Touchdown Tokyo
Crisis averted – we made it safe and sound to our hotel in Japan thanks to an extensive amount of signage in English and the extreme patience of many Japanese citizens who helped direct Jen and I as we barreled through trains and escalators with baggage in tow. Japan is a beautifully clean and organized country. After being in so many countries where things like sidewalks are a work-in-progress it seems almost shocking. Every visible surface whether a car, road, building, billboard, etc. is dirt free, polished and manicured.
The people have been among the kindest and most considerate that we have come across in Asia. On the train to Kyoto the other day I received a small brush on my shoulder and found a note being passed to me. I looked back to find the smiling face of an elderly lady nodding at me. The note said (in English), “Sorry, Mt. Fuji is hidden in cloudy, right-hand side,” and included a hand drawn picture of the famous Japanese landmark with its top masked in clouds. I think she must have been working on the note quite a while as after thanking her it became apparent that her English was not conversational. It was very sweet and the note has been safely saved for posterity.
As mentioned we took a side trip to Kyoto. This stunning former capital of Japan is the home of many gardens, temples and brick lined streets that look straight out of a movie set. After walking through the serene gardens and poking our noses into the meticulously kept yards and private gardens, we began the serious business of Geisha hunting. We had heard that these performers could still be found in Kyoto slipping through the alleys in full garb on their way to tea houses, so we decided to put all the skills at tracking that we had learned in Africa to the test. With no guidebook (still too cheap) we had to rely solely on our instincts. Our African guides would have been proud. About an hour into the hunt we were walking down an alley just wide enough for a bicycle when we heard a small bell ringing behind us. We turned around just in time to see a white faced young woman scurry past us in broad daylight! Unfortunately I was slow on the draw with my camera and we were only able to get a picture of the back of her head as she rounded the corner. This thrilling sighting gave us energy for many more hours of the hunt and in total we saw eight more confirmed Geishas and one lady that was either a Geisha or just hadn’t seen the sun in a while and was wearing a brightly colored bathrobe.
The sighting of the Geisha’s in their natural habitat has caused us to try to come up with a list of “big five” sights in Asia based on our experience. This is unofficial and probably politically incorrect and we welcome the nomination of other sights or just comments in general.
The elusive Geisha escapes as I fumble with the camera. Despite only moving each foot about 3 inches when she walked she moved quite fast...
Here is a street scene from Tokyo in all its glory.
The people have been among the kindest and most considerate that we have come across in Asia. On the train to Kyoto the other day I received a small brush on my shoulder and found a note being passed to me. I looked back to find the smiling face of an elderly lady nodding at me. The note said (in English), “Sorry, Mt. Fuji is hidden in cloudy, right-hand side,” and included a hand drawn picture of the famous Japanese landmark with its top masked in clouds. I think she must have been working on the note quite a while as after thanking her it became apparent that her English was not conversational. It was very sweet and the note has been safely saved for posterity.
As mentioned we took a side trip to Kyoto. This stunning former capital of Japan is the home of many gardens, temples and brick lined streets that look straight out of a movie set. After walking through the serene gardens and poking our noses into the meticulously kept yards and private gardens, we began the serious business of Geisha hunting. We had heard that these performers could still be found in Kyoto slipping through the alleys in full garb on their way to tea houses, so we decided to put all the skills at tracking that we had learned in Africa to the test. With no guidebook (still too cheap) we had to rely solely on our instincts. Our African guides would have been proud. About an hour into the hunt we were walking down an alley just wide enough for a bicycle when we heard a small bell ringing behind us. We turned around just in time to see a white faced young woman scurry past us in broad daylight! Unfortunately I was slow on the draw with my camera and we were only able to get a picture of the back of her head as she rounded the corner. This thrilling sighting gave us energy for many more hours of the hunt and in total we saw eight more confirmed Geishas and one lady that was either a Geisha or just hadn’t seen the sun in a while and was wearing a brightly colored bathrobe.
The sighting of the Geisha’s in their natural habitat has caused us to try to come up with a list of “big five” sights in Asia based on our experience. This is unofficial and probably politically incorrect and we welcome the nomination of other sights or just comments in general.
- The Great Wall of China
- The Forbidden City in Beijing
- Angkor Wat in Cambodia
- Geishas in Japan
- We were undecided between Ha Long Bay in Vietnam or the working women that line the streets in Bangkok – its really quite shocking
The elusive Geisha escapes as I fumble with the camera. Despite only moving each foot about 3 inches when she walked she moved quite fast...
Here is a street scene from Tokyo in all its glory.
posted by Dan Horsley @ 5:26 AM
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