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Tsukuba is blessed with a wide range of things to do and one such point of interest are the Botanical Gardens run by the National Science Museum on Higashi Odori.

Opened in 1983, the Botanical Gardens provide an ideal destination for an afternoon out with the family. A large range of diverse flora are on display in this facility spread over a 14 hectare area. We visited there a couple of weeks ago, but spring is really the best time to visit with some stunningly beautiful flowers to see. Autumn though is not without its own niceties. The following picture shows Chrysanthemum nipponicum which blooms during October.

There are both indoor and outdoor gardens, ranging from tropical planets through to desert cactii, montane grassland as well as marshland plants.

The gardens are opposite Tsukuba University and a link to a map on google maps is here: Tsukuba Botanical Gardens. It is possible to visit from Tokyo – take the Tsukuba Express from Akihabara to the final stop (about 45 minutes) then take the Kanto Tetsudo Bus from Tsukaba Center to Tsukuba Techno-Park Oho (about 5 minutes) and get off at the bus stop of the Tsukuba Botanical Garden.

There is an english website here with more information about the plants and activities of the botanical gardens.

Entrance is 300 yen for adults and university students and free for rugrats and other students. The gardens are closed Mondays except for public holidays (much the same as the Tsukuba Public Library).

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Found these great representations comparing China and Germany through design up at China Digital Times. The designer Liu Yang, is a Chinese born German designer who uses the simplicity of good graphic design to communicate the cultural and social differences between the two countries.

This first one shows the differing attitudes to lining up to buy tickets. If you have been to China you will know that those scrummaging skills developed on the rugby field are highly valuable:

The second image is more interesting, being a depiction of the self:

The blue sections of the images refer of course to German culture, with those in red denoting the Chinese equivalent. Interestingly, Japan would be German in the image of the people lining up, and Chinese in the image depicting the self.
It is difficult of course, to pare down cultures as diverse as German or Chinese into simple images, but these I think are very effective.

We went to Germany for one night a few years ago and I remember being quite surprised as to how relaxed everyone was. When we went through immigration there were two immigration officers having what must have been to them quite a fascinating discussion. They didn’t even look at us as they stamped our passports!

On our way back out it was much the same, except we saw them round up a person of middle eastern descent. Ah, the joys of being white. I guess some stereotypes are true after all.

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One of the most pleasant experiences these fair isles have to offer is that of a visit to an onsen or hot spring. Particularly rewarding after a hard day hitting the slopes on your snow board, there is nothing better than leaning back and relaxing in the hot waters of some rural spring and watching the snow flakes flutter down amongst the bathers.

With a truly huge number of hot springs, and a corresponding range of quality from the superb resorts down to dingy joints that haven’t seen a cleaning cloth or a builder since some time in the 1960′s finding the perfect hot spring can be a challenge. If you live in the country it probably isn’t so much of a problem, just ask around at your local drinking hole and you are bound to start a veritable fireball of a discussion amongst the regulars on the respective merits of the plethora of springs to be found in most parts of Japan.

If you live in the big smoke of Tokyo you will want to get your hand on a guide book, and if it is the idea of soaking away those aches and pains of city life in some beautiful out of the way onsen, then I would highly recommend Anne Hotta and Yoko Ishiguro’s well researched A Guide to Japanese Hot Springs.

Featuring 160 select hot springs scattered the length and breadth of Japan, A Guide to Japan’s Hot Springs offers a wealth of information to the traveller – hot spring newbie or onsen connoisseur alike. If you are looking for a romantic getaway from Tokyo then this book will be indispensable in helping you select and unforgettable destination. Or, if you are looking for some apres ski action (something Japan is sorely lacking) then this book should do the trick.

Surprisingly Chiba has no hot springs worth speaking of. Tokyo gets a mention with the Rokuryu Onsen, (near Ueno and comfortably close if you are staying around the Akihabara / Ueno parts of Tokyo), but it is in the rural areas that A Guide to Japanese Hot Springs really bubbles.

Like the last two off the main-stream guide books featured (Tokyo for Free and Kanto Pilgrimages (day walks around Tokyo)) this book is highly recommended if you are looking for something special during your time in Japan.

# Title: A Guide to Japanese Hot Springs
# Authors: Anne Hotta with Yoko Ishigura
# Paperback: 284 pages
# Publisher: Kodansha America; 1st ed edition (April 1986)
# Language: English
# ISBN-10: 0870117203
# ISBN-13: 978-0870117206

If you would like a copy, you can pick up a copy from Amazon by clicking here: A Guide to Japanese Hot Springs.

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Tokyo has an image of being one of the most expensive cities in the world, a city where spending ten thousand dollars on an evening entertaining clients, where everyone sports their Louis Vuitton status symbols as if they are truly unique. But of course being a city of 24 million people things are a little more diverse than that reputation would have you believe.

Of course such frivolous nights are possible, even though they are less common than they were during the effervescent bubble of 20 years ago and the yen, being as weak as an American democrat, makes Tokyo an even more affordable place to visit than one might imagine. Even more affordable though, if you are struggling on an unpaid Nova teachers salary, are the free activities and attractions on offer in present day Tokyo.

Tokyo for Free, written by Susan Pompian is a great resource if you are looking for free adventures in Tokyo, or just something interesting to do on the weekend.

With over 300 free attractions there is something for everyone in this book – from watching Japan’s famed sumo wrestlers practicing, through to visiting the home of the Imperial Family in Tokyo, as well as a range of the truly bizarre such as the worlds only Parasitological Museum in Meguro. Whilst being a few years old now – published in 1998 – most of the attractions mentioned are still open and still free.

Tokyo for Free has sections on Parks, Museums, Martial Arts and Sports, Gardens and Festivals, Libraries and Galleries, the Performing Arts and museum-like Antique stores, Super showrooms, free views and temples and shrines. So there is a huge range of things to do for just about anyone.

We have been to a few of the places mentioned in the book, including the wonderful view from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government buildings in Shinjuku, the aforementioned Parasite Museum as well the Fire Museum in Yotsuya and the Bank of Japan’s Currency Museum in Nihonbashi.

One negative for this book is a lack of a geographically based index – which would make finding nearby places much easier. But like the Exploring Kanto book I reviewed earlier, Tokyo for Free is a wonderfully useful resource to liven up ones life in the land of the rising sun.

# Title: Tokyo for Free
# Author: Susan Pompian
# Paperback: 464 pages
# Publisher: Kodansha International (March 23, 1998)
# Language: English
# ISBN-10: 4770020538
# ISBN-13: 978-4770020536

You can pick up a copy from amazon.com: Tokyo for Free.

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Tokyo is a magnificent beast of a city, a circuit board of buildings stretching far across the Kanto Plain, rolling on into the surrounding provinces of Chiba, Saitama and Kanagawa. Home to 24 million souls by day and 12 million at night. Tokyo is one of the megalopolii. A concrete jungle where space is the ultimate luxury.

It is easy to forget, when one lives in Tokyo, that there is more to Japan than just office buildings, subway lines and harried office workers. To forget that out beyond the confines of the city there are mountains and rivers, farms and rice fields, open spaces and yes, even nature.

Michael Plastrow’s excellent Exploring Kanto: Weekend Pilgrimages from Tokyo is a guide book for day walks one can do from Tokyo. Covering 33 routes it offers a plethora of options for those looking to get out of Tokyo for the day.

These 33 walks follow the order of, and cover the 33 temples of the Bando ‘Sanjusansho’ Pilgrimage. As Plastrow writes in the introduction:
The Bando circuit is dedicated to Kannon, (Avalokitesvera in Sanskrit), a merciful bodhisattva who is supposed to have thirty-three separate manifestations (hence the number of temples on the circuit).

The book covers 9 walks in Yokohama’s Kanagawa Prefecture, 1 in Tokyo, 4 in Saitama, 2 in Gunma Prefecture, 3 in Tochigi Prefecture, 6 in Ibaraki Prefecture and 7 in Chiba Prefecture. We have been on a couple of the walks in the book and found it to be a useful guide – not just to the temples themselves, but also to local sites of interest that one passes on the way.

Published in 1996, it is a little dated in parts but overall the temples and walks described in the guide book are all still there making this book still as useful as when it was first published. Bus and train times may well have changed in the interim however there is enough in this book to make it a valuable addition to ones bookshelf during ones stay in Tokyo.

Highly recommended as a source of inspiration for what to do whilst living in Tokyo.

# Title: Exploring Kanto: Weekend Pilgrimages from Tokyo
# Author: Michael Plastow
# Paperback: 256 pages
# Publisher: Weatherhill; 1st ed edition (June 1996)
# Language: English
# ISBN-10: 0834803321
# ISBN-13: 978-0834803329

This book is reasonably hard to find, you might get lucky with one of the second hand bookstores in Tokyo – such as Good Day Books in Ebisu, or you should be able to pick up a copy from Amazon.com: Exploring Kanto.

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In Tokyo last week, exploring the Sony Building in Ginza, and we chuffingly stumbled across a copy of Wining and Dining in Tokyo.

Published by the people who put out J-Select, Wining and Dining in Tokyo: The No. 1 Guide to Tokyo’s Finest Eating and Entertainment Spots is a really useful book targeted at Tokyo’s expatriate population. Featuring 100 restaurants listed by location, this is an easy-to-use guide to the best and brightest of Tokyo cuisine. Wining and Dining in Tokyo includes a wide range of types of restaurants from Mediterranean and Egyptian, Mexican and Nepalese through to more standard Japanese fare such as sushi and shabu-shabu.

Wining and Dining in Tokyo is available from most major bookstores in Tokyo for 980 yen. They also have a search engine where you can search for restaurants in Tokyo by location, type and budget.

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Yesterday was Marine Day, a public holiday in Japan to celebrate the ocean and it was also Chooch’s birthday. We were planning to head up to the north of Ibaraki, famous for paper like tofu (yuba) and some spectacular scenery. That was curtailed when news of Man-yu – Japan’s fourth typhoon of the year – broke. That typhoon killed 3 as it rolled its wild way north. It passed out to sea at the Chiba Peninsula so apart from some reasonably heavy rain it didn’t really effect us. I have been here 8 years or so and haven’t experienced a typhoon yet. Fingers crossed.

So instead of heading north into the mountains, we decided to head down to Tokyo to celebrate. JR has a great deal where one can get a return ticket from Tsukuba for 2000 yen that includes a pass on the JR lines in Tokyo and we took advantage of that. Tickets are on sale at the bus station at Tsukuba Center and are well worth it.

Once we got into Tokyo our first stop was Meguro where we headed off in search of the worlds only parasite museum. It is quite a small museum, with a fairly gross collection, but it is free and well worth checking out. In Japanese it is called Kiseichuu Hakubutsukan, and if you go to the police box outside Meguro Station and ask the cops in there “Kiseichuu Hakubutsukan wa doko desuka?” they will give you printed instruction on how to get there. Highlights of the museum, if one can call them that, include an 8.8 metre long tapeworm and a picture of what must be the largest penis in the world. There is a blogpost here with more details.

After that we had lunch and met up with SoulSmithing‘s Pierre who was up from Wakayama on katana business for a couple of days. We haven’t seen him since we arrived back in Japan last year, so it was nice to catch up. We went to the Tokyo Metropolitan Offices in Shibuya. One can ride up in an elevator to an observation area on the 46th floor. Again this is free, and the view from there is quite amazing. Although it was cloudy yesterday we could see the base of Mt. Fuji. Compared with other towers one can visit in Tokyo, such as Tokyo Tower and Roppongi Hills, the view is much more circuit board like – the other two reveal a fair amount more greenspace.

Then we headed to Shinagawa where Pierre’s partner was to take the bullet train back to Osaka. While on the train we noticed that the on board notice board was flashing bulletins showing that a number of train lines had stopped service due to an earthquake. Being on the train we didn’t notice any shaking, and it wasn’t till we got back home last night and watched the news that we heard about the earthquake in Niigata. We spent a few hours in the Virgin Cafe in Shinagawa. It is located across the elevated walkway to the left of the Shinagawa Station Konan Exit. I was quite surprised when I walked in as it reeked of cigarette smoke.

All in all a pretty fine day for us, although our thoughts are with those who have been affected by the earthquake.

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If you are travelling to Xinjiang or China, heading out on the Silk Road, then you will want to take with you a reliable and informative guide book. One book that we at oursilkroad.com heartily recommend is Fodor’s China. Written in part by Michael from Opposite End of China blog fame, Fodor’s China is the most uptodate and on the ball guide book for the Chinese region on the market. Michael certainly knows which end of the camel is for what!

From the publishers description:

Experience the Olympic buzz around Beijing, take a slow boat through the spectacular Three Gorges, or soak up the surreal landscape of Everest Base Camp: it’s no wonder that China’s tourism market is a booming $70 billion industry and growing as the Olympics near. With more maps, a language guide, and in-depth illustrated features on local food, culture, and customs, our savvy coverage will enable travelers to unravel the mysteries of China.

• Brand new regional planning pages provide an overview of the best travel destinations and address the logistics of a visit
• Chinese character translations of every recommended restaurant, hotel and nightclub in the country
• Expanded restaurant and hotel coverage on all of the most visited regions
• Completely updated dining and lodging reviews
• Personal recommedations on the most reliable tour guides in the country, where to find them, and how to book them
• Handy mini-essays, maps and images that highlight China’s cultural diversity and historic importance.

You can pick up a copy from amazon or any good bookstore. Remember though that in the Peoples Republic of China, restaurants especially can be there one day and gone the next.

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Just read an interesting article translated from the Chinese – Former Chinese Restaurant Employee Tells All – from The Epoch Times. It gives an amazing insight into what really goes on in Chinese restaurants in China, and if true is almost as disturbing as the stories of baby soup being served in Xi’an restaurants a while back.

There is a saying about travelling to China – the Chinese will eat anything with legs except for tables and anything with wings except for airplanes – and this story… well, lets just say read the article and find out for yourself.

It makes me glad I am a vegetarian:

I remember the host on a program about animal rights saying, “Please take care of our animals. It will be good for everyone.” However, some Chinese don’t think about the animals when eating meat. They dare to eat anything but aren’t aware that what they are eating may actually be harmful to them.

Ah Chang, who has worked in the restaurant industry for many years in China, has witnessed the use of all kinds of tricks used to fool the public into buying inferior meat. The following is his experience as a kitchen helper in a restaurant in Guangdong Province.

Five years ago, I left Guangxi Province for the modernized Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province. With the help of a friend from my hometown, I was interviewed by restaurant owner Peng Da, and eventually hired as a kitchen helper. When the boss introduced me to the “Big Guy” – a popular name for a chef, I was shocked to see that the “Big Guy” was a female. Everyone called her Sister Rong. Sister Rong was in her 30s and was quite attractive. She told me that my responsibilities included killing animals, cutting and chopping various meats and bones, and preparing the meat before it was cooked.

On my second day at the restaurant, Rong pulled me over and said, “Ah Chang, since you are new to this field I will teach you a lesson: How to “use” the weigh scale. Our scale is accurate, but the displayed weights are not. Four hundred grams will show as 500 grams. This is not trickery but rather a common practice in this profession. All restaurants are doing this.”

Under Rong’s guidance, I quickly learned to use the scale. According to Wu Tian, when there were customers watching us, we should be careful not to let them see us exchanging bigger pieces of meat with smaller ones; or after killing a fish, cutting a section from it. Generally speaking, it was an open secret in this profession. Only when serving our friends would we not cheat, as our conscience’s wouldn’t allow it.

The Peng Da Restaurant was flourishing during the time I worked there. Every morning I had to kill many cats, sometimes five or six, and sometimes as many as ten. However, I didn’t see the cat meat sold in the restaurant. What happened to the meat? After thinking about it for a long time, I still couldn’t figure it out. Later, I paid more attention and found that some of the cat meat was stewed with medicinal herbs, and sold as stewed leopard meat with medicinal herbs for 198 yuan (approximately US$24.25) per dish. When Rong saw that I was confused, she said, “Leopard meat stewed with medicinal herbs is the signature soup of our restaurant. Cats are very common, so only by advertising the meat as being from a wild animal would it be attractive to diners. After removing the heads and claws and soaking the cat bodies in the herbs, even the smartest diner can’t discern that what they are eating is cat meat. Cat meat cost us 20 yuan (approximately US$2.50) for each carcass, but leopard meat cost 138 yuan (approximately US$17.25) per kilogram.”

You can read the rest of the article here.

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There is a nice story in my local NZ newspaper The Press about how the Japanese are the world’s best tourists.

Apparently, according to a survey carried out by travel search website Expedia, Japanese tourists stand out for being polite and tidy. From my experience this is quite true – both for tour groups and for backpackers. Japan didn’t rate very highly in terms of spending – again not very surprising – with Americans and Russians spending more. I was quite surprised to see Russians in second there. Glasnost has obviously had some positive results for at least a small segment of Russian society.

We have always found that if you find out where the Japanese backpackers stay in a place you will have found the cheapest accommodation available. This was especially true in Turkey where most of the Japanese backpackers had arrived via really cheap countries such as Iran (making prices in Istanbul seem steep) whilst their Western European counterparts had all come bearing the powerful Euro – making Istanbul seem very cheap.

I did hear one story of a Japanese guy, straight out of university who spent six months in India. During the entire duration of his stay he never ventured more than a block from the hotel – only going out to buy food from the local vendors and to replenish his ‘charas’ supply.

Now that would be a great guest:)

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