I’m not sure if these were real Maiko or just a couple of young ladies pretending to be such. You can tell they are not Geisha (Geiko since we were in Kyoto) because of their hair ornamentation. We saw lots more during the day rooming around Gion and the area east of Gion. I’ll show you some more pictures later. Again, I have no idea which were “real” and which were made up for the day.

We did see a real Maiko in the evening while roaming the streets of Gion. She hustled from her okiya to a tea house (ochaya). I’ll have a photograph of her and some nice, night shots from Gion in a future entry.

Posted on September 28th, 2008 under Japan. Tags: geisha, japan pictures, jinrikisha, kyoto. Comments Off on Maiko?

On an overcast day we visited USJ. In this picture you can see sort of a recreation of Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco I suppose. If you are visiting Japan I do not recommend a visit to Universal Studios Japan in Osaka.

Posted on September 27th, 2008 under Japan. Tags: amusement parks, japan pictures, osaka. Comments Off on Universal Studios Osaka Japan

I took the above picture at a bathroom on the Hakone Round Course. Apparently some gaijin had misused the toilet in the past and made a mess.

When I lived in Japan in the 1980s I saw and used what we called “squatters” all the time. In fact, it was the most common public toilet at that point in time in Japan and was the only toilet I had in one of my apartments.

Fast forward to our visit in 2007. The above squatter was the only one we encountered in our entire two weeks in Japan. Squatters seem to be much rarer now. Japanese toilets are actually some of the best in the world with more gizmos and gadgets and features most people have never even dreamed of on a toilet.

When we arrived in Narita airport my family used the bathroom immediately after we got off the plane and said it was the best bathroom they’d ever seen. We experienced a few restrooms later on the trip that were even better.

Back to the above photo… The picture is quite humorous if you blow it up and look at it closely.

Posted on September 26th, 2008 under Japan. Tags: japan pictures, japanese toilet, signs, toilets. Comments: 2

Maruyama Park in Kyoto is a wonderful place to be when the cherry blossoms are in bloom. You’ll find yourself mixed in with many groups of Japanese enjoying hanami (blossom viewing) parties. If you don’t bring your own food have no fear. You can purchase fish on a stick (or a bunch of other delights) from various street vendors. We passed on the fish on a stick and went for some yakitori instead. You can’t beat yakitori washed down with C.C. Lemon.

Posted on September 25th, 2008 under Japan. Tags: food, japan pictures, kyoto. Comments: 1

As part of the “Hakone Round Course” you get to ride in a ferry boat across Lake Ashi. If you are lucky you will also have a clear view of Mt. Fuji.

My daughter thought we were unlucky because even though we had a view of Mt. Fuji we weren’t on the above pirate-looking ship. Instead, we were on a regular looking ferry boat. I explained to her that, no, we were the lucky ones as we had a view of the pirate ship and those on the pirate ship only had a view of a regular looking ferry boat. She didn’t buy that explanation.

If you click on the above picture to have it fill your screen you can see that it is called “ビクトリー” or “Victory.”

Posted on September 24th, 2008 under Japan. Tags: hakone, japan pictures. Comments Off on Lake Ashi Pirate Ship