The next morning was very nice. I woke up early and went for a walk up the mountqin, more pictures and video. Then we had breakfast and it was delicious. Soft boiled egg with rice and soy sauce, We also started a conversation with two men that were sitting at the table with us. Lassad is from Tunisian, but he lives in France. He is in Osaka, Japan working on something for computer science. The other man was Jun Asaka, and he lives in Osaka, Japan.
It turns out that the man named Jun was bringing his friend Lassad around Japan for the weekend as payment for giving him French lessons. After talking to the two for a little while Jun asked what are plans were for the rest of our stay. I told that we weren’t really sure. We just had an idea that we wanted to spend a couple nights in Osaka so we can eat some good food and then head to Tokyo before we left for South Korea.
They both agreed that two nights in Osaka is too much and that we should go somewhere else instead. Jun then offered to drive us to Osaka instead. At first I said that it was ok since we had already bought our bus pass to Takayama and that our Japan Railpass would get us to Osaka. He insisted and said that it would be no problem. He said that if he didn’t want to give us a ride he would not have asked.
Oh, so pretty much the whole time I was talking to Jun and Lassad Angy wasn’t in the same room as us. She was busy getting ready for the day. So she had no idea that I had agreed to them giving us a ride until about 20 minutes before we left. She wasn’t very happy at first. She said that it was a bad idea. She also said that it was dangerous and she did not like the idea.
I tried to sell her by saying that Japan has a very low crime rate, it is a very civilized country, and this is exactly what we wanted to do. Travel through these countries and get to truly interact with the people that live here. She didn’t seem to buy it completely, but she bit enough to agree.
Off we went on what was to be a road trip of a lifetime. Jun’s car was what seemed to be a black Nissan X-Terra, except that it was called an X-Trail. His car was outfitted with an in dash GPS navigation system, solar powered radar detector, neon lights, led’s, and anything you would seem to ever need. I must point out that Jun was prepared for just about anything. He wore a fanny pack for 1 camera, a camera case for another camera, a small handbag for his money, credit cards, etc, and another larger leather handbag. I saw him pull a plethora of things out of these bags durinthe time we were with him. Pens, markers, highlighters, stapler, scissors, maps, guidebooks, notebooks, batteries, rain ponchos, toothbrush etc, etc, etc. You get the picture.
Before I give the wrong impression, let me point out that Jun is one of the more generous, kind, and helpful people that I have ever met.
The four of us talked for a little while before we left about where to go and what way to go there. Jun was going to bring Lassad to Takayama before we arrived, so he asked if that was ok that we stopped there before Osaka, even though we were just there. Angy and I obviously agreed since one he was the one driving and after we had thought about it, we hadn’t seen much in Takayama.
It was a pretty drive from Shirakawa-go to Takayama. We stopped on the way and saw two cherry blossom trees that were 400 years old. In the 1960’s they were building a dam and there was a village in the way with a castle and everything. So what did they do? They certainly didn’t save the village or the castle. Instead they put a huge effort into transplanting two 40 ton cherry blossom trees. Quite interesting.
We arrived in Takayama, found a parking spot and followed our adopted friends and tour guide Jun into the sites of Takayama. It was nice seeing the old part of the city. Apparently there had been a concerted effort to retain the old feel of the city and it showed. We had a great time and saw many interesting things. Did I mention that we also got to eat a lot of good food. Well yes we did eat a lot. And Jun paid for it all much to our dismay! We saw these elaborate floats that are over 300 years old and are still used every year to this day. One of them weighs 2.5 tons. This may not seem like that much in relation to what we think of as parade floats because ours are all motorized (lazy Americans). But these are all handled by man power. The heaviest one takes 80 men! They were all very intricate and beautiful.
Now we are off to Osaka. Jun’s car is like a pachinko parlor (Japanese Casino), GPS beeping, talking barking, meowing (yes that’s right), radar detector talking and beeping and music playing. A little much at times. I am not sure how he is able to drive so well with all those distractions, but Jun is a sort of master of planning and multi- tasking. He speak English very well, he also speaks a little bit of dutch, Italian, and French. Also he seems to be a little bit of a historian.
Before we made it to Osaka we stopped at a rest step so Angy could go to the bathroom for the jillionth time. She’s a peeing machine. I bought a coffee and Angy bought a kroquette (not sure about the spelling). But, Angy loves her potatoes and these have plenty of that. It is a deep fried potatoe cake that can filled with many things to include beef, pork, shrimp, and a few other things that I don’t know. Our friend Jun remembered that I said that I had my International Driver Permit so he said that he would let me drive for a while. Angy said no, Kyle this is not a good idea. I disagreed.
Before I left the rest stop Jun was kind enough to find a hotel in a convient location in Osaka for us. He had three books and highlighted about 30 hotels within our price range for us to choose from. He called and booked the hotel for us. Very helpful see that we don’t speak Japanese.
Driving in Japan wasn’t too bad. It was the same as driving in Ireland in that the drivers side is on the right side of the car and you drive on the left hand side. I had a great time driving. I felt good that he trusted me enough to let me drive his car. I spent pretty much all of my time driving on the freeway so it wasn’t stressful at all. A couple things that I found interesting was one, the signs on the road that indicate that there are restaurants at the next exit have a fork and knife on them. Well, all the restarants that we have been to have not offered a fork and knife, only chopsticks and the occasional spoon.
Second interesting thing I noticed was that Jun has a radar detector to alert him to police that are looking for speeders. Well there are not only police cars, but at random intervals there are radar guns and cameras on the freeway. So if you are speeding they will takea picture of your drivers license and send you a bill in the mail. This is not the most interesting part about this though. There are actually signs on the side of the road that tell you how far away these cameras are. Seems a little counter productive. All the drivers do is slow down before the cameras and then speed back up after they pass them.
Once we arrived in Osaka at our hotel Angy and I dug into our bag of Minnesota goodies to hand out as souveniers and gave them to our new friends. They then offered to hang out with us more this evening and that they could bring us around to see the sights. After a little thought we agreed. So we quickly went into the hotel, checking and dropped our bags off. We met Jun and Lassad outside in front of the hotel.
From there we headed off to the Fujitsa Baron’s house and walked around the garden there. Amazing place. To just think that these amazing places used to be peoples homes. Jun then invited us into this hotel for a drink. I got a coffee and Angy got a glass of cold sweet green tea. It was a very, very nice place.
I should also add that Jun insists on paying for everything. Not only does he insist but doesn’t let you pay. A little bit frustrating at times. We just want to spend time with him. We really enjoy his company and we don’t think he has to pay for everything. But it makes him happy I guess. After our drinks, we went back out to the garden to watch the lightning bugs. Very nice. All the little kids were having a great time.
At this point Angy was starting to get hungry, and if you know Angy, you know that she gets cranky when she’s hungry. But Jun insisted on going to a couple more places before we went to eat. First stop was the Osaka castle. It was beautiful lit up at night. Much bigger and taller than any of the other castles the we have seen.
Now it’s off to a surprise before our bingingon food. Jun is going to bring us to see Osaka’s prostitutes. Yes, that is right. We found it hard to believe that there would be a common area in Japan to find prostitutes
More on this Later. I had a little bit of trouble wrapping my head around the whole thing.
What we saw was very surprising. (Angy) The many streets were lined with little shops that were open to the street almost like looking in a dollhouse. It was exactly like a dollhouse, actually! The women were propped up on little chairs and sofas, each “store front” had one girl sitting there looking very enticing, while an older woman, like a mama, sat closer to the sidewalk, beckoning people in! Each little “store front” seemed to have a different theme, some were delicate and lacy, while others were racier. Although the older women seemed motherly, Jun explained that they are more like a manager. Right before we drove into this area Jun was telling us about a time in his past when he was addicted to amphetamines. He drove down a street that was know for drug dealers. As we approached the corner, Jun pointed out two men, he told us that if we slow down as we approach these men they will look into the car and gesture that they do indeed have drugs. Right on que, the men acted exactly as Jun had said. Kyle and I live in an area in Minneapolis that is not the greatest, there are lots of drugs and crime, but in the past year living there, I have never seen such a blatant display of drug dealers and criminal behavior. In this same area there were also many men “sleeping” on the streets, not even up against a wall, or in the corner, just right in the middle of the sidewalk. At this time the day was starting to feel very long, and I was starving!! Being in the car all day was taking its toll! I was the most crabby I had been the whole trip so far. Jun had a plan for our tour of Osaka but I thought I was going to die, I was so hungry, plus the whole day both Kyle and I had been looking forward to “eating until we died” in Osaka. But seeing all the prostitutes and dealers really perked me up! Hehe
Then we were off to the street that Anthony Bourdain featured in his Osaka episode of No Reservations. This street is famous for it’s night life and tapennachi, which is small balls of dough with octopus inside, these are then grilled/fried in little molds. We also saw the clown that was in the show as well! See picture
We finally found a restaurant, and had yakasoba, kimchi (the best I’ve had so far) and these pancake things, and of course beer! I was now feeling better. Jun paid, of course, and we were feeling really uncomfortable about it! There was no arguing this with him. He insisted everytime. After dinner we headed back out to the street to find more food. Lassad got some tapenaki and we all tried some, I almost gagged, not a good texture for me (see picture)
The street was very lively and full of scantily clad Japanese women! Amazing people watching. Jun took us to this 8 story shopping center called Don Quixote, it is all one store but has everything you could ever want or need. Wigs, knee highs, purses, electronics, pocket ashtrays, makeup, basically everything! I wanted to get a fun Japanese outfit, but Jun was on a mission and was buzzing through the shop very quickly! After leaving Don Quixote we stopped off at a British bar, Jun said that non-Japanese bars are cheaper than Japanese ones. We had a few drinks and just talked. I had a Jamison ginger ale, and after Kyle had his second one Jun went to the bar to get him a drink, he came back with a whiskey drink. Kyle tried it and couldn’t remember the name but just looked at me and said “Margo!” So I tried it, and sure enough it was Bushmills. Sitting in the middle of Japan drinking whiskey and thinking of Mama Margo! It is so wonderful to feel loved even a world away.
After the bar Jun took us back to our hotel. I insisted on giving him a hug, but he kept saying “No, I am Japanese!!” But, probably impolitely, I leaned in through the window of his car and gave him a hug the best I could.
Kyle wanted to go out again so we walked around the area where our hotel was, and stopped at one bar, and then went to the internet café. Then it was seriously off to bed!
