Tokyo

The first day I arrived at Tokyo, Dec 28, I went to Akihabara. I had just travelled on the all night bus from Osaka and was tired. However, Akihabara is Otaku heaven, so I was happy to go. Otaku is a Japanese pejorative term for geeks--usually anime geeks--but we expats love using it. It is pejorative in Japanese because, I think, it is a name for a group that is outside the norm. In a conformity-based culture that is bad.

Akihabara is full of electronics stores and anime, manga and gaming stores. Blocks and blocks and blocks of it. It was amusing and a definite must when you go to Tokyo.If you did not know, Tokyo is huge. The central city area is like New York City, not all that small in itself and densely packed. Tokyo is the only city whose population is more dense than NYC. From there, the similarities continue: Tokyo is surrounded by other cities and prefectures that have all grown together to form a supercity. People can drive around, but it is often just as easy to take the public transport system which is made up of mostly trains and subways. In the picture above you can see a map for a local area of train routes. The true map of Tokyo transport is huge!
Yes, click on the map and it will expand in your window...

Yes, it really is easier to get around on the trains...

A common belief is that the Japanese drink a lot of tea. This is true. But they also love their coffee. Strong too. Starbucks had over 700 stores in Japan and is aiming for 1000. In 2006, they were the most popular restaurant in Tokyo. I find this a little odd, as Starbucks customers have to smoke outside, while at other chains (including Mr. Donut, Doutour and Tully`s) all have some sort of indoor smoking. The Japanese are like the Europeans when it comes to smoking. Ick. I actually noticed a new brand of cigarettes being advertised yesterday. How often do you notice that in the States?

I have been buying the Starbucks collectible city mugs in my travels. They are all regular size mugs--that is smaller than the other collectible mugs you find in other countries! Smaller, go figure.
Besides tea and coffee, beer is popular. WE went to a ramen shop one night specifically because they were advertising a dark beer. I think beer in Japan is blah. Eating at a counter is a common restaurant spot whether it is at a ramen shop or a sushi shop or a udon shop or even McDonald's (but not Starbucks!). Shopping is a common activity here as it is anywhere but the places that one shop can be very different. One mall that we went to on a island in Tokyo bay was called Venus Fort Mall. It is upscale shopping on the top two levels that were designed as if the place was in Italy, cheap shops on the main floor, an attached amusement area with theatres, bowling and a giant Ferris wheel, and a car museum.The last day in Tokyo, I went to the Ghibli Museum. Ghibli studios is a famous Anime studio. They made Spirited Away and Princess Monoake, along with many others. The mastermind of the operation, Hayao Miyazaki, decided to build this museum for everyone to enjoy. The figure behind the glass is one of his best loved creations, Totoro.

New Years is a huge holiday for the Japanese--but not a party one.  Midnight is usually spent at a Buddhist shrine to ring the bell after midnight and then, the next day, people go to a Shinto temple to pray some more.  An important decoration of the New Year is bamboo poles surrounded evergreens with red winter berries stuck inside.   Bamboo is strong and unyielding and is meant to represent family--or so I was told--in strength and prosperity for the New Year.  This picture was taken outside the museum.

My museum visit was January 3rd. That night I headed back south on the night bus to Osaka where I caught a train to Fukuoka. A week in Tokyo was short! Maybe next time I will get to go to Tokyo Disney!

Life in General

Yes, it has been a long time.

I do have enough for two posts (actually more!) so let me do one on my life and the area. I wish I had more pictures of my trip to the Philippines for x-mas so I could make you jealous but someone (MAC!!!) has only sent a few easy to use pictures.

First off, I have to say, I have finally hit my head on the doorways in my house. Actually, I have done it three times this year. Twice in one week even. Here is the deal. If I stand straight on the threshold, I can feel the top of the door frame tickling my head and hairs.

The first time I hit my head was a day when I remembered some item I wanted in my pocket just as I was leaving. I had already put my boots on (they are my warmest shoes and, as the teachers` office at my school is fairly cool, I wear them out a need to keep my toes functioning--if my toes get cold, that is it: no more Mr. Nice Guy!). Not being Japanese, I just went back into my house to get whatever it was (phone, iPod, who knows). Yes, I almost always do take my shoes off in entryway. It is easy and helps keep the house clean (those floors really collect dust!). However, I do not share the Japanese belief that shoes are unclean (you can think about that in the same way that the Catholic Church would say something is unclean--not just dirty, something stronger!) so even though I was going back in to my apartment, I wasn`t going to take off my shoes just to put them back on again. Passing into the kitchen, I stepped on the threshold and whacked my head into the door frame. It hurt so bad, I ended up on my knees clutching my head.

The next two times I was just walking around in my apartment in my slippers (yay! slippers! keep them toes warm!). I didn`t do any damage like I did the first time, but still.

Toes warm. Yes, a very important issue in this land where houses are built in three or four months and insulation is unheard of. The teachers office has heater/AC units, just like my apartment, but for some reason, the room is never `warm`. At home, I set up my kotatsu in the living room and use a small electric blanket on my bed. What is a kotatsu you ask? Well, let me tell you:

A kotatsu is a small table (think sitting on the floor small) that has a heater attached to the underside. You put a comforter over the top of the table and then stick your legs under the comforter to stay warm. There is supposed to be another slab of wood/plastic to go on the comforter where it is on the table, but I don`t have that (and even if I did, it wouldn`t have saved my comforter from that dark beer I spilled (dark beer, you say? a discussion for another day). I know it sounds funny. But it works! Sometimes it gets too hot. You can adjust the temperature, but being lazy like I am, I usually just stick part of my feet out of the comforter. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kotatsu (If you go to this web page, there is a picture there. I do not have a small chair like is shown, but rather a small love seat that sits on the floor. Works well with the kotatsu.)

Small table, small door frames...yes, I am a giant here. I was recently talking with a teacher at another school and he said I must have been really good at sports. I was unsure why until he pointed out my height. It made me laugh (you know how much I like sports) and tried to explain to him that I am just average in the states (and on the bottom of that average, too!)

When you go to some restaurants, they have special areas where you take off your shoes and still traditional style around small tables. Yes, I have difficulty sitting on cross legged on my butt for a long time (sometimes hours!). When you need to use the restroom, or go out and smoke (ick! too many people smoke here!) you merely slip on slippers provided for you by the restaurant. This also happens at many schools when you visit.

The problem is my feet and the size of the shoes. Sometimes they can really be uncomfortable they are so small! If I know I have to go to visit a school, I try and take my own extra pair of shoes and hope they believe they are my `clean` shoes!

As I mentioned, it is cold enough for my toes to be cold. However, here, where I am in Kyushu, it is not cold enough to snow. Well, at least not regularly. It snowed Sunday. I was driving down the road and could not figure out what that stuff was that was falling. It was sunny out and for a minute I thought it was ash... It melted the second it hit the ground. Some mornings there is frost on the new crops that are coming up. If it hit freezing, it only does it right before dawn and then we warm up, often to over 50F. I did some research and found that I am near to Atlanta, GA in latitude (yes, the same as San Diego, but our weather is nothing like San Diego!). Cold air comes down from China/Mongolia/Russia in the winter and up from the Pacific in the summer. My California friends are complaining that this is the worst winter they have ever had, while everyone else (including some Canadians!) are saying this is the nicest!

Japan is a long country, about the size of California. I am on Kyushu, the southernmost large island (Okinawa is further south, but it is small), and so my weather is fairly nice. Hokkaido, is the furthest north and they are having a brutal weather this year. Yes if you look at the map, you will see I am kind of close to the ocean, but the best beaches are north, near Fukuoka City. (I live in Fukuoka prefecture, on the south side from the city.)
I live in Kurume City. It is smaller than Salt Lake`s metro area. This is even after it recently absorbed four small, nearby towns (we cynically believe it was for the money; Kurume is dirt poor but the towns are rice rich). One of those is the town I live in, Mizuma. I teach at Mizuma Jr. High School. Even though we are part of the city, we often view things as if we are separate. This has good and bad effects, as you can guess. Mizuma is famous for strawberries (everywhere in Japan is famous for something!). I have ridden by the greenhouses lately and seen them growing monster strawberries. (A couple of my friends called them mutant, but these are kids who still think that there is only one kind of banana in the world...)

I do not know what Kurume is famous for except a certain type of ramen. Ramen (pronounced more like la-men), like the winter weather and Buddhism, is here after travelling from China. In Kurume, there is a hug

e white statue of a certain Buddha dedicated to children who have died young, Narita-san. While most Buddha appear to be male or androgynous, Narita-san looks decidedly feminine, helped no doubt by the child in her arms. For 500Yen you can climb up the inside of the statue and look over Kurume. After climbing the statue you take a subterranean passage (under the red Indian looking temple in the picture) to another part of the shrine that explains the beginning of Shintoism (the original Japanese religion that currently coexists with Buddhism), valuable minerals found around the world and an explanation of hell, complete with animitronic devils (oni) and suffering souls (I really wish I had had my camera that day!). Shintoism doesn`t have a supreme devil, a la Lucifer, but there are devils dedicated to punishing souls who have failed in a certain area. I am not sure how this part of Shintoism works with the wheel of life (and suffering) in Buddhism, but this is Japan a land of strange juxtapositions (like that Indian-style temple next the very pagoda shrine on the hill).

A quick trip to the Netherlands

Recently, November 24, I had the chance to travel to Huis Ten Bosch. Huis Ten Bosch is Dutch for house in the woods. It is also a famous palace in the Netherlands.

It was a beautiful day, a little bit warm for the season. I went with Jessica (an American), Richard (a Brit) and Shino (a Japanese woman). I forgot to charge my camera so I have been waiting for Shino to send me pictures. She had a super nice digital camera so it was worth the wait.

We arrived at about mid-afternoon and walked about until sunset. We looked at the flowers, windmills and canals. We stopped at a cheese store and I went nuts. The Gouda was sooooo good, as was the smoked Gouda. Jessica and Richard were just as happy with the Gelato they had.

At 5:25, we, like many other people, gathered at the city hall for the tree lighting ceremony. Santa Clause came out along with two young women carrying candles. A woman sang a couple of carols. Then, a young woman professed her love for her beau. He embarrassedly stood there while she did so. Then the two of them used the candles the young women had carried to symbolically light the main tree.

We walked through the Christmas markets, but they had little that I wanted to buy. I had really hoped they would have mulled wine like they do in German Christmas markets. They had some beer, but Dutch beer has never been my favorite and I did not like the idea of transporting it so I didn`t buy any. We walked for a while, past many, many lighted buildings and trees.

Finally, we arrived at Huis Ten Bosch. The actual building (a museum) was closed but we were allowed through the basement into the rear gardens which were beautifully lit up.

Before we left, I bought a bunch of chocolate and some cheese. Yum!

Yosakoi

At the beginning of the month, my little town had a festival. It was called Furusato Mizuma, which basically means Mizuma Hometown. This festival had lots of tents with lots of food and some crafts but the big draw was the Yosakoi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosakoi). Yosakoi is a fairly modern type of dance. Men and women of all ages (I saw an 18 month old baby being guided by her mother) dance in a troop. I am not good at describing dancing, or music really, so I found a website that has bunch of small snipe ts of videos that you can watch and see:
http://www.i-kochi.or.jp/YOSAKOI98/yod/index_e.html.

The costumes are in important part. They range in style from something classical (Kimono like to something modern (one group of guys and gals looked like they were out of an anime with their red jackets) or simple (girls from my school wore a colorful robe over a simple black shirt and black track pants with their hair up). Most every dancer had some kind of makeup on, again ranging from the simple (like my girls) to dancers with red over their eyes extending to their cheekbones and white down the top of their noses.

The music was taped, but the big booming voice that they use was often live. At the end--but wait; I am getting ahead of myself.

First off, let me again give props to the random boy who was wearing a Salt Lake City, Utah T-shirt. Someone has to represent, and I don`t have a Salt Lake hoodie; I was wearing my Columbia hoodie. (When you look at his picture you will notice that there is a white stripe down his nose, this is part of the make-up I mention later)

There were too far too many tents to count. Most were food. They included takoyaki (remember that from my last blog?), ramen, french fries, chocolate bananas, cotton candy and, of course, beer. They also had roasted chestnuts that I shared with my students I ran into as I walked around.

At one tent, the PTA of my jr. high school was making manju. First rice is cooked. Then it is pounded into a huge white pulp. To do this they had a huge granite bowl and large wooden mallets. Usually two men, but sometimes more, took turns pounding the rice. This involves whacking the rice and then pulling it back towards the whacker, spreading it out. I got to help do this.









At regular intervals water was on the mallets to help the rice not stick to them. After a sufficient amount of whacking, the rice was taken to a table that had flour spread out on it--to stop the rice from sticking to it. Women there were taking small amounts of rice and flattening them out so theyput could put a small amount of sweet red bean paste in the center and wrap. Voila, manju. It was a pretty popular treat, as manju is in general. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manju_%28food%29

At one tent some of the girls from the jr. high school, tennis players I think, were helping run a DIY postcard operation. I cannot really draw so I had one of the girls do one for me. It is really nice--even if it is only the girls names written in small calligraphy!

The first day I went at noon. I had to take a nap on the hill. I had to choose a place close to the stone path so I would not get hit by
kids sliding down on pieces cardboard. Of course, I got hit once any way.

On the second day, 3 of my friends joined me. They came basically because of the final act. We walked around and ate for awhile. It was pretty cool to see my students outside of school, even if I couldn`t talk to them. My friends all can speak some Japanese so they did the talking.

As it was getting dark, we went to watch the dancers. The third to last dancing act were girls from my school, with four boys waving the huge flags in the background that are customary. They were very good. I was impressed. After that some high school students and elementary school students came out and danced together. It was super cute.

I should mention that this festival is a big one for our part of Japan. I was told that dance troops come from all over Japan to dance. The reason my students went last (and really, they were performing for a second time) is because this was Mizuma`s festival.

After the last dancers, everybody rushed the forward dancing area. This was a huge section of grass in front of a stone platform that doubled as the stage. The benches are underneath some plastic shades and lights. In the morning, this is where the older folks gather and exercise together to a radio station playing a type of exercise muisc on a boom box they place at the front of the stone platform.

We all kneeled--which was a bad idea for me!--and waited for the big draw of the show: the Anmitsu Hime dance troop with Tomato. (Anmitsu Hime means a desert and a lady of high birth). Tomato is a transvestite performer, something which is very common in Japan. She would come out, sing and dance for a second and then break into a comedy routine that everyone around me found hilariously. I didn`t for the most obvious reason. After five or ten minutes she would pop backstage (curtains hanging from those plastic shelters and lights I mentioned earlier--not a shabby affair!) and the dance troupe, done up in some of the most gaudy outfits would come on and dance. Then, they would head back to change into another gaudy set of clothes and she would come back out in a new outfit to entertain us. This went on for over an hour. Finally, after we thought that the show was completely over, Anmitsu came back out and got the biggest, loudest Yosakoi voices to come up and everybody did the first and most famous dance--everybody seems to know it.

Having everyone dance was an amazing thing to see. The stage was crowded and the grass was full all around me of people in and out of costumes dancing. I didn`t enjoy it as much as I could of though; I was in deep pain.

Here is the thing, for over an hour I had been on my knees. Something the common Japanese person has no trouble doing. I , unfortunately, knew I was in trouble when, about 15 minutes in to Anmitsu`s performance I realized I could not shift; I could not move to my butt because the people around me had pushed their selves right up next to me (and I don`t know what the people behind me were thinking--how could they see over my huge head???). At 30 minutes, I decided to just get up and leave, but then I realized that was not going to happen. I figured I just needed to lie down prone for a few minutes. However their was no room to do this. My friends were in different positions, Alexis was smart and had sat down, Bea had enough room to slide off her knees to the side, while Jessica was in the same boat as I, if in better shape. At one hour, I was just ready to cry. Finally, after 80 minutes people got up to dance and I fell forward onto my hands. After a few seconds I decided to try and get up only to get knocked down by two little old ladies who were fleeing the dancing. Yes, mortifying, but I didn`t care so much because I was still dealing with the fact that I could not feel my feet or calves. I did manage to stand up with Jessica`s help. It was odd standing there feeling like my legs ended at my knees...

Osaka

Yes, it has been a month & I have not yet told you about my trip to Osaka. Yesterday I got a CD from the friends I was with & so now I will write about it!

I left early on Saturday morning taking the train to Fukuoka. There, I used the subway to get to the Japan Railroad (JR) station at Hakata. Let me explain: My local train, the one that is not even a five minute walk from my house, is a privately owned train company, Nishitetsu. They own a lot of trains, buses and hotels, but mostly only in my prefecture, Fukuoka. To really travel, you need to get on the JR--they are the ones with the Shinkansen!

The Shinkansen is the bullet train. The train leaves Fukuoka city and travels north making only 5 or 6 stops before Osaka. It is a 2 1/2 trip but Shinkansen, but 6 hours by car! I had a window seat & fell asleep easily because the train was so smooth, even travelling at 300kph (186mph).

The train seats 2 people on one side and three on the other. Both sets of seats, left and right, will swing around so that you are facing the direction the train is going (this is common on the trains here--makes me sad for those taking New York commuter trains everyday and facing the wrong way).

In Osaka I met up with my friend Kathrina and her coworker, Tom. They had flown in the day before (Friday). They were there on business so their company had put them up at the Ritz Carlton (nice!). I met Kathrina while travelling in Africa 5 years ago. We travelled through Eastern Africa together and had a great time.

After arriving, we headed to Osaka castle. It was my job to be tour guide. While I don`t know that much Japanese, I know enough to navigate a city. This was especially helpful because it seemed to me that Osaka had less English written on signs compared to Fukuoka. We took the train to the castle & then slowly made our way through the park to the castle.

The park is huge and the castle is gorgeous. The walls are high and made of stone. There are moats with water and without water. The castle is so high that it can be seen from different areas around the city (if your view isn`t blocked by one of Osaka`s many skyscrapers!).

We visited a shrine on the way up and Kathrina dropped Y5 in the box in front for good luck. Five is considered good luck and as I didn`t have a five or 50 yen coin, I didn`t drop anything in. There was also no bell to ring after you dropped the coin, but we pretended there was.

Before we entered the castle, we had coffee & marvelled at the zillion vending machines that exist in Japan. Both Tom & Kathrina were amazed that they had not been vandalized. The machines are immeculately clean. Kathrina laughed really hard when started meowing at her as it dispensed her water. Later, it made seagull noises.

Tom took a picture of Kathrina & I posing in in wood cut-outs. You can see the castle in background.

The castle has a lot of gold on the outside. Very nice. It has been destroyed and rebuilt a number of times; the most recent time was during WWII when the US was bombing Japan.

Then we took a boat ride on the Osaka canals. Not very interesting though, too many modern buildings. I took a nap. After the ride, we had takoyaki. It is a doughy treat that has pieces of octopus (tako) cooked in it. It was really amazing to watch the balls be cooked: the people doing the cooking have to quickly turn and return the balls so they do not burn. The dough is poured into a pan with lots of round molds that are very close together (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takoyaki). I do not think Takoyaki is not all that good, but it is fun to eat with friends.

We met up with more people that Kathrina & Tom were working with that night. There was the photographer and his assistant (both Germans) and the producer, a Aussie who came down from Tokyo and speaks really good Japanese. That made things easier for me--no on the spot thinking for me unless I wanted to!

For dinner we had Okonomiyaki, a dish Osaka is known for (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okonomiyaki). It is a weird omelet-pizza kind of thing. Flour and eggs are mixed together and the thrown on a grill. Then toppings are added and a little more of the egg and flour mix is thrown on top. Both sides are cooked for a bit of time (more than 10 mins!). It is cut in pieces and served with a couple of different things on top. It is good and filling.

The next day, everyone else had to work, so I slept. I figure, all told, I slept about 12 hours. But you would have too in that bed! And those wonderful pajamas, too!

I eventually got up and wandered around the area and met the others when they finished work. We had shabu shabu for dinner (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabu_shabu). This meal entails a big pot of boiling water that people put food (meat, vegetables, tofu, mushrooms) to cook and then eat. This was followed by a visit to an Aussie bar where we sat outside and drunkenly watched the drunken Japanese stumble by (and sometimes fall!). The next day was a holiday so many people were taking advantage of it!

Hungover boy, made it early to the station the next morning. I always wake up early when I have to travel. I bought okonomiyaki snacks as gifts for people back home (called omiyagi). I boarded the Shinkansen and fell asleep again!