Today we had a leisurely breakfast, then took the train to Narita. At 5pm our flight left for Vancouver. There was a lovely sunset on the flight.
At customs, we parted ways and took separate flights back to our respective homes of Eugene and Pittsburgh.
Shinkansen from Osaka to Tokyo, then a visit to Ueno Park. Outside the National Art Museum we saw some Rodin. While there, we went to the National Science And History Museum and saw an exhibit on dinosaurs. Then up to the top of Tokyo Tower for some cityscapes. Finally, dinner at Kura Sushi near Shinagawa station. It was scary cuz everything was in Japanese, with a digital ordering system, but in the end we figured it out, which was very satisfying!
Today was Kobe. We took the cable car up Mt Rokko to see the Nunobiki Herb Garden. Then we headed down through Kitano, a district of old Western style houses (not pictured since they look just like normal European mansions) to the Kobe Museum.
Kobe Museum was showing work by Nizo Yamomoto, who worked on backgrounds for a bunch of anime movies such as Grave of the Fireflies, Laputa, Lupin III, Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away - all with backgrounds shown at the exhibit. Pretty cool.
Finally, off to Kobe’s Chinatown for a tasty chinese dinner. We also checked out a nearby covered street that was full of shops, but had to duck out before going all the way down due to some police-escorted protest.
Headed to Osaka today. Lunch with Uland’s friend Chase. Osaka Castle, then Osaka Aquarium. The aquarium was harder to find than I remembered but the crabs looked just as cool. Our hotel rooms keep getting smaller, at least this one has a bigger bathroom + more power plugs.
Today was a day trip to Nara. First was Kofuku-ji, home to a 5 story pagoda, then Todai-ji, home to the largest wooden building and wooden Buddha in the world. We took an AC break at Nara National Museum, which had a pretty remarkable collection of scrolls and Buddha sculptures. Then we visited the Kasuga shrine, shrine for the Fujiwara family and home to many, many lanterns.
Finally, we headed home, only to find the last train to Kyoto had already left. Whoops. Luckily, we were able to catch a train to Osaka and from there get to Kyoto. Dinner was at Lotteria, home of the Straight Burger. Our conclusion is that burger chains in Japan can be ranked as follows: MOS Burger, McDonalds, Straight Burger.
Today was eastern Kyoto: Ginkaku-ji, Eikando Zenrin-ji, Nanzen-ji, then a walk along the Lake Biwa Aqueduct and a visit to the museum at the end of it. After, some Vermeer (and other Dutch artists) at the Kyoto Municipal Art Museum and some Moholy-Nagy at the Kyoto Museum of Modern Art. For dinner, we went to Kyo-Ichi near Kyoto Station for Teppenyaki.
Shinkansen from Hiroshima to Kyoto. Via bus, visited Kinkaguji (Golden Temple), then Komaganoji, which had a cool art exhibition going on. Headed back to check out Kyoto Station, which is a tourist attraction in its own right, then McDonalds for dinner. (Uland had the shrimp burger and I had the teriyaki burger.)
Hiroshima Peace Museum, then Miyajima. Hiroshima-style okinamiyaki for dinner. First real day of being outside and seeing shrines. Getting hotter. A Japanese philosophy student introduced himself to us in the park outside the museum.
We started the day with bento box breakfast.
We took the Hikari Shinkansen from Tokyo to Hiroshima, leaving at about 9am and getting to our hotel at 3pm. It was good to take it easy for a day. We got into Hiroshima and headed to nearby Aeon Mall for MOSDO - a unique store marrying MOS Burger and Mr. Donut, two popular Japanese restaurant franchises. I got the MOS Burger (onion relish, tomato, and patty) and Uland got the Tobikiri with cheese (beef/pork patty with soy sauce/black pepper flavoring)
Getting there and back was intimidating as there was basically no English information (except a sign on the front of the bus). MOSDO’s staff was very friendly, and the girl who served us even asked where we were from (in English) and told us she was going to Berkeley next year.
We strolled through the mall (very much like one in Oregon, except for a higher concetration of asians and stranger store names). There was a trailer outside the cinema for some strange Japanese musical that resembled Pirates of the Caribbean.
Finally, we headed back to the hotel, taking a quick detour to stop by the post office to use the ATM.
Tomorrow is the Hiroshima Peace Museum.
Morning was Akihabara: Super Potato, Radio Center, Sega arcade, Laox, Yellow Submarine, Labi.
Lunch was a light snack from the well equipped Odaku department store in Sinjuku station, eaten sitting near the fashion street outside Harajuku station.
Apparently it’s hip to hire stylish black men to stand outside your store in Harajuku. We saw one every 50ft down the length of the (long) road.
After checking out the latest Harajuku fashion, we went to the nearby Meiji shrine.
Finally, we went out to dinner with two Tokyoites that my friend Scott put us in contact with.
