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!

Road Trip!

Travis took a day off to spend hanging out with me, and we decided to drive to nearby Takayama in Gifu Prefecture. I had been before during the fall festival, which is famous as one of the three best in Japan, so it had been very crowded. I was eager to see Takayama when it was a little less packed with humanity.



Takayama is a pretty easy day trip from Kanazawa if you are driving, but more of a weekend excursion if you take the bus. The town is famous for the well preserved Edo era town center, with old wooden shops and houses filling several square blocks. We found it was also quite famous for its sake, and we both picked up a bottle of milky white unfiltered Nihonshu.



I suppose the drizzling rain did its part to keep the crowds to a minimum, but I would have preferred sunshine and blue skies. We stopped for lunch at a small restaurant that served only hand made soba. Soba are buckwheat noodles, and are always served cold. In the summer, soba noodles are dipped in a cold broth as a refreshing meal in the sticky heat. Our late fall meal presented us with a hearty hot soup of duck and vegetables to dip the noodles into. I've always bought soba from the convenience store as a quick and cheap meal. It's not bad that way, but in no way compares to how amazingly delicious this simple dish tasted.



We also stopped by the old administrative center of the city and the area. The building had rooms for the local governmental officials and their staff, and it was fun to see a traditional Japanese building that wasn't a temple, shrine or castle. In a country that has seen so many earthquakes and fires, it is always nice to happen upon a little piece of preserved history.



Between Kanazawa and Takayama lies the World Heritage Site of Shirakawa-go. I had stopped at this collection of old farmhouses previously, but since I had been on the bus the stop was very brief. I jumped at the chance to spend some more time strolling among the gassho-zukuri (praying hands houses, so named for the angled shape of the thatched roof.) The area really is very beautiful, and I feel like I have to go back at least once more to really do it photographic justice. The heavy rain clouds and fading light were a great impediment to photography this day.



After spending all day walking around in the chill autumn rain, Travis and I both agreed that a brief onsen stop was in order. Near the parking lot was a small local bath house, complete with sauna and outdoor tubs. The best way to cap off a day of sightseeing in the Japanese Alps must be a good hot spring soak.

Golden Marsh

In everyone's life there will be a few locations that will always be loved and remembered. Kanazawa is most certainly one of those places for me.



Returning was very interesting, the chance to see what had changed and what had not. Coming into downtown from the train station, I could see that the fish market had been totally redone, but much of Katamachi was as I had left it two years ago. All in all the soul of the city remained the same, many of the same great bars, the same great people, the same horrible weather.



Speaking of bars and people, one of the must stop places while I was in the area was The World's Greatest Yakitori Joint. Whenever anybody arrives or leaves, the owner (aka Master) shouts and bangs the drum. The theatricality doesn't take away from the excellent food and very large beers.



Once again I learned that despite the passage of time, your true friends will ALWAYS be your true friends. Seeing Travis, Mo, Liz, Yukie, Rie, Noboru and more for the first time in years was fantastic. Even catching up with people I had only known for a little while was wonderful.



Kanazawa may not be the largest or most exciting city in Japan, but no matter where I end up in life, it will always be close to my heart.

Tokyo Bits and Bobs

Walking from Asakusa to the Tokyo-Edo Museum was not one of my brightest ideas. I never really got lost, per se, but there was a stretch where I was a might bit bewildered. Luckily, I made it to my destination without too much trouble, and the museum itself was totally worth it. Split up into two halves, the first covered the founding and growth of the old Tokugawa capital Edo. The second was devoted to the modern history of Tokyo, from the late 1800s to the present day through redevelopment, earthquakes and war. I was very impressed with the displays and the contrast between old and new in Japan's capital.




The next day I want to do something free, so I started off at the Yebisu Beer Museum. The short trip through the history of Yebisu and Sapporo beer was interesting, but the highlight of course is the tasting room. I sampled a premium pilsner, which was quite delicious and had much more complexity than the standard issue Asian lager.



Tokyo can be an overwhelming city, even for those who are familiar with it, so I was glad to make a stop at Meiji Jingu. Right in the middle of the city, near the hip Harajuku shopping area, the shrine is an oasis of calm. While it is always busy with tourists and visitors, the area is large enough and green enough that you don't really notice.



Another thing I like to do when I am in Tokyo is stop by the Nikon office in Shinjuku. They offer a sensor cleaning service that is free if you are still under warranty, and only about 10 dollars if you aren't. As my precious D-80 does NOT have a self cleaning sensor, I find this an excellent way to make sure my photos are dust spot free. (Saves time in photoshop later)



After picking up my camera, I was just a few blocks away from the Tokyo Metropolitan Building. One of the tallest in the city, the building has two (free) observation lounges perched at the top of the towers.



I had never actually made it to the top before, and I find myself wondering why not. The view was fantastic, and it was far less commercial than Tokyo Tower to the south. Located at the bottom of the elevator was an excellent tourist information area, making the whole thing a must see for any first time visitor to Japan.




Looking out over Tokyo I am always struck by how massive a megaplex it is. I have more photos that I took from the Metropolitan building, but most are HDR, so when I have them processed, they will get a separate post. Also, people may notice a new tag, Free Japan. Posts with this label will point to something that is absolutely free, proving that while Japan may be expensive, there are wonderful experiences to be had even on a budget.

Early Morning Senso-ji

One of my goals on this trip was to see things that I hadn't gotten around to yet. During my two years in Japan I saw a lot of sights, but there is always more to see and do, especially in a city as large and dynamic as Tokyo. One of the places on my list was Senso-ji, the largest most famous Buddhist temple in Tokyo.



The story of Senso-ji, also called Asakusa Kannon, starts in the 600's when two local fishermen find a golden idol of the goddess of mercy, Kannon in the nearby Sumida river. The temple was built to enshrine the statue, and over the centuries grew to its present dramatic size and popularity. The temple did burn down in the war, and the current buildings are concrete reconstructions.



I found that one of the downsides of starting my day before 5 am was that by 8 I had been up for hours, and yet little was open yet. Senso-ji was almost empty, the myriad trinket vendors lining the entrance street all locked up and silent. Even when I walked over to the nearby Kappa-dori, home of the plastic food and restaurant supply stores I found that early Saturday morning was not a busy time for them.



After a fair amount of aimless meandering, I walked back through the temple grounds close to noon, and found that things had picked up remarkably. There was some sort of festival in full swing, so there were street vendors with snacks and drinks on offer, and booths set up to display chrysanthemum flowers.



I had intended the trip to Asakusa to take up a full day of sightseeing, but I had done all I needed to do, and it was barely noon! I felt that a walk to the Edo-Tokyo Museum was a good idea, even though I didn't really have a map, nor a good sense of how far it was...

Tsukiji

The Tsukiji fish market is an overwhelming riot of sounds, colors, smells and speeding mini trucks. This is not your typical tourist market, indeed large tour groups cannot visit and during the busiest season all tourists are banned.



However, for those that brave the very early morning wake up call and the chaotic market traffic, the reward is a look at the largest wholesale seafood market in the world. Around 2,000 pounds of seafood a day passes through Tsukiji.



The area is built rather like an onion, with a surrounding district of shops forming the skin, and then layers of supplementary shops and stalls selling a wide variety of non seafood items mixed in with sushi restaurants. The actual market occupies a large area in the center. The Saturday morning that I was there was a popular one, as many tourists and Tokyoites had come down for a taste of the freshest sushi you can find, leading to lines that ranged from long to staggeringly long.



The best reason to make the trip is the sheer spectacle. From lobsters to live clams to squid to slick silvery fish to massive frozen tuna, every sort of sea creature you can imagine, and a few you probably can't, makes an appearance. I was most impressed by how the frozen tuna are handled, as if they are big red frozen fish logs, saws and all. I certainly never thought I would see a fish fed into a band saw!



I really enjoyed my early morning visit, though I did have to be careful not to get too wrapped up in my shot composition, as the carts, both motorized and not, won't stop or slow down for anybody.

The Glory of Jetlag

I have returned after my most epic trip to date. In 30 Days I visited two countries, 6 airports, 12 Cities, and 17 friends. I shot approximately 23 Gigabytes of photographs, the best of which will grace this blog in the coming weeks and perhaps months.



From the moment I landed back in Japan I had this strangely giddy expression fueled by excitement, exhaustion and the hustle and bustle that is the land of the Rising Sun. My hotel was located right in the heart of urban Tokyo in the district of Shinjuku. While there are many nightlife hot spots in Tokyo, Shinjuku is among the biggest and the best.



I was up very early the morning after my arrival, a victim of the time change. I spent some time from around 3 am shooting photos from my hotel room, seen above. After an hour or so of that, I decided that a trip to the Tsukiji fish market would be a good idea. I had never visited before, as the market does most of its business before 6 AM which is a simply ghastly hour to be awake if you aren't jetlagged. With the early riser problem solved, I hit the streets around 5, en route to the largest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world.

HDR Clearinghouse

Here is a grab bag of HDR Images from various places that I've visited over the past couple of years. First up we have the Ring of Kerry in Ireland.



Followed by St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin.



And then we have St. Peter's in Rome.



The Trevi Fountain, also in Rome.



The Denver Center for Performing Arts.



Byodo-in is a Buddhist temple built on Oahu as an exact replica of the temple of the same name near Kyoto. The Kyoto version is actually featured on the 10-yen coin. Funnily enough, I saw a book, 1001 Gardens to See Before You Die, that included the garden of the Japanese Byodo-in, but used a file photograph of the Oahu version, complete with the distinctive volcanic cliffs in the background.



Finally we have a view of Honolulu Harbor at sunset.

Schnoodle Snow Balls

While much of the snow from late last week melted over the weekend, the back yard still has a fair covering. Fritz the Wonder Schnoodle (TM) is absolutely fascinated by snowballs, and will 'fetch' them all afternoon long. He will dig like crazy searching for the missing ball, until a new one is formed and lobbed. We had a photo shoot this afternoon with dad chucking the snowballs while I tried to capture him in mid pounce. I never really succeeded with that, but I got some fun photos anyway.