Yesterday was a very long day. It started at 6:00am when I woke up and did my morning routine. While heading to the train station I ran into some classmates and we rode to school together. We arrived 25 minutes early for the day's activities and had to wait next to the bus for quite a while until our other classmates showed up. Once everyone gathered we were formed into small groups and boarded the bus for Nikko.

Nikko is a mountainous region about 2 hours outside Tokyo. We visited two separate places there. The first, Edomura, is a recreation of Edo era Edo (Tokyo was called Edo the era before the Meiji restoration, the Edo era). The second was the Toshogu shrine, the burial place of Tokugawa Ieyasu (the first Shogun of the Edo period.)

When we arrived at Edomura it was discovered that the actual name of Edomura was "Edo Wonderland". It proceeded to be about as hokey as it's name sounded. There were some nice recreated buildings, but most of them contained gift shops. There were also several theaters where you could see live shows about Edo era people. The ninja show was nicely choreographed. During the Geisha show one of the students from our school got pulled up on stage to play the role of the master of a house. The actors were using an old Japanese dialect so it was hard to follow along, but the acting was good enough to communicate what was going on. Mid day we had lunch in the cafeteria. The food provided was all Edo era cuisine. There was sugared diakon (big white radish), seaweed miso, cold tofu, and some other items which were tasty but that I couldn't recognize. After several hours in Edomura we boarded the bus for the half hour trip to Toshogu.

Being more a fan of real history as opposed to recreated history, I liked Toshogu better. It had more or less the basic shrine layout but was build on a mountainside. As the Japanese seem to love steps, there were plenty to be had. While there we saw the three famous parts of the shrine. First the three monkeys carving. You know, hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil? Yeah those monkeys. Next was "the sleeping cat" which is a rather small carving of... a sleeping cat. Third was the crying/roaring dragon. This is a dragon painted on the ceiling of a room where, if you stand in a certain spot and slap two pieced of wood together it reverberates and makes a sound like a dragon crying/roaring. Lastly we saw Tokugawa tomb. This was at the top of the mountain in a very beautiful location surrounded by trees.

We all piled back in the bus and were taken back to the university. I rode the train to Shinjuku and got off to see if I could get something from one of the department stores. Not finding what I wanted I finished the trip home. Just as I sat down to write this entry my door buzzer rang. It was some of the people from NiDai wanting to go to the bar across the street. Long story short I didn't get to bed until 1:30 this morning. As I said, it was a long day.

Today is a planned day of rest for me. After all my runnings all over Japan this past week I need a break. Hopefully I will get around to replying to e-mails and comments later today. But first, maybe a nap.

Ja Mata Ne.

For ease of scrolling, please post comment pertaining to the Kyoto trip here. Thanks :)

EDIT: Sparks' Blog has been updated with his post of the weekend. Check it out here.

I begin by apologizing to those of you using dial-up. I sorted through the 319 photos I took this weekend and culled what I think are the best of the lot. I used Photoshop to cut the size down some further. However it seems there’s still 1.5 Megs of photos with today’s update. Also, there’s a little text too (hehe). Hope you enjoy…

Another important note: as with last time, this is one side of a two sided story. All events are recorded as accurately as possible. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent. For clarification or elaboration on any points please feel free to leave comments.


Phase 1: Crossing #472 off my life long to-do list: Riding the Shinkansen

This section is a direct copy from the notes I took while riding the Shinkansen to Kyoto. I arrived at the station and found my train without a problem.

10/7/05 4:00pm Tokyo Station
The Shinkansen terminal in Tokyo Station is nothing less than the pure incarnation of awesome. 20 tracks worth of the world’s fastest trains all in one spot. There were many pictures taken (before I got on the train). Things noted on the platform: there are men in blue and women in pink running around. The men are the mechanical crews; the women are the cleaning crews. There are passages under the platforms for workers to access the under-workings of the trains. There is also a separate elevator system from the public one for the conductors to arrive on. My train pulled out on time (3:50pm). A note on the inside of the train: the seats are rock hard, but I can stand it for the two hours ahead. I seem to have a row all to myself. The flight’s about to take off… I think there will be beverage service (sly smile).

10/7/05 4:15pm Outskirts of Tokyo
Since leaving the station the train has been accelerating in increments. Every time it does you can feel the pressure of being pushed back in your seat. It really feels as if this behemoth wants to be let loose and ram up to full speed all at once. I think since were still in Tokyo however, our speed is capped.

10/7/05 4:30pm Below Fuji-san
I am again foiled in my attempts to see an un-obstructed Mt. Fuji. (I’ll get you next time Gadget!) After pulling out of Shin-Yokohama station after a brief stop we headed through what (finally) looked like a suburban area; mostly low houses, a few large apartments, more and more trees. As noted we passed by Fuji-san but its summit was concealed by clouds. We’re going quite fast now, like a jet about to take off from a runway but never pulling up. Passing by the ocean now… So beautiful, even on a cloudy day. Every time we pass another Shinkansen we’re buffeted by its nose-drag. Every so often we go through tunnels that must be several kilometers long (and on a steep grade, my ears keep popping.)

10/7/05 5:10pm Somewhere in Japan
Pictures and words can’t do this experience justice. It really is something that one must do to fully know how awesome it is. As Ferris Bueller said, “If you have the means, I highly recommend it.” I have no idea where we are, save for the fact that were ½ way between Tokyo and Kyoto time wise. The population centers are getting farther apart, but oddly enough, even here, the buildings (houses, businesses, etc.) are built quite close together.

10/7/05 5:40pm Elsewhere in Japan
It has gotten dark and started to rain. We’re going so fast, however, that the rain doesn’t stick to the windows. The lights of the cities as we pass illuminate as if a flattened Christmas tree. Now pulling into Nagoya for a quick stop before finishing on to Kyoto. Some day I’ll have to make this trip in full daylight.

10/7/05 6:00pm The Nether-Dark
After pulling out of Nagoya I decided I had to use the restroom. I followed what the little diagram of the train on the back of my seat said and went to the back of the car. There I was presented with an option. Wait for the “Occupied” western style toilet or use the “Vacant” Japanese style toilet. After a moments wait in the hopes someone would emerge from the western style toilet I decided to brave the Japanese style one. Long story short, it was an interesting experience. Returning to my seat the sun has set and it’s utterly black outside. There’s nary a house light, street light, or headlight to be seen. It’s the first time I’ve seen it this dark since coming to Japan. On a parting note, there was in fact beverage service. Airplane style.

A few minutes later the train pulled into Kyoto station and I disembarked. I headed down from the platform, found a payphone and called Sparks’ cell and left a voicemail (he was on a train at that point). I then got on the local train for Kusatsu station where we were supposed to meet up. The ride from Kyoto to Kusatsu station was the most jerky stop-and-go train ride I’ve had so far. Must have been a trainee driving that night. Climbing to the top of the stairs in Kusatsu station Sparks was waiting for me. It seems that with only one entrance/exit, it’s easier to locate people in small train stations. We said our hellos and, deciding on taking the easy route boarded the train for Tehara station (Sparks’ station.) The, um, old, train is pictured below.

When we got off at Tehara station we did a quick survey of what’s what in Ritto on the way to Sparks’ house. Arriving we took our shoes off (as to not anger the house spirits) and I set my bag down. The next fifteen or more minutes were spent on the grand tour. I do not kid, nor make light of this length of time. I truly believe that Sparks’ house here is larger than the one he lives in back in the states. It’s a real Japanese house, meant for a family of maybe 6 or more. He has good pictures in his blog if you’d like to know more. I will add however, that those pictures do not do the Castle Sparks justice, not at all. His bathroom is bigger than my apartment.

Getting over the shock of seeing how the other half lives here in Japan we went out for dinner. I’m not sure if it’s been mentioned but there is a wonderful Ramen shop down the block from Sparks’ house. The head cook speaks descent English and seems like a generally cool guy. After we ate we asked after things to do in Kyoto (the next day’s planned trip). He recommended a few sights to see and even pulled out a map to point them out.

Luckily the person in Sparks’ position before him left a bicycle behind. This allowed the both of us to go for an after dinner ride into Kusatsu. It turns out; the last person didn’t leave the bike in good condition thought. I had a fun ride into town with no breaks and a wobbly handlebar. Beats walking by a long shot though. Downtown Kusatsu is a lot more lively than downtown Ritto at night. Most shops there are open until 10pm and there’s a young vibe in the air. We wandered the streets of Kusatsu for a while after parking our bikes. There’s a cool covered shopping area, a few department stores, and a mini-mall (with a sub-way!!) Seeing all that was to be seen, we headed back.

It is note-worthy that sleeping on a real futon, on tatami-mats, is 150% more comfortable then sleeping on my stone-slab of a bed in my apartment. It was so wonderful I slept like a rock.

Phase 2: Kyoto

Woke up late on Saturday, took a shower, and had breakfast. Some yummy pop tarts courtesy of Sparks’ parents. While eating we made preliminary plans of attack as to how to see as much of the cool stuff Kyoto as possible in a day. We then made the quick walk to Tehara station and took the two trains back to Kyoto station. On the way we ran onto several of Spark’s students who all said “Hello”.

Exiting Kyoto station by the main gate I found that Kyoto station is a HUGE complex. I think for sheer cubic meter-age it gives Shinjuku a run for its money. Of course since we left out umbrellas at the house it started to rain at this point. Our first stop decided for us, we hit up a local AM/PM store and bought some $4.00 umbrellas. (An aside: almost every store in Japan sells umbrellas, for idiots like us who leave ours behind.)

Next we visited Hon-gwan-ji temple. I’ll spare you the gory details of temple exploration. Generally it involves seeing the main temple building, any cool out buildings, taking a few pictures, and moving on. Indeed after a while they all start to look alike. That is not to say they are not all individually impressive, however. Digressing, after Hon-gwan-ji we walked several blocks to Nishi-hon-gwan-ji. The main-main temple at Nishi was under construction (and a huge over-structure) and could not be seen. The grounds were still very nice however. The picture below is of the main building at Hon-guan-ji.

After a healthy dose of Buddhist temple we went in search of a pagoda I spotted on a map back at the station. We wandered for a ways, finally spotting the top of the pagoda over the surrounding building. On approach, the pagoda (a Buddhist piece of architecture) was actually on another set of temple grounds. This temple, not an active temple, charged a few hundred yen at the gate to get on the premises. This cover charge was well worth it as there was an exhibit of two sets of Buddhist statuary that are national treasures. The Asian-art-history major in me let out a little cry of joy. Aside from the exhibit the grounds has some wonderful photo opportunities. The buildings the statues were in were built a full 22 years before Columbus sailed that ocean blue. And of course, there was the pagoda (seen below.)

Once we were pictured out, we had a quick ice-cream break (one food that’s universal in taste), and went to check out another side of the temple grounds. Here was the active part of the temple. We explored this for a while. We managed to find, I think, the newest temple building. It was odd, seeing a 600+ year old temple, and one build in the past 5 years, within 250 meters of each other.

The next step was, perhaps a bit careless on our part. We left by a different exit than we entered by. We began walking around the back streets of Kyoto. That was cool for a time. Eventually though we decided we were lost enough to ask directions. First, at a bus stop our query came up with mixed results. Next at a liquor store we got sent in the right direction. We walked several blocks down a covered portion of sidewalk which housed several fish markets and a few vegetable markets. After we passed under a set of tracks and found a map saying there was a station next to the tracks we made mistake number two. We diverged from the directions the shop-keep gave us. After a nice walk through the Kyoto Wholesale Warehouse District we came out the other side dazed and smelling slightly of fish. Locating another map we found how to get back on track and walked several more blocks to the subway station which we were seeking.

A nice ride on the Kyoto subway later we emerged at one end of the Kyoto Imperial Palace grounds. The KIP is a large park set up by the first Meiji Emperor on the grounds of what was once the seat of power for Japan. Before Edo (Tokyo) was Japan’s capitol, the Imperial family resided in Kyoto. The Buildings on the KIP grounds are Meiji-era recreations of the original Palace buildings that were once there. Unfortunately by the time we arrived the castle section had closed (historical sites in Japan close at 4:30pm daily, all of them.) We walked around the outside (a loooong walk) and took some pictures.

We hit the subway stop at the other end of the KIP and saved a long walk back to the other one.

We rode to Sanjo-Keihan and exited into the pleasant night air. By this time the rain had more or less stopped making serious attempts to get us wet. We strolled, first down the street where-abouts Memoirs of a Geisha was written/about, then through a labyrinth of covered shopping district. We stopped to get dinner and strolled some more. This district is quite nifty because every so often there’s a break in the shop-fronts and a shrine. Not some tiny little box either. Full on shrines, even a grave yard or two. We left the covered section for a bit to check out some dancers practicing in front of Kyoto City Hall.

Once again finding that we had seen all that there was to see at that time we went to a very out of place establishment. An Irish Pub. We ordered our drinks at the bar and had a seat. Sitting at the table next to us was a very British looking man who turned out to be an American (from Florida, who probably assumed we were British). We made idle chatter while we drank our beers. Long story short, we learn the guy’s life story. Not being so interesting, and in fact getting kind of creepy and over-insisting when offering to buy the next round of drinks Sparks and I ducked out. Before parting way, the odd man spoke of another Irish pub (with live music) close to City Hall.

Deciding we weren’t done for the night we found the other bar. The bartender here was as actual Irishman. A bit of a shock if you’re not expecting it. Again we ordered drinks and had a seat. There was live music. Two Japanese on piccolo and flute and what I assume was an Irishman on the drum. The music was good and we nursed our drinks and listened for a while.

All in all I’d say it was a successful day.

Phase 3: Shiga-ken, Ritto-shi and surrounding area

Again on Sunday I slept late, got up, took a shower, and we had our planning meeting over breakfast. The basic idea for Sunday was to tour around the Ritto area via bicycle. The first step would be to make the spare bike usable for long distance travel. Lucky on our part the house had a set of tools which had what was needed. I locked down the handlebar and we tightened the breaks up. After a quick inspection to make sure everything was in working order, we set out. The breaks still didn’t work properly, but bike sans breaks vs. no bike: bike at all wins hands down.

First we took the 30 second easy-cheese ride to the first school Sparks taught at. It looked more or less like all other Japanese schools from the outside. There is a Judo Dojo in the back which is pretty cool. Even on a Sunday there were students in there practicing. Next we doubled back by the house and headed for the school Sparks is teaching at now.

This school is more like a 10 or 15 minute ride. It’s not a challenging ride, it’s all flat road, but there’s some distance there. We rode down a street that went under one of the major freeways and went on for a ways. Eventually we turned left onto a side street. After passing 2 or 3 houses I was greeted by this:

I looked out the window when I woke up, so I had seen it was a nice clear day. I had also seen that we were surrounded by mountains; however I didn’t fully grasp the full scope of where we were. These ain’t no mole-hills.

We rode down the side street a ways further and got to the school. The baseball team was out practicing. We rode around the outside noting as we went that this school has a Kendo Dojo. Nifty. Passing the school we got to route 1.

Route 1 is a fairly major thoroughfare in Ritto. It kind of looks like Grand River (for Detroiters) or Westenage (for K-zoo people). We had actually used a different section of route 1 to get to Kusatsu on Friday night. On this section there were auto-dealers, a KFC, a McD’s, and some light industrial buildings. We cruised up and down for a bit before heading down a side street. It’s amazing; the shops/buildings/car lots are only one deep. Past that one deep it’s all rice fields. Taking some back roads through said rice fields we ended up below a cool sight. It’s a hotel… it charges by the hour… Need I say more? BUT! That’s not the cool part; the cool part is the statue on the top:

A short ride later we came across a used car dealership specializing in VW Bugs. They also had an old MG (which I couldn’t get a good picture of.) Sparks found his dream ride, and at an affordable price. It needs some work though…

Our next stop was a more developed side of Ritto. Here there was a multi-storied mini-mall, a concert hall, a Heiwado (Meijers type store), and several high-rise apartments. Here too was Ritto station (note that Tehara station is closer to Sparks’ house). We parked our bikes and walked around a bit before deciding that, having nothing really better to do; we’d find a mountain and maybe climb it.

Yadda, yadda, long bike ride, yadda, yadda, are we lost, yadda, yadda, hungry, yadda, yadda, mountain!

We arrived at the base of Mt. Mikami to the sight of a 7-11. We passed on to see if anything more substantial could be had for lunch. Finding nothing we raided the 7-11’s lunch selection. Sparks had some onigiri and sushi. I dined on some onigiri (until I found it contained tuna) and a weird loaf of bread which had what I assume is custard in it. It was really sweet but filling. We sat in the 7-11 parking lot, ate, and discussed how to tackle the mountain. It was decided to follow a sign seen on our lunch scouting mission which said Mt. Mikami front path. We finished eating and made out way to the bottom of the mountain.

There was a spot for bicycle parking and a gate at the top of a set of steps. After seeing some people come out of the gate we headed up. The first part of the climb was easy, there were stairs. The stairs weren’t in the best condition, but they made ascending fairly easy. The reason for stairs soon became evident as we came across an old house.

Up a nicer set of steps there was an old temple broken down temple grounds. Only one building here was standing, but all the stonework seems to have survived. This was the basin that held water for cleansing your hands before entering the temple. The characters on it are written in very, very old Japanese.

The lanterns and foundation work still exist.

Leaving the temple behind, the path no longer had steps and began to ascend at a steeper grade. We passed a sign saying bottom 200m behind, summit 700m ahead. This sounds okay until you realize the 700m is vertical. With a “Ganbate!” (do your best!) we pressed onwards and upwards.

There were innumerable photo spots. Many of the pictures of the weekend were taken on this climb. We climbed for quite some time. As we went the clay soil gave way more and more to rock. Sparks found a fun fissure to climb through.

Towards the summit, maybe the last 200m or so, the rock became about as vertical as could be ascended without equipment. There were obvious markings that countless others had made this ascension. Foot holds carved in the rock, tree roots worn bare, and the instillation of hand rails in some of the more perilless sections.

After an unknown time spent climbing we reached the summit.

There was a small shrine here complete with tori.

There were several other people who had also made the climb. This family brought their lunch with them.

This is the path we took to get to the top.

On our descent we ran into a Japanese man who spoke pretty good English. When asked where we were from he recognized Detroit. Evidently he had lived in Troy for a time and worked/stayed at Henry Ford Hospital. Small world eh? Of course taking more pictures on the way, we descended the mountain. It was all in all an awesome experience.

We left the gate we entered by and retrieved our bikes from where they were parked. Riding back in the direction of home we stopped at the KFC by Sparks’ school for some down home fried chicken. We both decided that neither of us had tried Japanese KFC yet (there’s as many KFC’s here as McD’s). As guessed fried chicken is fried chicken even here. It was tasty, greasy, and filling. We headed back the route we came and I snapped a picture of Sparks’ school in the setting sun.

When we returned to the house the light was good so I got a picture of the outside of the house. (There is a parking lot and parking deck next door, this shot is from on the parking deck.)

Once inside we sat down and played some video games for a while before crashing for a power-nap. It was at this point we both noticed the other had a nice sunburn going. It didn’t even occur to me to wear a hat. The weather was so nice that day.

Awaking from our slumber we decided to go out on the town, or at least to Starbucks. Getting back on the bikes we rode into Kusatsu. On the way there is THE Cup Noodle factory. THE Cup Noodle, the one you can buy in the states, made here.

We sat in front of Starbucks and played video gamed for a while. Then checked out a book store and found a manga (comic book magazine) we were both looking for. On the way home we stopped at the “Wonder Goo” (video game/book store) next to the “Hard Off” (pawn shop) and I found a video game I was looking for for cheap. Back home we watched a DVD that came with the manga (the new Hellsing OVA preview for those of you in the know about such things) before going to bed.

Phase 4: Ootsu

Monday we woke up at a reasonable hour. Having eaten the last of the pop tarts the previous morning we opted to grab something from the local 7-11. Yes, even in Ritto there’s a 7-11 every 5 feet. “Oh thank heaven.” Sparks bought a box of “Doughnuts” and we both got something to drink. We sat outside Tehara station and ate our very sweet breakfast. (The Japanese like to copy and improve things. Doughnuts didn’t need improvement). One finished we boarded the train and headed to Ootsu.

There’s a rather famous Japanese animated film called Ruroni Kenshin which is a fictional account of a samurai at the end of the Edo period. In the film the main character, chasing after his lover who has been kidnapped says “Let’s go to Ootsu” in a delirious state as he follows the kidnappers path. I wondered why the creators used Ootsu as a place you’d want to run away to. Now I know.

Getting off the train and finding a map of the city, we decided to walk in the direction of the lake Biwa shore. Lake Biwa is the largest lake in Japan. It’s no a Lake Michigan, but it is fairly large. It seems that the street we chose was the Bar district. All the shops here were closed (it being still early in the day.)

Several blocks down hill walk later we arrived on the shoreline. Unlike the day before the sky on Monday was overcast and it seemed as though it would rain. Unlike Saturday, however, we came prepared and brought our umbrellas. We walked along the lake for a while, watching the fishermen and the families picnicking. A bit later it did begin raining. Not a downpour, just enough to be annoying.

We found the Ootsu concert hall which had a very nice overlook. From there we saw “the Michigan” an old paddle boat that ferries people around the lake. Leaving the hall, we found the main Ootsu post office. On a map near the post office I noticed a building labeled Prefectural Martial Art Gymnasium which looked cool so we headed in that direction.

Further down the shore we came upon the building we were seeking. It didn’t look all that open, but the doors weren’t locked so we went in. We removed our shoes and followed the sound of clanging metal into the depths of the building. Turns out what we heard was the janitorial staff sweeping the stairs. But, having gone up a floor we found something incredibly awesome.

So, I knew Japanese archery was a martial art… I have never seen it practiced in real life before. I have to day I was totally blown away. Having taken archery as a class at Michigan Tech I know how hard it is to hit a target with a recumbent (Standard) bow at 10 meters. These kids were using Japanese (non-recumbent) bows and hitting targets up to 60 meters away. The rangers were situated on the roof so that the main part of the range was open air. We sat on the save side of a glass paneled wall and watched the short-range practice for a while. Some of the students took notice and soon they all came out and rushed out to greet us. We said hi and complemented them on their skills. After they went back to practicing we got up and walked around a bit more. The next thing we found was even more amazing than the archery.

On the floor above the archery ranges was a large room with hardwood floors. Nifty, no? Okay how about adding 25 people wielding katanas doing Ieado (similar to Kendo but with… katanas). This we stood and watched until the session was complete. The all of the students here were adults. There was a panel of people in suits in the front of the room. Given this and the (very) little I know about Japanese martial arts, I think we may have been witness to a ranking session (where you test to go up in rank). I’m not 100% though. Regardless it was fun to watch. After it was done Sparks went to the information booth by the front door and got some information about how to perhaps join and take some classes.

Still in shock as to the people with swords behind us we walked to and down the main drag. We got to a large mall like building we went in to see what was what. We stopped at Tower Records and Sparks got a CD he was looking for. Another floor up we found a food court.

“Oh,” you say, “they had lunch at a food court. Nothing special,” right? Actually food courts are a rarity in Japan. Even the big malls in Shinjuku have separate restaurants on a floor instead of a food court. As with all things, the food court was copied and improved. Because most of the food takes several minutes to prepare fresh, when you order you get a beeper. When the beeper goes off, your food is read. Gotta love Japanese ingenuity.

Lunch being over we next headed to a “temple district” that we spotted on a map. After some wandering around we found a temple like building. Inside we were shanghaied into paying a couple yen for and impromptu tour. It turns out this temple was quite old and build for the sake of one of Buddhism’s top dogs. Leaving and turning left we ran into this.

Evidently the first temple was the tiny tip of the mammoth iceberg. The Miidera Temple complex is evidently one of the four biggest temples in Japan and is originally dated to around 672a.d. We did our usual temple check out routine and visited the main hall which was under construction but still accessible. Next we saw the library which had all sorts of old books and records stores basically in open air (thought inside a structure.) From the library we found the pagoda on the grounds. It was a pagoda-tastic weekend.

We then proceeded to climb up YET ANOTHER mountain. This one was a bit smaller and had a very interesting new graveyard half way up. I paused and sat a while whilst Sparks checked out the surrounding area. We then pressed on to another part of the complex. After climbing a slight grade and a set of steps we found (to our dismay) that we had in fact, not knowing it, climbed to the top of another mountain. The point here provided some very nice photos of Ootsu and a soda machine quenched thirst. Once we were done looking around a very steep set of back stairs let us exit without retracing our steps.

When we left the temple complex we immediately entered a covered shopping street. Most of the shops were closed but it was still nice to have the cover of the roof over our heads (as it had been spitting rain on and off all day). As a final stop we found the Ootsu regional courthouse which was alright. Kind of post modern. City Hall next door had a very nice neo-colonial styling and a big cupola on top. Still having some time left we took the easy way out and had dinner in the station McD’s.

Sparks rode with me to Kyoto station and we parted ways at the Shinkansen transfer gate. I ducked outside real quick and got a shot of Kyoto Tower at night before going to my platform.

The return trip was uneventful other than that I got the little bit of homework had for the weekend done.

Since returning most of my time has been spent in class or writing this beast of a post. I just returned from my Wednesday night Kendo practice and am writing the end here. 10 pages in MS Word (without pictures) wow, surely the biggest update I’ve ever done. Hope you enjoyed reading about my trip as at least half as much as I enjoyed going on it. I also hope I didn’t leave anything out... Until next time...

Ja Mata Ne.

Sorry, have to wait a bit longer than expected for the down low on the weekend's activities. There's a lot to write about. Hopefully I can finish writing it by tomorrow.

Just got back from seeing Sparks in Tokyo. Planet sized update coming soon (probably tomorrow). I have so much to write about and so many pictures to sort through. Right now, I'm so tired. I'm going to bed.