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BACKGROUND
This trip was probably my favorite of all, so far. I kind of knew what I was doing, and how to get around the workplace and Japan in general. This was a more "standard" business trip for my company. Three weeks in Aichi prefecture. But it was at the end of the calendar year, so that meant bounenkai. 🕺
This will be a pleasure to revisit, and I haven't looked at these photos in a while, so I'm going to do this "off the cuff" and see if my memory serves me well.
So, let's see what the pictures will provide by the following categories:
- Cars & other Vehicles
- Animals
- Shrines & Temples
- Castles
- Gardens, Plants, & Scenery
- Food & Drink
- Hotel Rooms
- Why Japan?
Each of these links should take you to the sub-blog (is that a word?), and the page for the sub-blog should have a return to this page, so you can see all the things (except the last one).
Cars & other Vehicles
In a previously posted blog, I mentioned about having actually flown on a Boeing 747. Here is the plane that I flew from DTW to NGO for this trip. She really was the "Queen of the Skies", and I'm pleased that I had the opportunity. Unfortunately, she is all but retired now.
I think a few of my followers will really enjoy these pictures from this trip.
In a previously posted blog, which may have been a trip after this one, I discussed how flying to Japan direct on a Boeing 747 used to be a thing. Here is the plane I took for this trip, back when Northwest Airlines was still a thing. The "Queen of the Skies" was truly a beautiful airplane, and having the opportunity to take this plane across an ocean was a truly unforgettable experience. (Especially being seated in the upper level, right about where the circle in the logo intersects the window line.)
I would have loved to have been here for start-up of this rotary engined monster. This car was parked outside the hotel I was in for the company's bounenkai. (I see the Lancer hiding behind it, but didn't focus on it.)
This was a night-shot, so the focus is poor. Sorry about that. But this expense level of automobile in Nagoya seemed almost "typical". Also, sequential integer license-plate to the red car above.
Godzilla makes an appearance at some random shopping area in Nagoya.
A Maserati (as always in Japan), but this time, actually driving around.
This rare beast of a McLaren SLR was seen in Tokyo.
You go to Harajuku for fashion things. I was most excited about a Bentley on the street. I'm wrong, I know, but still, it was my thing.
I guess the first Transformers movie was around this time.
A Toyota President going into the Imperial Palace. The car was pretty much waved in without much of an inspection, so I'm curious who was inside.
I must have been on the (red) Hikari because I've never been on a (yellow) Nozomi. Guess I know more Japanese than I first thought.
Coming in hot!
I've recorded over half-million flight miles in my life. I have never been this high and this close to another plane. Not since, not before.
Both were Boeing 747s also, which makes this a truly special thing for me.
Toyota Automobile Museum:
The first ever Mercedes-Benz. They've come a long way.
Rolls-Royce with a whopping 50 brake horsepower.
I love this museum because it is not "Toyota Toyota Toyota". They cater to the car-centric person and show things from every car company.
I didn't expect to go whale watching here. 😄
Isotta-Fraschini Tipo I - a brand I've not heard of outside of this museum.
This would have been Ken Block's car if he raced in 1908.
[Rest in peace brother, you were an inspiration to a generation.]
Hispano Suiza Alfonso XIII
Hispano Suiza
Stutz Bear Cat. A good friend of my father's used to have one of these, in this exact color. It was interesting, but he's a Porsche guy, so he traded it for another Porsche. Good choice in my opinion.
Bugatti
Bentley
Unknown
Unknown
Cord in all it's glory. These cars were so Mid-Century Modern (a.k.a. beautiful). But I think the cost of manufacturing this amount of beauty is what did the company in.
Unknown, but much like the Cord, the curves of the body panels are absolutely beautiful.
Looks like a Japanese Beetle. Not sure what OEM made this though.
Hino-Renault(?)
Unknown
Subaru 360. The first car with self-leveling jacks for camping on inclines. {{joke}}
This screamed "early American muscle car" to me (think first generation Pontiac GTO), but it turned out to be a Japanese OEM.
The original generation of Toyota Century.
MOAR SPEED!
Oh wow, the 2000GT up close is so beautiful. See the big gathering of them from my first Trip to Japan - Cars blog. That Inline 6-cylinder engine evolved over time into one of the greatest engines ever built.
I loved this car because I used to own a racecar with very similar body lines. Maybe in the future I'll put a blog together about my time as a racecar driver.
This was an interesting piece of engineering. A front-wheel drive three-wheeled motorcycle.
This is why fire engines are called "pumpers". I'm curious if they had hats to wear also.
These Celica are really awesome cars.
On the outside, there was a (broken) electric people shuttle. This was in 2007. This vehicle has already lived its lifetime a year before Tesla starts producing their first vehicles.
Animals
Pretty light on the animals this time. Maybe the mammals were all hibernating?
My photography skills are making this bird's picture difficult for me to identify if it is a Crow or a Raven. (A think I just learned how to do, thanks to the blue-twerkie-bird). But the rainbows in its feathers make it so that I don't care so much, and just accept it for what it is. Beautiful.
The above bird's buddy. Both were at Hie-jinja.
Over at the Imperial Palace, they have seagulls. This one I can identify well, as when I was about 7 years old, one pooped 💩 on me while I was trying to feed it. I haven't cared for them much since that day on the beach with my grandmother.
Swans and ducks 🦆 at the Imperial Palace. Probably the same swans from last time I was here, in 2005.
Shrines & Temples
I imagine it seems weird to have this picture in "Shrines", but it is a shopping mall, and my perception is that those are shrines in Japan. Plus the water-covered roof is always amazing.
Takeshima:
This is the island off the coast from where the company's bounenkai was held. I captured these images on an early morning walk while the rest of the crew were sleeping off the biru from last night.
Todai-ji:
I cannot remember much about this, and I'm so thankful that I took the time to take some pictures.
Hie-jinja:
The obligatory "I've been to Japan" photo area.
I'd love to know what these fellows were thinking.
I'm unsure if this is the most decorative lantern I've seen in Japan, or the one I saw in my 2022 trip. Thoughts?
I hope that they were able to summon the will of the kami.
Sorry for the poor quality, but the door was open and I had to secretly photograph this family having a ceremony. It was so nice to see a brother and sister behaving. My brother and sister were the exact opposite of this.
If you look closely, you may be able to see the practitioners of Hie-jinja performing their rituals. They were hidden behind a very black sheet of fabric, probably to prevent poop-heads like me from taking pictures.
Castles
Kanazawa-jo:
I can't remember if this was a reproduction castle 🏰. I suspect that it was because I don't remember going inside.
Imperial Palace:
Gardens, Plants, & Scenery
Takeshima:
The island near the bounenkai hotel, as seen from the hotel parking lot. I woke up early while everyone else was feeling rough from big drinking the night before. So I wandered around outside to see the sights on offer at this location. It was worth it.
What a piece of art, just stuck in the ground and cared for so meticulously. I want to achieve this for my personal bonsai collection as well.
The pavers on this bridge were really beautiful.
Central Park, Nagoya, taken from the Nagoya TV Tower viewing platform.
The flowers 🌾 that were on display at the ryokan we stayed at in Kyoto. I'm am such a sucker for orchids, so much so, I have three of them now. Look for those pictures on another blog, soon.
I would have never gone to the roof of a train 🚅 station in Japan, previous to this. I am so happy that my Japanese co-worker went with me on this adventure, because they were the one to convince me to go to the roof. I can see this as a location to find peace before or after a shinkansen 🚅 ride, on the top of Kyoto Station.
A random garden in Kyoto. I wish I knew where it was. I could see spending more time here in my future.
Gardens of Todai-ji:
Lake Biwa:
Farming in Japan. Bless the farmers, not just today, but everyday.
The Japanese Alps. 🚞
Kanazawa & Kenroku-en:
I love this hedge because it is a few varieties, not just a single variety as most western hedges are. Who would have ever thought that a hedge would be featured with all the natural wonders Japan has to offer?
Approaching one of my Bucket List items. Follow the sign! ⬆️
Not this feature, but still beautiful, if only a gutter.
Closer...
Waiting my turn to stand on the bridge, enjoying the fun of youth in my pause.
BING Target completed! ✅
A thorough analysis of "one leg water, one leg earth".
Kenrouku-en is famous for how they protect the trees from the weight of the snow in winter. This was in November(?) so the preparations were already in place. But if you find Kenrouku-en pictures on the interwebs, you'll likely see similar photos with snow on the trees. It is really worth the time to see.
The guy-wire like supports take the tension out of the branches to prevent them from breaking due to the heavy, wet snow that is common on the northern shore of Japan.
Sneaky view of Kotoji.
Another (less famous?) lantern, that is all water. The bridge gives more peace ☮️ than Kotoji. (Am I allowed to say that?)
The unsung heroes of Kenrouku-en, the caretakers. Thank you for making this spectacular garden for us to see. The hats give a shinobi feel also, which I love.
This is a world-famous pottery style. I do not know the details, but a Japanese co-worker (not the one that went with me on this trip) gave me a cup from this potter as a present for strong work while I was in Japan. I still have this cup fifteen years later and hope to repay that co-worker's kindness someday.
Hie-jinja gardens:
I would love to see this wisteria in full growth and bloom. Maybe someday. I'll put it on my bucket list.
Food & Drink
I find the way shark 🦈 fins are harvested simply repulsive. I wish they would use the entire beast, as is done in most other ocean harvests. So, to understand the drive for this behavior, I did try a bowl of shark 🦈 fin soup (Rage Against the Machine, "Know Your Enemy" plays in the distance.). The soup was underwhelming and I absolutely felt disgusted that the harvest happens for such a "meh" experience.
Typical lunch on the Shinkansen 🚅, station bento and a drink. Anything with cephalopods 🐙 on the menu is going in my belly! Everything but the beak for these gifts from the sea.
My company's window-person to me took me on an adventure to Kanazawa and Kyoto. Here is where we ate lunch in Kyoto on that trip.
Fugu dinner 🐡:
In a previous post, I mentioned how I had not eaten at any of the Fugu 🐡 restaurants I had photographed. Well, that changes here! My Japanese co-workers asked if I would be interested in trying it, and I said hai, without thinking about it.
Of course, I cannot read the menu, so I let the native tongued people handle the ordering.
First course: Sashimi
My tongue & lips had a kind of numbness & tingle after eating this. It was unique.
Second course: Nabe (and my co-worker's translator - phone app translators did not exist in 2007)
How to cook the Nabe
It is a little hard to see because of the *.avi > *.gif conversion, but I was unsure how else to host a movie here. This is how the Nabe was brought to the table, it is so fresh, the fish is still twitching, even after the chef has cut it up.
Hotel Rooms
Ryokan in Kyoto:
The hotel we stayed at for bounenkai. It was kind of a surprise to me, but really an awesome experience. I felt accepted with my co-workers, if only for one night.
The onsen as part of the hotel for the bounenkai 🕺. It was a pleasure to sit there in silence, listening to Japanese women whisper about something I couldn't understand. (They were next to the men, with a kind of bamboo screen separating the sexes.)
I booked the wrong Hyatt in Tokyo. I was hoping for the one from one of my favorite movies, "Lost in Translation", but this one was less fancy. But very nice compared to most business hotels in Japan. But wait for the next (and currently final) Japan blog post. hint hint
Why Japan?
Which is a nice segue to the next picture.
I always had a suspicion that this is who "Bob" was in "Lost in Translation".
I can't understand why stores open at 10am in Japan. This was in 2007, so maybe it has changed, but there is clearly demand to open earlier. Look at the queue.
We used to read the walls for train schedules.
Gathering of Japanese culture
No camping and no fires, just in case "Keep out" wasn't clear enough.
Having learned about ganguro culture on my last trip, I thought this might be the next wave of color changes as a subculture. But to this day, these are the only two Japanese people I've seen dressed like this with that specific hair color.
I am starting to learn more about this cultural phenomenon in Japan. Twerkie-blue-bird has introduced me to several westerners who participate in this dress style also. But I do not completely understand it. Help?
Harajuku:
They literally had a sign that said "No Photos, Fuck Off!". So being the American that I am, I snuck a photo. Fuck off yourself, you cunt bag whore of a whale's whelping. (sorry, I lost my composure there)
Back to myself now. I remember this pair very clearly. I wanted to be their friend so much, but couldn't find the way to ask.
Akihabara:
She had a crowd of simps gathered around her as if she were a movie star and the paparazzi where following her. I mean, there were easily 20 males surrounding her with bags of camera equipment, doing lens changes and their assistants were guiding them. It was mind blowing.
Until, come to find out, they were just advertising something. Major let down.
Shibuya Scramble:
Propaganda(?) Parades:
"Lost in Translation" featured these (what I call) Propaganda Parades. Here's one from the city Formerly known as Koromo. The noise is immense!
Another Propaganda Parade, this time in Kanazawa. I'm pretty sure I've had my eardrums blown out by one of these busses in every city in Japan that I've visited. I wish I could understand it though.
Less "why", but very Japanese:
Views from a Nagoya skyscraper owned by the company I was working for.
Nagoya-jo, off in the distance. This one is a reproduction because the original was destroyed. I forget if it was a random fire, or the big war. But either way, it was a loss for the area.
The Nagoya TV Tower, with renovations completed. My trip in 2005, the tower was having renovations performed, so I didn't get the opportunity to see it like this.
From the viewing platform of the Nagoya TV Tower, you can see an advert for Goo?
Haunting reminder of a former New York skyline.
When you are on the Shinkansen 🚅, look for this behavior to know when you are passing by Mt. Fuji
I had a nightmare related to this photo. The sign pointing the wheelchair to fall off the balcony was disturbing to me. And I know that isn't the intention, but the timing of being in Kyoto Station at this exact moment was hard.
Moving up levels in Kyoto Station.
Just another rainy day in Kyoto.
My Japanese co-worker introduced me to a museum in Kyoto. I wish we could have spent more time here, but we had a train to catch to Kanazawa. At this museum, I learned the kanji 車 (kuruma, car or vehicle). But inside a dimly lit room, with flashes prohibited, was this masterful artwork from a long time ago. It is so famous, another Japanese co-worker of mine had a plastic folder with this printed on it. I need to investigate this more deeply.
At the Todai-ji temple, a lady dressed in traditional Japanese clothing sitting on the porch of the temple. I was confused by this.
But I walked up to the corner of the building and solved the riddle. It was two people taking pictures of each other. This was commonplace in 2007 because the "selfie" 🤳 was not a thing.
I was told that this is a proper 置屋 (okiya, lodge house and drinking establishment for maiko and geisha) . I wish I could confirm, and even meet the inhabitants.
Nagoya Station.
Shinjuku during the day. Smells much nicer than New Orleans, Louisiana, USA during the day.
CONCLUSION
So, there we have it. Reliving this trip through these photos really cements this as one of the best trips so far.
I hope you enjoyed the pictures and stories. I found a couple that may end up in some photo contests here on PeakD, also.
I hope to do more of this in other parts of Japan that I've not been to yet. (Here's looking at you Aomori, Akita, and Fukuoka)
Please feel free to comment and let me know if you want more descriptions, or have answers to my many "mysteries of Japan" questions. Maybe I should compile them?