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Our final stop after Kanazawa was Tokyo. To get there we used the Hokuriku Shinkansen, leaving from Kanazawa station at just after 10, arriving in Tokyo around 12.40. Our final hotel was the Mitsui Garden hotel in Kyobashi, an easy 10 minute walk from the station. The room was a genuine triple...

Our final day in Kanazawa was predicted to be rainy after lunch, so we got out and about early to beat the rain. We spent the morning walking around the Nagamachi “Samurai district”. This area of kanazawa contains a subtantial number of well-preserved Edo-era residences. The majority of these...

I know what you mean but the bulk doesn’t bother me so much. Here’s mine on the flight in to BNE yesterday.

Nice. I have the Kyoto one like you. Was tempted to buy Tokyo Station one when I visited a few days ago but can only use one at a time?

Yes indeed! Will edit now

After a few hours in Kenrokuen, headed back towards to the hotel. Mr. ShelleyB and ShelleyB-son headed directly back to the room, but I took a little detour via Hands store to purchase the 2025 calendar refills for my Traveler’s Company notebook, which I have been using from last year. For...

Quite possibly. Had checked via email before arrival so knew they did not do so. As @drron said, could have dropped at 7-11 but decided against the extra effort.

Our next destination was Kanazawa, transiting there on the Nohi bus express via Shirakawa-go. We were tempted to arrange a few hours in Shirakawa-go as the village has world heritage status for its Gassho style houses. However, we would have been a bit hamstrung by the luggage. Coin lockers are...

From the top station past the viewing platforms is the trailhead to Nishiho mountain hut and to other trails beyond. Many climbers use the ropeway for access to the Nishi-hotake-dake climb, staying overnight at the mountain hut then climbing the next day. However, for us we planned to just reach...

Another big day of hiking planned, this time using the Shinhotaka Ropeway to do a lot of the work of getting us to a higher elevation. The bus is around 1.5 hours from Takayama, again via Hirayu Onsen but without the need to change bus. The ropeway itself is two part, with a change station at an...

After concluding our walk ShelleyB-son consumed a well-earned ice cream and we joined the queue for the bus back to Takayama via Hirayu onsen. The queue was long as it was nearing the end of the day, but with the use of the jump seats in the bus, we all squeezed on. There were fewer passengers...

We absolutely enjoyed it and the crowds were not unexpected. I expect it will be crazier in a month or so with the autumn colours really on display.

Over the next two days we planned to visit both Kamikochi and Shinhotaka Ropeway for some hiking. From Takayama the best option is the Nohi bus. We could of course hire a car but I have never been a fan of doing so unless the area we want to visit is completely inaccessible by public transport...

Having done with Osaka and Universal Studios for this trip, our next journey was to Takayama. As mentioned upthread we planned to take the Hida Wide View. Although there is a once a day option directly from Osaka it leaves just after 8am which seemed unnecessarily early. From Nagoya there is a...

Up early for a big day. Breakfast at the Art Hotel was in the restaurant on the 51st floor. No pics of the food as it was very crowded but there was an extensive choice and it was good without being great. The main point of the Osaka leg of this trip was a repeat visit to Universal Studios for...

After a quick refresh in the room we headed straight out to the Umeda district to do some shopping. I was keen on some Onitsuka Tiger shoes but was distracted and came back with some Patrick instead - a very old Belgian brand that has really had a renaissance in Japan. Very challenging to buy...

And forgot to say - obviously best to choose a card with no international fees when topping up as you will be charged in yen.

I am not sure whether it’s the same for Android, but on Apple iphones you just go to the Apple wallet, select the + symbol to add to wallet, choose Transit Card and Suica is one of the options. Everything is in English (or presumably your language of choice for your phone) and you can pay via...

On arrival in KIX immigration and customs was quick and efficient. We’d completed our arrivals paperwork on the Visit Japan website as we had for previous visits and had our QR codes. Makes for easy arrivals processing. The sooner Australia can get it’s act together and ditch the paper cards the...

Boarding was quick as the flight was not full and we pushed back from the gate 5 minutes ahead of schedule. On this flight the impressive menu contains a Japanese set menu with a riduculous number of courses. Although I was not particularly hungry did try at least one bite of each course and it...