Nokogiri-Yama & Roppongi Kingyo

Howdy everyone,

This day was quite an adventure, as you will soon see...as we fit a whole lot of events into this one, single day!

On this day we got an early start so that we could head out to the infamous Nokogiri-Yama. Nokogiri-Yama is an area atop a mountain located in Japan's countryside, a couple hours away from central Tokyo. Unfortunately we were a little pressed for time here, since we had already made reservations to go to a drag show later that evening with some friends, but luckily we still got to see everything that we had wanted to see there!

After riding the train for what seemed like half the day, we finally reached the stop that we needed to go to Nokogiri-Yama. Once getting off the train, we had to walk for about 10 minutes before reaching the cablecar that would take us halfway up the mountain. We were on our own to walk around and explore after the cablecar dropped us off. Unfortunately, there were MANY steps that we had to climb...not pleasant after climbing Mt. Fuji only about a week prior! But, we have to admit, the climb was NOTHING like Mt. Fuji at all! Nokogiri-Yama was not nearly as high, all of the walkways were paved here, and of course the air didn't get as thin either. Sadly enough though, because we were in a hurry, we were both soaked wet from the humidity and from practically running to each attraction.

Some of our favorite sights of Nokogiri-Yama included the main observatory with scary ledges, the weird trees that grew here, and of course, Japan's largest Buddha! Here, in front of the Buddha, you could also get your fortunes told. The fortunes were on a piece of paper and written in Japanese, but luckily we met some Japan natives along the way who helped us read our fortunes. Larry, the lucky bastard, got "Best Fortune" - like he always does! (EVERY time we visited Asakusa he also got "Best Fortune"!) He will be successful in his career, have lots of money, be lucky in love, etc. etc. I got "So-So Fortune," which isn't so lucky and needs to be tied to some apparatus outside of the Buddha in order to reverse the fortune, according to Japanese tradition. Oh well....I'm least I'm marrying Mr. Best Fortune someday!

After we saw everything we wanted to see at Nokogiri-Yama, we headed back to Tokyo to get ready for "Roppongi Kingyo". "Roppongi Kingyo," as the name states, was located in Roppongi - one of the hip, Americanized areas of Tokyo! Once, we got there, we found and met with our other friends and went inside to find our seats.

The inside of this "theatre" was pretty interesting....the atmosphere was like a cross between a comedy club and a strip bar, and all of the lights were RED! But once the show began, the whole venue seemed to transform into a mini, off-broadway theatre! The stage moved in many different ways - it had a conveyor belt across the front, stairways that unfolded up and down, a platform that slanted in different directions, etc, etc! There were also many costume changes, crazy lights, extreme props and a variety of dance styles. The performers were mostly Japanese men dressed in drag, although there were a couple female exceptions. All in all, it was a great show, even after the stage malfunctioned about halfway thru the show and we had to wait for them to fix it! However, after a short time and the popular motto in mind "The show must go on!"....the show continued and finished for us! Bravo ladies!!

As we walked out of the theatre and into the lobby after the show, Larry had a nice surprise. All of the performers in the show were waiting in the lobby to hand out brochures and say "good-bye," and just LOVED him! They made all kind of fuss over how big and cute he was.... they even grabbed his chest in the picture we took with them!! Eventually, I was getting a little aggravated so I started flashing them all a little bling from my engagement ring to get them to back off.... But Larry was loving the attention, so we all just laughed it off and went to find a place to eat! HAHA!

Love,
Larry & Melanie

JAPANESE FOR THE DAY: "Ge no basho ni ikitai kibun des." - I feel like going to a gay venue!

---

---