January 31, 2005
Gambatte Japan!
It's been a busy couple of weeks and I have much to report from the land of the rising sun. I'll try to pick up the story from where I left off...
So Jay arrived the previous Thursday as planned, and we embarked on a week-long sightseeing binge. Castles, temples, palaces, shrines, statues... we saw them all in an orgiastic frenzy of tourism. I purchased a digital camera, so you can witness the evidence for yourself at my photo gallery. I put a link to the gallery on the right-hand side of the travelogue page, so you can check back in the future for new photos.
First up was Nara, to see the giant brass Buddha housed at Todaiji temple. In the surrounding park, a thousand-odd deer roam the grounds accosting tourists for "deer biscuits". Though generally pretty docile, if a deer knows that you possess biscuits (they seem to have a third-sense for this), you may be strongly encouraged to share through such tactics as swarming, butting, and nipping at loose clothing. The Daibutsu or "great Buddha" was awe-inspiring, as was the temple itself - apparently the largest wooden structure in the world.
Then it was off to Kyoto, full of shrines, temples, and other pockets of tranquility nestled in the midst of a large bustling city. We took in Nijo-jo, home of the first Tokugawa shogun; Nishi Hongan-ji & Higashi Hongan-ji, a pair of temples related to two different schools of Buddhism; and several other anonymous temples, shrines, pagodas, and giant Buddha statues that we happened to stumble on while exploring on foot. At the Kyoto Imperial Palace park, we made the half-kilometer trek up the wide stone boulevard leading to the palace gates, only to find the Emperor was not home. Neither could we find any geisha, who apparently still ply their trade in the neighbourhood of Gion, though we did see many expensive tea houses where they presumably were busy at work.
The next day found us in Himeji, a city which unabashedly admits that the only thing it's got going for it is Himeji-jo castle. When you step out of the train station, it's a short walk on wide sidewalks directly up the main street to the gates of the castle. This is one of the only castles in Japan which is still of original construction, not rebuilt; catching fire seems to have been a common activity for Japanese castles back in the day.
On Jay's final day in town, we headed off to Hiroshima. Hardly a light-hearted romp, but definately worth the trip. As soon as we arrived at the A-bomb dome, I could immediately feel the tragedy and horror in the past of this city, but tempered by the quiet sense of reflection which exists today. The dome is a building which was directly under the blast when it went off 500m in the sky above Hiroshima on Aug 6, 1945. In the park between the dome and the museum stand numerous memorials to the victims of the bomb, which claimed the lives of upwards of 150,000 people within a year. Each presents a strong desire for world peace and the end of the threat of nuclear war. The museum was very well done, I thought, and quite affecting in its telling of stories of individual victims of the bomb, particularly children, many of whom were near the epicenter of the blast because they were forced in to labour by the army.
Jay headed out Wednesday, and that evening I spent working at People's pub, the bar Sooch works at once a week that I mentioned in my last post. Under his expert tutelage, I was soon pouring drinks and pulling pints for the drunken businessmen with few complaints. Although I speak only about 6 phrases in Japanese, language was hardly an issue, as most mixed drinks are called by their english names, and beer is simply "beeru".
This last Thursday, I returned to Kyoto on my own. It's my favourite place I've visited in Japan, full of so many little out of the way nooks and crannies offering a sense of peace and harmony by way of their simple beauty. After visiting the striking Golden Temple, I set out wandering up a deserted mountain road, which after 15 minutes ended at a small christian graveyard, nestled on a hill and surrounded by woods on all sides. It was strange, I thought, to end up here by chance, particularly as my mind was on my mother that day... or maybe not strange at all. A young Japanese pair, a man and a woman who looked to be about my age, arrived by car shortly after me and began tending to a grave. Although I couldn't know for certain, I took them to be siblings, come to pay a visit to the grave of a parent. I felt a sense of connection to the two, and though a part of me wanted to try to talk to them, I didn't want to disturb their work. Contentedly I watched them from afar instead, feeling like it was Leslie and I tending the grave, feeling it was my mother we were visiting with. It was comforting.
I wandered back down the hill and took a bus closer to the Imperial Palace gardens. After investigating the neighbourhood for a while, which turned up a temple, a Buddhist graveyard, and several beautiful traditional-style Japanese homes, I headed to the south end of the park where the Itsukushima shrine stands by the side of a picturesque pond. I discovered this serene place on my last trip to Kyoto with Jay and Sooch, and its halcyon atmosphere struck a chord within me. My thoughts went again to my mother, and I knew how much she would like this place, the sense of spirituality it invoked, its feeling of closeness to nature. I am traveling with several small containers of my mother's ashes; my intent is to scatter them at places I find along the way that I feel she would enjoy, places of natural beauty to match that of her spirit and memory. There is no doubt in my mind that Itsukushima shrine is such a place. I performed a small ceremony and left a part of my mother to enjoy the tranquility of the shrine and the pond forever.
Friday night, Sooch and I left for a weekend trip to Tokyo, from which I'm still recovering. Big town. Lots of lights. Too many people. Too much drinking with new friends Chris and Hana. Not enough sleep. The pictures say it all... maybe I'll fill out the details next time, if I can remember them. Right now I've got to go help Peyton out with the dishes and earn my keep around here. Tonight I plan to sleep in a capsule hotel with Sooch, since we didn't get to do it in Tokyo (see "not enough sleep", above). Thursday morning I fly out for Hong Kong, where the next stage of the adventure begins... don't know a soul there, so I'll truly be on my own for the first time.
Take care everyone, until next time...
Greg
Posted by Greg at 03:25 PM | Comments (11)
January 20, 2005
Day 1 - Osaka
Time pretty much loses all meaning when you begin your day on one side of the international date line and end it on the other. I left Vancouver yesterday at noon, and arrived here in Osaka at 8pm. The trouble is, yesterday was Tuesday by my reckoning, and this morning is Thursday, which means somewhere over the Pacific Ocean I managed to lose Wednesday altogether.
The flight to Tokyo was great, thanks primarily to the hot tip I got from Sooch about requesting a seat in the emergency exit row. While my fellow passengers suffered from thrombosis, I had about 5 feet of open space in front of me. The aisle seat is where it's at, as the so-called window seat is cramped by levers and gizmos attached to the door. God bless the woman at the ticket counter in Tokyo, who bumped me up to business class for the Tokyo-Osaka leg of the trip. I had one of those pod-chairs that fully reclines -- and I mean fully, so that you're lying flat on your back. I slept like a baby the whole flight.
Peter met me at the airport & we went straight to People's, the bar that Sooch works at a couple of nights a week. It's a cozy joint, and was nearly crammed to capacity with a dozen people, most of them Japanese businessmen, a few gai-jin. After several drinks there was a lot of love in the air, a great deal of laughter, "kanpai"ing, and singing along to the tunes played on guitar by a gentleman at the corner of the bar, whose repertoire encompasses seemingly every Beatles song ever recorded. As Sooch, Peter, and I hustled out the door to catch the last subway home, we were sent off with a dedication from Harvey Thompson, a jazz vocalist ex-pat late of Detroit Michigan, who sang a heartfelt rendition of "It's a Wonderful World" to warm us on our way.
Walking the streets of Osaka alone this morning, I made several discoveries:
1. To get around in Osaka, you need a bicycle. Walking is simply not the way to go. Every bike I've seen so far is what we'd describe at home as a girl's bike, with the cross-bar angled down. Men's bikes do not appear to exist. Peter ventured an explanation that women's bikes were cheaper, but I'm inclined to believe it has more to do with the short stature of Japanese people. Either way, it was an initially amusing sight to see teenage boys dressed in their hip clothes, talking on their cell phones, riding by on girl's bikes.
2. People here speak & read Japanese. Since I do not, this creates a bit of a communication problem. I have a feeling this may become a theme in my travels.
3. I need to get a little more brave. I was walking around looking for a place to grab lunch, but when I found a place that clearly had people eating inside, I was too chicken to walk in and try to ask for food. Instead I copped out and went to the Daily Yamazaki near the subway station, which is about the equivalent of a Seven-Eleven that serves plastic-wrapped food. I'm not being hard on myself; I realize it's only Day One. It's more just a realization that, if I want to eat over the next six months, I'm going to have to start jumping in to this sort of thing. It's kind of exciting to think about how this confidence will grow with time.
Speaking of time, it's time I was off... I'm going to brave the wind outside and walk over to Osaka-jo park to spend an hour or two before the folks here get back from work. Jay's flying in tonight from Seoul, and we'll work out our tourist itinerary for the week. Saturday is Sooch's birthday, which means a night of karaoke. Hiroshima, Kyoto, Tokyo are on the to-do list... as is buying a digital camera so I can post some pictures to accompany these updates.
Take care all,
Greg
Posted by Greg at 04:18 PM | Comments (3)
January 17, 2005
Vancouver: launchpad to the Orient
My stop in Vancouver has been very enjoyable, although the weather has been strange indeed. It was snowing on the 15th when I arrived, and today it was pouring rain in buckets. Frankly, I liked the snow better, as it was at least pretty and dry. Makes me wonder if I have what it takes to be a Vancouverite.
I was completely out of it on Saturday, having stayed up all night burning CDs and packing. But I managed to stay conscious enough to go out for dinner to a fantastic Japanese fusion restaurant with my father before passing out for 12 hours around 10pm. Sunday was an excursion to MEC to round up the last supplies for my trip ahead, including a new pair of shoes, a pair of light trousers, water purification tablets, and various other odds and ends. My father layed on a big rack of ribs for dinner, a specialty of his, and I gorged appropriately. Today, we braved the rain to make it out for a couple of shows at the IMax. He's hard at work again in the kitchen right now... acting as chef, chauffeur, doctor, and even coiffeur to my step-mother Hiroko as she undergoes an intensive 4 month kymotherapy treatment. I'm astounded by how healthy & well she looks and her positive attitude, despite what must be a grueling medical process.
My stop in Vancouver has been an interesting opportunity to get my toes wet for the upcoming journey; it's given me a chance to think about the stuff that I need in my backpack (bags to compartmentalize junk) and things that I need to ditch (the 10 pound pile of books... hopefully I'll have finished 2 of them by the time I hit Osaka & will ditch them there). Despite my greatest minimalist efforts, I still feel like I'm overpacked, and no doubt in a few weeks I'll take a look at the pile of elastic bands, safety pins, Tylenol, and Polysporin that I've mounted on my back and laugh gaily as I toss them in the trash, to make room perhaps for the finer things in life such as used women's underwear I've purchased out of a vending machine.
Tomorrow morning at 11:20 am I set out on the next leg of my trip, which promises to be at least 10 hours of flying time over the Pacific ocean, in to Tokyo and onward to Osaka, theoretically getting in at 7:45 pm Wednesday night. Then it's out to pour drinks at the bar Sooch works at. What a wonderful life.
Until next time,
Greg
Posted by Greg at 06:25 PM | Comments (151)