Whereby the geishas (“person of the arts”) call themselves geiko (“woman of the arts”) in Kyōto. A geisha is a respected entertainer and must master conversations, Japanese traditional arts, playing musical instruments, and be a good singer, dancer and hostess. The distinction to prostitution, as sometimes portrayed, is very sharp. An erotic appearance is prohibited. The training begins since 1952 at the age of 16, lasts about 5 years and is very expensive. The costs are covered by an Okiya ( tea house owner ) and then paid back with the work. After repayment many geishas become independent and at the same time successful entrepreneurs. A geisha in training is called hangyoku (“half jewel”) or oshaku in Tokyo and maiko (“dancing girl”) in Kyōto. You can tell the level of education by the clothes and accessories. Put simply, the simpler and more discreet the make-up and clothing, the older the maiko or geisha. The white make-up base is worn permanently by the maikos and by the older geishas it is only usually worn during performances or special occasions. Now I have written so much about the geishas, but have not seen any in Kyōto. At most a few Maikos, but they could have been tourists in costumes…

First I looked at the Atsuta-jingū. In this shrine is the main enshrined kami (“god”) Atsuta-no-ō-mi-kami, another name for Amaterasu-ō-mi-kami, who is worshipped as the sun goddess and founder of the Japanese imperial house, is worshipped. I just say that I liked this shrine very much, a beautiful one.

Next I wanted to have a look at the castle, but it was closed due to renovation work. The main tower’s new construction is now being changed inside from the concrete construction to the original wooden construction. So only the garden and the Hommaru palace were looked at. The Hommaru Palace was built after the unification together with the castle and served as a provincial residence and government office. It was a national treasure and appreciated as a masterpiece of architecture. Everything was destroyed during the Second World War and has been restored bit by bit since 2009. Really very beautiful architecture.

I was also in the Osu shopping streets and at the Osu Kannon temple. (And I found another small shrine, as there are many of them all over Japan at every spot in every size.)

Before I returned home at noon, I had a look at the aquarium in the harbour on Sunday morning. It was nice, but I felt sorry for the animals with their limited space. I myself saw a marine animal in a tank for the last time in Germany a long time ago (I don’t think I’ve ever been in a pure aquarium before), but I think these tanks were all bigger…. (and I thought they were small already). With hesitation, because I’m not sure if I remember it correctly.

Unfortunately I was not able to take so many pictures. I didn’t have time and it was impossible to go anywhere independently from the university (a colleague who lives there drove us around a bit). The university area is so huge that own buses drive in it and the students/employees are on the way with their own car. It is also located in and on a jungle or palm oil plantation. Birds and monkeys included.

After we had landed in Singapore, we crossed the border by taxi, but we stood in a traffic jam for more than 2 hours, I had the feeling that half the city would work in Singapore and now return…. According to the taxi driver this is normal, you get up early around 3.00 or 4.00 o’clock in the morning to be at work maybe around 9.00 or 10.00 o’clock. And in the evening there is a traffic jam again from about 16.30 to 22.00…..

Unfortunately I can’t write much and show even less, but the Malaysian food is delicious. Unfortunately it is very hot (ok for me, if not pure) or very, very sweet; no, damn sweet. Or first sweet and then hot in the finish. I thought Turkish tea is already sweet, but here…. No question, very tasty, but constantly the question whether my mouth burns now (most others could not eat it) or dangerous weight gain did not please me so much. The Malaysian people I had to deal with were all very nice and friendly. Generally much more open-minded and open-minded than we “stiff” Germans;) Even though I was really surprised when a strange woman from my group (More Malaysians than foreigners) took a picture in the restaurant. At first I assumed it was for the restaurant itself, but no, she had asked the service staff. I was told that was normal. I like to be lectured if a reader should know more about it. (?)

I also have to report briefly about the use of toilets: there is the western style and the squat style, but no toilet paper. Instead a water hose. How this works and what it looked like at university, where normal students use it, I leave you to your imagination, dear reader. As an all-clear, in the dormitory, other university toilets, restaurants or shopping centres it was clearly better and there was also sometimes toilet paper. Oh yes, there are many shops from Japan here and with more choice and cheaper prices. Generally very cheap and for people from Germany with middle income probably a shopping paradise;) Many Japanese and Korean restaurants also were here.

In Singapore we only had a little time before we took off again. So we drove one hour to the Chinese garden, only to find out that it will be renovated until March 2020…. We should have gone to Marina Bay, this would have been also closer.

Here are some pictures of Malaysia.

Here pictures about Singapore and the border crossing.

I had booked my stay through a Japanese travel agency, the choice of holiday trips with more than 5 days was rather small. With luck 6 or 7 days left. I flew via Shizuoka Airport, the smallest airport I have ever seen. Also with a delay of 3 hours, because the plane was broken and a new plane had to be flown in. Actually I had booked a cheap trip, but somehow my randomly chosen hotel ended up being a 4-star hotel;) It was nice to even be a premium guest. But I don’t know how this happened^^ Apart from the location in an industrial area and the really bad WLAN, it was perfect, even the beach right in front of the door. As this hotel was located in the south and due to the short stay, I could only have a look at the south of Okinawa. Central and North Okinawa Hontō, let alone other islands were unfortunately not possible for me and I would like to come again. Besides, my third day was just relaxing and being lazy at the beach or the pool. The beach section was a commercial area with a designated swimming area, which unfortunately had been completely cleaned for safety reasons. The list of poisonous sea animals and how first aid should be done after contact was very long. But I also did a boat trip with a glass boat to see the marine life. I didn’t take many pictures of this myself, but the sea was breathtaking.

On the first day I mainly visited Shurijo Castle. Also a famous shopping street, but in the end it was only Omiyage (presents, souvenirs) shops after shops. Sometimes the same, sometimes the same content. So I didn’t take any photos of it either. Back to the castle. A short introduction into the history of the Ryūkyū kingdom. It’s important to know that many Chinese came and lived on the island and many inhabitants are descended from them. In addition, China’s empires supported development. Originally there were three principalities on the main island, with the central one eventually unifying the kingdom and being recognized by China as the ruler. It was also tributary to China. After the unification the sea trade was intensified again, especially between Japan and China, and the kingdom flourished for about 2 centuries. However, the kingdom was conquered in 1609 A.D. by the Satsuma clan in southern Japan with the permission of the Shogunate. Thus the empire was not only tributary to the Chinese Ming Dynasty and later to the Qing Dynasty, but also to Japan. Some areas went to the Satsuma. Japan granted an apparent autonomy to the kingdom to avoid a reason for China to invade and to protect trade interests. A ” Japanisation ” was at times even totally forbidden. In 1872, Ryūkyū was converted into a province, but for diplomatic reasons still retained its feigned autonomy by being turned into a Han (feudal fief), while all Han in Japan were abolished and converted into prefectures with central administration. In 1879, Ryūkyū finally became a prefecture of Japan and the last king, although appointed as a margrave, was forced to move to Tokyo, so that the main branch of the royal family now lives in Honshū (Japan’s largest main island). The rest fled to China. Due to the many relations with China, the whole architecture is also influenced. The castle was completely destroyed in the Battle of Okinawa in World War II and rebuilt as detailed as possible (although about 2 meters higher to preserve the old foundations).

The second day I visited the “Peace Memorial Park”. Again a short excursion into history. Okinawa was the scene of one of the last big battles in World War II. During the invasion Okinawa was totally bombed for 3 months, changing the whole landscape and even mountains. This ” Typhoon of steel ” cost at the end the lives of over 200000 people. In order to remember the victims, the suffering and to propagate peace in the world, this park with museum was built. It also contains a memorial with all the names of the fallen soldiers on both sides. The museum also has recorded memories of contemporary witnesses. Written in English and the video material has English as well as German subtitles and many other languages are also possible partially as subtitles. Also, today the US military still maintains many bases on the island, which leads to problems with the local population, also still due to the fact that the USA treated the population on the islands in the past rather badly (particularly regarding lawfulness, democracy and freedom to travel) and did not want to return the islands to Japan. I have seen and heard many military aircraft and military presence.

At the end I was in the Gangala valley, because I thought I could have a look at beautiful stalactite caves there. That was a mistake. I could look at some stalactite caves, but overall I was disappointed. It wasn’t cheap either, but I could benefit from a quite good student discount. There are also English guided tours, but I was on a Japanese tour…. But what I was impressed by, were trees whose roots grow down from above and after they have reached the ground can become very thick or strong. Just opposite the valley is Okinawa Wonderland, a small theme park with a stalactite cave (probably better…), events, glass art, etc. I don’t have much expectation of it after reading the flyer, but I would still enter it. Unfortunately after the valley tour I would have only had about 1 hour before closing time (18.00 o’clock), so I decided not to go. Oh well, in the valley Gangala there is also the oldest evidence of Homo sapiens in Asia and the best preserved skeleton is called Minatogawa 1 or Minatogawa jin (“Minatogawa human”).

I enjoyed being on Okinawa even though I didn’t have enough time. Those who come to Okinawa and don’t like heat should rather come in spring or autumn. Probably winter goes too;) For transport there is taxi, partly a monorail in the capital and bus transport. The bus was a bit hard for me to find out until I found a reasonable plan (in Japanese). At least the English online version didn’t work on my smartphone. Finally a collection of pictures of the hotel, beach, sea, Okinawa typical food, architecture and more.

Yokohama is an independent city and even the second largest in Japan after Tokyo. As a result, it is the largest community in Japan and also belongs to the Tokyo Metropolitan Region. It is an important industrial and commercial city and began its rise in 1857 after the arrival of the American Commodore M. Perry, who forced the opening of Japan.

I didn’t really do that much sightseeing, because it was really just a short trip. Without travel, only one afternoon and the evening. The main destination was a Japanese Christmas market, yes a Christmas market. I wanted to see how the Japanese distorted it. In fact, it was only very small, very expensive and above all not festive. It was rather about 10 % Christmas market and 90 % ( supposed) German food and beer. The food was mixed, some was really good, some not. But a lot of imports, which made it at least authentic (but even more expensive). An example, for two very small slices of Stollen I had to pay approx. 4.50€, whereby I this year in Germany for 1 kg Dresdner Stollen only 6.99€. If I had only taken one of them with me and sold slices of the same size for the same price, it could have been at least 20. That would have been a very good profit. Speaking of which, if you should ever go to Japan and need a present, get yourself a Dresden Christmas Stollen. Or normal ones should go, too, but should not be too sweet (so what we Germans feel to be rather sweet), because Japanese don’t like that. If I bring them to the lab or to my sports clubs as Omiyage, they will be eaten very quickly and everyone will praise them seriously.

The rest of the Christmas market was so okay. One hut sold tea light houses, one was from Germany and another from Austria sold snow globes.

The Christmas market was in Minato Mirai 21 on an offshore island. On both sides there was a row of a red brick warehouse. Unfortunately I couldn’t find any information about it, but it resembled very much the German style as you can see it e.g. at the Hamburg Speicherstadt. In it are now many small shops, especially Omiyage shops.

Towards the end I also went to the small free amusement park where you only have to pay for the attractions themselves and took a ride on the Cosmo Clock 21 Ferris Wheel, which is the world’s largest and also functions as a clock. There was also a nice little disturbance when I was about at the highest point, so I had more time to enjoy the view.

This time an absolute fun article, because I ran out of topics. Since the summer here in Shizuoka is unpleasantly hot and humid, there is nothing better than ice. Apart from the annoying increase in weight with too much of it^^ I have already reported elsewhere about the increased number of varieties, e.g. for KitKat, and have therefore decided to demonstrate this on the ice-cream of a well-known European manufacturer. It is possible that there are some varieties available in Europe, but I haven’t found them yet. However, I am sure that I haven’t tried all the varieties available in Japan yet. I already ate some more, from which I somehow lost the pictures…

By the way, the cake ice cream actually also contains cake base.

A short excursion: This drink is also very popular here in summer. It is a salty lychee drink. It’s very pleasant, but I wanted to drink more because of the salt, good for the seller.

Therefore, we had to leave early in the morning because we needed about 3.5 hours to get to our first destination station.I said regional train, but this is different than we normally have in Germany. This is more like our ourground. The seats are then only on the outer walls and the middle is free for standing. The seats are heated, but this does not bring so much, when the doors automatically open at each stop and the cold comes in. This is only in the cold areas (with snowstorms) in Japan differently, there they open only if you press the doorknob like in Germany. Incidentally, this train has only partial regional train character, a double-decker, if you pay extra and then traveling in a better class. This train rarely runs very fast, often at the same speed as our undergrounds, although speeds as our regional trains are also possible. I was also told that they have in other prefectures something like regional trains. I’ve already ridden with one. The Japanese train system is very fragmented. There are only private companies because the national one was privatized. And there are not so many associations. Thanks to a card, the Suica, I can also travel often without thinking, because I only have to recharge them before I go to the train station and the amount is deducted automatically when leaving the destination, but that is not everywhere usable.

OK, let’s come to the purpose of the journey. Our main goal in Odaiba was the life-size Gundam-Mech type Unicorn, which was built as an attraction. Gundams are huge, pilot-controlled combat robots. These have been around since 1979 (the perhaps better known Transformer since 1984) and have a huge franchise of manga, anime and etc. Especially (action) characters are very prevalent. Is not my favourite, but apart from the giant figure, there was also a larger shop with attached small museum and the individualized models displayed there were sometimes very impressive. Especially the details, such as the artificial aging of the models. Unfortunately, you can not see this in the pictures. Here are a some.

And now the main attraction of the day. The Gundam during the day and at night. At night, additional lighting effects were active. There was also a two-minute show with presentation, light plays, sound and movements of the Gundam. Although I myself had hoped for a little more movement, but only partial equipment on the knees were moved and the head / helmet of the Gundams changed its appearance.

In night.

While waiting for the night, I was briefly in a shopping center, the Venus Fort. This is in the style of Venice. You have the facades in the appropriate style and on the ceiling a sky is projected. There is also a large fountain. At the moment there was also a small exhibition about the 1960s, with a focus on cars.

Otherwise, for most people, Japan is not the feast of love or family as we know it, but the feast of the lovers, therefore, it’s more a day for couples and dates.

Otherwise, there are many commercial cakes here with Christmas decorations. Because strawberry are here at this time in season, also very often with strawberries. I also bought a small and cheap one. A normal cake with a lot of cream, my balance doesn’t thank me ……

I also bought a pyramid cake (“Baumkuchen”) here, except that the name was also in German and that he had rings, he had little in common with the pyramid cakes I know so far. It is different, a Baumkuchen in Japanese.

On the 16th there was apparently a kind of Christmas parade / event, but since I was working elsewhere, I could not look and therefore, I’m not so sure (the translation was not worth it from the outset, because I knew that I will not have time).

However, there are also small Christian communities in today’s Japan. So I was a little surprised when I had this invitation to the fair on Christmas morning. Incidentally, a Protestant community.

When dealing with Japanese people, the general courtesy or the contrary respect is easy to notice. In their culture, the Japanese have anchored the community as a great asset, which could be also due to the many possible natural catastrophes. In contrast, we Europeans have an individualized standpoint. I would prefer the Japanese variant with a bit more individualism. When you enter shops, in most cases you are welcomed, also by all the employees who you will see. One can say as a rough formula that the Japanese don’t want to be a burden to anyone or lose their face (honor, pride) in front of others. If you are polite and respectful, you have no problems. And it’s just the standard politeness, we have also according to Knigge, but I’m aware that the reality looks quite different in europe.
This problem is also here, I myself have noticed that many things are only hollow phrases, which in my case are just complaints on a high level, because it is still better than in Germany and I have not experienced anything bad. But others have already told me (who have either lived here for a long time or are themselves Japanese), that it goes down.
Other examples of the politeness and respect of the Japanese are that it is hard to find someone who makes a scene in the public and be mean others. Or if you wait for something that you can be sure there is a queue formed, which is also completely maintained, also at the bus stop, no matter how full the bus is.

Typically Japanese is also that it is a land of umbrellas. As soon as the first drops come here, one can be sure that more and more umbrellas will pop up. Often, too, when we North Germans wouldn’t think about it. Jackets are almost never seen. Exceptions are the cyclists, but they all have the same rain capes, which seem to have only a few different versions. This is at least my current impression, a lot of variety wasn’t to see so far. You can also see some umbrellas, if there is no rain at all, but cloudy or even more radiant (burning) sunshine. Especially with the latter and especially with women. The background is that darker skin by tanning is still seen as a sign of poverty or not as a beauty ideal. Brighter skin is here preferred.

Let’s get to the picture, the Gacha. These machines with the small capsules are everywhere. Against money you can indulge in a collectibleship and also try to get very rare elements. All can be gathered from various small figures, cards, trailers, etc. The principle is quite popular, so it is also used in games. The quality varies, as does the price.

To clothes only so much, it is generally very similar to European and American. I have seen very few people in traditional clothes. Some were for spiritual occasions, some for appropriate occasions (wedding, death’s mess), in the martial arts, some for festivals and even more rarely as everyday clothes. In my opinion very sad, because it has its charm and is good in this humidity. The current clothing is very westernized, but it already differs. The men wear more or less the same, to work uniforms or business suits. In the leisure time gladly also for the pants what one with us is quite as sloppy, namely wide variants like Joggings pants. The women also wear more airy tops and for the lower part very airy and wide trousers, one can perhaps also look as more modern variants of trousers skirts or skirts. Something unusual for us, but it makes a lot of sense especially in the summer with its temperatures and high humidity. I know what I’m talking about, it’s not necessarily pleasant to run around with jeans.

In addition, it is usually the case that you have to wear a uniform as a pupil. This uniform identifies which school you are in, and it is also generally recognizable by style whether it is kindergarten, elementary school, middle school or a high school. Preschool and elementary schoolchildren often have to wear a cap.

What other totally typical Japanese is the plastic fancy. I often get the crisis here. On the one hand here is a lot of what one buys packaged several times in plastic. For the food it could still make partial sense, but I often feel I have more plastic than content. In Germany, I buy sweets or biscuits and just have to open one or maybe even twice. Here in Japan I have to open the outer package and then it is not uncommon that each biscuit is packed individually ……
Also if you buy something you get here thin plastic bags (few exceptions), which is on the one hand nice service, but also annoying if you do not need and just waste. That I don’t need them is also relatively obvious, because I already arrive with my ready backpack. By the way, this plastic bag problem also causes environmental problems, since they also usually just burn the garbage.

That what surely some already of you know: take off shoes before you enter. This is totally normal here, because of cleanliness, but is also a sign of respect. So I have to take off my shoes when I enter my office in the university, and because it is quite annoying to put my shoes on and off, I wear garden crocs in the university / laboratory . In Germany this would be a disaster for security reasons ….
And something else, there may be extra shoes for the toilet. NEVER wear these outside of those. Probably one of the worse ways to embarrass. It didn’t happen to me yet, hopefully never.

The last for this post is something that may also be viewed as curious from a German perspective. It is perfectly normal for men to wear handbags. These models are much less decorated, but a handbag remains a handbag and not a file folder. Backpacks for this purpose are quite rare.