Friday morning: made our way to Suzuka circuit which was easier than we thought as we caught the MIE train to Koba which stops at Suzuka Ino station. The race track is an easy 15 minute walk but it was extremely hot. At the circuit there was very little shade and we melt5ed slowly during 3 hours of free pracice. We walked half way round the course and saw many of its famous features. By the time we got back to the hotel we were exhausted and cobbled a meal toget...

Back at the Ryokan Eishinkan, we were both feeling queasy though we hadn't swapped this info with each other. It was nearly 24 hours since we ate the meal at Oshima and had not eaten much since. On reflection we think there might have been some fish or shellfish stock in the meal which had made us ill. (When the hostess had brought the food to the table, the spinach had fish flakes on it - a common dressing in Japan.) Neither of us wanted to stray far, and it was...