Mr.Sparkle's VirtualTourist Home Page

Well, back from Australia and some tips up, but no pix. sorry, just too busy to upload pix these days.

so, what's next you ask??? Looks like its South Korea for a very Kimchi Christmas.

Hopefully I can do some VT meets there. feel free to contact me to find out about meets.

some wonderful pictures of sake now up ;-)

"Is there nothing we can't learn when we look to the east?"- Captain Murphy of Sealab

1. How and why to take a bath. Don't laugh, its true.

2. How to look at flowers.

3. Why paper is so cool.

Um, this is a work in process! More to come later.

I�'ve really tried to put up a lot on the Hokuriku part of Japan (Kanazawa, Toyama and Fukui). My Japan page isn't looking too shabby these days either. Just for kicks you should really check out my Thailand page, not for the great tips or pictures, but for the laughs. Read my all about my mishaps with VT on my Thailand page.

As well, try to check out some of my photos. I love to shoot. And rate tips if you think they're good, or bad.

"These are dangerous streets for us upper-lower-middle class types, so avoid eye contact, watch your pocketbook, and suspect everyone."

Other good advice when traveling is;

-Wash your feet! Do your feet feel like sandpaper? That's not so sexy! Take a raw bar of soap and rub it on the souls of your feet. You should see a dramatic improvement after a few weeks, if you don't, see a podiatrist!

-Avoid anyone who approaches you on a street and speaks English.

-Take a picture. In fact, any good photographer will tell you take more than a few pictures. If you take a few pictures of the same thing you increase your chances of getting something special, or at least in focus. What have you got to lose, especially in these days of machine gun digital cameras? You can always delete anything unwanted anyways.

-Take a picture for someone. Come on, you've seen lots of couples or groups of people taking pictures of each other but are unable to get a group a shot. Don't make them ask, offer! It's good karma!

-Reduce your carbon footprint. We're all travelers here, which mean we all make pollution and waste by flying and such. REDUCE anyway you can and not just on vacation.

For example...

-I use a bicycle to get work everyday, rain or shine.

-I recycle my old plastic grocery bag by reusing when I go back to the store. You use the same bag like 5 or 6 times, especially if they're thick.

-I don't use electric doors. Whenever possible I use the normal kind of door, you know, the one you have to grab hold of and use your muscles to open.

-I don't use elevators or escalators. I use those old fashion things called stairs. very good for your muscles.

Find a way and do it!

-Exercise in the morning. After sleeping all night you need to get internal organs working after you wake. Take ten minutes and do some stretches and various exercises like sit-ups and push-ups. You'll find you have much energy and vigor all day long because of it.

Traveling Japan has become main focus these last few years. The country is rich with culture and history. Celebrations and festivals will greatly differ from region to region and even from city to city. In my travels here I have met many wonderful people and seen some amazing things. I would like to visit every Prefecture in Japan (there are 47 in all), though I think I will never accomplish this goal. Here's where I've been so far

1. Hokkaido
2. Aomori
3. Akita
4. Iwate
5. Yamagata
6. Miyagi
7. Niigata
8. Fukushima
9. Ishikawa
10. Toyama
11. Fukui
12. Gifu
13. Nagano
14. Aichi
15. Shiga
16. Yamanashi
17. Shizuoka
18. Tochigi
19. Saitama
20. Ibaraki-ken
21. Chiba
22. Tokyo
23. Kanagawa
24. Osaka
25. Kyoto
26. Mie
27. Nara
28. Wakayam
29. Hyogo
30. Okayama
31. Hiroshima
32. Shimane
33. Tottori
34. Yamaguchi
35. Kagawa
36. Ehime
37. Kochi
38. Fukuoka

39. where will I go next??? Can I come visit your prefecture??? Looks like I'll driving down to Kyushu next. Got to push my ken count over 40!

That's 38 in all. Only 10 prefectures left to visit!

What does traveling to a prefecture mean? Well, its not just passing through cause that doesn't count! In all the prefectures I've been to I've done at least four of these... stayed over night/eaten the local food/seen an important sight/visited one than one city/visited multiple times/driven through in my own car/meet the local people/sampled the local sake/gotten lost.

The other thing I've come to love are Japanese castles. Most Japanese will mistakenly tell you that most of their castles were bombed by the Americans in WWII. This is simply not true. In fact, it was the Japanese themselves who dismantled the majority of their own castles when unifying the country. The second most common demise for Japanese castle is from lightning. Of the 100 hundred castles that use to dot Japan only 12 originals remain. I have now seen all 12.

1. Himeji Castle (Hyogo-ken)
2. Matsumoto Castle (Nagano-ken)
3. Iyo Matsuyama Castle (Shikoku)
4. Kochi Castle (Shikoku)
5. Inuyama Castle (Aichi-ken)
6. Maruoka Castle (Fukui-ken)
7. Marugame Castle (Shikoku)
8. Hirosaki Castle (Aomori-ken)
9. Uwajima Castle (Shikoku)
10. B!tchu Matsuyama Castle (Japan's Highest Castle) (Okayama-ken)
11. Hikone Castle (Shiga-ken)
12. Matsue Castle (Shimane-ken)

Reconstructed castles and castle ruins I've been to;

13. Kanazawa jo (Ishikawa-ken)
14. Nagoya jo (Aichi-ken)
15. Hida Takayama *ruined (Gifu-ken)
16. Shuri jo (Okinawa Honto)
17. Morioka jo *ruined (Iwate-ken)
18. Kakunodate jo *ruined (Akita-ken)
19. Sendai jo *ruined (Miyagi-ken)
20. Aizu Wakamatsu jo (Fukushima-ken)
21. Nanao Castle *ruined (Ishikawa-ken)
22. Kawagoe Castle (Saitama-ken)
23. Gifu Castle (Gifu-ken)
24. Osaka Castle (Osaka-ken)
25. Okayama Castle (Okayama-ken)
26. Hiroshima Castle (Hiroshima-ken)
27. Iwakuni Castle (Iwakuni-ken)
28. Tsuwano Castle *ruined (Shimane-ken)
29. Fukuoka Castle *ruined (Fukuoka-ken)
30. Zakimi Castle *ruined (Okinawa honto)
31. Nakijin Castle *ruined (Okinawa honto)
32. Shiroyama Castle *ruined (Nigata-ken)
33. Mito Castle ruined (Ibaraki-ken)
34. Kakegawa Jo (Shizuoka-ken)
35. Kakegawa Jo * ruined (Shizuoka-ken)
36. Sumpu Castle (Shizuoka-ken)
37. Fujieta Jo (Shizuoka-ken)

3 top scenic spots in japan, which I have been to.

1. Matsushima (Miyagi-ken)
2. Miyajima (Hiroshima-ken)
3. Amanohashidate (Kyoto-ken)

3 top gardens of Japan (two down, one to go!)...

1. Kenroku-en (Ishsikawa-ken)
2. Kairoku-en (Ibaraki-ken)
3. Heading to number 3 in the future, I hope!

The top 3 scared Mountains in Japan, which I've been on.

1. Fuji-san (3,776m) Shizuoka-ken
2. Hakusan (2,702m) Ishikawa-ken
3. Tateyama (actually, I went in the winter and took a bus to the top to see the snow road, so I really didn't hike up this one, but its on my list of things to do.) Toyama-ken

Other Mountains I've hiked in Japan (there's a few more, but I can't remember now)

4. Mt. Takao
5. Osore-zan
6. Hakkida-san
7. Dewa-sanzan
8. Zai-san
9. Yamadera-san
10. Kinkazan
11. Usu-san
12. Kamikochi
13. Tsukuba-san 877 and 871, respectively! Number 100 on the list of Japanese 100 best mountains.

the cause of and solution to all of life problems!

I know some of you are sorry to see my beer section go, but it is time for a change of sorts. You can easily find information on beer and its many uses on the internet. This section will now be dedicated to Japanese SAKE that I have sampled and loved.

As of Wednesday May 14, 2008...
THE KANAZAWA SAKE PRESERVATION (and APPRECIATION) SOCIETY was founded.

Preserving the old ways from being abused
Protecting the new ways for me and for you
What more can we do?
God save Kanazawa sake!

Thanks for a great first year. I meet a lot of great people here at VT and have really enjoyed talking with everyone. I hope the coming years see more travel, meetings and fun.

Final Rookie Rating: 25
Total Rookie page views: 1,624

Have a banana!

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LEGAL MUMBO-JUMBO: Photographic and written material presented on these pages associated with Mr.Sparkle�'s travel are only intended for use on said pages and promotion limited to Mr.Sparkle. Photos and text may not be copied or duplicated for the use on other websites or publication for any reason without written notification and approval by myself. Any theft of material will result in swift legal action.

DISCLAIMER: All tips, deals, prices ect ect were accurate at the time of writing. I take no responsibility for changes in location, price ect ect. My advice is suited to my likes and goals, which might differ from yours. You might find something I�'ve advised to be inaccurate from your perspective and for that I apologize, but being that we are all different it can�'t be helped. Besides, tips and guides are the starting point, not the ending point. They are suppose to help you get going, so get out there and make your own way.