2002-2005 (c) GetJealous.com, All rights reserved. http://www.getjealous.com/squireabroad/rss.xml This is the blog of my adventures in the Land of the Rising Sun. I landed in Narita with little more than a rudimentary grasp of the language and eyes as wide as saucers. Since then... http://www.getjealous.com/squireabroad http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=311329&go=squireabroad Yokoso! I've done it. Finally I've been to Japan and seen the place, talked to its people, tried its food, experienced its customs, and drunk its alcohol. Japan for me was always a lifelong ambition, steeped in an early introduction at the age of 12 with the mysticisms of Ninjas and Samurais courtesy of Hollywoods straight-to-video stars like Michael Dudikoff, and the four green turtles t... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=311329&go=squireabroad Mon, 23 Apr 2007 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=311279&go=squireabroad Yokoso! And so it finishes. On the 20th April I said fairwell to Japan, but not before cramming in a last few trips into the final week. I disappeared up to Echigo Yuzawa on Monday night to get some snowboarding in on my final week, but was disappointed to discover that most of the resorts had shut due to lack of snow. It was tipping it down with rain too so, considering that snowboarding on... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=311279&go=squireabroad Fri, 20 Apr 2007 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=307399&go=squireabroad Yokoso! Well, it's my last week in Japan. All those things I have yet to do I'm doing. Himeji Castle is a huge place and one of the best places in Japan to demonstrate the magnificence of their castle building. This one, unlike the others hasn't been reinforced or renovated with concrete foundations or patchwork and stands on its own 600 year merit. The castle is know as the "white Egret" ca... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=307399&go=squireabroad Mon, 16 Apr 2007 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=306179&go=squireabroad Yokoso! In 1950 the Tokyo riot police ousted the Takenokozoku - the dancers dressed like harlequins in bright pastel clothes with rockabilly haircuts - from Yoyogi Koen (park). Since then they have been replaced with the Cos-play zoku, the Costume Play Gang. Many teenage girls from the dormitory towns and city that surround Tokyo's fringe decend onto Yoyogi's Jingu-Bashi ground on Sunday mornin... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=306179&go=squireabroad Sun, 15 Apr 2007 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=305717&go=squireabroad Yokoso! Well, they've finally left. On Wednesday I greeted three travelworn heroes off the plane at Narita airport as they came to visit me on their way home. For three days I have performed a whistle-stop tour around the capital and ooh'ed and ahh'ed at the spectacles once again. On Wednesday we arrived in Tokyo, and after a little navigatorial issue we arrived at the hotel near Rappongi. O... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=305717&go=squireabroad Sat, 14 Apr 2007 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=303129&go=squireabroad Yokoso! I'm in Nagano. I promised myself I'd come back and here I am. And another temple. I think I'm templed out. This one though had a few gimmicks. Zenko-Ji is the home of the Ikko-Sanzon, allegedly the first Buddhist image to arrive in Japan in 552 from Korea. But you can't see it. You can only see a copy of it every seven years. Does it really exist then? Well the last confirme... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=303129&go=squireabroad Tue, 10 Apr 2007 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=303127&go=squireabroad Yokoso, Now I wasn't going to go to Nara. Not until I was chatting to some guy in a bar in Osaka who told me it was the best place he had ever been to and I "had to see the size of the f***ing Buddah there!". Well, suitably motivated, I decided I'd go and see this Buddah. Nara is a short train ride either east from Osaka or south from Kyoto, and I decided I'd detour my way there on my way up... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=303127&go=squireabroad Mon, 9 Apr 2007 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=303126&go=squireabroad Yokoso! On my last visit to Kyoto I was with Maria, and we run out of time to do this one which is a shame because I think she'd have really enjoyed it. Nijo Castle is steeped in history, built in 1603 as the official residence of the first Togogawa shogun, Ieyasu. A lavish and ostentacious display of prestige, the castle demonstrated the emperors power at the time. As a safeguard against eaves... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=303126&go=squireabroad Sun, 8 Apr 2007 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=303125&go=squireabroad Yokoso! Well, well, well. Ninjas eh? In Japan you say? The guide books don't talk of them, in fact it was only a glimpse in a Tourist Information Office that showed me a brochure on the Ninjas in Iga Ueno. So, brochure in hand I went off to track down these masters of stealth and disguise. Three train journeys and a cab ride later, I was standing at the front door of the Ninja house in Iga K... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=303125&go=squireabroad Sat, 7 Apr 2007 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=302052&go=squireabroad Yokoso! Today I've been to an Aquarium. Oh very Japanese I hear you say but this one was really, really big. 34metres across and 12metres deep, made out of acrillic over a foot thick; It was pretty good and that was only the main tank. The star attraction was a 30ft Whale Shark which swam around the aquarium with impugnity, dwarfing the only slightly less impressive giant manta ray they had in ... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=302052&go=squireabroad Fri, 6 Apr 2007 12:00:00 GMT