Osaka, Japan

Our last stop in Japan is Osaka, population 2.7 million and the third largest city: 

I was really looking forward to finally doing some serious shopping as it's our last stop before coming home.

They say Osaka is a hub for electronics so we first went to Den Den Town, advertised just as good as Tokyo. It was a disappointment really other than a shop called BIC Camera which had 6 floors of really nice electronics of all kinds. But there are no bargains here. In fact, we're pretty sure Canadian prices are quite competitive, even taking into account the taxes.

Not to be totally discouraged, we ventured out to normal shopping. Osaka has incredible shopping both street level and underground. Above ground there are a lot of covered streets:

And underground it's almost a city in itself:

You can walk for 20 minutes underground and never see the same store (except Starbucks every 10 minutes). There has to be a thousand shops underground (think the Toronto Path and multiply by at least five times).

At first, the clothing looked really nice and different in a good way. But then we realized that Japanese people are very small in size and even large and extra large don't fit properly.

Next we tried the food stores. We strongly believe that no one cooks in Japan as there are hundreds of ready made food for sale:

There's also all kinds of food stores:

Unfortunately we weren't really successful here either as everything was in Japanese. The staff were always very friendly but understanding what was in the packaging wasn't possible.

I was looking so forward to doing some major shopping but it wasn't in the cards. I'm not totally discouraged yet- I'm convinced I can find at least an iPhone case that's different before we leave (a true shopaholic)!!

Hiroshima, Japan

At first, Hiroshima looks like any large Japanese city. But as you get further downtown and closer to where the atomic bomb exploded, you realize that all the buildings look about the same age. That's because on August 6th, 1945 a 3 metre bomb obliterated the city:

Everything within a 2 km radius of the atomic bomb explosion was obliterated instantly, crushed to rubble and burned except one building:

One building survived:

This was the only structure standing after the bomb hit. It was decided to keep the structure standing as a testament to the damage caused. It is now called the Atomic Bomb Dome building.

When you walk beside this structure, there is quiet and you sense visitors are deep in thought. The building sits by a large park where there are further dedications to one of the most dramatic moments in history:

There is also a Peace Memorial Museum at the entrance of the park that has personal stories in reference to Aug. 6th, 1945. One is about a 3 year old boy and his bike:

Shin loved to ride this tricycle. That morning, he was riding in front of his house when, in a sudden flash, he and his tricycle were badly burned. He died that night. His father felt he was too young to be buried in the family grave away from home, and thinking he could still play with the tricycle, he buried Shin with the tricycle in the backyard. In the summer of 1985, forty years later, his father dug up Shin's remains and transferred them to the family grave. This tricycle, Shin's best friend, was donated to the Peace Memorial Museum.

What is not well known (at least to us)- that morning there were 8,600 children in seventh and eighth grade- in the bomb target on a school work program of which 8,300 died. There were also 20,000 forced Korean workers working in military factories where the bomb exploded and perished.

In all, 200,000 died and a 150,000 more were physically impacted by radiation, burns, shrapnel or other afflictions. 

Lest we forget.

Kyoto, Japan

Kyoto is a 2 1/2 hour bullet train ride west of Tokyo and has a population of 1.5 million people compared to Tokyo's 13.6 million. This city was the Imperial Capital of Japan for more than a thousand years. It's a vibrant modern city built around some amazing Japanese palaces, castles and shrines.

Their most famous shrine is the Fushimi Inari-taisha Shinto Shrine, founded in the year 711 AD;

At this shrine, they have over 10,000 torii. A torii is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of a Shinto shrine. The purpose of the gate is to divide our world and the spirit world. But here, there are 10,000 that are built and lined up for kilometres along walkways:

Each of these gates has been donated by a company or organization giving thanks for their prosperity and in hope of good fortune in the future. And as luck would have it, this shrine sits on Mount Imari that rises 233 metres above sea level and takes a little over 2 hours to walk the 4 kilometres up and down the mountain.

Shinto is not an organized religion but the faith of the Japanese people and it is as old as Japan itself, practiced way before Buddhism arrived. It contains the traditional Japanese legends and superstitions and has many gods. When Buddhism arrived, it was practiced together with Shinto.

Speaking of Buddhism, we next stopped at the Kiyomizu-dera, one of the first Japanese Buddhist temples and founded in 780 AD. Many structures have come and gone on this site over the years and the main hall that you see here was constructed in the 17th century and is overhanging a cliff:

This complex is still an active Buddhist temple.

Another beautiful compound preserved through the centuries is the Nijo-jo Castle, originally built in 1603 and the residence of the first Shogun in Japan:

Over the years and the various Shoguns, the size has expanded to its current 70 acres. In 1867, the 15th Shogun returned sovereignty to the Emperor and the castle became the property of the Imperial family.

There is also the Kyoto Imperial Palace, built in the 17th century on an impressive 27 acre parcel of land and many buildings and halls:

The Palace also has beautiful gardens around the many buildings on this property:

We found the temples and shrines not as ornate as what we have seen in other countries yet the simplicity of design is very attractive.

In and Around Tokyo

First the good news- we weren't served fish for breakfast after all! When the owners of our guest house made us a traditional Japanese breakfast, we were pleasantly surprised:

We had a hard boiled egg with a brownish skin (don't know how they do that), a type of pulled beef with onion and spices, broccoli (who in the world eats broccoli at 8 am!), asparagus tips, seaweed, potato, carrot, tomato, rice and Miso soup. It was delicious.

With basically no English in Japan on what the food is, I've decided to use scouts to try it before I eat:

Here, Cathy and our owner Tetsuo tried some street food that turned out to be chicken. There are a surprising number of street vendors here and the food is excellent and inexpensive. You just don't know what a lot of it is.

We're still trying to get our heads around the the train/ subway system. We bought a Japan Rail pass and the good news is that the bullet trains are just that, they go like hell:

You can also use this pass for Tokyo local transit but a bit different (think Go- Train using TTC tracks). The Japanese pronunciation is tough in trying to understand the name of streets and train stops so getting around has been a challenge.

But we're trying. We went to a town called Nikko with shrines dating back to the 16th century:

This shrine was built by the grandson of the first Shogun circa 16th century. Shoguns were the de facto rulers of the country.

We also took a bullet train to another small town called Hakone, known for their landscape and natural hot springs. Here you also get a stunning view of Mount Fuji:

December is fall weather in Japan and the foliage is in full colour: 

I now understand why Asians love coming to Canada- our colours are so much more vibrant. In Japan their fall is pretty but nothing compared to the brilliant reds and yellows and browns of a Canadian autumn.

A Tough Intro to Tokyo, Japan

When we decided to change our final plans during our journey to include Japan, we had to do some rather lengthy air flight arrangements to be as economical as possible. That included today when we flew from Christchurch New Zealand to Brisbane Australia, then to Singapore and on to Tokyo. It turned out to be 31 hours. We thought nothing of it other than it might take a toll on our system.

But arriving here, we had three surprises. The first one was failing Passport Control. We were detained in a special room and interrogated for over an hour. For whatever reason, they put us on a high-risk black list. According to these Japanese officials, they do an individual background check on people coming into the country. It's a combination of where we've been over the last while, where we're staying in Tokyo and confirmation we have exit flights out.

First they grilled us on where we're staying. We thought it was pretty straightforward- it's a homestay.com accommodation but during the interrogation we felt maybe not as good an idea as we thought? They feigned understanding of what homestay.com was until we were able to compare it to a guest house. They continued questioning exactly where we were staying. Through the questioning, I had visions of the owners being government spies and bringing us into an overthrow coup. When they were satisfied with that, they then asked why were we in Istanbul, Turkey and when? They were asking specifics of the reason why we were there (which was about 2 weeks prior to President Ergan's military coup attempt). The whole session was only an hour but it felt very weird and actually worrying at times. We were then let go.

If that wasn't uncomfortable enough, we next had to confront the rail and subway systems after not sleeping for more than a day and not understanding Japanese:

Don't bother counting- there are over 20 different subway/ train lines with some being both. Through this haze we also had to change trains and English is pretty non-existent. Just trying to figure out if we had enough money on our ticket was tough because you had to exit with sufficient funds. But we got to our destination on time.

So the owners are showing us around town and I'm quickly grasping the fact that there's a lot of raw fish stores. Did you know Japanese eat fish every day, including mornings?:

The owners are coming over tomorrow morning bringing with them a traditional Japanese breakfast. As I'm allergic to seafood and don't like fish, as the saying goes- "Houston, I think I have a problem".

The Lowdown on Sheep

Ever wonder the difference between a lamb and a sheep? And do you really believe there's such a thing as a black sheep? Ever wonder how a dog herds sheep? Or if it's painful for sheep to be sheared?  Well, hold your breath no more as we went to a sheep farm and have the low-down on everything sheepish!

The answer to the first question:

These are lambs, I kid you not! And when they are lambs, they are sheared twice the first year. After that, they become 'adult' sheep (we all knew that right?, that these little lambs turn into sheep after their 1st birthday?) and are sheared once a year. The shearing is done in New Zealand November through January.

The answer to the next question:

This fella is the real deal. It's a genetic thing and it happens in about 1 out of 1,000 (I think the odds are way more than that). In reality, even two 'white' sheep can produce a black one and in the old days, black wool was pretty worthless- hence the phrase 'black sheep in the family' as in no good for nothing.

Next, sheep dogs love their job:

 

Leo, the sheep dog here, can herd the sheep at his master's command by looking at the lead sheep and barking loudly or nipping- it scares the hell out of them! We watched him do this several times, down the hill and then back up. Sheep dogs apparently love doing this work.

As for getting fleeced (so to speak), how are they sheared? They use machine shears and they operate like barber haircutters. We watched and it doesn't hurt them at all:

They put the sheep on their rump which makes them almost immobile during the process: 

The above pic shows a comparison of the sheep sheared (he's the scared looking one in the back) versus ones not sheared so you get a sense of the amount of wool they produce. And once sheared, they need to be protected for a few days from sunburn, then they go back into the flock. 

Shearers can make good bucks. They are paid on a per sheep basis at $2- $3 each and more for merino sheep and they can average 300 sheep per day. 

Next up- our last country on our world journey- Japan

Driving Down to Queenstown New Zealand

We continue to be astounded by the scenery on the South Island of New Zealand as it is renowned for its mountains, lakes and glaciers. About two hours from Fox Glacier, you drive by Lake Wanaka nestled by majestic mountains:

There's a small parcel of land called 'the neck' separating this from another major lake, Hawea:

Years ago, these lakes were together and this 1 km stretch of land was built up over time. Driving down, you quickly realize that as there are only 1 million people on the South Island, there are not a lot of towns or villages interrupting the landscape. You also have to be careful with gas as they have signs saying 'no gas for 190 km'. Where we stopped overnight, there was only one store, one gas station and one hotel. But look at our view!

Travelling down to Queenstown, you drive through the mountains until it opens up to a plateau of farms:

Queenstown is small with only 14,000 people. It's a resort town but more than doubles in size with lodges and motels:

We took a day trip to Milford Sound, New Zealand's famous fiord. When we left Queenstown it was brilliant sunshine but the guide cautioned that it would be raining in Milford as it rains 190 days a year there. This fiord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides and cliffs. The deep sided rock faces go up to 2,200 metres (over 6,000 feet). When we got there, we couldn't see the tops of the higher rocks with the overcast but it was still surprisingly beautiful (the white dots at the base of the rocks are ferries): 

It started to rain hard when we were passing Copper Point where there are gale force, sometimes hurricane force winds (the Tasman Sea meets up with the Pacific). The captain said it would be a great experience to 'feel' the power of the wind and all on board were eager to do this until walking out:

I'm the idiot in the picture hanging on for dear life with winds of 75 km per hour (hurricane is 85 km). I got soaked- and to be honest- I'm surprised they even let anyone out on the deck with those winds.

Going back, we drove into gorgeous weather again:

This island is really quite remarkable in its grandeur and natural beauty.