…which feels not a million miles from infinity! A pretty crazy city and somewhere I’d like to spend some time without this impending sense of doom!
The whole crew is now together, complete with our home for the week…the ‘Flemish Sport’ possibly very aptly named as I may well be channeling my in Belgian classics rider for large parts of the week. 
Having spent last night in a capsule hotel, with its many quirks.
We picked and chose ours. Checked our shoes at reception, changed into the standard issue PJs, sat in the saloon room with all the other men wearing the same PJs, (most of them smoking heavily) watched what seemed like a Japanese sit com about a young female chef and used the bar code on our wrist band to get a beer (Terry) and an ice cream (me) out of the vending machines (genius!). It seems the aim is that you leave all your worldly possessions behind and emerse yourself in the faceless uniformity of the place for a night. We did however forego the naked public baths and traditional Japanese toilets…2 options were presented in this field…this…
A sort of French long drop type affair. Or this…
Which is somewhere between toilet and space ship. Terry and I opted for the latter…simultaneously…a fiddle with the buttons later and the pair of us were sat in side by side cubicles in fits of laughter…I shan’t expand and can only imagine what the more familiar patrons must have thought.
I digress! On a more somber note, today was the 2nd anniversary of Stef’s death. A funny kind of a day, one I have no real desire to mark but feel I somehow should. It is a reminder of why I’m here and an opportunity to remember what a bloody legend he was (most of the time). The stark reality of the ride is also hitting home. On the plus side, despite is being the height of summer it gets dark much earlier than I’d expected here and the weather is forecast to be miserable all week, capital stuff! On the actual plus side, they found the brand new, really expensive headphones I left on the flight out here so I can collect them in time for the journey home…clouds and silver linings ‘ey!
As I write we are coming into Okaya, it’s close to midnight and tonight is the first night in the van. It’s all very real now!
Again thank you all for your incredible support. Please continue to share and help raise money! I’ll endeavour to keep you updated on the road and sorry for the earlier toilet chat!
Long Week in Japan 