Numata and gorgeous Japanese countryside

The view from the lovely home of Yoko's parents in Numata, Gunma prefecture, less than two hours from Tokyo by bullet train.

So all these years, I never "got" why of all the adorable Sanrio characters (Hello Kitty), they had a train. I've never liked that character...thinking that's not so cute. But now, in Japan, I get it. It's for the Shinkansen, the bullet trains which whisk travelers all over Japan. The Shinkansen is about as sexy (still not cute) as a train can get so probably well deserving of a Sanrio character. My first experience was to be whisked out of Tokyo to the gorgeous countryside north of the city. Tokyo station is a huge pulsing intersection of multiple subway lines, train lines, and the bullet trains. Somehow the more of these huge stations like this I see in the world, the easier they get to navigate. Rule no. 1, don't freak out and do your best to find your own way. These huge stations can be overwhelming but usually have good signage and at least some in English. English language info is relatively available in Tokyo but not once you are outside of the city.

The Shinkansen trains are fast, on time, and expensive. In fact, everything in Japan is expensive. Do check out the movie of the house. It was great staying in a real Japanese home with such lovely hosts. The food was amazing and I've eaten lots of different types of fish and tofu and bitter gourd prepared in many different ways. They have a huge garden and big bitter gourd vine right outside the dining area.

Here's Yoko walking back into the house after taking me on a tour of the area with Genko, her nephew. Yoko's father is an architect and the house is built on the property of what was once a silk farm and the residence of her grandparents.

That's Yoko laying out some of the dishes for my last delicious meal at the house. The seating area has a well for your legs so you are sitting on the floor but your legs are going down into the floor. It is a comfortable and natural way to sit.

The bounty of the garden which we enjoyed for lunch. Those baby tomatoes are some of the best I've ever eaten.

One of the best parts of our morning walk was seeing the real Hello Kitty. Not sure if you can tell from this photo but this cat is HUGE. I saw her resting under a car and thought it was a dog. I don't think she appreciated being woken up from her nap.

Other pics are posted here http://picasaweb.google.com/hellokittyinlondon/NumataAndYokoSHome02#

Video of the house...and the toilet: http://www.youtube.com/user/HSGWorld

I think you could do a whole blog just on the toilets of Japan. I have never seen such interesting variety and so many electronic controls that do all kinds of things. Suffice to say that the Japanese must have the cleanest bottoms in the world. I particularly enjoy the toilets where the lid pops up when you walk in the room. Now how does it know whether to raise the seat of not...mmmm...no doubt there is a toilet that does that as well here.

I was sad to leave Numata as I had a wonderful and peaceful time at this lovely home. I would spend the next 6 days traveling around the south island of Kyushu and a brief stop in Kyoto before returning to Tokyo where I am now back in the Shiodome getting caught up on my blog while looking out at the Tokyo skyline.