Go Giants!

Here is a page from Jackson's journal about the exciting Yomiuri Giants game. In case you're wondering, like I was, Yomiuri is the name of the newspaper corporation that owns this Tokyo team. Above is one of Jackson's many drawings in his journal: a 17 foot green Yomiuri Giant holding a baseball bat in one hand and the flag of Japan in the other.

"We got tickets to a baseball game. We saw Yomiuri Giants vs. The Hiroshima Carp. It was crazy. There was lots of runs in this game. The Yomiuri Giants are best in Japan and fun to watch. The Tokyo Dome is very big and every game is almost full. The final score was 6-2 for the Giants! "

A mass of people passing the Giants banner along:

This was kind of interesting - instead of carrying a tray of already-poured cups of beer, these girls have a keg strapped to their backs like a backpack, with a hose and nozzle to spray it nice and cold into a cup:

Fans swing their orange towels wildly when there's a good play:

A few last photos of Japan - we leave late this afternoon for Seoul, South Korea where we will have our first homestay thanks to our Servas membership. . . we did almost all of the things Mitchell predicted many months ago in this post.

Hama-Rikyu Gardens - reminded us of Central Park in some ways, being an oasis of green in the middle of an urban area surrounded by skyscrapers. In fact, our impression has been that Tokyo has way more in common with Manhattan than other parts of Asia such as Vietnam, Cambodia, or even Thailand:

We loved the onsen experience. This one, Oodeo Onsen Monogatari, Is particularly foreigner-friendly. An onsen is a Japanese hot springs. Baths are gender-segregated because you have to be naked (aack!). But after a day of walking around in the rain, it was wonderful to sit back in a 42 degree outdoor pool. We met up later in the communal foot bath hot spring:

Peeking from behind the curtains that often act as doors to shops on Nakamise-dori in Asakusa:

We spent one sunny afternoon exploring the area called Asakusa, home to some of Japans's oldest streets with some buildings preserved from the Edo period. Entrance to Senso-Ji temple below:

Takeshita-dori (dori = street) - A well-known shopping street in the Harajuku district for the uber-cool Tokyo youth:

Getting Templed Out in Kyoto & Nara

We spent one week in Kyoto, with a one-day sidetrip into Nara. While Tokyo is the financial, commercial and urban capital of Japan, Kyoto is the true cultural capital. Kyoto is home to 17 Unesco World Heritage Sites and most of these are historically important temples. So as you might guess, we got a bit of temple fatigue trying to take it all in.

I wouldn't be a true Canadian if I didn't talk about the weather. Unfortunately, we had cold, rainy weather for most of our time in Kyoto. We each wore about four layers and contemplated buying gloves but in the end just sucked it up and stuck our hands in our pockets. There were exactly two warm, sunny days and we made the most of these by walking the incredibly beautiful "Path of Philosophy" in the Higashiyama area, as well as the "Bamboo Grove" in a district called Aramiyasha.

On the wet days, we stayed dry by touring around museums (like the Manga Museum) or through the many covered arcades in Kyoto, like the Nishiki Market which sells everything from live fish to fans and umbrellas:
A forest of bamboo:

We loved this bamboo grove - eerily beautiful:

Wow, the sun peeking through the canopy of bamboo trees:

Geisha spotting in the neighbourhood of Gion. This is a popular pastime - trying to discern is it a real Geisha or a tourist dressed up like one? We saw these ladies on Chawan-zaka (also known as "Teapot Lane"). Turned out to be just regular gals in kimonos:

Entrance to the ancient Buddhist temple Kiyomizu-Dera:

Kiyomizu-Dera, which dates from 798:

Another famous temple, Nanzen-Ji:

Even without the cherry blossoms, these trees are so interesting just for the shapes of the branches. This one is in Maruyama Park:

Honen-In, another small temple and shrine complex:

Everywhere we went, we saw swarms of school-children on field trips. They often asked to take a photo with us and the girls would giggle and run away after:

One of our favourite walks - the Path of Philosophy. This pedestrian path runs along a canal and is lined with cherry trees. It takes its name from the famous philosopher Nishida Kitaro who strolled the path often as he meditated, thinking deep thoughts:

This time it's the real thing (we think), judging by the hushed oohs and aahs of people around us. Actual Geishas! Ted pulls out the paparazzi zoom lens. . .

My personal favourite - this temple is called Ginkaku-Ji or the "Silver Pavillion". In the 1400s, the Shogun who constructed this temple intended to cover the building with silver but it never happened. The wooden structure is simple and beautiful and the Zen gardens surrounding it are stunning:

Duelling cameras:

After the Silver Pavillion, we saw the Golden Pavillion, also known as Kinkaku-Ji. The original building was constructed in 1397 but a psycho monk burned it to the gound in 1950. In 1955 it was fully re-constructed and covered in gold foil. Amazing to see when the sun hits it:

These young guys work hard to transport tourists from temple to temple:

This was an unexpected treat. Hungry for some lunch, we walked into this little diner and discovered it was an "okonomiyaki" restaurant. Okonomiyaki is like a cross between a savoury pancake and a pizza. They call it "Japanese pizza". You pick the flavours and they bring you the batter, which you mix up and pour onto a griddle set into your table:

Delicious! But I am not taking Darlene's Jacket off for love nor money - it was cold that day:

Possible Geishas having a teabreak in a garden:

Now in Nara, about 30 minutes away from Kyoto. Famous for the 1200 tame deer found wandering everywhere. In pre-Buddhist times, the deer were apparently viewed as messengers of the gods and today they are considered National Treasures:

Forget Waldo, where's Flat Stanley? Note that the deer are not as peaceful as they seem. Jackson was holding some deer biscuits to feed them and one bit him quite hard on the hand and broke the skin. He said afterwards, "I'm a real man now. I got bit by a wild animal". Not sure where that definition of manhood came from?? And then in a stunning display of logic, Mitchell said "It's kind of good Jackson got bit. Otherwise all those rabies shots were for nothing". Okaaaay.

Todai-Ji Temple in Nara. Said to be the largest wooden structure in the world. This temple houses the Great Buddha statue known as Diabutsu:

Inside the great Hall of Todai-Ji is a large wooden column with a hole at the bottom. The legend says that if you can squeeze through the hole, which is supposed to be the same size as one of the Great Buddha's nostrils, then you will achieve enlightenment in your life:

Here comes our 8:52am shinkansen to return us to Tokyo for 5 more days. It pulls up at about 8:50 and departs on the DOT at 8:52am. That's Japan for you:

We were treated to a great view of Mt. Fuji on the trip back:

And lastly, just a little video clip:

Pokemon, Manga & More: Mitchell

In Tokyo, we went to one of my favourite places, the Pokemon Center. At the Pokemon Center, we saw many Pokemon toys and new video games that haven't yet been released in North America. I bought many things there, and I had a lot of fun. Here are a few photos from that day:

Pokemon candy, a whole wall of it:

Japanese-only Pokemon cards:

A machine that prints Pokemon on copper coins:

A wall of Pokemon action figures (I bought 8 of these):

DSi pens and skins:

Pokemon stickers:

I took so long to sort through everything that Jackson had to sit down and rest:

Just some bigger action figures - no room in my backpack for these, though:

One thing I always wanted to do was ride the shinkansen (Japanese Bullet train). We rode the shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto last Monday. It travels over 300 km per hour. A trip that would take approximately 8 hours by road took us only 2.5 hours. It was very comfortable, with more leg room than an airplane.

One of our first stops in Kyoto was the new International Manga Museum, which opened in 2006. It has a collection of about 300,000 manga. Manga are Japanese comic books but they aren't just for kids. Everyone you see from all ages and both men and women read manga in Japan. The manga in bookstores and convenience stores are as thick as phone books. It is a huge part of the culture here. There are both fiction and non-fiction manga. Manga can be used to make complicated topics easier to understand, like how to run a new software program.

At the Manga Museum, there is a huge collection of manga from many languages. One thing you see at the museum is lots of people just sitting around reading from their huge library and nobody minds. I read half of one English manga book while we were there.

We got to see a funny kami-shibai (traditional Japanese sliding-picture show) while we were there. This is the narrator - he was really funny:

The famous Wall of Manga:

Some of the places in my Pokemon games are taken from real life, like this temple (To-Ji). I recognized it right away:

On the 21st of each month, they hold a big flea market at To-Ji Temple called the Kobe-san Market:

I liked this little Happy Buddha for sale:

We stopped at Junkudo Bookstore to get out of the rain - they have a section selling English manga:

Here's one of the super-thick Japanese manga for sale at 7-11. Of course, I can't actually read it: