Since I had unlimited rail system access, I could travel back across the country to Fukuoka, where I had already passed and would be heading again to catch the ferry to Korea in a week. There, I met up with the Virginias again, and we partied like it was our job. The next day, I think I may have had the worst headache of my life, but we were all so zombied out from the prior evening that I probably laughed more that day than any other time in my life as well. I'm talking tears. Everything was so funny, even though it hurt to laugh. Come the next morning at 6am, we cabbed to an arena and were 2nd in a line with our hotel blankets. Once it opened, we bought our tickets and went back to sleep.
Later that day, we headed back over to that arena. The tickets we had bought, the reasons we were in Fukuoka, were the sumos. It was the final day of the sumo festival that occurs 4 times a year, each one lasting 15 days. This was wicked. We had a full day of watching these huge babies in diapers, from the lowest ranking to finally the Yokozunas (top guys with the most time allowed for intimidation). Learnt a lot about the rules, the history, the ranking system, and the current condition of the sport...ask me if you wanna hear about it! One interesting thing about it is that there is actually a drop of several feet around the sumo stage, that is relatively small to begin with (compared to the fighters) and the crowd seating begins just a few feet away from the stage. People were getting trampled by rolling fat naked men left and right, but nobody seemed to care. Doesn't that hurt? That night we hit a bar and some of the sumos showed up for drinks. Also, the dancefloor was cleared eventually for some breakdancing crews to perform. I headed back to Nagoya the next day.
I left Les & Sarah's place the following day to check out Kyoto. First thing I did, which I thought would just be a little side activity, was hike up a hill to try to catch a glimpse of some monkeys I had heard about. It turned out the be one of the coolest things I would see in Japan. On my way up, I found one in the grass and watched him for a while, since it could be the only one I'd spot. Once I'd had enough, I continued up to find about 99 more monkeys in the clearing by the tourist feeding house (for feeding monkeys, not tourists). You buy a bag of apples and pass them the pieces through the fence. I help on to one of the pieces as Charlie (or so I named him) grabbed it, and I observed his tiny hands for a while. So human like. I taught him how to catch the pieces I'd toss to him from a few feet away. I was called outside then and the monkey master threw down some monkey seeds or grains or something, and instantly the monkey population doubled as they all swarmed in from the trees. A freezy of fights, flailing and fun ensued. I spent a good hour up there snapping shots. The rest of that day was fairly uneventful, mainly just fighting through the masses, trying to get to the next temple, or to just walk around. Lots of people there for the pretty fall colors. I returned to Kyoto the next day, but this time I stayed in the city. The temples were nice enough during the day, but to my surprise, as soon as it was dark enough, massive lineups were forming. After curiously watching from a distance, I decided to see what all the hype was about and go into one of the temple grounds. Upon entering, I realized immediately that the fuss was all about the colors. The lights turned on at night and the tress were on fire. Bright orange, red and yellow everywhere. Majestic ponds with statue centerpieces reflected these images seamlessly, and of course the grounds were spotted with temples and other things. Way cooler than during the day. I walked for a while longer and then headed back.
I said my 3rd and final see-yas to Les and Sarah and thanked them for letting me freeload for a total of over a week, and I set off for Hiroshima. All of the bomb related stuff was within one area, the Peace Park, which used to be a busy section of town but was the hardest hit by the bomb. To be completely honest, this was the first time I'd even been in a museum where I was just as alert and aware when I left as when I had arrived. I think I read every single piece of english text in the place. I even rented an english audio guide. The museums, memorials, and the actual ground zero were all very captivating, although at times slightly disturbing, due to the graphic posters and wax statues. There were 4 photos taken minutes after the bomb went off, until the photographer couldn't stomach it any longer. It definitely served its purpose. I made sure to stick out my bag with the canadian flag on it, to avoid the dirty looks that I was certain would be shot my way, but it turns out that wasn't the vibe at all. In none of the exhibits was there really any blame placed anywhere, just unbiased facts. I spent the rest of that day again in a cool hostel, making friends, playing ugitar, and sharing stories. The next morning I bussed back to Fukuoka and rode a highspeed hydrofoil boat across the sea to Korea.
Other interesting stuff about Japan -->
-The Metro employees who's job it is to cram the last people onto the Tokyo subways before the doors close.
-The Japanime porno comics at the convenience stores. I call it Japornime.
-The ease of getting addicted to coffee. I drank more coffee in Japan that any other time in my life.
-The abundance of men in suits and women in miniskirts, no matter the weather.
-The obligation to drink with your boss, no matter what your situation is at home and how long he wants to drink for.
Mike
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Japan, Part 2 of 3
Going into Tokyo on the train from the west, you get a pretty great view of Mt Fuji. I did not expect it....seems kind of surreal thinking bacck on it now because I was half asleep. Anyway, I had had the idea of checking concert listings for Tokyo before going and this turned out to be one of my better ideas, because to my surprise, Billy Joel was playing at the Tokyo Dome the night of my arrival. Just him & his supporting band. No way there would be tickets left. Sarah had heard that you could buy concert tickets @ the 7/11. She took me to the 7/11 near their place in Nagoya. After much trial & error, and the clerk ultimately coming to our rescue, we figured out that there indeed some nose-bleed section seats left! I managed to buy one by credit card. A 3 hour train ride later, some scrambling for luggage storage at the Tokyo Metro Station, and I found myself in a sea of Japanese B.J. fans, inching my way to my seat down yonder. The show kicked arse. His encore songs were my 3 favorite too. Not much movement on the part of the crowd, other than my section in which there happened to be lots of foreigners belting out the lyrics. No cameras allowed apparently, as I was reprimanded for shooting some footage, but the memory of the show is still pertty vidid regardless.
Afterwards, I retreived my bag and caught a subway to "Electric City" where I had booked a room. I made a mental note of the rollercoaster outside the Tokyo Dome. After some help from the hotel crek via payphone, I finally found the Athabasca Capsule Inn. It's called a capsule inn because you sleep in a 1 person pod with a tv and a draw curtain for the hole you came in through. You leave your bags and clothing in the lockers downstairs. I was in a room with 29 other capsules, and there were 4 floors of this, men only. These places were intended for business men who couldn't return home that night for 1 reason or another, usually because they had to get plastered with their boss. At first, women weren't allowed, but since the capsule inn's have gained popularity, some now have special floors reserved for women, as did this one. So, 7 floors of capsules total. There was also a bathhouse style bathroom with a hottub. I stayed 2 nights, not because I enjoyed the place that much, but because I couldn't be bothered to track down another hostel. I regret this now because, for one, the capsule inn, counterintuitevly, was very pricey (but in Tokyo, what isn't), but also I would have liked to stay in a Ryakan, a traditional Japanese hotel. I will try to track one down in Vancvouer when I'm back in Canada.
Anyway for the next 2 full days, I explored different must see spots, like the famous intersection you see in movies where if you were to look a building above, you would be hard pressed to see any pavement beneath you. I also checked out a palace with a swedish dude I met at the Starbucks, then the Tokyo Tower (just at sunset, so I caught the daytime view, then got to enjoy the nighttime view again --> best time to go to these places in my opinion). I yet again enjoyed good music, like a Japanese easy rock duo in the tower, and an amazing jazz trio in the street. Not only is the music fantastic, but people there really appreciate it. They were dancing and shouting along with the jazz band.
The next day, I crossed paths with one of those munks who chime a bell and take 1 careful, calculated step at a time down the busy Tokyo sidewalks, in a straight line amidst the hurried people heading every which way. This was featured in the movie "Baraka", if anyone has seen it. I gave him some $ after watching him for a good 5 minutes.
Travelling around Japan, you notice and hear about a lot of crazy stuff. One such thing, one that I failed to witness, was a gathering of young people every Sunday in a certain part of Tokyo, who all dress up like Japanimation characters. Apparently the realism is astounding, and they walk around the streets. They also meet up in a park and just chase each other around, my guess is its for the tourists. Give it a gander on YouTube.
The 2nd morning of my visit, I forced myself out of bed at 4:30AM and dragged my ass to the fish market to catch the early morning hustle and bustle of the seafood sales. It trully is a madhouse, interlaced with streams of tourists. Kind of funny to complain about tourists when I'm one of them, but I try not to interfere too much at least. I had been told to try a sushi breakfast at 1 specific restaurant right on the fish market grounds. It was the most popular one, but apparently worth the wait. Standing in line, I met an Aussie couple, and the guy didn't want to try the raw fish, so he took a stroll and I hung out with the girl while we ated and eventually dined. The sushi bar only sat about 10 people, so it was tight, but the food was inredible. They serve it to you right on the wooden counters. We got an 11 piece set of fish that had only travelled a few meters from where it was actioned off. That's fresh. So fresh in fact, the he slapped down a piece of surf clam in front of us and said "Still arrrrivvveee!". He meant "Still alive", we realized as the piece curled its up tentacles towards us.
Coincidentally, after parting with her, I went for a walk in that Electric City section of Tokyo, thus called because of its endless supply of multi storey electronic stores selling the same stuff, and i ran into the girls boyfriend. In a city of over 12 million people, I ran into the same guy twice in 2 totally different parts of town. So we hung out for a while looking for the outdoor store section.
I caught a quick pint at an Irish pub for a little taste of home, and then had to leave to catch my train back to Nagoya, but not before riding that rollercoaster I had promised myself I'd conquer. It went up to the tops of the buildings, THROUGH a hole at the top of one of them, and dropped back down, a couple of times over. Glorious. I was the only one screaming out of my group of 8 year olds.
Japan to be continued...
Mike
Afterwards, I retreived my bag and caught a subway to "Electric City" where I had booked a room. I made a mental note of the rollercoaster outside the Tokyo Dome. After some help from the hotel crek via payphone, I finally found the Athabasca Capsule Inn. It's called a capsule inn because you sleep in a 1 person pod with a tv and a draw curtain for the hole you came in through. You leave your bags and clothing in the lockers downstairs. I was in a room with 29 other capsules, and there were 4 floors of this, men only. These places were intended for business men who couldn't return home that night for 1 reason or another, usually because they had to get plastered with their boss. At first, women weren't allowed, but since the capsule inn's have gained popularity, some now have special floors reserved for women, as did this one. So, 7 floors of capsules total. There was also a bathhouse style bathroom with a hottub. I stayed 2 nights, not because I enjoyed the place that much, but because I couldn't be bothered to track down another hostel. I regret this now because, for one, the capsule inn, counterintuitevly, was very pricey (but in Tokyo, what isn't), but also I would have liked to stay in a Ryakan, a traditional Japanese hotel. I will try to track one down in Vancvouer when I'm back in Canada.
Anyway for the next 2 full days, I explored different must see spots, like the famous intersection you see in movies where if you were to look a building above, you would be hard pressed to see any pavement beneath you. I also checked out a palace with a swedish dude I met at the Starbucks, then the Tokyo Tower (just at sunset, so I caught the daytime view, then got to enjoy the nighttime view again --> best time to go to these places in my opinion). I yet again enjoyed good music, like a Japanese easy rock duo in the tower, and an amazing jazz trio in the street. Not only is the music fantastic, but people there really appreciate it. They were dancing and shouting along with the jazz band.
The next day, I crossed paths with one of those munks who chime a bell and take 1 careful, calculated step at a time down the busy Tokyo sidewalks, in a straight line amidst the hurried people heading every which way. This was featured in the movie "Baraka", if anyone has seen it. I gave him some $ after watching him for a good 5 minutes.
Travelling around Japan, you notice and hear about a lot of crazy stuff. One such thing, one that I failed to witness, was a gathering of young people every Sunday in a certain part of Tokyo, who all dress up like Japanimation characters. Apparently the realism is astounding, and they walk around the streets. They also meet up in a park and just chase each other around, my guess is its for the tourists. Give it a gander on YouTube.
The 2nd morning of my visit, I forced myself out of bed at 4:30AM and dragged my ass to the fish market to catch the early morning hustle and bustle of the seafood sales. It trully is a madhouse, interlaced with streams of tourists. Kind of funny to complain about tourists when I'm one of them, but I try not to interfere too much at least. I had been told to try a sushi breakfast at 1 specific restaurant right on the fish market grounds. It was the most popular one, but apparently worth the wait. Standing in line, I met an Aussie couple, and the guy didn't want to try the raw fish, so he took a stroll and I hung out with the girl while we ated and eventually dined. The sushi bar only sat about 10 people, so it was tight, but the food was inredible. They serve it to you right on the wooden counters. We got an 11 piece set of fish that had only travelled a few meters from where it was actioned off. That's fresh. So fresh in fact, the he slapped down a piece of surf clam in front of us and said "Still arrrrivvveee!". He meant "Still alive", we realized as the piece curled its up tentacles towards us.
Coincidentally, after parting with her, I went for a walk in that Electric City section of Tokyo, thus called because of its endless supply of multi storey electronic stores selling the same stuff, and i ran into the girls boyfriend. In a city of over 12 million people, I ran into the same guy twice in 2 totally different parts of town. So we hung out for a while looking for the outdoor store section.
I caught a quick pint at an Irish pub for a little taste of home, and then had to leave to catch my train back to Nagoya, but not before riding that rollercoaster I had promised myself I'd conquer. It went up to the tops of the buildings, THROUGH a hole at the top of one of them, and dropped back down, a couple of times over. Glorious. I was the only one screaming out of my group of 8 year olds.
Japan to be continued...
Mike
Japan, Part 1 of 3
Sam, my couchsurfing host and new friend, was kind enough to drive me to the international airport in the very wee hours of the morning, where I caught a flight to Naha, Okinawa. Okinawa is a cluster of Japanese islands between Taiwan & Japanaland. The original plan was to take the 4 day ferry from Taiwan all the way to Kagoshima, Japan, but soaring fuel costs forced the only ferry company into bankruptcy, so the compromise was to fly halfway and boat from there. I arrived in Japan and was greeted with posters warning me against drugs, weapons and pornography. After they confiscated my drugs, weapons, and pornography, they went on to take away the sandwich I was saving, which was given to me on the plane, ironically. I got some hostel info from a japanese girl at the info counter who had spent a few years in Banff, Alberta, and I set out into Japan. The hostels all seemed way too expensive (Okinawa is a very touristy area, as I discovered) so I asked a pair of girl travellers on the train (1 from england, 1 from sweden) if they knew of a cheap hostel, and we ended up spending the day together finding the hostel, hanging out on the beach, going to my first "Hotto Motto" (Japanese fast food chain) and legit Ramen noodle place, and learning some japanese numbers. The hostel turned out to be the sweetest one I'd ever stayed in --- $10 USD a night got you a bed, free internet, free laundry, free bikes, guitars, djembes, a dozens different spots to hang out in on comfy cushions, and a ton of people to hang out on them with. That evening, we got into a serious guitar sing-along. With access to the internet, the lyrics were flowing. At 2am, I found myself heading to a Kareoke room with one of my new friends. We belted out some Spin Doctors, Hanson, Bon Jovi, the list goes on... We also put a major dent in Japan's beer supply. These kareoke places are private kareoke rooms, so we have our own kareoke machine, comfy couches, and a phone to order more beer. Eventually 6AM rolled around and I had to be at the docks to catch my ferry, which I was looking forward to, because I could sleep for 25 hours straight. I staggered home, packed my bags, but upon arriving at the terminal, I found out that they did not accept credit card, nor were there any ATMs open in the city until 8am, and maybe in all of Japan for that matter. An exploratory cab ride that I could not pay for in the end proved this true. I missed my ferry, then couldn't find the hostel that I had come from. The hangover set in. After an hour long walk around, I finally found the place, somebody saved me from sleeping in the hallway and let me back into my room.
I woke up an hour after check out time, with a pretty solid headache on and no money to pay for this extra day I'd be spending here. I set out to find a bank machine from which I could withdraw funds, absurdly thirty and hungry, and discovered that the only ATM that would work for me, the guy with the foreign bank account, would be the Japan Post machine. I found this out after trying every other bank machine, of course. I now had money. I drank enough water to drown a whale. I spent most of that day chilling at the hostel because there was so much to do there, but interrupted that with a walk in the late afternoon around a hilltop castle, where I met some nice ducks, a cat, a turtle and some fish.
I'll speed this up a little now because at this pace, I'll be writing a novel on my 3 weeks in Japan. So, the next morning I finally caught the 25 hour ferry to Kagoshima. 'The Last Samurai' dude comes from here, not Tom Cruise but the other guy, and not the actor but the character. On the ferry, nobody spoke a word of english except for the one creepy drunk japanese guy who I kept catching staring at me with his head peering around the corner, and I'd have to pretend I was asleep to avoid him.
I arrived at 7 the next morning to find Virginia, a friend from back home who was teaching english in Japan, waiting for me at the terminal. Awwwwww. I stayed with her for 4 or 5 days, during which time I was further initiated into the Japanese lifestyle through shopping malls riddled with xmas sales, amazing restaurants, a freezing foggy hike along a volcanicaly active mountain ridge, some "onsens" (hotsprings), and a bike around an island who's centerpiece was another active volcano. The school kids on that island wore hard hats for protection from flying debris, and there were busstop style shelters in case of a major eruption. Lava flow tenches revealed solidified magma, which was very cool. I finished that day in a hotspring that doubled as a buddhist temple. So I was sitting there in the water robe they give you, surrounded by japanese men and woman, in this lagoon style place under huge outstretched trees, surrounded by rocks down a cliffside, seperated from the ocean by not more that 2 feet of stacked stones (you could lay back with your hand in the ocean and your body in the warm water...pure awesomeness), all the while people worshipping in front of the statue and candles carefully placed under one of the trees. Pretty cool stuff. The outdoor mall also had a foot massage hot water trench...almost as cool.
I said my temporary goodbyes to Virginia and her friends, who I had had an awesome time with, I activited my JR pass, which gave me unlimited access to their train system for 2 weeks, including their famous highspeed 'Shinkansen' trains, and I headed up to Nagoya to meet up with Les and Sarah, 2 more friends from back home. I had a great time staying with them for another 4 or 5 days. They introduced me to the game Jungle Speed. Check it out, you will never be the same. Nagoya is fairly central, so I was able to check out nearby places during the day too and head back to stay with them at night. Japan can get pretty pricy, so this helped me quite a bit. I rented a jam space with Les, Sarah made all sorts of awesome Japanese dishes, I also ate at great restaurants, and went on a couple of hikes.
Also, I happened to be there on a weekend and as I walked around to explore a bit, I stumbled upon lots of outdoor concerts. I ended up hoping from show to show. Started of with a Japanese Idol type guy on a stage in an outdoor mall, then I caught the end of a punk show with 10 bands playing 3 songs each, then on to a punk and funk type show that was just starting and went on for a good couple of hours. I was realizing that there was tons of good Japanese music in Japan....go figure! Also noticed that skateboarding, bmx-ing and breakdancing were all over the streets here at night.
I then headed to Tokyo for a brief stay.....
Mike
I woke up an hour after check out time, with a pretty solid headache on and no money to pay for this extra day I'd be spending here. I set out to find a bank machine from which I could withdraw funds, absurdly thirty and hungry, and discovered that the only ATM that would work for me, the guy with the foreign bank account, would be the Japan Post machine. I found this out after trying every other bank machine, of course. I now had money. I drank enough water to drown a whale. I spent most of that day chilling at the hostel because there was so much to do there, but interrupted that with a walk in the late afternoon around a hilltop castle, where I met some nice ducks, a cat, a turtle and some fish.
I'll speed this up a little now because at this pace, I'll be writing a novel on my 3 weeks in Japan. So, the next morning I finally caught the 25 hour ferry to Kagoshima. 'The Last Samurai' dude comes from here, not Tom Cruise but the other guy, and not the actor but the character. On the ferry, nobody spoke a word of english except for the one creepy drunk japanese guy who I kept catching staring at me with his head peering around the corner, and I'd have to pretend I was asleep to avoid him.
I arrived at 7 the next morning to find Virginia, a friend from back home who was teaching english in Japan, waiting for me at the terminal. Awwwwww. I stayed with her for 4 or 5 days, during which time I was further initiated into the Japanese lifestyle through shopping malls riddled with xmas sales, amazing restaurants, a freezing foggy hike along a volcanicaly active mountain ridge, some "onsens" (hotsprings), and a bike around an island who's centerpiece was another active volcano. The school kids on that island wore hard hats for protection from flying debris, and there were busstop style shelters in case of a major eruption. Lava flow tenches revealed solidified magma, which was very cool. I finished that day in a hotspring that doubled as a buddhist temple. So I was sitting there in the water robe they give you, surrounded by japanese men and woman, in this lagoon style place under huge outstretched trees, surrounded by rocks down a cliffside, seperated from the ocean by not more that 2 feet of stacked stones (you could lay back with your hand in the ocean and your body in the warm water...pure awesomeness), all the while people worshipping in front of the statue and candles carefully placed under one of the trees. Pretty cool stuff. The outdoor mall also had a foot massage hot water trench...almost as cool.
I said my temporary goodbyes to Virginia and her friends, who I had had an awesome time with, I activited my JR pass, which gave me unlimited access to their train system for 2 weeks, including their famous highspeed 'Shinkansen' trains, and I headed up to Nagoya to meet up with Les and Sarah, 2 more friends from back home. I had a great time staying with them for another 4 or 5 days. They introduced me to the game Jungle Speed. Check it out, you will never be the same. Nagoya is fairly central, so I was able to check out nearby places during the day too and head back to stay with them at night. Japan can get pretty pricy, so this helped me quite a bit. I rented a jam space with Les, Sarah made all sorts of awesome Japanese dishes, I also ate at great restaurants, and went on a couple of hikes.
Also, I happened to be there on a weekend and as I walked around to explore a bit, I stumbled upon lots of outdoor concerts. I ended up hoping from show to show. Started of with a Japanese Idol type guy on a stage in an outdoor mall, then I caught the end of a punk show with 10 bands playing 3 songs each, then on to a punk and funk type show that was just starting and went on for a good couple of hours. I was realizing that there was tons of good Japanese music in Japan....go figure! Also noticed that skateboarding, bmx-ing and breakdancing were all over the streets here at night.
I then headed to Tokyo for a brief stay.....
Mike
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