Japan Part 3

On our fourth day in Japan, we took the bullet train, or shinkansen, from Yokohama to Okayama. The train looked like an airplane on the inside, but had more legroom. It didn't feel like we were going as fast as we were going. We went about 650 miles, which would take 8 hours in a car, and it only took us 4 hours. It was hard to focus on anything closer that a hundred meters since it was blurred due to the motion. 

After dropping off our luggage a hotel right across from the train station which Camille had booked from her cell phone while on the train, we took a walk down main street, and up to Okayama castle, which overlooks the Asahi river. Okayama castle was built in 1587, and at that time it was known as Bizen. It looks nothing like a European castle, instead, it just looked like a veeeery big traditional Japanese house surrounded by stone walls. In WWII it was bombed during an air raid by the US. It was later rebuilt in 1966. Inside the main palace there was a museum dedicated to cultural heritage: early firearms, samurai armor and swords, a palanquin (a fancy box for carrying royal individuals), and old scrolls and correspondence. 

  

Then we walked across a pedestrian bridge over the Asahi river to the formal gardens, from the 1700s. But first we had a cup of tea to warm up (due to it being quite cold) at a small cafe which was next to the bridge and watched the rain from the big glass windows next to the low tables and tatami mats. The garden was not how I had imagined. Instead of a western style garden with bushes and flowers, we were greeted with a seriously well manicured lawns, with lots of well placed rocks, streams, trees, and cherry trees (which were just beginning to bloom). There were many little buildings for resting, including one that had a stream running right through the middle. In the streams and ponds there were large orange, white, gray and black Koi fish, some of which had strange growths on their heads.

On the walk home we saw some funny ceramic figures in shop windows and later learned that Okayama is known for its ceramic tradition and some white peaches but it was the wrong season for the fruit. 

Back at the hotel we admired our huge window which looked over the entirety of main street. I observed the bank across from our hotel, named Tomato Bank, which I still believe is the best ever name for a bank. We were positioned on the seventh floor, so we got a great view of all the electronic bill boards and neon signs. In the photo you can see the advertisement for one of the pop boy/bands that are popular in Japan.