明けましておめでとう from Tokyo!

Happy 2008, everyone! Hope this year treats you as well or better than 2007 did.

The pic above is the scene at the Zoujou Temple (増上寺) next to Tokyo Tower, at the moment the clock struck midnight, where people who were lucky enough to get a balloon to write their wishes on released them into the sky. Truly awesome.

Mr Ed comes to Dinner

Japan is a land of many culinary delights, including gems like sea urchin roe, octopus tentacles, natto and deep fried crickets. I'll try almost anything once, but when I found raw horsemeat (馬刺 - basashi) in the supermarket, I have to admit it took a very long time for me to overcome my reluctance towards eating my birth animal. Though I probably shouldn't have been, since I recall I was fed a German sausage when I was a kid, only to be told later it was made of My Little Pony.

Anyway I eventually decided to bite the bullet and partake of a little astrological cannibalism, just so I can say I took advantage of all the gastronomic opportunities this country has to offer:

I suspect these are the leftovers from the horse races in Fukushima city. >.> Well, waste not, want not, I always say.

Okay, so I did hesitate a little when it came down to the wire. It was hard to reconcile those delicious looking slices of rich, glossy red meat with Phar Lap, but omnivorous instincts eventually won out, and I must say the taste is quite pleasant, like slightly gamey raw beef. The togarashi (Japanese 7-spice pepper) miso dipping sauce in the pack really went well with it, and I reckon it would taste good even on a slab of grilled cow.

I dunno if I'll try this again, given that it's not the cheapest meat around, but I suppose it's better to have lived a bit than never know what it was like. I hear that they serve schoolkids whale meat for lunch in the big city up north... *flee*

OMG snow! Part 2

Coming from a subtropical country, the only snow I've ever seen is on TV or in my freezer. So I'm really looking forward to the upcoming winter when I'll experience first hand frozen water vapour falling from the sky. I've been told that the snow in Sukagawa is of the slushy variety, so it'll probably be no fun to build snowmen out of, but I reckon any snowballs I make will be deadly. XD

Speaking of deadly, I've also been warned about driving on the roads here during winter. Apparently it's a lot more dangerous to drive when there's been a light snowfall as opposed to a heavy one, because the snow that melts when it hits the road rapidly refreezes into a thin, almost invisible layer of extremely slippery ice. Good thing our landlord has included snow tyres in the price of the rental on our cars, and all we had to do was change them over at the local servo.

Excellent service, but my only concern was that they left my car in the station's parking area *with the key in the ignition*. It's probably a tribute to the low crime rate that they can get away with doing that here, but it was still a little alarming when they told me where the key to my car was.

As the month heads into the actual winter season, the birds and insects have gone into hiding or defected to warmer climates, and the air's become colder and drier. I was in class one time, but stopped halfway to look out the window, grinning like an idiot at this (look real closely):


I'm told I'll get over all that pretty snow fairly quickly once it gets really cold, but I think I'll indulge the n00b in me for a little while longer. ^^

Eeee... pretty! Even though I know some snowflakes are six-sided, it was still really cool to see one up close. I was in my neighbour's car while on the way to work one day when the snow started and some fell on the windscreen. Good thing I wasn't the one driving, because I was too busy examining the 3-4mm snow crystals and picking out the perfect ones. *.*

I can't wait to see snow piled up in the neighbourhood nearer to January. Snowball fight!

Japanese Lesson - Tang Poems

Poetry lessons continue into higher school levels too, it seems. I was asked to observe a junior high Japanese lesson on Kanji poems together with all the other teachers the other day. I was really surprised that they used old Chinese poems recited in onyomi (Chinese pronunciation) to teach rhythmic patterns, and even more surprised to see one such Tang poem in the kids' books that I knew in school myself.

1chun 2mian 4bu 2jue 3xiao
4chu 4chu 2wen 2ti 3niao
4ye 2lai 1feng 3yu 1sheng
1hua 4luo 1zhi 1duo 3shao

Asleep unaware it's dawn in spring
Hear on every side the birds sing
Came a storm at the night
Who ever cares how many blossoms had fallen

(translation from SuMOnelse)

The kids were being introduced to the meaning of the poem together with a Japanese adaption, with it's own rhythm and stress, though to me it sounded really different and perhaps a little less structured than the original. It can get really difficult to understand Chinese poems since they can and do omit individual characters from compound words to make each line fall into the 5 or 7 syllable pattern.

I wish I knew more of what was going on, because it would have been a really interesting comparison of language, culture and adaptation. I reckon this crosses more into the realm of literature and academia, seeing as it's a study of verse structure and intonation, and so might appeal more to people who have a high level of language ability and can afford to spend time on more intellectual pursuits. I remember when I first came across this in secondary school and was quite inclined to throw it out the window because I wasn't good enough in Mandarin to appreciate fine verse. Good thing my classmates were the creative type, and came up with a jolly good filk, which I remember way better than the original.

1chun 2mian 4bu 2jue 3xiao
4chu 4chu 2wen 2zi 3yao
4ye 2lai 1ba 3zhang 1sheng
4bu 1zhi 3si 1duo 3shao

Sleeping in spring, unaware that
I'm bitten by mosquitoes everywhere
In the night there are slapping sounds
Who knows how many have died?

I was subsequently asked to recite the Chinese version of the poem for the kids in English class as part of the explanation of the word "poem". The fun part was watching them stunned mullets realize that they'd already learned it in another subject, and that it sounds really different in its original form. Score one for internationalization!

Masochism, pure and simple

So I decided to give the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) a go this year, to give myself an extra push towards basic fluency. I really should have taken the advice I got at the shrine at the Tsuruga Castle in Aizu, which was to concentrate on one thing at a time. Due to driving classes and other distractions related to settling into a new country, I haven't been able to get down to any serious study since I got here, even with the correspondence materials provided by CLAIR. So it was with much trepidation that I headed up to Sendai for the Level 3 JLPT on Sunday, knowing full well just how much I didn't yet know of the language.

The phrase "on a wing and a prayer" never felt so appropriate. XD

The trip up was uneventful, being quick and painless by shinkansen. Okay maybe it does hurt my wallet a little, seeing as I had to spend money on accommodation and transport during the JET Mid Year Conference just a few days before. Once we got there though, it was quite a surprise to see a bustling city of one million people crammed into a place less than half the size of Adelaide. It felt for a moment like I was back in Tokyo, except the city had a vaguely retro feel about it, like it was still trying to shake off the trappings of the 70s.

After living here for a while, it feels a little strange to see a whole bunch of non-Japanese people in one place at the same time. Though I really shouldn't be, given that I've lived in largely multiracial communities all my life, I'm quite surprised at the diversity of Japan's expatriate population. Aside from the usual JET contingent, there were mainland Chinese, Filipino and Indian people, and one guy from Ghana taking the test in the same room as I was. I guess I hadn't expected such an international presence outside major cities like Tokyo.

The United Nations aside, the test itself was murder. I had a bad feeling the writing and vocabulary part of the test was the easiest, and I was proved right when the listening section zipped by before I could say, "sorry, what was that again?". It was nothing compared with the reading comprehension and grammar section, where the combination of post-lunchtime sleepies and lack of grammar knowledge probably torpedoed any hope of me passing this year. Stay tuned in February though, when they'll release the results and I shall promptly go drown my sorrows in a bucket of sake.

I reckon a large number of us were pretty depressed about the exam, so I decided that a little retail therapy was in order. Being a major city, Sendai has a major shopping area, part of which is covered and protected from the wind and rain. The imminent festive season also means that these shopping boulevards are decked out in fairy lights and Christmas decorations, the likes of which are shown below:



In Japan, Santa has black hair and wears kimono. XD

To cut a long story short, we (being my neighbour and I) visited several anime, comic and hobby stores, and came away with gashapon, mini figurines, a plush Chocobo white mage and a statue of Xecty Ein from Shining Wind (I hold you responsible for this, Sent! XD). So much for keeping to budget this month. >.>

We found a little cafe on the upper floors of a shopping centre next to the JR Sendai station serving very delicious looking omurice. I ordered the prawn and tomato sauce omurice and it looked like this:


If you think it looks good, it tasted even better. ^^ The rice had tomato and mushrooms in it, the egg was just right, not overcooked nor runny, and at just over ¥900 for the rice, a soft drink and a green tea soft serve cone, it was a great relief for the hip pocket.

Taking the route bus on the way back brought back memories of that eventful night in Tokyo on the midnight bus, though this time we managed to get back by 10:30. The ride was long, but it gave us plenty of time to look over our loot from the afternoon and fangirl (or fanboy) over all that nice anime stuff. ^^

So much for the JLPT. I'm going to take this week off at least, and start on studying the rest of my CLAIR materials only after this weekend.

Or maybe after Christmas.

... make that New Year's. XD

ps: It's customary for students taking exams to be given Kit Kat to eat, because the Japanese pronunciation of the brand sounds like "I'll definitely make it", hence the chocolate bar in the picture above. You know what they say, when in Rome...

Livin' La Vida Local (Produce)

Living in a more rural area of Japan means you get up close and personal with the local agricultural industry. Here in my town the place is full of ricefields and plots of fertile land filled with cucumbers, corn, cabbages, leeks, apples, pears and mandarins. The people here take farming seriously too, going so far as to incorporate vegetable farming into the syllabus at elementary school level.

It so happened that my time at the elementary schools here coincided with the harvest season for a multitude of produce, so I was given an armful of fruit and vegetables before I finished my last days there. It's really nice to know that the staff think of you when you go home with a daikon radish, sweet potato, apples and quinces in the boot of your car.

One school in particular was surrounded by ginkgo trees, so I was given a bag of ginkgo nuts as a souvenir, as well as instructions for cooking and eating them. I was told to wrap them in baking paper and nuke them in the microwave until I heard them pop like corn. Specifically, they were ready to eat after two pops, no more, no less. I have to admit, the method really works, especially with small batches laid out in a single layer. Sure there are a few that don't get cooked through (I wouldn't eat those; the raw nuts are poisonous), but those that are well done are really quite good to eat. Not to mention of course that cooking them kills off the butyric acid component in the shells which makes the raw nuts smell somewhat pukey.

I still had a large batch of ginkgos left after experimenting with them, so I decided to try something out. There's a popular rice dish in Japan called kamameshi, literally "pot rice", similar to claypot rice in Chinese cuisine. The supermarkets here sell kamameshi kits, but I decided to do it the hard way from scratch (would you have expected anything less? ^^), using the ginkgo nuts as a star ingredient. The following original recipe for Ginkgo and Shiitake Kamameshi is reproduced here for my own reference, so I don't forget what proportions of seasonings and stuff I used.


Serves 3-4

2 cups rice (Japanese short grain, standard 180ml rice measure)
1/2 cup ginkgo nuts, nuked, shelled, peeled
3 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked and cubed
1 150g pkt sansai (edible wild vegetables), rinsed and drained well
1/2 carrot, cut into matchsticks
150g chicken momo (dark meat from the thigh and drumstick), diced and marinated
2 inch piece konbu soaked with mushrooms

stock:
liquid from soaking mushrooms and konbu
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp mirin
1 slightly rounded tbsp dashi powder
salt to taste
water

marinade (all amounts to taste):
soy sauce
salt
pepper
sesame oil

cooking oil

1. Discard soaked konbu. Combine ingredients for stock and add to rice in a rice cooker, topping up with an appropriate amount of water if necessary. Mix well.

2. Scatter ginkgos, mushrooms, sansai and carrot on top of the rice. Do not mix.

3. Saute marinated chicken on high heat with a little oil. Drain and add to the vegetables in the rice cooker. Cover with a circle of greaseproof paper (a cartouche, for you technical minded people out there) if using a small cooker.

4. Turn on the rice cooker. Once the kamameshi is cooked, remove the paper, mix the rice, and return to the cooker for an extra 10 minutes. Serve hot.

As I mentioned above, some of the ginkgo nuts don't get cooked enough on the first go. It's okay here though, since they get cooked a second time with the rice. I found that the rice itself was a little on the moist side, on account of the vegetables and mushrooms adding extra liquid to the pot. I might reduce the water a little the next time I try this so that the rice isn't too mushy. I might also remove the skin from the chicken to cut down on the fat, but that'd be no fun, would it?

Anyway, the finished product actually tasted alright for a first try:


The salad in the background was made of the daikon I got from school, served with wakame seaweed and shiso (perilla) flavoured dressing. Since I live in peony town, I thought I might cut the daikon to look somewhat like the local speciality:


The orange tinge is from a few drops of raayu (chilli oil), which gives the daikon a tasty kick.

I kinda wish the junior high schools I'm at grew their own vegetables too, but methinks I shall have to settle for the local supermarkets. Not a complaint, mind you, the produce here is excellent. I suppose there are advantages to living in the sticks after all ^^

ps: I just got another daikon from school the other day. XD

(Air) Guitar Hero, too

Someone once sent me a link to an eBay auction for an air guitar, and I found it hilarious. I mean, you've got to be really dumb to believe you have to pay actual money for something you pretend to play with your hands. You know what they say, there's a sucker born every minute.

Or so it seemed.

Today I was walking around the local shopping mall (while I really should have been studying for the JLPT - I'm so screwed), and I came across an actual air guitar in a shop that sells interior accessories and wacky toys. At first I thought it was some kind of gag, but on closer inspection (and a go at the display model), it really did work! What clinched it for me though was that it included "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" by Jet (Go Aussie!) as one of the preset songs. So, as much as I hate to admit it, I'm now the proud owner of one brand spanking new high tech air guitar:

The Japanese take the concept of compact living seriously. O.o

Made by Takara Tomy (did the two companies merge or something?), the Air Guitar Pro features one touch chords (for unco people like me) and sub buttons for sharps, flats and such. It also has jacks so you can hook it up to a music player to practice your own songs or a set of external speakers so you can show the world your l33t guitar skillz. The thing works via an infra red beam on the bottom, so that the right notes sound from the speaker on the back when you strum the air where the guitar strings would be. Neat, huh?

After a few plonks, I'd have to say it's a whole lot of fun, especially because I can't help but ham it up and make mad guitar player faces just for the heck of it. It can get frustrating though, because the IR beam doesn't actually reach all that far (maybe about a foot) and accidentally straying into its path can cause the Air Guitar to play extra notes by mistake. Following the enclosed instructions helps a lot, but of course I realized that only after I took a second look at the packaging and actually found them. :/ 

Thanks to the series of t00bs known as the Internets, I've been practicing the chords to a few songs for the past couple of hours. My personal favourites are "Closing Time" by Semisonic, "Wicked Game" by Chris Isaak, as well as Christmas classics like "Santa Claus is Coming to Town", "Deck the Halls" and "The Twelve Days of Christmas". The Air Guitar doesn't play some of the more complicated chords like Asus, Fmaj etc, so there's a limit to what songs the thing can handle. Even so, it's nice to be able to play and sing at the same time, or as best as I can given I still have laryngitis (damn!).

I reckon if I went out on the street back in Australia I'd be able to make a few bucks with this, even though I suck at playing. Might be good for a few laughs, eh?

zomg

I just walked out to get breakfast and saw snow falling from the sky. OMG snow!

Yes, I'm a n00b who's never seen snow before. I'll shut up now...

Haiku madness!

Kids in Japan learn pretty much the same thing as I did in my youth, like language, science, mathematics, social studies and such. However they get started on stuff like calligraphy, fine arts and poetry at a young age too. The kids in one of my elementary schools are asked to do haiku as part of their classes, and they come up with some surprisingly good ones.

The best get posted on the school bulletin board for everyone to read. I will reproduce some of them here, totally without permission of course, and attempt to adapt them to English while keeping to the 5-7-5 pattern of a traditional haiku. Any mistakes in translation, grammar or spelling are entirely my own. Also, some of the original poems might not exactly fit the 5-7-5 pattern according to Japanese syllabary, but go easy on them, ok? They're just kids.

Here we go:

さくらもち 一口だけで 春気分
sakura mochi hitoguchi dake de haru kibun
Sakura mochi Just one bite and it's all gone The feeling of Spring

星座達 夜空につもる 雪のよう
seiza tachi yozora ni tsumoru yuki no you
The constellations Hanging up in the night sky Resemble snowflakes

菜の花が さくとわたしの たんじょうび
nanohana ga saku to watashi no tanjoubi
Brassica flowers Come at about the same time As my birthday does

さくらさき みなのこころも うごきだす
sakura saki mina no kokoro mo ugoki dasu
Cherry blossoms fly Everyone's hearts and souls are Deeply moved by them

さむくない ふるえているよ ミニトマト
samukunai furueteiru yo mini tomato
Though it's not that cold Cherry tomatoes tremble Shaking on the vine

思い出は キャンプファイアー 火のおどり
omoide wa kyampufaiaa hi no odori
I remember a Brightly burning campfire Full of dancing flames

もみじがね あたまにのって ぼうしだよ
momiji ga ne atama ni notte boushi da yo
Autumn maple leaves Ride on the top of my head Like a pretty hat

And my favourite little gem:

ちょうさむい ふとんの中から でられない
chou samui futon no naka kara derarenai
It's really too cold I don't want to get out from Under the futon

Terribly apt for the current season, in my opinion. Thank heavens for my kotatsu and gas heater. Well, not to be outdone (though I think I've been hopelessly outclassed), I've come up with one of my own (in English only, unfortunately). I like to think it kind of reflects my own life philosophy, and why I will never adopt vegetarianism on compassionate grounds:

But the fact remains
Another life must perish
So that you may live

I think I like the ones the kids made better though... ^^

Fully sick, mate!

I might have mentioned in a few previous posts that i've been feeling under the weather (literally) lately. Well, just before I got my licence and the car that would have helped me avoid all this, there was this one evening where it started raining buckets in the middle of my way home from work on my bike. Turns out that this was no ordinary shower, but Typhoon No. 20, which chose that evening to hit my particular town. Apparently typhoons are so common here in Japan that they've given up on naming them ^^

Now I don't believe that being out in the rain causes colds. Blame it on my scientific background, which insists that colds and flu are caused by bacteria and viruses. So where did I catch my bug from? I dunno, but I reckon that the kids at my elementary schools who like to tug at my clothes and stuff, especially those kids with snot dripping out of their noses, might have something to do with it.

Anyway, over the next few days things got steadily worse, culminating in a fever, runny nose, persistent dry cough and a bout of semi-chronic laryngitis that forced me to stay home for at least one day. No point in going to classes if I can't speak, right? Ah, the irony of it all.

I didn't manage to see the doctor until about 5-6 days after my symptoms started due to work and generally feeling yucky, but when I did, service was swift and polite, as it generally is here. I was in and out of the clinic in under 30 minutes. Best thing was, due to my health insurance (mandatory for all full-time workers in Japan... for shame, NOVA!) the consult only cost me round about 1200 yen. Apparently the healthcare system here will subsidize two-thirds of all medical costs, so it's generally a good deal. It's not like bulk billing back in Australia, but with the advent of Medicare reforms (not happy, John), doctors who bulk bill are getting rarer anyway.

The subsidy extends to prescription medications as well, because I got antibiotics, painkillers, decongestants and even a throat gargle from the dispensary next door for under 900 yen. Not bad considering I used to have to pay shedloads for even simple stuff back in Australia, and bank on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme for a shot at a paltry refund.

Service at the pharmacy was also top notch, and I've discovered that it extends to portioning out individual doses for the convenience of customers:

No chance of taking the wrong number of pills there. I love how each individual sachet also specifies when it should be taken, even though their contents are identical.

A major complaint I have however is the strength and composition of the medications here. The antibiotics I was given were tiny little capsules which didn't do very much to make me feel better. Back in Australia the package tells you to finish the course even if your symptoms go away. Over here you finish the course precisely because the symptoms *don't* go away. Now, what's the point of prescribing weak antibiotics when all they will do is kill off the weak bugs to leave more room for the stronger ones? Also, the meds here seem to be formulated with low concentrations of no less than 6 ingredients together at any one time, so in order to dose up enough to kill pain, you'd overdose on all the other stuff that's mixed in there. That's just plain silly in my books.

Maybe I'm being picky, or maybe it's the frustration at having gone through two and a half weeks of feeling crappy and still having a cough, running nose and a voice at 50%.

Lesson learned: forget the bike, take the car.

p.s.: Traditional cold remedies abound in Japan, and they include hot infusions of daikon (Japanese radish), a local fruit called karin (my dictionary defines it as quince), or probably the most effective one, sliced ginger root, all taken with honey. I might as well give them a try, since regular meds haven't helped. *shrug*

Taimatsu Akashi - Burn baby burn! (image intensive)

The town I'm in is famous for holding on of Japan's 3 great fire festivals, the 松明あかし (Taimatsu Akashi), held in the second week of November. I mentioned in a previous post that it commemorates an event that happened in the Warring States period, when the daimyo from Sendai, Date Masamune, tried to annex Sukagawa. The people of the town apparently didn't want to be ruled by some one-eyed punk from the north, and so built massive stacks of bamboo and straw (called taimatsu) and set them on fire around the town the keep the little shrimp out. It worked, surprisingly, because Date actually gave up on attacking and went elsewhere.

(I should probably mention that my image of Date Masamune is heavily influenced by a certain video game series produced by Koei, and should in no way be construed as an accurate portrayal of a particularly gutsy, if somewhat smallpox ridden, feudal lord from ancient Japan.)

In modern times, the town is quite proud (and justifiably so) of maintaining its liberty, and so every year, the folks here recreate that night by building 10 metre tall columns of bamboo filled with combustibles, carrying them to the Midorigaoka park and setting them on fire. There's a lot of skill involved in making them, and the local masters drop by interested parties such as schools and citizen groups to impart some specialist knowledge handed down from the old days.

Here's a schematic of how the bamboo poles are strapped together to for the basic structure of the taimatsu:

Looks simple, but the size of the actual thing makes it really difficult to build.

And here are the kids at one of my junior high schools weaving together strips of bamboo to make the 1.5 metre diameter rings that hold the poles together:


The whole thing is stuffed with straw then wrapped in sheets of woven grass to keep it all together. Of course there's then the logistics of carrying it to the park. Most groups ship their taimatsu up to the park (located on a hill) on the back of a truck in the days before the festival, but the schools have to do it the old fashioned way, perhaps as a character building exercise, or maybe just to save on the truck rental. It's a well orchestrated manoeuver, involving rotating teams of about 60 people supporting strategically placed struts under the taimatsu, which weighs about 2 tonnes on a good day. I was told that it rained the year before on the day the school transported theirs to the park, adding an extra tonne of rainwater to the backs of their strapping young'uns. Character building, maybe. Chronic injury, more like it.

Burning haystacks isn't the only thing that happens on the day however. The townspeople also re-enact the deployment of their people in defense of the city. Basically, groups of townspeople dress up in samurai gear (complete with replica weapons, feudal period flags and the odd horse) and walk from the main street to the park where the taimatsu are. Even kids get in on the act, with representatives from the local elementary schools dressing up as miniature warriors. Real cute.

I'm never one to pass up a cosplay opportunity, so this year I elected to walk in the parade instead of helping to carry the city hall's taimatsu (duh). I was put into the archers' contingent together with a group of trainee nurses from the Fukushima Hospital, which is located just minutes from my place by car. Here are a few pics of us as well as the other samurai, including this year's winner of the local beauty pageant dressed as the town princess at the time.


Ain't we cool? ^^ btw, I'm second from the right.



I wish I had been able to take pictures of the kids, but by the time the parade started it had begun to rain, and we were all told to put on raincoats to protect our costumes and stave off the cold, so there was no point. Hey, the samurai of yore didn't wear no stinking raincoats! They were hardcore!

I was told later by a friend that it usually rains during the festival, and it would be extremely lucky if it didn't. So I've decided that I'll stay here until such time I can get to see a Taimatsu Akashi that's actually dry for a change. Nyah.

Anyway, the highlight of the festival happened after the parade: the lighting of the taimatsu. In these times of modern organic chemistry, the folks here use an accelerant on the tops of the taimatsu to make sure they start burning quickly. In a triumph of science over nature, all the taimatsu were alight within half an hour. It was nice to get near them while they burned, partly because it's truly a sight to behold, but mostly because it gets really cold after sundown this time of year.


It's a pyromaniac's dream I tells ya. CLAIR must have somehow twigged that I like burny things when I applied. ^^

And finally, I wouldn't have snapped this pic had someone standing beside me not mentioned that one of the haystacks looked a lot like a flaming... uh...

Looks suss, doesn't it? Doesn't it?!!

Graduating from the Passenger Seat

When I got back to the driving school the principal revealed that I was the first foreigner in the school to pass the driving test on the first go, so to celebrate he called the press on me. Apparently it was a big thing, so I went along with it. Unfortunately I was wearing a shirt which read, "Its only illegal if you get caught!", but hopefully no one will figure out what it means >.>

The same evening I got my licence, my landlord came around with the car I'm renting from him, a light blue-green Nissan March Collet (plus the novice driver mark!). Not the best car for running over geriatrics, but hey, at least it's easier to park than a sedan. He asked me to take care of it in the same way you ask a pyromaniac not to play with matches. I'm not that bad, am I? ^^;;;

I took my first solo drive the next day to see if I could navigate the way to my current school. Man, it feels so weird being in the driver's seat. Things look so different, and I'm still more than a little scared behind the wheel, hoping I don't get lost. But oh the freedom! It's nice to be able to go to the local shopping mall and buy the stuff I couldn't lug back on my bike by myself. Here's to a new era in independence!

Just today one of the staff at my school showed me the newspaper article with my name and picture. So there's my fifteen minutes of fame in this country, eh? ^^

Driving Miss Crazy Part 2: Hit the Road, Jack

It's been a long three weeks, but I'm finally done with learning how to drive. So here's the rest of my blow-by blow account of how to get a licence from scratch in Japan, following on from Part 1.

Another coffee might be in order...

Step 7: Theory Classes part 2 - 16 hours

And you thought you knew everything there was about the rules of the road. The second half of the theory lessons deal with topics such as defensive driving, driving on expressways, parking and stopping, basic car maintenance and even riding double on motorbikes. In addition there were hands on lessons on tire replacement and putting on snow chains (watch which side you use, if you don't want to get a flat while driving).

I was really impressed that three hours were spent on dealing with casualties at the scene of an accident. And I can proudly say I now know how to administer CPR, which no one seems to want to do in Australia in case someone sues for additional injuries as a result. Better dead than alive and able to litigate, I suppose.

As a side note, in other places I was taught to check for ABC (Airway, Breathing and Circulation), but here they tell you to skip the circulation bit since the pulse is hard to find, and would cut into any time the casualty has left to live. Heck, I can't even find my own pulse sometimes, so anything that saves time works for me.

Step 8: Driving on the road - 19 hours

Like in Part 1, the practical sessions can be taken in conjunction with the theory lessons, with the caveat that you have to first finish the lessons about blind spots, driving under bad conditions, basic physics and car maintenance first. Since all the basic manoeuvers were dealt with in Part 1, most of the practical in Part 2 is done on public roads. Just in case any of you think you can practice on your own, think again. You need to have someone who's held a local licence for 3 years or more with you at all times on the road, otherwise you get into a shedload of trouble.

I was instructed to do the rounds of the neighbourhood near the school, and even made a few trips to my own neck of the city. During the course of the practical sessions I was taught how to plan routes, cope with night time driving, negotiate choreographed 3-point turns (called switch turns here - I sucked at them), parallel park and even handle emergency braking. There was also a driving simulator session (courtesy of Mitsubishi Inc.) that threw cyclists, drunken pedestrians, random motorcycles and crazy drivers at me. I managed to kill only 2 people on the way to my destination. Joy!

I suppose I liked the expressway lesson the best, being in control of a Beemer (luxury!) and zooming down the local expressway at 100km/h. What a rush!

Like in Part 1, once you finish the minimum hours they check to see if you've actually learnt anything before they let you take the actual practical test. Needless to say, driving like a maniac at this point probably won't do you any favours, so don't.

Step 9: Driving Practical Test - Approximately 1 hour

Luckily for me, I didn't need to go all the way to the local DMV to take the practical test (卒業試験 - sotsugyou shiken, literally graduation test). Which was probably a good idea, since I only knew the area around the school. That's right, the practical test is conducted on public roads too. Basically I was told to drive to a certain point in town and find my way back to the school, then execute a three point turn to get back to where I started from. Like in Part 1, the passing mark is 70 out of 100, with points deducted for missing lights, driving to close to parked cars or pedestrians, and misjudging the three point turn (mounting the kerb and continuing regardless results in an automatic fail).

The folks at the school were nice enough to ask all of us who were taking the test to try driving one of their dodgier cars into a padded concrete block afterwards (slowly of course), just to see how an impact feels like without seatbelts. Nice way to drive home the point (hah pun!). They made up for it though by giving us all free Novice Driver (初心者 - shoshinsha) symbols (called the wakaba or "young leaf" mark) to put on our cars.

Just to make sure that I knew my stuff before I tackled the final written test (本免学科試験 - honmen gakka shiken), all of us were made to go through a study session in the afternoon after the test, which just meant going through the model tests with an instructor. I thought I might be excused from it because I was violently sick from riding through Typhoon No. 20 a few nights before (more on that later), but I was dead wrong. I think I did alright though, even though I was answering the questions in a feverish haze. I'm so hardcore... O.o

Step 10: Driver's Licence Written Test - 50 minutes

So this is the big day, where it's decided whether as a gaijin you may legally drive on the streets of Japan, or if you're doomed to retake the written test in a language that's not your own. Fortunately, I was able to take the written test in English at Koriyama, which meant I didn't have to spend money to get to the prefectural capital, and even had a free ride to the DMV thrown in by the driving school.

I pretty much had to prepare the same documents as the first time round, in addition to my learner's permit (仮運転免許書 - kari unten menkyosho) and my graduation certificate (卒業証明書 - sotsugyou shoumeisho) which proves I'm not a maniac on the roads (in front of my instructors ^^). The run up to the test was pretty much the same as the first time round (¥2100 for the application form), except that this time the test consisted of 95 questions in 50 minutes, five of which were individual illustrated questions with three part answers. The stinger is that if you answer even one of the three questions wrong, 2 points get deducted from your score. And that's a real easy way to fail with less than 90% of the score.

After the test came the hard part: the long wait to actually get my licence. They only started the procedure to print the thing after lunch (¥1650 for printing costs), with a briefing to make sure everyone's particulars were correct, take our photos and only then, to actually print the licences. Then before they sent us on our way, there was one last briefing where they reminded us to drive safely, and where they showed us a massive book containing all of Japan's traffic laws and ordinances (like the Bible, but much less likely to cause offence). Then and only then were we given the green light (I'm on fire with these puns, I tell ya) to go out there and DRIVE!

Just for reference, here's an example of a Japanese Driver's Licence:

The big red shaded box at the bottom shows what vehicles the holder of the licence is entitled to drive. For example, this cool cat can pilot traditional Japanese wooden propeller toys, rally cars and even an assault tank. Nothing so flash for me though, but I'm happy with being able to drive regular cars, scooters and light agricultural equipment. I've decided that my parking needs some work, but other than that I'm ok. Really! Hey, why is everyone looking at me like that?

Restaurant Review - Suiryuu

One of the first places I dined at when I got here was a Chinese izakaya restaurant on the main street of the city centre (松明通り - Taimatsu Road), owned by a really hard working bloke. Hard working because the guy doesn't take any mid year vacations and keeps his shop open long past midnight. That's dedication for you.

The restaurant's name is 酔龍 which means "Drunken Dragon", and by definition is the kind of place I would seriously hang out at. The cuisine is Chinese, and by that I mean Chinese food that has been modified for local tastes. It's a little different from the stuff I get in Sydney, since some truly Chinese ingredients are a little hard to come by here. Notwithstanding, it's probably some of the best grub you can have in the city for a decent price (¥1200-1800 pp inclusive of 1 alcoholic drink), and here's why.

The Ebi Chilli looks fearsome, though being made for Japanese palates, is really mild by even Australian standards. Then again, I'd happily eat a whole bag of habanero potato chips in one sitting (with a glass of milk on standby of course), so it's a little hard to compare. Fans of Iron Chef might remember that they claim the dish was brought to Japan by Iron Chef Chinese's father, and everyone else jumped on the bandwagon afterwards. Don't take their word for it though, it's not like the show is a paragon of veracity ya know.

Back in Sydney, and pretty much the rest of the world, flied lice (hah) is made from chopped up leftovers so nothing goes to waste. None of that for Suiryuu though. The owner uses fresh eggs, chicken, pork and greens for his, and occasionally offers special variants with seasonal ingredients such as salmon. All this without a hint of added MSG! He'll also do special requests for allergy sufferers (no eggs!) so it's all good.

Oh, and it's "fried rice", you plick. ^^

Suiryuu's karaage seriously rocks my world. Boneless, seasoned fried chicken pieces delivered fresh and hot to your table with generous helpings of shredded cabbage and spiced mayonnaise for dipping. Excellent on its own or with a cold, tasty beer.

A somewhat unique dish at the restaurant is the cheese harumaki (springrolls). In addition to the usual turnip, carrots and mixed vegetables, these are filled with mozzarella (or similar) and freshly fried so that the cheese is still gooey. It takes some getting used to if you're more familiar with the traditional kind, but it's really quite tasty, especially with another cold beer.

One of the chef's extra-special specials is the gomoku ankake yakisoba, which is basically crispy noodles with a thickened combination sauce containing vegetables, chicken, pork and seafood. It reminds me a lot of the yee mee I used to eat in Singapore, so I can't help but get a little nostalgic on this one. Ah... good times. I'll have another Asahi, thanks...

One of the nicest things about the place is the way it's laid out. Diners can choose to sit at the bar where they can order mixed drinks or beer on tap with their food, or sit in the raised area (shoes off please!) and chill out with the zabuton and low tables. The interior is constructed mostly using timber, which gives the place a nice, cosy atmosphere. The latest pop music plays over the sound system, but is never so loud that you can't carry on a normal conversation. There's no pressure to order lots, and you can stay as long as you like (within reason of course... like not until 10am the next day).

In a nutshell:

Suiryuu
15 Taimatsu Doori
Sukagawa City Centre
Fukushima Prefecture
0248-75-5013

Cuisine: Chinese
Alcohol served: Yes
Capacity: 20-25 persons
Budget: Mid-range (under ¥2000)
Lunch: 12-2pm
Dinner: 6pm until late
Closed Sundays

Music Video: Kakeru Kawa Yo (Oh Soaring River)

Update! (22/10/07): The kids who were singing in the video actually won the contest! Wow, this is the first time I've actually backed a winner. Melbourne Cup, here I come!

The kids at my current junior high school are in the midst of preparing for their annual school open day, and the highlight is a choral contest between all the classes. One of the songs was rather nice, so I thought I'd try out my video editing skillz and put together a clip of a typical junior high school day to the tune. Did someone once say something about an infinite number of monkeys with typewriters and a copy of Hamlet?


Apologies for the lack of resolution; I filmed this all on my Olympus compact digital camera, which is much more suited to happy snaps. The original version was way better pre-compression.

Rove ain't got nuthin' on this...

Due to websites like www.engrish.com, lots of people probably expect to come to Japan to be tickled by the local English. At first I thought I'd be inundated with things like telephone manuals that tell you to "f*ck the phone" and other such delicious non sequiturs, but gems like those are surprisingly hard to find. Not all Engrish is hilarious, but I'll try my best to post any "what the..?" moments I do manage to catch.

And just to be fair, I'll start off with something seen in a health care facility in Sydney:

"That'll teach them about emergency fire exits!"

In the local supermarket:

Reluctant housewives take note!

On the packaging of a souvenir cake:

Ok ok, this one's a bit of a stretch unless you're from Singapore or Malaysia and know that "cheese pie" sounds uncomfortably like the name for a region of the female anatomy...

Oh yeah... I just realized that turned on moderation for everyone's comments, but didn't know anyone had commented in the first place. Sorry guys! I'll check more often from now on.

How to eat kani-pan

The locals here take their kids seriously. Actually they take people who act like kids seriously too. They go as far as to turn something as simple as eating bread into a fun activity, hence the invention of kani-pan. Literally "crab bread", it's a plain, soft bun for kids that's been shaped to look like a really cute crab. You could eat it just like that, but what fun would that be?

So here goes: a kani-pan, fresh out of the bag. So cute!

Break off the legs on one side and you get...

... an octopus! With wiggly tentacles!

Break off some more legs and you get...

... apparently a video camera. *shrug*

Replace a leg...

... to get a hair dryer (or a gun if you like). And most parents elsewhere tell their kids not to play with their food. Here it's an institution!

With some creativity one could easily make cuttlefish, butterflies or even the front view of a motorbike from a single kani-pan. It's not the tastiest bread, but it sure keep me occupied at breakfast. You know what they say... simple pleasures for simple minds...

Driving Miss Crazy Part 1: Japanese driving classes

Just because I like a challenge (yeah right), I've been taking driving lessons in Japan so I don't have to cycle an hour in the snow to get to some of my schools. So for those of you who need to know exactly how to get a licence from scratch in Japan as a foreigner (beats me why you would), here's a detailed explanation on all the steps involved.

Back in Australia you can just go to the nearest RTA, pass a quick 20-question theory test and get a learner's permit on the spot. Then all you have to do is get a full licence holder to teach you how to drive in a car of your choice and take the practical test when you're ready. Things ain't so easy here, even though the speed limits are unusually low. Maybe the high population (and obstacle) density has something to do with it. Also, almost everything is in the local language, so if your Japanese isn't all that flash, it'd probably help if there are a few native speakers to help out.

Grab a coffee or something, this might take a while.

Step 1: Registration

Get to your local driving school (ドライビングスクール), and bring your passport and alien registration card (外国人登録証明書 - gaikokujin touroku shoumeisho) with you. Also get a certified true copy of your Alien Registration Certificate (a copy of your particulars held at your local city hall - ¥200), and probably about ¥50000 to ¥100000 for the enrolment fee. Bring a translator with you if you're not confident in Japanese.

The folks at my driving school were a little reluctant to take a gaijin because of the language barrier, and this was made abundantly clear to me when I enrolled. I'm told it's their job to say stuff like that, but it does an excellent job of instilling humility and motivation, since people are making an extra effort for you.

Payment can be done in instalments up to the time you get your actual driving licence. At least this was the case in my school. The fee is based on the minimum number of lessons you will need to pass, though there may be extra charges if you need more time. It's probably a good idea to clear up any payment issues with a translator around.

Step 2: Basic Theory Classes Part 1 - 10 hours

How classes are scheduled depends on the individual school, but you should be able to find classes outside of normal working hours. If your school is particularly nice, they can arrange for you to be picked up from your home or work, then sent back once you finish classes for the day.

A point to note is that the textbooks are in Japanese (duh). Fortunately for the linguistically impaired gaijin, there's a version with English alongside the Japanese text. *Un*fortunately, it'll set you back about ¥9000-10000. The upside is that all the kanji in the book has furigana to help you out, so it's an alternative way to learn Japanese while you're at it. Also, the classes don't have to be taken in order, so it's great for people who are in a rush (like me).

And because we should all be friendly with nature:


I generally like to be the master of stuff, so this suits me just fine. *whip*

Step 3: Driving Techniques Part 1 - 12 hours

My driving school had a driving simulator which they put me in for my first practical lesson. While not the most accurate mockup of the look and feel of driving, at least you won't break anything on your first go. They also had a large collection of instructor cars in the back, and they all had passenger side brake pedals and mirrors everywhere.

The rest of my 12 hours were spent practicing on the school's circuit, which crams a lot of twists, turns, crossings and even slopes into an area smaller than a regular athletic track. I can't be sure if it's a standardized design, but it's important to note that the first (and perhaps final) driving test will be based on a circuit, not on actual roads. So it pays to know what you're up against by checking out the circuit of the DMV (運転免許センター - unten menkyo sentaa) or equivalent you will be taking your test at.

Some schools might not allow you to take more than 2 practical lessons a day, others might not allow you to take them consecutively. Best to check beforehand.

Time saving tip: the theory and practical lessons can be taken concurrently, so you can zip through this part relatively quickly. I took no more than 2 weeks to finish the lot by going to the school almost every day and pulling all day sessions on weekends.

Step 4: Aptitude Test - 20 minutes

I was required to take a test to gauge my reaction speed, judgement and accuracy as a formality before I could proceed beyond basic lessons. The test (適性検査 - tekisei kensa) involves a series of questions where you have to quickly or accurately match symbols, identify correct ones or draw shapes, plus an additional section of yes/no questions to determine your personality traits. I liked the one that asked if I've ever heard voices that weren't there (who said that?). It's a really good idea to bring a translator or interpreter for this one.

While they're not going to stop you from getting your licence if you turn out to be an overanxious schizophrenic with poor judgement (at least I hope not), the results will be significant further down the track. I think they also modify the practical instruction based on any tendencies to misjudge things.

Step 5: Basic Driving Techniques test - 10-20 minutes

After a minimum of 11 hours of practice on the school's course, your teachers will use the 12th lesson to familiarize you with the route for the first driving practical test (技能試験 - ginou shiken). Once they think you can handle it, they'll mark off your report card (gah!) and you can do the test itself. If they're really nice, they might throw in an extra hour on the house so you can practice freely. The school will probably be able to conduct the test on their premises, though there's no guarantee your examiner will be anyone you've met before.

I was told that they look out for the following during the test:

1. Checking mirrors and blind spots before changing lanes
2. Ensuring safety at all times
3. Hill starts and driving on slopes
4. Accelerating to 40km/h at least once
5. Not hitting the kerb during an S bend or crank turn
6. Returning to the starting point and proper stopping procedure

An important thing about S bends and cranks: it's ok to kerb the car, as long as you know you've done it and back up a bit so you can make a second attempt. Running over the kerb without backing up leads to an automatic fail. Each time you back up it counts as a new attempt, so keep it under four and you'll pass that bit.

It's ok to miss a turn if you're not confident, and there's no need to overtake other drivers on the test should they be moving, but it's really important to obey any traffic signals, to check at all intersections before proceeding and to wind down your window while attempting the railway crossing.

You get no help from the examiner (duh), except for directions on where to turn so you don't have to memorize the course. I'm a bad driver and I still made it, so it's really not that scary.

Yes, gaijin get put last no matter what, but my case this was an advantage. I got to see someone else attempt the course and pick out their slip ups so I didn't make them myself. The test costs about ¥4830, but if you've paid your course fees in full it's ok. There are also long gaps in between waiting for everyone else to finish other things, so it's a good time to hit the theory book.

Step 6: Written Theory Test - 30 minutes

Once you finish the practical test, you have to sit a written test (学科試験 - gakka shiken) at the school or the nearest DMV. You CANNOT take the test until you've completed the practical part. While 50 true or false questions might sound like a cakewalk, it should be noted that the test is in Japanese and the passing mark is 90% or higher. There is an English version of the test for foreigners, but you only get one shot at it (ever), and it's only available in larger cities. In my case I had to take it at either the closest major city (Koriyama) or the prefectural capital (Fukushima-shi) since they didn't have it in English at my school, so everyone else got their learner's permit on the day but me. Boo.

I was asked to bring the following:

1. Alien Registration Card
2. Alien Registration Certificate
3. My practical test result from the driving school (修了証明書 - shuuryou shoumeisho)
4. Pencil, ballpoint pen and eraser
5. 2 to 3 ID photos of myself (the school provided these)

There are a number of forms to fill out, so get a Japanese speaker to help you if you're not confident. It's a really good idea to know your date of birth by the Japanese year system (Taisho, Showa, Heisei and so on) because all the forms ask for it that way.

If you take the test at the school you might use a photocopied answer sheet, but they use optical answer sheets at the DMV, hence the need for a pencil. The briefing before the actual test is fairly complicated, and you have to go it alone since you'll be in the exam hall, but hopefully the staff will help a confused looking gaijin fill out their details on the answer sheet. I thought the questions would be the ones I was told to memorize from my textbook, but when I opened my test booklet I realized I was gypped! So don't assume you can get by with just swotting.

It's a really good idea to pass the first time round - you have to make all subsequent attempts in Japanese if you fail. Not fun.

After the test you'll have to wait around a bit for them to mark your test, but it isn't too bad if you bring something to amuse yourself with. I took the time to scope out the takoyaki dispensing machine in the cafeteria ^^ If you pass, they'll issue you your Learner's permit (仮運転免許証 - kari unten menkyosho), which is just a piece of paper with your photo and an important looking stamp on it. Now you're ready to take on Part 2 of your driving course! Joy!

Radio JHS - Gooooooooood Morning 三中ぅぅぅぅぅぅ...!!!

Japanese people seem to love having music wherever they go (hence the invention of the Walkman) and my school is no exception. During lunchtime, the AV club students use the school's broadcast studio to play music so everyone else can eat their lunch to the strains of the latest pop songs.

The favourite seems to be an instrumental version of Whitney Houston's 80s hit "Saving All My Love" (ok, maybe not the latest, but the Jpop ones are!), which kicks off almost every lunchtime. I've asked, but no one seems to really know that the song is about a woman in love with a married man, and when I shared that little nugget of information with one of the English teachers she was just a tad embarrassed ^^

Today, I got to be a guest on the student council's "Seito-kai Time", where they asked me a few (thankfully) nonintrusive questions about where I was from, how many languages I spoke and so on. I had to help out the poor kid who was reading the questions in English because there were quite a few long words that were hard to pronounce. ^^ Man, I feel like a star now.

Before I bask in my own fame, I suppose I should mention that no one actually translated my replies back into Japanese, so everyone probably had no idea what I was saying. *sigh* Fame, she is a fickle thing...

Dining with Brumhilde... and ghetto food

Our sempai introduced us to the local all-you-can-eat when we first got here, because that's one of the things one should know about when one moves into a new neighbourhood. They're called 'viking' restaurants here, because the locals seem to think that the Vikings of yore ate this way. Anyway, this one is called Stamina Taro and it's on the road to Koriyama. Since we do half days once a week at the board of education, it's an excellent opportunity to take some time to load up on meat and vegetables that would otherwise be too expensive or time-consuming to prepare at home.


The system reminds me of Korean barbecue restaurants in Sydney, what with the gas powered grill in the middle of the table where you cook meat and stuff. The menu is a little more extensive than that though. They've got meat, vegetables, ramen, miso, cotton candy, self service crepes, sushi, soft drinks, tea, coffee, beer, wines, soft serve, pudding, salads, kimchi, takoyaki, karaage, katsu as well as an impressive cake and pastry bar.

One item that looks kinda suss though is a sweet of some kind in the dessert area. It seems like a dough made of rice flour and agar, filled with bean paste. The bean paste is alright, but the dough has the consistency (and dare I say it, the taste) of semi congealed candle wax. I took one for the team to bring you the following picture. Yes, I had to eat them afterwards.

I've taken to calling them "zombie boobs".

Other than that particular menu item, the rest of the place is actually pretty decent, for ¥1050 (about AU$10) at lunchtime. If anyone of youse wanna come visit, I'll bring you there for lunch. Just remember to bring elastic pants.

Since it's the end of summer, the local combinis have started to sell oden, beloved by impoverished otaku in Akihabara, reviled by almost everyone else. My Japanese phrasebook defines it as "Japanese hotchpotch", but that doesn't help a lot. It's an assortment of daikon, eggs, fish paste and tofu based items simmered in a clear, savoury broth in a common pot. Customers have the option of fishing out the items themselves as they eat, or picking a few into a container as takeaway. Oden carts are a common feature in a lot of anime, manga and J-dramas, and I'd dearly love to try some from a real cart, but the display at the combini next door will have to do.

'Dun that look good? ^^

This is the setup at the combini. I'm not kidding.

What can I say, I love this stuff! It's cheap and nasty, but it feels like a nice warm hug when you eat it. So far I've tried the stuff from Lawson and 7-eleven, as well as a prepackaged supermarket version, and I have to say the stuff at Lawson wins, simply because the broth doesn't smell or taste like dog food. The canned oden I bought from Akiba for fun will have to wait until I'm desperately hungry or on my last yen before I'll open it up.


Mmm mmm good. They gave me some mustard, which gives the dish a nice kick, but I didn't use it this time. I like the tofu pouch, cabbage roll and fish cake, but I have to say my favourite is the skewer of fatty pork. Oh yum.

Who needs to cook? XD

Lost in Translation (or Misdirection)

I went to the Press Start orchestral game music concert with the help of Sent and Nanaholic (thanks guys! Hope you got the check in the mail) right after the Shibuya matsuri. Great stuff that. Makes up for missing the Play! concert in Sydney on account of the JET pre-departure orientation (boo!). I think I was the only one who really enjoyed the Loco Roco piece they played with a choir singing complete gibberish in accompaniment. I like the game, so sue me.

The rest of the concert was pretty good, and in the survey form they asked us to complete I requested "Objection!" from the Gyakuten Saiban series (that's Phoenix Wright's theme for English speaking folks). Maybe they'll play it next year, hehe. But what made my evening was the final encore of One Winged Angel with choral accompaniment. Sounds pretty ordinary, except that Uematsu Nobuo himself was leading the piece on synth. *fangirls*

Funny story on the way back though. I had intended to catch a connecting train to Tokyo where I would catch the last shinkansen back to Koriyama, but the nice folks at the JR office in Yokohama who sold me the ticket gave me the wrong platform number.

...

Yep, I ended up on the wrong train, missed my connection in Tokyo and had to slum it on an overnight bus (after some frantic searching by the JR staff at Tokyo station) that got back to Koriyama at 4:45 in the morning. At least I got a partial refund, but the rest of my morning and subsequent day was pretty much trashed. I really should be positive and say I learned that there's always a way out in a tight situation, but I reckon it's ok to be just a little bit cheesed off with the JeRks in Yokohama. Never trust the folks in charge, peeps, especially if you can check things out yourself!

Taking a shrine to life in Japan

Summer is a time for festivals in Japan, and every city, town or village will have its own variant or other celebrating everything from cucumbers to cats. The major one is of course the one that celebrates summer itself, and being the new guys in town, the lot of us ALTs were asked to help carry a portable shrine (called an omikoshi) around the city to bring people good luck during the Sukagawa Natsu-matsuri.

If you think it's just a matter of rocking up and walking around the city with the shrine, oh boy. The shrine itself looks smallish and manageable, but it's supported on a set of wide crossbeams so that a lot of people can carry the thing at the same time. And boy do they need a lot of people for the job. A typical omikoshi tips the scales in the region of 1-2 tonnes (I think), depending on the mood of the guys who made the crossbeams. In a small town like mine, a team of about 20-30 people take turns to carry it for about 2-4 hours, but in a big city, the contingent can number up to 100 people and they carry it around for 4-6 hours, possibly in the heat of the afternoon sun.

Still think it's a piece of cake? You really need a lot of coordination and communication to pull something like that off, especially when you have to make frequent stops to shake the shrine in front of shops whose owners have given a donation for the privilege. This is why in the Katamari Damacy game, the sound effect for an omikoshi team was a bunch of people shouting in rhythm. The constant shouts of "sei-ya... so!" actually serve to coordinate the footsteps of the team, because getting your toes stepped on or otherwise kicked while carrying a 2-tonne chunk of wood really isn't very funny. Especially if you've bought cheap matsuri split toed socks and everyone else got the steel tipped versions.

Us ALTs were in the Nakamachi contingent, and got to wear typical Japanese labourers' clothes, which consisted of buttoned up cotton shirt, pants without zips or buttons (!) and an indigo dyed apron. Then we all put on a thick cotton happi coat called a hanten in order to absorb all that sweat that comes about when you wear said shirt, pants and apron.

It rained the first night in Sukagawa, and in apology, the matsuri committee went all out to load us up with beer, presumably to dull the pain of carrying the shrine. I was a little wiser the next day, after waking up feeling like crap and still in pain anyway.

A shrine keeper who let me take his photo. These guys are supposed to be celibate I think. Oooer.

Everybody's got an omikoshi!

Mmm mmm yakisoba stall...

The omikoshi that the bunch of us from Nakamachi were carrying. My photo does the details on the shrine no justice.

The committee were a nice bunch though, and treated us all to dinner and a nice reception with good food (mmm katsuo sashimi) and yet more beer on both days.

And because I'm a masochist at heart, I went to Tokyo the following weekend and did the Shibuya matsuri as well. Pain is your friend!

Here's a video of omikoshi shenanigans I took while on a break from shrining in Shibuya:



I'm a little glad this only happens once a year...