Category Archives: World Cup 2010

After the poignancy of Hiroshima, we set sail for the small island of Miyajima in the Bay of Hiroshima.

We checked out of our hotel and in line with our normal approach on this trip, we took a train to the ferry port. And as usual the train arrived precisely in line with the carriage indicator sign at which you form a queue. You never fail to be amazed how Japan runs with complete precision.

We arrived on Miyajima with a very small overnight bag as we were going to stay in a Ryokan. Ryokans are traditional Japanese inn, usually family owned, with Tatami mats in the rooms, public areas where visitors can chat wearing traditional Japanese dress (Yakata), public baths and what turned out to be the most incredible food we had so far.

We were greeted by wild deer as we got off the boat. These deer are sacred and thus protected and enjoy complete and utter freedom to roam. They also like any food or paper you may be carrying and accost pretty much all visitors in a totally charming way.

We headed to our Ryokan and were greeted by a warm and friendly owner. Smiling and politeness are also de rigueur in Japan and the staff at this inn were no exception. Once our bag was dropped off, we had the most incredible and pleasant afternoon walking on the island.

Miyajima is home to the iconic Great Tori Gate which gets partially submerged by the incoming tide. The beach is pretty flat and deep, but sadly the Tori Gate was undergoing pretty major maintenance presumably for the Olympics in 2020. Nonetheless, it was great to walk on the beach and enjoy the whole Zen feeling on the island with all of its old buildings in the Edo style.

We had to visit Mount Misen and that was accessible via the Miyajima Ropeway which is in two parts, a small carriage version the Momijidani funicular and a larger carriage the Shishiiwa circular. Given the heat and the amount we had walked already we declined to hike to the top of the mountain but met Samara and Holly at one of the viewing areas. Both were touring around Japan watching the Rugby like us to celebrate Holly’s 30th birthday and having the time of their lives, just like everyone we had met in Japan for this World Cup.

We had booked a private Onsen at our Ryokan. An Onsen is a hot bath where you wash first and then enjoy the natural waters, a sauna with water if you will.

But before that, that we stopped by the Miyajima Brewing Company in the hope we could find a TV to watch the Ireland vs Japan game. There was no sign of any rugby on the island at all. But we met the wonderful Alec and Lizzie at the brewery who had just got the game on their phone. So we asked if we could pull up a few chairs and watch the game with them. We were all obviously supporting Ireland, especially Lizzie who had GWR Ireland shirt on. Alec was Welsh, still is it turns out, and he and Lizzie were also in Japan to follow the World Cup. Before we left them we swapped numbers and established that we would meet up in Shizuoka for the Italy vs South Africa game the following week.

The result of the game was not as we had all hoped, but a huge result for the home nation. We had to run to get to our hotel and our Onsen on time. Of course we were slightly late, but hey ho.

The Onsen was wonderful in every way, and totally relaxing. Once we had our 30 mins we were ready for what was to be the most amazing tasting menu either of us had ever had. And all of this food magic in a family run Ryokan.

Whilst we ate, our room was transformed from a living room to a bedroom. No shoes are allowed on the Tatami mats and chairs have no legs as you sit level to the floor. The minimalist decoration and interior lends an aura of tranquility that’s hard to beat.

We decided to have a walk after dinner and Miyajima at night was even more enchanting than it was by day, given everything is closed and the number of tourists is drastically reduced.

We encountered some people dressed like they had been extras in Dr No, with white Wellington boots and lightly coloured overalls and hard hats who were tracking the incoming tide. We were not really clear what they were doing, but it added to the whole mystique of the place.

A wonderful night’s sleep on our Futons gave way to another bright, sunny and non humid day. Breakfast was a traditional Japanese one, and the food was as exquisite as dinner the previous evening.

When we checked out we met the owner of the Jukieso Ryokan, Sosumu Koyabashi, who was a total gentleman with the kindest eyes, and thanked him for their hospitality. We did some more island exploration and we rounded off a very relaxing few days with some mini beers from the brewery before returning to Hiroshima to get our bags, grab some sleep and get ready for Osaka.

Hiroshima. A name that I have known pretty much all of my life. My mother taught me about the significance of this place and the other one, Nagasaki. Later in my life, I loved the song ‘Hiroshima Mon Amour’ by the original Ultravox led by John Foxx. The lyrics always stayed with me and today they were going to be particularly poignant.

‘Meet beneath the autumn lake 
Where only echoes penetrate 
Walk through Polaroids of the past 
Futures fused like shattered glass, the suns so low 
Turns our silhouettes to gold 
Hiroshima mon amour’

And today we are are on our way to this (in)famous city. Now renamed the ‘city of peace’. Once again our friend Shinkansen delivered us safe and sound and on time from Kyoto. I’ve discovered Calpis out here, which is the same kind of thing Yakult as it’s a fermented milk drink with lactic acid and cultures which helps both digestion and helps me to build back the capability of my digestive tract post all the antibiotics I was given earlier in the year. The downside of it is that every time I say Calpis, it sounds like cow piss!

This is the real deal – Calpis

Always follow instructions on Japan

We arrived in Hiroshima which is in the south of Japan and two and a half hours from Kyoto. Our hotel was right next to the main station. As always we were too early to get into our room, so we dropped our bags and headed out to get some food.

Wonderful art in our hotel

We were keen to try the local speciality, Okonomiyaki, which is a savoury pancake containing cabbage, egg, batter and a load of other stuff, all made on a very big hot counter by some very talented chefs. It’s delicious and very filling indeed.

After we finished lunch, we decided to walk to the Peace Memorial Park which was 45 minutes away. It was another hot and still day and the park is the site on which the US Army Air Force drooped the first Atomic bomb ever used, codenamed Little Boy, from a B-29 Superfortress named Enola Gay on Hiroshima at 8.15am on the morning of 6th August 1945. The destruction was quite simply unprecedented. I knew this was going to be a tough afternoon.

As always I like to try and see things from a balanced perspective, so for once I am going to avoid any political probing around the use of the Atom Bomb (A Bomb) on Hiroshima. There’s plenty of great historians from both sides of the divide who have written millions of words criticising and justifying the use of this weapon of mass destruction but 140,000 people died from that bomb alone.

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park will live in my memory forever. It’s a pretty big piece of land, the original Ground Zero. Reading the stories and seeing the photographs of so many of those killed, injured and who survived was a gut wrenching experience. Clothes, artefacts, documents, fused glass, transcripts and other ephemera reinforced the shock and the sorrow I felt. I was also confused by what I thought were clumsy translations from Japanese to English. Frequent referrals to ‘school children being killed by their bomb renovation stations’ were confusing. It was only when I read up on my phone as I walked around that these were people of all ages who were rebuilding bombed buildings from previous raids and sometimes demolishing existing structures to introduce fire breaks to minimise damage from future incendiary bombing raids, that it all began to fall into place.

Japanese cities had been subjected to fire bomb raids, the same as London, Coventry and Dresden had suffered. The US planners had wanted to test the true destructive effect of the A-Bomb and wanted a city with a 3km diameter. A number of cities had been identified as potential recipients of the A-Bomb and all bombing raids on those cities were halted in order to ‘preserve’ the 3km area. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the two cities tragically selected for the detonation of the Atomic bombs. War is made my man, and those who make it use every single sinew of their twisted ingenuity to wreak maximum destruction.

As as I sat outside the main Peace Memorial Museum every single person filing out wore sullen and drawn looks. Today had been a very, very thought provoking day and I know I will carry that experience with me until the day I die.

Given we are in Japan to watch rugby and travel to as many places as we can, it was a weird thing to wake up in Kyoto on the day England were playing their second game of the tournament and remembering that we would actually be going to that game. As is my tradition, I never wear any England gear to matches, be it football, cricket or rugby, as I just don’t see the point. Today, it would be my ‘Midnight’ Jam T-Shirt and shorts.

We were in two minds. Did we do another insane early start in order to take in some more sights in the magnificent Kyoto and then run the risk of being late for the game or did we have a leisurely approach, get to Kobe in good time and enjoy the atmosphere? After some discussion, plumped for the latter.

Kobe is about an hour on the Shinkansen from Kyoto and we had arranged to meet our friend David, who lives in Japan with his wife and daughter there. David’s Mum, Clare and his Dad, John who were over from the UK supporting Ireland, were also coming to the game.

It was another bright and hot day. Travelling through Japan we have seen and met loads and loads of rugby fans. It’s always dangerous to make sweeping statements, especially around national cliches but to hell with that so here goes:

The French – mainly middle aged, loads of couples pretty much always wearing their team colours with plenty of pride. Plenty of supporters present.

All Blacks fans – all ages, always dressed in black and many, many men all of whom look like they have played rugby. Loads and loads in Japan.

Aussies – similar to the New Zealand fans, but plenty of older fans, again in couples and all very tall. And loads of ’em.

Irish – all ages, always in green always laughing or lost, usually both. Probably the most representative of a truly global community. The Irish are from everywhere and are everywhere and the world is a better place for them. And there are loads of them here.

Welsh – all ages, rugby mad and plenty of couples too. Plenty of younger lads.

Scots – kilts everywhere, loads of young lads who like the Irish and Welsh have clearly made an effort to get here. Plenty older fans too and plenty of pale white legs and mossie bites!

Italians – mainly male, slim and stylish. Beards are neatly kept. Less numbers than the above.

Argentinians – like the Italians, the vast majority of supporters are male, of all ages but loads of them are probably 25-35 yrs old and I suspect follow football as well as rugby all over the world.

English – mainly middle or old aged and many on organised trips. From the numbers here at the moment it seems like most England fans of the future have opted for the ‘arrive at the quarter finals stage and progress to the final’ approach. This has been noted by other fans and remarked on. Not always in a positive manner I may add.

We found the fan zone area in Kobe, right in the port area easily enough. Kirsty decided to buy an umbrella to ward off the intense sunshine and that proved to be a really good move, given it gets really sunny out here and then rains at no notice for a short time and then gets sunny again.

I absolutely loved Kobe, the port area reminded me of San Francisco in the 60’s, and for older readers it really looked like the locations used in the original Batman film. I could just imagine Adam West, Burt Ward, Burgess Meredith, Cesar Romero and Frank Gorshin tearing around this place. It made me very, very happy.

We got news that our friends Gary and Joe had not left Japan after all and were headed to the game too. This was great news as these two just make the world a happier and far better place. Add in that we were meeting up with the McCarthys we knew today would be just brilliant.

It was great to see David again and I immediately quizzed him about all sorts of aspects of Japanese life and culture that I was hungry to know more about. David was a mine of information as I expected and speaks pretty good Japanese from what I could tell. Loads of his nuggets of wisdom will be shared throughout this blog, there was literally so much it would be wrong to dump it all in here at one fail swoop. Something that particularly tickled me was the fact that his Dad, John was not on Facebook, but John’s twin brother, Tom was, and Facebook always tried to tag Tom using face recognition, when pictures of John were posted.

The fan zone is typically well organised with plenty of food outlets all all drinks, whether they be Heineken, cider or wine, are purchased via a voucher system. So you queue for your tokens, pay for them and then queue again to redeem them at the bars. It sounds ponderous, but it really isn’t. The price of drinks however, was on the high side and any bottles bought into the zone needed their labels removing. It’s seems that the Rugby World Cup has gone down the same road as FIFA and their sponsors ensuring competing brands are erased from all view.

The atmosphere at the fan zone was fantastic, it was packed and fans of all ilk were enjoying the pre match banter. Added to that Italy vs Canada was on the big screen. Joe, Gary, David, Clare and John all got on like a house on fire with Gary and John swapping stories and discussing plenty around people they knew back home in Ireland. Whilst all this was going on, I got approached by a lovely England fan who had spotted my ‘Midnight’ t-shirt. Turns out he was a fellow Jam fan and desperately wanted to know here I got it from, and http://www.philosophyfootball.com got another customer right there!

Eventually we headed off to the ground via the Metro and arrived in good time. Kobe port at night lit up and really came alive.

There was a huge picture in the Metro from a rugby match. Blow me, it was only Joe’s best mate Ryan Wilson playing for Scotland again!

Everyone split up as we were all dotted around the ground and Kirsty and I had great seats surrounded by Japanese fans most of whom seemed to be supporting England.

And the coppers aren’t too bad either

The game was a pretty routine win for England 45-7 although England allowed the USA to score a try at the death. The atmosphere was electric though and just like Ireland vs Scotland it felt like a cup final. Many of the Japanese fans are pretty new to the game, so some are not used to the beats of rugby. So it does give the impression that we are some sort of super human predictors of the future when you stand up and see the try in, way before the touch down, much to the amazement of all the locals around you. As always, the Japanese fans are hugely enthusiastic, friendly, eager to high five, have pictures taken and above all are always laughing and happy. Add in that you can drink beer in the ground, and there is literally nothing to not like about watching live sport here.

After the game Kirsty and I walked back to a station, I have no idea which one, and magically got on a train which ended up in Kyoto and we jumped on the Metro and got back to our hotel and to our bed. We were exhausted, but happy England and Italy had won, and made sure we got our bags sorted for another early start in the morning. Next stop Hiroshima.

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Yet another early start on our Japanese road trip, this time we are off to the city of Kyoto. In my world Kyoto is famous for being the headquarters of the makers of the greatest videogames of all time, Nintendo. I’ve been before, but only on business and never made or indeed had the time to see the sights of this wonderful city.

This time I was determined to make up for lost time and get round as many of the famous sites as we could. We were certainly going to need our walking legs!!

It was a bright sunny day in Kanazawa, in total contrast to the day before and we felt excited. Kyoto has more shrines, temples and castles than any other city in Japan and we knew we would never be able to get round them all. So as usual, focus was required. Kirsty had done all the research and had a clear plan of attack.

A quick scoot via the Kyoto railway system and we found our hotel which was brilliant, again. We dropped our bags and headed straight out.

We walked to the Nino-Jo castle which dates from 1679. Pictures inside the castle were forbidden and shoes-off was the order of the day. Absolutely no smoking was allowed given that the inners of the castle were all wood and all on one level. The wall paintings were exquisite. Kirsty and I both remarked on the differences between this architecture and interior design versus European castles and country houses come chateaux. Once again the simplicity and minimalism won the day. No clutter, no over the top garish decoration, no artefacts just room to move, breathe and above all think. The castle was enormous and the gardens serene and magnificent.

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In case you get too hot, there are external water mist sprayers called Uchimizu everywhere in Japan which help you to cool down. It has to be said that the humidity in Japan has certainly been a factor. Something the rugby players have noticed, often to their cost, reducing the ball to a bar of slippery soap!

We popped back to our hotel as it was 3pm and we could get into our room. A quick turn around and a bite to eat from the 7Eleven and we were all set for some temple and shrine visiting. We had to take the bus to Kiyomizu Dera which is a big temple in the east of the city. It’s a Buddhist temple and a UNESCO World Heritage Site founded in 778 with the present buildings being built from 1633 and is a short yomp up the hill along with hundreds of other tourists. There were plenty of fellow hikers in traditional Japanese dress and so many people you had to wonder if the place could cope. It does make me laugh to see so many people posing for their Instagram and Facebook pictures all of which are taken as if the subjects are the only people around. We are as guilty as the rest of course, but it’s like a massive film set with the actors doing their selfies only for the rest of the world to be the other side of the camera.

Instagram won’t show these crowds

One of many shrines here

As usual there was no rubbish or litter anywhere and very few litter bins. This never ceases to amaze and inspire me, given the litter epidemic we have back home in the UK. And there is never any graffiti, unless it’s an art installation!

We saw the sun go down over Kyoto, walked around the whole site and then decided to find the famous Fushimi Inari Shrine.

Thousands of people leaving the Temple at sundown

Using Apple and Google Maps, we navigated what promised to be a 45 minute walk reasonably well. At one stage we were very much off piste in a residential area at dusk. In any other country in the world, one would have felt a little bit anxious. But this is Japan and aside from a few people out walking their dogs, we saw and heard no one.

Eventually we reached our destination and enjoyed another massive site which dates from 816, but the main construction dates from 1499. The site is enormous and we couldn’t get to it all given it was now dark. Thousands of iconic Torii, the orange uprights, line the route uphill from the lower gate to the inner shrine. Above that are thousands of mounds (tsuka) for private worship, much like a graveyard. There are statues of little foxes with red neckerchiefs (kitsune) all around the mounds and these are apparently symbolic of the messengers. The mix of natural darkness and bright light by the mounds and these fox statues reminded m of the scene in the graveyard in The Omen. It was pretty spooky and a little unnerving if truth be told.

We walked back to the station, pretty exhausted and if I am completely honest, slightly fractious. We eventually worked out which station and line would get us to the Gion district which was the traditional Geisha area and had a late dinner in a small, but excellent restaurant upstairs somewhere before walking back to our hotel in Shijo Street. We got in around midnight completely knackered but pleased to have seen so much of Kyoto on foot.

Another early start, this time from the magical Takayama, on the ever impressive and efficient Japan Railways (JR) and our next destination is Kanazawa on the central west coast of Japan on the central Honshu island. It’s the capital of the Ishikawa prefecture, and as we found out, is considered to be a quieter and less well know city than Yokohma or Tokyo. If I am honest, before we decided to visit Kanazawa, I had never heard of it.

We arrived at Kanazawa station, which like every other railway station we have arrived at was incredibly impressive both from an architecturally aesthetic and a functional perspective. As I have said many times before, everything has been thought through and everything works. We needed to catch a bus to our hotel in town, and that again was easy and efficient. Nowhere else in the world that I have visited makes it so easy to travel on public transport and it is relatively cheap. Far cheaper than the U.K., far cleaner and far more comprehensive. We bought a JR 21 day rail pass which cost around £400 each. Given Kanazawa was the fifth place we had visited since we arrived in Tokyo, and the Shinkansen is a superb service, we had already got our money’s worth. Given all the travel to come, the pass will earn its money three or four times over.

We had met many rugby fans on our journey so far, more on that later, but there weren’t too many in Kanazawa which given it is not one of the host cities, wasn’t much of a surprise.

We got to our hotel easily on the bus. In Japan you pay for the journey as you leave and the amount you pay is calculated based on zones. Paying after receiving the service is totally in line with how Japan works and everyone follows the system without fail.

The weather was pretty miserable, for a change, so we needed to borrow some umbrellas, something all Japanese hotels have to hand given that there is a lot of rain and the Japanese prefer to stay out of the direct sunlight. We did some research and decided that we would visit the famous Omicho market which specialises in fish, seafood and other local delicacies.

What a joy to behold! It was mid afternoon and the market was still busy and the noise and smells were fabulous. Kirsty wanted to visit the biggest fish market in the world, the Tsukiji market in Tokyo but we had run out of time and the next time we were due to be back in Tokyo to see England and Argentina play, our schedule was going to be tight it may not have been possible. We need not have worried, this place was awesome. I managed to get my favourite smoked dried squid, something I had fallen in love with when I was out here for the football World Cup in 2002. We dived into a small Sushi place and had the freshest most wonderful food direct from the market.

Next stop was the Kanazawa castle, built in the 1580’s and another amazing example of predominantly wooden and stone construction. We had a great walk around the grounds, all be it in the drizzle which wasn’t the best to enjoy the wonderful gardens, but the provenance of these places equals anything we have in the UK and it has inspired me to read up on Japanese history now as I am pretty much an ignoramus when it comes to this part of the world and it’s history.

Before we headed back to our hotel we hit the Kanazawa 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art via a small version of the famous shrine at Kyoto. That was to prove very small as we were later to find out. The museum was the very definition of minimalist, that or it was undergoing a complete changeover or exhibition!

We walked back to our hotel to freshen up and get ready for an evening out. Phileas Fogg, aka Kirsty, researched where to go and where to eat as usual. It was about 6.30 local time when we heard via LBC and @Mrjamesob that the Supreme Court in the U.K had ruled that the U.K government had acted illegally to prorogue Parliament. This was big news and my interest in politics said to me, ‘this will have all sorts of implications’. Anyway, enough of Brexit, back to Kanazawa.

We found the most amazing Sushi restaurant which was run by another husband and wife team. It had room for no more than ten customers and everyone sat at the black marble counter. There were no sign of plates. The Sushi chef’s father had founded it and the son, now comfortably in his late 60’s or even 70’s was as fast and as sure preparing the Sushi as anyone I have ever seen. He cupped the Sushi in his hand, with his hand over the Sushi and delivered it straight to the cleaner than clean counter like a magician would place a cup down performing a three card trick. His wife served drinks, organised customers, cleaned the counter and tallied the bill. The husband however actually took the cash! Like many places in Japan, this restaurant did not take credit cards.

As we left we saw the chef’s bicycle outside with his big expanded polystyrene box on the back which he used to cycle to the market to get his fresh fish daily.

We agreed to have a walk to the Nagamachi neighborhood which is where the Samuari used to live. We found it easily and the cobbled streets and extravagant wooden buildings evoked that age wonderfully. It was just brilliant to walk around these quiet, deserted old streets late at night. Before we headed home, we decided to have a late night cap at a little bar.

The owner was incredibly welcoming. He had an amazing collection of spirits, focused heavily on whisky, whiskey and sake. John Lee Hooker was playing on the sound system and we were the only people in there. The owner knew a little English, but through the power of Google translate we established that Japan was obsessed with baseball, interested in basketball and football and was getting to grips with rugby, all be it slowly. The owner loved wrestling and his hero was Giant Baba, hence his brilliant model on show. A model that yours truly would relish and cherish!

We had some sake at the owner’s recommendation and were questioned about who ‘the worst’ rugby supporters were. I think I helped him understand there were no ‘worst’ supporters as all rugby fans just enjoy the game and mingle very easily. I did point out that the toughest players were probably the All Blacks but Japan had a very decent side and could well qualify for the quarter finals. They would be a stern test for both Ireland and Scotland so he should have faith.

Before we left the owner asked me about Brexit. I was actually pretty surprised as Japanese don’t really do that sort of thing. Diplomatically I said we had a vote and decided on a course of action and we were taking our time to make sure we got it right. He laughed a lot and said he could not understand why we would do this. I smiled a lot and got back to rugby.

It was a fine way to end another great one day stop in a city we had never heard of, but would not forget in a hurry. Thank you Kanazawa!

After three days in Shibuya, Tokyo, all be it with two trips to Yokohama for the rugby, our road trip or more accurately our train trip truly got underway. All room check outs in Japan are early and so we headed out very early doors to Tokyo main station to catch our Shinkansen via Akasaka Mitsuke on the Metro.

The Tokyo Metro is a really easy and cheap way to get around. It’s also scrupulously clean, so clean you could probably eat your dinner off the floor, if you were fast enough to eat up before the cleaners got to it first! There are also staff everywhere running offices, barriers, cleaning and generally being on hand to help. Given the Japanese propensity to adopt technology early, it is noticeable that plenty of people are employed to make the transport infrastructure work efficiently. And all of the people working on the railway seem to be highly motivated, extremely pleasant and crucially very proud of their jobs and what they do.

When the Shinkansen arrived at our platform all in good time to ensure we departed on time, all of us passengers were queuing in an orderly and pre defined fashion which is another great thing about Japan.

Before we were allowed to alight the Bullet Train, a team of smartly dressed uniformed cleaners got aboard and ensured that all the carriages were clean and ready for us. It was a sight to behold. Imagine this happening in the UK? Not only is the attitude of the workers different, but equally important, indeed maybe more important is the attitude of the customers. You get the distinct impression that Japanese are not looking down on fellow citizens for doing ‘ordinary manual jobs’, quite the reverse. Again, we could all learn some lessons here. People are important and they must have pride and purpose in their jobs, otherwise society falls to pieces.

The Shinkansen is brilliant, I may have mentioned this before, but coming from a country where we have an old, decrepit and underinvested railway system, it does not cease to amaze me how things could be. Anyway, we are where we are, and things can only get better….

We got off the Shinkansen at Toyama and changed onto a more conventional train which was slower and less sophisticated. The windows were huge which was fabulous given the scenery of the Gifu Prefecture, which is stunning. Think Austria and Switzerland. Breathtaking in every way.

We arrived at Takayama mid afternoon, walked to our apartment and dumped off our bags, bags which had so far not been unpacked since we left London. Takayama is a wonderful place. It’s the gateway to Japan’s walking and hiking area and is home to an old part of the city, the Sanmachi Suji district which dates back to the early 1600’s. The streets of old merchant houses are constructed of wood and all single storey, another distinct feature of older Japanese houses. Kirsty declared ‘this is the Japan I was hoping to see’ and I smiled. If you’ve ever read Shogun or watched any Akira Kurosawa films like ‘Seven Samurai’, ‘Rashomon’ or ‘Ran’ or indeed watched ‘Monkey’ or ‘The Water Margjn’ like I did when I was a kid, you can picture the scene. But boy were we in for a treat, even if we didn’t know it.

The merchant’s houses are now mainly shops and eateries, although some are still private residencies. Kirsty bought her own set of engraved chopsticks, with her name on one in English and in Japanese on the other. She also bought some Japanese socks to wear with flip flops and got involved in a Sake tasting, for which she is now an expert. I simply sampled Matcha ice cream. Given my love of ice cream (I thank my Italian mother for that) I am very choosy about what is good and what is not good ice cream. I had nothing to fear, this Japanese ice cream was top notch.

As the sun began to go down In Takayama we decided to stay out and find somewhere to eat. Takayama is an incredibly beautiful place but also a quiet place. It was as if no one spoke and the sense of tranquility was palpable. This has a wonderful effect on oneself and given the busy time we had had thus far, it was really welcomed.

What a wonderful window

I said to Kirsty, ‘can you hear that drum?’ and of course Kirsty thought I was winding her up, and then the drum sound went again. We followed the sound and found a group of people of all ages dressed in traditional costume performing a ceremony with a huge drum on wheels accompanied by pipers. In the dusk, this was both intriguing and spectacular in equal measure. We think this was a rehearsal for the forthcoming Takayama Festival which celebrated spring and autumn each year with ornate floats, puppetry and more, but we weren’t quite sure!

Rehearsals for the Autumn festival are underway

When this finished, we walked on and heard some chanting and saw some fire. This ceremony was outside a huge temple. Shinto temples are everywhere in Japan, very much like our churches, and like some of our churches they are all ornate and incredibly well maintained.

There were some men who looked like Shinto monks who were throwing small, flat pieces of engraved wood onto a fire. These chanting monks were flanked by women dressed in ceremonial clothing and two men with long fire poles who ensured all the sticks were burnt. There were other men dressed in conventional suits who looked like they were prominent members of the community standing by, plus others and us. From what I can gather, these ceremonies are performed daily as a way to connect the ways of the past with the modern day. That spiritual approach is everywhere in Japan and is the thread that seems to hold this society together, whilst allowing progress. Progressive conservatism if you like.

We ended the evening with some wonderful Sushi in a little restaurant run by another husband and wife team. We were joined in the restaurant by a Dutch couple with their 6 month old daughter. A Japanese couple offered to take care and amuse the baby so that her parents could eat. The Japanese love children and this little child really seemed to enjoy herself . The meal, as usual, was excellent. So much love and care goes into food in Japan and it shows and tastes.

We walked back to our lovely apartment and enjoyed a great night’s sleep. Another early start awaited. Next stop Kanazawa.

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After the very temporary disappointment of the night before, it was good to get up with a spring in our step to a beautiful, sunny day in Tokyo, safe in the knowledge that we would be able to get into the Ireland vs Scotland game, which promised to be a competitive game of rugby for sure.

Ahead of a long day, breakfast was essential so we decided to grab some Sushi at our soon to be favourite self service restaurant.

These self service restaurants are simply brilliant. The Yo Sushi restaurants in the U.K. come the closest to this, although they really are a pale imitation of the real thing, mainly because of the food quality and clientele. It’s another example of Japanese design efficiency cramming in so much choice and so many customers into such a tiny space without making you feel cramped at all. But given Japan has mastered the art of so many people living together in such a small space without noise, confusion, mess and zero compromise on your personal space, perhaps this is no surprise. Technology plays its part, allowing customers to order what they want, when they want, yet humans are still employed and play a key role too. Humans actually make the wonderful food and actually serve the drinks and crucially take the money, whilst ensuring the standards of cleanliness and welcoming are exemplary. I have no idea if there are health and safety rules in Japan, but the culture of consideration, honour and excellence ensure if there is legislation it really needs no enforcement. This is all topped off by the wonderful miniature Shinkansen (Bullet Train) delivering your fresh order, preceded by bells and other wonderful sound effects, which is another feature of Japanese life.

We headed off to meet our friends again at Shinagawa, the Celts pub from the previous day was closed, so we met in another restaurant. There was an important addition to our team from the previous day. Gary had randomly met Tom who was visiting his brother who is a teacher in South Korea and had decided to pop over to Japan at the weekend to see if he could get a ticket for the match. Gary had spotted his Galway shirt (Gaelic football) and like the totally inclusive and generous man he is, had offered Tom the spare ticket he had. Tom, who hailed from Derry, was literally over the moon. It was going to be his first game of rugby ever, and it was his beloved Ireland. The signs were that the day was already working out to be a good one.

We headed off to Yokohama on the Shinkansen which was packed with men and women in green. Gary managed to buy so many tickets for the train via the automatic ticket machine he could have effected the share price of Japanese Railways! Despite having invested so much, the tickets did not get him and the rest of the team access to the train we travelled on, so we decided to meet in a pub at the other end.

In amongst the sea of green, there were a few kilts and sporrans. The atmosphere on the train and at the stations either end was cracking and fans of all colours were singing and laughing. This really was a brilliant example of how sport can bring people together, thousands of miles from home and across national borders and cultures.

We met in a pub called Hub. Well we met outside that pub to be exact. The whole street was flooded with fans and most couldn’t actually get into the pub anyway. Next door to the pub was a Lawson, which is a chain of general stores selling a huge variety of food and drink. It was clear to anyone experienced that the Lawson would sell out of all of its booze before the day was done and their toilets at the back would be over subscribed and it did and they were. No points for predicting that one.

The weather changed in the late afternoon from hot sun with a fair bit of humidity to all out rain, which made the game feel like it was being played at Murrayfield or Landsdowne Road.

We headed up to the stadium with plenty of time to spare, split up into our various groups and all got in safe and sound. We bumped into a bunch of Irish lads on the way and they wanted a picture. When I offered to take one and encouraged some photogenic movement to make the shot look better, substituting ‘cheese’ for ‘Brexit’, I was greeted with ‘its typical, we’re here in Japan and the one person we ask to take a photo is an Englishman!’. Everyone saw the funny side and agreed all future EU negotiations should be done in the pub, whether you are dressed in green or not, but the boys agreed there was no place for Hulk, incredible or otherwise.

The ground was full, we had great seats and the atmosphere was electric. We were routing for Ireland, which most of you will appreciate. We expected two well matched teams. Sadly, for Scotland, that was not the case today.

We met Steve and his wife who were Japanese, both supporting Ireland. A couple next to me worked in Dublin but were from Estonia and the US, and behind us were Eoin and Eugene, from Seattle all supporting Ireland. We bought beers easily enough from our seats and settled down to enjoy the game.

I asked Steve if the Japanese could give us tips on how to run sports stadia efficiently, in fact how to do everything efficiently. Steve replied, ‘Andy, you would need the teaching we have at school and the thousands of years of cultural and societal history, but everything is possible with time, patience, willing and effort’.

The game ended with a comprehensive 27-3 victory for Ireland. Gary had correctly predicted that if Ireland kept things up front they would win. He has a great rugby brain and so it proved.

We managed to meet up and had some more beers in the stadium. A lovely touch was when Ryan, Joe’s best mate, came over to the touchline, called over and Gary threw him his phone and Ryan took a selfie of us all. What a modest man he was.

The Japanese stewards formed a guard of honour for us all as we left the stadium. Milly took all three Nadia Comaneci prizes for artistic score, execution score and difficulty score, whilst I settled for ‘best old geezer dancing at a wedding’. Joe and Ian focused on winning the Chippendales’ Grand Prix Pour Le Decapage and Kirsty provided the human prop. Gary, Tom, David and Darren supplied plenty of general confusion.

Team Budgie Smugglers

Eventually through the considerable downpours we found our way back to our favourite bar, drank more and reflected on a wonderful day all round. Tom, whilst having his arm around me, told me he had had the best day and his first rugby match ever. We were like brothers, laughing and joking in a Lawson as every single drink had been emptied from the shelves. England were playing Tonga, but that somehow slid into irrelevance as everything became ever more hazy, including the trip home. We’d started the day serviced by a Shinkansen and ended it on one.

Kirsty and Milly at the end of an exhausting day

After a fine night out in Akasaka we woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed on Saturday morning the proud owners of tickets to see the All Blacks vs the Springboks. I forgot to mention we were supposed to meet our friends Gary, Joe, Milly and Ian in The Dubliners pub in Akasaka to watch the Japan vs Russia game, only to discover there were two Dubliners pubs in the area and we got the wrong one. Only we could collectively mix up two Irish pubs with the same name in Tokyo!

We had bought the tickets for the match off Viagogo the night before in a bar, so I now needed to print them off. That was a challenge to say the least given the hotel’s PC and keyboard was very unfamiliar and it was running an old Japanese version of Wndows. After much faffing and use of Google Translate, I managed to get our tickets printed, indeed I got two copies, more on that later.

The game was to be played in Yokohama, which is 25 mins outside of Tokyo on the Shinkansen aka Bullet Train, so we grabbed a coffee and headed to our rendezvous in Shinagawa which is one of the Shinkansen hubs. We had to stop by the JR office in Shibuya to get some more seat reservations sorted out and followed the signs only to pop out at the very same office we had visited the day before. The journey overground on foot had been repeated this time totally underground. That’s how big Shibuya station is!

The railways are so efficient it’s incredible, but then again this is Japan so we shouldn’t be surprised. We met Gary who’s Irish, with his son Joe and daughter Milly, both of whom live in Australia and Gary’s good friend Ian, from Brisbane and Joe’s best mate Ryan, who Gary also coached as a younger man at Farnham Rugby Club. More on Ryan later. We had a good few pints of Guinness and Japanese lager and headed off to Yokohama.

We soon found a bar come restaurant close to the station and enjoyed some wonderful Japanese hospitality. We were joined by two South African brothers, Darren and David who were friends of Milly and also live in Australia, both of whom were joining us at the match.

After much laughter, beers and plenty of singing, we all headed to the match. The stadium is a short walk from the station and the atmosphere was electric with Japanese fans sporting both All Blacks and Springboks shirts and colours. The two best teams in the world were taking each other on and it promised to be a crackerjack of a game. We all split up and headed to our respective entrance gates. I was with Kirsty and we went through the incredibly pleasant security checks without issue. But as soon as we got to the ticket checking steward I knew something was up. The steward gently asked us to come with him and led us back out of the stadium. Instinctively I didn’t want to leave the stadium. Many, many times travelling the world watching sport, I’ve managed to get in to venues not always by conventional means, let’s just say, and once in you never leave.

We were taken to an office where there were other fans all looking anxious. An English speaking woman eventually told us our tickets were forgeries and we couldn’t go in. I will leave out exactly how I reacted to this news for the sake of younger readers, but suffice to say, I wasn’t happy. Viagogo seem to allow forged tickets to be sold on their platform a lot and never actually seem to be called out for it. Just look on Twitter to see how many people get ripped off in this way.

Anyway, in the melee and confusion, Kirsty and I got split up. I decided to take my chances and try one more time to get in. That extra print out of the ticket came in handy after all. I waltzed through the security checks easily enough and then huddled in with some other fans as we went through the ticket steward. I thought I had cracked it as I got to my seat, which was of course already occupied, but my hopes were dashed as I had been spotted by the steward. I was then surrounded by about five or six security people with me like a piece of cucumber in a Sushi roll and them like the sticky rice and very politely and quietly moved as they moved away and out of the stadium.

And that was it. No game and no way to see the game. I walked around Yokohama for a while and then got a call from Kirsty. She was back in the restaurant come bar we had been in before the game. Gary and Ian had suffered the same fate and we had all been victims of the Viagogo scam. Kirsty has already secured a full refund and compensation voucher as had Gary and Ian so all was well. We were all gutted that we had not been able to get in.

We enjoyed some more beers and were joined post match by the others who had all got into the game, all be it Darren and David had felt that the Springboks had disappointed somewhat. By this time we were all laughing and joking about the whole escapade.

We jumped back on the Shinkansen and arrived back in Tokyo, with Gary, Ian, Darren and David. We found a wonderful restaurant with a traditional Zashiki seating arrangement featuring a low table set on Tatami flooring and enjoyed the most delicious salted Japanese ice cream. We had the best time, all be it not exactly as we had expected.

Our train back to Shibuya stopped short about halfway at Osaki and we had to get a cab. I reminded Kirsty that our friend Sarah was getting married and we needed to ‘tune in’ via our friend Dave’s phone which we did in the cab back to our hotel. We were sad not to make the celebration in Somerset but watched the whole thing from the back of a cab, then in the street and finally back in our hotel room.

On so many levels, it certainly wasn’t a day we will forget any time soon.

When I was a kid loads of toys were labelled ‘made in Hong Kong’. They were generally cheap and pretty rubbish. At some stage when I was growing up it seemed that toys started to be ‘made in Taiwan’. They were also pretty cheap and pretty rubbish too. The first time I really came across the label ‘Made in Japan’ was Deep Purple’s double live album, which alongside ‘It’s Alive’ by The Ramones, are my favourite live albums ever.

‘Made in Japan’ also went on to signal amazing technology, gadgetry, videogame consoles, videogames and Hi Fi gear all of the highest quality and all incredibly innovative, and it still does today. Japan is a country of innovation, miniaturisation, design, precision and lots, lots more, including manners, civility, respect and appreciation of nature.

So when it was announced that Japan would be the host country for the 2019 Rugby World Cup, I knew I just had to come. To add to the reasons why we had to make the trip, Kirsty had never been to Japan and had always wanted to visit. And, Japan had jointed hosted with South Korea, the World Cup football in 2002. Which was quite simply a game changer for football in every single good way possible. I had to return.

We took a night flight from Hong Kong to Tokyo on Thursday night and arrived a little bleary eyed on Friday morning. In Japan things tend to be incredibly precise and timings are highly respected. When the hotel says it’s a 3pm check in, it means it. Kirsty did well to stay the distance after we dropped our bags off and tried to keep awake in order to get some crucial admin done at Shibuya railway station.

For those who know, Shibuya is simply enormous. It’s a vast underground construction which literally goes on for miles. Shibuya is also famous for its pedestrian crossing known as Shibuya Scramble, reckoned to be the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world. Fans of Fast & Furious, Resident Evil and Lost in Translation will be familiar with this place. Our friend Gary who we were meeting in Tokyo was unimpressed with the Scramble, but at 9.30am the number of people are simply not at peak. So no actual ‘scramble’, that comes later.

We had time to kill before the Japan Railway office at Shibuya was open, so we decided to have a walk down Cat Street which is a place full of hip shops in the warm autumn sun. I am pretty certain this street did not exist when I was last in the area in 2002.

As the clock ticked achingly slow, I decided to show Kirsty the Pachinko arcades. These are crazy places where you bet using ball bearings in slot style machines. The arcades get around the gambling laws by offering to exchange accumulated ball bearings for prizes which winners then exchange for cash. Confused? You will be.

It was 08.30 and already the queues outside competing Pachinko arcades were forming together with their caller teams who were hollering all sorts of cries to drum up business. The male callers were dressed in regulation white shirts and black trousers with hats and the female callers in the weirdest Cosplay style costumes. Apparently the odds of success are better the earlier you queue up and take your tickets. What was clear was that there was a mad dash to move between arcades snagging the early odds tickets.

We grabbed an amazing coffee to perk ourselves up and then queued to get our train passes at the Japanese Railways (JR) offices. As always one is struck by the efficiency and grace of the staff. In Japan people not only do their job well, they take absolute pride in what they do and how they do it. This is a universal trait and it means things just work and their is a sense of continuity about how jobs are done. There are no zero hours contracts here. People do a job and they not only take it seriously, they also seem to do it for a long time.

We booked all of our seats for all of the railway journeys Kirsty had booked back in the UK. It was a pretty seamless task aided by the ridiculously helpful staff. Feeling somewhat jaded and jet lagged, we headed to our hotel and negotiated an earlier entry. Kirsty really is the master of organisation.

A few hours kip and we felt refreshed. As the hour approached for the kick off of the Rugby World Cup 2019 we found a bar, Irish of course, and watched Japan vs Russia there. All the Japanese are super friendly and eager to engage in discussions about all sorts. The Japanese are naturally humble and when it comes to rugby not that confident. I assured the group we sat with that Japan would beat Russia despite making two howling errors in the first five minutes that led to them conceding. My advice was ‘stay calm, stay focused and Japan will prevail’. For once, my rugby punditry was spot on. We had a ball.

We then had to find our friends and the rendezvous was The Ninja Restaurant in Akasaka. Needless to say the restaurant is hard to find, as it’s Ninja, but eventually we found it behind some curtains, took our shoes off and went in. There were secret doors, traps and assault points, which we navigated with the help of our Ninja guide. We met Gary, Joe, Milly and Ian who were in our very own room and had a brilliant night with crazy food delivered by Ninjas, of course.

We topped up afterwards in a late bar, where smoking is normal and seemingly compulsory!! We decided to buy tickets for the All Blacks vs the Springboks the next day which we did on Viagogo, and surprisingly we got them! And therein lies the next part of our Japanese odyssey.

Our World Cup adventure is underway and we were very excited to break our journey up with a couple of days and one night in Hong Kong having left the UK on Tuesday.

We had a great evening out with an old school friend and his wife who are not only hilariously entertaining and warm, but enlightening about the local scene, given he has lived there since he left school.

Who would have thought this island just off the mainland of China would become a flashpoint for the world’s fastest growing economy? When we were in Hong Kong last year, everything was as usual. It was vibrant, chaotic and yet calm. Fast forward and it seemed pretty much the same, although it was clear tourist/visitor numbers were down as queues to get to The Peak were tiny compared with last year. Anyway, I digress. According to my friend, visitor numbers were down 850,000 in August alone, mainly from mainland China and Korea. It’s clearly having an effect on business, confidence and the overall mood. Given that Hong Kong has played a pivotal part in China’s recent history especially since about 1820 when China was the largest economy in the world, something I did not know, it may not end well. From what we could ascertain, the protests are getting more radical and escalating to a point whereby the authorities may also escalate their response. Add to that the anti demonstration demonstrators who are taking up the government’s cause, and it could be a potent cocktail which may not end well.

Despite all of this political upheaval, we had the best time again in Hong Kong and the most wonderful meal at Madame Fu’s. The Peak was clear and we walked around it.

As we left late on Thursday it was noticeable that the security at the airport was far higher. You basically get checked as you enter the airport, so that loophole may be closed. More demonstrations were expected at the weekend, starting with the climate change protests and school strikes on Friday and pro democracy ones at the weekend. Writing this sitting in Japan, I can’t see what has happened, but I hope for the people of Hong Kong’s sake, everything works out in a calm and measured way.

When we were at The Peak, which for Hong Kong could be a metaphor, we found a Madame Tussaud’s and an about to be opened Monopoly World, which in probably the most capitalist place on the planet, seemed somewhat appropriate.

Anyway, talking about all things calm and measured, the next stop is Japan and our World Cup adventure will truly kick off.