Silver Week

This past Monday to Wednesday was a holiday here in Japan, part of a new government policy of providing more holidays for the overworked populace... I'm liking it.

It's really two holidays, Respect for the Aged day and the Autumn Equinox day, with an extra holiday sandwiched in between. Along with a flat ¥1000 charge on the tollways, it's a pretty smart move to boost domestic holiday spending. Judging by the 30-40 km long jams on the various arteries leading out of the city, fully booked Shinkansens and packed railway stations it seems to be working.

While everyone rushed out of the city on Friday evening, we prudently, waited till the next day and took a leisurely, non-congested drive down to our favorite city in Japan... Yokohama.

This time we went on board the Yokohama Nippon Maru, a floating museum built in 1930, retired in 1984 and now berthed at Minato Mirai in the shadow of Yokohama's Landmark Tower.

'Ahoy me hearties!'

A rather fine example of an old clipper ship, built for training Naval recruits, it's been estimated that the Nippon Maru has sailed close to 2 million miles in it's lifetime.

And no trip to Minato Mirai would be complete without a quick spin on one of the many kid's rides...