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Published: April 3rd 2006
The second half of my time in Japan was spent around Osaka, Hiroshima and Kyoto. I met up with my friend Lisa in Osaka for Sumo, after a slight misunderstanding regarding the location of the hotel. Oh well, it all got sorted out and we met up with Lisa's friend Casey and the rest of their gang, before heading off to the Sumo tournament. These are some seriously big lads, and it was amazing seeing them up close. Sumo is filled with tradition and history, watching it in person is quite unique, as they purify the ring with water and salt before smashing each other with unimaginable force until someone is either down or out of the ring. No weight classes.... and these can be rather large differences, No gambling (i think), just pure sport mixed with the ancient Shinto religion of Japan. It was great. The next day we all went to Universal Studios Japan. Now that I think about it, quite the opposite of the culturally enriching experience of Sumo.... the america of japan serves its purpose as a busy tourist theme park. Crowd overload and we ended up only getting on the Back to the future ride. A
Lisa and I with a couple Sumo lads
These guys were only average size.bit of a dissappointment but at least I was in good company. The JET (english teachers) group was nice enough to give me a spot on the bus, and so we headed back to Hiroshima..... Lisa lives in a nice little town, Yachiyo, up in the mountains about an hour outside Hiroshima by bus. She was nice enough to have me stay in the emperor's guest suite of her penthouse, which is what I like to call it. Her Japanese is awesome, and I'm gratefull to have such a great host. Over the last week, I went to Miyajima, Hemeji castle (basically the best of all the samurai castles in Japan) and also the peace memorial museum in Hiroshima. The A-bomb dome (the only remaining building left standing) is quite an in your face reminder in downtown Hiroshima of what happened here 60 yrs ago. The museum is quite touching and I thought it was presented well. On friday last week Lisa and I took the Shinkanssen (bullet train) to Kyoto. The cherry blossoms are itching to errupt with colours, but only some blessed us with a full bloom. We went to several amazing temples and gardens along the 'path
of philosophy, and were even treated to some up close geisha sightings. The golden pavillion was goreous reflecting off the small lake where it sits, and though the weather could have been filled with more sun ... we made the most of our days. Lisa has been introducing me to a variety of traditional japanese cuisines and showing me the best of this great country. I'll try and give some glimpse into all the sights of Japan with some photo's, eventhough Lisa's are better.
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Will
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the truth
Logan it is time to let the world know you are a massive bender.