Our first stop and first real impression of Japan was Fukuoka. Historically supposedly one of the most international cities, due to its proximity with Korea and influx of Portuguese sailors so long ago.
We spent two days trying ramen (noodle soup), observing the Japanese scurry too and fro, comparing the malls with those of Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok (Singapore still beats them all) and just walking around.
Interestingly enough, their food courts are (unlike the SEA food courts) more like a group of individual little restaurants, each with plastic models of the food on display (thank goodness! reading Japanese is quite beyond us!) and a line of giggling girls and poker faced adults queuing. The food is relatively inexpensive, surprisingly enough. We generally spend around Fr. 9.- per meal, including drinks.
The prevalence of gaming parlours, especially "Patchinko" parlours is just amazing. You really get the impression that most of the population are hard core gamers and gamblers. Prizes range from candy bars to candy bars which you can exchange for money. Interesting system that. Elegant way around the "no money prizes" rule.
After Fukuoka (which we could never pronounce correctly) we boarded another Shinkansen down to Nagasaki.
The second city ever to be hit by an atom bomb. (During WW2. Hiroshima was the first city to be struck by nuclear warfare.)
It was quite terrible to see the destruction in the museum.
They had done up the area really well and you would never dream that in 1945 the whole surrounding area was completely flattened.
Our next stop was Beppu, famous for its numerous hot springs.
Now there are two kinds of hot springs, we learn from the Lonely Planet: the "jigoku" (or "hells"), which are for viewing and the "onsen", in which you can bathe.
It was terribly hot and humid (on average Japan has been around 30 degrees Celsius) so I was doubtful as to how relaxing these onsen would really be. Nevertheless we rented a private onsen (the onsen are generally split by sex and you bathe naked) and had a great time alternately dousing ourselves with cold water and boiling ourselves in the bath. Highly recommendable!
From Beppu we travelled over to Hiroshima.
It is a very nice town, bustling and green, cut through by rivers. But to be honest, I preferred Nagasaki over Hiroshima when it comes to commemorating the disaster and consequences of the nuclear bombs.
Yesterday we decided to visit Kobe (no, we didn't manage to try the famous Kobe beef) and patronise a Sake museum. The tasting after the hard work of walking around produced some of the tastiest sake I have ever sipped. (FYI, you don`t drink Sake, you sip it.)
But it was too early and we had planned to visit the famous castle at Himeji next, so we repressed the urge to invest in a bottle or two. (Have found that the ominous threat of "carrying" does wonders for my savings!)
The castle (a UNESCO Heritage site) was marvellous. Interestingly enough you had to take off your shoes. They gave you a plastic bag for them. At the end I spied an elderly lady cleaning and folding the used plastic bags, ready for reuse. That`s recycling!
Speaking about being environmentally sound, I noticed that everyone here 1. does not wear a mask (like they do when they come over to Europe) and 2. all vehicles turn off the engines at red lights no matter how long or short the wait and 3. the transport of choice seems to be the bicycle.
Another oddity are their toilets. Most of them have numerous buttons on the side. Haven`t quite figured out what they do, apart from an obvious one that gives you a "douche". When you sit down, the water starts running so that no one can hear you. Crazy!
The best one was at one of their huge internet cafes. (A great institution. With free ice-cream, drinks and soups, as well as an extensive menu, it was just begging to be tried and tested in true Japanese fashion.) The lid lifted itself automatically (got a huge shock when that happened!) and the seat was heated. Pure luxury!
I also love the omnipresent vending machines. The coffee is surprisingly good (you can even get cold starbucks coffee in the 7/11) despite being sweet. Instant caffeine and sugar rush combined.
Today we arrived in Kyoto. With numerous UNESCO Heritage sites and some 2000 Buddhist temples it is called the Paris of Japan. I am most interested in the Geisha (well, "Memoirs of a Geisha" was one of my favorite books for a time!) and the tea ceremony.
But tomorrow it is off to Nara, the old capital.
We are getting our money`s worth out of this JR Rail Pass!
