Tokyo gets more fascinating every time we come here. Train lines go everywhere, above ground in the suburbs but underground in the massive metropolitan area. Many of the stations are connected by long tunnels so you can go to many places without seeing daylight, and without getting wet when it is raining. So many shops, cafes and restaurants exist beneath the ground that it is almost like another city below ground. No matter what time the trains always seem to be full in both directions. We went the wrong way on one line but we found later out that even the locals do that so we needn’t worry.

The amazing Shinkansen (Bullet Train)

It was great to see Yoko again. She took us to an interesting Buddhist temple near the fish market, then to the incredible fish market. It will close in a week to move to a new facility about 15 minutes away and of course people who have been buying and selling here for generations have mixed feelings. We found out later that Reiko’s husband, Daijiro, works for a company that provided concrete for the new market so that’s what progress and development are all about. We saw dozens of fish shops and had a great sushi lunch at one of many crowded traditional Japanese restaurants.

The big white blocks on the trailers are frozen tuna.

After lunch our next stop was the most incredible light and sound show we have ever seen, at Odaiba TeamLabs. The colours, patterns, movement and variety in the many displays could have kept us entertained for hours, except we were starting to get tired by late afternoon.

Jo and Yoko amongst the lights.

The lights on the flat boards look like water lilies.

On the way home we saw a Tokyo sunset, which we believe is not very common unless seen from a high-rise building.

Jo and Yoko in charge of the electric (driverless) train into the sunset.

That was Thursday. On Friday we had to do the laundry, which is actually quite an interesting chore when in a foreign country, following which we explored the train route that we would take the next day to see Reiko. Everything went smoothly so we were confident about Saturday’s excursion.

Confidence doesn’t always solve the problem. We forgot that Saturday’s timetable would be different and what we thought would be easy was a bit tricky. Some of the trains were express and we could have ended up anywhere. But we made it just on time to be met by Reiko’s mother, who took us to meet Reiko, Daijiro and Mana to see Mana’s first sports day – not every visitor to Japan gets to see that. We had a great day with Reiko and her family.

Mana in the orange vest in her first race, helped by her Dad. Watch for her in the 2036 Olympics.

Tomorrow should be an easy day. Yoko’s husband, Shoichi, will pick us up from the hotel and take us to the port at Yokohama to start our cruise. Sounds easy – but a typhoon has hit southern Japan and it should be in Tokyo tomorrow night. The locals don’t seem to be worried (they have already had 7 typhoons this season) so we have decided not to worry either. The ship will depart earlier than planned, presumably so that we can get out to sea before the typhoon arrives. It will probably be rough but on previous cruises we have had only calm seas so it had to happen eventually.

We will provide details in the next update. Meanwhile, keep safe.