After 20 years of trying to get to Japan I have finally made it. Ever since befriending an AFS exchange student at Ipswich State High School in 1987, a girl from Japan called Keiko, have I been wanting to visit this country. Then in Thailand I was at school with a boy called Kazuyoshi. There have been other Japanese friends since then and other AFS ex pat friends are now based in Tokyo with families of their own.
We arrived less than a week ago, into Osaka, met at the airport by Kaz. We have been staying with his family, wife Takako, and children Take and Hana. It`s been a joy and much like being an exchange student all over again, except this time I can drink and stay out late if I want...although with all the touring and walking Gi and I are in bed by 10pm most evenings.
We are having a wonderful time, with our hosts showing us some of Japan`s real life moments, family life, home made food mixed with tourist highlights.
We transfer up to Tokyo on Friday and another chapter of our Japanese holiday will begin.
Gi is cooking pasta tonight, giving Kaz`s wife Takako a lesson in Italian cuisine, the king of a tiny kitchen for the evening. There is much detail to share and I have much to write about but time is short and the smell of the food beckons. Enjoy the photos. 
Nara, a former capital
Nara, a former capital
Plum blossoms
Antique kimonos...we walked out with a bag full.
