From east to west.

There was actually a final little leg in my tour around Japan during the week of holidays I took before coming home. I had a lovely bike ride around a very cool temple town called Kamakura, and saw the final of the three great sitting Buddha statues (大仏). I'll put up some nice pictures in this post so you can have a look. It was a great end to the trip, I saw some sights in Kamakura that I'd been meaning to see for a while and also hooked up with some other old friends who'd moved out to Kanto, I was so grateful to see them one last time.

What I really want to write here is that, well I'm home. I got back about two months ago and well, yeah that is about it. Nothing really earth shattering has happened and all the stuff people told me about coming back has pretty much turned out to be true.

It's been good to meet up with my old mates of course, but I really am missing all the good friends I made back in Japan. I think I left the country in part to get away from the Identity that I had built up around me in the UK. This is going to sound weird, but I didn't feel like me for about 1 or 2 years before leaving. Well I think I found myself, or someone, and I definitely feel richer for it.

Being in Japan taught me a lot of things I didn't know about myself, science, and the world in general. So if you don't mind I'll indulge myself and list them:

1. I love being around people but my god it drains me. I think I've always been more introverted than I let on. My close friends in the UK are quite intense and present, and I love them for it. Sadly thought sometimes in social situations I had just had to shout louder or not be heard. Being stuck up a mountain gave me a lot of time to chill by myself and I found in doing that I could enjoy my time with people even more.

2. I really can achieve stuff if i dedicate myself to it. During my time I picked up, amongst other things: another language, programming, accelerator physics and basic optics, SAXS, snowboarding, some electronics, basic graphic design. My skill sets have increased quite a bit and I'm infinitely grateful for it. I do need to apply myself more still, but I have more confident that I can achieve.

3. Hard work does pay off, even if it really takes a lot of time. Something I learnt from my boss "If you want something hard enough you can make it happen, but it will take a lot of effort".

4. I'm a lot smarter than I think, but not smart enough, but noone really is so it's best to keep learning.

5. Knowing when to take a step back. I have a tendency to do too much, I really do enjoy being active. Sadly my body doesn't always agree but I'm coming to terms with it and just making the time to chill.

6. Food just isn't that scary. Allergies make food pesky, but I make it an issue, sometimes I just need to consider other people and let things go.

7. I really hate disappointing people, it is my biggest fear. I think I run away from a lot of social situations and responsibility because of it. I'm 25 now, I think I'm old enough to get over myself and just accept that sometimes people get hurt or put out because of my actions, regardless of intention. So long as I'm sincerely sorry for that it should be fine, and if not they probably aren't the kind of person worth worrying about.

I could go on I'm sure, but I won't. I've been asked a lot if I miss it out there. I could easily answer yes, though honestly I miss the people more than the country. There is a lot right about Japan but there is also a lot wrong too. I think I got sucked a bit too into the negative and I should try and be more positive when people ask about it. I didn't have the best experience, I wasn't in a sugar coated bubble, but I think it was fuller for that reason. I'm happy I left when I did as some things were starting to make me bitter, something I would have hated to become.

Ultimately I was out there to study. I'd like to think that I did enough work to get my PhD and I should really start writing up soon. I'm still throwing myself at work though and trying to squeeze out some more results. I guess you can take the the man out of Japan but not the Japan out of the man. That or I'm just trying to escape the feelings of loss and reverse culture shock, probably the latter. Either way the whole experience did disillusion me with the scientific process. I'm going to need think long and hard about my next move.

I guess this was a long winded way to say that I am going to retire from this blog. It has served its purpose, fulfilled its mission statement if you will. I've enjoyed writing and growing and I'm glad some of you came along for the ride. I'm going to keep it back just so I can look back on the memories and the great times I had.

This is of course not the end though. I'm sure I'll be writing something again soon, I need an outlet for my musings. However, for the time being the monkey is hanging up his travelling cloak and putting his walking staff to one side. It was a phenomenal 2 and a half years. Truly life changing. I'm grateful for the places I've been, the things I've done, the sounds I've heard, but most importantly the people I met. You are now a little part of me, maybe more than a little actually, so don't forget about me ね。

Well I guess this is it, Sayonara Japan, I'm sure we'll see each other again.

Sayonara Sojourns Pt. 3 Seeing Sendai

So after a rather epic 7 hours of trains, chatting with old geezers, helping a young lady break open a hard boiled egg to discover she spoke almost perfect english, and generally just lolling my way up the country, I finally arrived in Sendai. My initial impression? I was really taken aback by just how lively the place is. I guess it had been over two years since the earthquake and tsunami at that point, and the city is a good distance from the coast, so maybe I should have been less surprised.

The liveliness of course totally worked against my favour this time. I, fool that I am, had completely forgotten to book somewhere to stay for this leg of the journey and so laden with baggage I began a frantic search for somewhere to rest my head. Alas nearly every place I tried turned me away and at one point I thought I may have to rough it in a love hotel. 

These places, funnily enough originally established in Osaka in the 1960's, are pretty damn seedy. They were originally built to allow couples, young and old, a place of privacy away from the cramped confines of modern Japanese living. These days however, they are more likely to be patronised by Japanese Salarymen trying to escaped the cramped confines of married life. Oh and prostitutes, definitely can't forget the prostitutes.

Suffice to say I just couldn't bring myself to stay at one of these places, I'm sure they are physically very clean but I can't quite say the same for the atmosphere inside. Instead I opted for somewhere that was a little bit outside of my usual price range. I figured what the hell, the likelihood of me travelling around Japan by myself is slim for a while and also after all the money I saved with my crazy travelling I could treat myself a bit. My friend was sadly busy that evening so I just settled into my room, watched a bit of walking dead and chomped on some zunda dango. Zunda is a kind of sweet paste made from edamame that is a local speciality and is absolutely delicious. Kind of like sweet mushy peas but way tastier than that sounds.

After a well deserved nights sleep it was off to see what sights Sendai had to offer. My friend had not been in town long and was also eager to have a look about. This friend is that same one I met out in Yokohama who works in the circus. As such she is always moving about the country and, as well as just being generally great company, has lots of great stories of her travels and life in the circus.

With not much lay of the land we copped out and jumped on board Sendai's local tourism bus, the loople. It was pretty cheap for the day pass and since it stops at all of the major sights it seemed like the logical way to go. It also meant we could spend less time thinking about where and how to go to places and more time just idly chatting, which was fine by me as the main reason I'd come out this far was to make the most of the little time I had left to just hang out.

Our first touristy spot was the Zuihoden Mausoleum, the tomb of Date Masamune who was one of the most powerful feudal lords of the Edo period,so powerful in fact he earned the nickname of "The one eyed dragon (独眼竜)", pretty nails right. The most striking thing about the Mauseleum itself is the colour palette. Many vibrant reds, greens, blues and yellows adorn the intricate and it looks as though it would be more at home in a modern chinatown than an ancient Japanese tomb. The surrounding area is also very beautiful with many massive cedar trees, symbolic apparently of the Date clan's long history. Besides the tomb is a nice little museum with exhibits regarding the excavation of the site. My friend was very taken with some of the patterned ornaments and sculptures. I myself was more fascinated with some of the ancient tools, it always amazes me how little things like glasses and scissors have changed over the years.

Next we moved on to Sendai castle, or rather what was left of Sendai castle. Sadly much of it was destroyed by the Meji restoration, a large fire in the late 1800s and bombings during world war II respectively. Whilst there is not much castle action the grounds themselves are pretty impressive. Sendai castle was a Yamajiro (山城) or mountaintop castle, one of the original styles of Japanese castle. As you can imagine from the name it is built on top of a mountain, Mt. Aoba to be precise, and with that comes fantastic sweeping views over the city below. I was happy to trade a view of an ancient Japanese castle for the great views out into Sendai.

With the weather cooling down a bit, it is much milder oop north, we opted out of a bus ride back into town and instead wandered back into town in search of adventure (read lunch). I think it was in the main shopping street that I really started to see the impact of 2011. We managed to find ourself a trendy little cafe with seats next to huge windows that overlook the high street. People watching is a mutual hobby of ours and you would think that the city centre would be ideal, but the streets were barren. 

Around 16,000 people lost there lives in March 2011 and several thousand are still missing. Add to that the numbers who are missing or have been evacuated and you can see it has put a real dent into the local population. The gravitas of the situation didn't really hit me however until I saw it first hand in those empty streets however. My friend showed me some pictures taken from the town nearby where she is staying that is quite literally not there anymore. The pictures were, well I'll let you imagine their emotional impact on me. I really wish I'd got my act together and done some volunteering out there.

Ok onto happier things now. After finishing lunch and ogling a shrine that appeared as though it had had the shopping arcade built around it, we went…fabric shopping! I know nice and exciting right? Well actually I enjoyed it a whole lot more than I was expecting. My friend is very into fabric, textiles and craft working and when you are around someone that enthusiastic it is impossible to not be drawn in yourself.

Sadly following this we had to part ways as my friend was a little knackered due to her intense work schedule. It's tough being a clown. I didn't mind too much, it would of been nice to spend a bit more time together but I can totally understand just wanting time for yourself so you can just relax. I figured I could use my remaining time to head out and see the new Gibli film I'd wanted to catch before I left Japan. Sadly the nearby cinema was only showing Hollywood fare and the other cinema was too far out of town. Instead I spent the final few hours in a Starbucks catching up on emails and chatting on Facebook, almost as good right? Right?

Well that ends my Tohoku travels. I took a night bus out at around midnight. It wasn't as hellish as the usual journeys but sadly all the seats were furbished with a built in sega mega drive simulator. I quickly located Sonic and Knuckles and, as I'm sure you could guess, didn't sleep very much that night either.

Ja mata neee.

Sayonara sojourns Pt 2. Takarazuka, Trains and transits

Well part two is now upon us. After Ikumi and my hospital appointment I set out on what would be my last major adventure around Japan, as such I wished to make it a biggie. In fact my idea was to go and see all my friends who were further afield so that I could say goodbye. That decision marked the start of a large amount of travelling.

First on my list however was a trip to Takarazuka (宝塚). I'm not entirely sure of the reason but I have totally fallen in love with this area and I just knew I'd regret it if I didn't manage to visit one more time. Now whilst it is a very fancy area, home to the famous Takarazuka revue, an all female theatre troupe, and many fancy buildings and restaurants, my main goal was to go back and visit Osamu Tezuka's museum.

My previous visit had been around two years earlier and I was quite taken by it then, regardless of how little I understood of the displays. I grew up watching a lot of his anime and to be honest he is not called the "Godfather of Manga" for any trivial reasons, his stuff is highly excellent. This time, armed with a much better ability to read and comprehend the Japanese language I was even more impressed with what I saw. Judging by the displays of his primary school work the man was a genius from the very beginning. 

In addition to being able to read more there were also a few extra films on in the small theatre including a very touching piece about a very friendly Ame-furi-kozou (a kind of rain demon that wears an umbrella and looks like a small child) who just wanted some rain boots. He befriends a local boy and helps him out with three requests in exchange for his rain boots. Sadly at the last minute the boy moves away and never returns the Ame-furi-kozou's help. Once he is a fully grown man (now a granddad in fact) he suddenly remembers his promise and goes through hell and high water to get back to his countryside home and present the demon with the rain boots. It had a nice simple line style and the Japanese wasn't too difficult which was great for me.

Afterwards I moved on to Osaka to get on board a night bus bound for Tokyo. I've lost count of how many times I've used that service now, though I am now a gold member so it must have been a lot. It's uncomfortable, it's tiring, but it's just so damned cheap that I can't help myself, I am my Nan's grandson it would seem.

This time, whilst my main purpose was to visit a friend, I was also very excited to be  heading into Tohoku, the northern region of Honshu, for the first time. Since I never like to do things the easiest way I got it into my head that it would be a fantastic idea to go by local train, a journey of a whopping 7 hours. Why would I do something so crazy you ask? Same reason I do everything the way I do. It was cheap. Also I thought the scenery might be nice.

The initial departure from Shinjuku went fine, if a little bleary eyed, and I arrived in Shinigawa in good time, enough time intact to actually buy breakfast. I boarded the first local train, bound for I-can't-remember-where, to begin about two hours of sitting still. I was hoping to read a bit and just spas out from tiredness but alas no such luck. A pair of Ojisans (old japanese men) sat next to me and started nattering away, so much for peace and quiet. It wasn't till I couldn't help but laugh at one of their jokes that they clicked that I understood Japanese. After a bit of a chat we realised we were off to the same place. Well that was that, I was stuck with them for the next four hours.

For the most part they were pretty interesting but once the Sake started flowing I knew I was in trouble as the conversation began to get steadily more and more unintelligible. I'd love to say that I did the right think and stuck it out but alas I am a bad man and ditched them on the third train transfer. I was tired, hungry and in no mood to try and decipher their slurs. I stepped out a little bit before Fukushima, grabbed a bento, played a bit of UFO catcher and just generally chilled for an hour or so before getting back on board for Sendai.

I think even if you know very little about Japan you have at least heard the name Sendai before as it is the capital of Miyagi prefecture, the area that was worst effected by the great Tohoku earthquake of 2011. I have to say I knew pretty soon when I had crossed the border into Tohoku as I was suddenly surrounded by vast seas of green, boundless nature. It is such a contrast to the urban sprawl that dominates central Honshu and I think had it not of been for a combination of the quake and a busy work schedule I think I would have made the journey sooner and more frequently. 

Right that is your lot for today. Next time I'll talk about what I actually got upto in Sendai.

Mata neee

Sayonara sojourns pt 1. On board for boarding to alleviate boredom

So it has finally happened. I have made the epic several thousand mile journey all the way back home. I don't quite know how I feel about it, and I'm getting a bit fed up of being asked if I'm honest but i'll have to bear with it for a month, but for the time being I'm just a bit spaced. I'm not sure what will happen to this blog but I do know that I still have a few stories left to tell from my time in Japan so I will at least be posting those. I'm going to start off with talking about the epic journey I went on in my last few weeks.

Before that though a little bit of boasting. I am know the proud owner of a level 3 qualification in Japanese language proficiency. I'm still not sure exactly how I passed, with full marks on one of the sections. I guess as usual luck was on my side ey.

Anyway boasting aside time to tell you a bit more about my travelling. My first stop was back off to Shikoku, specifically Ikumi beach for another surf trip. I've been there a few times and I've written about it before but it is a wicked place and the people are so damn cool. In fact this time around it was even better because now I could understand and talk to everyone.

It was not the most relaxing of holidays, not that I truly expected it to be. Between the 5am starts and the 12pm finishes I came out of it exhausted. That being said it was an amazing rest for the soul. There is something very therapeutic about just sitting about waiting for a wave to come, it gave me some much needed clear thinking time so that as well as being able to have a great time with friends I was also able to think through some problems I'd been having at work.

So have I gotten any better? Well not so much though I did manage to get standing a few times, I think all of that snowboarding and skating over winter and spring paid off a little bit haha. What was heartwarming though was finally being able to talk to our hosts, good friends of my girlfriends, who run a rental shop down there, Lani house for the record if you ever need to rent gear or find out the craic whilst in Ikumi.

It had been almost two years since I'd met them. Even back then I could feel a vibe that these guys were truly excellent people and know I could one hundred percent confirm it. One comment I seem to get all the time is, "Wow your Japanese has gotten really great so fast." I haven't noticed it and I think I've still got a long way to go, but for these people I guess I have gone from not speaking a word to having ill blown conversations in the time we hadn't seen each other so I'll let them off. For me I think I was inevitably going to learn the language. I just like talking too god damn much.

Another thing this trip reminded me of, I am most definitely a sea person. Growing up so close to it and with my dad having been a lighthouse keeper in his youth I think it was inevitable. 5am may have been early but the waves were perfect and the temperature just right. It was quite nice not to have to wear wet suits and just dive right in. The sea around Ikumi, coming up from the south Pacific, is also gorgeous, albeit with a few jellyfish floating about waiting to sting the unwary. I can't think of a much better way to spend free time than lolling about on the beach with some friends, it is something I've missed being way up on the mountains.

I would have loved to stick around a bit longer, especially as there was a nationwide surf tournament about to start, but alas I had a hospital appointment to get to, as well as other people dotted around the country I needed to see. I'm going to miss all the people at Ikumi, and I do promise to get back there, or Osaka, or meet everyone somewhere else in the world (Bali? Hawaii?) to say hey once more. Well I guess that is true for everywhere I went in my last few weeks. This was definitely the start of a long period of goodbyes.

Ja mata née

Tokyo Day 4 – Yohohokohama

Ok I know I know, I promised clowns in the previous post but the writing got away from me so I’ve had to make it a separate post. So what’s all this about clowns then? Well being outside of your own country throws you into the paths of people you’d likely not encounter otherwise I feel, you are limited in some ways by the people who you are able to easily associate with and in some ways that broadens the scope of possible acquaintances. What I mean is back home you associate with who you know. Once outside your preconceptions of people are necessitated to expand, kind of like the first month or two of University really.

Anyway my friend a clown at the Kinoshita circus and we met whilst they were on tour down Himeji way. We only actually met face to face once and yet through the power of the Internet, various conversations through the medium of facebook, we realised we had a fair amount in common, a creative streak and a love of all things geekery and a friendship was born. So when I mentioned I would be nearby, the circus was in Yokohama at the time, she asked if I felt like coming over. Why the hell not ey.

Yokohama is the capital of Kanagawa prefecture and lies just south of Tokyo. It is one of the largest suburbs in the world and is particularly historically famous as being the site of the first American fleet landing in Japan, the beginning of Japan’s opening up to the world from centuries of isolation.

 

As such there are two things that I found really stood out about the city. Firstly there is quite a thing made of Yokohama’s port roots with many maritime museums and a striking influence on its architecture. The other is an invasion of quite frankly European sensibility in some of the buildings. Looking at some of the old stone buildings I could have almost been back in the UK, I’d guess most of them sprung up around the Meji era when the emperor had a bit of a thing going for Europe.

Anyway enough about that, onto the circus. The big top was mercifully very easy to find, you’d think it would be but then remember the scale of everything in Japanese cities. It seemed like the show would be pretty packed, odd since it was a Thursday afternoon in a working week during term time, but well everyone needs downtime I guess. When we came to pick up the tickets I was pleasantly surprised to find they were free of charge, always good to know someone on the inside, and we merely had to pay for our seat upgrades.

So all sorted out we had a few hours to kill and decided to go for a stroll. The circus was located in Naka-ku of Yokohama, only 5 minutes from the main station. It was a really chill place and, after the hustle and bustle of central Tokyo, it was nice to step the busy down a notch. If we didn’t have our day planned out already it would have been nice to spend a bit more time wandering. It is the former central business district something that was evident by the large administrative buildings everywhere, though now it is more well known for its huge Chinatown and annual Jazz festival.

After a hunt for a post office and international ATMs we wandered out towards the prom, you know seaside town roots we just can’t help it, and then into a rather fancy looking central mall to stop for a much needed coffee. In fact we ended up in something called a “Dog Cafe”. At first I thought this was like a joint café and dog fashion shop but it is in fact a place where you can share a cuppa and a treat with your beloved 4-legged friend. Some people even came in with dogs in prams, mental.

Revitalised at last it was time for the show. Now the circus was, well a circus. I’ll admit I’d not been to once since I was maybe 8 years old and would have had no inclination to had it not been for my friend. Still it was a good giggle and our seats were awesome. My friend and her partner were sadly just filler between the ‘main’ acts but to be frank (she’ll hate me for saying this) they were the best part. As I mentioned our seats were awesome, in fact a little too awesome as I was dragged out for some audience participation, I should have expected as much.

It was fun but my only gripe was the animals. I was a little surprised, as been expecting them to be such a main focal point. I guess when you think of the circus classically you think of lion tamers and stuff but, well I’ve only been like once before and I think big animals are banned in the UK. Still Japanese people have totally different perceptions when it comes to animal rights, I’ve seen it on many occasion and since for many people here there is very little opportunity to travel this may be their only encounter with such animals. Doesn't mean I’m happy about it though.

Anyway moaning aside it was a nice reunion and after quick costume change we met up again by the river side. Whilst waiting for my friend to get into her civvies we bumped into the lion tamer and his son. From appearance during the show we thought he was central European or something but much to our surprise and amusement he was a real Geezer from Oxfordshire.  After about ten minutes of listening to him bemoaning the cost of “Faackin’ PJ tips” we were off to do what you do in any major Japanese city. Climb the tallest building and see everything from above. In Yokohoma this would be the very stunning and aptly named Landmark tower. I don’t know what it was about the building I liked in particular; maybe it just had nice angles.

A quick ride up to the observation deck and you are treated to some spectacular views across the bay and into Yokohama. The city is really quite a sight, metropolitan zone after metropolitan zone as far as the eye can see, can you tell I’m still not used to this big city stuff? One funny observation was the sheer number of helipads on most of the skyscrapers. We speculated that they were either for emergency earthquake evacuation or relics of the 80’s bubble economy and the extravagant spending of top Japanese execs, awesome either way. The trip was capped off nicely by a lovely sunset and also a bit of eavesdropping on a local baseball game through one of the pay binoculars, we could see the pitchers throwing from the mound up close which was quite cool.

After some deliberation, not much really, we settled on a Hawaiian restaurant for dinner, marking yet another day of avoiding Japanese food as my dad was quick to point out. I can’t remember what I ate but I do remember it being some tasty white fish. By the end of the meal my folks were pretty exhausted so they headed back the hotel giving me a bit of time to catch up with my mate.

We spent the night doing what I do best wandering, aimlessly. Fortunately her sense of direction is waaayy better than mine so we didn’t end up aimlessly lost. There isn’t much to Naka-ku once the lights go down so we headed back towards central Yokohama and where greeted once more to hordes of Japanese men in business suits.

I managed to drag her along to a game centre. I love these places and the collisions of social backgrounds that occur there in. We couldn’t help but gawp at the businessmen, suited and booted, shaking their things on dance dance revolution machines, or the chain smoking forty year olds battling it out on beat-em ups against teenagers. I was feeling a bit rhythmic so we had a go on a Taiko drumming game. The idea is to pound along to the rhythm of various popular J-pop sings on giant fake taiko drums. I lost badly; my former African drum teacher would be ashamed.

A common feature of Japanese game centres is Crane games, or UFO catchers whatever you want to call them. These are several times more awesome in Japan because the prizes are actually good and also obtainable. I mentioned there was a trick to them and since I was met with disbelief put my money were my mouth is. I became the proud owner of an oversized mushroom called nameko.

We ended the night at Yokohama station with coffee, a good chin-wag and a lot of people watching. It amazes me how similar our experiences of life in Japan have been, considering how different our working backgrounds are. It seems that there are just so many rules and conventions deeply entrenched in the Japanese mindset that it bleeds over into everything. I was particularly saddened to hear about what a rough deal the Japanese circus workers had when compared to the performers from outside the country. They literally do everything, from tent pitching and cleaning, taking tickets and performing. I’m amazed they don't collapse mid show. Anyway now is not the time to vent so I’ll leave it at that. Yokohama was cool and I most definitely plan on going back.

Ja mata ne

Tokyo Day 3 - to the future

 

Another post and another little insight into my five day sojourn to the capital with the parents. Oh how I do love to travel. I’ve been amazingly lucky the past couple of months that work has slowed down a little, giving me more time to stretch the old adventurous legs. Though what the next couple of days reminded me is just how much I also love meeting up again with old friends.

I’ve met some wicked people in my time here and I’m amazed at how fast some of my friendships have formed. Non-Asian ex-patriots in Japan constitute less than 1% of the total population so I think it’s easy to see why ex-pat communities form so quickly. Also generally you find that such people have a lot in common, at the end of the day choosing to spend a chunk of your life in another country, especially one so different from the west as Japan, is a huge decision and those who undertake it likely have some underlying character traits.

 

With that being said the person I met up first is in fact an old Japanese friend from Osaka. She helped me out a huge amount when I first moved here and had recently moved out to Tokyo for work. Crazy though her schedule is she had a bit of time off so asked to Join me and my parents in some sightseeing.

We started out in Shimbashi heading towards Hamarikyu gardens (浜離宮恩賜庭園

) an impressively large Japanese style garden right in the middle of a bustling business district. On the walk over we came across a rather elaborate clock tower, more than slightly reminiscent of structures from Howl’s moving castle and the like. As luck would have it we passed by just as it was begging to chime the hour, something that only happens a few times a day. As it started up I could understand why. Wonderful though its whirring, clicking and clanging was I could see it being quite a nuisance to those trying to work in the high-rise offices nearby. Still it is a wonderfully quirky addition to the somewhat stiff and business like atmosphere of the area.

The park was also another stark contrast. For a start when so many giant buildings surround you it’s easy to lose track of what is going on in ground level. The park is like an island of flatness in the gargantuan landscape, with nothing inside taller than the trees. There were quite a few people about taking respite from the hustle of the big city within its calm environs, engaging in all kinds of activities, from taking their dogs for a stroll, photography, simply chatting and in the case of a pair of old dears we came across, painting watercolours.

I’d say the central feature of the park, though as it’s designed with a careful balance like so many things in Japan it’s hard to assign a centrality to it,  is the medium sized teahouse plonked right in the middle of a pond. This was in fact the whole reason we’d come here as my mum really wanted to sit down to some traditional match at some point. Well sit and drink we did. It was surprisingly nice actually, much less bitter than my previous experiences.

 

The park faces out onto Tokyo bay and is one of several stops for the various transit ferries carrying people around the area. Our next goal was Odaiba (お台場) a large artificial Island just a little way into Tokyo bay so setting out from the garden was the easiest way to go. Maybe it’s just years of ferry trips across the Mersey when I was little but I do love them, so many pleasant memories.  The ferry we took was pretty cool and futuristic looking, the seating area set very wide and low so as to minimise pitching. In fact I’ve recently found out that the designer of these ferries is the man behind none other than the epic anime space opera “Space Battleship Yamato” so I guess I shouldn't be too shocked by their design.

So what is Odaiba? As I mentioned it’s a giant artificial Island situated in waterfront of Tokyo Bay. Originally developed as the a military strong hold in the Meji period  to defend against potential attacks from the sea it has now been transformed into a centre for leisure and technological development..

When you come in off the boat the first thing you are confronted with is a giant artificial beach. Yup a beach right in the middle of an urban metropolis. Why not I guess and the funniest part is, it’s not the only one. The beach itself leads to a massive a massive entertainment complex called Decks. This thing houses many shops, restaurants and the largest amusement arcade in Tokyo, and possibly Japan. Sadly no time to go in, but I’m sure I’dve spent a fortune if I had.

After a nice lunch, it was time to part ways with the parents as they were knackered bless them. I really wanted to head out to miraikan, a museum dedicated to innovative technology coming out of Japan so we proceeded to traverse the Island. Now aside from the supermalls and giant buildings Odaiba is pretty flat. I reckon it would be a great place to skateboard or cycle.

Well mostly flat that is besides a scale replica of the Statue of liberty and a giant Gundam statue. Well if there is a giant robot floating about I kind of have to get a picture with it now, it is traditional. In fact this is just one of the many quirky things on this rather modern Island, apparently there is a teleport station though I’m not exactly sure what that entails.

In the end most places were shut, it was after all a Tuesday? Anyway we decided to head back towards Tokyo for a bit more of a wander as Odaiba, whilst interesting, is not the most scenic area of Tokyo.

We took a monorail and then the subway to the ritzy Ginza. I always feel so out of place there, it’s far too stylish for a scruffy pleb like myself. Still it is nice to walk around as the architecture is really stunning. I always found it interesting that many of the really incredible buildings are built by just a handful of Japanese architects. There work is a amazing though. I should probably learn a bit more about them at some point.

The main reason we came was to check out the new Kabukiza which had finished being refurbished just a week or so ago. You can always tell when you are nearing a kabuki theatre as the streets become packed with old dears. I should really try and go to a show, or at least an act, before I leave I guess.

We finished the night by grabbing a coffee at what is the first Starbucks to be opened in  Japan. Apart from the plaque you wouldn’t really know to be honest, it doesn’t look much different and the coffee is still rubbish. Anyway the time whiled away as myself and my friend had a good old natter about life, Japan, overtime, you know the important things. I won’t bore you with the details.

Well that's it for now. Sorry I know I promised clowns but they are coming I swear.

Mata neee.