I THINK I'M TURNING JAPANESE!Our arrival in Tokyo happened to coincide with the introduction of new airport security measures which were only brought in three days previous. This meant that that we had to have our photo taken and provide fingerprints as we went through immigration. Our arrival here also coincided with a national holiday making it almost impossible to find a room that we can afford. The accommodation here is very expensive. It's at least ₤15 each for a bed in a dorm in most places. Thankfully the tourist information here is amazing and they managed to find us a room for the first two nights in traditional ryokans. After collecting our Japan Rail Passes we headed into town but struggled to find our guesthouse. It's a really bizarre quirk in Japan that there are virtually no street names. As a result the police here spent most of their time giving people directions. There seems to be a koban (police hut) on almost every corner dedicated to this purpose. Having asked at the koban for directions we were eventually escorted by a policeman all the way to the front door of the guesthouse. The weather here is quite cold but it has been sunny most days so it's perfect for sightseeing. Japan is an amazing place; we really love it here. Everything is so clean and orderly - you never see a dirty car or bin. There are an amazing number of vending machines here too. You can buy anything from them - drinks, ice cream, even fish and chips. The Japanese populous are also obsessed with cuteness. There are cartoon characters for everything. Even the signs above the koban have flying cartoon dogs in police hats on them! The people are wonderful. They are always so keen to help you although they are generally very shy. It's incredibly quiet here for one of the world's major cities. Everyone talks in hushed voices - you can here a pin drop on the trains. The only exception is if you happen to walk past a Pachinko (pinball arcade) when the door opens and the noise is then deafening. We've visited lots of amazing temples, shrines and castles. It is the perfect time of year to see them as it is momoji (maple leaf or autumn) season so the trees are beautiful - I've never seen colours like it. We are also here in time for a festival where children who are celebrating their third, fifth or seventh birthdays visit temples dressed in traditional costume. It is surprising how many women here still wear kimono - it looks beautiful. We have been hoping to visit to Mt. Fuji but so far there has been too much cloud. We've been making the most of our rail passes and have been out to Shinjuku (where they filmed Lost in Translation), Harajuku (where they really do have real life Harajuku girls - it's a bit like being in a Gwen Stefani video) and to Ginza where we spent hours people watching (and dog watching - lots of them in denim jumpsuits and hoodies). We've just moved to our third guesthouse in Asakusa - the Tokyo Ryokan. Again, we had to enlist the help of the koban to find it and as we walked around the corner to the guesthouse one of the policeman was already there - he had cycled ahead to let the owner know that we were on our way. The guesthouse is really modern but built in the traditional style with tatami floors, roll out mattresses and sliding doors and walls. The owner, Kenichi, and his wife are lovely. We've also been sampling Japanese food in a tiny noodle bar around the corner - even though we can't speak Japanese we had a laugh with the locals, who between them helped us order something veggie. One of the regulars even bought us tub of ice cream each.Next stop Osaka….