things i like about japan (redux)

[adelaidesean]

Given the relative imminence of Japan's first worldcon, I thought I'd dust off my old weblog of the time I spent in Nagoya for anyone curious about what might be in store for them. I've trimmed it a little, to reflect changed circumstances, but it's much as I originally wrote it. Brought back memories, too. I am hungry now for cake.

Comments

[ladnews.livejournal.com]

There is indeed, and I was amazed by how much neat stuff there was within walking distance of my desk. :-)

I occasionally joke that I could travel the world from pole to pole and be perfectly happy never leaving my hotel rooms. They're all different, down at a functional level: power points, light switches, taps, kettles, toilets, etc; all the little things we take for granted shift slightly as we cross borders. I know that's not what tourism is supposed to be about, but I find it interesting--more interesting, in some ways, than temples and shrines, since they're almost too big to take in. Like Disneyland.

[ladnews.livejournal.com]

Oh, and this: books (even Lonely Planet guides) are no substitute for cake!

The Japanese are the best bakers in the world. If I go, I'll be there mainly for the food.

[shadowsandice.livejournal.com]

I have to admit that the food is a large percentage of what I'm looking forward too. I will probably overdose on red bean buns.

[ladnews.livejournal.com]

Bean buns, bean icecream, bean Kit Kats. Mmmmmmm. I miss them. Tonkatsu too--and Japanese pizzas, surprisingly. If I hadn't got sick while I was there, I would have returned looking like Buddha, I swear.

One of my favourite dishes, which alas I didn't photograph (thinking I'd be back sooner rather than later), came from a sushi bar near where I lived. They offered a "Godzilla" dish consisting of tiny, fried fish arranged in the shape of a certain rampaging giant lizard. Delicious, and way cool too!

[shadowsandice.livejournal.com]

Bean kit kats? No way! I have to try me one of those. (I thought I was safe with a kit kat in America. I was very badly mistaken.)

And godzilla fish! Do you remember the name of the place at all? I think I'd go out of my way for godzilla fish.

[ladnews.livejournal.com]

Sadly I can't remember the name of the place. I could probably take you there, though. Shall we arrange to meet up in Nagoya some time next year? :-)

And yes, the bean Kit Kats were real. They might even have been green, although my memory on that point is a little hazy now, over a year later. I wish I'd taken a photo. And of the Godzilla fish sculpture. D'oh!

[shadowsandice.livejournal.com]

Yes please! Nagoya slots in perfectly with the loop from Tokyo to Naruto and back to Kamakura. Feel like climbing Mt Fuji with me? ;] Though the Godzilla fish sculpture sounds worrying.

[ladnews.livejournal.com]

Mt Fuji? Absolutely! I'll be in touch as soon as I've decided whether I can go or not. I am keeping my fingers firmly crossed.

[shadowsandice.livejournal.com]

You have decided you can go. *old jedi mind trick*

[shadowsandice.livejournal.com]

I know! I have to admit a fascination with supermarkets. It's the every day stuff that is the most interesting. And frightening. All the doughnuts over in America, erch. I thought it was an exaggeration....

Hotel showers are also an interesting challenge.

I'm planning on taking some basic japanese lessons before going, to alleviate the not being able to read anything problem. Unfortunately, I missed out on this round of CAE classes by a day. : /

[ladnews.livejournal.com]

Yes, showers! I'd forgotten them, despite a couple of weeks struggling with the weird system that Hilton Hotels use in the States. :-)

I didn't have much of a problem getting around without any Japanese language skills at all, but (a) Kim was doing a lot of that work for me, and (b) Nagoya is surely a lot less confusing than Tokyo/Yokohama. At least in the latter there will be a lot of gaijin who ight have a better idea. In Nagoya, they were occasionally very thin on the ground.

Another source of info on Nagoya is Tim Sinclair's excellent verse novel Nine Hours North. Here's a link:
http://tinyurl.com/epku2
He also managed to capture my break-up with Kim in six lines, something that took me months to work out even in retrospect. A wonderful read.

[shadowsandice.livejournal.com]

When I first arrived in Seattle after travelling for 24 hours, the shower in my hotel flummoxed me for 15 minutes. After wearing the same clothes a whole day, and having thrown up on the plane, and sweltered something horrid in LAX, all I wanted was a wash. I nearly called the reception for help, I was that desparate. :p

I'm assuming that after worldcon I'll be travelling on my own, and as I don't know anyone in Japan, I'm going to have to fend for myself. I'd rather not, all things considered, but better to be mildly prepared. I found a Horseback Archery Festival (!!!) that takes place in Kamakura on the 16th of September that I want to go to, and all the tours I've looked at seem to concentrate more on the big cities.