Before we move onto the next stage of our adventure, here are the two shuin I collected in my concertina book yesterday. Firstly, above is the beautiful calligraphy and seals done by the monk in the Iemitsu Taiyuin temple. Below is the shuin created by the calligrapher in the Toshogu Shrine.

Beautiful, aren’t they?

This morning, as we were leaving our lovely hotel, a bride and groom were having some photographs taken and as we waited down in the lower lobby for our car, they left the hotel in a flurry of cameras, tripods and hotel staff. “Did you see her shoes?” I asked of my hero, who unsurprisingly had paid them no attention.

No excuses though, for a few minutes later, they were back - and we got a birds eye view of 8” heels and 3” platform soles too!

Our car came on time and half an hour later, we’d swept through the Tokyo traffic and caught a first glimpse of “home” for the next 19 days. We’d last seen Mariner in Buenos Aires, since when she’s had a spruce up.

How good it feels to be back!

Better still, five minutes ago, our doorbell rang - our customer record shows us as preferring Tanqueray gin, but as there were no supplies, a bottle of Gordons was in our fridge instead, “Unless you prefer a different one?”

Our travel companions are perfectly comfortable now.