Our first stop was a kaiten zushi restaurant. Basically, this is a sushi restaurant where all the dishes come by on a conveyor belt, and you just grab what you want. The plates are color-coded according to price so that when the waitress writes your bill, she knows what to charge. Prices are marked everywhere, so it's not a surprise. There's free hot green tea at the table, at least in this place, and you can order fresh sushi, soup, etc as well.
Here's a movie of the conveyor in action:
The sushi was amazing. We're talking right off the boat. There was a windowed room outside of the restaurant where you could see one of the chefs breaking down whole fish. They had EVERYTHING and it was all exceptionally fresh. I tried the unagi (roasted eel, a personal favorite) which was enormous and very tasty. I also had salmon, some thin whitefish, and (octopus). The first time I tried tako I loved it, so I was excited, but this time I had trouble. The quality was superb, but the pieces were much thicker than I had had before, and it was so chewy that the texture became quite difficult. It was hard to swallow, so I don't think I'll attempt tako that thick again. I ate it, though, and it was a good time on top of very tasty. Cheap, too, I paid about $10.50 for a ton of food.
This place had everything I could think of and more. They even had sei whale, which I hear is very chewy and tasty, but I could not bring myself to try. I'm no vegetarian, but there are a few foods I won't eat on ethical principle. Whale and veal are the two biggest for me. However, the whaling industry is a complicated problem, and in places like Japan there are historical and cultural factors that I have to consider before I get in a snit. Ideally, I would certainly like to see an end to whaling. On one hand, one needs to respect cultural traditions. On the other hand, there is a huge scale difference between Japanese whaling and the whales taken by Inuits and other native groups in the Americas, and since we are speaking of a very slow breeding set of species, there's a purely logistical aspect to consider. Change of this kind can't be forced, however, and all I can do is choose not to partake and explain myself, when appropriate, in a reasoned and nonconfrontational manner.
There is apparently a place where one can try horse sashimi nearby, though, and that I'm interested in. I also want to try raw horse ice cream and the squid ink ice cream. Ok, here are the pictures from the restaurant.
Outside of the sushi place was a huge fish market. It was fascinating. They had vendors selling all manner of snacks. The buckets you'll see below were for people to stand over while eating things like shrimp kebabs, so that they could drop the shells right into the buckets. Sorry for the poor and rather pink quality of some of the pictures, it was very very bright, and my camera decided it was not happy.
Our next stop was the seashore itself. I was a little disappointed that we went to the boring sandy beach instead of having a chance to poke through Cambrian rock and exciting tidepools full of critters, but it was still amusing. As you can see, Mike, the bloke from Australia, had a blast picking up all the girls and pretending to toss them in the sea. They had some brief revenge. This reminds me I need to take pics of everyone so that I can let you know who everyone is. For now, be confused.
We went to a flower/amusement park next. The giant panda was a coin-operated vehicle that kids could ride around on for a few minutes. They were really cool, and I was sad to think how impossible that would be to implement in the US, since they would be vandalized in no time. The flowers were amazing. The yellow is rape as in 'rapeseed oil'. The blue flowers are called 'nemophilia.' We knew we were going to see them, so we started seeing a few and I was excitedly taking photos... then we rounded a corner and saw the real attraction- a hill completely covered in the flowers. It was breathtaking. When we got to the top of the hill there were acres and acres of them in every direction. The pictures don't do it justice. Then we saw the tulips, many of which were almost past it, but they were still lovely. I didn't get too many good pictures of those, though.
We did a little shopping afterwards. I have yet to find the Ghost in the Shell figures I want, but we stopped by the pet store where they apparently sell giant rhinoceros beetles as pets. Neglected to get pictures since I was pretty worn out by then.
The rest of our vacation week was fairly uneventful. I already mentioned the Karaoke the previous Friday and my first experience of the hangover. That Tuesday we went to Tokyo with our friend Keleih. We were expecting the mini-convention she took us to see to be more oriented to the kind of anime we enjoy (explosions, action, running jumping climbing trees), but it was mostly borderline softcore shows we had never heard of. Some of the costumes were extremely impressive, and I recognized a few characters. We got to see a mockup of Wolfwood's weapon from Trigun that I wish we could have afforded, someone dressed up as the priest from Hellsing (I am too lazy to look up his name), and, disturbingly, sexed up versions of snow white and strawberry shortcake. Worth it to see the costumes, for sure.
Afterwards, we went to Akihabara, basically the electronics and assorted geekery area of Tokyo. We looked through some shops that sell action figures but I didn't find what I was looking for. Still fun, although I have no idea how anyone can find anything in those places, since there seems to be no comprehensible system of organization. Most of the stores sell doll parts for do-it-yourselfers, and after seeing hundreds and hundreds of disembodied female butts, I considered packing my suitcase with them just to see what would happen at customs. Frankly, I miss the more equal-opportunity fandom of the United States. We don't have the variety that Japan does, but it least we have things for girls who like men. I don't have a problem with stores packed with half-naked female figures, but I would like things to be fair.
Afterwards, we went to Keleih's favorite restaurant, Shamaim. They serve Israeli cuisine, all you can eat for about 20 bucks plus the cost of drinks. It was incredibly unbelievably delicious.
One unpleasant observation is that Japan is really just not polite. I am glad Dr. Marrero was kind enough to warn me about the pushing, because people just really are in their own little world. It's understandable as a survival mechanism in such a busy place, but especially for me it is unnerving. But just a word to the wise, Japanese politeness exists mostly on the job. Shopkeepers will fall over being nice to you, but once you get out in the hustle and bustle, people give no quarter. There are idiots in every country. One gentlemen 'accidentally' spit hot dog crumbs and relish into my hair at a coffee shop and then cracked up about it with his buddies. It was humiliating and frustrating - I didn't have the vocabulary to tell him off, and even though I would have liked to 'accidentally' smacked him with my bag on the way out, I can't afford a brush with the police so if there's a slim chance... It was a powerless feeling. But the next day out walking in Oyama I interacted with a few of the locals, who are much more polite and friendly, and I felt better. I guess what I take away from it is that people are very much the same everywhere, in both the good and bad ways. For every strong point a country has, it usually has a counterbalance, and it wouldn't make any sense not to keep trying because there are jackasses here.
We did find an internet cafe at the next train stop down from Oyama. The connection is ok and the price isn't bad, so when we desperately need internet, it's a good option. I was glad I had my surgical masks though - it's a tiny place and Japanese people chain smoke like you wouldn't believe.
The trains are great here. It's hard for me to deal with the crowds, but I've not been on any where the men with padded arms have to squish you in. It's a lot like the metro in DC, and very clean. Very convenient, but man the trains don't stop for long. I don't think that level of punctuality exists at home.
Alright, time to study.
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