Snakes, Quakes, Logistical Mistakes

Callum Eagle Hendrick
Jul 30
7 min read

Long time no see.

Some of the clan visited for 3 weeks for the mothers birthday. Many a tale. Started tumultuously with a bear sighting and a snake cameo followed by two earthquakes in a row the day before the adventure started in earnest. Initially went to Osaka for some music and then headed to tokyo by sleeper bus, an incredible concept. Board, sleep and wake up on the other side of the country. Rendezvous with the first clan member and begin the journey.

Stayed in Shinjuku, the non greasy part of it obviously. The absolute scale of Tokyo is really bewildering, the place is too big to be called a city it is something else entirely. Stretches out as far as you can see from above and is a little like being in some sort of concrete labyrinth from the ground. It is similar to a big massive machine and all the people are little bolts and screws keeping the machine running. Roads and railways and metros all intersecting but functioning smoothly. Every now and then a little tv on the trains reads a delay out (between the stops, ads or the train tv) because of a 'personal injury accident' or 'person on tracks' incident. Very bizarre and surreal. Seems very grimey during the day and then bladerunner at night. Neon glow, the whole place lit up like a torch.

Went for a very civilised dinner in the top of the Skytree which is the dublin spire on steroids with an observation platform. The view is fairly mental, you cant see anything except the lights stretching out all the way to the sea and then the horizons in the other directions. Lovely bit of steak and fish, freshly cooked in front of our very eyes by a kindly gentleman who was very much ready to end his shift and get home.

Visited a big shrine in a park in the middle of the city. Park filled with old trees and as you are walking into it, the hum and clang of the city does fade behind you which is a pleasant reprieve. Lovely warm day for it and the forest has a natural cooling effect to bring the temperature down to very walkable. There is a feeling that they just try to make everything bigger in every aspect in the city. Big 9 metre tall Torii gates, which seems unnecessary, big massive courtyard out the front of the shrine, massive 600 metre spire, all very impressive but mildly comical at the same time. Go for a tempura lunch, some sort of art installation and then collect the next clan member who proceeds to fall asleep immediately upon arrival despite a large amount of bluster about exploring.

Head out into the shinjuku for the evening and wander through small alleys and large neon illuminated concourses. the first set of small alleys contained very old bars all packed in beside each other and top of each other all with maybe 5-8 seats in them. Smoking inside allowed of course which is always a real treat. Next set of alleys just a heap of small restaurants with similar seating arrangements. Only seems to be grilled kebab stick things along there. Head back to the bars and enjoy some conversation with a nice Algerian fellow, an engineer no less, and his questionable companion from Bali, who travels a lot for her work. Apparently they are in a committed relationship which began roughly 6 days ago. Interesting one no doubt. They strongly insisted we stay and keep them company but an early start dictated we leave.

Head to a big fucker of a temple the next day, same theme emerging - just unnecessarily massive, market streets laced all around it and leading up to it. Insane looking building, must have been thousands of people milling in it and around it. The holiness of the place is somewhat diluted by the gawking foreigners (us included) shuffling around. There was some sort of ceremony going on inside the temple which we got to have a peek in at, a lot of incense, coloured robes and bald heads. Apparently the original temple was flattened so they had to build a new one and they did not shy away from the red paint. Tried our hand at making sushi as well, surprisingly a lot trickier than it seems.

Went for a hiking adventure called the Kumano Kodo in Wakayama next, via a night in Osaka, which is home to some very holy sites, seems to be the nexus of a lot of the different spiritual beliefs in the country. The mountains here were indeed a bit different in size and shape to Hida, more conical and symmetrical in some way and there was a misty and often heavy downpour of rain for the entire duration of the stay which lent itself to an even more mystical feel. Stayed in some very basic accommodations and got thoroughly drenched which is always fun. One could say there was a lack of preparation, particularly in getting there which involved quite a lot of detours, missed connections and confusion around starting points, but once we got therethe route was very well signposted and easily followed. Plenty of small shrines as well as some bigger temples. Despite the repeated claims from some members of the company regarding bears, wolves and other varied beasts of the wild the only encounters with nature were a lazy snake, a double sided leech and a lot of forest crabs. I had not realised crabs lived inland but there you go. By far the most beautiful part of the trip despite the rain, beautiful landscapes, valleys, hills rivers and forested views, easy to see why it is considered holy in some way.

Osaka has a darker energy about it and the clan felt that immediately upon arrival. this same feeling was detailed in a previous recounting of osaka so i will not go over it again but there is a grimier feeling about the place which i have come to enjoy, it has some excitement and grittiness. The clan not major fans however. I did enjoy going off reservation for some time here, which the clan were also not so fond of and did not participate in for the most part. The city is grimy and really comes alive at night as previously mentioned. Unfortunately the authors wallet did mysteriously cease to be in the authors pocket along the way at some point resulting in quite a few weeks of bureaucratic headaches but alas. the city was fairly flattened about 80 years ago there so the entire place has been built up from nothing again including the castle. inside the castle the life and times of Hideyoshi are recounted, the man seemed to follow the path of all delusionary conquerors - comes from humble beginnings, wants to 'unite' the tribes/clans/regions under one banner and then goes a bit whacky towards the end after a lot of wealth and power gets involved. no genocides in this case but a lot of very strange stories.

Final piece of the adventure for dear author was a stroll around kyoto which is an incredibly beautiful city, maybe a japanese version of Rome, (obviously completely unique and distinct but just for comparison sake) everywhere you walk, you seem to be within a stones throw of some sort of ancient building or shrine or temple or significant monument of some description. Obviously a very historic and significant place, the historicity of which will have to be observed more closely at a later date. Adventure over and a return to reality back in Takayama which is apparently called 'little kyoto' and one can now understand why.

Not a lot to report since then, have successfully managed to reclaim the important documents which were contained within the wallet over the last fortnight so no sweating there. there was one ceremony in one of the schools for a sports day or something which obviously nobody had practiced for and it was quite funny to see the contrast from the ones which were meticulously planned and drilled. a lot of running about, pointing fingers and rushed speeches. Had the pleasure of attending a drinking party with the fellow foreign teachers which was good craic and they very kindly gifted me a kanji placard as a farewell gift. apparently it means wind but also prostitute so mixed messaging there. good fun though and a great bunch of lads and ladies to have spent a year with.

Other thoughts

What is incredible and slightly unnerving is seeing brands and shops you recognise on the opposite side of the planet completely. Companies and products have somehow managed to hack into universal traits of humans and capitalize on them. Who can imagine a mcdonalds nestled in a sleepy town in the hills of an island nation or a dior store perched not so gracefully among swathes of local brands. There is some sort of homogenization of the developed world well underway. You can notice this very easily in europe but the spread of it into distant corners of the world is interesting, obviously nihon is a bit westernised but still.

I still do not understand how these massive cities are feeding themselves. I am trying to picture in my head every restaurant needing it's order of fish, onions, pork and beef, every day. and every individuals fridge needing a few meals worth of food. and every bar needing its barrels of beer, every corner shop and convenience store needing it's tobacco, chocolate and plastic wrapped pastries. i am struggling to see whether it is a miracle that all of these people, everywhere, are being fed or one bad stroke of luck away from a mass casualty event. how sustainable is it really and if it isnt, how far down the timeline does the miracle end. but then you drive an hour out of any of these places and you are in either farmland or relative wilderness. so there is plenty more space to grow into. how far into that can you consume before it tips over into 'oops, too much'. i suppose we are tiny and the earth is massive but i do not understand it.

In other news, the nicotine pouches are now available at fuzeproductsofficial.com