Okay, Japan

Konicheewah! (sp?) which means hello, and is one of the three words I could almost say during my Japan adventure.

So, from the beginning; Myself, Kristen, Laurel and Kevin decided that we were bored and since we didn't have to be back to work for over a week, what better way to spend our time and money (lots of it) then by visiting the nearby Japan? So we all booked tickets on a "Beetle", which were these little boats that were almost hover crafts. They were REALLY fast (we got to Fukuokua in under three hours), but it was kind of choppy and every time we hit a wave it felt like we'd crashed into something. Some really annoying foreigners that had brought beer with them on the trip kept on claiming that we'd hit a whale (ha ha.. ha). They brought shame to Canada, but they were from Alberta, so I guess it's okay that they were being really loud and obnoxious. When we arrived at Fukuokua, we all caught a train that would eventually be bound for Tokyo. We had all bought these wonderful Japan Rail Passes, which ended up being pure gold!! I was talking to this woman who had been heading for Tokyo from the same place and she had decided to take an overnight bus that would get there in over twelve, but our train ride was about six. Saweeet.

So we get to Tokyo, and it's crazy. Here are some pictures, but I don't think they even come close to showing the huge sums of people there are!!

This is a Shinjuku District picture. It was one of the big "downtown" sections of Tokyo. It may be hard to see, but I was trying to get a shot of the mass amounts of people crossing the street.

In a lot of ways, Japan reminded me of Korea; Tokyo is a lot like Seoul. Except that Tokyo is on CRACK. I stood in the middle of an intersection as literally HUNDREDS of other people surrounded me in the centre of the street. Ever seen the movie Baraka? There's a scene of an aerial view of a busy street, and it's been sped up too look like a thousand ants stopping and going as the lights change. That's kind of what it felt like.

Here's an outdoor market in Asakusa (another district in Tokyo). This is where I bought lots of expensive trinkets and ate strange little rice cakes. After the inexpensiveness of Thailand and Korea, paying Canadian-like prices in Japan was painful. I'm going to be even more stingy when I get back to Canada. "What?? They want more than two dollars for my meal?? No way man."

And this is some sort of theatre play house that Kristen and I went to. Japanese theatre was an interesting experience. I felt like I was in the 1500's; all of the female roles are played by men and it was very traditional. As we began to watch, it was all very interesting; everything is overacted and there were all sorts of sound affects (bells and drums) to go with the action. Then people from the audience started yelling stuff in Japanese at the actors!! Apparently there are several kinds of acting "houses" and all of the different groups have different styles. When a member of the audience identifies a movement (all of the actors had these crazy, almost interpretive dance moves to go with their dialogue) that is associated with a certain group, he yells out the name of the group. But as it turns out, Japanese theatre is very slowwww. It involved a lot of talking (which of course I didn't understand), so I may have fallen asleep at some point, but I admit nothing.

We also got to see a few Harajuku* girls, which was quite interesting, but caused me to have that stupid Gwen Stefani song in my head the entire trip ("those harajuku girls, damn they've got some wicked style" etc. etc.).

*Harajuku girls are Japanese teenagers who like to dress up. And by dress up I mean crazy colours of dyed hair, bright bizarre makeup, huge platform boots, little bo-peep dresses. I'm not kidding.