UK to Utsunomiaya

Ben and Tristan arrived on the 14th, they flew into Nagoya cost about 450 quid but it was half the price of flying to Tokyo it meant quite a long train trip getting to Utsunomiya though. They got into the station here at about 4pm, that's them on the left waiting outside the train station for me.
Nagoya's about 250-300Kms from me the train only takes about 2 and a half hours on the Shinkansen but it took them a bit longer a they stopped for something to eat on the way so they were pretty tired when they got here though
Tip for anyone visiting Japan get a JR (Japan Rail) pass on the Shinkansen, it allows you to go pretty much anywhere in Japan, they're quite expensive but'll soon pay for itself if you're planning on travailing a round a bit. For instance just a return trim from where I'm living to Tokyo is about 40 quid on the fast train anyway enough said on that subject.

Took them out in Utsunomiya on Thursday night after they had had a bit of a kip, I'd arranged to meet a few people I'd met since being here in the Lions Head pub so they could get a feel of the place ask a few questions of people who'd been here longer than me. Turned out to be a good night photo of us in the Lions had and a bit later on actually a lot later on in a little Japanese bar, not sure any of us could find again if we had to but it was nice.

That was pretty much it for the first night, the plan was to go to Roponggi on Friday they had asked me to join them but right now I'm not sure will have to sleep on it. Roponggi is an area of Tokyo known for it's bars and restaurants that cater for westerners or the expat community of the city.
So that was pretty much it for the first night as i knew they were tired and needed to get some more sleep.
The other photo is a view looking out from my apartment balcony in the early morning Tristan took it, not exactly sure what he was doing up that early though which I'm putting in as i thought it looked
pretty good