On April 17th, I joined Shannon, Chelsea, and Maria for a trip to the small island of Okunoshima. The island was formerly a secret chemical weapons testing facility during the Russo-Japanese War and World War II. What brought us to the island was not it's history, but it's current attraction, bunnies! After the wars and demolition of the chemical weapons, the island was populated with rabbits! The origin of the rabbits is unknown, some initially believed they were used for chemical testing and let loose after the war, but historians have refuted that claim. Another popular theory is the island was populated by middle-schoolers releasing rabbits on the island. Either way, due to it's remote nature (and rules against bringing pets) the island is now full of the fuzzy creatures.
Before we set off on the small ferry to the island, we bought rabbit food from the ferry dock. Due to the abundance of tourists, the rabbits are incredibly tame, and early approach the sound of rustling paper bags in the hopes of grabbing some treats. The island now has a hotel, golf course, tennis courts, and some easy walking trails, which makes the island a nice weekend getaway. We set off on the walking trails, which encircle the island and lead to the old military ruins. All along the way we were accompanied by furry companions, who provided endless entertainment.
On the southern tip of the island we found and old lighthouse with spectacular views of the Itsuki-nada sea and its various islands. The wind was quite strong on this side of the island, causing the foliage to be quite animated.
Other parts of the island were much calmer. And among the trees were ruins from the wars, which are being overtaken by nature and quite cool to explore. Running over the island are massive transmission towers, which I imagine head to the much larger Omishima Island from Honshu. You can get right next to them, and they hum. We ate lunch at the top at a small park which had some interactive educational attractions which allowed children to spot the height of the towers from their focal point.
Throughout the day, as expected we had a ton of fun feeding the adorable, friendly bunnies! What we were pleasantly surprised by was how beautiful the island and its vistas were. In that respect this little day trip exceeded our expectations! And I can happily report that I was able to make it to the bunny island, which was high on my list of places to go in Japan!
On Saturday April 9th I set off to Osaka to see a concert. After wandering Osaka's equivalent of Akihabara, Den Den Town, I went to Shinsaibashi to a small venue called Ruido. Quite literally a hole in the ground, this basement level venue was just as compact as some of Denver’s lesser known concert venues. Here I waited anxiously with a packed venue of other fans for a fantastic performance. In line I met a cool guy from German who was on vacation in Japan, and just so happened to hear about the band performing after arriving. I helped him get a ticket so he could check out show as well.
The band we were awaiting to perform was Jupiter. They are a relatively new band made up of the members of Versailles, abet with a new vocalist. Versailles holds a special place in my music library as the first Japanese band I stumbled upon, way back in high school. So for me, this concert was equally about nostalgia and experiencing something new.
Despite the small venue the performance was polished. The complex lights were synchronized, the audio was clean. Most interestingly, unlike heavy metal concerts in the US, there was no rabble here. Instead the crowd was conducted by the lead singer, complete with specified, choreographed reactions to different parts of the songs. The crowd would sway their arms during sweeping scales, pound their fists perfectly with the meter of a chorus, and hold their open hands up in the air during a guitar solo, as if in reverence to the artist.
The band took their performance as seriously as their getups, yet in the few interims would joke with each other and with the crowd, which was a fun contrast and added to the closeness of the event. Speaking of their appearance, Jupiter is a notable band within the Visual Kei genre. A comparable genre from America would be glam rock. Visual Kei bands have adopted the glam rock aesthetic, but taken it further. In Jupiter's case, they added Victorian influences and effeminate features, the latter being a cultural rejection of the stiff "Japanese salary man" masculinity quite common in pop culture since the early 2000s. As a point of clarification, all of the band members of Jupiter are men in the 30s-40s. Many Visual Kei musicians also carry on the tradition established by the likes of David Bowie and Alice Cooper by creating a stage persona (in addition to the heavy makeup). They build followings around their "character", which enables them to have successful solo careers, collaborations, and carry their fanbase when changing bands.
Jupiter played two encores in addition to their lengthy set. Their performance emphasized the guitar solos heavily, giving a huge distinction to the guitarists during their many times to shine. While I was not permitted to take any photos or video inside the venue, I have included one of the band's music videos (below) so you can experience their aesthetic with perfect audio quality, as well as footage of one of their live performances (up above). I recommend looking at the crowd in the live footage to see their coordinated efforts. The guitar solos are also jaw-dropping.
Afterward the concert no one left, but actually stuck around to take a Polaroid photo with one of the guitarists. Of course I did the same. A good number of people in the crowd were also dressed in the same Visual Kei style, touching up makeup for just a low quality photo.
I had an absolute blast at the show! I am glad to have been able to see not only a live performance in Japan, especially from one who I have listened to for about a decade.
I ended the night grabbing some ever elusive Mexican food from the nearby El Pancho. And the next day I wandered a huge park in Osaka full of families and track clubs running and playing sports. Before I caught my bus back, I saw yet another large group meeting up to practice dancing, this time in from of the bus terminal. The shiny metallic walls of the courtyard provide a mirror-like surface for the dancers, who had congregated in rather larger numbers. This had to have been the third time I have seen such a meetup in Japan, so it is clearly a popular thing to do among Japanese youth.
At the beginning of April, I joined in on a bit JET event in the nearby Okayama prefecture for hanami (cherry blossom viewing). We all planned to meet up during the peak of the brief season at Tsuyama's castle ruins, the most renowned spot in the prefecture for hanami. The ruins are a multi-tiered structure at the city center, with hundreds of cherry trees on every level and an impressive view of the city. I couldn't imagine a better place to experience hanami.
People in Japan use the brief window when cherry blossoms bloom as an opportunity to meet up with friends for picnics under the trees. The cities accommodate for this by setting up food stalls and performances at the popular venues. When we arrived the castle grounds were already bustling with people, and multiple parking lots were already full, and roads were closed to redirect traffic. After making it into the area we met up with a good crowd of other ALTs, which only grew as the day went on. Hanami is definitely a social event, best celebrated with friends. We had fun grilling, snacking on festival food, socializing, and taking pictures of the stellar scenery. The size and number of trees is staggering, at the top tiers looking down it feels like staring into a sea of petals. As the sun set, thousands of lanterns illuminated the castle grounds. The lantern's light completely changed the vibe, facilitating a more cozy, warmer atmosphere.
That evening the city set up a projection mapping performance against the top wall of the ruins. It was an entertaining show with a little bit of everything. The projections factored in their environment, creating the illusion that the castle wall was crumbling and transforming. Actors interacted with the images on a stage aligned in front of the wall. And near the end the lighting extended up into the trees, creating a surreal firework illusion. Thankfully there were plenty of cameras around, so you can experience the show for yourself!
That next day I joined Maria in Sakaiminato, a man made peninsula in western Tottori, to check out some of the local sites. Our first stop was the nearby Diaba Park. It is a popular spot in the area for its plethora of cherry blossom trees. Our timing was great, because as we arrived a taiko performance was beginning. The group was incredibly enthusiastic, clearly enjoying the event. The leader of the crew was particularly energetic and a bit silly, making the performance even more fun! Surprisingly enough, one of the group members was a student of Maria's.
We soon left the park and drove across the the water through a small coastal fishing village which had a nice shrine before winding our way up to another old lighthouse overlooking the Sea of Japan. The view was impressive and the sea breeze, refreshing.
We then picked Chelsea up and drove across the peninsula to the artificial lake created by Sakiminato's construction. We crossed a bridge to an island in the center of the lake, home the Yushien Garden which famous for peonies. Being a big fan of Japanese gardens, I enjoyed walking around the meticulously maintained scenery.
A unique part of this garden is their peony room, and indoor section where the flowers can grow year round. Far from being merely a room with these flowers, they had managed to create an outdoor scene within the building, complete with small waterways and a very cool overgrown wall. The garden also had some small waterfalls, a pond, and a striking rock garden. The entire establishment was classy, and furthered my appreciation for Japanese landscape design.
Before we set off on the small ferry to the island, we bought rabbit food from the ferry dock. Due to the abundance of tourists, the rabbits are incredibly tame, and early approach the sound of rustling paper bags in the hopes of grabbing some treats. The island now has a hotel, golf course, tennis courts, and some easy walking trails, which makes the island a nice weekend getaway. We set off on the walking trails, which encircle the island and lead to the old military ruins. All along the way we were accompanied by furry companions, who provided endless entertainment. 
Throughout the day, as expected we had a ton of fun feeding the adorable, friendly bunnies! What we were pleasantly surprised by was how beautiful the island and its vistas were. In that respect this little day trip exceeded our expectations! And I can happily report that I was able to make it to the bunny island, which was high on my list of places to go in Japan! 
