Japan -- Land of the ...

Sydney's Drawing of Osaka Castle, rebuilt by the Tokugawa Shogunate 

Our time in Japan is wrapping up, and I must say it's been wonderful. I expected Japan to be one huge, high tech, urban metropolis.  How wrong I was! It is mainly a beautiful, verdant country with mountains and rivers, punctuated by efficient, accessible cities filled with quiet, orderly, ultra-clean people. Ok, enough of gross generalizations. 

6 days ago we began in Hiroshima, opting to skip Tokyo altogether. Our crew isn't into shopping or clubbing, so instead we took a 4.5 hour train ride west to the coast.  On the way, Mt. Fuji rose majestically, a perfectly symmetrical mammoth covered in snow. We were awestruck. Interestingly, not one Japanese person even looked out the window.

Hiroshima greeted us with cold rain which seemed fitting for such a place. As if the skies were still crying for the tragedy they witnessed. Hiroshima feels like a small town. With its quaint and inviting canals, you'd never guess what happened there, except for the bombed out, charred remains of the atom bomb dome building which still stands in ruins. I'll let Sydney's post describe Hiroshima in greater detail. She summed it up much better than I ever could.

We loved our visit to Miyajima, a precious little island with a gate that appears to be floating in the water. Deer are considered holy, so they roam freely there. We even saw one push an automatic door opener button with his nose!  Miyajima is famous for litte fresh waffle-type cakes filled with maple bean curd. They're actually quite tasty, especially when hot and crispy.

Kyoto is a big city, but it too has aspects that make it feel like a small town.  Old one-story houses with curved Japanese roofs are nestled close together. We loved the Nishiki Market, a covered shopping area with hundreds of food stalls with fresh fish, fruit, nuts, bean curd desserts, rice, chestnuts, and other treats. We sampled liberally! After some temple visits in the snow, we ran into great friends from the ship and enjoyed a fun dinner sitting on mats at the floor.

Finally, we trekked through the cold rain to a beautiful suburb of Kyoto called Arashiyama. It feels like a little ski town. My mission was for us to walk through a bamboo forest, then experience Japanese public baths, called onsen. The  bamboo forest in the freezing cold rain didn't exactly thrill my crew, and when we arrived at the onsen an hour before it opened, I thought I had a mutiny on my hands. Fortunately, we found a tiny cafe and ordered miso soup and rice to keep us going. Kerry ordered porridge with lizard, according to the waitress, but sadly, we didn't detect any lizard in the dish. 

The public baths were an experience to say the least. They are a big deal in Japan. Fortunately, they separate men and women. Then you get nekkie and bathe yourself on this little wooden stool before hopping in the baths, which are large hot tub-like pools filled with natural spring water. Some are inside, others are outside, lined with big stones with views of the mountains in the distance. You sit in silence trying not to stare at the other naked people. It's very relaxing.

Here are Austin's thoughts on the baths.

M: Austin, how was the bath?

A: It was awesome. But when we got in the first pool, everyone else moved to the second pool. When we moved to the second pool, everyone else moved to the third pool. When we moved to the third pool, everyone else moved to the first pool.

M: Why do you think people kept moving away from you?

A: Maybe because we were loud. And I also kind of broke the rule about no swimming. I sort of glided from one side of the pool to the other.

M: Charlie, did you glide too?

C: I glided.

A: Overall, it was fun but awkward. 

And then there was the monkey park. About a hundred snow monkeys with red faces and behinds roam freely on this mountain top. It's a crazy place, and I was both enthralled and terrified at the same time. You can't make eye contact with the monkeys, or they go nuts. Really. I did it. I also saw a wild monkey fight between a demon baby monkey and a bigger one. Don't mess with those guys.

No discussion of Japan would be complete without mention of the toilets.  They may be our biggest takeaway from Japan. Imagine toasty warm seats inviting you to stay a while. The sound of a forest stream bubbles and gurgles by, to remind you of a mountain hike or to prime the pump, so to speak. After relieving yourself, a jet of warm water sprays at your hind quarters. Some toilets even have a hot air dryer to finish you off. When you're done, a sink on top of the toilet washes your hands and fills the bowl for the next person. Japan, you are a clean country filled with clean people. Forget that land of the rising sun business. We've got a new slogan for you.  Japan: Land of the Clean Heinies. 

Sushi with the boys

Miyajima island 

Arashiyama bamboo forest 

Snow monkeys near Kyoto 

Crane in Kyoto