September 2023 - My trip to…
Hey hey! DarkBanana between the chair and the keyboard! It’s been a while since I last posted, and… I have less tim to stream these days… Which is a bummer, but I should be back to streaming after the 11th of October.
Alright, now onto the main topic! From the 1st of September to the 15th, I went on a trip. And to where you ask? Well well well, those of you who follow me on twitch, Youtube and/or discord already know: I went to the land of the rising sun, the country… yeah, let’s not quote all the monikers Japan lovers give.
Sooo, yeah, as the big weeb I am, I went there… But not for animes nor mangas… But to visit this wonderful country, to immerse myself in its culture, maybe meet new people, perhaps find love (… Yeah, that’s just a pipe dream, and I already processed that info), to taste quality food… In short, have a nice trip!
One might ask: “But, Robin, I bet you had friends with you, so it’s not as if you were alone. You probably didn’t even speak the language, nor interact in another language than French, you monster.“ (yeah, those who ask me questions usually call me by name, either because they know me or because they underestimate my power). Let me defuse the bomb before it explodes: yeah, right…
— “So, you admit that you weren’t alone!”
— … But… Actually…
— “What?”
— I was on my own!
— “You liar!”
— You might be right, I had Kasumi with me…
— “Ha ha! There we… Wait, Kasumi? A true Japanese?“
— … Do I really need to expand on that?
— “Surely you do!! You moron!“ (Yeah, I put a lot of words in your mouth, but… Just live with being my puppet for the sake of this blog post… Please…)
— …
Her… Isn’t she real’ cute? =D
— “… … My disappointment is immeasurable, and my day is ruined…”
— Come on!!
Anyway, jokes aside, yes, I traveled alone! But not without assistance, not without a plan… I actually contacted a French travel agency called “Terres Japonaises” (yeah, that’s French, what you gonna do?)[Pour mes lecteurs français qui font l’effort de lire en anglais, je recommande]. They specialize in trips to Japan and they handled everything from booking hotels to the program. They also booked some guides for me (one in Tokyo, and one in Kyoto).
— “Hold on a sec! You’re talking about Kyoto and Tokyo, but you didn’t tell us where exactly you went in Japan!”
— You too, hold your gun, I was about to tell you!!
Alright, in order, that was, Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto, Nara, Osaka and Tokyo!
— “Too fast! And… What? Hakone? Nara? What’s that? Ah! The second I recognize! Shikamaru Nara from Naruto! And WTF! Pay attention, you said Tokyo twice!”
— … I’m going to hit you…
The cities
Tokyo
I guess I don’t need to introduce Tokyo to you, you might already have heard of it from some anime fans friends, or you’ve already investigated by yourself. This is the current capital of Japan, one of the most populated (or was it THE most populated?) cities in the world, a true embodiment of that “between tradition and modernity” moniker, although, still more modern that you think. If I wanted to be very pedantic and showcase how you should pronounce the name, I’d write it this way: Tōkyō or Tookyoo (prolonged ‘o’ sounds). But my keyboard doesn’t let me write it that way easily, so… I’ll go with the simplified writing!
Just so you know, I already visited Tokyo back in 2020…
— “During covid? You mad man!! Arrest him!!! He’s a criminal!!”
— Oi! That was in January, at that time, we barely knew what was about to hit us… Although, during our last at the airport, we… Got the news that Japan had its first case… So, yeah, lucky for my friends and I, we dodged a bullet… (Coucou Reinforce)
At that time, we kinda only visited (raided?) Akihabara. Oh, and we actually went to the Love Live! Festival. That was fire! And also to the Zepp Tokyo for the Roselia Radio Shout! That was pure gold! Seeing the Roselia, Otsuka Sae (Seiyuu of Hanazono Tae from Bang Dream) and THE GREAT, THE MARVELOUS, THE SPLENDID (but pervy) Hikasa Yoko!! (Seiyuu of Udagawa Tomoe) (And yes, I really want you to fall for Bang Dream while I’m at it…)
— “Umm… Drummer of Afterglow… !! No, I definitely didn’t click on that link to Udagawa Tomoe’s profile…“
— How did you know it was her profile, then?
— “…”
This time, however, like last time it was one week… But one well spent week! And also some nice food in the stomach…
— “(°ç°)”
— Looks tasty, right? And actually VERY affordable, unless you target some premium food, eating in Japan is actually quite cheap. And the quality is always there!
Hakone
— “WAIT A SECOND! YOU DIDN’T TELL US WHAT YOU DID IN TOKYO!!“
— … Well, that my friend, will have to wait for when I’ll do some more articles going over what I did day by day… Because, yeah, I plan to actually do an article (kind of a diary… But post travel) for each day. For now, I’ll just go over the cities, and… Kind of an overview of the trip, a teaser of sort… =p
— “Alright, then I quit, I don’t want to read that article anymore…”
— Fine, as you wish…
Anyway, Hakone is a city located around… Mount Hakone, a mountain located in the Kanagawa prefecture (South-West of Tokyo). You can actually visit the whole city with a Hakone Free Pass! This pass lets you use any transportation in Hakone. Isn’t that nice? You have parks, shrines, a lake, some museums, fresh air and Ryokans (Japanese traditional hostels). Not so far from Hakone, you also have Odawara, a nice city with… A Japanese castle!! Boy!! I can’t wait for this article to drop! It’s going to be soooooo exciting!!
— “…(So, Hakone free pass, Odawara…)”
— You know, it’s okay if you want to continue reading. I’m not going to bite.
Stay tuned for more Hakone details, photos… And foutage…
— “WAIT A M… VIDEOS? REALLY?? Why didn’t you start with the video?”
— Patience, I have around 36h of video to go over and sort out, and I don’t have a lot of time these days… All in due time!
Kyoto
Or should I write, Kyōto. Do I need to introduce Kyoto?
— “No, it’s okay”
— Alright, just for the sake of it!
— “I SAID NO!“
Kyoto is the old capital of Japan, where the Shogun kinda ruled…
— “DAMMIT!!”
… Over Japan, it was not until Tokugawa Ieyasu moved the capital to Edo (former name of Tokyo) that Kyoto lost its status of capital city. Well, to be precise, Tokyo became the political capital, while Kyoto remained as the “official capital”?
— “WAIT! But, didn’t the emperor rule over Japan? Wasn’t it always the case?“
— Well, you see, for a long period called the Sengoku Jidai (internal war era), Japan was unified but only in name. The emperor was the symbol of that “unity”.
— “Ok, so he ruled over Japan!“
— Not really, in that era, warlords, called Daimyō in Japanese, had more military power than the emperor himself, and the “boss”, “Chief”, the military leader among those warlords was called the Shōgun. In a way, during this period, you could compare the Shōgun to the puppeteer while the emperor was but the puppet… A useful puppet to keep the Japanese people in check…
— “That‘s fine and all, but what about the war?“
— Well, the war was about who would be the most powerful, who would control the emperor and become the next Shogun. To do so, warlords had to fight each other, ally each other, betray each other in order to prevail. But also, in order to push their claim to the title of Shogun, they needed their puppet, they needed their emperor, or at least a fitting candidate to the title of emperor. The other condition to rule was… You guessed it…
— “They needed to control Kyoto!“
— Exactly! We could say that Kyoto was the most strategical and most valuable city in the country, this was the case for more that a millennia.
— “WHAT? THAT LONG?“
— As a result of Kyoto being the capital for so long, you’ll be able to find a lot of temples… And I say A LOT OF temples in the city. It being so strategically important meant that it had to be well organized, hence the grid pattern. Due to its historical weight, it houses the palace of the emperor (or at least the former palace). It has temples related to the emperor, related to old shoguns, it has Kyoto Tachibana High School, it has…
— “Wait, what is Kyoto Tachibana High School? You didn’t go there to kidnap a student?”
— … … Could have… But I didn’t… And I just got carried away, and I was about to go off track… (For those of you who know them, Kyoto Tachibana is known for their marching band, one of the best, if not THE best, marching band in Japan, highly recommend.) Anyway, I went over history, over some things more or less related to Kyoto… All I can say is, there is a reason why ALL Japanese students have at least one school trip to Kyoto in their school life… This city might be the heart of Japanese identity, the peak of its culture, a hidden gem protected by its surrounding mountains, a symbol of the powers that unified Japan… But also… Its center? Geographically and metaphorically?
Not visiting Kyoto at least once in your life when you’re a fan of Japan might actually be a crime…
Fun fact! Before WWII, a minister went to Japan for his honeymoon, specifically in Kyoto. Because he loved the city, he did all he could to prevent any bombing on Kyoto… Now, that’s romance!
I’m sure I forgot about 99% of what you can say about Kyoto, I could for sure dedicate a series of articles to the city, but… Yeah, sadly, it’s not going to be for today…
— “Aaaaw… So sad…”
— Worry not, I spent almost a week in this city, you know what that means…
— “MORE ARTICLES ON KYOTO INCOMING!! I LIKE THAT!!“
Nara
Nara was… Actually the capital of Japan before Kyoto became the capital… Which… Was a loooooooooong time ago. Nara is famous for its temples…
— “Yeah, like 99.999999999% of the cities in Japan…“
— … Yeah, maybe… But it’s also famous for its dear park, where you can actually interact with wild dears… IN THE CITY! Well, in the city’s parks… They literally own the place. And if you’re lucky, one of the might salute you in a true Japanese way… In order to ask you for food…
Just, one thing, please… Don’t be like some tourists I saw feeding them with paper… You don’t eat paper, they will, but might not appreciate it in the long run… So, unless I missed an episode and I’m a sussy baka, please, don’t give your litter as food to the dear…
Nara is located in the Nara prefecture, in the South of Kyoto. It’s not as big as Kyoto, but it still requires some time to fully visit. As a matter of fact, I feel like I need to go back there for some more exploration… =p
Osaka
Aaaah, Osaka, those who watched Ruroni Kenshin this season will know that name. There is a castle in Osaka, this castle was one of the last bastions of the Shogunate during the Meiji Restoration. Alright, are you ready for more history buff things?
— “At that point, your article is too long, and I don’t care anymore… End my suffering…”
— Here, have a Pocari, it helps rehydrate your body due to its more than ideal concentration in ions, it refreshing when freshly bought out of the vending machine and its citrus taste will wash away your fatigue! All for the small price of 130¥…
— ”Man, you sound like a very bad ad… Stop that… Oh, actually, it’s quite good!”
— Right?
— “Alright, history buff stuff, then“
The Meiji restoration started with… Emperor Meiji. He wanted to restore the political power that the emperor should have, and so he has to oppose the Bakufu, the political structure lead by the Shogun (At the time, Tokugawa Yoshinobu). The imperial armies first besieged Kyoto, the shogun fled to Osaka where you can find a castle, originally built under Toyotomi Hideyoshi (kanpaku, or regent during that period). This castle is the symbol of the Shogunate, the most powerfull stronghold left for the shogunate. However, the imperial army was able to besiege the fort (and, oh boy, I don’t know how they won, but I can tell you because I visited the place, I wouldn’t have been brave enough to attack that castle…), leading Yoshinobu to flee to Tokyo, capital of the shogunate. Rince and repeat, but this time the shogun surrenders and recognizes the authority of the emperor, thus leading to the end of the shogunate and the beginning of the Japanese empire.
Osaka also has…
— “Let me guess, temples?“
— Wow! You’re listening (or rather, reading…), that’s good!
There is actually a temple with a building that resembles… A dragon! And also have a commercial district that I quite liked (although a bit crowded…), Dōtonbori. There is actually a very nice restaurant there that serves some divine karaage (Japanese fried chicken… JFC!! Ha ha ha!!! XD).
On the left: curry rice with karaage, on the top right: miso soup, on the bottom right: karaage with garlic soy sauce.
After that was some more Tokyo, but, I guess that’s going to be part of the detailed articles…
Now, what’s next?
Well, I gave you an overview of what I actually did in Japan, and I had a blast, I can guarantee that! I didn’t tell you everything, I think you guessed it, and… Yeah, the detailed trip will come in two forms, actually: a series of blog post that will act as a diary of what happened day by day during my trip, but… Also a series of videos… Because, yeah, I had my trusty Kasumi with me, sure, but I also had my reliable GoPro with me! So, stay tuned!
Also, I’ve been over a lot of historical events, I didn’t give you the dates because… Well, I don’t remember all the dates, and I think a better source than me is still the good ol’ Wikipedia… I’ll give you some links that you can visit in order to learn more about the events I went over.
So, until next time, take care, don’t do too much silly stuff like I do, and see you in the next article! Bye! And good night… It’s already 4 AM at the time I’m writing…
References:
Wikipedia - [Visited on 2023/09/30] - Osaka Castle - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osaka_Castle
Wikipedia - [Visited on 2023/09/30] - Meiji Restoration - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meiji_Restoration
Wikipedia - [Visited on 2023/09/30] - Edo Period - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edo_period
Wikipedia - [Visited on 2023/09/30] - Kyoto - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto
Wikipedia - [Visited on 2023/09/30] - Sengoku period - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sengoku_period
