Japan Day 10: Osaka aquarium 行くぜ!
Osaka is a much more “average” city then Tokyo or Kyoto. The buildings are mostly concrete without the culture of Kyoto or the wow factor of Tokyo. But at night it comes alive. Many of the side streets around our place are straight out of anime or Blade Runner with…
Japan Day 8 & 9: torii and Osaka
A failed attempt to eat at a famous ramen joint for lunch – apparently restaurants here may be closed on tuesdays – did put us close to a local sake brewery. I’d like to say they are as plentiful here as micro breweries are in the US but they may…
Japan: Kyoto sword and armor store
There were some awesome suits of traditional Japanese armor and blades for sale in a shop in the Northern Higashiyama area of Kyoto. The only swords I could afford were display only (not sharpenable). But they do carry really nice hakama which I needed for jujitsu. The proprietor was really…
Japan Day 9: bamboo and tofu
The golden pavilion (鹿苑寺 – rokuonji) in Kyoto is a gorgeous temple and grounds and very well maintained. Like all the national landmarks hordes of workers are constantly tending the land: picking up leaves one by one and replacing stones scuffed off walkways. We debate on how many of these…
Japan Day 7 & 8: on to Kyoto
The Tokyo fish market is as crazy as it is said to be. Sarah and I did not bother trying to go the the tuna auction in the morning since one really needs to get there by 4:30 to get a spot. But we did arrive in time to catch…
Japan Day 6: impassable dragon
This is the first full day after having met up with Nikesh, Alex, and Marina. We will be with the first two for the remainder of the trip but Marina will be leaving in a week. Tokyo is the busiest city I have yet to see. The sidewalks and streets…
Japan Day 5: Tokyo addresses I hate you
Another huge travel day. This is the last day in the Japanese country side. After this it is all big cites: Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, and Hiroshima. But, before rejoining the hectic life (and holy shit is Tokyo hectic) we walked the 8 km between 2 post towns following the footsteps…
Japan Day 4: ご飯
Apple tarts and coffee started off the day – light fair to be made up for later. The daily exercise of excess started at lunch. Pretty standard North Indian fair as can be found all around where we live in the US, but presumably a find in Japan. At least…