I began the day by being gently rocked awake by a small earthquake. I remember opening my eyes and seeing the doors shake and hearing a rumbling sound. It was over in about 5 seconds. I might not even have noticed it if Pete had not slid the door open between us and told me. After surviving my first earthquake we departed early to catch what was billed as an international festival along the banks of a river nearby. It took over an hour on the subway to get there and when we did all the festival had to offer was a few lousy punk bands and some overpriced food. It was interesting to see so many foreigners in one place and I was reminded of how homogenous the population of Japan is. Over 99% of the people here are native Japanese. As we were riding on the train I was struck by the sheer size of the massive urban area that is the Kansai district. The three main cities that compose the area are Osaka, Kobe, and Kyoto. Each has grown to such a size that the borders between them have become blurred. The resulting megalopolis is frighteningly large. A lack of green space, pollution and severe overpopulation combine to make for a claustrophobic environment. When you are walking in the urban canyons and your line of sight is limited by the buildings along the street, it seems unique and interesting. It is only when you ride the trains and see the sprawl before you that you realize how indistinct and characterless the landscape is. Acre upon acre of apartments, ramen shops, malls and factories. Alas, I digress. After the festival we take a train to a central part of Osaka and go to one of the largest malls I have ever seen. It is six stories tall and long enough so that I never got an accurate gauge of its complete dimensions.
The mall was so big that it had an enormous Ferris wheel protruding from its roof that you could enter from its highest floor. Perhaps the most interesting thing I saw in the mall was the new PlayStation II from Sony. This latest generation video game console has yet to debut in the US but is sure to be a blockbuster. The graphics were sharp and fluid.
After Visiting the Mall Pete and I went for a walk to a subway stop along the line that runs by his house. We crossed a scenic river and some interesting government buildings.