My trip to Japan (with pictures!)

SaitoH · Senior Otaku Joined: 02 Oct 2002

I meant to do this properly ... rather then just post a bunch of pics, so I made another thread.

Anywho ...

I flew to Narita airport in a mere 18 hours. Such a wonderfully short flight ... I was so well rested and adjusted to the 12 hour time difference when I arrived in Tokyo.

>_>

I even managed to sleep for 3 whole hours that night when I got there. I felt so wonderfully rested that I took the Shinkensen to Hakata. It was only another 7 hours on the world famous bullet train after all.

=P

Actually, it was an awesome trip and I love the Japanese train system. I took a short video out the window of the train ... so If anyone has some webspace to upload it, I'd love to show everyone. It's about 6 meg.
I met my brother in Iizuka and hung out there for a week. We went to Nagasaki, Beppu and Fukuoaka.

Nagasaki:

My first Japanese van:

Atomic bomb impact site:

Peace park monument:

A kitty sleeping the momument. (In the shrine on the left of picture above)

I toured the peace park, bomb impact site and the museum. It was quite a sobering experience. The city has moved on and so have the people. It was truly a wonderful place.

SaitoH · Senior Otaku Joined: 02 Oct 2002

From Nagasaki I went back to Fukuoka. It's the capital of Kushu and home of the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks. If I learned one thing from being in that city, it was that Japanese people LOVE baseball.

and Pachinko. =P

Fukuoka tower:

A terrific sunset on a gorgeous day exploring the city:

I took a daytrip to Beppu. Biggest hotsprings area in Japan and home of the monkey forest! I can't seem to resist checking out monkeys.
IN this pic I tried to capture the monkey sliding down the windshield. I kinda missed, but he kept climbing up the side mirror and sliding down again ... funny stuff.

Beppu was home to the hells. A bunch of very touristy, themed, hotsprings. Still looked damn cool though.

SaitoH · Senior Otaku Joined: 02 Oct 2002

Kyoto was a fantastic city. I should of spent more time there. It was the former capitol of Japan and managed to survive WW2 unscathed, so it absolutely gushes with history.

First I went to see the thousand warriors at Sanjusangendo temple:

This is a pic of a postcard ... you're not allowed to take photos inside the temple.

Then it was off to the very famous Kiyomizudera Temple! Home of a million Japanese school kids!

o_O;;

Drinking the famous temple water:

Schoolgirls loved this place because of the famous stones. Set 30 feet apart, if you can close your eyes and walk from one to the other your true love will come true.

The train station at Kyoto is this ultra modern glass and steel structure. Very huge and very impressive. Oddly the most photographed thing in Kyoto ...

Inside:

Downtown Kyoto was beautiful. An interesting mix of old and new.

I decided to stay at a traditional Ryokan. No keiseki meal though ... I'M NOT MADE OF MONEY!

I visited Nijo castle the following morning.

SaitoH · Senior Otaku Joined: 02 Oct 2002

Ok, so after Kyoto I took the Shinkansen to Tokyo. I was supposed to meet up with my friends that night so I had some time to kill. Problem was, I had my suitcase with me. It took forever to find a locker in the huge underground mall beneath Tokyo station, that was big enough to store the damn thing. To be honest, I had NO IDEA where I was. When I finally found an exit to the surface I took this pic.

I wanted to use the picture for reference so I could find my suitcase again ... hehe

After leaving Tokyo station I checked out the imperial palace. Then, noticing Tokyo tower in the distance, I decided to check it out.

^w^

That night, I finally got hold of my friends and was ready to head to their place, but first I had to get my suitcase. This proved to be a bigger problem then anticipated. I wandered around the underground mall for an hour ... lost. Decided to head above ground and use my picture, but it didn't help. Eventually I started asking people if they knew where that was -I just want to say thank god for digital cameras- a workman pointed me in the right direction. Upon retrieving my suitcase I took the train to Yukarigaoka ... well, I took various trains and well ... once again got lost.

Three hours later ...

The little black object in the background is my suitcase. I'm at a deserted station past Narita airport. I had ended up almost an hour past my stop. I think that was my longest day in Japan ... I was completely burnt. I walked for over 12 hours and spent a good deal of time lost. After that I never had a single problem though!

^_~

I checked out Tokyo Museum.

My friends were dying to go to Disney so I said what the hell ...

Spent OODLES of time in Akiharbara (world famous discount electronics spot) ... man that place was amazing.

And just generally looked around. I ate lots of great foods, drank lots of Asahi super dry, and saw lots of sights. it was probably my best vacation ever. I actually felt like I was *part* of Japan. Not just a tourist. Mainly because I stayed at friends places, shopped at local grocery stores and took local transportation. I did the tourist thing, but lived like a local. Made it much more then just a vacation for me.

I can't recommend going to Japan enough. Truly a wonderful place. If you plan on going around the countryside get a Japan rail pass. Two weeks unlimited access cost me $540 Canadian and was invaluable.

^w^

Shurikane · Dim Panties As String Joined: 24 Sep 2002

WOW! You SO make me want to go to Japan!! ^.^ Well, first I'll visit Nyn in Massachusets, THEN I'll start racking up some cash to gift myself with the best vacation EVAR.

I'll need 10 suitcases just to fetch all that Anime. O.O

Afroforce · Junior Otaku Gender: Joined: 16 Oct 2003

Um, none of them are showing up.

Minosheep · Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2003 7:10 pm Post subject:

Indeed.

Red X's in Japan! w00t!

SaitoH · Senior Otaku Joined: 02 Oct 2002

Apologies ... apparently I've exceeded my bandwidth limit. I assume they'll be viewable tomorrow, or something ...

=_=;;

Minosheep · Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2003 7:39 pm Post subject:

Bah.

*cries*

I wanna see Japaaaaannnnn!

Musashi · Scrummy Translator Gender: Joined: 07 Nov 2002

Man, Saitoh, I'm so jealous! LOL, love the pics though. I clicked the red X's a few times and told it to show picture and they finally sent (of course that was earlier today). I've always wanted to go to Japan, I really have to one day *sigh*. We need to plan the PO Goes to Japan trip, LOL. Though I'd have to be careful not to get to attached, I might never come back

. Anyway, glad ya had a great time. Awesome pics!