Four friends traveling together through Japan, from Tokyo to Yufuin. This trip has surprises in store for everyone, and plenty of sights. (Partly a sequel to nineprov.blogspot.com)
One of the things I've been most looking forward to was visiting Hiroshima, where we would be able to see Itsukushima Shrine. This shrine is built like a pier on the beach, so that you can approach on foot during low tide, and during high tide it appears to float. It's one of the three iconic views of Japan (日本三景) and has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for 20 years. Oh, it also has a Noh stage that's nearly 500 years old.
Most of this post will probably just be pictures.
Itsukushima-Jinja
Wearing my themed torii-gate jacket (read: rain jacket). This is on the ferry, about half way to the dropoff.
As we approached Itsukushima (commonly known as Miyajima) it became clear just how many people were near the gate, and just how big the gate was. Next time we'll have to come, or wait for, high tide to fully come in.
This guy in full Samurai costume was just hanging out on the wall. When we came back a couple hours later, he was still there. We saw a few kids run crying from him.
The deer are cute, but they have sad lives. The city near Itsukushima Shrine imported them from the mainland to promote tourism, letting tourists feed them. After reproducing rapidly and overrunning the town, the town took down all the feed dispensers and discouraged tourists from feeding them. Now, they've been trained to beg for food from tourists, who won't feed them, and a lot of them probably don't know how to take care of themselves in the wild. So they sit in the park by the town, hanging out, and waiting for someone to feed them.
Very used to human contact, you could pet them like dogs.
Selfie on the beach!
Called Kagami-no-Ike (Mirror Pond), this pond is mentioned in a bunch of traditional Japanese poetry. When I get back to the states, I will look in my notes from school to see if I ever translated any of them—right now I can't remember any.
These two beautiful people standing on a ledge near the beach.
This pagoda is called Gojunoto and is a very famous building in Japan. It was originally constructed in 1407.
I remember seeing pictures of this stage in textbooks, during my schooling. It was really amazing to see it, and all of the elements of an authentic Noh stage, in real life.
Trained Monkey
Just for fun, let's finish off with this. Something you definitely won't see in the US.
Part way through the performance, the monkey stopped doing any tricks, and ignored the handler. According to the handler, it was because he wanted donations. People gave some money and then the monkey continued his performance.
In Kyoto, Ayumi's mom met us to do some sight-seeing with us! It was great, because she's a great lady and is wonderfully well-cultured when it comes to Japanese heritage. She told me at dinner how she thinks it's important to protect Japanese Cultural Heritage (日本の文化遺産), something with which I fully agree. When you have temples older than the United States, and shrines older than most nations that still exist, you've got a heritage worth protecting.
That, along with the beautiful aesthetic so common in Japanese architecture and art, is why I so enjoy bearing witness to it.
Day One
Kiyomizu-dera
At Kiyomizu Temple there are these weighted metal objects, that guests can try to lift. None of us could lift the middle one!
The weather while we were in Kyoto was drizzly at worst, and we did see a good few rainbows (naturally the camera couldn't capture them).
On our way back from Kiyomizu Temple, I happened to spot this little stand. The coffee was roasted quite well and tasted pretty great. I thought it was a little funny that they poured hot water into my cup, to pre-heat it (it was a paper cup).
When I asked them what they thought of Portland getting popular, they responded by saying "It's not really that popular yet. We're one of the first to do this." Oh, how tempted I was to tell them how perfectly they'd fit in to Portlander Society.
Wabiya Korekido Restaurant
After Kiyomizu Temple, we made our way to a wonderful yakitori restaurant called Wabiya Korekido. Didn't take any foodie photos, but the experience was delightful. The host recommended to us some great sake, and each skewer that came out was better than the last. Even the cartilage, which I usually don't eat, was well seasoned and had a good crunch. The chicken-heart skewer was also quite nice. And of course all the regular stuff was amazing.
Probably the flagship dish we had there was cured goose meat, set on a perforated tray. Under the tray was a special wood (whose name I neglected to write), to give a fresh smokey flavor.
Quite a few guests were turned away due to not having reservations, but I recommend going through the trouble of making one, if-and-when you come to Kyoto.
After that, we returned to the hotel for the night.
Day Two
The next day, we made our way to the first stop on our list: Fushimi-Inari Shrine. That is a shrine set atop a small mountain, with winding paths all the way up. Built over most of the path are countless torii gates, painted bright red. Finally, there are many checkpoints along the way, with their own shrines and mini torii gates. Really something you have to experience. But let's try:
Fushimi-Inari Shrine
Glam shot between the many gates.
Some of us were feeling sickly and not so great, so we didn't make it to the top. Next time!
Pontocho & Kichi Kichi
After getting back to the station, we hopped on a train to head to Pontocho, a district in Kyoto known for its night life. But we weren't going there for Geisha—we were going for Kichi Kichi.
Another glam shot, while waiting for our reservation at Kichi Kichi.
The food was underwhelming, but certainly not bad. Mostly we went there for the show, as it's a bit of a performance art the way the chef serves his omrice. 360-degree video for that exists but I don't yet have access to it.
Koukan Taxi
After lunch we had a Koukan-Taxi waiting for us. Basically it's a private tour guide, and it was great. Besides having a private driver, he got out of the car and took pictures for us, told us about some really interesting history of our site visits, and generally took care of us as we traveled.
He took us to:
Nijo Castle
Kinkaku Temple
Daitoku Temple (Actually more of a "Super Temple," comprised of 22 sub-temples)
Shimogamo Shrine
Ifuki Restaurant, A Michelin-Starred Restaurant, for Dinner
So let's go through them!
Nijo Castle
This castle was made by Tokugawa Ieyasu at the start of the Tokugawa Shogunate, so he could keep an eye on the emperor in Kyoto. That's why the floors were built to be squeaky (video from my last visit), and the floors thicker than other castles: Tokugawa wanted to make sure he couldn't be assassinated!
Photography and video inside the castle aren't allowed, but here is one of the outside.
Caleb & Erin in front of Nijo Castle.
Kinkaku-Ji
While we didn't have a high-ranking Zen priest to "sneak" us into the secret areas, our tour guide showed us around the grounds and told us all about it. Apparently the gold leafing is done with little two-inch squares of gold, and each are done by the same person. This is to ensure consistent craftsmanship over the entire building.
Keiko-san and Ayumi in front of the Golden Pavillion of Rokuon Temple (AKA Kinkaku-ji)
View from a bit up the hill, nearby.
Daitoku-Ji
We came here in part to burn time, since we still had more time until our reservation at Ifuki, but it was really awesome. The grounds basically consist of 22 temples, each of which has its own style and size.
These architectural features are called onigawara and are meant to protect the temple.
The one we went to, Koto-In, is commonly used to depict Kyoto. All of the trees below turn bright red in the autumn, making this a prized photo op (and some of the most beautiful grounds to visit) in that season.
At Daitoku Super Temple, we went to one called Kōtō-in which contains one of the most famous tea-ceremony rooms in Japanese history, and which houses more than one Japanese National Treasure.
Koto-in's Engawa's
Sumi retainer, to mute the rain:
Drops splash on the moss.
Shimogamo Jinja
Shimogamo Shrine was closing when we got there, but it was still beautiful.
This stone is mentioned in the Japanese National Anthem: Sazare-Ishi, which is made up of many pebbles, together making one strong stone.
Ifuki Restaurant
Ifuki used to be a machi-ya, a traditional wooden townhouse that is rapidly disappearing from Japan's architectural landscape. We sat in a washitsu, a Japanese style room complete with tokonoma(alcove made to contain art for presentation to guests).
Every element of the dinner was expertly balanced, and the hostess regularly checked on us to give recommendations and converse with us.
At Ifuki, we ate:
Pufferfish testicles and raw pufferfish
Sea Urchin
Turtle Broth & Sesame-seed Tofu
Many delicious vegetables
A whole fish
Karasumi, sun-dried roe
Wagyu
Dassai Sake, along with a few others
But there are no photos. Except for the turtle soup because I never thought I'd eat turtle.
Turtle soup broth, and sesame tofu.
This was truly a couple days where we celebrated Japanese Culture.
On the morning of our third day in Tokyo, Ayumi departed to take a bullet train to Kanazawa, so she could visit a friend who just had twins. Next time, I will definitely go there to meet them, but this time Caleb, Erin, and I, explored together the more "さすがジャパン" kind of places in Tokyo. That means we basically spent the day in Akihabara, where all the crazy stuff you see on the internet with a headline like "Japan has a Gundam cafe," or "Japan has cafes where maids make you dance."
I've been to Japan three times now, and up to this point had still never really seen that side. It's the sort of thing to which a degree in Japanese tends to give you an aversive, knee-jerk reaction.
But at some point, you gotta do it. And honestly, even if I feel guilty to admit it, I was excited to.
Rush Hour in Tokyo
Before that, I wandered around a bit in the morning, during rush hour, to get a feel for the city. Big cities always have their own vibe, along with the neighborhoods in them. In this case, I went to Rainbow Bridge at Shinagawa station, and tried to take in just how many people there are in the world's most populous city.
TAITO STATION: Akihabara
When getting off at Akihabara station, you're greeted with signs pointing you to "Akihabara Electric Town." Electric Town is made up of a few blocks of bombastically-decorated buildings and bright facades. I'm sure there are good food places somewhere here—but we didn't find them, which in a way, made the whole experience even better. This day was sort of all about "being bad," in my mind.
None of my photos of the street turned out, so here's a stock photo of Electric Town:
Akihabara at night: nothing but signs and lights! Gorgeous.
Taito Station is an arcade chain with several locations and, if I recall, more than one in Electric Town.
The one we went to had six floors, each of which had a different theme:
B1: Purikura (Print Club; the photo booths that make your eyes crazy)
1F: "UFO Catchers" (Claw Machines)
2F: Prize Games
3F: Card & Arena Games
4F: Fighting & Rhythm Games
5F: Race & Fighting Games
6F: Race & Miscellaneous Games
The card games on the third floor were crazy. Not only do you bring your own cards that somehow are detected by the game (RFID?) , but you actually play the arcade game using them. It was kind of a VR Yugioh thing. As Erin noted, this is a brilliant money maker: you get the cash from card collecting, and from the players having to go to the arcade to rank up. It actually looked really cool, albeit way too complicated for any of us to pick up in a couple hours.
I played a game of Initial D, a racing game my friend Tim turned me on to, on the top floor. I got a player card!
My hometown in the world of Initial D is Tokyo.
Then we continued by going down one floor to play some fighting games. It wound up being like a Dragonball Z fight, with a lot of back and forth. I properly slew Caleb at Street Fighter. He responded by changing to another character, and ripping me a new one. We yelled at each other over the screens, which were positioned between us like a wall, about how "This isn't even my final form," etc.
After we ran out of Senzu Beans and Final Forms, we went and played rhythm games instead:
My favorite find in the arcade, though, was this game called CHUNITHM. A very addictive rhythm game that had a decent musical selection. There were some guys near us, who were playing with gloves and were working up a sweat.
Do want. Do want.
One thing I don't love about a lot of places in Japan is the smoking policy. Basically, smoke anywhere except the streets of Hakata city. This happens to include arcades. So once the smell of cigarette smoke was too much, we booked it and found the nearest ramen shop.
Undisclosed Garbage Ramen Shop
Long story shot: the ramen sucked. It was a greasey, gamey tasting mess of oil and particles, and I couldn't even finish my bowl. We probably should have done a little more research, because that ramen shop wound up being a gastronomical adventure through the Valley of the Shadow of Death. Erin somehow beasted trough it like a champ, and Caleb did too. My heroes.
Somehow I had the feeling that not all food in Japan was amazing (you know, because it's a real-life place), but now I have actually experienced it. Having that experience is really grounding, in a way. And even though the lunch sucked, it was kind of awesome. Sort of how you have to buy a knock-off watch when you go to Manhattan.
I've got a theory that, because they're on the main-street front of probably the most touristy place in Tokyo, that their business model relies solely on one-time customers.
Christmas Macarena
Oh, and one thing I forgot to mention originally. We heard a Christmas Remix of The Macarena, somewhere in Akihabara, as we wandered around. I don't have a good recording of it, but I found it on YouTube.
Pachinko Parlor
Caleb wanted to try pachinko, since it's a pretty well-known element of contemporary Japanese culture. Somehow braving the cigarette smoke, he gave it a shot. Just like when you go to Vegas, you gotta put five bucks into a slot machine, right?
I really don't get pachinko. Probably none of do, even after trying it. Basically, you shoot steel balls into a thing, some pointless rules that are probably made to be difficult to understand happen, and then you have a chance to get more steel balls. When you're done, you exchange the steel balls for a prize. Then you have successfully paid the Yakuza some money.
But just like everything else, this was about the experience. And that was definitely one more thing to cross off of the list.
"Maidreamin" Maid Cafe
Perhaps the highlight of the day. Let me explain. Basically, it's a cafe where your waitress is dressed as a maid, and sort of flirts with you. She acts as cute as possible, like sickeningly, hilariously cute, and does things like decorate your coffee with a chocolate-syrup bunny, or makes you wear cat ears and pose. That's it!
We bought the minimum package, which did not include the private show (probably a pop song and dance memorized by the waitress). But we did get cutely decorated coffees, dessert, a couple photos, and were allowed to put a doodle into her guest book.
There we are, in all our Maid-cafe glory
Worth noting that our waitress, whose alias was Kiiru, was about 4'10" at most. I was worried that the atmosphere would be kind of creepy, because maid cafes tend to attract a somewhat seedy crowd, but it was pretty dang fun, looking back on it. How often do you get to wear a bunny-ear headbands in public, and get pictures with a world-class chocolate syrup artist?
So, we three can now say we've done this, and that's about all I have to say about that.
Purikura
If you haven't seen purikura before, it's basically a photo booth on steroids. Almost all of them automatically rounden your eyes in each shot, and they let you do things like change your hair color, add makeup, and draw cute shapes.
So this happened:
Click the image to see it full size. The machine got my beard mixed up with my lips. Damn do we all look great.
We've got more purikura from Fukuoka too, with all four of us. That's upcoming.
To finish off the night, we decided to avoid taking the train during rush hour, because Tokyo trains during rush hour are almost precisely as crowded as YouTube depicts them. Instead, we found an Izakaya near the station and had some surprisingly good food. Not going to make particular note of anything, but it was a good place to hang out (great atmosphere and very quiet).
Conclusion
For me, a highlight of the day was that it was the first time I really, truly, was on my own in Japan. Ayumi always does a great job of taking care of everyone she travels with, especially if you're in Japan and are not a native Japanese speaker. This time, I had to rely on myself to talk to people, ask train attendants questions, order food, ask for help in a store, and so on. And it all went pretty smoothly, as if I had studied the language and culture for many years.
Ayumi very adorably kept checking on us, making sure we weren't lost or anything like that. And we really missed her, which is why we were so happy to see here again in Kyoto!
Besides that, it was pretty great to finally try all the weird stuff I'd been subconsciously avoiding. Life is about experiences, including things like maid cafes and bad ramen. All in all, the day was pretty grand.
