As the title suggests this article is about my latest adventure – Japan. I was in Japan last week, attending ICFP (International Conference of Functional Programming). If you are interested in the actual conference read here, this article is about the fun part.
I arrived in Japan on Friday 16th September with
lots of jetlag considering they are 7 hours ahead. I arrived a day early to do some sightseeing
which came pretty handy considering I woke up at noon the next day #Jetlag. I
made good use of the half day by visiting most of the touristy places in Nara. Japan
turned me from being an early riser to a night owl. Perhaps due to jetlag I
couldn’t sleep up until 4 am everyday. Its taking a while to readjust but I’m
not complaining.
Nara is a small
town that was the first permanent capital of Japan. The capital was moved due
to the threat of Buddhist monasteries. It is a tourist destination for that and
many other reasons. The conference took place at the Nara Kasugano
International Forum in NaraPark.
People:
People are so friendly, unbelievably friendly. When I
arrived my phone was out of charge, so I couldn’t access google maps to get to
my hotel and taxi drivers couldn’t understand English. A couple I met at a
store were more than happy to escort me to my hotel. Whether it is motivated by
cultural values or tourism, it definitely saved my life, literally. People are
so approachable that you no longer feel like an outsider even though you look
different. All around the city, there are visitor’s centers where tourists can
just chill, use free-wifi, get directions and maps and experience different
Japanese activities such as trying the Kimono, for free. All that you could
ever need, especially when you are travelling solo.
Another observation I’ve had is that Japanese are very
comfortable in their own skin, and it doesn’t mean they are not progressive.
It’s a lesson that hit home very hard. While in Africa speaking broken English
is a matter of shame, the Japanese don’t ever bat an eye, signs at the airport.
They are more than comfortable to admit that they don’t speak English and those
that are learning will be happy to practice their English with you.
In many places -restaurants, hotels, some shops- you have to
take off your shoes outside. A very African tradition that is saving them lots
of cleaning costs and time. There is not a lot of rubbish bins around yet the cities
are sparkling clean. They are so disciplined that they take their rubbish to
their home. I can only imagine how much cleaning expenses they are saving.
African has a lot to learn from Japan.
Food:
As the title suggests, green tea is a major component of
Japanese cuisine. Its offered in all sorts of forms, cold tea, hot tea, biscuits,
kitkats (yes, green tea flavored chocolates) you name it. It’s the
complimentary drink offered in restaurants, you find cold bottled green tea in
vending machines that are literally everywhere. I guess that explains why the
Japanese are so small.
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| If you look carefully , you will see Green tea flavored kitkats |
I tried lots of other Japanese dishes, most of which was
some form of rice and fish. These include Tempura, Takoyaki, Kushikatsu, Kushikatsu,
Udon plus a couple others that I can barely pronounce. What stood out for me
was tempura, and already trying the recipe. Throughout my stay I ate fish
pretty much every day, now understand
why the Japanese are so smart.
Sightseeing in Nara:
I visited a couple of temples in Nara including the Todaiji
temple, Kokufuji temple and Gangoji temple. They are very similar, Todaiji is
different as it has a big statue of Buddha. I saw a couple of shrines but the
grand Kasuga shrine stands out from the rest. As the name suggests, it is
grand. There is a lots of history attached to it. It’s also a great running
spot.
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| At the grand Kasuga shrine |
I also hiked up the Wakakusayama hills. These are 3 hills
lined in parallel that from the front it looks like one hill and from the side
it looks like 3 hills. It’s a 20 minute hike, being used to hiking up to campus
daily it was no big deal. You pay 150 Yen to hike but the view from the top was
worth it.
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| View from the hills |
I got to visit Naramachi as well. Naramachi is a small town
that used to be a merchant town. There are many ancient shops (machiya) that
have small store fronts because tax was calculated on the property’s street
access not its area. Most of the houses there have red stuffed monkeys hanging
from the door post. According to the Shiryokan religion, it brings luck. I
intended to visit many of the museums but most of them were closed so I only
visited the Shiryokan museum, which in addition to having free admission,
offers explanation of the Shiryokan religion.
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| Naramachi treasures |
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| shiryokan museum |
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| red stuffed monkeys for luck |
It would be a sin if I didn’t mention Nara deers. Deers roam about the streets of Nara like its
no big deal. They even have deer crackers and if you happen to have one, deers
will bow to you. It is believed that bowing to the deers brings luck.
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| feeding deers |
Shopping:
Spoiler alert, Japan is not the shopping destination with a
student budget, at least not if you convert to African currencies before
buying. It is cheaper compared to Western countries but not as cheap. Food is
affordable but many other things are not, especially clothing and souvenirs. Being
a tea lover, I loaded up on tea, all sorts of Japanese tea.
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| some very-expensive souvenirs |
Osaka in a day:
On the last day, I toured around Osaka for the city experience.
I got the Osaka Amazing Pass which I highly recommend to anyone going to Osaka,
it gives you unlimited train access and entrance to the major touristy places
for a day or two depending on which one you got. After getting lost at the
not-small-and-confusing train stations, I visited Umeda, Namba and the Osaka
Castle Area.
At Umeda, I visited the Sky Building floating garden, Hep Five
Ferris Wheel and Osaka Science Museum. The sky building is a connected pair of
skyscrapers 173 m high, that lets you overlook the cityscape of Osaka. The view
was spectacular. It is one of the 20 tallest buildings and its construction
introduced the lifting building technique. There is a lot to be learnt from
Japanese design, from toilets that retain water from washing hands for flushing
to construction technology. The Hep Ferris wheel is similar to the London eye;
it gives a spectacular view of Osaka. There are also a gazillion of fashion and
gourmet shops around.
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| Ferris wheel |
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| Floating garden |
An interesting spot was the Osaka Science Museum, a
scientists’ heaven. While our children watch soap opera on Sunday afternoon,
Japanese kids go to play at the science museum. The museum has fun
demonstrations of hard-to-grasp physics concepts like Electromagnetism, Electrodynamics,
Black Holes among many others. I remember watching 8 year olds playing with a
toy generator to flash an LED and thinking just how much more they will have
learnt and probably invented by the time they go to college. It is no mystery
now why the Japanese and Asians are generally smart.
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| told you I like flying |
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| Playground at the museum |
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| trying to get smart |
Namba was also an interesting site. I walked along the Namba
walk which is an underground street with a gazillions of shops and many other services.
I also took a stroll along Nara Parks. Being a huge station, I went around
circles many times even though I had a map. I owe my survival to the strangers
who were always willing to point me in the right direction.
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| Namba by night |
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| Osaka by night |
At the end of the day, my feet were sore but it’s a good
thing I had a 28-hour flight to recover.
I wish I saw more of Tokyo but I only passed through the airport.
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| Tokyo airport |
I have been to Western countries but Japan just felt
different. On one hand it is so developed with so much infrastructure, on the
other hand, it is very traditional. It’s a balance I hope Africa will achieve
some day. All in all, Japan was great, I unwinded and learnt a lot. Apart from
the language barrier and weird sleeping cycles from jetlag and of course visa
limitations, I would totally stay in Japan.
Stay tuned for my next adventure (you may take a guess where
that will be).
