I talked to a lady called Fukumora-san, and she recommended a beautiful riverside route to Kyoto. Apparently she's also climbed a mountain near Naga, and she showed me photos.

I've noticed lots of cultural differences so far, so I tried writing a list.

Culture shocks:

• When a car is trying to pull out across the pavement onto the road and someone is walking past, it reverses to let them through
• The existence of vending machines
• Traffic light culture: everyone waits, and it takes far too long
• School clubs: Japanese people seem to take their club activities seriously
• Kindness and customer service
• Convenience: it really is an easy country to live in
• Prices are pretty low
• The food is delicious and cheap, so lots of people eat out
• How popular pachinko is
• Elderly people are always out walking, even the ones with a bit of a stoop
• The number of elderly people working in the countryside is high, and it looks tough
• The sheer number of shrines and the importance of Buddhism
• Restaurants have books and manga lined up that you're free to read, and book culture is strong too
• The culture around erotica
• Internet cafés
• The sheer number of convenience stores
• How small the cars are
• How well organised the waste disposal system is
• The scale feels huge, almost exaggerated; for example, the cities are dazzling and enormous
• Cycling and bike culture is strong
• The high quality of goods
• Motorbike culture is strong

I really do love Kyoto after all. Before coming I doubted whether I'd actually like it, but in the end I've taken to it. The atmosphere is comfortable and calm. The air is clean, and the public spaces are well kept. The buildings and shrines are protected, so it has a safe feel.

I met Yoshihiro-san again. We first met at the bridge to Awaji Island, but he'd told me he lives in Kyoto, so we met at Kyoto Station. We had curry udon at the station together, and it was incredibly good. Even though it was only 750 yen, I was full and satisfied afterwards. Later we sat in a public space and talked. The station's staircase was lit up, which gave the whole station a nice feel. The view was really good, and I thought what a beautiful city Kyoto is. I really respect Yoshihiro-san. Apparently he played football as a winger for years. He looks fast, so I thought, well, of course he did. It was great fun, and next time I'm in Kyoto we should definitely meet up. I left my bike somewhere bikes aren't allowed, so I got a warning ticket.

Notes:

• Convenience stores stock manga, and people often stand there reading it
• Unlike in the UK, erotica is really out in the open and seen as normal. In the UK it's taboo.
• For some reason I like the expression 心掛けましょう ("let's be mindful").
• Sometimes expressions are fixed, but I don't know why they sound the way they do. For example, I always hear 失恋でもしたの ("did you get your heart broken or something?"), but I don't know why it has that ring to it.
• There are far too many fascinating things.