Narita International Airport outside of Tokyo was the quietest airport we have ever been in, eerily so. We guessed that we were among the few people actually staying in Japan instead of transiting across the Pacific, but still. There was no line for our baggage, immigration, or customs. We traded in our JR Passes immediately and zoomed into Tokyo, navigated the metro system with ease and made it to our hostel without any complications.

We had planned two days in Tokyo at both the beginning and of our trip, so the first night we spent in the Shinjuku area taking in the sights. Bright lights, electronic stores on every corner, and a little street tucked away, lovingly called Piss Alley, that serves charcoal-cooked food and of course beer. The stalls/shops have no names, but they have have seats and are actually quite cozy. We quickly learned that everybody carries umbrellas. Luckily our hostel tries to help out and provides umbrellas to it’s guests to use. These came in very handy as it rained for the first five days we were in Japan.

We learned that the Sumo tournament was taking place, which only happens three times a year in Tokyo. Tickets are hard to come by so we were up early on day two to get to the venue to get tickets. They keep the very last row in the nose-bleed seats all around the stadium for same day admission, so that’s what we ended up getting. With tickets in hand and a whole day in front of us we headed to the famous Tsukiji fish market for breakfast. We had missed the hubbub of the early morning, but there were still lines at certain establishments and we found one that wouldn’t let you take pictures inside, must be good right?! And it was. It seems that we may have our raw fish nomenclature incorrect. Plain raw fish, no rice, is sashimi but it is usually served in a bowl of rice. Sushi means a ball of rice with the raw fish over the top (nigiri to us). However after further research it seems sushi is a generic term and there are more kinds than we knew. The rolled version of “sushi” is actually not as common as we thought. In the end we had the sashimi breakfast bowl and it just melted in our mouths.

We wandered in the neighborhood a little and found the Sony building with all the latest and greatest gadgets at our fingertips. Heather got a kick out of the party-cam. This little point and shoot scans the room looking for people to take candid pictures. They also have the smile-search camera that will snap a picture ONLY if your subjects are smiling. We also saw the future of 3D TV and watched some really neat footage on a 200 inch (yes inches, no metric) screen. Between that and lunch, it was time to head to the Sumo matches.

Our conclusion of Sumo is a lot of rituals and psyche outs and then the whole thing is over in 30 seconds or less. They lived up to our expectations with the salt throwing and foot stomping. What surprised us was how quick it was, you only get one chance at it. Once something other than your feet hit the ground, or you step outside the circle, you lose. As the afternoon turned to evening the crowd got more excited, but we were never quite sure if they were happy with the results, no booing or disappointing type reactions from either side.

The next day we were on to Hiroshima via the bullet train. We got there in the late afternoon so didn’t have much time to see anything, but we did sample the local specialty, okonomiyaki. This is called the Japanese pancake, but it’s more like a layered crepe. There is a thin layer of crepe, noodles, and a fried egg topped with a yummy sauce and a handful of green onions. All prepared on a hot griddle and moved to the hot griddle at your table. Delicious! The next day we spent exploring the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and all things A-bomb related. The museum does a great job covering the disastrous physical, emotional, short and long term effects of the bomb. We learned that a number of children were working in the area for the war effort, so many 12+ year olds were killed. The younger children had been sent to the countryside in anticipation of a bombing, but many of them turned into orphans when their entire family was killed by the bomb. The city and people quickly rebounded and the streetcars were running within a week. However, the emotion connected with the event is still quite strong and the mayor of Hiroshima sends letters of protest to the leaders of any country after a nuclear weapons test in hopes that they will stop and never be used. After all of the solemnity of the day we ended it by climbing the Hiroshima Castle and taking in views of the city.

Miyajima is an island in the inland sea that is covered with shrines and temples and is one of the most photographed spots in Japan. The floating gate only looks like it’s floating at high tide, but at low tide you can walk out under it. We spent the whole, rainy day here exploring the countless shrines and temples and still only covered about a quarter of the island.

Tags: airport · food · H · Japan · museum · temples