We've just had an awesome 7 days in Japan - such a lovely clean, hospitable, hi-tec place! After arriving at our backpackers early morning, we went onto spend the day in Shinjuku - the happening place in Tokyo! We went to the top of the Govenernment metropolitan building – about 45 flights of it – where we could see over the whole city. So many amazing sky scrapers! Another day we headed to Asakusa, which hosts one of
Japan’s most famous Buddhist temples and a HUGE street market. The cost of living and traveling in Japan is quite high, so we didn’t do much shopping. For example we bought a breakfast combo each from McD’s which cost us NZ $20 and a deep fried Ice Cream was NZ$10 each too (yummy though).
One of our main reasons for visiting Japan was to visit some of Amy’s family friends – students who had lived with them as kids. We had an all you can eat meal with Taka. When someone new comes into the restaurant or shop – everyone shouts – WELCOME (in Japanese) – they’re not as conservative as we thought. We then took the world famous bullet train to Nagoya, and spent time with Shihoko and her family – who looked after us so well! (we need to spend some time doing some fitness). 
We also went to the most amazing sports amusement arcade – we need one of these in Christchurch! After returning to Tokyo we spent our final day in a lovely airport hotel (with outdoor Jacuzzi) and were also able to view some more amazing Buddhist architecture and witness some kind of festival – which included the offering of handbags over the alter! It had quite a focus on paying for everything – with markets and stall everywhere (got a feeling Jesus wouldn’t approve). Would have really struggled with the language barrier if Amy hadn’t put good use to her school Japanese lessons – although many had basic English vocab. If you can live in a small cramped apartment, and enjoy city living, then a well paid job could be a good option for you in Japan.
