Of the many trips I’ve undertaken around Japan one of the most memorable has to be the time when my parents visited the country for their second time. During their first trip I was living in a tiny shoebox, so a hotel was needed but about a decade later I was married and had just bought a house, so they came to stay at our place whilst embarking on a 10-day trip of Japan’s most worn-out tourist trail.

Day 1: Having arrived the day before (May 29), the first full day began with a longer than expected walk around the Imperial Palace, past the National Diet Building and on to a rather expensive lunch at the Hotel New Otani in Akasaka-Mitsuke before moving on to Shinjuku-gyoen Gardens on what was a beautiful sunny day.

Day 2: It was on to Hiroshima for a clash of cultures as our respective parents met up with each other albeit not for the first time as that came a couple of years earlier in the UK. An afternoon of local activity was followed by dinner at home which was also attended by other family members from bordering prefecture Yamaguchi.

Day 3: Miyajima was the obvious destination and this ultimately proved to be the highlight for my parents (family stuff aside) and it’s easy to see why.

Nature at its best and all just a short ferry ride away. Our main task in hand was to ascend Mount Misen (530m) via the Momijidani course which took us about 90 minutes.

In the evening the six of us out went out for dinner at a French restaurant when it also happened to be my wife’s birthday. Not much fuss is usually made for family birthdays so I was quite surprised when a cake was brought out for her.

Day 4: My time in Hiroshima will be remembered as the time when my beloved Leicester City won the Premier League title in the early hours of May 3rd (Japan time). Subsequently I decided that the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Museum wasn’t the most apt place for me to go to with my parents so we dropped them off there and left them to their own devices for a few hours, whilst I dealt with the many congratulatory messages and social media relating to our historical title win.

We moved on to Shin-Osaka that afternoon for a few nights beginning with a restaurant specialising in kushiage (deep fried skewered meats and vegetables dipped in tonkatsu sauce) washed down with a few drinks.

Day 5: Star Wars Day (“May the 4th be with you!”) got off to a great (and very early!) start by riding on the very limited Star Wars Rapi:it train at 7:30 am before heading back to the hotel to have breakfast with everyone. More details here.

We later set out see Osaka-jo castle which, apart from the glass elevator attached to its side, is a beautifully impressive site amidst a vast park.

My wife and I then left my parents to their own devices for a few hours as we had arranged to visit a friend of mine at his sushi restaurant which was a little out of the centre of Osaka. More details here.

It’s Oki, the star of many Star Wars Celebration events!

We all reconvened after lunch back at Shin Osaka station and took the train on to Kobe to see a J-League match. I had thought it’d just be my dad and I, but we all ended up going which was nice and all down to the kindness and generosity of Alan who gave us the tickets.

Back in Osaka that evening we finally went for okonomiyaki at a local restaurant. I had wanted both our families to experience this together in Hiroshima but it was never meant to be so we had to settle for the Osaka-style version of the dish which is basically the same but without the inclusion of noodles.

Day 6: Within minutes of arriving at Kyoto station we were on our way to Kinkakuji to see the famous golden temple. It was basically a one-road journey but due to the traffic it took longer than expected to get there. Despite the crowds and the conveyor-belt nature of the place it never fails to impress. Unlike other places in Kyoto though, this tends to be a fairly short stop on the tourist trail.

It was quite easy to take a bus back to the station after that and from there we then hit Fushimi Inari Shrine. It took us about two hours to get to the top which was longer than I expected but it was a very rewarding journey following the hundreds and hundreds of torii gates that wind up around the mountain and back down in a different direction.

Fushimi-Inari was a longer and more tiring experience than expected so after that we went to the geisha district. Gion is a busy place and a bit touristy but it is a nice place to look around with its beautiful quaint buildings and streets.

Day 7: Once we’d returned to Tokyo we experienced the delights of conveyor-belt sushi.

Day 8: The area known as YaNeSen (the abbreviated name given to the neighbourhoods of Yanaka, Nezu and Sendagi) in the eastern part of Tokyo is more traditional and reminiscent of a bygone era so that was our destination. The large copper Buddha at Tenouji temple was followed by Yanaka Cemetery, Yanaka Ginza shopping street and Nezu Shrine.

We then wandered around Ueno Park and stumbled upon the Toshogu Peony Gardens festival which my mum particularly wanted to see.

That wasn’t the end of our nature trail for the day though as we dropped by Komagome to take in Rikugien Gardens (300 yen) which is the one place they’ve been to on all three of their visits to Japan. Grilled meat a.k.a. yakiniku was on the menu for our nighttime meal. Let’s just say they weren’t fans of this dining experience!

Day 9: Our last full day together began in Shibuya at Scramble Crossing followed by a quick wander down Center Gai and on to Harajuku for some shopping and a visit to Meiji Shrine and its outer gardens. The walk continued on past Yoyogi station to Shinjuku to ascend the Metropolitan Government Building. That was pretty much the end of their time in Japan. Only seven years later and they were back for five nights in Tokyo!

Click here to read ‘Back to the UK For The 1st Time In 6 Years for Some Family Festive Fun!’

Click here to read ‘My Parents Came to Visit Us in Japan for the 1st Time In 7 Years!’

Click here to read ‘My Eldest Sister’s Family Came to Japan & Spent Christmas at Our Place’

Click here to read ‘My Sister’s Family Arrive in Japan’