Just setting up

This is my first blog so I am just setting everything up and playing around with what blogger.com can do. I want it to be very simple and quick to make blog postings while visiting Japan, with the emphasis on simple.

I will be posting pictures of my time in Japan so that family and friends can see the places I will be visiting. So as a test on how to link to my flickr account here is a sample picture of Niagara Falls. It should link to the correct album.



I have rented an apartment in Tokyo for the duration of my stay. I will be living near Nishi-Ogikubo station which is about 15 minutes from Shinjuku station. I will be staying in a few hotels when I travel around Japan but I will be using the apartment as a home base. I like the idea of having an apartment in Tokyo for two reasons:

1. I will be living in a residential neighbourhood and will be exposed to more of the everyday life of Tokyo than I would get if I was sheltered in a hotel.
2. I like knowing that I have a place to return to and I don't have to worry about trying to book a hotel. If I am visiting somewhere else in Japan and things aren't working out (bad weather, bad experience, whatever) I want to know that I have somewhere to stay.

The furthest from Tokyo I will be getting is Hiroshima and will be spending 3 days in that area. I am planning a lot of day trips out of Tokyo, traveling on the Shinkansen (bullet trains) and the local trains, visiting an area and then returning to Tokyo in the evening. It may seem busy to some people but I like the idea of not having to drive all over the place and expect I will get to relax a bit on the trains. At the very least I will be able to catch a train back to Tokyo without having to worry about staying alert enough to drive while trying to decipher Japanese road signs.