Rachel’s brother Gary moved to Japan around 2010 and started a family, he has a son Noah born in 2019. Along with Rachel’s parents we flew to Japan April 1st.  The adventure to Japan began earlier than expected due to a 48-hour weather warning. Instead of setting off south to Keflavík airport the day before our flight we had to set of two days before to avoid road closures. In fact, some roads where already closed so we had a few detours and a 4–5-hour journey took 8 hours instead. We boarded the Finnair plane to Helsinki where we met Rachel’s parents who had flown from the UK. Then we boarded the next flight from Finland to Osaka, Japan. 

Osaka gave us our first glimpse of this wonderful land. Our base for the next few nights was Kamon Hotel Namba. We wasted no time and headed to Dotonbori. After taking the “have to do” selfies with the Running Man and checking out a few shops it was time for an early night. We awoke to rain on our first full day, so we stopped at a 7/11 to buy umbrellas and visited the aquarium, we got our first sight of the cherry blossom around Osaka castle, ate udon noodles, and tried canned hot soup from one of the vending machines along the streets. 

The next day we hopped on a train to Kyoto for the day. We spent time looking at the Shinto shrines, temples, and gardens. We admired the beautiful kimonos that local people were wearing and found a huge cemetery. Here we learned about Tanuki (an amusing statue with an oversized scrotum) and tried lots of delicious foods, such as miso soup, tempura, and candied strawberries. Kyoto was busy, but beautiful and well worth the visit. That evening we headed back to Dotonbori to experience the area as night falls.  

The next day we stayed in Osaka and visited the Kuromon fish market which was an explosion of new sights and tastes. We had never seen such a variety of seafoods, included whole tuna heads. Elín Bára and Kaja went to some of the nearby shops (Donki or Don Quijote was a favourite), while we went on a hunt to find a dragon shaped shrine ( Namba Yasaka Shrine) we had seen on Google Maps. We all met up to take the train to the Shinsekai area. We didn’t fancy the sparrow on a stick that the restaurant was offering so we stuck to a huge bowl of chips to share. We enjoyed walking around soaking up the atmosphere and looking at the amazing cartoon-like shop fronts. Elín Bára and Kaja wanted to do more shopping, so we went to Hep 5 shopping centre. While the girls went off by themselves, we headed to the 9th floor to ride the Ferris wheel and people watch.  

We managed to find Hozen-ji Temple. It never ceased to amaze us that we would be walking down a bustling street and then turn a corner and find a small Buddhist shrine decorated with lamps and incense, down a quint alleyway, and here you can find the moss-covered statue of the deity Fudomyoo. These unexpected sights were often the highlight of our trip.  

Another day trip, this time to Nara. We really enjoyed our visit to the Temple and the huge 15-meter-high Buddha statue. We made sure to buy some crackers for the deer that we met along the way. These wild but very tame deer wander down to the town during the day and bow to passersby in the hope of getting food. We were more than happy to oblige and spent a long time with these gentle creatures, even watching them use a zebra crossing to cross the road. It was in Nara we ate the best Ramen noodles of our trip.  

Our last day in Osaka and we all began by doing our own thing. Jónþór and Rachel found a beautiful garden and shrine away from the tourist area. It was a beautiful 24c day and we sat on a bench watching the local people stopping to prey as they passed. We joined Rachel´s parents in the botanical garden and then enjoyed a delicious Okonamiyaki on the evening. 

Now it was time to leave Osaka and the tourists behind and take a bus to Takamatsu on the island of Shikoku. It was a long bus ride, but each person got their own individual fully reclining seat, with leg and footrest and a privacy curtain. After checking in to our Airbnb apartments we headed out to meet Gary, Noah and Noah´s mum Risako for the first time. It was wonderful to finally meet Noah, and he was not shy at all. We all enjoyed a meal together in a local restaurant.  

We took Noah to Shikoku Mura Museum, which is definitely worth visiting. The cherry blossom was now in full bloom, and many hundreds of photos were taken of the different colours and sizes. If in Takamatsu, then a visit to Ritsurin Gardens is a must. We enjoyed it so much we went back for a second visit. At the gardens, which was just a short walk from our apartment, we enjoyed a short Japanese tea ceremony and took a boat ride on the pond full of Koi fish. A trip to Japan would not be complete without visiting a karaoke room which is what we did that evening. For dinner we visited a Korean restaurant, where we got to cook our own food on a small grill in the middle of the table.  

After a couple of days in Takamatsu we visited the island of Shodoshima by boat. On arrival we were met by a bus that would drive us around the main stops on the island. First stop was feeding the monkeys at a monkey park, we took a cable up the Kankakei gorge, for amazing views, visited the filming location for a movie called Twenty Four Eyes, where we tried soy sauce ice cream, and ended the day at an olive park, which was the location for Kiki´s delivery service. It was a wonderful day with beautiful weather.  

While Rachel´s parents took Noah, Elín Bára and Kaja to Round 1 (an amusement centre), Jónþór and Rachel took the train to Kotohira. The area is popular with pilgrims, and we joined them to climb the 1370 stone steps to the top of the Izutama shrine on Mount Zozu. It seemed we were the only tourists in the area and lots of people greeted us or asked why we were in Japan. Back in Takamatsu we walked through one of the many covered shopping streets and popped into one of the shops. The shop owners started asking where we were from and even got a map out so we could show them. After talking to them for a while the man said he wanted to give us a gift. He proceeded to draw a picture on a piece of linen for us.  

We wanted to treat Elín Bára and Kaja to a fun day out. So along with Gary we drove to the Iya valley to take them to the tree top adventure and zipline park. The weather had gradually gotten warmer during our trip and today was almost 30c. After the tree top adventure, we cooled off near a clear river in the valley. That evening we had our first visit to a sushi train restaurant. We were glad to have Gary with us as we had no idea how to order on the small screen at the table, and we would have had no idea which food was ours as it moved along the conveyor belt.  

The last day in Japan was spent with Noah. We visited a local toy museum where Noah showed us how to play with all the toys. We went to a park and played hard and seek in the apartment. This evening Gary invited everyone back to his place for a meal, which was the perfect way to end our trip.  

So, what can I saw about Japan, well it was amazing. We had no idea what to expect so we just went along for the ride and allowed Rachel´s parents to organise most of the time. The food was some of the best we have ever tried, and all was very affordable. The bread was delicious, soft and extra thick. We learned quickly how to use chopsticks (some of us where better than others). The Japanese people were polite where every we went. The young children, in their sailor like uniforms and custom-made school bags, would bow to the drivers that stopped for them to cross the road. The landscape was beautiful and varied. And we promised ourselves we will return to Japan again in the not-too-distant future.