And, in a flash, it was over. During 13 days of non-stop travel we had covered almost all of the western half of Japan by plane, rail, and ferry.

We saw castles, ate everything in sight, went to onsen, saw kabuki, saw sumo, visited temples and shrines… about the only famously Japanese thing we didn’t do was go to karaoke!

Maybe next time…

I said goodbye to my parents at Tokyo Narita Airport, then boarded the first of several shinkansen back towards Beppu to go find my girl…