Thursday 12th April
In Narita airport we collected our bags and enquired about the shuttle bus to the hotel - stop 32, every 10 minutes. Spot on. Checked in and got the lift to our room, in front of which a bank of vending machines with everything in. The alcohol one was on 6th floor.
Big wide corridors, a smell of stale ciggarette smoke and our room had a metal (shed like) door. In the room were 2 kimonos, belts and slippers. On they went after a good shower, then the first of many 'unpack/repack's of (my) bag.

Friday 13th April
A good sleep was had, then breakfast ¥2300. Plate looked like a sudoku board.
Back to the airport, bought our Japanese Rail Passes - linked to your passport - and down to get our train. However, we got wrong train, the tannoy made it sound like it wasn't Tokyo bound, with a little help though we got to Bakurocho, our stop. Came out (of an exit FAR away from the hostel), found a cafè, 'Pantry' - card payment only. English menu? Point at the pictures and smile. Soup, salad, roll and tea. The main roads we were on were big and very quiet, even with traffic. No one shouting or talking loudly. Soon we found 'Planetyse' and checked in. Very much like a capsule hotel regarding the beds (6 of which) and small lockers. Individual men/ladies toilet and showers and one wash room. We walked around the area then headed to Shibuya on JR train. Very bright busy and lots of eateries. After an hour we were back at Bakurocho and ate at a local Japanese restaurant. Pork and chicken skewers with fries (potato wedges) and sweet potato whiskey - very strong! Whoof! One thing we didn't realise before we got there, people still smoke in resturants. They have smoking zones in the street, which feels almost contradictory to the resturants. Oh well.

Saturday 14th April
A walk along the Sumida River brings us near the Skytree and across the road to Sensõ-ji Temple. Through the gate there's a small (plastic) cherry blosdom market were a man was practising his english, i.e "Hello? Where are you from?" Instantly we checked our pockets. 'Could this be a scam?' No. We walked around the area and (I) got an ice-cream burger, it's an ice cream in a sweet bread. Yummy! Stalked about some more looking for coffee and conceeded to starbucks. Twenty minutes later a walk to Ueno park, no cherry blossom - we were late by a few days. There was a Shrine in the park. Of course there is and we visited a peony garden. Train back to hostel (not before booking our bullet train tickets for Kyoto, via the JR passes) to freshen up. Out to Shinjuku,  lots and lots of lights, crowds and even godzilla! Lots of fun. Tons of those crane grabbing machines and arcades. We ate at a 'self serve on a tablet' resturant...that was the "English Menu". The itemised bill though was all in japanese, God knows what we paid for! We didnt see the non-smoking area until leaving, something to note for future preference. And ready our bags for the journey tomorrow.