We had a great evening watching the opening ceremony of the Rugby World Cup and then Japan v Russia in a sports bar in Roppongi – the place doesn’t change much, still roughly a thousand Yen a drink, same as it was 20 years ago, Lord it was expensive back then. It was time to wave good-bye to Tokyo and head to Osaka, and hopefully to an Airbnb flat we can stand up straight in. The choice of hotel in Tokyo was great location wise, but the mezzanine sleeping area (set for your average Japanese sized person), while sounding like a cool & funky option, just meant we both banged our heads a lot.
I love train travel in Japan
How cool is this and it’s not even the newest, fastest version
The doors open where they say they are going to and everyone files on board in an orderly manner. The stress of trying to guess where the train is going to stop, squeezing on board asap to see if this means you might actually get a seat, is all completely removed. Three hours later, as scheduled, we arrive in Osaka. We found the Airbnb with only 2 (possibly 3) minor detours and after consulting only a couple of delivery drivers. I think it’s fair to say that, although we can stand up straight, there is not a lot of room to turn round, but hey it’s only a place to sleep, though perhaps a chair or two might have been nice. We are either lying on the bed or standing up – well he said he didn’t care what it was like as long as he could stand upright.
Time to try our first Fanzone for NZ v SA – not entirely sure the Japanese have got the watching rugby in a crowd thing sorted out, as when we arrived the audience (predominantly Japanese) were all sitting down on the grass in a neatly cordoned off area (what is it about no seats). Anyway we got beer and loitered at the edge, standing up and soon had a cosy little group chatting & cheering (or not depending on affiliation) and in the end the officials let us remain standing as long as we didn’t block the path or the view of those sitting on their mats on the grass. A very thin line between OK & bad, but one we just about managed to negotiate.
