Blogs from Kyoto, Japan, Asia - page 79

So .... do they or don' t they? This question undoubtedly enters the mind of many a tourist that strolls the narrow alleys of Hanamikoji Dori at night, while a soft golden glow inside the buildings lets them snatch a quick glimpse of those lucky few being entertained in the “world of willows and flowers.” Admittance beyond the quasi-impenetrable gates of the geisha houses generally requires a personal introduction and invitation from existing clientele, and, from what I hear, getting into the inner circles of wealthy Japanese businessmen is a pretty lofty achievement for a foreigner. Being outside the ranks of their potential invitees, I could only muse on how far the entertainment obligations go these days for the young painted ladies. Surely it is fascinating just to observe the geisha, who are trained in the ... read more

So what exactly is my job like? I arrive at work every day at around 9 in the morning and ascend the 500 feet up the hill from the parking lot to get to my building. Sangyo Daigaku (henceforth Sandai) is kind of strange in that it's built into the side of a hill, and has quite a vertical arrangement. There are four main levels, each of which has buildings that belong to that level. Regretfully, the food is at the bottom and my labs are at the top, so lunchtimes prove to be quite an effort. For the most part, I work in one of two labs: one is filled to the brim with scattered papers and bottles full of chemicals, and the other is the main doing-things area where we perform our experiments. And ... read more

Konnichi wa! Let me tell you about my excursion to the ancient capital city of Kyoto. After getting back to Tokyo from my two days in Hiroshima, I again got on the bullet train (this time entirely on my own) and once again headed south. The ride went smoothly and I arrived at Kyoto Station no problem. The hotel I stayed at was actually right next door and I checked in to what turned out to be a much bigger room than my last place. From there I walked outside and across a plaza to this massive building complex that was home to a shopping center, several restaurants, and the Kyoto Prefectural International Center. It was a very cool office where the staff spoke every language imaginable. The whole point of it’s existence is to help ... read more

Robbie has arrived in JAPAN! After a troublesome start at LAX I made it Osaka. My initial flight to San Francisco from LAX was delayed so much that I would not have made me connection to Osaka. I was able with some help from Bon Voyage to make it to Osaka about 2 hours after I was scheduled to arrive. Sarah and I met at the airport and traveled an hour to downtown Osaka where we stayed at the swanky Hilton! We went out in Osaka and was fortuante enough to witness a festival Tenjin Matsuri with dragon boats on a small canal. We went out to eat and had russian roulette Tacoyaki which was basically cheese balls and one had super spicy habanero sauce in it. Robbie got that one and had to eat the ... read more

****************************************** But, regretfully, not a good one. It's seems I'm quite unable to write this time, so I'm just gonna shove these posts out into the internet mostly unedited and let the pictures tell the story of what I've been up to - lest they become so stale I don't even remember them. Allow me to provide but a thin drapery of narrative for some images... ****************************************** Well, the last few days at the center passed fairly uneventfully. I headed back to the center and hung out with people, but priorities had definitely changed by then. People were focused on moving out, packing up, and rocking their new locations. Selling bikes, paying up center debts, returning things, and wrapping up Kyoto dominated thoughts. So, it turned out to be fairly uneventful for those of us staying ... read more