Japan 2015

[Shaolin Crane]

Before I start here's the whole album to peruse since its a couple thousand pictures and I can't post them all. Gopro videos from my pack rig i'm still working on
http://s524.photobucket.com/user/ShaolinCrane/library/Japan%202015?sort=3&page=1


Pretty sure I mentioned it to everyone but for the past few weeks I was in Japan backpacking. Thanks to some incessant pestering of Ben I was able to make it happen. I went solo cause that's how I prefer to do most things anyhow.

First three days Tokyo.
Landed around 3pm in the afternoon and it was raining and hot, like carrying around a wet dog. Whatever jet lag is supposed to feel like I didn't have it I was ready to get my ass to Tokyo. First things first, I go to exchange my exchange order to get my train pass. After an hour or so train ride I arrive in Tokyo and cram into the local Yamanote line to my hotel, after realizing that google maps walking nav is fucking worthless and after getting lost for about an hour I found my hotel. Check in, dump my shit and rush to make my dinner reservation.

I finally make it to the restaurant after getting lost again, and sit down. Everyone at the bar is very apprehensive about my presence, and after awkward staring from the chef and the locals, he asks me why I came to Japan. I explain that I teach Shorinji Kempo and that I wanted to see the sights related to martial arts and he and his wife start to laugh loudly, the whole demeanor of the restaurant changed. Now everyone wants to hear the stories I have about teaching and fighting, the locals at the end of the bar have the one who spoke english very well to ask "can we make buff with Sensei?" Make buff? Oh you mean flex, uh, sure I guess.
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Now mama and papa wanted to take a picture too
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It was a late night and the locals were trying to buy me sake to drink with, after explaining that i've never tasted alcohol, one of the older gentleman at the bar with his wife walked over to me and shook my hand and in broken english said "I wish my daughter could have married an american like you" :jester:
We all exchanged cards and I left to go crash.
Next morning I hit the city early to see what I wanted
Center tokyo there was a famous shrine on the way to the Katana Museum
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After getting lost, again and walking around again for a couple hours I finally find the museum
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Unfortunately the museum did not allow pictures, but didnt say anything about video :p
From the museum I head over to the park. For whatever reason the park names are drawing a blank since there were so many but when I remember i'll edit
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I'm having some issues with photobucket so i'll continue it after I work them out.

[94cobra69ss396]

So that's the reason for the silence. Congrats on the trip. I'm anxious to hear and see more.

[Leedom]

Japan is on my bucket list. lucky you

[Vettezuki]

Sounds like all in all you had a great trip. Looking forward to more pics and video.

[kdracer73]

I will be going to Tokyo on July 28. Frankie will be there 2 weeks before me, so she "should " know her way around a little. I am super excited to go. Her son is working in Tokyo, so we can stay at his place for free.


Great photos. I loved the contrast of the Day/Night shots in Hirosima. Frankie has been to some of the Temples on your trip. This will be her 5th trip over there. We have a few temple sites on our plan.

[Shaolin Crane]

From the museum I headed over to the Shinjuku Garden
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I was there a couple hours and was just about to leave to get food when I saw a small diner in the middle of the park, menu was on a vending machine that issues tickets, odd, but lets try it. I get my tickets and the lady say "you get too much" ha, this is a snack
Bento box, tempura udon, and a sushi plate for $11? Fuck. Yes.
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Then jam to see the other side
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Massive greenhouse in the park
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From there I head over to Tokyo government building after walking for a couple hours to find that there's a subway stop in the basement.
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This was the garden I just came from
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Went up in to both towers and was hungry again so I got sugary crap with a nice view, japan isn't big on protein snacks but they love their cakes and ice cream
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After that I headed over to Akihabara to be a nerd
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Walked around for a good 5 hours, going in all the shops, went to a maid cafe (what a fucking waste of time and money)
Saw old business men playing pokemon and yugioh like their lives depended on it :jester:
Saw that an m14 airsoft gun costs what my m14 costs here
Ate at the Gundamn cafe
Ate somewhere else
Then went over to Ginza to eat again

[Shaolin Crane]

I forget the name of it right now but there's probably a few hundred restaurants that run under the train in Ginza, popped in a few of those
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Then spent a few hours window shopping
Then went back to my hotel to change to go to Womb night club, after wandering around Kabukicho for a couple hours and being harrased by hookers saying the same thing over and over "handjob, blowjob, anal" only to run away if I even looked at them to say no. BTW Womb was horrible.
Go back to my hotel and eat in this little diner next door, 24 hours and cheap
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By now its around 3am and I need to be up early for the sights so I crash
5am the train starts and I head over to Meiji Shrine, this place is fucking HUGE. Walked it in about 3 hours cause it's just covered with shit
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Just getting from this Tori to the actual shrine was probably 35 minutes of walking
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Spent a while there but could'nt spend all day
Popped in Yebisu Garden Place on my way, which is just a bunch of new building and the Sapporro building, so I didn't spend much time
Then a long train ride, a longer walk, to near the harbor and Tsukiji Market to arrive at Senkakuji
For those of you that saw the "Ronin" movie, this is the area that fat dude talks about in the movie. The burial site of the 47 Ronin who against the orders of the shogunate, trecked for almost 2 years to track down the dude who killed their master, once found they walked for 4 hours through heavy snow to behead him in his villa, the head was washed and presented to the Shogun, where after they committed Sepuku to be buried with their master.
Graves of the 47 Ronin and their master
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Where they washed the head of Lord Kita before delivery of the head
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After getting all kinds of goosebumps and watching the videos in the museums I bounced
Arrive at Kyu Shiba Rikyu after eating and walked around, MUCH smaller than Shinjuku but very nice, spent a couple hours
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Watched some old ladies doing Kyudo, which I have gopro video of.
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After spending a while there I get something to eat and leave
Head over to Zojoji Temple
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[Shaolin Crane]

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Continue later, need food.

[Vettezuki]

Great pics. The ticket thing is common, especially at Ramen places.

The story of the 47 Ronin is still a pretty commonly told traditional story. Like Hachiko the dog, it's essentially about complete loyalty, a very big deal for Japanese culture even now.

[Shaolin Crane]

Great pics. The ticket thing is common, especially at Ramen places.

The story of the 47 Ronin is still a pretty commonly told traditional story. Like Hachiko the dog, it's essentially about complete loyalty, a very big deal for Japanese culture even now.

Right, it's common for familiars, not so common here. Which I why I did a very vague explanation. Other parts of my trip are very lesser known areas for people in the arts, but the japanese were extremely interested in hearing about because for many of then it was a "some day" kind of visit.

[Vettezuki]

A lot of what you visited is in the "some day" range for me too!

[Shaolin Crane]

At the rear of Zojoji was the burial grounds of the Tokugawa Family
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This building had a sign that I guess I didn't get a picture of way off in the shrubs of Zojoji, it's a giant puzzle box, if the building doors weren't opened in the right order you could never reach the surplus of jewels and other valuables inside that continuously rotate in the center, pretty cool
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[Shaolin Crane]

After that I grabbed some food and ran over to the Imperial Palace
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Took me a few hours to walk around the facility which you can only enter with an advanced reservation, and only for Japanese residents, but it was worth it, to say I did it at least.
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Then I ran over to the Edo-Tokyo Museum, I was short on time but was able to spend a couple of worth while hours there, I could have easily spent all day there though

[Shaolin Crane]

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What I liked about this particular museum the most was of how interactive it was, there would be a artifact, then a reproduction that could be entered/handled/experienced
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There's a few hundred pictures just here, more can be seen in my photobucket
This was my last day in Tokyo so I had to make it count, got something to eat, ran back to my room to change then headed out to the nightclub

[enkeivette]

So cool! Why no likey handjob blowjob anal? That would be impressive if she did it all at once. :leaving:

I saw this thread and thought, oh, Guys back already. Then I see that it was posted in June... damn...

[Shaolin Crane]

Yeah, three weeks, not three months.

I keep meaning to update this but my photobucket just does not want to cooperate. However I did finally upload all my gopro videos and I am working on editing them into a dvd. Don't hold your breath.

[enkeivette]

I knew it was a three week trip, just couldn't believe 3 months have passed since I saw you last. Feels like barely 3 weeks.

[Shaolin Crane]

I knew it was a three week trip, just couldn't believe 3 months have passed since I saw you last. Feels like barely 3 weeks.

One visit with me is enough for a year for many. :judge:

[enkeivette]

Ha. Uncensored Guy is better than internet Guy.

[Shaolin Crane]

:rolling:

[Shaolin Crane]

Seems my porn chariot is cooperating for now so I can continue this.

So I left the Edo-Tokyo museum, headed back to change clothes, get more food, then left to AgeHa nightclub. The deal here is, the club doesn't even open the doors till midnight, which is when the train stops, so you take it to the end of the line WAY past Tsukiji Market nears the docks just before the trains last run. You are stuck there till 5am when the trains start up or pay $400 for a cab ride back to the hotel. No joke.
Not surprising I see nearly 100 white kids, all apparently from Ohio, barely 18 with fake ID's. All there to "hook up with Japanese" they got hooked up alright, good 20 of them got arrested for drugs within the first hour, Japanese take their drug laws seriously.
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Once inside, the place is huge, On par with most LA/Vegas clubs
This was just the "food area" of the club, they know that most people are there all night so you can get shit like hot dogs, popcorn and candy.
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Now I planned things out this way cause the night was scheduled as "Dubstep and Drum n Bass" but for three hours there was Jpop and a bunch of transvestite performers.
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So by 3am I was ready to kill someone, I couldn't take the Jpop for that long. Dubstep never came, then two guys came out called the Hard Dance Rockers. That for two hours played the best hard dance sets I have ever heard in my life. Which is good cause I was ready to walk the two hours back in the pouring rain to get away from the Jpop.
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This is a pretty big deal to me cause I'm a huge hard dance fan and we don't get much of it in the states and to top if off all of my favorite tracks were played too. I went apreshit for the remaining hours till the sun came up, top 5 club nights of my life for sure.
When the sun came up I left the club and jogged the few miles to Tsukiji Fish Market to have sushi for breakfast, why not.
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Tsukiji is known through the world for it's fish trade, where if you are willing to wake up butt ass early in the morning you can have the freshest fish anywhere. There are dozens of little shops to eat at.
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Now there are two restaurants that are the size of closets that people will wait in line 4-5 hours for, no joke. I seriously lucked out cause I was the only person by myself and there was one seat in the corner of the bar that I was able to sit at because the Japanese were kind enough to let me squeeze into.
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The place was so small it only had stools with one leg that you could lean around on to let people into the back.
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Freshest fish I've ever had, but not the best, fish is like beef, it needs to be aged to be premium.
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Then I headed back to my hotel to grab my shit on head to Matsumoto. I also needed to get cash and found out the even though I called my bank three times to confirm my trip to Japan, they shut it off, after 4 hours on the phone, I was able to get cash and left.

[Shaolin Crane]

I finally make it to the Shinkansen, but I have no Idea where the fuck i'm supposed to go, i'm looking at the station route and a train attendant asks me where I'm heading, he informs me that my train is leaving in the next 50 seconds, I sprint through the station and make it just in time as the doors are closing, nearly crushing my pack as I make it through.
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Naturally by the time I get situated i'm starving so I use this as an excuse to by one of everything the food cart had.
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Not gonna lie, it was pretty gross.
I caught a quick 45 min nap and got off in Nagano for my connecting train into the mountains.
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It was a premium train car that I was essentially alone on, it was also FREEZING, which was a oddity since when I left Tokyo it was pouring rain and over 100*
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The train was older and had been converted at some point in its history to run on the newer train system, but was spotless, like everything else in Japan
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However, when I got to Matsumoto the weather was perfect. It was a nice change of pace to sweating my balls off.
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Little history about Matsumoto castle, it is the only 100% original castle in Japan, due to the war the US went about targeting castles on bombing runs since the Japanese didn't give a shit about human casualties. US forces notified Japanese forces that they were going to destroy Matsumoto castle, Japan offered the US whatever the wanted to preserve it, we were able to free many of our POW's in a trade for not destroying it. It was also the only castle in it's feudal history that was never successfully take over or burned to the ground. It is also black, where all other castles were a bright color.
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[Shaolin Crane]

I spent the whole day there, this is the reason I wanted to go to Japan since I was a kid. Thanks to a private citizen in the early 1800s, who bought the castle estate at an Auction, renovated the grounds, then donated the castle to the city with the exception that people be allowed inside to experience the castle.
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I didn't take many pictures of the inside cause I was in awe, and I was wearing my gopro on a chest mount that ran the whole time.
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Yep, these are 17th century rocket propelled grenades.
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No joke, the "stairs" were like ladders, and I could barely fit through some of the openings at the top.
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[Shaolin Crane]

If you saw the shirt I was wearing I did not bring it just because it had kanji on it. The kanji says "San Shao" which is Japanese for "unbound hand" it is a term for Kempo fighters who do kumite without protective gear. Essentially bare knuckle fighters of Japan. A few of the instructors who participated with me got the shirts too.
I was one of the few people that went all over the grounds, there is a small pathway and a special bridge closed off to everyone that was only used for Ieyasu Tokugawa, and has been closed ever since. I was trying to get some pictures of the area while the grounds keepers were pruning the bushes, one of the waved me over and said it was ok to take pictures. I made sure that I stepped in the same footprints they did as they were raking the gravel at the same time.
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I also got some incredible shots that most no one else will
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On my walk back I thanked the grounds keeper who let me over there, he said "you're lucky we never let anyone here. I told him thanyou again, he pointed at the scars on my knuckles and my shirt and said "no thankyou" and bowed as I left.
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Then I saw a homie "see what I did there?"
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The hotels in japan provide nearly anything you would need, sure does spoil you, the town is small and have bikes for the guests to use to get around, gives a cool feel of the city too.
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Had a small dilemma that I had to fix, filled up my gopro and found a store called Edion, an electronics store that is like Frys, Bestbuy and New Egg on crack, bought a hard drive and the hotel let me use the computer in the lobby to transfer the stuff over, using windows in japanese sure was interesting. Also stopped in a supermarket for food.
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Sushi and related was cheap and incredible. The jerkey however was $30US for the big bag and $10US for the small bag, the japanese are no big on protein and jerkey was no exception, if you wanted it, you had to pay for it.
Matsumoto is a skiing and castle town with no nightlife to speak of, so I caught up on sleep and was up bright and early for my last day.
The next day the weather was incredible, cold, high 40's but not a cloud in sight.
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There was a group of old folks doing tai chi and I decided to join in, but far away and out of sight
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[Shaolin Crane]

Photobucket is glitching up again, have to continue later.

[Vettezuki]

Great pics, stories, and some history I didn't know. :)

[Shaolin Crane]

Great pics, stories, and some history I didn't know. :)

I'd like to do this all in one stint, but however photobucket does cookies on their site sucks balls and eventually gets to the point where I can't use it in the browser at all until I restart. The video links don't look the same either, now just small thumbnails compared to the photos. The pictures are one thing but many times it's what I experienced along with them that makes them notable.

[Shaolin Crane]

I ride around Matsumoto for a while looking at the castle town area before leaving for Nagano, which was the half point for many spots up north, so while I was there I went sight seeing.
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Nagano really is a beautiful city
Now Nagano is best known for it's position in the Olympic Winter Games. Best known to the Japanese for Shichimi Togarashi, which is a seasoned crushed pepper I am quite fond of, so is my dad. So I trecked up into the Mountains for Tofuguji Temple, where the monks make the peppers. The trecked WAY further into the boonies of the Forest for Ninjadera Mura. One of the three remaining ninja training camps, now an amusement park aimed mainly at children. Tofukuji is as far as the bus goes, and takes about an hour from the train station.
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Tofukuji is actually three temples that escalate up the mountain, each flight of stairs is about 1000' in the altitude with my pack is was quite exhausting. Then about a 2 hour walk to Ninjamura
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Going through the small town on the way
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Finally at the park
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The park, even though now aimed at kids, had an excellent museum hidden in the back
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One of the attractions was the ninja house, a entire house built with mazes and puzzles requiring you to figure your way into each room
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Since the japanese are not litigious like americans there was no "safety" measures to speak of, apparently the rule of the ninja and the park, if you can reach it, have at it, there were kids on the fuckin roofs of places, including a large Ninja Warrior like obstical course the kids were falling off of right and left, hell even I had a hard time.
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[Shaolin Crane]

There is a ton more pics of the Ninja museum in my photobucket. It was a long day and didn't make it to Kanazawa till late.
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This is the ryokan I stayed in.
The inn keeper was a very nice man who insisted on showing sensei around town. He took me to a small sushi bar near by, EXCELLENT quality, tied with Tokyo for sure. Little different here, the served the sushi straight on the bar and you ate with your hands, no chop sticks
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I spent probably 4 hours there, the locals were nice but uninterested in my presence until they found out I teach Kempo. They all insisted in taking pictures with me and where I had gone in Japan and where I was planning on going. I taught them all some simple techniques and they could not have been more thrilled. Then when back to the ryokan because of his curfew.
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By now it had been a few days since I worked out, Horita let me do some iso/plymetrics in his garden so I wouldnt disturb the other guests, he also asked if I minded that he do the same as I, we stayed up talking and turns out he was a former olympic skiier and runner.
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I had a long day and had to be up at 5am to make my schedule, I was only there for a night but Horita insisted on "driving Sensei around on his last day" He took me somewhere I could get some food and then drove me to Kenrokuen Garden quite some distance away.
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Kenrokuen garden is HUGE, and I can easily see why it's often voted and the most beautiful Garden in the world
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photobucket is glitching up, again, have to continue later.

[Shaolin Crane]

I spent a few hours at Kenrokuen, the place is massive.
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This is important, Basho is a big deal in Japan, remember this for later in my travels
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Soooooooo generally I was really respectful of requests this time however I was sneaky and took a few pictures even though they asked for no photos, Seison Kaku Villa was pretty incredible, the entire home was built with song board. Which was highly polished wood, fitted with traditional japanese leverage mounts that required no nails, however, due to Ninja assassinations they would posistion nails upward and downward against each other, they would "chirp" like birds. It was quite fun to practice the ninjutsu techniques I learned for light stepping movement, it makes a large difference but in all honesty I am too heavy and would have been caught if I was a ninja, bummer. I did however scare the shit out of a few of the workers in the house because of how quiet I was, so maybe I could be B Team infiltration.
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This paint is a big deal, blue was very difficult to make in the 17th century and VERY expensive, this whole room was painted this color because she wanted it.
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Grounds layout for the Kanazawa Castle
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If you're thinking the castle looks new, it is, this is one of the many replicas that were remodeled some time in history, Kanazawa castle was just completed last year.
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[Shaolin Crane]

Each castle that I visited showcased something unique to it, instead of trying to make it look original it was more of an engineering museum showing how castles were built. Kanazawa castle was the first structure known to be made with earthquake defenses. The used massive pieces of polished wood that crossed underneath the structure and attached at the load bearing points, as the ground would shake they would move to disperse energy. Pretty cool considering it was never destroyed from earthquakes or fire, however it was eventually condemned before the renovation.
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Artifacts discovered during initial renovation

[Shaolin Crane]

Like most castles in Japan, not a single nail, bolt, or fastener was used. They used entirely leverage and friction based assemblies. Seen here.
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Apparently the deal with many of the castles is the people would wanted to live in the immediate town were required to work on the castle. There were many different foundation types. Each rock, brick or slab you see in feudal time periods of japan were shaped my individual people using small hammers and other rocks. So now that you know this, look at this wall, see anything?
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They were shaped and marked to be specifically pieced into the wall. Marked with in install direction.
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Look at the precision of the base blocks on this building, done by hand.
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[Shaolin Crane]

Apparently a dutch glasssmith traveled to Japan and built this shrine featuring this stained glass window.
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Then I headed over to the samurai district.
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So what's pretty cool about the Nagamichi area, just because you were a samurai, didn't mean you got a big badass house. Didn't even mean dick if you were lineage of someone important. This was strictly performance based. Best warriors, got the best ranks, and best houses, period. You're a shitty killer? You get a shitty house. Want a better place? Get better.
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One of the houses offered a traditional tea ceremony while over looking the gardens, I wanted to try it, but I was low on time.
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Why am I excited about this? Can of coke has 43 calories, yes, 43. Only 8 grams of sugar because Japan knows soda doesn't need 50g of sugar to taste the same.
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150608_121652.jpg
Anywho, I was kind of lost and was trying to find Omi-Cho market not a lot of english signs in Kanazawa and my phone was dead. A nice old man walked me the two miles to the market and showed me around. He had to be 70 years old and almost dusted me.
Since my phone died I didn't get many pictures of the market other than the tiny place I ate at, incredible food. I did get lots of gopro video, apparently in Kanazawa they are known for their eel, awesome cause I love eel.
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150608_124356.jpg
I had a blast in Kanazawa, I could have stayed a week, but it was time to move on to Kyoto...

[Vettezuki]

Their woodworking tradition and joinery is off the charts.

[Shaolin Crane]

Seriously. The castle was very interactive too, you could play with the joinery parts in the exposed portion of the castle, very cool.

[Shaolin Crane]

Up to this point in my trip everyone was super cool, and I was almost forgetting what it was like to be an asshole because no one deserved it, then I got to Kyoto.
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150608_180950.jpg
I got their pretty later in the day and all of the temples/shrines were already closed and I was beat, and it was pouring. So since I spent all my previous time eating in little hole in the wall places that I tried some upscale place at the Kyoto tower, totally not worth it. It was an american style buffet. Lesson learned.
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I was up around 4am cause they is a TON to see in Kyoto and I only had a couple days.
First up Arashiama, what Kyoto is most famous for, thousands of Tori gates line the entire mountain train.
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It was pouring rain early in the morning and well over 100* definitely not the day to walk almost 50 miles total.
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Finally at the top, took a while, all gross and sticky
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There were 5 villas all famous for their different Zen gardens
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[Shaolin Crane]

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Very cool art work on the ceiling of this temple that was burnt using glass refracting light, like a magnifying glass
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Definitely my favorite of Kyoto, Kiyumizudera
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At the entrance there was this table/jig like fixture holding a staff that was dubbed "The immovable monks staff" because the monk who blessed it as he dided made it so that no one could lift it. It was rather large, about 6x6 of solid steel, roughly 6' tall. There was nothing to grip it with so at my first attempt I couldn't move it. One of the teachers told me I couldn't do it because it was 89 kilos or 200lbs. The wight wasnt the issue, it was the leverage of the stand and no grip points, after removing my pack I was able to grip it well enough to lift it up and the students watching flipped out, like they were paparazzi. Teachers kept bringing their students up to me and asking if they could take pictures with the strong american, they would want to do a front double bi pose, they took more pictures with me, than I took of the temple
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Ginkakuji
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Not really worth it IMO, and there were SO many people I was beyond agitated. This is the part where I ran into some(lots) of dick holes. Not the Japanese, the Chinese. They go through the mountain temples with their expensive shopping bags, struggling to make it up the hills just to showcase their purchases. They intentionally start shit with the Japanese well knowing they will back down because of how respectful they are. After going through one of the small street areas I had a Chinese dude with his family shove me, as a point apparently when I walked by, I ignored him and tried to pass him, and the fucker did it again.
Naturally I (yada yada) I'm a bigger asshole.
Next morning up bright and early before leaving Kyoto for Kinkakuji. There was at least a thousand people waiting by the time the gates opened.
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[Shaolin Crane]

I can definitely see why it's so popular, but there were just too many people there and it really ruined the experience. It eventually turned into a mad dash to get into sight of the Pavilion.
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Overall my experience of Kyoto wasn't great, not because of the city itself, just the sheer volume of people and the dicks that were there 99% Chinese. So I cut my itinerary short because I was sure that I was going to drown the next chinese dude who thought it would be a good idea to fuck with me.
On my way to hiroshima I had a train change over in Osaka and had to eat. Found this revolving sushi bar that was soooo cheap and the quality smoked nearly every restaurant here. I ate so much the waitresses were staring at me the whole time.
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$2 For O-toro and Negitoro.
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When I got to hiroshima the weather was great, humid, but not too hot. Since I left Kyoto early I had plenty of time to explore right away.
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Probably the most notable building in Hiroshima
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This building took nearly a direct hit and was still intact
First up was the atomic museum. Which I must say, they did not censor anything at all. It was quite chilling.
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/th_20150610_145408.mp4 (http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150610_145408.mp4)
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The museum was very small because they were renovating the material, it is now a joint venture between the US and Japan. Lots of material was donated by the US for display in the museum.

The most notable thing was acknowledging the necessity of the bomb. For a long time there was extreme hatred towards the US for use of the bomb saying there were other alternatives. The prime minister released a statement saying the bomb was the only option that did no allow further violent progression. During the statement he said that Japan is now a peaceful nation and will never participate in another war ever again and they are on the leading front of destroying any and all nuclear weapons everywhere for a better future. Also, he mentioned that Japan had no reason to be involved in the war and that the actions of the bomb were fair considering it's involvement in the war and pearl harbor. This is pretty big, because just a few years ago it was exactly opposite.
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[Shaolin Crane]

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[Shaolin Crane]

The whole city of Hiroshima is built around the monument area, doesn't have the same railway system as the rest of Japan either, street cars and lots of underground walkways.
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150610_153004.jpg
On the other side of the river is the Honkawa Childrens School Museum, which is the bombed out building located on the original campus, which is still an operating school.
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The museum is well put together, in many respects better than the memorial museum
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The school was thought to be safe because of the deep basement, 400 kids huddled inside this tiny basement and they were all vaporized instantly.
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It was fuckin hot, 100* 100% humidity. But while I was there I could hear the children singing next door in the gym, made the room feel very very cold.
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/th_20150610_155227.mp4 (http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150610_155227.mp4)
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The only building unharmed during the blast was the First National Bank of Japan. The building is made entirely from marble.
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The bank is now a modern art museum, featuring different artists works, some photos, drawings, music, etc.
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The vault space is no fuckin joke, and even though it's 100' under ground, and 5' thick, everyone in the vault area were turned to shadows too.
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150610_163044.jpg

[Shaolin Crane]

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One of the artists invited me in to watch her work, she was hot so I figured I could admire and perv at the same time
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Still existing scorch marks on the exterior of the building
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Shockingly the bank managers office had iron storm shudders since it was on the sunny side of the building, they were yet to be opened that morning so the office remained almost entirely intact.
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Even though the place was fubared, they had it open and operating in 48 hours.

[Shaolin Crane]

I lost track of time at the Bank sprinted to Hiroshima Castle, the castle itself is a repop and has been built several dozen times since the bomb was dropped, it's now a museum of former feudal realms of Japan. The rest of the castle grounds were left in ruin, it was like walking around a real life version of Legend of Zelda Ocarina of time.
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Unfortunately I did not make it in time, so I wondered around the ruins for a while.
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For whatever reason, maybe because it was unexpected, this is the part of my trip that has been burned into my memory
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I sat on the wall for a while just watching the clouds roll by
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This picture to me is pretty cool, almost captures the essence of Japan that you see on their flag
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It would not have been a proper trip to Hiroshima without Okonomiyaki
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Since my hotel was just steps away, I went back to the bomb epicenter for dusk shots
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This is what the ashes of 80,000 bodies looks like
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My phone died and so did my camera so I wandered around for a while before crashing early.
Up next morning around 5am to see the shitty weather caught up with me, had breakfast at the hotels buffet overlooking the harbor
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I finally made it to the castle, unfortunately they did not allow photos so I only got a few
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150611_102528.jpg
I do have plenty of video though
Headed over to one of the other museums
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This is an excavation of land pieces near the bomb zone, it shows what physically happened to the earth after the bomp, completely altering the composition of the earths crust

[Shaolin Crane]

I guess I lost a ton of pictures from one of the memorials. Sucks.
By the time I wandered around the castle, outdoor mall area, ate, ate, ate, ate some more it was night and I went on the prowl for a nightclub.
First few minutes I spots a Laguna Seca Boss
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150611_203254.jpg
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150611_204027.jpg
Downtown Hiroshima was a little different in terms of nightlife, more of a word of mouth party center as I was turned down from entry at a lot of places. No worries, could always get more food.
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So I stopped for some Wagyu Sukiyaki
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150611_211114.jpg
Spotted a skyline
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Since I couldn't get in anywhere I went back to the epicenter area for night shots
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I spent a lot of time outside in the rain but for some reason couldn't get enough of the epicenter area.
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150611_221639.jpg
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/th_20150611_221830.mp4 (http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150611_221830.mp4)
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Went to sleep early to catch the first train out in the AM
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/th_20150612_065029.mp4 (http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150612_065029.mp4)

[Shaolin Crane]

As I reach the bottom of Japan, before starting my return to Tokyo, lies the most important stop. Just between Fukuoka and Shimonoseki lies a shitty little island called Ganryu-ijima. Covered in sea roaches, hornets, sand fleas, crabs, clams, and other creepy crawlies that tried to eat me. No electricity and just a handful of ferries a day, but on the little island, over 400 years ago the most famous samurai duel in history took place between Miyamoto Musashi and Kojiro Sasaki. Musashi's boat had capsized on the way to the island and he lost his sword in the water, only a single boat oar remaining he carved it into the shape of a bokuto(now referred to as a Suburrito) since he was extremely late, Sasaki in his rage met Musashi in the water and lunged at him, with the sun behind his back hiding his creation, he crushed Sasaki's skull with a single downward stroke. This was his last battle and afterwards retired to write The Book of Five rings. A strategy book still used to this day by generals all over the world and the inspiration to Tsun Zu's Art of War.
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[Shaolin Crane]

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This was a pretty big moment for me. Miyamoto Musashi was a huge inspiration in training, and ultimately becoming an instructor of Toyama Ryu Battojutsu. That I got to stand in the exact place that the originator of Diasho, one of my sword styles stood, was very cool.
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I had a LONG day ahead of me and since there was only one more ferry for the next 6 hours I had to leave.
I made my way back to the train to Kobe, for one thing, beef.
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150612_150521.jpg
Now I had a nifty little booking.com snafu in the booking site said .4km from the train station that turn into 4km since I couldn't climb a mountain. Wouldn't have been a big deal if Mt Rokko didn't allow buses or taxis so it took a LONG time to walk the distance.
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It was really beautiful up in the mountains
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Finally got to my room with just enough time to shower, change and head to dinner.
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/th_20150612_181755.mp4 (http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150612_181755.mp4)
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It really was in the boonies and my navigation wasn't all that great on my phone. Luckily a gorgeous Japanese woman asked me if I needed help in clear as day english, saved me big time.
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150612_183529.jpg
Downtown Kobe was a cultural melting pot. More foreigners than Tokyo easily.
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Finally at my Michellin Rated Kobe Steakhouse.
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This is what A5 Kobe beef at $1 a gram costs.
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http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/th_20150612_195646.mp4 (http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150612_195646.mp4)
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/th_20150612_200201.mp4 (http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150612_200201.mp4)
Now let me say, I heard about it, read about it, tasted American equivalents, and I can assure you it is even better than I can convey. The texture was like marscapone cheese but a tremendous rich beef flavor. Now after cutting and preparing the steak. This is what is deemed suitable to serve as the main course.
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150612_200618.jpg
The rest of the beef with the tougher portions was finely chopped and pressed to a piece of toast and fried on the grill and was uniquely outstanding.
Now since I stayed way up in the secluded mountain the walk back was a bit different, no taxis, no buses, and no street light, just pitch black. After seeing this same sign over and over I tried to make out what it said since my hiragana is not great, I was able to figure out that it said "Beware of bears" Awesome.
Since I was only there for steak I left for Nara.

[Shaolin Crane]

Nara Japan is known for the wild dear that over the millennia have been tamed by the monks and allow you to pet and feed them everywhere.
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http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/th_20150613_121552.mp4 (http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150613_121552.mp4)
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/th_20150613_121749.mp4 (http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150613_121749.mp4)
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The deer were friendly, you could even go up to them and bow, and they would bow in return.
But, have the deer crackers in your hand and they got pretty agressive, one of them shoved it's head into my pocket and tried to take off with my go pro, then wacked me in the nuts until I dropped the crackers.
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/th_20150613_122758.mp4 (http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150613_122758.mp4)
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The temples there were exceptionally exquisite. This one was said to have been built in 400 BC
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This Buddha was over 300' tall, the inside of the building was MASSIVE
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Climbed to the top of the mountain for some pictures, I also confirmed that some school students were following me, then asked to take pictures of me for a school project.
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I was able to find a hostel that was IN the park so I could stay the night instead of the 10 miles or so outside with the rest of the hotels.
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Ok so I paid the extra $7 for a private room
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I wondered around for some time, then went back, cooked dinner then wandered around the park in the dark for a place to do some calisthenics
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150613_200426.jpg

[Shaolin Crane]

Another early AM to somewhere in the obscuirty of Japan. Today was Koga, one of the three remaining ninja Villages.
Again in the middle of BFE, I get off the train and the train attendant asked me if I was there for ninja, he made a call to the ninja village and they sent a car to pick me up, which was about 10 miles from the station.
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First thing was the shurikan range. Where I got to try throwing some shurikans without fear of harming them like mine.
25 yards and a bullseye
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The "ninja" at the range said I was the first Gaijin to ever do so.
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The lady who ran the "park" who is apparently original family of the clan dubbed me an official Koga ninja after having a conversation with who I was and my history as a martial arts instructor. So if my ninjutsu training here wasnt enough, I was given the title by a Koga Ninja, suck it muthafuckas.
After that, her and her husband walked me around personally to show me the museums. Incredible displays
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The ninja house was very cool
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This was where you could test the moat shoes
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150614_113538.jpg
There were lots of tunnel that spanned the entire village to different houses and portions of the forest.
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/th_20150614_115110.mp4 (http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150614_115110.mp4)
The lady rushed to find me to tell me there was only one more train to the other villages and I would need to leave now to make it in time.
Next stop was Iga/Ueno For the third and final ninja village. When I arrived the train attenent said they did not buses or taxis because it was a sunday, and I missed the morning train, so I got to walk the 15.42 kilometers to the castle. Fun times. Also got some bad directions from some teenagers who found it extremely entertaining.
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150614_131648.jpg
Walked right by the exedy clutch facilty with is fuckin MASSIVE.
Weird thing to note, no english or japanese sign in Iga, but spanish, everywhere.
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Caught quite a few popular JDM cars leaving exedy
Finally made it to the "village" which was notably different than the Koga village, this was more like a theme park built where the village was, where the Koga family actually still lived at their village.
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150614_134849.jpg
Still was an entertaining show
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Seeing tameshigiri in Japan is quite rare since swords are just as illegal as guns
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/th_20150614_150647.mp4 (http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150614_150647.mp4)
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/th_20150614_150729.mp4 (http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150614_150729.mp4)
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/th_20150614_150928.mp4 (http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150614_150928.mp4)
Kyudo with rocket propelled arrows, which was a common weapon for burning down village homes in Sengoku period of Japan
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/th_20150614_151101.mp4 (http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150614_151101.mp4)
This was nice to have english signs for the tour of the house since the Koga village did not have any and I had to stumble through my japanese
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150614_154204.jpg
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http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150614_155434.jpg

[Shaolin Crane]

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Their museum was much more accommodating to English speakers
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Alignment of the ninjutsu chakras
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Ninja would routinely disguise themselves and monks, merchants, christian priests, etc to achieve their goal of obtaining information, contrary to popular belief they did not assassinate people all that often. It was only necessary to remain unknown.
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http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150614_160206.jpg

[Shaolin Crane]

http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150614_160208.jpg
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Ninja Shotgun
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150614_160406.jpg
The museum mentioned the Koga Ninja in their exibits as well. Admitting they were superior warriors, but the Iga were superior in "magic" but they were by far the best in the History of Japan and that's why they are still around
This is the birth, and burial place of the Philosopher Basho, who I mentioned in earlier posts.
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150614_161336.jpg
"stealth" moat walls of Ueno castle
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150614_161619.jpg
Ueno castle is another reconstruction, but excellent content.
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150614_162106.jpg
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http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150614_162126.jpg
Many "ninja" were also samurai for feudal lords, and is how ninjas came about, to protect the honor of their masters while doing dishonorable things.
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150614_162141.jpg
The placement of Ueno castle was to hide the Iga ninja village
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150614_162209.jpg
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http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150614_162650.jpg

[Shaolin Crane]

So if you haven't figured out by now, I walked, a lot, my trip counter said around 40 miles a day was my average. I actually walked through the callous on my feet.
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150614_204511.jpg
Got to Nagano very late, had enough time to find some food(excellent food) and check into my room to pass out.
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150614_204511.jpg
I had originally planned on seeing the Ieaysu Tokugawa museum and garden but my lack of sleep caught up with me so I had to cut that out and head to Kawaguchiko Also known as Mt Fuji city
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150615_145248.jpg
It was nice and sunny, and also hot as balls
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150615_155707.jpg

[Shaolin Crane]

Now, usually when you get off the train you show your train pass and you're on your way. Not so in Kawaguchiko. I was required to give me passport for a photocopy, take a photo, and give my itinerary for my stay.

Why you ask? At the base of Mt Fuji lies Aokigahara Jukai. Also known as the sea of trees. Which is tied for number 1 in the world for committing suicide. Here are a few shots from google.
http://edge.liveleak.com/80281E/u/u/thumbs/2012/Nov/20/fc962a34451b_sf_6.jpg
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-U1csMXnWRmk/Ua7NeKSHZVI/AAAAAAAADXg/BTWd6qlP6a0/s1600/Aokigahara-5.jpg
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/84/23/45/8423453c76180b60ef7a603cda243728.jpg

Now that you know a little of the towns history I can continue.
First up was the caves beneath the volcano
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150615_162340.jpg
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150615_162347.jpg
Now it was over 105* that day AND 100% humidity. Until I walked down these stairs, where inside the caves was near 0*
Now I was freezing my fuckin balls off cause I was wearing my typical tank top and shorts
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150615_162433.jpg
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150615_162446.jpg
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150615_162448.jpg
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150615_162528.jpg
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150615_162532.jpg
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150615_162759.jpg
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http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150615_162930.jpg

[Shaolin Crane]

This door keeps you from going deeper into the caves and the bats nests
Everything closed,I got something to eat and was back at it early AM again.
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150615_172306.jpg
Wonderful view of Mt Fuji from my room
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150615_172657.jpg
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150615_182844.jpg
Went back to Aokigahara for the other caves
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150616_100650.jpg
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150616_101212.jpg
These caves were originally used as storage for food
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150616_101218.jpg
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150616_101411.jpg
When law enforcement believes there is someone who didnt come back, or is missing, they bring out the cadaver dogs
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/th_20150616_102433.mp4 (http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150616_102433.mp4)
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150616_102548.jpg
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150616_103733.jpg
Marked suicide areas, they request you not explore due to the density of the forest. It was very bright, but you can see how little sunlight comes through
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150616_103737.jpg
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150616_103744.jpg
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150616_103914.jpg
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150616_104139.jpg
I was hesitant to wander from the bark path cause I am terrible with directions and the GPS on my phone was not very accurate in the forest.
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150616_104231.jpg
What's odd about this forest is the is NO soil, it's all lava rock. They call the trees "parasitic trees" cause they grow and feed off each other, and it's difficult to understand how the trees actually grow.
As I reached the last parked path, I could hear the cadaver dogs howling, they had found someone...I unfortunately could not find my way to where they were to see what.
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150616_104843.jpg
Last of the caves before I left, this one I had to crawl and my hands and knees to get through
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150616_110454.jpg
Finally back in Tokyo, pouring rain, I got a capsule to have a place for my shit while I wandered around all night before my flight.
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150616_154128.jpg
The same chef who I ate with my first day told me to come back my last day. He again honored me with the gift of charging me for just the fish, gave me several keepsakes to take home, and a way to email their son to stay in touch
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150616_221257.jpg
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/Japan%202015/20150617_100629.jpg
Until next time Japan...