My Wonderful trip to the Zen World of Japan :)

Japan- The trip of a lifetime! (You might want to take a bathroom break or read this in chunks 'cuz it's kinda long :) :) )

I had some pretty big expectations for Japan as many people had told me how wonderful it was. My expectations were met and blown away!! It was AMAZING!!! I can't get over how great Japan is....everything about it was interesting and wacky and wild! The people were wonderfully friendly, the trees were absolutely gorgeous, the Temples had the most amazing energy and the food was scrumptious!!! I traveled with two great friends from here in Korea both of which happen to be from Manchester, England. We all had such a great experience and want to go back!

Tokyo- Highs: Meeting a Samurai Lows: only having one night in such an amazing city!
We landed in Tokyo on Saturday afternoon with the intentions of being on a somewhat of a budget. We had to pay a lot of money just to get our Rail Passes (we traveled through Japan using the Shinkensan (bullet) trains...they are the fastest trains in the world and they are super efficient and comfy). As well we spent a lot on our tickets for the Fuji Rocks Festival so we had all decided to be very careful with our money. However, once we got into Tokyo we headed up to ASASAKA to where they were having a huge Fireworks festival on the Sumida river. Once on the subway we started noticing many people wearing Kumonos (actually Ukatas for the summer). Chris the British guy I was traveling with made a few comments about how great it would be if we could wearing them as well....sooooo after seeing the first group of foreigners in Kumonos we stopped in a shop and started trying them on...needless to say after being in Japan for only an hour we were walking around in Kimonas (so much for the budget!)

It was great to see so many people dressed in traditional clothing. I soon realized that Japanese men are GORGEOUS! I didn't realize that there was a big difference between Korea, China and Japan, I was wrong! We spent the afternoon walking around in awe at the Japanese people, architecture and cleanliness.

In the evening we gathered around with thousands of Japanese trying to get a good spot to watch these famous fireworks. They were really good but the amazing part about them was that they went on for over an hour!! They just kept going and going and going.....

Our accommodations in Tokyo were pretty wacky! We stayed in a capsule hotel. So what that means is they have separate little cubby holes for each person. In each little capsule you have your own tv, radio and alarm. It was pretty sweet as the also had a bathhouse (hot tub) on the top floor with a wicked view of the city.

Because we only had one night in Tokyo we decided we had to do it up right. So we got some advice from some American guys we met about where to head out. Once on the subway we met a group of wicked Japanese people, one of which walked us right to one of the coolest bars I've ever been to. It was in the Shibuya area which is where they filmed some of the movie Lost in Translation. The strip that the bar was on was full of little tiny bars. They were literally holes in the wall with anywhere between 5-15 people crammed into them. We met this guy who I can't help but compare to a Samurai (see the picture with him and Chris). He was so wise and just oozed with charisma. The bartender gave us welcome 'sochu' shots (sochu is a distilled beverage which dates back to the 14th century making it a latecomer in comparison to sake which plays a part in Japanese mythology much like wine does in the bible. Unlike sake which is only ever made from rice, shochu can be made from a variety of different ingredients such as barley, buckwheat, sweet potatoes and sugar. The alcoholic content of shochu varies, though it is usually 25%, although sometimes it can be as high as 42% or more..there is a little lesson for you).

After a couple minutes it happened....one of the most beautiful men in the world walked up. I'm serious!!! He should have been a model! Not only was the man beautiful he was soooo nice (sadly he has a beautiful Mexican wife..hahah)!! We sat in the bar for awhile talking about music and our lives in Korea. The Samurai guy then invited us to go to a Birthday party with him. Without a second thought we were in a taxi heading to a Japanese party. We walked down into an artsy bar where the party was and I was immediately floored by the contrast of Korean vs Japanese culture. The Japanese women were dancing and everyone was having a great time. Not to say that Koreans don't have a good time but it was just different...it was nice to see woman having as good a time as the men (something you don't often see that often here in Korea).

So we partied to the wee hours of night, dancing, drinking, chatting and laughing. It was great and at 4 in the morning we had to pry ourselves away as we knew we had to get up early to get to the Fuji Rocks Festival.


Fuji Rocks Festival @ Naeba Ski Resort, near Nagano.

This festival was super expensive but super worth it! I want to go back and do all three days. It's nestled in the mountains and had over 6 stages of music varying from rock, blues, reggae and much much more. It also had tonnes of side areas with wicked art, food and randomness.
I would have to say that one of the highlights of the festival was seeing Micheal Franti and Spearhead (not to mention standing front row and touching him as he dove into the crowd). As well Jenny and participated in the biggest drum circle I've ever seen which ended with a huge thunderstruck!
We watched some Japanese blues guitarist, Rodrigo Y Gabriella (amazing female/male guitar duo-mind blowing), Lee Scratch Perry (old school reggae legend, kinda of reminded me of seeing Bob Dylan in concert...it was great to see him but he's definitely lost his oomph!). After all the live music stopped we somehow ended up in a small restaurant tent where we were given free beer and had a Bob Marley sing along with these wicked Japanese people. The late night part of the festival was all around two stage areas, one which was in an arena and the other made up of all this wacky art. We all wandered around dancing while Chris passed out in a chair covered in his poncho and beside a generator (to keep warm) it was way too funny...the festival was fantastic!! I would recommend it to anyone who is ever in the Japan area!




Mount Fuji

Our trip was pretty short so we didn't have time to climb Mount Fuji. Instead we just got as close as we could and relaxed in the small mountain town that is nestled close to the beautiful dormant volcano. We were really lucky because at this time of year the mountain can stay cloud covered for days but on our arrival we got a clear view. It was surreal how perfectly shaped Mount Fuji truly is. We stayed at a really nice hostel in the town of Fujikawaguchiko which is at the base of Mt.Fuji. Jenny and I went to an Onsen. An Onsen is basically a spa full of indoor and outdoor hot tubs, saunas and just a really beautiful building with gardens. It was just what we needed after our all night party at Fuji Rocks. On our way back to the hostel we spotted an India food restaurant and we couldn't help ourselves even though we had already eaten. I know India food in Japan sounds funny but coming from Gwangju, South Korea it was heaven!!

The next day we headed up a cable car to get a better view of Mount Fuji. Unfortunately it was cloud covered :( ...I wish I had taken more photos the day before...thems the breaks...at least I got to see it. We took a path down the mountain and saw some of the most beautiful flowers and trees. I couldn't stop taking pictures!!!

Kyoto

Kyoto was definitely the most spiritual and mind blowing place I've ever been. We were only meant to stay there for 2 days but in the end we ended up staying for three and left without really skimming the surface of all it's wonders and beauty. In saying that we managed to visit lots during our time there.

We went on a tour that was lead by an older Japanese man named Johnny Hillwalker. He was super cute and quirky. He took us on a 'behind the scenes tour' of Kyoto. We went to Higashi-Honganji, the biggest Buddhist temple in Japan. Then we went to three Shinto shrines, Ayako Tenman-gu ,Ichihime shrine (a shrine for women) and Toyokuni shrine. We learnt a lot about there 'factories' which all tend to be mom and pop shops where people are sitting on the floor making art. We saw pottery painters, fan makers and jujubead creators. I kept thinking 'hmmmmm..I could do this...I could sit here drinking green tea while making Asian art ;).
We ate traditonal sushi and Japanese cookies as well as walked through the old Geisha district and saw one of the few Geisha administration buildings (Gojo rakuen). Oh yeah!!! We saw the birthplace of NINTENDO!!!!!!!!! Did you know that nintendo actually started as a card game? It was pretty wild to be standing beside the building that Mario Brothers was created in!!!

The end of the tour brought us to the area that most overwhelming for me that day. It was the Kiyomizu Temple which is surrounded by other Temples and gorgeous scenery. It is a Unesco World Heritage site. The Temple belongs to the Tendai sect of Japanese Buddhism, and is one of the oldest temples in the city. Everywhere I looked I could either see beautiful Temples, shrines or gorgeous Asian trees.

My sister told me I had to eat enough sushi for her while I was there...I think I completed the task very well! That night we hit up a sushi bar (one where it's a train that goes around in a circle so you can just grab whatever you want). It was DELICIOUS! I ate way too much of course but I just couldn't stop myself (Amy I kept thinking of you). We then managed to find a reggae bar that was run by this super chill guy. We drank lots of good cocktails and listened to Sublime, Bob Marley and many more of my favourite music...sooo good!!

I had read that the people of Kyoto can sometimes be a little cold in comparison to the rest of Japan. We found this out first hand when we tried asking for directions to get home that night. This guy jumped back and gave me this frightened looked....I guess no where is perfect :(

The next day we rented bicycles to hit up the places that we knew we absolutely couldn't miss. Just a side not about bikes in Japan- they are everywhere!!! It's what I imagine some European countries to be like. They have biking lanes, parking lots and no bike parking signs everywhere. It's wonderful to see so many people using bikes instead of cars. This would also be a good place to mention how clean Japan is. You could seriously eat off some of the streets it's so clean. They have recycling cans instead of garbage cans as well as wind powered vending machines!!! Also, you are not allowed to smoke and walk and can only smoke in designated smoking areas...pretty cool!

Another side note---VENDING MACHINES!!! You can get anything from a vending machine in Japan. It's great they are everywhere so you never go thirsty. They also have alcohol vending machines...yup you can get a beer and walk down the street....does it get any better then that???

On our bike tour we went to another highlight of my trip (I think the entire trip is a highlight..hehehe) the Bhuddist Zen Gardens. One of them was the Daisen-in Zen Garden which is Zen Buddhist contemplative garden, within the Daitoku-ji temple complex. One part of the garden is an allegory; the other is designed for meditation. Rocks symbolise mountains. Quartz stones symbolise a river. A boat-shaped stone represents a human journey through the the troubled waters of life (symbolised by quartz) and towards Nirvana. It was unbelievable the amount of thought and intent went into these gardens. It was pristine, before entering we had a cup of green tea prepared for us by an older Japanese woman. Once inside they gave you a map and description of the meaning of everything. Every placement of rock and tree had a special meaning. It was mind blowing!

After the Zen gardens we headed to the world famous Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion Temple) is the common nickname of the Rokuonji (Deer Garden Temple). It's actually painted in gold flakes! It was pretty wild and beautiful. Although it didn't have the same affect on me as the other Temples did which I think is because it seemed overwhelming with all its gold! I did however discover a little turtle that I watched for a very long time...he was super cute...

Osaka

Well because we wanted to spend more time in Kyoto we only got to Osaka around 11 at night! Osaka is known for it's food and for it's party scene. You can imagine that we found the party scene pretty quickly. We had been drinking casually all week but holding back because we knew we had to get up early every morning to go sightseeing. However, as Osaka was our last stop we had set our intentions of drinking the night away....and that we did. Throughout the trip we kept meeting up with another friend from Korea, Colin. We met him that night and he had managed to get a group of people together from his hostel, ironically some of them were Korean. We went to the downtown area only to discover that all the crazy lights we had been expecting had already been turned off :( (In all reality I think it's great that they were turned off to conserve energy) . Instead of wild lights we found WILD FASHION AND HAIR! Oh my god you would not believe it! The guys in Osaska looked like they had just come through a ninety 80's time warp. There were tonnes of Whitney Houston's meets David Bowie's and then some! It was really hard to get pictures as these guys were also pretty pretentious. After we were done staring we found a relaxed bar and sat around with our new Korean and English friends playing Korean drinking games. I thought us Canadians had some good drinking games but now I think Koreans have us beat! The rest of the night gets a little but fuzzy....

That's pretty much the end of my whirlwind tour of Japan. It was probably the most expensive trip I've been on but it was worth every penny. If you ever want to go to Asia and have a little bit of extra money to spend GO TO JAPAN! I guarantee you will love it!

I'm so happy that I've had the chance to go and I now look forward to researching all the new things I saw and experienced.

I hope that everyone at home is having a great summer and that you are all living it up in the sun! I love you all and think about you everyday...peace and love from the wacky world of Korea...MUAHH