Last night we had a relaxing time after dinner. We both had a traditional hot bath in the hotel. These baths are large stone affairs. Etiquette requires that you change into a yukata (lightweight kimono) and proceed to the communal bathing area. Before getting into the bath you undress, put your clothes in a basket and then proceed to a showering area, where you do the cleaning bit. Once you are washed completely, you proceed to the bath, which was a big stone co...

We left Ryokan Eishinkan about 7.30. The owner gave us breakfast and coffee to take away.We were dropped off at Takeshiba Pier and managed to sort out tickets to Oshima. East Coast Mainline couldn't have cost more! To add insult to injury we then had to pay an 2000 yen extra for oversize luggage! Aboard the hydrofoil, we headed the 120 km across Tokyo bay to the island of Oshima. Why were we going? Well, Mihari-yama, which basically is the island, is the world's...

After a rest, we looked at the internet and identified a vegan cafe in Yotsuya called "Loving Cup." A website informed us it was near Yotsuya 3 Chome station which was not far away. We headed off into the warm evening and walked up the main street and located the station. Once there we couldn't see the restaurant and couldn't work out the Japanese house number system. Eventually we saw a police office and called in. We asked in Japanese where the restaurant was. ...

After a long flight with Etihad, we arrived at Tokyo Narita. In the basement of the airport we validated our JR Pass for the railways and then took the Narita Express train to Shinjuku, which took about an hour 20 mins. Arriving at the busy Shinjuku Station, we eventually found our way out and felicitously we right by a taxi rank. The taxi took us to our inn, a small establishment in Yotsuya. We had a traditional Japanese room with futon. Luckily the roon had ai...