Kanazawa

The train ride from Kyoto to Kanazawa was very scenic taking us through the Japanese Alps. Kanazawa encompasses Japanese history beyond shrines and temples offering the best preserved Edo-period type buildings in the country. Kanazawa has geisha, samurai, as well as other types of districts all centrally located to one another as well as one of Japan’s Top 3 Gardens.

On arrival we discovered the coolest clock ever; the time and messages were displayed using small water fountains.

We finally make it to our charming guest house that was used as a kimono shop 100 years ago. Once settled we headed out to Higashi-Chayamachi (the geisha district), but we knew one rarely sees an actual geisha. The traditional teahouses around the area were beautiful to see with their sliding paper doors and bamboo covered windows.

The Kenroku-en Gardens, while not in full bloom were pleasant to walk around. The garden is known as the Garden of Six Attributes, which comes from the ancient Chinese books on gardens. The attributes are described in pairs as spaciousness & seclusion, artifice & antiquity, water-courses & panoramas.

The Kotoji stone latern has two legs resembling the Kotoji bridge, “the bridge on a koto” (not really sure what a koto is…). However, the scene around the lantern is one of the highlights around the entire garden.

Japanese gardens are interesting as most of the trees are supported by polls to form the tree in an aesthetic away. It seems counterintuitive to think the rods are helping the image of the tree rather than distracting from it.

We had to sprint through the Kanazawa Castle gardens before our train, but it was worth the effort to view the castle surrounds.

Sakura - Kyoto

At first glance Kyoto wasn’t the most beautiful city in all of Japan as advertised, but yet another Japanese metropolis. It wasn’t until we ventured around the city that we unveiled its true beauty. We spent three days plus a day trip from Takayama exploring the temples and shrines, viewing the cherry blossoms, and even caught a few shots of maikos (geisha apprentices)! Although the weather wasn’t always on our side we made it to the Golden Pavilion of Kinkaku-ji, the Zen garden of Ryōan-ji, the thousands of toriis at Fushimi Inari Taisha, and many other sites.

The Golden Pavilion is a Zen temple of the Rinzai School; however, it has a rather dark story hidden in its history. Back in 1950, a monk burned the pavilion down in the middle of the night then unsuccessfully attempted suicide behind the building. Once taken into custody, his mother was questions during the investigation and on her way home she committed suicide by jumping from her train into a river below. The monk was sentenced to seven years in jail, but later released due to mental illness only to die from other illnesses shortly thereafter.

On a lighter note the Ryōan-ji temple, which is known for its karensansui (dry-landscape) rock garden was very peaceful. Supposedly built back in the 1400s, the garden consists of raked gravel and 15 boulders positioned in such a way that one could only see 14 boulders at once. It was said that one would have to achieve enlightenment to view all 15 boulders or be over 6ft tall.

I couldn’t help but to think of “Memoirs of a Geisha” as we strolled through the Fushimi Inari Taisha temple, dedicated to Inari the god of business. The 4km of trails are lined with thousands of orange toriis donated by Japanese businesses. But beware the stone foxes of Inari around the temple as they’re said to possess people through their fingernails.

If the beauty of the shrines and gardens weren’t enough we arrived during cherry blossom season and Kyoto is arguably the best place in all of Japan for viewing them.

Foot path across the water at the Heian shrine.

The Hirano Shrine is a small shrine normally off the radar of most Western tourists; however, the majority of its weeping blossoms were in full bloom making it spectacular.

The blossoms are lit at night around the Nijo castle adding a different experience to the viewing.

Later we strolled around the geisha district taking part in the maiko photo session. We were very lucky as the chances of seeing a Geisha walking the streets are slim to none. The maikos were elegant and mysterious posing along the scenic waterfront in full regalia.

Buried Alive

Arriving in Beppu is an experience all in itself being home to many of Japan’s great onsens, a hot spring public bath. Exiting the train station we find our first “onsen” for our naked hands and thoroughly enjoy the thermal waters. After our hand bath, our next objective was dinner and what could be better than another sushi “roto”. This one put all other sushi trains to shame as it snakes around the entire restaurant!! Choo…Chooo!

The main attractions in Beppu are the Jigoku (“hells”), which are thermal pools of boiling water and mud. Seeing how we already saw the thermal village in Rotorua, we opted to visit only one of the ten hells. The Umi-Jigoku (sea-hell) was one of the recommended hells with its cobalt blue pool. (Check out the boiling eggs)

As we explored the rest of the park, Jenny was brought back to one of her great childhood movies, Labyrinth. Passing the Bog of Eternal Stench, Jenny was attacked as she ran away yelling “S-m-e-l-l-s B-a-d!”

And we found a sign that said “Hot Spring of a Leg” this way. Determined to understand the Engrish we went to see what it was.

The place we stayed had an onsen, which was also the only shower room in the entire hostel. Needlessly to say it was quite interesting as we prepared for the day. Luckily we never encounter anyone else showering or bathing in the onsen when we were there.

No trip to Beppu would be complete without a visit to an authentic Japanese bath house, so we decided to visit the Takegawara Onsen. It was an odd encounter as we entered the onsen greeted by a professional video camera that followed us around the lobby. Eventually they introduced themselves as a Korean company making a documentary on the Kyushu region of Japan if they could interview us. So, next time you watch a discovery channel episodes on onsens we may be on it.

At the onsen we partook in a sand bath where after changing into our yukata were buried to our heads in sand. It was an interesting experience, but I doubt we’ll do another sand bath in the future.

Floating Torii

After our somber visit through the Peace Memorial Park we decided some sushi would lighten the mood. It took a bit of searching but we eventually found the “roto,” a conveyor-belt sushi restaurant at the train station. Most normal people put wasabi in the soy-sauce, but not Jason, who managed to stir Japanese green tea powder into his sauce! Guess the waiter just didn’t realize that’s how we eat our sushi! Being fair the green tea did look like wasabi with a slightly different texture. ^.^

After the sushi experience we trotted down to Miyajima, a small island off the coast of Hiroshima that is filled with Japanese history and religion. The area is filled with temples, pagodas, and the orange “floating torii” making it a very sacred place. So much so that in the past, women were not permitted on the island and old people were shipped off when it was time to die, therefore, preserving the purity of the island. But times of changed, and now the village is teeming with tourist, shops, and deer that try to eat your clothes.

Another sight to behold on the island is the world’s largest spatula, over 5 m in length. However, we were disappointed to learn that it was not for flipping the world’s largest pancake, but for scooping rice instead.

We met two other Americans on the ferry ride over to the island, one happened to be an oyster expert. Since, Miyajima is well known for their oysters so we couldn’t pass up the opportunity. We had a mix of grilled and deep-fried oysters, all which were very tasty.

Hiroshima

It was a clear morning on August 6, 1945 as the weather surveying aircraft relayed the message back to the B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay. Hiroshima’s fate was sealed and at 8:15 am the first atomic bomb was dropped on mankind. Instantaneously, the city was a leveled inferno killing an estimated 70,000 to 140,000 people between the blast and radiation illness. On August 15, 1945 Japan surrendered.

This infamous morning in history began several years ago when Japan invaded British territories and secretly bombed the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor. An ultimatum was presented to Japan with terms of surrender but Japan refused the conditions of the Potsdam Declaration, causing the Allied forces to consider drastic measures to end the war.

Nuclear fission was first discovered in Germany and brought to the US by scientist fleeing the Nazi regime. The Top Secret Manhattan Project began in fear that Germany would begin using such power against its enemies. However, it was later decided that if the Japanese could be deeply devastated that the war would come to an end. Hiroshima was a central supply and communications point for the Japanese during World War II, and along with other locations, it was spared from routine bombing runs so the devastating effects of an atomic bomb could be accurately measured.

Almost an hour before the bomb was dropped a Japanese early warning radar detected American aircraft headed for southern Japan. An alert was broadcasted to several cities, including Hiroshima, but at 8:00 am the radar operator felt the number of planes was too small to conduct a raid and the warning was lifted. In an effort to conserve resources, no Japanese air forces were deployed as interference. The “Little Boy” was dropped with 130 lbs of uranium-235, falling for 57 seconds before detonating 2000 ft above the city. While the U.S. had previously dropped leaflets warning civilians of air raids, Hiroshima never received any notice before the atomic bomb exploded.

Today Hiroshima leads several campaigns to end the nuclear age. As a tribute to the devastating effects of atomic bombs, Hiroshima has erected several monuments throughout Peace Memorial Park including A-Bomb Dome, Children’s Peace Memorial, and Cenotaph for the A-Bomb Victims. Many of the memorials are draped with thousands origami cranes as a symbol of peace. The Peace Memorial Museum was very informative on the facts leading up to, during, and after the bombing of Hiroshima.

Faster than a speeding bullet

It’s hard to take a“platypus” looking train seriously but the Shinkansen bullet train has set a world record speed of 581km/hr! Although, I doubt we hit those kinds of speeds on our short 30mintue ride between Osaka and Himeji, it still felt funny walking the aisle to our seat as it accelerated. Once up to speed it was smooth railing.

With only a few hours before having to head back to Osaka, we made our way to the Himeji Castle. However, we find hundreds of tourists and a 2 and a half hour queue to get through the fortress. Apparently, Japan celebrates the Vernal Equinox and since the Himeji castle will be closing in April for 4 years due to renovations everyone decided to visit it, Today. We hurriedly joined the queue of people as it winded all the way around the castle. Two hours later and barely in the door of the castle we had to head back to Osaka. It was a little disappointing; however, we did get to view the castle from the outside.

On the way back to the train station we found a scary samurai cutout.

Back in Osaka we decided to visit the Osaka castle…it seems as though every city has its own castle. Although not as impressive as the Himeji Castle, it was still a sight to behold. We didn’t tour the inside of the castle as we heard its best appreciated from the surrounding park.

Fat Slapping Fun

What involves 400lb men in thongs throwing salt and grappling each other to the ground??? SUMO! Our timing coincided perfectly with the annual Osaka Grand Sumo tournament allowing us to view these professional giants at their best. Japan hosts six 15-day Grand Sumo tournaments around the country to decide the rank of 800 wrestlers.

Although the tournament started at 9am, we didn’t arrive until later in the evening when the juryo and makuuchi divisions took the ring. There are six different divisions; however, these two host the top 70 wrestlers. Each wrestler fights one bout a day over the entire length of the tournament and whoever has the best record wins. In sumo it’s either win or lose, there are no draws, style points, or anything in between. A match is won by pushing the opponent out of the ring or forcing them to touch the ground with anything besides their feet.

(NEW: Click here for sumo video)

Sumo is a highly ritualized martial art spanning many centuries. Before the top two divisions take the ring, the wrestlers perform a ring entering ceremony where each wrestler is announced in order of their rank. Unlike the lower division matches where wrestler start their bouts almost immediately, the higher ranking wrestlers spend almost 10minutes mentally preparing themselves for the match. They are given a ladleful of chikara-mizu ("power water"), salt to purify the ring, and then stare down their opponent until they both touch the mat with their fist, starting the match.

I think I’m turning Japanese…

Our final destination takes us to Japan where we hit the ground running. Not knowing what to expect after 3 months in South East Asia where most everybody speaks English and traveling is super easy, we were greeted by the weird and wacky yet sophisticated society of Japan. Once clearing customs and finding the train station, our eyes glaze over as we stare at the different train options to the city. Once we find the train we want we try to purchase our ticket to find out that our stop doesn’t exist…so back to the drawing board. Eventually a Japanese businessman points us in the right direction and we’re off.

Japanese hotels are funny things with midget doorways and highly sophisticated toilets. Godzilla (aka Jason) managed to maneuver the hotel obstacle course without any head trauma to find our room without a bed. Of course, not realizing we booked a Japanese style room, we found our futon mats tucked away in the closet, which is almost big enough to be a bed. Luckily we realized we weren’t supposed to sleep in the closet before we had a repeat of the movie, “Step Brothers.”


We’re fortunate to be able to meet up with Jackie, Jenny’s sister, while we were in Osaka. She showed us around the town, how to order food, and some interesting Japanese culture. Our first stop took us to downtown Osaka (Shinsaibashi and Dotonbori) where we shopped for accessories for the Cosplay festival the next day as well as dine at a miniature hibachi grill. The food was excellent; it was partially cooked before arriving at your table where you could finish grilling it to your perfection.
Later in the evening we headed to Hirakata where Jackie has been living to try an all you can eat Korean BBQ as well as some karaoke. We didn’t learn that “all you can eat/drink” in Japan translate to “all you can eat/drink in one hour” until we only had 15minutes left of our meal. Meat was flying as we loaded the grill with chicken, beef, pork, and heart (yes, we ate the heart of some animal). Once they pried the plates and mugs from our hands we went next door for karaoke. Being a large group and a few technical glitches in the system we didn’t get to sing too many songs; however, Jackie was accompanied by a random drunk Japanese student that stumbled into our room for some backup vocals.

No trip to Japan is complete without visiting a Cosplay (“costume play”) festival. Needless to say there were some strange people parading around as their favorite Japanese anime characters. There were numerous school girl outfits, a really scary fairy, a dog joined in the festival, and a random cat in a box pedaling down the street away from the festival; we still don’t know where that cat was headed.

After the cosplay we headed back to Hirakata for “all you can eat” gyoza, which we think is all a big fat lie. We went to this restaurant twice to find out that the special isn’t valid on weekends, holidays, and days that end in “y” in English. However, we are going to try it for a third time when we’re back in Kyoto because we are gluttons for punishment and they are REALLY good.

New Photo Albums & Video!

Click here to view our Philippines Photo Album

Click here to view our Malaysia Photo Album

Click here to view our Sipadan/Mabul Video

Psychedelic Cephalopods

As a pit stop before hitting Japan, we decided to visit the Philippines for about a week. Wanting a little more bottom time we left Manila asap and headed for Puerta Galera on Mindoro.

The diving was way better than we had expected and full of macro life just waiting to be spotted. Adding to our creature list we found some new and bizarre things like the Mimic Octopus who has the incredible ability to imitate several other animals from flounder, to sea snakes, and even Lionfish. Another funky fish is the Robust Pipefish. These guys blend in so well with the sea grass that we would have swam right over them. We also found some underwater Japanamation, featuring Pokemon’s Pikachu, the cute and cuddly nudibranch. No lightning bolts though.

Finally feeling a bit water logged we decided to retire to our sand castle, the sand was actually all over the bed though. The Tropicana Castle, while true to the real thing in cleanliness, was an interesting alternative to our previous accommodations.