Japan - we are loving it!

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Japan - we are loving it!

Crazy as expected
Whereas in China we had to register with our passport in order to be able to check our mail in an internet cafe, in Japan you get a whole room including a shower if you want to use the internet. Why do you need a shower?, I want to know. 'Because people, especially students, live in internet cafes.' I ve been told. Aha, I see. A street further down the road I see signs with cats. I wonder what this is for. 'It's advertisements for cat cafes'. Cat cafes? Yes, cafes where you can enjoy a drink and pet cats. Why would you want to do so I ask. 'Because it's very relaxing.' Aha, that's how it works here. .... We also visit a maid cafe, a cafe where the bartenders are dressed as maids and call you sir and crawl on their knees when they serve you. You can also play kid's games with them if you pay extra. All this and much more is due to the constant search for Iyashi (relaxation). In response to millions of stressed out people and a suicide rate of over 30.000 / year, due to the hard work ethic, the Japanese came up with several ways to cope with the high stress levels. When onsens (hot tubs) and meditation don't do the trick any more, other new creative ways to deal with stress pop up quickly.
We love Japanese toilets:
Not only are the toilet seats heated, but also offer many special features like fake flush sounds with controllable volume and water sprays to clean your bottom or intimate parts.
Plastic fantastic
I really like the plastic food in front of restaurants to show what they serve inside. It looks very real and it is a real art to make it. Some shops in Tokyo are specialized in plastic food. I am so impressed that I buy some dishes as a souvenir: I am now a proud owner of a plastic steak, fried rice and a beer.
Country of the vending machines:
Japan very likely is the country with the highest density of vending machines. From ice cream to hot coffee in cans, you can buy almost everything everywhere from a vending machine. Even in some restaurants or gyms, you have to buy a ticket first in the vending machine for a meal / or a work out session, which you then show to the person at the counter.
Very polite & helpful but not very flexible
Japanese are the most polite and helpful people I have ever seen. Everyone is constantly thanking us (eg. for asking a question, using the subway, entering a shop,..) and bowing. If you ask someone for the way and he doesn't know it, he will ask someone else to make sure your question gets answered correctly. People don't push and stand in exactly indicated waiting lines at the subway, they don't talk (much) or phone in the subway or buses, and everyone lets you go first if you leave an elevator (I tried to let Japanese people go first, but they really insisted and after 5x repeating 'no after you' I gave up. I think the world needs more Japanese people and it will be a better and more pleasant place to live. However I also discover something I appreciate less: the inflexibility: a rule is a rule and there is no way around it. Even if breaking a little rule would be beneficiary for the person, he/she would still not do it and insist on following the rule.
At a punk rock show in Tokyo
We check out the UK Subs at an underground basement club in Tokyo. I get a chance to speak to front man Charlie Harper and I am amazed to find out that this energetic punk rocker, touring around the world with his band founded in 1979 as one of the first British punk bands, is 65 years old!
Japanese muscle making We manage 5 work out sessions in Japan and we even find a Gold Gym in Kyoto. So 'muscle making' is possible but rules and politeness come first: Before you start you need to register with a pass port and fill out a questionnaire. Then you have to make a round and check all facilities including the locker room, only then you can start the work out. After ever exercise you do on a machine you have to clean the machine and bench you used with a small towel. After an exercise I put the dumbbells back at the wreck in the wrong order and immediately someone asks me politely to put it back in the right order.

Our itinerary

Tokyo, here we go
Lost in Tokyo aka the ultimate lost in translation experience: Jeroen, our Belgian friend joins us on the Japan trip and treats us: we start in style this time by checking in at the Hyatt Park hotel (http://tokyo.park.hyatt.com) like Bill Murray in Lost in Translation. Like Bill, we check out some Karaoke bars and party with some Japanese girls Els got to know during her stay in the work camp in Mongolia. We really get into Karaoke and therefore now understand why it is so popular in Asia. Furthermore we visit Asakusa, Tokyo's most venerable buddhist temple, and check out the districts Ginza with the well known crossing, Shibuya, Harajuka and Shinjuku with young people posing in the latest fashion; big (LA) hair is huge at the moment. We make a one day trip to see Mount Fuji. The trip is quite exhausting and expensive and at the end we don't see the famous landmark, as again everything is covered in clouds. At least we get a glimpse of it a couple of days later when we take the train to Takayama.
Takayama
We enjoy the small town in the Japanese Alps, after the hectic city life in Tokyo. We visit the Hida folk village, an outdoor museum with traditional Japanese country houses, and check out Shirakawa-go, a world heritage site and another lovely place to see the traditional houses with their distinctive thatched A frame houses. Until the mid twentieth century, they were almost entirely cut off from fast modernizing Japan. The area is also known for its relaxing onsen (hot tubs) which we enjoy as well.
Kyoto
Kyoto, the former capital has plenty of temples to offer, which we succeed to skip, at least most of them, as we suffer from a temple over dose. Still though Kinkaku, the golden pavion (Rokuon-ji temple) is worth the visit. Kiyomizudera is situated on a hill and offers a nice view on Kyoto, however the tourist masses distract a bit. We also see the Zen rock garden at the Ryoanji tempel, which is though of as the quintessence of Zen art. Furthermore we find out that the Toei Kyoto studio park is not worth the visit.
Hiroshima
The modern city has been built from the ashes after the first A bomb dropped on August 6, 1945, at 08:15. We visit the peace park and A bomb dome, a twisted shell of the industrial promotion hall built in 1914, almost at the hypocenter of the blast. The hall was one of the few structures in the surrounding 3km that remained standing. It has been maintained ever since, so it looks exactly like after the blast.
From Hiroshima we make a half day trip to Miyajima island to see the Itsukushima shrine, one of Japan's most celebrated views. Unfortunately again we have bad luck with the weather, as it is really foggy and starts raining when we arrive.
Osaka
There are not so many real tourist attractions in Osaka, but we go to see the Osaka castle, check the city view from the Tsutenkaku tower and go to the Universal studios, which is a lot of fun.

Overall conclusion

We love Japan & want to visit this cool place again somewhere in the future. We love the Japanese for their politeness, helpfulness, and the freak factor, however I couldn't imagine living there for a longer period of time. Although we really enjoyed our time there, after having seen so many cities, we are now ready for some sweet island life. Therefore it seems, ....we have to go to the Philippines.

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Photos

red shrine - red umbrella
Itsukushima shrine, Miyajima island

Room with a view
Park Hyatt Tokyo, from our room

Lost in tokyo
Park Hyatt, at our room

Lost in Tokyo
in our room at the Park Hyatt