Matsushima, near Sendai, Miyagi-ken I came back from last year’s trip around southern Honshu determined to work on my kanji and head back the next year. One year, one hundred and twenty kanji and three more terms of general study later, I was on a plane to Narita again. And this time, with something approaching…
(This is part of a guide to travelling Honshu on a moderate budget and in limited time. Click here for the whole series). Arriving International flights arrive at Narita, outside Tokyo. It’s worth claiming your Japan Rail Pass in the large JR office here (follow signs to the trains, and it’s before the ticket gates)…
(This is part of a guide to travelling Honshu on a moderate budget and in limited time. Click here for the whole series). I arrived in Kyoto on my second day, via Shinkansen from Tokyo. You arrive at the huge JR Kyoto station, from which you can link to the local JR lines, the private…
(This is part of a guide to travelling Honshu on a moderate budget and in limited time. Click here for the whole series). I didn’t really mean to go to the North coast of Kansai, but managed it anyhow. A national holiday fell on the Monday of my trip, and on the Saturday before every…
(This is part of a guide to travelling Honshu on a moderate budget and in limited time. Click here for the whole series). Nara, the capital of Japan before even Kyoto, is all about the parkland, deer and temples. It’s a short train ride from Kyoto, so I rolled up early in the morning. If…
Once a year Taipei hosts Computex, one of the world’s biggest technology trade shows. Computex 2011 is looming on the horizon, so I went over last week to the pre-show press conference, meet some of the exhibitors and shoot this report. It’s a long way – 17 hours via Bangkok in my case – so…
About a week ago I wrote to SouthEastern Railway’s Public Affairs Manager, asking him two questions that could be answered with a simple yes or no. I didn’t get a yes or no answer to either, and when I pushed for a straight answer to one of them the gentleman in question simply stopped replying…
The fallout from SouthEastern Railway’s utter failure to cope with the recent snow continues, and you’ll find a good summary of the latest developments here. One thing to add is that, of the three politicans I contacted, one has sent a proper reply. Bridget Prentice MP (for Lewisham East) confirmed receipt of my letter via…
On Tuesday night, with snow forecast for the South East, SouthEastern railways introduced an emergency timetable for Wednesday. As it happens, South Eastern London didn’t see that much snow, but with fewer and shorter trains serving the area on Wednesday morning, Hither Green station looked a bit like this: All the trains were packed, and…
It’s been a while since we returned from Japan. I’m not even going to attempt to explain what it was like – just go, see, enjoy – but I did think I’d jot down a few tips for anyone planning a similarly short visit to Tokyo. And so here’s the ten things that I’d absolutely…