Autumn in Japan

I spent two nights in this ryokan . My room was named Kiku, one floor up and served by a very narrow and steep set of stairs - my private stairway - to the left of the common room. This feature made it more private than I expect the other rooms would be. The windows gave unto on an inner courtyard with a small Japanese Garden within. It seems many of the rooms gave onto the courtyard. The tatami mats, low table, futon, television were all well kept and clean. Like the other Japanese-style rooms I have had it was a decent size and the futon was comfortable with comforters and blankets. I did not have breakfasts at this ryokan so I can’t comment on them. They are 500¥ for a European breakfast and 800¥ for a Japanese breakfast. There is a computer with high-speed access to the internet. You can’t use your own as there is no wi-fi nor any possibility for LAN connections. (The Seattle’s Best Coffee outlet behind the hotel, on the main street has a Freespot). The one downside was...

Yes Kamakura has all of these in a pretty compact area. This city has a population of 455,000 and is near the Sea of Japan. For a city of half a million it has the feel of a larger place. It has a vibrant and large shopping district, glamorous boutiques, large department stores, a beautiful museum of contemporary art and it even has its version of Tokyo’s Shibuya Crossing called, here, the Katamachi Scramble....though I wonder if the locals call it that - the guide books do. I spent one and a half days here and again did a fair bit of walking. My first afternoon and evening was in an area called the Nagamachi District. It was once inhabited by samurai and some of these homes have been well preserved with mud walls and tiled roofs. The streets are narrow and, in the evenings, nicely lit and quiet. On one of the streets, in a corner, is a great pottery store called Kaburaki that was established in 1822....worth the visit. Just to the east of this area I walked along a street that...