July 4th
Woke to a beautiful day. Not a drop of rain in sight. Our hotel includes breakfast in the tariff. A mixture of western and Japanese food, all very tasty. We were not disappointed.

The morning was spent exploring all the preserved building and homes in the old town. Plenty of temples to see as well. We then headed for the hills on foot. Climbing a few hundred metres above the city for some stunning views. The walk through the park was just as pretty, with an awesome view of the Japanese Alps.

After a little rest we ventured down into the main part of town. This is not part of the tourist area, but it was worth the walk. We came across an electrical store. This place made the biggest store at home look small. This place was massive. It had every known electrical appliance on display. If you could plug it in, it was on display. All were plugged in and working. And if there were say 5 different coloured hair dryers, then all 5 were plugged in and working. Even the fridges and dishwashers were working.

They also have the best tasting tap water in Japan, as it is supplied direct from the spring. So far this is my favorite place we have stayed, and with hindsight I would have stayed another day. All the more reason to return another time.

5th July
Packed our bags after a hearty breakfast and walked to the train station. The trip to Nagoya is 2 hours, then we transfer to the Shinkansen train to Tokyo. Once in Tokyo we caught the local train to Okubo. This station is a 1 minute walk to our hotel. We are here for the next 6 nights. So far the weather has held off raining, but it is a cloudy, warm day.

The hotel is above my expectations for Japan, its large with plenty of room, which is uncommon for most hotels in Japan. We decide to go to Shibuya, and station 2 stops from us. It is the Times Square of Tokyo. A prominent landmark of Shibuya is the intersection at the station. The intersection is heavily decorated by neon advertisements and giant
video screens and gets flooded by pedestrians each time the crossing
light turns green.

The other train station we stop at is Shinjuku, the worlds busiest station. 2 million people pass through the station every day. So we dont get trampled in the chaos, we quickly find a spot behind anything that doesnt move so we can work out where we need to go. This is very challenging.

6th July
The plan today is to visit the following places
Tsukiji Fish Market, one of the worlds busiest handles 2,000 tons of seafood a day

Akihabara, the district famous for its electronics stores.

Ginza, famous for its high end shopping. One square metre of land here is worth over $125,000, making it the most expensive real estate in Japan.

The Imperial Palace and surround gardens.

Now by the end of the day we must have walked 10 kilometres. We both have very sore legs and feet. We did get lost a few times, and it is easy to do in such a congested city.

Unfortunately the day was very cloudy with light rain pretty much the whole day. So the pictures we took were not that good.
It was so nice to put the feet up at the end of the day. Left the hotel at 9.30am and didnt get back till 7pm. That was a long day.

7th
Today we headed to Odaiba, a man made Island just south of Tokyo. Wasn't a great day for sight seeing, the rain was back.
There was a fair bit to see. Toyota had a huge display of all the cars they make, plus free rides. Panasonic exhibited all their products
A huge shopping mall very similar to the Venetian in Las Vegas.
A car muesum
Fuji TV building
Tokyo Big Site, exhibition centre
A small version of the Statue of Liberty

Due to the foggy conditions we did not get to see much of the city skyline or the Rainbow bridge

Tomorrow looks a better day