Ohio! and Other Thoughts on Japan

Japan is technically a shorter flight from Los Angeles than to fly to Paris, but culturally it seems much further away. There are many rules to remember. Avoid blowing your nose in public, give and receive items using both hands, slurp your soup, and don't be caught dead (literally) wearing a kimono right over left. While we all know I try to blend in everywhere I go, I'm afraid I may stand out a bit more in Japan. It is a land that just seems "foreign." It is a place so different from the United States, yet possesses all the comforts of a modern society -- like fancy toilets.

I couldn't help but think that Japan had developed like a parallel universe to the United States. Like any modern nation, it has had to confront problems with the environment, urban planning, and efficiency, but has solved them in completely different ways. Some things may seem quirky, like these "smoking booths" at a park in Kyoto. Other quirks may include a hotel elevator in Kyoto that had a chair that doubled as a toilet in emergencies, or the ubiquity of vending machines in random back alleys. Why so many vending machines? And Nicole would be curious to know why all the toilet seats are heated. There are many questions. In many ways, Japan is superior to the United States. Just look at the efficiency of their train network. Without even understanding the signs at the train station, we could find the right platform just by looking at the departure time. If we were planning to board a 9:40 train from Tokyo to Osaka, we could go to the platform, look at our watches and board the correct train with 100% accuracy. Amtrak could only dream of that kind of reliability.

The food is . . . interesting, and certainly not made easier by the lack of english translation on products. Here Nicole is caught in a feeling of betrayal as she discovers there is more to her nori-wrapped rice ball than initially met the eye. As crazy as some of the food items may be, Japan surprised me with the availability of other types of cuisine. If you were craving kebabs, Italian, or perhaps a french boulangerie, you could find any of these things with relative ease and they would taste good too. This is in stark contrast to our European trip, where all we could find was ham. Despite the close proximity of European countries to each other, they have yet to master each others cuisine.

Communication, not surprisingly, was a bit of a challenge. Beyond not being able to read food labels, we discovered that virtually nobody in Japan can speak more than a few words in English. And I understand that we are the outsiders and cannot expect to be catered to, but doesn't everyone learn English in school? I mean, we are talking about airport employees and workers at tourist sites who probably know less English than I know Japanese. Nicole and I got very good at charades. Trying to sort out the coin locker fiasco in Tokyo topped the list of communication challenges, but we figured it out.

It is a feast for the senses from the bright neon lights of Shinjuku to the odors emanating from miso soup and ramen noodle shops. While one might compare Tokyo to New York City, there are several key differences between the way cities in U.S. function versus those in Japan. For one, most American cities have a central "downtown" area that acts as a hub. Tokyo, on the other hand, has numerous "downtowns." While the Imperial Palace may be seen as the geographical center around which the city was built, there are numerous centers -- each teeming with activity. While Tokyo station in the eastern part of the city is considered the primary train station for the city, Shinjuku station on the opposite side of the city sees more than 3.5 million passengers PER DAY.

While it is hard to imagine someone in Manhattan patiently waiting in an organized line to board a subway, it is commonplace in Tokyo. Nor would they be comfortable being inches from a stranger as rail workers use white gloves to prod passengers onto already crowded subway cars. When was the last time you stood on an escalator in such an organized fashion that everyone stationary stood on one side to give the other side space to walk up. It is a society that requires all members to follow the same unspoken rules. And this behavior gave me a theory about something we observed on Japanese TV.

Whether it was the news or a game show, we noticed these little circles or squares in the corner of the TV with the silently bobbing heads of other tv hosts or personas. These "reaction shots" smiled as the main screen showed cute cats, or shook their heads in disbelief at a recent robbery, or laughed at the humorous demise of a game show contestant. At first I didn't really understand why they were covering everything, but I theorized that this was to allow the audience to know how they are supposed to be reacting. Is it ok to laugh at this? Should I feel happy that Obama is coming? It's like a cue card to a society that is afraid to offend. Of course this is just my theory. Maybe there's some other reason, but this is just something you don't see elsewhere in the world.

Of the last few places that Nicole and I have visited, the Japanese were perhaps the most friendly. Despite language issues, they tried to be helpful in all circumstances. And just like the courtesies they extended to us, we tried to adhere to these often foreign rules so as to not offend the Japanese. We certainly were able to identify some other Americans by their boisterous behavior. As if to say, "Look at me! look at me!," Americans are often visible for miles. It is our nature to want to stand out as individuals, whereas the Japanese shy away from this.

Every businessman has the same color suit, every student the same uniform. Whether these factors contribute to or are a result of the culture are not known to me. All I know is that kids choose to wear their school uniforms even on weekends. The only part that stands out a bit are their cellphones. "Oh who can forget Ayuki with the giant watermelon next to her ear!" What makes Japan so interesting is how similar, yet different it can be. It is such an advanced nation yet feels so distinct from the U.S. It is both ancient and modern. Ambitious and reserved.

Having been in Japan for only a week, we were barely able to scratch the surface of everything this land has to offer. Since my last visit in 2001, it continues to fascinate me. While I had a more open mind about the food this time around, traveling Japan is still a challenge. Much like its history before commodore Perry arrived at its shores, it still seems a bit isolated from the rest of the world. While American pop culture has found its way onto cell phones and backpack tassels, it has not penetrated the day-to-day routine of this nation that can only be described as Japanese.

Last Day in Japan

This morning we rode the Shinkansen from Kyoto to Tokyo. We caught a brief glimpse of Mt Fuji through the haze enroute. After about 2 and a half hours we arrived back in Tokyo, but had to deal with another problem . . . apparently the G7 summit is taking place in Japan starting tomorrow and as a "security precaution" all coin lockers at all train stations in Tokyo were unavailable for use. This was a huge problem primarily because we had huge bags on our backs and did not really care to carry them all day long.

It was only thanks to Nicole's keen eyes that she spotted some coin lockers that were just outside one of the train stations, which are therefore exempt from the same rules. Whatever works . . .We walked around Akihabara for a little bit, which is known as the electronics district of Tokyo. We went into Yodabashi Camera, whose Akihabara store is the largest electronics store in the world. Inspired by my recent lens purchase, Nicole browsed some of the Canon wide-angle equivalents, but the deals weren't that great, so we moved on. We walked a little bit more around Akihabara and went into the Sega building, which had six levels of games ranging from crane games to interactive games where one banged on taiko drums. Nicole had no such luck at the crane games. I went to use a restroom and unbeknownst to me was playing a video game while I used the urinal. You see there was a screen at eye level and apparently, the longer I peed, the more I progressed in the game. I didn't realize it was a game until halfway through, and I didn't really have the opportunity to play again. After Akihabara, we took the train to Ginza, a high end shopping area.

We checked out a couple department stores and went inside the Sony building where Nicole swooned over a giant 4k tv. They had a few new gadgets like a watch that had a face and band that would change patterns and colors, but it didn't shoot lasers. Nothing was super high-tech or out of the ordinary, however. We've apparently reached a point where the tech that is available in the U.S. is fairly comparable to Japan. After Sony, we walked around a bit, passing Hibiya Park. There seemed to be some oom pah music emanating from inside, and as we turned a corner we were slightly surprised to see an Oktoberfest going on . . . in May. Sometimes October just seems too far away.

After making a brief side journey to a Japanese fast-food called Mos Burger, we worked our way back on a very crowded subway to Akihabara. I snapped this picture of Yodabashi Camera on our way back from the lockers. From there we headed out to switch trains to the monorail and on to Haneda Airport. We arrived about four hours early and we had some time to kill. We did our best to unload what remained of our Yen, which included paying the very reasonable airport lounge fee of 1300 yen (about $12) for access to showers and a chance to change our clothes. We did our best to relax before the long journey back to Los Angeles. The ever popular reflections blog post will be next! Aren't you excited?

Last Day in Kyoto

Today we took the correct bus in the correct direction. About two classrooms worth of schoolchildren filled the bus to capacity. This would only be the beginning. After getting off the bus, we walked up the hill to Kiyomizu-Dera Temple. It was by far the most packed with tourists and schoolchildren of anywhere we've been the whole trip. It was so crowded, it became unpleasant. Every second, I had to duck under a selfie stick or weave my way through a group of schoolgirls. Twice Nicole and I were asked to pose with schoolchildren. Why? We have no idea. After peering from behind the crowds to take a few pics of our own, we fled the area.

We began walking to the north through the neighborhood of Gion, which is where many of the geishas (or geikos as they are known in Kyoto) are known to be seen. We stopped off at a few shops in the back alleys where Nicole made some purchases. I too made a purchase at one point, but it was ice cream and it was promptly eaten. After navigating the Kyoto subway lines back to Kyoto Station, we felt winded from the stress of the morning and went back to the hotel to regroup for a bit. For a while we debated our next move. Should we take the train to Nara? In the end, we both felt too lazy for that and instead walked back toward the train station and into a place called Yodabashi camera, a massive electronics store. It is difficult to explain just how expansive it is. Take for example an online store where you can find anything you're looking for -- then take all those items and put them on display. Lenses, camera bodies, accessories, cell phone cases and so on. If it exists, it was on display. Still getting used to my new camera, I have found that I would like my video framing to be just a bit wider in my shots from this trip and did some research.

I spoke with a sales associate in Englanese, priced a couple lenses, did the currency conversions, double checked the math, and an hour later was the proud owner of a wide-angle converter and 16mm lens kit. It was $120 cheaper than if I would have bought it online in the U.S. We spent the remainder of the afternoon and evening around the train station, which is like a city in its own right. From a garden/park area at the top, we worked our way back down the 12 different levels of the station. We ate pizza at an Italian restaurant that had a view of the Kyoto Tower and the sunset.

While it may seem silly to be eating pizza in Japan, keep in mind that we were the only non-Japanese people in the whole restaurant. Every lunch on this trip, I have eaten something Japanese and today it was another bento box. By dinner, I was fully prepared to not eat something Japanese. It was a very hearty meal. After dinner, we did some more walking around the station before finally calling it a night. "I had a very nice dinner at the train station," is not something you would hear in the U.S., but you could really eat or buy anything at the Kyoto Station. It is too massive even for my new wide-angle lens.

What? Huh? Say again! What? Whose ears are bleeding?

Just a block away from our hotel is a building with giant neon lights spelling out PACHINKO, the intriguing Japanese game that's like pinball, but with significantly less control over the outcome. Nicole and I figured we would try it out. We walked in to the most deafening noise you can imagine. If you think casinos are loud, this was 10x that. It took us a little while to figure out how to get started. We got to the part where we put money in the machine, but as all the buttons were in Japanese, we were a bit stumped after that. A businessman must have noticed our struggle and hit a button on his way by.

Dozens of tiny ball bearings came popping out. From doing a brief amount of research, I knew the object was to twist one of the knobs a certain amount to control how much the balls get launched into the machine. Beyond that, one just waits to see if the ball lands in the target area or just drops down elsewhere. And really, that's about all there is to it. At one point, the machine made more noise and some more balls came out to extend our play a little bit, but it was a fairly fruitless endeavor that didn't yield positive results. We left empty-handed without even a Hello Kitty pencil eraser. You see, you can't win money from Pachinko, just tokens to be redeemed for prizes. The video doesn't fully convey the noise, but I shall attempt anyway . . .

Turning Japanese

We embarked on quite an adventure to a couple tourist stops on the north west corner of the city. Stemming from our bus failure earlier today, I found us a route that avoided buses. However, we had to take a JR train from Kyoto station in the general direction of west, then we got off the train, walked a couple blocks to a different station and took a tram for another couple miles up north and got off when my GPS showed us within about half a mile of Ryoan-Ji Temple. I saw a pair of women wearing kimonos walking up the steps and took a quick pic before a chubby white man got in the shot.

The rock garden at Ryoan-Ji was the inspiration for my backyard Japanese garden project back in Wisconsin. Excuse the blonde hair. The early 2000s were a different time. I cannot help how trendy I was. This garden proved to be quite difficult to keep pristine. Leaves from nearby trees would land within the area and sully it up. Also raking proper circles around the rocks was no easy task either. So imagine the effort it takes to maintain something that is on a much larger scale.

People sit at Ryoan-Ji to mediate on its meaning. Personally, I just think the creator thought the spacing of the rocks looked good and called it a day. But not everyone has such firsthand experience in creating Japanese rock gardens. Look at mine, for example. Does it symbolize the battle between good and evil? Is it a map of secret Pacific islands? Or perhaps it is a reenactment of the naval formations at the Battle of Midway. After our visit to Ryoan-Ji, we took a taxi to Kinkaku-Ji, which is better known for its "Golden Pavilion."

Also heavy with tourists, we dodged selfie sticks and cell phones to get a clear shot of the pavilion. After getting our pictures, we continued to walk around the grounds where we saw a small waterfall and more selfie sticks. We left just as the grounds were about to close. We took another taxi to a different train station, where we took the JR line back to Kyoto. I am shocked that all of these connections actually worked. I deserve a pat on the back, or a cold Japanese beer. And on that note . . . I'm off.

Buses to Trains

As you recall, we planned to see some shrines today, but sometimes fate intervenes. We knew we had to take a bus to get there, so we went to the bus station and boarded the correct bus . . . going the wrong way. We elected to stay on it for a couple stops to see if it helped us go anywhere else. We saw it stopped at the Kyoto aquarium which incidentally is right next door to the newly opened Kyoto Railway Museum. Clearly this was a sign. We exited and got in a long line for tickets. It was a very massive space with trains from all eras on display.

They had steam locomotives and the latest Nozomi shinkansen trains. There were other exhibits about the different interiors of the cars, model trains, and some cafes built inside old rail cars where people could order bento boxes. As much as I use Tripadvisor, the museum is too new to even show up on the website, and as a result, Nicole and I were the only non-Japanese people in the entire museum. It appears that there isn't much marketing toward english speakers anyway. All the explanations and captions were entirely in Japanese.

My favorite part of the whole place was an outdoor upper level observation deck. It overlooked the tracks. From there one could watch trains arrive and depart from nearby Kyoto station with To-ji temple's pagoda in the background. I stood out there for a while watching the Shinkansens zoom by it hoping for a decent picture, but I think Nicole was ready to go -- probably convinced that I intentionally put us on the "wrong" bus this morning. I find trains interesting, but some people are obsessed. Please refer to video below . . .

Trains to Kyoto

After working our way back to the train station, we took the 1.5 hour trek to Osaka. Nicole claimed she was wide awake, but this picture indicates otherwise. In Osaka station, we barely caught our next train to Kyoto because there was a change in platform. One cannot be one minute late for a Japanese train or they will miss it. After getting to Kyoto, we struggled to find the correct exit that was closest to our hotel. There's never a sign for "North exit" or anything like that, it's always an exit named after someone which means absolutely nothing to us. We ended up walking all the way around the station to get to our hotel.

 After getting settled, we went to Fushimi Inari Taisha, which is known for its paths covered in orange torii gates. When we first arrived, we found it inundated with tourists, so the pictures one sees in magazines or guidebooks seemed impossible.


Fortunately as we walked higher up the mountain, the crowds thinned a bit and if we were patient, we could snap a couple shots without a French couple posing in front of our picture. As the sun began to set, the mosquitoes began to attack. Now we had to battle tourists and mosquitoes. It was a war being waged on two fronts that made our photography tasks difficult. The lower torii gates had hanging lanterns that illuminated them partially at night, so we started making our way back down to capture them in the new lighting.

I was happy with the photos I got. It's as if, at everyone just scattered at 7pm. Perhaps they were running from the mosquitoes. For dinner, we took another train north to some small streets and alleys with some shops and restaurants. We had picked the #8 restaurant on Tripadvisor called Beer Komachi. We figured it had an acceptable blend of Japanese food with familiar items. Nicole had sausages and rice balls. I ordered fish tempura with potatoes. I hadn't realized that this was actually just fish and chips by another name, but it was good nonetheless.

One hasn't truly had fish and chips (or should I say fish tempura with potatoes) until they have dunked their fries using chopsticks. It was a unique experience to say the least. #8 restaurant in Kyoto? I don't think so, but we finished off our meals in their entirety, which could not be said for last night's meal at the ryokan. You can only do so many fishy tasting items before it gets a bit overpowering. We washed our meals down with some local Kyoto beers. I tried a wheat beer and a stout. Both were pretty good, but I haven't seen these beers anywhere else in Japan. When we got back to our hotel, I was so tired I couldn't keep my eyes open while trying to blog, so there was a bit of a delay in the last two posts. Tomorrow we will probably do some shrine and temple hopping as it was what Kyoto is primarily known for. We also noticed that a train museum opened up last month. Like a little boy, I asked Nicole if I could go. She says it's ok if I'm good.