Japanorama: Final Day

Very sadly today is our final day in Japan. We've had another wonderful trip here and I don't want to leave yet. Since my last post we've been based back in Osaka at Hotel Raizan South. Amanda and I have done a lot in the past week but also had plenty of downtime. Some of the highlights of the week have been:

• Catching up with old friends Shinsuke, Hideki, Shinozaki & Sukrit and meeting many new friends
• Attending two Hanshin Tigers at both the Osaka Dome and Koshien Stadium. 
• Checking out the cherry blossoms at both Osaka Castle and Mt Yoshino. 
• Eating at my favourite restaurant: Chitose Okonomiyaki restaurant here in Shin-Imamiya.



Rooftop beer

• Visiting both Kyoto and Nara

So Japan I guess it is farewell for now. Amanda and I don't really know where life will take us in the next year or two but hopefully it's not too long before we are back again for "Japan V: insert working title here".


P.S. Before the trip I promised a bunch of articles about what to do, see and eat in Japan. Obviously I got a little sidetracked here enjoying our holiday so I'll have to complete these when we get back to Palau. I'll also post some of my SLR photos which i haven't even looked at yet.

Sakura at Osaka Castle

Koshien Stadium

Osaka Dome

Giant Buddhas at Nara

Japanorama: Punkspring music festival

Friends and regular readers will know that both Amanda and myself love seeing live music It's one of the things I've seriously missed while living in Palau.

Gimmie Gimmies!!

A band I've quite enjoyed over the years is called 'Me First and the Gimme Gimmes'. They are an all-star punk band who only do covers. They cover everyone from Dolly Parton to R Kelly to Billy Joel to Boys 2 Men. The songs and the band are a lot of fun. They have rarely toured Australia and I was very disappointed to see them head down under late last year (while we were in Palau). But when planning our Japan trip I was more than a little excited to see our trip timed with their tour.

Unfortunately I got a little sick the night before the gig so we went in a little late and I was a touch subdued. Going to a festival in Japan is rather hilarious. Like going to Pro Baseball games you can bring in any food or drink you like. You just have to transfer drinks into plastic cups. No bag checks either!

The crowd will either be very subdued and polite or crazy and completely into it. Up the back of the standing section there were people asleep on the floor. Many people left bags and belongings on seats with seemingly no concern of them being stolen (there is little crime in Japan).

At one point a few circle pits started but at least two of them seemed to very quickly into something more like a hippy love circle.

Good crowd in for the festival

The first band we caught was a Japanese one called Dragon Ash. They were a really weird mix between funk/metal/rap and pop music. They also had a couple of male back up dancers which at times left me wondering if they'd be better placed performing at the Sydney Gay Pride festival. The crowd seemed totally into it though.

Next up were the band we'd come to see. Me First and the Gimme Gimmes were awesome. They sounded great, were very funny and played some of my favourites in Country Roads (John Denver), I Believe I Can Fly (R Kelly) and Jolene (Dolly Parton).

We missed most of the next band called 10-Feet, another Japanese band while doing a convenience store run for a snack and some beers. Unlike Dragon Ash they actually had one style and did it fairly well.

Part of the cool ceiling in the hall

Next up were Swedish band The Hives. I've been aware of The Hives before but they are one of those bands that I never managed to get into for whatever reason. I have to say I was quite impressed by them, they are a great live band with a very good stage presence. I enjoyed their garage rock style and will have to check then out more.

Last up were Bad Religion a band I'd listened to a little bit through the mid 90's but wouldn't say I'm much of a fan. As soon as they started it was immediately noticable the sound mix was completely off with far too much drum & bass and very little vocals and guitar. Unfortunately the mix didn't get much better through their set. This was a little bit of a let down as the major focus of the band would be Greg's vocal harmonies.

Overall a fun gig and I'm very happy we went. Many thanks to our friend Shinsuke for securing the tickets for us! I also have a cool new Me First tshirt with a Japanese inspired giant robots theme.

Japanorama: on the road

Another update coming at you from the Shinkansen. We are currently heading to Matsumoto from Nagoya. Since my last update we've been travelling around a bit with stops in Hiroshima, Kobe and Nagoya. We've been doing heaps of walking each day hitting between 10 and 15 kilometres. Hopefully burning off all the great food & drink we are consuming.

Deer at Miyajimi like maps and cakes (just ask Amanda about the cake)

The first afternoon in Hiroshima we went for a look at the castle and around the A-bomb dome and peace park. The castle is nice but probably a little pointless if you've been to numerous others in Osaka or elsewhere. The following day we went for a day trip to the beautiful island of Miyajima. It is a beautiful place and I'd highly recommend a day or two there if you are ever travelling around in Japan.

Miyajima craft beer & a fish cake wrapped in bacon & cheese!

Rather quickly we were headed back to Kobe, the main reason for stopping in so close to Osaka was to attend the Punkspring music festival. (I'll write more about this in another post). We apart from the festival we had a quiet couple of days but did have some amazing pork rolls and crispy skin duck pancakes in Kobe's Chinatown. One night we stopped at a small but well decorated bar, we ordered two beers which ended up being half foam. Slowly drank them, then decided to leave and head elsewhere. The bill for two beers ended up being nearly $24! The beers were 600 yen each and we also got charged 500 yen each for entering the bar. I believe this might be a typical thing for small bars but I'm far from impressed at paying $12 for a half foam beer. I wish I got the name of the place so I could warn others from going there.

Last night was an overnight stop in Nagoya. We went on the (free) Asahi brewery tour yesterday afternoon which I have mixed reports about. The tour itself was very sterile and you didn't get to see much. I've had better tours in Australia and Ireland. The draw card is however the 3 free decent sized beers you get at the end. Again you have to question if it's worth it as you have to take the train around 15 mins from Nagoya station, then walk another 15-20 to the factory. The beers you taste are their standard ones which you could buy for under $2 each in vending machines or shops located everywhere. Even the Asahi merchandise shop was rather poor.

Weird stuff in Japan can be found everywhere

Last night was another visit to the restaurant chain Yamachan for some Tebasaki (Nagoya specialty deep fried chicken wings). These are awesome, best wings ever. (Sorry Franks Red Hot sauce). They have multiple stores in most major cities so when in Japan check one out.

Today we making use of the last days of our JR rail pass and are headed to Matsumoto in the Nagano region to check out the castle. Tomorrow we'll be headed back to Osaka for the last third of our trip.

The stupidly expensive bar in Kobe