Our last day in Japan

We of course went back to the Tsukiji Market so that Greg could once again experience amazing sushi.  I mean, melt in your mouth sushi!  And, while I love the sushi, I really love all the weird things in bags and boxes.  Like, the bag of fish eyeballs below. Hmm, fish-eye stew?  No, football fish-eye chili?

Here is the sushi slicer, cutting out the fatty tuna pieces. Which is incredibly, incredibly good.  It melts like butter in your mouth.

Greg makes friends with the sushi maker!!!  And, after two stops at this incredible sushi stand, and Greg eating probably 342 pounds of sushi and sashimi...I finally dragged him away.

Just like this Japanese man carting away his goods from the fish market, we packed up and headed to the airport!

A subway train, a monorail and 3 flights will bring us back to all the people that mean the world to us.  As with any travel, our souls have shifted some having seen the moon shine on another spot of this great earth.

See you soon! All our love.
JoAnn (writer) and Greg (photographer and technical technician)

Lessons from Japan

Some things that I learned from Japan:

A gazillion people can live together in the utmost cleanliness,  without a single piece of litter.  I may have seen a total of (literally) 3 pieces if trash during the entire trip.  Every single nook and cranky, meaning streets, stores, every inch and every corner-clean.  It is the cleanest place I have ever been (besides my mom's and Greg's mom's house).

A gazillion people can live together without any loud noise.  Tons of cars, no horns beeping.  No radios too loud, no loud talking, no invading of your space.  It's quiet.   Even the train station bells are like wind chimes.  The airports, murmurs of voices but quiet.  Even being among so many people, I feel so relaxed.   A gazillion people and its incredibly peaceful.

A gazillion people can take pride in everything they do.  I had read that in Japan everything is 'pretty.'  But, I think it meant to say that everything is a work of art.  And, with art comes pride.  Every bag, every piece of food is a piece of art.  Even my tiny cookie bag was so beautiful.  It was a cheap butter cookie.  But, the bag showed the pride of what was inside.

A gazillion people and I never smelled anything offensive.  Not trash from restaurants, not a person on the train/bus/streetcar/taxi had an odor or too much perfume.  If you have ever been to any city, you know this is not an easy thing to do.

A gazillion people and the balance between modernizing and preserving is maintained.  The new and the ancient.  A culture moving forward, but respecting what came before them.

In Japan, every sense--sight, smell, hearing, taste--was nurtured.  

Castles and crossings

This morning we went to see Nijojo Castle in Kyoto.  The three pictures below show some of the outside grandeur.  No photographs were allowed inside.

On our way back to Tokyo, Greg captured the BEST picture of Mt Fuji!!!

After dinner Greg and I made a very looooong night walk through the back roads of Hiro-o.  A very quiet, peaceful walk to Shibuya Crossing.  Shibuya Crossing is rumored to be the world's busiest intersection and while this picture shows the expanse of the place - being there surrounded by a sea of people is quite an experience!  The picture shows the huge shopping district and massive amount of people crossing the street.

This picture shows our astonished faces!  Don't worry moms we held tight to each other!

Sardines and mermaids

Conversations:

Greg:    I really enjoyed the eel last night.
JoAnn: Um, it was okay.  Too fishy and tasted like sardines.
Greg:    Have you ever had a sardine?
JoAnn: No.
Greg: So, how do you know it tasted like a sardine?
JoAnn:  Because I have smelled them.

Heido (our tour guide in Hiroshima)
Heido:  (showing us a picture of three women protectors) They say that the floating torii is protected by these three women.
JoAnn:   Are they out in the water?
Heido: Yes, to protect the torii.
JoAnn:  Why don't they call them mermaids?
Heido (looking confused).  Greg trying not to bust up laughing.

Thoughts on food

People really eat light over here.  Small meals, small portions.  I mean, we had two guides drag us around for hours and we'd eat a small piece of fish and a scattering of rice.  Maybe they do this because we are obviously tourists?  Because I am telling you, by day 4 as a tourist you are so darn hungry you will eat anything.  Example, today I ate a rice ball full of little fish.  Whole, little, eyeballs-still-in fish.  They looked like small mealworms.  What did I do?  Noticed them, showed Greg (read: bragged some) and ate them.  Would I have done this on day 1?  No.  Do you know why? Yesterday I walked southern Japan for about 14 hours and do you know what I ate? A few oysters, a rice ball, 2 coffees, green tea and a couple pieces of nigiri.  Dessert?  Apple juice.  (I opted out of eating the jiggly square they called sweet dessert.  No, it was not jello and it had little black dots in it which could have been anything including fish eyes). So, in my absolute hunger of this afternoon, I ate whole, little, eyeballs-still-in fishes.  And, I would (will) do it again.

In the railway stations you can pick up little sandwiches. They are small, crust-free squares of surprise.  They are about 2-inches x 2-inches stacked 6 high and each one is different.  Sandwich surprises, think box of chocolates, but sandwiches.  We had a egg salad one with ham, crazy delicious!  Who knew?  I had a tomato, mayo (yup they have mayo here) and corn one.  So good!  Soft boiled, flat egg? In there too.  Piece-a-sumpin' you can't figure out, bright red with a crunch of lettuce.  Check.  To paraphrase Forrest Gump, life is like a stack of sandwiches in Japan, you never know what your going to get!

Greg loves his tempura.  He thinks it is very Japanese.  We walked miles to find a tempura place.  It's fried anything--peppers, shrimp, vegetables.  It's essentially carnival food.  Think it, fry it, dunk it in some 'special' Japanese 'tempura sauce.'  It is good, but I truly don't get it.  It is oddly American.  I was kind of walking around looking for a KFC sign.  However, I would happily walk until the end of the world to find it for Greg. (Awwww.)

Hiroshima

Another whirlwind day!  14 hours of touring, shoo wee!  Probably our most memorable day for many reasons.  We started off in Kyoto and took the bullet train to Hiroshima where we met our guide Hedio (pronounced he-day).  Together, we took another train and than a beautiful ferry ride to Miyajima Island to see the great floating gate or Itsukushima Shrine.  As you can see, the torii emerges from the sea and appears as if it is just floating.  And, to some extent it is.  Only the weight of the structure (60-70 tons) anchors it in the water.  This shrine is a World Heritage Site.

This part of Japan is known for its Samurai warriors, so of course Greg threw me in to fight one before we could get onto the island!!!

This is a picture of our guide Heido.  He was fantastic; very organized and knowledgeable.  We learned a lot.

Oh, on the island are lots and lots of unencumbered, free- roaming deer.  I think he wants something in my rucksack!

Here you can see how glorious the torii looks with the mountains in the background.
Photographer: G. D. Sutton

In front of the torri is the shrine which feels as if it is floating on water.  Again, the mountains frame this island and make it seem even more majestic.

Greg and I on the floating shrine with the pagoda behind us.

A view of the shops in the small island village.

Next, we took a train to the A-Bomb Dome.

Below are various pictures of the A-Bomb Dome.  Prior to being bombed the the A-Bomb Dome was a market.  While much of this structure is melted, charred or evaporated -- the remainder is still standing is because the atomic bomb exploded directly overtop of the A-Bomb Dome meaning some of the structure was spared.  As you know, the entire surrounding area was vaporized.

This picture shows how Hiroshima has grown and overcome to be a flourishing city by the sea.
You can see the A-Bomb Dome Building in the back drop.

We also saw: the Peace Clock Tower (which rings everyday at 8:15 am the time the bomb was dropped), the Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound (where 70,000 body remains are buried), the Flame of Peace (which will not burn out until nuclear weapons are abolished and has lit the torch for 2 Olympic games), a tree which survived the atomic bomb, and the Peace Memorial Museum.  All very moving and emotional.

On a lighter note.....on our way home Greg met some friends!!!

And, I battled Pokémon!

WWWssssssffff

We finally did it!!! You would be so proud of us!  What am I talking about? We can actually slurp our noodles.  It has taken a couple days, but we did it this morning at breakfast.  Again, we ate a hot noodle soup breakfast at a packed place in the train station.  Crowded and full of slurpers.  Greg did it first (of course), it started with a "wfff."  I looked at him, head in his bowl and thought, huh.  Then looked around to see if anyone was looking at him.  No one heard him because they are all slurping too!  Then it happened, Greg did a full-on longer slurp "wwwsssfffffffff."  So, I could not help myself.  Wssssffffffssssffff.  

Greg: Wsssfffsfffsf.
Me:  Wssfftttssssfff.
Together: Wsssffs, wsssff. Wsssffttfffff. Wsssssssf.

It happened. We became noodle slurpers.  Authentic Japanese noodle slurpers!!!  If it weren't for Greg being 3 feet taller than most Japanese people and me having blonde hair, we might actually blend in.  Wssssfffts.

Problem we learned with noodle slurping is this: napkins are a rarity.  So, slurp at your own risk.