Youngs Around the World

Arriving at Kansai International Airport in the late evening, we wearily endured an hour-long line at Immigration, a frustrating scavenger hunt for an ATM, and a two-hour train ride to Osaka. It took us about ten minutes to figure out the train system, since all of the signs and schedules were in Japanese and our hostel, J-Hoppers, was another ten-minute walk from the train station. We were both exhausted and running on fumes so we dropped our bags in the room and walked to the convenience store down the road for some late-night provisions: water and ramen noodle cups.

We had done little in the way of research and planning prior to arriving so, the next morning, we stopped for breakfast at Mister Donut to discuss the day’s exploits. Very few Japanese people speak English. “This difficulty is largely rooted in the country’s appalling English education system, and is compounded by a natural shyness, a perfectionist streak and the nature of the Japanese language itself, which contains fewer sounds than any other major world language (making pronunciation of other languages difficult).” (Lonely Planet Japan 2007) Since we speak about two words of Japanese, this is a challenge but smiles and hand gestures seem to go a long way. Still, it can be intimidation when, everywhere you go, people speak to you in Japanese, a language so dissimilar to English that you have no chance of picking up a key word here and there. We smile and nod and say “Arigato” (thank you), which is one of our two words. So we pointed out our donuts and took a seat, chuckling over the thought of eating at Mister Donut in Japan. It is always interesting to see which Western franchises thrive in foreign countries. McDonalds, Starbucks and KFC are everywhere, often appearing like an oasis in the desert, but Mister Donut definitely caught us by surprise. The place was packed; apparently, the Japanese like their donuts and coffee.

We decided to start the day with a visit to the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan, boasting the world’s largest (holding 5,400 cubic meters of water) aquarium tank, which in turn houses a member of the world’s largest fish species – the whale shark. Two of our recent scuba destinations – the Red Sea and Tofo, Mozambique – are known to have concentrations of whale sharks but we had yet to see one. The aquarium was beautifully designed with habitats from the “Ring of Fire” (the ring of geothermic activity which surrounds the Pacific Ocean), such as Antarctica, the Aleutian Islands, the Great Barrier Reef, Monterey, Panama Canal, Japan Deeps and the Cook Strait. We spent hours wandering through the corridors of illuminated tanks full of seals, sea otters, sharks, rays, iridescent jelly fish and scores of other creatures of the sea. The main tank was three stories high and housed at least ten different species of sharks, a manta ray and other types of rays in addition to the whale shark.

 

I hadn’t been to an aquarium in years. While I feel disheartened by the thought of wild animals in captivity, I cannot deny that I was mesmerized and thrilled by the experience of viewing such unique wildlife species at close range. When you see them in the ocean, they are not as clearly visible or vibrant as they are in the illuminated tanks but they are so beautiful and free. Visible colors are lost underwater, at varying depths, so images tend to appear muted. The color red disappears in a mere three meters of water; orange is lost at five meters and yellow at ten. Green and purple begin to fade around twenty meters, leaving only blue at depths of thirty meters and beyond. This means that a beautiful fish or coral garden on the ocean floor under thirty meters of water may contain all the colors of the rainbow but, to the natural eye, it will all appear blue. In the Great Barrier Reef habitat inside the aquarium, a reef was displayed in shallow water and all of the colored coral was amazingly vibrant.

Just outside the aquarium sits the world’s largest Ferris wheel and keeping with the day’s theme of “world’s largest _____”, we decided to give it a whirl. The single rotation lasted fifteen minutes and, from our enclosed glass car, the highest heights opened up beautiful panoramic views of the city and Osaka Bay, including a small grove of blossoming cherry trees. We disembarked from the Ferris wheel and giddily raced toward the cherry blossoms.

Cherry trees are indigenous to Japan and, for a few weeks each spring, the cities are brightened with breathtaking displays of snowy pink blossoms. The centuries-old Japanese custom of hanami, or blossom viewing, is thriving among the current population as evidenced by the throngs of picnickers, families and large groups of teenagers out enjoying the beautiful view on a sunny Sunday afternoon. We strolled along the paths with clouds of blossoms overhead and a carpet of fallen blooms under foot. It seemed as though everyone around us was smiling and happy. The ubiquitous sensation of joy was intensely contagious and we marveled at our good fortune in witnessing this treasured and ephemeral season in bloom.

Our next stop was the Osaka Castle, a concrete reconstruction of the original granite castle, which was destroyed by war in 1615, rebuilt, and then destroyed again 1868. This seems to be a recurring theme among many of Japan’s castles, temples and shrines. The castle is striking in appearance, standing five stories high above a stone wall foundation and surrounded by a moat. The original castle was erected as a display of power but my first impression was of stupefying beauty and opulence. It was our first glimpse of Japanese architecture and it left us wanting more. We walked the perimeter of the castle without going inside (trying to pace ourselves for the numerous temples and shrines throughout Asia) and wandered the surrounding grounds. The adjacent park was beautifully landscaped and we discovered another large grove of cherry blossoms in which no less than a hundred young men and women were casually gathered. As we leisurely passed by, we remarked on the Rock ‘n Roll fashion of Japanese adolescents and young adults. The hairstyles are trendy and layered – especially the men who undoubtedly use more hair products than their female peers. The girls’ attire is artistic and feminine with a lot of cinched waists, high heels and knee socks.

From the castle grounds, we hopped on the train to Dotombori, Osaka’s liveliest nightlife area, and walked the arcade, a long street illuminated by colorful storefronts and flashy neon signs. The narrow streets were packed with people out for a night on the town. We ducked into the sanctuary of Starbucks to recharge and absorb the scene outside from a table by the window. The baristas at Starbucks did not speak English but, thankfully, a “skinny white mocha” is still a “skinny white mocha” even in Japanese. When we were sufficiently warm and caffeinated, we hit the streets again, walking through a covered shopping arcade which spanned several city blocks. It contained high-end boutiques, specialty food stalls and a variety of basic mall stores. The Japanese, comprising the world’s second largest economy after the U.S., have definitely fallen victim to Western consumerism.

At the end of the evening, we were thoroughly exhausted. After a series of wrong turns onto darkened streets left us completely lost, we gave up on walking and hailed a cab. We collapsed into our respective bunk beds and fell into a deep sleep. So far, Japan has exceeded our expectations. The language gap has proven to be our biggest challenge but one that we embrace with an adventurous spirit because it makes every exchange – ordering donuts, asking for directions, navigating public transportation systems – a little more interesting.

2 Comments »