Things of Japan

Sayonara, Nihon. We think you're oi shi! Your tastiest morsels were:

• Soba, yasai gyoza and agedashi tofu
• Baseball
• Sapporo, Yebisu, Kirin, Asahi
• Cos-play weirdos
• Giant beers in izakayas
• 1 shop assistant per customer
• Obatarians
• Stuff being not as expensive as expected, especially Y100 shops
• The most confusing rail network in the world
• Cherry blossom
• The way everything just worked really well
• Toilets that spray your bum clean

We will be back, oh yes we will.

Ben

Sleeping in Airports

Not something we make a habit of, but in the spirit of adventure - plus a little bit of tight-arsedness - we opted to spend our last night in Japan sleeping at Narita airport.

We spent hours on the internet looking for a nice, cheap place to stay on our final night in Tokyo, but nothing really seemed worth the money. Nice stuff cost a bomb, cheap stuff was either nice and fully booked, or grubby and run down, according to places like TripAdvisor and other hotel review sites.

So we went a bit wide with our web search and discovered www.sleepinginairports.net, a nifty little resource which tells you what you can look forward to if stranded for the night by circumstance or cheapskateness.

So at 10 o'clock on Saturday night, after a very cheap supper of cold noodles and beer from the airport Lawson store, we were cordially guided by a Narita security guard to the meeting area in the South Wing of the first floor. A couple of passport checks later and we curled up on the seats for a nights sleep.

There were about 6 other people sleeping there with us. Quite a mixture, including: a european backpacker, a well-heeled asian lady, an american businessman, a dodgy Gary Glitter lookalike, a large scandinavian man and - our favourite - a weirdly dressed guy (shorts, leather jacket, sunglasses) who seemed to be up to something. He was closely questioned by airport security, and seemed to have suffered some sort of mishap - no money and no way of getting anywhere... and looking shady.

Not the most comfy night ever, but we felt totally safe, if a little cold. We were up at 05.00 the next morning and first in the queue to check in for our flight to Bangkok, where we saw our Air Asia flight to Singapore showing a delay of 2 hours. A bit of quick thinking and we got lucky by busting onto an earlier flight.

And before we knew it, about 36 hours after we first stepped into Tokyo Narita Airport, we were walking back into the sweltering heat of Singapore to spend a week with Steve and Zoe.

Ben

Let's go Giants!

Baseball rocks! Our Tokyo Dome experience started on Wednesday when we went over there to buy our tickets for the Thursday night game: Yomiuri Giants vs the Yokohama Bay Stars. Having been advised by some passing Americans to get tickets in the outfield (for maximum superfan rowdiness) we popped upstairs to ride Thunder Dolphin - the badass rollercoaster with the cutest name in the world. Sheer terror/fun - I was totally yelling on the big drop, then giggling all the way round aftewards. Another Y1000 well spent.

Come Thursday night we were buzzing with excitement, and we'd barely taken our seats before the Giants hit a home run right into our section to go 3-0 up in the 1st inning.

It only got better from there as we learned the chants, bought Y800 beers from the beer girls, and made friends with the fans in our little area. They even lent us their little orange towels so we could wave them around when the Giants did something good. Sweet!

Seriously the most well organised, polite and delightful crowd ever. The Giants ended up winning 6-2, by which time we were red-faced and super-happy.

Our thanks go to Yebisu, Kirin and Asahi breweries. Also to Sakamoto, Ramirez, Gonzalez and the rest of the Giants. Debs is now officially a baseball fan.

For the record, this kicks the arse of Muay Thai (Thai Boxing) and was actually even better fun than Lucha Libre (Mexican wrestling). Now wer're looking forward to taking in a cricket match in India.

Ben

Inside the giant buddha

Day trip to Kamakura! Debs bravely/foolishly chose this day to give me a rest by taking on the mantle of official mapreader. Mistake! Between her and Mariko, the job got done, but it wasn't pretty at times ;-)

I had a lovely relaxing day just taking in the beauty and calm of a very pretty town and its numerous historical and religious sights. Mariko insisted on treating us to a terrific meal at a Shojin Ryori - buddhist vegetarian priest food, which was pretty much exquisite.

How to improve on all this culture? Easy, get inside a buddha! For Y20 you can enter the daibatsu - or at least, you can if you get there before 4.30. We rolled up at 4.31 to be told in no uncertain terms that buddha's belly was closed for the day. At which point, Mariko pulled rank, and, uttering the magic words, "I know the priest's wife", got us in for free. Nice!

After all the seriousness, I had to do something stupid, so I seized my chance to try out a facemask, which I found in this little hundred yen shop.

I look pretty awesome, I think. I wore it most of the way home, until my nose got too hot.


Ben

"Let's lose our way, together"

Ghibli Museum! Ghibli Museum! Best museum in the Tokyo Metropolitan District! Probably - we haven't been to the Parasitological Museum yet...

What is it? A really cool place full of the drawing, models, storyboards and more from the animation workshop of Miyazaki Hayao (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, etc.) Debs was dead against going here - she thought it was all manga porn or crazy kung-fu nonsense, but I insisted, and we're both glad I did.

The Lonely Planet wasn't much help here. It vaguely mentioned that you had to buy tickets "long before you arrive" but didn't say how or where. The answer is - go to Lawson and get the assistant to sort it out for you on their in-store kiosk thingy. Do not go via a tour operator! They charge 6x the entrance price for no apparent reason.

The real entrance price is ￥1000, for which you get an original frame from one of Miyazaki's films. This also functions as your ticket to the on-site Saturno cinema, where we watched a cute little film about a naughty dog who went missing. Very touching!

Favourite bits: obviously the 5m robot on the rof was AWESOME. Debs also loved the Goldilocks and the 3 bears room (Russian style - did Tolstoy really write the original?) complete with giant bears and giant chairs. The zoetropes on the ground floor were excellent as well.

Altogether an enchanting experience, finished off in style with an enormous piece of strawberry cake and a coffee in the Straw Hat cafe.

We love Ghibli!

Ben

31

I'm 31!

I just had the most amazing birthday in Tokyo. Although this is the first year ever that I haven't been able to speak to my family on my birthday, the Yamadas kept us so entertained with a classic day in Tokyo that I hardly had time to dwell on it.


The first treat was a buffet lunch with Mariko, Masahiro, Hide, Yuko and Anna, plus Aki, Keiko and Shyunya. Ben went to school with Hide and Aki, so it was nice to see them reunited after 25 years - everyone seems to agree that Ben still has the "same eyes".


After lunch, we had a lovely stroll around the Imperial Palace gardens, a trip to the shrine and market in Asakusa, then monorailed to the mother of all onsens (natural hot spring) - Oedo Onsen Monogatari - where we donned yukatas (a cross between a dressing gown and a kimono), boiled ourseles stupid, in the nude ;) had our first taste of soba, and watched Ben ninja star a bullseye. Great!


Thanks to the awesome generosity of Mariko and Masahiro, I had a birthday to remember that will take some topping. I love Tokyo!


Debs

Barbershops of the world, part 18

Just in case you hadn't realised yet, we're in TOKYO! I love it here.

Anyway, it's the day before Debs's birthday, so I gotta get my act together and cut this fuzz. After a few hours wandering around Shibuya, Harajuku and Omote Sando, we stumble upon a barber shop. We're starving hungry, and on the lookout for a noodle joint that will serve us some food without the "pork bone" broth, but I just have to take the opportunity to get trimmed.

It's all a bit different. No grades, just length, so I get 1mm on the face ("ichi miri"), and 9mm on the head. "Neck shave" - the barber has some functional english - is expertly performed with hot towels, proper foam and a very sharp razor. I come out looking smart and wondering where the hell all the hair on my scalp is going. Even my widow's peak is starting to recede...


Highlights were the hot towels on head and neck, the shaving off of my ear fluff with a cut throat razor(!) and - save the best til last - the ceremonial offer of a fag from a wooden box of cigs at the end of the session! Pure class.

Cost: Y2800 (EUR 17)
Cut quality: 9/10
Fear factor: 0/10

I declined the cigarette, BTW.

Ben

Big denki city love

OMFG we're in TOKYO! Waaaaaaaaaa! I haven't stopped smiling since we arrived :-)

Really, I think this must be my spiritual home. I LOVE IT! From the ultra-politeness of the people to the crazy fashion styles of the cos-play loonies, Japan is basically the coolest place in the world.

We've had the greatest fun since arriving. For starters, the climate makes a refreshing change from the SE Asian sweatbox: it's cool here. Cool and wet - ahhhhhhh! Secondly, we're lucky enough to be staying with the Yamadas: Blench family friends from 23 years ago back when we were posh and lived in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. The Yamadas and their 2 sons lived around the corner from us and we all became friends, and now they're playing perfect hosts to me and Debs in their lovely house in lovely, lovely Seijo.

Akihabara (Electric Town), Shinjuku, Shibuya, Harajuku... amazing neighbourhood after amazing neighbourhood has us both buzzing with excitement and worn out after walking all day. Then we wash it down with feasts of incredible food and delicious sake with our hosts.

I have been most entertained by the people. Just walking around the centre of Tokyo is enchanting, as shopkeepers and doormen sing out little greetings and promos to you and you stumble around trying not to bump into stuff while your attention are caught by 6 flashing/spinning/pinging things a second. Then there's the tiny delight of the purchase ritual where the cashier babbles stuff to you in a miniscule voice, bowing all the time while you stand there all lumpy and dumb, until they hand you back your purchase and your change (on a tray), thanking you profusely. It's brilliant!

Oh, and did we mention the cos-play people? W.T.F???

Eventually I will get round to rotating that picture. In the meantime, rotate your head, please.More Tokyo fun to follow, plus a bit of Kyoto culture early next week. It's all too genki for words.

Ben