Turning Japanese I think I'm turning Japanese I really think so!

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Well, my Japan leg of the asian tour has come and gone, and i have to say, its the best country that i have ever been to! Maybe I enjoyed it so much because it is so westernised and i am starting to long for home, but the people here are the friendliest nation i have met, not even a townie in sight, the trains are extremely fast, they have embraced the world of technology without forgetting their traditional routes. its just a great place. Its like a much much better england and it has nice weather. It was one big hole in the pocket though.

We caught a two day boat crossing from shanghai, if your looking to get there from china it is the cheapest way. I will leave the boat stories for another day and get straight onto the land of the raising sun. With only nine days to speed through the country it wasnt going to be easy, and it proved that sleep deprivation became a major problem. We hit Kyoto with the darkness sweeping in, only to find out that it is bloody hard to find a place to sleep, everywhere was fully booked. After looking for our first choice, and our first rejection, we used the phone to avoid further disappointment, all six number we tried resulted in negatives. So we got offered our own flat to rent for the next two night, we snatched up the chance. Of course it was your typical Japanese lay out beds - the floor, with a nice small pillow. Kyoto its self was steeped in historical archetecture. Stone rooms, red and black painted buildings, cobbled street. The stroll round the picture perfect night spot of gion, was made all the better by geisha's randomly strolling. We did stumble across loads of free attractions during the evenings, candle lit paper lanterns smoothed one temple, a giant illuminated buda on a mountain side, with tradition japanese music floating on a warm breeze greeted us at another shrine. The city sights were equally breath taking during the day, a stroll through sun engulfing bamboo forest that raged against the solitude of a carp infested rock pond in its neighboring garden. The shinning golden phoenix temple, and its reflective watery surroundings, It was all marvelous, but if you are coming here please do it justice and spend more than 2 days wondering, unlike myself.

We hit Tokyo via a bullet train, and it was like a bullet, and like so many all backpackers we referred to the lonely planet for accommodation assistance. Time after time it has let us down, and we never learn, we still call upon its services. After an age finding a place, we moaned about the lonely planet, with others stepping in to offer tales of disgust. The actual hotel was no where near the direction the book gave us. My dislike to the book grow stronger. During an geeknet search i decided that i would love to watch a football game (soccer to you americans). With Tokyo and Yokohama both away, the team to watch were the highly rated Arawa red diamonds, one of lonely planets major city marks in the books front map. Did they mention the city, not at all, not one page, and it appears its not the only major city they have left out. Not one to be defeated, we headed blindly to the city. Two hours later and with a bit of luck, we got to the stadium of the reds. This world cup built stadium was brilliant and in true crazy Japanese style the game lived up to its surroundings. They are mad, they dont stop singing, jumping, waving flags. Nothing like england, i am not kidding they sang one song for twenty minutes, during fouls, direct freekicks, corners.....everything, they just sang and sang. I didn't even hear them complain once at crap shots (because they were quite a few) or anything. Even though its an all seater stadium everyone was on their feet, and we got buried under high fives, when the team scored a goal. I wanted to become an official fan and buy the shirt, but at over fifty pounds i will stick to the mighty millers.

Tokyo its self, was alright. I say alright because i was expecting big city lights and to be consumed by sky towering skyscrapers, just like Hong king Kong, the busiest crossing in the world at Shibuya, didnt do much to meet my assumptions. Tokyo however is one huge city, with a plethora of attractions to cater for all, and all are extremely well serviced by its underground. Take my advice and dont miss the last underground train, a short taxi ride, will cost you a fortune, as mine and pots 40 pound fee proved. If you do miss out, hop into an overnight internet cafe, and for around six pounds we had to do it twice. There you can sleep, play a ps2, surf the geeknet, watch tv, drinks are free, dvd rental are free, and there is even an all nighter porn channel (if that is your type of thing), all in your own closed off booth. For one big night head to the district of Roppongi, where bars of all genres's are stationed, crazy bars, like the ice bar, where all cups are frozen and the actual bar is in a fridge, you have to wear supplied coats on entry. However be warned a pint will cost you five pounds, and a taxi back, well i have already said, so this was one place the internet allnighter came into play.
That morning surviving on what little sleep we could muster, which was nothing, we headed to purchase a tickets for the Tokyo world sumo tournament that luckily coincided with our visit. So we had one final main day in Japans capital. Potter could not control the sleep deprivation any longer and headed home for a well deserved nap. I powered on, wanting to cram as many sights as i could get into one day, as we had not really seen that many. The imperial gardens was an extremely enjoyable and relaxing experience, and a chance to escape the rat race of the crowds and traffic. A hour or two well spent, especially since it was a free entrance. Then the weirdest thing happened. Whilst taking in the Asakusa senso-ji temple, locals quenching thirst in a temples shine, and smoldering themselves in smoke from a shrines fire, a crowd headed my way. I passed it off as another parade that we have seen around Tokyo, so i shifted over to a side street for a back seat view. As the crowd drew closer, i noticed that it was not a parade at all, yellow vested stewards directing crowds to the side and black suited body guards protecting, one grey suite wearing man. After he said a few words to the paparazzi, he headed back down the temple, turned and headed my way. Stood on the pavement i was in perfect location to get a view, and more. When he was just about to come level with me i stuck out a hand, and it was met with his handshake. Turning to a local for an explanation of who he was, i was told he was a presidential candidate. That following day news of his success was shown on tv, ads he and three other men celebrated. He did not seem the main guy in the celebrations, so doubt into who he was still remains. All that was left to do was watch a few fat men grope each other then i could sleep. I waited for my travel comrade at the entrance to the ryoguku stadium for some time, he was still at home still asleep. He didnt miss much. Yeah I was captivated for a while, the tense build up, the crouch for attack then one sumo wrestling the other one out of the ring, and crashing down onto the unsuspecting audience below - ouch! After that the build up became too tedious for my heavy eyes, and between fights i curled up and snoozed, even a cold water and a slap to the face did nothing to aid my energy, so i went home and temporality died.

I leave this chapter with tales of Hiroshima. A great city! Obviously we headed there to view the peace memorial park dedicated to the american atom bomb attack, but the city had a lot more to offer. The train sped along once again. To other travelers, buy a jr rail pass before you arrive in japan (as you can not get one here), it must have saved us hundreds of pounds on train/underground transport. I cant believe how much we covered in one day, but the city is laid out centrally. The peace memorial museum is a must. It opens your eyes. I was stunned by the original stone bank stairs and wall on display there, which had the dark shadow imprint of someone who was sat there as the blast occurred, the remaining stone whitened by the radioactive heat. The torch that will never be extinguished until all the nuclear weapons are destroyed, the paper crane displays and the victims memorial chest are also in the park. All that remained to do was a brisk walk through the jo castle gardens and then to watch the carps baseball game. I say I watched the game, i didnt really, i just forced paper cup beers and mustard covered corn dogs down my throat, in true American style.

Next time on the asian adventures........... Daniel nervously orders blow fish. Will he live?.....will he dare to try it at all?........... and mount Fuji soars high above him, will be able to battle the darkness and blistering weather to reach the top? All in the next Rotherdan travelblog

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Comments

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will he survive? will he mount mount fuji successfully?
i say there was more chance dying whilst climbing that bloody big hill than there was with that blow job fish. oh did you see the neville - robinson blunder? i just had to laugh, it was either that or cry.