This blogpost covers the day of February 15th, while in Kure, Japan. Later, Tokyo, Japan.
Woke up at 8 am, rushing to get ready, packing my luggage’s, and making sure I wouldn’t forget anything in the process. Even belatedly eating my saved sandwich and orange juice, or so I recall. The short wait to eat my sandwhich and orange juice nearly gave me a mini-stroke from how much my stomach was hurting, something which would be indirectly questioned by the locals in how I rush-eat, not properly eating. Once I finished my morning snack I would play the usual (Azur Lane & Blue Archive) while tending to the daily quests and tasks.
I eventually left the hotel at 10 AM, even asking if they could hold my luggage for a few hours while I rushed around. I banged my head on the way out.
Japan Trip 2024:
[Day 1] – [Day 2] – [Day 3] – [Day 4] – [Day 5] – [Day 6] – [Day 7] – [Day 8] – [Day 9] – [Day 10] – [Day 11] – [Day 12] – [Day 13] – [Day 14] – [Day 15] – [Day 16] – [Day 17] – [Day 18] – [Day 19]
A few people were on the sidewalk, one of which may have overpassed me while I was documenting sidewalk decorations, and back again. I was also regretting my jacket, even if it felt necessary at times. It felt both hot and cold at the same time making me a little frustrated how much I had to drag my jacket around, and especially on this very day. Rush, rush moments.
A few people were also noted in staring at me from their vehicles. I would glance around catching a few glances back at myself. Interesting. And yes, I should have spent more time capturing more Azur lane AR mode images. Less Kaga, and more from various factions. It’s also depressing in how far back I have to also stand back to attempt these AR image captures being unable to control camera zoom.
Satisfied, I felt it was time to venture through a park to document what’s there. See what’s up, what’s where, and try to visit Y’s Cafe prior to leaving, the only time I could visit.
Eventually made it to Kure’s restaurant, gaining a few stares in reaction to me taking pictures of Y’s Cafe (or Waizu’s Cafe). A bit of an awkward moment. Seeing as how this Cafe is noted as being closed I might as well visit the clock shop, as suggested by another KanColle Admiral. A few KanColle folks desired to meet up during my Kure stay, something to which I’ve attempted to, yet awkwardly was unable to.
I finally made it to my final destination, the Kure watch shop! I initially assumed this would have been my final respectful visit prior to taking a Bullet Train to Tokyo shortly after. Everything was planned to end within the hour here. I would grab my luggage, rush my way to Kure Station, and be on my way from Hiroshima -> Tokyo. That has to wait, meeting up with KanColle friends and Admirals was an unexpected top priority. 🙂
I noted my greetings, my plans, and then caught up in a rough 3-way conversation with another KanColle Admiral. I wasn’t really focused, and that is indeed my fault. The third person bringing a touristy map of Kure (cartoon style) noting how he’s been engaged (maybe a wedding), and how I may have been a third wheel in this conversation. There, but not really there. I was briefly asked where we were on the map, proudly pointing it out.
I genuinely, 100%, congratulate the KanColle Admiral for their engagement, and possibly even a wedding. That’s now far harder to come by more than ever. I may have belatedly clapped, that’s my stupidity. I’m proud of the guy, and whoever else is able to couple up and progress in the love-life. Congratulations! 😉
A brief wait later, Seiko (Y’s Cafe owner) showed up. She was caught up in something, yet reunited for some 2023 & 2024 moments. It also started raining, to the dismay of all of us. I even showed Seiko the Hokkaido Bird stamp book, something she was overly happy to see because of the Hokkaido bird. I genuinely desired to gift her something in return, luck wasn’t with me at that point. I still do plan on sending gifts to Seiko, even if it’s highly belated.
I was asked how much longer I would stay in Kure, where to eat, eventually deciding on Ramen. Everything was hesitant and confusion, also being highly unfamiliar with Kure. I didn’t know where, what, or how to eat stuff properly in Kure. We’ve settled on Ramen, and I followed. Politely sharing an umbrella, something which was an interesting Anime experience. Japan is awesome, and it’s why I’m “blinded” with my love of, and for, Japan. I miss traditional behaviours and values, something which is now harder to find in modern Canada, something which existed back in 1990’s Canada, and Slovakia in a more general, traditional, and proper sense.
I admit I could have done more, done better, and hindsight is an evil thing. Yes, I could have done certain things better in a social sense, but what’s done is done, and I’m still happy with what was done.
Even overhearing conversations about how awesome certain Americas are with their English, or how I struggled to hold my own conversation while overhearing things said towards me. Everything had to be done through a translator.
I desired Miso Ramen, yet was strongly suggested in trying the spicy ramen. I probably should have. I wasn’t in my perfect mindset, yet still enjoyed the Miso ramen, and even the shared mini-bowl of spicy ramen. It was awesome. We had fun conversations.
Various topics of Twitter/X Shadowbans were noted, and how I nudged Hi_Iro onto Misskey as an alternative.
All three of us struggled to finish our ramen, something to which it was a process. I even had to constantly blow on the noodles to cool them off, something to which they’ve noted I keep “puffing” on it (fuu~ fuu~). Yeah, I’m used to letting my hot soups and beverages cool off slightly prior to consuming, especially after constantly burning my tongue on hot chocolate milk from Tim Horton’s, or anything fresh from the cooking area. Too many burnt tongue moments forcing me to wait allow the food to cool off slightly by 10%, of the 90% heat still retained in the food/soups/etc.
I was overly full. Bloated. I packed my things up, even forgetting the stand to Iro’s acrylic display at the seat. I knew, even at the time, I had forgotten it at my seat, even mistaking it for something else. I intentionally, but by mistake, left it behind assuming it was something else.
I would briefly wait in line to pay, get my stamp book stamped, and even further struggle to have my things packed away. The restaurant staff even sounded alarmed I wouldn’t pay up, something I would do. I would pay, and I paid up after a few awkward moments. Traveling heavy is a struggle. Was gifted some valentines day gifts, as with others. A common courtesy gift for each patron, something which I found neat. Awesome!
Gradually making our way to the clock shop again, to an interesting surprise. ‘Perth’ from Twitter/X, one who admires HMAS Perth from KanColle showed up to the surprise of myself, and possibly of the others. We conversed a bit, even possibly noting travel stuff.
I was saddened to see my Yuudachi go flying. Seeing Yuudachi go flying was painful to watch, especially with her already-damaged scars from when I went to see Soya at Daiba, Tokyo. I had to note I had my luggage to pick up from Hotel Muzu, a hotel noted for being recently built. I had the awesome privilege of being one of its recent hotel guest to admire the awesome Yamato-themed hotel.
I also had to deal with some on-off rain. Told them I would gather my things, meet up at the stationary shop (Paporado), and stop by at Y’s Cafe prior to leaving Kure.
Happily obtained both my luggage’s. Had a few happy exchanges, even saying our “goodbyes”. I now rushed over to Paporado, a stationary shop in Kure to meet up with a guy named ‘Perth’ again. I’m unaware of his other aliases.
Perth & the staff welcomed me, even awkwardly hanging around while waiting on Perth. I was unsure where to go, so I waited. I wasn’t sure if I should have gone upstairs, but I did have the feeling he desired to meet up with me, so I waited on the main floor. I waited, and even has the female staff shout out to him for him to talk to me because she can’t talk English. I had my secondary ink stamp book stamped out, something to which I’m overly thankful and grateful for. The hospitality is awesome. While waiting, I also noted various pens, some of which I desired to purchase, yet was unable with how I was nearing a financial buffer preventing me from doing so.
Y’s Cafe:
Finally, and happily arrived at Y’s Cafe to hang out. I had some plans to eat, if allowed, it however didn’t go that way. I was ushered upstairs, happily viewing various stamps, displays in the room, and Yamato shrine landmarks on Google Maps. Other people were being tended to and served, to which I wondered if I was allowed to order anything. I waited, and waited, even catching up on Twitter/X both timeline & notification side of things. Even tweeting/posting about my food-eating troubles, and how I delayed my train trip by 1 hour more just to hang out with awesome Kure friends. I wish I had one more day to stay, but alas, I reluctantly had to go back to Tokyo. If I had the chance to stay longer, I would have. I genuinely would have.
I’m still amused how I initially, in 2023, refused to go anywhere near Japan’s ink stamp formalities. I viewed it as something boring. Later, in Kure, I was shown the light…. A more positive side to ink stamps, Japan, and how they do things. A more positive take. Admiring the beautiful aspects of the “small things in life”, the things others and myself have taken for granted in the Western world. Japan does many things in a philosophical and neat character-building manner.
Confused, I ventured to the lower floor to where I was introduced to other people. Even asked how things were, and if I could get an ink stamp. I froze up in fear after hearing – “No. Only if you do something for me first” – or something to that effect. I feared I may have done something wrong, it however was a request for me to sign her ‘guestbook’ (or even ink stamp book). Sure!
I desired to eat, I however let it go. Just a small snack, that’s it. Too late now, I have to go. Time to politely and respectfully tie up the loose ends. Our final “good byes”, signing one another’s books, and being told who “Daikonchama’ is. I tried making note of everything, sadly now forgetting half of what was said. I however know both Kure’s Mascot and Daikonchama are special, and I’m trying to respect that.
Daikonchama, a friendly radish, is an unofficial mascot for Ota Ward in Tokyo.
Thanks for having me! I wish I could have stayed longer, even to try more delicious Y’s Cafe related food.
We noted our “goodbyes”, and I appropriately waved my “goodbyes” this time around, something I failed to do properly in 2023. I felt more satisfied, especially seeing Seiko & friends seeing me off from the door, like a friend and traditional European individual would do. I miss, and highly admire real formalities and tradition. This made me feel highly warm and cozy, and I admired the hospitality. I love Japan, and I love Kure.
Thanks for being kind to me, and thanks for having me! I’m sorry if I’ve done small things incorrectly, I however attempted to improve myself from 2023 into 2024. I can’t wait to see what the future holds, if it does at all. See you in 2026? Later? See you again when I see you. 😉
I had to buy water, something I am aware is called “Mizu”. I desired water ASAP, especially for how salty the ramen was. I could taste the salt, also feeling the dryness in my mouth. Salty dryness. I also forgot to capture images of the Yamato-themed signage at Kure’s Station platform, that’s my big mistake.
I felt a bit dejected I wasn’t able to capture a proper image of the warship. Too much in the way, train g going to fast, and just too much struggling. It’s like struggling with capturing a bullet train speeding past a platform, everything rushes past too swiftly.
Cargo? Nah, she’s a training warship, as noted by Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JS_Kashima
Happily arrived at Hiroshima, transitioning between Kure Line and towards Hiroshima. I asked for a stamp, even requesting an window-seat tickets bound for Tokyo. None were had. Confused, I stood there a bit frustratingly-confused. The teller, also possibly peeved with me, noted he would check again. He found a window seat, one I could happily enjoy. Happy, I thanked him. He gave me my ticket and I went off on my way.
I hope he doesn’t hate me…
I also had to purchase more water, this time also purchasing food as to not go hungry on the trip. Salmon snacks. It was also raining steadily in Hiroshima, something it did lightly earlier in Kure, as noted previously. Just straight on raining.
Nozomi 42:
Hiroshima to Tokyo from 1622->20:15, and I’m fine with that. 4 PM to 8 PM? Yeah, I’m fine with that. It’s a transitionary travel day making this a perfectly fine thing to do. I would have done the same at an airport making going by bullet train a proper experience. It’s more grounded, pun intended.
In the above image a few American tourists were in the area, even being a bit “expressive”. What do I mean by that? Simply highly vocal, moving around in one place, and just doing their thing in an American politeness kind of way. Not a bad thing, just amusing noting other foreigners in Japan. They may even have been one of those rare good foreigners in Japan. 🙂
Side-note: I wasn’t ready to visit Nagoya at this time. I would have loved to, I however wasn’t ready. Sure, I could have booked a hotel here, explored briefly and then ventured to Shizuoka, Tokyo, etc while skipping everything else I had planned and done. Maybe on my third trip to Japan, whenever that shall be, I can visit Sasebo, Nagoya, Shizuoka, Sendai, and other places of interest. We shall see what the future holds.
Saw an interesting transit or shopping structure with overly vast walkways and railings. I wish I knew what it was, or where it was, especially for future referencing. That structure was highly impressive in scale, stood out from the rest. It appeared similar to a station, and it may have been such. The scale of things in Japan is impressive.
I understand Ueno is a party district full of hipsters of both Western and Japanese side of things. A party district. I had to reach a hotel which was a bit out of the way, even in what felt like a rural part of Japan in the heart of Tokyo. I was cranky at the time, tired from my trip, however still happy to still be in Japan. I was cursing about how far my hotel was from the station, even how “out of the way” it was. It probably makes sense, especially with the theme of the hotel.
A car had to block one of the pathways to the hotel forcing me to go on a detour back onto the main access road. The side-road was blocked off. I cursed, and cursed. I eventually made it around, and to where I needed to go.
Arrived at my hotel, to the slight discomfort of the area. It was nice for what I had to deal with, if with crazy “Americanism” making things weird. I paid for my hotel, paying extra for breakfast, and then paying another fee, and another. Then how they behave is how dumb political activists behave, and I was becoming highly annoyed with everything inside and out tied to this hotel.
I even struggled unlocking the door with its key slot in the doorknob making it overly tricky to open. I was already cursing (in frustration) how a car blocked my way from after Ueno zoo to the hotel, now frustrated I was struggling to make my way into the hotel room. Once inside, I was overly happy to in a surprisingly spacious hotel room. I however had another concern come to mind, one which dealt with a bell in the shower, something which annoyed me in another hotel room. Bells in showers scare the crap out of me for it’s potential heart-attack inducing jump scares.
HIPSTERS!
Urban Dictionary defines hipsters as “a subculture of men and women typically in their 20’s and 30’s that value independent thinking, counter-culture, progressive politics, an appreciation of art and indie-rock, creativity, intelligence and witty banter.”
Progressive politics? I wouldn’t be surprised, it’s why the Western society is so broken and screwed up. Intelligence? You must be joking. Hipsters and intelligence? That’s an oxymoron, and I’m not joking on that. Japan’s hipsters are different than Western hipsters, though there are some hazy lines when it comes to political drivel. This hotel was more of a fashion statement gone wrong….
I digress…
It rained overly heavily while I was resting in my hotel. Settling in, deciding what konbini to go, and where to go for tomorrow. Deciding many things, decisions which allowed rain to come down heavily during my hotel intermission.
I needed food so I went to a nearby Konbini for a food run, one which was top rated. Others didn’t have bentos, or were poorly rated by having poorly behaving staff members in their employed positions.
Bonus:
Just some extra Tweet/Posts noting my presence in Kure, and the fun fan-fare I had during the stay. Everything was awesome on the third day, the day I had to leave. I wish I could have stayed in Kure for a longer period of time, and in Japan in general. Canada is too depressing. It was awesome feeling like a human again. Proper human contact, actual interactions, awesome Japanese food. Everything was awesome. 🙂
Side-note: I find Taitou-ku as a pun for Japan’s word for ‘Commander’, or even ‘Admiral’ from an KanColle and Azur Lane perspective. It’s my own play-on word, or pun. My own amusement.
Japan is genuinely a great place, I wish every day was as rewarding as this. Happy times, formalities, common curtesy, proper behaviours, ones which could also be echoed back in Canada, something which I was also raised in respecting from a Slavic traditional Slovakian (European) perspective. The way this final day in Kure panned out highly refreshing, a perspective I genuinely miss from older Canadian and Eastern European mindsets. People treating others as proper human beings, being formal, their awesome hospitality, and being warm and kind. I miss that, especially from a Canadian perspective.
Kure reminded me about what I miss from Canada, especially with how my parents used to host family gatherings with traditional European snacks, meals, and hosting styles. Granted, there are those that also hate for hating sakes. Relatives hating things for hating sake because everybody has to be a critic. Nothing is perfect, but tradition is what made Kure awesome. And Japan. I may have been spacing out in Japan, I however admired every moment there. I still admire Japan even now, even if it’s harder to connect with people as it was when I left Kure, and Japan.
From all that happened today, and the heart-warming messages of my presence in Japan, had me feeling happy and cozy. I felt human again. I felt alive. Thankful. All that had me catching up on many things to the point I retired in my hotel at 2 AM. Meaning, I fell asleep at 2 AM.
In Conclusion:
It was a surprisingly fun final day in Kure, and with special thanks to Iro and Seiko. They’ve made my stay in Kure many times more rewarding, and I thank them highly for that. Thank you! I enjoyed the Ramen (Miso & spicy), and I appreciate the concern over my hasty food runs. I thank everybody for providing me stamps, and for teaching me new things, even if it was hard to retain that information. I tried noting everything down at the moment.
I wish I could have stayed to explore Kure further, or to try more local meals. You know what they say: “Haste makes waste”, and you miss out on a lot of things in the process. If there is a next time I hope we can have fun, as we had done in 2023 and 2024. If I improvised in a quicker fashion I could have probably stayed 1-2 extra days. What’s done is done, and things can’t be changed.
The train ride from Kure to Hiroshima was rewarding, thanks to seeing JS Kashima. Nice! Hiroshima to Osaka allowed me to see Toji Temple again. Nice! Going down memory lane is interesting. One day, one day I hope I can see Nagoya, Shizuoka, and other places I had noted to visit. Japan is highly rewarding and humanizing, and I can’t wait to go back for more human-related connections. Felt great being human again in both 2023 & 2024. I was briefly me again, all thanks to Japanese common sense. I’ll keep noting that, and I’ll conclude with that in the final blog post for Round 2. Japan is bliss, and I don’t joke about that. Sure, I screwed up noting Japan is the best place to live. It has its fair share of nonsense, and I do agree with that. Japan isn’t perfect; Japan has its numerous flaws making it a hard country to live in, if easily exploitable by ill-minded foreign groups. One wrong move (or a false flag) can get you harshly arrested and jailed, but otherwise an overly nice nation.
Seeing a rainy Japan was also an interesting perspective, also because I was constantly covered. Gods were on my side, and I’m happy I had Kure’s shopping mall coverings to shelter me from rain, or Seiko’s umbrella (Anime moment), or even Hiroshima Station, Shinkansen, and the Hipster Ueno hotel to stay in. I was constantly sheltered from rain, something I was unable to be in 2023. The weather amused me in various ways. Was also neat seeing the JJA1281 in the air flashing its lights. I’m hoping I’ll obtain a chance to visit Shizuoka, and properly. I hope ‘Fate’ is kind to me. It’s been mean to me in other parts, I’m hoping it’ll allow me another chance to witness more awesome places in Japan.
I preferred the Shinkansen because it felt easier to jump onto, something a plane trip would have probably complicated. I wanted a neat safety net from Kure to Tokyo, and the bullet train provided that. I had two pieces of luggage, and one backpack. I needed to keep things steady, and I was rewarded nicely with a smooth, nostalgic, and safe trip to Tokyo. I even lightly noted various cities, and even Toji Temple enroute. Japanese railway is bliss.
Now that I’m back in Ueno (in this blog post) I can now happily visit the Tokyo Skytree, Kamakura-Enoshima, and other areas. I can go back to Akihabara, and I can attempt to visit an air museum. I actually considered such during my stay there.
I thank Japan for treating me like a human. It means a lot, and I thank you for that.
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, and hope to see you in the next Japanese blog posts.