I tried out lots of fun activities in Tokyo. I took a kendo class.

I went kayaking out to the Tokyo Sky Tree.

I went to a Godzilla-themed strawberry dessert buffet.

I went to the new digital art museum, TeamLab Borderless.

I took a class in making fake sushi using resins.

I saw the cherry blossoms illuminated at night.

I ate all the rainbow food.

And I visited friends in Osaka and went to a friend’s wedding. Osaka remains one of my favorite cities in the world.

The story is about a battle poet in Heian-era Japan uncovering court intrigue at a battle of the seasons and inspired by the writings of Sei Shōnagon. I love that PodCastle has included the story in a seasons episode, along with stories by Shveta Thakrar and Matt Dovey.

I originally wrote the story with the Cranky Ladies of History anthology in mind – Shōnagon was the most amusing, brilliant, and cranky author of The Pillow Book – a form of journal about her opinion of life in Heian-era Japan. When I taught English in Japan, I’d often ask students what they liked most about living in Japan. The two most common answers were: Japanese food and the fact that Japan has four seasons. The second answer initially struck me as an odd thing to say – don’t most countries outside of tropical zones have four seasons But what the students meant is that Japan has distinctive festivals, customs, food, and weather for each of the four seasons. The Pillow Book’s opening records Shōnagon’s favorite part of the day for each season.

In Spring it is the dawn. As gradually the hills come to light, their outline is faintly dyed with red, and wisps of purplish cloud trail over them.

In Summer, the nights. Not only when the moon shines down, but on dark nights, too, when the fireflies flit to and fro, and even when it rains, how beautiful it is!

In Autumn, the evenings – evenings when one is moved to see the brilliant sun sink close to the edge of the hills and the crows fly back to their nests in threes and fours and twos; or more charming still, a file of wild geese, tiny in the distant sky. And when finally the sun has set, how moving to hear the sound of the wind and the cry of the insects!

In Winter, the early morning. Beautiful indeed when it has snowed during the night, but delightful, too, when the ground is white with frost; or even when it is simply very cold and the attendants hurry from room to room, stirring up the fires and bringing charcoal, how well it fits the season’s mood.

Shōnagon served as a lady-in-waiting for the Empress Teishi. The Pillow Book was written around 1000 AD and is one of the classics of Japanese literature. The book is full of lists of things that Shōnagon likes and dislikes. Some of the lists aren’t that interesting, but others are fascinating for what they reveal about life in a different era. The real joy in the book comes from Shōnagon’s personality – she was an erudite, opinionated woman who didn’t suffer fools and was known for intimidating the men of court with her knowledge of poetry.

Annoying things

A man you’ve had to conceal in some unsatisfactory hiding place, who then begins to snore. Or, a man comes on a secret visit wearing a particularly tall lacquered cap, and of course as he scuttles in hastily he manages to knock it against something with a loud bump.

People who go about in a carriage with squeaky wheels are very irritating. It makes you wonder irately if they’re deaf. And if you find yourself riding in one you’ve borrowed from someone, you even begin to loathe its owner.

Things that make you feel cheerful

An ox carriage crammed with ladies on their way back from some viewing expedition, sleeves tumbling out in profusion, with a great crowd of carriage boys running with it, skilfully guiding the ox as the carriage hurtles along.

A particularly eloquent Yin-yang master whom you’ve called in goes down to the dry river-bed and proceeds to rid you of a curse.

Unsuitable things

Snow falling on the houses of the common people. Moonlight shining into such houses is also a great shame.

An ageing woman who is pregnant. It’s disgusting when she has a young husband, and even worse when she’s in a temper over his going off to another woman.

An old man who’s nodding off, or a heavily bearded old fellow popping nuts into his mouth.

A toothless crone screwing up her face as she eats sour plums.

A commoner wearing crimson skirted trousers. These days you seem to see them wherever you look.

I also went to the Harry Hedgehog Cafe.

And an owl cafe.

And a cat cafe.

And the Studio Ghibli Museum.

And Okunoshima (Rabbit Island). The island is home to thousands of wild rabbits, plus a poison gas museum. (Prior to WW2, the Japanese military used the island to manufacture poison gas).

I also paid a quick visit to Kumamoto, to see Kumamon. This is another way that Melbourne’s public transportation is inferior to Japan’s – it is sadly lacking in giant bear heads.

It had been 3 years since I’d been to Japan – the longest I’d been away since I lived there. I visited friends along with trying out some new places that had opened recently.

In Tokyo I stayed for a night at a bookshop hotel where you could sleep on the bookshelves (a bit like staying at a capsule hotel).

I also spent a night at the Hotel Gracery in Shinjuku, which has a giant Godzilla head on the 8th floor. They also have a Godzilla room, which I booked a couple of months in advance.

The room even had a Godzilla button and when you pressed it, the bed began to shake and the Godzilla statue in the room started roaring.

I also stayed at the Henn-na Hotel, also known as the Robot Hotel. You have the option of being checked-in by Yumeko, the android or by a dinosaur.

The dinosaurs can get quite upset if you don’t have a reservation.

There is a little robot doll in the rooms that can understand basic commands in English or Japanese and can the lights on and off and give you weather forecasts.

There is also a robot cloakroom to store your luggage.

The robot hotel is next to Huis Ten Bosch, a Dutch-themed theme park.

Wandering past windmills in Japan while speaker blare out Hotel California and nearby there is a Venetian masquerade dance party going on in Amsterdam Square can cause a weird sense of dislocation.

The shops are filled with authentic Dutch products.

You need to watch out for prickles in the tip though.

At night the park is illuminated and dinosaurs and robot dragons go on the prowl.

I hadn’t driven a car for 20 years (not since I had lived at home and borrowed my parents’ car), but I still have my licence. I had to get an international permit and then signed up for a 3-hour tour with MariCar. They had been in the news recently because Nintendo has launched legal action against them for copyright infringement. The company is still running their tours though.

CAUTION

MariCar is healthy recreation service that provides our customers the opportunity to ride our custom go-cart on the street.

Maricar is in no way a reflection of the game “Mario Kart”.

Therefore, when riding the go-carts none of the following will be allowed:

1. No racing each other on the streets.

2. Do not throw banana peals or any other garbage on to the streets.

3. Do not throw red turtle shells or any other objects to each other.

I chose a Mario costume from their range of costumes. The karts themselves are automatic and are easy to drive. They can travel around 60kmh. When I’ve told people about the karts, they often assume that we drove around a track. Instead, we drove through the main streets through traffic.

You can hire the karts and do you own trip, but unless you know Tokyo really well and have driven in Japan before, you want to do a tour. They offer a variety of tours. I chose the 3-hour one, which goes across the Rainbow Bridge, out to Tokyo Tower and through Shibuya.

Regular Price JPY 11,000/pax

Happiness Delivery Offer JPY 8,000/pax

At This course C, We will drive around the center and the bay side of Tokyo.

Beautiful sight and hi-speed driving through Rainbow bridge.

When we stop at the signal, people at the crosswalks will pause to take pictures and people waved. Many customers say “It felt like we were celebrities”.

Please check the Cource MAP. You can go to Rainbow Bridge, Odaiba, Tokyo Tower, Roppongi, Shibuya

** Happiness Delivery Offer: Just promise to talk about your trip, what you see, what you feel, what you think to those who are precious to you. We think this is Happiness Delivery.

They have a link on Google Maps to the course. https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?hl=ja&authuser=0&mid=ziZ9dmGwDXDo.kI389_lP7u10

I was nervous at first because I hadn’t driven in so long, but the karts were easy to drive and our guide made sure everyone stayed together and that traffic was clear when we were changing lanes. It was one of the most fun experiences I’ve had while travelling. It was a sensory overload at first – driving through the streets with so many people waving at us and taking photos.

We zoomed across the Rainbow Bridge at 60kmh out to Odaiba for a photo stop.

One of the highlights was driving through the Shibuya Scramble Crossing, one of the busiest intersections in the world.

The experience was so much fun that I tried it again in Osaka. A couple of friends and I went on a 1.5 hour tour with AkibaKart, a company that has decided to steer away from Nintendo lawsuits. So this time I wore a Kumamon costume.

It was a lot of fun too, but Tokyo is more exciting and scenic to drive around.