Are you in the UK for a winter break this O-shogatsu (Japanese New Year, from December 31 to January 4), happy to be on holiday, but missing some of the festivities of home – Nengajo, Joyo-no-kane, Hatsumode and O-sechi-ryōri? If so, please take comfort in a rather British New Year’s custom, by heading out on 1 January for a bracing winter walk and a pint in the pub on New Year’s Day. Stagecoach Bus has made it easy for visitors to the English Lakes World Heritage Site this year, by putting on a special 599 bus service on New Year’s Day that provides access to three of the lakes – Windermere, Rydal Water, and Grasmere – to anyone in search of a great car-free and carefree day out in the Lake District. Read more about it here, in a guest blog I’ve written for Stagecoach Bus Cumbria, and akemashite omedotou gozaimasu – Happy New Year!