Due to a combination of different conditions: unrest at the border, cold (detours via the north), time to avoid this by car (to drive around the black sea), because we can do it and yet mainly because we temptation could not resist .... we boarded the plane. Via, Warsaw in Poland, we fly to Tokyo in Japan. Flying remains a festive experience for us. Although we can hardly sleep on the plane, we arrive in Japan with a big smile! This step is a gigantic change of our way of traveling with Roadcapje and we realize that our ecological footprint changes by flying.



Suddenly being in a completely different country, without a slow transition from border area, as we have done over the past year, is quite an experience. The totally different language with other scripts, of course! We arrive at Tokyo Narita airport. We marvel at the peace that prevails in the airport and in the trains. Even though there are many people on the road. From there we take several trains to Gokurakuji. On the way we see a different architectural style than we have seen in Ukraine. The electricity wires are e.g. all above the ground, because of the earthquakes that occur here. We travel in the Tokyo district. We see occasional bamboo forests between the densely built-up area. Also some rice fields that are at rest because of the winter season. In the middle of Tokyo we have to change trains and we walk from one station to the other with our backpacks. What a wonderful smells around us! Welcome to Asia. After we have exchanged the fast train for a slow-moving slow train, the buildings are close to the track. The train track is the backyard of the houses.



We arrive in Gokurakuji and from the quiet station we walk to the guesthouse. On the way there are regular signs showing how high we are above sea level and which direction we can run on a coming Tsunami. We walk up a hill where the guesthouse is located where we will be the first 2 weeks of our stay in Japan. It is a traditional old Japanese house. With sliding doors and walls of wooden frames with rice paper. The weather is a wonderful transition: from around freezing (with night-time drops to -15C) in Kiev to now, during the day between 10-18C. In the night it is 5C. The rooms can be heated by an electric carpet. We sleep on tatami mats of woven bamboo, on the floor. We are welcomed by a Spanish volunteer who explains the art of making a Japanese bed. From then on we can welcome new guests, make the beds and keep the guesthouse clean. Somewhat confused, due to the strange approach and design of this workaway address, we get to work. We make nice contact with guests from China, North America, France, Russia, Uruguay and Japan. In addition, we keep the garden clean. A suitcase full of picked grapefruits is processed into many pots of grapefruit marmalade and we repair the walls and doors of rice paper.



During our daily walk in the area, for example to the beach, we meet our first Japanese grandfather. He works as a traffic controller for a construction project. He is very happy to be able to maintain his English language skills and, in addition to jokes, he tells us about different customs and customs of Japan. Because we just will not see him with old and new, he offers the girls his Otoshidama gift before. That is of course a very nice way to learn more about customs and culture of Japan! For centuries the older people have been offering sacrifices to the shrines and temples. The first 3 days of New Year they give children food (and in this time money) gift, for a healthy future! We stand with our feet in the ocean water of Kamakura Bay and can regularly enjoy a beautiful sunset with the volcano Fuji-san on the horizon.



By train we go to Fujisawa, where we also admire the sunset on the roof of the high office / shopping / apartment buildings with Fuji-san in the background. We visit Endoshima in the evening. On the island we walk to a temple via a cozy street full of shops / eateries. There we are enchanted by the winter illumination: a whole garden full of lights! With a beautiful view over the sea and the coast. The island can be reached via a long bridge. With an evening full of strong wind it seems like you're on the high seas, where the waves hit your bridge and the cold wind tries to push you over. We visit the main street of Kamakura. Here are many eateries, with very varied Japanese delicacies, and Japanese tourists who dress up for 1 day and walk around in traditional Japanese clothing. On the last day of our stay at the guesthouse we meet a real non-Japanese geisha who unravels us a bit more about the mysteries of geishas and their lives. We also meet our successor for volunteer work in the old Japanese house. Together with this friendly Australian, we close a beautiful beginning of Japan.



By train we go to the center of Tokyo! In the neighborhood of the Shibuya district, we will take care of the Peanut for a week. We are warmly welcomed by her fellow residents, who are ready to go to northern Japan, to ski in the snow. After the instructions for the right meal for Peanut and the installation of the Earthquakes warning app we are informed about the Japanese equipment in the house: WC with heated seat and automatic bidet, automatic filling bath, drying / heating system for the bathroom, washing - / drying machine in 1, air conditioning / heating system that talks to you, light effects, sound system. We experience a very different culture from Japan! From this luxurious home port we discover a part of Tokyo. We walk to the Setagaya park. Where we can imagine that this is a beautiful place in all seasons. In order to see more of the urban layout, we walk to Shibuya square instead of taking the metro (it is mainly underground). What a nice experience! Such a gigantic city! So clean, so quiet with so much traffic and people. A cheerful tune comes from the traffic lights for pedestrians. We hum along until we can cross safely safely. While we wait, trucks pass by, the sides of which are illuminated by LED screens, on which continuous advertising and anime characters with music are shown. We spoil ourselves with delicious Japanese food, such as sushi in a sushi-train restaurant. Here we sit in a row next to each other at a bar, with for us a conveyor belt where very different sushi's go by. In addition to being able to take that off the assembly line, each of us can make orders via our own ipad. With an electric train the order is driven to your place. Checkout is done by counting the number of signs, which determine the price via various color codes.



In yet other restaurants we can enter our wishes via a computer screen, after which we receive a receipt to hand over at the next counter. A bowl filled with your chosen noodles is then placed in front of your nose. Then it is supplemented with the chosen vegetables and possibly a raw egg on top. A glass of water and chopsticks ..... itadakimasu !!! Everywhere in the city we find shop windows of restaurants, in which the dishes that are served have been copied from plastic and have been set as an example. We also find out that there is not everywhere a place to sit, so you all stand at a bar to eat. It feels very special for us to really stand on Shibuya square! That is very different from seeing it on television! It is especially special because there are huge numbers of people, but that does not feel like you are in the middle of it. Because everything runs in such a structured manner and comes across so quietly. No pushing or shouting, no red cars or karts, little honking. The whole atmosphere is very friendly, safe and not intrusive! What makes this a difference! It gives us, at that moment, a calm and respectful feeling. We would like to take this for the rest of our lives and we would also award other cities with their people !! Because it is Christmas Eve we hear Christmas songs at the crossover and the traffic lights! The whole evening a group of motorcyclists and groups go on karts around the city, dressed as Santa Claus, complete with beard and hat. After Christmas, the Christmas suits of the kart riders are exchanged for supermario and disney figures.



After a great week, with the really nice cat Peanut and nice discovery trips in Tokyo, we go with the super fast train to the southern Alps of Japan. In Hokuto we celebrate the New Year change. Together with a cozy Japanese ski instructor we have a very nice last day of the year. We visit with him a shrine, through which we experience a tip of the Japanese faith, Shinto. We experience how the believers work the sins of the past year from their system, by singing them away with a mantra, shouting and even screaming, by then sighing and blowing them out on a paper version of themselves. After which these paper versions at the front of the shrine are burned on a high pyre.

With our second Japanese grandfather we rented a room in the house. We have cozy evenings together by sharing the meal and playing cards (bullying). He learns some Dutch words from us and we Japanese from him. We visit Nirasaki and walk, with him, a part of a mountain. There we see a group of wild monkeys, macaques, in the forest. He will take us to the Seitaizi temple in Hakushuu on New Year's Eve. Where symbolic the 108 sins are sounded away. We too can participate in this ritual, we ring the bell 4x. Very impressive! The next day we visit this temple again. We receive an extensive tour of the temple and an explanation of the habits of the friendly monk, with a joint meditation. This too has an impressive and soothing effect on us! It gives us a nice introduction to Buddhism.



With a view of the largest mountain and volcano of Japan: Fuji-san we travel back to Tokyo. Traveling through the whole of Japan turns out to be too pricey and / or impossible for our planned budget. We stay in Tokyo ...... there is a big surprise waiting for us! (https://m.facebook.com/The-Smile-of-Experience-105174166302712/) The SMILE of Experience offers us: 1 day Disneyland Tokyo and 1 day Disney Seaworld Tokyo! Only the thoughts behind this gesture will give us a Giga Big Smile on our faces!



Just after the holidays and holidays, we can enjoy 2 beautiful days in this great magical world to the fullest and without the long queues. With the homework behind our choice of Franky, we visit attractions of Winnie the Pooh, Monsters inc., Snow White, Peter Pan, Cinderella, Aladin and Ariel. We see shows from Mickey and all his friends and we can admire various parades and fireworks show. After 2 days with a rest day in between, the given smile can no longer be brushed from our faces. Super thanks The SMILE of Experience for this magical surprise !! We wish you a healthy business year with lots of HOT SMILES for everyone! In Tokyo itself we stay in various guesthouses, in which we meet friendly people from different countries in the world. We enjoy each other's cooking skills, music (live guitar playing from Hwan👍🏼), travel experiences, origami folding, card games, language and conversations and with some we explore the different parts of Tokyo. Of course we enjoy and look at the Shibuya square, because we like it so much: all those lights, people, impressions, food smells. We admire the skytree from outside and the skyline of Tokyo from various tall buildings.



By getting up very early, structured and patient waiting in the long queue, we managed to get 1 ticket from the opening day of the sumo wrestler tournament. The other three wait patiently between the row of enthusiastic fans, to welcome the favorite and strongest sumo wrestlers on arrival and to take a picture with them !! We follow the rest of the tournament, with great interest, every day on television. We visit various parts of Tokyo with their own specialties: manga, games, electronics, temples, geishas, ​​illuminated cherry trees ... On January 13 and 14, we admire, speak and sing young Japanese ladies. They are just, or will be 20 years in this year. They celebrate this together on these 2 days, by attending a ceremony and wearing traditional kimono. In between we are busy planning the continuation of our trip. We can fit a nice cat in Shanghai, have a big desire to explore China, would like to travel back to Roadcapje via this country.



However, our plans can not continue because of a combination of the budget, time pressure and the application of the visa: we can not prove a fixed home address in the Netherlands. This changes our plans and opens new perspectives ... With the very patient, humorous and persevering secretary qualities of our Crystal Palace fan from Scotland, we can rebook our tickets. With a very grateful and happy feeling we leave a beautiful country again! Thank you, dear special inhabitants of Japan and travelers we have met! We would like to take some respectful ways from you into our lives and wish you a healthy future with slightly less plastic consumption! Again, with our backpacks, we board an airplane to continue our adventure in a new country ...