RestlessNatives.net NativeGuide to
JAPAN
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from national geographic society |
nighttime lights from noaa |
Deb traveled to Japan in May of 1995 for a friend’s wedding. She spent 8 days exploring the area around Osaka with a friend from law school. (Also see the update at the end - George was stuck in Narita for a day in September 2000 and visited the local temple.)
My trip to Japan proved that airlines are owned and operated by evil minions of the underworld. I lived outside of Detroit in May of 1995, and at that time there was a direct flight from Detroit to Osaka, where my friend’s wedding would take place. How convenient! Unfortunately, I was informed that, in order to partake of a cheap student fare, I would be required to start my journey in Chicago, even though the flight would stop in – surprise! – Detroit, before commencing its non-stop trek across the Pacific to Osaka. So I flew from Detroit to Chicago to Detroit to Osaka.
Japan also ended my fledgling career as a currency speculator. I traveled to Japan when the yen was at an all time high against the U.S. dollar, slightly more than 80 yen to the dollar. At the end of my trip, I had a bit of surplus yen (no mean feat in Japan). Rumor was that the yen would go to 70 yen to the U.S. dollar, so I decided to save my yen and change it back to U.S. dollars later. The yen promptly plunged and has never recovered.
The highlight of the trip was, of course, the wedding festivities – a story in and of itself. However, in the space of 8 reasonably comfortable traveling days, I managed to see the sights in Hiroshima, Miyajima Island, Himeiji, Kyoto and Osaka, attend a very untraditional Japanese/American wedding, take in a professional baseball game and visit some very nifty arcades (and not so nifty karaoke bars).
Osaka – The First Time Around
The journey began in Osaka, and the first item of business after stepping off the plane was to find a train to Hiroshima. Although I have little recollection of the events, Osaka public transport must be fantastic – having just finished finals, graduation, and that Detroit-Chicago-Detroit-Osaka odyssey, our befuddled brains – neither of which spoke Japanese – managed to find the train and get to Hiroshima with no difficulty.
Hiroshima
Hiroshima has been completely rebuilt since the infamous events of August 1945, of course, and is now a thriving city that probably has lots to offer besides A-bomb memorials. Unfortunately, the A-bomb is without question what brings visitors to the city, and that is all we had time for during our whirlwind tour. The area of town near the epicenter of the bomb explosion is devoted to memorializing the destruction of the bomb. The exhibits are extremely tasteful and successfully achieve their purpose – not to scold but to educate the world about the destructive power of the bomb.
The most prominent war memorial is the building near the epicenter that has been left standing exactly as it was when the bomb exploded (see photo). In the same area you will find numerous museums, a children’s memorial, and a cenotaph dedicated to the deceased. Many of the exhibits have powerful photographic comparisons of the area before and after the bombing.
Walking around Hiroshima’s now bustling streets is a lesson in human determination, but it can also be somewhat disturbing. Despite scientific evidence that radiation is no longer present in lethal doses, my skin had an odd prickly feeling from the knowledge that, merely 50 years before, humans had been incinerated while standing in exactly the same spot that I was then standing. Which leads to the most disturbing remnant of the war – the shadow on the steps. While the shadow may be more hype than fact, there is no question that on a certain set of steps in Hiroshima, a somewhat darker area – which looks as if someone with a wet bottom and legs had recently gotten up from a sitting position – is visible. It is purportedly the shadow of a person who was sitting on the steps and was instantly incinerated upon the explosion of the bomb.
Miyajima Island
Leaving behind solemn Hiroshima, our next stop was the lighthearted island of Miyajima, a common tourist destination for Japanese and foreigners alike. The famous Miyajima Gate looks just like it does in every postcard photo I’ve ever seen of it, and there is a very nice pagoda to boot. Miyajima is also home to a lot of small, friendly deer that lounge around in hopes of a meal. Evidently not everyone has found them quite so engaging, however.
A cable car runs up to the top of the mountain, where some hokey photo opportunities with cardboard samurai, as well as breathtaking views of the surrounding islands, await.
Himeiji
I'm a big fan of fantasy novels, and so I've always enjoyed my tours of medieval European castles - the building block of every fantasy writer's fictional society. Even I have to admit, however, that Europe's castles don’t hold a candle to the one in Himeiji, which is reported to be the most defensible castle in the world according to whoever keeps statistics on these things. Its fabulous traditional architecture stands high above the town behind several levels of impenetrable walls. The photograph I took is deceptive – this is actually only the very top portion of the castle and is only a small percentage of the entire structure. From the top of the castle walls, there are great views of the city and surrounding countryside.
Kyoto
Pretty Kyoto is Japan’s cultural heart, with innumerable museums, temples, pagodas and the like. We spent one day roaming around Kyoto with the prospective groom, who needed a break from wedding planning. My favorite pagoda was the one pictured (see sidebar), which is covered with solid gold.
Another favorite is the taoist contemplation garden, which is a vast rectangle of combed pebbles with strategically placed rocks. Part of the relaxation game is to figure out what the rocks symbolize. Although given the angles in the garden it is impossible to make a photograph do justice to it, the six of us came away with the same -- undoubtedly not what the taoists intended -- interpretation of the rock formations.
Back to Osaka
The Bride's House
We popped over to the bride's parents' house one evening before the wedding. Their house was fairly western, but they had one very nifty contraption that would have served us well during those frigid Michigan winters. The dining room table and seats were low to the ground, as one would expect, but underneath was a sunken area where people dangled their legs during the evening meal - amidst strategically placed heaters, which keep one's toes toasty warm during the winter time.
Baseball Games
I am not a baseball fan, but the games in Japan are a lot of fun – not because the sport is any different but because the fans are. We went to a game between the Hanshin Tigers (sister team of our very own Detroit Tigers) and the Yokohama City Bay Stars. Attending a baseball game – like anything else in Japan – is all about rituals. First, each team is allotted two American players, and whenever one of the Americans is up at bat American flags unfurl and wave enthusiastically around the stadium. Another tried and true ritual is the seventh inning stretch, during which everyone blows up long balloons and holds them in the air until the end of the inning, at which point the balloons fly off with a flub all over the stadium.
The most amusing ritual, however, is the Popeye Song. When each team is up at bat, designated bugle players for that team play the theme from Popeye the Sailor Man over and over and over, while the fans sing along. We’ve no idea what the words meant, but we knew them by heart after hearing the song 500,000 times during the afternoon. When the next team is up at bat, fans for team number one sit politely and quiet as mice, while the other team’s fans take their turn with Popeye.
They serve some truly horrendous snack food at the baseball games, including some tantalizing kebobs which turned out to be nothing but globs of fat. I almost lost my stomach when someone three rows away scarfed one down. My surreptitious attempt to stuff my ample leftovers under my seat saved the day, however, when the jovial, middle-aged fan behind us took note and promptly offered us each a corn dog (!!) from her cooler.
Arcades
Osaka has some great arcades – each is three or four floors of winking, blinking, bizzing and buzzing. Although we were all quite a bit older than the average patron, we discovered you don’t need to be young or speak Japanese to enjoy the fun!
Food
Most people rave about the food in Japan. I confess that I have nothing good to say about it, and not just because of the kebob incident. The sushi was outside of my price range, and I came to believe that the plastic renditions of food to which we pointed to obtain a meal were not, in fact, replicas. I subsisted on fabulous triangles of sushi rice with cooked tuna in the middle that can be purchased in great quantities at every 7-11. A couple of those and a Coke, and I had a meal.
The Wedding
At last, the reason for our trip. I have no idea what a traditional Japanese wedding is like, but this was quite a production. The wedding took place in a cute little chapel called the "Ivy Chapel", which as near as I could tell served no actual religious purpose and existed solely for weddings. The ceremony was performed by a western minister who had lived in Japan for forty years and who spoke fluent Japanese. Unfortunately, he appears to have forgotten how to speak English during that time, because his attempts to make the ceremony bilingual went woefully awry when he lost his place not once but several times during the English portions. The ceremony was followed by a photo session (in which all of the foreigners were included as "family", much to the actual family’s chagrin), and an elaborate reception which involved not one but two pauses for clothing changes – one from the wedding attire to traditional Japanese dress and the second from the traditional Japanese dress to what can only be described as "prom" attire. During the reception, various friends of the bride’s family gave extended speeches which were succinctly translated by the professional hostess as "Mr. So and So wishes the bride and groom good luck." All of this was followed by – what else – an evening of karaoke at one of Osaka’s top karaoke bars. Despite all my years of living in Asia, I had successfully avoided participating in any karaoke festivities – until that night, that is. In honor of the new bride and groom, three of us did a rousing rendition of "Stop, in the Name of Love" – I haven’t heard from them in awhile, and I expect my singing might have something to do with it!
Homeward Bound
The trip home provided one more lesson – it can pay to be too involved in the party to confirm your onward flight reservations. We failed to do so and were bumped up to business class for a very relaxing trip back to Detroit – and Chicago and Detroit….
