memoirs of japan

Japan was everything we thought it would be and more. A tiny country filled with countless people, everyone walking somewhere, staring straight ahead, determined not to falter in the race of life. Faces were beautiful, fashion was unfathomable, and the sights were breathtaking. Osaka Castle (Osaka-Jo) was a child’s playground for Trenton, who thrives on history; the cherry blossom orchard outlining the castle gave Emily immense joy. One day was spent visiting the castle, then subwaying across Osaka to see the aquarium – a gigantic land of penguins and funny looking fish.

That evening we bought a digital camera (challenge: decipher which of these pictures were taken by our old video camera, and which by our new “Canon”)… The next day we took the train (JR Railway) to Kyoto, the former capitol of Japan, which met us with open branches and glorious spring freshness. We toured one of the prettiest temples, watched hundreds of tourists drink spring water from “holy bowls”, mourned a bit for those worshiping the Buddha (we pray they would know the living God) and delighted in the cobblestone, pottery-lined streets that reminded us all too well of Europe.

Meals throughout our short stay included a visit to a small local restaurant, where two drunken men blew kisses at us. I ate tempura (battered veggies) while Trent had meat on a stick. We also visited an expansive food market one evening, and tried spring rolls and cheese balls; as well, we partook in some “Sake” (Japanese alcohol) and dried squid. One of these pictures portrays Trenton holding Octopus balls… they were alright, for octopus I suppose. Trenton got a bit squeamish. Don’t tell him I told you that. We stayed in a cheap, Japanese style room downtown, where the beds rolled out and the floors were covered in bamboo. I snuck a shot of a Japanese man asleep in the subway, and of a lovely old gentleman taking photos of the blossoms.

All in all, these three days were stuffed full of delicious experiences and unexplainable delights. There were still so many glimpses of sadness, so many heart-tearing moments where you want to help people but aren’t sure how… I don’t know that we’ll ever escape that until Heaven, but we ourselves were helped out by so many Osaka residents our faith in humankind was restored and our spirits lifted.

(PS. After reading this blog, Trenton insists I tell you he ate FIVE octopus balls, while I only ate three. Touche Trenton. However, I managed to keep them all down, lol.)