[Dieselritzer]

These are the last bunch of pics i have. Posting randomly. I loved the Japanese architecture and the minimalist design approach. No ugly curves, no phaancy lighting, just graceful simple lines.





A Japanese guy running an INdian Restaurant making Masala Chai. tasted pretty authentic.




And we complain about rising prices ;-)






The amazing shinkansen.




The complex JR Line ( SHinkansen + Metro + Local trains )

[Dieselritzer]

[Dieselritzer]

[Dieselritzer]

I would like to end this travelogue with this final pic. This represents Japan most unmistakably. They say that its very auspicious to watch the first sun rise of the new year from its peak and many people trek the mountain to do it. The air hostess of our flight had done it, i know a few people in our office who have done it. It was a sight to remember for a long long time. Its one pic which got me so much attention on FB too :-)

Mt Fuji at its best :-)

[extreme_torque]

A must visit country in my book. Infact I would like to stay there for a while. Thank you for the pictures. I have always said Japanese are the most sophisticated race on the planet and they are.

[Habanero City]

Excellent review.
One should visit Japan to know and understand their world.
If you have any pictures of food and your experience in tasting Japanese food, please post them.

[Dieselritzer]

Hi, Thank you. Yes we did eat a lot of Japanese food, tasted their wine and beer. Initially it takes some time to get used to the strong aroma. And if you are a veggie, then its even more difficult. I am a pure NON Vegetarian and i can literally eat anything thats served, so i could manage it well. In the flight while going we ordered Indian Food as we had no clue on how the Japanese food would taste, but the Japanese folks in flight were eating their food and the aroma was too strong. You get used to it as you travel there.

Thats Sushi, it has Rice, Fish and a sauce. The Japanese food eating ritual is quiet detailed. We were shown a presentation on how to go about it.

The rice is sticky (as its eaten with the chop sticks). Thanks to my boss who showed me an easy technique of using the sticks and i mastered the art quiet well.




You can see in below pic there is an elaborate setup for the dinner. It also has a stove on the table where you boil a sauce, you dip fish/steak in it and you cook it on the table, etc etc. It all has to be done in a sequence which was very interesting. There are different chop sticks for different purposes.

The chop sticks are also very interesting. The price can range for a few hundred yen to thousands of yen where the stick gets more exotic with paintings and precious stones carved in it. The more expensive ones are mostly used as gifts or gifted to someone senior.

[Dieselritzer]

On my way back to Mumbai i spent time clicking pictures of aircrafts at Narita Airport. Thats one amazing thing about Japan, no one questions or stops you from clicking anything, something i find really irritating in our country. As a person with photography as a hobby, i find it stupid when me clicking pictures of the VT Station or the Taj Hotel is seen as a threat.

Below is the link on the Spot Aeroplanes page on Team BHP where i have uploaded the pics. For Aircraft Lovers, thats a full course meal out there.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shifti...ts-cops-7.html

[ckrckr]

Dieselritzer,

Enjoyed reading your article. very informative and beautiful snaps of this exotic country.
thank you for sharing with us.

[sukhoi30]

Originally Posted by Dieselritzer

- The Japanese females love Indian Men, Indian Food and more over, Indian Men who can cook Indian Food ( its like an icing on the top)

Now, where did you get that from? I have been there for a while but haven;t experienced or seen this tendency. Though, honestly, I do have a few Indian friends who have married Japanese woman but not for the above reason alone.

But, yes, Japanese do love Indian food due to its tangy and spicy flavours.

Japan is one place where you also get to experience quality and authentic cuisine from all over the world. Apart from Japanese, I experienced Thai, Vietnamese, Swedish, Italian, Chinese cuisines to name a few.

If you had been to Roppongi, you should have visited Gonpachi Restaurant. Its quite famous because its ambience was used in the movie "Kill Bill". They serve the best "Sake" (Japanese Rice wine) and they serve some great fusion cuisines.

Originally Posted by Dieselritzer

- They adore Mithun Da, he has a huge fan following there

They are big fan of Rajnikant too. There is video rental store called Tsutaya which is very popular. I used to be member and used the facility to rent a lot of Hollywood movies. In almost every store you will find one rack full of Rajnikant's movies either subtitled or dubbed.

Originally Posted by Dieselritzer

- Onsen, although you might think how weird it will be to be naked in front of all, no reaching there you realise that all are naked, so it doesnt matter. We laughed, shared funny stories, all while sitting naked in those hot springs.

Yes, this is a must have experience in one's life. Sitting in the hot water spring is so soothing that you forget all troubles in your life.

Originally Posted by Dieselritzer

On my way back to Mumbai i spent time clicking pictures of aircrafts at Narita Airport. Thats one amazing thing about Japan, no one questions or stops you from clicking anything, something i find really irritating in our country. As a person with photography as a hobby, i find it stupid when me clicking pictures of the VT Station or the Taj Hotel is seen as a threat.

Yeah, thanks to that terror attacks in Mumbai, the authorities are over cautious in this aspect. There are lots of places in India where they bar photography like Bridges, Dams, Hotels, Govt. Buildings etc. It's a thing of the past when photography was its nascent stages in India. Except for defence areas, people shouldn't be stopped from taking photos anywhere.

[pratyush6]

Very good travelogue. It is good to see the architecture and way of life in Japan. Their humility is something I crave in myself. I know a few from my work and going through this travelogue gave me a good insight to their lives.

The story of the child playing was something that touched my heart. This thread makes me want to travel there!

Thanks for the pictures and the stories.

[Arch-Angel]

A great travelogue and i am sure you must have enjoyed quite a bit over there. One thing that has me admiring Japanese is that these are people who have endured, never has one bomb costed so much human life and brought untold suffering to their people. Yet, they chose to move on, work hard with their ideals in mind and hence have reached a pinnacle with their effort. I wish we were more like them, atleast we could all try and be kind towards someone else and hence, maybe give someone a smile in return. Thanks again.

[handsofsteel]

Originally Posted by sukhoi30

Yeah, thanks to that terror attacks in Mumbai, the authorities are over cautious in this aspect. There are lots of places in India where they bar photography like Bridges, Dams, Hotels, Govt. Buildings etc. It's a thing of the past when photography was its nascent stages in India. Except for defence areas, people shouldn't be stopped from taking photos anywhere.

What a coincidence that I read this thread now as am planning a trip to Japan.
The above statement and the related post of the OP made me cringe. As responsible citizens, we must remember that security is everyone's business. As we all know, it's better to be safe than sorry. There are enough and more such places in various countries where photography is not allowed for security reasons. Just respect the decision and keep moving.