James In Japan

One last time...

2008-05-29T16:33:00.003+01:00

Well, I'm safely back in the UK after a long (13 hours) but bearable flight. I'm not too enthused, but what can you do?

I guess it's time for the last post on here, anyway. So here goes.

For my last full day, before I flew back, I decided to take a train from Osaka to Nara. I missed Nara the first time around, and it's thought of as being somewhere you HAVE to go when you are in Japan. This turned out to be true, and I'm glad I caught it (the Naruto whirlpools will just have to wait until next time, I guess).

Nara has a few main attractions, mostly clustered into the Nara-koen park area. The park is notable for two reason - firstly, it is huge, and secondly, it has a sizable population of sacred deer.

Within the park there are a whole bunch of both shrines and temples. I should probably point out the difference between the two, here - Buddhist places or worship are temples, Shinto are shrines. They often look similar, but Shinto shrines usually have one or more Torii gates at the entrance, which are simple structures with two cross bars and two vertical pillars. Buddhist temples, on the other hand, usually have much more substantial gate structures. The two are often on the same plot of land, however, so it is often difficult to tell them apart...

5-storey pagoda

Temple to which the pagoda is attached (I think) - not sure of the name, though

A few of the many deer in the park

I had my lunch here - note the Shinto shrine Torii gate in the background

A deer in the same stream

One of the major attractions (arguably THE main one, in fact) in Nara is the Daibutsuden hall at the Todai-ji temple, which is the world's largest wooden structure, and contains the world's largest indoor Buddha. This thing is SPECTACULAR.

One of the entrance gates to the Todai-ji temple

The Daibutsuden hall itself - undeniably an awesome sight

The Daibutsu Buddha inside the hall - each of it's fingers are about the size of a person

There are also a smattering of other temples and shrines, such as this one (name unknown)

Part of the beautiful (and very famous) Kasuga Taisha shrine

The shrine contains a huge number of lanterns, donated by various followers

...and with that, it comes to an end. I got back to Osaka, I packed my bags. I went for a huge blowout meal in a nice Yakiniku (Mongolian BBQ) restaurant. Then I got up at 5am the next morning, boarded a plane at Kansai airport, and here I am.

I'm sad to be back, without a doubt. This was made clear when I had to queue for about the first time in 3 months to RE-ENTER MY OWN COUNTRY. Wonderful.

But enough complaining. I will be back to Japan, hopefully sooner rather than later. I still have so many things to see and do, and things and people I want to see again.

James Bond will return in...

The journey back (and back to Beppu)

2008-05-24T08:04:00.002+01:00

This will probably be my last blog entry from Japan, unless I post one on my last night in Osaka.

Since my last entry I've been travelling from Toyako Onsen, via Hakodate, Sendai, Nagoya, Hiroshima and finally to Beppu (where I am now). I have to be back in Osaka to fly back on the 28th (I have a hotel booked there for that night) but I have a friend in Beppu who I wanted to see before I left. So, despite it being quite a trek, here I am...

Anyway, on my way down I spent a couple of days in Sendai. There isn't that much to see there, but with beautiful coastline so near, you can easily kill a few days.

My first day I decided to go and see the coast, which is contains thousands of small, rocky islands, each covered in wind-shaped trees. It is apparently "One of the 3 most beautiful places in Japan". Sadly, late May sees the beginning of Japan's brief rainy season, and I was caught underneath a terrific thunderstorm right as I was eating my lunch on the beach. On the plus side, this made for some quite spectacular seas...

The next day was thankfully much drier. I took a look at two of Sendai's most important historical sights - the Zuihoden Mausoleum (for the old domain lord of Sendai, Date Masamune, and following members of the Date clan), and Sendai Castle (which is mostly no longer there).

The mausoleum is a collection of beautiful old buildings set in the woods, such as...

From the site of Sendai Castle, the view over the city is quite spectacular (and even better with hawks circling overhead).

There's a famous statue of Date Masamune on horseback near this viewpoint. Note the Date clan emblem on the helmet...

...which you can see on what is, I believe, his original armour...

There's also quite a sizable shrine on the castle site.

Taking the bus back from the site of the castle to Sendai station, we got stuck in VERY heavy traffic. The bus was about 40 mins late getting to the station. The reason for this became obvious as we neared the station...

I think this was the Aoba-dori Festival (although what it's in aid of, I don't know). It was worth my getting off the bus at the station and backtracking for, anyway.

From Sendai I moved onto Nagoya. I went through Nagoya more through neccessity than anything else, but I met up with some friends I made there the first time, which was nice.

From Nagoya I got another bus down to Hiroshima. Again, I had done most of the sights in Hiroshima, but one exception was Hiroshima-jo castle (also known as 'Carp Castle'), so I made a point of going to see it.

Unlike Sendai Castle, Hiroshima-jo is actually still there. Well ok, it's a ferro-concrete reproduction, since it was totally destroyed in 1945, but it's quite attractive nonetheless.

The last image for today is a quick one I took on the ferry from Hiroshima to Beppu. Technically the journey was by bus, but the bus is loaded onto a small ferry which travels through the Inland Sea area. The Inland Sea is full of tiny islands, as well as being full of busy shipping lanes. The short boat ride through there was really quite interesting.

So anyway, right now I am in Beppu (again). I leave here tomorrow, probably on a night bus bound for Osaka, if there is one. Staying in Osaka, the only thing I have left to do is to get the train across to the island of Shikoku - the only one of the 4 major islands I haven't visited yet. There's not a huge amount there (unless you want to do the traditional 88 Temples pilgrimmage, which takes months...) but there are some whirlpools off the coast of the town of Naruto which I hope to see, plus the world's longest suspension bridge (which I mentioned a while back).

And from there...back to the UK. Ah well...

Take care everyone,
James

Toyako Onsen

2008-05-15T06:38:00.006+01:00

With less than 2 weeks to go (I can't quite believe it) my time in Hokkaido is drawing to a close. I wish I could spend longer here, but the limitations of public transport really restrict what you can do.

Anyway, before I leave here there is time to see one last volcano. I knew I wanted to head to the Toyako Onsen area, but I had no idea quite how interesting it would be, and how nice the area would be, too.

Toyako Onsen is, as the name suggests, an onsen (hot spring) resort area. Why does it have so many onsen? Because it is right next to an active volcano. It doesn't even have the good fortune, like Kagoshima and Sakurajima, to be across a stretch of water - the town of Toyako Onsen is right at the foot of the mountain.

Om the other side of the town is Lake Toya, a classic caldera lake (the 3rd largest in Japan, apparently) with a small cluster of extinct volcanic peaks in the centre. In the background you can see another perfect cinder-cone known locally as Hokkaido's Fuji (the shape is almost the same perfect cone).

The view across Lake Toya.

As you can see, when I arrived, the weather was great. It didn't hold. The one day I had to explore the area, it rained. A lot. Ah well.

The volcano next to the town is called Mt. Usu (Usuzan). It's erupted 8 times since 1663, and 4 times in about the last 100 years. The last eruption was in 2000. The next is predicted to be around the year 2020.

When Usuzan erupts, it has a particular pattern. First comes about 32 hours or longer of frequent earthquakes, followed by ground deformation, and then the eruption itself. This means evacuation is usually able to be carried out before the eruption begins, and so people living in the town don't seem to mind.

The other pattern shown by Usuzan is that the location of the eruption changes each time, and that eruptions from the summit itself are quite rare. In 1943, a farmer at the foot of the mountain noticed a bump forming in his field. Within 2 years, a 400m high mountain had formed, now known as Showa Shinzan.

As this occurred during the war, the government were keen to keep the new mountain a secret, since they believed it could be taken as an unlucky wartime omen, and so proper scientific measurements couldn't be kept. The local postmaster, Masao Mimatsu, bought the volcano. He kept records of its growth using methods he devised himself, and which are now considered to be standard practise.

Showa Shinzan

Another shot of Showa Shinzan, with a statue of postmaster Masao Mimatsu at the bottom

View down on Showa Shinzan from the top of Usuzan

Masao Mimatsu's diagram of the growth of the mountain

Usuzan erupted again in 1978-79, this time from the summit. A large crater was formed, and volcanic mudflows (lahars) caused extensive damage to the town below. A huge ash column formed and pyroclasts and volcanic bombs rained down below.

The crater at the peak of Usuzan, formed by the '78-79 eruption

Lava dome at the peak

View across Lake Toya from the top of Usuzan, showing the shape of the caldera lake

In 2000, Usuzan erupted again. This time it erupted from the western flank, creating new craters deforming the land as it had in previous eruptions. Mudflows once again did massive damage, volcanic bombs rained down on the tow, and ground deformation left roads unusable.

Truck damaged by ashfall and volcanic bombs from the 2000 eruption

Much of the damage caused by this eruption has been preserved along a few walkable 'promenades' in the area, which are surely unlike anything else you'll find elsewhere.

The Nishiyamagawa promenade shows the damage caused by mudflows.

I think this may have been an onsen building, but I'm not sure

Apartment building - mudflows entered as far as the second floor

This bridge was washed downstream by the lahar

Overview of the whole area

The Nishiyama Crater promenade takes you around the actual site of the 2000 eruption. The eruption occured right next to a major local road, which was thankfully not in use since the evacuation had been completed on time.

The old road leading towards where the new crater formed (steam column is coming from the crater)

Apparently the road was uplifted a total of 50m by the ground deformation

Proof that I was there, in the pouring rain. I had to walk 4km total there and back, plus 3km total along the boardwalk, so I was pretty wet.

Crater formed by the 2000 eruption

More of the still-steaming crater area

Building destroyed by ground deformation and volcanic bombs

...and more...

...and more...

This is what a volcanic bomb does to the roof of a bus

Elementary school near the eruption site

Volcanic bomb still stuck in the wall of the school

Unzen, Sakurajima and Aso were all spectacular in their own ways, but I think this area is surely the most impressive I've visited in Japan or elsewhere (arguably even above Yellowstone, in this regard).

As well as the volcano(es), which I knew were here, if not how impressive they were, this little town had a couple of other suprises up its sleeve.

Firstly, it turns out that the 2008 G8 Summit is being held here. It's interesting to see what a sudden influx of government money does to a small town, with solar panels and wind turbines everywhere to try to impress the visitors, and what appeared to be a brand new building for the summit itself. That said though, the place still had its small-town charm, which made a really nice change from cities like Tokyo, Sapporo and even Asahikawa.

Countdown clock to the 2008 Toyako G8 Summit

The second suprise was one you only see for 15 minutes. Every night, between about　March and October, a huge boat goes out onto the lake and launches a full fireworks display over the water. I have no idea why (it's not just a G8 thing) but it's certainly spectacular, and I caught it both nights I stayed there.

Fireworks over Lake Toya

More fireworks, obviously

And so there you have it - Lake Toya. Certainly one of the most suprisingly places I've been in Japan, and probably one of my favourites, too.

As I type this I'm in Hakodate, about the most southern city in Hokkaido, ready to catch a train further south back to Honshu tomorrow. I'll probably stay in Sendai a night or two, and see where I go from there, with an overall aim of heading back down to the Kansai area (Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe) within a week or so.

Anyway, until next time,
James

Asahikawa and Daisetsuzan

2008-05-11T11:31:00.009+01:00

A pretty short update today, consisting mainly of photos. Due to bus schedules being totally messed up, you basically can't get into Daisetsuzan National Park this time of year without your own transport, so I've had to put that on hold until next time (yes, I'll be back).

However, there's such a wealth of beautiful scenery around here anyway, it doesn't matter too much. Over the last 2 days I visited the Biei and Furano areas and walked around both, and they were so different from the rest of Japan, I wondered if I'd somehow ended up in rural France.

This area in central Hokkaido (and it is central - the town I visited today, Furano, is located around the exact geographical centrepoint of Hokkaido) is mainly agricultural. From what I can gather, crops here are mainly potatoes (not suprisingly given it's close proximity to Russia), onions (the area around Furano is almost entirely made up of fields of onions, as you'll see) and grapes (Furano contains both a winery and a grape juice factory). It also seems big on pastural farming and today I dropped into a cheese, butter and ice-cream factory up in the hills. Aside from farming, there is very little here.

Until you get to the mountains. The mountains in central Hokkaido (many of them in the Daisetsuzan National Park) make for some amazing sights when set against the rolling agricultural landscape in front, and photos describe it better than words can, so I'll leave it up to them...

And some other assorted images:

One of the active volcanoes in Daisetsuzan National Park (the name evades me right now but I will find out)

A monument at the 'Birthplace of Furano Onions', apparently

'Cheese of World', courtesy of the Furano Cheese Factory/Museum

Proof that grapes and wine production are a big deal here

A momument in Furano marking the exact geographical centre of the island of Hokkaido.

Anyway, that about does it for today. More soon, whenever I get the chance.

James

Sapporo and onwards

2008-05-09T07:43:00.002+01:00

Ok, a shorter update of a day or two while I have the chance.

My second and third days in Sapporo brought visits to a number of places. First up was the Okura ski jump hill used in the 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympics, and now home to the Winter Sports Museum. You can take the chairlift to the top of the ski jump for superb views of Sapporo below (if the weather is good).

View of the ski jump from the bottom

Another view from the bottom, by the museum

View from the top, looking down onto the facility and further on over the city of Sapporo

Going back down on the chairlift

The museum itself offers a bunch of interactive computerised exhibits giving you the chance to 'try' various events without risk of physical injury - ski jumping, bobsleigh, cross-country skiing and, bizarrely, speed-skating are all on offer - as well as a timeline of the '72 Winter Olympics and other fixed displays about the various events.

The Sapporo '72 Olympic torch

The Japanese team's bobsleigh

There's also a decent restaurant here serving a Hokkaido speciality called 'jingus-khan', which is basically a do-it-yourself BBQ (like yakiniku) specifically of lamb and vegetables, with a special sauce. Only in Hokkaido, and very very good, if a little messy (the restaurants all give you little plastic aprons to wear).

Moving on from here, I dropped into the Salmon Museum, which is very close by. This is exactly what it sounds like, being a museum about salmon. There are salmon in various stages of development and a bunch of other exhibits. It's actually more interesting than it sounds, honestly. No pictures though.

Next on the agenda was the original Sapporo brewery, which is now home to the Sapporo beer museum, and offers a nice contrast to the current high-tech brewery. Indeed, the building would look more at home in Manchester than anywhere in Japan, but this was the country's first beer brewery.

From the front

Around the side, by the museum entrance

Also of note here is an ice-cream shop. I know I've never eaten squid-ink or soup curry flavour ice-cream before. I went for a mixture of sakura (yes, cherry blossom) and dark beer flavour, and both were much better than I expected. Dark beer tasted like dark beer, and sakura probably tasted like sakura, although I don't usually eat flowers...

That evening I took a short trip to the Sapporo Dome to see if there was a baseball game on the next day, which would mean it would be worth staying in Sapporo an extra day. Sapporo is home to Hokkaido's only baseball team (as well as a soccer team) - the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. All the teams in Japan are corporately owned, and this one is owned by a ham company, which is pretty ironic for a sports team. Anyway, much to my disappointment there wasn't an upcoming home game (the next one is on 20th May, which is way too late for me).

Sapporo Dome, home to the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters

I have one more real chance of catching a game, which is in Osaka a few days before I leave. The Hiroshima Toyo Carp, of who I am now a fan, are playing the Orix Buffaloes (who I'm pretty sure will destroy them). I may try to get a ticket to this if timings work out favourably, but we'll see.

Anyway, today I woke up to rain, which soon stopped and gave way to the terrific cold I had experienced the night before. It is really cold here, at least in comparison with other places I've been. According to one of the staff at the ryokan I've been staying at, snow is forecast in the next few days, so that might make things pretty interesting.

So, from Sapporo I got the bus even further north, ending up in the city of Asahikawa. This is the ideal gateway to the Daisetsuzan National Park, which is by all accounts quite stunning. I should have two days there, enough to see what I want to see (within the limitations of public transport, anyway) before moving on.

From here I'm not sure where I'll go. There's another volcanic area near the south coast, which is definately something I want to see, but there's also the northernmost point in Japan near the city of Wakkanai, which is also somewhere I want to go. Only problem is, accomodation is either fully-booked or way too expensive. Camping is a possibility, but cold weather and a substantial brown bear population (really) may not make that a good idea, so more asking around is required.

Anyway, my time on this PC is up so I'll have to bring this to an end. Another update in a day or so probably, before I move on.

Until next time,
James

Aso, Tokyo, Hokkaido

2008-05-06T09:00:00.006+01:00

Oh boy. This is going to be a LONG one, and for that I apologise. Aso is in the middle of nowhere and has no net access, and Tokyo is so huge and exhausting it's difficult to find time or a place to access it, so this is well over a week's worth of stuff I'm about to post. I suggest you get a cup of something refreshing in hand...

Let's start with Aso, which was my first proper destination after Sakurajima/Kagoshima. The last of the 3 volcanoes I was visiting in Kyushu, this was different again. It was also much harder to get to.

Aso itself (honorifically referred to as Aso-san over here) is a HUGE caldera (volcanic crater), formed by the collapse of an enormous old volcano. Several smaller peaks have now formed inside the old caldera, one of which, Naka-dake, is still very active.

I camped 'just' above the town of Aso (the largest in the area, and still pretty small) for 2 nights. The first night it rained torrentially, the second wasn't so bad. The only issue was the distance of the camp site from the town, which the Lonely Planet book got just a little bit wrong. It was something like 3km up a very steep hill which, when carrying an absurdly heavy rucksack, is not a huge amount of fun. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful place to camp.

This is part of the caldera wall from inside (i.e. at the bottom of the huge crater). It just looks like a row of smaller hills now, with very even heights.

I forget the name of this small cinder cone, but it's an almost perfect cone, like a mound of rice (about which there is a local legend).

View across the Kusasenri meadow area near the active Naka-dake crater.

The Naka-dake crater seen from afar. Note that there is a lot of steam due to the heavy rain the previous night, which has pooled in the crater floor, now evaporating due to the very high temperatures.

View into the Naka-dake crater from the crater rim. Part of the rim walk was closed due to gas emissions - proof that the volcano is still very much active.

Part of the moon-like landscape of ash and ejectorate from Naka-dake, near the crater rim.

Another shot of the above.

From Aso it was time to shoot back north. I had to be in Tokyo within about 4 days, but it's a suprisingly long distance. I elected to go from Aso to the famous old hot spring town of Beppu, from Beppu to Nagoya, and then from Nagoya to Tokyo. The latter two journeys were by trusty highway bus and therefore pretty lengthy (but much cheaper than the train, and less hassle to boot).

The ryokan I stayed in in Beppu. The princely sum of ￥5000 (about 25GBP) nets you a beautiful single Japanese-style room here, and an hour's rental of one of the 3 private onsen (hot-spring baths) in the ryokan.

My room in Beppu.

'My' onsen. Japanese onsen must be tried to be believed - somehow, all your aches and pains disappear after half an hour in one of these.

Mt. Fuji through the haze (and through a bus window) on the way from Nagoya to Tokyo. I will be getting closer to Fuji-san on my way back south.

And so I arrived in Tokyo a few days after leaving Aso, and the difference couldn't be more startling. From a rural town at the foot of a looming active volcano, I had come to the world's biggest, most energetic and certainly most exciting city.

I spent 6 nights in Tokyo. The city as a whole is impossible to really put into words or even still images, but here's a tiny section of some of the stuff I saw and did.

The main street of Shinjuku in the late afternoon, full of shoppers in non-stop consumer mode. The buildings are impressive, second only to the noise and the sheer number of people.

The Park Hyatt Hotel, Shinjuku. Setting for the movie 'Lost In Translation', of which I am a fan. A trip to the American Bar on the 52nd floor was in order...

And here's a blurry photo from said bar (there's no way I was using flash in there). It's as nice as it looks in the movie, and then some, and the prices match. Regardless, I had one drink and I managed to get seated in the very same seat as Bill Murray (which was nice). As a one-off experience it was beyond words.

The view out over Tokyo from the 52nd floor of the Park Hyatt. The best view in the city.

A tiny section of the Toyota MegaWeb in the Tokyo Bay area. Part showroom, part museum, part theme park, you can easily kill half a day here (I did).

Toyota motorsports display at the MegaWeb.

Toyota hydrogen-powered car. The place was filled with examples of their innovative new designs like this...

...and like this. This is the view from inside one of the electric cars they had driving themselves around a circuit inside the complex. There's no rail guiding the cars - they detect the road and other cars, and follow it themselves, braking and accelerating according to conditions. It's quite unnerving to be in a car as it drives itself.

One of the 'personal helper' robots in development at Toyota (in competition with Honda, amongst others).

Some kind of 'personal transportation device'. I still can't really see the use for this, but I guess they can, since they make a big deal of it.

Shot of some of the amazing buildings in the Odaiba area at Tokyo Bay. The one with the massive sphere is the Fuji TV headquarters. The others I'm not sure.

The 'Miraikan' museum of emergent science and technology (or something) in the same area. Without a doubt the best science museum I've ever been in - the exhibits are as futuristic as the building housing them.

Akihabara is the crazy (and quite famous) electronics district in Tokyo. If it runs on electricity, you can probably buy it somewhere here. It's also something of a manga/anime (Japanese comics/animation) mecca. It has quite a different feel from the 'high tech' Tokyo elsewhere, though. None of the pictures of the streets have really come out very well (it's an atmosphere that's impossible to capture anyway) but a couple of other things that caught my eye here:

Japanese manga (comics) characters are everywhere here, including on the sides of cars (Toyota Supra, car fans)...

All the KFCs in Japan have a plastic Col. Sanders outside, but I've never seen one in full Samurai armour before.

This is the world's most famous 4-way pedestrian crossing, outside Shibuya station. This is the view from the Starbucks overlooking the junction, although this was pretty early so it's not in full flow. I went back later on the next day and the junction was almost impossible to cross due to the sheer density of people.

Living conditions for most people in Japan make owning pets difficult. Lack of space and time make it plain impractical, so at the top floor of the Tokyu Hands department store in Ikebukuro lies the curious 'Nekobekuro' ('neko' means cat). Yes, you pay ￥600 here for unlimited one-time access to a room full of pettable cats. Ingenious.

Another shot (thanks to the Australian girl who took the photo) from feeding time in Nekobukuro.

I overdosed on temples and gardens in Kyoto, so I tried to get a more high-tech experience in Tokyo, but I had to visit Meiji-jingu, perhaps Tokyo's most famous shrine. It was a rainy day, sadly, but that didn't stop me from turning up there.

Part of Meiji-jingu shrine, looking a little less impressive than it should due to the rain...

This ceremony was, I believe, a wedding. Clearly a wedding for someone very important, since there were apparently movie stars in attendance (not that I'd recognise them), and due to the fact it was being held at Meiji-jingu.

I met a guy here who explained all about the ceremony, took the time to helpfully tell me when good photo opportunities were coming up, teach me about shrine ettiquette - all sorts of things. In the way only the Japanese can, he then offered to buy me lunch, and proceeded to show me around the entire Yoyogi area, including the NHK broadcasting headquarters. He also took me to see a traditional Japanese archery competition being held in the ground of Meiji-jingu (which clearly I would have totally missed had he not told me). I don't have photos of that because photography wasn't allowed, but it's something I would advise any visitor to Japan to try to see.

The NHK TV headquarters (complete with Domokun flag right next to the Japanese one, for all you pop-culture fans).

Evening view across to downtown Tokyo from the 'Tokyo Beach' area. There's a beach on the reclaimed land here, which amazed me, but it seemed very busy indeed. Anyway I came back here to kill a few hours before I left on my night bus to my next destination...

I'd need 3 weeks or more to scratch the surface of what Tokyo has to offer, but it's so exhausting to explore (mainly due to its size) that 6 days was about as long as I wanted there this time. I'll go back some time and do some more, and catch things I missed (plus the new attractions which will I'm sure have appeared by then). Asakusa's temples and the early-morning Tsukuji fish market are on that list, amongst other things. Tokyo, I will be back.

Moving on from Tokyo, I started a journey of about half the length of the country - Tokyo to Sapporo, on the northern island of Hokkaido. Over the course of 2 days, using one long-distance highway night bus and 2 express trains, via the towns of Aomori and Hakodate, I finally made it here.

View across the bay during my brief stop in Hakodate, which is, I think, where people from mainland Japan made first footfall on Hokkaido (although the Ainu people were already here).

And so, upon my arrival in Sapporo...I was knackered. I checked into another lovaly traditional ryokan here (I have 4 nights here), had a bowl of tasty katsudon, and that was that.

Cue today. Taking it easy after Tokyo, I decided to visit the production plant for Sapporo's most famous export - Sapporo beer, Japan's first beer brewery. I got a guided tour here (in Japanese, of course, but with English signage along the way) ending in the inevitable free tasting session and gift shop.

'Sapporo-beer-teien' train station. The brewery has its own (tiny) station on the JR line from Sapporo.

Self-explanatory - part of the brewery buildings.

The on-site Shinto shrine for workers at the brewery.

And so there we have it. A lengthy journey, from a volcanic caldera and natural hot springs, through the world's biggest and most high-tech urban sprawl, back to the quieter northern island of Hokkaido, home to one of Japan's favourite drinks and, thankfully, cooler weather.

I have a few days to chill out here and catch my breath, before heading off...somewhere. I'm not entirely sure yet, but maybe I'll head to Japan's most northern point, just a stone's throw away from Russia. Time will tell, and of course I'll be sure to update this (hopefully more frequently) when I can.

Take care everyone,
James

Sakurajima

2008-04-21T13:12:00.003+01:00

A (mercifully) short one-day update today.

Today brought a visit to Sakurajima, across the strait from the city of Kagoshima - something I've really been looking forward to. I wasn't disappointed, that's for sure.

Some background information. "Sakurajima" means "cherry blossom island". I'm not sure on the cherry blossom part, but it did used to be an island. I say 'did', because it is an active volcano, and in 1914 it erupted so violently and erupted so much lava that it joined itself to the mainland. It's still active, frequently scattering surrounding areas (including Kagoshima) with ash, and providing enough of a threat that all surrounding areas have evacuation plans and drills. It doesn't stop people living on the 'island', however. The children just were hard hats when they go to school.

Anyway, I should probably post some photos...

This is the view from the ferris wheel in Kagoshima. That's a ferris wheel in front of an active volcano, which probably isn't a great idea, but I rode it anyway. You can see how close the city of Kagoshima is to the volcano.

Taken from the ferry on the way across the strait at about midday.

The view I had from the east of the mountain, from the point I sat and ate my lunch. It seemed to be sporadically throwing up steam and a little ash, but not in huge quantities. The active vent on Minami-dake (the southern peak, since there are actually 3 or 4 included within 'Sakurajima') is basically visible from here.

Close-up of the active vent on Minami-dake.

This 'torii' gate (entrance to a Shinto shrine) was 3m high. It was buried during the enormous 1914 eruption, but the top was left sticking out.

View from a lava field trail near the visitor centre. The volcano seemed to become more active at about this time, and began spewing quite a lot of ash as well as steam. Note the ash falling on the flank of the mountain (it looks like dark rain bands).

Another shot taken a few minutes later, showing the growth of the eruption column.

Shot from the ferry on the way back to Kagoshima, showing the extent of the eruption column and ash cloud drifting away from the mountain.

Bear in mind that Sakurajima does this sort of thing ALL THE TIME and this is by no means 'dangerous' unless you are way too close to the summit. The biggest danger you'll face at the moment is that you'll get falling ash in your hair.

Anyway, tomorrow brings with it the excitement of another bus journey to Kumamoto. From there I go to the Aso-san area, one of the world's largest (wait for it) active volcanic calderas, where I have a campsite booked for 2 nights. I just hope the weather holds now!

Until next time!

James

Nagasaki & Unzen

2008-04-19T11:18:00.005+01:00

Here I am on my last evening in Nagasaki, so I feel I should update this (as well as working out how to upload from this new camera - long story).

After catching the highway bus down here from Fukuoka and then replacing my broken camera (like I said, long story), I could finally get around to seeing some of the sights in Nagasaki.

The city obviously has huge significance in modern history, being the site of the second atomic bombing (which effectively ended WW2), and so that's what I was mainly here to see. As with Hiroshima, I'll just post a few photos and let you decide what to think.

The Peace Memorial Park, with Peace Fountain (shaped like angel wings, apparently) leading to the Peace Statue.

The Peace Statue. As I understand it, the 'sturdy physique' represents Humanity's strength. The closed eyes represent prayers for those lost in war. The hand pointing upwards is pointing towards the thread of nuclear war, the hand outstretched points towards peace. The crossed leg represents meditation, and the other leg is poised for action. I may be wrong here, so I'd look it up yourself, but there's a lot of (maybe slightly tenuous) ideas packed into that statue.

The black pillar at the hypocenter the bomb exploded directly overhead this point).

A clock in the museum, stopped at exactly 11:02am by the bomb's detonation. I don't think you were meant to take photos of this, but no-one saw me so I think I got away with it.

One-legged torii gate to a Shinto shrine. The other half was destroyed, but this half remains standing and has been left since then.

The next day brought a substantial journey to visit the site of another disaster, albeit a more natural one. The Unzen area is home to a number of volcanoes, most notably Fugen-dake, and Mt. Heisei Shinzan (literally 'new mountain') which formed during Fugen-dake's eruption between 1990 and 1996.

Better photos can be found online, but this was the view of Mt. Heisei Shinzan from the GEMADUS DOME volcano museum/memorial hall in Shimabara town. It is a memorial hall because a pyroclastic flow from here in 1991 killed 44 people in Shimabara (less than the 15,000 it killed in 1792, however).

Note the jagged peak - this is the new lava dome.

Images of the growth of Heisei Shinzan's lava dome.

After obtaining a lot of information from the fascinating (and very 'Japanese' - something that you really have to see for yourself to understand) museum, the next day brought a trip to the town of Unzen, on the other side of Fugen-dake, with the hope of a closer look at the new mountain.

Unzen is a hot spring resort, and is full of geothermal features (vents, mud-pots, etc). Each area is referred to as a 'Jigoku' ('Hell') and has a different name, usually related to a tale that supposedly occurred there, or a feature of the vent (such as it making a screeching noise). I can't remember the names of, well, any of them, but here are 2 photos anyway.

After walking around the various Jigoku, I worked on getting as close to Heisei Shizan as I could given my limited time. Being a beautiful day with barely a cloud in sight, I should get a wonderful view of the lava dome at the summit.

The first step was to catch a minibus up the 'Nita Pass', followed by a cable-car to a point near the summit of Myoken-dake, nearby.

View down the cable-car from the station near the top of Myoken-dake.

From here it was a short walk to the peak of Myoken-dake, and a longer walk (which I didn't have anywhere near enough time for) to the peak of Fugen-dake, which commands excellent views of Heisei Shinzan.

Sadly, as I approached, the weather closed in. A lot.

Regardless, I got occasional fleeting glimpses of the peak, and from points on the way up, as well as at the very peak of Myoken-dake, there were some good views.

The side of Heisei Shinzan, showing path of lahar (volcanic mudflow) and pyroclastic flow. The lumpy rock on the right side of the mountain is the bottom edge of the new dome, but all above it is shrouded in cloud.

The paths of the pyroclastic flows that hit Shimabara are clearly visible here (along with Shimabara at the bottom). Note the concrete barriers erected leading up to the town - these are part of the new defences aimed at controlling the flow of lahars and preventing them from destroying more property.

The shrine near the summit of Myoken-dake, shrouded in cloud.

The view out to Tachibana Bay, showing an even larger volcano. You probably can't see it, so let me point it out (badly)...

The whole edge of the bay forms a roughly circular shape. The huge caldera (crater) here collapsed and was flooded to form the bay.

Anyway, tomorrow I leave Nagasaki and head to Kagoshima for a view of...another active volcano. Mt. Sakurajima is just across the strait from the city, and still occasionally showers the city with ash (to which the residents respond with umbrellas). Hopefully I'll have another update, and more photos, soon.

James

More Hiroshima, Miyajima, and onwards

2008-04-14T10:32:00.007+01:00

After posting my last entry, I was watching some baseball on TV (the Japanese love their baseball) when I found out there was going to be a game in Hiroshima the following day. This I had to go to.

Hiroshima's baseball team are called the Hiroshima Toyo Carp (teams in Japan are owned by corporations like Toyo and are actually fairly footloose, sometimes moving cities altogether). If ever there was a name fitting for a team, this is it. The Carp are TERRIBLE - apparently, they haven't won a championship since 1991 and they're the only team to have not placed in the top 3 at any point since the start of this century. However, they are regarded as having a very loyal and very lively fan base, which makes them ideal to see, especially playing at home.

Cue a short walk to the stadium the following day. I obtain an excellent seat on the morning of the game day for a very reasonable price, so I assume the stadium will be empty. I buy a Carp shirt, too, since I may as well get in with the home supporters and root for this team. Also it makes a nice souvenir.

At about 1pm I make my way to the stadium for a 2pm start. The stadium is busier than I expected.

The situation is similar to baseball in the US, with vendors prowling the aisles selling cans of soft drinks and beer, hot dogs, popcorn...the usual suspects. I was amazed to see a couple with draft beer rigs on their backs, though - how they ran up and down the aisles with kegs on their backs is beyond me! As with baseball elsewhere, despite the presence of alcohol, no-one got violent. Yes, it's just football.

Hiroshima Toyo Carp vs Nagoya Chunichi Dragons

1st inning, Carp batting. Note the team's manager with the ridiculous papier mache giant head, complete with clapping hands sticking out of the side, and a changeable scroll reading "APPLAUSE" and "THANK YOU" in his mouth. He appeared there at the start of each Carp inning to lead the clapping, and everyone loved it.

The Carp's utterly bizarre mascot, 'Slyly'. I have no idea what he's meant to be, but he's great.

At the beginning of the Carp's 7th inning, absolutely everyone got one or two of these balloons. All at once, everyone let them go, which was pretty spectacular. There were balloons flying around the stadium for a minute or so, whistling as they went.

The Carp are terrible. The Dragons are apparently very good. The Dragons pulled into an early lead, getting one run in the 2nd inning. Everyone knew what was going to happen.

Except, they were wrong. The Carp stumbled along until the 4th inning, during which they absolutely destroyed the Dragons by earning 3 runs in quick succession. From then on it was all over.

Final score was 3-1 to the Carp. Talk about unexpected.

Yes, the Carp actually won.

As a celebration I went back to Okonomi-mura (a 3-storey building composed entirely of small okonomiyaki restaurants) that night for another Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki (or 'hiroshima-yaki', naturally), which is made with either soba (thin) or udon (thick) noodles as opposed to just being the usual batter mix. Delicious.

I took one awful photo of the cook making my okonomiyaki (mine is one of the ones with the thin soba noodles).

The following day, my last in the Hiroshima area, I took a boat to the island of Miyajima, which is home to one of the classic tourist brochure views in Japan. Sadly, the weather could have been a lot better, but anyway...

Before you reach the classic attraction here, the first thing you notice are the deer. There are deer everywhere, roaming the streets and attempting to get food from everyone.

Deer in Miyajima, obviously.

A 5 minute walk from the boat terminal lies the main attraction - the 'floating' Torii gate serving as an entrance to the town's main shrine (Itsukushima-jinga) from the sea.

'Floating' Torii, with deer and a stone lantern.

From a different angle, with more lanterns.

Itsukushima-jinga shrine, with 5-storey pagoda in the background.

Obviously the rain was a little bit of a problem but it was still spectacular. Even the hordes of German tourists couldn't stop it being impressive.

That was yesterday. This morning, leaving Hiroshima, I caught a highway bus down to Fukuoka/Hakata (2 cities have sort of merged and people refer to it by both names), the gateway city to Kyushu - the southernmost of Japan's 4 main islands. I'm here for one day, and then I plan to do a circuit of the island, taking in (in this order):
- Nagasaki
- Kagoshima and Sakurajima (an active volcano)
- Aso-san (a cluster of volcanoes, one of which is active)

Yeah, the next week or so is going to be very relevant to my university course and should, I hope, be very interesting. Aso-san in particular is said to be really quite spectacular and should yield some good photos me to post here.

So, that's my rough plan. How well I manage to follow it remains to be seen, but it seems managable, and a few opportunities to camp (weather permitting) should let me save some cash, too.

Anyway, until next time. Take it easy,

James

Hiroshima

2008-04-11T08:55:00.010+01:00

I had one day left in Osaka after posting my last entry, so I took a day trip out to Himeji to see which is widely regarded as Japan's finest castle, not least because it is an original wooden building as opposed to a concrete reconstruction.

Unfortunately, it rained. It rained absolutely all day, in fact, and I got SOAKED. Even a trusty umbrella (I am now a firm believer and can see why all Japanese people carry them) can't keep you dry from rain like that.

Anyway, here are some pictures. Photos inside aren't very interesting so I've just put up a couple of shots of the castle and the hill it sits on.

Of some interest as well was the world's longest suspension bridge, which I passed on the train. I didn't get a photo, because it didn't look anything special, but it's there. Look it up on a map or something - it's a couple of kilometres west of Kobe.

After finding myself a little short of accomodation options in both Osaka, where I was previously staying, and Kyoto, which I wanted to go back to for the sakura, I made a snap decision to leave Kansai behind and head for the south.

One 6 hour bus later, I am in Hiroshima.

First call is probably 'the symbol of Hiroshima' - the A-Bomb Dome (Genbaku Domu) - but first some more Engrish I spotted on a cup in my hotel room. Bizarre.

I'm so relived (sic) it's been washed...

Anyway, the Dome was originally the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall. That was until an atomic bomb exploded nearly directly above it on 6th August 1945. The only reason it survived is because it had so many windows, and much of the shockwave blew through it, rather than into solid walls. This is it now.

During the day.

At night, when floodlit.

The next day brought a trip to the Peace Memorial Park and attached Memorial Museum. I won't go on about whether the bombing was right or wrong - you can make up your own mind - so I'll just show pictures.

The Memorial Cenotaph and Peace Flame, with A-Bomb Dome in the background.

Children's Memorial, based on the story of Sasaki Sadako (find out about the story for yourself).

Model of Hiroshima before the bomb (in the Peace Memorial Museum).

Model of Hiroshima almost immediately after the bomb.

While at the A-Bomb Dome on the second day (I passed it to get to the park) I was lucky enough to meet one of the survivors of the bombing, now working as a volunteer guide. He took me to a few sights I might have missed otherwise - the hypocenter (the spot directly above which the bomb detonated) and a small cemetary displaying signs of the explosion.

Building now at the hypocenter (more in a minute).

Gravestones in the cemetery near the hypocenter, showing shadows. The shadows all around the base show that the bomb must have exploded almost directly overhead.

As for the building at the hypocenter, my guide told me a story. Apparently there was originally a hospital standing at this spot. The chief doctor was out of Hiroshima on that day, performing surgery in the countryside, and so he was safe when the bomb was dropped. Similarly, the doctor's son was spared, as he was evacuated to the countryside along with his classmates. Obviously when the bomb went off, the hospital was levelled (save for a single section of wall directly underneath the point of explosion), and everyone inside was killed immediately.

And now? The hospital was rebuilt in exactly the same spot, with the same name. It was run by the same doctor, and when he retired, his son took over and is currently in charge.

Anyway, after a fascinating but quite depressing day, I took yesterday to visit a few places, the highlight of which was the Hiroshima Meteorological Museum. This was, coincidentally, a building that was around before 1945 and survived the bomb.

As well as displays on weather forecasting, etc, the museum has old instruments, and weather charts and sketches from 6th August 1945.

The original sketches of the mushroom cloud.

It also featured 2 hands-on exhibits - a typhoon model, which pumped some kind of smoke into a small room (in which you were standing) and then proceeded to provide rotation and low pressure in the centre, creating a miniature model of a typhoon right in front of (and around) you, and, much to my delight, a wind tunnel in which you could experience winds of about 20m/s (getting towards enough to rip panels from houses).

I will probably never live down the photo I decided to take, but it's too funny not to post.

Wind speed of 20m/s+.

Since I was the only person in the museum I partook of this hilarity about 5 times. It was great.

Moving on, today I took a ride to the Mazda museum, and had an (English!) guided tour of both the museum and a section of the production line. I actually got to see them assembling real cars on a moving line - the new Mazda 2, RX-8 (I want one), MX-5 and something else I can't remember.

There was also a great exhibit on the Mazda Rotary Engine, with lots of moving models, etc, along with explanations of the entire RX-8 production process (including an amazing display of an RX-8 broken down into every single component part (screws and all), labelled and laid out across the floor and walls. I didn't get any photos since they don't like you taking cameras in (for security, I guess) so you'll just have to take my word for how great this was.

Tomorrow I will most likely take a day trip to Miyajima to see the famous 'floating Torii gate', assuming the high tide is right (if it isn't, the Torii is surrounded by mud and not water). But that's something for the next blog, anyway.

Until next time...
James

Sakura

2008-04-06T08:11:00.003+01:00

Well, I am back in Osaka, and back on 'mainland' Japan. Despite frankly not really liking Osaka very much, I was met with a pleasant (although not entirely unexpected) suprise.

It's a nice day here so I took a trip back to Osaka-jo castle, the first thing I visited when I arrived in Japan, which is basically surrounded on 3 sides by cherry trees. Naturally, half of Osaka was there too.

Sakura (cherry blossom) season is a special one in Japan, and for about 2 weeks everybody revels in the opportunity for 'hanami' (blossom viewing), with parties aplenty. Every inch of space around Osaka-jo and in Osaka-jo-koen (the surrounding park) was taken up with picnics and BBQs, families and people of all ages out to enjoy this annual event. It's effectively a huge 2 week festival, complete with festival food stalls and copious amounts of beer and sake.

I have one more day in Osaka tomorrow, so I may go to Tennoji-koen for a hopefully slightly quieter (I guess Sunday is the busiest day) look at the sakura there. After that, I think I may move back to Kyoto for a couple of days to revisit a few places there while the sakura is still in the Kansai area, which should provide some spectacular photos. Beyond that, who knows (maybe Nara, finally).

Anyway, I need to do exciting things like sort through the mass of clothing I need to wash. Just one of the slightly less glamorous parts of travel, but neccessary...

More to come soon!
James

EDIT: I completely forgot to mention my last night in Naha, Okinawa. I went back to this great little microbrewery on Kokusai-dori (the absolutely crazy 'international street') called Helios, and the bartender, who I had previously become quite friendly with, mentioned that it was his birthday. It was also his co-worker's first day working in Helios, and it was my last day in Okinawa. These three events combined meant that the three of us went out to this great little bar/restaurant that only a local would know about.

There was a 'moat' of hot water in front of the counter (which seated all of about 6 people) into which you put your feet (without shoes and socks, obviously). This was a strange but quite relaxing feeling - sitting in a bar/restaurant with your feet in warm water is not something you do every day. The three of us had a great time there, as did the chef, who seemed to delight in bringing out samples of various foods to test the nerve (and stomach) of this foreigner. Trying them all, they weren't too bad - until he brought out salted fish intestines, which were probably the worst thing I have ever eaten in my life, not because they were fish intestines but rather because it was unbelievably salty. I need to bring a jar of it home if I can find it, because my companions found my reaction absolutely hilarious (and rightly so, too), and I'd love to share the experience...

All in all, not a bad night. It's not often you get invited to a birthday party in a foreign country, and it was definately a great example of Japanese hospitality, providing some real lasting memories...and lasting tastes, too...

The last week (brace yourself)

2008-04-03T14:55:00.005+01:00

Ok, I guess I owe everyone an update. This isn't going to be a small one, either, taking in a week's worth of stuff (with photos!).

I guess we start with my leaving Naha on an overnight ferry bound for Ishigaki, 14 long hours south. Ferry journeys are unbelievably dull, and the bunks aren't the most comfortable so you're not going to get a great deal of sleep either. However, the journey out there was made much easier by the interesting people aboard the ship.

Sunset aboard the Arimura Line ferry bound for Ishigaki

First I went outside to the back of the ship to get some air, and was quickly invited over by 3 Japanese friends (work colleagues, actually). We talked for hours in a wonderful mix of broken English and broken Japanese over vending machine beers and cup noodles and parted ways about midnight. Still not content with going to sleep I headed back outside and found a guy sitting playing the guitar. I spent another 45 mins or so out here, talking with him about music (and scotch whiskey, bizarrely) and he played some Beatles hits and attempted Stairway To Heaven for his one-man audience.

After a couple of hours of bad sleep, the ferry deposited us at Ishigaki at about 5:30am, at which point everything is closed and it's still dark. Great. I followed a school party, hoping they'd lead me to something, and they actually brought me to the smaller local port. Here I bought a ticket for the first boat at 7am to Iriomote-jima, my intended destination, and off I went once again.

Sunrise aboard the small local boat bound for Iriomote-jima

After some confusion about the location of camp sites on Iriomote-jima (note to Lonely Planet: next time a camp site is 4km from the nearest bus stop, please put this in the book) I pitched my Tarptent and set off down to the beach for a look around. This campsite was precisely one minute's walk from said beach. Check this out.

Tarptent and Kifaru EMR pack at Hoshisuna campsite

Hoshisuna-no-Hama beach, one minute from my campsite

Clownfish in a sea anemone on the coral reef surrounding Hoshisuna beach

This place is beautiful and teeming with various forms of live so I'll just let the above pictures give a very rough idea (I have lots more). Another oddity of Hoshisuna-no-Hama beach is in the name - 'Hoshisuna' means 'star sand', and that's exactly what washes up here and almost nowhere else. I couldn't get a photo (it's much too small) but areas of the beach are covered in sand which is actually the remains of tiny sea creatures, and so has a 4 or 5-pointed star shape. I believe about the only other place this occurs is on Taketomi-jima (see later).

The following day I took a bus further along the north coast to take a boat up the Urauchi-gawa river - the longest in all Okinawa. Often described as being like a short stretch of the Amazon, it's lined with mangroves and further upstream lie numerous waterfalls and the start trailhead of the 18km cross-island trail.

A stretch of the Urauchi-gawa river, lined with mangroves

More of the river, with flowers in among the mangroves

One of the waterfalls (Mariyudō-no-taki) a short walk upstream of where the river boat docks

...and another one further on (no idea of the name), in the jungle itself

The walk to the waterfalls is pretty pleasant, if a little sticky. If it's like this in March/April, I would hate to be here in August. I'd imagine you'd drown in your own sweat.

That night I wandered down to the beach again, this time in the dark. The animal life there at this time is totally different. As well as being teeming with crabs (which scatter as you walk near them), there are bizarre fish which appear to fly out of the water for quite long distances (no idea what they are), but the most impressive thing I saw (and I wish I could have taken a photo of) was a pair of sea snakes in the shallow water. Sea snakes are the most venomous in the world and since I like snakes I've always wanted to see one - now I've seen two!

The next day I took a bus south to the Iriomote Wildlife Centre to find out more information on the island's wildlife, and in particular to see the Iriomote Yamaneko, or Iriomote Wildcat. Very rare (estimates stand at 80-100 in total, and they are only found here) and hardly ever seen, the IWC deals with the rehabilitation of cats hit by traffic, etc, and so offers an opportunity to actually see one. Being a 'cat person' this was something I couldn't pass up. In size and shape they are rather underwhelming, but I was fortunate enough to see one catch and eat a snake in the rehabilitation area - much more impressive!

Iriomote Yamaneko (not live, obviously) - about the size of a domestic cat

The area around the IWC. If this isn't like something out of Jurassic Park, I don't know what is...

That night the weather closed right in and I was subjected to a torrential downpour and strong winds. When I got out of my tent in the morning (after praying it'd survive the night, which it did!) there was a river running through the field. Impressive.

The poor guy camped next to me needed a few lessons in how to pitch a tent. This is what happens when you pitch it badly, the wind hits it head-on, and your tarp is in the wrong place...

There is more I wanted to do on Iriomote-jima, particularly the kayak/walk to the Pinaisara-no-taki waterfall, but they require more than one person, and your own transport (buses are very infrequent here). I'll be back.

Anyway, the next day I packed up my stuff (after trying to dry it off, to little avail) and headed back to Ishigaki.

A visit to the tiny and very traditional island of Taketomi-jima was then on the agenda. Moments away from being designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site (or so I hear - they just need to lose the overhead power lines), Taketomi-jima has tried to keep the traditional look and feel of an old Ryukyu village, and has largely succeeded. It makes a nice place to wander about, and is a nice break from the usual concrete jungles of Japanese urban developments. All houses have the old red roofs, all walls are made of natural materials and all the roads are paved with crushed coral instead of tarmac.

A stray cat in front of a house on Taketomi-jima

Another thing this island is notable for is the number of stray cats. Apparently, 1/3 of Taketomi's population is over 70 years old. I guess the other 2/3 must be cats. As a cat lover, this is a major problem, since you quickly acquire new friends...

These two guys followed me halfway across the island, frequently making me trip over one or both of them

This one seemed to want the ice cream I was eating at the time, but settled for having his belly rubbed instead

No description neccessary...

For my last full day in Ishigaki I headed out to climb Nosoko-dake - the core of an eroded volcano. The Lonely Planet guide describes it as 'steep', but this is not an adequate description. Its peak is only 282m, but look at the photo below and you'll see this is not a gentle walk.

Nosoko-dake from the closest bus stop, 15 mins from the proper trailhead

It's hard to convey what it's like spending about an hour climbing a constant 45 degree slope of slippery mud, twisted tree roots and large rocks in a subtropical jungle with absolutely no breeze and in 100% humidity, but the words 'sticky' and 'knackering' would be a good start. Being under constant assault by mosquitos and ENORMOUS wasps (I'm not kidding here, these things were almost an inch long) just makes it all more exciting, I guess.

The steep, overgrown path up Nosoko-dake. Photos can't really show how steep this really is.

Amid the lush jungle, if you can spare the time, there is a huger variety of wildlife to be found, most of which appear to be lizards.

Some kind of gecko, I think

Another lizard of some type

The climb is a nightmare, but the views from the top are well worth it. I suspect they're better on a clear day, but even on a cloudy day (it started raining after I got down) they're still not bad.

The trek down is almost as bad as the trek up. If going up is hard on your calves, going back down is hard on your knees - you certainly feel it when you reach the bottom! The ropes they provide at certain points to pull yourself up are arguably more useful here, to stop yourself sliding head-first down the mountain.

Somehow making it down without a broken neck, I got the last bus back to Ishigaki (there are 3 buses a day so I had to wait nearly 2 hours for it) and got ready for the long 14 hour return ferry to Naha, spying some more curious 'Engrish' along the way.

I assume this is meant to be a 'Darts Bar', but I have no clue what 'A GOO' is meant to be...

And so today brought on a mind-numbingly boring ferry journey, which, due to a restaurant timetable which could at best be described as 'a litle weird', was survived entirely on cup noodles and Doritos. I must confess that after getting off the ferry at 9pm and booking into a business hotel I plucked at random from Lonely Planet, I headed to McDonalds. I might be in Japan, but I guess there are some hungers that only a Big Mac can cure. A day of only noodles is one of them.

So here I am, back in Naha. I'm going to go back to my hotel and sleep, and figure out what I'm doing tomorrow - my last day in Okinawa. After that I head back to Osaka on mainland Japan, and from there, who knows. Obviously, blog updates will continue (and hopefully more than once a week again), so keep checking back.

Take care everyone,
James

Not dead

2008-03-30T09:51:00.003+01:00

Hi guys,
Just a quick note - I'm not dead or anything, just there was no net access at all on Iriomote-jima. I'm now in a hotel in Ishigaki (on Ishigaki-jima) which has PCs with internet access but no USB port...

I have, however, found an internet cafe so I should be able to upload some of my many, many photos from Iriomote tomorrow. Hang around, they WILL come.

James

EDIT: Sorry folks, more delays. It seems all the PCs on Ishigaki run on steam power and I've not found a single one running Windows XP yet (and I've tried my hotel and 3 internet cafes). That means I can't upload from my camera (not without installing drivers, anyway). Hang on and they will come, I'm just not sure when.

Sunny Okinawa!

2008-03-24T09:44:00.006Z

Welcome to sunny Okinawa!

Well, it's certainly tropical. Words cannot describe how hard it rained yesterday.

However, the rain didn't stop me from heading out on a long bus journey (even longer when you get utterly lost in a Japanese-only bus network) to the Peace Memorial Park down in southern Okinawa. Despite having to walk around it in the rain (the museum was good for a nice dry hour, though), it was really quite sobering, as well as being quite unusual for a war cemetery, listing Okinawan civilians and foreign troops killed in the fighting right alongside the Japanese soldiers. This caused some controversy, but I can't see why it should be any other way.

Anyway, I'll let a couple of photos speak for themselves.

The above is the 'flame of peace', which wasn't lit because it was raining. Oh well.

This is the first real good view I got of the Okinawan coastline (despite it being an island...), which is the view from the end of the Peace Park.

Last night I found this wierd restaurant, in which I had a wonderful seafood pasta dish (right out of the sea about an hour ago, I suspect). I met a couple of American guys at the Peace Park, who were being contracted by the Navy and flying to an aircraft carrier today, so we all went in together. It's absurd and kinda tacky, but that's half of the fun, and the food was suprisingly good. Check it out.

Afterwards I found a neat little back-street Izakaya (Japanese pub, basically) with live Okinawan music and beer from the classic Okinawan brewery (Orion beer is an Okinawan institution).

The weather today has been really nice so I think the rain has moved out now. I went and booked my ferry to Ishigaki today (leaves on Wednesday), which turns out to be a 14 hour overnight journey, from where I can get a short ferry out to Iriomote-jima. For some inexplicable reason ferries only seem to run to Ishigaki every couple of days, and only run back to Naha once a week, but it's all worked out fairly well anyway, giving me about a week down there, which should be just about right.

I also found a microbrewery serving great food here so I grabbed some lunch and tried one of their brews (they're called Helios and you will NEVER drink it anywhere else), and ended up scoring one of the spectacular tall glasses they use. Lord knows how I'll send it back to the UK, but I'm going to try, since it beats most of the tacky souvenirs you can buy around here (like these stupid supposedly-comical cartoon Shisas. I want a real Shisa instead, but there are none small enough to take home).

Anyway, my time at this manga cafe (a cafe of sorts where you get a comfy chair, free soft drinks, access to a PC with a huge screen and a massive library of manga comics to flick through, all for about 400 Yen an hour) is running out so I should move on. I'll try to upload some more photos when I get back from Iriomote, if not before.

Sayonnara,
James

EDIT: But not before I got a mention on Planet Rock, which is officially available 'All over the planet' thanks to the wonders of internet streaming radio. Thanks, Rob Birnie.

One more before Okinawa

2008-03-21T14:15:00.003Z

Ok, so my hotel in Osaka does have a free internet PC so I can post once more before I head off to tropical Okinawa tomorrow.

Today was uneventful with one exception. The JR Kyoto line, which you use during your journey between Nagoya and Osaka (unless you do it all on the Shinkansen bullet train), passes through the small town of Yamazaki. Yamazaki possesses one thing of note:

The Suntory Yamazaki Whiskey Distillery

Should you manage to make your way there, you can take a half-hour guided tour of the distillery, following the process of making whiskey all the way from the initial ingredients, through mashing, fermentation, distillation and aging, ending with a tasting session of the finished product.

How much does this cost? The princely sum of ZERO.

I don't have the time to really go into details, but the tour was great (it was in Japanese but there was good signing in English), the distillery itself was fascinating to walk around, and the tasting was superb (they basically throw it at you, I guess in the hope you'll then spend more money in the shop).

A few photos:

This is the 'Whiskey Library', walls of shelves all containing different whiskeys. This is amazing (it keeps going all round the walls of the room).

Inside one of the aging warehouses. There are casks going back to 1924 in here (the first Japanese whiskey, apparently).

Trying the Suntory Yamazaki 18yo - great stuff, but at over 100GBP a bottle (THIS is why they aim to get you drunk after the tour) it should be.

I bought a pen, a branded nosing glass and a couple of small bottles and had them sent home from the local post office (so I get the Yamazaki post mark on there, too). Hopefully using half the world's supply of bubble-wrap will keep them intact.

Anyway, off to Okinawa tomorrow. I don't know when I'll next get to update this, so hang tight. If I can, I will.

Take care all,
James

Rain rain rain

2008-03-20T12:54:00.003Z

I woke up here on my last full day in Nagoya this morning, and it was raining again! Argh.

In fact, today provided even more problems. Not only was it raining, but it was a national holiday of some sort, which meant everyone wanted to go somewhere. There aren't many indoor attractions in Nagoya, so whatever you choose, it's going to be packed.

I chose to take a look at the Port Of Nagoya area. Yes, it was packed.

The port area has been redeveloped in recent years (apparently) to draw in the tourists. Attractions here include an aquarium, an observation deck, a maritime museum, an Antarctic museum (on board the Fuji, an Antarctic exploration vessel permanently docked at the port) and, somewhat bizarrely, an 'Italian Village'. A ticket to all of these (bar the village which is free) costs 2400 Yen all in (about 12GBP or 24USD), which isn't a bad deal.

The aquarium was superb, and I found it better than Osaka's. This was mainly because it has an excellent selection of dolphins and whales, and, at several points throughout the day, dolphin and whale shows. I was lucky enough to catch the Orca show from underwater (through the tank viewing panel) and a later dolphin show from the 3000 person stadium built around the pool. Very impressive indeed. Add to this the usual array of displays (coral reef, deep sea, etc) and it's a good way to kill a few hours without getting (too) wet.

Later on I moved onto the Fuji. You first walk around in a self-guided fashion to see how Antarctic exploration on a ship is carried out (which is actually quite fascinating) and what the living conditions are like. It also houses the Antarctic museum, which is a small but very interesting (and bilingual) museum about the continent itself.

Moving on from there I went to the observation deck (not much in bad weather, really) and the Maritime museum (disappointingly entirely in Japanese).

Finally I figured I'd take a wander to the Italian Village, which proved quite...well, strange. Someone thought it'd be a good idea to attempt to recreate Venice (complete with canals, etc) in Nagoya, and really, it doesn't work. Think of a Disney version of Venice, like the whole city crammed into 3 square blocks - overdosing on statues and pizza restaurants is seemingly what this place does best. Oh, and ice-cream - I bought an ice-cream (which was crazy, considering the weather, but I don't care) from a place offering 'Gelato, softdrink, meet pie'. Do I really want to meet this 'pie' guy? I don't know.

Anyway. That's the Port Of Nagoya area - a mix of the impressive, the not quite so impressive (unless you speak Japanese, I guess) and the just plain wierd.

And that's also my day today. Tomorrow I travel back to Osaka, hopefully with a brief stop for a guided tour of the Suntory Yamazaki whiskey distillery thrown in for good measure, before flying to Okinawa on Saturday. I can't guarantee internet access there, but I'll try my best.

Take care everyone,
James

Planes, trains and automobiles (and rain)

2008-03-19T08:35:00.002Z

Another day in Nagoya, except this time, the weather is ABYSMAL. Rain - consistent, cold, winter rain - all day. Unsure of what exactly to do, I hit Google in the hope of finding enclosed attractions, and I found out that Toyota are largely based in the Nagoya area. This is great for 2 reasons:

1 - The Toyota Automobile Museum is about an hour away by train, and is entirely enclosed
2 - You can book free tours around one of the Toyota assembly plants

The museum made the ideal thing to do on a rainy day, so off I went via a combination of subway and a private railway line (the Linimo, Japan's first MagLev railway - click here for more information).

The Toyota Automobile Museum is not, as you might imagine, a museum of purely Toyota cars. Rather, it traces the history of the automobile from the first steam cars through to the late 1990s (the newest car on display is a prototype Toyota Prius hybrid car). This covers all manufacturers from all over the world, spread over 2 large floors (one for Japanese cars, one for cars from other countries), plus a special exhibit in the annex. The vehicles on display are all lovingly restored and displayed (with both Japanese and English notes, too) and it's all really rather impressive. The only problem is that the lighting isn't great for photos (at least not for small cameras), but it's all very pleasing to the eye and a good way to kill a few hours.

On to point 2, the factory tour. You have to reserve this 2 or more weeks in advance, so I need to look at my dates and find a convenient time. However, from what I hear (and I only hear good things about this), you get picked up and taken to one of Toyota's current production plants. Here you get a guided tour (even in English if you ask) of both the hand-production line, where people work to put cars together, and of the welding plant, where the huge robots work to weld all the major component parts of the chassis together.

The best part? It's free. Absolutely free. I don't know why Toyota feel the need to be so generous, but I'm not going to complain, and I think I'll take them up on the offer. You can't take photos, but obviously you can write about it, so I should be able to put up an entry about that in a few weeks time.

Oh, and while I'm in a technological frame of mind, watch out for the first airplane manufactured by Mitsubishi, currently in development. I got talking to a guy from Chicago last night, who was over here working on Mitsubishi's very first (a 100 seat small passenger aircraft, if you really want to know). It must be a tough market to break into but they're going to try, so if that interests you, keep an eye out.

Anyway, enough of the technological stuff, even if I am in Japan. It just all makes a refreshing change from shrines, temples and castles, at least until Okinawa serves up its mix of tropical waters and mangrove swamps, which should prove to be absolutely beautiful.

Take care everyone,
James

Nagoya

2008-03-18T07:54:00.002Z

So here I am in Nagoya. Like I said before, Nagoya reminds me a little of Kobe for some reason, and I quite liked Kobe, so that's no bad thing.

I've decided to stay here a couple more nights if I can, rather than moving on to Nara. There's more I want to see here and in the surrounding areas, and accomodation in Nara is hard to come by right now, so I'm going to try a couple of days there when I get back from Okinawa. The temples and parks in Nara may then coincide with the sakura (cherry blossom) season which would surely be quite spectacular.

What does Nagoya have to offer? There's a very attractive castle (sadly a replica, since the original was entirely levelled in 1945) with some very nice gardens, plenty of temples and shrines, a couple of decent parks (although one appears to have a fairly large homeless population - a side of Japan arguably not often seen), some decent opportunities to pick up some traditional items to send back home (and for sub-Tokyo prices, too), and some smaller attractions in outlying areas. Not a bad place to kill a few days.

Also of note is one of the largest 'gaijin bars' in the country, which I found quite by accident - it's a great place to find out information about the area, and to meet people with some grasp on the English language, too. I ended up making two good friends there last night - an ex-university student from Manchester, UK now living here with her Japanese boyfriend. This afternoon I went for a delicious tonkatsu lunch (tonkastsu is a breaded pork cutlet usually served with rice, miso soup, etc - Nagoya tonkatsu is served with a dark miso sauce quite unlike anywhere else, making it something of a local specialty) with them, and although she had to run to work afterwards, her boyfriend took my round the Osu area of Nagoya and gave me a good insight into day-to-day Japanese life. Oh, and I found out about a Japanese university scholarship (the MEXT Scholarship) which is, for me, well worth looking into.

Anyway, I need to run to see what appears to be some strange march (complete with what sounds like chanting monks) outside my hotel.

James

More photos!

2008-03-16T13:05:00.002Z

Well I haven't updated this thing for 5 days so I guess I owe you all:
1 - an apology
2 - some photos

I have a computer (in fact, a floor of this hotel) to myself and it closes in 2 hours time so I can upload lots of pictures for you guys to take a look at, plus explanation (and some of them need it). I won't go into extensive detail about everything I've seen over the last 5 or so days, either, because that'd most likely be pretty boring. Instead, I'll just give photos with some related words, in rough chronological order.

Let's start with last Sunday in Kyoto, in fact. I mentioned the kids dancing in front of the city hall, to 50s rock and roll. Here you go:

Next a photo of that tiny shrine in the hills near Nanzen-in that I mentioned last time. Not visible: waterfall or even tinier shrine up in the rocks. But this gives you an idea of it.

The next one is of the entrance to a shrine in the Gion area of Kyoto. The real name evades me but it's known locally as 'Gion-san', and is considered the area's local guardian shrine. This is where Gion residents come on New Year's Eve to pray for good luck in the upcoming year.

This next photo is a slice of photo album, picture-perfect Japan. I can't remember quite where it was, and I certainly don't know it's name (I don't think it was even in the Lonely Planet book) but I think this provided some of my favourite photos so far. Oh, that's a real heron (or whatever it is) perched on top of the shrine itself.

Here is a horrible photo of me gurning in the pouring rain (I was soaked through, or at least my lower half was) in front of the ENORMOUS torii gate leading to Kyoto's Heian-jingu shrine, just to prove I am actually here and not writing this from my bedroom in the UK.

My final entry, as it were, is of a festival I attended yesterday. I only knew about this thanks to one of my new friends here, who recommended I went. It turns out that this is a 'gaijin holy grail' - something all foreigners in Japan hear whispers of, but which relatively few actually end up managing to see. I got to see it. The subject of the festival is the fertility of the land for the year's upcoming harvest.

The day starts with food (crepes, takoyaki, okonomiyaki, sausages, chicken skewers, etc) and relaxed beers (with no raging drunks, I might add) while seated in the premium milk crate seating area.

Come 2pm (it was actually late though, surely a first in Japan!) the crowd gathers to view the parade. The Japanese can be suprisingly aggressive, and suprisingly tall, when they really want to see something.

The parade arrives, centered around the portable shrine. This is the portable shrine. No, I am not kidding, and yes, that is exactly what you think it is.

Japan, you may have some crazy stuff, but I'm going to have to work mighty hard to top this one.

Anyway, I am currently in Nagoya, thanks to the Nozomi super-express Shinkansen (bullet train) which took 44 minutes to do what took me over 2 hours on regular trains yesterday. Nagoya reminds me of Kobe despite being much bigger (the fourth largest city in Japan, I believe), which is a good thing.

More photos tomorrow, possibly, but before tomorrow I need to sleep. Goodnight everyone.

James

More of Kyoto

2008-03-11T13:27:00.003Z

Hi folks,
Kyoto is certainly full of grand temples and shrines, but today I had the good fortune to stumble across something, quite by accident, which I think ranks amongst the most pleasing and suprising things I've seen here so far.

While exploring the Nanzen-ji temple area (which is HUGE), I followed a small path up into the hills past one of the sub-temples because, literally, I was interested to see where it went. The path became steeper as it went up into the hills around Kyoto, and then after maybe 5 mins steep walk it suddenly opened out into a forest clearing.

In the clearing was this wonderful little shrine, completely on its own and with no-one around, the only noise being that of a tiny waterfall behind it (complete with its own little incense-burning shrine). I noticed another little tiny path up to the right of that, so I took that up and it led to the tiniest little Buddhist shrine/altar you will ever see, actually cut into the rock in the middle of the forest. I have no idea why it was there, but it was probably more impressive than any of the huge temples I've seen around Kyoto (as great as they are).

It's difficult to describe the scene so I'll try to find some way of uploading photos off my camera at some point, but you'll have to hang on for that.

Oh, on a slightly different theme I bought a few of you some little bits and pieces today (as promised). I'll probably end up shipping them home from here since I don't want to carry the damn things around for the next 2 1/2 months, but you still won't get them until I get back (sorry).

Anyway, I should run. Feel free to email me - I'll try to read and respond to them all (at least for the time being).

James

Making friends in Japan

2008-03-10T02:51:00.002Z

I've dived into this internet place for now since the weather is pretty terrible right now and apparently it will be all day, so I'm trying to find something I can do without getting drenched (which puts temple-hopping right out of the equation).

Anyway, if there's one thing many younger Japanese enjoy it's the chance to test out their English on a genuine foreigner (particularly English people, as opposed to Americans, presumably because of the accent). Yesterday when I stumbled across the Ireland Festival here in Kyoto, I got talking to some young Japanese people of about the same age who were in charge of running the information desk. It's amazing how far a little Japanese and a little English will go, and in the end Mayu, Arisa and I arranged to go for an Irish meal (to mark a very early St. Patrick's Day, I suppose).

Talking over a traditional Irish stew (a rarity in Japan, surely?) I managed to learn some basic Japanese, the difference between Kanji, Katakana and Hiragana script, how names are written in each (and when), what names can mean when their Kanji symbols' meanings are interpreted. I learnt about Japanese music and film (of the modern kind). I learnt about all sorts. In return they learnt about much the same - some more English (although their English was suprisingly good, and certainly better than my Japanese), about English music (although it's way morw widespread here than Japanese music is in the West)...

A couple of hours later and I've made two good friends in an entirely alien country. You can definately go around all the temples and shrines you like, and watch as much Japanese TV as you want, but you will never fully experience a country unless you make the effort to actually get to know the people as well, especially in your own age group (funnily enough, they both said they never got to speak to younger English people either, which suprised me a little).

I guess I'd better move on since I've almost used up all my 20 mins just typing this (Japanese keyboards seem very cramped so I keep hitting the wrong keys).

More updates soon, hopefully with photos if I can connect my USB lead to my hotel's PC.

Take care,
James

Sunday in downtown Kyoto

2008-03-09T08:52:00.002Z

Today I thought I'd take it easy and explore downtown Kyoto on a Sunday, after all the lost wanderings of yesterday.

First stop was the Kyoto International Manga Museum. Manga, for those of you not clued up on Japanese culture, is Japanese comics. Whereas comics in the West tend to be aimed squarely at children, in Japan they are aimed at EVERYONE, often tackling complex social issues and telling long and complicated tales as well as providing a form as escapism, much as written novels do back home. Much of the artwork is absolutely beautiful and I whiled away a good time looking along the 'wall of manga' (an enormous 3 FLOOR LIBRARY) of manga publications. On display was also original artwork from manga and anime (literally, animated manga, which covers much the same ground) including (if you're not a fan, move on here) Darker Than Black, Cowboy Bebop and Naruto (just for you, Simon). No photos, since photography was prohibited, but it was beautiful and fascinating, at least if you knew what you were looking at.

After that I stumbled across the Kyoto City Hall. This was interesting for two reasons. Firstly, the grounds in front are at their best on a Sunday afternoon, I presume. I think the sight of a bunch of Japanese youths dressed in tight leather trousers, black shirts, big brass belt buckles, black leather shoes and with swept-back hair, all dancing to 50's rock and roll in the middle of a concrete park is probably the most absurd thing I've seen here, and that's saying a lot. I got some interesting photos and even some video I may try to post some time.

Finally I moved into the subway station for a coffee and what did I find? The Kyoto Ireland Festival. I didbn't expect that. Live Irish music in the middle of the subway entrance, free Jameson's tasting sessions which seemed to be going down a treat with any businessmen around at the time, and a street-level parade (which I sadly didn't get a photo of since my battery ran out).

All in all, considering the tiny area I covered, the amount of stuff I saw was unbelievable. Different from temples and shrines, but an equally valid part of Japanese life and culture and a wonderful window on it all.

Oh, and I forgot to mention the evening/late--night live music party (jazz, mainly) down by Kyoto river last night. Again, found totally by accident with the help of the two American guys I bumped into where I was eating), this was another thing that can only really be conveyed in photos. Where in the US or UK the place by the river would be filled with tramps and drug dealers, here it was a lively jazz party. No-one seemed to know why, but it was there and it was good, so everyone just embraced it and enjoyed themselves.

Right, better run before I get kicked off the computer in this new hotel (which is great).

Cheers all,
James

Kyoto

2008-03-08T09:20:00.004Z

Konbanwa,
I just got in from my first full day exploring the wonders of Kyoto, often regarded as Japan's most beautiful city. I don't have photos now (I can't be bothered uploading them, but I might do either later tonight or tomorrow), but the aforementioned regards are true - it's amazing, and a far cry from the concrete jungle of Osaka (at least, if you wander even slightly off the beaten track).

And wander off the beaten track I did. I started off visiting the Imperial Palace (where new Emperors are still sworn in). You have to be over 20 and have a reservation to actually go in (s0 that's me out) but the public gardens/forest around the outside are wonderful. Then I attempted to navigate the Kyoto City Bus system and somehow made it to Kinkaku-ji, the famed 'golden temple' and one of the defining sights of Japan. Google it if you want a sneak preview, but it's pretty stunning. I'm tempted to go back when the light is better and/or in the cherry blossom (sakura) season to get even better photos.

Then off to the old town of Arashiyama, where I managed to get a tasty lunch of tempura soba (battered prawns on a bowl of thin buckwheat noodles in a fishy broth). When I say these prawns were the size of a fish like a sardine, I'm not lying. Following that I explored the temple and grounds at Tenryu-ji, and actually tagged along with a young couple of Stoke, UK (whoever you are, thanks for the map).

Following that I got utterly lost in Arashiyama, a much nicer prospect than getting lost in Osaka. This lead me not to find the temple I was looking for (Gio-ji) but a little place called Danrin-ji. The old guy obviously in charge of the place gave me a personal guided tour of the traditional Buddhist temple - despite the fact I caught him about 15 mins before closing time, he was more than happy to show me around. Again, another example of how so many people seem more than happy to go out of their way for foreigners in their midst.

After than I stumbled back through the streets of Arashiyama, with no particular clue where I was, and happened to spot a pair of apprentice geisha on their way down the street. I'd heard this was the place to see geisha and I wasn't let down.

I've not even scratched the surface of Kyoto here - indeed, there's more to see in Arashiyama and I may go back tomorrow to catch the things I missed.

Right, must run before my time on this PC runs out again...

Take care,
James

A second post in one day? Madness!

2008-03-07T12:24:00.003Z

Hi all,
I just realised my hotel (I say hotel, it's actually a ryokan - Google it) has free net access and also has a working and open USB port. Great success!

I've attached a couple of photos of mine (finally!). Apologies for the image sizes - I have no way to resize but the connection here is fast enough for it not to matter.

The first is of some early cherry/plum blossom I spotted out in Osaka around Osaka-jo (Osaka castle) and its attached park. It's early yet but a few of the trees seem way out of synch with where they should be - they should be blossoming in a month or so here.

The second is of some bizarre 'Engrish' advertising I spotted down by Osaka aquarium, which I know some of you will get a kick out of (Si and Andrew, especially).

Third is a shot of the Earthquake Memorial Park in Kobe - in particular, a section of Pier 3 kept as it was exactly after the 1996 quake. It's only a tiny section but it's enough to be quite a powerful reminder.

Last is a shot of a garden in Kyoto, about 5 mins walk away from my current hotel/ryokan. It's an interesting example of how the Japanese manage to work areas of total tranquility into the midst of a bustling (and very noisy) metropolis.

I have a load more to say, much of it about how crazy this place is (in the best possible way), but it's hard to put into words without writing a short novel. I guess the platforms at Kobe train station which play the tune to "I've been working on the railroad" when a train approaches are a good start.

Must dash before my time on this PC is up.

Take care all,
James

PS - Expect more updates, potentially with photos, since I've actually found a couple of good internet access points now, and I'm in Kyoto for a week.

About time...

2008-03-07T02:54:00.002Z

Hi all,
Finally found a PC that I can post to here from so here goes...

From the email I sent around you probably figured I got to Osaka with no problems (besides getting lost finding the hotel). I spent a couple of nights there, saw Osaka-jo castle (which I really, really wish I could upload some photos of) and got a great view from about 200m up the Umeda Sky Building. Then it started to rain.

Due to a combination of poor planning on my part, and just plain getting lost (the Japanese seem to have an aversion to labelling streets with names) I managed to blister my feet pretty nicely so I'm buying packs of blister pads like there's no tomorrow. Anyway, I moved on to see the Osaka Aquarium (containing the world's largest aquarium tank) and ended up walking around it at the same time as a party of what must have been several hundred young school kids. Seeing a foreigner in their midst caused much excitement.

Moving on from the aquarium and the surrounding port area, I went to find my new hotel...

...which turned out to be a total dive, located in what must be the ass-end of Osaka.

Next day I jumped on the first train to Kobe looking for a break from the somewhat unrelenting concrete mass of Osaka, and I found it.

There was a flurry of snow as soon as I arrived in Kobe (which seemed pretty unexpected since the temperatures are reasonable right now) and I finally hunted down a fine Okonomiyaki place, which I'd been after since I arrived. True to form, the best places are usually located off the beaten path, and this place (called Tada, in case you ever come to Kobe) did a fine Okonomiyaki. Fine except for the octopus in my mixed one, but you have to try everything once, right?

Further exploration yielded a decent business hotel a mile above the dump in Osaka, and a number of hidden shrines and the like. Some of these are beautiful and if I can find a way to upload the photos I will do.

Another suprise in Kobe was another fine restaurant, about a block away from my hotel down another little street. Called Nailey's Cafe, this place served the best pizza I have eaten outside of Italy, the best salad I have ever eaten, and had the most bizarre feel inside (National Geographic covers on the wall, Discovery Channel HD on a projector on the wall, and a life-size wicker reindeer standing inside by the door - I didn't get it either). The owners were unbelievably hospitable and spoke decent English to boot. Oh, and the Suntory Premium Malts beer was tasty too. If I go back to Kobe (likely, since beyond the rather striking Earthquake Memorial Park and the aforementioned shrines, I have some stuff I'd still like to see) I'll be back there.

The Earthquake Memorial Park can't really be explained without photos but they've preserved a section of one of the piers exactly as it was after the quake, and it really shows the raw power of what happened to Kobe back in 1996.

I'm running out of internet time here, but I've just arrived in Kyoto using the ever-efficient train system and thought I'd finally drop a post in here while I have the chance. More to come soon.

Take care all,
James