Blogs from Okayama, Okayama, Japan, Asia
March 12th 2009
Mum and Dad have been friends with Paolo and Mariko since before I was born, from when they lived in Montreal. Mariko is Japanese so they spend some of the year in Japan. I can't remember the last time I've seen them, probably at least 15 years ago or so, but dad emailed them to see if they would be in Japan at the same time as I was, and it turned out that they would be and were kind enough to let me stay with them for 2 nights at their home in Okayama. It wasn't far from Hiroshima to Okayama - about 2 and a half hours. Mariko met me at the bus station but we nearly missed each other because I didn't recognize her and she wasn't sure if she recognized me (but ... read more
February 21st 2009
Every year on the 3rd Saturday in February, one of the coldest night of the year, a crowd of 100s gathers around Saidaiji Temple in Okayama city at midnight. Pushing, crushing each other they vie for space and wait for the chance to receive a blessing, good luck for a year. When the stroke of midnight finally occurs the lights are shut off and the head priest throws three shingi (sacred sticks) into the masses for the participants to grapple for. Of course what I’m leaving out here is that the crowd is entirely composed of nearly naked men clad only in fundoshi (a Japanese style loincloth) and who are completely juiced on sake. Hadaka Matsuri literally means naked festival. There are several in Japan every winter, but the largest and most notorious is held in ... read more
October 12th 2008
I arrived in Osaka on Friday around 4pm and took the train to the Osaka station where we took the shinkansen to Okayama. There has been a few things that have really impressed me thus far: 1. The variety of drinks in the vending machines, the number of vending machines and the fact that they dispense hot drinks. Most drinks are about 100 yen. Yasui desu. 2. The cleanliness of the floors and bathrooms. Also, the toilets are very efficient. The toilet in our dorm releases water when you flush to the sink above for you to wash your hands. 3. The food is delicious. I find myself open to trying anything. I had uni (sea urchin) the other day and it was surprisingly good. 4. Japanese people know how to party. The clubs are packed ... read more
August 4th 2008
I will always look back at this day and think swelteringly hot. August in Japan is not a good time to do site seeing. The best thing to do during the hot muggy days of summer is to stay inside and worship the air conditioning. Despite the heat I wanted to go across the Inland Sea to Honshu and explore. Okayama is the first major city across the Seto Ohashi Bridge on Honshu. Every time I’ve gone to the main island I switched trains at Okayama Station, but I never went into the city before today. Okayama is home to Korakuen one of the three most scenic gardens in Japan. Even though it was really nice, I feel like it paled in both size and grandeur to Ritsurin. (I may be biased since I am a ... read more
