Bedbugs Ate My Neighbour: Japan Diary #2

Hey hey, Blob here all the way from Yotsukura, Japan just outside Iwaki which is located North East of Tokyo. Its a very small fishing village on the Pacific. The ocean is a mere 6mins walk from my friend Justin's where I'm staying on and off for the next week. I arrived here on Monday with "chilling" on the mind. Promised a relaxing time filled with bonfires, good cooking, drinking and bike rides I have not been disappointed. Before I get into that, lets just recap what I've been doing up until my arrival here on Monday.

This next entry I wrote on the train ride back from Takayama and haven't had the time nor the internet to post it. I know all of you have been agonizing over when the next Blob post from Japan would be. Well here it is!

Well, I spent a bit more time in Tokyo and my impression didn't really change from the first day. It was still overwhelming, different and just overall a crazy place to be. I wasn't nervous or scared but I did find myself on edge the majority of the time while I was there. It was a great time, don't get me wrong, but it was hard to let myself enjoy it to its full extent. By Thursday it was one of those love hate relationships, where I love what the city has to offer, the sites and sounds, smells and tastes, but on the other end I hated the fact that some of the sites were ruined due to the sheer congestion of having a few million people in one spot. I hated that a good smell of a kitchen cooking nearby was overtaken with the smell of the Tokyo sewer and your appetite was instantly ruined for a good 20 seconds or longer depending how many people took a shit that day. There wasn't much to hate per say, that's a strong word, but it did cause some appreciation of Tokyo to get a little lost. Looking back on it however with a few days to come to grip with it I conclude that that's Tokyo, and its those small dislikes that make the city what it is. So 3 cheers for random smells of sewage!

So I stayed there splitting my time between my friend Dan's place and a hotel until trip to Takayama on the 30th of April. Takayama is a remote town North of Tokyo in the prefecture of Gifu. Known for its historical Japanese streets, sake breweries and excellent walking trails, it was going to be a welcome change to the hustle and bustle of Tokyo. The trip started off poorly however. I was spending the time there with my friend Justin. We only needed to spend one more night in Tokyo before we were to leave for Takayama, and we wanted to sleep cheap so we found a dive hotel over in Asakusa which is the East-end of Tokyo. It was a sleazy little joint that was only like $30 some CDN. It was only going to be for a night and we were to meet up with our friend Damien that night for some dinner and drinks so we would only be spending like 6-7 hours in the place maximum in that hole? so whatever, we'll take it. We get to the room and we noticed two warning sides right off the bat; although we asked for 2 futons we only got one and it stank of fish food. We went down and talked to the hotel manager at the desk to try and get two futons instead of the one but the hotel owner couldn't help so we decided to split the futon into two. Most futons have a top piece and a bottom piece so it wasn't going to be THAT big of a deal...We thought... (Blobs Fun Japan Facts: Futons in Japan are different than the North American futon which is usually a couch that pulls out into a bed. Japanese futons are just small thin mattresses that you place directly on floor. Its rare to find a bed in Japan, most families and homes have futons in order to save space and money). So once we switch out the futon to make two separate beds, we went to bed for a few hours before our morning Shinkansen (Bullet Train) to Takayama.

Unfortunately for Justin, before going into the shower the following morning he noticed small itchy red marks on his arms and upper torso. Over the course of the day he turned up more. Turns out he got bit by some sort of bedbugs found in the bottom piece of the futon. It apparently is a pretty common occurrence when one doesn't take care of their futons or the wicker flooring. Lucky for me, I was untouched and was glad I took the more uncomfortable mattress of the two. Problem: We had planned to stay there another night after Takayama when we got back into Tokyo, but we decided that it would be best that we cancel and find somewhere else for the Sunday night after Justin continued to scratch himself like a heroine junkie waiting for his next fix . If you ever plan to stay in Asakusa, Tokyo, don't stay in a shithole called...uhh...I forget but if the room smells like fish food you'll know to get out immediately.

So off to Takayama for a few days! I was anxious to get out of the city and into somewhere new. I have never seen such beauty as I did during the train ride there. Rolling hills, rice patties and farms covered the country side outside of Tokyo. Looking out the train window you could see Mt. Fuji in the distance which was an impressive site. Our seats on the Shinkansen were on the opposite side so I couldn't get a picture/video of it, but I saw it nonetheless. The countryside turned into rolling hills and then into large cliffs covered in trees and greenery. Before long we were riding through a canyon covered in forest encompassing small villages and rivers. I couldn't take my eyes off the window and the landscape passing by, it was just so impressive and awe-inspiring. Coming from the concrete jungle of Tokyo to this sight seemed overdue and needed.

After about 3.5-4 hours on train we reached the town of Takayama itself. It was a small slice of Japanese heaven. Its a popular little tourist spot among Japanese and foreigners alike, but its remote enough to keep large crowds away. It seemed that anytime we spoke of it before and after our trip a number of Japanese didn't even know where it was. A secret in the North maybe? Probably not, but its nice to know I went to somewhere fairly new on the tourist radar here in Japan. The locals in "The Tak" were very laid back and seem to welcome tourists to the area with warmth and hospitality. That or they hate us, but know how to put a smile on their face and fake a conversation. That could be a possibility too. But if it is a facade, it works and I'll take it. I'm going against the ladder in this though and think it was quite genuine

It was in Takayama I finally got the feel of "real Japan" as my friend Justin put it. I was able to obtain some sort of grounding and adjust my sleep patterns thanks to real beds. The town itself has 7 Sake breweries and is renowned for its quality. For those who don't know what Sake is, its a rice wine and rather delicious. I prefer it ice-cold but you can also have it hot, which most people associate it with. Justin and I toured around the area, sampled sake, ate some traditional dishes including local Japanese mushrooms served over miso on a hot skillet brought right to our table. Justin and I managed to eat them and proceed to get completely wasted on sake and stumbled our way back to the hotel room, but not before Justin had to talk up some locals, get some late night chicken and fall into a bunch of plants arranged around the entrance of our hotel.

Over the two days I was able to take a number of excellent pictures including a few of the sun setting beyond the mountains and the town below, bought some gifts for people and do a little exploring around some temples. We spent 2 days there and because the town was so small and relatively quick to explore, it was plenty of time to see everything. Made some friends with some locals and we really enjoyed it. Great experience!

We headed back to Tokyo on the Sunday day. We needed a new place to stay that night and because it was Golden Week here in Japan it was going to prove to be somewhat difficult. But we managed to find this whore house just outside of Shinjuku and...

Well, I won't get into that now, maybe my next entry. Keep checking back for Diary Entry #3: Nothing Says Japan Like Octopus Tentacles, Bruised Shoulders and Bonfires!