Our first meal in japan was not our most inspiring or satisfying. After arriving late into osaka, we trugged the chilly streets in search of something which could be considered in any way vaguely vegetarian. We failed misserably and ended up in the only place which we could find open. We sat in Mc Donalds ashamed. To rub salt into the wounds we bumped into Masa (the hostel owner, well we say hostel, it was really his house) and felt thouroughly embarassed about the situation. His place was situated right slap bangh in the middle of America town, an area of youth culture and celebration of all things America, including a mini statue of liberty and ample coco cola memorabelia. (Garreth you would love it). The kids here really are cool though. We both felt like tramps in our travel gear.
We went to check out osaka castle and ended up having one of our best experiences yet. As we were standing in the cold, trying to make sense of the ridiculous map put in front of us (in Japanese) an elderly gentleman approached us and asked if he could accompany us around the castle, practising his English. He procceded to pay for our entry. We walked around with him and ended up forgetting to look at any of the castle itself (Ah well it was only a modern reconstruction anyway), we just got sucked into hearing about his life in Japan and helping him with his English. He was hillariously sterotypical in the way he loudly exhaled whilst saying "hmmmm" and "ohhh" as we told him about our trip.
Somehow, a few minutes later, we ended up cathcing a train with him to thye outskirts of town where he introduced us to his family in their shop and them took us to his house. He proceeded to provide us with huge amounts of beer and Sushi. This was real japanese hospitality. It was incredible. All he wanted in return was some help with his English. We had such a good eveing with him that wer felt embarresed about how hessitent we were to orriginally except his offer.
The next day we headed to kyoto for our cultural/historical leg of Japan. After getting lost for hours inside the never ending train station building (which had 12 floors!) we eventually found our hostel, braving thwe snow. We caught a bus to the outskirts of town to explore an area of temples and beautiful gardens aswell as stunning bamboo forests. Our time in kyoto was spent between day trips and temple exploring, whilst tucking into large amounts of Sushi and Ramen (Yes Alex ate fish, lets all move on).
Kyoto is an incredibly cultural city and its the place to see what people think of when you say Japan. Wandering the streets you have a chance of spotting geisha (sadly the Samurai have died out). We did day trips to Hiroshima to visit the peace memorial park which consisted of lots of individual statues within one area and the 'peace dome' a building that was almost directly below the bomb blast. Somehow its shell remained standing, and is a testament to the destruction caused. The museam itslef was really well done, and included testimonies from people who were there when the bomb went off. Reading extracts fromj the american armies meetings which decided where and why to drop the bomb really highlights the insanity of it all. When you read the passages talking about the logistical benefits of dropping an A-bomb in Hiroshima and then read about the horrific fates of children who died from their burns after walking miles to their family homes, its hard to comprehend the reality of it. The museam included letters sent by the mayor of hiroshima to every country that has tested nuclear weapons since, including a number to Tony Blair.
Another day trip was spent exploring the ancient capital of Nara. We happened to showe up on the second tuesday of the month which meant we could dress up in traditional Japanese clothes (kimon for fern and samurai for Alex) for free! We also got to take part in a traditional tea ceremony, which is basically drinking tea in a really poncy way. Fern kept accidently offending our host by pointing 'the beautiful spot' in the wrong direction...tsk. Nara itsle features areas of old temples including the largest wooden building in the world. All of the grounds are filled with wild deer which go absolutely crazy for biscuits you can buy them. They must have coke in them or something because those dear could not get enough. They resorted to headbutting you until you gave up your treats. Our final Kyoto day trip was to Himeji-Jo, the oldest standing castle in Japan (the real samurai castle deal). It was pretty cool.
On our last day inj Kyoto we hired bikes and toured the most beautiful and traditiopnal parts of the city. It was a great way to see the sights, which were beautiful. We spent our evenings with an english guy called Pete and an Aussie called Oscar. We hit pubs and the local sake bar (which was literally a lady's front room) where we karaoke-d and made oscar sing 'Do you come from the land down under' (James you might know that one). Next up a small Japanese mountain town and Tokyo!