Blogs from Japan, Asia
Osaka1
Sadly this is our last Blog for Japan as after Osaka and Nara we headed up to Happo One for a few days of ski-ing, which was amazing fun but not really worth blogging about. We had an evening in Osaka which is famous for its food and is said to be the food capital of Japan. Its two most famous dishes are blowfish (and you can see live blowfish swimming in the tanks outside most of the restaurants) and octopus ball dumplings called Takoyaki which are sold everywhere and are delicious. Osaka is often called the working heart of Japan is a modern urban city that lacks the sights of Tokyo but well worth a couple of nights, as like most Japanese cities it seems to come alive in the evening. After Osaka we took ... read more
Cocoon Heroes Tokyo
Where to start ! A lot happend in the last few days ^_^ Thursday 02.02 I arrived in Tokyo but that you already know !!! After I checked in at Excel Hotel at Shibuya 24 floor I was amazed by the view over Tokyo from my room. Shuichiro picked me up from the hotel and together we went for a lunch with Johannes, Sarah and Yuuki at Roppingi Hills. I ate my first Hot Japanese soup with vegetables, egg and meat it was no ramen. And yes it is normal to make a lot of noise when eating the noodles soup hahaha very funny the hear the noise. Later Shu, Jo, Araki and me went to check the venue for our show Cocoon Heroes Tokyo on Saturday 04th of February with Sven Väth all night long ... read more
Naked festival
Hello, We went to the Konomiya Shrine's Naked Festival on Saturday with Zoe and Martin. It was really good fun, we hope you enjoy the photos and bit of information below. Hadaka Matsuri officially called "Naoi Shinji", this festival takes place anually on January 13 of the lunar calendar. The festival started about 1240 years ago in the year 767 (Nara Period), when Emperor Shotoku ordered the entire nation to offer prayers to dispel a plague. The govenor of Owari Province (presently Aichi prefecture) thereby went to the Owari Sosha Shrine and founded the festival to dispel bad luck and calamities. Since it is said that touching the consecrated man, Shin-Otako, will dispel one's bad luck. A large group of naked men bravely struggle to touch the Shin-Otoka, who has been censecrated in a ceremony lasting ... read more
Oni monkey
Today marked the festival of Setsubun in Japan. For weeks I'd been intrigued by the displays of demon masks alongside packets of monkey nuts and roasted soybeans, and today it all became clear. Setsubun is a bean throwing ceremony, that heralds the beginning of spring (although you wouldn't know it here by the temperature!). The spring festival was previously thought of as a new year's eve and involved a special ritual to cleanse away all the evil of the former year and drive away disease-bringing evil spirits for the year to come. The bean throwing, or "mamemaki", dates back to the eighth century. The custom was for the male head of the household to throw beans out of the front door, or at another member of the family wearing an "oni" (devil/demon) mask, whilst shouting "Oni ... read more
Peace Cranes
Well hello there! So Hiroshima. Please forgive me if my lack of adjectives on this subject appears coldhearted but I would struggle to put into words exactly how I felt here so you can have the facts. My English is not expansive enough to share how I felt not knowing if smiling in the area was disrespectful, or the thoughts running through elderly Japanese when they saw two western visitors exiting a train at a stop called 'The A-Bomb Dome', or if I was self-indulgent to think this. To get an idea of the WW2 impacts on Hiroshima we visited the Peace Park, A bomb Dome, children's memorial, blast hypocentre and museum. The first visited the A bomb dome which is the remains of a former presentation centre, one of the few remains from the blast ... read more
Amazing view over Tokyo
After a 11 hrs flight Amsterdam - Tokyo Airport I finally made it ! Still didn't got sleep. I am to excited saw 3 movies during my flight Hangover 2, Transformers 3 and Kung Fu Panda 2 ^_^ With no problem I went though the Japanese immigration service and customs. Manami waited for me at the airport and together we went by train to Shibuya station where my hotel is situated. Excel Tokyu Hotel on th 24 floor. What an amazing view I have over whole Tokyo !!! Mannnnn I am still in a little shock hahaha !!! This is going to be a crazy 3 weeks in Japan. Shuichiro (promotor) will pick me up at 14:00 hrs from the hotel. Then we go to check out the venue ageHa with Johannes Goller from Cocoon. I ... read more
Golden Pavilion3
5 Days in Kyoto Kyoto was the next stop on our Japanese adventure, but first we had to get there and that meant a ride on the world famous bullet train! There are a few epic rides in the world you can take, if you were to compile a list of the top 10 the Bullet train would have to be on it! We waited eagerly in our little bay in Tokyo central station for the bullet train to arrive glancing up at the clock counting down the minutes. Exactly a minute before it was supposed to arrive I see a white mirage in the distance streaking towards us and thirty seconds later exactly on time it glides silent past me. First impression are it massive, in terms of length it’s a good 15-20 large cars ... read more
Near Asakusa Station
<span><span>It seems like such a long time since I wrote the last entry, but my computer tells me it was less than a month ago.<span> I’ve been busier than usual.<span> The first week of January I taught classes at a high school and my middle school for Winter English Camp.<span> It was my last week teaching of the school year (the Korean school year runs March to December), and it ended up being the most classes I taught in one week all year!<span> But the classes were good because there were fewer students at a higher level than usual, and I had freedom to teach anything I wanted without a Korean coteacher.<span> I had the next week off, and I went to Japan (be patient—I’ll tell you about that next).<span>As soon as I got back from ... read more
Train to Odawara
<span><span>When I decided to go to Tokyo, sure, I wanted to see Tokyo, but I expected that I wouldn’t love it.<span> As much as I hate to admit it, I am kind of a country girl, and cities make me a little annoyed.<span> So, when I realized how close Mt. Fuji was to Tokyo, I immediately knew I wanted to try to go there for a day.<span> A Korean friend recommended for me to go to Hakone, a mountainous natural area where Tokyoites often go for a short trip.<span>The key part was that I could see Mt. Fuji from there and there were also hot springs spas, which I have grown to love from Hungary, Korea, and my last trip to Japan. <span>Info for anyone going (skip to the * if not going): I bought a ... read more
Tokyo Tower
Christmas is Japan is very different than Christmas in America. I failed to realize this until Christmas day. I always thought of Christmas being the biggest holiday of the year, but in Japan New Years is. ( I will post about New Years later.) In Japan, Christmas is mainly a couple’s day. Unlike America, where everything is pretty much closed on Christmas, most, if not all, the stores are open in Japan. My friends and I decided to go to Roppongi to see the illumination there. The lights there were amazing and they had a lot of Christmas decorations that reminded me of home. I only walked around a small part of Roppongi, but I was still impressed. I was able to see the Tokyo Tower lit up. It was interesting to see tour groups being ... read more
