私は日本のトイレが大好きなので、注文するつもりです。でもスティーブンには内緒にしてください。

So the “Friendly” limousine coach has deposited us at Haneda and through security now with coffee in hand and suica cards spent up, its time to post my final thoughts. Japan is a hugely popular tourist destination, not just for us Brits, especially those from Leeds it would seem, but also Australia, USA, Europe and Israel. I’m ashamed to say that before we booked, other than the obvious tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and more recently the tsunami of 2011, all I could remember that most people commented on were the incredible trains and the toilets. After three weeks I can say that I have never been anywhere that has such a fascinating blend of history and cutting edge modernity, long standing traditional and 21st century cultures and modern and old unique arts and cuisine. They just all seem to happily coexist in one big melting pot swirling around with politeness, cleanliness, safety and efficiency and wherever you are, you get it all.

We had done a lot of research before our trip, not just about the best places to visit and avoid but also about their customs as we feel it’s important to respect them. Personally I respect and welcome their attempt to balance personal and communal liberties. There is absolutely nothing wrong with telling people to be respectful to others, to form an orderly queue, be conscious that not everyone wants to listen to your music or games or phone conversations. However I have noticed that the downside of the “silence” is the total absorption in one’s phone not only on the train but off it too – whilst walking around the city and crossing the road. This is far worse than in the UK. My parents taught me that if a job is worth doing, it’s worth doing properly and in Japan they take great pride in their job, whatever it is and appear to be respected for that. They value tradition and their way of doing things and this can make them appear rigid in their views but that does not mean that they are not friendly or helpful. We had many wonderful interactions with locals that made our holiday. None more than when I needed change for the lockers for our luggage at Motohakone Port. Dripping with rain, I approached two little old ladies in a bus queue armed with my translate app and bowing deeply. They seem delighted to be approached and judging by what my translate app informed me of their conversation they thought it was marvellous as they had never seen it used before. I’m glad I made their day as much as they made mine!

The level of service here is exceptional, although I did struggle with the “subservient” bowing to us – I’m not sure I’ve done anything to deserve that other than turn up. The bus and train drivers thank everyone and bow as you get off the bus/train/tram. I fully accept that as a tourist I can be shielded from the less savoury side and the politics that underpins society but there is nothing wrong with taking pride in your work and valuing and respecting others and everyone’s contribution to society. We knew that were no litter bins and that we were personally responsible for our own rubbish and so we, by that I mean Steven, always had a bag for our rubbish with us. I was embarrassed by the number of tourists that just left their drink bottles/cans etc in lifts, on the side of the pavement.

I had ignorantly assumed that we would find nothing but tea shops and so was really pleasantly surprised by the strong Japanese coffee culture, discovering huge numbers of wonderful small independent coffee shops, with some great cakes too! What we also noticed was a complete absence of dogs and cats – both as pets as well as strays. There are umbrellas outside hotels for your use and clever boxes at shops that you put your closed umbrella in and pull it out with a plastic rain cover on to stop it dripping everywhere as you wander through the store. It didn’t really encourage me to spend anymore though! But it does add to the plastic waste. I am not an eco-evangalist by any stretch of the imagination but I try and do what I can do easily. The amount of consumerism particularly the capsules and the amount of plastic around the wrapping of something like a sandwich from the very nice food hall in one of the department stores was incredibly wasteful.

So whilst I would welcome some of Japan’s values in the west, what has the west given to Japan and with all these tourists are they on that slippery slope . . . Starbucks and McDonalds are everywhere and I mean everywhere, and a Costa at our pitstop in the middle of nowhere at Hirayu bus terminal on our journey to Matsumoto. Halloween was massive and in the last few open hours on 31st October some shops were already frantically ditching pumpkins for Santa and his baubles. They have their own version of “duck tours” with “ninja” boat rides on Lake Ashi in Hakone, and Mt Fuji mania is real and I hope you spotted the photo of the Mt Fuji handbags which I just about managed to resist. Not sure pirates ever made it to Hakone despite their ships being there but they sure know how to upsell first class on them. Is it worse in Japan than anywhere else? No not at all, but it just seems more incongruous.

This has been one of the easiest and most efficient countries to navigate – it could not be further from the UK’s “pot luck” public transport system. I loved their jingles on the station platforms and in the carriages to announce arriving trains/stations and I’ll miss their “chirping birds” that accompany the little green man at crossings. We used the excellent luggage forwarding service so that we only had our luggage with us in Tokyo, Hiroshima and Kyoto and we felt liberated with just our hand luggage moving freely around the streets/underground/on the Shinkansen, safe in the knowledge that the trackers in our suitcases told us they were exactly where they were supposed to be. Whether we used bus, metro, train, ferry or foot Google or Apple Maps kept us on track. Between us we used both so I can safely say that it doesn’t matter which you choose as they both give the same level of information/detail so use the one you are most familiar with. Don’t forget to buy your e-sim or you won’t be able to use them without taking out a bank loan!

No matter how many key phrases we learnt in Japanese we were never going to be able to read it! Translate apps were invaluable for communicating with others but also a lifesaver for interpreting ingredients on food in the hotel or bought in convenience stores. I’ll be honest – it’s not easy being vegetarian in Japan, but it’s not impossible either. Ironically they seem to understand vegan more than they understand vegetarian. Happy Cow will light up with options when you use it but many of these places are cafes or bakeries that are only open during the day. Aside from dedicated vegan/vegetarian restaurants quite a few Japanese places will have one or two vegan options on their menu now and failing that there appeared to be at least one pizzeria or Nepalese curry house wherever we were and they always had vegetarian options. Having said that we have sampled quite a few vegan Japanese dishes – mainly different ramen, tempura and various rice dishes with different toppings. It appears that everyone eats very early here with queues from 17:30 and as our options are more limited than everyone else’s if you don’t want to miss out then book a table. I would say this is the holiday that we have eaten the most processed/unhealthy food, excluding the whipped peanut butter sandwich which made a nice dessert from time to time!

Since arriving we have travelled just under1400 miles and walked a mere 113.6 miles! We still haven’t seen it all, but we expected that. We couldn’t even see all that Tokyo had to offer but felt it was more sensible to theme our two stays differently to at least try and experience both personalities of the city. What we have seen in our three weeks is therefore a wonderful mix of old and new, town and country and we were very fortunate to see some of the autumn colours for which Japan is famed. None of this would have been possible without James at Japanjourneys. You made the holiday so easy and therefore enjoyable for us. The itinerary, guides and suggestions and hotels were all spot on not just for their quality but also their location. Whilst we have stayed in hotel rooms with a microwave before I can honestly say we have never stayed in one like Takayama with its own washing machine/tumble dryer.

So I’m almost at the end and for those of you that think I’ve not actually mentioned the toilets, use a translate app on the title. Anywhere compared with India is going to get an A+ for their public toilets, but here they are plentiful, easy to find and clean although they don’t always have hand drying facilities. Shin Osaka station is vast and it gets a special award for the best toilets – there is a dynamic electronic map inside highlighting and directing you to the vacant cubicles. But the prize is the seats – they are amazing. Heated, with wonderful cleaning jets of water and some even play music to disguise what’s happening! On the trains that special button to lower the seat is essential. Now I know why everyone raves about them.

Finally I would like to thank my dear hubby for stopping me adding to his series of “osteopaths around the world” by looking after me so well after my little incident at Nara Park ten days ago when I slipped on the loose gravel and landed on my coccyx. I know I kept that quiet, but it didn’t really impact our holiday as the walking was fine – it was the sitting, lying flat or climbing stairs that was the issue. However with his amazing care I’ve made an incredible recovery and I’m now confident I can sit for 15 hours on the plane home! If I can’t . . . .