Day 39: 9 May 2009

LOCATION: NAGOYA AND OKAYAMA
MOOD: SETTLED
LISTENING TO: DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL – DON'T WAIT

THE MORE THE MERRIER:

My initial plan had been to leave Nagoya in the morning so I could get the most out of my next destination, but my friend Cecilia convinced me to stick around and meet some of her friends in Sakae, the downtown shopping district of Nagoya. We took the subway and ended up in the labyrinthine underground shopping complex that lies below the surface. Apart from the lack of windows/natural light, it really could have been just another sprawling shopping mall – it didn't feel claustrophobic at all. The underground networks that service Japan's major cities really are amazing, and I couldn't help but muse that they would be a handy place to hide if North Korea launched a nuke. I think I've been playing too much Fallout. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures as Cecilia and I were having a conversation about how much effort Japanese women put into their appearance. Not that I was complaining.

Cecilia's friends arrived and we decided to have lunch at a nearby Italian place. I got to have a chat with a uni student from the neighbouring Gifu prefecture who had just returned from a year studying English in Perth. He was returning to finish his final year of uni, after which he was going to work for Toyota. Talking with him I came to understand how large a shadow Toyota casts over Nagoya, seeing as its operations are based in the city. Nagoya has always been a manufacturing city, and Toyota is its flagship.

I also had an interesting conversation about US politics with an American student from North Carolina who had come over on exchange as part of her International Relations degree. At first she was cagey when I asked her about the election, which I thought was strange seeing as she had just told me she was a politics major. It was only after I found out that she was a Democrat from a Red state (and a staunchly Republican family) that I realised why she had been so reticent to address the subject. The more Americans I talk to the more it seems that my notions of American life aren't as exaggerated as I once suspected, and I gained a new appreciation for Obama's “we can disagree without being disagreeable” slogan.

After we finished lunch the group saw me off and I hopped on the shinkansen to my next destination: Okayama. Okayama is a fairly major city in the central region of the main island of Honshu, and while it had a fair few attractions of its own, the main reason I was visiting was that it was the gateway to the island of Shikoku. The journey was quite a long one as I had to pass through the Kansai region (Osaka, Kyoto). It was kind of nostalgic passing through Shin-Osaka and Kyoto stations, and I got to see a lot more of the Kansai countryside than I had in my prior trip.

The view from Nagoya central station.

Beer is literally everywhere in Japan. I'm not sure whether it was a deliberate marketing choice, but the location of this Kirin distillery along the main shinkansen line was pure genius, particularly given that they actually serve Kirin on the train.

The hills are nice to look at but they make it bloody hot during summer.

You can always go for a dip to cool off though.

By the time I arrived in Okayama it was fairly late in theafternoon so I made the decision to leave sightseeing for the time being and get to my hotel, which was in the satellite town of Kurashiki, around 20 minutes away by train. I stayed at a charming little family-run inn near the train station where I had my own room and pay TV in the most literal sense of the word. I had a chat with the pleasant lady at the front desk, and she was surprised to find out firstly that I wasn't Japanese and secondly that I was a lawyer. I'm guessing that I need to start dressing the part from now on.

Pay TV. Now THAT's classy.

For some reason I had developed a headache on the shinkansen so I decided to take a Panadol and lie down for a bit before heading out. By the time the throbbing had subsided it was dark out and there was little I could do besides find some dinner and have a wander around town. I found a nice little place on the main street that offered a decent meal with unlimited refills of rice, which is actually a real plus when you're on the move and have to fill up as much as possible whenever possible.

Downtown Kurashiki at night. Even the small towns in Japan are big on the neon signboards.

These carp streamers (koinobori) are traditionally flown during Children's Day, which is May 5. Apparently this shopping arcade was a little tardy in taking them down.

There's not that much in the way of meat, but you can always fill up on rice. This imbalance in favour of carbs was probably why I could almost feel myself losing weight in real time.

After finishing the meal I cracked open the trusty old Lonely Planet to see where I could go. Kurashiki is most famous for its canals and historical warehouses (which now house more tourist-friendly wares). I figured that while all the shops would be closed the canal would make for some nice night photos; after all, I had seen ads for Kurashiki on the train there featuring a pair of kimono-clad beauties strolling the moonlit bridges, parasols in hand. Unfortunately I had to settle for the retiree population of Kurashiki, out to get some fresh air and exercise once the blazing sun had retreated for the day. I took as many photos as I could, listened to some music and ate some snacks by the banks of the river before calling it a day and collapsing into bed.

It really was quite a romantic place, even despite my perpetual singledom and the random geriatrics.

I didn't have it on my MP3 player at the time, but sitting by the banks of the river I got the urge to hear Do As Infinity's Under the Moon.

Nothing cures a headache like a good meal and a quiet night under the pale moonlight.