Tokyo is mental....lots of flashing lights and zillions of people everywhere...its quite overwhelming actually. But we ventured out and have taken in some of the finest sights japan's capital has to offer including Piss Alley, Golden Gai and the famous plastic food kitchenware district. So OK, piss alley is a tiny alley running along the train tracks with small yakatori (food on sticks) cafes; golden gai is a tiny network of streets with over 200 bars squash...

Arrived here on the bullet train which is as fast as they say and made us feel a little funny....being cheapskates we did not reserve seats so spent the first half perched in the aisle which was not so amusing....however it was highly amusing when Tim split ginger ale in a sleeping commuter man's trouser turn-up only to see him wake up very confused wondering why his sock was wet and he smelt like a tramp. Anyway, after a day searching on bikes we successfully ...

Arrived here after a frantic dash for the ferry - running fully loaded with backpacks, a totally new experience! We stayed in the youth hostel which was up a steep hill just out of the city but had its own pool....nice. Had a very chilled day walking through the Memorial Peace Park and looking at all the monuments. This is right where the A-bomb hit and there is also a partially destroyed building which was pretty much all that was left standing in the whole city...

Spent a lovely five days in Tokushima, the festival was really great, very relaxed and good vibes all round. Mind you that could be something to do with the 7% lemon and lime soda drink we have discovered which is not only sold in every shop but in vending machines on the street!! We went to watch the dancing for three nights and did even dance like obligatory fools on one occasion in an impromptu tourist dance off. We also caught the local train to a beach a...

Konnichi wa! O-genki desu ka? We are still in one piece after braving a two night crossing from China to Japan on the ferry. It was very calm apart from one night which sent all us Westerners heading for our bunks around 9pm! The ferry was great and virtually half empty so it felt a little like a ghost ship, spent most of our time playing cards with the others travellers and competing in Tim's ping pong tournament! (Not so easy during rough seas) Now we are ...