Japan

I just got back from Japan. It is quite an intriguing country, full of friendly people and beautiful history. I had a few problems eating though; all menus are exclusively written in Japanese. Thankfully through drawing pictures and the general fun-loving nature of the Japanese, I could communicate what I was hungry for. I took the Shinkansen bullet train on my journey. It is nothing short of an airplane on rails. Little villages raced by the window like they were frames of an old filmstrip, and other trains were merely a blur as they whooshed past. The old castles or (Jo) were also magnificent. They are a testament to the simplicity and quiet stateliness that was feudal Japan. Also noteworthy is the strange juxtaposition between the Jo and the ultra-modern eyesores that are the modern Japanese city. In Kitakyushu, there is a nouveau Art-Deco monstrosity across the street from the keep of the old city's Jo. The effect is off-putting, but yet symbolic of the encroachments of the new world upon the old. Gehry himself would probably be upset by the uneasiness that the space creates. Unavoidable I suppose, in a country pining for elbow room.