We set off to “Oshino Hakai” next which is a another very popular tourist spot with many busloads of Chinese tourists. There were eight ponds of the clearest water from Mt Fuji and one pond was 8 metres deep.
From there we continued to Hakone to see a shop with very beautiful marquetry woodwork and where we bought a few items. We stopped for coffee in Hakone at a bakery/cafe where you could sit and overlook the lake with your feet in a large foot bath below the large bench table. We just opted for normal seating on the first floor.
Our last two nights were spent in Yokohama in the guest appartment of the block where Maurice’s son Craig and his wife Yuko live. We slept on futons with quilts for most of our stay in Japan and found them very comfortable. Even the bath had push button controls which spoke to us.
From Craig and Yuko’s appartment you could see Mt Fuji on a clear day. We walked down the road to a small “Okonomiyaki” pancake style eatery and ate delicious thin pancakes filled with lots of cabbage and seafood.
Our last full day was spent shopping and a trip to the Nissan headquarters to see their latest cars.
We always enjoyed looking at the goods in the supermarket and it was interesting to see prices of various items like a rockmelon which was nicely packaged and cost about $130! On the road we saw many trees where fruit had been individually wrapped in white paper.
We had lunch on the 70th floor of the “Landmark Tower” with Yuko’s delightful parents and had spectacular views of the Yokohama port and harbour. After lunch we drove to the old area of Yokohama and the cruise terminal whch was a unique building with interesting wooden walkways which afforded great views towards Yokohama and the old part of the city.
Craig and Yuko went to so much trouble organising train tickets and accommodation and giving us good tips and directions to make travel in and out of Tokyo and Kyoto so easy. They even got us very useful “Suica” cards which are a rechargeable card for use on the metro, in some shops and at some snack machines. I was surprised when I bought a can of coffee from an automatic dispensing machine that it was hot and Craig told us that in winter all the drinks bar water and beer were hot.
We drove to near Yokohama station where we met up with Alison and Ryuma to have another good “Izakaya” meal where we had a great variety of dishes.
We detoured on the way home to see the English language school that Craig and Yuko run. It was interesting to see that they were working at the same profession as my mother and Maurice’s mother had chosen many years before.
The next morning We farewelled Craig and Yuko at the train station before taking the Shinkansen back to Narita airport for the 6 1/2 hour plane trip back to KL before flying home to Perth the next morning after a few hour’s sleep.
It was wonderful to see so many snapshots of Japan from two of the largest cities to the lovely countryside and mountains and smaller towns in Honshu. Japan now has about 120 million people living in 47 prefectures. We will go back to Japan to see Craig and Yuko and who treated us to such a wonderful stay. We would like to explore more of that lovely country.
The people we encountered in any service industry were so helpful, polite and courteous in a formal way not found in any other country we had visited to date.