Japan: Days 9-12

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Osaka reminds me a lot of Baltimore's waterfront, only much, much hipper. During the day you can go play at the aquarium or Sega (!) arcade on the waterfront and at night you party in the Dotonbori section of town. Where it bests Baltimore; 1) mobs of “cool” people out to see and be seen making people watching very interesting, 2) a much more energetic feel because it’s missing that run down, dying city mood Baltimore has. By contrast, Hakone is a very modest, but expensive small town in the mountains outside Tokyo. I get the impression that well-to-do Tokyoites go to Hakone to unwind from the madness of the city and part with a good portion of their wallets in doing so. While not nearly as ritzy as the Hamptons or Martha’s Vineyard, it’s got that upscale feel that’s only possible with hot spring spas dotted all around the hills and a “Premium Outlet Center” nearby. Lastly, these points also include the day we spent in Tokyo before our flight home, so that concludes the trip! The next post should wrap it all together with a nice bow.

• A good bit of the arcades in Osaka are Sega branded. Most video game dorks I know miss the Sega days of old and I’m one of them. It’s sad the Dreamcast was the best system ever made and still died like it did, but seeing the Sega name was nice. Most of the arcades are actually skill games, like the claw thingy, so there weren’t as many old Sega games as I would have liked. I did see an old Sega Rally 2 machine from 10 years ago, which was cool. I dropped $12 trying to win a large stuffed Drangon Ball Z dragon ball but to no avail. I have no idea what I’d do with it but it was a bit larger than a basketball, it was plush and I wanted it.
• I have to admit that I wouldn’t have known about the Dotonbori section of Osaka were it not for Anthony Bourdain. Uncharacteristically, I became one of those people that did something just because they saw it on TV (the Japan episode of No Reservations). In short, Dotonbori is like a giant fun house of restaurants, bars and shops that built up along a canal that shares its name. It’s way over the top, but in a good way, and it was very busy despite a heavy rain.
• I can now say I’ve had takoyaki and okonomiyaki. I enjoyed the okonomiyaki but I can't say I'd order the takoyaki again. There really wasn't anything wrong with it, it just didn't really do anything for me. I think maybe it's a texture thing because the outside is crispy, but the inside gooey with bits of chewy octopus. I can't really describe the okonomiyaki other than to say it reminded me of a potato pancake with a lot of veggies and shellfish in it. It was actually pretty good, although next time I might ask for it without the fish flakes on top.
  
• Staying at a ryokan that is an onsen and not a minimalist Buddhist temple in the middle of winter is a nice break from it all. We got what I think was the honeymoon suite because it was our own little house, separate from the hotel, and it came with a personal outdoor rotenburo on the river. Not seeing anyone, except our kimono-clad maid when she delivered lavish breakfasts and dinners (read: 3 lobsters for dinner, 2 for breakfast) to our cottage, was a good way to close out the trip. The entire hotel is fed by a volcanic hot spring, which is kinda crazy, since I couldn't stay in the rotenburo for more than 15 minutes out of fear of heat stroke.
  
• To get to our ryokan, we had to take a train that was only two cars long and performed three switchbacks. When I say switchbacks I mean the train got to the end of a portion of track, the crew ran to the other end of the train and the train continued up another section of track in the opposite direction. It's called a "mountain train" and it's quite an ingenious way to have a train climb a mountain. We also had to take the ryokan's private "funicular cable car" down the valley to the hotel itself. Not what we call a cable car in the west, it consists of a four person carriage on a railroad track with a cable system lowering it down. I thought it was a bit weird but I guess the Japanese pay good money for that sort of exclusivity.
  
• If you're ever in Hakone, take the Hakone Rope Way (what I think of as a cable car) to experience spectacular views of Mount Fuji.
  
• We stumbled into an antique sword dealer in Tokyo. The stuff in there was straight up legit with some swords being upwards of 500 years old. That's right folks, they have swords that are twice as old and the United States and the price tag to go with it. I think the cheapest sword in there was $7,000 and the most expensive approaching $20,000. They had a bunch of antique tsubas there as well, but I just couldn't bring myself to spend $1,200 for one. The dealer also had the distinction of being the only retail establishment we had to take our shoes off for. For what it's worth, there were two restaurants, including the yakitori one, that required the same of us.
• We walked into a Tokyo toy store and sitting on the shelf, stacked actually, were a few Wiis. They're not scare here, they're actually cheaper with the exchange rate and if they Japanese version would play US games I'd bring one home with me.