Yasukuni War Shrine

For my 300-level history course, the teacher requires that we all visit Yasukuni War Shrine and write about our experiences. Last night I spent about 5 hours walking around the shrine. Well, not the shrine itself, but the museum attached to it. I was going to skip the museum all together because it seemed like the exhibit was going to be small, but my traveling-buddy wanted to go in and it was only 500 yen, so why not, right? Wrong. Actually, right, but maybe I should have seen the floor map before going in. Then I would have realized what I was getting myself into!

Most of the Shrine was pretty basic (purification center, hondai, and torii gate), but there were other odd things at the shrine; a theater stage, white doves, and flower competitions.

Rather than explain, let's take a look: at BIRDS!

After practicing taiko that morning, walking to and around the shrine, then going through the museum-that-never-ends, I went back to my city and decided to drop by a local shop for some dinner. My sushi place was packed (and, I mean, I say it is "mine" but I've only ever been there once), so I went to another place and was seated pretty much IN the kitchen. There is no such thing as personal space here, but Japan is small, and I'm getting used to it. As I try to sit down, squeezing through an impossibly narrow separation in the chairs, I turn the wrong way and twist my knee!! Oh no! I'm sitting there, get the knee back in place, and am about to start sobbing into my napkin, when I look to my left: there, sitting hunched over what I am sure to be his weekly bowl of soup and gyoza, is a classic, little Japanese grandfather type who has decided to start talking to me. I responded at first, but then I noticed that "we" weren't having a conversation, "he" was having our conversation in his head, but just saying it all out loud. I couldn't smile big enough, he was just sooooo cute! He was just so fun to listen to because not only would he talk about me like I was his niece or something ("Oh good she knows how to use chopsticks, but a bit messy with the soup, huh? Hehe, she'll learn. Ah, got some gyoza too? Good choice, good choice.") but he also read the menu about 5 times and commented one the prices ("500 yen! What a deal! But 450 just for rice? What are they thinking? It isn't even good rice"). And the waitress acted like she saw him come in all the time. I didn't even care that my knee hurt and that I still had to bike home. That little man made my night!

And the soup was good, too.