If you are just visiting Japan for a limited amount of time, Kawasaki should probably not make your shortlist of places to see in Tokyo/Japan, but if you are living in Japan, there are two reasons why you might wanna check out Kawasaki: Kawasaki Daishi and something that is probably not safe for work, Kanamara Matsuri (The Steel Phallus Festival 金まら祭り).

Occurring once a year in April, Kanamara Matsuri, commonly referred to by foreigners as “The Penis Festival,” is the other reason why you might be persuaded to head over to Kawasaki. Like I mentioned already and you can probably guess by the name, this isn’t exactly something you should be searching the internet for at work! In any case, I have a detailed report of Kanamara Matsuri if you are interested in it (not x-rated and no real nudity, just a lot of phallic stuff and some implied gestures).

For more information about Kawasaki, take a look at the Official Kawasaki City site for more information.

I made a very simple map for you. Basically, from Ikebukuro station, go out the exit OPPOSITE side of Sunshine City (Sunshine 60) and look for Maru Ichi Maru Ichi (circle one circle one, sometimes called Marui or Oi Oi). It is very close to there on the second floor. It is somewhat famous so if you ask somebody in the area where is Nakamoto, they can probably get you close.

Another warning, if you go at peak times you might have to wait a while to get a seat…

My friend suffering from eating two bowls in two days of Nakamoto’s spicy ramen.

Not really actually, I just wanted to use this photo of him assimilating to Japanese culture.

Here is another photo and some information about Nakamoto Ramen at World Ramen and another account of just how spicy it is.

Currently, more than 2,466,000 divinities are enshrined here at Yasukuni Shrine. These are souls of men who made ultimate sacrifice for their nation since 1853 during national crises such as the Boshin War, the Seinan War, the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese wars, World War I, the Manchurian Incident, the China Incident and the Greater East Asian War (World War II). These people, regardless of their rank or social standing, are considered to be completely equal and worshiped as venerable divinities of Yasukuni.

So again, why all this controversy?
What the website fails to mention is that also enshrined are over 1000 convicted war criminals, including more than 10 “Class A” criminals (whatever that means). I really don’t wanna get into it, so, if you are interested in reading more about that, both BBC and CNN have articles on the subject.

Read more about fall in Japan and check out some of my favorite places to see the autumn foliage after the jump.

Along with cherry blossom season, fall is a great time to visit Japan. In any country, fall leaves are beautiful and make for great photos and this holds especially true with Japan. Japan’s most famous fall leaf is the Japanese Maple Tree which turns brillant red in the fall. These red leaves are reffered to as “koyo” or “kouyou” (紅葉) in Japanese. The photo on the left was taken at The Itchiku Kubota Kimono Museum and the one on the right on the grounds of the Golden Pavilion.

There are many sites in Japanese that give more detailed information, I cannot read Japanese very well, but even so, there are some sites that are very helpful. For example rurubu.com has a map of Japan and a small color picture of a maple leaf to represent the current status of the leaves in the area. If you want to find a different site, simply go do a google search for “紅葉” followed by the year (紅葉 2006) and you will get more sites in Japanese. The photo below was taken at Kinkakuji in Kyoto.

The bulleted list below are places I have been to and personally recommend for the fall season.

• • Arashiyama
  • Fuji Five Lakes
  • Kyoto
  • Naruko (Tohoku)
  • Nikko
  • Tokyo