INCIDENTAL EXPOSURE: Japan - The Cultural Frontier

Yo Yo Yo,

Sorry about the delay since my last post, its been a busy last few months, you know with all the FIFAing, Battle fielding, and continuous procrastination.

Anyways as those of you who know me I recently(well not so much now) traveled to the far east, the land of the rising sun, the home of Hello kitty, the birthplace of all things weird and wacky, thats right Japan!

There's not really much I can say about Japan, its a country which amuses me as much as it amazes me. One moment your traveling through time through an ancient castle town, the next minute your surrounded by the Cosplayers and Salarymen. There is not many places I can say at this point in time which can pull off such a harmonious balance between the traditions of the old and the trends of the new.

I cannot stress, that anyone who reads this should definitely check Japan out. My only one regret in Japan, was that I was not able to see a live gig while over there ( I did see a Beatles cover band, but that doesn't count).

So I hope you like the photos below after the jump! (Just a Warning there are a lot of photos below)

Culture SMASH!


Maid Cafe marketeer. Basically these poor girls have to stand outside and hand flyers out all day, attempting to entice some poor otaku to go into one of many Maid Cafe' in Akibahara.


Apparently cigarettes can walk

Yeah its just a drain......but a drain that looks like a face!

CONFUSION?!?

Replica guns are plentiful among the shops, if only i could ship one over :(, as always Have nice day :P

Enough said....

Famous Cosplay in Harajuku. To be honest I was a little underwhelmed. Not sure if it was just a slow cosplay day, but I was hyped up for this one.

Yeah......I just had to....MEOW

A Cafe, dedicated to one of the greatest Japanese inventions of all time...priceless.

Akibahara....nerd town, my kinda place.

Sightseeing

Front of Meiji Temple

All you need in Life

Empty Sake Barrels in Meiji temple

Wedding Ceremony in Meiji Temple

Shinkansen - Bullet trains

Trinkets from a Street Vendor

Lost in Japan

Whats that!!!! its DOMOKUN!!!!!!!

Random buskers

Lost in the Forrest...well a park

Yeah lame i know..............tourists..

Yakuza :D

Golden Temple - Kinkakuji


Bamboo walk in Kyoto

Fushimi-Inari Temple

Up in the mountain, a tea house

Racoon like think that was everywhere.

UENO, our home in Tokyo

Random Ueno sculpture

Monument to two Samurai it seems

Ringing some temple bells

Gion, Kyoto, keeping that old Japanese feel alive

Himeji Castle, the greatest castle in Japan..........under renovation :(

Yeah....we Badass

Some Armor inside the Castle

HAKONE

At the Hot springs in hakone

PIRATES!!!!!

HIROSHIMA

The A-Dome - One of the most well preserved structures near the site of the Hiroshima Atmoic Bomb.

This is what it looked like before the Bomb dropped

Paper Cranes people from around the world send to Hiroshima memorial site.

Remnants from the Blast.

OSAKA

Giant Heads in front of a hotel

Giant beer...yum

Famous bridge walkway with lots of neon signs.

Inspiration for blade runner

Big Ass Ferris wheel

Giant arcade with a Rock climbing wall on the outside

Kyoto Aquarium

Giant spider crabs....looks scary.............and tasty

The Monkey forest in Kyoto

Hear no evil, See no evil, Speak no evil

This one wanted to start a fight.....i backed down

That's Pauls Bottle - Monkey 1, Paul 0

This one was our favorite

As you can see its pretty high up from the city, but what a view!

THE FOOD!!!!

First Bowl of Ramen I had when we arrived. Pretty damn tasty!

My daily sustenance...TAKOYAKI!!!!

Something we could never Pass up, C & C Katsu Curry.

Pork Belly Bento Box, not bad for a quick meal.

One the best crumbed pork and prawns I have ever had.


One thing I do every time I travel is taste the local delicacies. mmmmm Maccas!!, this thing here is called the McGirddle, basically a sausage and egg in between two Pikelet/pancake like things


This is a Mcdonalds Japan locality, I can't remember the name of it at all now, its been to long :(, I just remember the chicken kinda tasting like teriyaki, was super yum though.

Mos Burger........wish they had one in Sydney.


Okonomoyaki, a savory pancake, filled with lotsa tasty goodness!

Yakisoba, Stirfried noodles.

More Ramen, apprently this place has been featured on TV or something, dunno if that counts for much through. All the ramen I ate over there was good in its own way, never tasting the same.