Ryoushin no Ryokou Part 1: Gates

Above: Tori Tunnel - Gates of Fushimi Inari Taisha

As most of you are aware, my recent absence from the blogosphere is due to a birthday visit from dear ole Mom and Dad (in Japanese, the word for parents is written 両親, pronounced "ryoushin"). They packed their bags and braved a 14 hour nonstop flight from Atlanta plus an additional hour and a half flight from Tokyo, to my closest mainland airport, at Yonago for two weeks of sight-seeing and birthday celebrating. This was not without its complications, as they were unable to communicate in Tokyo their desire to check their baggage, and the non-confrontational nature of the Japanese led the airport security to just wave them through the metal detectors and x-ray scanners with a brief scolding and written notice, bags and all. Furthermore, their flight to Yonago was delayed. It was good to see them though, as they made their way through the arrival gate at the airport, and we soon caught a bus back to Yonago for the night.

The next day, as we prepared to board our train for Kyoto, we discovered that, despite what JR says about their rail passes, they can not be activated at any JR station, only a select few, with Yonago not making the list. I also found out that, when you advise your mom to bring money in the form of postal money orders, it's best to blatantly specify they be of the international variety, because plain old postal money orders aren't valid in Japan, or anywhere else outside of the US. Despite, these setbacks though, we were able to exchange some cash for Yen, and purchase 3 tickets to Okayama, where we would then activate my parents' rail passes so they could travel for free for the rest of their stay. Needless to say, all of this set us back a few hours, and we weren't really able to get much sight-seeing in. Though we did spend a fair amount of time at Kyoto Station, which I must say is a marvel of modern architecture, and we walked past Higashi Hoganji on our way to our hotel (more on the Hoganji Temples in the future). It was probably for the best though, as I think Mom and Dad were both still pretty tired from all the traveling they'd done, just to get to Kyoto. So at the end of the day, I introduced them to a classic Japanese dish, Okonomiyaki, before heading back to our very nice hotel for a good night's rest. First though, Dad and I donned our yukata and headed up to public bath on the top floor for a nice long soak in the ridiculously hot water.

The next day, I insisted on waking up bright and early so that we could see as much as possible, especially since, despite having studied in the kansai for 3 1/2 months before, much remained (and still remains!) to be seen. Of course, nothing ever really goes according to plan all that much, and we ended up boarding our local train from Kyoto Station about an hour later than I had hoped. To top it all off there was a very steady drizzle for most of the morning. Undeterred though, I led the 'rents off the train at the tiny Inari Station, crossed the street, and made our way toward an absolutely giant orange tori.

First Stop: Fushimi Inari Taisha
The orange tori is characteristic of shrines to the goddess Inari, a rice deity, often associated with foxes. Inari is one of the most popular dieties in Japan, with over 30,000 shrines dotting the country. (I've seen them in Buddhist temples, across the street from each other, and even multiple shrines to Inari on the grounds of other shrines.) Fushimi Inari, though, is the grandest and largest of them all. Originally dedicated as a single shrine in the 8th century by the Hata family, the complex now five shrines sprawled across Inari-yama (Inari Mountain). A 4km trail, lined with literally hundreds of orange tori gates and littered with stone foxes, connects the five shrines. Due to the rain and all the gates, the whole area past the entryway was rather dark, not to mention wet. So we hiked up to the 3rd shrine, near a large pond, and decided to call it a day there. It was nearing 10am by this point, and I still had an entire city to show, so we made it back to the station where we waited about 20 minutes for the next train to Nara...

(See all my photos of Fushimi Inari Taisha.)

Bledisloe

Lord Bledisloe, it seems, enjoyed 2 things in life: Rugby, and giant silver cups, like the one he donated to an annual tournament held between the New Zealand All Blacks and the Australian Wallabies, possibly the 2 best teams to ever play the sport of rugby. The four game tournament, now known as the Bledisloe Cup, has been played every year since the early 1930s, with venues alternating between the countries. Last year, all that changed when game 4 was played in Hong Kong. Wanting to make a tradition out of moving the 4th game, the decision was made to play in Tokyo. I, not wanting to miss what may be my only chance to attend a professional rugby event ever in my entire life, decided to ditch all of my Halloween plans and hop the first flight to Tokyo.

I stayed at a friend's house Friday night in Matsue. I walked to the bus station the morning of the 31st, eighty bucks richer from a poker game the night before and eagerly anticipating my first international sporting event. My plane touched down at Haneda Airport in Tokyo at 1:30. The gates to the game opened at 3:30, with kick off being at 5:30, so it seemed as if I'd have plenty of time. And then I realized that I was in Tokyo - a city whose infrastructure consists of a literal maze of more than a dozen subway and train lines. But, after two hours of map checking and second guessing myself, I had arrived at Tokyo's National Stadium, once home to the 1960 Olympic Games.

The first thing I did was head to the nearest merchandise tent since, let's be honest, anything rugby-related is hard to come by in the States. After 30 minutes of standing at a table so crowded I could only reach one unseen tub of merchandise with one arm, I walked away with a new Haka hoodie and an All Blacks Jersey, albeit not a great one, as there was no number on it, and being Japanese, was a little tight on me. Now that I looked the part of a mediocre rugby fan, I decided to grab a beer and what Japan thought were hot dogs and go find my seat.

Five minutes later I was on the 4th row from the front, within spitting distance of the All Blacks' bench. Now all I had to do was sit back and enjoy the show. Oh and take a ton of pics...


And a video...

The above is my attempt at filming New Zealand's infamous Haka - a traditional Maori war dance they often perform before their games. There are several variations, but this one was still pretty cool.

After the game, I braved the subway, now crowded with thousands of gaijin, and made my way to a wonderful hostel just east of downtown Shinjuku. There was a "Halloween party," as they called it that night, and I went as an All Blacks fan. I had a fun time and met some interesting people, but I didn't stay up late, as I wanted to give myself plenty of time to find my way back to the airport for my 10:35 flight Sunday morning. All in all, a great experience, though I am regretting not asking for Monday off so I could've done some more sight seeing in Tokyo.