Japan in one day.

In recent months, both Hayley and I have experienced a profound disillusionment with Japan. Perhaps it's a symptom of homesickness, or maybe a comedown from the initial shock and thrill of being here. We have started making (elaborate) plans for a grand exit, but neither of us wants to leave Japan with such a nasty taste in our mouths. We've concluded that in order to depart in a good mood, we have to spend the rest of our time here behaving like tourists. I present you the extravaganza of saturday...

We woke up at the masochistic time of five in the morning, in order to visit the biggest fish market in the world at Tsukiji.









Breakfast was absurdly fresh sashimi from this place. Yum.

Tsukiji is also notable for Tsukiji Hongan-ji, a remarkably Indian looking Buddhist temple, reminding one of the religions' roots.


We found this to be a friendlier temple by far than others we've encountered in more touristy spots. Signs above pamphlets, declaring "It is free" or inviting visitors to look at the "beautiful golden altar" melt all but the iciest of hearts.


Also in the vicinity is the Hama Rikyu Teien, an ornamental garden, originally used as a duck hunting ground, now home to some very fat, un-hunted ducks.




All very lovely, but I prefer my parks a bit more rugged.

Our last stop, before collapsing in an exhausted heap, was Ginza, just up the road from the Imperial Palace, and one of the first places in Tokyo to Westernise. Ginza is certainly striking, but it's not one of my favourite places, mostly because of a certain snob factor. Ginza is the place to be seen. A former private student was what I dubbed a Ginza Granny - a moderately wealthy woman who likes nothing better than to put on her finest clothes and walk through Ginza, just to be associated with the place. For the dirtier visitor, like myself, there is little to keep one occupied, unless you relish the idea of buying a box of chocolates that costs the same as a CD.

Ginza is however, home to the SONY Showroom, exhibiting the very latest in life-devouring gadgets and toys, most notable of which were video cameras of a hyper-reality-dream-like brilliance, and a demo of the upcoming (and erroneously titled) Final Fantasy 13, which would have most definitely stopped me from graduating had it been released back then...the showroom was, sadly, bereft of robot dogs.

Also present was the latest offering from Nissan...


...apparently friendlier to the environment than your average fuel guzzler...but I didn't have a clue what the accompanying placard was talking about.

...all that done, we staggered home and watched a silly film. In the face of our recent gripes with this infuriating country, behaving like tourists had us enjoying and discovering things for the first time in a long time...expect more entries like this dotted about over the coming year.