Panoramic Asia

Since photos like panoramas and HDRs take a bit longer to put together, I've saved up most of the panoramas for this post. As always with panoramas, I highly encourage clicking on the photo to view it in a larger size, much of the detail is lost when viewed on the main blog page. This first picture is Shinjuku, the hotel I stayed in is the large red building on the far left of the frame.



This is the Sai river in Kanazawa, facing towards downtown and my old apartment.



I took this picture while walking to the station from Travis's house in Kohoku.



From the top of Osaka Castle you have great views in every direction. Here is the view to the south, towards where Zach lives.



These two photos are right in central Osaka, the Glico Man is a famous sight in Osaka, and changes every few years.





Here we are facing back north towards Osaka Castle, taken from the top of Tsutenkaku Tower in the Shinsekai neighborhood. My favorite site in Osaka, Spa World, is right next to the tower. You can sit in the (bathing suit required) outdoor spas on the roof of Spa World and watch Tsutenkaku Tower light up as the sun sets.



The great wall is of course an excellent subject for panoramas, though I found when I got home I had only shot this one!



The Temple of Heaven in Beijing.



I shot three panoramic images of the sun rising over the Forbidden city, but the change in exposure across the breadth of the image was too much, and the other two just didn't come out.



The roof of Zach's apartment is open, so I traipsed up twice for a photo shoot. It is a fun and unique perspective, above the crowd but not too far above that all the detail on the buildings is lost.



So there we have it! I have a few HDR's to post, but that will likely come in a few weeks, as I am a bit behind in my processing still. However, I lucked out in Hawaii this trip, the weather was gorgeous and I'll start posting about that trip soon, as well as my preparations to return to Japan in a mere four weeks.

Osaka-jo

One of Osaka's biggest attractions is Osaka Castle, the former stronghold of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The reunification of Japan at the end of the "warring-states period" in the late 1500s was accomplished by three men, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Iyeasu, and Osaka Castle played a very large roll in that history.



Hideyoshi actually succeded in uniting all of Japan, but lacked the power to actually be declared Shogun. His center of power was Osaka Castle, and he intended the fortification to be the grandest, largest castle in the country. He squandered much of his wealth and military power on a pair of failed invasions of Korea, and died before his son and successor came of age.



The first castle was destroyed in a siege in 1615 when Tokugawa assaulted Osaka and slaughtered the remains of the Toyotomi clan, securing power for his family for the next two hundred years. His son rebuilt the castle five years later, and much of the outer walls of that version still remain.



However, like most of Japan's wooden landmarks, Osaka-jo succumed to the flames several times over the centuries. Lightning strikes, civil war and American air raids burned down the central keep several times. The current concrete building dates from the 1960s, and contains a fairly interesting museum in its eight floors.



The tour starts at the top, with panoramic views of the city. From there you work your way through the history of the castle, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and the samurai era in general. Once you get to the bottom, you have the requisite gift shop, with copies of Osaka edition Monopoly! While those wanting to visit a REAL castle would of course be better served by traveling an hour south to Himeji-jo, Osaka Castle is a must visit if you have a day or two to spend in Osaka.

Shinsaibashi

After a week spent in the inaka (countryside), it was time to head back to the city. Zach, one of my oldest friends, lives in the heart of Osaka near the Shinsaibashi subway station. He is heavily involved in a Japanese/ English language sketch comedy troupe called the Pirates of the Dotonbori, and I was lucky enough to catch one of their shows.



Usually a Pirates show is all improv, but this time they decided to branch out and the second half was a comedy musical with original songs and much cross dressing. The whole show was hilarious, and if anybody has a chance to catch a Pirates show while spending time in Osaka, I'd recommend it.




Of course Osaka is far less of a tourist stop than Tokyo or Kyoto, despite it's central location and excellent transit links. As Zach once said, "Osaka is a great place to live, but I'd never want to visit." I can see why people would think that, as it is a fairly typical large, gray Japanese city but I disagree. Osaka has a lot to offer as a tourist destination AND a fun place to live.



For one thing, Osaka is certainly the food capital of Japan. Kyoto may have its famous traditional cuisines, but Osaka has takoyaki, kushikatsu and okonomiyaki, which is my favorite Japanese meal. (Though I like the Hiroshima style okonomiyaki better, with added fried soba noodles) Zach took me to Daruma Kushikatsu, the center of the kushikatsu renaissance. The meal involves skewered items like chicken, beef, roasted garlic, onion, peppers, meatballs, cheese and more being breaded and fried, then dipped in dark rich tonkatsu sauce. Zach and I devoured 15 skewers each and then rolled out of the restaurant.



In the Shinsaibashi shopping street there is a Kaiten (rotation, or conveyor belt) Sushi place that offered all you can eat sushi for under 10 dollars (890 yen). Of course the sushi didn't have the most generous slices of fish, but at that price its still an excellent value. I put away 12 plates worth and at 2 pieces per plate it comes out to about 37 yen a piece.



These ugly little guys in this fishtank are the famous Fugu blowfish, which is a dish I have never had. I love eating, and I also enjoy trying some crazy things, but I try to avoid any dinner that might kill me!

A Return

Since my plans for Sweden fell through I have been pondering my next move. One thing I decided was that I needed to keep up my unbroken streak of a trip a year. Another consideration in my decision to take a trip, any trip, is that I have a brand new passport that needs to be broken in.



While I did have a one way ticket to Copenhagen in my possession, in the end I decided to head back to Japan for a while. It is now over two years since I left, and I have a lot of friends and places that I miss.



I want to wander the streets of Shinjuku, drink draft Asahi with my mates, eat metric tons of Okonomiyaki, see Fushimi Inari, and so much more. I've missed the people, places and foods of Japan since I left, and I've decided it's time for another visit.



I do feel a little bad because I always try and visit new things when I go on vacation, so I'm trying to fit in a week or so in China while I'm in the area. This will both let me add a new city or two to my list and let me see another good friend who is now living in Shanghai. Though of course Japan, and Kanazawa, comes first.



I'll be gone from the 5th of November to the 5th of December, so I leave in exactly three weeks. It feels good to be excited again.

Guest Post: To Grant, From Zach

The truth of the content of this post may be subject to opinion or solar activity.

So Grant is gone from Japan (see disclaimer above) and back in America (If you believe everything you read on the internet).

How did it get to this point you might ask? Well it all goes back to a rainy night last August when Grant was bitten by an Ukai cormorant ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cormorant_Fishing_on_the_Nagara_River) that thought Grant's chubby thumb was a delicious river fish to be captured for it's master. Grant contracted avian cormorant rabies which can easily be cleared up with antibiotics. An easy enough fix, however, since the recent resignation of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, all antibiotics have been made unavailable to non-native residents until a new Prime Minister can pull Oda Nobunaga's katana from the stone.

Well, rather than face a slow painful loss of digits to the avian cormorant rabies (the silent killer) Grant decided to go back to America where antibiotics are available to anyone with a concealed firearms license.

(end disclaimer- these statements following previous introduction are not all made up crazy talk and actually did happen)

But before Grant left his Asian "home away from homeland" he wanted to spend one last weekend in the big Osaka, living it up in Japan's most exciting city.

I met Grant at Osaka station where he was having a little trouble with the transition of things in his life. By this I mean, actually all the things in Grants life that he owns were stuffed into three suitcases and two bags and he was having serious issues with the transition between the ticket gates at the train station. With an extra hand (my right one) moving Grant's things became a much simpler challenge and we carried his luggage halfway across Osaka to a prison restaurant where the guards were nice enough to stash his bags in the prison-kitchen.

My friend Gothic-Lolita Kate and her acquaintance from Tokyo had already arrived ahead of us and had been escorted to our cell-table in handcuffs by a lovely young Japanese waitress in a blue latex police uniform. Since Grant and I were late we didn't get the handcuff treatment and were shown to our table, un-manacled. We ate deep fried cheese balls and avocado fondue while sipping cocktails from beakers and eyedroppers.

After about an hour the lights dropped and all the waiters ran around in monster masks screaming, smashing walls and kissing Kate's head while alarms rang and latex lady-cops fired their cap guns for our own protection.

A lot of other things happened for Grant that weekend and since this is his blog, I shall leave the rest of those tellings to him. Please don't make fun of his lumpy discolored thumb.

Locked up in Jurassic Park

Being that it's pretty much Zach's fault that I was in Japan in the first place, and that I hadn't been down to Osaka to visit him in a while, I figured it would be a good idea to swing by his tiny bachelor pad for a few days and hang out with one of my oldest pals.



The weekend kicked off with a trip to Lockup, a prison themed restaurant that involved sexy police women, prison cells, escaped monsters, and mad scientist style drinks. The highlight of the night wasn't the sexy police women, it was the gloriously delicious fried potato-cheese creations that we ordered three times!



The next day, while Zach peddled gamely through downtown Osaka to his Japanese lesson, I met up with Travis and our friend Lynnsie at Universal Studios Japan. USJ is an almost exact carbon copy of the original park in LA, only everything is in Japanese and the lines are a LOT shorter. Maybe it was just the heat of late summer in Kansai, but the park was certainly on the empty side, which made waiting in line a lot more convenient that it could have been. We rode every ride we had on our "To Do List," and even rode the excellent log-flume style Jurassic Park ride twice!




Why I wanted to plummet straight down almost 10 stories twice, I'm not quite sure. But it was great fun, and the adrenaline rush helped clear my mind of the fact that in three days, I was leaving Japan.

Another Osaka Weekend

I went back to Osaka for a quick weekend getaway. Poor Nick, stuck away in tiny Daishoji ("We have A bar!") wanted to get out of Hokuriku and see a real city, and I am always up for a trip to the best Mexican food in Japan.



Of course the first stop for us was the Osaka Aquarium. I was eager to run my Nikon through its paces in this most difficult photographic environment. I have to admit, I think it preformed quite admirably. Nice was wonderfully patient as he waited for me to catch up after shooting my many, many pictures.



While waiting an HOUR to get into El Pacho's we met Vickie, a JET from Shikoku. The tales of her deep boondocks town had the both of us admitting that Hokoriku isn't all that rural in reality. We all stuffed ourselves on Enchiladas and refried beans and quesadillas and... well suffice it to say that we left fat and happy. The half pitcher of margaritas worked wonders as well. Now do let it be said however, that while this is probably some of the best Mexican, IN JAPAN, it is a far cry from the real deal. For one thing, it's not spicy at all, and for another, its a little too sweet. Alas, it will just have to do.



Feeling a bit overstuffed, Nick and I meandered through the bright lights of Namba, stopping in one bar to watch some World Cup for a bit, but we retreated when a really, really drunk Kiwi decided I was his best friend. I'm not quite sure what he was talking about, but he was weird in a way that went beyond the alchohal. We ended up at Club Pure, THE Osaka late night hangout. It was Saturday night and you could hardly move it was so crowded. Heck, when we left there was a line out the door down the hall up the stairs and into the streets. At 1:00 AM. Sheesh, it was fun, but it wasn't *that* fun.












The next morning we grabbed a quick breakfast then went north to the Umeda Sky tower. It's not the tallest building around, but it is certainly one of the most striking. The glassy twin spires topped by a "sky garden" is now one of the landmarks of Osaka.



Matt came up here when he was in Osaka, and while he enjoyed it, I recall him mentioning that the exposed elevator ride made him a bit wobbly in the knees. I can certainly understand his predicament. Its an amazing view of the city though, well at least it would be if it wasn't so smoggy.



We parted ways in the station, with Nick going to Kyoto for a day or two and myself heading back up to Kanazawa. I met up with Fiona and Dan and we went bowling for a couple hours. Wow we were bad. I actually won the first game (111) and lost the second (76?). Yeah, it was ugly. Yet it was also sooo much fun! We then met up with Paul and a great deal of others for the Japan vs Croatia game, and that was a lot of fun to watch. The bar was standing room only, and woe to anybody who had to use the restroom!



Next: Here Comes the Sun...

Internet Legend

As some may have noticed, along the sidebar of my blog I have a small selection of links. One of those leads to Outpostnine.com, a blog that has been kept by Azrael (Jeff) a Kyoto area JET. In it he describes the many funny, and painfully funny, situations that you come across when you are a very tall black man in the middle of Japan. He writes with such humor that I have been known to actually double over in laughter, and I am not the only one. He even got a small blurb printed in Newsweek a few months back! Attached to this blog is a messegeboard service that I post on occasionally, along with hundreds of other people, some of whom live here in Japan.

So one of the other Kyoto JETs (Josh) decided to put together a birthday party for his friend, and made it an Outpostnine get together, with people coming down to Osaka from all over Japan. Eleven people met in Osaka for the party, and so we got to meet Az, eat Mexican food, sing Karaoke, and generally have a great time. The food was great, huge plates of Mexican grub. I got the Enchilada combo and it came with two enchiladas, a taco, a taquito, quacamole, and beans. It was pure heaven.

It was nice to really get to know some of the faces behind the screen names I talk to every day. I was most shocked to see that two of the people who came down were not only women, but middle aged women to boot! I certainly didn't expect to see such a high percentage of women my Mom's age being hardcore internet geeks. Which is not to say they weren't cool, everybody was great. We had many interesting conversations, and Azrael in person was what you would expect. Funny, and a bit chagrined by his growing internet popularity.

The second half of the trip was to the ancient capital of Nara, home to the larget wooden building in the world, as well as other interesting things to see. I'll touch on that tomorrow.



The Man Himself, and another Kyoto area JET.



The group at Karoke. It is too bad we only had an hour, we really got into the swing of things.

Osaka: The End

I woke up to the first full day of 2006 with far too few hours of sleep. Despite this, I felt happy, and raring to go. I let Jared sleep another hour, yet that wasn't quite long enough for him, so I let him be a little while longer and headed out on my own to experience a rather unique way of celebrating the new year, the Happy Bag.

On January 1st stores in Japan bag up selections of their wares and then put the bags on sale for a fixed price. Depending on where you shop, you have either no idea or very little idea of what is actually in the bag. The only thing you know is that whatever is inside is worth at least what you paid. Often it is worth more than you paid, and there is the catch. It is sort of a combo of gambling and the thrill of opening Christmas gifts. While I was in Osaka I came to the realization that I need (Need!) two new digital cameras. A nice slim little pocket point and shoot, and a digital SLR for the more heavy duty work. While I need to save up a bit for the big one, I had some disposable income and decided to try my luck at a happy bag to see if I could get discount on a nice camera. As things turned out, I got a very nice little Fuji, and it is about half the size of my current digital. I still use my Olympus a bit, but it is very nice to have more options. I go a great price too!

Once I was back with my new toy, and happy as a clam playing with sleek Japanese technology, I headed back up to Jared's room to deliver a more persistent wake up call. We just wandered around Osaka for a while, shopping, eating, chatting before ending up at one of the coolet arcades I have every seen, Joypolis. Yes the City of Joy, home of photo booths, virtual ping pong, and linked MarioCart. I'm no stranger to Japanese arcades, but this one was a bit more high tech then most. But then it had its low tech moments. Like a super cheesy Indiana Jones knock off treasure hunt that was a total rip off. By and large however, we were filled with joy, so I guess thats truth in advertising at work!

We actually stayed up pretty late, hanging out, chatting and the like. We got up early the next morning, checked out and headed for a last crack at Osaka Castle. Luckily it was open this time, so along with a few thousand other people, we got to explore the insides. It was cool, but between my distinct lack of sleep and the crushing crowds, it wasn't really as cool as I had perhaps hoped it would be. Still worth seeing. On the way out we ran into a strange little street performance. I have no idea what was going on, but it was interesting enough, so we bought some ice cream and watched for a little while.

On the Shinkansen home Jared complained that it was too fast, he wanted more time to enjoy the trip, especially for the amount of money he paid. Some people are just never happy!



The view from my hotel room. Hello busy JR Line!



How cool is that, linked horse racing. You too can be a jockey.



Jared taking a stab at virtual ping pong. Really a fascinating bit of technology.



As we call it, the drum game, I think the actual title is Taiko no tatusjin. Something like that. The important thing is to pick a song, and drum along. Absolutly tons of fun, especially with two players.



Performers outside the castle.