planned, which the sun shone for!! We left our umbrellas at the hotel as we headed out for our first Temple in Kyoto. We arrived at Kiyomizu and explored one of Kyoto’s oldest temples. Both Josh and Jacintha had a go with the gong. We had to take our shoes off to walk in the temple. We saw lots of ladies and gentlemen dressed in traditional Japanese clothing the Kimono. We then set off to Sanjusangendo Temple to see the 1001 Buddhas. Again we had to take our shoes off to walk through the temple and unfortunately we were not allowed to take any photos. After a walk through the grounds to see the ponds and shrines we headed to Fushimi-Inari shrine which is probably the most famous shrine in all of Japan with its long meandering tunnels of bright orange tori arches. After exploring the shrine everyone wanted to go to the International Manga Museum rather than the Imperial palace. So we headed to the Museum where we learnt about the history of Manga, This was both Josh and Miles favourite part of the day as they are both interested in Manga. Manga are comics created in Japan and have their own style.
Today we had a really busy day! After breakfast we got the bullet train to Hiroshima. After dropping our cases off at the hotel we headed for the ferry to take us to Miyajima Island. A small sacred Island located in the inland sea, it has been a holy place of Shintosim since the earliest of times. Firstly we saw the Floating Tori Gate, one of Japans top 3 most beautiful views. Then we took the cable car up to the top of Mt Misen to see the view from the top of the island. We saw lots of deer who did not seem to mind all the visitors! We then visited Sukushima shrine and the five storied Pagoda. We caught the ferry back to Hiroshima and the train back to our hotel where we had a lovely dinner in the Italian restaurant.
This morning after breakfast we visited Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. A short walk from our hotel. It has a collection of belongings left by the victims of the Atomic Bomb. There were lots of photos that convey the horror of the first Atomic Bombing. Hiroshima's deepest wish is to eliminate all nuclear weapons and for us to have a peaceful International community. We certainly agreed with this sentiment after visiting the museum and the A bomb dome.
After lunch we made our way on the bullet train to Hakone and to our hotel. In the evening once at the hotel we had a lovely traditional Japanese meal.
We were told this morning it was quite foggy and windy so we probably would not get to see Mt Fuji. Therefore everyone opted to look around the shops and relax at our Spa Hotel as everyone was tired from all our recent travelling and sight seeing (we haven’t stopped since we arrived in Japan!) That evening we had a lovely traditional Japanese dinner at our hotel again.
This morning, after breakfast, we made our way back to the train station to catch the train back to Tokyo. Once back in Tokyo we went for a walk down to Tokyo ’beach’ It was not far from our hotel. We saw Tokyo’s statue of Liberty which is just like the one in New York but a lot smaller! We had an ice cream then wandered around the shops. Everyone (except Kirstine!) voted to have a McDonalds that evening!
This morning we caught the train to one of Tokyo’s famous Anime areas, to the biggest Anime comic shop in the world! Anime is the Japanese style of animation. There were lots of people dressed up as their favourite characters or just in fancy dress! Josh and Miles both got some comics. That evening everyone wanted to walk down to the big shopping centre for dinner. We passed a live band playing and had a great evening.
Today we all voted for a relaxing day as we have been so busy doing so much and we have a long flight tomorrow. So, we chose to go to the shopping mall and get a few last minute bits and pieces before packing our cases. There was a small festival going on by the shopping mall so after shopping we chose to go and eat there and watch the live music and dancers. It was a lovely sunny afternoon. All too soon it was time to head back to our hotel and sort out our packing for going home tomorrow.
We have all had a lovely holiday but unfortunately it is time to go home. Josh said he enjoyed visiting Disney the most. Miles said he enjoyed Tokyo and visiting the Anime places. Jacintha said she has enjoyed going to all the different cities and towns we visited as she got to see lots of places in Japan.
The Disney Ride "It's a small world"
