(Eng version) Japan, Osaka. Finally The Rising Sun Land.

Japan. 

Finally.

For travel, for life, for the culture and for a friend whom I haven’t seen for the last 20 years, and in somehow helped me to take this choice of travel life.

I arrived in Japan from Hong Kong, after 5 days with Gayle, where I visited my good friends Nika and Lindsey, lovely persons as always. Then finally I bought my new camera. I have been almost one year without shooting photos, quite impressive for me.

Japan, and the very first day I’m already in love.

Sadly I have just 20 days now, but it would be enough, at least for this time, I’ll be back as it’s very close to my base in the Philippines, so I consider myself very lucky.

I arrived after a night without sleep (just one hour on the airplane), after landing I was almost two hours at immigration, late in the night, I wasn’t expecting this from the great Japanese organization, honestly. I seemed to be in Africa, not in Japan, but it’s ok, the first train it would be at 5:30 in the morning, I just wanted to sleep a bit, maybe on the bench at the airport, as I was so tired…

So, early morning I’m already around Osaka. A quiet city, it looks calm, organized, and clean like never anywhere before. Everything over organized for an Italian point of view, there are also private, personal parking lots for bicycles!

Sadly the Sakura here isn’t ready yet, due to the cold so I just plan to move straight to Tokyo where the cherry blossom (Sakura) is about to be at its peak, the day after.

Morning around the city, walking to start to understand this new culture for me. Typical breakfast (here it looks like to be toast, egg and coffee, I’m going miss my juice and my fruit salads). I already understood that my veganism will go to hell, I’ll pass vegetarian, but inside myself I know, I’m gonna pass pescatarian , as often it happens when I’m traveling. It means I’m going do my sins with raw tuna. The greatest and most delicious food on this planet, sadly for the tuna of course. I mean I already lost 2 kg since I started the trip to Hong kong, I cannot cope with this. I’m very tired as I didn’t actually sleep, but at the end of the day I find myself with 20 kms on my belt… I walk a lot, unstoppable, I look like the bullet train, just as slow as a snail.

First thing that I really notice, as I said, it’s the organization and the fact that everything is super clean, not even leaves under the tree, it looks so unreal.

Then the scent, this city has an amazing smell on the air, but I really cannot define it, I just take it and love it.

The other thing that hit my mind is that She (my mind) made an incredible link between Japan and India. India? How does it happen that I am reminded of the most disorganized place on Earth, the most dirty, chaotic and stinky and improvised with this incredible “perfect”place? Well, it is because of the colors. Yes, they have this incredible connection, colors. I’m not here to remind you or explain to you the colors of Mother India, because I guess it is more or less on the collective imagination of everyone. Like there, everything here is super colored, tons of colors on every corner, you look down on the ground, at the station, a lot of signals, numbers, ideograms, all colored differently. So many amazing warming colors, it’s jsut so beautiful and unexpecrted to me. I’m addicted to colors (main reason why two years ago I went there, in India, to the Holi, the festival of colors).

I’m so in love with this country already. I’m loving everything.

I also didn’t expect so many Harley-Davidson guys here, I always have pictured in my mind street super fast japanese bikes all around, I mean, you know, Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki… No, Osaka is about Harley Fucking Davidson. I love you more and more.

The days pass quite fast, and at the same time it’s so long, I'm seeing so much, I'm learning so much, I'm experiencing a lot and it makes me feel alive. Like every time, to travel is to live, nothing is like traveling. My mind runs back to the moment when I’ve decided to do this, to travel for life and I laugh, I laugh a lot, I’m too happy to contain it, to leave has been the best decision ever, again, and it’s almost 7 years now, I guess I did a couple of times the world tour, but I’m in Osaka, Japan. Amazing, Awesome.

The day ends in a magic whiskey bar, the owner Shiinoya San, bought it 15 years ago from a friend of his, but the bar is one of the oldest in Osaka, 70 y.o. Real vintage, when they have opened, upstairs there is a brothel (Again? How is it that I always end up in these places), but after few years prostitution became, sadly, very sadly, illegal also here in the Land of the Rising Sun. Shiinoya San pours me two different Japanese Whiskey, I love them, it was just the old bartender and me, chatting, then he gives me a saki to try, delicious. Tiny, hidden, magical, somehow romantic place. Unforgettable.

So the Land of the Rising Sun started to treat me so good from the very first day, with a smile on my face and on my heart I find my way home, walking in the night, last 3 kms, the emotions are a lot, I love you world. I love you Japan.

Harigaou.