Here are a couple of observations about Japan. We’ve been to six places so far – Aomori, Akita, Niigata, Kanazawa, Sakaiminato and Kitakyushu. Knowing as I do, how the Japanese are obsessed with golf, imagine my surprise at having seen a grand total of zero golf courses so far. One driving range but none of the real thing. And while on the subject of manicured greenery, the gardens we have seen have been truly spectacular. The largest we saw was 11 hectares. The smallest was as big as a suburban dinner table. Most Aussies would concrete that over and stick a barbecue in the corner. The average Japanese would put a water feature, half a dozen bonsais, a concrete lantern and two decorative trees in that space. We had a great landscaper but I’m not sure he could manage fountains operated by gravity and I’m not sure I could afford it.
We just did the Busan fish market. We’ve done the same sort of things before in rural Vietnam but not on the scale of this thing. This is where the food looks back at you and you could either leave with dinner or a pet. For a vegan this must be like being stuck in Dante’s Nine Circles of Hell. Inviting an unknowing vegan to a traipse round this place would be the epitome of Dante’s last ring of treachery especially if the next step was barbecuing something they’d just given a name to.
The various tours we do are designated strenuous, moderate or easy. I’m always bemused by the number of people who opt for a strenuous tour when they struggle to even get off the bus. In Kitakyushu we went into the Akiyoshido Limestone Cave. It was dark, wet and slippery. It was also the largest underground void I have ever been in and I’ve been in a few, mostly man-made, in my years as a mine geologist. You could fit several full-size European Gothic cathedrals in there. So I wondered how useful the stragglers would be when the orcs arrived. Something for the Balrog to put on his sandwiches I guess since we didn’t have a Gandalf to help us out of the Japanese version of Moria (I’m assuming you’ve all read Lord of the Rings or at least seen the movies).
On a similar theme, we did a boat ride in the extensive moat system round the Matsue castle near our stop in Sakaiminato. There are 17 bridges over the moat and 4 of them are only a couple of feet above the water while the rest are not much higher. So imagine 10 people per boat crawling into a rocking, tent like space about as high as a dining room table then sitting on the floor and arranging ten sets of legs. Then we had to find the space to lie flat when passing under the 4 lowest bridges. I was laying on the legs of the lady arranged next to me. Fortunately she was a good sport and besides, the CB was sitting next to me trying to stop her feet from going to sleep. I suspect we may have left a few people in those boats because getting out was as hard as getting in – collateral damage.