Relative to What?

This morning, we got up mad early to check out a few temples and/or castles in the area before checking out from our hostel and managed to get inside and walk in and around Nijo castle, which turned out to be a good choice. It was really interesting and quite beautiful, even if the weather wasn’t really in our favor. In the end, however, it all worked out pretty well, and after checking out from the hostel, we made our way back to Kyoto Station, where we proceeded to board our last shinkansen bound for Tokyo, from where I’m writing this part of the entry.

After getting off where we needed to from the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, we made our way over to the next hostel on the trip, where we’ll be spending the next 4 nights. On the way, however, we passed a small restuarant that bore the Yagyu family crest and (more…)

So, after an absurdly busy first few days (featuring what could be the greatest highs and lows of my life to date), we took our time in Kyoto to relax more than anything else. We left our hostel after getting some sleep to recover from the AJIKAN show the night before and took the next available shinkansen to Kyoto Station, where we transferred to a local line and got off in the Uzumasa area, where our next hostel would be. Having been told by Haru, the very kind gentleman who ran the guest house, that everything to see in Kyoto was pretty much closed after 17:00, we decided to take advantage of our time to not take advantage of our time. That is, we utilized the quiet neighborhood in which we were staying to just enjoy a nice, relaxing night, which we haven’t quite had since this trip started.

We also finally got to try real ramen! I ordered (more…)

So, we just got back from the ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION concert down in Shibuya at the AX. Those of you who know me well enough by now know that I can come back from something like this and comfortably say “That was pretty cool,” or “It was a lot of fun.” This time, however, I am at a true loss for words, only able to utter “holy shit” over and over again. Yeah, that’s an understatement.

So, we got to the arena at around 17:00, with the doors expected to open at around 18:00 (show started at 19:00). We bought some shirts and souvenirs and chilled for a bit, where I got to play “spot the foreigner.” It’s a fun game that makes me realize that I’m the only fucking white guy at this show. Doors opened right on time, as expected, and ticketholders from the first floor standing section were called up by ticket number, in blocks of 10 then 20 at a time. Talone and I were in the 760-780 block (out of about 1500), and as expected, we were just about dead center of the crowd.

What we didn’t expect, however, was the mad rush for the stage when the band came out. Within seconds of the opening riff, we found ourselves at bottle-throwing distance (coined by Talone, it is roughly the minimum necessary distance to accurately throw a bottle at the band members if need be). I can assure you, there was no need. (more…)

So, I finally got our act together and organized a proper trip out to the old Yagyu family village. For clarification, it is in the middle of absolutely nowhere, far more than a full hour’s walk from the closest train station and only really publicly accessible by one major road. Needless to say, it was a bit difficult to coordinate. We had to get on the Osaka Loop Line at Fukushima (closest to our hostel here) to Osaka station, take a 30 minute light rail (people from home, think NJ transit here) to Nara, and from there it was an hour by bus to the center of the village.

We got out there after the long transit to be first greeted by a neat little shop that bore the family crest (more…)

In Fukushima station, we ran across two others from the hostel, Nick and Brendan, both of them going of them also going to see the game, and the former we had already seen that morning at Osaka castle. The train to the game was littered with sports talk about hockey, football, and (of course) baseball, as well as some things about college and ourselves. Nick was from the DC area, a huge fan of the Capitals and Redskins, but moved to South Carolina, and Brendan went to college in Florida, and knew college football like the back of his hand.Arriving at the stadium, we were met by hundreds of people scattered around the place. The teams playing were the Hanshin Tigers hosting the something-something Lions. Our job apparently was to root for the Tigers. Seeing the many locals adorned in some sort of custom jersey, we decided to try and blend in and get some Hanshin Tigers merchandise in the nearby souvenir shop, the oddly-named “Tigers Shop Alps.” Gotta love Japanese “engerish.”

The shop was packed with Tigers fans, making navigating the place a little difficult. We decided to try and get some Tigers jerseys, and asked one of the salespeople who “the best” was. The player to look out for was number 6, Kanemoto, who (according to flags and towels around us) had hit the milestone of 2,000 hits and (either heading for or already reached) 400 HR. Brendan found that none of the shirts there (or in other places) had a shot at fitting him (he was a good head or two taller (more…)

I wake up the next morning, and little do I know some of the coolest days of the trip (and hell, my life) are to follow. Breakfast was to be found at the local Mister Donut’s, the Japanese equivalent to Dunkin’ Donuts (a little pricier, but with more food options too, like noodle soups). They had quite the selection, and luckily for me, they had signs in English. There was the general standard fare, like glazed donuts, chocolate donuts, French crullers, etc. And then came the not so standard fare. My favorite of these: Curry-stuffed donuts, which were fantastic. There was also a variation of what I will call the “hot dog donut” (which can be found in Chinese/Vietnamese bakeries in the States), which was surrounded by a strudel-like pastry, with what I can only assume was mustard and ketchup inside.To begin our day, we decided to do two things: visit Osaka castle, or visit a Yagyu dojo near Tennoji station. Earlier on, Toomin suggested that we go see a baseball game in Osaka, which I agreed would be a good idea (more on this later on). In terms of what to do first, the train decided Osaka castle, as it was the first of the two destinations we would arrive at.

I’d like to make a brief digression on the trains: I really love the Japanese transit system. They’re ridiculously clean, ridiculously organized, and ridiculously well placed. The seats are all padded, the stations actually have markers as to where to enter your train, and of course, the Loop Line. The Loop Line, to my knowledge, exists in Osaka and Tokyo. It’s exactly what it says it is: (more…)

So, after effectively passing out for a very long time last night (we got lost in Osaka and wandered the city for at least 5 straight hours yesterday), we got up today and decided to head to Osaka-jo, that is, the Osaka Castle. It’s a pretty famous site and one of the few places in Osaka that were recommended to me back when I was planning this trip. Let me tell you this: it is fucking gorgeous (see pics on right when they’re uploaded).  Wow, just wow.  It really blew us away (almost literally; there was quite a breeze at the top)!  This was just one of those things that we really couldn’t put into words if we tried, so I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

Right, so, baseball game.  Holy shit.  Major Tech School friends, think our hockey games on crack, but with no heckling.  This country’s too nice for shit talking.  Talone and I ran into two other dudes from our hostel who were going to go see the Hanshin Tigers (local major league team) play that night.  We joined them, and it was honestly the best night I’ve had in a very long time.  The game lasted around four hours, and we won against the Seibu Lions in the bottom of the 11th.  The big star of the team (who one of our new friends bought a jersey of before the game) got the winning run, so the place went nuts.  Everyone loved us there; the big loud Americans were the highlight of the game for most of these people.  Except for the random guy sitting in front of us.  He kept putting his hands over his ears and left after the 6th inning.  Also, we were in a general outfield section, right in front of (more…)

I’m naming my first daughter Akane. It’s settled then.

Where to begin? This has certainly been an interesting past week. To call them simply “interesting” would be an understatement. It wouldn’t quite do much justice to call something so indescribably…amazing simply “interesting.”

But let’s start from the beginning. Noted, I’m usually much better at preparing for vacations than this particular day. I attribute this to two reasons: A) It still hadn’t quite hit me that I would be going to Japan for two weeks, and B) I’ve entered the initial phase of summer lethargy following an equally long but fantastic (experience-wise) school year. With packing semi-finished, I took a quick nap, woke up, finished packing, and headed off to Philly for the flight out. Sure, 6 AM flights mean you’re in a non-busy, non-bustle airport, but you will be dying for rest. Luckily, with a brief three hour flight to Atlanta, followed by an even longer thirteen to fourteen hour flight to Tokyo/Narita Airport means sleep-time, right?

Wrong. That suggestion was met with a resounding “hell-no” from my head. (more…)

So, we arrived in Japan earlier this afternoon after an excessively long (and fairly uneventful) plane ride. The only really funny moment was when they went around with the drink carts, and when the woman asked me what I wanted, the Japanese guy at the other end of the aisle roared out “BEER!” Hm, must’ve had a rough time in the States. That’s okay Drunken Japanese Man (having passed out after 4 cups of beer and 3 small bottles of wine), you’ll be back in the land of the Rising Sun soon.

Speaking of getting there, this was probably the smoothest airport exchange I’ve ever had. Besides the completely out-of-the-way stop in Atlanta (cuz it was Delta), our flight was about an hour and a half shorter than expected; there were no delays; and for the first time in 3 flights for me, no lost luggage!

From there we had to navigate the train system and take a light rail from Narita airport to Tokyo, a bullet train from Tokyo to Osaka, and then two separate subway lines in Osaka before we realized that we had absolutely no idea how to find our first night’s hostel after getting out at the right exit. With my horrible Japanese and a good mix of hand gestures and written notes, I was able to ask for directions and we were on our way. Talone is utterly passed out now (How much does this kid sleep? God damn…), so here’s a few first-glance observations at this country that so many people seem to want to visit:

The trains are perfect. There are no delays and no exceptions. Some of the stations are as packed as Penn Station in NYC, but everyone just seems to move through it so naturally that everything goes off without a hitch. Also, I got stared at. A lot. Talone was fine, since he’s Asian, though not Japanese. I am a white guy in a place where there aren’t quite so many of us, and while I’m just fine with that, people do give me weird looks on the trains (and sometimes take pictures!). Well, except for one guy who sat next to me, but he was mostly just playing pokemon (the original one) on his phone the whole time.

Right, cell phones. I feel weird even calling them “cell phones,” since that would put them in the same category as what we have, oh, everywhere else in the word. These things are insane. Think the new blackberry crossed with the new iPhone on a shot of pure cocaine in the same package as any standard size American flip-phone. My rental keitai has a fucking barcode scanner! What would I even need that for? Text messages aren’t really used here, since everyone’s phone just goes online and has its own email address. Also, I find it disturbing that my rental keitai has a nicer camera built-in than my family’s first digital camera.

That’s all I’ve got for you now folks, take care and rock on!

So, as I sit here thinking of other exciting events in life to report on or music news that has already been covered by the light-speed dlyan over at ~ listen the world ~, I realize that I entirely forgot to mention the main point of this blog, which is to cover and report on the events of a trip that I have been planning for upward 3 months now. In less than 3 days’ time, I will be on a plane bound for Tokyo, Japan. My good buddy Talone (see: The end of an era…) and I are set to spend 2 weeks aimlessly wandering the countryside, seeking truth and fun.

The trip outline is as such:

• Fly out mad early from Philadelphia on May 23, arrive in Tokyo-Narita by early afternoon on the 24th.
• Immediately hop shinkansen to Osaka and chill there for 4 nights with various trips to Nara and Yagyu no Sato, weather depending.
• Head back to Tokyo on May 28 for ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION live show 「ワールドワールドワールド」 in Shibuya (at the AX), and spend the night there.
• Chill in Kyoto for 2 nights, and then head back to Tokyo for the remaining 6 nights.
• L’arc~en~Ciel concert 「Tour 2008 L’7~Trans ASIA via PARIS~」 (you can read dlyan’s review of the Paris show here) on June 1 at the Tokyo Dome.
• Chill in Tokyo.
• YUI concert 「3rd Tour 2008 “oui” ~I LOVED YESTERDAY~」 on June 3 at Oomiya Sonic City music hall.
• Visit Kamakura, Hakone, etc.
• Fly out Early afternoon June 6, arrive same evening in Philadelphia.

And there you have it folks! As you can see, the only real set plans we have are the concerts, since nothing I plan ever actually works out the way I intend. For those of you who know me personally, if there’s anything you’d like from Japan while I’m there (in particular concert goods), you know how to reach me and I’ll see what I can do. Pictures will be in the flickr feed to your right, and updates noted here along the way (I hope).

Remember, it’s not a question of whether or not things will go wrong; it’s how hilarious the results are at the end of the day. Payce!