It’s on in a rush

This trip has been in preparation since mid-2023 but there were some unavoidable delays with getting a new passport for Lucas and nothing could be booked until we were sure it was on. The passport details arrived on Friday, 8 April. That sparked a surge of activity with booking.

As usual there were multiple factors at play in the planning but one driving influence was Majella’s long infatuation with Japanese toilets. That began when she and Hannah visited Eriko in Osaka in 1995. It drove part of our last day in Tokyo with Sophie in 2019 when we searched for department stores selling toilets. Sometime around then I discovered the TOTO Toilet Museum and resolved that should be part of our next visit to Japan.

The museum is in Kitakyushu, far west of Tokyo, in the Fukuoka region. We had visited Hiroshima with Sophie so, when we realised we would be within reach of Nagasaki, added that to our itinerary. That gave us activities for two days from an accommodation base in the west before heading east to Osaka and then to Tokyo.

I was not excited about spending almost a full day on trains from Tokyo to Fukuoka. Fortunately it was not difficult to book a connecting flight from Tokyo to Fukuoka instead. Hence, we will fly Brisbane to Sydney on Tuesday, collect Lucas from home, and then fly overnight from Sydney to Tokyo and on to Fukuoka, arriving late morning. The rest of that day will be as easy as we can make it.

From our accommodation base in Fukuoka we will go west to Nagasaki on one day and east to Kitakyushu on the next. We will then take the train to Osaka where we will stay two nights and catch up with Eriko. Then it is on to Tokyo, with a day trip to the Fuji area and a day around Tokyo before flying home.

The flurry of finalising plans and booking included ordering Japan Rail Passes which arrived quickly by mail and should cover most of our transport needs. Our hotels are beyond walking distance from the major railway stations but close to local lines. We have all the necessary information about connections but finding our way through railway stations to the correct platforms and then on to the hotels will require some navigation. Fortunately there are apps for that and we should be fine so long as our SIMs work as advertised.

The adventure begins on Tuesday.