Japan #9

We spent most of the day travelling, down to Tokyo, pick up Michelle, then onwards to Kyoto. Not huge legs by any stretch, but no time to rest.

We booked an Airbnb close to Fushimi Inari, it’s a nice cosy spot and conveniently walkable.

Another rented car, this time we’re hitting up some places not so close to Sendai.

Getting the Hayabusa shinkansen down to Sendai takes a few hours, and we take it easy for the rest of the day. We basically eat three dinners.

An ambitious expedition to visit both Goryoukaku fort and Mt Hakodate in one day.

• Learnt that those tanks outside everyone’s houses are indeed for kerosene! Used for heating, which is foreign to us because we’re so used to using gas back home
• Kujira steak, it’s not bad. Kinda like kangaroo in a way
• Goryoukaku was alright, but maybe more exciting when not covered in snow
• What’s the deal with the Nippon-Ham Fighters baseball team? Do they use ham legs for batting?
• Mt Hakodate was damn crowded and visibility was pretty crappy, but the view from the deck is pretty nice
• Electrical safety in Japan always makes me uneasy

First thing: wake up. Go out in the snow to get to the markets. Eat a whole crab for breakfast, 8000 yen each (he’s a really big crab).

I take back what I said about it being fast, it takes the best part of six hours to get to Hakodate today. Mostly because it’s so far south and there’s no straight line directly there from Sapporo, it’s a big curve around Uchiura bay.

We’re going out today to see a Christmas tree. Yes, a singular one.