It's big, there's no denying it - for a good half an hour the Shinkansen sped through sprawling suburbs. There was no room at the youth hostel that night, so Gaynor got us into a Ryokan instead at the bargain price of ¥3333 each. Soft beds on the tatami flooring, cotton yukata to wear and, finally, non-communal showers!

The streets seem wider than London's, but they still manage to fill with people. I never encountered the crush I had been led to expect by TV - but then I was never up early enough for the morning rush hour. Even so there are an awful lot of people - it's said that Tokyo's commuting population alone numbers two million. We visited Shinjuku, the glittering neon-lit entertainment district, and Ginza, the chic expensive side of Tokyo. We visited the Sony Show-Off Room, full of new electronic gimmickry. In a glass case sat one of the Sony robot dogs produced last year - a snip at £3000 - and you can't buy one for love or money now.

We visited temples in the rain, admired the sakura (cherry blossom), ate Yaki Soba (noodles) and scurried around the endless subways. We even managed to meet up with Shizuka, Naho and Tomoko from the workcamp in Uthai Thani. But all too soon it was time to catch the slow train to Narita Airport. It was packed with commuters and our five rucksacks won us no friends. We spent the night at the airport after having our passport checked three times. By late afternoon James was halfway back to England and Gaynor was on her way to New Zealand, leaving me to ruminate upon our time in Japan.

Japan has been a strangely familiar place and yet, as I've said before, there are the small things that are very different: slipper etiquette, communal baths, tatami floor mats, it being a social faux-pas to eat on the street, and so on. And the rounding of life's edges - subtle considerations like the birdsong over the airport PA to wake you gently before the announcements start at 6am. Things that make you realise that nothing is half-baked - everything has been thoughtfully designed. And, aside from the politeness and friendliness of almost everyone I have met here, what has astounded me the most is the shopping. Japan is a supercharged consumer culture - there are more shops, offering more things in more variety than I have ever seen - even in Hong Kong! In most countries, if you want a biro you can choose from a range of 10 or so, here there will be a hundred different styles in a spectrum of colours.

Out of all the places I have been now in Asia, I felt the safest here. I'm sure there is more to Japan than meets the eye - it can't all be this good - but on first glance it is an efficient and pleasant country. It is, to quote Gaynor, "a very liveable place".

Over the past two months the culture has been shifting as I moved from country to country, but there have been common themes - Buddhism for one. But tonight I fly out of Asia, leaving cultures and customs behind, and head for a new continent and a new world.