A whirlwind tour of Japan

We’ve been and gone to Japan and it seems like the 10 days we spent there were over in an instant.  We started with Tokyo and firstly we were struck by the difference to Beijing.

Beijing is on the move..  It is bright and shiny and there are building works going on everywhere.  Tokyo looks like it moved about 1980.  We supposed this was when their economy was booming and probably Beijing will be like that in 20 years. 

Japan was a bit of a culture shock – a lot of which we can contribute to the fact we weren’t in any place long enough to get comfortable and some to the fact we’ve been travelling in the East for a while now and Japan is very western by comparison.  So whilst it was nice to be in cities that weren’t all that different to Australia – I’m sorry to say Westerners are probabaly far more concerned with getting to wherever they’re going – usually to work! and this can make them appear to be less friendly?  I think Japan suffers from this as well.

In Beijing, we only had to hold up a map and we’d have someone come up and ask us were we ok, could they help?  In Japan, we spent an awful lot of time just trying to find our way around – the maps were terrible and when you asked directions, it usually consisted of something akin to “just around that corner” with a vague wave of an arm.   We both had a bit of a meltdown with some staff at the Tokyo station when we were told to validate our train passes at the office “just around the corner”.  After wandering aimlessly for about 20 minutes, we finally discovered the office – around the corner, walk about 500 metres, up the stairs to another level, through a labrynth of tunnels, around several more corners etc etc!!!  Not happy Jan – I can tell you!!

You can imagine what we said, when after having validated our passes and got our tickets for the train, we asked the lady where we should go to get to the platform.  Guess what she said?  “Oh not far - just around corner” and vaguely waved her arm!!!  Paul made her come out of her ticket office and show us – she ended up walking us all the way there!

Our time in Tokyo consisted of meandering through the subway and getting lost about a million times.  The train subways link up with a huge network of subways that connect to office buildings and shopping malls.  You can walk for miles underground.

We went for dinner in the “young people’s” area and spent a lot of time people watching – particularly checking out the fashions.  Like in China, Japanese women are trying to be taller, whiter and not have black, straight hair.  Lots of blonded hair with curls and stilettos so tall, you could see some were struggling to even walk!  The big difference was in the length of the skirts.  China was a bit more modest – here the shorter and probably the frillier, the better. 

The Japanese young men are way more metrosexual than anywhere else we’ve been.  It seems that the Duran Duran hair cut is a big fashion statement at the moment!

So, after a quick whiz around Tokyo, we headed for Hakone for a trip to see Mt Fuji… not.  As you will see from our photos – Fuji was hiding.  We had fun (although freezing) on the pirate ship, cable car and funicular – all part of a travel pass designed to give ultimate views of the mountain – all we saw was each other as the rain and cloud created a complete white out.

Geisha hunting was next on our list in Kyoto.  We wondered through the Gion district, where a number of streets have been recreated as traditional streets – all lined with restaurants and tea houses etc.  This is where you may be lucky enough to catch a geisha hurrying along on her way in the evening. 

Apparently, it is quite popular for Japanese tourists to hire kimonos and get their hair done and stroll through Gion.  This led to Michael peering at kimono-clad women and announcing – “Oh no – she’s a fake one!”

When we finally caught sight of our first “real” geisha, we realised how quick they travel.  They really scoot along in their thongs and you have to be very well prepared to get a good photo.  Some of our photos were taken by Paul because I threw the camera at him and got him to sprint up the road after them.  They also have a bad habit of walking demurely towards you and just as you get ready to take that prize pic; they dash off down a side alley!

We had a good laugh at the menu posted on the door of a restaurant in a geisha street.  It announced that it served beef of the same family tree that was eaten by the shogun and next to that was the family tree to prove it!  Instead of a finger print; this pedigree came complete with “nose print”!  I’m assuming cow’s noses must have an individual print??

Unfortunately, our evening was ruined by a nasty bus driver, who on our trip home, suddenly started yelling in staccato Japanese.  All the bus drivers wear white gloves and have a face microphone.  This one also had a white surgical face mask on, which made him look even more scary. 

We didn’t take any notice of him until he started carrying on and I casually looked up to see who he was yelling at.  Suddenly, he stopped the bus and came flying down the aisle to us sitting at the back – all the time yelling in Japanese.  He must have suddenly realised we didn’t have a clue what he was on about, so he switched to yelling in broken English – at Ashlea.  “You not press button!” he screamed right in her face and then did the “I have my eye on you” with his white gloved fingers and stomped back up the aisle and drove off.  We were all sitting there stunned – and to Ashlea’s credit, she didn’t cry, which I thought was pretty brave for a 7 year old.

After a quick overnighter to Osaka, where we braved the glass escalators to see the observation tower; we arrived in Hiroshima…