Thank You Japan

I’m now back in England and my Japanese adventure is over for now. Going to Japan has been the single most important journey of my life. The country is full of the kindest; most accommodating people I have ever met. Japan has been endlessly surprising, an utterly intriguing place, and has surpassed my wildest imagenings. I can’t wait to return and discover it all over again!

To keep up with what I’m doing back in the UK, Please visit my craft blog: Craft, Sans Bunting.

Second day in Tokyo (Miraikan museum and Toilet exhibition)

On my second day in Tokyo, I got to visit the Miraikan Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation. I went because I had seen an article about their current ‘toilet’ exhibition and thought that I couldn’t possibly miss the opportunity to see it! The toilet exhibition was really quite funny, but also educational. Most of the signage had English translations, and it was actually very informative about toilets and poo. The idea of the exhibition was to make people more open to talking about toilet habits, because its and important issue and will continue to grow in importance as the population increases.

The highlight of the exhibition was being able to don a poop hat and slide down into a giant toilet. And just when you thought it couldn’t get any more bizzare, the end of the exhibition had a choir of singing toilets.

At the museum I got to touch the robot seal designed to provide company for older people.

Also at the museum I was able to see a demonstration of the Honda Asimo robot, something I didn’t ever think I would be able to see. Seeing the technology first hand was breathtaking.

First Day in Tokyo

(I’m actually now safe and sound back in England, but I wanted to finished documenting my time in Japan, so this will be written past tense!)
Anyway… On my first day back in Tokyo I was able to visit Tokyo Skytree; kappabashi street (famous for its kitchenware); Akihabara (the technology centre); and a maid cafe.

The view from Tokyo Skytree was absolutely incredible. It was so detailed in was unreal. At a glance the vista looked still, but if I looked very hard I could just about make out cars moving in the distance.

Kappabashi street is where restaurants acquire their pots; pans; nozzles; cookers; chopsticks; or anything else they could need. In the middle of the street is a golden statue of the mythological creature the Kappa (which the area takes as its mascot), who is said to drag children into rivers. You can see in the picture that someone has left an offering of cucumber to appease the beast (cucumber obviously being its favorate food).

Above is a poloroid of me and my maid. At the maid cafe I paid about £15 to have a coffee and a cake in the presence of five waitresses dressed in maid costumes. Most of the clientele were tourists. There was one Japanese man on his own sitting near me, he had clearly finished his food, had his bill in front of him, but he stayed and just leered at the maids. Overall, it was good fun, but not something I would make a habit of!

Capsule Hotel

After seeing Mt.Fuji, I decided I wanted to see Tokyo again on my own for a few days. And I decided to stay in a capsule hotel, I booked in advance which is apparently not really normal, because most people who use capsule hotels use them when they’ve missed the last train after a night drinking! Its not really a place which requires reservation…
But I wanted to try it, and it was tantalisingly cheap. One night is ¥2200, about £13. I was a little trepadacious, but I was confident it would be safe, and I would be staying on a woman only floor. So the place was perfectly clean and satisfactory, it was just overall a little grim! There is a sign in the elevator saying that it is watched 24/7, and there was a panic button in the woman’s bathroom… So I wasn’t worried before, but those things gave me pause.
On the plus side, it was actually rather roomy, I was able to sit up; and even get dressed in my little pod room. And it had a lovely Japanese style hot springs. I don’t know if I would choose to stay in a capsule hotel again, but I’m so glad to have tried it!

(A rather fetching selfie of me in my capsule yukata)

Mt. Fuji (Lake Kawaguchiko)

We wanted to see Mt.Fuji before we left Japan, so we decideded to go for a few days to the lakeside town of Kawaguchiko. The first two days we stayed, we weren’t actually able to see Mt.Fuji because it was so cloudy (!!), but then on the morning we were leaving, we got a beautiful view of it from the station!

(We took a cable car high up into the mountain for a beautiful view!)

(And we couldn’t resist hiring swan boats!)

While in the Fuji area we were also able to ride both the worlds tallest, and the worlds steepest rollercoaster!! The tallest rollercoaster was very jarring, and seemed to go on forever. While the worlds steepest rollercoaster left us all shaking and gave me a bit of a headache! But all in the name of fun.

Hiroshima City

After Miyajima Island, we spent the next two days exploring Hiroshima city. It actually turned out to be a very trendy place, the restaurants and cafes reminded me of Brighton’s shabby chic style.

We visited the peace museum which told of the history and effects of the A-bomb. The museum was very disturbing, and brought me to tears several times, but it was so important to go. I have no pictures from inside the museum, but the things which stick in my mind were stacks of ceramic bowls fused together from the heat. The were also samples of sand near the epicentre which became so hot they turned to glass.

(This is the Hiroshima Dome which has been preserved so that future generations can see the effects of the A-bomb. This was one of the few buildings not completing destroyed and now stands as a monument to encourage lasting peace)

(After the museums we visited a photo club booth, which essentially photoshops you and your friends by giving you bigger eyes and flawless skin)

(I thought this was a cute mistranslation!)

(Hiroshima castle)

(Me wearing traiditonal samurai garb)

(Me dressed up in traditional men’s clothing, it was super comfy, would love to own one!)

(The view from Hiroshima castle)

(Koi at Hiroshima gardens)

(Peace pagoda which we had to climb a mini mountain to see!)

(And the incredible view from the peace pagoda! This has to be one of my Japan highlights, the view was just breathtaking!)

Miyajima Island, Hiroshima Prefecture

We recently went on a trip to Hiroshima, and the first night we stayed on Miyajima Island, famed for its ‘floating’ tori gate in the sea. The island was absolutely idyllic, a beautiful place to visit. And because we took an overnight bus we arrived ridiculously early and had the island mostly to ourselves for a long while! We were very lucky to see the tori gate at low tide, and we were able to walk right up to it. The island was also full of wild deer, so that was adorable. Thinking back, it felt a bit like a dream, it was just a perfect little slice of Japan.

Exhibition

The exhibition! Three months of careful preparation led to this moment. And I think we are all very happy with the result! For now, I’ll just upload images of my area of the exhibition because there are a lot of photos!

Azuki Ice cream Finished

My Azuki ice cream boxes are finished! It is 4 boxes, one of which is open and has 2 ice creams spilling put of it.

Boss Coffee Finished

The Boss coffee cans came out of the kiln today! I think they look great, the colour is consistent, and I think they look incredible as a group!