Okayama pics

Okayama 岡山 is a city about 1.5 hours south of Yonago by car. Drove there with Simona and Ian last Saturday. Some pics:


烏城 (ujo), the Okayama Castle, also known as the crow`s castle beacuse of it`s black color. Like many other castles in Japan (except for the Mastsue castle), this was destroyed during and restored after WW2.


The only original and undamaged part of the castle.


Inside the castle is a museum of sorts. Not as impressive as the one in Mastsue (which had 7 levels compared to Okayama`s 3). This calligraphy was written by the former lord of the castle and said in kanji: "Wine is the best of all drugs."


They also let you wear costumes and take pictures. Only one person at a time though, so Simona and Ian and I were unable to all dress up and reenact Lords and their Concubine.


So we did it out of costume instead, the Humpers and the Shrew.


This one was written by Hirohito, the Japanese emperor during WW2. Even non-readers of Kanji can appreciate the gentle meekness of his calligraphy compared to the emphatic forcefulness of the previous one.

We didn`t really do all that much on Okayama besides the castle, the Japanese garden surrounding it, spaghetti lunch and the shopping district in front of the train station. However, this picture did make my day:


I wonder if you can rent furries porn in Japan?

After Okayama at about 3pm, we had a hard time deciding between about to Kurashiki, another city .5 hour away with a supposedly excellent museum full of impressionist art, and Yubara, a small town full of onsen　(hot springs; Yubara 湯原 translates to "The fountainhead of hot water"). An executive decision had to be made and I was behind the wheels. One right turn and 40 minutes later, we`re sitting in a outdoor onsen, wearing nothing except for a small towel (big enough to cover either the front, the back, or the front plus half a cheek). There were two natural-looking pits, between the side of the dirt road and a purling cold stream (I have no clue how the water stays hot). The bottom of the pit were lined with smooth pebbles. Between the gradually darkening sky, a light drizzle and the steam, it was beautiful even with scores of naked Japanese men and toweled Japanese women. I didn`t take any pictures, fearing that the camera might be damaged by the steam or angry naked men/women. Surprisingly I felt no hang-up getting naked in front of these people, and actually felt unnatural and self-conscious only when I covered up in front of Simona.


Simona and Ian.

After dinner (okonomiyaki), we left Yubara around 7pm and encountered this guy

and just had to pull over and take pictures with him. Because this mannequin was covered with reflective paint, I couldn`t get a good shot even with the flash. The humor in this requires some explanation.

Having been driving for 2 weeks now, I`ve noticed that traffic workers on Japanese roads and parking lots are mostly useless. They seem to serve no apparent purpose, standing on the sides of the roads and waving you through in wide open roads (not even at intersections) when there`s no obvious reason to ever stop or even slow down. On the drive to Okayama, I saw one of these workers waving a lightstick down the freeway, and just as I was about to finish my comment on the absurd non-function of these people, the 3 of us simultaneous realized that it was a mannequin. We had a good laugh about it then, but we had no idea. 1/4 mile later, there was another traffic worker waving a lightstick--a visibly bored, but very real person this time. We literally poked our heads out of the window, fingers pointing, and openly mocked the collegue of a mannequin.

Naturally we had to take a picture on the return trip. Ah, to be on the road again.