It was our last morning in Tohoku, and it is always sad to leave as it is my favourite region in Japan (Kawaguchiko aside). We had a very early shinkansen to catch as we needed the specific seats with space for large luggage and all other trains were already booked when we got around to pre-booking. We were some of the only people in the station at such an early hour, and got the chilly, snowy platform for ourselves.

We got settled in our seats and started the 3-hour ride to Tokyo. The ride was pretty quiet, and I got chatting with the train guard who was excited to hear this was our sixth trip. The scenery outside the window changed drastically from Aomori to Tokyo, with the snow-heavy fields changing to barren fields, and finally green fields and then a mega city. The temperature was also a massive shock, from -10°C to 17°C in Tokyo. We were suddenly sweltering in our ski jackets. It was the hottest day in Tokyo in weeks.

Due to our very early train, we got to Tokyo at midday, and our hotel check-in wasn’t until 3pm, but we were planning to drop off our luggage and explore – easy right? Que Tokyo station being the absolute maze that it is, and a very sweaty half an hour struggle to get out bags to the hotel that was a five-minute walk from the exit. We were able to drop our bags, and coats, off at the hotel and decided to walk to one of our favourite areas, Ueno.

It was a long and hot walk to Ueno park, which was one of the first places I ever visited in Japan back in 2008. After a week of snow we got to enjoy blue skies, warm sun, and some early cherry blossom!

After a rest in the park we started to head back to central Tokyo as we were able to check in to the hotel. On our return we were able to experience walking through closed roads which was great. On Sunday the streets of Akihabara are closed to traffic, I was stunned by how many people were taking advantage of this.

Once checked in to our hotel (which was surprisingly fancy) we ate some snacks we picked up on the way back, including a gluten free white bean ichigo daifuku. After resting we ordered Uber Eats for dinner, and went to bed, exhausted after such an early start and a long journey.