I had been to Japan once before in April 2009, taking 18 Saudi students (aged 14-16) and 3 staff on a football trip. This trip was organized through AMSports and they planned everything for the school especially once in Japan. We flew into Tokyo and also spent ample time in Nagoya and Kyoto as well as very quick stops in Yokohama, Kobe and Hiroshima so part of me knew what to expect. The polite, punctual people, the safe clean cities and from what I remembered last time…the poor level of English (how wrong I was on this point).

Please read our diaries of our trip, starting in Osaka before heading East to Tokyo then coming back to Kyoto and finally Hiroshima.

Overall, the Country was great, the weather was perfect, the people a pleasure and overall a very satisfying trip.