Fish Market and Making Sushi

One of our last major events on this trip was a visit to the Tsujiki fish markets. It is here that each morning the tuna auctions are held where massive tuna are sold. After some incidents with tourists in the past this part of the market is now closed (probably a blessing as the auction is at around 5am) however there is still the outer market to explore. In a warren of alleys and stalls all sorts of foods and cooking related items can be found.

There is no better way to follow a trip to the fish markets than to go and make your own sushi. A completely delicious experience the end results is a certification in sushi making. However we had nothing on the sushi chef teaching us. From a flurry of rice, fish and hands emerges a whole plate in under 60 seconds!

Fog, autumn colours and ancient temples - Nikko

Nikko is a smallish town a couple of hours north of Tokyo. It is a popular tourist spot because of the amazing autumn foliage and the beautifully crafted shrines and temples that adorn it's hill side. Sadly our visit here was slightly marred by heavy fog which obscured the more scenic vistas across the steep rocky valleys.


What we didn't miss out on was the huge shrine complex which includes the famous Tosho-gu Shrine. By far the most stunning, detailed and amusing shrine yet. Amongst the detailed gold scroll work and beautifully carved statues are carvings of monkeys, elephants (apparently carved by someone who had never seen an elephant) and a totally over rated sleep cat.

Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.

Part of the Tosho-gu shrine complex

A bridge that costs 600yen to cross

A visit to Studio Ghibli (the museum)

If you you love, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro or any other film produced by Studio Ghibli then this museum/gallery/experience is a must see.

Even the building itself is quite a sight, the huge atrium has balconies, a spiral staircase, cross walks and references to all the major films. The exhibits themselves although not numerous were entertaining and beautiful. Some of the original artwork and film cells especially. Entry also included admission to one of the special short films viewable only at the museum. Sadly you didn't get to choose or we would have seen "Mei and the Kittenbus".

Sadly photographs were not allowed inside but we did manage to get a couple of the outside (through the rain).

Interestingly, on our way to the museum, just near the hotel we saw this  building facade which is based upon "Howles Moving Castle.

Halloween Part 2 - Crazy Hats!

Pikachu

Delicious rice cake

Tokyo in Pictures

Shubuya - Amazing night life, giant LCD screens and lots of lights

Odabia - Mini statue of liberty, man made island and museum of emerging technology

Asimo waves hello from the Museum of Emerging Technology

Smaller version of the Statue of Liberty

Fuji television building

Akihabara - Maid cafes, electronics and toys

Trying my luck in an attempt to win a t-shirt depicting a teddy bear beating to death a small child.

The locals hiding from the very light rain shower.

Halloween in Japan

Japan, totally crazy for Halloween. All over the place are signs, banners, people dressed up and pumpkins.

Welcome to Tokyo

Finally made it to Tokyo, our last stop on this Japan holiday. We have an amazing hotel in a pretty swanky part of Tokyo. The entry "foyer" is something like 11 stories high inside all lined with huge glass windows, granite and steel. We have an interesting view from our window of a spot where four train lines come together.

We are also near a fantastic park area right on the edge of Tokyo Bay. Originally the site of a holiday palace it is now a green break from the ultra modern Tokyo. In it's center lies a tea house perched over the lake, here is the closest we have come to a Japanese tea ceremony.

Relaxing and eating

Nestled in the mountains between Tokyo and Mount Fuji lies the the Magi Onsen. A beautiful spa retreat away from the hustle and bustle of Japanese city life. You come here to lie in hot baths, wander around the stunning gardens and eat some of the best food we have yet to encounter.

The Onsen lies at the halfway point of our trip. A rest, replenish and recharge in preparation for Tokyo. But the journey here was not without it's difficulties. While in Kyoto we had booked our train tickets, four trains and three transfers. That was no problem until we pulled out the information sheet for our hotel as we got off the last train and realised we had gone one stop too far along the line and the bus we needed to catch was departing from the previous station. So back we went to Otsuki station and unloaded out onto the street. Up until this point although hotels or restaurants might have signs in Japanese characters most transport or tourist maps have had the English version. Otsuki did not have this, neither did they have anyone who spoke more English. They did have a lady with an armband directing buses who seemed to get the idea when we pointed to the routes and stops on our page. The next bus was in 40 minutes... 35 minutes later we asked her, well as best we could, which bus we should get on as by this time there were four pulled up. We again showed her the booking information page hoping she may know it and tell the bus driver where to stop. She did appear to recognise the name and disappeared of in a hurry towards the station. When she returned she had a man in tow who we later discovered was the shuttle bus driver for our Onsen. But we hadn't quite clicked yet and travelling in a foreign country you do have to be a little careful whose mini bus you get into. Both he and the bus directing lady seemed a little unsure of what to do but eventually after he disappeared for a minute he seemed very sure we should go with him. We agreed as we still didn't know when to get off the public bus or where to go from the bus stop.. It did help that when we got to his mini bus it was full of other happy smiling people.

Coming back to the food, you may have noticed that I have mentioned food a few times in my writings. This is because it's all so very very good, in fact I think food will need a whole post of it's own at some stage. But in the meantime, let me emphasise how good the food here is by saying that our dinner last night consisted of 14 different items and our breakfast of 12.

Bamboo water spout

View from the ridge above the onsen

Lion guarding near by temple

Leaving on a shinkansen...

don't know when i'll be back again

Kyoto Nightlife

Again we were most fortunate in discovering some excellent eating establishments while in Kyoto. I consider this fortunate due to our method of selecting places to dine. This consists of us going towards an area, that according to our tourist maps has eating places, and wandering along until we either like the look of the plastic food or we get sick of looking and just stop at the next place. In Kyoto is took us to a “fried things on sticks” restaurant, a “we cook stuff on a hot stone” restaurant and a “sit around a fish tank” restaurant. If you are wondering why we don't go to one of the places in the lonely planet guide or that is listed on the tourist map, well it's next to impossible to find them. The maps all list the English names but the signs show the Japanese characters...

Kyoto has an interesting take on street theatre. Along the edge of the Kamo-gawa river is a wide walk way and Saturday night sees groups or individuals performing all sorts of music. From the bridge heading home we got a great view of an acapella group performing.

Throwing a pot in Kyoto

One of my aims in Kyoto was to find/buy some local ceramics. It didn't take us long to find some, in fact we found so many shops selling amazing bowls, cups, plates etc that it is quite lucky that our luggage isn't packed full of the stuff. We did find a couple of amazing pieces that are, thankfully, being shipped home for us.

Just off from the Gion district, up on a hill side we spotted a pottery shop that gives you the opportunity to throw your own pots (with a little help). They then fire, glaze and send your work home for you.

Kyoto Shopping

Kyoto, what a place! Well once you get past a subway system serviced by three companies all with their own stations. Get settled into your Ryokan, then you can venture out and do some shopping.

The old part of Kyoto, Gion, is truly amazing. There are all sorts of shops and plenty of amazing things that you just have to buy. As our collective will power is quite low, we now have a good collection of pottery as well as some interesting souvenirs.

Temples, temples, temples

There really are a lot of temples in Japan. Yesterday took us through two major sites in Osaka and now in Kyoto we have managed to happen upon more. The problem, is I'm slightly to considerate and concerned that my accidental step is going to steal someone’s soul. Well I exaggerate but hopefully you get the idea.

Really I should just relax, apparently the locals in Kyoto are happy to use a temple for a car show and the staff in a Osaka temple are happy to use leaf blowers.

On the upside these buildings are amazing and generally include some form of cute garden area.

PS Sorry Tony, I know you taught me to use a polarising lens for shooting cars but I was in a bit of a hurry and just grabbed Miranda's camera.

Izakaya

We just became acquainted with the Japanese version of tapas where everything on the menu, including drinks, is 315 yen (about $4).

Touch screen ordering

Plus

Delicious plumb wine and sake

equals

...

From the city into the forest - Mino Waterfall

Only 30 minutes train journey from the center of Osaka is the Mino Waterfalls. This spot of amazing natural beauty lies on a small river nestled against the edge of the mountains. A winding pathway leads up the river from the town of Mino occasionally passing small shops and old buildings and passing through several different types of forest.

As a protected wildlife area there are apparently a lot of monkeys around which according to the many signs you should not encourage or feed. We didn't see any monkeys but we did see a deer, lots of spiders, praying mantis and a few HUGE koi fish.

Maple leaves against the waterfall

Food vendor next to the waterfalls.

Buildings along the riverside

Rocks Fall Monkey... is happy?

Osaka Castle

Amongst the skyscrapers, in the middle of a large green parkland is Osaka Castle. This beautiful old fortress is the second, third or possibly forth castle to be constructed on this site (it's hard to be specific when so many of the signs are in Japanese).

Within the castle is a museum full of artwork relating to the battles fought around Osaka, models of the Castle from different eras, and some amazing artifacts including suits of Samurai armor.

From the eight floor the view of the surrounding area is fantastic. This viewing platform also gives a good view of the odd creatures adorning the peaks of the roof. Part lion, part fish and appearing to be make from (or at least coated with) gold.

The outer moat of Osaka Castle