Attention Geisha - do not touch!

Anyone who thought Kanazawa already had a variety of wandering Geishas has not yet been to Kyoto, the center of Japanese Geisha culture. Here, there were practically an abundance of them and there was everything a Geisha's heart desires.... shoes, kimonos, hair accessories, and so on... We even had the opportunity to attend a fashion show featuring the latest kimono trends 😊

However, the reason why there are so many 'wannabe-Geishas' here is because countless shops offer a complete outfit including hairstyle for rent for a day. Of course, there were also plenty of Westerners who couldn't resist trying on the outfits... even though it would have spared them some uncomfortable looks 😉 We 'Wessies' simply don't fit in... we unfortunately always look silly... like someone going sightseeing in a bathrobe! One couple will remain particularly memorable to us (unfortunately, there is no photo) - she was not graceful or delicate at all, a big woman with wild blond hair, and her husband looked more like Buddha with his beer belly. Well... that's only bearable with a lot of sake! - so we followed suit ;-)

When we first spotted a Geisha in Kanazawa, we were so excited... but after seeing so many of them, we eventually got tired of it. Kyoto, of course, has a few other nice things to offer and is considered the cultural center of Japan. Many places here are UNESCO World Cultural Heritage sites, mainly temples and shrines... but after visiting so many religious places in Asia, we are tired of temples and shrines by now! Enough is enough... so we tried to avoid temples during our onward journey and instead went to Himeji. Here, you can visit one of the most beautiful Japanese castles, also a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site. The castle has been extensively restored and shines in new splendor. However, we had imagined the interior of the castle to be somewhat... well... let's just say a bit more furnished, and hoped to learn more about the living conditions in the castle back then. Instead, we found 'empty' rooms inside and things turned out quite differently than expected... and we must not forget that we are still in Asia - which means: we were NOT alone! No, quite the opposite... we were pushed through the castle by the masses. There wouldn't have been any room for furniture at all! There were even supervisors with megaphones who pushed the crowd along and made sure that no one stepped out of line. Well, that was once again a typical Asian excursion.

Afterwards, we moved to Osaka, modern and lively, with many colorful corners. The city comes to life in the evening. Here, everything revolves around pleasure and everything related to food (well... actually, food is a big part everywhere in Japan). Besides raw fish, the Japanese also love to eat fried octopus... and ramen. "Ramen" are Japanese noodles, usually consumed in the form of noodle soup. The Japanese love their ramen! ... you could say: "Good ramen conditions prevail" 😉

Before moving on to Hiroshima, we made a detour to Kobe. The main reason was football... one of us really wanted to see a Japanese football match 😊 We chose the Kobe vs. Osaka Derby... The stadium was almost full (even though baseball is the national sport), the atmosphere was great, and surprisingly, the Japanese football fan really gets into it... It was really funny and it was a good game... Unusual for us was also the incredible respect among each other... hardly any police presence, fans of both teams peacefully together, and the teams bow to each other both before and after the game... Even in front of the opposing fans... Kobe lost 1-2, but that didn't dampen the mood... Lukas Podolski will play here next season... He will like it in Kobe and the fans will love him... Well, they already do.