Where are Tinus and Barrie?

We’re in Tokyo now and tomorrow will be our last day, but I have still many, many pictures and little things to share since I last blogged up until our time in Koyasan

We went to Osaka after Koyasan, and there was a bit of culture shock going from a temple town to the gritty streets of Japan’s second largest city. But it was great. I even liked it better then Kyoto in a way (waits for digital eggs and tomatoes to be cast). It’s just a city being lived in, and it’s big, brash and full of colours.

Osaka: endless city

After colourful Osaka, we were off to Okayama. BOOOORRING! It has a nice garden, but that’s about it. Luckily, the nearby Kurashiki offered some quaint imagery and thrift stores.

Kurashiki. You can’t see it in this pic, but they have wonderful thrift stores here!

Koi boy at the garden pond

Nagasaki was next, for about 200 years the only place in Japan where trading was allowed off of the small island Dejima. And of course, the Dutch did the trading there, we crafty, business people we. But of course, Nagasaki is more well-known as the second place an atom bomb was dropped in WOII, three days after Hiroshima was hit. The museum dedicated to the event is impressive to say the least.

You can`t really see it, but this clock`s twisted dials stopped at the moment the bomb dropped: 9.15AM, 6 August, 1945

We had a lovely ryokan (Kagamiya) in Nagasaki that tipped us on of the best restaurants we went to this trip.

Superb sashimi in this gem of a restaurant (Katsura) in Nagasaki, 

A terrible day trip from Nagasaki was Huis ten Bosch, aka Holland on a 1:1 scale:

The Dom Tower never looked so sexy…

Our `Bitch plz` look captures our thoughts of Huis ten Bosch, Japan`s version of the Netherlands with this Rijksmuseum / Amsterdam Central station mash-up as one of the underwhelmingly weird buildings

Schmuisch ten Bosch with its `Maritime Museum`

Ice cream robot servant: highlight of Huis ten Bosch

Up next was hot spring town Beppu, with a bus system so puzzling we honestly spent more time on public transport then actually seeing sights:

Foot onsen goodness. Of course, my feet were laughed at by Japanese women. True story.

Beppu: boring as can be hot spring town, but this Jigoku (onsen so hit it`s called a Hell) was awesome

The `Blood Hell`. Underwhelming considering we spent about 3 hours getting there

Luckily, Beppu was followed by one of our highlights close to Hiroshima, Miyajima aka Itsukushima island, with its famous shrine-in-the-sea. It also boasts many temples, deer and a cable car up to the top of mountain. In a related story: my legs are still recovering from walking down that mountain, damn…These hips don`t lie and they`re saying `YOU`RE OLD!`.

Itsukushima shrine, iconic Japan image

The deer in the right corner is a peeping Tom

Guard that doesn`t deal with any bullshit in Daisho-in temple, Miyajima

Daisho-in temple

Hiroshima itself was pretty nice as well:

Hiroshima palace. Like about 99% of Japanese cultural-historical treasures, burned to a crisp at least 3 times and then rebuilt. Again. Last time with concrete instead of wood, because that burning shit gets tedious, man!

Atomic bomb dome, Hiroshima. Left as it was after the A-bomb exploded almost right above it in 1945.

Yukata (summer kimono) festival, Hiroshima

Game hall entertainment

And finally some observations and leftover pics:

• Slow jazz music and/or midi versions of terrible songs abound in restaurants.
• If you buy something, the cashier will put a little sticker on it, to indicate you’ve paid for it. Why? Probably because just imagine what will happen if people in another shop you go to next might not be 1,000,000% sure you’ve bought it elsewhere and you’re not stealing. OMG, you really need to make sure about every little thing in life, because Japan is Japan.
• Related: there`s so many people here that have jobs that make you go: But? Why? People checking your ticket one foot from where you just bought it type of jobs.

This man`s job was shouting through a lo-fi loudspeaker while someone was performing live music in the background.

And this man shouted through a loudspeaker in Spiderman gear

• There`s a sign for everything, part 2:

There`s a sign for everything part 12,572 to be more precise.

Your shoulder might explode

Jerk alert!

Balding Hitler is not amused

He might have bad breath

• Would you like to dry your hands in a public restroom? Does that seem like a nice thing to do? So you don`t have to kind of rub them on your hair and clothes, leaving your hair a mess and making your clothes look dirty? YOU CAN`T! Very strange that a society that will bend over backwards for every single little thing that might make you uncomfortable doesn’t have fucking hand dryers or paper towels in restrooms. See also: absence of trash cans.

Leftovers:

Standing in the Shinkansen

What would you do?

`Kill…me…`

Sleeping in public places, the Japanese treat it like it`s an Olympic sport

Let`s party toni-hi-hi-hi-ght.