[aiki14]

James thanks for the reply, I've had motsu nabe, and have no food aversions, grew up on tripe and the like, guts don't bother me. Have done the Shabo shabo, and Fu Gu as well. I have also been on the Nozomi shinkansen and to many other cities in Japan. I wish we were going to Osaka this trip, we love okonomi yaki, and tako yaki. Our hosts will probably pick the restaraunts though. Looking forward to the Sumo matches, that's a cool sport. I met a few of the sumo's last time I was in Tokyo, in a club. I am as big (taller but not as heavy) as some of them and it's always entertaining to see them in public.
I would really like to meet a traditional swordsmith or even a shinsakuto that is working currently. That would be interesting.