Rabbit Island (Okunishima)

During Golden Week, Jason and I decided to stop in at Rabbit Island on our way home from Kyuushuu.

I was fascinatred by the history of this deserted island, once a place where Japan illegally created poisonous gases that they tested on Chinese people. This island is the how Japan became the only country in WW2 to use poisonous substances (against the geneva convention that they had signed).

On the island, Japan used high school boys to help work on the gas. At first they chose students with an aptitude for science. But of course, towards the end of the war this soon became whichever students were available. The students worked in ineffective protective gear, and accidents were common. If this happended, the students would mosty likely die, as there were no doctors on the island, and they were not allowed to seek medical attention from the mainland.

The secret of this island was of the utmost importance. The island was erased off of maps, and trains going past the island would have their blinds pulled down so that no one on the train could see the island. 

To get to the island, you need to catch a ferry from Tadanoumi station. By bus, it took us well over 2 hours to get to Tadanoumi station, but if you have a JR pass you can catch a shinkansen part of the way. Jason and I, as Japanese residents, can not get a JR pass, and so we were not willing to pay 60 dollars for the shinkansen fee. This was a mistake.

We lined up for our 8:25 bus. When the bus arrived, we were told that there was not enough room for us on this bus. We needed to wait an hour for the next bus! So we waited an hour, and caught the next bus. The bus moved horribly slowly in the Golden Week traffic, and took us over 2 hours, only to then tell us that this bus, unlike the last bus, does NOT go to Tadanoumi, it only goes part of the way! The bus before (that we were not allowed to get on) went all the way, but not this one! The bus driver had forsaken us! And now we were at the end of this bus line, with very little idea of where we were.

So we got off  the bus and caught a local train, waiting another half an hour for this train.  By the time we got to Tadanoumi, it was after 11 o clock, having left our house around 7.

When we got to Tadanoumi, we were not impressed by the site that met us. A line of people that stretched around the corner was waiting for tickets to go to Rabbit island. Now, this is probably not always the case, as it was a public holiday when we went, and a GOLDEN WEEK public holiday no less! So the Japanese people were out in full force to make the most of this sunny spring day. So I don't know how busy it gets on regaular days, but I would reccommend coming on a weekday, as the ferries sometimes only come once an hour, and if you cannot fit on one ferry, you have to wait for the next. Or the next. Or the next, as we did....

You buy your tickets from the ferry port just to the side of Tadanoumi station (there are signs directing you from the station) but the tickets are not assigned to a boat. So after that, you then have to wait in line to catch the ferry. So we waited in line for nearly 3 hours! We watched multiple ferries come, fill up, and leave, while we inched forward slowly in the line... You can't leave the line, otherwise you'd have to go to the back. It is a horrible system that definitely was not suitable for the amount of people that were trying to travel to Rabbit island on that day.

We FINALLY left for rabbit island on the ferry after 2pm! By this time, we were tired from standing and waiting for SO DAMN LONG, and we were sad that so much of the day had gone when we had woken up so early to make sure we could have as much time as possible on the island.

The ferry trip is short, just 10-15 mins, and we disembarked on the island slightly renewed by the sight of bunnies resting around the coastal area. The bunnies were lounging in the sand, running accross the slopes, and eating carrots and cabbages that tourists had brought with them. You can also buy rabbit food from the ferry port for just 100 yen a bag, which is what we did.


At first, you want to just pat and feed every rabbit you see, but at some point you realise you're not going to get anywhere if this continues! So we took a left, and walked past a camping area, following signs to different areas of the island. The signs were mostly in Japanese, so I would reccommend trying to find a tourist map, or using the google translate photo option. Google maps was also helpful for working out how to get to cool sites on the island. But if you can't use those and can't find a tourist map, you can easily just walk in a circle around the island, following different paths as you come upon them. Most tracks seemed to be circular, or come back to a main circle path. That being said, with the limited time that we had, we only got to explore perhaps half of the island. I would have loved to explore more.

As you get further away from the main areas, the rabbits get fewer (less food in these areas) but you still see bunnies on the sides of the path very regularly. These ones often approach you as they see you coming, eager for your food.

The ruins of old war buildings were exciting to explore. They do have low fences keeping tourists out, but my husband and I disregarded these and went all the way into the old bildings, being careful with the shattered glass and debris. It was an amazing site to see rabbits scurrying though abandoned buildings and hopping over rubble.

There's also a poisonous gas museum on the island, but Jason and I weren't able to find it in the time that we had. I did hear though that most of the examples of poinsonous gas are from a different war (Vietnam war perhaps?) rather than being from World War 2, when this island was actually used to produce the poisonous gas.

After exploring as much as we could in the short time that we had, we decided to join the massive line of people returning to the mainland. Again, we waited in line for at least 1 and a half hours, while boats became filled and left.

Overall, the trip was wonderful and I want to go back and finish hiking the island, but on a weekday. I can't imagine how peaceful the island would be without hoards of people.

My First Enkai

The person next to me alternated between suddenly bouts of liveliness and hilarity and slumping unsteadily in his seat. People at my table poured beer into my half-full glass, and those of the people around me, telling me to "drink up" and "enjoy it". Teachers around me were clapping eachother on the back, elbowing eachother jokingly, crying and stumbling. Chaos abounded.


So this was the famed ENKAI.


Enkai means party, or banquet, and the term is usually used to mean a work party. These are all-you-can-drink work parties inwhich the famously reserved Japanese people let down their well-styled hair and get crazy.


The night started with everyone being poured a beer ("would you like a beer" was not asked). We toasted the start of the night, and from then on, everyone drank steadily. Waiters and waitresses continually brought large bottloes of beer to each table, and refilled glasses of wine if they were nearly empty. If drinking beer, the people at your table were expected to refill it whenever they could, and people would go to visit people who had helped them throughout the year, and refill their drink as an expression of and gratitude and respect.


Within half an hour, with the Japanese tolerance for alcohol (or lack thereof) the effect of endless beers had already become visible.


Soon after the first course had been served, speeches started. New teachers and treachers who had changed schools or retired gave speeches to thank people (mostly) for their time at the school. As the night became later, speeches became messier. There was shouting. There was crying. A lot of crying.


The enkai ended suddenly, as soon as the last speeches were given. I was shocked to see my full glass of wine (my 10th, but hey, who's counting) being taken away from my table by a waitress. I was outraged at the lack of warning. I quickly grabbed someone else's abandoned beer from the table in front of me and downed it, thinking that this was the sudden end of the drinking (you've got to get value, am I right?).


Everyone poured out of the fancy venue. I asked what was going on. It seemed the night had not finished, just the venue. So, with little idea of where people were going, or what was happening, I followed the crowd of people to the closest trainstation, got on a train with them, and went to the next place, a Japanese izakaya (traditional bar) with an upstairs room.


During the train ride, we had a drunk and rowdy sports teacher tell us he loved to do bongs, and how he wanted to use a bong again. He then spent the rest of the trip switching between calling us "dudes" in an American accents and pretending to be our tour guides, in his politest Japanese English accents ("This way please! Follow me!").


At the next bar, we sat upstairs in a private area with 2 long low tables. We were brought drinks and small dishes of food. Apparently we had another hour of all-you-can-drink at this establishment. "So drink up!"


By 11 o clock, we realised that the last train home wasn't far off (curse you, Japanese train system!) and so everyone had to leave and catch their seperate trains. The next work day, nothing was spoken of the Enkai or anything said or done.


What happens at enkai stays at Enkai.

School in Japan Part 2

The sound of raucous laughter filled my ears as I approached the closed sliding door designated for teachers. Students inside yelled, cheered, and squealed. Was this a Japanese classroom, known for its quiet, complacent students?


I opened the door and poked my head in, looking for my lead teacher, or JTE. He was not in this classroom. I stepped back out and closed the door, wondering if I had the wrong class. I stood outside the class for a few moments, trying to remember what my timetable had said.


A student came out of the students' door toward the back of the class.
"You can come in!" She said, enthusiastically.
"Oh, I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be here," I responded nervously, "I'll just wait here a little bit".


A minute later, my JTE arrived.
"Oh! You're here early!"


I had forgotten that Japanese students have 10 minutes between each class to relax, go to the toilet, and eat if they want. As Japanese students stay in their classroom, the teacher leaves at the end of the period, and they are alone in their classroom for 10 minutes. During this time, the class usually erupts with chatter. Food is gobbled from bags, and students lounge in the chairs, desks rotated towards their friends. They don't have a recess break, so these 10 minute periods are their only time to eat, socialise and use the toilet, until their one 45 minute lunch break at 12:40.


After the lesson finished, I left the class, leaving them alone to their own devices. As soon as I exited the class, a small group of students ran out of the student door, cutting me off at the pass.


"Sharon! We want to talk to you!"
"Where do you buy your clothes!"
"Can we see your tattoo?!"
"Please tell me the difference between 'stuff' and 'things'!"
"Kawaii!"


These exchanges are common.


In lunch time, students come into the office to exchange notes with me in English, and sometimes just to talk (today's topic- "Please tell us about prom!").


In the halls, some students who are strangers to me gather their courage and practise their English skills with words of "hello" or even "how are you?". When I answer, they usually laugh and blush, or giggle with their friends. I am an amusement to them, but I don't mind.


The students have been lovely so far. I don't have to tell students off in class, and the only negative action that occurs is that some students sleep in class, especially in the afternoon classes. This of course, bothers no one else, and is usually a result of being up late studying.


The teachers are friendly, although not the best at explaining what they would like me to do. I have a new timetable with the new school year, although no one has explained my classes to me, or if I'm expected to plan anything for classes, or even which classes I'm in charge of (if any) and which classes I'm simply helping out with, or even just coming along to.


I usually have 3 assigned classes a day, although usually a teacher will ask me to join his or her class on the day. When this happens, they may want me to do a special activity like read a story or tell an experience, or they may just want someone in the room to help with English questions if they come up.


There is no homework for me, although I do sometimes get marking to do in my 4 hours of DOTT.


I'm not gonna lie, the ALT life is pretty sweet right now.

Capsule Hotel, Osaka

Jason and I stayed at our first capsule hotel!

For those not familiar with the term, capsule hotels are hotels in which the rooms are small "capsules", just larger than a person lying down. They're usually around one metre tall, one metre wide, and two metres long. Usually capsules are stacked on top of eachother.

 

 
They were originally a cheap accommodation for men on business trips, and so originally were just for men. However, these days, with a growing number of women in the workforce, capsule hotels have begun to accommodate women.

 

Prices are usually around $30 a night.

 

Jason and I stayed at the Shinsaibashi Asahi Plaza Capsule Hotel for roughly this price. I have to say, I was impressed! Of course, it does depend on whether you can deal with small spaces. I, personally, love to sleep in small, enclosed spaces. It strikes me as very comforting, womb-like even. But I know to some it would be a night mare.

 

The hotel was open to both men and women, although they are on seperate floors, for safety reasons. To get into the women's area, you needed a special key, ensuring that there were only women in this area. As you first enter the women's area, there is a large, spacious "powder room", equipped with seats, hairdryers, pre-toothpasted toothbrushes, and samples of moisturisers and lotions.





 

After the powder room there was a baggage room where you could lock your baggage away, as the actual capsules themselves are not lockable. The capsules were located just past this area. All capsules were numbered so that you could find the one you'd been allocated. I was given a ground level capsule which was great because I didn't have to climb a ladder to get in, although being only a metre high, it did mean I had to crawl. The insides of the capsules are sparse. White plastic walls, a small shelf, a charging port, and in some, a small television. There are fancy capsule hotels out there, but this was just a basic, run of the mill capsule.

 

On the fancy side however, this hotel did surprise me by having a spa and sauna included in the thirty dollar price. So if you walk past the women's capsule area, you come to a shower room, a spa room, and a sauna room. The spa was lovely looking! And the showers were private, in little capsules for shy westerners. I didn't get to try the sauna, but it looked nice. I was surprised by the facilities. I was expecting something dingy, but actually it was bright, airy, and fresh.

 

Outside of the locked women's area there was also arcade games, refreshment vending machines and a commen entertainment area.

 

While I enjoyed my stay in the female section, Jason did not have a milar experience in the men's. Jason is quite tall, and found the small boxes stifling. He also found the men's area to be loud. The capsules do not have walls covering the outside part, but simply have privacy screens that can be pulled down to cover the entry to each capsule. This means that sound can be an issue. It wasn't for me, in the women's floor, but Jason said he had a bunch of noisy snorers on his floor. To be fair though, this would be the case in any hostel and I have never seen such good other facilities in regular hostels. So if I'm ever travelling by myself, I'm definitely going to use a capsule hotel again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hanami!

Finally, cherry blossom season is upon us!


The trees are in full bloom everywhere and I couldn't be loving it more!


When the cherry blossoms come out, it's a Japanese tradition to head out for "hanami" (cherry blossom party).

Japanese people go out with their family or friends and flock upon one of the many cherry blossom-filled parks. They bring their blue tarps, their food, and most importantly, their booze. They sit under the blossoms and get drunk while petals rain down on them. It's truly magical.

We had our very first hanami this weekend at Osaka Castle Park. Osaka Castle is absulutely beautiful, and even more so when surrounded by the beautiful cherry blossoms.

I did not expect Osaka to be so... crazy though! Everyone in Japan, it seemed, came to Osaka for hanami on the same day! Trains were packed to the brim! The convenience store actually had a huge line to get in! It was sheer madness! We stupidly left our food shopping until Osaka, thinking that this away we wouldn't have to carry the food around for long. Big mistake. It took us a good half hour to get into and out of the convenience store.

We finally got to Osaka Park Castle and then had to wait more, lining up to get into the garden! It was worth the wait though and we found ourselves surrounded by canopies of blossoms, with food stalls cooking up noodles and okonomiyakis.


We sat down with our group. Booze and food was shared around. Every time the wind blew, cherry blossom petals feel in our hair, on the food, and wafted dreamily along in the breeze. The atmosphere was something I'm not likely to forget. I'm saddened to think that the cherry blossom season will be over in a week or so and I'll not get to do this again!

Minoo Falls, Osaka

Lush nature, fried goods, and mischeivous monkeys- what more could you ask for on a weekend?

That's what I found in Minoo, Osaka.

Minoo is about half an hour from Osaka, and is known for its beautiful maple trees. And they made sure everyone knows it! Maple leaves were everywhere, even the pot holes and fences!

As soon as you start walking towards the waterfall area, I was hit by the alluring smell of fried food. Stalls selling tempura maple leaves lined the small streets. I abstained for a while, curious to try them, but not wanting to muck up my diet... But when I saw the Caramelised, sugar coated tempura maple leaves, thoughts of my diet left me. They smelled like cinnamon sugar donuts and thats not something I can easily resist.

I bought a small bag and popped one in my mouth straight away. Oh my goodness! It was so much better than I thought! It really did taste like a crispy cinnamon donut! I could have honestly eaten 5 bags... But I didn't. Can I have my medal now, please? Most of the shops just sell plain tempura leaves, but I cannot stress enough that you should WAIT until you get to a shop selling these caramel sugar ones! They also sold cheese flavoured ones, which I wanted, but resisted.

After eating my maple leaves, I continued walking for a little bit, until I got to an area on the way to the falls that had temples, a canal, and lovely bridges. I stopped for a while, admiring the views and taking pictures.

 

I was suddenly shocked to see a quick flash of movement in the bushes around the temple. It was monkeys! Wild monkeys! I had seen a lot of monkey characters on shop signs and monkey statues and toys, but it somehow didn't click and I didnt expect to see then freely roaming around. But there this monkey was, climbing the temple wall and coming to sit, sternly, at the top of the wall, guarding the temple. Others ran across the floor and climbed amongst the trees.

 

 

After watching them for a while, I headed towards the waterfall. It was an easy half hour hike, on paved paths. There were some stairs, but generally it was a very easy hike. The stairs were not more than a couple of flights and were not too steep. I saw many elderly and even handicapped people doing the hike with ease.

The waterfall itself was lovely. You could go close enough to feel the spray from the waterfall on your face! It was a lot cooler than Nunobiki Falls. And there were food stalls selling hot chips and okonomiyaki on a stick on the path!

I was hoping the cherry blossoms would have bloomed, but unfortunately they were not yet there. I've heard the cherry blossoms are particularly lovely there.

Cosplay Street Festa, Osaka

This weekend was the Osaka Street Festa, in which over 10 000 cosplay fans from around the world swarm upon Osaka's Denden town to either demonstrate or look at cosplay.

Hundreds of people dress up in elaborate cosplay costumes and stand around in the street, awaiting people to come and request to photograph them. You can buy photography passes, which supposedly gives you photo priority over the other masses (Cosplayers reportedly pose better for those with paid passes). However, Jason and I didn't have a paid pass, and we found the cosplayers to be fine with posing for us to take snaps on our mobile phone.

There were some serious photographers there, some even decked out with light reflectors and enhancers to get the perfect shot of some of the beautiful cosplayers.

While there was a huge amount of attractive young girls at the Street Festa, not all the cosplayers were as aesthetically pleasing... We say old men dressed as school girls, fairies, and all manner of scantily clad women... Some of these outfits were done well, and I would go so far as to say some were quite classy corss-dressing outfits, some were not... Rotund man with his hairy belly sticking out of his crop top, I'm talking to you...

But each to their own...

To get to the street festa, we caught the train to Namba station, and then walked about 15 minutes to Nipponbashi (denden town). We followed google maps for the first part of the walk, and the interestingly dressed individuals led us for the second half...

The street festa also has live music and demonstrations, but we didn't see any while we were there, around 2pm.

After walking around Street Festa, we decided to go to Tennoji to see the zoo and the shitennoji temple.

So we walked from Denden to Tennoji area (around 25 minutes) and came to the Tennoji Zoo. It only costs 500 yen to enter, and it's actually a fairly large zoo for such a small entry fee. Jason and I spent a good deal of time there, and left without seeing everything because we both started to get weary (we're both a bit sick at the moment). We were actually amazed at the flamingo display, one of the first things you see upon entering the zoo. I had never seen flamingos in real life before and their colour is so much more shocking than it seems in the pictures. It looks like someone has dipped them in high lighter liquid. They're an intensely fluro orange.

We were also impressed by the cougar and the wolves, which came up the the glass. While this is so amazing to see, however, sadly, their pacing may signal annoyance or distress. Their enclosures were quite small for roaming animals, with concrete floors. This part was quite sad. The African animals had large enclosures with grass and real dirt, but other animals had quite depressing enclosures. The penguins and polar bears were especially sad, with no ice, only concrete painted white. The polar bear's water was dirty and filled with debris. The bird enclosures were quite good, containing real trees for the birds to roost in. So all up, it was a mixed experience for me, alhough still good value.

Shitennoji Temple was another 20 minute walk from the zoo. By this point, Jason and I were getting exhausted and weary, but I really wanted to see the temple while we were in the area. So we walked on.

Shitennoji temple is a large complex with multiple religious buildings. On the path leading to the main temple, there are a bunch of classic festival type stalls, with foods like taiyaki, okonomiyaki, and yakisoba. There were also some stalls selling knickknacks, although I'm not sure if this was just because ot was a Sunday. I did hear that on the 21st of each month there is a huge flea market here though! So I'll be sure to come back on the 21st sometime!

We bought a warm custard obanyaki (round, pancake-like cake fiilled with custard) for just 100 yen. The warm cakey goodness and near-scalding filling revived me!

We had a breif look around the temple grounds and just as we were about to leave, I noticed lots of people looking down into the moat below the bridge. I told Jason we should go look, and we found... a million turtles in the moat below! They were every where!

 

 

 

 

Going to the Doctor in Japan

Everyone in Japan is sick right now.

At least, that's how it feels.

All of the people on my island at work are sniffing, coughing, or snorting.

I took my first sick day because I had been snotty and gunked up for the last week, and then couldn't sleep, so essentially I didn't want to drag myself all the way into Kobe just after 7am for my BOE job. It's a long day and I wasn't feeling up to it.

So, in Aussie style, to make it seem legit, I ventured to the doctor. I mean, it wasn't un-legit. I was sick. Just probably not sick enough to have to miss work. Mostly just icky.

The doctor was close by, only a 5 minute walk from my house.

Upon entering the doctor, you take off your shoes and put on the slippers provided.

As a first time patient, I had to fill out a form. There was no English on this form so if you don't read Japanese well, this might be pretty tricky for you. Maybe make sure your google translate is downloaded.

After filling out my personal details and what was wrong with me today, I was asked to sit down in the waiting room. Nurses cam in and out, dressed in the cutest little Nurse-Jenny outfits. The picture to the right is the best sneaky pic I could get while sitting in the waiting room. I deeply apologize... But as you can vaguely see, the nurses are wearing blue pinafore dresses, with blue nurse hats, and even cute little blue shoes. Adorable.

After waiting for a while, a doctor came, called my name and took me to a private, curtained stall. She asked me what the matter was, and I told her my symptoms.

When asked if I had a fever, I said that I did have one the other day, but not any more. She asked me what temperature my fever was. Of course, I didn't know... Myabe this is an Aussie thing, but I can tell when myself or another person has a fever without having to consult a thermometer.... I don't even own a thermometer in Japan. So I told the doctor that I didn't know the temperature, but just that I had felt hot sweaty and uncomfortable (you know that raw, dry, hot feeling you get in your eyes when you have a fever). She responded with "So... Over 38 degrees?" Um... again, doctor, I'm not sure...  All I know is that I was feverish.

After this, she asked me if I was worried that it was influenza. I told her I wasn't sure, but that it was probably just a cold. She said that she could test me for influenza if I wanted, but it would cost more on top of the appointment. I declined. Apparently in Japan they can tell if you test positive for type A or type B influenza. I had no idea testing for influenza wasa thing. I've never been tested for influenza before... Usually doctors in Australia (at least doctors I'VE been to in Australia) listen to your symptoms, take your temperature, and then they say "could be flu!" and give you some antibiotics... Is testing for the flu even a thing in Australia? Or is it just becuase I'm going to the budget doctors that they're not testing me for things...

After getting some advice from the doctor on non-caffeine cold medicines (these are hard to find in Japan so if you are caffeine sensitive, BE AWARE!) I went to the admin desk to finish up and pay. I stood at the desk for a little bit, and when a reception lady came up to me, I asked if I could pay. I was then told to sit back down an wait...

Perhaps this is so they can check with the doctor if I had any extra costs... It was just a little bit different from Australia, where you usually pay straight away and walk out. I waited for about 10 minutes, getting mildly annoyed at why it was taking so long for them to organise the simplest consultation bill. Eventually, a recpetion lady approached me and handed me the bill. It came to 2800 (just over $30) which is pretty good for a doctor's bill, I think. I think it's roughly what I would have paid out of pocket in Aus if I had went to a doctor that didn't bulk-bill.

They only take cash, so I paid my bill in cash and left. Having travell insurance for the year, the doctors could not do anything with my insurance. They said I needed to claim directly from them. However, my insurance has an excess of $200 so you can't claim a $30 doctors bill. So I guess the insurance is really only for emergencies.

Ah well.

Nunobiki Falls, Kobe

This weekend Jason and I went to Nunobiki Falls, in Kobe.


There are so many interesting places to hike in Japan, so we want to hike a lot of them.

Well....


I want to hike a lot of them. Jason will join me, begrudgingly.


He reserves the right to complain the whole hike though, and I'm pretty sure he did just that this time.


The hike started before we got to Nunobiki Falls actually, as we took a train to Motomachi (included on the hanshin all day  ticket) and then walked for half an hour before getting to Shin-Kobe station, where Nunobiki is located.


Shin-Kobe station is so lovely because on one side of the train station is Kobe city, right smack bang near busy Sannomiya. On the other side, however, is pure, unadulterated wilderness. Well, that's an exaggeration. It is adulterated. There are paths and stairs. But it's lush, okay?


After we arrived at Shin-Kobe station, we found some signs saying "Nunobiki Taki", which we assumed meant "Nunobiki waterfall". In the beginning we went up a huge, seemingly never-ending staircase in the side of a mountain, but this was the most difficult part of the journey. The rest of the hike was largely gentle inclines. The path was sometimes a bit confusing, with some forks where we couldn't see signs, but there were always people about, so we made sure to ask people when we came to these if this direrction would take us to "Nunobiki Taki".


The walk to the waterfalls was only about 20 minutes and with the exception of that damned staircase, it was pretty easy. The waterfall itself was lovely, and there were bunches of smaller waterfalls on the way (we may have even had to ask a stranger "Is this Nunobiki Falls?" in regards to a small, run-off waterfall).


The waterfall ran into a luxurious looking, clear blue pool. It looked like just a perfect swimming hole, although signs told us that you're not allowed to swim there. Such a shame! So many of the pools along the river leading up to Nunobiki looked like glorious swimming holes. I'll have to find out if any of them are swimmable before Summer.


After reaching the waterfall, we decided to continue on to Nunobiki Herb Garden. We walked for a while, then a bit more. Got lost quite a few times, and had to ask passersby which direction the garden was in. After walking for perhaps an hour, we ask a final passerby "Is it this way?" and we were told "yes! It's this way! But you know it's not open, right? It's not open in Winter!"


Aw hell no!


Not sure why none of the other six million people we had asked for directions had not mentioned this.... It would have been great to know about an hour ago... But, I guess we got what we had come for... A nice long hike! An we did make it to the observation deck to view the Kobe skyline.



After this, the man and I were ravenous so we quickly hiked back down (much quicker than the hike up) and stopped at the nearest Family Mart for some fuel.


If you do go to Nunobiki, there's also a ropeway that goes straight to the herb garden, although be sure not to go in Winter!

Hina Matsuri, aka Doll's Festival, aka Girls Day

The third of March is Girl's Day in Japan, or Hina Matsuri, also known as the Doll's Festival.

Stores have had adorable pink princess themed things for the month leading up to Hina Matsuri, so it's been just great for me!

Leading up to Hina Matsuri, families and shops display collections of dolls shaped like members of the old Imperial family. These are said to ward off bad spritis, and bring good luck. These dolls are usually displayed on a red fabric, usually on a stair-like little stage. They kind of like Christmas trees in that they're usually set up about a month or so before the event, and stay up on display until the day.

Jason and I had actually received a free paper Hina Matsuri display from Lawson, so we set ours up a few weeks ago. 
















On Hina Matsuri, Jason and I simply couldn't resist purchasing a pair of adorable Hina Matsuri cakes. They were small matching cakes, one was chocolate with a prince on top, and the other was vanilla with a princess on top. The vanilla princess one was filled with peach pieces and sweet cream, while the prince one was filled with chocolate cream and shaved chocolate.

Peaches, plums and cherry blossoms play a big role in Hina Matsuri, and many of the Hina Matsuri foods featured peach flavoured things or cherry blossoms. So we ate our cakes and had a picnic under the beautiful plum blossoms at a nearby park.

 

We also of course, had to try the traditional Hina Matsuri foods!

One of the most significant Hina Matsuri foods is Hisamochi. Hishimochi is a three-coloured mochi slab, in pink white and green. The pink is to represent peach or plum blossoms, the white represents snow (purity) and the green represents nature (or growth). People eat this mochi and pray for the health and well-being of girls in their life.

 

It was quite hard to eat, as it was very rubbery, hard to put a fork through. Maybe that's just because we got  cheap grocery shop one and not fresh? I'm not sure... But the taste was just milkdly sweet. Not unpleasant, but definitely not something I'd be buying each year haha...

 

The next Hina Matsuri food we ate is called arare. Arare is small ball shaped rice cracker, often also coming in the colours of pink white and green. These were delicious! The coloured balls were sweet, while the white ones were savoury.

 



 

In the old days, towns would actually send dolls out to sea on small boats (taking the bad spirits with them) but this practice is rare nowadays and Jason and I couldn't find a ceremony near us so we spent the rest of the day viewing the beautiful blossoms, and treating me like a princess (so same as most days I guess). After all, princesses are what the day is for!

 

At the end of the day, we made sure to take down all of our hina matsuri decorations. If you leave them up past the day of the event, legend says that your daughters won't be able to get married! So for your daughter's sake, everyone is careful to remove decorations as soon as Hina Matsuri is over.

 

 

GAME BARS: THE BEST WAY TO DRINK IN JAPAN!

So Jason and I have discovered the cheapest (and thus the best way) to get drunk in Japan...

GAME BARS!

Games bars have proven to be WAY cheaper than regular bars in Japan, with ludicrously cheap all-you-can-drink alcohol deals,  while also having the added benefit of free entertainment in the form of games, and often even throwing in some kind of food as well!

Game bars contain both video games and board/card games. If you're not a big video gamer like me, they have tables all around, and squishy carpets and cushions where you can sit and chat, or bust out a simple game like jenga that you can play while talking. Because for me, I want to talk while I drink. I don't want to play video games while I drink. Plus, I want to get the greatest amount of drinks for my time, and you can't drink efficiently and play video games at the same time.Also, game bars often have dress ups, hats, or masks for you to much around in while drunk! Another bonus!

The way these places usually work, is that when you enter, they'll give you a little lanyard with some kind of barcode on it, which has your entry time encoded into it. Some places might also do this with a little paper receipt. The charge is usually per hour, including all you can drink booze. Prices range from a measly $5 an hour to $15 an hour, depending on what they include. Personally, I wouldn't pay $15 an hour unless they had something really special there, but by Australian prices, that's still AMAZING... $15 is only enough you get you 2 drinks in Australia, whereas when I last purchased an hour of all you can drink, I got 7 whiskey high balls in the hour! And  it only cost me $5!!! If I had drank more combatively I think I could have got 10 in the hour, but I actually did play some video games in that hour.


The best game bar Jason and I have been to so far is in Osaka, called the GeeBee Bar, near Amerikamura, Osaka. It costs only 500yen ($5) an hour, and comes with unlimited, self-serve booze and soda (whiskey and liqueurs all in pump bottles next to a soft drink machine) and also comes with unlimited bowls of delicious Japanese curry rice. Can you even imagine getting drunk for $5?! It blew my mind. I drank 7 whiskeys for $5!! And let me tell you, after a couple of drinks, the delicious gravy curry really hits the spot! https://www.facebook.com/gamebarGeeBee/

Recently, Jason and I found a game bar in Kobe that specialises in Japanese snacks! We originally read it wrong, thinking that it specialises in Japanese desserts haha... And I thought what could possibly be better?! But in fact, when we arrived it was Japanese  snacks. We thought it was a bit pricey for just snacks (500 yen/hour for games, 500 yen/hour for snacks on top) but I guess it was a cool idea. https://twitter.com/gamebarbaron

So if you're looking for a cheap way to get drunk, and have fun, I suggest googling game bars in the area of Japan you're in/ going to. And if you're in Osaka, then you NEED to try the GeeBee Bar!

Mountain climbing in Kakogawa

This weekend, our neighbour, Oomichi-san took us out on our first mountain climb.


Jason and I vaguely want to climb Mt Fuji to see the sunrise... But we're just not sure we can commit.


This mountain climb was a lovely starter.


It was an easy climb, about 3 hours in total.


We slowly made our way up the first summit (Jason and I actually thought this was our end point, silly geese that we are). We stopped there for a break and to look out onto the small town below.

 

We then made our way along mountain ridges, slowly climbing higher. It was so amazing to be walking along the horizontal ridge between two mountains with drop offs on either side! Scary, but amazing. Just balancing on this narrow little peak, the wind blowing your hair, a couple of hundred metres of cliff just inches from your feet on either side.

After walking along the ridges for a while, we passed over the tsuribashi (suspension bridge) and came to a rock face with a metal chain hanging down. We climbed up the rock face, using the chain for support (it was a lot easier than I expected actually)

There, we reached our second summit, higher than the first. Here, we were surrounded by other mountains.

Our neighbour pointed out the summit that we were actually heading for... It seemed an awfully long way away...

The final destination

From here, we walked along delicately inclined ridges (and even down some, despite wanting to go up), and then traversed a large, tricky rick face, and a rocky, steep set of "stairs" (Rocks and dirt which were more like a cliff, but did have chunks and foot holds similar to stairs, but three times the height) to get to our third and final summit. The third summit was of course, the highest and the most difficult to get to. It was the only spot where I started to hurt. At the top was a viewing platform ("MOOOORE STAIRS!?") where we could view the mountain ranges below us on one side, and the town far out below us on other.

Here, we set up for lunch, dangling our legs close to the precipice. Looking into the depths of the canyons below us was dizzying. It felt like you might be pulled into it, depite sitting firmly on the ground. We ate our little picnic, and everyone had brought something to offer everyone else. Some had brought sweets, or chocolates, and one man even set up a little gas burner and made everyone a cocoa, tea or coffee on the top of this mountain. Drinking the burning hot cocoa while the brisk wind chilled our sweaty limbs was heaven. Luckily, I had packed a bag of grapes to share so that I could give something in return. There was a sense of comradery as we sipped our hot drinks and stared silently into the green and sprawling abyss.

The hike down was quickly, although descent is the hardest part. The loose stones and dirt are treacherous to walk down on and it was easy to slip and slide, being unable to stop yourself. We learnt to take tiny baby steps in the most dangerous parts, and we held onto trees, twigs, and even long grass. Anything for a tiny bit of support.

We were down in half an hour, and we then walked back through the area to our car (Oomichi drove us here).


The group was so friendly and the hike was quite addictive. The next hike is planned for the following month, and is a 5 hour hike, which will be a good jump. Mt Fuji is around a 10 hour hike, so it will be good training!