Nagoya Birthday trip part 5

Nagoya 名古屋

When I arrived at Nagoya Station I headed straight over to my hostel, Glocal Nagoya Backpackers Hostel, where I would be staying for two nights. I had a bottom bunk bed with a curtain. The people working at the hostel's bar were friendly so I sat chatting with them and some of their regulars all evening. I hadn't really planned what to do in Nagoya, so I took their recommendations. They also had cider!! Something you don't see very often in Japan.

First I headed over to Atsuta Shrine, one of the most important Shinto shrines in the country. It holds one of the three sacred imperial regalia. There's also a big tree that's been there for more than 1000 years.

The people at the hostel recommended Inuyama Castle, close to Nagoya, but as I only had a day I visited Nagoya Castle. There was a Spring Festival going on, so I tried some local street food and watched a taiko drumming group perform in front of the castle. I had Nagoya tebasaki spicy chicken wings.














The people working and drinking at the hostel were running a bar at a market in Noritake Garden, so I headed over for a birthday drink. Then I was taken for another Nagoya speciality, misonikomi udon, udon noodles cooked in a miso broth.

After food I headed to the Osu shopping area to see Osu Kannon Temple and have a wander.


That last photo is in support of Kumamoto, an area that had recently been hit by a big earthquake. The bear is called Kumamon, the mascot of Kumamoto Prefecture. 
I finished my Birthday off with a walk around by the Nagoya TV Tower and trying some more local food, Hitsumabushi. At the restaurant there were instructions on how to eat this meal. First you divide the bowl of rice and eel into quarters. You eat the first serving normally. To the second serving you add the nori seaweed, spring onions, and wasabi. Then you pour the dashi broth over the remaining half. I loved the food in Nagoya, it might have been my favourite day of my birthday trip because of the food.

Yokohama 横浜 Jan 2012

When I originally made this blog I was still too busy being a student to keep this up to date, but now I'm trying to go back and write about some of the cool places I visited the various times I lived in Japan. Writing about something I did 5 years ago (wow! really 5 years?!??) might mean that I miss some stuff and end up coming back to these posts later as I remember things.

Yokohama 横浜 Chinese New Year

The time of year that we went meant we had accidentally timed our visit perfectly for New Year celebrations and parades. When we arrived we went straight to the China Town area. There were so many people! We tried on some of the Lion dance heads, then made our way through the busy streets with strings of lanterns overhead to where the parade would take place.

After watching the parade we went to Kantei-byo temple, just off the street where the parade had been. It seemed much more colourful and elaborately decorated than a lot of temples I'd visited. 

  In the evening we headed over to the Minato mirai area to see the skyline and take a few purikura.

Jindaiji and Onsen

During the autumn holiday there weren't always many people around my dorm, so one day I decided I'd go for a little explore around the local area. I had a rough idea that there was a temple nearby after reading an article on cnntokyo, so I checked google maps and headed in that general direction. It didn't take long to get to at all from my dorm by bike. At the entrance they had a small market with a foresty kind of area behind it. Amongst the trees there was jindaiji the second oldest temple in Tokyo.

Close by to the temple there is an onsen (hot spring), so this year I went there with a few friends from global house. Being foreign, and not completely used to the whole being naked in public idea, it still felt awkward in the changing room first. It took me a few months to want to try using the shared bath we have at global house. Once you are in though, it's really nice and you just forget about how awkward you thought it would have been before going. They had different types of baths, both inside ones and outside (which you could still use even though it was freezing outside and January) Some of the baths were charcoal, so the water was black. This was a bit odd to start with: if your arm is underwater you can no longer see it, and yet the water still felt like normal water, it didn't feel thick or sticky or anything. It did leave my skin feeling really soft afterwards though :) The bath that I found strangest was an electric bath. I couldn't bring myself to go in this one, because electricity and water are two things that you are always told must be kept separate. One thing about using the bath at my dorm and going to onsen that I still find a little odd, is how you have normal conversations (making eye contact while talking etc) while sitting in a row showering. It feels normal because you forget that you're all just sat there having a shower with other people, but when I think about it, it still seems slightly odd. Either way, I like them, and find it funny that I was too embarrassed to try for so long at the start of term.