After a long trip spent with family …. new, young, old & even older, I arrived back at the beginning of June. Good news was the speedy trip through the airport but this positive start quickly deteriorated with jetlag and my first Covid infection. But the jetlag was the biggest problem.

Trains

It is lovely to see Tokyo with fresh eyes again and think again about the things I love about Japan. High on the list has to be the trains – efficiency, frequency & cleanliness. I was amused to see these posters – Beware of falling drunks! Do not rush onto the train! (I know from experience how painful it is when the door closes on you) Stop texting while walking. The larger photo underneath has English as it’s lead language so it is intended for visitors – no mention of falling drunks though!

The poster below, a version of which is at every station, is very useful as it explains which part of the train to sit on to most easily walk to the exit you require.

Traditional Japanese Dining

I joined some fellow CWAJ (College Women’s Association of Japan where I am a co-chair of a funding committee) for a wonderful lunch in a traditional dining room. We sat on cushions at very low tables where the waiters get down on their knees to serve the meal. But as a westerner not used to sitting like this, I couldn’t find a comfortable position for my legs. Delicious food though.

New Canal Cafe

We have a new café, along the canal and only 5 mins away from our apartment. Rather a different scale of operation to my photographed meal above – one man and his van. Mood lighting under the bridge, standing up dining tables as well as normal tables & chairs. The beer was good but avoid the nuts as they were stale!

Torn Banknote

So what do you do? A bit of sellotape & maybe a trip to a bank or a PO? Of course, not here in Japan. I had to travel to our branch (two trains) where I had to produce my bank card. After much scrutiny I had to produce my residents card and then complete paperwork with my address etc. And after all this, I get to the cashier … more questions & then the note is replaced. Whilst this was worth over £60, the procedure is the same for all notes.

And as an aside, it is not possible to have joint bank accounts in Japan. But I am issued with a card to pay for goods & to withdraw cash from Geoff’s account.

Nagoya

We had an accidental trip to Nagoya … to see France play Japan in a rugby match. A little misreading of the location when buying the tickets online so off we went to Nagoya. It is the fourth largest city in Japan but in 2016 it was voted the most boring city in the country!

And onto the rugby …. at 37 degrees I couldn’t imagine watching rugby and I had great pity for both teams playing. Since we are clearly not Japanese, everyone assumed we were French. Quite a good match; of course France won (as they did the following week but with less of a margin)

Jindai Botanical Gardens

These gardens are home to the biggest rose garden in Tokyo. About 5,000 roses. Unfortunately I missed the spring roses but I will re-visit in the autumn when they will bloom again. But in addition to the roses, I also missed out on plum & cherry blossom, wisteria and peonies so even more reasons to re-visit. However, the grounds were lovely to walk around and the contents of the greenhouses were wonderful.

Now into the greenhouses. My favourite place was the orchid area; their preferred temperature range is 15 – 25 degrees. Mine too!