Burrowowl

It looks like the fine folks at Manga Inc have gotten their happy little hands onto Volume 3 of School Rumble. Due to recent diskspace and quota increases at My ISP I have been able to keep my temporary http archive of this title up and running. It now includes up to chapter 33, wherein Tenma’s inner peace is threatened by the appearance of his former classmates.

When visiting Tokyo, please make sure of the following:

1. Visit the Yasukuni Jinja and the Yushukan Museum on its grounds. This is where Japan honors its war dead (they have the names, birthplaces, and place of death for every Japanese soldier that died in battle since the Meiji Restoration began). Powerful stuff, even for a foreigner like myself.
2. Fodor’s has it wrong; the Imperial Palace in Tokyo is closed both on Mondays and Fridays, not just Mondays.
3. Otemachi station will get you just about anywhere, but be prepared to walk. A lot.
4. JR stations have the Daily Yomiuri in English. Subway (Eikan or Toei) stations do not.
5. Asashoryu is the baddest man presently alive.
6. When travelling with another person, “Futatsu” is the most useful word for communication after “Sumimasen”.
7. The Tobu line really is the best way to get to Nikko. Cheap + Fast == Good.
8. If it’s a shrine or temple, it is probably closed by 4pm.
9. Never hesitate to rely on the friendliness of the Japanese public. Their hospitality and willingness to help out confused Gaijin appears to know no bounds. That being said, if you get directions of how to go some place, confirm with a second source. Friendliness does not ensure accuracy.
10. Aboveground transportation (eg. JR lines) really are a better way to see the city. Subways get you there fast, but all you see are sleeping Japanese and tunnel walls.
11. There’s an absolutely outstanding Yakitori restaurant up the street from the Nezu Station (near Toudai). You won’t be able to tell that its name is “Matsuyoshi,” but if you see a really quite attractive yakitori place on Shinobazu Dori, go in. They open at 5pm
12. Most public restrooms in Tokyo have a western-style toilet. Depending upon your urgency and the nature of your need, it may be worth a check. Also, bring your own hand towel; very few public restrooms have hand-driers or paper towels. Shops sell them around here for about ¥300.
13. Main streets are easier to locate yourself on using maps, but the narrow side streets are where the cool stuff is.

Once photos are available, more useful information will be included with the pertinent pictures.

We Have arrived at Sawanoya, our Ryokan in Tokyo. Local time is 15:35, January 19.

The differance between our Kyoto lodging an our Tokyo appears to be a good metaphor for the two cities themselves. Yuhara in Kyoto was very small, with only a handful of rooms (not even numbered; we stayed in “Matsu”) with a staff consisting entirely of the Yuharas themselves. We had a coin-op television with thirteen stations, and an in-room phone that only rang down to the front desk. Here there is DSL available in our room (the form factor on their DSL modem is something I shall need to speak with certain staffers at my place of employment), a dining room with a free-use, internet-connected computer, free tea and coffee, and some rather detailed English-language guide information available readily. It sacrifices some of the old-world charm, but so far I would highly recommend staying here if you get the chance. It is a seven-minute walk from Nezu-Eki (subway), and a very short taxi ride from Ueno-Eki (JR).

As always, the public transportation system was a great help to us in making the move from Kyoto to Tokyo. Though rather expensive at about ¥25,400, the Shinkansen was fast, comfortable, effecient, and easy to use even with our extremely limited Japanese language skills. The kind folks at JR even let us connect from Tokyo-Eki to Ueno-Eki at no additional charge. While in Tokyo I may be picking up a USB card-reader that will work with the memory for my camera (provided that the hotspot in Ueno Koen doesn’t work for me), so there should be photos up in the next couple of days.

First, I have to say that the location of the double-quote character on Japanese keyboards confounds me. Secondly, the ease of use of the afforementioned Freespots eludes me entirely. Local time is 13:55 on Sunday the 18th and this is my first time back on the internet since leaving my house Monday at 4:00am (no email-checking for me, no-sir!).

That being said, the fair city of Kyoto is doing quite well, thank you very much. I write this from the ninth floor of the Isetan department store, directly above Kyoto Station. Pictures will be forthcoming, but I neglected to bring an SD-card reader, so there will be no photographic updates from here. The temples and shrine have been lovely, but by far the highlights of our trip have been Nijo Castle, the gardens at the Ginkakuji (Silver Pavilion), and the Kyudo Tournament at Sanjusangen-Do. All are fabulous in their own way, but a quick warning: English tourism guides are wrong; the Kyudo Tournament is not on the 15th of January every year. This time it was on the 18th. There, I’ve said my peace.

Rebecca and I will be headed off to Japan tomorrow morning. Our travels are expected to take us to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Tokyo, and Kamakura. Photo and textual updates will be made available, hotspot access permitting. It strikes me as terribly geeky that I would seek to post photos of my trip while I’m still on it, but I shall endeavor to with the help of the kind folks at Freespot. I expect to go out of my way at least once in Kyoto, and once in Tokyo to locate a good wifi access point so I can post up some pics.