Food
The food is great! Fortunately, Fran and I like rice and noodle types of meals and can eat very comfortably. It would be quite different if we were steak and potatoes kind of people!
Japanese restaurants are very expensive. It is common to spend $30 each for a dinner, or more. However, we have been eating much less expensively. There are zillions of noodle shops and tiny cafes with simple meals for $4 to $7. It is quite easy to order, even though we cannot speak well. The restaurants have plastic models of the various offerings in the window, so you can pick out what you want before going in. Then you can either copy down the Kanji, or take the waiter outside and point. We have done both to great effect! The only thing we couldn't communicate was the time we were not that hungry and wanted to share one meal. That just didn't translate through the pantomime, and we both managed to eat a full meal each after all!
We found the most wonderful bakery in Tokyo (Andersons, in the Ikebukuro station). They have a huge bread shell (sort of a soft French bread) that is filled with cubes of cheese and a fondue. We got it one day just as they brought it out of the oven! With Fran's love for cheese and Rod's for bread, we have made regular trips back to that bakery!
Breakfast consists of a ramen that we cook in the hotel, and then we eat out for the main meal in the afternoon. That supplemented with munchies and fruit is working out great.
Oh, did I describe the oranges? There are tons of different kinds of oranges. One day at Mount Fuji we had some mandarin oranges that were simply incredible! They were packed with flavor! Sweet, acid, and orange. We have tried many times since, and always had more good ones but nothing that can compare with the "mystery" oranges that we had at Fuji.
Lodging
Lodging is very expensive in Japan. A simple room typically costs $100 a night, more or less. We cannot afford such rates, so we are staying at some pretty cheap places. We have no problem with the Japanese style rooms (tatami mats, no furniture, futon on floor, slippers, and shared bathroom). In fact we especially like the Ryokan (Japanese style hotels) and the Minishuku (rooms in someone's house). We have also found good accommodations in Youth Hostels that have rooms for couples.
However we have had problems with something more basic: drafty rooms and poor heaters. One day Rod even slept in his down sleeping bag since the room was so cold. Fortunately, we have lots of warm clothing. Well, I said we were staying in the lowest price places!
Trains
Wow, they run on time, and are very comfortable. We even scored a special treat on the long trip to the south tip of Kyushu --the two of us were in a compartment for four, with facing seats, a beautiful wood table and lamp. We just read and watched the scenery go by.
The Japan Rail Pass is working very well. It makes things very simple. There are times that we don't quite understand something correctly, so we have flashed the Rail Pass to get into the section of the station that we think we want, and then flash it again to exit when we are wrong. Without the pass, we'd have to pay for those little mistakes!
Buses
Every city is different. In Kyoto, if you want to go somewhere, you take a bus. In Tokyo you take a train. In Hakata, well, we just walked. In Kyoto, the buses are just as easy and reliable as Tokyo's trains. They are expensive ($2 a ride, regardless of destination) but then everything in Japan is expensive.
