January 2-7 (Nishiarita) 西有田

Nishiarita
It's been three and a half years since I've left Nishiarita, and this was my fourth time back there. Not much has changed, though that may be partly because it's the inaka (country) life, and partly because I go back so often! The purpose of this trip was to see the Seijinshiki (成人式), or coming of age ceremony, that celebrates the turning of 20. Guys wear their suits (or kimono if one's a bit of a yankee boy) and the girls spruce up their hair and make-up and wear gorgeous kimono for the first time. The ceremony itself is quite boring (speeches by the mayor, former teachers, a slideshow), but the fun starts afterwards as they all go out to celebrate. These kids were 13/14 when I first arrived in Japan, and they were the most fun to teach because of their energy; it was fantastic to see how they've "grown up."

As with all my trips back to Nishiarita, it's great fun to catch up with various groups. This time around, I met with my kyudo team, had dinner and bowling with my halloween/eikaiwa group, hung out with the Fukushima family, stayed over with the Hayashi family, met up with Rumi and her family, and even caught up with some high schoolers. Alas, the teachers at the school have mostly rotated out, and the students at school I knew only as anonymous little elementary school kids from years back, so going to school had less of an impact than before.

Of course, like always, the trip ended too soon, and it was sad to have to leave again. Even worse, I'm not sure when I'll be back! Possibly I'll return to help out with this year's Halloween Party. I'll most definitely be back in two years for that class's seijinshiki. Or, maybe I'll just take another random trip just because. . . .

December 31, January 1 and 2 (Kyoto and Nara) 京都と奈良

Kyoto and Nara
What an interesting way to spend the New Years! Thousands of folk lined up to offer their first prayers at the Fushimi-Inari Shrine in Kyoto, in hopes of attaining good financial fortune for the new year. Even better, very few people actually knew the grounds very well so people got lost following each other around without any clear navigation!

Nara's temples were sublime and definitely worth a visit. I hope to go back someday to see the famous Omizutori Festival.

December 29 and 30 (Obama) 小浜

Obama Page 1
How interesting is this fishing town on the Sea of Japan? Without its bizarrely coincidental association with the President-Elect, I'm not sure any foreigners would even think of visiting it. Even the Lonely Planet fails to mention it, or any other points of interest in Fukui-ken. (I would say though that I'm not very impressed with the Lonely Planet when it comes to smaller towns and villages. Even the section on Nagoya, Japan's fourth largest city, was blatantly lifted from Nagoya's own tourist literature.) But, with an introduction and request by Anna, why not?

I planned on only spending a day in Obama, a quick trip in and out to see what the hooplah was about, and to buy some omiyage for Anna. As I wandered the streets though, I thought to myself that this would actually be an interesting way to spend a pleasant day away from the bigger cities, and hey, if you love Obama like Obama loves Obama, then all the better! So, I headed back to Nagoya and then returned the next day to finish my rounds. I figured maybe I could put together a little walk-through for future want-to-be tourists, because there are a few sights and tidbits of history that I gleamed through my short stay here. (More of that one to come!)

Highlights of the city include: fish market and fresh sushi, boat tour of Obama Bay, making my own laquered chopsticks (the area of Wakasa produces about 90% of the country's supply), strolling up the hill behind Obama park, some ancient temples with ancient Buddhist statues (from the 8th century), and, of course, buying Obama souvenirs (Obama Chopsticks, Obama Stickers, and Obama crackers).

Brief history: the town of Obama (lit. small beach) was once an important shipping port for early Nara, and was thus the entrypoint of many Buddhist traditions and artifacts. In addition to being an important center of laquered chopsticks, it also supplies fresh water to the Kyoto region.

Official English Website
http://www1.city.obama.fukui.jp/english/

December 28 (Nagano and Matsumoto) 長野と松本

Nagano and Matsumoto Page 3For some reason, am on a “do as much as you can in a day” itinerary. Must be the railpass. Must be the first opportunity I’ve ever had to do some touristy exploration. Must be the fact that there’s really not much to do after 5-6pm!

Thus, I woke up at the break of dawn. The communal bath the night before was WAY TOO HOT! (Maybe that’s why nobody else was using it. Or maybe it’s the fact that the other guests might be too shy to use it.) I was out the door and up to Zenkouji, home to the oldest surviving(?) image of Buddha (dating back to 552AD) that is actually never seen. Once every seven years they show a replica. And that wasn’t today. Did get to observe the morning chants, and even had my head blessed with some rosary beads and a “NamoAmitabha” for good measure. That’s what happens when you wake up early. Lastly, got to observe a the head priests dusting(?) the dragon tapestry that hides the image of Buddha with the world’s largest broom. Apparently, it was some big deal because there were a bunch of TV cameras there.

Sprinted off to Matsumoto to see the castle, but not before getting chided at by the bus driver for standing up too soon. (Alas, I don’t get much gaijin power out here!) Matsumoto-jo is one of four famous ancient castles that have been preserved for over four centuries. It is actually quite small, but the structure was unique: a moon-viewing pavilion; a concealed fifth floor; a samurai-running hallway around the interior; and a staircase rising over 60 degrees. Dark, cramped, cold, and bare, these ancient castles were built for military purposes only, to defend against sieges; living quarters were actually in the grounds nearby. Lastly, passed on some local fare (crickets and bee larvae) as well as a trip to the wasabi farm (fresh wasabi paste needs to be refrigerated). Maybe next time I combine the two into a peculiarly palatable dish. Unlike the grossly over-priced, under-nourishing “burger” from Mos Burger. $9 for a hamburger meal with less than 3 ounces of meat. Yums!

December 27 (Nagano) 長野

Nagano Page 1
Nagano Page 2
Video of Snow Monkeys

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=1J8g__q6koY

Finally, time to start the JR Madness. It's good to escape from Tokyo, so the first place I go is up up up into the mountains of Nagano and the Japanese Alps. Spending the past three years in Hawaii made me yearn from some snow, and what beautiful snow it is! Powdery and fluffy. Alas, I heard that there still wasn't enough snow for a good ski day. Too early. Samuii! Mechya-mechya samuii!

Well, the shinkansen trip was smoooooooooooooth; went by in a flash! Then, local trained up to Yudanaka, a bus ride, a 2 kilometer hike, and voila: snow monkeys galore! They were everywhere! Cute ones and vicious ones. Wet ones and dry ones. All of them intent on one thing: gathering those food pellets the park owners spread out. (Should I tell you that they're in the onsen only because the park owners threw food in there too?) Kawaii! Mechya-mechya kawaii!

Back to Nagano by express bus, only to find out there's not much to do in town. It's a really quaint town though, and the ryokan I'm at is trippy; it has like 7 staircases all intertwined. Dinner was locally grown and hand made buckwheat soba noodles. . . mmmmm! Oishii! mechya-mechya oishii!

December 26 (Tokyo) 東京

Video of Trick Box

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=8OO1RyMg_WY

Tokyo Page 3

I started off the day planning to just go to the National Museum, chill out, and wait until my rail pass gets activated. I've realized that Japanese people walk a lot, and quite fast at that! Maybe that's why they're so thin (in addition to their healthy diets).

Along the way, I passed through Akihabara, the electronics/otaku mecca of Japan. Strangely enough, it has lost its appeal to me, though I did go and try and find the "Tondemo Crisis" PlayStation game (no luck!).

Ueno was the first time I saw a bunch of old old people; I even saw an old lady selling some produce from a box next to the subway entrance. I figured Ueno might be where old people hang out! Then I saw some trippy stores nearer the station, so maybe it's where the hipsters hang out too. Lastly I saw one, then two, then a horde of homeless folk. So maybe that's where the homeless hang out. One happening place!

Over 35% of the workforce is temp/contract/dispatch workers. They get very little pay, no job security, no unemployment benefitis. Thus, they get hurt the most and the quickest. I've seen homeless before in Osaka (with some extravagant tent housing), but not congregated like this. They were quietly waiting for some food from a local church.

The museum itself was blah; I've seen most of this stuff but it was still a good refresher of Japanese history. The highlights for me were: 1) a voodoo doll by the Uichi people; 2) the difference between tachi and katana swords; 3) a beautiful metallic Buddhist prayer banner.

Lastly, before I fell asleep (like the dozen or so tourists napping at the museum), I headed over to Shinjuku/Harajuku. Despite being the "fashion center" of the young'uns, it was basically the same-o same-o, with people pretending to be non-conformist. I mean, I doubt those girls wearing a cat outfit sewed it themselves.

December 24 and 25 (Tokyo) 東京

Tokyo Page 1

Tokyo Page 2Wandering through Tokyo by foot was fun, but tiring! Sheesh, the city is so big. I tried to make it down to Tokyo Tower, but got lost along the way.

The bus trip to Mt. Fuji was really fun. It was an English-speaking tour, and the tour guide was HILARIOUS! For example, while talking about the projected death rate for the next big Tokyo earthquake at over 15,000 people , he would chuckle his cute old man's laugh. Tadashi-san was also very political, rambling on about the workforce, Koizumi, political corruption, and so forth. Definitely the most politically charged Japanese person I've met. . . ever!

The views of Mt. Fuji were varied and beautiful, though we never really got to stay in one place too long. Up close though (from the fourth station), it wasn't very impressive. But from afar, it is gorgeous. We also went to Hakone, a resort town on a lake, where we learned about the famous trick boxes and a famous hotel that John Lennon and Charlie Chaplin loved. Alas, it was too windy to ride the cable car up to one last view of Mt. Fuji.

Two blasts from the past: 1) I met someone from North Dakota who was studying Chinese at TaiDa; 2) I met my favorite robotic toy, though Nancy was nowhere to be found!