Heading home- final thoughts on the trip

I am sitting on my flight back to Hawaii. I just looked over all my pictures from the whole trip. People often ask you “what was the highlight” or “favorite.” It is often difficult to answer- it certainly is in this case. The highlight was the whole trip- simply being in Japan for 3 weeks. I have seen Japan from the insider’s perspective and the outsider’s perspective. What I mean by that is when I am with Kuniko or Kuniko’s family I am seeing Japan with an inside perspective. We go to restaurants that would never be in a guidebook and even if they were it would be very difficult to order food off the menu- cause it isn’t in English. Kuniko’s family- both her parents and Aunt and Uncle welcomed me into their homes and experiencing another country in this manner is a very special thing- not to mention having the opportunity to eat in there homes which is different from going out to eat. The showers are different, the way trash is sorted out is different- lots of little (and some not so little) differences that you don’t experience as a traveler. Also when traveling alone you miss out on a lot of stuff- for example in museums or temples the English explanation is very short- often much shorter than the Japanese. On the plus side when I am by myself I can see things from my own perspective and take in all in without explanation which can be exciting.

I have traveled quite a bit and I have enjoyed all of the places I have been, however, for me there was something special about traveling in Japan. First off it is the safest place I have traveled- there simply are no bad neighborhoods and almost no crime- amazing when you consider the size of the cities we are talking about. Secondly the Japanese may simply be the most helpful group of people on the planet- seriously. Even if they can’t speak English they will try to help you. I bought a water at 7-11 and the clerk bowed to me- think about that! You are lucky to be acknowledged as a human being in most convenience stores in the US. The railway system is wonderful- you can get anywhere in a short amount of time- in a comfortable seat on a nice train- and the conductors bow every time they enter and leave the train car. On top of that you can get a killer bento box at pretty much any station for less than 10 bucks and it is often better than the Japanese food you get in the US for double the price. Even though I speak no Japanese I never missed a train connection (there were many).

On top of all these modern conveniences you have incredible temples, shrines, castles, gardens, etc. From my perspective there is a lot of polarity in Japan- on the one hand you have these sensory overload places in the big cities- lights, noises, signs, technology (all of which I find to be really thrilling and so different and exciting) and nearby there are temples and shrines (often there are little shrines in these modern areas). On the one hand you have people working crazy hours and seemingly stressful existences, on the other hand you have onsens and tons of places to get massages. There is tons of beautiful nature- mountains, ocean, etc and there are these amazing modern cities.

People talk about being crowded on trains in Tokyo- which is true and often the train stations are packed with people but there seems to be a flow and respect that occurs. In Hong Kong I hated going into the subway stations- getting on escalators and trains because people are so pushy, disrespectful and generally annoying. Even in the crowded station I never once felt like that- and often they were more crowded than the stations in Hong Kong.

Obviously I have written extensively about the food- quite simply it is amazing. I have eaten some good food in my life- the food I have had in Japan is easily some of the best ever. From my perspective it seems like the Japanese don’t half-ass anything- whatever it is they are doing they do it with pride, precision and dedication and it seems to permeate everything in Japan- including the food and service. In the really good restaurants I believe a lot of thought goes into each ingredient. I love that the restaurants are so specialized- you can go to a place that just does soba or Tonkatsu- you know that if that’s all they do it will be incredible.

I am no historian or sociologist but I think Hiroshima is a testament to the kind of people the Japanese are. It was basically leveled by the bomb and now it is a modern and thriving city. From what little I know much of Japan was leveled after the war. Kuniko’s dad told me that after the war when he was a child sweets were rare- now you can get high end pastries and candies- EVERYWHERE in Japan. Much of Tokyo was destroyed and now it is the largest city in the world and probably one of the most modern ones. It really blows my mind to think that this was all accomplished in a matter of decades. Contrast this with the developing countries- one of the things that struck me when I was in south America was the fact that no matter how smart or resourceful you were- you couldn’t accomplish anything if you weren’t in the right class. These developing countries have been living and are living fairly primitively- I realize there are many factors involved in this. Considering that Japan has very few natural resources it and has managed to build the second largest economy in the world is amazing.

Here’s the other thing that sort of blows me away- they actually like Americans. Think about that for a minute- we dropped 2 a-bombs on them and defeated them in the war and they still actually like us and are nice to us. Contrast this with the Europeans- look at the French- we saved their asses and now they (I realize this is a generalization) don’t like us. I found it refreshing to travel in a place where I was actually welcomed.

Plus they have capsule hotels and places where you can feed monkeys! If only they sold shoes and clothes that fit me. I forgot to mention the vending machines- which are everywhere and sell lots of stuff- batteries, fishing bait, coffee, haagen daz, and a few other things I won’t mention (although I didn’t see them). I do love the fact that pretty much anywhere (I really mean anywhere) you can buy a can of coffee out of a machine (hot or cold, with sugar and without, black or with cream- you get the idea).

In short, I love Japan!

4/26/08 Last day in Japan- Boo Hoo!

My last morning and part of an afternoon in Japan. First I packed which took some serious effort and planning on my part as I have a lot of food and ceramics. The last thing I want to have happen is for my very good umeboshi to be crushed!

I then headed into Kichijoji to get my money back for my baseball ticket (it was bought at a department store) and get soba noodles at the place Kuniko took me to a couple of weeks ago. I had to skype her to ask her how to order! They were fantastic- all soba is likely to be a disappointment after this place. Next I headed to the upscale supermarket to buy some miso to bring to Boston with me. At 2:30 I hopped on the bus for the 2 hour ride to Narita airport- I am on it now typing.

4/25/08 Tokyo

We headed to the fish market this morning. We were a bit late so they were shutting it down but there is a lot of interesting things to see, eat, and buy right around it. We grabbed some food- a large bowl of rice with insanely fresh pieces of sashimi on it. I also purchased some ceramics for home- bowls, plates, etc. They are incredibly cheap here- these markets supply restaurants so its basically wholesale prices. Josh then headed to catch his flight to Hong Kong and I went to the Tokyo Edo museum which is a rather large museum about the Tokyo’s history- it was really interesting although by this point I am pretty much saturated on sightseeing and such. I almost forgot- before heading to the museum I went into an internet place for a quick nap. They have these places all over Japan- I forgot what they are called (I think it’s a manga kissa) anyway it’s a place where you pay an hourly rate to use the internet and read there comic books (manga) and drink as much coffee or soft drinks you want. Some have massage chairs and recliners you can sleep in. Apparently people actually live in them sometimes because they can’t afford an apartment. Anyway I was dead tired after my night poor quality capsule sleep and I needed to check my email so for 5 bucks I checked my email, took a 20 minute nap in a massage chair, and drank some coffee- this is a bargain as a cup of coffee here is around 3-4 dollars.

After the museum I walked around the city some more and then headed back to Kichijoji and grabbed some ramen noodles at the “greasy noodle”- so good….basically it’s ramen without the broth.

4/24/08 Tokyo nightclub/capsule hotel

It is raining today. I headed to the morning markets- Jinya-mae and Miyagawa morning markets and walked around and ate some more Hida beef on a stick and grilled mochi. I also found a great little miso shop that sold miso and a type of miso marinade that you put on a type of leaf and then add meat and veggies and then cook in on a hot plate- it was very tasty so I bought some to bring home. My original plan for the day was to head to the Hida no Sato- Hida folk village which has restored homes and such and then I was going to go for a hike. Given that the weather is bad and there’s not much to do here in the evening I made the decision to head back to Tokyo.

Since I wanted to spend the 25th in downtown Tokyo I decided it didn’t make sense to stay at Kunoko’s parents house so where better to stay than another capsule hotel! There just so happens to be a capsule hotel in the heart of Shinjuki (which is a great place to spend an evening). As I was checking in another white guy was checking in and we chatted. Josh is from Toronto and was giving the capsule hotel a try to see what it is like. We hit it off and ended up hanging out. This capsule hotel was pretty big. It had a large restaurant/bar and an extensive spa/onsen. We put on the clothes they give you and headed up to the spa/onsen. There were 3 indoor baths, 2 outdoor baths, and 2 dry saunas (one insanely hot) and a stem room. They also offered a variety of other services- massage- shiatsu, thai massage and a sort of scrub down that exfoliates your skin. The weird thing was that there were 2 women who did the scrubs (done on a table out in the open) working among a bunch of naked dudes. So we checked out the hot tub and sauna and then went down for a massage. They had a huge room with probably 10 tables and a bunch of massage therapists. So we enter the massage room (no one spoke a lick of English) and they indicate to Josh to take off his top- which he did and then he pulled down his pants (you are supposed to leave them on but he didn’t know) and you can imagine the response- a whole lot of Japanese embarrassment and laughter- Josh said they were laughing throughout the whole massage- just typing this makes me laugh. Anyway the massage therapist who did my massage was fantastic. It was quite cheap- 35 bucks for 40 mins.

After that we headed for dinner. Josh hadn’t had sukiyaki so we went for that at a nearby place recommended by lonely planet. It was really good (of course not as good as Kuniko’s mom’s sukiyaki). The restaurant was fun and our waitress spoke amazing English which she states she only learned at a conversation school.

Given that neither Josh or I had been to a Tokyo night club we both decided it would be fun to check one out. We ended up doing some research online to find a place and when we got there connected with a couple of Aussies living here teaching at an international school- it was a 3 floor nightclub and was pretty crazy. Josh ended up making out with this girl and then was quite surprised when the large Nigerian bouncer broke them up and pulled the girl away- he later found out from the bouncer that it was his girlfriend! Amazingly the bouncer was quite cool about it- I think in the US (and Canada per Josh) this could have easily resulted in a back alley beating. We headed back to the capsule hotel- upon arrival a couple of absolutely hammered Japanese businessman came in- one was so drunk that the staff had to help him out of the elevator. There was some hardcore drunk snoring happening in the capsule hotel-should have used earplugs. Either way these things are a bargain and I would stay in one again (for a night or 2).

4/23/08 Takayama

Took a 45 minute bullet train ride to Nagoya and then boarded the train for Takayama. Actually typing this up on the train. The ride itself is quite stunning as we are passing through mountains and valleys- the train is literally passing through mountains (I think as we go through some big tunnels). Takayama is in the Hida district which is a mountainous area bordering the Japanese Alps. Hida is famous for Hida beef- in the US we only hear about Kobe beef but there are other similar styles of beef that are well known in Japan.

I am staying at Hida Takayama Temple Inn Zenko-ji www.geocities.jp/zenkojitakayama. It’s actually a Zen temple that functions as a hostel/Inn which is pretty common in Japan. The monk that runs it speaks great English so I chatted with him about it for a while. What he said was that there most Japanese don’t go to Temples often as they have small altars in their homes and that most of them don’t practice meditation. So what this means is that the temples are often empty. I requested my own room which he accommodated- I was in a living room on the second floor with a very comfortable futon on the floor that had an electric mattress pad. For 30 bucks a night it was a steal. I spend the afternoon wandering around older section of the town which has lots of traditional wooden buildings and houses- narrow quant streets with shops, miso factories, and sake breweries. It is really nice. I sampled some Hida beef on a stick which was quite nice. I also had grilled mochi balls that had a soy sauce on them and a type of rice that was mashed up and then grilled (kind of like a hash brown on a stick) that had a rich soy based sauce on it that was fantastic.

Since I haven’t been to a sake brewery I was excited to check them out. They don’t make it during this time of year but you can still go in and see some of the large barrels and taste their sake. Unfortunately I didn’t like most of the ones I tasted. Their was sort of moldy/cheesy flavor to them. I tried some higher end daigninjo that was good but not worth buying and carrying around.

I then headed to a hotel nearby that has a great onsen that you can use for 10 dollars- sauna, 2 indoor baths, and 2 outdoor baths in stunning garden. After that I headed to dinner and met up with a couple I had met in Kyoto and coincidentally ran into here. We headed to a steak place that had an attached butcher shop. We both opted for the (43 dollar) Hida sirloin. It is brought to you sliced and you cook it yourself on the table. As you can see from the picture it is VERY fatty. It is sort of like eating a whole steak that is composed of the fatty portion of a steak- although tasty it’s too fatty to be eaten by itself- would have been a better choice to get shabu shabu or sukiyaki. We headed to a local bar that had a bartender who spoke great English and knew a lot about sake. We had fun swapping travel stories and chatting about work and career stuff- they both work for Price Waterhouse Cooper as consultants.

4/22/08 Kyoto

I woke up pretty early to head to he Kobo-san market fair which is held monthly at the To-Ji temple. It is a massive market/flea market kind of thing held on the grounds of this temple. There are food stands, people selling used kimonos and clothes, crafts, pottery, jewelry, etc. Like everywhere here there is also fish and fish products for sale. It goes in many directions and spills out onto the surrounding streets. I bought some hand-made pottery and at these pancake like things that were filled with custard- fantastic.

Next I headed back to Kyoto station to do an organized tour I read about- Johnnie’s Kyoto walking tour. It is a tour through non-touristy back streets of Kyoto. I wish I can say it was good- it wasn’t. The tour guide is one of the first Japanese person I have encountered who was not helpful- not good for a tour guide. In addition there were over 30 people in the group- which made it move along VERY slow. I could have done the whole thing in an hour and a half- we took 5. He provided some interesting information but overall it was a wash.

The tour ended very close to the Kiyomizu-dera temple (which we went to last trip). Nearby are the Ninen-zaka and Sannen-Zaka areas which are 2 restored neighborhoods with old wooden houses, lots of nice shops and restaurants- it is really a great place to walk around and poke in shops. I walked around them and headed to the Kodai-Ji which has beautiful landscaping, gardens and a lovely view of Kyoto.

After the temple I walked around these neighborhoods some more and checked out an incense store that was huge. Kyoto is famous for incense (among other things). I then walked over to Gion (Geisha district). It is VERY touristy and a lot of the buildings are modernized and I didn’t find it all that great so I headed back to my Ryokan.

For the record attempting to find good restaurants without Kuniko is very difficult. The lonely planet book I have is not great for restaurants and more often than not the places with English menus aren’t great. Las night we went to a small yakitori place and I ordered a salad- with tuna- it was about 50% mountain yam which is the slimy stuff I hate- basically imagine a sald DRENCHED in a clear, tasteless slime- I ate most of it anyway. So tonite I just couldn’t be bothered and joined the English couple at an all you can eat buffet they found in the train station. Although it wasn’t up to the level Kuniko can find (not even close) it still had a lot of good fresh veggies and overall was good. The fact that I could look at what I was eating before eating it was wonderful. Also it was quite nice to have dinner with people (eating alone is OK but can get old).

4/19/08 Kyoto and Osaka Capsule Hotel experience

I headed to Kyoto today to check out the Arashiyama and Sagano areas which is at the base of Kyoto’s western mountains. I first went to Tenryu-ji which has beautiful gardens and has a fantastic bamboo grove behind it. I then walked to the Gio-Ji and Nison-in temples. The Nison-in temple had a large graveyard around it that was quite interesting. This area of Kyoto is visually stunning and less congested than the other parts I previously visited. I tasted grilled mochi which was tasty.


I then headed into Osaka after having decided to actually stay in a capsule hotel. The capsule hotel I stayed in has a sauna/spa in it. It is located in the heart of the Umeda entertainment district which is just madness- sensory overload- lights, people, noise, etc- see below video. A capsule hotel is basically a hotel where you have, well, a capsule to sleep in- a small pod. The pod is tall enough to sit up in but not stand. It has a TV and a very comfortable bed. There is a bamboo screen you pull closed when you go to sleep. The downside is hear people snoring. You aren’t supposed to smoke in them but I think people were cause it was stinky. The way it works is like this- you enter and take your shoes off and put them in a small locker then you check in. You pay either 26 or 33 dollars- depending on if you want to use the spa/onsen. You are given a key for a locker and given a yukata (bath robe)- you put your clothes and valuables in the locker. There is a room with a TV where Japanese men smoke and drink or are fully passed out in chairs. The capsules are in a separate section with a thick glass door that blocks the sound.

4/18/08 Nara

I took the train to Nara from Osaka this morning. Nara is fantastic. The city itself is small. Nara has 8 Unesco world heritage sites and its really easy to navigate on foot. It was pretty rainy today but that didn't take away from thoroughly enjoying Nara. I started at Kofuku-Ji which was transferred from Kyoto in 710. It has 2 pagodas- one of which is the second highest in Japan. The video below is inside the temple.




Next I grabbed some lunch at Shizuka which serves a Nara specialty called kamameshi- which is rice served in an iron pot with veggies, fish, and meat. It was fantastic. The rice sort of gets burned on the edge and its very tasty.

There are tons and tons of deer in Nara and they are overly friendly. Vendors sell food to give to them which probably only adds to there lack of fear of humans. I thought they were bad in Miyajima.

Next I headed to the famous Todai-ji. It was unbelievable- it has the largest wooden building in the world and contains a huge statue of the Buddha that is over 52 feet tall. It also contains a bunch of other large statues and I can't remember who they are of. I bought a charm which is for "success and victory." which should ensure lots of success in the new job!











I checked out Sangatsu-do Hall and Nigatsu Hall. Then I went to the Kasuga Taisha shrine which is lined with hundreds of lanterns- it is amazing- see above video.

Nara is also famous for some pickles- made with sake curds- they are great so I bought some to bring home. The shopkeepers were really sweet.

4/16 and 4/17 Osaka

I headed from Hiroshima to Osaka on 4/16/08. Checked into my business hotel and walked around. The hotel was perfectly located on the edge of the Minami area (Shinsaibashi and Namba). There are tons of food vendors, restaurants, bars, shopping plazas, stores, video game arcades, pachinko parlors, etc. Its pretty crazy at night. I walked around this area and then went to the Umeda area- another similiar entertainment and business district that is huge and somewhat hard to navigate (the maps kind of suck here because some roads don't have names that can be written in English- or so the women at the info center told me). One of the famous foods here is Takoaki- which I mentioned in my last trip here. God I love these things!!! They are also ridiculously cheap and filling. Basically they are dough with octopus and cabbage and other stuff I think and they are cooked in this special thingy whose name I don't know- look at the picture. They put a sauce on them, mayo, and bonito flakes and you eat them with a toothpick- they are doughy on the inside....mmmmmmmm octopus doughy goodness.




On 4/17/08 I wandered around Osaka some more and got lost but really enjoyed it. I had more takoaki and some fantastic ramen. I was supposed to go to the baseball game but it was rained out which was really a bummer. So I did more walking around the city and ate some more tako-aki

4/15/08 Hiroshima/Miyajima

I woke up early today and headed to Miyajima- basically a 30 minute train ride and then a 20 minute ferry ride. It is home to the famous 'floating' torii (Shinto shrine gate). It is one of the most photographed places in Japan and is classified as one of the 3 best views in Japan.






There also happen to be tons (hundreds?) of deer roaming around. Unlike the deer I have seen before- these ones are not afraid of people and they are very overly friendly in trying to get food from you- they will actually start chewing on your backpack.

There is a gondola ride up the mountain and then a tram that takes you to the top. I was scheduled to go to the Mazda plant so I just took the gondola portion- amazing views.







Then I hopped back on the ferry and train and headed to the Mazda plant to take a tour (in English!!). The first part of the tour begins in a showroom of new cars, then you are put on a bus and driven to the museum and factory which are connected. In the museum they have lots of historical vehicles- first ones they made and such its actually pretty cool There is also lots of information about the rotary engine and its creation and the technology behind it. A Brit I was chatting with brought up something- if this engine is so great- why is it only in one of their cars? They also walk you through the creation of a car from start (concept and clay models) to finish with each step demonstrated with models and videos- it was really cool.




Next they brought us into the factory itself- the line. I have never been in a factory before and it was an amazing thing to see. Pictures were not allowed so I don't have any to post. We were standing above the line so got a good perspective. It is really incredible watching these guys assemble a car on a moving line- they really have to hustle. It looks absolutely mind-numbing and I bet these guys dream about the line. In addition to a bunch of Japanese guys assembling the cars there are also robots that assist in the process. One of the robots would pick up a piece of glass (side rear window) and put glue on it and then move it so it was close to the guy who would then pick it up and stick it on the car. Apparently this plant produces around 3000 cars per day! It is the longest car assembly line in the world- 4.35 miles long.

My friend James has a friend living in Hiroshima and she and a couple of her friends took me to dinner at an Isakaya- sort of a pub/restaurant but it's nothing like a pub in the US. We had our own little private room that had space for your legs to hang down (yes! no numb legs). We ordered the course menu (or I should say they ordered as I don't know what the menu said). We had 8 or 9 courses (and it only cost 40 bucks each with drinks). The sashimi course came out with dry ice so it looked like it was smoking. The food was great.

4/14/08 Hiroshima

I hopped on the train and headed to Hiroshima today. I checked into my hotel. This is my first experience with a Japanese business hotel and it is great. Basically it is a small room with a twin bed and a desk. It is very clean and I get free internet access. It cost about 60 bucks and includes a very large breakfast buffet.

I then headed to the atomic bomb dome and peace memorial park. It was a sunny and beautiful day. Although I very much wanted to go check out both of these places, I had a sense of dread on the way. First I went to the dome- which is a large building and it is directly under where the a-bomb exploded. Amazingly much of it is still intact, however, it was essentially gutted by the blast. There are crumbled bricks around it and you can see melted metal in it. Its really a weird feeling walking around and looking at this building- not sure how exactly to describe it. It is surrounded by modern buildings and the city here is quite nice so it only gives you a small view into the vast destruction that occurred.

I then headed to the Peace park and the Peace museum. It costs less than 50 cents to go into the museum. I opted for the audio tour- there are about 60 audio clips that go with different parts of the museum. I don’t even know where to start. They have lots of before and after things- before and after pictures and models of the city. This really gives you the sense of the amount of destruction that occurred in an instant- essentially it leveled a huge portion of the city. There are videos of bombs going off and accounts of what happened given by survivors. There is only one photograph of victims- a journalist who survived went to take pictures, however, was only able to take a few because he was so overwhelmed with how horrible it was- people with melted skin that was basically falling and off, etc. In addition to showing what happened there is a lot of information about nuclear weapons and the need to abolish them to avoid another similar or worse thing.

At this point I was pretty shocked by the whole thing but I didn’t know what was waiting for me upstairs. I headed to the original part of the museum and there was a recreation- human sized models with destroyed building behind them- the models skin was melting off their hands- it was shocking and hard to look at. Then there were lots of pictures of clothes and other personal items. Each one had a story- a child being burned horribly and their parents finding them still alive, their desperate attempts to save them, and eventually their death. Each story slightly different, but all completely awful. There was even this guy who had his hand out the window and his fingertips were blown off but he had these funky fingernails that grew (kind of round) and they would fall off and bleed a lot- they had the actual nails on display. So you get the idea here. Each story was heart wrenching. I actually got to the point where I just couldn’t listen to each one- I would skip one or two every few minutes cause they were just too awful to hear. There was another room that talked about the bad things that happened to the survivors- cancer, hair falling out, etc. Also very terrible. At the end there are pictures and comments written by all kinds of prominent people who visited it- politicians, etc.

I walked out of the museum pretty much shell-shocked. I felt like I had just been beaten up- emotionally that is. That’s about the best way I can put it. I walked around the park and looked at various memorials as well as the origami paper cranes that are on display for the children’s memorial- not sure how many but tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands.

I headed back to the hotel in a daze and cleaned up and headed for dinner. There is a great Hiroshima website (http://www.gethiroshima.com/) that includes restaurant information and reviews- in English. A Hiroshima specialty is Hiroshima style Okonomiyaki so I found one that sounded cool on the website and headed to it. The dish is a bit hard to describe- its kind of like a savory pancake- it is composed of cabbage, soba noodles, shrimp, pork and egg. It then has a savory/sweet soy based sauce on it. I have had it before and haven't been that excited about it but I figured I would give it another go. I sat on the floor (again!) at a table that has a built in grill where they put the food on after it is cooked- it keeps it hot. It was sort of a fun hole in the wall place so I liked that. Clearly the quality of the food was great but I just can't get into this dish- I don't not like it- I am pretty much neutral on it.

4/13/08 Matsuyama

I headed to the Matsuyama castle this morning. There is a streetcar/trolley that is a very convenient way to get around. I am staying at a youth hostel that is very close to the Dogo onsen but is a ways from the castle and downtown areas. The cherry blossoms are in bloom right now so before going to the castle I went to a park and walked around- the cherry blossoms are really impressive. The castle is up on a hill and there are a few ways to get up and down that hill- walk, chairlift or on a tram. I opted for the little one person chairlift which was quite fun. The views from the hill and the castle are really amazing- the pictures don’t do it justice. There is also a row of cherry trees that were in full bloom and were stunning. Pretty much any place you visit there is an option to get food- I got these little colored balls on a stick that I had seen in a few places- I think they are made with sweet potato but I am not sure- they were tasty and served with umeboshi tea that was very salty.

I then headed up to the castle and went inside it. You have to take your shoes off pretty much everywhere you go here including inside this castle. They have one size (doesn’t fit) all rubber sandals that were about 4 sizes too small for me but I could still use them. The actual architecture and building of the castle is pretty amazing when you think about how long ago it was built. There is armor and weapons displayed throughout the castle. The views out the windows at the top of the castle are stellar.

I found a really cool ramen place after checking out the castle- father and son team running it. not much english spoken so when the young guy pointed to something and said spicy I said yes. I thought it might be a spicy sesame broth- but it wasn't- it was miso soup ramen. My previous experiences with miso ramen (in Hawaii) were not great so I wasn't sure if I liked it- well this time it was amazing.

I headed back to the hostel and started to chat with a guy named Daniel who is from Germany, however, lived in Canada for a year during high school so he barely has any accent. He is traveling for a number of months solo. We headed to the Dogo onsen for a long soak and then grabbed some dinner. I tried to find the Gyoza place the Aussies took me to the night before however couldn’t find it. We ended up eating in a 2 story restaurant that had lots of little private rooms with tatami mats and small table- you sit on the floor which often results in leg numbness for me. The food was justOK but the atmosphere of the restaurant was really fun and we had a good time chatting.

4/12/08 Tokyo to Matsuyama

I woke up and got ready and took the subway to Tokyo station. I got there pretty early to allow myself extra time. Up until yesterday I pretty much relied on Kuniko to get around (and more importantly relied on her to find great restaurants and read the menu for me!). It really hasn’t been that difficult to get around with essentially no Japanese skills- as for finding restaurants and sorting out the menu- that may be another story. I had plenty of time in the station so I grabbed breakfast and a bento box to bring on the train for lunch. Again I will dismiss the “Japan is SO expensive” myth. For about 6 bucks I got rice, miso soup, a small piece of cooked salmon, a soft boiled egg, and a coffee. For about 9 bucks I got a bento box that had rice, shredded beef, and a few other things that I don’t know what they were but they were good. Both the cheap breakfast and bento box were very tasty.

I am typing this on the bullet train. I have a 4 hour ride to Okayama where I change trains and then have about a 2 and a half hour ride to Matsuyama. For the first of the 2 trains they only had a reserved seat in a smoking car, however, I headed to the non-reserved seat and found a seat in a non-smoking car- thank god. I sat down next to this little old Japanese lady who proceeded to have a conversation in Japanese with me despite that fact that I pulled out my lonely planet and found the conversation section and showed her the phrase that said “I don’t speak Japanese”….it was really quite amusing. I then got to Okayama and had a few minutes to grab a coffee and a snack for the next train ride. I knew I wanted a rice ball- which is basically rice with nori (seaweed- used with sushi) with something inside of it. There were probably 20 different kinds and nothing in English- I knew that umeboshi would be a sure bet so I asked a Japanese girl also shopping for a rice ball which one was umeboshi and she pointed them out.

The train ride from Okayama to Matsuyma is visually stunning. Initially you cross a bridge and on both sides of the train you can see lots of small islands. As you get further along the train rides along the coast- to the right of the train you can see the ocean and to the left you can see the mountains- it is really impressive.

Matsuyama is famous for the Dogo onsen- one of Japan's oldest and most famous onsen (hot springs) dating back 1500 years. I headed to it after checking into my hostel. It was super relaxing and I had 2 "conversations" with a couple of Japanese guys- mostly about baseball.

I headed back to the hostel and started chatting with an Aussie and he invited be to dinner with his friend. They had gone to a Gyoza place the previous night and we headed back there- it was really good. We then then headed to an OK sushi place- the tuna and snapper sushi were very good.

4/11 Tokyo

I took the train from Kichijoji to Shinjuku to activate my rail pass and secure seats on the trains I will be taking. From Shinjuku I headed to Shimo-Kitazawa which is a cool little neighborhood with lots of small shops and restaurants- a bit like Kichijoji but not as upscale. I had a little time to wander around until Kuniko met up with me to have lunch. I found a cool small mens boutique clothing store…the tricky thing here is that I pretty much don’t fit in 99% of clothes here. I had a blast attempting to communicate with the 2 guys running the shop who spoke very little English- it’s amazing how creative you can get in attempting to communicate. They had some really cool T-shirts with funky designs- I found one I liked, however, Kuniko vetoed it because she felt it was too Yakuza-ish. We agreed on another one that is really cool. We then headed for lunch at this Indonesian curry place. The restaurant is really trippy- lots of bright colors, Buddhist paintings, hanging beads. The cool thing is you can pick the level of spiciness you want your curry.

We headed back to Kichijoji so Kuniko could finish packing and catch her bus to the airport. She boarded her bus and then I headed back to her parent’s house for dinner. Her mom made Japanese style curry with pork and shrimp- really good. I then had the task of packing for my 2 week backpacking trip. My goal was to only carry by medium sized backpack. It proved to be a challenge but I was able to fit my clothes, one extra pair of shoes, and my laptop into the backpack. I went to bed pretty early as I had to wake up at 6 and head to Tokyo station to take the bullet train to Matsuyama.

Hakone/Tokyo

We had a huge breakfast in the Ryokan- eggs, fish, warm tofu, more fish, some very slimy seaweed miso soup and rice:













We then headed to the Pola art museum:

http://www.polamuseum.or.jp/english/nature/01.html

They currently have a large Chagall exhibit which is quite good. They also have a very good collection of both western and Japanese art. The building itself is quite impressive and it is set in a in a beautiful forest.

We drove back to Tokyo and stopped at a Tonkatsu place we went to the last time I was here. http://www.butagumi.com/nishiazabu/index.html. I simply can't emphasize how great this place is. Tonkatsu is breaded fried pork cutlet. This place gets high end pork from all over Japan and Spain and apparently the owner buys directly from the farms so the price is lower. The atmosphere of the restaurant is really good and each of the different things you get (shredded cabbage, (red) miso soup, white rice, tonkatsu sauce, and the actual tonkatsu), is perfect.

In the afternoon and early evening I spent hours trying to secure places to stay while travelling solo.....with a lot of help from Kuniko. Pretty much all the places lonely planet recomended were full so I had to find other places....it took a while.

For dinner we headed to a small Japanese restaurant that has Japanese and western style food. It was great and very reasonably priced. We had salad with umeboshi, cabbage with bacon with lots of garlic, fried little shrimp (you eat the shell and head- actually really good), and lamb shank in a tomato sauce.