No tour of Japan would be complete without... #1

The view from the train. From Shinkansen Nozomi 22 actually.
We were leaving the rustic charms of Nachisan sanctuary and heading for the civilised metropolis of Tokyo. To simplify travelling, we had shipped our heavier bag directly to Tokyo from our hotel in Kyoto, using the wonderful luggage forwarding system (known as Takuhaibin or Ta-Q-Bin). Several companies do this, but for the second time we used the Yamato or "Black Cat" company as we they were highly recommended and we had started to recognise their distinctive cat with a kitten in it's mouth logo everywhere we went. 
To further simplify our day's travelling, we skipped breakfast at our Ryokan and took an earlier bus to Kii - Katsura Station where we stocked up with fresh bakery and had coffee and poached eggs on 3cm thick white bread toast in a greasy spoon café close to the railway station. Except, being Japan it wasn't greasy at all.
Our first train took us to Shin - Osaka in a comfortable 4 hours. We then snatched  a Starbucks Cappuccino and Americano and headed for the Shinkansen station. We had been given 13 minutes for the transfer and this being Japan, we were sitting in our comfortable reserved Shinkansen seats accelerating to the speed of sound in the direction of Tokyo 14 minutes after leaving our previous train. Somewhere, mid transit, I was woken from slumber by a frantic Margie who had spotted Mount Fiji in the distance. We saw the top of the mountain before the foot and it just seemed to be floating above the landscape.
In Tokyo, Minoru and Mariko were waiting in the station virtually at the door we exited the train from. Tears were shed as we rekindled our relationship and we were soon being whisked away to Shibuya Ward and the Okada residence. Much eating, drinking and planning followed.