Friday. Checked out of our hotel in Matsumoto and headed back up the motorway to Nagono to return the car. After being dropped of at the station, we had a "morning set" at a cafe and caught the Shinkansen train to Tokyo. We transfered onto a normal JR line to Shin Okubo. The train was crowded and we felt a bit conspicuous with our large cases. Turning out on to a busy street, we managed to negotiate the complex area and building numbering system to find our hotel. Check-in was 4pm but the hotel let us drop-off our bags.It was a bustling shopping area, and as well as the obligatory 7-11s, Lawsons, Circle K and Family Marts, wecame across a Tesco Express! One noticeable about Tesco was that it had a large fresh fruit and veg section with lots of different varieties of mushrooms. The other convenience shops virtually have no fruit or veg.

We tracked down some sandals for a friend in a small shoe shop run by an old gentleman. Despite being a simple shoe the cost was near £36.

For lunch we ate a Freshness Burger, a Japanese chain, where they do two different veggie burgers and serve beer. (McDonalds eat your heart out!)

Back at the hotel, we were given two tatami rooms, plus a spacious bath room. Possibly the largest area we have had so far.

In the evening we braved the crowds and headed to Shinjuku, the busy shopping and entertainment area, The streets were full of walkers and cyclists. This has been a particular annoyance in Japan. The cyclists do not stick to the cycle paths and can whizz past you, almost knocking you off your feet. Like London, they go the wrong way up one way streets, jump red lights and generally are a nuisance. One can never relax whilst walking.

Shinjuku is like it is in films, all neon lights and weird and wonderful restaurants, strange side shows, Pachinko Parlours and dodgy clubs. We took a walk down a busy side street and came across a show where women sit in strange robotic machines, there are private rooms for males to "entertain" themselves and clubs where women appeared to pay to sit with handsome boys. There were also a lot of these handsome boys hanging around on street corners. For more about the robots, see: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ article-2178136/Japanese-robot-bar-temp ts-customers-creepy-fem-bots--controlle d-actual-women.html

Behind this area were hotels that could be booked for a "rest" rather than the night. Despite being seedy, it was well-populated and not in the least bit intimidating. Half the time we weren't too sure exactly what was goiing on! Slightly bewildered by this brash and garish display, in an otherwise conservative country, we headed home.