Ze-ka.....Japan for a month!

I had my final visitor to Japan this last 4 weeks. Zeke came to stay with me in Tokyo - intended for 2 weeks but the retail experience was far too much to fit in to such a short time.
The first week here I was pretty much working most of the time so Zeke used this time to catch up on sleep and explore Tokyo.
He had his first karaoke experience with Anna, Kiren and Nick after drinks at the Hyatt and yakiniku dinner. 2 days in Japan and he was already at home!

I took Friday off work so we could head out of Tokyo for the day and visit Kamakura. Rented bicycles meant we could get around to see all the temples, gardens and giant buddha a lot faster...power up!

The weekend was spent shopping in Ebisu, Daikanyama, Harajuku, Shibuya and Aoyama. And a night out in Shibuya on Saturday night....which included standing bars, karaoke with strangers, night clubs and eventful taxi rides home.

Zeke's second week was mostly taken up with a trip to Okinawa...a small island south of Japan a couple of hours flight away. We stayed in a nice beach front hotel (all be it in a very Americanized area of Okinawa) and relaxed the first night so we were ready for the following days trekking and kayaking.
Our guides, Daiske and Mana, picked us up from the hotel and chauffeured us to the North of the island. We started by visiting the biggest aquarium in the world where Zeke was accosted by a group of kids who asked for his picture! Next stop was a tour through an old Okinawa style neighborhood and visit to the beach front before setting off on a river trek which ended with a beautiful waterfall.

After a picnic lunch we headed across the island again to go kayaking. I opted to go in the kayak with the guide whilst Zeke powered off in one by himself....excellent upper body exercise!
Dai and Mana took us for dinner to a traditional style Okinawa soba restaurant before we collapsed in bed after a long day.

After such a good day with the guides we decided to take a second day with them. This time we headed to south of Okinawa and started with a visit to castle ruins over looking the bay and a venture into a network of caves. The weather the second day wasn't as sunny but Zeke still braved trying snorkeling...it turned out that it wasn't the cold sea that he had to be afraid of but the mysterious creatures living in the coral!
After drying off we got back into the car and headed off to watch a traditional Okinawa dance that started back in the days when Okinawa traded goods with China and the dance welcomed the boats as they approached the island.

We ended the holiday with an onsen (deciding not to opt for the oldest onsen in Okinawa that resembled something from a horror movie!) and headed to Nara for the flight back to Tokyo.

It was another early start back in Tokyo to watch an annual Sumo tournament at the controversial Yasukuni temple. It was one of the most perfect days I have spent in Tokyo, sitting in the grounds, sun shining, sakura falling all around and watching the fights.

Zeke decided whilst in Japan he wanted to get a tattoo. We found a good artist, who having tattooed John Travolta and Keith Flin, Zeke decided was good enough for him and took the plunge. Friday we headed to the renowned Gon Pachi (Kill Bill) restaurant with Kiren and Nick and called it an early night after an eventful week.

We spent the rest of the weekend around Tokyo and got quite drunk on Saturday night drinking in the street watching jazz bands and doing puri kura. Sunday we did the traditional Yoyogi park to watch the rockers dance and sit in the park. The highlight of the day however was meeting Pharrell Williams and also spotting John Mayer. Not satisfied with three weeks in Japan (or maybe my company) Zeke extended his stay for a fourth week. I was back to work again so he got to catch up on sleep and visit some final places around Tokyo including the Meiji Shrine in Yoyogi, the Imperial Palace, Akihabara, Ginza, Tokyo Dome, Tsukiji, Shimokitazawa, Ikebukuro, K-1 and also managed to squeeze in another night clubbing, more karaoke and a tattoo!
On his retail adventure, Zeke managed to wangle his way onto the website of Mighty Diner Store. I will leave it to your imagination as to what he told them on his path to fame but check out the site!! http://www.mightydiner.com/blog/?mode=normal&p=3

Staying with the Japanese theme Zeke had a Koi carp and kanji tattoo on his shoulder - this one took a lot longer and looked a lot more painful. The next day I went back to the tattooist to get my own peice of body art - he did a really good job of fixing the teenage impulses I already have and incorporated them into a sakura tree with deeper meaning kanji.

Not being put off by going through almost 6 hours of tattooing I still wanted to go out Saturday night to see the Dexpistols DJ for my last time. Kiren came round to my place where we drank until 12.30am before making a mad dash for the last train to Shibuya. The Dexpistols set was good but the rest of the night was a bit of a let down on the music front. Determined not to get a taxi home we left the club at 4.30am and spent an hour in karaoke whilst waiting for the trains to open.

Sunday afternoon, when we finally woke up, we headed to Yokohama City to watch the K-1 World GP fights in Yokohama Arena. It was a really good event and some exciting KO's...it did leave us wondering though - who is blake?!

Monday night we met up with my friend Akira in Shinjuku and decided that karaoke would once again be a good idea. Vast amounts of Jack Daniels later I found myself alone in the karaoke room wondering where my drunkard comrades had gone. After finding them in and around the karaoke shop we all managed to get in a taxi and get home.
With Tuesday off work I got to spend the day with Zeke. We headed to Tokyo Dome intending to go on the roller coaster but unfortunately it was closed for maintenance (or fortunately in Zeke's case) so we stopped for food at Bubba Gumps and went to check out Ikebukuro area before going to Kiren and Nicks apartment for dinner and a movie.

My last day to have lunch with Zeke we went to Tsukiji Fish Market for fresh sushi lunch...I was surprised and impressed that Zeke ate everything served plus the things I couldn't eat.
I enjoyed the last month with Zeke so much and have so many good memories that I can look back at and laugh...it was a perfect way to bring an end to my 2 years in Japan. Being able to share my experience with people close to me has made it so much richer.