I've just been to Japan.

Akihabara at night

Yes, in real life.

I've spent many hours dreaming of visiting Japan. Probably starting about ten years ago when I was watching a lot of anime. Then a few years later when I got interested in Japanese fashions. More recently I've been excited about the craft and stationery coming from there.

I always had a fond idea that we might go for our honeymoon. Until I actually started planning a wedding realised how much it costs! (I have no idea how people pay for a 'holiday of a lifetime' and a wedding in the same year.) As it turned out, that was the year of the awful earthquake/tsunami and following nuclear disaster at Fukushima. Not the ideal time for a visit.

So how did we end up going to Japan? We had an opportunity to stay with someone who is living out there and off we went! We booked the flights and a month later, on our 2nd wedding anniversary, we set off. I'm glad we had a bit of time plan, but not too long to wait.

It was a fantastic trip. We got to see some awesome things first hand, both traditional and pop culture. Our adventures covered parts of Yokohama, Shibuya, Harajuku, Ginza, Odiba, Akihabara and Takao mountain. Tokyo is the coolest place I've ever been. Before this trip it was New York, which is a pretty amazing city in itself.

Stay tuned to hear more about our trip. Including what it was like at Harajuku and my favourite sushi place of all time.