Wedding Enkai

On November 22, 2008, we had our first wedding enkai. (Enkai, remember, is just a dinner party--usually with an open bar.)
Mizuma Chugakko (Jr. High) Women

This enkai was held for our Kyushu people. About 28 people showed up. A few more might have shown up had they been given more notice and if the elementary school that I go to not had a real wedding the day after our enkai.

Mizuma Kominkan (Community Center) Folks
From Left to right, that is Maggie, Nagata-san, Nariko, Tanaka-san, me and Mutsumi over Tamamitsu-san and Tanaka-san.

The date is supposed to be auspicious: 11/22. Couples day. Not sure about the whole reason, something to do with the numbers...

The restaurant was nice, it was not a traditional enkai restaurant. They made their own sweet potato chips and served a mushroom soup in a pumpkin (pumpkins here are green and a little smaller than your average US pumpkin). Unfortunately, Mutsumi and I were talking so much we did not really eat. I did manage to drink to much though; if anyone sees your glass is low, they fill it up, and, as I was talking to almost everybody, everybody kept filling mine up.

I should have taken more pictures.

Araki Shogakko (Elementary)

From left to right--Me and Mutsumi, Shingai-sensei, Egami-sensei, Nagano-san, Nagano baby, and Nagano-sensei

Near the end, Emily and Nariko got up and did a duet, Take the A Train. That was great!

I did not get a picture of the men from Mizuma Chugakko or most of my Gaijin friends. Shoganai! (That means `Oh, well` or `C`est la vie!`)

At the end, Tanaka-san was very tired--and a little drunk. We over stayed our welcome by more than 30 minutes. We were having a good time, and I, the host, didn`t pay attention!

Unzen

Back in October, Mutsumi and I went to Unzen.

Unzen is a volcano south of where I live. It has created its own penisula, just to the east of Nagasaki. It last erupted in 1991 when is continued to spew lava and ash sporadically through 1995. On a clear day, I can see it from my apartment. (Don`t worry Ma, I am safe!)

Because of the volcanic activity, there are hot springs there. There is a small town that rests in the cradle of the mountains just south of the volcano. The town smells like sulfur but has great hot baths which the Japanese call onsens. This sign entreats you to enjoy the hot water as long as you can.

You won`t find a picture of an onsen here, besides the fact that I would not take my camera in with all that water, most people would be offended that some idiot was taking their picture while they were bathing. Wouldn`t you?

The hot springs are called Hells in Japanese. Try to imagine being in one for eternity...

Ah, you get the idea!

Japanese devils/demons are called Oni.

This oni is in Beppu, one of THE hot spring centers in Japan (it has the most hot spring activity anywhere in the world outside of Yellowstone). I will tell you about Beppu another time, but I had to show you the picture!

The Japanese have quite a tourist industry set up around their natural hot springs. The onsens that are attached to these are supposed to be better for you, curing everything from rheumetism to eczema... Unzen has some huge hotels.

Buildings

Last year, I watched three houses be built very quicky on a road I use coming home from school. I thought it might be a good thing to take pictures and show what happens here when they build things. But I did not do it--the houses went up so fast.

Then, this spring, a new building was built across the street. It is a dentist`s office. Should have done the same thing, taken pictures, but didn`t do it.

This summer, I noticed that they were tearing out what was sort of a garden/yard of a house I pass everyday. I know the woman that lives there, she works at the community center (kominkan) and says hello to me all the time. I was disappointed to see the trees go that were there. Then I saw the land flattened and I guessed they were going to build another house. When I came back from America in September, the house was finished. It sat very close to other house of the woman who says hi to me.

Then, her house was gone.

One Tuesday three weeks ago (I don`t go by on Mondays), I went by and saw her house was gone. Totally. The land was flat and clear next to the new house. Another week went by, with some municipal work under the street and then I figured out they were going to build another new house, this time on the plot of the old house. They poured foundations and let them dry. With the rain we had that week (Sept 25-28), they covered things with tarp. I finally figured I should take a picture. I used my phone and this is the picture I took on Thursday, October 2.

Then, Monday, October 6, I had a change of plans and had to go by the area and took this picture. No joke. They did that work over the weekend!

I heard they make pre-fab houses in boxes and import them from Canada. That is the only explanation I can give.

Mutsumi and I wonder at these houses. They have to have next to no insulation--few houses in JP do. I wonder how they do in an earthquake...

BIG BOY

Yes, they still have Big Boy Restaurants in Japan.

I took these pictures to send X96, a radio station in Utah. They sent me the shirt. Once in a while, I go somewhere weird and have my picture taken with the shirt. They then post it on their website: http://x96.com/rfh. If you scroll down, they have a section called RFH Photos. One of those sections is called Boners around the World (sic).

Besides Big Boy Restaurants, they also have Denny`s here (oh man! I just realized I never got to Denny`s while I was home!). You can look at the Big Boy menu here: http://www.bigboyjapan.co.jp/bigboy/menu_east/index.html. If you don`t have Japanese fonts on your computer, the pages may look like a bunch of goobleydeygook--sorry! There will be some English though, and you can just click on the pictures. Lots of meat there. How about that egg on a steak? Nope, sorry, no breakfast items. Denny`s is the same: http://www.dennys.jp/dny/index.html.

Other similar restaurants are Ringer Hut and Joyfull. There are more, I can`t remember all their names. The items they serve are, I think, usually called Yoshoku. So much meat that I have never been to any of them! Mutsumi says they are gross, but my students seem to like them.

Kumamoto-jo

In the spring, we went to Kumamoto-jo (-jo just means castle).

Kumamoto-ken is the prefecture just south of mine (Fukuoka-ken) and Kumamoto-shi is the major city. The castle is where the first major battle between the traditionalist samurai and the modern leaning government took place that was depicted in The Last Samurai (only it was not an American helping them, more like a few Europeans). It is called the Satsuma Rebellion.

The castle is now 401 years old. They rebuilt the hall that was the main socializing area (the Lord`s Inner Hall) for the 400th anniversary--only they didn`t finish it in time. When we went, it had only been open for a couple of months. It was very nice. It was made with a light-colored yellow wood that was in strong contrast to the black keep, towers and walls.

As a matter of fact, Kumamoto-jo is called the Black Castle because of the blackness. Osaka-jo is called the white castle. I still have pictures from last year posted below that you can see and the castle behind me in the picture on the upper right is Osaka-jo.

Kumamoto-jo is one of the three best castles in Japan. The Japanese love classifying things as the best in a category. I always get mystified when they ask me what is my favorite something or other what is the best because I don`t always think like that as a general rule. When I am asked what is my favorite country to have visited, I always balk--how do you answer that? The people everywhere I go are great--why would I say anyone was better than another? I can only have one favorite food? For a list of the top three things in many categories, go to http://wikitravel.org/en/Japan%27s_Top_3#Three_Famous_Gardens.

The castle, like most, has been rebuilt. This was started in 1960. Most of the damage came from the Satsuma Rebellion. One corner tower on the wall is the only thing left undestroyed. It has been renovated, but it is still considered an original structure, 400 years old!

Ever wondered what the facilities in a fuedal Japanese castle look like?

Kumamoto was just an hour drive south of my place. Mutsumi and I went with one of my students from the adult English conversation class (eikaiwa) I taught last winter. He came with his wife and two young boys. His name is Goichi--I am afraid I do not remember the rest of their names. The picture is Goichi and his oldest son.

Godzilla

I just did the first post that I had done in about three months, and I have about five minutes to do another: Godzilla. I know you thought he was a lot taller, but he was still scary enough to make me run. And scream.

Shimabara-jo

In May, Katie, Arthur and I went to a nearby castle, Shimabara-jo (the -jo on the end just means castle). It is in Nagasaki prefecture. We drove in my car about an hour south to a ferry, took a 45 minute ferry ride, and then drove for another 45 min. south from there on the Nagasaki penisula (on the east side, Nagasaki City is on the west).

Shimabara-jo is famous for being one of last places the Japanese Christians stood their ground before being all but wiped out.

From the top, we could see easily in all directions--there was little of the standard haze. To the west is the bay, with Kumamoto on the farside--I will talk about Kumamoto-jo shortly in another blog. To the north (and a little east) I could see my area, albeit it faintly. To the west, very near, is Mt. Unzen (Unzen-san) a fairly active volcano. When it blew just over 200 years ago it created the worst tsunami in Japanese history. (I am hoping to go there this weekend--maybe I will get to send pictures!)

Outside, was the standard garden, with some bizarre statues. Not sure why, helping local talent?

The castle is pretty standard rebuilt-with-concrete-Japanese-castle, but it was still pretty cool.

After our short visit at the castle, we went for a walk. We passed by the Koi City. Inside the town, they have many small canals--not even two feet wide--which were, I assume, originally for irrigation. The town has put in a bunch of wire gates and created areas for the koi--the famous Japanese carp--to swim around in. Yes, we saw a few cats too...

Please enjoy these photos of the koi I borrowed from the web.

After, we passed through a graveyard with a large reclining Buddha. Somebody paid a lot for that. Its head is bigger than mind (I mean literally!).

Then we walked to a Shinto shrine where there were icons of all the important dieties. And more scrolls on the walls then we could care to count. The fellow who showed us the shrine talked to us briefly about how sad it was for him to know that the shrines (and Buddhist temples too) did not have enough young people interested in them to take care of them for the future.

In the picture on the right, above the door and windows, it looks like white wall paper, but those are really stacked piles of scrolls, about 4 inches long, laid on top of each like round bricks.