Izakaya

This evening, we went to an Izakaya called Umeya with Kaori and met up with Yumiko, and Hiroko for some more drinking and snacks. Very nice. Izakaya are brilliant. Table service, with lots of delicious snacks to choose from and a really relaxing convivial atmosphere.

Yamada Denki

Wow. I just received a marvelous birthday present from Nozomi's family. They took us to an electrical retailer called Yamada Denki and bought me an iPod! It's one of the new iPod minis. Japanese electrical retailers are a sight to behold. Vast floorspace is given over to TVs, PCs and every other gadget or electrical item you might want. They make Currys and Comet look very shabby by comparison. As you might expect in Japan, the customer service is beyond compare. You actually feel like a wanted customer rather than a hinderance. Right, I am off to play with my new toy.

minna-san makoto ni arigatou gozaimashita. (Thank you very much).

Yame

We left the hotel at around 8AM to catch our flight to Fukuoka from where caught the bus to Yame (Nozomi's home-town). Nozomi's dad met us at the bus stand and we set off for a spot of lunch at one of Nozomi's favourite restaurants for a tasty burger. Then it was back to Nozomi's parent's house in Yame. It was great to see everyone again. My Japanese comprehension was a bit better than the last time we visited, although I have still got a long way to go to understand the Kyuushuu dialect with ease. (Imagine a Cornish or Glaswegian accent for a non-native English speaker and you get the idea!) In the evening we were treated to yakiniku by Nozomi's parents at a local restaurant where we met two of Nozomi's cousins, Na-chan and Miki-chan. We had a very relaxing evening, and the food was absolutely divine. The nama beer was very good too :-)

Yame is an interesting place, which is probably typical of rural Japan. Houses, farmland, shops and retail parks are not really separated as they are in the UK. Thus you can walk from say your front door, past a local small holding where crops are being grown, and then on to a huge retail store within the space of a few minutes. Houses are of all shapes, ages and sizes and there is not the bland uniformity seen in so many housing estates in the UK. There also seem to be a lot more Ma-and-Pop type shops, and whilst lots of chain stores do exist, there is much more local variety when shopping or eating out. It's very hickledy-pickledy (in a good way). For me, this is much preferable to a typical British town layout where the main shops and farmland are generally much removed from the places where people actually live and wherever you go all the shops and restaurants are the same.

Tokyo (Akihabara)

We arrived at Tokyo Narita at about 11AM. Immigration control took some time because of a recent law requiring all gaijin (non-Japanese) to be fingerprinted and photographed upon arrival. Then we caught a bus and a taxi to the Washington hotel in Akihabara. I had a shower, then we went for a quick walk around this amazing district, which is full of electrical goods retailers and tea-rooms called "maido kissa" which are part of Akihabara's Otaku culture. (See piccie above).

We were knackered after the long flight so after a quick bowl of delicious ramen, we went back to the hotel for a nap. In the evening we met our friends Chiaki, Teruhiko and Yoshimi for an evening in an Izakaya where we enjoyed plenty of beer and food. Wasn't sure about the kyuri-tempura (cucumber tempura), but the sashimi was delicious. It was great to see everyone again after more than a year.