Last night in Japan

Spent the night eating, drinking, and wandering in jaw-dropping amazement on Dotombori street. This is what I always imagined Japan to look like. Bizarre futuristic neon nightmare. If I didn’t have to leave for China in the morning I would have wandered until sunrise.

Nagasaki and Osaka

I don’t have too much to say about my night in Nagasaki. Aside from a pretty good modern art museaum the city really wasn’t very impressive. Their a-bomb museum and peace park pailed in comparison to Hiroshimas and my hostel smelled kinda funny. I got caught in the rain walking to my early morning shinkanzen and had to steal an umbrella to from the hostel (sorry Akiari house, I owe you one)
 
The hostel in Osaka is great. It is new and clean the couple that runs it are really nice. I actually ran into a girl from Michigan who is staying here. It is very rare to run into anyone from Michigan while abroad. I went to Osaka castle which looks cool on the outside but is just a lame museum on the inside. I spend most of the night with this goofy American I met looking for one particular korean restaurant  that he insisted on finding. We spent hours talking to locals (and using this really cool/expensive iphone translator he had) trying to find it before settling on some random Korean BBQ joint. It was a little frustrating at times but I would have just been out getting lost by myself, so it was nice to have some company and he bought me a ton of soju at dinner.
 
My second day in Osaka started out a rainy mess, but managed to find Amerika mora where everyone gets their wierd bastardized american clothes. It was a very hip area filled with crazy clothes, record stores and an awesome vintage toy store. I spent about 2 hours in Mandrakes which a four story Manga/anime/toy store. The place was like of museum of amazing Japanese stuff. The first floor was all toys, the second dvds and video games, the third manga and top floor was half cosplay stuff and the other half hentai. I bought some toys and two animation slides. Easily one of the coolest stores on the planet.

I got to see the seeder side of Osaka too. By tenoji station there is an old amusement park area that is full of cheap beer and drunk old men. I ate at a great little deep fry place and managed to get into what I think was an argument with an old drunk guy. The place was awesome. It is good to see the weirder more rundown side of Japan before I leave.

 

Okonomiyaki

Japanese food is weird and unfriendly to me. They are HUGE meat and seafood eaters so I have been forced to eat udon noodle soup basically every day (it’s good though). I went out with a guy I met from Texas and I had Okonomiyaki for the first time. SO GOOD. It’s a thin pancake with cabbage, noodles, and sprouts with a big fried egg on top. It normally has pork in it but it is easy have them leave it out. It tastes like nothing else. I had a second time with spicy noodles and cheese. Made me go into a food coma. 

Miyajima

I decided to take it kinda of easy and spend a leisurely day at Miyajima island. It is famous for a huge orange gate that floats in the water. I guess it is normally a tourist nightmare but it was empty and calm while I was there. They have tons of deer that come and hang out with you. They let you pet them and sit right next to them. I watched one eat a guys map. It was hilarious. The island had one of the most impressive Buddhist temples I have been to. There were literally thousands of Buddhas scattered everywhere. Much better than the shrine that island is famous for.

Hiroshima

Hiroshima is a very strange place to visit as an American tourist. The city is obviously very new. The peace park where the bombed dropped is gorgeous. The day I visited had the most perfect blue skies and fluffy white clouds. The entire time all you can think is: we annihilated this place. The museum does an amazingly fair and unbiased job of explanation the bombing. They cover everything: Japan’s treatment of the Chinese and the Koreans, the bombing pearl harbor, and even logical reasons as to why Hiroshima was chosen to bomb. I did pretty well until they started showing remnants of children's clothes and telling the story of the little girl who folded 1000’s of paper cranes to not dies from leukemia. I got pretty choked up. I guess it doesn’t get much more depressing that atom bombs and little kids.

getting lost in kyoto (lost in a good way)

Kyoto is supposed to be where all culture is in Japan. The guide books get it right. You get lots of neon and big city and then at every turn: temples, shrines, bamboo foresets, little shops, quiet paths, zen gardens. I decided to just wander instead of planning out things to do. I was able to pretty much stumble on amazing things at every turn. I spent about an hour playing in a river, got caught in a huge thunder storm in the middle a big zen garden and I finally found some real veggi food (japan is NOT vegetarian friendly!!!). This is easily a city that you could spend weeks in an not see it all. It has a nice calm vibe that is a huge contrast from the nonstop of tokyo. All of the temples and shrines kind of blur together so I'm not sure what all of these pics are of. Enjoy,

 

kyoto festivals???

July is full of festivals in Kyoto. No one seems to be able to tell me what they are for. I have been asking for two days and have not gotten any answers. Last night I walked across a river with a candle and today there were parades in the morning and night right outside my hostel. It is all a mystery to me. Nice to look at though, I just wish I had some context.

 

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