7 December 08

Emily woke a few times in night, and was up for good at 5.50, so I got to see the dawn for the first time in ages. We could see lots of crows out of the window, and it was a very bright and clear day again, though extremely chilly. From the front of their apartment they can see Mount Ontake on a clear day like this.


When Yukiji-san put out plates of sausages for breakfast I had to come clean, so we shared my snags around and I filled up on egg and toast. As always, with Emily, it took a lot longer to get out than we expected, but by noon we were emerging from the subway outside Nagoya town hall.



We strolled along a path lined with flame-coloured maples to the gates of Nagoya castle. This is a reconstruction, but very attractive, the curving roof topped with a pair of lucky golden grampus (fish-like mythical creatures). This reminded us that Arsene Wenger used to manage the local football team, Grampus 8, and Gary Lineker also played for them at one point.


The grounds were nice, most trees now bare except the vibrant maples, interspersed with some shapely pines. We were surprised to see a few deer grazing in the bottom of the empty moat. We walked around to the back of the castle then took Emily out of the back-carrier to stretch her legs. She seemed quite happy to sit on the grass and pick up leaves and lumps of soil, now and again pointing heavenwards as a crow or aeroplane passed overhead. Nick managed to get her to take about 8 small steps holding his hands, which is more than she'll do for me.


As our train departure time neared, we set off across town to track down a recommended restaurant the Andos had looked up. Nagoya is famed for its eels, so we all had hitsumabushi, which is eel in a savoury marinade, served on a wooden bowl of rice. The traditional way to eat it was to put some in another bowl, add spring onion and wasabi, then pour on hot green tea to make a sort of soup of it. Very tasty it was too. Eel is extremely fatty but delicious.

Now we made our way to the main railway station, where we made our goodbyes over a quick coffee. They genuinely seemed to enjoy Emily's company; she had certainly been very smiley and jolly all day. We're not sure if they wanted kids and couldn't have them, or had made a conscious decision not to. They are mid-40s, so probably no chance of it now. Fukuchan gets plenty of affection instead.

For once we found that we were on the correct side of the shinkansen to see Mount Fuji, and as it was such a crystal clear day we were not disappointed. Almost straight away after leaving Nagoya we spotted it in the distance, and saw it on and off for well over an hour. It looked sublime lit by the setting sun - true alpenglow.

I yearn to climb it, and would relish the chance to make a winter ascent with crampons, though I'm sure I am not fit enough right now.

Emily was being very cute on the train. Nick's camera phone is fuzzy, but you can make out her gappy teeth.