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Open this time capsule in six billion years to discovery incriminating drug crime evidence

B R

09 May 2023 — 4 min read

20 April, 2023 | Tokyo, Japan

I’ve gotten the question as to why I chose these specific countries to visit - and I think it’s worth describing the paths I had considered but not taken.

Taiwan: Monsoon season. Just timing.

Vietnam: I’m not an accomplished traveler and I feel like this one is worth prepping for and getting some more experience under my belt. Next time.

Bali: I’ll probably do this at some point but I got the impression it’s a tourist trap with some nice beaches. I was just in some nice beaches and I’m an urban nerd.

Thailand: Honestly, the wikitravel page is almost entirely devoted to scams and warnings about sex tourism and that threw me off. Also I really like urban areas and their biggest one is mostly known for being one of the hottest city on earth.

Singapore: Hell yeah just in time for 4/20! Smoke weed ~~everyday~~ precisely one day and be tortured and imprisoned for life.

It’s worth noting Japan does have some of the strongest penalties in the world for cannabis possession or use - a cool thing they picked up from the United States during its occupation of Japan. Before this, it was a common medicine and likely the drug of choice by commoners, as sake was monopolized by the upper classes who controlled the rice supply.

But let’s talk more about the history of Japan in the form of random things I found in the Tokyo National Museum. We blast right into some Buddhism:

The Four Heavenly Kings at each corner represent gods of north, south, east, and west. The figure in the middle a hell of a name: The Thousand-Armed Bodhisattva Kannon - “The Buddhist god Kannon has many forms. In this one, his "thousand" arms represent his ability to save everyone in need.”

One thing unrelated to the content: extremely pleased there were places all over to rest, in this and every museum in east Asia I visited.

Just chill with the weird disembodied head that the camera keeps zooming in on with ominous music. It is kinda weird it disappeared when someone else entered the room. And the TV isn’t plugged in actually?

FINALLY some little guys. Japan has a bunch. This one is Juro, the God of Good Fortune, but I was desperate to find stuff like the human-faced dog or the one that looks like a totally normal person but they can stretch their neck indefinitely. I was disappointed here but stay tuned.

Japan fucking loves time capsules. Here, an art museum in Tokyo, and Osaka Castle and like a bunch of other places I don’t recall. This one is a little optimistic, what with the increased luminosity from the sun boiling the oceans away and all life ceasing to exist well before we open it, but I admire the spirit.

A thousand tomb statues and we finally find one seemingly happy to be there.

I was running low on time because I spend a LOT of time doing a bunch of final trip planning - e.g., getting to and staying in Seoul and getting a flight from there back to the United States. The museum had decent internet and a great deal of seating and I took advantage of it.

Wandering almost aimlessly around Shinjuku after, I walked into a restaurant I clearly did not understand the basic premise of:

The extreme effort put into meat quality and standards means that eating raw chicken and cow (and, you will observe above, horse) is a thing here.

After having whatever the most cooked thing I could find on that menu - and like two more things just to tempt fate (I was fine) - I ran off to a nearby bar that had a theme.