After a bit of a restless night for the family on futons and tatami (we will all enjoy our own beds back home in Australia), Ben and I headed down to the onsen for an early morning bath, then Kerryn joined us for ocha and morning kōhī in the small lounge area at our ryokan while we waited for Joel and Em.
Wishing we could stay a bit longer at the ryokan and Takayama, we packed our bags to head for the station. Along the way Kerryn stopped for some quick souvenir shopping while Em and I tried a local specialty - Hida Gyu-man, a soft hot bun with beef filling. Delicious!
We were also accosted by groups of Japanese junior high school kids who seemed to be on assignment to talk in English to tourists - they asked our names, where we were from and what we like about Japan. The school girls got the giggles when they saw Ben's Pokemon backpack then when he took off his sunglasses there was more giggling as they thought he was cute and they all said Australia was great. "Nihon no subarashii kuni desu", I said, in reply!
We took the limited express through the Japan Alps to Nagoya. It was a slow but picturesque trip with the train line following the valleys, alongside a river for much of the way. In between the lush forested mountains and hillsides, we past a number of small towns and villages, consisting of groups of houses, all with productive looking vegetable plots, interspersed with green rice paddies.
Our ekiben on this trip was a kiddies sarubobo lunch box filled with rice, beef, prawn, cheese and a range of pickled vegetables - which Kerryn and I shared. The kids, perhaps feeling a little less adventurous after the ryokan meals, opted for sandwiches and melon pan.
Quick change at Nagoya and we were back on the Shinkensen for a super-express trip back to Tokyo.
It was a bit of a shock to the system to be back in bustling Tokyo, but we braved the crowds in the massive underground shopping mall, beneath Tokyo Station
ton find Character Street and the Pokemon Shop for Ben. A couple of wrong turns and then we were there, with Ben zeroing in like a bee to honey! A little while later, he emerged with some gifts for his friends and a special-release Tokyo Station Pikachu. Mission accomplished!
For our last night in Tokyo, we went a bit "fancy-pants" and taken hotel rooms in downtown Tokyo, a short walk from Shimbashi Station. We are staying on the 19th Floor of the Mitsui Garden Hotel Ginza, with a gorgeous panorama of Tokyo, day and night!
We freshened up, after a long day train travel, and frocked up before going for a quick dinner at a local Chinese/Japanese restaurant, then on to catch the last act of Kabuki at the nearby Kabukiza Theatre.
A full show is made up of several stories, each with multiple acts and can go for around four and half hours. However, you can buy entry into single acts, in the half hour before they start, to get a taste of Kabuki.
The Kabukiza is a beautiful old theatre in Ginza. We arrived just in time for the last act of the show - Kagekiyo from the story Kotohoide Mimasu Kagekiyo. We were only able to get standing room tickets (this was OK as the act we were watching was less than an hour) but we hired a translator so we would understand the story and follow along with the dialogue. This was loads of fun, as the costumes and make-up were spectacular, and the acting impressive - with the lines delivered in a kind of sing-sog speech but no microphones (we heard it all quite clearly from standing room up tha back.
We wandered home along the busy night-time streets of downtown Tokyo, stopping off at a convinence store for ice creams.
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