#ff

I've been planning a trip to Japan for a long time.  Ever since I got back from travelling in 2007. I spent 10 days there out of 9 months and 9 days wandering round the world and every day (except the awful Wednesday where everything was shut and I kept catching local trains instead of fast trains so I was stuck ruminating on the mistake of not checking what day it was today) ranks in the top days of travelling.   I think it was partly because Japan is such a contrast to rest of Asia that I had spent time in - months in India, Nepal, Thailand, Laos and the Philippines.  Where they were hot, Japan was cold, where they were dirty, Japan was clean. No one tried to hassle me to eat at their restaurant or stay in their hostel.  No one begged for pennies or sweets. I heard no shouts of "hello mam" or "eskool pen".  If I wanted, I could manage for days with no human interaction at all, buying everything from vending machines.

Japan is a complex place, no doubt about that.  What I saw as a tourist was a very beautiful slice of it and barely scratches the surface but that was exactly what I wanted at the time and is really all I want now.  I don't expect tourists in England to be concerned about binge drinking, unemployment and teen pregnancy when they're riding the London Eye and I don't intend to overthink the problems of Japanese culture while I'm trying to take in the largest wooden building in the world.  Hint: it's pretty big.

This year, I've started following some blogs on Japan and as it's #follow friday I thought I'd share them. I can't remember how I came across the first one

Budget Trouble

but I'm glad I did. On Fridays, there is a Show Me Japan feature which led me to

Haikugirl

Ichigoichielove

and latterly

Spooning with a Schoolboy

These are all written in English, or both English and Japanese, and if you're interested in Japan are all worth a look. I've just noticed that Haikugirl has a link to her site about Kitkats.  Kitkats in Japan are soooo much more interesting than in the UK!