It's over, I've left Japan. Here begins my life after JET.
The end was nice. I got to say goodbye to almost everyone important before the end, and felt that if I wanted to make it happen, we could meet again in the future. I'm sure I'll get the chance.
I was expecting the end to feel like a tragedy. Sad and dramatic. Kind of like this:
But really it felt more like a celebration. More like this:
Is it a bad thing that I can only thing of the big events in my life in terms of fiction?
Anyway, I still have some stuff from Japan to blog about. Then I have to work out what to do with myself. Finally, the point of the blog sharpens to a....well, anyway.
LET us go then, you and I ...through certain half-deserted streets... To lead you to an overwhelming question...
Friday, 30 July 2010
Monday, 26 July 2010
Last day at school
Tuesday was my last day at school. I took the remainder of my contract days off since I had a surplus of nenkyuu (paid holidays). The most nerve-wracking business of the day was giving my farewell speech to all the students and teachers at a farewell ceremony in the gym. On paper it shouldn't have been any scarier than the one I did at Kagikou two weeks before, but at Tokusho I know more of the students, more of the teachers, and the place has been more of a home since Higashi closed.
The ceremony, like all Japanese ceremonies, was complicated and confusing. I had to sit down in a chair at the front of the room at the end of the regular end of term ceremony. Then the student guidance teacher harangued the students about discipline in the worst possible way - that way teachers talk in assemblies without having anything written down, and they just cover the usual cliches with lots of pausing while they work out their next line. Then the career guidance teacher gave a spiel, this one at least prepared. Then the teacher in charge of school business gave another speech about things the students needed to be aware of over the summer. Finally, I was announced, and I went up to the stage where the Principal spoke briefly about the wonder that is me. Then I gave my speech, which despite its hasty preparation the morning of, my forgetting it at home and even hastier rewriting it in brief memo form, went off quite well. At the end I took out my concealed camera and took a picture of the students, to better communicate what it's like to stand up in front of everyone:
After my speech, the head of the student council said a few words and I was given a giant bouquet of flowers. The students sang the school song at me and I descended the stage, and walked out with the students clapping and the teachers bowing. It was a nice moment.
I stayed at school for most of the day, and some students dropped by to say goodbye and give letters or gifts. I took pictures with them so I would remember them if I ever saw them again. I think I probably owe these kids more than they owe me for being their teacher.
On Tuesday evening Ada had a farewell party, which was pleasant. I made Mario order Uma no karaaage (an inside joke from our Momotaro musical of two years ago), much to the consternation of the waiter. I found it, and still find it difficult to feel really sad about leaving, even though it's less than two days away for me, but maybe I'll fall apart before the end. We can only hope.
The ceremony, like all Japanese ceremonies, was complicated and confusing. I had to sit down in a chair at the front of the room at the end of the regular end of term ceremony. Then the student guidance teacher harangued the students about discipline in the worst possible way - that way teachers talk in assemblies without having anything written down, and they just cover the usual cliches with lots of pausing while they work out their next line. Then the career guidance teacher gave a spiel, this one at least prepared. Then the teacher in charge of school business gave another speech about things the students needed to be aware of over the summer. Finally, I was announced, and I went up to the stage where the Principal spoke briefly about the wonder that is me. Then I gave my speech, which despite its hasty preparation the morning of, my forgetting it at home and even hastier rewriting it in brief memo form, went off quite well. At the end I took out my concealed camera and took a picture of the students, to better communicate what it's like to stand up in front of everyone:
I stayed at school for most of the day, and some students dropped by to say goodbye and give letters or gifts. I took pictures with them so I would remember them if I ever saw them again. I think I probably owe these kids more than they owe me for being their teacher.
On Tuesday evening Ada had a farewell party, which was pleasant. I made Mario order Uma no karaaage (an inside joke from our Momotaro musical of two years ago), much to the consternation of the waiter. I found it, and still find it difficult to feel really sad about leaving, even though it's less than two days away for me, but maybe I'll fall apart before the end. We can only hope.
Day 3 - Mountains again, Gandalf
On the last day of our trip - Monday - we decided to head back to Miyajima to take the ropeway up to the top of Mt Misen.
First was a four-person gondola:
We made it to the top after much sweating. There were many views to enjoy. The looks out over the Seto Inland sea towards Shikoku, "our island" (though I don't think you can see it here).
With little time until our bus back to Tokushima, we rushed to the town of Kurashiki, which is famous for its preserved historical quarter. I wish we'd had more time to spend there, as there are so few places in Japan where the old isn't encroached upon by the new on all sides.
We got our bus back to Tokushima, which despite the rail link seems by far the best mode of transport between the two prefectures. On the bus I nabbed some sunset pictures. Behold!
Day 2 - Trains, trams and boats
On Day 2, we got up fairly early and went to the station to find a way to Hiroshima. After concluding every other option would be too long and boring for words, we decided to use the shinkansen or 'bullet train'. The took the next available one, which was a Kodama, the slowest of the three shinkansen services, due to the fact that it stops at all stations on the line. Still, it was only around an hour between Okayama and Hiroshima, a journey which takes up to three hours using local lines.
In Hiroshima, in deference to Lesson 4 of the Voice Oral Communication textbook "Show me the way" we went to all the places the characters talk about.
Hiroshima Baseball stadium:
The A-bomb dome:
And the rest of the Peace Memorial Park:
Not in the textbook, but still of interest to me since I like castles, was Hiroshima castle.
I got another pin badge at the Peace Memorial Park tourist shop, and one in the castle, bringing my trip total to seven. I've never been so successful on such a short trip before.
After Hiroshima Castle, we decided to head to Miyajima-guchi, where our hostel was. Miyajima-guchi is the station beside the ferry port to Miyajima, another place in the textbook and a World Heritage Site. After stopping by our hostel and dropping some bags, we jumped on the ferry.
Miyajima has a large population of deer which welcome visitors by prying into their bags and trying to eat the contents.
Emily and I were eating special Hiroshima nikuman - meat dumplings - and were shocked to find a deer defying its vegetarian upbringing and trying to get at them.
Miyajima is so-called because of the shrine on the seashore on the north side of the island. The torii shrine gate is a famous Japanese image. Here are a couple of my photographic efforts:
After calling it a day at Miyajima, we followed some inaccurate directions to a cinema to see Inception, a film I didn't dislike, but fail to understand why everyone is so enamoured with.
In Hiroshima, in deference to Lesson 4 of the Voice Oral Communication textbook "Show me the way" we went to all the places the characters talk about.
Hiroshima Baseball stadium:
After Hiroshima Castle, we decided to head to Miyajima-guchi, where our hostel was. Miyajima-guchi is the station beside the ferry port to Miyajima, another place in the textbook and a World Heritage Site. After stopping by our hostel and dropping some bags, we jumped on the ferry.
Miyajima has a large population of deer which welcome visitors by prying into their bags and trying to eat the contents.
Miyajima is so-called because of the shrine on the seashore on the north side of the island. The torii shrine gate is a famous Japanese image. Here are a couple of my photographic efforts:
Last travels - Day 1
Last weekend was a three-day weekend, Monday being a national holiday. Not knowing what else to do, Emily and I planned a trip to Okayama and Hiroshima. And we didn't plan it very well. We booked accomodation at about 8am, an hour before we got on our bus. (*addendum by Emily; more like we didn't plan at all, and just did everything perfectly the first time round)
We got lunch at a place in the Okayama station building, during which I noticed not one, not two, not three but FOUR pin badge machines. It was a very exciting moment for me. Each machine was different, so right off the bat I got four new pin badges (obviously I could have gotten more, but I have rules). Only one of the pins was actually an Okayama pin, so my hopes were high about finding more on our travels.
Our first stop was Okayama castle, much like any other castle in Japan except for being black instead of white. Here's how we got there:
I love trams. I think they're tram-endous.
Anyway, here's the castle:
The castle's interior was along the lines of Osaka castle, in that it was basically a museum with little of the original (or at least restored) interior. I prefer my old buildings to be properly old inside and out. But you can't expect much in Japan. A lot of old buildings were bombed to bits during the second world war and rebuilt after, and others were knocked down because there wasn't the money to maintain them. However, the trip to the castle was fruitful in other ways. Or one other way, I should say. I got another pin badge from a machine at the top. It was a different kind of machine to the others, so I didn't break any rules.
We got a combination ticket to the castle and nearby Korakuen gardens, which turned out to be a very beautiful place. See attached beauty:
It was extremely hot, however, so we had to keep stopping for drinks and shaved ice treats. We also found an area where you could cool your feet in a shallow pool. Eventually, having seen them from atop the castle, we became determined to venture out onto the moat in that most dangerous of vessels, the swan boat. Upon crossing a very sketchy bridge over to the docking area, we had the mad old man warn us of the dangers of the river's current, and he drew us a map telling us where not to go. Unfortunately, the map was basically two lines and didn't include any landmarks, so we pretty much had to play the thing by ear.
The steering was about as responsive as Mario Kart Double Dash, and to get anywhere at all you had to paddle at extreme speeds, which, with the blistering heat, meant extensive sweatification. After endangering our lives in this manner for a while, we returned to the dock where the deranged old man overcharged us and sent us on our way.
In the evening, after watching some Japanese TV featuring a guy with a pet monkey, Emily insisted we eat at a place advertised in the Lonely Planet. So we did.
We got lunch at a place in the Okayama station building, during which I noticed not one, not two, not three but FOUR pin badge machines. It was a very exciting moment for me. Each machine was different, so right off the bat I got four new pin badges (obviously I could have gotten more, but I have rules). Only one of the pins was actually an Okayama pin, so my hopes were high about finding more on our travels.
Our first stop was Okayama castle, much like any other castle in Japan except for being black instead of white. Here's how we got there:
Anyway, here's the castle:
We got a combination ticket to the castle and nearby Korakuen gardens, which turned out to be a very beautiful place. See attached beauty:
It was extremely hot, however, so we had to keep stopping for drinks and shaved ice treats. We also found an area where you could cool your feet in a shallow pool. Eventually, having seen them from atop the castle, we became determined to venture out onto the moat in that most dangerous of vessels, the swan boat. Upon crossing a very sketchy bridge over to the docking area, we had the mad old man warn us of the dangers of the river's current, and he drew us a map telling us where not to go. Unfortunately, the map was basically two lines and didn't include any landmarks, so we pretty much had to play the thing by ear.
In the evening, after watching some Japanese TV featuring a guy with a pet monkey, Emily insisted we eat at a place advertised in the Lonely Planet. So we did.
Wednesday, 21 July 2010
Three more parties
Last Wednesday evening, we had a Higashi Kougyou reunion party. Since Higashi Kougyou (Tokushima East Technical High school) closed in March 2009, the English teachers who were working there towards the end have met up every now and then for dinner, to chat and reminisce, and complain about our new schools. Myself, Mrs Templemarsh and Mrs Paddyriver hadn't been at Higashi for that long before it closed, and we were all moved to the new school formed when the Higashi students merged with those of the main Tokushima technical high. Mrs Goldmarsh, then head of English was moved to Emily's school - Johto, an academic high. Ms. Wildriver, who hasn't passed the difficult employment test required by all high school teachers in Japan, was only working at Higashi on a contractual basis, and was replaced by Mrs Paddyriver after one year. She'd apparently only been filling in for a teacher who'd had some kind of breakdown, though I was never told the full story, and didn't think it polite to ask.
Even though I was only at Higashi for its final year and a half, I understand the desire to memorialise the place. Mrs Templemarsh once told me it was known among teachers as the last paradise of Tokushima. The atmosphere was relaxed, the classes were relatively small and the students were generally friendly and well-behaved. Because the teachers weren't as busy with school duties, there was more time for teachers to socialise at work in free periods, and because the teachers really cared and were really helpful, I had the best teaching experiences while I was working there. It's been over a year now since I left and I got used to things not being as good as they used to be. Still, I remember.
Anyway, aside from it being about time that the lot of us met up again, this was a kind of a last chance for us all to be there, since I'm leaving Japan next week. We went to Mrs Templemarsh's house and had yakiniku. Ms Wildriver brought a cake as well, with a message for me:
We ate, we drank, and we said goodbye, knowing that the four of us probably wouldn't meet up again. At least, probably not for a long time.
The next day, I had another farewell party with two of the same teachers. Thursday was my Kagikou farewell party, and as I said before, two of the Higashi teachers were transfered to Kagikou along with me. Actually, at the party only one of them was present, because Mrs Wildriver was kept at school due to homeroom matters. One of her students had shaved the eyebrows off another student, so she had to deal with that situation while the rest of us were eating lunch at a classy restaurant. Also in attendance was Dianne, the other ALT working at Kagi. She graciously took nenkyuu (paid holiday) to be there. It was a pleasant gathering, and at the end I was given presents of a Japanese style t-shirt and jinbei - traditional Japanese summer wear, kind of like pyjamas, but meant to be worn outside. People often wear them when they go to festivals. When we got back to school, Mrs Templemarsh made me put the jinbei on and come back to the staffroom to take pictures. It was kind of embarrassing, but it was funny to see once again how talented the Japanese are at not engaging with the elephant in the room. I passed a few teachers on the way from the changing room to the staffroom and while their eyes momentarily betrayed their confusion, they acted as if it was perfectly normal for the ALT to be walking to the staffroom in casual traditional summer wear and sandals with fake snakeskin straps. I was quite sad when I left school that day, as I was applauded when I left the staffroom, and accompanied to my bike by two of the English teachers.
The third party was the following evening, this time a general end-of-term party for Tokusho. I had to give a speech on the stage, before which they gave me a gift, which threw me off because I had my script in my pocket and I couldn't get to it with the gift in my hand. I ended up just spouting it from memory, albeit with a couple of alterations when I couldn't remember what I'd written down. It impressed well enough, though, and when the vice principal got up to say his part afterwards he commented that he was nervous to be speaking after me, because he wasn't sure if he could speak as proper Japanese. Aces.
Everyone was really friendly throughout the evening. I haven't spoken about Japanese staff parties before, largely because I haven't been to one since I started this blog. When they're held in the event rooms of hotels, as they generally are for high school, there are many courses and unlimited booze. Of course, this being Japan, a large number of the courses tend to be fishy, which puts me at a disadvantage, especially with all the beer flowing. It's traditional to fill the glasses of your colleagues and friends rather than your own, and if someone else is carrying a bottle and offering it to you, it's good form to accept, and if your glass is already full, to drink some of it to make the task worthwhile. Since it was a good while before I was served anything I was able to eat, and half the teachers coming over to offer me beer since it was my farewell, and me having to keep drinking so there was space to fill the glass further, I was worried I was going to pass out before the evening was done. Somehow I made it, however, even though my appetite was ruined by being asked to sing karaoke on the stage in front of everyone. Preferably a Japanese song. The Me of three years ago would have secretly wanted to, but would have been held back by doubt and fear. The Me of now, however, has braved scarier things, and was luckily full of alcohol at this time, so I acquiesced to their request. It didn't take long to think of a suitable song, since there's only one Japanese song I know that is guaranteed to impress and entertain a room of tipsy Japanese people, both through its subject matter and it's relative obscurity. Japanese people don't know how I know this song, and the truth is until I found it on youtube earlier tonight, I'd never actually heard the original version. It's a song myself and former JET friend Rob heard people singing at Casanova, a karaoke bar in the city, and we kind of appropriated it. After practicing it a few times, we had it down pretty well.
Here is the song, "Sugoi Otoko no Uta" by Miyoshi Tessei:
The lyrics to the first part translate like this:
Pass the beer around
Drink down to the bottom
You're Number 1
I'm Number 2
There was once a great man.
Upon meeting him by chance at sea
A shark was brought to tears, and apologised.
Pass the beer around
Drink down to the bottom
You're Number 1
I'm Number 2
Suffice to say, it was well received. After I'd finished, Mr Underricefield, whose face turns red at a drop of alcohol and acts sort of drunk even when sober, came onto the stage and kind of forced me to be the straight man in an impromptu manzai (Japanese comedy double act) performance, where he went on about how great I am at Japanese, and how I must be wearing colour contacts and have dyed hair, that I'm really Japanese in disguise. It was awkward and silly, but I think everyone was drunk and merry enough to enjoy it by that point.
After the main party, some of the male teachers, all of whom came to the school either this year or last, took me out to a nijikai (second party) where we sang more karaoke (including a lot of anime songs) at a snack bar run by a simpering hag of a woman, then we went to a gyouza (a kind of Chinese dumpling) restaurant and stuffed ourselves while drinking more beer. It was really nice of them, and they paid for everything. I think they wanted my last official party in Japan to be memorable, and it was. I stumbled back to Emily's place afterwards, as once again we were getting up early to go gallavanting. More on that in the next post.
Even though I was only at Higashi for its final year and a half, I understand the desire to memorialise the place. Mrs Templemarsh once told me it was known among teachers as the last paradise of Tokushima. The atmosphere was relaxed, the classes were relatively small and the students were generally friendly and well-behaved. Because the teachers weren't as busy with school duties, there was more time for teachers to socialise at work in free periods, and because the teachers really cared and were really helpful, I had the best teaching experiences while I was working there. It's been over a year now since I left and I got used to things not being as good as they used to be. Still, I remember.
Anyway, aside from it being about time that the lot of us met up again, this was a kind of a last chance for us all to be there, since I'm leaving Japan next week. We went to Mrs Templemarsh's house and had yakiniku. Ms Wildriver brought a cake as well, with a message for me:
The next day, I had another farewell party with two of the same teachers. Thursday was my Kagikou farewell party, and as I said before, two of the Higashi teachers were transfered to Kagikou along with me. Actually, at the party only one of them was present, because Mrs Wildriver was kept at school due to homeroom matters. One of her students had shaved the eyebrows off another student, so she had to deal with that situation while the rest of us were eating lunch at a classy restaurant. Also in attendance was Dianne, the other ALT working at Kagi. She graciously took nenkyuu (paid holiday) to be there. It was a pleasant gathering, and at the end I was given presents of a Japanese style t-shirt and jinbei - traditional Japanese summer wear, kind of like pyjamas, but meant to be worn outside. People often wear them when they go to festivals. When we got back to school, Mrs Templemarsh made me put the jinbei on and come back to the staffroom to take pictures. It was kind of embarrassing, but it was funny to see once again how talented the Japanese are at not engaging with the elephant in the room. I passed a few teachers on the way from the changing room to the staffroom and while their eyes momentarily betrayed their confusion, they acted as if it was perfectly normal for the ALT to be walking to the staffroom in casual traditional summer wear and sandals with fake snakeskin straps. I was quite sad when I left school that day, as I was applauded when I left the staffroom, and accompanied to my bike by two of the English teachers.
The third party was the following evening, this time a general end-of-term party for Tokusho. I had to give a speech on the stage, before which they gave me a gift, which threw me off because I had my script in my pocket and I couldn't get to it with the gift in my hand. I ended up just spouting it from memory, albeit with a couple of alterations when I couldn't remember what I'd written down. It impressed well enough, though, and when the vice principal got up to say his part afterwards he commented that he was nervous to be speaking after me, because he wasn't sure if he could speak as proper Japanese. Aces.
Everyone was really friendly throughout the evening. I haven't spoken about Japanese staff parties before, largely because I haven't been to one since I started this blog. When they're held in the event rooms of hotels, as they generally are for high school, there are many courses and unlimited booze. Of course, this being Japan, a large number of the courses tend to be fishy, which puts me at a disadvantage, especially with all the beer flowing. It's traditional to fill the glasses of your colleagues and friends rather than your own, and if someone else is carrying a bottle and offering it to you, it's good form to accept, and if your glass is already full, to drink some of it to make the task worthwhile. Since it was a good while before I was served anything I was able to eat, and half the teachers coming over to offer me beer since it was my farewell, and me having to keep drinking so there was space to fill the glass further, I was worried I was going to pass out before the evening was done. Somehow I made it, however, even though my appetite was ruined by being asked to sing karaoke on the stage in front of everyone. Preferably a Japanese song. The Me of three years ago would have secretly wanted to, but would have been held back by doubt and fear. The Me of now, however, has braved scarier things, and was luckily full of alcohol at this time, so I acquiesced to their request. It didn't take long to think of a suitable song, since there's only one Japanese song I know that is guaranteed to impress and entertain a room of tipsy Japanese people, both through its subject matter and it's relative obscurity. Japanese people don't know how I know this song, and the truth is until I found it on youtube earlier tonight, I'd never actually heard the original version. It's a song myself and former JET friend Rob heard people singing at Casanova, a karaoke bar in the city, and we kind of appropriated it. After practicing it a few times, we had it down pretty well.
Here is the song, "Sugoi Otoko no Uta" by Miyoshi Tessei:
The lyrics to the first part translate like this:
Pass the beer around
Drink down to the bottom
You're Number 1
I'm Number 2
There was once a great man.
Upon meeting him by chance at sea
A shark was brought to tears, and apologised.
Pass the beer around
Drink down to the bottom
You're Number 1
I'm Number 2
Suffice to say, it was well received. After I'd finished, Mr Underricefield, whose face turns red at a drop of alcohol and acts sort of drunk even when sober, came onto the stage and kind of forced me to be the straight man in an impromptu manzai (Japanese comedy double act) performance, where he went on about how great I am at Japanese, and how I must be wearing colour contacts and have dyed hair, that I'm really Japanese in disguise. It was awkward and silly, but I think everyone was drunk and merry enough to enjoy it by that point.
After the main party, some of the male teachers, all of whom came to the school either this year or last, took me out to a nijikai (second party) where we sang more karaoke (including a lot of anime songs) at a snack bar run by a simpering hag of a woman, then we went to a gyouza (a kind of Chinese dumpling) restaurant and stuffed ourselves while drinking more beer. It was really nice of them, and they paid for everything. I think they wanted my last official party in Japan to be memorable, and it was. I stumbled back to Emily's place afterwards, as once again we were getting up early to go gallavanting. More on that in the next post.
Kinky Kinki Sunday Conclusion
Okay, I've been terrible at updating recently, partly due to having a lot on, and partly from taking too much holiday time and then thinking I have all the time in the world and then getting nothing done. So finally, here's the conclusion to our trip from last weekend.
Our other purpose on this trip, aside from going to Takarazuka, was to do something interesting in the Kansai/Kinki area. In the end we decided to try to see the silver temple of Kyoto, Ginkakuji. Mario said it was very beautiful, and he's right about most things.
We got a train to Kyoto, which didn't take long, but after eating and sorting out bus tickets (Emily gave the wrong ticket back to the driver when we got off in Osaka) it was getting on a bit, and it was after 4 already when we arrived in Kyoto. The temple, according to the Lonely Planet, was only open until 5, so we would have to be quick to make it inside on time. After dashing around the station area trying to get the right bus, eventually we found the one for Ginkakuji and got on. Unfortunately, due to poor weather and heavy traffic, the bus took forever to get to the Ginkakuji stop. I'm pretty sure under normal circumstances we could have made it there in under half an hour, but instead it took close to 45 minutes, and when we got to the temple entrance it was already closing.
Then, as if the heavens decided our fortunes weren't low enough, it started to piss down.
Luckily, there was a souvenir shop selling soft cream and umbrellas, and when the rain calmed down we walked around a nearby shrine, which had a very Spirited Away feel, enhanced by the moody weather conditions.
Afterwards, we walked the Path of Philosophy - a riverside walkway passing various temples and shrines. We took a bus back to Kyoto station, and decided, since it was getting late and needed a way to make our trip to Kyoto seem meaningful, we went up Kyoto tower.
Now, Kyoto tower doesn't have the height or size of Tokyo tower, but what it lacks in scale it makes up for in voyeuristic potential. There are about ten large binoculars around the tower's observation deck, they're all free, and all of them can see into people's homes. At Tokyo tower, you have to pay for the binoculars, and the surrounding area isn't residential. From Kyoto tower, using my camera up against one of the eyepieces, I got this picture:
In reality, the view from the binoculars was much clearer and you could see this family sitting down to dinner, about a kilometre away. Emily had a particular knack for finding people in their homes in view of the binoculars, but at one point she stepped back from one set shocked, saying she'd just seen a man take his pants off. I took a look a few seconds later and saw him, in the words of Jack Donaghy, "making passionate, angry love to himself". It made me wonder if any of the people living in the vicinity of the tower are aware of just how visible they are to anyone willing to shell out the 770 yen to ride the elevator to the top.
Shocking images aside, the tower, and the beauty of the Kyoto night skyline made up for our failure to make it to Ginkakuji, plus I picked up a pin badge (more on them later), so we were more or less satisfied when we got our train back to Osaka, and our bus back to Tokushima.
Our other purpose on this trip, aside from going to Takarazuka, was to do something interesting in the Kansai/Kinki area. In the end we decided to try to see the silver temple of Kyoto, Ginkakuji. Mario said it was very beautiful, and he's right about most things.
We got a train to Kyoto, which didn't take long, but after eating and sorting out bus tickets (Emily gave the wrong ticket back to the driver when we got off in Osaka) it was getting on a bit, and it was after 4 already when we arrived in Kyoto. The temple, according to the Lonely Planet, was only open until 5, so we would have to be quick to make it inside on time. After dashing around the station area trying to get the right bus, eventually we found the one for Ginkakuji and got on. Unfortunately, due to poor weather and heavy traffic, the bus took forever to get to the Ginkakuji stop. I'm pretty sure under normal circumstances we could have made it there in under half an hour, but instead it took close to 45 minutes, and when we got to the temple entrance it was already closing.
Then, as if the heavens decided our fortunes weren't low enough, it started to piss down.
Luckily, there was a souvenir shop selling soft cream and umbrellas, and when the rain calmed down we walked around a nearby shrine, which had a very Spirited Away feel, enhanced by the moody weather conditions.
Now, Kyoto tower doesn't have the height or size of Tokyo tower, but what it lacks in scale it makes up for in voyeuristic potential. There are about ten large binoculars around the tower's observation deck, they're all free, and all of them can see into people's homes. At Tokyo tower, you have to pay for the binoculars, and the surrounding area isn't residential. From Kyoto tower, using my camera up against one of the eyepieces, I got this picture:
Shocking images aside, the tower, and the beauty of the Kyoto night skyline made up for our failure to make it to Ginkakuji, plus I picked up a pin badge (more on them later), so we were more or less satisfied when we got our train back to Osaka, and our bus back to Tokushima.
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