Season one (as well as the prequel season zero) of alphabet dating certainly pushed the boundaries of what a “date” is, and that continues in season two with some very tenuous examples for each letter of the alphabet. For the record, doing something together (no matter what it is!) counts as a date in this series which is not always about visiting glamorous places and doing exciting things but just getting out there and exploring locations we wouldn’t normally go to. Without further ado, lets continue with the fifth  part of season two…

U is for Urawa (December 2022)

This short trip north to Saitama included a trip to the rabbit shrine which I first visited a few months prior to this visit. At that time, 2023 was on the horizon and with it being the year of the rabbit this seemed like a good place to take my wife. From there we walked on to Saitama Municipal Bessho-numa park where took a walk amongst the nature of this peaceful area.

V is for Vegan ramen (December 2022)

With lots of bad food about to be consumed I thought it a good time to try some vegan ramen as I had been wanting to sample it for a while. Whilst it really was nice, the price was a little high (1100 yen) and the size wasn’t too impressive. We were both hungry afterwards so did undo our good work and intentions by later having some meat at the Golden Arches! More details here

W is for WE League Women’s Football (December 2022)

One week after our initial trip for the letter U, we were back back in Urawa albeit a different area and very much for different reasons. This is perhaps the only case in this series thus far of me actually dragging my wife to a place. In fairness, it was more about watching a match on Christmas Day rather than helping to complete this A-Z. More details here

X is for Xuan Shop Viet Nhat Otsuka (January 2023)

As you’d expect, options are very limited when it comes to the letter X so a trip to this small family-run international food shop in Otsuka was all about I could come up with. My wife was happy enough to go here though and we came away with some goods that you can usually only get in South-East Asia.

Y is for Yanasegawa (January 2023)

Places along the Tobu Toju Line are often given preference in this series due to their convenience for us. Admittedly, there wasn’t too much to do but it was just nice to visit somewhere we’d never been and roam around the area.

Z is for Zojoji Temple (January 2023)

My wife said she’d never been here, and I hadn’t been there since finding out ‘The Wolverine‘ (2013) was filmed there. It’s a historic Buddhist temple at the foot of Tokyo Tower contrasting the old and the modern where one can enjoy some peaceful moments and escape the hussle and bustle of the city. Of course I only chose it as I needed a place to represent the letter Z!

Click on the following links to read about previous alphabet dating posts…

S01E01     S01E02     S01E03     S01E04     S01E05     S01E06

S00E01     S00E02     S00E03     S00E04     S00E05     S00E06

S02E01     S02E02     S02E03   S02E04