This is a hodge-podge of miscellaneous shots taken during our trip: food, night scenes, and the hotels we stayed in.

What we liked best during our spring tour in Japan.
1. JR Pass. We bought the 7-day ordinary JR pass before our trip. If we had not, we would have paid three times the equivalent for all the trips we took in JR trains and the ferry to Miyajima. We changed our departure schedules many times without penalty and were able to reserve our seats at no extra cost in all our JR train rides.
2. Shinkansen. Only 3 hours from Tokyo to Osaka and 14 minutes from Osaka to Kyoto. We rode the shinkansen 12 times in seven days.
3. Hotels. We stayed in three hotels: 2 nights at JAL City Haneda Hotel, 2 nights at Hotel Monterey Ginza and 5 nights at Shin-Osaka Washington Plaza. While the rooms were small, we liked the daily change of pajamas. They even encouraged us to take the slippers as souvenirs.
4. English announcements. In trains, subways and buses, they also announce via video the current stop and the next one in English. In the train, the display monitor tells you how many minutes are left before you arrive at your destination.
5. Courtesy. In trains you will not hear anyone speaking on the phone. Public announcements (in Japanese and English) remind everyone to put their phones to silent mode.
6. WC (toilets). Japanese are very hygiene-conscious and the WC technology is so practical.
7. Japanese food. From the cheapest to the most expensive, everything is oishi. And if you don’t know what to order (most menus are only in Japanese), head for the nearest familiar outlet: MacDonalds.
8. Weather forecast. Everyday we would check the weather forecast in our destination for the next day. We were amazed at the accuracy.
9. Hyperdia.com through this website we could plan our land itinerary in detail, including train and platform number, departure and arrival times and costs.
10.Hotels.com We booked all our accommodation through this agent. We were able to change hotels and dates without any penalty.