"We'll be fine in Tokyo. After all, we're Londoners”. Oh, the arrogance.

• There's a musical jingle for everything. Lifts, traffic lights, trains, even toilets. Train station platforms pipe in 'calming' jungle bird noises, and each train plays a random assortment of chiming tunes when leaving or arriving at stations. Commuting, you kind of feel like you're trapped inside a Disney computer game. The toilets are pretty special too. They play "authentic" flushing noises, to enable you to wee without feeling self-conscious.

• The Cartoon is the preferred medium of communication for any and all messages, regardless of the target audience – No Smoking signs, subway announcements, any advertising from canned coffee to cars.

• The current pop sensation is a 14 year old from the Isle of Man who became famous for dancing to Japanese manga music in her bedroom, and has been whisked over to Tokyo for a publicity tour, such is the popularity of her choreography over here.

• It's cool to have an English slogan on your shop / advert / clothes, but apparently not so cool to make any kind of sense. All-time favourite thus far has been a shop in Harajuku called 'Store my ducks'. No idea what it sold, but we imagine its some kind of long-term storage for when your pet mallards start crowding your apartment.

In the 5 days we spent in and around Tokyo, we took the phrase "Japanese tourists" to a whole new level, covering north, south, east and west, taking in sights and sounds at sometimes break-neck speed. Could be something to do with the sheer energy of the place - people do everything quickly and efficiently (Sarah is in heaven).

• The morning we got up at 0430 to see the Tsukiji Fish Market auction, which supplies fresh fish to the whole of Tokyo. Even better was the super-fresh sushi we sampled for breakfast at a cafe in the market. Our M&S sushi snacks will sadly never taste quite as good in comparison!

• The Meiji Jingu shrine built to honour Emperor Meiji, who introduced Japan to the western world after 2 centuries of seclusion under the shoguns, and the Shinto couple we saw having their wedding pictures taken there.

• Becoming history geeks at the excellent Edo-Tokyo museum, which enabled James to pretend to be a 17^th century fireman standard-bearer and Sarah to ride a penny farthing (awesome, such a shame they don't still make them)

And now we're on to Takayama, for a bit of rest and relaxation in the Japanese Alps. There's snow on the way tomorrow, but hopefully we'll be safe and snug with our electric blankets and hi-tech gas heaters...