today money bought me happiness

and no, i'm not mistaking happiness for mere enjoyment. today really made my hike way out here to the japanese boonies seem less of a waste of time than it thus far has been: i was really getting tired of seeing all sorts of cool stuff i could be doing, but having it closed either because it wasn't yet april or because the winter was too warm. there's nothing more downheartening than doing what i seem to love most (travelling) and having all the gems of the places just out of my reach. until today northern japan has been largely like this.

i'm in abashiri, in the north of northern japan, and this town came through for me at the eleventh hour. at first i was really pissed because the ice-breaker cruise i was psyched for was pointless due to there being no ice (bloody warm winter), but later today i was able to don a dry suit and go for an 'ice walk' (apparently there was ice in this one bay where it was too shallow for the ice breaker to go). this meant scrambling over the drift ice, which toppled and see-sawed beneath me, swimming around in near-zero degree waters, try to not fall off my chunk of ice (don't i look like a super hero in this photo?--->>) as waves come crashing in, and jumping from floe to floe doing my best to stay above water (and occasionally not - whereupon a just slid in and bobbed around for a while). if you've ever watched the MXC skit where people have to run across a pond on rocks which may or may not give way, resulting in hilarious bails - that's just what this was like. some of the pieces appeared small, but turned out to be enormous, while some were just the opposite and dumped me straight into the sea. i got to give my waterproof camera a good test drive, and it performed admirably.

this is where it got really good: hearing the sound of all those huge chunks of ice crash against each other was impressive - such deep, throaty thwocks coming from all around me as i heard the waves rolling in had me grinning from ear to ear. i got to hop all the way out to the edge where the ice stopped and the open ocean began (also where the waves made the ice chunks especially tippy) and gaze out over the bay, with the snow-capped mountains in the distance, and not a single manmade sound to be heard. talk about an ideal setting, one that i'm not likely to encounter again. there was also a tiny island nearby made of crazy hexagonal formations of volcanic rock that i was able to have a quick scramble over. when my guide said it was time to head back to shore i made sure to take the longest way back i could think of. i was actually sweating by the end of it after all that swimming and hopping around.

the rest of the day was spent at museums that were actually worth going to: i got to see the old prison that abashiri is famous for (it's apparently noted as being especially cruel due to the harsh winter cold), and it actually had english information plates. man those old time criminals had to do a lot of manual labour in flimsy grass shoes. the gift shop there featured all sorts of things made by the inmates, so i thought that made for a pretty cool souvenier.

the other museum of the day followed today's ice theme: the museum of drift ice. apparently the sea of ohkutsuk (in which i was just swimming) is the planet's southernmost sea where salt water freezes. it happens here because, if you look at a map, it's enclosed by islands (making water circulation happen much slower), and it's also apparently relatively shallow (and thus less heat is able to get trapped beneath the surface, causing the water to drop in temperature faster). i thought that was kinda cool. certainly explains why there was ice in the bay and not out where the ship sailed: there was a rock shelf about 4 feet under that stretched way out from the coast. by the way, in the above photo i'm holding a frozen towel which the museum staff hand out soaking wet just before you head into the minus-17 degree room. they recommend you twirl the towl around like a lasso, and it turns out like this. good times. side note: the seal is stuffed, and suffering from a vandalized arm...

so with that i leave you to ponder: with all the opportunities money opens up, might it just be that, spent properly, money can buy happiness?

genghis khan is delicious

a hokkaido speciality, when the japanese think of 'genghis khan' they think lamb meat. you cook it yourself over a grill with veggies, much like yakiniku. on my days in sapporo i got to experience the genghis with a rockin dude named matsuhiro that i met at the hostel. he just got back from bali, and is soon off to sudan where he is going to volunteer his dentistry expertise. rock on man. long live the khan.
by they way, note the grease-spattered bibs. they even had us put our stuff in plastic bags - guess they know it's a messy affair.

the ainu

well, i didn't get to see the volcanized houses: closed after all. so were the walking trails at the to of the volcano. and the ainu museum at the bottom. and the glassblowing lessons. all available in april. bugger that.

so instead of spending the day there, i hitchhiked my way to the train station (buses don't run till, you guessed it, april) and went to shiraoi, where there's a whole ainu village set up. for those who haven't heard of the ainu, they're the indigenous people of northern japan, and like most indigenous people they too got served by the more technologically advanced culture encroaching on their turf. one difference though: the japanese didn't put them onto reservations. instead, they usurped full control over their trading (previous to this the ainu did a lot of trade with the japanese, as the only other close civilization are soime remote russian islands) and limited what tax funding they could receive.

this village turned out to make the whole bunk day worthwhile: there was a talk about traditional ainu ways and language, followed by traditional dance, song, including their musical instruments (one of which is like a jew's harp). all of this took place inside one of their huts, made as it has been for ages. there were legions of salmon drying in the rafters, a fire in the pit, and all around the bamboo-straw (i have no idea what the real name is) thatched walls and roof. very cool. afterward i paid another 500yen and took a lesson in how to make said jew's harp-like instrument (called a mukkuri). although we did use modern chisels to carve it..... afterward there was a museum full of english explanations (when the native language isn't even japanese, it would seem you get a world of options - chinese, korean...) and plenty of old articles, like a dugout tree trunk boat and tools. it really is amazing how similar the culture is to native north american trends: they're animistic, and base a lot of respect for each other and nature on the belief in the presence of a spirit in all things; their decorative pattern resembles the haida ovoids (though it tends to include a single coninuous strand weaving its way around the pattern); they depend much on hunting & gathering salmon and forest plants.... i also scooped a book with english/japanese translations of some of their traditional stories. it's such a potent way to learn about a culture through its legends: they always expose most encouraged values, daily activities, religious beliefs, specialized activities and language... it'll make a great alternative to the book of old japanese stories that i've been working through.

tomorrow i intend to take the long bus up north to abashiri. let's hope it's open before april.

professional snowballing

yes, indeed it exists, and those involved are trying to make it an olympic sport. one of the few things not happening in april, instead i missed seeing the tournament by a week. but, i did run across the macabre-looking field on my way to the mountain mentioned above. here's what they're all about: http://www.yukigassen.jp/english/index.html

my wallet hurts

i'm beginning to figure out how to live cheaper in japan. key points: 1) wherever there is one, sleep at a manga kissa (those peculiar but convenient as hell comic cafes where you can rent a little cubicle for any length of time - i've got one rented for 8 hours right now - in which you can use the net, play games, watch movies, sleep, read from their enormous comic library, and also available is food, showers, and everything!) - or instead, for sleeping arrangements just take the night bus (night trains are rare); 2) take buses instead of trains whenever possible - they're always cheaper, and often take the same amount of time as trains; 3)using this one discount ticket i managed to find (seishun juhachi kippu) you can use one multiple times in one day, but only on the slooooooowest trains, thus the way to do that is stop partway along your journey, see some stuff while taking a break from the train, and continue on. 4) of course there's hitchhiking - i've been getting promising reports from other people about hitchhiking success, so i'm keen to get that rolling - and it's a superb way to meet people and practice my japanese.

and about using my japanese, though i find i don't speak it as frequently when i travel (often i'm just walking around alone, and i don't have family and friends to go home to at night), i am finding that my kanji (character-word) recognition is improving. having to read so many signs and place names is really helping. so, that somewhat assuages my fears that hanging around so many international hostels and walking around by myself would lead to a disuse of my freshly learned language. sweet.

winter woes

note: if you're going to travel japan in the winter do a lot of preparation. for example, despite that hokkaido is all about the winter (from snow festivals to sub-zero miniskirt fashion) so many places are simply closed; and when i do research whether somewhere cool is actually open, i arrive to find activities truncated to walking around the outside of buildings covered in snow-protection straw coverings, instead of being able to enter and try archery or see a martial arts demo. the most irksome thing is that since transport is cut to a minimum it's not unusual to wait an hour or two for the bus or train. kind of frustrating, but i'm rather making it out to be worse than it is: i've been able to try woodcarving, tour the old sapporo beer factory, check out plenty of local foods, and if today's preparations come to fruition, tomorrow walk through a village warped and twisted by a volcanic eruption in 2000.

it was really great to walk the snow-covered streets of sapporo where winter truly comes (unlike vancouver where, this bizarre year aside, winter is just a longer, rainier autumn).i really do long for a good ol' ontario snowbank in my back yard.
i've got another 5 days of the glorious snow till i flee to where winter never really comes: okinawa. from furthest north to furthest south, to where hopefully things aren't closed for the bittersweet season.
in the mean time, i'll probably keep ya posted in all the free time i've got at train & bus stations!

kat-ventures

so i just finished 2 weeks of travelling with kat, and it was a load of fun. kinda bumpy at times, but what travel company isn't? after her safe arrival to tokyo (after the bloody hour train ride from narita airport) we wandered around Asakusa for an evening stroll, hunting for some good japanese food to start off the experience. we decided on yakiniku, which is cook-it-yourself meat, with a grill on every table and a plate of the meat of your choice. we rented the deluxe suite of k's house hostel so we could live luxurously for the first night (worked out to 48 bucks apiece. not too shabby). on the first morning we woke leisurely and headed to denny's for a traditional japanese breakfast. yes, denny's. over the next 24 hours we checked out ueno park, the crazy fashion of harajuku, the busy shibuya, and the 45th floor of the metropolitan tower in shinjuku. we started off the next morning by checking out the madness at the Tsukiji Fish Market. i still found it nuts to be in the presence of so much fish going so many places at once. here's an update to my previous fish-cut-by-bansaw shot: enter giant axe and piles of frozen corpses. we grabbed a plate of maguro sashimi (raw tuna), hit up a convenience store for some wasabi and soy sauce, and had an outdoor picnic in a nearby park. next we jumped on the monorail for a cheeky ride around odaiba, from which you can see a lot of downtown tokyo (it was cheeky because we bought a ticket for the next station over, but took the train to the end of the line and back before getting off). we decided fleeing the big city was a good idea, and so headed for enoshima, a town barely on the map just west of Kamakura. it is a tiny island with a cool shrine, awesome ocean-side walks, and a totally wild park decorated by 'mirrorbowler', a group that uses disco balls, candles, and various other trippy materials to create psychadelic environments. all the photos for that are on kat's camera. there was arcade-style mariokarting, bewildered pachinko playing, and a long walk on the beach - trying our hardest not to be blown over by the insane wind. the crowds of surfers were loving it, however.

next stop: hakone. the lonely planet called this place a 'tourist mecca', and were pretty on the ball with that - there were some sweet sights to see. unfortunately we were plagued with bus shortages, gondolas under repair, and an excess of volcanic gas (see photo, left) rendering the hiking trails unusable. this didn't stop us from eating the local delicacy, black eggs, cooked in the sulphuric waters of the local volcano's hot springs.

we got to check out great views of mt. fuji;

ride on a gaudy pirate ship;

play on giant net structures;

crawl around in a fiberglass tube-maze (these last two were at an absolutely fantastic outdoor art museum with everything from rodin to lorne harris to people you've never heard of);

wear some old japanese armour (at a village designed after the old straw hut style where we also watched soba noodle-making, and checked out some traditional paper and silk work);

that's all the net time for now. i'll update again when i can.

photos for 'off the map again'

hangin' out with some of the enormous trees at a shrine in Shuzenji Onsen.

pottery, japanese style: on a hand-turned wheel. since it apparently takes about 3 days to fire, dry, etc., they send it right to your house. booya. i can't wait to see what the finished product looks like....

what would Canada Village be without a beer? Just don't mention the fact that the cup is advertising american beer...

soaking in that rotenburo at the top of the ocean-side cliff. i had the place to myself for most of the time - an entirely unbelievable experience.

the granddaddy of engrish. leave a comment on what you think this note means. someone actually left a handwritten piece of paper with a real translation on it, so once i've gotten a few good guesses i'll reveal the big secret...

i can't quite figure out why this boat has all these huge light bulbs strung up. open sea grow op? seriously vision-impaired fisherman? i'd love to hear your guesses.

lazily fishing off the globby volcanic coast of Jogasaki.

a better view of the Jogasaki coast. note the hexagonal rock near the water. very similar (though less spectacular) to the Giant's Causeway in Ireland.

the gorgeous cherry trees blossoming at the top of mt. nesugata in Shimoda. the view was spectacular, the aroma powerful, and thus the atmosphere rather peacefu.

here's the cannon they had constantly trained on Commadore Perry's fleet when he arrived in the 1800s and had Japan open its borders. Shimoda is rather proud to be the town where this happened.

someone actually spent the time to knit a toque and make a cloak for this little statue. incredible. and this is by no means rare: every one of these statues i've seen is dressed similarly. they're statues of jizo, the protector of travellers and children. so, cheers to you, jizo, i respect and thank you for your work.
see? i wasn't kidding. rather less elaborate jizo clothes, but nonetheless all garbed.

that crazy ferry that zipped us smoothly over the whitecapped ocean waves to Oshima. that fin in front pivoted down to become a water ski sorta device.

the main crater of mt. nihara, the active volcano on Oshima. if you look close you can actually see wisps of smoke in the bottom of the crater. the colours were just brilliant!

my ferry 'seat', with comfort beer. 'e' class all the way, baby.

off the map again

back on the road again - and it feels good. my first week was a waiting period before i met kat in tokyo (which'll be happening in about 2 hours - booya), and i decided to drop off the map and head to some small towns on the izu hanto (izu peninsula). this place is known for its onsen (hot spring baths), its wild ocean coastline, and its fishing. thus, much of the last week has been spent soaking in spring water hot enough to skin a rhino. there's something to be said about wandering around a steamy room (or outside grotto) with a bunch of other naked men. no one's got anything to hide, everyone just wants to relax, and so the atmosphere is simply peaceful and refreshing. i experienced my first true public bath: an unmarked hut in the middle of town that i had to ask a few people to find. you just walk in, make sure you choose the 'men' door, and drop 'em. since i went in the evening, the place was full of middle aged locals coming for their daily baths (in this town many people don't have their own). it was like running into a bear in the forest: they were more startled by me than i was by them. this was in the town of shuzenji onsen.
day 2: i headed for dotomburi, known for its completely mad coastline, and this cave that left a great big skylight-hole in the mainland. it's got huge rocks jutting out of the ocean, a rock-bar (as opposed to a sand bar) heading to a big foresty island, and most importantly a 'rotenburo'. this translates to 'open air bath' - and it was one of the coolest experiences ever: it was a small hot spring you have to climb up a rocky embankment to get to. the bath is actually perched right on the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea. it's outside, so you can soak and watch the clouds roll by, wave at the tourist boats - and while i was there - see the landscape and water turn orange with the sunset. i was the only one there for most of my visit, so i had ample time to sit and gaze.
day 3: in the town of shimoda i stayed at this incredibly cute ryokan (traditional japanese inn), where a cute old lady showed me to a cute japanese room with fresh tea and sweets awaited me. this town is noteworthy because it is where commadore perry landed in the 1800s and created the treaty that opened japan's borders after hundreds of years of isolation. there is a mountain called 'nesugata yama', which means 'mountain shaped like a sleeping person'. a cable car took you up to the top where a panoramic view, a photography museum, and an oldschool temple waited. there were cherry blossoms in bloom, and so i had the opportunity to sit on a bench under them and just take in the scent. i must stop and remark here about that: the smell of this place was spectacular - flowere were absolutely everywhere, and so my nose was just twitching with delight (including discovering a 'pineapple sage' named for the strangely tropical-fruity aroma).
i hopped on the train to go to jogasaki coast, where more crazy coastline rock formations awaited. this time it was all volcanic rock, melted and twisted into bizarre shapes, including some hexagonal formations like at the giant's causeway in ireland. very cool.
day 4: i got up to watch the sunrise, explored the park, then grabbed the crazy hydro-foil ferry to nearby ooshima (big island). this ferry had fins on the bottom that lowered into the water and essentially water-skiied you across the ocean. it was a really choppy day, so the waves were pretty big, but on this boat we skimmed across at 90km/h, smooth as a highway. it was astounding! ooshima is known for its active volcano, which last erupted in 1986. even now it's smoking and steaming like it's about to belch forth again. but i didn't actually see this until the next day. i must have a whole herd of horseshoes shoved so far up my rear that i can taste iron: the day i arrived was the 50th anniversary of the town, and so everything was free - hot springe, rotenburo, museums, the lot. bonus.
day 5: this is my day of volcano-climbing. my ferry to tokyo was at 3 o'clock, so i had plenty of time to wander and take my time. it was really spectacular to see all the twisted, lumpy rocks lying where they poured forth from the volcano mouth, and creating these long streams of piles of black lava. it looked like a moon landscape.
at 3 i jumped on the ferry to tokyo, which turns out to be as stratified as japanese society itself is: i bought the cheapest ticket, and thus was confined to a big room on deck 'E' whose floor was sectioned off in duct tape rectangles - each numbered for a passenger. i was #810, and so i sat on my piece of floor, bought some beer from the nearby vending machine, and listened to tunes until we arrived.
here i am in the mega-metropolis again, checking out the lights, skyscrapers, and crazy fashion of tokyo. in 5 minutes i'm off to stroll through the fancy shopping district (intending to buy nothing but a new journal - my other one is full) before i make the inconvenient train ride out to narita airport to meet kat. everyone marvels at how efficient tokyo's subway/train system is - but i argue the opposite: there are 2 subway companies, each requiring separate tickets; the JR trains, again, are separate; the ferry port doesn't have a subway or train stop near it; and the biggest airport is over an hour away, with no direct train to it. bugger all that - this is no efficient system.
hate to end with a complaint, but my net time is almost up.
cheers, all.

oh, if you're wondering at the lack of photos: it's going to be tough to upload them at cafes etc., so for the next while its text only. i'll fix that when i can - trust me i'm itching to.

-jesse

Bird Flu Be Damned

Yes, raw chicken is indeed considered consumable here. the place my host family took me to specializes in chicken - and you have to have a special licence just to serve it raw. i have no idea how they avoid avian flu, salmonella, or any of that, but if anyone is a specialist at raw food, it's certainly the japanese. except mushrooms: they refuse to eat mushrooms raw. other than that, i've eaten raw pretty much anything i can think of - including horse! although i have yet to try raw pork...

and this particular dinner was a part of a japanese traditional 'kaiseki' style: they serve everything on separate little dishes, all specially chosen and arranged for optimum aesthetic and palatal impact. it's an incredibly in-depth, esoteric art form, of which i'm pretty much entirely ignorant; but it looks gorgeous! and is always delicious... anyways, this particular restaurant's kaiseki was a chicken theme: you got your grilled chicken, breaded chicken, soup with chicken, chicken on a stick (with salad etc. stuffed between, of course. no one eats as healthy as the japanese. must be why they have the world's longest life expectancy), and how could the meal be complete without RAW chicken? so, on the plate it goes. i made sure to have telling photos taken. they say scottish cuisine must have been created based on a dare; well, i'll bet in some ancient lore anthology you'll find the scots pitting their iron stomachs against the japanese.

and on another note of peculiar cuisine habits, have you ever heard of such a thing as all-you-can-eat cake buffet?? the japanese girls at my school love it! there's an italian restaurant near school that offers this thing after 3pm daily, and for some crazy reason the girls, instead of being worried about getting fat after a full meal of solely CAKE, are all for it! unbelievable. we're headed there today.

so, these things compounded by the propensity to slurp up noodles at alarming rates, shovel rice straight from bowl-to-mouth, and a furthermore brow-raising love of raw eggs, certainly make it a lively experience to tuck into a meal with the japanese.

itadakimasu!

a bloody bugger

while wandering nagoya we thought we'd donate blood. i've long wanted to in japan, but missed the clinic at my school. as it turns out, they don't even want my blood! anyone having been in europe for longer than 6 months is rejected on account of mad cow disease. so strict! in canada they're only worried about england from 1980-1996. they gladly took cleo's blood, however. the photo here is of Yamaguchi Sensei bashfully translating for cleo all the unnervingly personal questions that come along with blood donation. neither cleo or i are shy at all, so it brought a grin to my face seeing how he reacted to having to ask his students (i was questioned after cleo) whether they've slept with multiple partners in the past year; do they have any veneral diseases; have they ever had gay sex....

at the end of the day, i may be mad - but that didn't come from the beef. well, i guess this means there won't be any sick japanese kids running around with a little piece o' jesse coursing through their veins. upon reflection, is this really a bad thing?

東京！(Tokyooooo!)

So, as per usual, this trip took place long before I write this: on Nov. 25^th, the 3 of us made the leap of faith into an unorganized, independent, week-long trip to Tokyo. We just hopped on the Shinkansen and arrived to find our fortunes. I love travelling this way: it always makes for a memorable impromptu experience.

tokyo lives up to its reputation as bustling, sprawling, and diverse. The home of cutting edge technology alongside ancient temples. The day before we left we still hadn’t even planned when exactly we were leaving, but it has all come together. Thanks to okasan’s research we found a convenient shinkansen and fantastic hostel.

After rocketing there in an hour and a half (6 hours by bus) we disentangled ourselves from the shinkansen network, only to plunge immediately into the subway, whereupon we realized that the legendary efficiency of the Tokyo transit system has some brutal flaws: it is owned & operated by several different companies, and thanks to good old fashioned private-interest capitalism, their lines don’t jive - you have to buy a different ticket for each company’s network. I sometimes wonder where the Japanese tax-yen goes: transit and health care are privatized, school is expensive, and all the highways are toll roads. Anyways, we made our way to the hostel to drop off our bags. It’s called K’s House Backpackers and we were pleasantly surprised to find a brand new (opened in June), comfortable, friendly place. Fully recommended. It was already afternoon so we decided to stick close the hostel, which was in Asakusa. This was by no means a sacrifice, as Asakusa is chock full of narrow-alley markets covered pedestrian shopping streets. This one crazy road had all old-school stalls on either side, and a massive gate & lantern at each end. This place knows more ways than a carnival to say “tourist trap”, but there were some pretty cool souveniers to be had. I picked up a flag that has Japanese/English phrases on it. Matches my Scottish one.

The hostel map said there was a street with “cheap restraints”, which we assumed was henglish for restaurants. Turned out to be that kind of restraints all right, but definitely not cheap. We ended up eating at a chain restaurant called “Yoshinoya”. びみょう。。。

Upon our return to the hostel we struck up some lively conversation over cards with some Aussies (surprise surprise. I really think there are more aussies abroad than in Australia), a South African, a Pole, and a few Japanese. What a fantastic place it is that the entire globe can play cards around one table. We picked up some gloriously cheap Japanese liquor (350ml of gin for 5 bucks at your local convenience store. Another reason to love Japan). Good intentions to go out after building a nice buzz disintegrated into a full out house (hostel) party. Cleo and Chris ended up signing out early, both sick from the consumption (and I don’t mean TB). I don’t know whether it was the conditioning I’ve had from the daily beers with my host father, but I kept on rockin’ till almost 4am.

DAY 2: Thursday.

We slept in, lazed about…recovered (can you blame us?). This was unfortunately followed by a breakfast at mcdonalds. I think this is the first time I’ve eaten mcdonald’s in a bout 2 years: the reasons I don’t eat there were reconfirmed, even in on the other side of the planet.

Next desitnation was Hibiya Park to check out a chrysanthemum exhibit (I had no idea they were so bloody huge and exhuberant! No wonder the Japanese call fireworks “flower fire”, with these monsters to inspire them), then wandered the palace “gardens”. The quotations serve to say that by ‘gardens’, they mean ‘enormous gravel-covered square with vast expanses of golf-green grass & tailored trees, the latter behind a teeny fence and “do not enter” signs. Such a waste! It would make such excellent picnic & leisure space, but of course the Japanese prefer to have it looking prim and perfect – which means no trampling feet or grubby hands allowed.

Following this was Akihabara, the electronics motherload district. Picture streets lined with 8 storey, neon-filled buildings, shoulder-to-shoulder people, and vendors selling anything that has batteries or a plug. Superbly impressive, though the prices weren’t as low as they are fabled to be. I bought a godsent external hard drive for my computer, and Cleo bought 3 digital cameras. Close your gaping jaw – one for her, one for her parents, and one for her boyfriend. Along the way we encountered this 3 storey, absurdly narrow mall-sort-of-thing that sold bits of electronics – so many teeny resistors, plug ends, copper wire, circuit boards….it was nuts. You could build anything that requires electronics from this little hole-in-the wall place. As a tourist it’s a bit frustrating to know that interesting places like this exist all over the place, but they’re so hard to find. Usually it’s a wrong turn or some free-time-wandering that does it.

Next stop: Shinjuku – the glitzy, flashy, 10-storey-video-advertisement-filled shopping district. Shitloads of people spending shitloads of money on mostly clothing. Quite a wander-and-gawk experience. We did this with Bibi, the Polish girl (who works as a fashion merchandizer in New York. Very glamourous).

The evening was once again spent drinking at the hostel (though not so much as last night). We met a new couple of Aussies (who were obnoxious twits) and played some international UNO (that’s UNO with various rules followed by players from a bunch of different countries). This was a 4:30 am bedtime. Had some excellent conversations with Nick & Dave (the Aussies from yesterday). They’ve been living in Japan for 3 years and speak fluent Japanese. Very impressive to hear them talking with the locals. Jesse is jealous.

DAY 3: Friday.

I was keen to head to Jinbo-cho, which is the bookshop district (just think: a whole DISTRICT for books! Fabulous!), so I got up early. Upon going downstairs, however, I was asked by Bibi to help her find a computer in Akihabara. I wanted to hunt down a few more things (namely a camera case and some sweet speakers that cleo bought. Very similar to my gullivers ones, only better…), so I thought this would be grand. That’s spontaneous travel without a little shuffling of plans? So, after a most excellent Denny’s breakfast (in Japan Denny’s is a stylish, healthy restaurant. The Japanese are surprised by the sorry state of the North American conterparts) we set off, gawking at the tiny computers with built in webcams, fingerprint ID, instant card scanning (a Japanese function which shows up on cell phones – just touch it against the designated spot and bam! you paid)….Bibi was a little swamped with options and price range, so she just jotted down some numbers instead of buying. I managed to completely forget my speakers.

After Akihabara I puttered over to Jinbocho to check out what a book neighbourhood looks like. I expected all sorts of specialty book stores – sci. fi buffs, art book shops, history specialty shops, etc. – but was surprised to find just row upon row of generic bookshops with no apparent niche. Towers of sketchily-stacked books seems to be a phenomenon that transcends culture and geography. Makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. I picked up one more book in the set of bilingual books I’m collecting: a collection of Japanese myths, then headed onward to to meet up with Chris & Cleo in Shibuya, the other quintessentially-tokyo, flashy shopping district. It seemed that Shibuya had more REALLY upscale shops than Shinjuku. Our mission, however, was to head to a reputedly impressive Escher exhibit that I had no intention of missing. Cleo was interested, but was rather puzzled at my excitement about his art (despite being regaled by the Aussies, who told us about this exhibit, and who were more thrilled than I was). Chris had no interest, so the 2 of us headed inside. Let’s put it this way: it was 2:30, and we intended to fit the exhibit between then and a 6:00 visit to Tokyo Disneyland (yeah, yeah, I could go to Disneyland at home, but can I really: how often do I go to the states?). Cleo, too, loved the Escher so much that we didn’t even leave until 7:15. Disneyland never happened, and the reason for it, as far as I’m concerned, is a rather fulfilling one. I got to see some of Escher’s sketchbooks (which explain how he designs his regular-division-of-the-plane patterns), and the audio guide was a Nintendo DS! So sweet: this gameboy-like thing has one touch screen and another regular screen, so you can have explanation/menu on one side, and a zoom-able picture on the other. Genius. It allowed you to look at all the pages of the sketchbook, not just the one it was opened to in the display case.

Right: no one wants to hear about Escher. Once we were done with the sweet sweet Escher exhibit (heh heh), Cleo and I wandered the Shibuya night, and came across the busiest pedestrian intersection I have ever seen: I’m sure that more people cross the intersedtion in one light-change than live in my hometown. The lights don’t even allow one direction of traffic alongside pedestrians: they had traffic do their thing, both ways, then unleashed the horde of pedestrians, completely enveloping the pavement between the lights. On one of the 10-storey tv ads was a live camera feed of the intersection, so we could see ourselves waving, larger than life!

We next hit up the 45^th floor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Building, which offers a free view of the city (rather than the tourist trap that is Tokyo Tower, which charges), then took our protesting legs back to the hostel for an early turn-in in preparation of the next epic day:

DAY 4: Saturday.

I’ve never seen so much fish carnage in all my life. Tsukiji Fish Market is quite an experience, and it’s no wonder they call it “the belly of Japan”: if it came out of the water, it is brought, butchered (or not), and sold here; and we all know how much the Japanese like seafood. Health Canada, however, would certainly have some stern words for the place... And these guys don't mess around: they fly down the narrow alleys on their weird 3-wheel motor-dolly cars carrying stacks of styrofoam fish containers. It's dangerous as hell - i saw my life flash before my eyes numerous times as someone whipped by within fishy inches of my nose. We met my teacher, Yamaguchi Sensei, here. It was kind of amusing to see this bookish, cinema & arts buff gingerly making his way through the bloody bustle of Tsukiji Market. This definitely is a quintessential Japanese experience, one which was Yamaguchi Sensei’s first. Below is a tuna being cut with a band saw. Sushi, the traditional way! When we'd had our fill of fishy smells and death-defying experiences, Cleo was keen to check out the Museum of Emerging Science, and I think Yamaguchi Sensei was too politely-Japanese to say that he had no desire to go, so off we went. It had a rather interesting exhibit entitled “6.5 billion survivors”, and addressing how we can possibly live with so many people on the planet. They gave a surprisingly hopeful view of genetic modification, one which could be possible to achieve if it weren’t for a prevailing global capitalist interest: instead of thoroughly researching the field and developing strains which are sustainable & healthy (or even finding out what kind of effects they can have), corporations are instead focused on quickly patenting new technology and extracting maximum profit from it. Were profit not a factor, this industry would have the potential to gain a lot of credence by then being free to collaborate across the globe – creating the possibility of chain-reactions of breakthroughs, rather than hording them for one’s own company. Capitalism: so bittersweet.

Maybe after I get over my rant I can continue to say that we hopped on the monorail back toward downtown. This monorail is sweet: it’s high above ground, and goes over Tokyo Harbour, so you have a clear view of Tokyo’s core (even a smoggy glimpse of Mt. Fuji in the distance). Finally we got to Yamaguchi’s intended destination of Asakusa’s Senso shrine. Leading up to it was the crazy tourist trap area i mentioned at the beginning (this time shoulder to shoulder with people). Like all the shrines I’ve seen so far it was dominated by a crowd of people chucking money into a giant bin so they can pray. I donated a 100yen coin to get a fortune that basically told me everything I do is wrong (the headline was simply “bad fortune”). Terribly amusing, since up till now everything has been going pretty right. Maybe I’m due for a karmatic reversal. Out front were 2 essential shrine-features: a fountain where people pour water on their hands & faces to cleanse themselves before praying; and a little hut where they burn heaps of incense whose smoke people scoop and kind of bathe themselves in.

I finally found some engrish that was not so abhorrently expensive: I bought a sweater and a jacket (which actually came with a matching t shirt. Bonus) that say, respectively: “responsibirity; real seculity; dairy; keep hold lock on the all of flour. Shining, attractive ‘fruit cake’ just you taste its smooth, that makes you smily! And happy!”, and “the manie road food tasty. Many stores are collected”. I wonder what meaning they were shooting for…

We then parted ways with Yamaguchi Sensei and prepared for the calm before the storm: a quick nap before a bunch of us stormed a Roppongi club. One thing I can say is that clubs everywhere seem to be the same: loud beats, expensive booze, and too many people. The other thing I can say, on that note, is that Japan seems to be pretty flexible in the area of maximum occupancy. I had no room to fart, let alone dance! We had two options of returning to the hostel: take a taxi, or wait till the trains started running again at 5:30. after 6.5 hours of dancing and struggling to move around we discovered we had chosen the latter. What a night. As an individual experience, a real rush. Wouldn’t want to spend my regular weekends doing it though…

FINAL EPIC DAY: Sunday.

The hostel staff were kind enough to let us sleep in till after 12:30, whereupon we struggled into consciousness and packed up. After breaking our fast with some curry we headed to Asakusa Bridge to catch the water taxi down the river towards Tokyo Station. To be sure, we weren’t the giddiest bunch that day, but after some food and a shower we felt up to the task of some more sightseeing. Our final destination was Harajuku, the more alternative district, it would turn out. Man, I wish we had gone earlier!: every weekend the ‘cos-play zoku’ come out from their regular student lives and dress up in crazy expression-starved clothing (costumes?) and meet in the park here (cleo got some good photos, but i don't have those yet). Harajuku is also good for cheap shopping, querky stores, and peoplewatching. Definitely going back. We were supposed to catch a Shinkansen back to Toyohashi at 7:00, but didn’t even leave Harajuku till 7:30. such a cool, querky place, I could’ve spent ages there.

The return was a real gong show: our tickets didn’t include the Shinkansen surcharge, so we had to pay an extra 30 bucks; chris managed to lose his ticket between the surcharge-acquiring machine and the gate (after about a half hour the station folk printed him out another copy); the train we caught went as far as one stop before Nagoya, and by this time it was past 10:00, and so getting close to last train time (as after arriving in Toyohashi Cleo and I had to head to Okazaki, and then to Toyota). We all managed to squeak into our last trains home, but it doesn’t even quite end there: on the bike ride home my backpack’s rain cover drawstring managed to get caught in my tire and rip right off; my umbrella (it was raining) broke, and so soaking, I get almost home only to be nearly hit by a car. I can tell you, bed felt awesome that night.
So ends our superb Tokyo trip in a blaze of frustrated exhaustion.