Sayonara Tokyo

Today we head for home. We depart Narita at 5pm and arrive at YYZ at 3:50 pm. Last night we had our closing dinner on a boat that cruised around Tokyo harbor. The evening included karaoke with yours truly performing Elvis' "A Big Hunk O Love" to the delight of some and to the embarrassment of my children.
We had a great send off.
We'll post some additional Tokyo photos shortly

Tuuuuuuna!

More photos of the fish market. The tuna auction that we witnessed was all Yellow Fin Tuna that is flash-frozen when caught.

The record price for a Blue-Fin Tuna at auction is $220,000 for a 413 lb tuna in 2001. Blue- fin is the most sought after tuna in Japan.

The Tsukiji Fish Market

This photo was taken at 6:30am this morning after we completed our visit to the Tsukiji fish market in downtown Tokyo, at the harbour's edge east of Ginza. We arrived at 5:30am so we could witness the famous tuna auction in person.
30% of the world's tuna is consumed in Japan - roughly 7.5% just in Tokyo alone. All of Tokyo's tuna and most other seafood comes through Tsukiji. The wholesale tuna auction occurs in a warehouse at the rear of a large covered but open air marketplace. The tuna lies in rows on the floor, the auctioneer is on a box in the middle and the auction proceeds quickly with a series of gestures, barks and signals. Once complete, the intermediate buyers then set to work prepping their purchases for sale to restaurants and other middlemen in a giant array of market stalls. The level of activity is astounding and the action in the market is chaotic. People, fish and motorized dollies and forklift are going in every direction. It was a surreal and incredibly genuine Japanese experience. More photos to follow.

The Canadian Embassy in Tokyo

Yesterday, we had a chance to visit the Canadian Embassy, a building designed by our trip leader Raymond Moriyama. The ever-modest Mr M, after some cajoling, talked about a number of the concepts upon which the building's design is based. Ajon also had a hand in the building so he too was an excellent tour guide. The Embassy occupies four acres of prime real estate in Central Tokyo, across from the Imperial Palace Gardens. When the new building was built during Japan's real estate bubble in the late 80's, the land value was $5 billion. The $220 m building was built with no cost to the Canadian tax-payers by virtue of long term financing secured against the leasing value of the 3 floors of commercial space built beneath the Embassy. From the 52 floor of the Mori Arts Center, the Embassy appears as a dark trapezoid in the upper left of the photo, just below the green of the Imperial Gardens. The Embassy had to be designed so it cast its shadow on The Gardens for a maximum of two hours a day. Hence the unique shape of the top floors and roof of the 4 storey structure.

Now that's an expensive melon!

Last night, we explored the food halls of the Mitsuya department store in Ginza for fun. There were exquisitely presented food items of all shapes and sizes. This was a $171 melon. We thought it was a little pricey so we bought some sesame snacks instead.

Looking east over Ginza

We arrived this afternoon in Tokyo for the final leg of our trip. We are staying at the Imperial Hotel in Central Tokyo. We have a great view of the lights and signs of the Ginza area, which we explored on foot this evening. Driving into Tokyo via the industrial suburbs of Yokohama and Kawasaki gave us a rather startling appreciation of the size and density of this massive city. The total population of the Tokyo metro is nearly 34 million. Ginza is a fashionable shopping area and the Japanese have overcome the shortage of street level retail space by stacking stores and restaurants six to eight stories above ground level. The buildings have huge vertical signs to show shoppers what lies above them and where.

Hakone

Last night, we stayed at a traditional Japanese inn called a "ryokan". Hakone is a resort town near Mount Fuji that is famous for its hot springs. We dressed in our yukata for our entire time at the inn including our dinner which was quite a sumptious Japanese feast. Our ryokan featured an "onsen" , a hot spring communal bath. Upon arrival, we all had a soak. Jack and I with the gents and Alison and Zo with the ladies. The water was milky white and hot with a strong sulphurous odor. The baths were outdoors so the cool evening air and gentle rain was a nice complement to the hot water. Today was to be our Fuji-san day but regrettably we had our first day of rain on the trip so the iconic mountain was shrouded by low clouds. That didn't stop us from getting out on the water of Lake Ashi, which is one of the Five Lakes of Fuji.

Saying good morning to the koi

The kids loved the koi pond here at Ishigaki. There were fish pellets to feed them. Needless to say they went crazy when the food hit the water. Another morning here in the south. onward to the airport

Cats of Japan

They love cats here in Japan and we found a few different specimen including the ever-present Maneki Neko, the "welcoming" cat, which we've seen everywhere we have travelled. The live one was a bob-tailed feral cat that we discovered in the mangroves near the beach at Ishigaki.

Beach Day in Ishigaki

Today we spent the day on the beach and in the pool. It was a great way to spend our day off from touring. We didn't miss the bus. Ishigaki is about the same latitude as Miami. The Pacific was 26C - a great temperature for swimming. Tomorrow, we head back north to Tokyo and the "real" Japan. We fly from Ishigaki to Tokyo Haneda and then head south to Hakone which is near Mt Fuji. We will be staying in a traditional Japanese inn called a Ryokan for one night.

Mr Miyagi - Karate Master of Okinawa

The martial art Karate was developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom in what is now Okinawa. After occupying Ryukyu, the Shimadzu outlawed the use of weaponry. The locals invented karate so that their bodies would become their weapons. Karate did not migrate to the Japanese mainland until the early 20th century.
Hence, I suppose the back story of Mr Miyagi, the master Karateka in
The Karate Kid. He hailed from a fishing village in Okinawa (recall the plot of KK 2 when Daniel-san and Miyagi return to Japan to defend his home and face his lifetime rival)

South to Ishigaki

Yesterday,we flew 413km south of Okinawa to an island called Ishigaki. It is the second largest of the Yaeyama Islands, a subgroup of the Okinawa archipelago. Here we are that very southern tip of Japan, considerably closer to Taiwan, only 273 Km, than to Kagoshima on the Japanese "mainland" ( over 1000km). The island is only 230 sq km and is very tropical. It is principally a resort island and today we are relaxing at our hotel which has a very nice pool and beachfront.

En route yesterday, we visited a small museum called Yaima Mura that featured early 20th homes that showed the way of the life of pre-WWII "uminchu" (Okninawan dialect for "Kings of the Sea" or fishermen). Interesting but not as much fun as monkeys! The museum had a small "monkey house" as Jack called it. There was a bunch of Bolivian Squirrel Monkeys. Cute but pesky. Given the chance, they were into your pockets or knapsacks looking for scraps of food.

The Battle of Okinawa

The Battle of Okinawa was the last significant battle of WWII. The Americans (and some British) amassed a massive armada offshore of the Okinawan archipelago in March of 1945 that included 183,000 men, 327 ships and 750,000 tonnes of supplies (in comparison, the Allied invasion of Normandy employed 150,000 troops and 284 ships). On April 1, after a massive aerial and naval bombardment of the island, the allied forces landed on the west side of Okinawa just north of Naha City. Over the next 82 days of intense fighting throughout the entire island, approximately 250,000 people would lose their lives - 90000 Japanese troops, 12, 000 US troops and nearly 150000 civilians. Only Stalingrad saw higher civilian casualties during WWII.
The battle ended on June 21, 1945. It is impossible for us to fathom the scale of this battle and the loss of life. Understanding what happened in Okinawa does help to understand the decision to use the atomic bomb at Hiroshima.

Shuirjo Castle - Okinawa

Shuri Castle is Okinawa's most significant historical site. Built sometime in the 1400's, it was the palace of the Ryukyu Kingdom. For 450 years, Ryukyu was a significant trading empire with Okinawa acting as a focal point to inter-Asian trade involving China, Japan, Korea and SE Asia. Ryukyu was eventually toppled by the Shimadzu in 1609 and the Okinawa archipelago was incorporated into the fiefdom system of Japan. Shuri has been beautifully restored and the kids enjoyed collecting stamps from the different locations within the castle. Like most everything on the island, Shuri Castle was flattened during the Battle of Okinawa.

One of the main icons of Okinawa is the Shisa , the lion-dog that acts as guardian for Okinawan residences. Similar to the Chinese "fu-dog", the Shisa keep the evil spirits out (if their mouth is open) and keep good spirits (if their mouth is closed).

We loved this local hound

Though it was impossible to get him to smile for the camera.

We visited a Okinawan cultural "theme park" on Saturday. It was a little cheesy but also interesting in some ways. We have settled into a nice Marriott resort near the beach about halfway up the island. Okinawa is long and narrow - about 85 miles long and 10 miles wide. Weather remains warm and humid.

Welcome to Naha

We were welcomed to Naha, the main airport in Okinawa, by the sight of the ANA Pokemon plane. If only we could fly on that one!

We were also welcomed by the ground crew at the airport who lined up and waved to our plane as we taxi-ed to the gate. It is standard procedure. The Japanese are really into formal hello's and goodbye's. When our bus pulls out from the hotel, many of the staff line up for the big goodbye wave. It is quite nice actually.

We continue to be very lucky with the weather. After three days of sun in Kagoshima we travelled 800 km south for more sun and 25C temperatures. Okinawa is decribed by some as the Hawaii of Japan. It is certainly quite tropical in terms of the vegetation and coral reefs paralleling the shoreline. It has similar topography to the mainland, very hilly once removed from the coastline. Upon first impression, Okinawa is definitely a less prosperous part of Japan. Naha City is rather grubby and run-down in comparison to anything we experienced prior. The residential architecture is different - flat roofs instead of peaked tiles and the cityscape is very hodge-podge. There is a scarcity of industry and quality farmland. The remoteness from Japan proper really shows.

This Chap really amuses me

On the road to Okinawa - we encountered this ad repeatedly in Kagoshima. Zoe was equally amused

Now in Okinawa

More later!

Peace Memorial to Kamikaze Pilots

Near Chiran, there is an excellent museum dedicated
to the 1036 Kamikaze pilots who died during WWII. The Chiran air base was the launching point of 439 of these pilots. The Kamikaze campaign based in Chiran, began on March 26, 1945 near the end of the war when the Americans landed on the southern end of the Okinawa archipelago (the Americans encountered carrier-based Kamikaze for the first time at Leyte Gulf in October 1944). Kamikaze means "divine wind" and refers to the typhoons which scuttled two attempted invasions of Japan by the Mongols in the 1200's. 60 % of the Kamikaze were college-aged or younger. Many of them were teenagers who had become Air Force pilots at 14. The museum includes a photo of every pilot and the letters that they wrote their loved ones on the night prior to their death. Very sad.

Chiran - Samurai gardens

Chiran is a former castle town or Tojo which were built throughout Satsuma (a feudal area that included most of the island of Kyushu including Kagoshima prefecture), during the Edo Period (1600-1868). The Tojos were fortified towns which typically consisted of the lord's manor house at the center surrounded by a Fumoto area, the homes of his faithful samurai. In Chiran, this village plan is faithfully and tastefully maintained. There are a collection of samurai homes and gardens built along a central walkway.

Each garden is quite distinct. Some with koi ponds and others with dry waterfalls and raked sand floors. The conifers are grown quite delibarately to give them their distinct shapes and cloudlike needle clusters. They use bamboo frames to train the branches of the trees upward resulting in all of the needles pointing skyward.

Day travels in Kagoshima

Yesterday, we travelled around the Kagoshima prefecture making several stops during the course of the day. Once out of the city, we were quickly in a rural setting of densely forested foothills. We travelled first to the village of Fukiagehama, the ancestral home of the family of Sachi Moriyama (Ajon's mom). We visited the family gravesite on an incredibly peaceful, sunny morning. We lit incense sticks and placed them at the burial marker to pay homage. Sachi's three sisters are on the trip so it was a special moment for them. Special for us as well to be included in such an intimate family experience.
We stopped for a soba noodle soupbowl lunch at a roadside produce stand in the farming community of Kimpo. From there we continued onto Chiran.

It's Tourney Time - GO DUKE!!!!

Sengan-en Garden

This morning we visited a former estate of the Shimadzu clan, the powerful feudal lords who ruled the Kagoshima prefecture and much of Kyushu for eight centuries. What remains of the estate is principally a beautiful garden property. Part of the garden includes a cat shrine. Yoshiro, the 7th Shimadzu lord, took seven cats with his army when he went to war with Korea. He used thepupils of the cats' eyes to tell the time of day. as such, he held the feline in high regard and had a shrine constructed in their honour. Today, people leave messages for their cats.

Sakurajima Volcano

Kagoshima is located on the western shore of Kinko Bay, a large natural harbour on the southern end of Kyushu. Kyushu is one of the four main islands that form the Japanese "mainland" (Honshu, Shikoku and Hokkaido being the others). Due east of the city and a short ferry ride from the port of Kagoshima lies the volcanic island of Sakurajima. Today we took a trip to the Arimura Lava Observatory to get a closer view of the volcano. We were downwind of the cinder cone and the air was thick with ash and soot. To the locals, a belch of smoke from Sakurajima is a regular and rather unimpressive event. For us, it is somewhat more of a novelty.

An Exquisite Meal Here in Kagoshima

We enjoyed an incredible meal tonight. Kagoshima prefecture is a region famous for agricultural and fishing. Our meal included some incrediblely fresh sashimi and many other local delicacies.