Japan

Lesley and Caroline were lucky enough to be invited to attend a conference in Japan by colleagues. They flew from Heathrow to Tokyo Haneda airport, taking a bullet train to Kyoto on September 1st. After a week in Kyoto with colleagues from Japan and business associates from the USA, they travelled back to Tokyo - narrowly avoiding a major typhoon.

Matcha latte

We called it a morning and went back down the hill for refreshments in a cool cafe
Lunchtime Saturday

We headed back to Rutubo
Quirky Rutubo

Betty Boop and Talisker
Rutubo

Great atmosphere. This was the day I had sea snails - once was enough
Rickshaw

We passed two rickshaws, the driver stopped to take a photo for his passenger. Strong legs!
Master printmaker

Mamoru Ichimura is a renowned wood block printer in Kyoto
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Mirror print

I was very tempted to buy this
Japanese lady print

A very beautiful traditional print
Tatami corner

With the conference ended, we had moved to another hotel. Share Hotel Rakuro had good size rooms for the price - brand new with tr…
Yukata

We shared a room for two nights to save some cash. All hotels in Japan provide pyjamas or Yukata and slippers
Kyoto sunset

Roof terrace view
Roof Terrace

I love a hotel with a roof terrace - nice cooling breeze in the evening
Izakaya restaurant Saturday

We strolled the streets around our hotel and by chance found a great local restaurant
Tempura

Just to start with - delicious, everything was very tempting
Menu

Not expensive
A la carte

Everything was cooked to order in front of us
Tempura menu
Breakfast next morning

Share Hotel style meant choosing breakfast at check ineither western or Japanese style. No buffet!
Japanese breakfast

We ordered both and swapped each day. It was very freshly made, including the egg mayo sandwich
Panoramic view of Kyoto

Morning view from the roof terrace