Heavenly Fields Forever

(Originally Published 30/03/2008)

Japanese mid-terms week is over!  There have been lots of great cooking adventures this week as well.  Yesterday I went to Tenri with Aurora and her Religion in Japan class to visit the main shrine of the Tenrikyo religion.  It was a beautiful day with some scattered clouds and a gentle breeze.  We had to transfer to the Kintetsu line at Tambabashi station.  I love Tambabashi station for two reasons – 1) one of the best bakeries ever is in the Kintetsu part of Tambabashi station and 2) the Kintetsu Line is so cool!  One of the trains going by had alternating pink and green cars, the pink cars decorated with pictures of Kyoto and the green cars decorated with pictures of Nara.

And I just had to share this picture of a crazy bush in a school near the station.

We boarded a significantly less decorated train and headed to Tenri.  The further you get from Kyoto the more beautiful the scenery becomes.  We sat eating our breads together and watching the scenery go by.  When you’re talking with someone on a train it’s really cool to watch the scenery go by as reflected in that person’s eyes.  We arrived in Tenri and I was impressed with how spacious the town square is.  We walked along through a covered shopping arcade (a street lined by shops and protected by a roof covering the corridor) until we got to the Tenrikyo compound.

There were all sorts of little booths set up on the road out in front of the Tenrikyo compound selling various things.

I really love the huge wooden buildings that scattered the compound.  I wasn’t allowed to take pictures once I took my shoes off and entered the building.  The main hall is composed of four wings which surround a central column.  This central column is considered holy ground because it is supposed to be the place where humanity was created (or something like that).  Consequently, it is sacrilegious to place a roof over it so it is left open to the elements.  The halls are covered with soft tatami and there were small groups of people and individuals scattered around the halls, praying and chanting.  There are three chants that followers perform and they have to repeat each one a certain number of times.  The chanting is really beautiful and even though everyone is singing at different times and speeds and in different parts of the progression it all blended together beautifully.  The hand gestures that accompany the chanting were fascinating in their fluidic simplicity.

We sat and listened to our tour guide for awhile as he explained various aspects of the religion.  At first I thought that Tenrikyo was kind of like the Mormonism of Shinto.  They had to become a sect of Shinto in order to be recognized as a real religion.  The religion was started by a Japanese woman around a hundred and eighty years ago and she was regarded as an ideal housewife and mother.  Her child was very ill and this woman developed healing powers to help the child.  Eventually she gave all of her possessions away to the untouchable class and burned her house down.  Where her house used to stand is the holy ground that is now surrounded by the main headquarters.  I really liked how laid-back the religion seemed to be.  They don’t seem to be pressuring anyone to join.  The tour guide said that he questioned the religion for awhile while he was growing up.  He said that some of the things they are doing are kind of weird but that he realizes that and likes it anyway.  Being part of Tenrikyo has helped him to build a sense of identity and belonging somewhere.  As a half-Japanese, half-Caucasian who grew up in Hawaii, he never felt Japanese or American but he realized that he did feel Tenrikyo.  I thought that was kind of cool.

We continued the tour across the compound and I stumbled along trying to rub feeling back into my legs after sitting in seiza (legs folded underneath) for so long on the tatami.  Many followers were crawling along the long wooden hallways on hands and knees while washing the floors and singing softly to themselves.  Volunteering is an important doctrine of Tenrikyo and people are encouraged to come and work at the headquarters whenever they feel like it (there is a box of rags near the entrance that believers can use to clean).  Everybody seemed pretty happy and there were a lot of little kids running around having a good time.  It really did feel like a spiritual place and I admired the apparent faith and freedom everyone seemed to share together.

Tenrikyo is a worldwide religion, although mainly focused in Japan.  A majority of the people in the city of Tenri are probably Tenrikyo.  There are several large Tenrikyo dormitories nearby and even a Tenrikyo hospital.

After the tour, Aurora and I poked around on our own in some of the shops for awhile, trying on hats and looking at socks and Engrish t-shirts.

These socks did not smell like vanilla…

Sake (liquor) and tobacco are not generally regarded as good for the heart…

There were several stores selling traditional Japanese musical instruments like kotos, shamisen, and giant ornate gongs.  I was surprised that there were several stores focusing on kelp (we weren’t really near the ocean, well, at least not any nearer than the rest of Japan) and several other stores focusing on selling aloe vera.  We checked out the city park next to the station where the sakura (cherry blossoms) were in full bloom.  There was a big blue slide that looked like a robot with kids sliding down out of the mouth.  There was also an old steam locomotive on display.

We rode the train back to Tambabashi and had dinner at a little “Italian” café.  We were the only patrons at first and the little old Japanese woman who ran the place was really nice.  I got pepperoncino spaghetti (which was really good!) and Aurora got the tuna-cream omuraisu (rice inside a layer of egg covered in sauce).

We came back to the dorms and Aurora went back out to Osaka to meet some other friends while I stayed to watch Cowboy Bebop with some of my friends in the dorm.  I’ve heard nothing but praise for this anime and I was happy to find that it really is good.  It kind of reminded me of Firefly, one of my favorite TV shows.

Here are some alley pictures from Tenri:

Alleys and signs – that’s what I’m all about.  Here’s a picture I took a few days ago on a return trip I took to Kisaichi.

Okay, I admit it, the clouds are fake.  Nothing other than the sky has been changed.

Lots more plans for the coming week – it’s sakura time which means hanami (flower-viewing parties)!

Fresh air, open space – a new side of Hirakata

(Originally Published 18/03/2008)

I am about to share the best kept secret in Japan – a little town by the name of Kisaichi.  This is the kind of place I’ve been hoping, dreaming, nay – longing for ever since I came to Japan.  The end of the line, a frontier town on the edge of the world.  Yesterday, with nary a clue beforehand, I had my most beautiful experience since coming to Japan.

It all started out on Sunday evening.  I had just come home late and I ran into my friend Chobo.  Chobo said he was totally bored already with spring break and I offered to go on an adventure with him.

“Great!  Can we go tomorrow?” he asked eagerly.

And thus it was decided.  I had heard about Kisaichi from my friend Azucena last semester but we’d never had a chance to go together.  Chobo and I met at ten, walked to Makino station and transferred to the Katano line upon arriving at Hirakata station.  I had always wanted to ride the Katano line to see where it went and as soon as we got moving I was thrilled to see that there actually was a lot of open space and a genuine “country” feel as we moved further and further out.  Rice paddies became larger and more frequent and buildings became smaller and more spread out.  There were only about half a dozen people riding on the entire train which really surprised me. Chobo and I had the car we were riding in to ourselves after the second stop.  We arrived at the small station of Kisaichi and stopped at a vending machine out in the main square to have a coffee and assess the situation.  I knew right away that we were off the beaten path because the looks we were receiving from passersby were far more curious than normal and I realized that this was a place that non-Japanese seldom visit.  There was a big map in the square and we noticed that there was a trail which followed along the river and then wound up into the mountains, passing waterfalls and containing a suspension bridge.  It looked promising but it also appeared to be quite a long walk with no sign that there would be services along the way so we went into a small, family-run convenience store and bought a couple sandwiches and a bottle of water each.   I asked the little old woman who ran the store if she had a map or if she knew of a place we could get one and she said we should ask the station master because they had really good, detailed maps there. Thanking her, we left and went back to the station and picked up a couple of maps.

We found the main highway leading out of town into the mountains and followed it until we ran into a little tourist rest stop (or something, I don’t really know what it was). There were a bunch of kids standing around practicing various instruments and it seemed as if there was a music camp or something going on there. We found a trail going along the river that looked promising because of all of the hikers coming our way on it. We got double takes from everyone we passed as they looked up and saw two very tall, very white foreigners coming along the trail towards them. We smiled and said hello to everyone and just about everyone grinned and returned our greetings. People react differently to other people if they meet in the wilderness rather than in civilization.

The path was really well made and we walked along a boardwalk high above the river for awhile. The weather was gorgeous and the air felt so clean and fresh compared to what I’m used to in Hirakata. We passed a little resting spot with a waterwheel spinning vigorously. After about maybe an hour we arrived at a parking lot and soon came to a very busy place next to a large cliff. There was a huge artificial climbing wall set up right next to the cliff face and it was fun to watch some energetic youths climbing. There were three older men standing around with HUGE cameras on tripods and they were all staring up intently at the cliff face. I joined them in staring at the cliff for a moment but, seeing nothing, I approached one of them and asked, “Pardon me, but is there something interesting up on that cliff?” Wordlessly, the man nodded and pulled out a sheaf of photographs. Flipping through a few pages, he held it out towards me and again silently pointed. “Ah! There are falcons living in this cliff?” He seemed surprised that I knew the word for falcon in Japanese and looked up at me for the first time. I thanked him for showing me the pictures and walked over to the climbing wall to watch the climbers some more. I really liked how this wall was set up and it made me want to do some climbing, too. It looks like anybody can climb there, free of charge, as long as you bring your own equipment (including rope).

We continued on and soon we saw the suspension bridge looming high overhead. It was truly magnificent and we giggled gleefully as we charged up the mountain trail. At the top of the trail, we met a group of three young Japanese men who were resting under a tree and Chobo asked if they would take a picture with us. They were really nice and we had a fun little conversation. Chobo and I continued on and found a little viewing platform looking out over Neyagawa city far below. We continued on and at last we reached the bridge.

I can’t believe that they would build such an awesome structure out in the middle of nowhere just to create a “reason” to hike in the mountains. But honestly, it’s amazing and I really feel it does make the whole place more spectacular. It’s kind of funny that a mountain is just a mountain until you build a bridge connecting it with the top of a nearby mountain and then it’s something else entirely. We stopped and had part of our sandwiches and got a couple to take our picture and then we took their picture also. The bridge swayed gently as we walked across and the breeze felt so good.

The mountains around Kisaichi are broken up into three separate courses which are theoretically supposed to be done separately. We considered just looping around this course and coming back some other time to see the other two main attractions – a mountain pond and the viewpoint from on top of Mt. Kono. But, we’d only been walking for a little over two hours and we still had five hours of daylight left so we decided to strike out through the neighboring golf course and at least check out the pond. We struck off with a purpose and quick marched down a really steep trail back to the highway. We passed a small log cabin with American and Canadian flags waving airily out front that advertised it was selling old grandfather clocks. I was so excited to figure out the words for grandfather clock in Japanese. Ojiisan tokei literally means “grandfather clock.” Directly across from this very Western-looking building was a very Japanese-looking Shinto shrine. We crossed over a small bridge and stopped to admire a river that came spilling out of a tunnel.

Crossing the highway, we continued up a road into a golf course. The only cars that traveled this road were BMWs, Mercedes Benzes (Benzi?), and Lexuses (Lexi?). The golf course looked just like any golf course one might see in the US. There were a bunch of old men strutting around either showing off how rich they were or wanting to fool everyone else into thinking that they were rich. Suddenly, Chobo said to me, “Hey! That golf cart is driving along and there’s nobody in it!” Sure enough, the cart was slowly driving down the path, leaving behind the golfers who were teeing off at the top of the hill. I thought maybe it was out of control and would eventually crash into a tree or something but it continued only as far as the hole and then shut itself off quietly and sat there waiting for the golfers to catch up. Man, robotic golf carts. Japan is so crazy cool.

We continued on through the forest and passed a small resting spot where one could rest in a gazebo out over a fish pond. Giant carp were swimming around lazily and I was tempted to jump in and try wrestling with the biggest one, about the size of an Australian Shepherd dog.

We continued on and finally arrived at Kurondo Pond.

We stopped and ate the rest of our sandwiches and watched some domestic white ducks swimming back and forth through a culvert underneath the road that cut across the pond. A couple was paddling around in a whale-shaped boat and a few old men were fishing. Again, I repeat that the Japanese-style of fishing is bizarre. Here’s a look at the fancy apparatus typical of a Japanese fisher.

We left and walked along a small street past some quiet houses and then re-entered the forest. Our path joined another road and we passed some mountain fields where some old men and women were working diligently to raise their crops. I stopped to marvel at the view of the city far below and an old woman pushing a wheelbarrow walking by behind us laughed at my joyful exclamations and said that it was a shame there was so much smoke in the air today because sometimes the view is even better. “Oh well, at least the weather is so nice today,” I said and she smiled and continued on. We passed a swampy area where signs warned us to beware of vipers but we made it through unscathed.

Chobo and I passed through a vacant summer camp and soon found ourselves again walking along next to a golf course. At last we reached Mt. Kono and climbed up for an amazing view of the valley. To the south, we could see all the way down to the large buildings of Kyobashi and downtown Osaka. Neyagawa, Hirakata, Kuzuha, Yawata, and Takatsuki all lay spread out before us and to the north we could see Yodo and into Kyoto. Down below, trains crept along the JR line. The summit of Mt. Kono is really cool because it’s covered with giant boulders and there really aren’t any boulders anywhere else on all the other mountains nearby.

We cut down an incredibly steep path that just seemed to drop and drop forever until we emerged back onto the edges of civilization.

If I had looked a little more closely at the map I would have noticed that with a little bit of backtracking along a nearby path we could see a waterfall but I didn’t see that until later. Too bad, we’ll just have to go back some other time.

We walked along a little road that wound between grape vineyards and then crossed under the JR line and worked our way back to Kawachimori station. Right next to the mountains, it still really felt like we were out in the country, far away from the noisy, smelly city.

Altogether I think we ended up walking at least twenty kilometers. If you do each of the three courses separately it adds up to twenty-eight kilometers but with the little connector paths we used to go from one to the next I think we cut several kilometers off of that. It was a really great day and I definitely want to go back and visit it again. Who knows what kind of cool stuff I will find next time? Spring break is going really well so far. Despite my best intentions, I haven’t done any studying yet but I’m on a roll with new adventures!

Return to Fujisaka

(Originally Published 15/03/2008)

It’s Spring Break!  Yep, that means spring cleaning time!  My desk had reached a critical stage during these last couple of weeks and now, slowly but carefully, I am becoming able to see bare patches of wood again.  It also means vacuuming!  This is not to say that this is the first time I’ve vacuumed since I got here, oh Heavens, no.  It’s just been quite awhile since I vacuumed because these last couple of weeks have been pretty busy with tests and papers.  Today also happened to be linen changing day (every ten days) and these are the only days that I actually fold my futon up and take it off the floor so it is a good day to vacuum.
The weather today was absolutely gorgeous – sunny, warm, with a gentle breeze.  After getting some groceries this afternoon I decided to go for a little walk in the direction of Yamadaike Kouen.  First I passed by a cool sign that demonstrated how the nearby chain worked automatically to let cars come in and out if they had the remote control.  I like how it’s called Robot Gate.  I need to get a video of it operating sometime because it’s so cool.

I jogged leisurely along the shimauma (zebra) trail and continued on the one stretch of the trail that leads on after crossing Route 1.  The whole trail is interesting in that it stretches a long way East-West across the northern part of Hirakata.  However, it’s broken up into little sections and it’s kind of hard to find how to get from one section to the next because you often have to go up or down the intervening road a couple of blocks and it’s never easy to tell which direction to go.  However, I’ve finally managed to find all the sections.  Each one is named after a certain animal and there are strange statues along the side of the trail (zebra, lion, giraffe, squirrel, etc…).

Map of Trail

This is what the new section of the trail looks like that I hadn’t been on before:

So anyway, I reached the risu (squirrel) section of the trail and realized that this was not a part of the trail that normal people frequently travel on.  It had been taken over by homeless people and there was trash and little “homesteads” all over the place, not to mention the abundance of mangy alley cats.  I passed one man sitting on a bench and nodded to him.  He got up, unzipped his pants, and began peeing on the path in my direction.  Slightly nonplussed, I continued on a little faster.  I stopped to take a picture of an abandoned scooter in one of the drainage ditches alongside a small road.

A little further along I came upon another couple of homeless guys sitting on some benches and drinking together.  I nodded and said “Konnichiwa” and to my surprise one of them looked up at me, grinned, jumped up and said “Hello!”  He stumbled over to me and said (everything from now on in Japanese), “What country are you from?”

“I’m from Oregon in America.”  I never just say America.  I’m not particularly proud of being American but I am proud of being an Oregonian.

“Ah, Oregon!” they exclaimed.

“Do you know it?” I asked.

“Umm, ahh, northwest, right?” said the man on the bench.

“Yeah, it’s north of California,” I replied, folding my hands in front of me and settling in to talk.

“Ah!  I’ve been to California!” said the man on the bench, turning to the side and spitting.

“Please, please, relax,” the man standing next to me said, coming closer and looking up at me with crossed yet pleading eyes.  “Relax, relax.”

“Huh?  Yeah, I’m relaxed.  Don’t worry,” I replied.

“No, no.  He’s drunk.  I’m so sorry,” implored the man, so close now I had a far-too-good look at his toothless gums.

“Yeah, I know.  It’s okay, don’t worry,” I said, trying to make him feel at ease.

“Oi!” said the man on the bench.  “Kid, I’m going to teach you something that will help you while in Japan.  When you’re talking with someone, you should look them in the eye.”

“Oh.  Okay.  I understand,” I said, grinning a little sheepishly and shuffling my feet while checking my surroundings for possible escape routes.

“Relax, relax, please!” said the smaller man next to me.  He gestured frantically at my clasped hands in front of me.

“Oh?  Are my hands bothering you?  This is my relaxed pose.  How should I stand?”

“Oh, that’s such a Japanese posture! (In English)  It depends on the case.  It depends on the case.”

“Okay,” I said, switching my hands and clasping them behind my back instead.

“Oi!  Where’d you learn to stand like that?” exclaimed the man from the bench as he got up and approached me.  “You know kendo?”

“No, I don’t know kendo, but I took karate for awhile in high school.”

“Oh, karate and kendo are completely different.  That posture is very bushido (the way of the warrior).”

“He’s a kendo master with his own dojo!” exclaimed the smaller man next to me.

“Oh, really?” I asked.  “That’s great.”

The bigger man approached me.  “How is your body?  May I check?”

“Um, what?  I don’t think I understand.  I’m fine…” I tried to say but he was already feeling my chest, then my abs, poking and jabbing here and there and squeezing to see if I had any fat around my middle.

Caught off guard, I looked down and him and stuttered, “Um, what?  Uh, my body’s fine, thanks.”

“Huh, fine!  Yes, it’s fine,” he said and gave my stomach a nice hard slap.  He held one hand up in front of my face and curled it into a fist.  I wasn’t quite sure what to think of this but before I knew what was going on he had grabbed my arm and said, “Do you know this move?” as he attempted to twist my arm.

“Uh, yeah.  I know that,” I said, trying to shrug him off.

He grunted and released my arm.  Apparently satisfied, he went back to his bench and sat down.

“Umm, where does this trail go?” I asked, trying to change the conversation and see if I could work it into a departure.

“Well, where are you trying to go?” asked the man from the bench.

“Nowhere special, I’m just exploring a bit.”

“Ah, this trail goes by the Hirakata sports center.”

“Excuse me, can I ask a question?” asked the smaller man nervously next to me.

“Yeah, go for it.”

“What is your feeling of Japan?”

“Hmm.  Well, I really like it here.  I’ve met so many really nice and interesting people.  But really, I do get kind of homesick sometimes.”
”Homeless?”

“No, homesick.”

“Ahh, homesick.  Why?”

“Well, I’m from the country and I really don’t like living in the big city like this.”

“Ha, big city!  Hirakata is country.”

“Ah, yeah, I guess for Japan it is, but…”

“Yes, but what are your true feelings about Japan, eh?” asked the man from the bench.  “You don’t have to pretend.  I want to know your honne (true feelings).  Don’t you think Japan is bad?  Don’t you have a bad image of Japan?”

“No, I really do like Japan.  I just get kind of tired of it sometimes.  I get tired of the tv programs and I don’t like how so wound up in appearances everyone is.”

“Ah, yes, well thank you.  See you,” said the man from the bench rather suddenly.

“Ah, umm, yes.  Thank you.  Maybe I will see you again here sometime.”
”Yes, we come here every weekend,” said the small man next to me, crooning up like Gollum with muddy, befuddled eyes.

I took my leave and continued on, feeling like I probably wouldn’t actually come down this part of the trail again anytime soon.  The encounter was somewhat interesting, and it’s nice when people actually talk to me, but I felt kind of weird too.  I found another trail along the river next to Yamadaike Kouen and ran along it until I reached Fujisaka station (the place I found in the middle of the night in one of my posts long, long ago).

There was a man fixing bicycles under the bridge but it was such a mess down there I couldn’t tell whether he was living down there or just did business down there or what.

I continued on under the tracks and jogged up a hill and found a cool park full of tennis and basketball courts and even a community swimming center full of all sorts of fun pools and slides.  There was a nice trail that wound up and down the hill through a forest and next to a small creek, a pond, and the railroad tracks.  I turned around and ran back through Yamadaike Kouen and then trotted back up the river until I got back home.

I’m not doing anything special this week (nothing’s planned, anyway) but I’m really looking forward to some time to just sit around and relax, sleep, clean my room, read, watch movies with friends, and study a bit for the remainder of my midterm exams next week.  Hopefully there will be at least some more cooking adventures to share.

Sprocket 19

(Originally Published 09/03/2008)

Today I went with my friend Aurora and her friend Katherine to the Osaka Aquarium!  Osakako is a really quiet and relaxed part of the city.  I enjoyed watching the ships come in and out of the harbor.  There was a replica of the Santa Maria (twice actual size) and a giant ferris wheel which is one reason why the aquarium is such a famous date place.  The aquarium is famous for having a whale shark, but I was actually a bit surprised that it wasn’t as big as I thought it would be.  It was an… interesting experience trying to work our way through the aquarium.  It was really crowded and hard to see anything and if you weren’t pushy then you missed out.  There were lots of really cool animals though and I had a really good time.

After the aquarium we went to the mall next door and had lunch in the food court.  This felt strangely American to me.  I guess a mall is a mall is a mall…

When we’d finished eating, we went back to the train station and passed this cool gift shop along the way.  It was so jam-packed with stuff and the woman running the place stood blocking the door so I don’t know if you can go in and look at the stuff or if she just sells what she has out front and then brings new stuff out for people to see.  I like how the building is kind of falling over.

The Green Gift Shop, Osaka

We rode the train back to Osaka Castle Park to see the plum blossoms.  It was really busy there also but the plum blossoms were really pretty and we had a good time.  There were some women wailing and chanting in one corner of the keep, people juggling flaming batons on unicycles, and rock bands performing live on the sidewalk in front of Osaka Castle Park Dome.  There were food booths everywhere, and people were just lounging around enjoying the beautiful weather.  This was probably the busiest I’ve ever seen Osaka Castle Park but I always love going and seeing how people relax there.

Here is a picture of Osaka Castle.

Osaka Castle and Plum Blossoms

Some fun Engrish.

Osaka Costle?

And a cool sign.

I’m really tired but I’ve got a little more homework to finish up and I think I may go watch a movie with some friends later tonight.  Tomorrow I have to give my speech in Japanese about environmental problems.  I’m going to talk about the Columbia River and the energy that is produced by the dams but also talk about how the salmon population is declining.  I also plan to talk about reckless deforestation.  It should be pretty fun.  I’m looking forward to mentioning that I used to work at an energy company and talking about the wind farm they just built near Baker City last year.

Gotta go hit the books!

Word Crunching!

(Originally Published 08/03/2008)

Happy International Women’s Day!  Have you randomly hugged a lady today?

Whew!  It’s been awhile, eh?  There’ve been many times when I sat down to write and even started a few times but I never ended up with anything I wanted to post despite all the things I’ve been up to recently.  There’s lots of stuff I want to say about my classes but it will have to wait for another time.

I started my second part-time job Thursday night at a little private conversation school near the grocery store near school.  I could tell from the moment I walked in what sort of “teaching” this was actually going to be.  The director of the school made it very clear to me in the orientation that this business is about keeping the customers entertained and that is top priority.  For these students, English is a game.  Sadly, quite few of them will ever get any better.  The director of the school speaks very little English at all (although she teaches a children’s class by herself) and I was surprised when I found out what kind of business this is.  It seems to me like this is a purely profit-oriented endeavor for her and the business itself feels strange – not like a school but more like a daycare.  I could tell that the contract I signed was translated into English by a computer program like Babelfish.  Usually, it is not too difficult to understand the essence of the sentence, but sometimes I have no idea how anyone could think that was a real English sentence.  For example, the following instructions:

I talk by a learning language if possible,

When I do not understand it,

I change it into the words that I crunched easily,

and please use the Japanese when I do not still understand it.

Here’s the original Japanese:

なるべく学習言語ではなし、わからない場合はやさしくかみくだいた言葉に変え、それでもわからない場合は、日本語をつかうようにしてください。

And here’s my simple translation:

Using the learning language as much as possible, in the case that it is not understood, please change it into simpler words.  If it’s still not understood, please use Japanese.

Nothing about crunching as far as I can tell.

My new student’s name is Bob.  That’s not his real name of course but that’s what he wants me to call him and since I don’t even know his real name it will do just fine.  Bob is a prime example of the complete failure of the Japanese educational system in regards to teaching English.  Bob went through the six years of mandatory classes that are required of all Japanese students who complete high school and consequently learned very many grammar patterns.  He showed me that he had a program on his cell phone that would present to him a scrambled English sentence with which he was supposed to move the words around into the proper order.  Bob had no trouble completing this with lightning speed.  However, Bob has a complete lack of understanding of what they call at the school “practical English.”  Although Bob’s pronunciation is not bad, he can make neither heads nor tails of what’s being said to him and his responses are limited to a few vocabulary words strung together without any connecting elements.

During our second lesson together I was able to get him to open up to me a little more and to talk to me.  The first lesson it was hard to get him to even talk in Japanese but now he seems to have loosened up a bit and we had a good time together.  I found out he plays igo (i.e. go, the ancient territory board game with 19×19 crisscrossing lines and black and white stones) so at least we share a common interest that we can talk about.  When I got there the second time Bob was singing along to a tape that had useful English phrases repeated over and over to a lively jazz background and he was chanting along, taking turns with the voices on the tape.  It was actually kind of cool and I could see how it would be a good tool for practicing pronunciation and becoming more comfortable speaking and listening to fast sentences.

This last week has been a whirlwind of activity.  Monday night I had taco night with a couple of my friends.  I bought real cheese, guacamole, and tortillas at an international grocery store in Umeda and together with some homemade salsa we made some scrumptious tacos.  I cannot explain how wonderful I felt during that first bite.  Since then we’ve had other cooking adventures and last night we had milkshake night.  We made peanut butter, banana, and oreo milkshakes and they were just perfect.  We have plans to make some more milkshakes and smoothies in the future now that we’ve discovered the hidden blender in the cupboard.  Also, since sliced bread is super thick in Japan we’re going to cut it into strips and make French toast.  Another tempura night is also in queue.

I got busted the other night for having alcohol in the dorms.  I went to a small party with some friends in one of the rooms in the Seminar House and we shared cheese, crackers, and wine while discussing existential philosophy and other nerdy things like that.  We opened the window at one point and that was a mistake because apparently we made enough noise that otoosan (the “father figure” of our dormitory) was able to hear us (his room is two floors directly below) and he came up and “caught us in the act.”  We all had to write letters of apology to the school and they’re still deciding our punishments (so whatever I write here could end up incriminating me further because they do know of this blog) but I’m not going to feel guilty no matter what happens.  I am sorry if I caused any inconvenience for otoosan but I’m not sorry I had a good time with my friends and I think it is a stupid rule.  Stupid rules are just waiting to be broken and if the CIE wants to think that they nipped this “problem” in the bud then they are sorely mistaken.  I know that there is alcohol in many of the rooms here but really, what’s the problem with that?  We’re all over the legal age for drinking and as long as we’re not causing a problem to others (like some people who go out and drink and get rowdy in the park nearby) I don’t see why it should be a problem.  Being loud and disruptive, that’s a problem, but drinking quietly and conservatively with friends should not be a crime.  The staff in the office made a big deal out of it when I turned in my letter the next morning and one of them exclaimed, “I just can’t believe such good students would do something so bad!  I’m just so disappointed!”  It’s true, we are some of the most serious students at school.  I’ve talked about this with other Japanese people and they said they couldn’t understand it at all.  This puritanical goody-goody prohibition is just so silly.

I got called into the office again the next day but for a completely different reason.  A television director from one of the Osaka TV stations had come to campus and wanted to interview a few international students with unique study abroad experiences.  We talked for awhile about my epic walk to Tokyo and he said he’ll be in touch soon.  Who knows, I might end up being interviewed on a pretty popular Osaka television show!

After class the other day I went to a small performance of a jazz combo on campus.  My philosophy teacher was playing piano and another one of the gaijin professors took drums with a Japanese student on string bass.  Another Japanese student showed up and added a trumpet to their combo and later a saxophonist joined them as well.  They played some classics and I was really moved by their beautiful rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow.  It was so much fun to watch Professor Hanagan (my teacher) just going crazy on the piano.  He’s really, really talented and it was a joy to watch his passionate playing.  He’s such an interesting man and I’m really glad I’m taking his class.

I have been keeping tremendously busy with homework recently but I’m still doing really well in all my classes.  I just finished reading The Wind-up Bird Chronicle tonight by Murakami Haruki and it was fantastic.  I definitely need to read more of his works and I think I will buy as many of them in Japanese as I can so I can work on reading them when I get back to the states.

Well, I’ve got to get to bed because I’m going to the aquarium tomorrow morning!  I’ve got all sorts of great ideas for places I want to go, I just need to find some time to get out and do it!

End of an Era – Return to Hirakata

(Originally Published 02/02/2008)

Most of these pictures are from Hirakata recently.

Every time I go to Yamadaike Park there are cool old dudes fishing.  Fishing in Japan confuses me.  These guys set up a little platform slightly offshore and then sit there with the tip of the really long pole resting in the water.  They stare at the tip of the pole through a little pair of binoculars mounted in front of them to the platform.  This seems to be the standard method for fishing in parks in Japan.

Some cans I was collecting before I moved from my other dorm.  I took a picture so as not to forget them.

Here are a couple of other interesting looking products I saw in a vending machine in Kobe.

Take a look at this amazing slide I found the other day in Hirakata.  Woah.

I intend to post some more anecdotes someday soon but I probably should get a little bit of studying done too before I start classes again on Monday.

Post-Tokaido Adventures – Kobe

(Originally Published 02/02/2008)

After coming back to Kansai I spent about a week at my friends’ Jen and Sarah house in Kobe.  I really love Kobe and here are some of the pictures I took while I was there.

I saw this lonesome dog sitting here every day when I went by the supermarket.

Escalators in Sannomiya.

One evening we made a run out to Akashi Bridge to watch the sunset.

It was really gorgeous there.

Here are some more of the awesome green-and-white signs.

We went out for cake one night and I got a soy latte.  It was one of the strangest flavors I’ve come across but I enjoyed it.

To get some idea of how large these bananas are, take a look at the eggs nearby.  These bananas are HUGE!  Also present is one of the strange Japanese carrots, basically like an enormous baby carrot.

Post-Tokaido Adventures – Tokyo

(Originally Published 02/02/2008)

I spent a few days in Tokyo after finishing up the Tokaido walk and here are a few of the things I saw.

This crazy building of doom in Shibuya.

Cops cruising in Shibuya

Turtle bread

A cool sign on the Yurikamome mag-lev line out to Odaiba.  The Yurikamome uses a seagull as its mascot so there are a variety of birds warning people to be careful of certain things when riding the train.

Another awesome non-smoking sign.

Big buildings in Shinjuku.

We went up to the top of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office Building in Shinjuku and got to look out at all of Tokyo.  It stretches as far as the eye can see.

I was watching this dude doing something in the room in the other tower and then I noticed how cool the reflections looked in the windows.

Spiky boots!  Yay!

Signs of the Tokaido – Page Two

(Originally Published 02/02/2008)

Yeah, why not?

Pacman on drugs!

The king stores his stuff behind these pink doors.

Okinawan noodle cuisine?

A den of foxes!

P.S.  DOG’S HOUSE! (I suppose P.S. actually stands for ‘pet shop’ in this case…)

Some sort of albino otter advertising a cleaners.

My sidewalk ended here but they gave me a map on how to get around it.

The Pied Piper of Hamlin couldn’t dispel rats like these guys.

Another green-and-white sign.  They are typically about smoking and how you should be more sensitive to others around you.

Dude, sweet door.

But the ocean isn’t all fun and games.  The ocean is a dangerous, dangerous place.  Catfish are a symbol of earthquakes because they are supposed to be able to sense one coming thanks to their sensitive whiskers.

Tokyo’s actually overdue for a really big earthquake so there are places where they prepare for the big one.

Landslides are a big threat too.

Live?  Die?  The choice depends on your speed.

This makes me think that there is going to be some giant boar like in Princess Mononoke that comes charging out of the woods suddenly.

The possibilities of a Publice Toilet boggle the mind.

Woah!  Who are these guys?

Watch out for Curious George.

Yabe indeed!  Yabe could be a variation of the word yabai which means “dangerous.”  Or it could be the name for these crazy little yam people.

Homes-kun will help you find your next home.

I felt like this tortoise dude sometimes.

And finally, a word on the signs of Hamamatsu.  First, there were signs all over the place pointing you to all of the cool attractions and they were really useful.

And, what was even cooler, was that there were signs that could tell you verbally how to get somewhere if you pressed a button!  A voice would read out the directions on how to get somewhere and the route would light up on the map.

Signs of the Tokaido – Page One

(Originally Published 02/02/2008)

All of these signs were seen somewhere along the Tokaido on my journey last month.

The first of many, many, many signs I would see about not throwing out trash.  Kyoto’s a pretty classy town and they’ve got to keep their reputation among all the millions of tourists who come every year so of course they have a Beautification Enforcement Area.

The signs just got cuter and cuter after that.

These green and white signs are the coolest in Japan.  The poetry just says so much.

There are other crimes in Japan as well.

Everywhere you go in Japan there is a sign to warn you of the dangers ahead.

Watch out for snails!

Pile up!

I’m not sure why but I started seeing these characters on signs all over Shizuoka prefecture.  Maybe they are the prefectural mascots or something.

Let’s start another page.