Last Day In Japan

This article was written 17 years ago in 2006 when I was 21, so I ask you not to judge the writing too harshly! The text is as it was originally published.

Today started a bit disastrously. Despite my setting of my alarm clock, I was woken at 11.15am by reception saying that I had 15 minutes to leave my room before I was charged an extra fee. Turns out that in my tiredness last night, I didn't check that the setting was AM or PM; turns out it was PM. This isn't really a problem, except that I missed breakfast and I couldn't grab a morning shower (sorry Davies, I'm going to stink when I get to Sydney). I hurried out of bed, three hours after I was meant to, pushed my kit into my bags and headed down to reception. Thankfully they store backpacks for free, and so that's where I left my stuff as I trundled next door to the cafe. After glancing at myself in a mirror, I realised that a coffee was essential, so I had two. And a pastry thing.

After that caffeine kick-start I felt a lot more awake and decided to make one last tourist-visit before making my way to the airport. Apparently the National War Shrine at Yasukuni was only three or four stops away on the subway, so I made my way there. This morning I needed an umbrella. When I arrived I noticed every single person appears to carry one at all time, and after making my purchase (

This post was first published on Sun Jun 18 2006 originally on justbeyondthebridge.co.uk, my former personal blog

The author

My name is Andy Higgs and I am a founder, designer, occassional surfer and travel enthusiast based in the UK.

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