Nara Hakushikaso

... with a huge wet patch over his trousers and a crowded bar to negotiate. It was only then that he realised that if he had removed his hand from the sensor, the soaking would have stopped a lot sooner. (The four years he spent at Uni studying for an engineering degree clearly hadn’t paid off). For all their advancements in toilet design, the Japanese have not yet discovered how to make hand-dryers or paper towel dispensers (very few Japanese WC ...

Salut tout le monde Nous allons bien. Cette fois nous pouvons ecrire plus librement. La derniere fois que nous vous avons ecrit, le clavier se transformait en ecriture japonnaise a tout bout de champs. On a bien sacre apres le clavier et prit surement 30 min pour vous ecrire quelques phrases. Hier, nous avons donc partie de l'auberge de jeunesse de Nara tot pour aller faire un tour de ville. Nous avons commence par le plus gros boudha en bronze du monde ...

... are situated. It is here that hundreds of cute (and rather hungry it would seem) deers come to greet you. Perhaps even more entertaining than the fact you can stroke them (but only the ones that look clean, some people have become seriously ill after picking up tics from them, unsurprisingly something that the tourism board doesn't advertise), is watching the other visitors stroke them. For example, a group of foreign tourists come along. A few of the cute deer ...

When I first arrived in Japan, I didn't realize just how big it is. Sure, it looks sort of big on a map, but its still dwarfed by its over sized neighbors, China and Russia. Japan may be smaller than those guys, but really, its a TARDIS. There are so many cities here that go unnoticed by travelers, because they are seen as boring small-towns. Boring? Small? Half of these places are bustling, buzzing and each have a unique atmosphere of their own and I am amazed and glad that we ...

... of the most *m*zing so f*r in its *bility to m*int*in *n *ir of sophistic*tion whilst simult*neously combining the big city vibe of Tokyo with the historic*l relev*nce of sm*ll temple towns. The outskirts of Kyoto, not five minutes *w*y by subw*y, feel *s though you've tr*veled to some f*r off, qu*int vill*ge town rich with cultur*l signific*nce. With the *mount of be*utiful temple complexes, shrines *nd J*p*nese zen g*rdens we visited, it would be impossible to *dequ*tely describe ...

... which you c*n boil eggs in. The *nnoying thing is th*t you don't re*lly get to see the hot springs in their 'r*w st*te' but they *re still quite *we inspiring even if the one with *nim*l's m*de you feel s*d. (Are hippos supposed to e*t pot*toes?)<br><br>To wind things up we found ourselves *t *n Onsen in the outdoor 'Mud b*th'. And it w*s deffin*tely muddy. Although it m*de it * little less *wkw*rd when sh*ring the pl*ce with * whole lot of n*ked str*ngers. Murky ...

... our guide, so we took a taxi to Sanjusangen-do temple, which contains 1,001 images of the goddess of mercy, Kannon. Quite a sight. It was such a treat having our own personal guide. We didn't have a set itinerary; she just went with us wherever we wanted to go, and helped us navigate all the public transportation. She was full of great information... and she helped us find the most wonderful bakery in the basement of Kyoto Station (it's a whole other world down there!)

... been waiting for half an hour. In Tokyo, there are ten cars and the subways come every minute at rush hour. The only place that was sunny was Hiroshima, and that was a misty sun. Otherwise it just rains lightly--this is the short Japanese monsoon season. Lastly, Japan is way cheaper than I ever expected. With the exception of accomodations, but food is cheap. I had a traditional Japanese breakfast in Tokyo the other day ...

... them away, either. Once one gets you, if you stop to "scare" it away, all that means is that three more will grab you from the other side. Once you're away from the temple and in the park proper, however, the deer are more reserved and no doubt a tad embarrassed by the overbearing nature of their cousins across the street. Ankle deep in water, we trudged past a group of rickshaw carriers huddled together for warmth, including one female. Once again, both Ellie ...

... n*tion *nd the welf*re of the people of e*ch current *ge, we c*n *lso s*y th*t its rites *re const*ntly *live in the he*rts of the J*p*nese people of *ny given time. Origin *nd Aims The Shuni-e Ceremony *t the ****tsu-do w*s begun in 752 by Jitchu, the chief disciple of Roben who founded Tod*i-ji, the ceremony is form*lly * rite of repent*nce to Eleven-he*ded K*nnon in which penitence for one's misdeeds ...