Ninja

On Sunday I did what was probably the most fun thing I will do during my stay here. I got to play Ninja! The Ninja village was a fair trek from the Kak but the journey was definitely worth it. A lot of the time the scenery was very beautiful too so that helped pass the time. When I woke up on Sunday it was actually snowing in Kak so I had my doubts about venturing out but in the end the weather at the village was ok. There is a ninja house where they displayed the many secret tricks the ninjas could use to hide themselves or their possessions. Then there was a museum and then we watched a demonstration of their weapons. Finally it was the part I had been waiting for, I got to try it out for myself.

Here's me throwing Shuriken, I actually managed to hit the bullseye!
And here I am with two of my students playing dress-up.
On Monday I used my final cheap ticket day to go to Kyoto. Although I had been before I hadn't really visited any of the more famous sites so this time I saw Kakurinji temple and was lucky enough to see two Geisha in the Gion district.
Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate when I got to the Golden Pavilion. Only a short time before the sky had been blue but as you can see it didn't stick around to give me a truly dazzling shot. Will maybe return in the summer in hopes of a better result, although I have to admit that I didn't find the complex to be particularly impressive.

More Monkey Business?

On returning from Tokyo I still had a couple of free days before I needed to be back at work and the JR seishun kippu (cheap tickets) were available so I headed for Hiroshima and Miajima. The trip there took longer than I had expected, mostly because the change over stations were different to what I had found on the net so as soon as I arrived I headed for the A-Bomb Dome and Peace Park.


The A-Bomb Dome really needs no introduction but I have to say I found it a little less imposing than I had expected. I think whenever it is photographed the perspective used gives it a stronger impact than what it has in real life. Of course when the bomb was first detonated it was one of the only buildings left standing in the city so naturally it would have really stuck out. Now it is surrounded by much larger buildings so appears a little insignificant and really just like any other derelict building. Knowing the history makes all the difference in how you perceive it.

I had to hurry a little through the park as it was getting late and I wanted to visit the peace museum but I did stop to look at the children's monument, with all its paper cranes, and the eternal flame.

The museum was really fascinating as well as a bit disturbing. In particular the displays of the victims relics and the survivor accounts.

The next day was a lot more cheerful as I visited Miajima, the gate below has to be one of the most photographed sites in all of Japan.
The Island has a whole lot of wild deer around the ferry landing, somewhat less pushy than the ones I saw in Nara. The island has a cable car to the top of its main mountain, Misen. At the top there are supposed to be monkeys but they were all hiding that day. The walk down was very peaceful and picturesque and there were lots of little shrines and temples scattered around the place.

Tokyo Tidings

Figuring that a western-style theme park would be the most likely place to find some Christmas spirit I headed for Universal Studios on Christmas day. As you can see from the picture they certainly celebrate it in grand style. It has to be said though that the tree, which is the biggest in Japan, was about the extent of the Christmas feel.

I enjoyed the few rides that I went on but was overall somewhat disappointed in the day. There are too few attractions at the park for the number of people who attend so I only managed three rides. The best was Jurassic Park, which has has a brilliant plunge into darkness. The new Spiderman ride was very technically impressive though.

Over New Year I finally had a reasonable chunk of time off and I put it to good use, travelling up to Tokyo for four days. Unfortunately most other people also had a reasonable chunk of time off over the same period so that meant that a lot of attractions were closed. Still with only four days I was able to fill the time quite easily just walking around the many different areas of the city.

This is about as close as you can get to the Imperial Palace, no matter what time of year you are there, but I think you'll agree it's most picturesque.

And here's the Kabuki Theatre in the Ginza district. Ginza is also a big area for shopping but I wasn't really interested in that, although I was pleased to find a little Bonsai shop. Of course I also stopped in the Akihabara electronics district but as I am not in the market for any gadgets right now it was a very quick stop.

Possibly one of the most exciting things I saw was a trainee sumo wrestler near the sumo stadium (closed of course). Unfortunately I didn't get a picture as he went into the McDonalds too quickly... guess the weight has to come from somewhere!

New Year's Eve on Odaiba had some pretty views back over towards the city but the celebrations were a little strange. Although there was a countdown once it was over nothing really happened. I realise of course that New Year isn't such a big party time in Japan but it seemed strange that so many people had gathered for something so anticlimactic.

New Year's Day was more special, although the queue outside the shrine had to be seen to be believed it was fun to get caught up in. Headed back to the Kak that night.