My Travel Back to Germany or "The Tale of an adventure"

Well it's time. After all it's finally coming to an end. And I'm not even sure if it really has already started ... My adventure in Japan.

It all started as a dream of a little boy who read comics, watched animated comics and Kung Fu movies and got in touch with video games during elementary school. You're right if you say that the association of these things with Japan is not very clear. But this was just the start.

Someday, hard to say exactly when, the little boy heard about Samurai and Ninja, watched Pokémon (as 80% of the German kids during this time) and somehow heard things about Japan. It became a mysterical country for him and because he was born with great curiosity he swore to see this magical land with his own eyes someday.

The little boy grew and grew until he was tall. Up to this point, he hadn't thought much about Japan again but the dream still remained. And the boy remembered it. This was the time when he started to make real efforts to go to Japan. He started to learn Informatics to get a job, no matter where he would go, and started to watch for an opportunity to go to the country of warriors, mystical creatures and people who all strive for perfection in everything they do.

He even felt in love with a girl who shared the same dream and thoughts as him. But this is another story and unfortunately it doesn't have a Happy Ending. Nevertheless, this wasn't the end, only an obstacle which he overcame. The boy found his opportunity (let's call it AIESEC ;) and took it. This is how the boy came to his Promised Land.

Was the boy disappointed because the country wasn't magical and Samurais and Ninjas were just for entertainment? Well of course not! :)
In the end, the adventure was bigger than the boy could have ever dreamed of. He experienced so many things like never before, he learned to see the world in a whole new perspective, never were the obstacles so high like living in a country without even proper speaking, writing or reading the language and he still mastered it. (which made him somehow proud ;)

Like any other adventurer the boy couldn't have mastered this journey without his new friends he met on his way. They welcomed him with such great hearts, that the boy felt home from the very first beginning. And more, they helped him over every obstacle in his path and, maybe without noticing, they gave him the spirit and the energy to carry on and more. So my friends who helped me through this time, went with me outside and shared your thoughts with me, just let me thank you 1000times and say: "YOU ARE AWESOME!!!!"どうもありがとうございました！＜（_ _）＞

And I don't mean only my friends in Japan. No, also all of you who supported me from far away, no matter it was per Skype, Facebook, mail or this blog. The journey wouldn't have resulted in this end without you ^^

And was this the end the boys journey? What do you think????? ;)

Back in Germany and already ready for a New Adventure :)
Again, thank all of you ^^

The Tale of the Princess and the Undead Fish

Only a few days were left, but actually I didn't feel sad at this time. One reason were definitely my awesome friends at Axis Networks :)

Nene-san and Yoshioka-san invited Oliver and me today to the movie "かぐや姫の物語" or "The Tale of Princess Kaguya", the newest movie from Studio Ghibli at this time. It was unlike many other movies I watched from Studio Ghibli, because this movie resembled more a constant stream of hand drawn pictures than the usual clear animation style. Don't get me wrong, I love this hand-drawn-style :)

Especially in a very dramatic and hectic scene, this style gave the whole scene a very powerful look which I've never seen before and couldn't be made with a clear animation style. So the next time you want to see a wonderful movie, remember this title ;)

The first meal

Afterwards, we want to a fish restaurant. No, not Sushi, this time we had fried and raw fish in very big pieces :D It was very delicious, couldn't be better ^^

Gigantic Onigiri (Rice Balls) and Fried Chicken with Sour Créme

Well one thing was a bit disturbing for me at first: Ikizukuri or as I call it "The Style of the Undead Fish". Warning: If you cannot read about fish which is suffering for a dish, you should stop and read another post ^^ Well, and don't watch the video below. Don't say I didn't warn you ;)

Which harm could this bowl bear? :D

At first we didn't noticed anything unusual in our fish plate. But then it happened ... the fish in the back just moved ... or was it my imagination? After a few seconds we saw that it was no illusion, the fish was still alive. But how? It was just the head, bones and a bit meat. Today I know it's a special cutting technique called Ikizukuri which preserves the fish more ore less alive even after most of its flesh is cutted out.

Nevertheless, the fish was tasty and after the moving part was fried, I was able to eat it ^^
Not my favorite food and I'm sure some of you will hate me now ;) To my defense: I didn't know what would come when we ordered and to let the good fish go to waste would have been bad :)

The Crew: Yoshioka-san, Oliver, Nene-san and the Man with Nerves of Steel

Now it's less frightening ;)

Zoo, Tokyo Tower and Rainbow Bridge

Because it was my last weekend in Japan for this year, I decided to go to the zoo in Ueno (part of Tokyo). It is probably the oldest zoo in Japan and is recommended by every tour guide book (at least the one I read ;).

Not everyone welcomed me at first sight ;)

I started with the monkeys. By the time I've been here in Japan, I really started to like the Japanese monkeys. Whenever I went to places outside of Tokyo, I saw pictures, old woodcuts or antique stone carvings on temple walls. Hell, I even saw them just centimeters away from me (Kyoto). So whenever I will think about Japan in future, I won't think about Sushi or Ramen (at first) but about monkeys :)

I spent a long time just by watching those two :D

Of course, within the zoo were other species as well, I don't really think that someone was missing :D It was also often very hard to find the animals, because in every compound I saw they had bushes or other possibilities to hide. Of course it's a bit sad if you can't see the animals but in my opinion this is better than animals who can't hide and are just tired and stressed from it.

Seems like the elephant is relieving stress ;)

It was a great trip, I left the zoo when it was about to close and I still missed many animals. Well, that's for another time ^^

Right on to the next station!

The next station of the day was Tokyo Tower. There I met with Patryk, a trainee from Poland who came like me with AIESEC to Japan. Okay, technically I got here by myself, but actually I wanted to come with AIESEC. Well so much for taking plans into reality ... they always need some adjustments ;)

First time I noticed something like this in Japan.
Hope I won't need it :)

Patryk was in Japan since just a few days or so, so I went with him to Tokyo Tower. I don't really know when I will stop coming here ^^ The special platform was still closed (how long will they need?), so we got to the main platform. As always, you buy the tickets outside, then you go inside and wait for the lift. Actually the list has a really relaxing music. I had to watch out to not fall asleep ;)

We had a good timing, because a group of young female singers performed that evening :) Yes, I didn't come here just to see temples ;)
Anyway, the performance was nice, I think. Suddenly I had too much stuff to think about :P

If they would arrest me? ;)

After taking (just some) fotos (and no video), we concentrated on the skyline of Tokyo by night again. From time to time, they also put the lights out for a few minutes which was really helpful for us photographers ^^

Rainbow Bridge from Tokyo Tower

The last station of the day was Odaiba, the place for watching the famous Rainbow Bridge. If you look closely to the photo, you might see a similarity with the Golden Gate Bridge :D

Rainbow Bridge from Odaiba

By the way, I recommend to mute this video, because you can only hear the strong wind ^^
And to make things more "american", they even have their own Statue Of Liberty there :)

Actually, this one is a bit smaller than the one in NY ^^

But anyway, the Rainbow Bridge had a fantastic light-up and Odaiba is really a good place for spending. I mean who wouldn't love a gigantic Gundam Wing Robot? ^^

Reason to love Japan #935: Giant Robots

Or monkeys, they're pretty easy-going here ^^

What was he saying?

Time To Send a Letter ^^

This compound had two floors to see the birds from above too :)

He was actually pretty busy running around oO

You can't hear it now but this one had a funny voice ^^

Now I won't go into the compound even more :D

Human: Servant for the Elephant ;)

That was strange: The monkeys could weigh themselves with this scale.
Do you think they knew what it meant?
They have the time and intelligence to do so ...

Cannot remember the name of the species, but I like its look ^^

Finally my favorite animal: The Snake :)

Looking Right Down Below
It's actually pretty easy to get outside if no one follows you :D

Still 9 days until Christmas and I've already bought nearly all presents ^^

Start of my Last Weekend in Japan: Edo-Tokyo Museum, LCM and a Bar

Today, my schedule was a bit tight, but I managed to do it somehow ;)
At first, I went to the Edo-Tokyo Museum. A friend of mine told me about it some months ago and I was curious. I was told that this is one of the best museums in Japan. And in my opinion, it certainly is :D

Starting from the entrance, it was fun. The escalator went from the 1st floor to the 6th one. Felt a bit like going into the sky ;) The entrance fee was also quite cheap, so I was in a good mood.

Looks a bit like a Space Escalator, doesn't it? :)

So I went to the permanent exhibition of the museum. When I arrived, I already heard some music. Luckily, the Kabuki performance already started. And at first, I didn't even know that there would be one :D

It was different from the Kabuki I saw in theater, because there was more dance and happy music. So maybe there are different kinds of Kabuki?

The exhibiton was filled with many items and miniature buildings, starting from the Edo Period to the days after the 2nd World War. I think especially the many miniature buildings and scenes are something that is special for Japan. It its also a great help to imagine the historic places and people.

Residence of a feudal lord from the 17th century

I like especially the miniature people within the scenes. In most of the cases, they are very detailed even in place you can barely see. Like in a miniature restaurant with figures sitting inside. Unfortunately, I couldn't make such a photo in good quality ;)

Scene from the Edo period

The old pictures, books and magazines throughout the history were fascinating for me too. They represent for me a big part of the culture from those times and show what topics and stories fascinated the people from those periods. However, I doubt that many people from then saw especially the very old ones.

Lumbering back in the days :D

By seeing the different maps of Edo / Tokyo, I could grasp a sense for the development of this city. Of course, wars and natural disasters force many drastic changes of the city core. Nevertheless, the city grew and grew over the times. And so did my fascination of this city :)

Map of Edo in 1632

There are many things one can tell after going into this museum, but I think this is enough for the moment. At the end, I have many impressions of my time being there. At this point, I can only recommend this museum. When I will come back, I will come again ^^

Christmas Trees in front of St. Paul University

At the evening, I went to AIESEC St. Pauls to visit the people there one last time before my flight. To be honest, I scheduled this to be earlier than I actually did, but nevertheless it was fun (and short ;).

Well, just cabbage :)

Afterwards, I went to an Izakya (Japanese Bar) with some AIESECers and one (new) trainee, Patryck from Poland. It was a nice evening: Eating Drinking and Chilling :D
I really love those times and I can't wait for the next time ^^

Impressions from the museum:

Coins :)

Why is there no price? I want to buy it :D

Body Warmer - Don't know how this works?
Do I have to heat the stones?

Fascinating invention: Oil Lamp with the oil
dripping from the mouse snout

I'm always fascinated how they did the wood prints,
for every color exists another plate

Just image how many wood plates you need for this oO

Japanese Board Game with the name "Sugoroku: New Year's Auspicious Dreams"
Maybe it's used for fortunetelling too?

Another scene from Edo

- Doctors Tools -
Whenever I see this, I don't want to get sick :D

Wigs - Maybe it's time for me to get one? ;P

Kabuki Scene, actually no humans in front

Old Music Box

Tokyo after the Great Kanto Earthquake

Drawing after the Great Kanto Earthquake

Another Sugoroku board game called "Cooking Menu" (1926)

Ice Skates ^^

Subaru 360 from 1955

Residential Estate after the 2nd World War

Believe it or not, but this is a self-made electric stove
made by processing the tail assembly of an incendiary bomb oO