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Not much to say as it's very late and I've been awake now for... not exactly sure, but something like 30 hours. I don't sleep well on planes so I only got an hour or so of rest on the flight over. Besides being groggy and tired, I'm glad to be back safely. There are already things I'm missing about Japan, but that's how it goes. :) Tomorrow or sometime when I'm not totally exhausted I will write a post about all my observations (or the ones I can remember) of things that really stood out to me or that I thought would be interesting for people to know. Sorry no pictures this time, I haven't taken any since writing the last blog.

Day 22: Last Day & Tokyo's Artificial Island, Odaiba

The day started out by being the hottest of our trip- it reached 99 this afternoon. In the morning, we walked through throngs of people at Ikebukuro station to get to Don Quixote so we could buy perishable souvenirs (candy, cookies, etc.). Don Quixote is kinda like the Walmart of Japan only a lot cooler... I want to petition to open one in Portland, haha.

In the heat of the day, we traveled by the yamanote loop line train to Shibuya, where we took pictures and walked among the crowd at the famous "Shibuya crossing." It was neat, but we both agreed that compared to the crowds we've seen in stations and on trains, it really wasn't that busy. Speaking of trains, mom figured out that when the cars are totally stuffed, each one holds about 150 people. And most of the local trains have 10-12 cars. And some, like the yamanote line, come every five minutes. You do the math...

After Shibuya, we took a train called the "yurikamome," an unmanned, elevated train. It was SUPER packed. There were so many girls wearing yukata (cotton kimono) that I suspected a festival. Well, later when we rode back, we got to watch a fireworks show over the river from the train! That was really cool. Much cooler than our fireworks at home. :P Anyway, the train brought us to Odaiba, a man-made island famous for shopping, among other things. We went shopping at a mall made to look like a southern European town (complete with fake sky), walked beside the giant Gundam statue (from the hugely popular anime), and checked out some cool cars in Toyota's large showroom. There were two Pokemon cars which were super cute. It was so nice to go inside and shop where it wasn't 99 degrees... Every time we went outside, my glasses fogged up. -_-

Well, this trip has been amazing. All good things come to an end though, and of course, I will be glad to come home. We are sitting in Haneda airport waiting to board as I type this. Thank you so much to anyone who followed along with this blog; it helped us feel a lot less isolated. :) See you on the other side!!

Day 21: Return to Tokyo

Once again we find ourselves in the midst of 19 million people- or whatever crazy number makes up the world's largest metropolitan population. We arrived in Tokyo at 2:30 by the "super express" aka bullet train. It was 95 in Tokyo today (still feels that way now at 8 pm, even though the low is supposed to be 82) so transferring in busy train stations and walking to the hotel was not super fun. The humidity was so high, also, that I got out of breath quickly. But oh well, it's our last two days in Japan, so I can hold on to the end!!

We rested for a while before heading out to Harajuku, one of Tokyo's famous shopping districts. There were two shops I really wanted to visit along the main shopping street. The street, Omotesando, has been called the Champs Elyses of Tokyo. We joined the huge throng of people, which included some foreigners, and made our way down the tree-lined avenue. The first store was called Oriental Bazaar. It was geared toward foreigners and had a wide variety of Japanese goods. I bought a "yukata satchel" which is basically like a purse to carry when wearing a yukata (cotton kimono). The next store was Kiddyland, which despite its name was full of adults. They had pretty much every cute thing one could imagine. I saw lightsaber chopsticks, ear buds made to look like bananas sticking out, and a whole line of adorable things with a capybara as the mascot. So much cuteness, so little time... :P

Taking the train back to our hotel from Harajuku station at rush hour was crazy... We had to miss the first two trains because they were TOTALLY STUFFED. The third had room but we ended up being completely smooshed. -_- Oh well, it was, again, an experience. It's going to feel so strange to come home and not be bumping against people all the time...

Oh, before getting on the bullet train this morning, I bought an ekiben, or train station bento (lunch box). Ekiben are meant to be eaten while riding the bullet train. I've always wanted to try one, so I did! The one I got had rice, thinly sliced beef (reminded me of Korean barbecue), egg, croquette (kinda like a potato fritter), pickled plum, cabbage, and a red bean sweet for dessert. It was really good, and also really cute!

I'm hoping to blog again tomorrow night when we're sitting at the airport, but I don't know for sure. So just in case this is my last blog post before heading home, I want to say thanks for reading! And good night. :)

Day 20: Sightseeing in Osaka

Yesterday we bought the Osaka unlimited pass, which gives free admission to multiple attractions and free subway travel. Today we put it to the test and had a lot of fun. Unfortunately, my camera is refusing to read the SD card I use for posting on the blog, so I can't put up any pictures from today. :( It recognizes my other main SD card, though, so I can still take pictures. The next two posts will have pictures for sure.
In the morning, we rode to the Osaka Museum of History. I didn't know much about it before we got there. The building itself was massive. The exhibits begin on the 10th floor, and you make your way down through the 7th floor before exiting. The 10th floor had a lot of information about ancient Osaka- 5th century- and some recreated hallways from the Naniwa Palace (from that time period). The subsequent floors gave more information about Osaka from that period up to modern day. One of my favorite parts of the museum, actually, was that to go from floor to floor, one took an escalator next to some windows which gave a spectacular view of Osaka Castle and its grounds. I really enjoyed the museum though. Partly because there were hardly any people there (a rarity here) and it was air-conditioned. :P
After the museum, we returned to the bay area (see yesterday's post) and took a cruise around Osaka bay in a replica of the Santa Maria. There were so many ships coming in and out of the port; it was cool to watch some of the big ones being loaded and unloaded. From the boat, we could see the Cosmo Tower, which we went to next. The Cosmo Tower is actually the "Osaka Prefectural Sakishima Government Building" or something like that, but who cares. It has an observatory on the 55th floor which was covered by our pass. To get there, we rode a glass elevator to the 51st floor (mom loved it, I was a tiny bit nervous), then took a long, steep escalator to the top. The Cosmo Tower is the tallest building in western Japan, which I think means from Kyoto westward. There was an excellent 360 view of Osaka from the top! Osaka is a really huge city, but it's more spread out than Tokyo, so it doesn't feel so intimidating in some ways.
Well, tomorrow we leave for Tokyo... So hard to believe we only have two days left in Japan. I will be sad to leave, but of course, nothing quite compares to home. :)

Day 19: Osaka's Bayfront

After the craziness of yesterday, we took today a bit slower and slept in a little to recover. We rode a few trains to the bay area, which has several attractions I had read about. On the way, we picked up a 2-day pass in Osaka station which gives free admission to certain attractions plus unlimited rides on the subway. We'll be using it tomorrow as well before we head to Tokyo on Friday for our last two days of the trip.

Osaka is a very big, busy city... and did I mention busy? I read on a pamphlet that the average temperature during August is 28 C (82 F). I would like to know where they got that "fact." =_= Despite the heat and crowds, I am really enjoying the city. It definitely feels a lot like Tokyo; not at all like Kyoto (which I liked enormously). Anyway, the first stop of the day was Kaiyukan, Osaka's aquarium and one of the largest in the world. The building was beautiful outside, but the inside was especially neat: You take an escalator to the top floor (8th I believe) and then spiral slowly down as you look at exhibits. Some of them, such as the Pacific White-Sided dolphins, sea lions, and the 27-feet high Pacific Ocean tank could be viewed from multiple floors. I really loved the main tank. It had many different shark and ray species. The best part, though, was the whale shark. Actually, there were two of them. At one point a diver was in the tank feeding them. It was amazing to watch... they just suck in water like a vacuum and expel it out their gills! I got some video of that little show, haha.

The only thing I didn't like about the aquarium was that it was packed. I was constantly being elbowed. One boy, though, bumped into me and when I said "sumimasen," he turned and bowed and said it back to me. :) Most people here aren't that nice except when in service, so it was a sweet gesture. A lot of the young people are nice though, it just kinda depends.

Next we got lunch at a shopping mall near the aquarium. I saw a KFC, Subway, and Baskin Robbins inside, but we got Japanese food instead. :P Afterwards we headed to- dun dun dun- a giant ferris wheel!!! I think I read it is 115 meters tall. It was covered by our pass and I'd never been on a ferris wheel before, so I thought, why not? Well... the view was amazing. And it was really cool to spot landmarks in Osaka. When I thought about where I was, it was scary, but I'm glad we did it. You only live once. :)

Well, that was it for our day. We took a subway and local trains back to our hotel- which were totally slammed- and settled down to rest for the evening. It's no exaggeration to say the heat here is overwhelming at times. A lot of people carry fans and wear towels around their necks. Even then, there's only so much one can do when it's this humid. 70 feels really cold to me now, haha.

Day 18: Day Trip to Hiroshima

It was a long day, but we made it: A day trip to Hiroshima! I don't know the exact mileage, but going to Hiroshima from Osaka is quite a long journey. Fortunately for us, they have a bullet train (the shinkansen "Sakura") which does the trip with only about 3-5 stops and takes around 90 minutes. Since we had our rail passes, we got on the 10 am train and were on our way.

Hiroshima is most famous for two things (at least if you ask most people): The giant red gate, Otorii, that appears to be floating in the water; and the atomic bombing which is now commemorated by a Peace Memorial Park. Today was the anniversary of the bombing- August 6th- and we had planned to see the floating lanterns at night. However, it was so hot today, and we didn't want to be back in Osaka too late, so we didn't stay for the lanterns.

The first thing we did after arriving was head for Miyajima by local train. Miyajima is an island famous for wild deer (more on that later) and a shrine where the Otorii gate is located. Before going to the island itself, we stopped for some souvenir shopping and lunch. Mom had a rice conger burger- which she didn't realize until later was eel- and I had udon noodles. Both were really good. :) We then took a ferry to the island, enjoying a new view of the beautiful Seto Inland Sea. The island was packed. We walked along with the crowds (including a lot of foreigners, though I only heard two people speaking English) through narrow lanes lined with souvenir shops. One speciality on Miyajima are momiji manju, little cakes shaped like maple leaves and filled with different things like chocolate, red bean, and custard. I had to buy a few as they were so cute! We just ate the custard one and it was really delicious. ^_^ We eventually made it to the shrine, but decided to skip it as it was so crowded. Instead, we sat in the shade overlooking the beach and the Otorii to write some postcards. As mom was finishing up, a deer came ambling up and SNATCHED THE POSTCARD CLEAN OUT OF HER HAND!!! O_O We tried to get it back but a whole corner got eaten... Then the impertinent doe had the nerve to attack the other postcard! Suffice it to say we were none too happy. >:( Later we saw a guy hitting a deer with a fan... now it all makes sense. :P

After the deer fiasco, we returned to Hiroshima and took a streetcar to the peace memorial park. I really wanted to see the Atomic Bomb Dome. We walked to it and I had to stop a moment to appreciate it. The dome was originally the Hiroshima Prefectural Commercial building (or something like that); when the bomb hit directly above it, some of the walls were able to withstand the blast. Now it stands as a humbling reminder of how war affects everyone it touches.

We got back to Osaka at 7 pm and made it to our hotel before 8. One last thing... Remember the "women only" train cars I mentioned yesterday? Well, I have to retract my statement. TODAY was the first time I've seen so many women. -_- And we were smooshed on the train pretty good, haha.

Day 17: First Look at Japan's Kitchen

Osaka is the food capital of Japan, hence its nickname in the title of this blog. Although I knew we would be a bit tired from traveling from Takamatsu to Osaka today, there were two things I really wanted to do: See Osaka Castle, and eat okonomiyaki in Dotonbori, Osaka's famous restaurant district. And do those things we did!

Osaka Castle is a long walk (~15 min) from the nearest station and has been reconstructed several times. The inside is simply a modernized museum, so mom and I decided to just walk until we could get close enough to take pictures. The castle was breathtakingly beautiful... The roofs are light green, the walls white, and golden tigers & fish adorn the outside. I've always loved pictures of Osaka Castle, so even though we didn't go inside, I'm really glad we took the time to walk over and see it in person. It was definitely worth fighting the humidity and crowded trains.

Osaka is the third busiest city in Japan. I personally found it just as busy as Tokyo, at least tonight. Mom and I took a subway to Namba station where we walked a couple blocks to Dotonbori. Dotonbori is easy to describe: Lights, food, people. I wanted to eat okonomiyaki (likened to pancakes, but so much better) here because this is the birthplace of the dish. We finally found a cute restaurant, albeit a bit smokey, which had good prices and an English menu. We ordered two different types of okonomiyaki to try and discussed the griddle in the middle of the table. Turns out they make it in their kitchen and then set it on the table's griddle to keep it hot and fresh. It. Was. AMAZING. Oh my goodness. Cannot describe... The first one had the normal ingredients (cabbage, batter, sauce) plus egg and soft noodles; the second was similar but with pork on top that had been lightly scorched. Mmm... I couldn't decide which was my favorite. So glad we went, even though the crowds were intense. We even rode in a "women only" car on the local train to our hotel. Never seen so many women in my life, haha. :P

Today was great, albeit tiring, but tomorrow is going to be long as well. We're making a day trip to Hiroshima. I should have some great pics to show for it. ;)

Day 16: Ritsurin Garden & The Ogre Island

Takamatsu is famous for a very large Japanese strolling garden called Ritsurin Garden. This morning, my mom and I took a one-car local train (they call them "one man" trains) to Ritsurin Garden. There was a cool breeze at Takamatsu station, but when we stepped off the one man, the humidity really smacked into us. We paid entrance to the garden and received very pretty admission tickets. I saved them in a ziploc bag where I've been collecting cool papers and receipts to bring home. :) Anyway, there were quite a few people at the garden, but it is large enough that it didn't feel crowded. The garden has a few main features. One is the use of a large mountain behind it as "borrowed scenery," one of the important asthetics of Japanese gardens. The second is seasonal flowers. Right now, the flowers in bloom are Indian lilacs, which were a beautiful shade of hot pink; water lilies; and Indian lotus, which has light pink flowers instead of white and HUGE leaves! The many ponds in the garden had tons of koi and smaller fish, as well. Another feature is the garden's main teahouse. When we reached it, there was a performance of some koto music (Japanese harp) going on, but later the teahouse was full of people drinking green tea. We didn't stop to join them, instead continuing on our way. I really enjoyed the garden, although the one we went to in Tokyo was really good, too. They both had things which made them unique. Oh yeah, and this time we came prepared with umbrellas to use as parasols, which we've discovered is the cool thing to do. :P

Returning on the one man train, we stopped in Takamatsu station and had lunch at a fast food chain called Lotteria. We tried their shrimp burger and I peronally found it better than McDonald's. It had tartar sauce & cabbage inside- any of you fried fish people would have loved it!

At 3 we walked to the ferry port and boarded a ferry bound for Megijima, a small island a mere 15 minute ride away. Megijima is famously known in Japan as the ogre island from the folk legend, Momotaro (Peachboy). The island and the sea were so beautiful. We walked along the island's beach for a few minutes before reaching a shrine with a large crowd. Curious to know what was happening, we joined the throng. It was some kind of festival, we think... About fifteen people carried a portable shrine (see picture) over the heads of a bunch of people, then some guys who were bound to the top of a wooden thing were "dunked" to the ground over and over. It was very weird... But interesting, haha. After that we walked back toward the pier to catch the next ferry. Only problem was, there was a giant line!! I asked the security guy if it was for Takamatsu, and he laughed heartily as he said yes. -_- The next ferry came and filled with people, but we didn't make it, so we sat on the concrete pier and enjoyed the sea breeze... for about forty minutes. Oh well, it was an experience, and that's what this trip has been about. ^_^

Day 15: Takamatsu, City by the Sea

We left Matsuyama behind today to go to our shortest stay of the trip (2 days), a smallish town along the coast of Shikoku called Takamatsu. The trip between cities only took two and a half hours, which was really nice after the long journey to Matsuyama a few days ago. The scenery along the way was really beautiful, just like before. I'm really growing fond of having the sea so near! One thing I've noticed in Japan that I did not know before is that there are bamboo forests EVERYWHERE. I just assumed there wasn't much bamboo, since it is native to China, but how wrong I was. Now I can easily pick out bamboo's light-green, fluffy top amongst evergreens. :)

When we arrived in Takamatsu, we went straight to our hotel and were able to check in early (the fact we hardly spoke two words to the guy who checked us in was a bit amusing). The hotel room is very large because it has the capacity for three people. There are so many nice things in the room, like free green tea that I'm drinking right now, and a good working aircon. :P It was a little cooler today, I think because Takamatsu is right beside the sea. Anyway, this afternoon we walked across a large plaza to do some shopping, then picked up dinner at a konbini.

About six-thirty, we walked from our hotel about six minutes to the ferry port, which was bustling with people. Another ten minutes brought us to the Takamatsu Lighthouse, known for its red glass casing. It was quite pleasant on the way there because there was a cool breeze, but coming back it was pretty humid and there was no breeze to help.

Hard to believe we have been in Japan two weeks already. There are so many observations I want to write about, but I'll save that for a post after we get home. ^_^

Day 14: Adventures in Shikoku

This morning we had quite an adventure... The owner of the guesthouse, Matt, gave us a map of the area and told us about a "nice walk" to a temple. First we would come to a shrine with a few stairs leading up to it, then walk around a bamboo forest, then to a "kind of spooky" cave which leads to the temple. Boy does that man have a lot to answer for!! The walk to the shrine took at least 10-15 minutes. From a few blocks away we could see what appeared to be a giant stone wall... and was in reality 135 stone steps. -_- (Mom counted.) I said on no account was I going to climb them, but once she did it, I decided to just bite the bullet. The shrine at the top was pretty, but definitely not worth the total workout. Phew... Next, we wound up a hill to the gumdrop mountains and through the candy cane forest. Just kidding... haha. In reality we walked alongside the bamboo forest which looked SUPER dark inside before FINALLY reaching the entrance to the cave. It was so tiny we almost missed it. In we went... and apparently "kind of spooky" actually means "super dark and really Indiana-Jones-esque." It was just a long, straight tunnel, but it was so dark that we used the flashlight on our phones to see the ground. Man, I'm glad I did it, but that was pushing it a little. -_- We were proud of ourselves when we finally made it out and found ourselves inside the temple complex. From there, we walked all the way back to the guesthouse. I didn't want to be mean, so I didn't mention to Matt how much he underestimated everything... haha. :P

In the afternoon we took a local train to a nearby town called Hojo where we walked to a small ferry terminal. We were headed for Kashima, a small blob of island just off Shikoku known for its wild deer. In fact, it's so close that the ferry only takes one minute! The ferry was so cute I had to take a picture. There weren't very many people on the island. We grabbed a cold drink from a vending machine and began walking around the perimeter. Unfortunately, there were signs and barriers, so we didn't get to walk around the other side. Instead we walked back towards the ferry and past it to a beach where some families were swimming. We sat down and had a snack with the cool sea breeze blowing calmly. It was much cooler there than in Matsuyama- probably 85 instead of 92. :P Sitting there it felt like being at the ocean back home, except with palm trees and dragonflies. I was glad we made the trip out despite the difficulty of finding Western style bathrooms. :/

Well, today was full of adventures. Tomorrow we travel to Takamatsu for our last days on Shikoku. Then on to Osaka!

PS(We're still waiting for our roman to show up. See picture below.)

Day 13: The Mountaintop Castle, Matsuyama-jo

We were really tired yesterday so we were able to go to bed early and get up at a good time today. It took us a while to eat breakfast and get out for the day because the couple who owns this guesthouse is super friendly and talkative. :) The man, Matt, is originally from Texas and told us about his time teaching English in Korea and Japan. His wife, Noriko, is native Japanese but has really good English. They are really knowledgeable about Shikoku, so we'll probably ask them for more advice tomorrow before we move to our next city.

Once we did make it outside, we headed for Matsuyama Castle. Matsuyama has a streetcar system that is really cool. It's basically like a loop line with several branches, and the streetcar itself is like an old, one-car trolley. It costs 150 yen (~$1.50) to ride each time, but it really is super convenient for getting around the city. Anyway, we hopped on the streetcar towards the castle. After getting off at our stop, we walked a few minutes before arriving at our next destination. The castle is on top of Mt. Katsuyama, smack dab in the middle of the city, and there are three ways to reach it: 1) hike; 2) chair lift; and 3) cablecar. We chose the last option. It was a small tram that only took a minute to reach the top, but the view of the city was incredible! Once at the top, we still had to walk further to the castle. We passed through several gates with huge stone walls before making it to the open flat area where the main castle tower sits. In that area (before reaching the castle buildings) is a viewpoint with benches in the shade. When I say viewpoint, I mean it- the view of Matsuyama city, the surrounding mountains, and the Seto Inland Sea was indescribable. It was almost a 360 degree view... so amazing. After we explored the castle, we sat on a bench there and ate ice cream. Mom said it was magic moment number two for her, three for me. ^_^

The inside of the main tower was nicer than I expected. I liked this castle better than Matsumoto's because it only has 3 stories instead of 6, and it's more flat so it feels more "castle-like," I guess. :P The top floor had another amazing view of the city. We could even see one of the islands in the Seto Inland Sea that we might visit tomorrow. The castle also had lots of good information in English about the founding of the buildings, plus explanations of how it was built (~1600), destroyed (~1750), and reconstructed (~1850).

We decided to go shopping once we made it all the way back down to the city. There is a long (covered, thankfully, as the sun was very bright) shopping arcade opposite the streetcar stop, so we explored there for a while. We even ate lunch at a beef bowl restaurant, which took some attempts at broken Japanese to figure out, but we made it. :D

Later in the afternoon we went back to our hotel, stopping to shop at the covered shopping arcade nearby. Today happened to be the start of an annual summer festival, so there was music playing and food stalls set up. I stopped by one of the stores and bought a pair of Japanese style sandals to go with my yukata. They're beautiful, but not really made for the shape of my foot. -_- We also bought a regional speciality called "taruto," which is basically like a small sponge cake shaped like a Japanese letter (no) and filled with red bean paste. Mmm. :)

This evening we visited the arcade area again to see what was going on at the festival. The actual event was taking place outside of the famous Dogo Onsen, which I finally got pictures of! We listened to some taiko (Japanese drumming) and Hawaiian singing. All in all, though, it wasn't as magical as the one we went to in Matsumoto. ;P

Phew, okay, that made up for yesterday! Tomorrow morning we plan to talk a scenic walk around this area of Matsuyama to a temple through a bamboo forest and cave, then in the afternoon ferry over to one of the small islands nearby. Should be a nice last day in Matsuyama, even with the heat.