Sakura Fever, version 2009

This year also I was taken by the beauty of flowers in spring and decided to go around and take some pictures.

One point that I may not have mentioned in this blog earlier is that plum blossom - ume - precedes sakura season. So, as last year I went to Osaka Castle with some friends to take pictures of ume (No, I won't publish those pictures now. But I can say it's worth a visit), this year I went to Osaka Expo Park during the same season.


Osaka Expo Park, or Expo Memorial Park, is a park built at the place of the former Expo '70, the first World's Fair held in Japan. Now the park has many areas with the "environment" theme. It is a good option for families, since it has places for children to play and explore, some museums and an amusement park nearby and even a hot spring to warm one's feet. It has also sections with various flowers that look beautiful in full bloom.

Although I've been to Kyoto Gosho to take pictures of sakura the previous year, this year I also entered the Kyoto Imperial Palace - the former residence of the Japanese Emperor. As with all the imperial places (like Shugakuin and Katsura Imperial Villas), previous reservation is required. The palace area itself is not especially know for its sakura trees, but there's a beautiful arrangement at the end; and the palace grounds are also beautiful.

Feeling the urge to go to Himeji again, I returned yet again to see sakura at Himeji Castle. This time, my friends in Himeji had scheduled a hanami party in front of the castle. A rainy wheather changed the plans, though. Me and some friends from Kyoto I invited just went around the castle. I spent the night in Himeji and fortunately the nexy day the weather became sunny and we could carry on wih the hanami.

Kiyomizudera is also a familiar place to people who read this blog and basically everyone who has lived or even spent a couple of days in Kyoto. It is one of the main touristic spots, and I've been there many times. Why go there again? Well, I have pictures of the temple in summer, autumn and winter. I was still missing one characteristic of spring.


Nijo Castle gardens have many varieties of flowers, resulting in a garden with flowers blooming almost all year around. The place is also known for its many varieties of sakura trees on its grounds and a very nice light illumination event.



Yumi, a friend who lived in the same dorm I did in my first year in Kyoto, also returned to Japan for a couple of weeks. We scheduled a visit to two places that, although I also went to those places to take pictures of sakura the previous year, this year I was able to see sakura there in full bloom: Philosopher's Path and Heian Jingu. Both were way more impressive (and crowded) this time.

As there was other friend that, like Yumi, also returned to his country but was back to Japan for a short visit and it had been a while we didn't put everyone together, Miho had the plan to do a hanami by Kamogawa and celebrate together with the old Oubaku dorm group and friends.


Last, but not least, I was also invited by S. to see the flowers on a park she said it was impressive. Well, it is. The name is Tsurumi-Ryokuchi Park, and it was originally built for the International Floral & Greenery Exposition in 1990. Nowadays the park features, among other things, a horse riding course, camping places, play-grounds for various kinds of sports, gardens of many countries, and the Sakuya - Konohana Botanical Pavilion (one of the largest botanical gardens in Japan). I could just walk there for a little while, and it was worth the visit. I may try to return to that park some other time.

Those who want to see more pictures, check my Picasa album.

Korean Demilitarized Zone (한반도 비무장지대)

As I promised before, this post is about my visit to Panmunjeom in South Korea. Before that I need to give some historical background.

The story of the division of the Koreas began with the Japanese occupation. After Japan lost the World War II Korea regained its independency, but ideological differencies between US and USSR made those two powers occupy different regions of the Korean peninsula after the war. US troops were at south of the 38th parallel and Soviet troops at north. As those two nations drifted further apart from each other to what would become the Cold War, the peninsula became further separated with different governments established.

In 1950, Kim Il-Sung, North Korea's ruler, dreaming of unification of the Koreas made an armed invasion to the south starting the Korean War. North Korean troops almost accomplished the objective of conquering the entire peninsula until the United States, fearing that Korea would fall into the hands of the communists, requested the UN to intenvene and deploy troops to the Korean peninsula.

That turned the tides of the battle, allowing this time the South to almost get control of the whole peninsula before Chinese troops joined the battle from the North's side. The battles reached a stalemate and finally a armistice (or cease-fire) treaty was signed between the involved parties separating the Koreas .

So, in a way, the Korean War actually never ended.

The armistice treaty included the demarcation of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), an area where installation of military facilities, station of armed troops and positioning of weapons are prohibited. The DMZ is a area that goes 2km apart from the Military Demarcation Line (MDL, the currently accepted border between North Korea and South Korea) to each side of the Koreas. Also, South Korea set a civilian off-limits line ranging between 5km to 20 km from the MDL.

Source: Wikipedia

Ironically, the Korean DMZ is actually the most militarized border in the world, and also said to be one of the most dangerous places. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, it also became the last Cold War frontier.

All that calls for a unique experience, right? That's what I thought when I decided to book a visit to Panmunjeom, or Joint Security Area (JSA). That area is the only place where North Korea and South Korea connect, and the place where all talks between the Koreas have been held since the armistice treaty was signed.

To add more spice to the mixture, there were joint military exercises between South Korean and US troops and the scheduled North Korean satellite launch. Those two factors made the North cut communications with the South and close its borders, elevating the tension between the Koreas when I went there.

They're quite strict with visits to the DMZ area, and the JSA in particular. Korean civilians need special permission to go, and foreigners must join a group tour having their passports checked many times on the way (also, people from certain nationalities aren't allowed). Those who go have also to sign a term of compromise exempting the UN from any harm - even death - caused to them while they were in the DMZ and not to do any offending gestures to soldiers there. There is also a dress code prohibiting anything resembling military outfits, torn jeans, short pants, sleevless tops and slippers.

There was an English tour and a Japanese tour. My friend and I decided to play safe and joined the English tour. There were even some members of US military there for the joint military exercises with South Korean troops I mentioned before...


The first stop on the way was Imjingak, the closest regular South Korean civilians can get to the DMZ and where families with ties to the North perform ancestral rites while longing for the unification. It is also the place where the Freedom Bridge is. That bridge connects North and South and was used by about 130,000 POWs to return home after the Korean War.

From there the tour went to Camp Bonifas, named after a JSA officer killed during the Ax Murder Incident (I'll come back to that incident later), for the briefing. The briefing of the English and Japanese tour groups was held together with both guides alternating in giving explanations. Since I also understand Japanese, it was quite interesting to listen to both and notice some differences. Perhaps one really worth writing was when they were giving the historical background, the Japanese version sort of emphasized the point that Korea was divided after the Japanese occupation. Maybe an attempt to show to Japanese people that they also have a part on the story as Japanese government minimizes or denies some acts of the Japanese during WWII.

Also interesting to note, Camp Bonifas also has what was once called the most dangerous golf course. I don't know if they still hold that title, though.


From Camp Bonifas to Panmunjeom, where the highlight was peeking at North Korea at the other side and even taking some steps into it - only inside the blue MAC buildings, of course. Those buildings are where both sides hold talks face to face (when it happens, which is not often), and microphones from both sides record every sound in the room.

The next stop was Sentry Post Number 3 from where it is also possible to look at North Korean territory and Gijong-Dong, a North Korean village inside the DMZ. One funny story regarding this village and its South Korean counterpart, Daesongdong, is that both have a pole with a flag of the country the village belongs. Originally, the North Korean pole was built to be taller than the South Korean one. Eventually, South government decided to remodel its pole to match the heights. Very shortly after that North Korea also makes its pole taller and kept the title of tallest pole in the world...

Back to the Ax Murder Incident, the final stop around Panmunjeom was the monument where once stood the poplar tree that triggered the incident. That tree blocked the visibility between Sentry Post Number 3 and the South Korean sentry post at the Bridge of No Return. As workers and some South Korean troops attempted to trim the tree, North Korean soldiers demanded that they stop. Ignoring the command, they countinued to trim until other North Korean troops arrived with clubs and axes and attacked UN personnel involved in cutting the tree. As UN troops are authorized to draw their weapons if North Korean troops shoot at them, using white weapons was a clever way to prevent strong retaliation. Some JSA officers and soldiers were wounded or killed during the incident.

That triggered the Operation Paul Bunyan, the most expensive tree chopping operation in History, to remove the poplar tree. With a back up of an armed platoon, 27 helicopters, and a number of B-52 bombers (!!) the tree was finally removed and now a monument stands at its original place. From that incident security guards of either side have been prohibited from crossing the MDL to the other side (before, the whole JSA used to be a "real" joint security area between the Koreas).

To conclude the tour, a visit to a souvenir shop inside Camp Bonifas. Although I wasn't expecting that - no offense intended -, with Japanese tourists involved it is no surprise...

Talking to our guide on the way back, I heard some interesting curiosities about the DMZ. For example, North Koreans also visit the DMZ from the North's side. And, unlike tourists from the South that have many restrictions to avoid problems with the North, visitors from the North are allowed to wave to soldiers (even soldiers from the South), point at them, take pictures where South tours usually can't and have less time restrictions (sometimes they stay very long inside the MAC buildings to prevent tourists from the South from entering). And all that is used as propaganda by the North Korean government, saying that people from the North have "more freedom" than their South counterparts. Clever propaganda, I have to admit...

More pictures of the Korean DMZ tour are in my Korea album.

Korea (대한민국) - Part 2

Continuing the trip in Korea...


March 14th. In Seoul, my friend and I went to Deoksugung Palace in the city's downtown. By pure luck we were there when they were having some event that reminded me the Change of the Guard in London, although the Korean one is just a recreation of the original (the palace used to be off limits to ordinary people). Some Western buildings also present at the palace grounds are used today as the National Museum of contemporary Art and part of the Royal Museum. There was some interesting exibitions on Korean art, but we could only see parts of it since we had somewhere else to go...

That place was a tour to Panmunjeom. The only place where North and South Korea hold talks together. The division built during the Cold War that still exists today. That was THE place I wanted to go in Korea. So much that I think it is worth a separate post that I'll upload soon.

After the tour, we decided to check Dongdaemun area, famous for its fabric and clothing markets. Even though we couldn't find the most famous shopping complex (it is open at late night, so probably we wouldn't see too much even if we found the place), we managed to go around some shops and buy something. Some areas reminded me of Cuidad del Este in Paraguay or 25 de Março in São Paulo, and it was strange being in that kind of environment again after years in Japan... I should be exposed to that more often or I may get unused to it.


The next day was also the last full day in Korea. Planning on visiting places around Seoul at least we went first to Gyeongbokgung Palace, the grandest of all palaces in Seoul. It is really large and our first spot where we felt like we were at a touristic spot. All of our previous destinations didn't had too many people around. And checking the story of the palace I realised something that Marilia also wrote on her blog: this palace, as many of the Korean historical sites, were reconstructed after they were destroyed by the Japanese. And seeing that makes us think about the complicated relationships between Korea (China, too) and Japan.

From the palace we went to the Insa-Dong market to look for souvenirs. That market displays many traditional goods and has many galleries around. A lively place especially on Sundays, when it becomes a pedestrian-only street.

The COEX Mall was the next destination. It is a huge shopping mall with many large stores, theater, night clubs and even a grand aquarium. The mall is located in Gangnam, where we strolled around later. That neighborhood may be considered the "new downtown" as its urbanization is relatively new and it became one of the most prosperous urban areas of the city.


On March 16th we just packed our stuff and headed to Incheon airport, still being able to watch some traditional Korean instruments performance there before returning to Japan...

If I have something I regret I didn't do in Korea was looking better for game centers. I actually tried looking for some, but couldn't find one it was said to be good. My main objective was looking for a place with a good Pump it Up machine and watch some good players since I used to play that game and still feel very nostalgic about it. This game is not available in Japan, and even after going to the country where it was created I just went to a regular game center by chance at Insa-Dong and to a crappy game center in COEX Mall (despite bad reviews I still believed they had changed... I was wrong). At least I played a little... and missed those days playing with friends in Brazil...

As a side note, we noticed far more girls in game centers in Korea than in Japan or Brazil. I wonder if video games are more popular among girls there. If that's true, I have to admit that Korean girls got some more points with me.

Korea seems more similar to Brazil than Japan. Especially if I were to define Seoul in a few words I'd say it's somewhere between São Paulo and Tokyo. Although in at least one point they're far more advanced - perhaps even more than Japan: internet connectivity. It is easy to be online. According to a manual (we couldn't check if it was true), even some post offices in Seoul have hotspots with free internet connection.

The T-money card system is also quite interesting. It is basically a technology for "virtual money" to be used to pay public transportation fares. It can also be used instead of debt cards in convenience stores and other businesses. Also because the rechargable devices are not only cards, but even devices as keyholders and mobile phone straps.

Still, talking to my friend we agreed that the most outstanding feature of Koreans is how they are "normal" by our standards. Fashion doesn't have as many extravagances as we see in Japan. That difference is more perceptible on the way girls dress themselves - to the point that we often could recognize Japanese girls in the crowd just by the way they dress.

More than fashion, Korea seems closer to Brazil (than Japan) in human relationship. According to a Brazilian friend living in Korea (who unfortunately I couldn't meet), Koreans are quite closed to outsiders. But once you manage to enter the group they're not too different from Latin Americans, for example. And quite hot-tempered too. Trains are a place where we noticed that. There was more conversation going on a train, while in Japan in many cases it seems to exist a non-spoken code asking for silence in such situations.

Finally, it was pretty weird explaining to people where did we come from. We actually came from Japan, but our countries of origin are different. Besides, both have Asian descendancy so we don't look like the image people have from our countries (European and Latin American)... Sometimes it was just simpler saying we were Japanese.

For those wishing to see more pics, check my Picasa album.

Korea (대한민국) - Part 1

Spring vacation with a strong yen. That asks for a trip aborad, right? Actually, this trip was basically a last-second decision after being invited by a friend. I postponed the decision to the last second since I also had a lot on my mind, so we had to make all preparations and planning in one week. Then I went to South Korea from March 11th to 16th.

One observation I should make before I start: I don't speak anything in Korean. Neither does Theang (the friend who invited me). So, without being able to communicate in the local language, our alternatives were other languages we know. And in many cases, Japanese works better than English. Well, Japan and Korea are geographically close anyway... besides, the strong yen and the weakened won made Korea a shopping paradise for Japanese.

March 11th. That was a "basic reconnaissance" day. From Kansai Airport to Incheon Airport and then to the hostel (guest house) in Seoul. A very nice one in fact. And since it is close to Hongik University we decided to walk around Hongdae (famous for its nightlife), explore the surroundings and get something to eat. Since we can't take spicy food (which excluded good part of Korean cuisine from our possibility list), that was a little adventure by itself... an adventure that failed in some way because what we ate was quite spicy in my point of view.

Next day we moved from Seoul to Busan - Korea's secong largest city and the only big city that wasn't taken by the North during the Korean War - using the high-speed rail service KTX. The main plan for Busan was meeting a Korean friend - Kyeongsuk - and do some sightseeing together. With someone able to read and communicate in Korean, our lives became a lot easier.


Our first destination was Haedong Yonggungsa Temple along the shore. That characteristic gives it a different atmosphere; different even than other temples by the shore I've been (like Itsukushima Shrine in Miyajima). A little far from the city, but reachable by bus. Nevertheless, after that bus ride I'll think twice before using a bus in Busan thanks to a crazy driver that thinks he's racing or something alike! And Kyeongsuk said that is common... Scary.

After surviving the bus ride, we went to Gwangalli Beach. Although the beach is famous for its fine sand, it was already night and the weather wasn't so warm. Our objective was to see a bridge from the beach and walk around for a while until our stomaches began to complain and we headed to Seomyeon - the main commercial area in Busan - to find something to eat.

Our local guide went through some trouble to find something not spicy for her guests, and still we thought it was spicy... Sorry for our low resistance to spicy food. Refueled, we went to a 24h store to chat until around three in the morning, when we took a taxi back to our hostel in Busan and our guide went back to her house. Very nice to see you again Kyeongsuk! And 감사합니다

On March 13th we went to yet another city: Gyeongju, the ancient capital of the Silla Kingdom for almost a thousand years. It has a large cultural value, although it is not a large city anymore and many of its structures were destroyed during the war with the Japanese and the Korean War. We went there by bus, and arriving at the bus station we were greeted by on old man (well, not so old) who was offering taxi services. According to him, the city public transportation system is not so practical for tourists (and that seems to be true) so he'd recommend we took a taxi. And he offered a service to use taxi for a whole day for a fixed price. Interesting enough, the entire conversation was held in Japanese; and the taxi driver also spoke Japanese. We were taken as Japanese tourists at the beginning, I suppose... We accepted, but with some reluctance it would be a tourist trap we were with our guards up.

Our suspicions proved to be unfounded. The tour went well and the taxi driver was nice.

The first stop was to see the Buddha statues in Bae-ri. Those three statues have the same basic design, but have different expressions and peculiarities.

Next was Poseokjeongji, located where a royal villa previously existed. A relaxation place, nobles used to gather at the place to drink wine and recite poems.

The next spots were the reason we went to Gyeongju. Seokguram Grotto, a Cultural Heritage site, is an artificial stone temple built to protect statues of the Bonjon Statue, Bodhi-sattva and his disciples. There was also a thick fog there, which gave a special atmosphere to the place.


From there, the second World Cultural Asset site is Bulguksa Temple. The temple has an impressive architecture and some interesting explanations (that I overheard from a Japanese guided tour). I particularly like one feature of seeing the Buddha face from a hole in a lantern. Different people see the statue from different positions (mainly because of height difference). That represents the difference between people.

With still some time, our next destination was Gyeongju National Museum. This museum features many relics from Buddhist sculptures and crown to household goods. The museum grounds also have features like King Seongdeok’s Bell, the largest bell in Korea and one of the largest of the world.


Finally, by the end of the day we had lunch... and what a lunch. We basically wrapped the food around the vegetables and ate. I guess the name was Ssam or something similar...

With the day coming to an end, we finished our tour around Gyeongju and returned by bus to Seoul.

The Korean saga continues...

Business Cost

Talking to people from different backgrounds brings some interesting insights. In times of economic meltdown and all the crisis people around the globe are even getting tired to hear about (and feel too), companies are looking for ways to cut costs.

One of the most usual ways is firing people. We have been seeing that around the globe. And Japan is no exception. So much that Japan is offering some money to some foreign workers to go back home... and don't come back. Anyway, that's a different subject. The point is that some people don't think that firing people is the best solution (and to defend Japanese companies, neither do they. Work-sharing approachs are on the rise).

I agree with that point of view, but what to do then? Although the problem has no simple solution, I've been in contact with some Japanese companies lately (because of job hunting and other activities) and I get impressed with some costs that, as individuals, we'd find outrageous.

Costs with transportation and telephones are one example. Companies often pay for transportation of its employees (when it is something work-related) - which even was the source of some scandals - and business calls. One example that surprised me a little was when a employee was calling a Brazilian company to discuss sales... from a mobile phone. I can hardly imagine how much a one-hour call bill would be.

I am not saying that companies should cut these benefits altogether, but regarding the "communication" part, Chinese friends say that many companies in China are using instant messaging tools as Skype or MSN or another program that is popular in China (I forgot the name) for business. Even if it is only for customer support.

Example: you need to look for a hotel. You check the hotel's web page and want to ask something, or even ask for the reservation already. The page has a link to their Skype/MSN/etc. account, so you can access, talk directly to an employee and solve your doubts.

I have to admit there are some risks as well, but the system is interesting. Even more considering that so many companies in other countries actually forbid their employees to use such software at work.