Exploring Japan Vol. 24 - Funny Stuff!

For what seems like it will be the final installment of this series for now, I want to take a minute to just point out some of the funny things that we've seen while visiting.  As Americans, if you don't speak the language then there are things that just won't translate the same way visually.  We've had a great time over the years wandering grocery or drug stores and just giggling over the product packaging.  Here are some of our favorites.

When you're buying a sticky mouse trap, do you really need to see the weeping mouse stuck to the pad?  Apparently, you do!

Want to get rid of those pesky nose hairs?  This nostril waxing kit will do the trick, but this guy's expression kills me every time.  He's so excited!

This was literally on the back of a Wendy's takeout bag.  We have no idea what it's about.

You know that problem you have where giant sheets of skin peel off your feet?  You don't?  Neither did I but apparently it's a thing and this will make your feel baby smooth!

One of my favorites was on the wall of the Shinkansen.  This ad featuring Steve Wozniak was on every train we rode during our trek down to Hiroshima.  After a while, it went from being funny to just creepy.

Product ads aside, there are also great signs around that are designed to steer you in the right direction.  Some explain everything with an image.

Beware the pigeons.  They're evil and they have good aim.

Other signs are meant for English speaking visitors and sometimes the fun is in how they're phrased. Other times, it's about the imagery behind the wording.

I love the idea that if you change your clothes in this bathroom stall, you will be transported to an old graveyard and preyed upon by bats.

Other times, it's just something lost in translation.  For instance, this sign advertising "A Thousand flavors that blow."  I believe it wraps around to the other side of this store and says "your mind", however when you walk up on it, you just see the first line.

My all time favorite though comes at the expense of someone who does speak English and decided to be an asshole.  At the fish market in Tokyo, we were wandering the stalls when we saw this sign.  We're used to seeing broken English and in fact, it doesn't even phase us.  We get what the meaning is and we move on.  

However this sign was the gift that kept on giving.  Some jerk had decided to try to correct the sign in an obvious comment on the broken English.  They (of course) made a mistake and got schooled by someone else, but it didn't stop there.  I could not stop laughing.  I've blown it up so you can take it all in. If you're having trouble seeing how this works, I'll break it down below.

1. The sign originally read "Please do not eat this place."

2. Some jerk wrote "at" and put an arrow in as an obvious slam on the quality of the sentence.

3. Someone else wrote "IN" to correct the first person.  Had they left it at that, it would have been fine, but they added "Grammer issues roll eyes" and "Don't be a shitty tourist".

4. But as you can obviously see, they misspelled "Grammar" so a third person took a green pen and corrected that.  

I'm not kidding.  I literally laughed at this for hours after seeing it.

Anyway, thanks for reading these posts.  It's been great fun writing them and reliving our trips.  For those wondering if we'll be going again soon, the answer is, "some of us will".  The girls head to Tokyo for a full month later this year.  I'll be staying back as I have some deadlines approaching that include delivering my next book as well as writing on a brand new project.

With any luck, I'll go back a year from now. Don't worry though.  I'm sure that they'll come back with brand new adventures to report on and I'll see if I can't pull together some fresh installments.

See you soon!

Exploring Japan Vol. 23 - Fun Foods!

So for almost half a year, we've explored a ton of different places to go and things to do in Japan.  One thing that we've failed to discuss is the food.  Now, everyone knows about sushi and ramen and gyoza.  I'm not going to spend any time talking about the normal stuff.  The fact is, if you go to Tokyo, those foods are everywhere and most places are very good.   

Definitely go to the fish market in Tokyo if you have the time.  You can hit up the stands outside the market proper and get some of the freshest sushi you'll ever find.  I had uni (sea urchin) that blew my mind and it wasn't just a little bit on some rice.  It was the whole urchin, prepared and given to me with a small spoon, all for about $8.00.  The flavor was nutty and salty and unbelievably fresh.  

Another fun thing are the Japanese bakeries.  They're a great place to grab a bite for breakfast or lunch.  You'll find them everywhere and they serve up plenty of fresh breads and muffins, some in fun shapes and with meat baked into them.

Still, that's not really what I meant to write this column about.  You see, Japan has some of the best snack food places under the sun.  You can find a ton of them in Harajuku and they're well worth exploring.  

Chips!

The most well renowned potato chip company in Japan is Calbee.  You can find their chips in most stores, however they also have stands in some malls.  The first one we visited was on Takeshita Street in Harajuku.  There you can order your chips fresh and ask for a variety of flavors.  They will slice the potatoes, drop them in the oil, dry them off and present them to you with the flavor of your choice drizzled over them.  With these, we were going for a salty sweet flavor so white chocolate, salt and mocha powder was the order of the day.  You could also get many other flavors including maple syrup and even ice cream on the side.  Their fries are also very, very popular.

Crepes!

Takeshita Street is known for its crepes.  There are at least four stands like this one on that small stretch of shops and all of them look amazing.  Go early because they do tend to run out of certain ingredients the later it gets, especially the fruits.

Cotton Candy!

This one is insane!  This shop makes cotton candy that is as much a piece of art as it is delicious.  Every single layer that you see is a different flavor of sugar.  Grape. Apple.  Blueberry.  It's all there and to be honest, we loved all of them.  The woman who built this gorgeous beast even stopped midway through the first one she started and threw it away.  It did not meet her standards so she started again.

Anyway, Harajuku is definitely a place you should go to just for the people watching, but while you're there you should indulge yourself.  You definitely won't find anything like this anywhere else!

Exploring Japan Vol. 22 - Tokyo's Amazing Parks

Over the past 20 weeks, we've explored all kinds of fun stuff in Japan, but the truth is, that exploring Tokyo can sometimes feel a bit overwhelming.  Aside from the fact that you probably don't speak the language, it's a busy city.  There are trains, taxis, subways, people and all manner of lights and sounds around you.  Every now and then, you just feel like you need a break.

Well, you're not alone.  Most city-dwellers in Tokyo feel the same and thanks to a very strong cultural push to keep some reverence for nature, the city is filled with parks.  In the collective month of time that we've spent in Tokyo over the last two years, we've explored quite a few.  Some we just stumbled on.  Others, we sought out on recommendations.  In almost every case though, they do exactly what's intended.  They give you a chance to take a breath, relax and recharge.

When you should visit Tokyo's parks really depends on what you're looking for.  If you're just looking to relax or wander aimlessly, then go during the week (preferably mid-week).  Most people will be working and you'll have few visitors around you.  If you're looking to people watch, then go on a weekend.  You will find way more people doing strange things than you would ever dream.

At Yoyogi Park, right next to Meiji Shrine, you'll find a huge area with ponds, bike paths and large gatherings of clubs.  On the weekend, many people gather here and specific clubs dedicated to things like photography or juggling can be found hanging out and practicing together.  The picture below is actually the juggling club we stumbled on.

Yoyogi also gets its fair share of sunbathers around the main pond.  Karen and Lil were especially drawn to observing one guy in a thong.  I have a very candid picture of them staring that they had no idea I was taking.  It won't be posted here but trust me when I say it's the best photo I took on the entire trip.

At Yoyogi you can also rent bikes and there's even a small bike course for beginners and young children.  It's a great place to kill an hour or two between visiting the shrine and heading to Harajuku which is just a quick walk from the park entrance.

Let's say you're not up for a lot of people though.  Then head to Ueno Park.  It's actually the site of the oldest dedicated park in Tokyo.  

There are paths to walk, pedal boats to rent and the entrance to the Ueno Zoo butts up next to it.  On the weekend you will find food stalls here and we even found a couple while walking through on a weekday. 

The park is full of flowers and very close to an outdoor shopping mall that's pretty huge.  You can easily spend half a day in this area just wandering and sightseeing.  

However, if you want to go to our favorite park in all of Tokyo, you need to visit Shinjuku Gyoen.  This is actually a gigantic botanical garden.  You'll have to pay an admission to get in but it's generally around $2.00 pending the exchange rate.  It's totally worth it.  

Inside, you'll find gigantic old growth trees. There are large ponds and flower gardens throughout. Sections of the park are set up in traditional Japanese, English and French garden settings. 

Paved paths will take you around the majority of it, but there are also offshoot paths that will take you through more heavily wooded areas.  It's easy to forget that you're in a city while you're here, but every now and then you'll catch a glimpse of the skyline.

On one end of the park there is also a greenhouse open to the public.  Inside, you'll find plants from around the world along an easy to walk path that takes you along two levels of greenery.  

I swear that picture above looks like a Pokemon character.  

Anyway, you won't find any clubs or craziness in this park.  It's truly just for people who appreciate nature and want to enjoy the peacefulness of it.  There's even a tea house on site if you're looking for something else to do.

There are plenty of other parks I could mention.  For instance, the large one outside the imperial palace has life-sized Bonzai trees, cut into fantastical shapes.  Below you can see a man working on one.

Our favorites though tend to be those top three, with one exception from me.

One day, Lil and Karen had a reservation at a butler cafe near the Sunshine City Mall.  I decided to wait for them in a small park nearby.  I went to a Lawson's store and picked up a sandwich, some chips and a beer.  Then I headed over and found a bench in the far corner of the park.  From where I sat, I could see other people coming out to eat their lunches here.  It was cool just being one of the locals.  Then I started noticing the cats.  They were everywhere.  They were obviously part of the allure of the park because many people were feeding them or just petting them. 

This fascinated me, partially because I'm highly allergic to cats yet love them.  If I even pet one, my hand itches almost instantly, yet often I'll do it anyway and then run to a sink to wash up.  It also grabbed me though because it was so obvious that they were just part of the scenery.  I have no idea the name of the park, but we just call it the Cat Park.  When Lil and Karen met me after their lunch, I insisted they come look.  Lil walked up to this cat lounging on the ground and said hello.  He didn't mind a bit.

So if you're headed back there for a vacation, keep the parks in mind when you start to feel sick of being in a big city.  Just a 30 minute stop in the middle of a bunch of trees and flowers can be enough to reset your sense of adventure.

Exploring Japan Vol. 21 - SUMO!!

So you're probably asking yourself why it took so long for me to write about Sumo.  To be honest, there are two reasons. First, it was something we did as part of a tour group the on our initial visit to Tokyo.  We're not big on tours and this was one of only two that we took.  While I'm glad we did it, it still felt like we were kind of sheltered and not really a part of the action and vibe.

Second (and maybe because of that sheltered feeling), the whole thing kind of came off as a one dimensional experience.  Allow me to explain the whole concept though because I really feel like if I lived there, attended on my own and followed it for even one season, I'd be hooked.

Sumo is Japan's national sport.  They take this very, very seriously.  There are six tournaments per year, three of which take place in Tokyo.  Each tournament lasts only 15 days but over that time, the newspapers and television are covered with stories about each day's results.  

The sport started as part of a religious ritual and the matches were thought to be entertaining to the Shinto deities.  As you watch a match, you'll still see components of this.  The matches take place on a raised platform made of clay and covered with sand.  A Shinto priest will start each match by chanting to purify the ring.  Then each wrestler will do his own ritual, tossing salt to further purify it and get into the proper mindset.  Eventually, they will get into position mere inches from each other.  There is no whistle or anything to start.  One will just suddenly make a move and in a few seconds the match is over.

The rules are simple.  If you exit the ring or if any part of your body other than the soles of your feet touch the floor, you lose.

Wrestlers are split into hierarchies based on their performance.  They can move up or down within those depending how well they do in each tournament with one exception.  The winner of the tournament is crowned Yokozuna (Grand Champion).  Once that happens, you're a Yokozuna for life.  However, if your performance begins to slip, you are expected to retire.

Winning brings with it some fantastic rewards.  Aside from fame, you also get prizes from different sponsors that include giant casks of sake, chesnuts, etc.  You also win money and there's always the occasional sponsorship.

The matches themselves are fun to watch, but they end so quickly you need to make sure you don't blink.  The real fun for us though was watching the people with the ringside seats.  You may have realized from the picture below that there are no ropes to keep a wrestler from falling into the crowd.  This happens quite a bit.  In fact, if you sit close to the ring itself you're not allowed to bring food or drinks.  Seeing 350 pound giants fall on a family of four can be relatively entertaining if you're in the right mindset.

When the day's matches are over, there's a closing ceremony where all the high ranked wrestlers perform a final ritual.  Then everyone heads home.

All that said, if you've never attended then going for a day is worth doing.  Matches begin early (8:30 a.m. most days) and go until after 6:00 p.m.  The better wrestlers get the later matches so the stadium tends to fill up as the day goes on.  Bring some yen so you can buy snacks and beer and allow a few hours to get the full effect.  Also, we found that there was an English radio broadcast of the event, so bring a portable radio with headphones if you have one and you can hear the call in real time.

Next week, we'll explore some of Tokyo's public parks and hang out with some cats.  Be sure to join me!

Exploring Japan Vol. 20 - Miyajima

This week we'll wrap up the part of our trip that took us south of Tokyo.  When I lived in Iwakuni, there were two places easily accessible by train.  The best was Hiroshima, with its modern ginza and professional baseball team.  The other was no slouch though.  It was the island of Itsukushima and the small town of Miyajima.

Funny enough, Miyajima technically doesn't exist anymore.  It was annexed by the city of Hatsukaichi in 2005, however people still refer to it by the old name.  It sits 20 minutes outside of Hiroshima by train, however that only gets you to the ferry station.  A ten minute ferry ride puts you at the dock and immediately you're beset by roving deer.

At first, you'll think they're fantastic but if you sit back and watch them awhile, you'll see their mercenary tactics at work.  They travel in packs of two or three and while one distracts people by acting cute, the others start eating anything they can get hold of. In this case, even Karen's shirt.

One of my favorite things about this trip was watching a woman get ambushed from behind by a deer who walked away with most of an ice cream cone.  She had her attention on the one in front of her and before she knew it, the one in back of her had bitten the top off her cone.

The town of Miyajima is known for a few things beside aggressive deer.  First, and most impressive, is their giant torii.  

It sits in the water at high tide, but when the water moves out, you can walk right down to the base.  In fact, you'll find locals digging for clams, crabs and other fresh seafood.  

It's a truly amazing structure and once you get close to it, the sheer size of the trees the builders used will floor you.  

  

The second awesome sight is the floating Buddhist temple.  It doesn't really float, however when the tide is in, it sits directly over the water.  

The third thing they're known for is not a sight at all.  It's a taste.  Miyajima is the place to get the best bean cakes in all of Japan (in my humble opinion).  These are fresh sponge cakes that are filled with sweet red bean paste. 

If you don't like red bean paste, don't worry.  There are at least ten different flavors that range from chocolate and vanilla to banana and berry flavors.  There are multiple stores along the route that all make these fresh and many have their own proprietary flavors so be sure to shop around.  They are well worth your yen.  You can even pick up special Kit Kat flavors that are specific to Miyajima.

If you follow the main path through town, you'll find yourself walking in a beautiful wooded area.  It will take you over bridges and by Shinto shrines that are nestled back among the trees.  

It makes for a gorgeous hike but if you're not in the mood, you can catch a bus up to the cable car at the end of the path. 

For a small fee, you can take that up to a point on Mt. Misen where you'll get fabulous views of the inland sea and the small islands that dot it.  

It's from this point you can also find the trail up to the temple that houses the eternal flame I wrote about in the second post of this series.  If you're really ambitious, you can continue on from there and hike all the way to the top of the mountain.  

The only thing you need to be aware of is that the ferry does stop running relatively early, so if you're not off the mountain on time, you'll be finding a place to stay on the island.

Karen and Lil had a mixed response to visiting Miyajima.  While they liked the town and the deer, they didn't like hiking in the heat and humidity.  The selfie above was taken to show me just how much they hated trying to get to the eternal fire temple.  They turned back about a quarter mile from the temple itself and snapped this about ten minutes after they left me.  They snapped another that included a hand gesture but I'm trying to keep this blog semi-PC.  

Still, I can't help but recommend visiting the island AND making the hike.  It's one of my favorite places in all of Japan and ranks a solid number two in my top three most beautiful and peaceful places to visit. Number one would be the mountain trail I wrote about in the Iwakuni post and number three would be Meiji Shrine in Tokyo.

Next week, we'll finally talk about sumo, because I feel obligated and a few people have asked about it.  

See you then!