It’s always funny when you go traveling with friends – because they see sides of you that aren’t apparent in everyday situations. That’s never more brutally exposed when you wake up first thing with them, hair everywhere, looking like a zombie and (if you’re like me and a non-morning person) communicating via a series of hand signals and the occasional mumble. You’re blind as a bat when the curtains are pulled back, irritably shaken from the sweet respite of sleep with the jarring of 3 iPhone alarms simultaneously screaming for attention and THEN you have to be civil and vaguely human. Not an easy task I think you’ll agree.
But after 6 hours sleep, that was the scenario as Dan, Jesse & myself ambled around our apartment in a daze, foraging for warm clothes, camera chargers and maps, before diplomatically deciding who needed to use the bathroom more badly. It’s a scenario that was essentially repeated every morning on the trip and every morning it was as awkward as it was amusing.
This was the first ‘real’ day with the three of together and it was shaping up to be a big one. We’d done some research before leaving and found that a suburb called Iga Uneo was home to the origins of the traditional Japanese ninja. The area a housed a ninja museum, castle and booby-trapped house – every 2 hours they even had a real ninja fight taking place.
The 3 of us at some point in all our childhoods regularly fantasized about being a ninja (I know I did, but I also put that down to playing WAY too much of this, so you can imagine how excited we all were to be living the dream so to speak.
What we didn’t realize and what quickly became apparent as we were on the train was that it was literally located in regional Japan. Outside the train window, the skyline of Osaka with all its buildings and logos began to fade into the surrounding suburbs – it was a strange overcast day at the time; everything was awash in a muted grey, fading out any signs of life on a Monday morning.
Our train (and when I say train, I literally mean carriage) continued onwards and soon even the rooftops of Japanese suburbia had melted away into the background, replaced with open flat fields, rusty brown hedges and barren trees preparing for spring. We were seeing a part of Japan, well off the beaten track at this point – as the train chugged along, climbing the occasional hill and stuttering past the surrounding mountains.
After what seemed like an eternity, we finally arrived at Iga Uneo station, a stop that was just as barren as the surrounding area. And just when we starting to wonder what we’d let ourselves in for, we spotted it – a map of the area, brightly colored with pictures of ninjas and attractions, it shone like a dagger of hope in the bleak landscape.
Unusually enough, there was a single cab waiting – after we’d spent the best part of 2 minutes finger pointing to a picture of a ninja on a map, he decided he knew where to take us.
In broken English he asked us where we were from. “Australia” we all replied with mild relief that we’d found some humanity in such a remote region. His response was immediate; in fact he was so excited at that point he let go of the steering wheel to declare “Ahhhh! Kangaroo! Yes! Kangaroo! You fight! Box box yes?” before running through a series of boxing punches that would have made Mike Tyson nervous.
It was a great moment on the trip and certainly one that was to be repeated – our interactions with the Japanese always turned out to be humorous, good-natured and welcoming. And more importantly he didn’t crash the car so that was nice.
We arrived at the “Home of The Ninja” first, a classic Japanese styled house complete with sliding doors, wooden beams and opaque blinds. Our tour guide was a young girl who only spoken Japanese, but as we walked around the house she revealed countless hidden passages, doors which flipped 360 degrees, weapons hidden under floorboards, escape routes, secret spy areas, cellar doors and dark hiding places in the ceiling.
We even tried a few out ourselves, but none of us were as fast as her! It was a fantastic experience, because literally the entire house had two elements to it – walls were doors, beams were ladders, floorboards were trapdoors, we all walked away wishing our houses back home in Sydney were as entertaining.
Next we browsed the ninja museum, a small place of maybe 3-4 rooms – but containing ancient weapons, shrunken, grappling hooks, garments, even explosives and guns! There was even a hilarious dramatic “reinterpretation” of a day in the life of a ninja on TV which Jesse was transfixed by – actors leaping around in costumes at night, set to an epic soundtrack with close-ups of people squinting in the half moonlight.
But that didn’t really compare to what we were all basically there to see, which was the ninja fight in the battle arena. So we made our way to the theatre only to be confronted with a picture of a ninja dog high fiving his ninja master complete with the phrase “Ninja Show Is Rest Today”
It was all very underwhelming, because we’d been talking about it all morning – but what can you do? At the time, 12.30pm on a Monday during spring there were 5 of us there, so they probably didn’t think it was even worth putting on the show for such a limited audience, understandable but still more than a little disappointing.
Next stop of the day, was a short walk over to a ninja temple, as unique as it looked, it was also locked – which was shame, so we took a few token photos and scratched our heads about what to do next.
And then we saw it. “Ninja Castle This Way –>”
The first sighting of made me truly start to feel like I was in Japan. A 3 story white castle looming large over the area, complete with the classic Japanese curved roof and finished off with orate & intricate features.
Again there were very few people around and even less inside the castle itself. The three levels inside were by and large unspectacular, complete with token pieces of Japanese pottery, a few paintings and some maps. Although there were a few admittedly imposing Samurai outfits whilst the view of the area the top was impressive.
The foundations of the castle offered even wider views of the local landscape whilst below lay a huge rich emerald green lake. All in all, quite a startling little area.
Jesse thought it would be amusing to attempt to get a photo climbing the foundations of the castle itself, a gesture he later admitted to being “That was kinda disrespectful wasn’t it?” but as eye-brow raising as his actions were to the locals, did it make for a funny, if ill-advised photo. Spiderman goes to Japan as it were.
On our way out of Iga Uneo, we made a flying stop to another ninja museum – but this one contained life size characters of Samurai Warriors, along with some demonic looking soldiers complete in their full battle regalia. They made for some spooky photos that’s for sure, if you saw an army of these characters marching towards you – as the enemy you’d probably be legitimately terrified at times.
After we’d made our way back to humanity, we took the train to Nara district – a vastly more urban area but still with a touch of the past mixed in. Amusingly enough their mascot is a Buddha with antlers, a little unusual certainly but during the course of our evening, all would become abundantly clear….
We were there to see the Shuni-e – or for us Westerners, the Buddhist Fire Ceremony which only happens once a year. Literally thousands of people crowd around the foot of the Todaiji Temple whilst above on the top level, the Buddhist monks set fire to huge mounds of leaves and twigs, gently waving them around on rods – the embers which fall on and drift over the audience are meant to bring them good luck over the coming year, whilst paying respect to nature and the elements.
Just from looking through all the information on the ceremony itself, visually it seemed to be a jaw-dropping spectacle but in truth its not until you are there, taking place in front of you that one can appreciate its beauty and tangible sense of spirituality.
To get there, we first had traverse the back streets and park lands of Nara itself and for me, it was just one of the many highlights of the day. We stumbled upon a 4 story temple, towering over all the surrounding park and woodlands – really was a sight to behold. It was fast becoming dusk and everything slowly began to take on a very gentle amber hue, once again there were very few people around – the whole experience was one of calm introspection and quiet reflection.
As we made our way to the Todaiji Temple, the atmosphere changed dramatically, by now it was nightfall and the cobbled stone streets were filled with people all making their way to the ceremony. There was a tangible buzz in the air, families with little children excitement etched on their faces – I think to them, this was the equivalent of say Guy Fawkes night in the UK, that same level of wonder about seeing something spectacular and unique.
And then suddenly, as we were about 5 mins away from the temple itself, this particular person appeared.
And that’s when I put 2 &2 together, regarding the mascot of the Nara region. The historical area itself filled with temples, parklands and open spaces is rife with deer! This one just wanted to introduce himself and see if we had anything yummy to eat.
It was a truly funny moment, because the last thing you expect to see are deer’s casually walking along the back streets of Japan. Many of the locals simply walked past them having seen them countless times before, but of course there were a few kids who were going bananas at the sight of this furry little person – we were too.
Finally we made it to the temple, with a few minutes to be able to take up a fairly decent position. Before the ceremony commenced the Buddist Priest read what I assume to be a prayer over the PA system and then ever so slightly you could slowly start to make out a few flickers of flame being carried up the staircase.
One by one these huge flaming balls of fire where held out on sticks from the balcony, with the audience staring up at them from below. Everyone remained silent (save for a few Ohhhh and Ahhhs), as the crackling flames lit up the surrounding area, the biting cold crisp air of 2c warmed slightly by the sheer intensity of the fire.
It was an experience to take the breath away, fire is hypnotizing at the best of times – but when it was on full display, blazing away in such a unique setting, it was a sight to behold. There was a tangible sense of wonder in the air, not only because the flames were so big but also because at one point it looked like the entire temple had been consumed in an inferno. All around, thousands of faces were lit up from the glow of the flames, eyes and mouths wide open.
As the embers rained down onto the crowd, it reminded me that despite the tragic earthquake, devastating Tsunami, worrying radiation leak and even the troublesome volcano erupting, the Japanese were trying to continue their normal lives, by paying their respects to forces outside their own comprehension – a concept that certainly wasn’t lost on the three of us watching from the sidelines.
Afterwards we headed back into Osaka for dinner and after prowling the streets in the cold for the best part of 40 minutes, I decided that we should follow two girls who disappeared down a stairwell into the ground below the street. The logic was, follow the locals 
It proved to be an excellent choice, because it was by far the best meal of the entire tour. A cool, yellow dimly lit bar with lots of mid 20-somethings huddled around tables giggling away, there was even a birthday party going on in a private room behind us. With lots of laughter happening and genuine relief at getting out of the cold, we quickly ordered a wealth of dishes, beef, chicken, gyoza & vegetables and 3 large beers for each of us. We honestly ate like kings at times.
It came to a staggeringly cheap 6,000Y (which is about $65AU) back home in Australia; we would easily have paid that each. I can’t quite remember the conversations we were having, but they were easily some of the most amusing on the trip – this photo is testament to that.
And with that, a quick stop to Family Mart again for supply’s (ok ok, Asahi and Sapporo) we headed back to our hotel. It had been a whirlwind of a day complete with ninjas, castles, lakes, flames, chanting, temples and of course all those deer!
The Japan experience was well and truly in effect.
p.s. View photos from the W.T.F. Japan Tour
