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Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band And Sumo Wrestling

5/27/2017

With just one day of rest after our return from Mt. Fuji, Jody and I took a day trip into Tokyo proper for several different reasons. This was a REALLY big day for me as it included getting the Deluxe Box Set of the 50th Anniversary of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles and going to see Sumo Wrestling. First up, Jody and I made our way back to Sinjuku - Jody to shop at the Oriental Bazaar and me to return to the main Tower Records store. Sgt. Pepper had just been released the day before and the store had this huge display on their ground floor.

And of course, the happy man back home with his prize after returning from our trip.

Following our shopping spree, we made our way further into Tokyo for the big Sumo Wrestling event. Above is a panorama of the coliseum. But first, a little personal background on the significance of sumo wrestling to me. The month and year, May, 1967, just keeps coming up for me in importance while here in Japan. First, it was my HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION 50 years ago. Secondly, it was the release of SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND by the Beatles, perhaps one of the greatest modern music albums of all time. Third, it was the release of the James Bond film, YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE. What does the Bond film have to do with sumo wrestling? This.

These brief scenes of a sumo wrestling match in Tokyo thrilled me. Little did I think that I would ever be able to see one myself in Tokyo. Yet, here I am. And both the venue and the match are almost unchanged from the movie. My research does show that the coliseum where the original YOLT filming was done no longer exists as this new venue was built some years later. But, the ritual is the same.

Walking down the street to the coliseum. This is a BIG DEAL in Japan.

The sumo wrestlers enter the wrestling mat area.

As each wrestler enters his name is called out and the audience cheers. It is easy to see who some of their favorites are.

After the introduction ceremony, they then leave the ring and the individual bouts begin.

The wrestlers start by facing each other from just inside the outer ring. There is great formality with much bowing. Needless to say, the referee is in the purple robe.

The wrestlers will then approach each other and size each other up. They will remain behind each of the white strips on the mat.

ALL of the wrestlers do this move.

They then squat down at the line. The actual wrestle doesn't begin until both wrestlers have each of their hands touching the mat. Frequently, after squatting one of them will get up and strut around and the match will be delayed until they are in their moment for the battle. I found it amusing to watch them preen around the ring.

Here are two going at each other.

If there is a disagreement, the referees confer to sort it out.

This has much great "theater" as wrestlers like this guy demonstrate their physical prowess for the audience.

Pictures do not do this performance justice as we watched these huge men try to either throw each other down or literally out of the ring. The event goes on for hours. We stayed for about 2 1/2 hours as we had no dogs in this race and just wanted to experience the event.

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Return to Mt. Fuji - Day 3.

5/25/2017

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Well, even though it called for rain, we walked from our hotel to FUJI-Q first thing in the morning to see if it was going to open and if we could get on at least one roller coaster ride. Fortunately, it was open and we got in.

Unfortunately one of the main roller coasters that Jody wanted to ride and the ferris wheel that I wanted to ride were closed that day. However, this roller coaster ride with one of the world's steepest inverted drops was running and Jody was hot to ride. As you can see, the cart is going 90 degrees straight up.

Almost there.

Starting down.

Oh yeah!

Needless to say, we survived.

We skipped this bad boy as the rides are VERY expensive and the rain was approaching. Jody was just happy to have done the previous ride. I had no complaints.

The famous Japanese "Hello Kitty!"

But, with a cool reverse side.

Of course, I wanted to go to the "Labyrinth of Fear" - a haunted hospital. Jody wasn't thrilled about this, but since I went on the roller coaster with her, she was game.

I said she was game, not happy. As we walked through the hospital, and sometimes ran as demented, dead patients and doctors chased us, I noticed that Jody always wanted to be in front of me. When I asked why, she said that was because I only slowed her down. So much for my survival.

We survived this as well.

On our way back from FUJI-Q Jody took a nice picture of our hotel.

The hotel's flowers were, of course, Japanese beautiful.

We returned to our hotel before the rain got bad and I discovered that my feet had gone through a remarkable and disturbing transformation.

May, 2017 marks many, many important moments for me. It was exactly 50 years ago this month that I graduated from High School and traveled to Baltimore's Hippodrome Theater to see James Bond (the one and only Sean Connery) in You Only Live Twice. This film, which almost entirely takes place in Japan, thrilled me with its exotic locale and culture. So, on a rainy Thursday afternoon next to Mt. Fuji Jody and I relaxed with cheese, crackers, and wine and watching YOLT in our hotel room while it poured buckets outside. Ah, so good.

And finally we had a lovely Japanese steak dinner that we grilled ourselves in the hotel's fine restaurant. Time to go home. Up next - SUMO WRESTLING.

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Return to Mt. Fuji - Day 2

5/24/2017

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As we start to prepare for Day 2 of our Mt. Fuji trip, Jody got a picture from our hotel room window of the amusement park, FUJI-Q, lit up at night. I guess they don't want you to forget that they're there.

And I feel the need to take this picture of Mt. Fuji from our window as we prepare to go to Station 5 on the volcano for that up close and personal trip.

Here is our now familiar train/bus station for departures to Mt. Fuji, the Moss Festival, etc.

On the bus going up Mt. Fuji - a 45 minute trip.

And here we are at Station 5. As can be expected, a Mecca for food, drink, and gifts..

Notice the little legend in red near the bottom? That's the 5th Step.

Leave it to horsewoman Jody to find horses wherever she goes.

You're probably wondering, where's Mt. Fuji? Well, at first the cloud cover around the volcano was so bad that we couldn't see it's top, nor the ground below. So, we just hung out longer and shopped and had some coffee..

This was one of several bikers who cycled up to Station 5. Wow!

I had quite the thrill when I found this Darth Vader-San cloth hanging artwork with Darth in front of My. Fuji. May The Force Be With You!

You ever notice that when I take selfies with Jody that I'm always the "Big Giant Head"? I wonder why that is?

Finally Mt. Fuji appeared. Yeah!

After riding the bus back down Mt. Fuji, we got on a train and headed for our second destination of the day, famous 5-story Chureito Pagoda in Fujiyoshida. To get to it, one must walk up 400 stairs.

FUJI-Q can be seen from everywhere.

We made it!

Ok. First off, the picture above is NOT my picture. When I first discovered that Jody and I were going to live in Japan for 4 months, I began researching Japan and discovered this iconic photo of a pagoda overlooking Mt. Fuji. At the time I did not realize that it was the famous 5-story Chureito Pagoda in Fujiyoshida. From the beginning, I always wanted to visit this scene, and now, here we are! It was worth walking up the 400 stairs for a glimpse of the view that I had only known in a picture for the last 12 months. Below is my attempt to recreate this picture within the limitations of an overcast day, no cherry blossoms blooming, and Mt. Fuji playing hide and seek. Still, an awesome scene and experience for me personally.

Jody played around with her camera with the above and below shots and they blew me away in their drama.

A Japanese ceremony was being conducted at the foot of the pagoda while we were taking pictures. There was much flute playing amidst a very quiet and dignified ceremony.

As we prepared to leave, we looked down at the steps and decided to instead take a walking road down the site. It was very beautiful and peaceful and despite the presence of other visitors to the pagoda, we were by ourselves during this walk.

We discovered a little building on the way down with an interesting well.

As Jody loves dragons, this was a real treat for her.

We made our walking way back to the train station. The tiled path was made more interesting by inlaid pictures of the pagoda and Mt. Fuji. Very attractive.

A rice paddy we encountered on the way.

As we got off the train at our hotel destination, we couldn't fail to notice the dramatic image of Fuji against one of the several FUJI-Q park roller coasters. We had accomplished what we had set out to do and had beaten the rain which would start shortly after we arrived back at our hotel. Another successful day. But, would we make it to FUJI-Q with rain scheduled for all day tomorrow?

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Return to Mt. Fuji

5/23/2017

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On Tuesday, May 23, 2017 Jody and I returned to the Mt. Fuji area as we wanted to do more there and to see Mt. Fuji up close and personal. On the train trip, we spotted this very interesting statue on the train platform. What's with the nose?

As we arrived at our hotel's destination, Jody started getting all excited as directly at our train stop was the entrance to FUJI-Q, the elaborate amusement park identified from afar in pictures from our earlier Fuji trip. Jody's a thrill-seeker for roller coaster rides and I knew this vision was in our future, up close and personal as well.

Upon arriving we saw Fuji peaking through the trees and knew that this would be a great day for pictures. Our major destination today was the famous annual Moss Festival. It only took about 45 minutes by bus to arrive at the festival.

As we walked around the huge moss area in the valley, our mouths were open at the grandeur of it all. Pictures don't do it justice, particularly with Fuji looming in the background.

Just to give an idea of how wide the moss field was in this panorama shot.

You can seldom get away from Fuji, it LOOMS everywhere!

Besides lots of food booths, there was even a juggler.

With Fuji at my back, the other view of the Moss Festival and the valley. After having our eyes blown out from the color, we let the Moss Festival and returned for dinner and a relaxing evening in our hotel room. Tomorrow is another day.

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Day 5, Kyoto

5/20/2017

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On our last full day in Kyoto, we visited Nijō Castle. This is a flatland castle. The castle consists of two concentric rings (Kuruwa) of fortifications, the Ninomaru Palace, the ruins of the Honmaru Palace, various support buildings and several gardens. The surface area of the castle is 275,000 square metres (2,960,000 sq ft), of which 8,000 square metres (86,000 sq ft) is occupied by buildings. The entire castle is surrounded by a moat.

As with so many Japanese sites, the gardens are the main attraction.

From atop the highest point of the castle looking down on the moat.

After a stroll through these beautiful gardens, we went off for lunch where I struggled with some noodles.

After lunch and shopping, Jody and I returned to our AirB&B where our host took us out to meet a friend of his who specializes in kimonos and other Japanese artwork. The following images are some examples of her collection. Most of these pieces are silk with some being hundreds of years old.

This is a piece of a 400 year-old kimono.

But, of course Jody just HAD to be fitted for ANOTHER kimono with all the bells and whistles to go along with it.

The completed Obi.

Ando, the artist and kimono maker, even told Jody how to stand and show off the intricate kimono artistry. Jody got this whole outfit for a song. The fact that this was a handmake used silk kimono in excellent condition was a big plus. New kimonos go for literally multiple thousands of dollars.

Our host, Yoshio, and Ando took us out on the streets surrounding Ando's shop and treated us to dinner. This street was filled with dining establishments.

And in the center - shrimp tempura. Yum!

A final picture of a happy Jody after another full day in Kyoto. Back to Hachioji tomorrow.

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Day 4, Kyoto

5/19/2017

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On Day 4 in Kyoto we set out by train to Fushimi Inari to visit the Taisha Shrine, which was awarded 1st Prize by Trip Advisor as the most popular site by foreign visitors 3 years in a row. As we entered the town Jody noticed many young people dressed in traditional Japanese garb.

We were a little hungry and there were many street vendors selling appetizing??? dishes like this. Know what it is? How about fried quail.

This one particularly scared me. I have no idea what it is.

Entering the shrine area.

Fushimi Inari Taisha is the head shrine of Inari, located in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Japan. The shrine sits at the base of a mountain also named Inari which is 233 metres above sea level, and includes trails up the mountain to many smaller shrines which span 4 kilometers and takes approximately 2 hours to walk up. Since early Japan, Inari was seen as the patron of business, and merchants and manufacturers have traditionally worshipped Inari. Each of the torii at Fushimi Inari Taisha is donated by a Japanese business. First and foremost, though, Inari is the god of rice.

These are some MEAN cats.

To reach the top of the mountain, we set off walking. We did not know at the time that it would take over 2 hours to reach the top on a progressively elevated climb. There are 10,000 Torii gates to the top. Didn't know that either. The map below makes it look easy. NOT!

We've now been walking for about an hour and beginning to wonder, where's the top?

Of course, we weren't the only ones walking, and walking, and walking. At this point, we met an English-speaking couple coming down. They saw that we were getting tired and told us that it was another hour climb. At this point, we had seen enough Torii Gates, and since we had another site to visit, we decided to make our way back down the mountain.

Before we go to our next site, I leave you with this image from the 2005 movie, MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA. This is a wonderful movie with terrific actors and images. Obviously, the adolescent girl running through these famous Torii Gates has a fascinating story to tell. Highly recommended.

We took another train ride, only this time upon exisitng the train we had to walk an additional 15 minutes to our next site. Although a bit tired and hungry, we're glad we pressed on as the gardens around this temple were very beautiful. Tōfuku-ji is a Buddhist temple in Higashiyama-ku.. Tōfuku-ji takes its name from two temples in Nara, Tōdai-ji and Kōfuku-ji. It is one of the so-called Kyoto Gozan or "five great Zen temples of Kyoto". Its honorary sangō prefix is Enichi-san. Originally built in 1236, the temple burned and was rebuilt in the 15th century. Some buildings have been burned and rebuilt in succeeding time periods. The grounds include both Zen dry stone gardens (including this patchwork gravel and stone garden) and moss and tree gardens. It was peaceful and relaxing.

Japanese gardeners literally rake these lines into the sand. Amazing.

FYI: For those who don't know, the 1926 German Expressionistic silent film, METROPOLIS, is one of my top 5 favorite movies of all time, hence my shirt's quote from the film. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

We left this site and headed by train downtown for some shopping and dining at a superb Indian restaurant. Young girls in kimonos were everywhere. Then, we walked to Gion Corner to see a Geisha performance on stage.

There was a great deal of commotion around this vehicle with people trying to get a glimpse of the Geisha inside. Famous Geishas here are like rock stars.

While I stood in line holding our place for the performance, Jody went around eyeballing the exhibits, such as these Geisha shoes.

The performances begin with traditional Japanese music.

Among the skills a Geisha must learn is the art of floral arrangement.

We then were treated to several short, Japanese plays, all accompanied by live on-stage music.

The plays were colorful diversions to the two highlights of the evening, the first of which was a performance by a Geisha.

What a face. And, she never cracked a smile.

The final performance was a Japanese puppet story. There are 3 Japanese puppeteers dressed in black manipulating this one puppet throughout the story. It was amazing watching them and their remarkable coordination.

We then went out into the teeming Kyoto Friday night streets and took the subway back to our lodging. This was a very exhausting and full day.

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Day 3 and on to Kyoto

5/18/2017

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We arrived via train in Kyoto, the third largest city in Japan, on Thursday, May 18, 2017. We put our luggage in lockers at the station and set off for Kinkakuji. Kinkakuji (literally "Temple of the Golden Pavilion"), officially named Rokuon-ji (literally "Deer Garden Temple"), is a Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan. It is one of the most popular buildings in Japan, attracting a large number of visitors annually. It is designated as a National Special Historic Site and a National Special Landscape, and it is one of 17 locations making up the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto which are World Heritage Sites.

The Golden Pavilion itself.

It seemed like every other scene in this park was more beautiful than the first. It was packed with visitors, including many young Japanese girls and women dressed in kimonos.

We than left the Golden Pavilion and set off by foot for Ryoanji Temple. Ryōanji is the site of Japan's most famous rock garden, which attracts hundreds of visitors every day. Originally an aristocrat's villa during the Heian Period, the site was converted into a Zen temple in 1450 and belongs to the Myoshinji school of the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism, whose head temple stands just a kilometer to the south.

The

Japan gives the color "green" a new name.

Following these two beautiful tours, we returned to the train station to retrieve our luggage and take the subway to our AirB&B to crash for the evening.

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Day 2 in Hiroshima and on to Miyajima

5/17/2017

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The next morning we checked out of our hotel to travel to Miyajima. Before departing, we visited the museum across the street and got our Peter Rabbit fix.

We had a lovely 50 minute boat ride from Hiroshima to Miyajima. Certainly beat going on a commuter train.

As we approached the island, we spied it's main attraction, the Itsukushima Shrine. It is a Shinto shrine on the island of Itsukushima (popularly known as Miyajima), best known for its "floating" torii gate. It is in the city of Hatsukaichi in Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. The shrine complex is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Japanese government has designated several buildings and possessions as National Treasures.

We arrived on the island of Miyajima, and immediately took a ferry like this one the short distance to the mainland to check into our hotel.

The first sight that greeted us as we entered our hotel was this replica of the Itsukushima Shrine. The hotel was very colorful with many displays as seen in the following pictures.

After checking into the hotel and getting settled, we immediately took the ferry back to the island for the major attractions. From the ferry we saw this towering pagoda that we would later see up close.

Miyajima is known for its domesticated deer who roam all through the town and love being petted (and fed).

We spent way too much time with the affectionate deer.

And way too much time shopping.

Jody's always digging me about my love for Superman and she couldn't resist taking a picture of this art.

Normally, the shrine is in deeper water, but it was low tide while we were on the island.

And here is the beautiful 5-story pagoda seen earlier from the boat on our trip over.

At high tide, this town is surrounded by water, but the low tide took care of that.

Hello there!

As we walked through the town we headed for higher ground to take a tram up to the top of the mountain.

Panorama from the top.

While I was taking my panorama shot. Jody was shooting me.

And now we leave the island via ferry and return to our hotel.

And now a night's rest on futons as we prepare for our trip to Kyoto tomorrow.

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Hiroshima

5/16/2017

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On Tuesday, May 16, 2017, Jody and I set out on a 6 day, 5 night trip to Hiroshima and Kyoto. We left Hachioji Station in the morning and made our way a short distance by regular train to link up with a high-speed bullet train that would take us to Hiroshima. Below is the sleek train arriving at our stop. The entire trip took a little over 3 hours to cover 495 miles and that included several stops along the way. The train has a top speed of 185 miles an hour. Wow! It was amazing to see the scenery literally fly by our train window. Yet, it was so smooth and quiet. And, according to Jody, these trains have never had a serious accident.

We arrive at the beautiful 32-story Rihga Royal Hotel in Hiroshima.

The first look out from our hotel's bedroom window on one of Hiroshima's beautiful squares. As we arrived relatively early in the afternoon, we immediately left the hotel for a stroll around Hiroshima.

The Hiroshima Museum of Art was directly across from us and was holding an exhibit of Beatrice Potter's Peter Rabbit story's artwork. We decided to go the next day to see the exhibit.

Right next door was Hiroshima Castle,, sometimes called Carp Castle. This is a castle that was the home of the daimyō (feudal lord) of the Hiroshima han (fief). The castle was constructed in the 1590s, but was destroyed by the atomic bombing on August 6, 1945. It was rebuilt in 1958, a replica of the original that now serves as a museum of Hiroshima's history before World War II. And yes, this castle has a moat encircling it.

There is our hotel as seen from the castle.

Hiroshima Castle itself.

Neither of us could figure out what this was.

The view back toward the other side of the city that is the center of the 1945 atomic blast and the location of Peace Park, our next stop.

Along the way we encountered a cool train displayed and I just had to climb onboard for a picture.

The Atomic Bomb Dome shortly after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. On 25 July 1945, General Carl Spaatz, commander of the United States Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific, received orders to deliver a "special bomb" attack on selected cities in Japan. The first target city chosen was Hiroshima, which had an important port on southern Honshu and was headquarters of the Japanese Second General Army with 40,000 military personnel in the city. The bomb was assembled in secret and loaded on the Enola Gay. It consisted of a uranium isotope 235 core shielded by hundreds of kilograms of lead. Little Boy possessed a force equivalent to 12,500 tons of TNT. The plane dropped the bomb over the city at 8:15:17 a.m. local time on August 6 1945. Within 43 seconds of being dropped, the bomb detonated over the city and missed its target by 240 m (790 ft). Intended for the Aioi Bridge, the bomb instead exploded directly over the Shima Hospital, which was very near to the Genbaku Dome. Because the atomic bomb exploded almost directly overhead, the building was able to retain its shape.. The building's vertical columns were able to resist the nearly vertical downward force of the blast, and parts of the concrete and brick outer walls remained intact. The center of the blast was displaced 150 m (490 ft) horizontally and 600 m (2,000 ft) vertically from the Dome, having slightly missed the original target, the distinctive "T"-shaped Aioi Bridge. The Dome was 160 meters from the hypocenter of the atomic blast. Everyone inside the building was killed instantly.

The view of the Dome today and the city that has grown up from the ashes over the intervening 72 years.

My first glimpse of the Dome viewed from the opposite side from the vintage picture.

Regardless of your own opinion as to whether or not the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was necessary to bring a quicker end to WWII, the world continues to feel the profound aftershocks of these events. The heavy weight of this feeling permeates this entire blast area and one cannot help but feel the deep sense of loss.

The Motoyasu Bridge as seen from the Dome.

Jody in front of the eternal flame of peace.

This memorial in Peace Park is solely devoted to remembering the children who perished after the bomb was dropped.

This park memorial is to remember all the children who died in the years following the blast.

Beautiful paper cranes, "origami".

When we saw this stone, we immediately thought of our good friend, Bill Delgado, a well-known and loved Sarasota Scotsman.

Following our first afternoon in Hiroshima we headed back to our hotel to recharge, take some pictures of the city's skyline, and head off for a French dinner on the top floor of the hotel.

My best imitation of Joan Rivers doing her "Fon, fon, fon!" high snot routine.

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Celebration!

5/9/2017

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First, Jody was honored on May 5 as the Winner of the Women In Research Travel Grant Competition. Then, today Jody received confirmation from the President of the University of South Florida (USF) that she had been promoted to Full Professor. We were both surprised as Jody thought that it would be at least another month before the decision was made. I am so thrilled for Jody as she has worked so hard for this honor and richly deserves it. Tonight we celebrated Jody's promotion by dining at the Ristorante Civetta in Downtown Hachioji. We were the only diners there at 5:30 pm as we needed to eat early as our pantries were bare after a week in Hong Kong and we planned to shop afterward. This restaurant was listed as the No. 1 Italian restaurant in Hachioji and it didn't disappoint. We had wonderful lobster and exquisite Kobe Beef. What a lovely, intimate restaurant. We asked the very attentive chef for his picture with us. We will be back.