The day after the Japanese Proficiency Test, our class went on a field trip to Kiyomizudera in Kyoto. Even though it was the beginning of December, many of the trees still had leaves on them in beautiful fall colours. Naturally this makes for a some naturally natural scenery. The temple itself is actually quite interesting as it is divided in 2 or 3 interesting sections. The first of note is the large stage overlooking the forest, with a great view of Kyoto. Apparantly in olden days, plays and whatnot would be performed here.
There's also a section devoted to praying for love and romance, featuring two stones about 20m apart. If you can walk with your eyes closed from one stone and touch the opposing stone, it is said that your wish of love will be granted. It's actually pretty difficult considering there are usually ten thousand people in your way. Before you ask, no, I didn't try it. The grounds around the temple are just as beautiful as inside, and of course, since it's in Kyoto, there are geisha. Not real geisha, but tourists dressed up like geisha. Still the kimono are pretty neat.
The roads leading to and from the temple are also packed with souvenir and craft shops. If you're looking to pick up some macha (the bitterish japanese green tea that green tea ice cream is supposed to mimic) or other Kyoto souvenirs, this is probably the place to do it. Like most souvenirs in Japan though, they're not cheap, but where else can you pick up a Hello Kitty in a kimono decorative fan/plate/cell phone strap with the word "Kyoto" on it? In any case, here are the pictures.
Well after another long hiatus I'm back with another tale to tell. This one stars a big wooden holy man and a lot of deer. This was an especially interesting trip because it was a school field trip, so I got a day of class to frolic with my classmates in the fields and forests of Nara. Nara was once the capital of Japan, a long long time ago.. before Tokyo (Edo) and before Kyoto. Nara is the place to see the sites.. temples.. Buddhas.. deer. The place is crawling with deer (or galloping or prancing or whatever it is that deer do) and they've gotten quite used to people so they pretty much act like pigeons; swarming anyone with food and generally getting in the way. That being said, they're much cooler than pigeons, so of course I had to take some pics of them.. Besides deer, Nara is home to a monstrously huge wooden statue of the Buddha inside a monstrously huge temple. I'd estimate the size of the statue at about 30 to 40 feet high. It's big and definitely worth a visit if you're in the neighbourhood. Here are the pics.
Well looks like I fell off the map there for a few weeks.. It's been pretty busy with tests and school and various distractions... at any rate, I managed to make it out to Osaka's Midosuji Parade today. It's kind of an international flavoured parade, with some, but not all off the groups and floats dedicated to other countries, including Mexico, the Philippines and Indonesia (those are the only ones I saw). One thing that was interesting though was that the Japanese groups (especially the school groups) consisted primary of marching bands, although there was one spectacular group of unicyclers doing all kinds of funky tricks like the one in the picture. One girl was uni-cycling backwards and other groups were forming circles and stuff. Of course I have no pictures of this, since all of those pics would have been subject to the ever-present influence of "back of old man's head" obstructing the view. Still I managed to snap a few shots that are here.
Mitsuya cider's new flavour... with condensed milk?!? It may or may not be visible on your screen but the red text reads, "Cider Meets Condensed Milk", which is really weird considering this is a carbonated drink. I first noticed this on something like my second day in Japan, and I've had it once or twice since then. Unfortunately, it doesn't really taste much like condensed milk. For that matter, it doesn't taste much like cider. Maybe they both got confused enroute to the rendezvous point and two entirely different flavours decided to meet up: bubbles and sugar perhaps. 
Continuing on the theme of condensed milk, there's a couple of really tasty ice cream bars that I've been frequently making a pig of myself on. The first is this chocholatey goodness bar (not the actual name) which as the picture shows is filled with condensed milk. The second, for which I don't have a pic, is like shaved ice on a stick. Picture a bar of strawberry flavoured shaved ice, surrounded by a layer of hardened condensed milk. But just when you think that's all there is, when you get to the middle, there's the same soft condensed milk as the chocholatey bar. Aaahh.. goodness.
And not to be out done, just when you thought that things couldn't get any more interesting, let me present to you.. chicken wing flavoured chips. Well more like a "Cheeto-esque" kinda thing, but it comes in a bag and is supposed to taste like chicken wings.. 'nuff said. When I saw these in the convenience store there was absolutely no question... I had to buy them.. They taste surprisingly ok, and even slightly like actual chicken wings (the dry kind with just seasonings and no sauce), so I was much impressed. The package says that it's apparently good with beer.
This is the room in general.. it has a very efficient rectangular shape, which means that once you put a bed in it, there's no room for anything else. The door on the left leads to the bathroom.
This is the "kitchen", which is in fact right next to the bed. The black box in the bottom is my fridge/freezer. The freezer was just large enough to hold one small ice cube tray.
The closet here is about 2 feet wide, so I was glad that there was extra storage under the bed. Still not the same as a nice big closet though.
And my balcony, which was pretty convenient for hanging my laundry to dry, but I couldn't use it for anything else. The shot you see is of where a hornet's nest used to be. One of my first tasks when I moved in was to kill all the hornets and get rid of the nest.. charming, no?And now for my new place. Let me start by stating that my new place has two separate areas, and I'm exceptionally glad for that. The kitchen/bathroom area is separated with the main living area with a door.
The main living area has space for a bed (which I'm not using right now, because it's hard as a rock), as well as a small table and some walking around room..
My fridge and microwave do take up some space in the main room, but its very worth it. You can see here the doorway into the kitchen/bathroom/vestibule area
and lastly my kitchen with actual shelves to put my pots and ingredients in, and a real stove (no hot plate that looks like it came from a grade 10 science class)And that pretty much sums up my move. George and Wheezy would be proud I think.
After many weeks of procrastinating, I finally made the hour train ride from Osaka over to the city of Himeji. Himeji is home to the only castle in this part of Japan that has never been bombed, burned, or blown-up, although it has been besieged several times. So of all the castles that you'd (or I'd) be likely to see, its the one that is most like the way it was back when it was actually used, back in the 1300-1500's. So rather than a museum inside the shell of a castle like Osaka castle is, its a real castle keep with only one floor dedicated to museum-esqe stuff and the rest is pure, old-style castle.
Like the title of the post says, if you only go to one castle in Japan, go to Himeji. Not only are the castle keep and bailey intact, but the city itself was built up from the old castle town, so it has a similar general shape as it did back in the day. On the left is the view from the top floor of the castle looking out towards the main train station of Himeji.
The right is what the inside of one of the hallways in the western bailey looks like. They're not all this nice and bright, but this one had the windows open and the wood was relatively new, so it had a nice golden colour as opposed to the standard "old building brown" that is common in so many temples and such in Japan. 
Finally one last image of the castle from the outside. And a link to more pics here
Now that I'm on summer break, I decided to take a little trip back to where it all started for me in Japan. In 2003, I spent 3 months studying Japanese in the relatively small (for Japanese standards) city of Okazaki. I still have a friend or two there, so I decided to go back for a visit. Not much has changed really; I mean it's only been 3 years. The grocery store I used to shop at is gone, and so are a few of the other things that were in front of the train station, but for the most part, its all the same. Which is good, 'casue no trip down memory lane is much fun if that lane has been turned into an expressway.
So my trip down the lane begins, where my trip from Osaka ends; at the Okazaki train station. From there, I met up with one of my former teachers, and now friend, for a stop off at my former school and a bite to eat. Miso katsu was the order of the day. So I'd imagine that most people are familiar with miso soup, well this isn't really like that, but miso is a main ingredient in both. The miso in miso katsu is miso sause as opposed to soup, and the katsu is standard tonkatsu, which is a deep fried piece of pork. Of course no dining experience is complete without a view flaming torches, so we went somewhere that provided that. 
After leaving Okazaki, I headed towards Nagoya to find the capsule hotel that I had booked for the night.
I manged to locate the place on the seventh floor of a buliding above a pachinko parlour, not far from the station. When I arrived at the reception, I was given a key to my locker, where I was to put all my stuff. Inside the locker, a change of clothes was provided. For an additional 900 yen (~CAD $9) I was able to use the sauna/public bath on the 4th floor of the same building and given a breakfast of coffee, juice, toast, and an boiled egg (man I could have gone for some Honey Nut Cheerios in there). Now the hotel consists of more than just capsules, there's a common area where everyone can sit around and watch TV (and smoke of course), and a vending machine area where you can buy anything from ice cream to fried rice. You can also, if you like play electronic mahjhong and pachinko right in the hotel (y'know in case you wake up one morning and find out that you're a bored salaryman).
The capsules themselves were actually a lot roomier than I expected. I was pleased to find that my feet didn't hang off the end or something. Inside the capsule, there's a TV, a radio, a mirror, and a few other knobs and buttons to amuse yourself with. The one downside is that since there are no doors (just curtains) on these things, if the guy 3 caps down decides he feels like cranking the volume on his tunes, you've got no choice but to listen to it. Still though, all in all pretty interesting. I would recommend it, not only for the experience, but also for the price tag, which at 3700 yen (CAD $37) for the evening, including the sauna and breakfast, is bearable even for a cheapskate like me. If you're going though, make sure that you pack a healthy supply of testosterone, since most of the capsule hotels in Japan are for men only.
Now, it has often been said (by me), that if you've seen one Japanese castle, you've seen them all. I suppose I still stand by that assessment, but I suppose that I still can't deny the majesty of a 7 storey castle, moat and surrounding trappings. So on a 36C Osaka summer day, Son (my classmate) and myself set out to explore the wonders of Osaka Castle.
So one of the things that do distinguish some of the castles at least is the ornamentation. Osaka's is these big golden fish.
And of course, no Japanese castle would be complete without a very European building hanging around for good measure.
For the rest of the pics, click here.
One of the Hokkaido Jingu Mikoshi
Some of my yukata wearing classmates and myself
Hokuei Taiko troupe
Mr. Tambourine Man and Friends
