I lived in Tokyo for four years (over ten years ago now) and have very fond memories of my time there. Japan still has a lasting effect on me and many of the products I sell in my Etsy shop are made using Japanese fabrics or are inspired by Japanese design. While I was living there, I managed to travel around Japan a bit and went to Kyoto several times. One time was with my parents, when they came to visit me from the UK. We spent a few days enjoying the city and seeing the sights.

One of the most impressive sights was the Fushimi Inari Taisha shrine that has hundreds of stunning orange tori gates that form a tunnel up the 233 metre mountain.

The temple is dedicated to the rice god Inari and many local business pay to have a torii gate added to this stunning sight.

Visitors can write prayers, wishes or thanks on the back of these 'ema' which are wooden plaques in the shape of fox heads. They can also draw a face on the front of the plaque.

Kiyomizu-dera Buddhist shrine has stunning views of Kyoto.

It's great to go in blossom season when all the trees are in full bloom.

Geisha in the Gion district stroll the streets in brightly coloured kimonos with bold designs.

The Arashiyama forest consists of avenues of bamboo, that are very tall and tightly packed.

We came across these women in the forest, wearing stunning kimonos.

You can read more about my time in Toyo on my blog here.

I'm here!

Yes I'm here! Back in Tokyo and loving it. Staying in a fab little Airbnb apartment in the heart of Shibuya. We didn't get here until 9pm, so dumped our bags and then headed out in search of food.

Shibuya was busy as ever with people out and about, enjoying themselves. There are so many food options in Shibuya, but we headed to a little ramen place I know of that has a limited but tasty menu.

You choose your food at the vending machine at the front of the restaurant. Once you've paid for it, it prints out a ticket which you give to the chef. He then cooks it up and brings it over. Washed down with a nice cold beer.

As we meandered back to the apartment we came across one of these photo booths and had to try it out. Not sure about the dubious name though! We've come home with some strangely digitally enhanced cutesy photos of ourselves!