Island in the sun

Sorry again for the dearth of posts. I went into hiding for fear of more cartoon-themed litebrite terrorist devices. Now that winter has finally arrived, I am sure the miscreants who would try to similarly undermine the fabric of our society have gone into deep hibernation.

Back to our story.



After some time back in Tokyo, we flew to Ishigaki Island, which is here.

This was to be and was indeed a highlight of our trip. Four days on a semi-tropical island with no big plans except exploring and relaxing. The island is only 142 square miles (228.91 km²) and sparsely populated; by comparison, New York City is 303 square miles (785.5 km²)

Our lovely hotel room at the Auberge Kabira which overlooks Kabira Bay.

Lunch near the hotel. This is a big place that caters to tourists, but very nice. I had some Ishgaki soba and Ishigaki Beer.

This is a park next to/behind our hotel.

Our Hotel, from the beach.

The beach. The boats you see are glass bottom boats that will take you over the coral reefs that he island is famous for. There's something called the Manta Ray Scramble which happens in Kabira bay. No swimming is allowed in the bay, however. I've read that this is because of dangerous currents and alternately because of the black pearl cultivation in the bay.

Cats sunning themselves on a log by the beach.

A view of the bay from our hotel window.

Fun Times in the Future

While in Tokyo, Momo caught a cold, so I set off on a miserable rainy day by myself with adventure in mind. Adventure of the geeky kind, that is. I caught the automated Yurikamome "new transit" line to Odaiba. It's essentially a computer driven bus on a raised track. I took some video along the way, hoping to give a better glimpse of Tokyo, although the weather made for some drab vistas.

As soon as I got on the train, I walked up to the front of the "train" so I could look out the window (and take video). I felt a little silly since the only other people who seemed interested in doing the same were giggling children.

Odaiba, my destination, is a man-made island in Tokyo Bay. It is the home to several large (and truly interesting) tourist attractions, one of which is the Miraikan National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation. My inner geek was excited as I made my way there and was not disappointed. My first treat was a live Asimo demonstration. For those of you who might be unfamiliar with Asimo, it's a humanoid robot made by Honda and about as close to a science fiction robot that today's technology can get you.

Of course, I caught some video.

The demonstration was conducted in an open part of the building underneath a very large globe that had patterns of some nature (weather perhaps?) moving around it.

After that, the wonders did not cease.

Super-long electric car of the future. This was located at the entrance to an entire floor dedicated to environmentally friendly science and technology.

Therapeutic Robot "Paro". A robotic baby seal that reacts to touch.

Remote controlled robots that float on metal using magnetism.

A miniature Maglev train (it's floating on the metal track).

"Rescue Robot Field" - a small testing ground for odd-looking robots designed to work in places where people cant.

A robot "boy" with a the outer covering removed.

"A Hands-On Model of the Internet" - It's a large contraption with several terminals that uses white and black ping-pong balls to represent binary code and show how computers send and receive email in a physical way.

The "Ride Cam", where you (and a partner) can "pilot" a small six-legged robot. The big blue room is a 3-D virtual-reality theater (like flight simulators or roller-coaster simulators at theme-parks) where you "drive" the little robot and "see" through it's stereo camera eyes. The two people controlling the robot must work together to get the robot to move. This was an interesting proposition for me as I was there alone and only spoke a little Japanese. A younger guy with a good sense of humor took up the reins with me and we were pretty successful. If you made the robot 50 feet tall you'd have Robotech.

A classroom where young students can assemble various types of little robots.

The engine from a Japanese rocket.

A wall-sized display of a gene sequence which you can rearrange by sliding plexiglass tiles.

A mock-up of a laboratory sent up in the cargo bay of the space shuttle with the actual instruments that were inside of it.

It was signed by a bunch of "space luminaries", of whom I only recognized Buzz Aldrin.

This place made the Museum of Science in Boston look like an elementary-school science fair. I spent three hours there and easily could have spent more. The displays were incredibly thorough yet engaging as well. I'd recommend it to any egg-head visiting Tokyo. I'll probably go again when I return.

The most magical place in the world isn't Disney

It just so happened that our friends Galen and Hyde were in Japan at the same time we were, so we all met up in Tokyo after we returned from Kyoto and Nara. On our list of things to see was the Ghibli Museum - a place based on the work of Animator Hayao Miyazaki and his company, Studio Ghibli.

By far, this is one of the most magical places I've ever visited. Disney and other glitzy theme parks can rot. Studio Ghibli managed to build this museum with the same sense of wistful and hopeful childhood nostalgia that make Miyazaki's movies so special. It's uncanny. Aside from it's obvious appeal to children and adults (or rather, the child within adults) it is a masterpiece of emotive architecture and interior design. It was definitely a highlight of my trip. Unfortunately, photography is not allowed at the museum except in a few spots.


There is a roof garden that has a full-size metal statue of the robot from "Castle in the Sky".

 
Myself, Galen, and Hyde in front of the "ticket booth" outside the museum that's manned by Totoro from "My Neighbor Totoro". In my hand is a pile of Clementine rinds. I couldn't find a place to ditch them, as garbage cans are scarce on Japanese streets.

Although I could not take pictures, I found another site by a person who did (whether or not it was sanctioned by the museum). I highly recommend visiting this person's site to see the images - www.tautoz.com/ghiblimuseum/


After the museum, we all had dinner and got dessert at a fancy place in Ginza that Momo's father used to take her to. It was really fancy; the walls were dark stained wood with victorian tea room furniture. On the table is chocolate chiffon cake that had what appeared to be silver flakes. Very fancy.

After Kyoto, Nara.

After our time in Kyoto, Momo and I took the train to Nara, one of the ancient capitals of Japan. We were there to see some important temples and the quasi-domesticated deer that roam the parks and temples there.




Some of the aforementioned deer. Here's a sobering note I found on a Nara travel website:

Stay safe
The deer in Nara park tend to be friendly and perhaps overly eager to eat shika-senbei cookies from the hands of tourists, but you should avoid deer which have antlers. They can be aggressive and their antlers can injure you.

This is Todaiji Temple, the largest wooden structure in the world (though this fact is a contentious one) and home to Japan's largest Buddha (an uncontested fact). In person, it's big.


REALLY big.


The entrance to Todaiji.


The Buddha inside. The photograph doesn't do it justice. Some quick stats:

The size of the Buddha

• Height : 14.98 meters (49 feet)
• Face : 5.33 meters (17.5 feet)
• Eyes : 1.02 meters (3 feet)
• Nose : 0.5 meters (1.6 feet)
• Ears : 2.54 meters (8 feet)
• Weight : 500 metric tonnes (1,102,311 pounds)

That's one big buddha.

Photo from Handbook on Viewing Buddhist Statues, Ishii, Ayako (Ikeda, 1983). Amazon


Burning incense at the entrance to Todaiji. You drop 100 yen (80 cents) in the box and light a stick, and then waft the smoke on whatever part of you that needs help. I tried to get it around my head.




The definition of juxtaposition. The computers are for having some sort of metal piece engraved with your name or some such.


Another part of the temple complex.


Notice anything different?


Magic noodles.


At Mr. Donut in Nara.


Our sad hotel room in Nara.


Like an airplane bathroom with a shower.



The complimentary yukatas were nice, however.


Waiting near Yakushiji Temple for the bus to take us to a Horyuji Temple on the outskirts of Nara.


At Horyuji Temple.




These guardians are STACKED! Look at those abs!






Cute dog.


Due to the time of year, there were a lot of women in Kimonos walking around. This one has a modern design.


Panoramic shot of Horyuji Temple.


Audio of Monks chanting at Horyuji temple. Normally, visitors to the temple would not get to experience this; an exception was made due to the New Year holiday. I actually didn't see the monks myself - there was a sizeable crowd in the hallway where the opening to the room was and I didn't bother pushing through to see. I stood in front of the paper sliding door (shijo) to the room where the monks had left their sandals and captured this.


The train station at Osaka on the way back to Tokyo. This is January 3rd. Since New Year's is probably the biggest holiday in Japan, and the holiday that most people return home for, this is one of the busiest travel days of the year; It is equivalent to the Sunday after Thanksgiving in the states, except that trans are the primary means of travel. The parallels even translate into media coverage - there are just as many stories about crowded trains on Japanese news as there are about crowded highways on US news stations around Thanksgiving.

Given the choice, I'll take crowded trains.