Journey to the Centre of the World

Leaving Tokyo we set off east following the sun to Mexico City on what turned out to be a Monday that lasted nearly 40 hours as we crossed the date line on our route across the Pacific.  Landing in Mexico City (D.F) after a 12 hour flight but still technically two hours before we had set off from Tokyo was very strange and it marked a landmark on our trip.  We had now travelled around the globe having left our home in D.F 10 months before!  With our body clocks having no idea what had happened we set off in separate directions to stay with friends in the city for a ‘few beers’ and a catch up.  Despite Hannah’s concerns and against all the odds I made it to the airport the following evening at 1am after a traditional cultural bar crawl to catch our connection on to Ecuador.

Plaza Indepenencia

The Changing of the Guards

Having last been to Quito (the world’s highest official capital) nine years ago I was very excited to come back to what is surely the setting for one of the world’s most dramatic cities.  Set at nearly 3000m in a narrow valley where steep slopes rise up seemingly into the heavens, the city lies just south of the equator and as such is known as Ciudad Mitad Del Mundo by the locals (Although apparently it is 2000m further from the centre of the earth than the top of Mount Everest!).   By the time we had landed following a sleepless flight severe jet lag and exhaustion really kicked in and our first two days were spent sleeping at very strange times, despite our best attempts to stay awake.  We were at least able to start investigating a possible Galapagos trip during this time but only because this could be done in bed with a lot of emails.  On our third morning we finally mustered enough energy to move hostels closer to the town centre where we were able to organise a flight and last minute deal for a dream trip to one of the world’s most iconic destinations.  Climbing up the steep steps to Parque Itchimbia, panting from the altitude, we were afforded spectacular views across the old town that is set below a peculiar winged aluminium angel (a gift from the Spanish for their previous endeavours on the continent). With renewed enthusiasm but only slightly more energy (we were now sleeping until 3am, a comparative luxury after the previous four nights!) we started to explore the beautiful old town, the world’s first UNESCO Heritage Site along with Krakow in Poland. 

The old town is a maze of white washed Spanish colonial buildings and undulating cobbled streets with ornate Catholic Churches hidden behind wooden doors.  Just outside of the old town is the Basilica, a giant Gothic Cathedral that towers above the old town due to its size and location on one of the many small hills in the city.  The new stain-glass windows gave the church a strange pink light across its columns and the standard gory images of death that seem to dominate Catholic Churches, a far cry from the Buddhist Temples we had gotten used to.  Outside of the church one of many fundraising events was taking place for the devastating earthquake that struck the northern coast of Ecuador just before we arrived.  Along with small dance performances and people collecting we saw huge lorry’s being filled by volunteers piled high with water and tinned food.  One morning we were lucky enough to see the spectacular changing of the guards in the main plaza in Quito which happens every week and is attended by the President.  After the procession of soldiers whose uniform was modelled on the tin soldiers from the nutcracker a small protest against the President took place against the handling of the crisis and the high levels of corruption that sadly seem to plague every Latin American nation. 

La Ronda

By far the most interesting look around the city came when we fortunately stumbled across a free walking tour we thought we had missed. Our guide was very informative and spent a lot of time passionately explaining about the economic crisis of 1999 and how the corrupt President Mahuad (a former Harvard graduate who now has political asylum in the USA despite Ecuador’s annual request for extradition) ended up leading the nation into hyperinflation. Stood outside of the Ecuador's old Central Bank he added that it was now a museum as President Mahuad installed the US Dollar as Ecuador’s currency before he was removed from office after major demonstrations.  As the sun grew more intense in the early afternoon we were told about Quito being conquered by the Incas from Cusco (Peru) who thought it was a better place to worship their Sun God.  As my face grew more and more burnt it seemed they had got it about right!  Our final stop was a walk around La Ronda, Quito’s bohemian cultural centre with colourful buildings lining its narrow streets.  A 4.30 am start for the airport proved easy the next morning with our still malfunctioning body clocks and we left Quito behind very excited for a once in a lifetime trip to the Galapagos Islands!!!

Twenty First Century Tokyo

View from our apartment of the Sky Tree

Just like other super cities in Asia there is always something exciting your senses in Tokyo and yet it is so different to the chaos and noise of the developing nations on the main land.  Tokyo is on one hand a whirl of hyperactive energy and yet it is incredibly organised and easy to enjoy.  The amazing trains which are always on time and practically cover the entire city allowed us to enjoy the city to its full, from the entertainment districts where anything goes to the calm and traditional havens that offer an escape from the addictive overload of modern Tokyo.  Although it is impressive in the day the city really comes alive at night and it is easy to spend hours wandering around gazing at the flashing lights and crazy shops and bars, although trying to avoid the drunk Japanese business men whilst doing it can prove a challenge.  Although we were in a quiter district we had amazing views across the city at night that included a strange monument known as the Golden Poo which sits atop of Asahi Beers headquarters and the amazing Tokyo Sky Tower.

The Scramble

Cat Woman!

After the excitement of the Sumo Wrestling we started to explore a little more of modern Tokyo, heading to the west of the city called Shibuya.  The area is famous for manga and insane Japanese fashion (the strange maids and school girl outfits from manga) as well as the world’s busiest intersection (a bold claim!) known simply as ‘The Scramble’.  People swarm from all directions as every light changes at once and yet as soon as the lights have turned the pavement is again bursting as people wait for the next rush (it looks better than it sounds, particularly at night).  Like everything in Japan this was still done in a strange, respectful manner as collisions are resolved with a polite bow, as with most greetings in the country.   As we walked along the narrow streets huge signs advertising god knows what loomed above us as the shop front on the ground floor does not necessarily represent every floor above. Noticing a Cat Café Hannah made a beeline for the top floor of one such building and we were soon in a pretentious room with some twenty cats lounging around clearly living the good life. We also visited the world’s largest collection of manga with wall to wall comics, models and costumes of all genres with a particularly strange adult’s only section (think the sex scene in Team America).  We  were able to recover with a beer in a ‘beer bus’ and take a breather from the sensory overload of browsing in Japan.

The entrance to the  Robot Restaurant

Another famous area of the city is Akihabara, famed for its Maid Cafes and anime shops.  According to the Japanese the Maid Cafes which are full of attractive young women dressed as maids is meant in no way to be sexual but a place to be as cute as possible and to make people smile.  They perform little dances on a stage and speak in ‘cute’ high pitch voices.  Maids roam the streets with flyers tempting people inside but even this was comparatively normal to the Hobby Lobby Store which housed the most lewd models in some very comprising poses in the centre of what is effectively an adult toy store.  The 7 floors were filled with all sorts of strange models, comics and memorabilia and was packed with mainly but not exclusively young men who were pretty preoccupied with the strange merchandise on offer. The whole area was filled with similar shops and cafes with fans playing fantasy card games, making models or watching cartoons.  Akinhabara is also known for its electronic shops with everything from tiny one man shops to mega department stores featuring every electrical device and component known to man buried away in the chaotic stores. Some stores even have 'Pepper' humanoid robots outside dancing and interacting with people, often with far more enthusiasm than any shop assistants in the UK.

The chaos of Shinjuku

The entertainment district around Shinjuku in the west of the city is set around the world’s busiest train station (2 million people per day!) and is infamous across Japan.  As it is the most seismically stable area of the city most of the skyscrapers are here and we took the lift up to the 45^th floor of the Government Offices in the evening for amazing views across the city although it was not clear enough to see Fuji.  Shinjuku is also Japan's largest and wildest entertainment district with a huge red light district famous for its Love Hotels (themed hotels for short stay fun) and numerous bars and clubs.  At night the area is a whirl of colour and noise with gangs of men tempting people into buildings and drunk Japanese locals staggering about the streets.  Leaving Hannah for less than 30 seconds I was accosted by a 70 year old women trying to offer me Japanese girls on a set of cards like a pack of top trumps. At this point a man next to her saw Hannah approaching, quickly apologised for the women's mistake and they both ran off into the crowds!  Around the corner the Robot Restaurant has without doubt the most impressive shop front ever but the lights from all the competing shops and bars leave you feeling dazed and confused as we tried to fight through the crowds.  It was here that we accidentally stumbled across what we later discovered to be one of Tokyo's best Sushi restaurants, Himawari Sushi.  Having everything from smoked duck sushi to incredible marinaded mackerel and salmon for less that a pound a dish  was a pretty good way to spend the evening!  With its old and new Tokyo is a city you could spend a life time in and still not understand it but the week we got to taste the madness made it one of our favourite cities we have explored this year.

Ancient Tokyo

The Yabusame Festival in Tokyo

For all of the dazzling neon lights, soaring high rises and buzzing anime shops, Tokyo clings ferociously to its heritage as the capital of Japan's feudal past.  Despite Tokyo being infatuated with trends and fashion, Shinto shrines and temples are still crowded with worshippers and manicured Zen gardens are woven in between the sprawling mass of the world’s largest urban area. Every aspect of life that we saw in Japan is conducted in a polite and respectful manner stemming from its past. Even incredibly drunk co-workers on a Friday nod and bow profusely when falling out of bars to each other! On the face of it everybody is treated with respect and as such works to the best of their ability - from the most enthusiastic shop assistants to taxi drivers who are all dressed as 1920's elevator operators.  We rented a room from a Japanese hermit (I saw him twice during the whole stay and one of these was when he walked in on me on the loo before he screeched and ran away – we never saw him again) in the Asakusa district, a quiet residential area of Tokyo.  The apartment offered a roof terrace with amazing views of the new Sky Tree that is a dominant feature of Tokyo's skyline – no mean feat!  When you get to write about the trip whilst sat with a bottle of saké on your final night overlooking Tokyo it’s safe to say it has been a good week!  

Zen garden in Kamakura

A hidden temple in Tokyo

In a city of 37 million the biggest problem we faced was working out what to do with the week we had from the seemingly endless options.  Deciding that the best course of action was to learn a little about the city first we headed to the Edo – Tokyo Museum (Edo being the name of Tokyo under the Shogun).  It turned out Edo had spent much of its existence trying to avoid fires and plagues, much like London.  We ended up getting a free guided tour from a gentle 89 year old man named Yamamoto who was a fount of knowledge as he had volunteered there for 19 years.  Having lived through the wars and the arrival of democracy after WW2 he just seemed happy about the transformation of Japan, attributing its economic success after WW2 to the lack of arms imposed by the allies and the Tokyo Olympics in 1964.  Looking at Germany as Europe’s driving force it could almost be seen that the Axis Powers lost the battle but not the war in a perverse twist of history.    Having worked in munition factories during the war and survived the American bombing of the city (I didn't realise how badly destroyed Tokyo was during WW2) he beamed when talking about the re-education of Japan into a democracy and how confused everyone had been by the new ideas having been brain washed by Emperor Hirohito before WW2.  Amongst other things he explained that the oldest buildings in Japan that are still standing are wooden as they are more flexible and do not suffer from the earthquakes like the more rigid stone buildings.  This seemed particularly relevant as the very next day a giant earthquake rocked the south of the country causing severe destruction on the southern Island.

Kyudo Archer

Taking a trip out of the city we headed to Kamakura, the first feudal capital of Japan and set between the sea and wooded hills.  After we had seen the Daibutsu  (a huge Bronze Buddha) we explored a few of the Zen gardens although we had to watch out for kites attacking us for our lunch as they circled above us.    We also went to another, far less crowded bamboo forest and enjoyed a rest on the beach where we saw the unusual sight of a woman cleaning an octopus over an abandoned washing machine!  Kamakura is the home of Yabusame, a type of archery invented by Minamoto Yoritomo, the founder of the Kamakura Shogunate about a thousand years earlier.  Worried that his Samurai lacked the necessary skills they trained by galloping on horseback and shooting three targets whilst in full flight.  The following day back in Tokyo we were lucky enough to see an Archery festival featuring both Kyudo (standing archery) and Yabusame. Having watched the Kyudo tournament we took up our seats in the park about a metre away from the competitors who galloped up the track in traditional Samurai clothing screaming and firing arrows.  After the initial shock of being nearly trampled by the horses it was a spectacular sight as when they did hit the targets they exploded sending bits of wood flying in all directions.  The entire event was commentated on by an English translator whose English was about as good as my Spanish but she did at least provide entertainment if little information.  A little like the sumo the festivals are staged for the gods and a message was read for the victims of the earthquake towards the end of the festival.  It was great to see that for a city that prides itself on being at the forefront of technology so much effort is made to preserve its amazing heritage.

Sumo Wrestling

When we first started planning our trip to Japan we were disappointed that our dates did not coincide with one of the six Grand Sumo Tournaments held each year across Japan.  We therefore landed having already resigned ourselves to the fact that we would not see Japan's national sport.  On our first day in Tokyo though I became inspired to seek out a sumo match when we chanced upon three sumo wrestlers around Tokyo’s main Sumo Arena.  Walking out of a museum we were nearly ploughed down by a fat man in a brightly coloured dressing gown hurtling along the pavement on a tiny bicycle.  We realised however that it was not a fat man on a bike but a highly tuned athlete heading into Tokyo’s sumo Arena for training.  This was quickly followed by another meeting with a sumo at lunchtime.  Desperately wanting something affordable that did not involve noodles and fish I am ashamed to admit we headed across the road to McDonald’s for lunch where, having ordered, we turned around to see another sumo dressed in his robe.  Not knowing quite how to react to the irony of seeing a sumo wrestler eating fast-food I began to silently cry with laughter, to which Hannah grew slightly fearful that I was about to have my life ended.  After our close encounter it seemed fate was calling and after a little research we discovered that it was possible to attend one of the sumo warm up events in the nearby city of Kawasaki the following day- £100 and a 2 hour journey later and we were attending our first ever Sumo event.

The opening ceremony parade for the top division rikishi 

According to Japanese legend the origin of the Japanese race depended on the victory of a god, Takemikazuchi, winning a sumo match against a rival tribe to ensure the superiority of the Japanese people.  The sport dates back nearly 2000 years and despite the obvious amusement and confusion it provokes outside of Japan (where else do you see 300 pound men in diapers wrestling?) it is deeply steeped in the Shinto religion and the word itself means ‘way of the gods’.  It quickly becomes apparent that the majority of the event is not taken up with wrestling but is taken up by the pre-wrestle ceremonies that last considerably longer and are a huge part of a sport that was originally created to entertain the gods.  Everything from the dohyo (sumo ring) to the suspended hangings above it are symbolic with the pre wrestle ritual carried out by each rikishi (wrestler) becoming almost a religious dance.  Previously there were no rules but gradually a code of conduct has developed and no punching, eye gauging and chocking are allowed.  During the contest if any part of the rikishi’s body touches the floor or he is forced outside of the ring he loses the bout.  If a rikishi manages to win 2 of the Grand Tournaments back to back (whoever wins the most of his 15 matches in the tournament is awarded the Emperor Cup) he becomes the highest rank of wrestler – a yokozuna – although there have only been 70 of these in the history of the sport highlighting how competitive the field is.

The yokozuna performs the ritual

To the less trained eye however the sight of groups of men weighing more than is medically prescribed whilst walking about in bright thongs was more than a little comical as we arrived at the arena.  As it was a family day the first few hours were spent watching the rikishi warm up and wrestle children before the lower division wrestlers started their bouts.  As there are no weight categories in sumo some of these were slightly one sided and were generally (although not exclusively) won by the rikishi with the bigger waist line. The real fun began later in the day when the upper division ring ceremony began and a group of wrestlers walked onto the dohyo and began to sing whilst wearing their beautifully designed silk aprons.  Although we did not see a yokozuna fight we saw the ritual he performs at the start of the event as he came out and had a giant hemp rope tied around his waist by the lower rikishi.  The rope is a religious symbol and is normally found hanging in Shinto shrines rather than acting as a sweat band for a behemoth but again it illustrated the history and prestige of sumo in Japan.  As he stamped up and down in the dohyo, driving the evil spirits away, the anticipation in the audience increased and I cracked open a bottle of saké to enjoy the show.

The spectacle was without doubt one of the best of our trip and by the end it seemed perfectly normal for two men to be performing an aggressive truffle shuffle before wrestling in diapers (this may have also been a contribution of the saké).  We were lucky to meet Jimmy and Alex who were sat with us during the event and the four of us were kept highly entertained for what amounted to 5 hours of wrestling.  Although the bouts lasted for less than a minute (often less than 20 seconds) the whole performance and ritual made the occasion a really special event to have seen.  As the better wrestlers fought it became apparent that there were more techniques than the standard contest that consisted of some ceremonial salt throwing, an initial charge followed by a lift via a wedgie and a final dumping of the loser outside of the circle (apparently there are some 70 recognised sumo moves!).  To the novice fan the contests often just looked like two obese men slapping each other’s moobs and butting like rhinos, thus causing a hypnotic rippling effect across their bodies.  I think this probably does a disservice to the skill involved in each match up though!  After the final bout a ‘bow dance’ was performed by a specially picked rikishi who twirled the ceremonial bow above his head, marking the end of the event.  Despite the obvious comical (and strange) elements of the event to an outsider it was the insight into traditional Japanese culture more than anything that made the day such a great experience and definitely a highlight of our year so far. 

Mount Fuji

At some point it was inevitable that something would go wrong and after nearly 10 months on the road we finally missed our first bus.  The irritating thing was that having spent all day sheltering from a storm in the architecturally mind blowing Umeda City Train Station (14 floors and more shops that I have ever seen, and ever wanted to see) we managed to get lost on the supposedly five minute walk to the bus station.  Attempting my best impression of Victor Meldrew and with all the charm of Donald Trump I rampaged through the station scaring off all of the quiet, reserved Japanese commuters (suddenly nobody spoke English) as I ran around in circles swearing at the top of my voice and going an ever deeper shade of red than normal.  I will never work for the UN Diplomatic Core.  We finally admitted defeat as the clock struck 10.15pm and so we began the search for accommodation, heading back to our first haunt in Japan at the capsule hotel.  Discovering an even cheaper alternative we ended up next door renting a smelly, empty box with nothing in except a futon mattress on the floor.  On the plus side of our expensive mistake we at least got to catch a Japanese bullet train the next day and we headed north towards Mount Fuji at 320km/hr, quickly making up for lost time.

The shower room

Minimalist Decor

Around the lakes of Mount Fuji

Mount Fuji is surrounded by five lakes and we had decided to stay at Kawaguchiko, the more developed of the towns that sit under the gaze of Fuji.  Arriving we had no idea quite how close we were as a thick layer of cloud hung over the town but waking up the following morning it turned out that we were sleeping right next to it as the iconic, symmetrical cone filled the window of our hostel.  Our hostel (which was combined with a recording studio!) turned out to be in a traditional Japanese style with our room being huge and empty and the washing facilities being a shared line of showers and giant hot bath. This time I quickly got over the public display of nudity and realised the benefits of having a 40 degree plunge pool in the shower room after our long walks around the surrounding area. Although Fuji is still classed as an active volcano (it last erupted in 1707) you can still climb up to the summit, some 3776m above sea level but we had arrived a few weeks before ascents for the year are permitted - Hannah was distraught (not)!  We were still able to enjoy walking around Kawaguchiko and Saiko lakes which look a lot like the Scottish Highlands until you suddenly look around and Mount Fuji appears in your view.  It is a majestic sight as it sits almost regally above the ]surrounding area and I was delighted to see that Fuji Film disposable cameras (the good old days) are readily available to capture the image. 

Zen and Now - The Transforming City of Kyoto

A Twenty First Century Eunuch

Kyoto was Japan's capital city for over a millennium and is regarded as Japan's most beautiful city which boasts ancient temples, hidden gardens and traditional wooden houses.  Although areas of the city show classical Japan as you might imagine it can be hard to look past the urban sprawl that has chaotically been pieced together to form modern Kyoto.  As such I found it difficult to really engage with the undoubtedly amazing history and culture of its celebrated past.  With most major sites spaced out around the city and the crowds gathered for the Sakura it proved difficult to get around. We therefore separated our trip into different visits seeing the east, west and centre over three days although there was still some serious walking involved to even get around these smaller sections of the city. This could have been made easier if we had decided to make use of the ‘slaves’ that were pulling wealthy individuals around in strange carriages like trussed up horses.  I couldn't escape the idea that these men dressed in tiny shorts and a tight t-shirt were 21^st Century eunuchs as they came trotting past with their gleaming black carriage in tow.  The only disappointed/surprise to me was that the occupants didn't have a whip to complete the image. Despite my insistence on walking everywhere the ancient sites we did see in Kyoto were impressive and we got to visit the International Manga Museum to learn more about Japanese modern culture as well.

One of the amazing flowers in the Zen Garden

We had to base ourselves in Osaka as Kyoto was far too expensive and I of course managed to book a flat in what turned out to be in the centre of Japan's largest red light district (who knew their second biggest industry was sex – worth $24 billion a year!).  We therefore had to catch the train to Kyoto each morning and although this was only 30 minutes (if you managed to catch the rapid service) it made for very long days exploring.  On our first visit to the city we headed west to explore the bamboo forest and a few of the Buddhist temples.  The gardens at Tenryuji Temple were without doubt the most immaculate and sculpted that I have ever seen and were full of hundreds of brightly coloured flowers and cherry blossom trees.  Outside was the famous bamboo forest and as we walked between the soaring bamboo trunks if felt as though you had entered a world from a sci-fi film.

From the bamboo forest we walked back into the city and chanced upon a type of traditional Japanese theatre known as Noh that is now rarely performed.  Noh is structured around music and dance and combines very slow, exaggerated movement with an even slower storyline that quickly sent a number of the older members of the audience to sleep.  It is famous as the Shite (the central character in the play – hahahahahahahaha) and the support cast wear haunting wooden masks and so despite the monotonous 30 minute routine it was interesting to see whilst sat in a traditional temple.  Our final stop was to the impressive Daikakuji Temple which is regularly used as a filming location for period dramas.  Set alongside a pond and with perfectly raked gravel gardens the highlight was the ‘nightingale floor’.  This is made of dry wooden boards where the nails are designed to rub against a clamp to make squeaking sounds that warned the occupants of invading Ninjas and Samurai – very cool!  

The Shite in his mask

A Shinto shrine in the bamboo forest

Rather than discussing all of the temples we visited (they are fairly similar) the religion in Japan as a whole is unique and interesting as it combines Chinese Buddhism with traditional Japanese Shintoism and so each temple has various shrines inside to pray to. Upon visiting a Shinto shrine worshippers wash their hands with a tiny wooden barrel on a stick, often in a beautiful pool, and then ring a bell to summon their audience, light some incense and say a prayer. Many people also opt to write messages on paper or wooden plaques and tie them on the various displays with some shrines even having robot machines that select and hand to you your fortune!  Even the Catholic Church could learn a little from the money making of these temples –as each temple is usually dedicated to a number of gods people end up paying a small fortune to offer prayers to each shrine as well as to purchase all of the sacred paper and incense.  It makes the Popes money making trips to South America seem more like the disappointing work of second hand car salesman!

Glossing over our second day (The Imperial Palace in the centre is totally hidden by walls and surrounded by a wide gravel path – well worth the two hour walk -not!) we stumbled upon the International Manga Museum.  This turned out to be a huge library for Manga PHD students as well as teaching Manga heathens such as myself about one of Japan's biggest industries.  The museum was full of all ages as young and old packed the sofas to read Manga comics from a 70 year period.  It turns out Manga comics are aimed at all types of audiences from teenage high school dramas to more perverse male (and female) adult comics with most things in between.  It is a trillion dollar industry in Japan and I sat in the garden and I looked at a survivor’s recollection of the A-bomb in a translated Manga series under a cherry blossom tree for the afternoon.

The view from Kiomizudera Temple

Once I had finished a rant about the length of bus queues and terrible public transport in Kyoto our final day was spent in the east of the city where surprisingly there were some more temples and a lot of beautifully dressed women dressed as Geisha amongst the crowds.  Avoiding the temptation to cross dress for the day (Kimono renting shops are big business) we visited the impressive Kiyomizudera Temple that has a wooden platform 40 foot above the ground made using no nails which offered amazing views across the city and mountains beyond.  Heading further north for lunch we bought our standard Bento (boxed meal) and settled down by the river where we were treated to a very strange drumming performance by what appeared to be the Japanese version of the seven dwarfs as they marched up the footpath. After the unexpected concert we visited the unusual Nanzenin Temple that has a huge brick aqueduct running through the middle of it but at this point we felt a bit ‘templed out’ and headed back to our base in Osaka for our final night in the red light district. 

God, Deer & Biscuits

An hour’s journey west of Osaka is the former capital of Japan, Nara.  It was whilst making this particular journey we made huge progress in understanding the ridiculously complex process of waiting on the platforms.  The Japanese do not merely hang about haphazardly for the next train, instead they follow complex markings of shapes and numbers on the platform showing them where to queue in orderly, straight lines. This does have quite a satisfying result – the train doors always open right in front of you but it is just a touch anal and reflects the most organised society I have ever witnessed.  There are even traffic lights to cross four foot wide back alleys and countless signs showing how to behave in an orderly manner – it has been a little bit of a culture shock for me (although it would make the Metro back home more relaxing)!

Nara Park

Eating the map after the attack

Against a backdrop of forested hills Nara is far more attractive and relaxed than its more famous neighbours, Osaka and Kyoto, and boasts some beautiful temples and parks.  These are full of tame deer and when we sat down to eat our standard lunch of boxed sushi from 7-11 we were set upon, losing our map in the surprise attack but thankfully escaping with our lunch.  It is believed that the god of the Kasuga Taisha temple came riding into the park on a white deer and as such they are now regarded as the messengers of god in the Shinto religion.   Nowadays they roam the park and Buddhist shrines with immunity whilst causing fear among anybody eating remotely near them and most people chose to buy ‘deer biscuits’ to distract them from their lunch- God has taken a real keen interest in biscuits it would appear! 

The Daibutsu

The temple of the Daibutsu

The highlight of the visit was seeing the world’s largest bronze statue of Buddha Vairocana, known in Japanese as Daibutsu.   The Daibutsu nearly bankrupt Japan when it was built in 751AD and until recently was housed in the world’s largest wooden building (this was surpassed by a Japanese stadium) shaped like Samurai head gear.  The Daibutsu is an intimidating sight as it gazes down upon you from between the huge wooden pillars and clouds of intoxicating incense smoke.  As we left the temple the rain clouds gathered overhead and the wind picked up, scattering the blossoms like a snow storm across the park. We quickly headed back to the station to escape the oncoming down pour and any further assault by the deer.

Hanami Parties - an excuse for all day saké drinking

As a general life rule (although not strictly enforced) drinking before pub opening at 11am is frowned upon but when we stepped off of a night bus at 5.30am in Osaka and headed to the park this was thrown out of the window.  It turned out that the biggest weekend for the sakura festivities was taking place in the park that day and on every spare inch of grass people had put out blue plastic sheets to mark their territory for the forthcoming celebration.  Some people had even slept out on the sheets in sleeping bags and it felt like we had arrived at a Japanese Glastonbury as groups of old men sat about drinking bottles of saké whilst barbecuing fish and beef to have with some instant noodles.  Feeling left out I found a few cardboard boxes to sit on and after squeezing ourselves in I headed off to the shop for supplies.The short blooming of the cherry blossoms are symbolic to the people of Japan and are thought of as showing that every beginning has an end and that life is beautiful yet very short.  What better way to do this that have an all-day session with friends?  It all felt very Zen! 

As the morning wore on the atmosphere turned into a party and everyone from young families to old couples arrived to take their claimed land.  Despite dark crowds rolling in people continued to pour into the park in search of friends among the smoke from the hundreds of barbecues.  It would seem this is now far easier than it used to be at festivals when we would spend hours walking around a field praying that our phone battery's would last long enough to find mates whose best description of their location would be 'we are next to the big tent' - no shit!  Now people are sent exact GPS coordinates and people were walking around with their phones held out in front of them like a compass. Although it looked a little easier it seemed to take some of the fun away! In Japan the party during sakura season is known as a Hanami party and there were clearly professional Hanami goers as men competed to have the best barbecue set up in a display of dominance normally seen on wildlife programs.  The winner was a man next to us that had even set up a utensils rack next to his three barbecues, table, chairs and expensive gazebo! Unfortunately for us after a bottle of saké and some sushi tiredness began to sink in from the night bus and we headed off mid-afternoon in search of our Airbnb apartment leaving the chaos behind.

The Island of God

Itsukushima Shrine

Outside of Hiroshima are numerous day trips along the coastline of the Seto Inland Sea that separates three of Japans four main Islands.   The most famous of these is a visit to the mountainous island of Miyajima, home to one of the most photographed images in Japan.  The shrine to Itsukushima rises out of the sea to greet you from the boat that ferries people backwards and forwards over the short stretch of water from the mainland.  Quite why it is rated as one of the three best views in Japan was a mystery to us and far more entertaining were the tame deer that terrorise tourists by chasing them around in search of food.  Miyajima’s other claim to fame is that it has the world’s largest rice spoon (paddle), possibly one of the Guinness Book of Records least competitive fields. 

The view from Mount Misen

Much to Hannah’s distress I wanted to avoid paying the $10 fee to take the cable car to the top of Mount Misen and so we embarked on the 2 hour hike to the summit.  At only 535m tall Mount Misen is not the highest but it transpired that the walk up was almost vertical as the steep slopes plummet down into the sea.  Despite the incline and humidity it was very scenic walking through the ancient primary forest and despite the crowds around the shore we only saw a handful of other people, all of whom were walking down and giving us sympathetic looks.  The views from the top were well worth the trek though as we suddenly emerged onto a wide ridge near the summit that offered spectacular views across the sea to the other islands.  There were various Shinto shrines around the mountain that offered a welcome break from the hike but after five hours walking we were ready to catch the boat back across to our hostel near the ferry terminal. The staff in our hostel were very friendly and we enjoyed having a sake (rice wine) to recover at the bar whilst we had our names written down in the THREE alphabets used by the Japanese.  Hiragana and Katakana are a phonetic alphabet and are used for most names and foreign words whilst the Japanese also use Kanji, their given name to Chinese symbols.  It turned out that the symbol for Tom in Kanji meant ten dreams although it could also mean door.  Hannah meant flower but could also translate as nose, much to my amusement.  Unsure of who had come out on top we headed to bed.

Where's Wally

The next day was spent in a more leisurely fashion catching a glimpse of the giant wooden paddle, fending off the deer,  and to our horror two of our former students from Mexico (such a small world!). The only town on the island was crowded as most Japanese schools finish their academic year for the Sakura blossoms (that symbolise a new beginning across the country) which we were now able to see all around the town.  Miyajima is known as the Island of God by Shinto Buddhists and is actually worshipped as a god by some for the spiritual aura that surrounds the island.  Daisho-in temple at the foot of Mount Misen is one of a number of ancient temples on the island but it is by far the most atmospheric.  It also contains hundreds of 30cm tall statues covered in ‘Where’s Wally’ hats for no particular reason that we could ascertain.   We sampled some of the local food for lunch – a strange tofu/fish stick combo and some of the pungent giant oysters that are farmed all along the coast line.  At this point I was attacked by a young deer that kept butting me with his horns, trying to eat the map out of my pocket and so we called time on our visit and caught the tram back up into central Hiroshima.

The indestructible bridge

We spent our final day in the west of Japan taking a one hour train ride along the coast to Iwakuni, a small town in the Yamaguchi Prefecture (one of 47 states in the country).  The thin strip of land between the mountains and the coast is very industrial but thankfully we left the station and headed inland to the Nishiki River where a famous (at least in Japan) five arched wooden bridge spans the river.  Much to my amusement, the information leaflet describing the building of the bridge went into great detail to explain how the engineer used the most modern techniques to build a bridge that would never again be washed away before chronicling its destruction a year later.  In a similar vain to the indestructible bridge the impregnable castle that was built on a ridge overlooking the town only lasted seven years but was deemed worthy to have a reconstruction built, ten metres further forward than the original to give tourists better views!  The Sakura in Iwakuni was in full bloom and trees were dotted around a beautiful temple that was surrounded by gardens, fountains and a carp filled moat, creating a scene reminiscent of a fairy tale.  It made for a great final stop in the west as we later caught a night bus back to Osaka having really enjoyed our first week exploring Japan.