Here's to getting my final bullet train for a mere 20 minutes to Osaka, where I was due to meet my friend Greg as our travels overlapped since we last saw each other in October back in Borneo. How time flies! I arrive at Osaka on a wet and miserable day but see Greg stood at the ticket barriers. Having spent the last week and half doing Japan on my own, it was nice to see a friendly face again. We went to find my hotel - Buisness Hotel Wako to dump my bags befo...

KYOTO! I have been so excited about the stop here and it couldn't have lived up to expectations any better. It was a bullet train to Kobe, then a bullet train to Kyoto where I had to get my bearings as to which station exit to head out of. I walked a few kilometres through the backstreets to the Nine Hours Capsule hotel, had to experience it again for a couple of nights! Walking down these backstreets, was like being in a scene from Memoirs of a Geisha (without t...

I love orderliness of this country, there are lines painted on the platforms so that you can queue and file onto the trains. I never saw the clichéd image of these trains where the guards push people into the carriages so that they can close the door. Maybe because I didn’t travel during peak hours very often. Still today I was travelling down to the Kitakyusha, on the southern island some 7 hours away. I made an early start and grabbed my first train down to ...

I hopped on the direct bullet train to Nagoya, man we need this kind of infrastructure in the UK! By the time I got to Nagoya it was pouring with rain, luckily I had my huge umbrella with me to keep my backpack and me relatively dry as I walked to Nagoya Travellers Hostel. Walking down the main road to the hostel, I could hear classical music being played from somewhere when I realised there were speakers on most of the lamp posts and it was being played down the...

Next up is a one night flying visit to Nagano, all because I want to see the Japanese snow monkeys (macaques). However, looking forward to getting on my first bullet train! I jumped on my direct bullet train to Nagano and though the carriages feel wide and spacious and bigger, comfortable seats; it felt no faster than the Pendelino service from London to Manchester. I'm sure, in fact, it's probably twice as fast but you just don't feel it. The views of the rural...