It is the first day of our Riviera Travel The Best of Japan Tour, and it has been a busy and fabulous one!

Our group of 44 are being well looked after by tour manager Bernie and Japanese guide Yri. Both are full of local knowledge, and both have a great sense of humour, too! Today, we are doing a city tour of Tokyo by coach and on foot, and the first stop was the Tsukiji Fish Market. Mega busy with tourists and locals alike, we saw creatures we didn’t know existed and realised just how much the Japanese love their sea food and that they pickle most foods too!

The next stop was the Imperial Palace, which sadly can only be viewed from the outside and across the moat. We walked through the peaceful gardens there before heading for our included lunch. Our Bento Box lunch had 9 different items for us to try both savoury and sweet plus rice and Miso soup. It was definitely interesting, which caused lots of fun banter in the group and it was good to try some foods we would never have ordered for ourselves…or probably never will again!

Moving on, we headed to the famous Shibuya Scramble Crossing. This place is legendary on social media, where up to 2500 people cross this particular junction every 2 minutes, making it the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world, It is absolutely bonkers and fascinating to see!

Scramble crossing is also where you will find a statue of the dog Hachico, a Japanese Akita who was famous for his unwaivering loyalty, Hachiko would wait at the same time every day at Shibuya station to greet his master who was travelling home from his daily commute from work, even after his master had sadly past away Hachico waited outside the station at the same time every day for 9 years until he also sadly passed away.

We then visited the home of the latest wackiest Japanese fashions at Takeshita Street before the last stop of the day, which was at the Shinto Meiji Shrine. Dedicated to Emperor Meiji, who was deemed responsible for the modernisation of Tokyo.

Bernie, Yri and our wonderful bus driver who always greets us on and off the bus, were waiting for us at 9 to start our morning tour. Our first stop was to Senso-ji, the oldest Buddist temple in Tokyo and as we found yesterday with the majority of tourist attractions, they get crazy busy. This temple attracts 30 million visitor’s per year. The queues were so huge, we decided to just explore the grounds.

We perused the area around the temple that was full of food stalls. We passed on the purple squid, the beef tongue and settled for some fried chicken!

We also happened upon a promotion where they were having a tasting event for Choco Monika Jumbo. A type of wafer icecream which they were giving out for free. We couldn’t resist and they were delicious! In Japan you are not allowed to walk and eat so we enjoyed our ice cream in the designated eating area. Do make sure after reading this you check out our top tips for Japan video where you will find out exactly what behaviours are acceptable when visiting this fascinating country.

It was then time for a boat trip down the Sumida River to Ginza. Not the most picturesque river cruise but lovely to see the city from a different perspective. Our last stop was to the Hama-rokyu Gardens which is just a beautiful oasis of peace in this city. A fabulous park and definitely worth a visit.

After our morning excursion we were dropped off in a district called Ginza and had free time for the rest of the day. We wanted to see what the Tokyo subway (metro) was like so Yri kindly showed us, and those who wanted to know how to get tickets. It was fairly easy to navigate but so busy. Packed in like sardines we made our way to Akasaka-mitsuke station, which thankfully was only 3 stops away.

With free time on our hands we had a few drinks at our favourite watering hole The Mermaid before heading back to the hotel to get packed and sorted for our move tomorrow. The alarm is set for 0630, cases have to be out for 0730 and the coach leaves at 0830!

We are heading to Mount Fuji and have been told our hotel tomorrow in Hakone is small, quaint and has some lovely lake views too.

We then stopped for lunch at a cafe/supermarket complex. Yri took charge and helped those who wanted to order Udon Noodles. Carole decided on classic, and I chose curry udon. Both were really delicious. With sides of tempura onions and tempura prawns, the whole lot came to £7.50, which was an absolute bargain.

It was now time to head to Hakone Lake for a boat ride to our hotel, and it was quite a surprise when we were told that we would be arriving at our hotel by Pirate Ship! After a fun boat ride, we arrived at Hakone Hotel in time to watch the sun go down over Mount Fuji and enjoy a really tasty included dinner.

After only just 17 hours in our latest hotel in Hakone, it was time to move on, and we were back on the coach at 0810 for a drive to the bullet train station and our journey to Hiroshima.

The world famous bullet train (Shinkansen) reaches speeds of 186 mph which was pretty amazing to say the least, not saying bullet trains are reliable but over the course of a year each individual train has less than 1 minute of delays! From a comfort point of view, they are superb. Loads of leg room, reclining seats, very clean toilets, and also an electric socket. No refreshments are available on board unless you book a green ticket (first class), so we were encouraged to bring our own.

It’s crazy to think that in just over 4 hours we have travelled the equivalent by road of 698 kms = 434 miles, which is what our cases are currently doing with our coach driver Kamata as we speak! After a very comfortable journey on the bullet train, we have now arrived in Hiroshima, ready to explore!

We also had the privilege of meeting one of the last living survivors who was only 14 years old when the bomb dropped. He talked all about that fateful day and how a change of plan meant that he was just outside the city instead of where he was originally meant to be, which would have resulted in certain death. The museum was so well respected and seeing people openly weeping really bought home the impact of such an atrocity.

Unfortunately, the rain then arrived in Hiroshima just in time for our trip to Miyajima Island, which is one of the most beautiful places in Japan. After a short bus, then ferry ride, we arrived at the island in the torrential rain. The island is the site of the beautiful Itsukushima Shrine and the floating Torii Gate. The rain was incessant, the wind made it hard to control our umbrella and we were soon very cold and grumpy. We stuck it out for as long as we could before we headed for the nearest place of warmth, a Starbucks.

Kyoto is the number one place that is chosen by tourists when they visit Japan and everywhere is extremely busy. We certainly packed a lot in this morning and it was great seeing all these stunning places and also spotting our first bit of blossom! However, by the time we got to the Bamboo Forest we were really fed up with the crowds.

First up today was the Fushimi Anari Shrine, which has hundreds of orange Torri gates that really was quite a sight to see before our visit to a Saki brewery. After a very interesting film about the process of making Saki, we were given some tasting opportunities. We didn’t have high hopes, but we have to say it was very good and the perfect warmer to a cold, wet day!

We then headed for Nara, and after enjoying some delicious noodles for lunch, fried chicken noodles for Carole and wagyu beef curry noodles for me, we headed for Todai Ji temple. This was a true wow moment even in the pouring rain. The biggest wooden structure in the world, and to say it was spectacular, would be a massive understatement. Both inside and out were a real treat for the eyes.

Nara is also famous for its incredibly friendly deer who, over the years, has learned to bow to you in the hope of getting food, another amazing sight!

It has been an extremely busy schedule that has worked really well. Our Riviera tour manager Bernie, along with our fabulous coach driver Kamata and all the Japenese guides, have looked after us brilliantly, and the organisation has been superb. All the hotels have been of a very high standard and centrally located, our luggage magically appears in our rooms and the transport arranged has been spot on.

We have come away feeling that in a short space of time, we have got to know Japan well. Japan has been on our bucket list for such a long time, and we are glad to say it didn’t disappoint. It has been such a pleasure travelling with Riviera Travel, and we can highly recommend it!

Check out Riviera Travel’s Website here.

Below you will also find our Tokyo Hotel Review and Our Top Tips for Japan videos, so if you are planning a trip to Japan you will be well prepared!