The Olympic Dream Is Dead

Arriving in China was more culture shock than I had expected coming from another Asian country. In such a short time I had gotten used to Japan--how polite and orderly and considerate other people are. Then I arrived in China where people mill about everywhere and make no attempt to move out of the way of oncoming pedestrians or cars, they push and shove, threaten to run you over at any opportunity and yell at you to try their food, take their taxi or buy their merchandise. If Japan is the American South, as cordial and hospitable as you please, then China is Manhattan where people will eat you alive, steal your money and then spit on you. It was a rude awakening.

David arrived here on Thursday night and after taking it easy for a full day, we rented bikes on Saturday and set off into Beijing headed for the Olympic grounds. The ride was long, confusing and I often felt like a bike courrier in DC as we navigated through traffic under threat of life and limb. It took us over an hour to get there with a few minor delays and I was excited to see the Birds Nest rising out of the distance. We made it!!

At first we spent time trying to get inside the track & field stadium grounds but were shooed away from multiple entrances by guards. We could see other people walking around inside and, since we didn't speak any Mandarin, had no idea what they were trying to tell us. We figured out that there was a public entrance around the block and decided that we didn't want to pay to get inside as all the other people were doing. After standing there watching the process, we figured it cost no less than 50 Yuan to get inside and we weren't that interested. Navigating around the track grounds, I got my first taste of the ruin that the Olympic arenas are becoming. Parking lots are fenced in, abandoned and overgrown after only 3 months.

Its an odd mix of abandonment, deconstruction and immaculately kept gardens and common spaces all mixed and jumbled around some of the major landmarks like the Birds Nest and the Water Cube. The major tourist attractions are being maintained and continue to draw revenue through insane entrance fees (we figured it would cost us no less than $60 each to gain admittance inside the Water Cube and upwards of $125 for a VIP pass. No thanks.). Directly across the street from some of the lesser venues like the fencing building (which is directly next to the Water Cube), they're actively dismantling a slew of smaller buildings.

Only 2 months ago, these buildings were actively used by athletes, their friends and families and by spectators. Now they're in shambles less than 500 yards from the big attractions. The multiple subway stations that were installed to shuttle people to and from the widely spaced arenas are now inoperable and closed to the public. I have no idea what these materials are intended for or what they are planning for what will ultimately be an empty parking lot. Better yet, why are they doing this? I thought the slogan of the Olympics this past year was "One World, One Dream." Judging from what I've seen, that dream is dead. Its really disheartening and depressing.

Its All About the Yen-jamins!

I've spent a lot of time in transit over the last few days and noticed a disparity over what I was putting in my journal versus what I was blogging about. I liked what I wrote for myself much better than what I put out there for the public, so I'm making it my mission to be more open and honest and a tad less informational (hence my last post on my bathroom experience). Also due in part to the fact that I won't have computer access the way I did while visiting Wes in Iwakuni, so I'll have to make the few entries I can manage to write, count. I know you all care what I'm doing or you wouldn't be reading, but I'd like to give you extra incentive to keep up with me.

I've had lots of thoughts to myself on Japan's consumer culture but have kept mum on things until now. I think I was concerned that my observations would be judged, as they undoubtedly will, but I need to put things out there without worrying so much. That's the theme of this whole adventure--No Worries.

One of the things I noticed right away is that young Japanese women are crazy for fashion! Most of them would rather live in a dump, barely eat and have a closet full of the hottest designer labels. Its a trend in Japan for women to live extraordinarily out of their means in order to dress up. And my, how they rock it out! I wish I had pictures of some of the things that people wear in Japan but I felt awkward snapping incognito photos of strangers. Not that they would have said anything. They're all too polite. Instead, I tried to take photos in a department store and got this shot before I was asked to leave. At the top of the photo you can see the saleswoman's hand trying to block my shot. I pretended not to hear her. I couldn't pass this up! This is what we're dealing with, people!


Tennis shoes do not exist here. I swear in 9 days time I never saw a single young lady wearing anything besides heels or boots. Often a combination. I was floored by the (what Wes and I called) "hooker boots" these gals were wearing. I'm talking straight-out-of-Pretty-Woman up to, or past the knees, leather boots with 4" heels! They're EVERYWHERE! I even saw a little girl who couldn't have been more than 10 wearing a pair with a kitten heel! What parent in their right mind is going to let their daughter dress like that???

These girls appear so demure and overly feminine but they are rocking some sick shoes, walking miles at a time, and making it look easy. They might barely be 5 feet tall wearing 4 inch heels, but don't be fooled by their tiny voices or their outward appearance. These ladies are warriors!

As seductive as the footwear is, there's hardly any skin showing. They'll wear the tiniest little micro-mini or daisy duke shorts but always over a pair of tights or with a pair of knee-high socks. And the tops are never revealing or low-cut. Many of them are downright baggy. Especially by American standards. These girls are crazy about some make-up, too! Every morning on the train I see young school girls in their uniforms digging through their huge slouch purses for a mirror and some eye shadow. I don't think I started wearing what most people would consider make-up until I was in college. Maybe grad school. These girls are like 13 years old!

I guess what it ultimately comes down to is that Japan has a thriving economy and a young population with an expendable income. The Yen is far stronger than the Dollar and if I had that kind of money and lived in a big city, I might be tempted to dress just like these gals. Ladies, I salute you!

More on Eastern Bathrooms!

This might be my favorite topic so far. Something about bathroom habits really gets me pumped up! Its probably the kid in me looking for a public venue for a little potty humor, but I'm going to pretend that its the fact that its a topic that many people worry about when they're on the road and I'm doing a public service by documenting my experience.

I came across one of the fabled toilets with a heated seat and built-in bidet--truly a throne if ever there were! Stephen had mentioned them to me before I left DC, but having been in Japan for over a week, I was sure I wasn't going to find one. Then 'lo and behold! This magical creation was in my hostel in Osaka, and at first I was stumped.

The whole heated seat thing threw me off because I wasn't expecting it when I sat down. I did my business and then (like a kid) started playing with all the buttons this thing comes with. You can adjust the seat temperature, the water pressure and, on some models, you can add a flushing sound to the mix if you need some inspiration to move things along. Its very odd. Especially when someone uses one in say, a department store where there are lots of stalls. Um, I know what you're doing in there. No amount of noise the toilet makes is going to distract me from that fact. You're not hiding anything, lady!

What I also found is that some models have a timed bidet feature (uncomfortably long for the normal person--like 15 to 30 seconds, but in the name of research I had to try it out), where some have a freaking free flow with no end in sight! There's a stop button on that bad boy for a reason! Nobody trying to freshen up needs a jet like that! No, that takes a far more twisted mind to enjoy the endless spray. Its not my thing, for sure!

Since my first experience in Osaka, I've seen these awesome toilets a few more times in Tokyo. But then I was reminded of the other awful piss-holes that are out there when I stumbled across this sign in a (disgusting!) public bathroom outside the Osaka Castle.

This may have come in handy, um, about A WEEK AGO! I figured it out for myself without this instructional guide, but still had a good laugh when I saw it and thought I'd share. Especially since the person giving the demonstration is clothed. These toilets are not fun. The picture says it all. This is a situation where constipation could be your worst enemy! There's no leisurely waiting for nature to run its course without fearing that you may be unable to walk for the rest of the day. You can't possibly hold this position for more than a quick pee without your legs going numb!

I've learned how to find the Western-style toilets wherever I go. The trick is to find the handicapped stall. They're not going to make Granny squat over a hole! She might break a hip! And I, for one, fully support that initiative!

The thing about Western-style toilets here is that people actually respect them! I have NEVER walked into one and seen someone else's pee all over the seat! They are usually immaculate and cleaned regularly. It always makes me chuckle when I walk into a stall in a public place like a train station and they've folded over the first sheets of toilet paper on each roll the way they do in hotels. Even the Eastern-style bathrooms are at least clean. Americans, take a lesson and respect what could easily be such a rare gem--a place to SIT and do your business!

Miyajima

On Sunday, Wes and I headed to Miyajima, located on Itsukushima Island, to spend the day visiting shrines. The train from Iwakuni was about 20 minutes and we caught a ferry to the island, which took another 10 minutes. On the ferry ride in, passengers can see the floating Torii Gate, which welcomes visitors to the island.

I had done only a little reading about Miyajima before visiting (pretty much par for the course) and had seen a little blurb about the deer on the island. Wes had also mentioned them and I was prepared to see a few but I had no idea they'd be so prevalent. Or so bold! They flock to the touristy spots, especially near food stands, to try to score a snack right out of your hands (or out of your bag).

Wes has been to the island three time before our trip and told me about his friend attempting to "share" his french fries with a deer, only to have the thing try to stand in his lap and steal the bag right out of his hands. They're not scared of people and will often allow you to pet them. Food cart owners spend a lot of time shooing them away lest they sneak a sample their wares. Though most of the deer have their antlers removed, its no wonder you see signs like this scattered across the island. Duh!

The deer are allowed to roam free (though their population is regulated). They are considered sacred in the native Shinto religion because they are considered messengers of the gods. Try telling that to someone who just got their lunch forcibly stolen!

Wes and I headed toward the Itsukushim Shrine and scored a better photo with the Torii Gate. It was built in 1168 of camphor wood and is about 48 feet high. At high tide the gate appears to float, but visitors can walk down to it in the mornings before the tide comes in. It is common for visitors to place coins in the cracks of the legs of the gate and make a wish.

The Itsukushima Shrine, which dates back to the 6th century, is one of Japan's most popular tourist attractions--no mystery there. It's really cool! It juts out onto the sea on stilts!
The temples and shrines on the island are part of the Shingon sect of Buddhism, which is known as esoteric Buddhism in Japan. The sect teaches that humans can attain enlightenment through rituals combining physical, spoken and mental disciplines. Their deities are noticeably different from other Buddhist sects I've yet seen (some are downright frightening). This Kona looks like a watchdog from Hell!

This Fudo Myo-o deity inside the nearby Daiganji Temple isn't much better. His fierce facial expression shows his strong determination to make humans follow Buddhist teachings. Or else....

The island is very scenic and there are nature hikes all over the place. There are also several really large trees, as evidenced here:

We found a little hike off to the side of a few shops (it wasn't clearly marked) and found a small two story Pagoda at the top. It was cool, but the view from the top of the hike was more what I was interested in. The large building in the back with the sloped roof is the Komyoin Temple. Its also a good shot of the 5 story Pagoda and the Itsukushima Shrine.

This was the direction Wes and I were intending on heading, but cut through a side street and discovered a part of the island that Wes had not been to before. We ended up hitting the mother load when we found the Daisho-in Temple! The Niomon Gate serves as the official gateway into the temple. A pair of guardian king statues guard the gate and are said to ward off evil.

Wes has a thing for small Japanese statues and we discovered a little treasure trove of 500 Rakan Statues. They are representative of Shaka Nyorai's disciples and each one has a unique face and expression. There are several women among the bunch too. This is one of my favorite shots:

After winding our way uphill through the statue garden, we came out by the belfry. This bell used to be rung to tell the time in the morning, afternoon and evening but is now used to start the time for worship. It makes the most gratifying deep sound and Wes liked it so much that he walked around for the rest of the day saying, "BONGGG!"

As I mentioned previously, the Shingon sect of Buddhism has different deities than other sects. This is Shaka Nyorai, or Shaka Buddha, entering Nirvana surrounded by his sixteen disciples.

There is an entire room in the Maniden Hall dedicated to 1,000 images of Amida Nyorai, or Buddha of Infinite Light, who is believed to take the deceased to West Paradise.

These seven Mizukake Jizo Bosatsu statues are centered on the one believed to redeem the spirits of deceased babies and children. Worshipers pour water on each of the Jizo images to console the souls of loved ones.

Of all the unexpected things we discovered on the temple grounds, the Henjyokutsu Cave was by far my favorite. It was kind of eerie to walk inside but once your eyes adjusted it was truly amazing! It houses icons of the 88 temples of the prestigious pilgrimage route on Shikoku. Worshipers believe that they are given the same blessings as people who make the pilgrimage to all the temples on the route.

Throughout the complex there are prayer wheels. It is believed that spinning these Mani wheels invites blessings equivalent to reading one volume of the Hannya-shinkyo, or Heart Sutra. Spinning other wheels around the temple grounds are thought to bring you enormous fortune. I spun as many as I could!

The grounds directly outside the temple are maintained as meticulously as those inside. I could see a small waterfall above the temple and took the walking path to investigate. Here's a view of the temple grounds from above:

It was starting to get dark so we headed back down to the main village to find some grub. Wes had been on the island back in February during an oyster festival, so we knew exactly what we wanted. Unfortunately, the place he'd been before closed at 4:30, so we missed out. But we were able to find another place a little further down the road that was serving up barbecued oysters. These guys are total pros!

On a more random note, there is a style of wooden spoon used to serve cooked rice without impairing the taste that is said to have been invented by a monk who lived on the island. These spoons are popular souvenirs and means of relating handwritten prayer in several shrines around the island. Here's the biggest one in the world! It is made of 270-year-old Zelkova tree, took 2 years and 10 months to create, is 7.7 meters long and weighs 2.5 metric tons!

Iwakuni Kintai Bridge and Hiroshima

After a night of sushi and drinking in downtown Iwakuni, Wes and I got a slow start to the day on Friday. We took it easy and kept it local, heading to the Kintai Bridge in the middle of the afternoon. Its very distinctive and is a local treasure, although the current bridge is only about 55 years old. The original bridge, which was built in 1673, was washed away by a typhoon. The design of the original bridge was so good that the engineers in charge of the researched noted that the techniques used were in perfect accordance with modern dynamic principles. Modern engineering could not improve it. Its pretty cool looking too!

After crossing the bridge, we entered into a little tourist district before Iwakuni park, which is home to several temples and shrines. I insisted we do the tourist thing briefly and we had a killer photo taken as Geisha girls! Wes looks so cute and helpful pointing the way in his little red kimono!

We wandered around the grounds for a few hours and came across the Shirayama Hime Shrine, which Wes had never seen in any of his previous visits. I went inside ahead of Wes, who was taking photos outside and removing his shoes, and jumped a mile in the air when a monk slid open a wall panel and came up behind me while I was studying the architectural detail. When Wes joined us, he gave us some history about the building, which had been burned by arsonists several times throughout the last several centuries. He gave us an Oracle in English (instead of Kanji, like they're written EVERYWHERE) and explained that if our fortune was excellent then we should tie it to a tree outside. If the fortune was less than excellent, we should keep it and come back one year from now and draw another fortune and hope for better luck.

Wes had an excellent fortune so he tied his to a tree, but mine was only good so I kept it. It said, "Your time is coming and you're becoming happier and happier (how true!). You will be able to realize what you have in your mind. But a sudden misfortune will happen to you in case you should be careful." It goes on to detail your fortune in a categories like "expected visitor" - He will come! (David is meeting me in Beijing! Yay!), "missing thing" - It will be found near around you (I lost my base pass and it was inside my Japanese phrasebook...right where I left it!), and "travel" - No problem (GREAT!). There were several others but I figured business, speculation, game & match and childbirth really had nothing to do with me right now.

We wandered through the Graveyard of the Kikkawa Family, who were the ruling lords in the area for hundreds of years. Wes kept walking into spider webs and couldn't figure out why. We were in a section of the park that was off the beaten path and he's the tallest guy around for miles. The rest of the population is my height or significantly shorter. There were no other tall guys around to knock down those spider webs at eye level for him so he was in charge of clearing his own path. And there are some BIG spiders here! To Wes' credit, he only screamed like a girl once! Go Marines, Oorah!

One of the big reasons we went to the park (other than to see the bridge) was to visit the Iwakuni Castle at the top of the hill. Its this beautiful white donjon castle built in the Momoyama-Nanbun style of the late 16th century, and many a "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle" joke was made that afternoon. Unfortunately, the cable car running to the ridge line was undergoing some maintenance and we didn't get to see it. We had talked about hiking up instead but by the time we saw everything in the park that we wanted to see, we were losing daylight quickly. It gets dark here so fast! At 4:30 the sun is already setting, which is really depressing as its only October! Wes said the winters here are pretty brutal and I can see why!

We packed it in and headed back to base to meet up with some of his friends for a dinner at Ganesh, this local Indian place, which was really good! We bar-hopped around town again and ran into some pretty funny Halloween costumes in the process. Despite all the scary movies that had been on TV earlier and the people walking around base in costume, Wes and I kept forgetting that it was Halloween!

*****

On Saturday we headed to Hiroshima for the day. The weather was beautiful and we had gotten an earlier start than the previous day and were able to enjoy the sunshine! For me, Hiroshima was on the "Must See" list because of my hometown's participation in the Manhattan Project during WWII and the devastating results it had after the Atomic bomb was dropped. Not that my family and I had any personal connections to the development, manufacturing or assembly of bomb parts, but its very much a part of our hometown history because Oak Ridge would never have been built had it not been for these purposes. Its always odd to visit a place overseas that has experienced tragedy as a direct result of American action, but this place was especially sobering because I was particularly familiar with some of the more gruesome details through Oak Ridge's involvement.

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but Hiroshima is an exceedingly modern town, with all of the glitz and glam of Tokyo without the dense population. Wes and I likened Tokyo to Manhattan, while Hiroshima would be more like Atlanta. Iwakuni is kind of like Oak Ridge, except with a nightlife and a military base. We came in through the train station, which is directly connected to a shopping mall. After getting lost inside and having some degree of difficulty finding our way out, we managed to catch a cab to the Hiroshima Peace Park. We walked past the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, deciding that we'd start outside to enjoy the weather. The first stop was the Memorial Monument for Hiroshima, City of Peace. The stone chamber in the center contains a register of deceased A-bomb victims (140,000 by the end of 1945). The arch shape represents a shelter for the souls of the victims.

In the background of this photo you can see the Peace Flame, which has burned continuously since it was lit in 1964. It will remain lit until all nuclear bombs on the planet are destroyed and the planet is free from the threat of nuclear annihilation. Beyond these two memorials is the Children's Peace Monument, which is dedicated to the memory of the children who died due to the bombing. The statue is of a girl with outstretched arms with a folded paper crane rising above her. The statue is based on the true story of Sadako Sasaki, a young girl who died from radiation from the bomb. She believed that if she folded 1,000 paper cranes she would be cured. There are glass containers behind the memorial that contain thousands and thousands of folded paper cranes from all over the world. The paper cranes are left by other memorials as well and throughout Hiroshima as a symbol of peace.

Next we stopped at the Peace Bell. There are inscriptions on the bell in 3 languages and are translated as "Know yourself." People are encourage to ring the bell, so I did!

We made our way to the Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound, which is a large, grass-covered knoll that contains the ashes of 70,000 unidentified victims of the bomb. When remains are occasionally identified, they are returned to the victim's family.

There are several smaller memorials around the peninsula, but the biggest and perhaps most recognizable attraction is the A-Bomb Dome. Formerly the Industrial Promotion Hall, it was the building closest to the hypocenter (point on the ground beneath an air explosion) of the nuclear bomb that remained at least partially standing. After much debate, Hiroshima decided to preserve its skeletal ruins in memory of the casualties. The A-Bomb Dome, to which a sense of sacredness and transcendence has been attributed, is situated in a distant ceremonial view that is visible from the Peace Memorial Park’s central cenotaph. You can see it in the background of my first Hiroshima photo above. Its hard to know how to pose in a picture like this with such serious subject matter....

After walking around the A-Bomb Dome for awhile and taking shots from all angles (they have real cranes living in the ruins, which seems so symbolic given all the folded paper cranes throughout the park), we headed back to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. They don't let you take pictures inside, but there are some amazing and some pretty gruesome sights to behold. There are scale models of what the town looked like before and after the bombing, as well as lots of belongings of victims of the bombing, including their tattered clothing, skin, fingernails and hair (ew!).

I thought there was a lot of really good information included in the displays but thought things jumped around a little bit (the historical information on the first floor skipped around a lot as to why Hiroshima was designated as a target, making it hard to follow) and the displays for the effects of radiation on people of Hiroshima were the last thing to walk through before the exit, instead of the whole "Why We Shouldn't Use Nuclear Weapons" section, which fell in the middle. I thought they could have set up the order of the displays to better tell the story.

Also, I was bummed that they barely touched on the after-effects of the bomb. And there was virtually nothing to be found on the medical treatment used on the victims or the clean-up efforts made by the city and by other aid groups to make Hiroshima livable again for the victims. I thought both would be important points but they were dismissed with a factoid along the lines of "Within 1 week of the bombing, radiation levels were at 1,000,000th of their initial levels," but they never say what the initial radiation levels were. Or what the half-life of the uranium used in the bomb was (although they did give a figure of how much of the 64kg inside the bomb actually underwent fission--only 0.7kg.) Still, to kill 140,000 people within 5 months, that's not a number to feel good about. But it could have been worse. Much worse.

They also say that radiation does not effect residents of Hiroshima today, but in another display they admit that they don't know what the long-term effects of radiation exposure are. I asked Wes how he feels being stationed so close to a nuclear bombing site for two years. Not so good. Hard to imagine why....

We left the Museum at closing time and headed to a local outdoor shopping center to walk around and catch some grub. We decided on a place that let us grill our on meat at the table. We sat on mats on the floor and concentrated on not burning our dinner and it was awesome! Should've taken photos but I was more concerned with not eating charcoal. After dinner, we found a little bar around the corner to have some sake. We let the bartender and waitress pick for us, which was a wise decision. That was easily the best sake I've had, though I have no idea what kind it was. I've haven't been steered wrong yet by letting the locals pick for me. That's something I'll continue to do all along the way!

Welcome to Iwakuni!

Wes and I had been trying to work out a plan to coordinate schedules and figure out a time and place to meet up upon my arrival in Iwakuni. Despite my best attempts, I wasn't able to find anything online that hinted at the train schedule for the high speed bullet trains (Shinkasen trains). I had no idea what the process would entail, only that it would take several hours to get from Point A to Point B.

I made the mistake on Wednesday to not pace myself while exploring Tokyo and ended up completely wiped by 5:00 pm. I had a beer, wrote in my journal and decided to lay down for a nap and get up a few hours later for dinner before actually packing it in for the night. I set an alarm for 7:00 but never heard it go off. I woke up at 10:00 and decided that was too late to eat and go back to bed, so I stayed put and fell back asleep. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Until 3:00 am, when my body told me it was time to get up. I royally screwed up my body's schedule by falling asleep so early and forced myself to stay in bed until at least 5:00. It was no easy task because I had the good fortune of having a horrible old troll of a woman who decided to chain smoke her way through 2 packs of cigarettes inside her capsule and the smoke circulated its way throughout the hall and into the ventilation system inside my capsule, where I couldn't escape. I had decided that if I smelled one more cigarette that I was going to jump through her capsule curtain and stomp on her. But she checked out at just after 4:00 am, and I was able to get a few more hours of sleep.

I got up before 6:00 and started my day. The lockers provided by the hotel were way to small to fit my luggage without unpacking my backpack so I was charged with the task of repacking everything. I had done this the night before I left Stephen's house to catch my flight and, according to David who was waiting for me to call him back before I went to bed, the process took almost an hour! I knew that I had to allow myself plenty of time to get ready to hit the road so I spread everything out in the locker room and started repacking. I took my time, wrote in my journal, recharged my iPod and camera battery and was ready to go search for some food by about 8:30.

The traditional Japanese breakfast is not something I think I can stomach that early, consisting of a salmon fillet, hot soybeans, a raw egg and some rice. So instead I ordered a pork bowl with onions and rice. Much more American-friendly. I returned to the hotel to retrieve my bags and start making my way to the Tokyo subway station (which involved several line changes) with the ultimate goal of activating my Japan Rail Pass at the Tokyo station. I was in the elevator coming downstairs to check out when I met a guy who could actually speak English! He told me he'd slept terribly because the man in the next capsule was drunk and snoring loudly all night. I exchanged the story about the chain-smoking troll on my hall as we headed downstairs. We parted ways but met up again in the train station several minutes later as I was studying my subway map trying to figure out the best way to do things. He'd been looking for a vending machine before heading to the Tokyo subway station and I told him I'd walk with him to the local convenience store if he'd help me navigate through the subway system. Turns out we were both trying to catch a Shinkasen headed south (he was going to Nada).

Julian von Harras, my new Dutch friend, rode the long way around to the Tokyo station and helped me find the JR Exchange office in the enormous labyrinth that is the central train station. We managed to score seats across the aisle from each other on a non-reserved car and chatted the whole way until he got to Kyoto and had to change trains. It was so nice to be able to speak to someone in English. I told him I had spent most of the last two days in silence or bowing and saying the one phrase that has come to be so important to my existence in Japan--"arrigatoo gozaimasu," which means "thank you." I was sad to see him go, but excited to see Wes.

I had to change trains at Osaka and catch a train bound for Hiroshima, where I had to transfer to a local train bound for Iwakuni. I left my hotel just after 9:00 am and had boarded the subway half an hour later. My high speed shinkasen left Tokyo at 11:04 am and I didn't arrive in Iwakuni until 4:50. Wes had said something about the bullet trains taking about 4 hours from Tokyo and then an additional 45 minutes from Hiroshima, which turned out to be pretty accurate with the short layovers I had in between trains, but it was such a long day of travel! Nearly 7.5 hours when it was all said and done. Whew! I have to do it all again on the way back too, which eats into any time I would have liked to have spent exploring the city. Oh well.

I thought Wes might be waiting at the train station for me at 5:00 as we had discussed, but when he didn't show I grabbed a cab to base (as was our back-up plan). I made it on base and back to his place with only a minor snafu at the front gate (Wes forgot to bring my base papers with him when he came to the gate to get me and had to go back to his apartment for them). We met up with a few of his friends for dinner and headed out for their favorite sushi place downtown. We sat at the bar and there was this little old guy behind the sushi counter put me through a sampling of his choice (all you have to do is say the magic word - Omakase!"). According to the guys, he's been there forever so I trusted him entirely.


I started with fatty tuna, eaten with wasabi and soy sauce. It was phenomenal! Then he gave me what I think was mackerel. He told me to eat it without soy sauce, although it had some wasabi under the fish.

Next was squid, eaten without wasabi or soy sauce. I had never had squid like this before and it was slightly chewy and had a peppery flavor. I absolutely loved it!

Wes's friend, Jason, shared a piece of his tuna with me which melted in my mouth. I had a few other courses, which included salmon, egg and a cucumber hand roll, all of which were fantastic! Wes insisted that we try some scallops, as they hadn't yet found their way onto my plate. We got baked scallops in butter sauce on the half shell.

I loved the presentation! This place really knew how to do things right! And the best part is that I had the best sushi of my life, several rounds of drinks and the tab was less than $40!! What a great introduction to Iwakuni! Definitely the perfect end to a long day on the road!

Eastern Bathrooms

As promised, I need to relate my first experience with Eastern bathrooms. I said in a previous post that my hotel had Western-style bathrooms (in addition to those weird lady urinal things that I still don't understand and have yet to see again). The airport had Western bathrooms too, so my first experience with anything out of the ordinary came when I wanted to take a shower at the hotel the morning after my arrival. I decided to scope things out the night before so I'd know what I was dealing with and went to the 9th floor where the showers and tub were said to be. This is what greeted me:

The faucets are set to about knee height and the sprayer heads are not in a position that you could back against them as you would in a Western shower. Also, there's a distinct lack of privacy between you and your neighbor. I decided I wasn't entirely comfortable with this set-up. I had no idea what I was doing and the chances were pretty good, based on the number of women on my hall, that I'd end up in there with at least one of them while trying to take a shower.

I hadn't yet decided if I'd rather walk around dirty for a few days or if I'd just suck it up and, in the end, I decided that I'd give it a go because if nothing else it would make for a good story. I woke up early on my first morning in Tokyo, expecting that I may end up alone after all. No such luck. There was another woman in there already but I couldn't see her very well since there are sliding glass doors that are heavily opaqued from about knee height to the top of the door that block the bathing area from the rest of the bathroom (keeps the sauna effect going in there). I did my best to discreetly bend over and try to watch to determine what I should take into the bathroom with me (towel? clothes? those slippers they make you wear around the hotel?) and decided to leave EVERYTHING behind and walk in there with only my toiletries.

Protocol seemed to be to grab one of these little white stools pictured above as a seat and to take one of the shallow buckets to help you rinse. Sitting on the stool, those mirrors are the perfect height for use. So I grabbed one and sat down. I had a recent experience trying to take a shower in Stephen's tub with a hand sprayer in DC before I left the country. It resulted in excess water working its way through the walls and floor and flooding the downstairs via a light fixture. I was sure I was in for a similar outcome in this situation. I sprayed as carefully as I could with someone else sitting two seats away, but when she left I tried to turn the sprayer into a more Western shower and ended up spraying EVERYTHING--walls, ceiling, the sliding glass door, the hot tub behind me. A bit embarrassed about the mess I was making and certain that there would be other women coming in to shower while I was there, I decided to skip sitting in the traditional Japanese tub (which was actually part of the reason I booked this hotel). I got out of there just as another woman was walking in so I felt pretty good about my decision.


I decided that was the last time I needed to attempt the use of that shower while I was in the hotel and I would be better off just waiting until the following evening when I got to Wes's place in Iwakuni. He lives on a Marine base there and I was confident that the military wouldn't subject its poor soldiers to something as unfamiliar as Eastern bathrooms.

As I was sight-seeing around Tokyo I also had the good fortune of finding Western-style toilets along the way. I knew that those fabled "holes" were out there but I had yet to use one. That is, until I arrived at the train station in Iwakuni. For those of you who haven't seen these toilets before, here's what we're dealing with:

You squat over the hole, aimed forward at the plumbing (and if you're lucky, the toilet paper) and do your business. Most of these toilets have hand rails to grab onto to stabilize yourself while you squat. The one pictured above was missing this key feature. The very first toilet I used like this did not have toilet paper so I was exceedingly glad I was advised to bring some with me. These bathrooms are always an adventure. There's something odd about squatting to pee and not being in the woods. I'm always worried that I'm going to stand up and discover that I've peed all over the back of my jeans. Wouldn't that be fun?? To walk around all day covered in pee?!?

Most bathrooms here do not have soap and none of them have paper towels. Only the bathrooms in major train stations or in airports seem to have hand dryers and most locals keep a handkerchief in their pockets to dry their hands after rinsing them off. I keep hand sanitizer with me at all times to deal with this problem. I find this situation odd, especially since the Japanese are some of the most germaphobic people on this planet. There are sick people walking around with surgical masks covering their faces so that they don't cough or breathe on someone and spread their germs. But there's no soap in the bathrooms!! I just don't get it.