The cultural encounter in Nara

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June 16th 2007

Published: August 6th 2007

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Ginger nuts

Frog on a Tea Leaf

Josie took this frankly amazing picture when we were tea picking. In full resolution the detail is astonishing.

We arrived off our first Shinkansen journey impressed with the efficiency, comfort and speed of the Japanese railway system. I guess you wouldn't expect anything less from a country that is truely mad about trains. It seems the whole country is criss-crossed with railway lines which make travel around cheapish (if you have the railpass) and certainly a million times easier that it would be on a bus. On the train system alot of the information is in english so getting off the train at the right place is a breeze.

After a quick ride on a local train from Kyoto we arrived in Nara, to our shame it wasn't a place we had even heard of before arriving in Japan. The primary reason to visit was to meet Mayumi and see her amazing Cafe in Nara. Mayumi's Cafe is very Japanese style, filled with tatami mats it feels very homely and relaxing. No wonder we stayed much longer than we intended to 😉 Also, Mayumi in very commited to bring the Japanese culture closer to travellers who pass her cafe. So as soon as we arrived we were wisked off to see a Japanese archery lesson. It was really

Archery, the professionals

interesting to get a taste of one of the old samurai arts, and even better to have a try of it for ourselves. It is soooooooo much more difficult than it looks and the pros make it look easy. That night Mayumi had also arraged a party for us and about 30 of her other guests, travellers as well as locals. That was just such a great idea! It enabled us to have a chat with the locals and exchange few bits about our different cultures. So the night was spent swapping travelling stories, making new friends and enjoying japanese food and drink. To cap the night off we got another taste of Japanese culture with a trip to the Onzen. Now an Onzen is essentially a Japanese bathhouse, split by sex. It has large boiling baths and sitdown showers and taps. They also have a steam room at the place in Nara. Here we got to know our new friends extremely well as it is a totally naked affair. As Andy was dragged by Josie into a german sauna before he was well prepared 😉

Next day Mayumi had arranged yet another cultural outing for us all with

Lotus Flower on a Pond

some Kendo practice and tea picking. The Kendo was predictably difficult and the tea picking was really cool. It was an honour to be shown how the process is all done, and we got involved in the whole thing from kneeding the leaves which proved extremely hard work, then drying and picking them from the fields. We left with a souvenir bag of tea each, made by our own fair hands, now how many people can say that! Thank you Mayumi for making our trip so special!

Of course Nara is more known to everyone else because of it's great temples and shrines. The place has some worldclass, World Heritage listed sites which would wow the most temple weiry traveler. Nara is also famous for its deer which roam free in the citys parks. The deer is seen as messangers to the gods so it is considered holy and so left to gras in peace. There is nothing more comedy than the sight of a tourist holding out deer biscuits, only to get mobbed by them and have the whole pack stolen in one bite. The deer, sensing there are no more bikkies then set about munching any paper

Outside of Mayumi's Nara Cafe Youan

in their hands, their clothes, and anything they can get out of their pockets. It is a classic sight to behold and probably explains the rather fat nature of some of the beauties. We only made it to a couple of temples and shrines, but the ones we did were the biggest and they were spectacular. The Todaiji Temple is the largest wooden structure in the world, and it houses an enormous Buddah. To stand at the feet of it and look up is an awe inspiring spectacle. The thing is absoultly massive and so well crafted that it looks almost alive. It felt like it would sit up and move, ala Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters. Probably not the holiest of comparisons, but not far from the way it is. The day we were there, the temple was overrun with school kids. They seemed to be conducting some kind of survey to practice their english. "Excuse me, excuse me. Can we ask you for a short interview?" Next came a barrage of questions about our likes and dislikes and where we came from. To finish it off the teacher took a photo and off they went. This was kinda nice

Rice Growing

We had always wondered how rice grows, and now we know. Not very exciting, I know, but it made us happy :)

the first time, but got a little tired by the 3rd or 4th. We joked that they would all get back to school with exciting tales of a Polish person who liked the big buddah and an Englishman who liked the deer. How dissapointed would they be to find they had all interviewed the same foreigners? We finished our day of culture with a walk over to a great Shrine. The place was a little more quiet and scereen, with loads of little paths to explore and what seemed like a million stone lanterns. It is the picture postcard of Japan, and every bit as beautiful as you would imagine.

One other fantastic site of Nara which is a must visit (in Andy's eyes anyway) was the local branch of Segaworld. The place is jammed full of all things arcadey from games to grabbers to sticker machines. You may not be into that kind of thing or think games are for kids, but like pachinko, it is a integral part of Japanese culture which must be seen in my eyes. These things are everywhere not restricted to aging seaside resorts and bowling alleys like back home. The japanese seem

Tea Leaves

Little did we know we would have to rub them for so long

to spend quite a bit of time and money here, so pop into one and see what is on offer to the youth of today. Andy, personally, has a love of this kind of thing so it is paradise, with all the latest games here which you just wouldn't see at home. Our personal favourite is the Japanese drumming machine. It is easy to pickup and play, and super good fun to boot. Even Josie has a softspot for this one, which means it must be good as she is no gamer. To be fair we have seen them and visited them all over Japan so if you don't go to Nara don't worry, go to one wherever you are.

To return the favour we decided to cook for Mayumi one weekend. Very much fun to go shopping in a japanese supermarket trying to find european ingredients. We have done well and cooked salmon with a crispy pesto crust, green salad and a potato galette. For desert Josie served carrot cake. The only thing that slipped our minds during the preparations was that there are no knives and forks available! Nevermind, it was fun to eat a european dish

Josie is working for her brew

Tea picking in the hills around Nara

with chopsticks.

After all this time in Nara we decided to go to Hiroshima and devote some of our time to study the cruel history of Japan. The few days we had there were very informative and you can read about our experience in Hiroshima in the next entry.

Of course we returned to Nara to spend some more time with our Japanese friend. And again Mayumi was full of ideas. This time we went to a Duch Oven party - although it does not sound very japanese we were the only foreigners and it was great to see what the guys do in their free time. Duch oven is a heavy pot that you can cook all sorts in. You use it on an open fire and it makes delicious pizzas, fish, pork, eggs in tea and anything you can imagine. We had once again phantastic food and great company. Everyone was very nice to us and made an effort to speak english. That was lovely as we were very ashamed not to speak any Japanese. The evening was rounded off by a watermelon bashing game where a person would be blind folded turned around in circles

Rubbing Leaves

The sweat just adds to the flavour, apparently

a few times and guided by the noise of the crowd they would have to make their way to the watermelon which was placed on the floor. Once you think you are close enough you would try to hit it with the stick you have been given before. Kids loved it, and obviously the foreigners were soon dragged in. We were very thankful for the japanese people to allow us to come so close and experience the real Japan. One of those things we will never forget and that you can't buy a postcard of.

Nara was also a great place to explore Kyoto and surroundings. So we decided to make the most of our rail pass and do day trips to the second most visited city in Japan after Tokyo.

On the last weekend in Japan we decided to go back to Tokyo. We clearly haven't seen enough of it and Niklas had some spare time to show us around. And why not? The Shinkansen only takes 2.5 hours from Kyoto to Tokyo. So we went on Friday, stopping by a friend we met on Mayumi's party and staying in Hamamatsu for the night. Jorge was from

The result of all our hardwork, the finished Tea

Peru and we were greeted with a Pisco Sour! What a treat! The next day we were back in Tokyo and had a great time with Niklas.

Being free as birds also means that you can follow your most spontaneous ideas. So on Sunday evening we decided to go back to Nara! From there we would have another go at finding a Love Hotel. This time in Osaka, as they are supposed to be better than the ones in Tokyo. And we found one - and what an adventure that was! See Osaka blog entry 😊

Finally, finally we said goodbye to Mayumi and Nara for the very last time. Thanks to Mayumi's and Niklase's hospitality it was a bit like leaving home so we were sad to leave Japan. But the next adventure was knocking at our door - China. So we boarded the plane knowing we have to come back! It was the country that has surprised us the most. We realised how little we knew about Japan before we came and how amazing the little time we had was. We truly hope that Japan never loses it's charm and their people never stop being so