James and Dave have packed it in 2 weeks early and left me all alone in big scary Japan. I think maybe they weren't quite ready for a month long adventure. There is a big difference between 'vacation' and 'travel'. Japan falls into the category of 'travel': no sleeping, 1 meal a day (with Pocari Sweat and vitamin supplements to keep you alive), living out of suitcase and drinking yourself to sleep every night. Wonder if this has anything to do with the cough I've had for the past 2 weeks...
Whatever, F**k it!
We should have done far more pre-planning if we were going to vacation. I also think throwing them into the Insolence music tour was probably a bit jarring. Aside from 'travel' Japan is also a job for me. I'm being paid to work all night, attend never ending after parties, and travel from city to city. I'm sure it makes it a bit more tolerable when someone else is footing the bill.
However, I'm glad they came. Ever since we all went our separate ways after school in Vancouver, it's always been good times when we get back together. JAM's drunken crowd surf during the 10-FEET set, getting lost in Fukuoka during the monsoon, the "Night of No Hotels", the first night in Ikebukuro, eating yakitori with Ichi's family in a mountain top 'cabin' and the monkey onsen in Nagano are some great new memories to add to our collection. I can't wait for our next adventure. Maybe scale it down to 2 weeks? We are getting too old and cranky for a month on the road with each other!
So what's Japan like on my own? Well I spend far less time waiting outside of 2nd hand smoke filled McDonalds and far more time eating curry. I also spent 1 day in Tokyo/Chiba where I only spoke Japanese, well mostly, probably... I dunno it felt that way. Wandered the subways shooting various parts of Tokyo, ate 1 meal at a convenience store where you can escape with a simple 'arigato', and another at a ramen shop in Chiba where Dave, JAM, and myself had eaten a couple nights before. “Seto C o kudasai”.
The next morning I trained it out to Kyoto where I spent a few hours checking out the local cherry blossoms an old castle wall, and Kyoto tower, a glorified TV/ radio antenna. After that, took the shinkansen to Osaka, hopped on the subway, and like 4 other trains before making my way to small station near Nara, called Ikoma. Ikoma is the home town of one my Japanese buddy named Uchida aka Ucchan. I met Ucchan while on tour with Insolence last summer, and he served as their tech for this tour as well. He’s a rad guy and offered to let me stay at his place for a few nights. He pretty much has a whole 2 story house his parents left him when they moved, so it’s got more than enough room. I coined his house the “Powerslave HoteRU”, because all the bands on Powerslave Records (Insolence, Zeromind, Flametal etc) seem to end up spending a few nights there while on tour in Japan. He’s got a ton of signed tour posters of all the bands that have crashed his house, including Agnostic Front. That’s pretty hardcore, no way I’d let them in my house.
I arrived pretty late so I figured we’d just crash out. Wrong. His old friend Kenji came by, along with a 6 pack of tall Asahi. Even with Dave and JAM gone I still find myself drinking every night. My poor liver.
The next morning, I took advantage of the no check out time and slept in pretty late. Ucchan knows I’m down with trying new Japanese food, so he took me to his local okonimiyaki spot. I’ve heard it described as a Japanese pizza, but it’s more a of wheat omelet/ pancake. It was mighty tasty, I chose one mixed with squid and veggies.
After that we drove over to a few famous shrines near Kyoto. Unfortunately it was a Saturday and peak sakura (cherry blossom) season so the traffic both on foot and on the road was insane. Had to bail pretty early, because we had a dinner date with my future wife Masumi-san.
Ucchan works for a local Nara television station as assistant camera and Japanese hospitality dictates that when your gaijin friend is in town, everyone wants to feed you and get you drunk. Masumi is a Nara newscaster who works with Ucchan. She graciously invited us over for a home cooked meal. Fresh sashimi, hijeki (cucumber salad), and the best wine I have ever tasted. This stuff was from Kumamoto and tasted like purple drink. I was a bit suspect at the alcohol content, but after filling every awkward language caused pause with a sip from the glass, I realized I was pretty buzzed. It was a great night, we all just chilled out, listened to music and drank alcoholic kool-aid. Masumi’s food was amazing , she's in the TV biz, she speaks a lot of English, travels and likes the movie “No Country for Old Men”, so I was totally smitten. At the end of the night she offered to take us to Todaiji Temple the next day, saying she had a friend that worked there.
Next day we met Masumi for lunch, then headed over to Todaiji Temple, one of the most famous and popular such sites in Japan. We walked around taking pictures and petting the local shrine deer. I made all the locals laugh by naming the deer my favorite Japanese meat dishes like ‘sashimi’ and ‘basashi’ (raw horse meat). We soon made our way to the temple entrance and Masumi jumped on the cell to call her friend. I figured someone in the ticket booth would come out and maybe let us in for free or something to that extent. To my surprise a monk comes walking up and introduces himself. After a quick translation about not shooting video inside the inner sanctum, we were escorted into a tourist free area along the flanks of the temple courtyard. I felt like I was in a historic drama, with sakura blossoms falling like snow as we walked down a long outdoor hallway.
We soon arrived at the main temple and we quickly bypassed the line of normal tourists. As we approached a set of stairs the monk gave us all green sashes, loaded with gold kanji to wear. I didn’t ask, but I assume they were sort of Buddha ‘backstage passes’, allowing us to transgress upon the inner sanctum without setting off the ancient and magical booby traps set millions of years ago by a powerful faction of shinobi monk warriors. The monk soon told me about the temple burning down not all that long ago and having to be re-built with government money. I wanted to ask how much magical traps, walls that shoot arrows, and statues that come to life cost as a security system but he spoke very little English. At this point I decided that my parents should not have let me watch Indiana Jones some much growing up.
The rest of the backstage Buddha trip was very cool and very awe inspiring. The monk toured us around detailing the height and weight of the massive bronze Buddha, as well as many other facts about the site. As we finished the tour and came to the exit, we came upon a giant incense burner and he indicated a spot to give a quick prayer before passing. He asked if I had any reservation about doing so. As a firm agnostic, I’ve always had a problem with the way most organized religions are used. However Shinto and Buddhism seem a bit more personal and spiritual to me than most of the other major religions, so out of respect and thanks for the great experience joined Ucchan, Masumi, and the monk in a quick prayer.
After leaving the temple Masumi walked us up the hill toward another temple that over looks all of Kyoto for an epic sunset. We parted ways with Masumi, guess I’ll propose on my next visit to Nara, and headed to the Ucchan’s parent house for another home cooked meal. Ucchan’s mom cooked us the last nabe of the season (usually eaten in winter), which is big stew of shrimp, chicken, beef, veggies and other tasty thingies. You drop in the ingredient and let them boil in front of you, then pluck them out with your chopsticks.
Perfect end to a great day.
But then Kenji showed with more beer. I may not survive the rest of this trip.
