Here's Another!

 These shirts are really starting to pick up! I get a good laugh out of this every time. Here's another one of my co-workers sporting a Sean shirt. I might look into making a stamp with my face on it and bringing it to work. And stamping it on children.

Milestone: 2¼ Years

The past three months have been beautiful and filled with delightful travel and beautiful new sights. Truly some of my best in Japan. You can compare with my other Milestones!

2¼ Years : Summary

Status:

Job: Children's Fitness Teacher, Pro-Bono Cultural Ambassador
Financial status:  Good

Location:

City: Tokyo
Ward: Chuo-ku
Train station: Kayabacho
Residing in: My apartment, Hermit Fortress


Cast of Characters:


Major Characters:

Ken Tanaka
Aala Kansali of Tunisia
Jean-Paul "Papa Lo"  the French Laotian
Millo, Julian of France
Dario Lupoli of Italy

Minor Characters:

Nana Takeuchi, the Bawss

Eri Karasawa, who works a different location
Erika Mochizuki (and Maxine!)
Kuniaki "Forest" Mori
Kazue Inoue 

Retired Characters:

Sofie Monrad of Denmark
Julian "Shank" Einschenk of Germany
Anton "Foxboy" Jermaine of England
Rodrigue Zapha of France

Clement Sanchez of France

 
Top Five Highlights:
(since last time)

- Eclectic Osaka
- Peaceful Nara
- An Owl Cafe
- Tragic Hiroshima
- Romantic Miyajima


Still to Come:
- A Gay Porn Comic Themed Restaurant
- A Restaurant based on the game "Dark Souls"
- An Island Trip
- A Towering Abandoned Building
- A Visit to NHK Studios

New Banners for a New Year!

Hey, You!
 Yeah, you, reader!

I just got a precious new banner from Caitlin Hall ( it's the one up there! Thanks Caitlin!) And thought I might as well do the yearly banner call. It's nice to know who's been keeping up with my adventures at any rate. You don't have to spend crazy time on it or anything.

I've no expectations. At all.

Here are the rules once again!


Does anyone want to design a banner for this blog?


There'll be no winners or losers. I'll rotate the banners every week.
The rules are simple:
 - It has to say "Sean the Alien" on it, somewhere.
 - It has to relate in some way. That doesn't mean I have to be on it. It could. Or it could be something to do with Japan, or an alien, or whatever. Nothing totally unrelated like a picture of Nicholas Cage or some shit.
 - It can't be too nutty. And by that, I mean, nothing offensive.

That's about it. A little effort is appreciated!

THERE WILL BE PRIZES for those of you who send a banner in before February 20th. Like, I will literally buy you something cool (but inexpensive) from Japan. And it will be different for each of you. Isn't that exciting?  You don't know what you'll get.
 Regardless of if you send it before February 20th or not, I will be displaying all banners though.

All Aboard

Boarding with Dario, his wife Kikuko, and Ken.

In a country so dependent on its train system, it can't be helped that there are more than just a handful of train fans. There are literally people here who devote themselves to knowing everything there is to know about Japan's trains, and kids are all about their miniatures. And where there is fandom, there is profit to be made.
 Little TGV is a restaurant in Akihabara appealing to such people. As you enter, a girl in a conductor's uniform will invite you "on board", seat you, and give you a menu.

Of course there's a miniature in the corner of the room.

Every item is a station or train line - and the price is the fare. At a glance, the place is pretty neat, with vintage train-related pictures and
paraphernalia just about covering every inch of wall. It's the little things such as the coats hanging from luggage racks, and the all-too-familiar seats that bring out the theme the best. The waitresses themselves have a handful of puns or idioms that fit the theme as well, saying things like "your food is arriving to destination." (which is as close a translation as I can make.) Apparently, overhearing them talk to other customers, the waitresses are pretty savvy about trains too. They probably share that in common with their clientele.

Like most places like this, you can't really expect to be dazzled by the food though. It's alright, and, thankfully, not overpriced. People pay in for the setting more than what they'll actually eat. Unlike most themed restaurants, Little TGV doesn't do much to make the food fit the theme, and the small attempts they do make are kind of laughable at best ("isn't this kind of shaped like train tracks?")
However, the combo platters do come in little trains! Choo-choo. It's like I'm five all over again!

I had a good time, but there isn't all that much to be said about this one. I'm dry already. If you have in mind to try it out, you'll find Little TGV is a light but legitimate themed-restaurant. And heck, if you don't like it, there are actually a bunch more scattered around Tokyo that may or may not be more kooky and exciting.

Ambassadorship! Kind of.

A while back I was referred to a government-sponsored cultural program by Aala, who told me about the means to become a part of the exclusive group named CoFesta.
 What's the role of a cultural ambassador? Well, basically, to be doing what I'm doing anyway, sharing (hopefully) exciting news about happenings in Japan with people from other countries by using social media such as this very blog.
 CoFesta's ambassadors get some pretty cool benefits. I ain't getting paid, but there's a bunch of enriching experiences to be had. VIP tickets to big events are made available for us, as well as a right to take photographs in said events that is usually reserved for the press only.
 Coming up is a visit to NHK's studio and a meeting with high-profile producers for hit television shows in Japan. I'll be attending that and hopefully a whole bunch of other events I can free my schedule for. Hurray!

An Hour in Iwakuni

It was only a short train ride from Miyajima to Iwakuni, the final intended sightseeing destination in my trip. Although Iwakuni is more of a quaint little town with nice scenery than a huge touristic area on its own, I'm far from being the first visitor to include it in my voyage to this side of Japan.
 Unfortunately, my time was about to run out, and I had only the chance to get a glimpse of Iwakuni before having to head back. I reassured myself that one hour was just enough to catch sight of the town's number one attraction.

The beautiful, ancient Kintai bridge has been destroyed and rebuilt several times in the course of the last 400 years, and figures in quite a few old paintings. Its structure is unique and the sight of it is kind of inspiring. But you have to pay a toll to cross it or merely to walk on it, and that's kind of a shame.

Notice that white structure in the mountain? That's the Iwakuni Castle. It's actually possible to go right up to it using the rope-way, or your own two feet, if you fancy yourself a soldier or something. I would've done so if not for the pressing time. Now that's where you put a castle, right? As much as the ones in the middle of the towns or cities are nice, this one propbably commands a much better view if you're standing at its top. Ruler of Iwakuni, smart smart smart smart.


And with that, my trip to the Hiroshima area came to an end! From Iwakuni, it was a train back to Hiroshima, a bus to the airport, and a plane back to Haneda airport in Tokyo and my own cozy bed, leaving me eager for the next trip already.

Romantic Miyajima

You recognize this?

Flash forward a day and I'm in Miyajima. The ride there is a real short one from Hiroshima, and especially so by train, so there truly is no excuse not the make the trip. From the train station, hop on a ferry, and you're on Miyajima. The large orange Torii gate is famous worldwide for being right in the bay and designates the entrance to Itsukushima shrine.

As much as it was tempting to sleep in at the hotel a little longer, I'm glad I came in the early morning, because the island attracts tourists like crazy. But that's not the only reason the time of your visit is important.
 The Torii and the shrine being so close to the bay, its appearance is greatly affected by tide. When the tide is at its highest, the Itsukushima shrine seems to float in the water, so perfectly is it constructed that thousands of small poles that support the structure disappear entirely under the surface.
 Come the lowest tide, however, it's possible to walk straight up to the Torii and stand beneath it.
 Very much like Nara, the local deer on Miyajima are completely accustomed to human presence and live side by side with people. They walk up and down the same streets, demanding food with very little reluctance. I've seen one stroll right to the door of a still-opening shop, either curious as to what was inside, or perhaps the doe was a regular herself. A nonchalant shopkeeper walked out the shop and past the deer like she couldn't give a shit. As in Nara, you can walk up to them and pet them if you like.
 Though many stop at the shrine, Miyajima has one more sight I can definitely recommend as a must to be seen. Hop on the rope-way and up the island's tallest peak, Mount Misen. It won't take you to the top, however. You'll have to muster the gut to hike a little, but it isn't a difficult one. Do it. I tell you, it's worth it, dammit. From the summit is easily one of the best panoramas I've seen in Japan. 

180 degree panorama. Click to enlarge.

The summit of Mount Misen overlooks the Seto inland sea, which in itself contains dozens of other islands that can are easily spotted in the horizon. So, too, is the city of Hiroshima.
 You've made the hike? Great. Now, there's one more thing you have to do to enjoy Miyajima at its fullest.
- Go to the top of the summit's observatory if you haven't already.
- Give someone your camera.
- Go back to the bottom of the observatory.
- Climb a rock.
- Strike a pose.

You win.

Reliving the Bombing of Hiroshima

That's as unappealing a title as you can get, but it's the honest truth. Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Museum doesn't exist to merely inform you of the tragic events of August 6th 1945. In order to fully comprehend the events that took place on that day, one must be brought to relive the day the sun fell out of the sky and on top of the heads of the citizens of Hiroshima.
Frankly, it was kind of hard to take pictures here. They're allowed, for certain, but it kind of feels inappropriate to do anything but look at the showcases in a mixed sense of wonder and dread at the hell these people were put through.

A display of Hiroshima before and after the bombing. Notice the bomb dome from the last post.

 The Peace Memorial Museum's main focal point is to show the point of view of the civilians who suffered the consequences of the attack. To start with, many of the halls of the museum are lined with the preserved clothing of dead children, with plaques indicating their names, ages, and the circumstances under which they died. Also preserved are samples of the skin that peeled from their bodies and the hair that fell from their scalps. It's as grim as it sounds, and it's gripping to read about healthy fourth grade girls who died in a man-made hellfire, wearing the dresses they proudly made themselves.
 And really, it just goes downhill. Visitors are given the chance to read, listen, and look at the preserved remnants of the bombing, such as melted bottles and pieces of glass hurled so violently from the shock wave that they sank into concrete. Brick wall sections have been moved to the museum to show that the scorching flames imprinted upon them the shadows of the people who were atomized where they stood.

Nightmare fuel, and to think people lived through this.

But to top it off is this one, hellish display recreating a scene from mere moments after the bomb was dropped, showing people in tattered clothes searching for loved ones in the wreckage. Those aren't strips of cloth hanging from their arms. It's their peeling flesh.

 Just like the rest of the Peace Memorial Park, though, the museum has an underlying message of hope for the coming generations to reach out to their governments and protest against the usage of the weaponry that took away 220,000 lives after a single use. The final walk out of the museum is a hall dedicated to the survivors, whose eye-witness accounts and drawings serve as a final plea to take home what you learned and to never forget the atrocities that have been lived in a time not so long ago.

Hiroshima is Tragic, Peaceful

Work has granted me a week off to do whatever may please me with, and I decided to spend the first few days in another of Japan's bigger cities. I hopped on a plane to the western Chugoku Province and found myself in Hiroshima. Have you heard of Hiroshima? It's the first city in human history to have an atomic bomb dropped on it. That happened during World War II. Remember that? Yeah. Well Hiroshima hasn't forgotten about that.

 When I was in my uncle's estate in America for a visit, he asked me if Japanese hated Americans for dropping the nukes on them. He was certain they did, and it came to him as a bit of a surprise to know that the average Japanese person actually...doesn't hate the United States of America. At a quick glance, the cultural authorities in Hiroshima are no different. In the last 70 years, Hiroshima has become an advocate of world peace rather than international hatred. That doesn't mean they've set the bombing aside, far from that. You can't walk a hundred meters in Hiroshima without there being a panel saying that this bridge or that bank was blown up and rebuilt after the bomb fell.

Sadly enough, most of Hiroshima's more touristic attractions are centered around this fact. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial, known locally as the Atomic Bomb Dome, is the sole remaining structure within the blast range of the US Army's Little Boy to not have been torn down or completely eradicated in the explosion. It alone stands as a testament to the destructive power of nuclear weapons. All the other structures in the vicinity of the blast were actually wiped off the face of the city, save for their bases. The only reason this one mostly stood was because the blast was detonated almost directly over it, pushing the columns of the structure downwards rather than outwards. Once, it served as a promotion hall for industrial products. It's Hiroshima's most recognized landmark now, sitting at the outer fringe of the Peace Park, also dedicated to the lost lives of men, women and children during and following the bombing.

The Cenotaph Tomb

The Hiroshima Peace Park itself is surely something that can't be missed while visiting the city. It's a beautiful green space speckled with monuments meant to bring hope to humanity. It is, as a whole, a message conveying that, through the sheer tenacity of people working hand in hand, something beautiful can rise from the most desolate ashes of what's been destroyed.
The center piece of the park is the Cenotaph of the victims. One can't tell by looking at it, but the monument is actually a tomb, directly under which is a stone chest. Inside it is a register of the over 220,000 victims of the bomb, either as a result of the initial blast or its radiation. Every year at this site, a speech is given in their memories, and at 8:15 AM on August 6th, a moment's silence is observed.

Also prominently featured is the Children's Memorial, built in memory of the younger victims of the bomb. Featured at its summit is Sadako, the young girl who lost her life to Leukemia caused by radiation exposure.
The story of the girl goes that she firmly believed in the story that whoever folded one thousand paper cranes would have any one wish granted to them. The popular version of the story is that, in her hospital bed, she folded cranes in hopes of reaching one thousand and getting back her health, but ran out of time at the count of 644.
 Her friends and family folded the remaining 356 and buried the thousand cranes with her. Today, cranes are still folded and brought to the memorial in her honor, representing the wishes of those who desire to live in a world without the threat of nuclear holocaust. The monument has many duplicates around the world.

Other similar monuments cover the grounds of the park, dedicated to others such as the Korean victims, with various symbolic meanings relating to world peace. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum also sits in the center of the park, for those seeking to draw a deeper knowledge about the facts of the bombing. I'll go into that another day. It's incredibly sobering and fringes on nightmare-inducing.

Hiroshima Castle

Exiting the confines of the park, Hiroshima also has its own Castle not too far away from the city center. The construction itself is mostly wooden. Like almost everything else in this sector of the city, though, the original Hiroshima Castle, too, was atomized by the Little Boy. This reconstructed version was completed over a decade later, complete with its own moat, just as the original structure used to have. From what I hear, you get a pretty good view of the city from its top, but it was well past time for that by the time I got there.

Well, what do you think? Pretty depressing all in all, isn't it? Well the worst is yet to come.

New Beginnings (For Some More Than Others)

Awh yeah, I'm uncle Sean now.

On New Year's Day, Leon Hayato Lo was born to my good friend Jean-Paul and his newly-wed wife, Haruka Mizonoguchi. I was happy to hold the child, who was delivered healthily and without complication. I've never had a close friend become a father, and I was oddly proud to be the first one there when I got the news.
It's kind of a nice way to start a year. Hopefully, it means big changes are coming. Congratulations to the young couple. Henceforth, Lo will now be permanently referred to as Papa Lo.

On a side-note, the three last posts weren't very travel-based, but I'll be catching up to that by posting about a recent trip I made to the Chugoku province very soon! The next few days will be packed with updates. Keep up if you can!