2018 Japan New Years trip Part 3 : Izu Shaboten Zoo and Teddy Bear Museum

This was actually the first time I had gone to Shizuoka prefecture. First we took a shinkansen to Atami. Some of you might recognise that name from Atami Sousakan.

From Atami station we took a train to Ito.

And then a bus to the train station nearby the zoo..

At this train station there was a hot spring for warming of feet. I certainly did no want to leave this place.

The main reason we went all the way to Izu was not to see these poor fellas trying to warm themselves in the winter but this fella below.

A capybara. The biggest rodent ever. There are basically giant hamsters.

You could buy some grass for 200 yen and feed these already overfed animals and pet them.

Izu Shaboten Zoo has plenty of other animals as well and the interesting thing is that you can get close with plenty of them and some of them even roam free like the monkeys and peacocks.

The main event we came for was the capybara onsen where the fat, overfed capybara get to enjoy Japan's greatest invention.

We can see dad Capybara hogging the best spot as the hot spring gushes forth.

 I have never been jealous of animals until now.

Should have booked a ryokan instead of making this a day trip.

This is what bliss feels like.

 View of Fuji-san from Izu Shaboten Zoo.

Next to the zoo was this hill were you could ride the cable cars up to the top and get a panoramic view of the area. We didn't have time to try it though. Maybe next time.

It's also got a My Neighbour Totoro exhibit.

Really old teddy bears from when they first came into existence.

The level of detail in this one is incredible.

Tonari no Tottoro...

2018 Japan New Years trip Part 2 : New Year in Yokosuka

We weren't sure what to do on New Years Day. Yokosuka was one option besides Shibuya, Tokyo Tower and Tokyo Sky Tree.

In the end we decided on Yokosuka because it actually had fireworks.

If the name Yokosuka sounds familiar to you, you might have heard it from Shenmue and they actually had a pamphlet showing the various real life locations in the map that appeared in the game.

Some yuru-kyara (mascot) at Yokosuka train station...

..for Shiki-shima, the luxury train that you have to apply to book a room and costs at least 750000 yen to get on. I'd rather spend that money living it up in an onsen in Hakone and eating all the expensive beef I can find.

There were a lot of yatais (food stalls) and there was even a stage for performances.

Waiting for the ships to launch the fireworks.

The ships blared their horns at midnight and away we go!

The fireworks show was decent but not as spectacular as what we get in Melbourne every year.

To be fair, New Years in Japan is more like Christmas in Australia. A day for people to go home to their families rather than stay up all night and party.

It took us 2 1/2 hours to get back to Shin Koiwa because the last train didn't go straight back for some reason.

Should have done Skytree instead.

At least I can say I've been to the hometown of Shenmue although I did not get to look around the town.

2018 Japan New Year trip part 1: Kamakura and Enoshima

Just came back yesterday from an end of the year Japan trip and would like to share some pictures from the two week trip.

Jdorama fans will be familiar with the name Kamakura. Its the beautiful seaside town often featured in jdoramas like Saigo Kara Nibanme no Koi. Its only about an hours train ride from Tokyo but I recommend anyone to stay the night at a ryokan.

That's the view of Enoshima island which is at the end of the Enoden train line. The Enoden line stars with Kamakura.

If you like to surf, Kamakura is the place for you, even in winter.

Kamakura is also an awesome place to see Fujisan.

Despite being end of December, Kamakura was actually the warmest place we had been during this trip thanks to the abundance of sun.

Kamakura is so beautiful.

We checked into our ryokan and made our way to Enoshima station.

Just a short walk away from Enoshima station is the island.

Plenty of lanterns and hawker food on the way up.

The main attraction is the Shonan no Hoseki Winter Illumination.

Now I've seen quite a few illuminations in but this just makes everything else look small and insignificant.

Pictures cannot do Shonan no Hoseki any justice...

.. because everywhere you turned it was just a field of lights.

It just felt so otherworldly.

Shonan no Hoseki will be on until February 18 so if you are going to be in Japan this time, its a must go!

After Enoshima we went to a local izakaya where we got some interesting information from the locals.

There is a certain crossroad along the Enoden line which is very popular among Taiwanese and Hong Kong tourists. There are always tourists there all day and the train line even has someone to managed the traffic there.

Can you guess why?

Its the crossroad of one of the most famous anime openings ever from Slam Dunk!

I kept hearing the theme song Kimi ga Suki da to Sakebitai in my head.

I would definitely go back to Kamakura again.

Great scenery, lots of temples, plenty of places to eat and of course, onsen!