Old Capitals

Last post about Japan for a while; here in Hong Kong I have been caught up with work and all the hustle and bustle of the city. Moving on to a new country, and new era for me! But for now, the old capital Kyoto and even older capital, Nara. My last days of Japan, including the aforeposted setsubun were rather different than any other trips I’ve had.

Geishas do exist, and they are constantly hunted by paparazzi and photographers alike

I lived in Gion area, right in the middle of the historical Geisha spirit (and tourists). I did not visit the Golden or Silver temple, since I was busy with the setsubun parties and other places.

Fushimi Inari torii, bright red despite the rain

Holy water, kamisama no mizu

Temple, the name started with H

Other than the beautiful religious spots, I enjoyed the other visual treats of the Japanese harmony.

Japanese traquility

Nara, the town of Daibutsuen buddha statue and the deer that eat crackers from your hand and may poop on your feet, was not bad, either.

Oh deer!

The deer were aplenty during daylight, but after that they all oddly vanished.

Enjoying the light festival

Holy deer water

From the peace and tranquil to the metropole and smog of Hong Kong – it’s a completely different world in here!

Setsubun

Setsubun is a traditional Japanese festival for the change of seasons, celebrated on the 3rd of February, one day before Springtime. Like any other decent celebration in Japan, setsubun includes customs, traditions, special foods and rituals to bring good fortune, health and a better future. The rituals are then mixed to suit everyone’s taste. I did a whole bunch of traditions on my last whole day in Japan, plus an extra something: walking on burning coal!

Setsubun includes mamemaki, throwing soybeans in order to ward off evil spirits. Beans are sold in stores as well as festival stalls. Some shrines have mamemaki events, where priests throw beans to people while yelling “Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!” (demons out, luck in!). I participated in mamemaki in Nara, where I visited on setsubun. Sake was served, and the spirit for good fortune was all around.


Amulets and charms are burnt in bonfires to bring luck. I got to participate in the big bonfire burning in Yoshida shrine, Kyoto. Unfortunately I have no pictures of that; Let’s just say it was about 10 times the size of Finnish midsummer fires. The festival stalls in Yoshida shrine were definitely great to experience before leaving Japan.

It is customary in Kansai area to eat uncut makizushi called eho-maki (恵方巻) (lit. “lucky direction roll”) in silence on Setsubun while facing the year’s lucky compass direction (this year South-East), determined by the zodiac symbol of that year. My eho maki was sitting in a shrine, overlooking Nara.

with all these evil-repelling activities (and at least a kilo of beans I ate), my Hong Kong time ought to be lucky!

Bye bye Beppu!

Last night party with friends in Izakaya, followed by hours in karaoke, too little sleep and room clean up in the morning.

Tears and goodbyes in AP house, panicking and running around like a headless chicken.

Best last meal with great friends: 100y sushi, once more!

Tears and goodbyes in the ferry terminal.

Feeling like in a Tallinn cruise, though not quite.

6.30 next morning: Osaka. 9.15: Kyoto. Now, 23:21 in a hostel bed, with ridiculously soft mattress and pillow. Two Chinese “ladies” don’t care that there’s also a common room for gossiping.

The future is near

My time in APU is getting close to its’ end. Today was the final report submission deadline (no more school for my bachelor’s degree!), and my check-out is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. After cleaning my room, I will be spending the night on a ferry to Osaka, and from there I will hopefully find my way to Kyoto. This short trip of mine will end on Monday night, when I finally move on to my next destination, Hong Kong.

Small version of my next home

I have been waiting to go to Hong Kong since coming back from Tokyo – I have had quite enough with this Beppu experience already. The mountain doesn’t quite suit me the way a city does (evidence of this: each time I go downtown, I come back with enormous headache that ruins the rest of the day).

Bye bye campus

For the next 5 months, I will continue what I already started here: my practical training in Four Sigma Foods . Not bad at all! I highly recommend to check out their video about Hong Kong and other locations; they’re rather inspiring, to say the least. So, I will continue this blog with topics probably more related to health and overall well-being, since I believe I will be getting into more holistic and healthy environment than here. I believe my time in Hong Kong will be at least as unforgettable as my time here in APU – at least it will be completely different. I can’t wait! But before leaving, it’s time to go to izakaya and karaoke one last time, and see the ancient capital of Nippon. But Hong Kong, here I come!

Bye bye AP house

Land of the Lakes in the Land of the Rising Sun

What a poetic title to a post mostly dedicated to consuming.
There’s more Finnish things than just the Moomin cafes in Japan, although most of the Finnish items you can find are related to Moomin. During my travels outside Beppu, I have found Marimekko stores as well as shops selling Iittala dishes. In Tokyo, there are also several shops with Finnish names. The shops may have nothing to do with Finland, but apparently the words sound nice to the Japanese.

Cucumber restaurant

Thank you shop

I’ve also seen “I, butterfly” and “Maybe Cute” as well as “Kitchen” shops.

Some want to take the Finnish back home!

Sweet and savory Finnish containers

Our national pride, Iittala, on sale

The Japanese travel to Finland to see the Aurora (Northern lights), which I have’t seen since the 90’s. Maybe also the nature attracts them. Food – not so much.

This is what Finland looks like

To balance things out, Ikea is not the only Swedish thing in Japan.

I thought Lapland is in Finland