Welcome to the Japan blog archive, containing all of my recent blogs about this subject.
Having just returned from Japan, I can appreciate how well the Japanese use their creativity in inventing ways of maximising the small amounts of space that they have. You may remember that I blogged about the vertical car parks, where people park their car inside a lift and the mechanism takes it upwards and stores it in a tower (it also turns the car around for you when it brings it back down). Well, they have invented a similar system for the storage of bikes, which was previously a big problem in urban areas. So, I give you, the Tokyo Bike Tree...
(The full blog article about it is available on the Guardian website.)Comments [0]
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After beginning the day trying out the massage chair in the hotel (photograph 1), which managed to pummel my back into seventeen pieces and squeeze my feet so hard that the toes almost merged together (hey, cool - webbed feet), we left Kotohira to travel to Kobe; the fifth largest city in Japan.
This blog post is going to be short and sweet and is all about… Donkey Hote - a Japanese store, with five floors, that sells just about anything you could desire, from thongs to bicycles and everything in between. No, I don't just mean tracksuit bottoms, I wasn't talking literally. Besides, who wears a thong when riding a bike… What's that? You do?!? Photograph 2 shows a snap that I took in the store and the other photographs show some of the bizarre things within the store. Photograph 3, for example, is of a bum (and thong) pillow… before you ask, the bicycles were on the next floor up! Photograph 5 is of a golf club umbrella (genius!). Now, there are two ways of looking at this. You could be out on the golf course playing golf, on the fourth hole, with your plastic club (you'll probably be there for some time, looking at the quality of it) and you find it suddenly starts to rain (not too hard, obviously: it wouldn't help you much in a monsoon). "Ha", you shout to your opponents (loudly, as they are already in the club house, getting drunk) "I've got an umbrella… I won't be getting wet!" Alternatively, you may go out in a rain shower one day and find the sudden need to chip a ball-shaped-object out of a patch of rough... In the spirit of Christmas (hmmm), my final photograph for today (photograph 5) is of a pink Christmas tree. Who could resist? Ok… you can all put your hands down now. It was a rhetorical question! Tomorrow I leave on the first part of my journey home. I still have much to reflect and report on. Sayonara for now though.Comments [2]
I took some photographs of the second Japanese Onsen that we visited during my time in Japan, so that you can get an idea of what they look like and how they are set up. Don't worry, there are no naked bodies in the photographs anywhere.
If you remember from my previous blog post, Onsens are hot springs and are the old, traditional method that Japanese people used for bathing. However, the ones that we visited during my trip were more set up for attracting tourism. When I entered this particular Japanese Onsen hotel, I dispensed with my shoes and Superman socks and plunged my feet into a pair of undersized, feminine looking slippers. It got me wondering: do all Japanese people have small feet? I found myself strutting around the place like a drunk transvestite. Thankfully, we left our slippers outside before we entered the spa bath area, so no danger of stumbling into a naked Japanese man. Once inside, we removed all clothing, grabbed a towel and flannel (and camera) and entered the spa bath area to quickly shower before jumping into the baths. As I mentioned previously, men go into different spa baths than women. Damn them for spoiling the fun! We had an indoor (photo 1) and an outdoor (photo 2) spa bath. Notice, in photograph 3, how they even cater for kids by providing smaller stools.Comments [0]
Today's journey took us to the little town of Kotohira. Tonight, we are yet again staying in a Japanese Onsen Hotel. However, this one is considerably more up-market than last night's one. Here I am, for example, sitting in the lounge, listening to jazz and drinking beer by the fire, whilst I write this blog.
Tonight's blog post is about the sashami and udon that we consumed this evening. Our hotel booking included a "small dinner", so we all went out to have udon beforehand. Udon is a type of thick wheat-flour noodle - thicker and chewier than normal noodles. Although it took a bit more effort to munch my way through, I actually found I preferred it to normal noodles. Just as Nagano is said to be the Soba capital of Japan, so Kotohira is the udon capital of Japan. Photograph 1 shows this evening's udon dish - noodles with meat. It was only after I had eaten my bowl of noodles, and began feeling quite full, that Mark announced that we had to get back to the hotel quickly to "be ready for dinner." Dinner? What dinner? He explained about how we had a small dinner to eat, not the full dinner but a "half-version." After arriving back, we went straight into the dining room. Course after course came and went from the table - 5 courses in total in an hour and a half. By the end of it, I needed a wheelbarrow to carry me out. Courses included sashami dishes such as jellyfish, sea urchin (photo 7), 'tiny fish with bloody big eye' (I named that one myself) and turban shell (photo 5), which I likened to chewing on my own index finger. Photographs 2 to 7 are of the sashami courses. There was one moment during dinner where I almost choked on my halibut - Sayaka was talking about one of the fishes on the plate and suddenly blurted out "bastard founder" whilst the waiter was standing there serving us drink. Goodness only knows what he thought of that (the fish is called 'bastard flounder', by the way). I'm told, by the way, that the difference between sashami and sushi is that sashami is raw fish by itself (i.e. no rice). Straight after the sashami, came the meat course (photograph 8). By now I was feeling as full as an alcoholic's fridge. The beef was sliced and we had a little cooker, with a candle underneath, on which to cook the beef. I have to say that it was the best beef I've ever eaten. Absolutely delicious and flavoursome. To wash it down: plum sake - amazing flavour. There was one more course before dessert - a soup dish (photograph 9), which I decided not to have as I was ready to explode. Then came the dessert (photograph 10) - a sweet cream cheese roll (a bit like swiss roll) with some kiwi on the top. A delicious end to the meal.Comments [0]
After leaving Osaka, we travelled through Himeji to an Onsen Hotel in Akaho. This was the first Onsen Hotel of two that we are staying at.
We had planned to go to the famous Himeji Castle during the day, yesterday, on our way to Akaho. But it was raining Japanese cats and dogs, so it wasn't really a viable option. However, the weather cleared up later on to give a lovely sunset on the final part of our drive to the hotel.
The Onsen Hotels really take you away from all of the stresses of life. When you arrive, you immediately give them your shoes and change clothes into a Yukata (it reminded me a lot of my old karate suit, but in a nicer colour). With the sun setting, we hot footed it into the Onsen spa bath. At first, for someone so used to the Western way of doing things, it was quite daunting taking off all of my clothes and revealing all my 'little foibles' (I'll let you make your own funny joke out of that one) to other men. Having said that, the nighttime spa bath was empty. Oh, I should explain something: there are two different spa areas, one for men and one for women and they swap them over during the day, so that people can enjoy both. The night one was a nice, warm temperature. A little bit about the tradition of the Onsen now: It is the old, traditional method that Japanese people once used for bathing. Due to the fact that Japan is a volcanically active country, Japanese people harnessed the heat in the ground to warm the water for their baths, bathing together in one area. These days, they are more of a tourist attraction. According to Wikipedia, "Japanese often talk of the virtues of 'naked communion' for breaking down barriers and getting to know people in the relaxed homey atmosphere." So, there you go, if you want to break down barriers with someone, go for some naked communion (just try not to stare at their little foibles!). After our night time dip in the Onsen, we went for dinner and were presented with an amazing looking feast. We ate many courses from crab to salmon, fish eggs, rice, noodles and more. I've never eaten crab brain before. Now, I have. Apparently it helps improve intelligence (there seems to be a bit of a theme going that doing something weird helps your intelligence. I'm wondering whether it just emphasises your gullibility instead!) Photographs 5 and 6 are of us and our food. After spending the night sleeping on our futons on the floor, we awoke and headed down for breakfast (photograph 7). It was a traditional Japanese breakfast containing fish, soup, rice and vegetables (no crab brain this time). After breakfast, it was back to the spa baths. The second one was a LOT hotter than the first - I felt a bit like I was sitting in the soup that I had been drinking for breakfast. Overall, it's taken me a little bit out of my comfort zone. But, I've really enjoyed it. On to the next...Comments [0]
I'm just posting some of the night photographs that I took of Kyoto Station, and surrounding area, during our visit there a few days ago. The station itself was impressive on its own. But, it was surrounded by other fantastic pieces of architecture, such as the Kyoto Tower. Inside the station, the Christmas tree was especially magical - with Christmas music timed together with the lights on the tree. Crowds gathered on the steps, opposite the tree, to watch it.
Enjoy the photographs… (the first one is a typical 'Ally' night shot)Comments [2]
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