The Holiday, summed up in a huge post, with a large group of pictures and some text.

Well, this one’s a bit late in coming…but I’m still more punctual than Dave…

Always splendid to have guests, especially old friends. Our flat was tested to breaking point, carrying no less than four sweaty, smelly bodies over a fortnight, but to be fair to everyone, summer over here is nonsensical.

Plenty of memorable moments, such as what I thought was the biggest cockroach I have ever seen…which actually turned out to be two cockroaches having sex…which is just as bad.

Those of you who’ve been following this blog for a year or more will be aware that we have a selection of places within the locality that we take people to see…and what could be a better place to start than my most frequently visited spot; Kamakura, where the first Shogun established his capital.


…doesn’t it look lovely? And don’t Sam & Hayley look ladylike?


Pictured is Sam & Dave performing the closing stages of a fortune ritual at Zeniarai-Benten - a shrine built into a very exciting cave which has a small stream running through it. The story goes that if you wash your money in the stream, then dry it with the smoke from one of the massive incense burners they have lying around, then good fortune will come your way…possibly of a financial nature, but I doubt that - I’ve visited Kamakura and done all that six or seven times since I’ve been here, and I am still hilariously skint.

Another favorite shrine is Sasuke Inari, Inari being the rice God, having a fox as a messenger. Unfortunately, the nature of the shrine (up a hill, surrounded by trees, mostly dark green, not much space) makes it a bugger to photograph, which is a shame, but I doubt many photos could adequately portray the atmosphere up there…so instead, here’s a picture of a stone fox with something in its’ mouth (probably a rice-ball).


Even the brief tour of Kamakura that we offer is a full day out, and it’s not even scratching the surface of all the various Temples & the like…and the giant Buddha…I left everybody at that point in order to be on hand at the flat to receive Daves luggage, lost somewhere in Europe…fortunate for me that I did, for on the pilgrimage to the Big Buddha, Hayley, Sam and Dave fell foul of treacherous paths rendered muddy by recent rain, and ravenous mosquitoes, which, as if I had to point out, really suck.

Home for a quick, cheap, and above all, tasty (as it’s cooked by me) lunch…


…and then off to my favorite place in the whole of Tokyo…


Asakusa! Yes, even more pictures of Sensoji!


There’s Hayley tying a Temple Fortune (O-Mikuji) onto something that the priests will notice…don’t know what it’s called, but that’s a charm which seems to work - she drew the Highest Possible Good Fortune from a random drawer of seventy-odd, and is now on her way to getting a full working visa - woo-hoo!

…and Dave bought a silly hat…we all got drunk and tried it on…





Unfortunately, Hayley was momentarily sucked into her job, so Dave, Sam & I went off to the Nihon Minka En - a museum of old Japanese houses from a variety of periods.



Then, off to Nikko, where I took almost exactly the same pictures as last time.




Sam described Nikko as one of the most amazing places she’s ever seen. Result. It’s an exhausting day out, so the next day was something of a write-off…but we did manage to go to Shinjuku…


…and squeeze in a bit of karaoke, accompanied as we were by the dulcet tones of Brian…


…and Dave - look at him - he loves it!


Such is the insidious pull of this national past-time. When Matt came last year, we went to Kyoto, the cultural heart of Japan. We saw a Temple covered in Gold. We ate a Japanese banquet on tatami boards over a river. We climbed a mountain and had an onsen at the top. We fed monkeys by hand on top of another mountain…but his favorite bit was the karaoke…certainly, after hearing his rendition of “Don’t stop me now”, it’s probably also mine…

Quick trip to Harajuku in order to see some cosplay; alas, a quiet day for one of Tokyos most notorious sights…but as compensation, following a tip from our benevolent landlord, we hot-footed it over to Roppongi, for the Bonodori dance, featuring that stalwart of childrens TV, Doraemon...


…complete with a special Doraemon dance for the kids…let me assure you, it was disgustingly cute.

And finally, away to the dizzying heights of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building, thus…



Lordy Lord that was fun…and another visit is wrapped up in a spectacular manner…cheers for coming Sam & Dave - utterly spiffing to see you…next up, my sister, who has just started a blog of her own. Go and taste her brain.

Anybody still there?

A World Cup ago, a truly inspired act of clusterfuckery resulted in the death of my faithful laptop, hence the inactivity here in recent months. The unprecedented generosity of my mother has bestowed upon us a shiny new beastie, which permits us, from the comfort of our home, to keep in more frequent touch with friends & family, refresh web & photoblogs on a regular basis, remain savvy with regards to the planet but most importantly, resume watching this.

This sudden acquisition of a new computer took us both by surprise - thusly this weeks entry has about as much substance as what we did this weekend...tremendous fun, friday night was...a thirty-eighth birthday party in the heart of Tokyo, held in a popular bar, which sells 200 yen beers, although "beer" is a very generous description of what we were drinking that night.

Verily, 'twas a night of random encounters, perhaps the most entertaining being these two funny German fellas...

...and a gaggle of London girls, as it's always refreshing to hear an English accent this far away from home...that particular thirst was sated in a very surprising way whilst I was waiting for Hayley outside the station.

The Hachiko exit of Shibuya station is named after a certain dog, whose story echoes that of Edinburgh’s Greyfriars Bobby. The difference here is that the statue of Hachiko was erected before the death of the actual dog. Cynics have pointed out that maybe Hachiko didn’t visit Shibuya in order to wait for his departed master, rather to accept food from the people who had started recognizing him…but no matter…it’s a popular and convenient place to meet somebody in the madness of Shibuya.

Whilst I waited, I noticed a couple of Christians (specifically, Baptists, as I later discovered) wandering through the crowds, talking to people and trying to persuade them to come to church. Knowing what my answer would be, I tried to look inconspicuous, but non-Japanese tend to stand out over here. Naturally, I was spotted, and approached by a gentleman who, (well, I’ll go t’t’foot of our stairs) turned out to be from my hometown, sporting the delightfully Boltonian name of Roland. I found out later that his mother was Italian, his surname is “Franz” and that he’d been in Japan for about as long as I’ve been alive. I resisted the urge to point out that, in a sense, he represented the Axis powers of WWII, and did my best to avoid the subject of Theology. As far as people go, I liked Roland, and in a place like Tokyo, it was good to feel the “Bolton Kinship”, despite our wildly differing world-views. The crunch came when he tried to fulfill his mission and get me to Church, which was when I had to put my foot down and point out, without going into detail, the distance between our opinions.

Certainly, if I were to go to a Christian Meeting, I wouldn’t be able to do much, other than argue against their beliefs with the perseverance of a demolition worker, which I don’t really have the right to do…I think I surprised him with my refusal - although his face didn’t move a muscle, and he still kept his smile, there was the sensation of a sudden jolt, as if a pleasantly cruising vehicle in his head had just struck a solid object.

I wish him luck - although there are Japanese Christians, Shinto had deep roots long before Buddhism came over a century and a half ago…

Bonodori

Bonodori
Originally uploaded by Shining Love Pig.

Definately a highlight for me - this dancing festival marks the beginning and the end of the Obon holiday...apparently it only lasts a week, and I suspect that different Japanese people celebrate it a different times of the year...one of my next door neighbours introduced it to me in July...maybe she comes from another prefecture...

Anyway, Obon welcomes the spirits of ones ancestors into the family home. Depictions of horses made from aubergines & cucumbers are left outside the doors, facing towards the home at the start, and away when the period is over. The spirits are suuposed to ride in and out on the animals.

This particular Bonodori was held in Roppongi Hills - a complex of buildings that wouldn`t look out of place in Logans Run, containing expensive cafes, cinemas, shopping malls et al...more noteworthy, it houses the Mori Art Museum and the headquarters of Asahi TV, which filmed the proceedings, so naturally it was hosted by a few celebrities and an old woman who was there as a crowd-exciter...I loved her because she looked like Jimmy Cranky...

...and yes, of course I danced. Photos exist, but to see those, you`ll have to pester Dave at No Compassion Without Suffering in the blogs menu...

Hayley`s not getting deported!!!

Originally uploaded by Shining Love Pig.

Woo-hoo!

Dave sings karaoke...and loves every second...

Dave sings karaoke...and loves every second...
Originally uploaded by Shining Love Pig.

I never imagined for one second that he`d do it. I think everyone was pleasantly surprised. God save the Queen in the style of Harry Hill.

The conspiracy continues...

Originally uploaded by Shining Love Pig.

My earlier plan to post an entry directly into blogger using the flickr URL`s has gone the way of my other plans...Kawasaki BOE has seen fit to block the screen that allows me to write in blogger, whilst the internet cafe I`m now in won`t let me use their hard-drive as a go-between...thus you have this sporadic, piecemeal and wholly unsatisfactory account of the holiday.

So anyway, this gentleman was spotted in Asakusa. At the end of his leash is a corn on the cob, which he was taking for walkies, occassionally bending down to stroke it. Shortly after taking this photo, my fascination was suddenly replaced by guilt at being so morbidly fascinated by someone with mental problems. The guilt abated however when we saw him again in Shibuya, with a friend, also with an edible pet. I now believe him to be some kind of performance artist. The chances of finding, in a place the size of Tokyo, two madmen taking a corn-on-the-cob for a walk on the same day are too ridiculously huge to be a coincidence.

SUSHI CLOCK!!

SUSHI CLOCK!!
Originally uploaded by Shining Love Pig.

It seems this is the only way I can write an entry, as previous attempts have been confounded at every turn...and this isn`t even a gnats piddle of what I wanted to write. There appears to be a Kawasaki-wide conspiracy to prevent me from posting photos to a blog, or writing an entry driectly...God bless flickr.com and watch this space...