Japan, Year 3 - part 5

Now we enter the real meat of the journey. And the real heat.

After a quick night's rest and a delicious breakfast with Yugo's cousins, Fusae and Rika, we all hopped onto the train to Kyoto to begin an awe-inspiring and sometimes grueling but always fascinating trek through the temples, museum and zoo of the former capital. There seem to be more temples there than you can shake a stick at, and Yugo shook a stick at every one.

Some of the specifics concerning the history of each temple melted from our brains as we walked and baked in the sun, but each was stunning in its own right.

We began the day at the National Museum and its collections of pottery and paintings from early to modern Japan, and a few works from Europe as well. (No swords, but more on that later.)

After the museum, our first stop was Kiyomizudera on top of a hill with a view of Kyoto. There are several buildings involved in each temple, and the main shrine at Kiyomizudera had a place called the "womb": a totally dark path under the temple that you followed by touch and tried not to bump into the Australians in front of you. At the end of the path, you could spin a large rock and make a wish. Unfortunately, the weather stayed hot and humid.

We then traveled back down through the streets of Kyoto to find a place for lunch. If you are wondering about the menu of these meals, lunch was often Zaru-soba, cold soba noodles, which are quite good and healthy in the heat, especially accompanied by a cold beer.


And we commiserated with the goldfish outside one shop, who needed their own ice cubes.

After lunch, we stopped at Yasakajinja, where people come to wish for good fortune in business. Yugo dropped in his coin and rang the bell, so we are all waiting for his great success.

Japan, Year 3 - part 4

Osaka (大阪), city of commerce, is at the heart of Japan's second largest metropolitan area (thank you wikipedia). After Nishiwaki, a return to the metropolis for the start of a whirlwind tour of Japan. Although we only spent a day in Osaka, it was a memorable one for Yugo, as we visited the giant Osaka aquarium (which houses no less than 2 whale sharks and a manta ray) and the giant Osaka Toy Store and took a ride on the giant Osaka ferris wheel.

The aquarium was a crowded affair and it was fun to watch so many people thinking hard about the different ways they could eat what they were watching. Yugo grabbed the camera action too, taking about 500 pictures of blurry fish parts, and was sometimes the object of fascination as well.

After the aquarium, we took the ferry through part of the port, hopped on a train and went back to the center of the city for some toy shopping. Yugo fit right in with the other children, jumping in front of a console with his new backpack.

After the toy store, we met Fusae and headed to the Juso neighborhood, not quite a red-light district, but not far off either. Papa was supposed to go to a concert in the area, but jet lag and heat took him out of play. We were all rewarded for the trip to Juso, however, by delicious okonomiyaki from Yamamoto's okonomiyaki restaurant.

When we could eat no more, we hopped on the giant ferris wheel perched on top of a large building and enjoyed a digestive ride, contemplating the Osaka skyline under the setting sun.

It was a fast, busy city, and one day could not do it justice. So we vote for more Osaka next year.

Japan, Year 3 - part 3

On his second full day in Hyogo prefecture, Yugo went to the pirate playground and Doji-yama in the morning, then embarked on a fateful drive north. The first stop for the unsuspecting travelers was a pottery center near Sasayama, known for its Tachikui yaki. While Yugo was tempted to run into the kiln, his talents were better spent running wildly through the pottery displays (we hope everyone enjoys their bag of shards) and especially crafting a few clay shapes of his own.



Then the weather started getting rough. The tiny car was tossed. The ominous clouds in the first picture above were no joke. The rain started at lunchtime and followed us through the mountains. We were determined to see the Japan Sea and the western coast, maybe even a few beaches, but a constant downpour and an utter inability to use the helpful GPS navigator, led us on a six-hour tour of rain-soaked mountains and highways. We did, however, come close to the coastal town of Obama (no, not a typo), which was basking in a summer of celebrity thanks to its presidential namesake. Whether Barack himself is aware of the coincidence or whether it will help him in November, I know not.


The next morning, it was time to say farewell to Nishiwaki and climb onto the bus for Osaka.

Japan, Year 3 - part 2

After a 19 hour flight and an 11 hour time difference, there is nothing better than getting behind the wheel of a right-hand drive car for your first time and driving through the streets of Japan - which are, in general, wide enough to ride a bicycle through if you squeeze your elbows in and hold your breath. But it was time to fetch water from the mountains.

We stopped along the way so Yugo and his cousins Fusae and Rika could look for little crabs in a mountain stream...

and taste the local produce.

After finding no crabs but some sweet corn, we headed further into the mountains onto even narrower roads, testing Yugo's papa's ability not to hit cypress trees. At the spring, the best tasting water in the area according to some, Yugo rinsed and filled almost all of the small bottles by himself, while his aunt Yoshie filled the big reservoirs.

Mind sharpened by nerve-jangling driving and several glasses of Shochu, Yugo's papa "played" a game of Go with Yugo's Ojii-chan. It only took a few moves for grandfather to realize Papa had no clue what he was doing.

Japan, Year 3 - part 1

Yugo and his folks are just back from Japan after two weeks of fun, food and temples! in the hot, hot late-July and early August weather. The hours are upside down and it may be noon Saturday, though it feels like midnight Sunday, and Yugo is fast asleep. Here is a first posting, with more to come.

First day, after arriving in Nishiwaki, an early morning walk along the river. It would seem that cement is popular in Japan as a way of channeling nature, or at least exercising a modicum of control. Whole mountainsides are covered with cement lattices to prevent landslides and the rivers often have cement channels and rapids built in. Just an observation.

The shrine on Doji mountain at the end of a quiet street where a kind gentleman (who never told us his name) took us after we met along the riverbank. There is a pilgrimage of 33 temples in the Kansai area, but conveniently, there are 33 statues behind this shrine, which avoids the hassles of a long trek. (we, however, avoided this convenience and went to all 33 temples. Ha, ha, I jest. But we saw many a temple, and beautiful ones at that. Just wait).

Also on Doji-yama is this cool pirate playground, which Yugo loved, and to which we returned the next morning. It seemed like a great place, and we wondered why it looked so neglected. As it turns out, it wasn't because of the deafening sounds of the nearby cage of turtledoves and ducks or the trees full of cicadas, but because it was the number one hobo hangout and suicide spot in town. A bummer, to say the least, but it did not daunt Yugo in his sacred quest to play with dirt and rocks in every city in Japan.
From the top of Doji-yama, a view of Nishiwaki. The Yamamoto household is down there somewhere, but this picture is most telling for the mountains, which were a constant presence throughout our travels and always a lush, dark green.
And, of course, as Yugo and his father soon learned, Nishiwaki has a deserved reputation as the best dressed city in Japan.

Memorial Day in 2008

I am hoping peace in the world from the top of a mountain.

Entomologist goes to Bug Forest (Bear Mountain)

I am in Bug Forest, and let's study ecology of insects.

Rescue Animals.....Tigers in Danger.

Yugo has learned that tigers are in danger of extinction, since people have killed them for their bones, and hearts for making medicines, and skins for rugs. People have to understand that they can never be strong like Tiger. Anyway, Yugo's decided to go out there to rescue animals!
Wait! wait! Tiger..I am here!

Heh...hehe...who's this?

Youkai's (Monster) Day for New York Kid

Watch out your back... Mouse Man (Nezumi Otoko) is coming.
Hey! I am "Nezumit-Otoko", no no no...I am Yugo! TV Japan asked me for an interview at Kinokuniya, and I was too shy to tell them how I felt being Nezumi-Otoko.


Eating ice cream on the grass under the sun in the mid of Manhattan (at Bryant Park) is so good!
Papa says, "Jiji should be proud of you gnawing bones". I just like it!

春だ！！！

Come into my wonderful world!

Just warming up! Ready for Super Soccer!

Oh...Mighty Matey! Hee Hoo Hui　★

Go! Go! Super Soccer!

This is Yugo's first soccer game, and impressively he made a big goal, but we are not sure which team won in the end.