Japan has been at the top of my travel wish list for quite some time, and when we managed to get tickets for the 2019 Rugby World Cup, we decided it would make an excellent honeymoon destination.

Our first stop was Hamamatsu for Australia v Georgia. After 30+ hours of travel we arrived at our hostel and set off around the town to explore. Hamamatsu isn’t your typical tourist destination, so it gave us an interesting glimpse of Japanese life. It was fascinating to see school children walking themselves home from school unaccompanied from such a tiny age, with a huge backpack and a hard hat on, in anticipation of Typhoon Hagibis making landfall (more of that later!).

We quickly realised that we weren’t going to find a restaurant with an English menu but we’re both quite happy to try most food so we threw ourselves into it and picked a restaurant that was packed with locals. We went inside and saw that locals would arrive, press some buttons on a vending machine and then take a seat until their food was delivered. Thankfully, the vending machine had photos of the menu options on it, but try as we might, we couldn’t get it to work. Eventually, the chef took pity on us and came to help. It transpired that for all vending machines in Japan – a common feature in restaurants and train stations – the order is 1) money, 2) the number of items you require, 3) the thing you would like. Basically, in complete reverse of how things work in the UK. The food was incredible and super cheap. We then spent an hour wondering around the supermarket buying a random selection of stuff, ready for the storm coming in.

The next day we decided to hire bikes and cycle to the coast. We got a few raised eyebrows at the hostel due to the high wind, but it was worth the pedal power. After rushing home we took the train out to the rugby stadium to see Australia v Georgia. It was lovely to see so many Japanese families introducing their children to the sport and really getting into it.

The next day, Typhoon Hagibis made landfall. It was the 9^th typhoon and the 3^rd super typhoon of the 2019 Pacific typhoon season. We were advised not to go outside due to the risk of falling masonry. Thankfully our supermarket hall kept us going, and we were able to catch up on sleep and get over the jet lag. We spent a lot of the day watching the news – we were very fortunate where we were, but other areas of the country were very badly damaged.  We received lots of alerts on our phone, but as these were all in Japanese, they weren’t of much use. Eventually I managed to sign up to English-language alerts through NHK World, and I also downloaded an App to tell us where the closest shelters were located. It turns out that alerts are sent out for typhoons, earthquakes, tsunamis or when North Korea are about to go rogue – terrifying!!

The next day we woke up to beautiful blue skies and 30^oC heat. The trains were back running before 7 am and the locals were back to their normal routines. Incredible!

Unfortunately, the England v France game that we had tickets for was cancelled. However, we were able to get last minute tickets for Japan v Scotland, so after a quick change of travel plans, we headed to Yokohama. We were a little nervous as we got the tickets through a friend who couldn’t make it. He had bought them through Viagogo, and paid in Roubles….

Luckily Will, George’s friend from Canterbury Rugby Club, already had already rented an apartment in Yokohama with his friend, so we were able to stay in their spare room. They also had tickets for the game, so after a few beers we headed to watch what turned out to be one of the best games of the tournament.

Japan were incredible to watch. The atmosphere in the crowd was electric and I loved their style of quick rugby. Japanese people certainly know how to have a good time, and they were aided by frequent deliveries of beer and a peach drink that is 9% and served by the pint! Japan pulled off a stunning victory, and the party carried on through the night. What an incredible first couple of days of our honeymoon!