We went to Japan for two weeks. This was precipitated by a paddle board race in Osaka, but all going together and seeing some Japanese things seemed like a good idea - so that's what we planned. In no particular order, my objectives for our visit were:
- To eat interesting things
- To find a beer vending machine
- To find other strange vending machines
- To experience extreme claustrophobia on public transport
- To take photographs of nonsensical (to me) signs
- To go to an onsen
- To bring home some strange Japanese things
- Perhaps most of all, to be confused and excited by things I don't understand
I'm please to report that all but one objective was achieved to my satisfaction. And so the story begins (after the being kept awake by Aiste on an aeroplane for ten hours part was over) in Osaka...
It turns out that in contrast to other counties I've been to where I'm unable to read anything or say anything beyond "hello", "thank you", and "I don't understand", Japan is very easy to get around. This is largely because Google map will tell you how to get around, Google translate will allow you to read things (with often hilarious results), and you can get a Japanese SIM card for your phone at the airport for a reasonable price to make all that work. I guess without Google we'd all just have to go back to gesticulating wildly and then getting lost and confused... those were the days. You can also get a card that allows you on pretty much every form of public transport without needing to understand the ticket machines. As if all of that wasn't convenient enough, it turned out this was just a taste of the bounty of convenience that Japan offers.
The internet told me that Osaka was a more jovial place than up-tight Tokyo, but having never been to any Japanese city I had no idea what that might really be like. I did notice plenty of people jovially riding their bikes the wrong way on the bike path and on the pedestrian only sidewalk. Osaka is definitely the place to go if you want to witness expert handling of folding e-bikes with various child carriers and umbrella holders attached. I almost considered buying one so I could join in.
SUP racing absorbed our first few days, which for the first time was in a place where I could actually see some of what happened. All the races were based around
an island in the Tosahori River, which meant Tav, Aiste and I could get around and catch the race at various points. To make a long story short, Lina got bronze in the sprint races and got a really nice stained glass medal... which becomes more significant later in this tale.
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| Trolls on the bridge |
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| Sprint race action |
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| Podium crasher (not Lina) |
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| Someone's children making a spectacle of themselves |
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| Someone's children making a spectacle of themselves again |
There was also time in Osaka for some wandering and noodle-eating among the SUP paddling. I did achieve the dream of finding a beer vending machine on the street... though it wasn't beer o'clock yet so I simply admired the convenience it could have afforded me, and forgot to take a photograph of it.
Other notable (to me) sights were some splendid examples of impractical fixed-gear bicycles, a very fierce looking Toyota Prius, and a playground that featured a concrete crater that you could slide down the inside of after scaling the back of it with the help of some chains.
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| Dotonbori river fashions |
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| Noodle |
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| Hipster bicycles are international |
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| One mean looking Prius |
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| Osaka Castle |
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| Tav about to drop into the moon-crater slide |
With plenty of objectives left on the list, our next stop was to be Tokyo for a couple of days on our way to Amami island.
Here are some more photos that I didn't put in the last post on here:
And here's a premature look at how I did achieving my "funny signs" objective:
