As much research as I do about any place there is no way to tell what is true or still exists in a place until I get there.


Most of my planning and choices for a trip are gut instinct, or rather, listening to my heart.  Planning a trip for someone else, as in this case, makes it both easier and harder.  There's a little more perspective as I think about what would suit the person I'm planning for, a little more caution, but ultimately it’s like choosing an outfit or present for someone else and you never know until they receive it or put it on if it's going to suit them.


Of course, the biggest choice in the first place was Alison's (my client).  She chose Japan.  And she made a great pick!


The phrase that we used a lot in the planning was "once in a lifetime" – this was a dream trip and a chance to explore the "wow" factor of Japan.


I had no idea how wonderful it would be.  A few years ago I went to the UK's biggest Japan expo in London and it was fun and kooky and there was a lot about manga and computer games and weird cafes and food, but nothing prepared me for the real Japan.


The real Japan is beautiful.  If it's not beautiful, it's not finished.


The real Japan is sweet.  People are so kind and helpful and considerate that we could all learn from them.


The real Japan has etiquette, efficiency, hygiene, humour but these are not instead of consideration for each other, they are in service of consideration for each other.


The real Japan is spectacular; autumn colours, shadowed mountains, pagodas, stunning waterfalls, ancient trees, bright red gates, rivers a colour I've never seen before, a sun that rises like a ball of fire (it really is the land of the rising sun).


And explore it we did!


…bathing naked in traditional Japanese onsen (hot springs).


…using Shibuya crossing; the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world.


…enjoying an outdoor hot tub underneath Japanese maple.


…shopping in department stores with the best customer service in the world.  Alison said of our shop assistant "can we keep her?"


…trying traditional Japanese yukata and learning the customs of which slippers to wear on tatami and which to wear in the bathroom.


…being served a traditional kaiseki dinner of around 10 courses (some with 9 or 10 different types of sashimi!)




















…being served a traditional Japanese breakfast in the morning with boiled tofu and whole cooked mackerel (this is when it started to feel more like an assault course!)


…sailing in a pirate ship across Lake Ashi and then taking a cable car to see Mount Fuji peeking from behind the clouds.


…enjoying all the delights a spectacular Japanese bakery had to offer.


…travelling by shinkansen (bullet train).


…sleeping on traditional futons in rooms which were more like houses with sliding walls (yes, I ran into the wall in the middle of the night looking for the bathroom).


...climbing through thousands of red torii gates to the top of Mount Inari (sadly they had run out of Inari Sushi).




















































...walking through moon and lantern lit bamboo forests around a temple in Kyoto.

































…enjoying traditional Shiatsu in our Japanese pyjamas.


…enjoying traditional Aman Pa in our pyjamas.


…and a traditional Japanese foot massage (not in pyjamas this time).


…driving through the mountains of the Kumano Kodo at sunrise, walking the Daimon-zaka, and seeing the Nachi Falls (the highest waterfall in Japan).






















…staying in a hotel that boasted not only its own official Santa Claus but 12 restaurants and bars, hair salon, shopping mall, onsen and spa (of course), two chapels, its own dentist and a medical facility (there was probably more but we were a bit tired by then) and enjoying our final sunset in Japan overlooking Osaka Castle.


I'd say it was the trip of a lifetime and well worth it to discover the real Japan.