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Published: March 25th 2010
Today I arrived in Osaka, Japan after a long 11 hour flight. Osaka greeted me with persistant rain that did not cease throughout the day. After a slightly daunting trip on the ‘express train’ I arrived in Osaka and was hopelessly lost within minutes. However a very nice Japanese man acknowledged the look of despair, hopelessness and exhaustion written on my face and escourted me to my hotel.
I stayed at the Hotel Toyo, at $18NZD per night, expectations were not running high. On arriving a very enthusiastic Japanese man introduced me to bedroom slippers, bathroom slippers and laundry slippers. The room was a cubicle with nothing but a mat, a duvet, and a heat pump. The hotel had certainly tried to accommodate Western methods of bathing and toilets but hadn't quite sealed the deal.
After changing slippers twice I headed into Osaka in search of food, my goal was to find whale on the menu but was unsuccessful. I then went in search of the Sumo grand tournament that was happening in Osaka, I ventured the streets in the pouring rain, and came across a very elderly man, who came over and said in english "How old do
My Hotel Room
Japanese style room at Hostel Toyo...$18 NZDyou think I am?" - I think they were the only english words he knew.
I was amazed at the extent of colour and fluroscent lighting in Osaka. I gazed around in anticipation of finding an epileptic on the ground or at least individuals experiencing severe migraine. I was also amazed at the number of people wearing face masks, I am not sure whether they were afraid of being sick or passing their illness to others. The Japanese also love their bicycles, infact they love riding their bicycles on the footpath, whilst holding an umbrella, wearing facemasks, carring shopping on the handle bars and wearing no helmet. The absence of helmet but presence of facemask amused me immensely.
Eventually I found the sumo arena. It cost 5,600 yen to get a seat, or slightly more to get a mat (where you had to take your shoes off). The sumo tournament goes on every day for 15 days, the Japanese treat it like NZders treat a 5 day cricket match, with picnic and beer. The sumo wrestling was great, especially on a wet day. The sport still observes all the ancient traditions which was very interesting. The Japanese really
get into it with a lot of cheering. It was so much fun I stayed most of the day before departing for dinner and food.
Best Yen spent: Umbrella 200Y
Best Food: I have no idea, I just pointed to pictures. Whilst tasty, it was nothing like Japanese meals in NZ.
Funniest moment: Wrestler being tossed by his undies out of the ring like a rugby ball
Next destination: VIENNA!!!
P.S. Some epic photos to follow!! Featuring man love, wegies, Japan's next top model, and reasons why you should never eat to many pies.
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Michael Robertson
non-member comment
Japan
Well done Katie. I'm relieved to hear that Japanese are helpful to bewildered visitors. I hope you took some pics of the fluorescent lights and will post them later.