The day started off poorly with me wasting a few hours searching in vain for another place to get wireless connectivity for my Mac—I finally gave up and checked emails and such from the ¥200 internet cafe. I also muddled my way through finally finding a ticket counter (at Shinjuku) that sold the full-day JR/Subway passes.

The morning being shot by then, I resolved to stay out as late as I could getting things done. On the list for today: Odaiba and Akihabara. I’d wanted to go out to Odaiba primarily to see the Tokyo Big Sight building because I’d seen it so often in anime like Comic Party. I also knew it was a popular place to hang out with lots of entertaining things to do. That turned out to be true, so I spent a few hours there, had lunch then went to Akihabara in search of anime stuff and electronics.

What a place! It’s almost an overpowering assault on the senses (it probably didn’t help that the first place I ventured into by mistake turned out to be a noisy, smoky pachinko parlor). There was so much going on, and every shop had their touts out front with microphones or bullhorns, shouting for you to come and see what they had. I found a really cool anime and model store—8 floors! There was one floor with nothing but Gundam models and figures—thousands of them. And it was like that with all the other figures and models and series—I was absolutely amazed at the variety. The one thing I did not find was any big manga shops, particularly used manga and doujinshi stores. I think I was in the wrong area, and will try again tomorrow.

Since I’d purchased a separate all-day ticket for the automated train out to Odaiba, I decided to go back there for dinner too and see the city and the Rainbow Bridge all lit up at night. It really was beautiful and also nice and cool out by the water; I can see why it’s a favorite date spot and place to kill time. I ate at a famous Hawaiian hamburger restaurant, of all places. I had the “Set Menu A” which had an avocado burger, fries, salad and drink. They were in “American Sized” portions, too—I think this was the first time I can remember since leaving home when I finally ate enough at one sitting to be full! Of course it cost me around $12.00…

I began wending my way home, stopping off at Shinjuku once again to buy my Narita Airport Express train ticket for Monday—my train leaves at 12:42 PM, and then I’ll be on my way home. I got back to the apartment at around 10:00 PM and took a relaxing bath. I’ve got another big day ahead of me tomorrow—my last full day here—so I need to get to bed!

Up early and off—to Niigata. My Tour book didn’t say there was anything spectacularly interesting to see there, but it was easy to get there and didn’t take too long.

Turns out I’m glad I went. The one attraction listed was the Hakusan-jinja shrine, set in a lovely park with an amazing lotus pond (that’s it above). Sadly, it was pouring rain—but amazingly, they were actually conducting a ritual service. I believe it was the ritual for blessing a newborn baby—like a christening ceremony would be for christians. So I actually got to see the maiko or shrine maidens dance and the shinto priests do their thing. I got a lot of it on video and it was awesome. I feel so lucky that I happened to be in the right place at the right time.

There wasn’t much more for me to do than that, so I grabbed a boxed lunch at the station (they’re delicious, by the way) and took off for my next destination—Nagano, home of the 1998 Winter Olympics.

It’s also the home to a very famous Buddhist temple, Zenko-ji, which houses the oldest image of the buddha in Japan (though, nobody has actually seen it in 1,000 years—they bring out a copy once every 7 years in a special festival). It was pretty fascinating, and you can see all my photos in the Photos section. The weather also cleared up late in the afternoon for about an hour, and it was beautiful. Nagano is in the “Japanese Alps”, and the mountain scenery reminded me of Utah. I had a lovely early dinner, rounded up a few souvenirs and then made my way back to Tokyo.

The strange things is that as I’m sitting here writing this and having a snack, I’m watching on the news about flooding, overflowing rivers, mudslides and people getting killed up in Nagano prefecture where I just was. It looked pretty scary, but I think it must have been somewhere in a more remote location. I did notice that the rivers looked fairly high and muddy as I zoomed by on the train.

It’s the final countdown already. I’m going to be busy in Tokyo shopping and touring, but I’ll try to finish my perfect record of journal entries all the way up until I depart. I’m already going to miss Japan, my time here and the friends I’ve made. I’m just starting to get the hang of the language and how things work—and now it’s back home with me.

Sigh…

[PS – I went to go upload my changes at that wireless spot I found the other night, but I couldn’t get connected. They either turned it off for the night or something else changed—I’ll have to try to find somewhere tomorrow…]

I spent the day today just wandering around to a few places that I’d wanted to see. It also gave me a chance to get a greater feel for the city.

There are so many people! Everywhere you go, everyone is bustling around, going here and there, shopping, cramming onto the trains, you name it. But for some strange reason, I don’t feel bothered by it at all. Everyone is so polite and goes about their own business. I’ve also never felt safer in such a big city with so many people—that’s a wonderful byproduct of such a homogeneous society, I think. You sort of just have to let the wave of humanity wash over you and around you as you go about your own business. It was actually a lot of fun and very interesting.

I went first to Shinjuku—Japan’s busiest railway station. And it is. Then I went to Shibuya, prime shopping area and home of the “in crowd”. It’s also the spot where 3 different attractions are: the famous Shibuya 109 department store building (which usually pops up in anime as the “108” building); the multi-street intersection where waves of people cross this way and that when the “little blue man” is lit; and the statue of Hachiko, the faithful dog where everyone meets. Hachiko was an Akita owned by a professor living in the area in the 1920s; every day Hachiko would walk to the station to meet her master—including for eleven years after the professor passed away in 1925 until she herself passed away. A classic tale of Japanese faithfulness and sense of duty, and deserving of a monument.

Then it was on to the Nihon Ki’in, or headquarters of the Japan Go Association. It was really exciting to be there—both for the anime connection (Hikaru no Go is my favorite anime) and for my own go playing connections. There’s a small museum there with lots of interesting artifacts. The building and the various floors and areas were immediately recognizable from the HikaGo anime episodes, and I felt like I’d already been there. I bought a few gifts and souvenirs—including the object of my quest, my very own sensu (fan).

The last stop on the itinerary was the Amgen Tokyo Office. It was really fun! I met With Kato-san, and Kimura-san and it was fun speaking with them in my rudimentary Japanese (thanks for your patience—arigatou gozaimashita). I met several other people in the office and even spent a while doing an impromptu EDM Teams Q & A session! It sure would be fun to come visit again on business in an official capacity—all part of my cunning plan…

So that was about it. Tomorrow is the last day for my rail pass, so I’m trying to figure out how to get as far as possible and see some sights—since I’ve already been in the south, I’m going north!

I really was tired last night—which turned into being lazy when I woke up this morning and found it was pouring rain. I tried to put together a game plan, and decided to go to Kamakura to see the Great Buddha and whatever else I could find. I actually didn’t leave until noon, and it rained all day long. But, I figured that since the Buddha has been sitting out in the rain since his temple home was washed away in a typhoon in 1495, I could probably take it too…

But since it was kind of wet and miserable, I didn’t stay too long. I took the little Enoden train up to Enoshima (where it was raining even harder). I didn’t stay there long either, but got to ride the Shonan Monorail which was pretty fun. It’s precisely the kind of thing we should have suspended over every freeway in L.A. (BTW, this is the monorail featured in Midori Days, so I thought that was kind of cool.)

I’m now back at the apartment watching TV, typing this up and preparing another photo album. There’s an internet cafe nearby that I think has wireless access, so I’m going to go try and do updates there after dinner tonight. At least it’s pretty much stopped raining finally. I hope that will be the case for the rest of my time here in Japan, though the forecast doesn’t look too good.

The time finally came to leave my temporary home of Kyoto behind, and it really was kind of sad—I feel like I “belong” there somehow. Fittingly, it was gray and raining when I left. I did enjoy chatting with the cab driver on the way to Kyoto Station (frankly, I was amazed at myself that I actually could converse with him—sometimes I find it astounding that can actually speak Japanese, at least simple Japanese…).

But then it was a really swift trip on the Shinkansen to the world’s biggest and busiest megalopolis: Tokyo! I was kind of fearful, but far more excited. Just pulling into the station was quite exhilarating—there’s just so much going on and so many people. I was instantly fascinated and can’t wait to see what the next few days will bring. Of course, it’s raining here too…

I arrived fairly early, but easily made my way through a large and bustling Tokyo Station to the Chuo line and the Nakano Station where I was to meet Kuno-san who took me to my rental apartment. It’s an easy walk, and not too complicated to remember where to go; in fact, it was surprisingly simple. The apartment is quite comfy too and will be a very convenient base of operations.

I went for a short stroll around the neighborhood, which includes a nice shopping street (complete with a really cool anime/model shop). I started feeling a bit tired, so I did grocery shopping at the nearby supermarket and ate dinner in.

I’ll probably regret it, but even though I had intended to go see the Gion Matsuri festival parade this morning (it’s the biggest and most famous festival in Kyoto, not to mention Japan), I chickened out and did some last-minute sightseeing instead. It also probably had something to do with the fact that it was pouring with rain and did so pretty much all day.

I for sure wanted to see the world famous Golden Pavilion at the Kinkakuji shrine—and it was truly amazing. Even through the constant downpour, it is truly majestic. The current structure is a 1950’s rebuild—the original was burnt to the ground in 1950 by a crazed monk. The grounds were beautiful but damp, and I also took the opportunity to shell out $5.00 for a cup of Green Matcha and a tiny sugar cake—Tea Ceremony style—at a little tea house on the grounds; I was paying for the experience and it was really relaxing and beautiful.

Since I was riding on an all-day bus pass, I decided to just grab the first bus and see what major sight it went to. Turns out it was the Nijo-jo (which means “Two Castle Castle”) which was the modest little home built by the Tokugawa shoguns as their seat of power when visiting the Imperial Capital. The palace was amazing, and I only wish I had some photos, but taking pictures wasn’t allowed inside (so you’ll have to see the guidebook I bought). I did take tons of photos of the castle grounds and the outside of the buildings—not to mention some absolutely stunning gardens. It would have been better without the rain, but that’s life—I’ll just have to come back someday!

So there we are—all caught up on journal entries. I’ve been doing laundry and am starting to get things packed and my room cleaned. Tomorrow I leave Kyoto behind and am off to Tokyo for the rest of my time in Japan. I’m not sure yet about where or how often I’ll get internet access while there, but will try my best to keep current. I’m also planning additional side trips to places like Nikko and Kamakura—and maybe even Tokyo Disneyland—and am sure you’ll want to see photos and hear about those places too. And let’s not forget what promises to be very interesting: observing life in the world’s largest megalopolis—Tokyo! I may even have time in the evenings to get in one last audio podcast or perhaps even a quickly edited video up on this website. We’ll see how it goes…

The main point of my visit to Hiroshima was to witness firsthand the sadness and destruction wrought on August 6, 1945 by the detonation of the world’s first atomic bomb. It is something I’ve always read about, thought about, thought I understood—but I had to see it in person and from another point of view. One of the difficult things about history is that you always see it through a variety of “lenses”—your own culture, your time frame, your prejudices, your misinformation, your rationalization.

It was extremely powerful stepping off the streetcar and immediately seeing the Genbaku Domu (A-Bomb Dome)—the partially obliterated former Industrial Promotion Hall that has been left standing just as it was following the bombing. I didn’t know what to think or feel yet—I was just kind of stunned, slightly numb. The nice thing that helped me snap out of it was seeing all the families and children there seeing the sight with me. There to remember, but very much alive and happy in today’s world.

The A-Bomb Museum was another story. The parks and monuments were thought provoking and beautiful, but the museum which told the story of the bombing—the political, scientific, military and other reasons—was fascinating and absolutely packed with visitors. I broke my usual disdain for such things and rented one of those audio guide thingies so I could get the narration along with the exhibits. Some of the things I saw I was prepared for, some I understood, many I’d never thought of before. It was well worth my trip.

But the one part of the museum where I totally lost it was in the West wing which is devoted to the people who died—or survived—that terrible ordeal. The display cases were filled with artifacts—a tattered junior high school girl’s uniform; the melted eyeglasses of a grandmother; the lunch tin of a husband, the contents charred into coal—each with a story of the life lost and the family which grieved. The one that finally broke me apart was the twisted, rusted remains of a tricycle that 3-year-old Shinichi Tetsutani loved to ride and was playing on in his front yard that morning. His father—too sad to bury his son in a lonely grave far from home—buried his young son along with the tricycle and his own army helmet in the backyard. Years later, the remains were properly reburied and the tricycle is now displayed. I had to step aside and lean against the wall as the tears flowed and I struggled to regain my composure—I couldn’t bear to take a photo, though now I wish I had.

On the way out was a display of drawings and paintings by elderly survivors recalling August 6th. They too were extremely moving and you could feel how much those experiences burned themselves into their lives. Like the one gentleman recalling how dozens of his Junior High School classmates were stacked up like firewood in the school’s flower beds—they seemed to look just fine, they’d just died of the radiation fallout. He’d drawn them laid out in a circle, their heads still wearing their schoolboy caps all pointing in towards the center.

After I survived that museum, my last stop before leaving town was the Peace Memorial Hall, which is more of a contemplative place and monument to those who perished. After you exit the main hall, you see a display of large video monitors constantly flashing the photos and names of those who died. You can also use terminals to find people by name and read about them. I’ve always been fascinated by old photographs and enjoy imagining what may have happened to those people—where their lives lead, what they did while on this earth. The weird thing about these photos, though, was that I knew exactly what happened to them: they all ended in 1945. Like this happy baby picture of Isamu Sumiyoshi, who died aged 13 on the day of the bombing. A young man who would never live out his life.

Not that I want this journal entry to be a downer. Not that I’m one of those “peace at all costs” type of people. There were reasons for what happened—there always are—and maybe they were good ones. The one thing that always happens, however, is there’s a human cost to people who were just like you and me. So if decisions have to be made that lead to tragedies like this, it had better be worth it…

SO then—off to my final destination before returning to Kyoto: Himeji Castle. It was awesome! Himeji-jo is probably Japan’s most famous castle mostly because it’s one of the few left that is still in its original state and still made out of wood. The grounds were absolutely beautiful and getting up to the main keep itself was like going through a maze of paths, stairways and gates. You can check out the Photos page for a separate album. Suffice it to say that seeing it firsthand was something that was truly exciting and gave me more insight into Japanese military history and a greater appreciation of the Samurai.

After two full days of excitement, travel and emotion (not to mention the ever-present sweltering heat and humidity), I returned home to the dorms in Kyoto for almost the last time.