Japan was an interesting experience. I had never been so far away, in a place so culturally different, and yet never felt so comfortable and at home. It began as a business trip to which I added an additional week of vacation time to try and learn a little more about this wonderful place!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Traveling ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Flight:

The trip began as a business trip and my collegues and I started with a flight from Portland, Maine to Newark, NJ in a small commuter plane. It was a cold clear day and the turbulance was already well developed by the time we were a half hour away from Newark. It was the first time I'd ever been on a commercial flight when I kept one eye on the sick sack stored in the seat pocket in front of me. We touched down with several bumps and skids, and in spite of the strong cross winds, the pilot had done a beautiful job of bringing it in. A short layover in Newark and I boarded 757 that was to fly non stop to Narita in Japan. With enough fuel on board to fly 14 hours, seats filled to capacity, and a luggage compartment loaded to capacity, the plane lumbered down the runway, slowly gaining speed, and practically had to will itself into the air as the last bits of the runway vanished beneath the wheels. We climbed slowly away from New Jersey and began a long slow arc above Canada, and Alaska, and then southward to Japan. During the flight, I ended up watching the movie "Runaway Bride" more times than I'd care to count! We finally touched ground around 5:00pm and then worked our way through the subway system from Narita to Tokyo to catch the bullet train south to Shizuoka. The Century Shizuoka hotel was a mere hundred yards from the train station. We checked in, had something quick to eat, then slept.

The Bullet Train:

This was an amazing thing to see in itself! It's a marvel of precision. When I first went to the station, my hosts told me that the ticket displayed the platform number, the car number and the time of departure. When I arrived at the station, I found the platform number and once on the platform, I discovered short yellow strips at intervals next to the tracks that were numbered consecutively. These I presumed were the car numbers. About a minute before departure time, a bell sounded and I could hear a train approaching. As the train came speeding into the station, it slowed and came to a smooth yet confident stop. As I was standing behind the short yellow stripe on the platform that indicated the car number of my train, I looked directly forward at the now opening door of the train that held the same number and it was exactly on time! It reminded me of waiting for an elevator! Once on the train, it sped across the countryside at about 120 miles per hour and was very much like flying at ground level! You hardly realized you were in contact with the ground, the ride was so smooth!

Economy:

Japan seemed to be a little bit pricey at the time. Their basic unit of currency is the Yen which is approximately equal to one cent American. With this in mind, the number on their price tags have a couple of extra zeros on them (talk about sticker shock!) and the cash registers don't have any decimal points! Odd little things, but definitely noticable!

Weather and the Environment:

The weather for this time of year (mid December) was actually fairly comfortable. There was a bit of a chill in the air and it was nice to have a light jacket handy, but it wasn't uncomfortable. I don't remember having any bad weather during my stay and managed to get out on foot to explore the cities before work every morning. The cities were very large and quite crowded, yet I always felt comfortable and safe. Everyone would greet me on the streets with a smile and "Ohayo Gozaiamas!" (good morning!). Everyone was extremely pleasant and helpful. For example, one morning I had gotten a little bit turned around on one of my walks, so I stopped into a Seven Eleven (yes, they have all of our fast food and convenience store chains there as well!) After trying to explain where it was that I wanted to go and showing a map, one of the folks trying to help me motioned to his car and actually drove me to the place I wanted to go!

In the Shizuoka area, the hill sides often had small cultivated areas of mandrin oranges, and green tea bushes. On the coastal plains, there were a number of strawberry farms. Apparently agriculture is on the decline and most of the rice is now imported into Japan. One of the most impressive features of an ordinary grocery store is the selection of fresh fish - more variety than I'd ever seen before and many species I'd have trouble identifying! I was impressed with how clean everything was kept. I could be walking one isle away from the fish counter and if I didn't see it, I'd never know it was there - absolutely no odor whatsoever! The seafood section of the store seemed to be the dominant feature, taking up one wall of the store.

Sushi automats were another interesting experience. These restaurants were built around a central bar where a conveyor system moved different colored plates of sushi around the perimeter where the booths were located. As the plates of sushi moved past the booths, diners would pick off whatever plate they were interested in, eat, then pick of another plate, continuing until they had had their fill. The empty spaces on the conveyer would be filled again as the belt moved through the wall and into the kitchen area. When they were done, a waitress would count up the plates of each color (each color signified a different price) and write up a check.

One of the most interesting (and helpful) oddities, was the common practice of having a display window in front of every restaurant that had plastic examples of the food that was served inside. They looked remarkably lifelike and it became a regular practice to have the waitress take us out to the front window so we could point to the dish we were interested in trying!

Neighborhood restaurants were also a treat to visit. It gave an opportunity to see the folks of the area and sample some of the regular fare.

Grocery stores were fun places to visit as well. I was astounded by the variety, quantity, and freshness of the seafood.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Shizuoka ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Shizouka is on the eastern coast of Japan about 100 km south of Tokyo. When I got up in the morning, I could see Mt. Fuji from the hotel windows. This photo is a view toward the north east from the hotel. You can see the bullet train tracks passing through the center of the city and pointing toward Fuji and Tokyo beyond.

For the week that I was there on business, I got up early and walked each morning through the city to see whatever interesting sights I might find. I'd visited numerous shrines and temples and one of the things that struck me was the newness of all the structures. I had been expecting older buildings for such an ancient culture but apparently, every 20 years, the structures are refirbushed and/or replaced with new.

Shizuoka is a friendly city and a morning walks would always include greetings of Ohayo Gozaimasu! (Good Morning!) with practically everyone I'd meet on the street. One morning I came across a crowded park where everyone was practicing tai-chi and repeating movements in time to sounds that were coming from a small, amplified tape player. The statue of a man in that park had been dressed up by someone with a dust mask and gloves, which is something you would occasionally see on people in the street if they were sick with a cold.

One morning, I planned to walk to a relatively distant location to view the Toro Iseki Ruins, an historic archelogical excavation. On my way, I became a little lost and decided to stop at a 7-11 for directions. I pulled out my map, and pointed to the location I wanted to go. The clerk shrugged and apparently didn't understand where I wanted to go. Then a uniformed gentleman entered the shop and was drawn into the conversation. It appeared that knew where it was that I wanted to go, so he went out onto the street to point and give directions by waving his arms and holding various numbers of fingers to indicate how many blocks to travel, and in what direction. I must have looked too confused, because he eventually gave up and motioned for me to follow. We rounded a corner where he pointed to his car and proceeded to drive me to the place I wanted to go! I was amazed at this! I thanked him, and as he drove away again, I began to wonder if I might find my way back to the hotel in time to get to work!

Another walk took me north to the Sengen Shrine shrine which was at the foot of a very steep wooded mountain near the city center. The shines were remarkably peaceful and quiet places in spite of their being so close to the crowded cities. The religious structure of Japan is predominantly Shinto, although the official state religion is Buddism. Shinto beliefs revolve around dieties that live in nature and inhabit natural forms - rocks, water, trees, and animals. When I heard this, it reminded me of many native american beliefs and mythologies. Shinto shrines were erected in peaceful pristine locations by roping off an area surrounding a stand of trees (Himorogi shrine) or a rock (Iwasaka shrine) as an object upon which Kami was to be invited.

However, when Buddhism, was brought into Japan by the Soga clan, they worshiped an image of Buddha placed in a building. It's thought that Shinto, being influenced by this style, started to enshrine the Kami spirit in a building and this practice became more popular as time went on. Shinto, however, has never used any image of Kami as the object of worship

Our host company took us out for dinner every evening and we went to a number of very fine restaurants. One was a small restaurant that seated perhaps 15 or 20 people around a central table and there were a few booths around the perimeter. Lots of heavy, dark woods, and a grill on one side of the room behind a bar. They specialized in tonkatsu, which is a breaded and deep fried pork cutlet. It was served with shreaded Japanese cabbage and dipping sauces. Without a doubt, it was one of the best meals I'd had!

Another restaurant I recall was a shabu-shabu bar. Again, it was a tiny room where we all sat around a long table that held several communal pots of boiling water heated with gas burners. The meal was presented as thinly sliced pieces of raw vegetable and Kobe beef that were dipped into the boiling water, then dipped into sauces before eating. It was remarkably good! (With the exception of the traditional new year's rice cake that had a texture more like bubble gum marshmallows and simply refused to be chewed! This was supposed to bring good luck, but I rather suspected it was responsible for the majority of the new year's choking deaths in Japan!).

One evening, our hosts took us to a pachinko parlor, where I found myself surrounded by bright lights, smoke, and a constant din of electronic buzzers and the clatter of tiny steel balls falling through the arrays of metal pins in the brightly colored vertical pinball machines. Finding an open machine was a challenge! It used to be that each ball was launched by manually pulling down a spring loaded lever then releasing it quickly. Now, the machines were controlled automatically by holding a knob that indicated the speed with which the rapid fire stream of balls could be delivered onto the playing surface. Players would collect buckets of steel balls from the machines which could be fed back into the machines or exchanged for a prize. The prize could then be sold back at a pawn shop for cash. This was a convenient method for getting around the illegality of gambling for money.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Kyoto ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

While in Kyoto, I visited many wonderful sites including Kiyomizu or the temple of clear water. This was a remarkable structure that was built on a hill side and boasted a tressle-like arrangement of beams that held the temple above the hillside to overlook the valley below. There were also three fountains, one offering eternal wealth, another eternal beauty, and the third eternal health, if one was to drink from the fountain. Having chosen the fountain of eternal health, I drank, and next day came down with a nasty head cold!

However, when Buddhism, was brought into Japan by the Soga clan, they worshiped an image of Buddha placed in a building. It's thought that Shinto, being influenced by this style, started to enshrine the Kami spirit in a building and this practice became more popular as time went on. Shinto, however, has never used any image of Kami as the object of worship

Sanjusangendo was originally constructed in 1164 and rebuilt in 1266. It contains the image of Kannon with eleven faces and 1000 arms, standing 11 feet tall. Behind this statue, stand 1000 carved wooden statues of Kannon, each plated with gold leaf, and standing as tall as a person. These and 31 additional statues were carved over a 100 year period by a staff of about 70 sculptors.

The Todaiji Temple is located in Nara, the first capitol of Japan. The temple houses the world's largest bronze statue of Buddha called Diabutsu. It's also the largest wooden structure in the world. The peak of the roof boasts whale tale carvings which were believed to prevent fire (whales live in water after all, don't they?) Deer are also considered to be a sacred animal and wander freely around the temple grounds.

Many of the streets leading to the shrines and temples would be lined with food vendors, gift shops and assorted vending machines (vending machines were everywhere and dispensed everything from hot soup and cold drinks, to beer! If you notice in the photo, there's a Kirn vending machine on the right). This particular crowded street is on the way to Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto. Unknown to me at the time, this is an apparently popular photo op! Check out the empty street in the first photo in this link to a Kiyomizu site - I definitely like this one better!