Fukuoka
After a slightly delayed flight leading to a record setting 12 minute stopover in Seoul (special thanks to the Aviata Air flight attendant for letting me move from row 46 to row 1 during landing so I could sprint (literally) off the plane - this is why you should always be polite to flight attendants) I arrived in Japan, a country that was getting so comfortable at the very top of my visit list that it seemed I may never actually make it there.
Thank you Fukuoka, however you pronounce your name
This next photo may not seem very exciting, but I've lived in South/South East Asia for 5 years, a region where the concept of a line simply does not exist. On the contrary, Japan has the most neatly laid out and diligently followed system for lining up. With the refreshing absence of the people behind me breathing down my neck and being viciously cut off by old ladies and their razor sharp elbows, I already decided that I love this country.
A line. A beautiful, beautiful line
Fukuoka isn't exactly a popular tourist spot or somewhere one usually visits if they only have nine days in Japan. I was making a quick visit to say hello to a former student of mine from Indonesia who is continuing her university studies in Japan. Shelly and her boyfriend Ken were exceptional hosts in showing me around Fukuoka, and giving me the quick how-to guide for everything from public transport to Japanese food. Any opportunity to learn from a local will enhance your experience of and appreciation for a country, and it was highly comforting as a teacher to know that my students are still nice to me even after I no longer have an impact on their grades.
My first lesson about Japanese culture taught by giraffes on a package of chips: It doesn't have to make sense, it just has to be cute.
Using the highly punctual and reliable public transport system Shelly, Ken and I headed to Dazaifu Shrine about an hour outside the city.
Shelly (former student) and Ken
At the shrine you could pay 100 yen to choose a paper which would tell you about your luck for the upcoming year. It's like combining fortune cookies with the lottery.
It was no surprise to me that I was forecast to have good luck. Either that or Shelly was very polite and lied about the Japanese translation. I was also told that I am going to find something I lost in an unexpected place. Still waiting for this to come true but looking forward to it very much. Shelly on the other hand was forecast to have bad luck. Fortunately there's a contingency plan for when this happens. You need to tie your piece of paper to the wooden structures nearby which will prevent your bad luck from coming true.
That's a lot of people with bad luck
Some sort of rolled up pancake on a stick
The traditional Japanese kimono, which come in varieties for everyday wear as well as fancier ones meant for formal occasions
This group of people were throwing bags of mochi, a Japanese jelly snack (pictures to come later) to the crowd. As I am the tallest person in all of Japan by a wide margin I had a huge advantage in catching these flying treats
Coincidentally there was a sake festival held today at the shrine, with many flavours to sample, and the nation's enthusiasm for sake on full display
After the shrine we went to the coolest sushi restaurant ever. You take a seat, you get some complimentary make your own green tea, and you get assigned a tray colour (mine was orange). in front of you is a conveyer belt of delicious looking sushi. If you see anything on a plate that is not on a tray you can take it. If its on a tray, don't take it, someone else has ordered that.
Orange! That's me!
Orange again!
Orange! That's my miso! (See how good I am getting at this)
Not orange, but I am really judging black and yellow right now for ordering french fries at a sushi place
With sampler sized portions and complete order independence this restaurant provides a delicious experience where it's easy to strike the perfect balance of trying new things and ordering the highlights
When you're finished eating, and have had your green tea ice cream, you call the server over to size up your tower of plates. They don't count the plates, Japan would never dabble in such inefficient practices. Instead the server pulls out a ruler, not with units of centimetres or inches, but with units of sushi plates, and quickly calculates your bill.
After the amazing sushi feast it was time to say goodbye to Shelly and Ken, and enter a food coma before heading out in the morning, but not before seeing the Power Rangers walking through Hakata Station.
I have watched Power Rangers exactly once in my life. After watching the TV show I've ever seen I immediately kicked my sister in the head, receiving a life time Power Rangers ban from my mom. Since I'm a good son I never broke the rules and watched Power Rangers, but mom you'll be pleased to know I didn't kick anyone in the head after seeing them in real life.
Osaka
Usually a train ride isn't something I'm excited to tell my friends and family about but the Shinkansen or bullet trains in Japan are a tourist attraction on their own. With operating speeds of 320 Km/h intercity travel is a breeze. The Shinkansen also boast incredible safety standards (there has never been an accident related death in 50 years of operation), pinpoint punctuality, and exceptional comfort (it's genuinely impossible not to fall asleep on these trains). The Shinkansen was the ideal method of travel between every city I visited in Japan.
320 Km/h isn't fast enough to prevent me from snapping in a pic
To help you comprehend just how punctual Japan public transport is, the photo above is of an article of a Japanese rail company apologizing for one of their trains leaving a full 25 seconds early, the second such case in months.
March 18th, 2018 was the big day. The day all 9 of us, university friends and friends of friends would make our separate journeys for a big convergence in Osaka. Lucas had booked an Airbnb for us, we just had to get there. Knowing that I have a tendency to get lost I left plenty of time for me to find our accommodations, but as I got closer I started to notice something peculiar about the location we were staying in. We were staying in the middle of a big anime festival. Anime is a very very big part of Japanese pop culture. From watching anime tv shows and movies, to the widespread hobby of drawing anime, to attending concerts that are actually performed by a hologram of an anime character, and of course to dressing up as your favourite anime character to attend a huge festival, a trip to Japan wouldn't be complete without that slightly intrigued, slightly impressed, mostly confused feeling that you get as a foreigner trying to soak up and wrap your mind around anime. It helps to remember the most important rule of Japan, it doesn't have to make sense it just has to be cute.
Anime essentials include different coloured hair and big eyes
It's all about capturing the photo at just the right angle
All of the above photos were taken on the street just outside our Airbnb. Once the rest of the group arrived we got out and further explored the festival.
I stepped on this dinosaurs tail multiple times trying to take its photo
I can't imagine what foreigners must look like to locals if in the middle of hundreds of people dressed like anime characters this local girl (middle) asked for a photo with us
I just noticed the girl in the middle is giving me the finger
Dragon Ball Z was definitely a childhood favourite
No, those are not my giant bear hands
Even when there isn't an anime festival to attend, there is plenty to see and do in Osaka, and plenty of reminders that Japan is a fascinating country with many new experiences to be had.
In Japan fake food stores are pretty popular, and Morgan was quick to recognize this store, a concept I had never even heard of before.
John, Lucas and Morgan checking out some very appetizing looking, but fake, food
Moving on to real food, Takoyaki is an Osaka staple. These balls of fried octopus are delicious but be careful because they are served at molten temperatures.
Grilled seafood including scallop, mussel and something that falls under the don't-know-don't-ask category
Ramen noodles are another fast and tasty delight. As is the local custom, make sure you slurp loudly to show your appreciation to the chef
If you're looking for a phone case that's level of cuteness is matched only by the level of it's inability to fit in your pocket, look no further than Osaka
Vending machines are everywhere in Japan
Shout out to Canada!
Japan is also pretty big into retro video arcardes
Osaka has some pretty awesome arcades with activities ranging from darts, bowling, ping pong and even batting cages.
Eric with the great follow through on his hit and Morgan and Ross looking about as excited as you can when observing ping pong
What's this crowd of 50 people watching? Just someone playing Dance Dance Revolution of course. You may have though DDR died out in the 90s but when it one day becomes an Olympic sport Japan will sweep the podium.
The best part about arcade Mario Kart in Japan is you get to take a photo before the game so that when someone gets hit by your turtle shell or slips on your banana your face pops up on their screen to show them who took them out.
The Hitachi tower
Exploring the city, tasting all the food, and getting caught up with old friends were all very fun, but the highlight of our time in Osaka was definitely attending a grand Sumo tournament.
Let me just give a few brief comments to paint the picture of how bound in tradition this sport is.
- Binzuke oil is the oil used exclusively by tokoyama hairdressers (a hair dresser employed by the Japan Sumo Association) to style the wrestler's hair, and give the hair its smell and sheen.
- The dohyo (wrestling ring) is made of a special type of clay and spread with sand. A new dohyo is made for each tournament.
- A ladleful of chikara-mizu (power water) is given to each wrestler before a match. BUT it cannot be given by someone who is tainted with a loss on that day, so it is given by the winner of the previous match, as well as one of the fighters of the upcoming match.
- Just before each match the fighters perform a ritual, involving lots of leg and belly slaps, wiping their face with a towel, and throwing rice into the ring, and probably about 50 other symbolic things I didn't pick up on
The "athletes" arrive, looking like giants in bathrobes
The EDION Arena Osaka (Osaka Prefectural Gym)
The sacred dohyo (ring)
Before the matches in each of the top two divisions the wrestlers participate in an opening ceremony
This is the second highest division, the Juryo, made up of 28 wrestlers
Even advertising hasn't advanced past the earliest traditional forms
These wrestlers represent the highest division, the Makuuchi, fixed at 42 wrestlers. Japan currently has one Yokozuna (grand champion), the highest rank a sumo wrestler can achieve
When a match is close, and the Gyoji (referee) cannot judge the winner, the Shimpan (what we referred to as the Council of Elders) would meet in the ring to come up with a final judgement. They almost always decided to have the wrestlers fight again to decide the winner
I've uploaded a few videos to youtube if you're interested in watching some video from the event.
This link shows the opening ritual that wrestlers do before every match https://youtu.be/A4s-5ObymbE
Four matches to watch:
This one shows the quick sidestep strategy, and the Council of Elders https://youtu.be/8abMTTznyO0
Best match https://youtu.be/nA9pJtY9XjY
The first ten seconds of this video shows the raw passion of sumo fans https://youtu.be/-sBJpiAewU0
Hope you enjoyed reading about Fukuoka and Osaka as much as I enjoyed visiting, stay tuned for The Japan Trilogy - Part 2: Kyoto and Hiroshima
Another excellent post Trev, thanks! Wow everything is quite hi tec. Looking forward to part 2!
ReplyDeleteA. Sarah xo