Whilst season two of alphabet dating is taking place I thought I could fill that void with a restrospecive series which is certainly an easier operation as they were not done in alphabetical order which can be a little stressful and frustrating at times.

Season 0 will throw back to places and things we’ve done in Greater Tokyo since 2011. I generally hate the term “date night” for people who are married or have been together a long time but I guess it is apt for some of the things we did in this series as it will include some things which actually were proper dates back in the early years when we got together.

If you haven’t seen the first episode (S00E01) then click here to see that. 

F is for Fujishibazakura Matsuri (May 2012)

Believe it or not the flowers were only half in bloom on this beautiful sunny day so imagine what it’s like at its peak! This stunning landscape made the long journey worth it and to be fair just seeing either the Shiba zakura flowering or Mount Fuji on its own would have been very satisfying but being able to view the natural pink carpet on the skirts of Mount Fuji was a view like no other. More details here

G is for Gonpachi Restaurant (September 2011)

There’s no obvious and natural G in this list so I’ll include this famous restaurant in Nishi Azabu as it is a place we went to during our early days of dating. Serving as the inspiration for the ‘House of Blue Leaves’ in ‘Kill Bill: Vol. 1‘ (2003) this very nice, cavernous, rustic-themed place was not actually used for filming. It is fairly expensive but does have a good, cheap lunch menu deal and soon fills up. See if you can spot my wife in the picture! More details here

H is for Hitachi Seaside Park (October 2013)

Located in Ibaraki Prefecture this park is about 2.5 hours by bus from Tokyo station but is worth the effort when the usual green clumps of kochia shrubs on the hillside turn into a dazzling crimson colour. Other impressive flowers and plants can be seen in the park such as cosmos which come in a variety of colours such as pink, white and red. More details here

I is for Ichikawa Zoo (July 2013)

Ichikawa is fairly small zoo which may not have the usual favourite wild animals but it does have a range of domesticated animals where kids get the chance to have a hands-on experience of touching and playing with them. It was a YouTube video at the time about some cute otters which brought this place to my attention. More details here

Click here to read ‘Alphabet Dating In Japan With My Wife Who Was Completely Unaware Of The Task At Hand! (S01E01: A-E)’

Click here to read ‘Alphabet Dating In Japan With My Wife Who Was Completely Unaware Of The Task At Hand! (S01E02: F-J)’

Click here to read ‘Alphabet Dating In Japan With My Wife Who Was Completely Unaware Of The Task At Hand! (S01E03: K-O)’

Click here to read ‘Alphabet Dating In Japan With My Wife Who Was Completely Unaware Of The Task At Hand! (S01E04: M-T)’

Click here to read ‘Alphabet Dating In Japan With My Wife Who Was Completely Unaware Of The Task At Hand! (S01E05: U-Z)’