March Insanity Recap (Sumo, London, & Tokyo)

It's been a while since I last got a post up (over a month!) and wow has a lot happened in that time. I'm going to start playing catch-up and do just a couple posts for everything over the past nearly month and a half. Obviously, I can't add everything, but at least here's a snapshot of the kinds of things I have been up to. So here it goes!

March 11th, 2015 - SUMO GRAND TOURNAMENT

This begins with the 2015 Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka on March 11th. The tournament happens 6 times a year, rotating between Tokyo (3 times), Osaka, Nagoya, and Fukuoka. That meant this was going to be my chance to see Sumo in Japan, and with the last minute trip to London leaving that afternoon, I was amazingly lucky the timing worked out.

Sumo Arena at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium

Quite the event! There's a lot of ritual and ceremony that goes into Sumo (it is very much rooted in Shinto, and the ring is seen as a sacred sphere. So much so that women are not allowed onto the ring - there was a big controversy a few years back when a female governor, who should have been the one presenting an award, was not allowed to enter the ring).

Sumo Grand Tournament Opening <<link>>

I put some videos up a little while ago. (Check out that link above for some videos) - in most cases, the actual wrestling doesn't start until about 3/4th of the way through the video.

It was a good time, and a nice little hurrah with the gang here before parting ways and heading to London.

March 11th - March 15th - BAFTA AWARDS in LONDON

Sumo was very truly the last thing I did in Japan before leaving for London. I grabbed my bag, parted from the group, and caught a train straight to Kansai International Airport. (In case it is still news, our team was nominated for the BAFTA Ones to Watch Award for our game Chambara, and I acquired last minute sponsorship to attend the BAFTA Game Awards ceremony in London). (Honestly, I really do have a hard time believing half of what I'm writing in this post).  

Leg 1 of the insane journey to London, via Qatar Airlines

Stayed in Doha, Qatar airport for a short layover - it was pretty funky

Leg 2 to Heathrow, London

So that was a fun. Hopped off the plane and caught a train straight over to my hostel, picked up a rental tux (they call it dinner jacket), and got ready for the awards. While I was getting dressed in my tux in the hostel room, there was two Korean girls "discreetly" (not discreetly, there's a shutter sound) taking photos because they were super confused about the tux (so was I, to be fair).

(Most of the) 'Team OK' gang at the BAFTAs

And we went to the ceremony. And it was really surreal and we won the Ones to Watch Award and took a ton of photos and made awkward conversation with many people and felt crazy jet-lag and everything was pretty generally crazy.

Anyways, woke up the next morning and went to the Tesco supermarket and bought the cheapest, most flavorless box of cereal that could be found, just to commemorate our stay in Scotland working on Chambara (we ate a lot of cheap, flavorless cereal from Scotland Tesco).

And went out for some touristing in London!

The team at Trafalgar Square

We found the same famous Indian restaurant my family went to the last time we were in London this past summer after they joined us in Scotland.

Like I said, it was crazy. And it was great to see the team again and hang out and frantically run around London together.

March 21st - NIPPONBASHI STREET FESTA 2015 
After London, I flew back to Osaka Saturday morning (arriving Sunday night, gah) just before a week of mid-term review (woohoo!). The following weekend there happened to be a giant cosplay festival happening in Nipponbashi (that same electronic district in Osaka from before). I went with a group out to that and got some photos.

All the streets in the entire area were absolutely packed like this

Danboard from Yotsuba&! <<link>>

An oddly super popular cosplay choice

We walked right past him, and then he struck a pose

And that was that! 

March 25th - March 29th - SPRING BREAK in TOKYO
For our (relatively shorter) Spring Break, I went on a trip with 3 other guys (and really, just about everyone else in our program) to Tokyo.

Wednesday March 25th

Advertisement in shopping catalog on Peach Airlines - with amazing product descriptions

Another flight on Peach Airlines. Peach is always fun. You just have to close your eyes and not think about all the weird noises the engine makes the entire flight. 

Ueno Park just after arriving - from the outside of the park

Took a train from the airport into central Tokyo. Stopped off at Ueno Park along the way, where some cherry blossoms were just starting to bloom. Mainly a travel day though, with lots of training and planing and training everywhere. 

Our capsule hotel - actually fairly comfortable given the price

Arrived at our accommodation for 4 nights. All things considered, the facilities were not bad, we could close off our area with curtains, and the location was pretty central in Tokyo. 

Thursday March 27th

The day was mainly characterized by heading to Shibuya and wandering around most of the day, before the group split up for the night. 

Shibuya Crossing (the really famous one)
-photo taken during off hours, so not so crowded then

Shibuya Crossing is fairly comparable to Times Square, with the amount of activity it gets. We got some Starbucks coffee at what I was reading is the world's most busy and lucrative Starbucks in the world (pretty believable!). From there, we just kicked back and watched as people scrambled across the crossing all morning. 

1000% Wedding! -idk

Limited time Yotsuba & Danboard Store in Shibuya

I didn't know it at the time, but we were just down the street from the Yotsuba & Danboard Pop-up Shop that was running in Shibuya during March. I was pretty excited to find that out. (Yotsuba&! is a -really really good- manga). It turns out it's a pretty decent beginner's manga to read in Japanese, so that's what myself and a couple friends have been reading here in Japan.

Danboard Cafe

On the 4th floor of the same building, they had a Danboard Cafe with themed deserts. Again, I was pretty excited. 

Yoyogi Park in Shibuya

The group split up here, and I and one other friend went out to explore some more while the rest of the group went to Tokyo Disneyland for the evening. (Partially, I was feeling that I wouldn't see anything new at Tokyo Disneyland, and the lines would be horrendous - sounds like that ended up being the case, so no regrets at all not going this time). 

Crepes in Yoyogi Park :)

Instead we went to Yoyogi Park in Shibuya and wandered around and enjoyed some fresh air and escaping the crowds. A really, really relaxing afternoon in Tokyo. Yoyogi Park is a large park near Shibuya, known for being a popular hangout spot on the weekends. I've seen many, many parks in Japan that I like, but Yoyogi park was probably my favorite. 

Meiji Shrine

Near (and sort of in?) Yoyogi Park is Meiji Shrine, a really famous shrine in Tokyo where Emperor Meiji is said to be enshrined. Due to its ties to Meiji and the Meiji Restoration, there are significant associations to Japan's modernization and political shifting of power to the emperor. 

Meiji Shrine

At night, we headed up over to Asakusa to meet another friend and see some Tokyo nightlife. Along the way, we happened to stop by Senoji Temple, another rather famous temple in Tokyo. 

Senoji Temple in Asakusa

Senoji Temple

Part of Akihabara District at night

Friday March 28th 

Friday was designated as pretty much a full day in Akihabara (this is what happens when you become friends with otaku - basically, anime fans). Akihabara (pictured above) is a fairly famous electronic and generally otaku district in Tokyo.  

Super Potato - Second-hand retro games shop

Went by a ton of anime and manga shops. One of my favorite though was Super Potato, a retro games store with just about every Nintendo console and a game catalog to fill a multiple story building. 

So we did this

We went to a maid cafe, for the experience. That was... not my thing. Really pretty expensive (embarrassingly expensive). Waitresses dressed as maids came around and to talk to you and provide entertainment by being super moe (cutesy). They spoke English to us primarily (which was occasionally really uncomfortable, for example the respectful -sama honorific translates to master, which carries uncomfortable connotations being called master constantly). Though we did get one or two to speak Japanese with us for a while, which was less uncomfortable. 

Ironically, the maids order you around a whole lot more (asking you to do and say all sorts of cutesy things as well, like wear cat ears and say nyan nyan before receiving your food). So there was that. There were a couple Japanese guys there that were definitely regulars. A few other foreigner groups. And maybe 1/4 of the customers there were female.

And we got these. Pretty sure mine is a rabbit

Probably goes without saying at this point, we went to a lot of themed cafes in Tokyo (again, result of being friends with otaku that have a lot of different interests). Cafes were generally themed by some anime/manga/game franchise where they sell overpriced drinks and food with some kind of design and name based on the series. Pretty cool to see while I had the chance, but not something I would keep doing on future trips to Tokyo. 

Anyway, we also stopped at the Gundam Cafe in Akihabara, which was pretty neat.

Went to the Gundam Cafe in Akihabara

Even neater was the bathroom, which had a toilet seat that automatically opened when the door was opened. It also had a cool mirror and a button you could press that would cause the whole room to make lots of robot sounds and have light effects and stuff. A unique experience.

Gundam Cafe had the coolest bathroom, ever

Saturday March 28th

Saturday, we made a special trip out to the new Tokyo Pokemon Center in Ikebukuro. The Pokemon Center was honestly not that much more impressive than the one in Osaka, but getting to wander around Ikebukuro was really interesting (a fairly popular shopping and entertainment district). 

Super Pokemon Center

Minor J-Pop groups promoting at the mall drawing a bit of a crowd 

We also returnded to Yoyogi park with the full group for a full on Cherry Blossum/Hanami Spring festival. There was also supposed to be a small music festival going on in the park, with the events at the 'Spring Stage,' 'Peach Tent,' and the 'Love Stage.' All to raise environmental awareness. 

Back at Yoyogi Park with the crowds

Hanabi at Yoyogi Park

Again really, really liked Yoyogi Park. It was definitely fun just to kick back and watch all the people picnicing and enjoying the beginning of Spring Hanabi (cherry blossom viewing). 

"Artnia" Final Fantasy/Dragon Quest Cafe

Finally, Saturday night, we traveled over to the Square Enix building where a odd little egg shaped cafe was set up dedicated to Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. Again, another cafe with odd themed food and expensive drinks, but again pretty interesting and fun. Also went out that night and made friends with a random bartender not far from our hotel, who gave us plenty of free drinks and Japanese practice. 

Sunday March 29th

Another travel day, to be sure. Before heading out, part of the group made it over to see the Tokyo Skytree. It's a relatively popular tourist attraction known for good views. Unfortunately, there is a huge, multiple hour long waiting process that we didn't have time for, so the rest of the group bought fast passes to go to the top and I stayed on the ground and wandered around and took in the sights. (felt like it was too cloudy that day to pay $40 or so just to go up anyways). 

Tokyo Skytree

From there, we just hopped back on our train for a little ways, hopped off for a quick ramen lunch, and hopped back on to the airport. 

And there was that. Pretty much some of the main highlights of March summed up in one post. I'm still behind a few weeks, and planning to do the same catch-up for April soon. I will say that April has been mostly characterized by enjoying the beautiful Spring nature (despite the nearly constant rain all month), balancing all sorts of new activities with classwork, and meeting lots and lots of new Japanese students. Life is pretty good.

Hiroshima Trip

This past week has been quite an emotional ride. I finally have bought and squared away plane and award ceremony tickets for the BAFTAs thanks to my university. So officially, this next week I will be traveling (from Osaka) to London from Wednesday night to Sunday night to attend the British Academy of Film and Television Arts 'Video Game Awards Ceremony' for the Chambara team's 'Ones to Watch Award' nomination (that's a mouthful!). And to think that two weeks ago my plan was not to fly to London...

Even besides trying to figure that out (across 3 different time zones!), it was still an extremely busy week. A friend and I met with my Speaking Partner and some of his friends for another yakiniku (all you can eat BBQ) night. Also Friday night, I finally met my Homevisit Partner in Osaka City, where we went out to eat and ran around Namba and 'America-Town' (small area with lots of Western related fashion, apparel, hip hip-hop teens, and the only Apple store in the city apparently).

Hanging out with Homevisit Partner in Namba

Friday midday, I went with a group of 20 study abroad students to a junior high school, where we were paid volunteers to play games and practice English with the students. The school treated us like celebrities (as we were walking up to the school, all the windows of the school building were full of faces peering out at us to get a glimpse of the pack of foreigners). They presented skits and songs they had prepared for us, then we broke off into groups and played a board game that involved me trying out Japanese culture (like eating a spoonful of wasabi) and trying to describe American culture in what English they could understand.

Gifts from my Junior High group (including the board game, origami, tea, juggling bean bags, and a tube of wasabi)

I wish I had more pictures of the day, but when working with students/minors, the rules for taking pictures can be strict.




Saturday morning, we left for a class field trip to Hiroshima. Getting to Hiroshima only took about an hour from Osaka on the shinkansen (bullet train). The class sponsoring the field trip (to the best of my knowledge) focuses on peace, development, and human rights. This field trip happens to be the most widely attended (bringing in well over 100 students every semester). The purpose is primarily to visit the Atomic Bomb Memorial Site and attend a presentation given just to our class every semester by a survivor.

First ride on the shinkansen

Atomic Bomb Dome from the Aioi Bridge (the intended bombing target)

Presentation given just for our class by an atom bomb survivor

On pillar at museum entrance:
"Water, please"

Peace Memorial Museum, Hiroshima after the bombing

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park

I am not going to write all that much about Hiroshima here. There are just too many tangled and strong emotions that are just too much to fit inside the scope of this post. I will say that it was an extremely heavy, troubling experience. It shouldn't be a surprise, but the stark contrast between how the narrative of the atomic bombings is presented in American schools versus here in Japan is jarring. The bombing came as a major surprise and shock to Japan, and it feels very apparent that feeling of shock has still not gone away all these years later.




Afterwards, we ran over to Hiroshima Castle to look around and decompress a bit.

Some (plum?) blossoms blooming

Hiroshima Castle

Dinner at Okonomiyaki-mura (Hiroshima is known for its style of okonomiyaki)

By nightfall, we had just enough time to catch a ferry over to the island of Miyajima (a world heritage site in Japan).

The famous torri gate of Miyajima

No one left on the island, everything was closed, so it was very calming

We took the nightbus back from Hiroshima to Osaka (about 5-6 hours trip). Sunday, I caught up on sleep, then caught a short train up towards Kyoto to Yawata to visit a couple shrines recommended to see by my Religion in Japan professor.

Hiko Jinja : Flight/Aviation shrine

Here, you could pass paper airplanes with wishes through the cleansing ring

Bamboo forest climbing up to the mountain shrine at Yawata

Oddly enough, part of the larger shrine at Yawata is dedicated to Thomas Edison (the story goes that he used the bamboo from this forest to invent the first incandescent lightbulb). So, if you have any electricity related problems, you pray to Thomas Edison here. (we're ignoring the fact that Thomas Edison has since become a rather infamous figure).

Thomas Edison is enshrined as a kami for his work bringing electricity to Japan

Nearby, there is a statue dedicated to the Japanese Boy Scouts

At the top of the mountain sits the Iwashimizu-Hachiman shrine

In the bamboo forest

It was quite the weekend. Quite the rollercoaster of emotions. Next up, I will soon be traveling to London this Wednesday night! Also very overwhelming and exciting.