Japan 2006 Day 1: The Land of the Rising Sun

Welcome aboard the sushi express folks! And I don't mean that tacky sushi joint down Pitt Street either - this is the real deal, the official journal of the adventures of four intrepid... uhm adventurers... in the Far East. No generic teriyaki here folks, no "your mission, should you choose to accept it Mr Hunt, is to dress up as a pseudo-samurai and prance around in a kimono"... No, this is the story of an epic quest into the heart of the real Japan.

As with most epic quests, this one started with a long boring plane ride. And this was despite Jared's best efforts to liven things up with his expert analysis of every bank, roll and turn, courtesy of three hours behind the yoke of a Piper Warrior (but hey, if Halle Berry and Kurt Russell can land a 747 after a brief flick through the flight manual, who am I to argue?)

Anyway, that ol' rising sun rose way too early for four weary travellers as they staggered off the plane at Tokyo Narita International four hours of sleep and two crap movies later. Here's the first shots from Japan folks - Rock spots the rather dubiously translated Hello Kitty Collon candy...

Today's plan: jump on the ultra-efficient Shinkansen (bullet train) bound for Hiroshima, about three hours south of Tokyo. Here Rock strikes a pose in front of the sleek lines of the Hikari Railstar Express, soon to speed off at over 300kph with our awestruck adventurers on board.

Whew, whizzing along at 300kph in air con comfort sure does work up the appetite. The party arrives in Hiroshima to find the Golden Week festivities in full flight. You know what that means... Food! Mei here ravenously demonstrates that Japanese cuisine is more than just sushi and sashimi.
Ah, the caphony of sights and sounds that is a busy shopping arcade in downtown Hiroshima. Nowhere does open air markets quite like Asia. Meanwhile, Rock takes offence at Jared's interpretation of personal space in the Orient...

Now that you've waded through plenty of shots of dumb tourists making fools of themselves, time to get down to the real business of sightseeing. Here's the Hiroshima-Jo (castle), located near the centre of downtown Hiroshima.

Careful Pebble! That moat is teaming with deadly... er... giant orange goldfish!

Stand by to storm the keep team! Hang on, does anyone else get the feeling my epee might be splintered like a cheap sushi chopstick under the blue steel of the defenders' katanas?

If you can't beat em, join em. Heck, it always worked in counterstrike when the CTs were getting rushed to death...

Woot! It's the manga shop! Now all we need is a sailor suit...

Day 1 finishes on a solemn note - an after dark stroll through the Hiroshima Memorial Peace Park, a moving momement to the men, women and children who lost their lives in one terrible fraction of a second at 8.15am on August 6th, 1945. The A-Bomb Dome above is the ghostly centerpeice to the monument, the shattered remains of a building left untouched to serve as a permanent reminder of the sheer idiocy of war.

So that's the wrap for Day 1. Tune in to a blog near you for your next update from the land of the Samurai...