Gion with the Finned

Posted on 03/08/2014 by Luke

Today is my last day in Kyoto. Tomorrow I will go to Osaka for three days, before heading off to Nagoya. I still have one temple I want to see, a temple with a difference. I head through the arcade, the same French song is playing that I’ve heard about four other times this week. I know the song but can’t recall the name. There is a pachinko parlour with a picture of Rowan Atkinson on the advertising board. There is also a strange mascot wandering around the arcade, promoting a festival here this evening.

I start by walking through a district called Gion. Gion is the most famous place in Japan for spotting geisha, although here they use the local term ‘Geiko,’ which translates to mean a ‘person of the arts.’ Gion is filled with numerous traditional old streets lined with even older houses, alongside a mix of theatres and other traditional entertainment.

I head up the mountainside to my last Kyoto temple, Otowa-san Kiyomizu-dera, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the seventeen Historical Monuments of Ancient Kyoto. There are some very interesting things to do here. One of them is walking from one sacred stone to the other with your eyes closed. If you succeed, you will supposedly be lucky in love. Another, which is actually prohibited now, is the chance to jump from a 13-metre-high stage. Surviving would mean your wish would be granted. This tradition dates back to the Edo period, where the survival rate was 85.4%.

The main reason I came here, though, was to experience the ‘womb’ of Daizuigu Bosatsu. This occurs not in the main temple building but in the smaller Tainai-meguri Hall. It costs me ¥100 to enter. I take off my shoes and walk down a few steps, all the while holding onto the handrail made of prayer beads. Beyond the steps, I take a right turn and enter a room of complete darkness.

Daizuigu Bosatsu, a female Bodhisattva, possesses the mystical ability to fulfill any human wish. Alone, I navigate through a labyrinth of corridors shrouded in an abyss of blackness so consuming that it swallows all semblance of light. Oddly, it is somewhat peaceful, yet simultaneously horrifying. After an eternity of carefully navigating through the darkness, a distant glimmer pierces through the shadows—a radiant stone. It is at this stone that I make a wish.

Once outside, I continue to wander through this vast temple complex. Here, there’s a natural water spring available for ¥200, but I opt not to drink from it. After sufficient exploration, I decide it’s time to head back; the heat becomes a bit too overwhelming for me. As I descend the mountain, I catch sight of an incredible, bright red shrine: Yasaka Shrine.

My next destination today is along the Takase River, at The Birthplace of the Japanese Motion Pictures Industry. Inabata Katsutaro showcased the first experimental film in Japan. Following his visit to Paris in 1896 to attend the Paris Exposition, he returned to Japan with a cinematograph he acquired from the French inventor Auguste Lumière. In 1897, he screened the film in the garden of the building.

Unfortunately, the building is closed today.

I feel a little hungry and decide that today I’ll try grilled eel for the first time. After wandering for a while, I finally find the place and take a seat in the restaurant. There are probably eight or nine other people eating here. The restaurant plays no music, and there is absolutely no ambiance. Nobody talks either; everyone just sits in silence with their grilled eel, as if waiting for the end of the world.

The menu is a little pricey, so I opt for the small grilled eel on rice with pickles. It arrives with a teapot full of hot green tea. Had I known, I wouldn’t have ordered a beer. The dish, called ‘Unadon,’ is delicious. It’s not what I was expecting; the texture is somewhere between meat and fish, and the soy-based glaze is delicious. Even the rice is good; I savour every grain. In total, it costs me ¥2800, an expensive treat.

I head back to the hostel for a short while to write before heading out again for the Kyoto Tanabata Festival, which starts at 6 p.m.

The festival stretches all along the Kamo River, hosting around one hundred small stalls selling various Japanese snacks, little gifts, and the usual souvenirs. Dubbed the ‘Star Festival,’ it’s said that writing your wish on a special piece of paper here will magically make it come true. One side of the festival is adorned with paper lanterns, while the other side is lined with lanterns made of reflective coloured paper.

At the entrance to the festival, a female performer is essentially doing karaoke, while at the other end, people dance to music on a stage. For no apparent reason, one guy is dressed as a polar bear. As nothing particularly interests me about the festival, I walk its length and then leave.

I head back to the hostel, up to the roof terrace, to read my book.

The evening sky looks like the end of the world.

Withdrawal & I

Posted on 02/08/2014 by Luke

Today, I have a rough plan: a day trip to Nara with a stop in Uji. Last night, I arranged to meet my friend Slavek at noon. He’s planning on going to Nara anyway, so we decide to travel together. However, I wake up at 11 a.m. with a hangover; I shouldn’t have stayed up until 4 a.m. drinking whisky and teaching people magic tricks.

Slavek and I walk to Kyoto Station. I’m pleased to find that he is a fellow fast walker, and his pace matches mine perfectly. It takes us ten minutes at a brisk stride. On the way, I stop off at Seven Eleven to withdraw a ¥10,000 note. Seven Eleven cash machines are the only ones that accept my card in Japan, and the minimum withdrawal here is ten thousand yen. We pay ¥240 and head to Uji by train. Slavek is a very clever guy with great English skills, a keen eye for both nutrition and politics, and he’s an avid Haruki Murakami reader. We have decent conversations. In Uji, we’re off to see the temple that is depicted on every ten-yen coin.

I’m fond of Japanese coins. The 100% aluminium ¥1 coin floats on water and sticks to any part of your face without falling off. The copper ¥10 coin brought us to Uji to see the temple. The ¥500 coin is the most valuable everyday coin globally, and it’s also the most interesting. When tilted at a certain angle, you can spot the kanji for ‘five-hundred-yen’ hidden in the grooved lines. Additionally, the word ‘Japan’ is discreetly engraved in 0.2mm across the coin’s face.

Amidst my blathering about coinage, we end up missing the stop for Uji. Getting off the train, we cross the platform and board another train bound for Kyoto Station. It’s an easy mistake, one forgiven by the Japanese train ticketing system. Finally arriving at Uji Station, we head to Byodoin Temple, the one featured on the ten-yen coin.

Byodoin is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, marking another off my list. It’s one of the few remaining examples of Heian temple architecture in Japan, dating back to its original construction in 998 AD. Surprisingly, it doesn’t seem to attract many tourists; in fact, most of the visitors I see here are Japanese. The temple features Japan’s most beautiful Pure Land Gardens among the few that remain, alongside a small museum, both covered by the entry fee.

The museum has won four architecture awards. Inside, it houses 52 wooden Bodhisattvas, the temple bell, the south-end Phoenix, and other historically noteworthy items. Additionally, the temple bell here is recognised as a national treasure. I discover that the golden phoenix here is the same one depicted on the rear side of the ¥10,000 note. More money musings. After exploring the museum, we hop onto a packed train filled with tourists heading to Nara:

We arrive in Nara just after 3 p.m. It’s a warm afternoon, thankfully quite cloudy. Heading to Todaiji Temple, we pass a lovely pond with turtles swimming around. We also visit a few smaller temples and a five-storey pagoda. Kohfukuji Temple, part of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara, is sadly closed for reconstruction. Surprisingly, it closed in October 2010 and won’t be ready until 2018. Eight years to reconstruct a temple. Just nuts.

And then there are the deer. Sika Deer roam freely through the town, with an estimated 1,200 of them in Nara. You can purchase deer snacks and feed them to these creatures. I’ve been told that the deer bow when you feed them. We witness a herd waiting patiently at a red crossing light, only crossing when the light turns green. They’re remarkably tame.

Todaiji Temple is the second-largest wooden structure on the planet. It was built during the Nara period on the instruction of Emperor Shomu. We pay our ¥600 entry fee and stroll through the gardens toward the temple. On the temple grounds, there used to be two 100-metre-tall pagodas, but they were destroyed during an earthquake. In 751 AD, these pagodas would have been the second tallest structures in the world, after the Egyptian Pyramids.

Some interesting facts about the temple: Emperor Shomu issued a law in Japan stating that the people should directly participate in the creation of new Buddhist temples across the country. Thanks to this law, 2,600,000 people were involved in the construction of the Great Buddha Hall and the statue inside.

Another interesting fact: the Great Buddha Hall is 1/3 smaller than the original, as it burnt down in 1180 AD and again in 1567 AD. That’s what you get when you build it entirely out of wood. I’ve noticed that nearly every temple I’ve visited in Kyoto has suffered the same fate of burning down and being rebuilt. Inside the hall stands the statue of the Vairocana Buddha, also known as the ‘Buddha that shines throughout the world like a sun.’

This is the world’s largest bronze image of the Buddha, towering at 14.98 metres. The construction of this Buddha nearly bankrupted the Japanese economy at the time, as it consumed all of the available bronze in the country. Sadly, behind the statue, there are many small gift shops that seem out of place and frankly spoil the ambiance of the scene.

It’s just after 5 p.m., so Slavek and I decide to grab some food in Nara. We end up eating far too much sushi, spending a total of ¥6436 at the restaurant. Later, we hop on the express train back to Kyoto, mistakenly using our tickets intended for the local train. During the journey, the conductor asks us to pay an additional ¥510 as a surplus charge for the express train. The express train takes about twenty minutes, half the time of the local train. Finally, we walk back to the hostel from Kyoto Station.

In the hostel bar, I enjoy ¥500 glasses of Suntory whisky highball. It’s not until my third drink that I inquire about the price of a double, as the standard highball is a bit weak for my taste. “It’s ¥500,” explains Daiki, the barman. So, after being here for five nights, I discover that a double whisky and soda costs the same as a single. If this holds true in all Japanese bars, I’m in luck. I also order some bar snacks—¥100 for mixed nuts. Daiki places a small bowl on a tiny set of scales, pouring nuts into the bowl until they reach the specified weight. Just nuts.

Let’s Go to Space, Brother!

Posted on 31/07/2014 by Luke

In 1994, Rokuon-ji Temple was designated as a World Cultural Heritage Site. The Golden Pavilion is adorned with gold foil on lacquer, making it a spectacular and breathtaking structure. Gleaming brightly in gold, it peacefully rests on an island in the middle of a lake, encircled by stunning Zen gardens. Even the vending machines here offer disposable cameras, beckoning visitors to capture the Golden Pavilion’s magnificence.

The entry fee is just ¥400, and the ticket, crafted from beautiful paper and adorned with expert calligraphy, adds to the experience. The path meanders through the belfry, past the abbot’s chamber, the pond, the Golden Pavilion, Galaxy Spring, and the Sekka-tei Tea House, all while being enveloped by the mysterious mountains in the background. It’s a wonderful route that takes me about twenty minutes at an unhurried pace. Along the way, small wooden shacks selling souvenirs entice tourists.

After visiting Rokuon-ji Temple, I catch a bus to Kyoto Station. From there, I walk back to Kawaramachi Station, passing by Kyoto Tower on the way, although I opt not to go inside. I’ve had my fill of 360-degree panoramic views this month; it’s enough to last me a lifetime.

As I walk away from Kyoto Tower, I notice some signs. One warns that bicycles parked on Kyoto’s streets will be removed, with a ¥2300 fine upon retrieval. Another indicates that Kyoto is a ‘no smoking’ city, imposing a ¥1000 fine on anyone caught smoking on the streets. A third sign highlights a ¥30,000 fine for littering. I appreciate Kyoto for these regulations, although the frequency of enforcing these fines remains uncertain. At times, it feels as if Japan exists within a vast panopticon.

I see a sign saying, ‘Now, Life is Living You.’ Beyond the sign lies the entrance to yet another temple: Higashi Honganji Temple. I cross over a moat of water filled with lily pads and approach this marvel. The temple also features a cleansing basin adorned with a water-breathing dragon—seems to be a common sight in Kyoto.

The Goeido Hall stands as the second-largest wooden structure in Kyoto and ranks amongst the world’s largest wooden buildings. Its garden is recognised as a site of National Scenic Beauty. The temple follows the Shinran sect of Buddhism. In 1532, a Nichiren Buddhism sect felt that the Shinran sect was gaining too much influence, leading to the burning down of the temple.

As I continue my walk toward Downtown Kyoto, I recall seeing a sign on the train yesterday, advertising an art exhibition at the Museum of Kyoto. Conveniently, the museum is just a ten-minute walk from my hostel. On the way, I pass by a shop called ‘Eggs and Things,’ where a queue of at least thirty women stands outside, enduring the 33°C Kyoto heat, boiling, much like the eggs. I walk up four seemingly random steps, cross a road, and then descend another set of four random steps. Amidst this confusion, a perplexing sign catches my eye.

At the Museum of Kyoto, I attend the opening of the ‘Space Brothers’ exhibition, which will run from today until September 23rd. Men from the Koyama Astronomical Observatory are currently giving a one-off presentation. The presentation is entirely in Japanese, with a man talking and pointing at a projector with a red laser pen. Television crews are also present, with five large cameras and two microphones on sticks, capturing every image and every word.

Space Brothers is a Japanese manga narrating the tale of two brothers aspiring to become astronauts. This exhibition marks the first large-scale showcase of the author Chuya Koyama’s work. It features over two hundred pieces of original illustrations. Alongside the artwork, there’s a collection of replicas of space uniforms and models of rockets, all loaned from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

There’s an audio guide in Japanese narrated by two voice actors from the anime series. Spread across two floors, the exhibition showcases videos of the moon landing, real satellites displayed in glass boxes, model rockets, a dedicated section about Apo the dog, and genuine meteorites. All this is available for the ticket price of ¥1000. Even the museum restaurant offers a space-themed menu. Additionally, Pocari Sweat has a stand here where you can write a message to be sent to the moon during their upcoming interstellar flight next year.

As I make my way through the gift shop, I find myself tempted to purchase something. Normally, I wouldn’t bother, but this is space stuff. At a price of ¥1296, I buy ‘Space Bread’ and ‘Space Ice Cream’—foods that astronauts actually consume during missions to space or while floating about on the International Space Station. ‘In space, no one can hear you ice scream.’

I take my space snacks back to the hostel. The ice cream feels as light as polystyrene but surprisingly tastes delightful. It’s akin to chomping on soft vanilla ice cream-flavoured chalk that turns to powder with each bite. The texture is peculiar, yet it somehow retains the taste of ice cream. On the other hand, the bread tastes rather plain, like ordinary bread. Surprisingly, it still manages to maintain a fresh taste.

I sit on the roof terrace with my book for a while until suddenly, sirens begin wailing all around—loads of them. Three fire engines, a police car, and an ambulance rush to a building on the same block as the hostel. The 20-storey building appears to have a fire on the twentieth floor. Firefighters swiftly ascend to the roof, and one courageous fireman descends from a rope, abseiling onto the balcony below.

Twenty minutes later, the fire is extinguished, the sirens cease, and the vehicles depart. I linger on the roof a little while longer, engrossed in my book, ‘Dance Dance Dance.’ In the distance, the sky echoes with the rumbling of thunder, seemingly serving as an early warning for the impending rain. The precise moment the thunder halts, raindrops begin to fall. Deciding to set aside my book as I’m getting soaked, I grab a hostel umbrella and make my way for some food. Taking refuge in the arcade, I escape from the rain’s downpour. Through the speakers, a saxophone cover of ‘Yesterday’ by the Beatles fills the space.

I opt for Earth food: Kyoto-style Okonomiyaki. Often likened to a pancake or referred to as a Japanese-style pizza, Okonomiyaki is distinct from both. It’s made of batter, cabbage, Okonomiyaki sauce, and shavings of smoked bonito. To complete the dish, small flakes of aonori, a dried seaweed, are sprinkled over the top.

My table features a section in the middle with an iron griddle where the cooked ‘pizza’ is promptly placed. Due to the heat, the fish shavings seem to come alive, moving around on the dish. I squeeze some mayonnaise over the top. While the food tastes good, I’m not particularly fond of the sauce. Nonetheless, the rest of the meal is fantastic. I decide to add a sprinkle of chili powder to give it an extra kick.

Some places serve Okonomiyaki with raw ingredients, allowing you to cook it yourself. It’s a ‘what you like’ dish, where you can request any topping or filling you desire. Not wanting to navigate the ordering process in Japanese, I simply pointed at the word ‘vegetarian’ on the menu. The meal, along with a glass of whisky, totals ¥1010.

I head back to the hostel and, as usual, wrap up the night at the bar.

Grandiose Encounters of the Third Class

Posted on 28/07/2014 by Luke

I went without any Internet connection for a few days, so I couldn’t post anything. Here’s a summary of the last three days:

Friday – Fukuoka

Today, I met a German guy named Klaus. It’s his first day in Japan after spending a month in South Korea. He wants to stay here tomorrow night as well, but there are no available rooms in the hostel. I cancel my reservation for tomorrow night, and he takes my room. I wanted to start traveling early tomorrow anyway, as I have a fourteen-hour train journey to endure.

Klaus and I take a stroll around Hakata Station. I show him the sights, starting with the roof terrace. We then wander through the enormous indoor shopping complex, exploring various random gifts. I spot some excellent souvenir ideas. Later, we head for food—a classic dish of mixed vegetable and prawn tempura on rice, accompanied by a pint of Kirin Beer. Kirin isn’t my first choice for Japanese beer, but I don’t complain.

Afterward, we head over to Tenjin Station because Klaus is really keen on seeing the giant cardboard train. I don’t mind showing him around as I have nothing else planned in Fukuoka. Klaus is quite funny, and his English is good, so I don’t have to speak slowly or anything. We enter the building where I thought the cardboard train was, but we can’t seem to find it. Unfortunately, I deleted the photograph, so I can’t prove to him that it was real. He starts doubting its existence altogether, and I begin to question it myself, still feeling a bit off-kilter from yesterday. We hesitate to ask anyone else about the train because it might sound absurd. “Excuse me, miss, could you point us in the direction of the giant cardboard stream locomotive, please?”

After an hour of searching, we eventually find it in a completely different building from the one I had sworn it was in.

Next, we head to an izakaya by the river. It’s the first time I’ve visited an outdoor izakaya of this style. We choose the most welcoming one. “Please, you are welcome,” the owner says with an honest smile. This place serves skewers of meat and noodle soup. Klaus and I do what Germans and Britons do best: drink.

We meet a couple of Japanese people: two guys, one of whom had visited Berlin last year, so he and Klaus engage in conversation. Two girls, one of whom had spent six months studying English in Leeds, so she and I chat. As the night progresses, Klaus teaches me about South Korea, and I share my knowledge about Japan with him. We drink, joke, and before we know it, the night disappears.

Saturday – Okayama

I board my third and final train for the day at Shimionoseki Station, taking the JR Sanyo Line. The train is old, with uncomfortable seats, no toilet, and no vending machine. I wish I had more than one bottle of water. The train announcements are exclusively in Japanese. Am I even on the right train? How would I even know?

This ‘local’ train makes an astonishing 83 stops, taking a total of eight hours. Finally, at 9 p.m., I arrive in Okayama. I decided to break up my travel to Kyoto with a nice stopover in a pleasant-looking business hotel. I enjoy staying in a hotel once a month; it offers a refreshing change from the noise of a dormitory room. By using my Seishun 18 ticket, I save myself the ¥16,060 that the bullet train would have cost me. In exchange, I sacrifice 569 minutes of my life.

As I step off the train, the speakers are bellowing out the tune, ‘I’ve Been Working on the Railroad’. In fact, they play the tune every time a train pulls up here. You might go insane if you were a member of the station staff. Leaving the station, I realise just how exhausted I am from doing absolutely nothing but sitting on trains. It wears me out.

There is a really lovely fountain just outside the entrance. I believe it’s shaped to look like a dandelion.

One thing I notice immediately about Okayama is the maps—they are everywhere, massive, and in English. My hotel is on the same road as the station, about halfway between here and Okayama Castle. I grab a well-deserved can of Suntory whisky highball for the walk.

The main road through Okayama is wide, with trams drifting through the middle of the lanes. Neatly pollarded trees, lit up by lamps, line both sides of the pavement, adding to the city’s charm. Finding my hotel, I notice it’s slightly more upmarket than I’m used to. The room is of average size, with a laid-out yukata on the bed and all the usual hotel amenities. Unfortunately, my view isn’t of the castle but of the train station. Oddly, the hotel exists in a time before the World Wide Web and does not offer Internet access.

After settling into the hotel, I decide to take a walk. I head into the park, passing a group of people exercising to music from a stereo in the street. The park is pitch black, but I can vaguely make out a lake in the middle. In the distance, I see the castle, illuminated by bright green lights.

Similar to the park, the castle exterior is pitch black, earning it the nickname ‘Crow Castle’. After visiting the castle, I step out of the park and into the light. Following the neon signs, I navigate interlocking side streets filled with restaurants. People stand outside, attempting to usher customers into their establishments. As I walk around with an empty can of highball, a trick I discovered, I notice that nobody wants someone with an open can of drink in their restaurant. Consequently, I am almost completely ignored by the touts.

I decide to dine at a small family-run restaurant. Surprisingly, they have Basashi (raw horse meat) curry on the menu, alongside natto curry. Opting for a fish curry, I’m asked by the owner, ‘Medium heat, medium curry, okay?’ I request it to be hot. He brings out the familiar chart with the five chili symbols. His chart looks like this:

One: For children.
Two: Mild curry.
Three: Extremely hot!
Four: Daredevil!
Five:

Five is left blank, presumably because no one orders a five. I ask for a three. ‘Three!!!’ he exclaims. His response makes me start laughing. When my curry arrives, the smell is enticing, and the heat level is just right. It costs ¥1019, including a small can of Kirin Beer. It’s a good meal, albeit with a substandard beer.

Sunday – Kyoto

After traveling for four hours on trains, I finally arrive in Kyoto. I switch to the subway line headed to Kawaramachi Station, and surprisingly, the subway train happens to be the nicest I’ve ridden all week. Remembering my station name won’t be an issue either. During my month in Tokyo, my local station was Tawaramachi Station—here, just a letter’s difference. Leaving the station, I walk directly into a massive shopping arcade that sprawls out in every direction.

I pass by a huge market where everything is produced and sourced locally. There are numerous vegan and organic restaurants here as well—my kind of place. Additionally, within the arcade, there are random temples dotted about. Seishinin Temple is sandwiched between a small shop selling calligraphy on wooden blocks and a shop selling human caricatures.

It is only 2 p.m. and I have one hour before I can officially check-in. I find the hostel and fill out all the necessary paperwork and pay. The hostel offers to look after my bags for an hour. As I hand over my one bag, the staff member gives me a bewildered look. “That’s it?!” He asks me with surprise in his voice.
“Yep, that’s it,” I tell him.
“Not very heavy,” he says, struggling to grasp the concept of my luggage.
“I like to travel light,” I offer as an explanation. His expression retains a sense of disbelief.

I have an hour to kill, so I decide to find some lunch. I head to a small restaurant across the road that offers natural organic food. Like most restaurants here, it has an English menu, probably due to the sheer volume of tourists. They offer free wireless Internet, and Björk’s music is coming out of the speakers. I order a salmon, mushroom, and cheese omelette over rice, served with a big salad, along with a green tea latte. Although the food doesn’t look too pretty, it tastes and smells amazing. The meal costs ¥1944. No complaints here—good food, good music, free Internet.

Kyoto was formerly the imperial capital of Japan for over a thousand years. Now, it serves as the capital of Kyoto Prefecture. It’s often referred to as the ‘City of Ten Thousand Shrines.’ I’m not certain if it actually has ten thousand shrines, but it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if it did. I’ve counted eleven already today, and they were all within the indoor shopping arcade.

I return to the hostel to retrieve my room key. The hostel is modern, featuring five floors and a roof terrace. I decide to explore the public areas. The lounge is adorned with small wooden boxes housing growing plants, adding a touch of nature. A huge glass bay window floods the dining area with natural light. The outdoor roof terrace is neatly arranged, complete with beer and cup noodle vending machines. It seems someone in the hostel has organised a weekly late-night running group, with a clear emphasis on ‘going for a beer afterwards.’ I have a feeling I’m going to enjoy my one-week stay here.

The hostel also features a library, and unlike Fukuoka and Beppu, it has a lift. While I’m writing up my weekend, a Japanese guy who works here comes over and introduces himself. He seems quite a character and turns out to be one of the barmen at the hostel’s bar, which is located in the basement and stays open until midnight every evening. They also offer ¥400 beer on tap. Tonight, the hostel is hosting a monthly party, which is fantastic—another stroke of lucky timing. At the party, I discover that the other barman is my friend Shonosuke. I had no idea he was here. Brilliant!

One Zoo Over; the Panda Impressed

Posted on 02/06/2014 by Luke

Today I once again decide to stay within the boundary of Taito Ward. Taito is where I am technically living. It is one of the 23 municipalities in Tokyo. It is home to five districts, one being Asakusa and another being Ueno; where I will be heading to this morning. Since arriving in Asakusa I have only ventured out of Taito Ward once, which was yesterday’s trip to the other side of the Sumida River.

I set off from my hostel about 9 a.m. It is 33°C today in Asakusa, and I am incredibly thankful that every building in Japan is heavily air‐conditioned. I start walking, remaining on the same road for ten minutes, before arriving at Ueno. A short stroll later and I am near the entrance to Ueno Park.

The park is home to the Tokyo National Museum and the National Museum of Nature and Science, both closed at the moment; probably because it is Sunday morning. Ueno Park is also home to many temples, statues, art galleries, and a concert hall. I hear a crowd in the distance and decide to see what’s happening. Deeper into the park I walk, until I find the source of the noise, a baseball field. Baseball is a very popular sport in Japan, and a crowd of about forty people gather here to watch what is probably some amateurs practicing. After watching for about ten minutes, I decide to check out the Shinto shrine, Tosho-gu.

Another thing that Ueno Park is famous for is Ueno Zoo. I arrive at the entrance and am surprised to find it is open. I use the automatic ticket machine, with its English option, pay the bargain price of ¥600, and enter the zoo. The zoo is home to many animals, including the Asian elephant, the hippo, toucans, kangaroos, pelicans, puffins, flamingos, crocodiles, the reticulated giraffe, the red panda, and of course the two giant pandas, Siennyu and Shinshin. Unfortunately, the giant pandas are inside an annoyingly reflective glass enclosure making it very difficult to get a good photograph. This one was my favourite:

After the zoo, I walk back to the hostel and rest for a while. I caught the sun quite badly and my face is a little red with sunburn. Eventually it is time to head out to get some food.

It’s lunch time in Japan, and most of the restaurants are very busy. I have a desire to eat fish today so take a while wandering around until I see a restaurant with plastic models of sushi and sashimi bowls outside.

The cool air conditioned restaurant is very busy and I am seated opposite a Japanese man. I order a big bottle (660ml) of Asahi, costing ¥550. It is served in the smallest glass I have ever seen; so small in fact, that I probably had to refill the glass no fewer than ten times during my meal. Browsing the menu I notice the restaurant also offers my favourite Japanese whisky, Hibiki. They offer both the 17 year old and the 21 year old for ¥700, much cheaper then back home. I order the tuna sashimi rice bowl set, served with a tofu based Miso soup, Daikon and seaweed. It is delicious. The tuna some of the freshest I have ever had. The food is ¥1550, making the total cost of the meal, a very good value for money ¥2100.

On the way back from the restaurant I take a detour through the market streets of Asakusa and see yet more outdoor street performers. The first act features a man playing The Entertainer by Scott Joplin on a keyboard, as a male and female clown play musical chairs. There is no dialogue, just over exaggerated hand gestures and some convincing facial expressions. The duo of clowns eventually invite a woman from the audience to play musical chairs with them. The audience member wins the game, after a large amount of clowning about. The acts finish, pass around their hats, and move aside to let a second act set up.

The second act is a female balloon artist, tap dancer, and comedian. Again, much like the first act there is no dialogue. She is being filmed by two people with professional looking cameras. After making some balloon animals and flowers and doing pranks on the children of the audience, she randomly brings out some bright and colourful boards and starts to tap dance. She then starts doing tricks with her hat; she starts by rolling it down her back, then catching it. Tossing it over her body, catching it with her foot, before flipping it back up into the air, where she catches it in her hand. Next she rolls it up her arm and flips it back into the air before catching it on her head. It is actually very impressive.

After she is finished, and her hat is passed around, the camera people leave, the performers leave and the crowd disperses. I decide to go for a few beers in the English bar next to the hostel. Here I end up talking to a Japanese man. He asks me where I am from, and I tell him England. “You know Oasis and The Beatles?” He asks. I tell him I don’t like Oasis. The very next thing he asks me is, “Do you know Radiohead?” After about an hour of talking about Radiohead, the Japanese man has to go.

Next an attractive Japanese lady comes into the bar and sits next to me. She is thirty years old and spent 7 years in England as a child. Her accent is incredible. She goes from sounding like a Japanese person speaking English, then her accent randomly changes into a posh sounding London accent, just for the odd sentence or word. After a few beers and a decent conversation, I decide it is time for me to sleep. I ask to pay my bill, which should have been ¥2320, but I am only asked to pay ¥1000. I have no idea who, if anyone has paid for any of my beer tonight. I don’t argue, pay my ¥1000, say goodbye to everyone and leave.

A Tale of Two Squids

Posted on 31/05/2014 by Luke

I wake up to the birds cheeping outside and the sun blazing through the window. An early start today in the far too hotter than I’m used to 30°C Tokyo sunshine finds me out and about for 9 a.m. I head across to the bar I had been the previous evening, which luckily for me, doubles up as a vegan and vegetarian restaurant in the day time; and only a 45 second walk from my hostel too. After a breakfast of beans, egg, and toast, washed down with a damn fine cup of coffee, it’s time for a stroll.

I take a five-minute walk to Senso-ji, a Buddhist Temple in Asakusa and the oldest temple in Tokyo. The entrance to the temple is marked by a giant red and white lantern, and probably the largest lantern I have seen in my life. This section is known as Kaminarimon, or the Thunder Gate. Standing either side of the gate are two large statues, the one on the left, I am told, is Fujin, the god of wind; and to the right, Raijin, the god of thunder.

Continuing towards the temple, there’s a line of over 80 stalls offering fans, umbrellas, souvenirs, and an array of food items (bean paste buns and rice crackers seem to be popular today), along with clothing, handbags, and even a stall claiming to sell tortoise shell and coral. Known as Nakamise-Dori, this stretch forms a beautiful lantern-lit pathway of stalls leading to the temple.

In the temple courtyard stands Goju-no-To, a five-story pagoda that stands at 53 metres tall, making it the second-highest pagoda in all of Japan. Prior to the temple entrance, there’s a massive cauldron emitting thick incense smoke. This cauldron marks the threshold before the entrance to the Hondo, or Main Hall. Inside the Main Hall, a striking golden statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy, awaits. Legend claims the statue was retrieved from a lake in the year 628 AD by two fishermen.

After some sightseeing around the temple, I head to a nearby shaded indoor market. After a short while, I notice a woman who, for no apparent reason, is strolling through the market balancing a bottle of green tea on her head. As she passes by, I stop and turn around to confirm what I had just witnessed – indeed, a woman balancing a bottle of green tea on her head. In the process, I almost get knocked over by a passing cyclist.

Upon returning to the hostel, I start feeling somewhat tired: a touch of jet lag, extended periods of wakefulness, and my newfound, albeit very healthy diet of Suntory Black Boss Coffee being the obvious causes. I opt to take a nap.

I awaken. It’s 8 p.m., and outside, the darkness of the sky has been replaced by the brilliance of vibrant neon lights. I realise that Japan takes on a strikingly different appearance in the evening. I begin my walk back toward Senso-ji, passing by pachinko parlours, game arcades, and brightly lit restaurants that seemed non-existent earlier today. The streets are now bustling with people seated at tables, dining. Shutters down, shutters up—there isn’t a clothing shop in sight; everything has been transformed into restaurants.

I return to Senso-ji to witness the Pagoda and Temple illuminated at night—an impressive sight. Strolling back through Nakamise-Dori, almost all of the 80 stalls are now closed with their shutters down. Only a single food stall remains open; it’s time to find something to eat.

I opt for a tempura restaurant that proudly boasts an English menu. According to the menu, their prawns are exceptionally tasty due to being raised using extensive aquaculture—an environmentally friendly method. They exclusively use 100 percent vegetable oil with no cholesterol. Ordering a tempura set with noodles and a pint of Kirin Beer, I indulge in tempura sweet potato, lotus root, squid, and prawn, all served on a bed of rice. While the squid tempura is remarkable, the standout, confirming the menu’s claim, happens to be the most delectable prawn I’ve ever tasted.

The meal, including the beer, costs me ¥1060—an incredibly reasonable price indeed.

Deciding to conclude the night back at the hostel, my appetite is thoroughly satisfied. I purchase a few affordable cans of Asahi from the vending machines and head to my room, where I’m greeted by a few fellow roommates. A lady from Taiwan offers me some squid on a stick. ‘Try it,’ she says with a grin, ‘it’s nice and a little bit spicy too!’ For some reason, I agree to give it a try.

Two minutes later, I’m still at the tap, trying to wash away the taste of what must have been the most disgusting food I have ever tasted. The texture was chewy, the taste was off, the regret was apparent.

My second day in Japan oddly mirrored by both morning and evening visits to Senso-ji Temple: walking the same streets once bathed in the brightness of a hot sunny day and then again in the neon-lit darkness of the night; and some food to remember, followed by food to forget.

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