November 2003 update... prepare yourself for a long read!

Steve Dickman (a friend from RBC) arrived in Japan in November.


15/11 Saturday
This was a busy day.
I overslept a little bit, leaving the apartment at 9:10am. The monorail is only a couple minutes away on foot, so that’s nice. I made it to Naha airport around 9:40, and checked in for my flight. As I was walking around the airport, wondering if I should get something to eat, my phone rang (I hadn’t yet switched it off, luckily) and it was Steve’s mum – he would be arriving earlier than originally scheduled, at 17:20 instead of 19:55.
That worked well for me - I had to fly to Haneda, the domestic airport on the southwest side of Greater Tokyo, and Steve was arriving at Narita, the international airport on the east side. By the time I got off the plane in Tokyo, got on a train, slept (it takes about two hours from Haneda to Narita via an all-stops train), woke up, got off the train at Narita, and walked into the terminal, I only had about an hour to wait for Steve's arrival. We had dinner at McDonalds (yeah a cop-out but it's the only non-over-priced food place in Narita) before catching a bus to our youth hostel I'd booked, about ten minutes away.

16/11 Sunday
There were no public transport routes near the hostel, so after our buffet breakfast we made use of their free shuttle bus again back to the airport. From there we caught the expensive (but oh-so-comfortable!) express train into Tokyo.
If you look at special train tickets [eg airport express or shinkansen] in Japan, there are two prices in small print… one is the normal fare for your journey, and the other is the additional charge for the fact that you’re guaranteed a seat (it’s more expensive to reserve a seat, but even with unreserved tickets you’ve got a 99.99% chance of having a seat).
The express train covered the 80km (60 as the crane flies) to Tokyo in about an hour. We made our way out of Tokyo Station (about the size of a small airport... or perhaps a small city) and walked down to Ginza, the super-expensive suburb where land rates are reportedly calculated by square centimetre of floor-space. The highlight of Ginza was the Sony Showroom, a chance to check out the coolest and newest gadgets from the Sony people... and Steve got to play a few Playstation games on the top floor.
Next up on the agenda was to find the Stock Exchange, which turned out to be closed - it was a Sunday, after all. But at least we knew where it was so we could find it quicker next time!

17/11 Monday
On Monday the museums were closed, so Steve and I took the train into Tokyo and then on out the eastern side to Disney Sea. Disney Sea is right next Tokyo Disneyland, and is divided into sections, the attractions and restaurants of each themed for a particular sea - Arabian, Mediterranean, etc. Steve and I took photos of ourselves near scenery in such a way it looks like we visited Rome, Mexico and Turkey all in the same day.
Sunday had been a warm day, for a northern November, so once again on Monday we wore shorts and T-shirts. Luckily we both brought jumpers, because it was an extremely windy day and we just about froze after the sun went down.

18/11 Tuesday
This day was spent at Ueno Park, in the northern part of Tokyo. This park contains several museums, and a zoo. We visited both the National Museum of Western Art and the National Museum.
The National Museum of Western Art was quite a surreal experience – we were in Japan, looking at all these paintings from Italy and Holland, dating back as far as the 15th Century. The special exhibition while we were there was of Rembrandt and the Rembrandt school, featuring paintings and etchings on loan from Amsterdam, Berlin, and other European cities.
The NMWA is also the home of Rodin’s 1880 sculpture The Thinker. It sits in the middle of a room surrounded by Monets – water lilies and bridges over English rivers. (Outside the museum is one of Rodin’s numerous larger reproductions of The Thinker, and Steve and I took each other’s photo in suitably ponderous poses.)
From Impressionism we moved on into the 20th Century room. Three Picassos, one Joan Miro (entitled "Painting") and a Jackson Pollock splatter later, Steve still couldn’t quite wrap his head around the great value placed on these abstract pieces. "Why is it worth millions?"
From there we moved on to the National Museum, a little further on in the park. That was a fascinating experience, looking at Japanese artifacts arranged in chronological order. From Jomon-period pottery (10-5,000 years ago) up to the samurai weapons and armour of the Edo Period, and even a small room dedicated to pieces from the Ainu culture. The Ainu are the aboriginal inhabitants of mainland Japan, now only found in Hokkaido.
After buying postcards of things we saw (after all, it's cheaper than buying a Pollock, even if it's only "abstract" art), we caught the subway back to town and checked out the Tokyo Stock Exchange just before closing. Right on 4pm (to the second), the big circular screen scrolling the subtle price shifts suddenly switched off. Tokyo was closed, but on smaller screens, the yen continued to move up and down by fractions of cents and pence in other countries.
From there we went back to Ginza, hoping to find the city's reputed busiest intersection. The most recognisable feature is a tall glass-fronted building, with a huge electronic Coca-Cola sign. It's easily found in most illustrated guidebooks of Japan... except that the top floors of the building were being renovated... no giant Coke sign. Ah well, we can say we were there.
On our way home we thought we'd take a sidetrip through Roppongi, home of many foreigner-oriented bars. Could be interesting to experience a bit of the big city nightlife - seen Lost In Translation, anyone?
Looking on the local map in Roppongi subway station, we spotted an unexpected location: the Embassy of the Republic of Ghana. “Let’s go,” I said. “OK,” said Steve. Taking a quick look at the map to get our bearings, we headed off.
Five minutes later, with no embassy in sight, we went back towards the main road. Hoping to find a convenience store or something where we could ask for directions, instead we discovered what appeared to be an “Australian” bar. It was the Australian flags and four-foot-tall toy kangaroos either side of the door that gave us that impression. Inside, we asked for directions. The guys behind the bar didn’t know, but made some phone calls and gave Steve and I a free VB each.
Once we had the street address, the sole other customer in the bar left his bags on the counter and offered to show us the way. Two minutes from the bar, and there it was. The Embassy of the Republic of Ghana. An office-building with a Ghanaian flag out front, in a narrow sidestreet in Roppongi, the gaijin bar centre of northern Tokyo… figures. Having seen the building, we went back to the bar and ordered some icecream and watched a bit of rugby on the big screen.
Having seen enough of Roppongi (and needing to make it back to our hostel by curfew) we headed back for the subway station. We were accosted at the huge intersection by these sharp geezers in dark suits... no, not the MIB or FBI... men hopefully getting some more trade for their girlie bar employers. This being the foreigner section of Tokyo, all the bar-men were foreigners, with British, American and European accents, calling out to male passers-by in more or less perfect English. We excused ourselves and crossed the road, where we had to fight off more of the same guys on the opposite corner. Luckily we had taken a flyer off the first guys.
2nd hustler: "Come on guys, 5000 yen gets you free entry and all you can drink!" (he offered us more than just drinks but this is a family publication)
Us: "We already heard from the guy over there."
2nd hustler: "No, this is a different bar. My bar is just down this way..."
Us: "...on the left down there?" (we show off flyer)
2nd hustler: "Oh, it is the same place."
Us: "Yes. We have to catch the subway."
2nd hustler: "Maybe tomorrow night."
Us: "Maybe." (hmmmmm yeah right.)
Safe on the subway! Yay! We got off at Harajuku station, for a walk down a famous sidestreet, the name of which escapes me. If you have a Lonely Planet or Discovery guide or something, you'll be able to find it... look under Western Tokyo. According to the guidebook, somewhere along this street was a rock and roll “Hall Of Fame” (really just a memorabilia shop) recognisable by the lifesize Elvis statue outside. Well, we didn’t see the King, but on our walk up and down the narrow street, we saw some very interesting shop names…
Nudy Boy - we don't want to know!
Store My Ducks - OK, if you can use them...
Cannibals: American Used & New - AAAARRRGH! Run! (it's actually a comic merchandise store... the sign meant to say that they didn't only have Japanese comic characters for sale)

19/11 Wednesday
On Wednesday morning we caught the shinkansen to Kyoto. Now, unlike all other trains, which jerk slightly as they stop and start at each station, the shinkansen doesn’t. It just goes from a complete stop to 60km/h before you realise you’re moving again. Incredibly smooth.
It was overcast and raining lightly when we arrived in Kyoto.
Using the map in our guidebook, we headed on foot for Toji pagoda, not the oldest but certainly the tallest of its kind in Japan. We eventually found it and took photos from the carpark, rather than pay the entrance fee. :)
Kyoto is an interesting meeting point of old and new Japan. They have special preservation laws that prevents the removal of old buildings, so within five minutes walk you can go from a 17th-Century castle to an apartment building to a Zen temple to a shiny convenience store.
Back at Kyoto station, we got a bite to eat and found the bus for our youth hostel. I'd booked us into Utano Youth Hostel, on the northwestern edge of town. Steve went up to our dorm room and crashed straight away. I changed and went downstairs to join the other guests in the lobby watching the soccer game on TV - an international "friendly" between Japan and Cameroon. I was the only Cameroon supporter... but I kept quiet about that till later.
From 8:30 onwards, the hostel provides free tea and coffee in its common room. A large group of guests moved there and sat around talking. I picked up a few more words of Japanese... learnt how to say "Hello" and "I love you" in Mongolian... and drew little maps of Okinawa and Australia to show the others where I lived. The official curfew for the hostel was 10.30 (when the front desk closed) but the common room was still alive late into the night.

20/11 Thursday
Kyoto City has a one-day bus pass for 500 yen (a regular one-way ticket is about 200 yen) valid inside the main city area.
Our first stop on our bussing around Kyoto was Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavilion. One of the main buildings inside, picturesquely situated on the shore of a large pond, is entirely covered in gold. But before we even got in the front gate from the street, we were accosted by a group of junior high school boys in dark blue uniforms. They asked us if we spoke English, and if they could ask us some questions. We said yes, and they proceeded to ask us questions from their notebooks. They were from Shikoku, on a school trip to Kyoto, and asked us: where we were from; what our names were; how old we were; what our jobs were; and what we thought of Kyoto. Having answered all their questions, they grabbed a nearby group of schoolgirls to take our picture with the boys. In thanks for answering their homework assignment, they gave us an envelope containing origami.
As soon as the boys left, the girls who had taken the pictures asked us if they could ask us questions. So we went through the process again, this time with the added question: "What is your impression of the Golden Pavilion?" Of course we hadn't even got in the gate yet, so we said we thought it was probably nice, but we hadn't seen it. A few more pictures later, we got inside.
It is an incredible sight, much better than any little picture in a guidebook. The surface of the building was brilliant even on an overcast, drizzly day.
From the temple we caught another bus to Nijo Castle, built around 1603 by Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first Tokugawa Shogun. The floors of all the rooms are tatami matting, but all surrounding walkways were made of wooden panelling. The wood panels were constructed very carefully so that there was always a little bit of give, where the nails met the supports. Known as "nightingale floors", this meant that every small step makes the floors squeak. Even if someone could make it through the castle's strong outer defences, it's impossible for anyone to sneak in and make a surprise attack on the sleeping Shogun. Steve and I tried to be as quiet as possible, but you can't make more than one or two steps before another board would chirp out. A nearby Japanese tourist told us "you need to practice your ninja".
Back at Kyoto Station, we discovered a small mini Astro Boy (or Mighty Atom as he's known in Japan) museum. We watched a 25-minute Astro Boy episode (all in Japanese) in a mini-theatre which had cool special effects like sprinklers in the ceiling during rainy scenes, smoke machines in the floor, and air conditioners synchronised to the weather onscreen. After the screening, we browsed in the manga library and then through the Mighty Atom gift shop. You can buy Astro Boy t-shirts, postcards, rulers, pencil cases, biscuits, jumpers, neckties, hankies, folders, pens, magnets, stickers...
Later that night, we looked up our guidebook for something to do. Everything "traditional" was either not in season or already closed, so we went non-traditional instead, going into town and doing some shopping. In the bargain bin (5 for 500 yen) of a cheap CD store, I found an album by the Tea Party (hard to find in Japan... expensive in Australia)! Steve and I found 5 CDs together and then went to see a movie.
After figuring out which bus stop we needed to get to to catch a bus to our hostel, we waited a few minutes and hopped on a bus. Steve went pretty much straight to bed, while I stayed up in the common room again. I learnt more Japanese, and joined some of the others in decorating and making my own Japanese-style lantern. On three of the four sides, I drew scenes from the three main places I've lived. First was a dirt road and farm in Ghana, then a suburban backyard representing Brisbane, and then the coast highway of Okinawa, with a whale shark in the sea. On the fourth side I put lyrics from the Beatles song "In My Life" - "There are places I remember, all my life, though some have changed. Some for better not forever, some have gone, and some remain."

21/11 Friday
Friday morning we woke up early, caught the bus to Kyoto Station, then caught the express train to Kansai International Airport in Osaka. The timing between each interchange was extremely tight, and we were wondering if we would even make it on time.
We got into the airport terminal with minutes to spare before boarding time. Rushing to the checkin counter, we said "Okinawa" and the staff quickly put our bags through. One of the counter staff said "come with me" and we ran to the gate, where a lot of other people were waiting. Luckily, our plane was delayed about twenty minutes and hadn't even arrived in Kansai yet. Phew!
So that afternoon we arrived in sunny Naha... and met my new roommate Dermott Walsh, from Ireland. He'd arrived while I was in Tokyo. Mike had by this stage moved out to his own apartment up the coast, and another American, Tom, moved in at the beginning of the month.

22/11 Saturday
I worked at Nova from 10am to 5.40pm... then Steve and I went to a sports bar, meeting Dermott and Len at a sports bar just in time to see the second half of the Rugby World Cup final. All four of us were cheering for Australia. Then England won.
Enough about Saturday.

23/11 Sunday
Steve and I took the monorail to Shuri Castle, headquarters of the ancient Ryukyu Kingdom. It's a magnificent mixing of Chinese and Japanese architecture, a big red-lacquered castle on a hill overlooking Naha.
It being a Sunday, they had an exhibition of traditional dancing in the castle forecourt, which was interesting. But no eisa. :(
That night we went to one of the other teachers' farewell party, and didn't get home till about 4am.

24/11 Monday
We slept in.
I returned some videos to the video shop, and rented some Aussie ones in preparation for Wednesday night... luckily "Muriel's Wedding" was out so I couldn't get it. :)
Steve and I went to Main Place shopping centre and saw the Colin Farrell movie "Phone Booth". A few plot holes, but not all that bad...
BLUE SEAL ICECREAM!

25/11 Tuesday
This was the day that was meant to be a visit to Churaumi Aquarium... the site of the world's largest single plexiglass aquarium-tank-window.
We slept in again, and caught a bus to Nago, in the north of Okinawa. Unfortunately it was a regular route bus, meaning it stopped at just about every little bus stop on the 2 hour trip north. We finally arrived at Nago Bus Terminal... found the place to catch the bus to the Aquarium... watched it pull up... and then found out from the driver that by the time he got us there it would be after "last entry" (about an hour before the park actually closes).
Well, we got to see the Nago Bus Terminal! And walked into town. Then went to a San-A supermarket. Bought some prepackaged food. Heated it up in the store's microwave (found conveniently just the other side of the checkout). Walked to the breakwater. Sat and ate our food with disposable wooden chopsticks. It started to rain. We walked along the highway to the next bus stop. Hopped on the last bus for the night. Slept off and on. Got off the bus in Naha.
Doesn't seem like that great a day, but apparently this was the highlight of Steve's trip... simply for the fact that it wasn't a typical touristy day.

26/11 Wednesday
In 1853 Japan's policy of separation from the outside world came to an end with the arrival of American sailor Commodore Perry, who landed near what is now Tomari Port in Naha. There is an inconspicuous monument nestled away in the Foreigner's Cemetery in Tomari, and we managed to find it, a short walk from my apartment.
Steve and I went out for Okinawa soba (noodles) for dinner, and then went back to the apartment for our Aussie movie night. A few other Nova teachers came round after work and we watched "The Castle" followed by "Dark City"... supplemented nutritionally by Tim Tams that my parents had sent over with Steve.

27/11 Thursday
Together with Dermott and Larissa (she was the one with the international license, so she was driving), Steve and I rented a car and went around the southern part of Okinawa. We went to Himeyuri, where there is a monument honouring the schoolgirls who served as conscripted nurses during the Battle Of Okinawa. Many of them died in the caves, or in the open from crossfire between Japanese and American forces.
From there we went to the Peace Prayer Park, which has a very interesting museum dedicated to the history of Okinawa before, during, and after the war. After looking through the displays, you don't get a very good impression of either the wartime Japanese occupying forces, or of the post-war American "liberators". Under the American occupation (1945-1972), Okinawans needed passports and special permits to visit the Japanese mainland. If you were an Okinawan farmer and the US Armed Forces wanted to buy your land, you were able to negotiate the price, to an extent. There was no negotiating the sale - that went ahead no matter what. No "it's Mabo, it's the Constitution, it's the vibe" here...
One of the buildings at the Peace Prayer Park contains a giant brass Buddha. If you go down the steps behind and beneath the statue, you find a small room with lots of rocks on display. These stones of varying size, shape, and colour, ranging from very dull to very shiny, have been sent here by different countries around the world in a display of hope for peace. There is also a rock from each of the 47 prefectures in Japan. Appropriately, the Okinawan rock is a piece of reddish coral. The rocks from Australia look like they might have been taken from the gravel driveway of the High Commission in Tokyo... but I am just being cynical. There is even a polished fossil from one country.
Over near the cliffs at the park, there is a cenotaph with lots of plaques displaying the names of all the dead from the Battle of Okinawa. Most are Okinawan civilians or Okinawan civilian conscripts, while others are soldiers from other Japanese prefectures, and others soldiers from the United States and the United Kingdom.
After the park we travelled further on to Okinawa World, in most guide books and on most road signs still referred to as Gyokusendo, the limestone caves inside the "theme park". The caves are always cool inside, with a temperature in the low twenties, and a humidity in the high 80s. Very interesting, and home to quite a few bats and blind fish.
On the way back to Naha, we got kinda lost. Our road map was a little out of date (maybe a year old?) and the roads had changed quite a bit. There was lots of roadwork, and a few wrong turns, one turning in a complete circle, and one bypass later, we were back in familiar territory and in Naha city.
It was planned that we would go to karaoke, this being the thing to do in Japan, but Steve wasn't convinced by any of my arguments that it was a good thing.

28/11
I think on this day I worked, while Steve explored Naha on his own and bought souvenirs for friends and family.

29/11
This day I set off for work, and Steve set off for the airport, ready to catch a flight back to Tokyo and then on to Australia.

So that's November 2003 for ya... on to December!