Tag: japan
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Japanese Snow Monkeys
I don’t have a travel bucket list. Sure, there are places I’d like to go, but there’s nothing like “I have to see this, and this, and this before I die”. However, there’s one thing I’d always wanted to see since I was a little kid. Growing up in Ithaca, we had a set of…
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Update on the deer I bowed with earlier this year in Nara, Japan:
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It turns out the first ramen joint I went to in Japan was also the best ramen place I went to in Japan. Which is saying a lot, as I pretty much had ramen at least every other day, and every single bowl was great. Truly – every bowl of ramen I had in Japan…
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I flew out of Japan today and got this stunning view of Mt. Fuji as a nice departure gift. I’m flying to Paris and am then heading down to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, as I’m going to walk the Camino de Santiago across the North of Spain. It should probably take ~30ish days to get to Santiago, and…
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I’m pretty certain my English is getting worse from disuse here in Japan, as well as from having to speak in slow one-syllable words. So, I’m going to try to not type much today. Instead, a photo journey of the shrine/temple-viewing walk I did on a chilly, foggy, atmospheric day in Koyasan in the mountains…
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The Japanese are fastidious rule followers. If there are rules or instructions for something –and there are alway instructions for everything– you can bet that 99.99% of people will follow them. You’re not supposed to eat & drinking while out in public, so nobody does (except ignorant me when I first arrived): Everybody wears a…
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One of the reasons to visit Hiroshima is to see and learn about the A-Bomb Dome, one of the few buildings to not be totally destroyed with the nuclear bomb dropped there: The plaque in this one shows what it looked like before: It’s a stunning sight both day & night, and the city has…
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Heard it’s warm back in the States. I don’t feel like writing today, so here’s what February should look like: Not sure where I recorded this, but it could really be anywhere in Hokkaido — it’s always snowing everywhere up here 😍
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My favorite “you’ve never heard of it, but you have to try it when you’re there” food has been Okonomiyaki, which roughly translates to “pull it out of the fridge & grill it up”. It’s kind of like a layered, stuffed pancake, and it’s a Hiroshima specialty. Here are the common layers used in Hiroshima…
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My favorite sight in Kyoto was the Fushimi Inari-Taisha, which translates to “the Head Shrine of Inari”. It consists of 10,000 Torii gates painted persimmon orange, spread out on & up a mountain: With such a cool sounding Japanese name, I actually found the translation disappointing. I thus propose some alternate ones: • Shrine of…
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I came to Sapporo because I wanted snow, and, oh boy, did I find it UPDATE: 0% chance of snow today, and there’s a cancel-school-in-the-USA blizzard going on. I love this place!
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Most of the cars you see on the roads in Japan seem miniaturized. It makes sense, as everything here is tighter, more compact, more efficient. No giant SUVs here – even the cars that have to drive on packed/perma-snow the whole winter are cubes The fire engines all look dehydrated This isn’t a negative post…
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Pachinko
Another big thing in Japan that I just don’t get is Pachinko. It’s like pinball mixed with plinko mixed with a slot machine (kinda). You see big parlors in cities, even bigger ones in the suburbs & outskirts, and it’s the only gambling allowed in Japan (kinda). I don’t think I’ve ever seen a young…
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One of the street foods they say you have to eat in Osaka, and something the city is known for, is Takoyaki, or octopus balls (not THOSE kind of balls). There’s tons of places in the busy area selling them, and you usually notice those places because of the lines, or the giant octopus or…
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Best Japan Day
I had my best day in Japan yesterday. Why? • After three days of no coffee whilst at the buddhist monastery, I had some mind-resetting Starbucks in Nagano (The Starbucks in Japan are fantastic – huge, with tons of seats made for computer use) • I was able to find the correct train (to Yudanaka)…
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I really didn’t do much research before coming to Japan, and really didn’t have many things that were “must see” for me. I just wanted to come here & kinda live it. So as I’m traveling around, I end up visiting a lot of things that the books, the sites, the people say I have…
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Super Bowl
I think I’ve found the best toilet ever, in the same room where I had my Super Bowl party. It’s so feature-rich & perfect, this could be my last post about Japanese toilets.* Let’s have it introduce itself to you: —————– *hahaha – nope
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I’m staying in an amazing buddhist monastery in Koyasan in the mountains outside of Osaka. Needless to say, this isn’t a party place. But I was able to buy a great NFL Network stream of the Super Bowl for only $.99, so decided to have an 8:30am blowout in my room for the big game
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A sports post in honor of Super Bowl Sunday! Baseball is clearly the top sport here, even just based upon the number of stadiums & fields you see in the cities. This little league one was on the same grounds as the massive castle in Hiroshima: I even ended up watching the game a bit,…
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Another short post today, as I’m too busy doing this in Osaka
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I stopped in Nara on my way from Kyoto to Osaka, because the deer in a park there have learned that if they bow, they get food. I had no idea that the deer would be everywhere, though, nor how tame they’d actually be: They’re definitely food motivated, but the problem was that I didn’t…
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There’s sometimes not much to do in a Japanese city/town other than eat, or go to shrines & temples, so I end up just randomly walking around a lot, taking random pics of the random things I come across. Like: Bamboo groves Graveyards Water bottle graveyards Amazing art-itecture The guys-with-birds section of the park The…
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The toilets here beg for your business
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Everything You’ve Heard About Japan is True (a continuing series) Example #4: Ramen is everywhere Ramen places are in every town, in every neighborhood, on every block. And turns out there’s actually tons of different types of ramen, with different broth bases, different noodles, different toppings, and different preparations. It’s mind boggling, really, as they…
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I got tired of lugging my big daypack around all the time just to hold a water bottle & sunscreen — it’s really meant for carrying lots of weight & hiking. So I bought a cheap European carryall @ H&M in Tokyo. It’s sooo much better, but I definitely had to swallow some of my…
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I try really hard not to make fun of any of the English translations for things here. I appreciate the effort – when was the last time YOU tried to right something in a different language? So you’re not going to see any posts from me with pics of all the hilarious names you see…
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I finally saw Mt. Fuji, on the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto. It was hard to get a video of it without something getting in the way, but at least this obstruction looks kinda cool: You can’t climb it in winter, so expected there to be more snow up there. Speaking of winter, Japan…
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Tim: OK, I’m not crazy about temples, but since Kyoto is known for them, I think I’ll go to just one of them while I’m here, the most famous one, Kinkaku-ji Temple. How do I get there today? Google Maps: This is easy – Bus 205 will take you right there & the stop is…
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Everything You’ve Heard About Japan is True (a series) Example #3: Vending machines are everywhere All over every street In front of houses In front of traditional stores In parking spaces At temple entrances However, 99.9% of the machines are pretty much exactly the same, and just sell liquids – water, soda, Sweat, Boss. Here’s…
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I don’t care, I’m going to continue posting toilet content if I continue being amazed. In this episode, we see tank filling ingeniously being used as a sink faucet. I did think I’d done something wrong the first time I flushed this toilet, as I’m constantly doing things wrong in this country. But that’s a…
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This is not the most exciting post (no toilet!) but I paid a bunch of money to go up to the Sky Deck at Tokyo City View, so feel obliged to post about it. So, look, lots of buildings & concrete! Japan National Stadium on the left! And way there in the back, the Japanese…
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If you’ve seen a Tokyo street scene on tv or in a movie, you’ve most likely seen this view. It’s Shibuya Crossing, kinda like Tokyo’s Times Square, and supposably the busiest pedestrian x-ing in the world. It’s a place I felt like I needed to see, and it turned out to be pretty mesmerizing. See…
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Japanese Toilets
Everything You’ve Heard About Japan is True (a series) Example #2: Their toilets are amazing From department stores, to tiny restaurants, to even the cheaper hostels/hotels (pictured), most toilets have bidets. I’ve had one for years, so am already a true believer, but the ones here are a step above – heated seats, heated water,…
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I know everybody gets jet lagged for days after a 13 hour flight, so I’m not special. But I’ve never before tracked my sleep (via my Apple watch) when in the depths of it. And that there is what jet lag looks like — blue is light sleep; purple is deep sleep; green is wide…
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The first meal I had in Tokyo might have now ruined all the rest. I had the best sushi I’ve ever had, from a place called Murikita in the Tsujiki market. The setup was also great: A tiny indoor/outdoor spot. First a man in the alley somehow convinces you, in Japanese, to come into his…
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