New Apartment

I'm going in tomorrow to put my John Hancock on a new apartment contract. This will mean the first time I've signed my life away in Japan to a 2-year lease. Basically, this commits me to living here for an additional 2 years, which is something I've thought long and hard about, and have decided it's something I want to do. That doesnt' mean I won't be back for a visit, I plan on it either around Thanksgiving time, or perhaps for Christmas, depending on the job situation.

I'm taking a 3DK here in Hiratsuka. Japanese apartments are measured by the number of rooms involved, plus some measurement of what the dining room/kitchen involve. My 3DK could be construed to be a 3 bedroom, but then again, so could my first apartment, where my 'bedroom' was a tiny storage room with no closet. There are 2 tatami rooms of 6 mats each, plus another roughly 6 mat carpeted room with a tiny sunroom-type place for drying laundry in bad weather. The area isn't as nice as my previous apartments, there are no views of Fuji from my bedroom window, but then again, I'll be paying half the price, with my choice of one roommate.

It's located NNE of Hiratsuka station, just north of a big Nissan R&D center. Lots of my students work there, I guess. It's not a difficult ride, about what my first place was. It runs about 66,000 yen (a bit over $600) per month plus utilities. The price isn't too bad, considering what Nova teachers pay, but the up-front costs are insane. I've ranted before in emails about the living situation. Basically, you are expected to shell out roughly 4-5 times the monthly rent for the 'privelige' of renting the space, and that usually doesn't include the first month's rent. I've managed to negotiate with the realtors, through some Japanese friends, who will give me a slight break, and will allow me to include my first month's rent in the up front fees.

There's a thing called reikin that translates as 'key money,' or a gift to your landlord for their graciousness in renting the space to you. It's more or less against the law, but lots of people still do it, and many realtors find a way to slip it in under other fees. I looked at one place that wanted to charge me no deposit or key money, but over $1000 in 'cleaning fees.' Talk about crazy. This place should be better. I'll have a roommate, one of my co-workers who's leaving in August. She has the complete furnishings for an apartment, down to the light fixtures (no, apartments in Japan don't come with light fixtures or light bulbs). I'll buy them off her when she leaves, and I'll inherit a fully furnished place. I'm happy because this means I'll be paying nearly half the rent I pay now, and will allow me greater freedom, i.e., I can quit working for Nova and take another job and not have to worry about being thrown out of my house. All in all, not bad. Wish me luck, moving day is March 1st.

Kyoto Trip photos are up

What the title says, the Kyoto trip photos are up. I wish I could embed links in my posts to photos on my yahoo account, but I don't think it'll work. I might give it a shot, though, see what happens. Anyway, they're all up, so you can now do a read-along with my post from way back when. Look at it this way, I've gone from 3 months between photos and posting to merely a month. Ain't technology wonderful?

A Tale of Two Mondays

One of the amazing things about Japan is the schizophrenic culture here. Like the buildings here, everything is either brand new neon, pastel and tacky; or it's very old, traditional, and musty. I experienced this firsthand over the past week.

Last week, Ana, Damien, and I went to Tokyo to visit a place called 'Cats Livin.' It bills itself as a 'cat theme park.' Basically, you shell out cash to go into various themed rooms and play with cats. There are about 20+ cats running around the place at any given time. Others are on display behind glass cases and brought out for periodic shifts. Now keep in mind, these cats don't always want to be petted. Nor do they always get along with the other cats. One cat was brought out and tethered to a table leg so that customers could pet it and coo over how kawaii (cute) it was. It squirmed, yowled, and generally didn't want to be touched. And for some reason it was named "Caribou." Go figure. And there was the obligatory little boy who'd pet the cats and then suddenly clap his hands loud to try and freak them out.

Afterwards, we hit the top of the Tokyo Metro Government Building, which has a free observatory that has to be the best observatory I've seen in Tokyo. The day was crystal clear and from the 48th or so story you could even make out Mt. Fuji in the setting sun. It was really good to see.

So that was the kitschy, cute side of Japan. Last night I saw one of the older sides still set in tradition. I've wanted to do something for a long time that would force me into using my Japanese and increase my knowledge of the Japanese culture somewhat. All I know of it now are an obsession with cute animals and Frog Style.

One of my students told me about a community kendo club at an elementary school in Hiratsuka. They meet on Mondays, and I dropped by to see what was going on, what it was like. I arrived a bit late, I guess. I walked into the gym and was completely lost. I was on the complete opposite side from the spectators (mostly the parents of the kids practicing). I stood in the doorway for awhile before I decided to dive in with my crappy Japanese. One of the instructors approached me and used his few sentences of English to tell me that he climbed Mt. Rainier in Washington last year. He invited me to watch, so I sat down next to one of the parents to watch what was going on. Evidently though, they thought I should jump in. The head instructor lent me the use of his shinai (bamboo sword) to practice with and sent me over with the tiny kids to practice. I ended up taking turns trying out various attacks on a dummy with a number of 7 year olds who would just stare at me when not galloping towards the dummy or pretending their shinai were rifles and shooting at each other.

Towards the end, the head instructor brought over his katana sword to teach me how to grip the handle and swing the sword. He cleared the area behind me, but everytime I swung back, I had an image of swinging back and lopping off a little kid's ear or something. It was pretty cool to see and try out, I'm definitely going to go back to see if I can learn anything. I have a feeling I'll be put with the little ones again, but since they're about at my level of Japanese I might be able to carry on a real conversation with them.

Quick Update

Hey all, I've been distracted this past week by a video game. It helps me save money by not going out and spending a ton on alcohol. But it's also prevented me from posting anything up here and getting that mountain of pics from Kyoto sorted, not that I've had anything interesting going on anyway. It's just the same old routine lately, now that we're back from New Year's break. I got sent off to Yokohama for half a day for Chibiko training. Basically, that means that after a few hours of singing and dancing, I'm now qualified in the eyes of Nova to teach 2-3 year olds. Kinda scary. But at least they're required to have a parent or guardian present to keep them under control and clean up any messes.

I can't believe that I've been here for 9 months already, it's kind of strange, it doesn't feel like that long a time. But I guess it has. Like you know, I'd planned on staying for 2 or 3 years. Which means my contract renewal time is coming up. Unfortunately, Nova likes to keep things in suspense, so they'll do the end of contract lesson observation in February, but they won't actually offer or decline a contract until exactly 3o days before my contract's up, leaving me almost no time to find another job. They've done that in the past to lots of people. I guess they do it so that when they offer you renewal, you're supposed to feel so grateful that you won't mind them not bothering to give you a raise at all, even though you've worked hard, and certainly are more capable than others. Many Japanese companies are known for standards of the lowest common denominator, and I guess this one isn't too different. So I'm keeping my options open. I've applied to be an ALT, which means teaching in a public school, or several to be exact, in my city. The interview was Tuesday, I think it went well, we'll see where it goes. I'm keeping my options open at the moment.

Anyway, if anyone who knows about html knows how to create a links sidebar, I'd be most grateful to figure out how to do it. I want to post up links to other pages, photo blogs set up by friends, that sort of thing. Until then, here's a little something to tide you over, the Engrish website

Good day all, off to work now!

Happy Bags

There are minor phenomenons that I see in daily Japanese life that are odd or unusual or strange to my way of life and/or thinking. And I always mean to expound upon them here. But doing so can be time-consuming, especially when I'm trying to live a life here. So I haven't had much opportunity to write about my experiences all that much. But one thing I saw over the holidays were Happy Bags.

Happy Bags, or Fortune Bags, Lucky Bags, or Pleasure Bags, are basically grab bags put out by Japanese retail shops after the new year. Since there's no big shopping day between Thanksgiving and Christmas as in the US, I guess most of the sales happen over the New Year's holiday, which basically begins after Christmas and runs until about the 4th of January. But these aren't the standard $2 grab bags you see all over the States. Some of these bags can cost you over $150. Clothing stores, boutiques, and even jewelry stores offer Happy Bags. And you never know what's in them. Obviously, most clothing stores post the size of clothing on the outside of the bag and they keep it uniform for gender, so you don't end up buying a bra for a guy or something like that. Well, usually.

These bags are also nice in that the value is usually a minimum of 3 time the price of the bag. Ana, Damien, and I bought Happy Bags from a boutique/hippie shop in downtown Kyoto. The girl there gave us options of various kinds, so Damien and I took the curtains, and Ana took one with a bag or purse thingy in it. When we got home, we were in for quite a surprise. The contents of my "men's clothing and curtains" Happy Bag was this: one tiny ladies' print shirt with leaves and little elephants, a ladies' scarf, an ashtray, a tiny leather purse, a small belt or waist thingy made of string and seashells, and some curtains. Oh, and a funky day-glo Indian sticker. It only cost me about $10, and the curtains alone went for 3 times that price. So I made out ok, but I have all these girl's clothes, and the shirt doesn't even fit me. Damien and Ana both got girls' pants, complete with a flowered skirt sewn onto the outside. Surprisingly enough, they fit Damien, so they dressed up and we went to the convenience store near the hostel for some drinks. The cashiers couldn't help laughing and staring at Dam-o and his flowered skirt/pants.

A friend of Ana and myself came out much better. For about $100, he got roughly $400 worth of clothes, and all of them fit him. I'm debating the purchase of another Happy Bag, but this time from a shop I know and trust not to give me a bra or something this time around.

Welcome to the year 2005!

Happy New Year, everyone!! I got back on Sunday night from western Japan. I went with Ana and Damien to visit Kyoto, the old Imperial center and spiritual home of Japan, for 5 days of crazy fun and temple-viewing. Kyoto has a huge number of Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. We also visited the Geisha district of the city, and saw a famous teahouse where the geisha still sometimes entertain exclusive guests, like European royalty. We paid a visit to Nara and Osaka, also. New Year's was spent meandering around Chion-in temple to watch monks ring a huge bell, then to another few temples to see smaller ceremonies.

Japan, as Ana has pointed out, is a land of extremes. We saw the largest wooden building in the world in Nara (Todaiji Temple, which is only 2/3 the size of the original structure), the tallest extant pagoda in the world (Toji Temple), the longest wooden structure in the world (Sanjusangen-do Temple, which houses 1,028 statues dedicated to the Kannon, the goddess of mercy), the largest temple gate and the largest bell in Japan (both at Chion-in Temple; the bell requires 17 monks to ring it 108 times for the new year), as well as the largest lake in Japan (Biwa-ko). All of these are located in Kyoto, with the exception of Todaiji Temple in Nara, and all or most of them are classed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites (except the lake, which I'm told is about as polluted as Lake Michigan).

Travelling in Japan is pretty expensive. For the cost of a flight or Shinkansen (bullet train) ticket to the other side of the country, you could fly to Korea or Guam sometimes. But during the New Year's holiday Japan Railways offers a cheap alternative. Kind of a Eurail deal, you get 5 free days of riding trains over the course of about a month for about 11,000 yen, half the price of a roundtrip ticket to Kyoto. Unfortunately, you don't get to ride comfy, cushy trains, and everyone else is doing it, so it's crowded. It took about 8 1/2 hours to get to Kyoto, using about 5 different trains. And we didn't get to sit down the whole way, either, which was a pain.

The three of us stayed in a Japanese style hostel. We had the standard thin futons and comforter that you have to fold up during the day. The room was about the same size as my bedroom, and we pretty much occupied all the space to sleep. Our bathroom was a full bath shoehorned into a typical American half-bath-sized room. It was tiny, and cramped, but I liked it; the owners were very friendly, giving us travel tips and oranges for New Year's.

The 1st day was spent travelling, we got in in the early afternoon. We checked out the Gion district, which is the birthplace of Kabuki theater, and is the extremely famous Geisha district. We hunted around the backstreets hoping to glimpse a geisha, and Ana was lucky enough to spot one riding in a taxi, probably on the way to a gig. We ate in a rather pricey traditional Japanese restaurant, but the food was good overall, though I didn't care much for plain, cold, boiled eggplant.

The 2nd day was our daytrip to Nara and Osaka, which form a triangle with Kyoto that's not more than 45 minutes by local train in any direction. Nara was an ancient capital of Japan, back in the 8th century AD, but now it's a rather quiet city that has a major deer problem. We'd heard that the place was famous for deer, which are seen as messengers from the gods or something like that. What they are now is a menace. But they're a great tourist draw. You can buy a packet of deer food for 150 yen. Somehow they know not to bother the vendors for food, but once that little packet gets into your hand, they swarm. I bought one and was immediately surrounded by hungry deer tugging at my jacket with their teeth, and butting me with their heads. One little girl sat on her dad's shoulders crying "Scary!" as her dad tried to fend them off without losing his balance. Other parents bought the food for their kids, only to have their kids be chased around by ravenous, mangy deer. The main road to the Todaiji Temple is covered with deer and vendors selling T-shirts with pious sayings like, "No Fucking." (I had to buy one of those shirts.) Todaiji Temple, you recall, is a huge building, built to house a huge statue of Buddha. It's so big that his palm can hold 5 or 8 standing monks. He was built using revolutionary techniques in casting (well, revolutionary for the 8th century). One of the support posts has a hole cut through it in the bottom that's roughly the size of the Buddha's nostril. It's said that if you can fit through it, you'll have good fortune. Of course, I had to try, and miraculously fit through to the applause of all the Japanese who thought the big, silly gaijin would get stuck.

After wedging all of us through the nostril-hole, we trekked on to Osaka for some more modern experiences. The only real sight we visited was Osaka castle, a famous example of the huge castles built by the Tokugawa Shogunate. Like nearly every castle, it's a 20th century remake, but it was still pretty to see, and it made for a good picture. I almost forgot, we saw the largest stone used in a castle defensive wall in Japan. I believe someone named it the "Octopus Stone," though I can't imagine why. The main reason to go to Osaka is for the modern pleasures in life, such as eating, karaoke, and LOTS of neon lights. We ate at a nice Thai restaurant, which you can't find in Hiratsuka, and meandered about the main shopping and going-out district, Dotonbori. Nighttime was back to Kyoto in time to crash early for a very long last day of the year.

Day 3 was New Year's Eve. This day was our main temple-viewing day. It was also pretty foul weather. It'd been nice, clear skies up until then, although a bit cold. Saturday was rainy and cold, so not very fun. We made it to Kinkaku-ji (the Temple of the Golden Pavilion), and saw one of the most famous temples in Japan. Just after was saw it and were down the path to head out, the rain turned to sleet and then snow. They say the Kinkaku-ji is very pretty in snow, and we had to turn around and check it out. The sight was amazing, and it made me stop caring for a while how bad the weather was. The next stop was Kiyomizu-dera, another Kyoto staple. The temple is set up on a hill, with a magnificent view of the city. It'd stopped raining/snowing by then, so we were able to see snow-sprinkled houses with their beautiful Japanese tile roofs. There temple's known for a spring there that pours out sacred water. 200 yen gets you a commemorative plastic cup to drink with. We met up with an American co-worker of Ana's to go out for New Year's Eve. That's when we went to Chion-in Temple and stood in a huge, long line in order to file slowly past and watch 17 monks ring a giant bell. Eastern bells aren't the same as the ones we're used to in the States. The bell is rung by pulling a large log back and thrusting it forward to collide with the bell and make the noise. There's no clapper or anything inside. The tone is much lower, since the bells are much larger than Western bells. The bell's rung 108 times, once for every sin Man is prone to commit, according to Buddhist lore. We thought that the ringing would start at midnight, like any Western ceremony. But it started about 11:20 and we were through the line in 10 or 20 minutes, leaving us with lots of time til midnight. We wandered up to a smaller temple where the priests were allowing patrons to come up and ring the bell. The onlookers stood around one of several fire rings to stay warm. I think for the Japanese, New Year's is more about the whole night and the next day, rather than the countdown to the new year. So when the new year came, it was only when one person did a 3 second countdown from the middle of the crowd, not much else.

Day 4 was a slow day to recover from the night before. We saw Sanjusangen-do, a really cool but really chilly temple with 1,001 statues of Kannon, the 1,000-armed goddess of mercy. It was pretty cool to see. Each statue is slightly different in face and clothing, so they say that everyone can find one that resembles themselves. Pretty neat, although I didn't find mine. There's a famous archery contest there every year. Historically, they talk about a famous archer who competed in a 24-hour endurance contest. He supposedly shot 15,000 arrows over that time, or about one every 9 seconds. People do strange things.

We also visited the Inari shrine, dedicated to the fox gods that are supposed to protect the harvests. There are thousands of them all over the country, but this one is the main shrine. It has a path winding through it with torii gates placed every foot or so. So you end up walking through a vermillion forest, wondering when it will end. The Inari shrine does have some of the coolest shrine offerings around. You can buy miniature torii gates to put in your home shrines or have some sort of prayer or invocation painted on and then place it on the graves of your ancestors.

Day 5 was time to see Nijo Castle, a famous castle built by Tokugawa Ieyasu, the man who started the 400-year reign of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Then it was time to head home. It was just as long and exhausting as the trip to Kyoto, but in reverse. I'm glad to be home, even though I loved visiting Kyoto and have to go to work tomorrow.

PS - I took a few hundred photos, so I have to sort through them before posting, so it may be a little while.

On Vacation!!

So I'm off to Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan, for a few days. An odd bit of trivia, if you look at Kyoto, and then look at Tokyo, they basically reversed the sounds. So "Kyo-to" became "To-kyo." But the kanji character for 'kyo' is different. Kyoto is also Ground Zero for all sorts of New Year's celebrations, so we'll be at one of the major temples for the festivities. Chion-in, an ancient temple founded in the 1200s, has the largest bell in Japan, requiring 17 monks to ring it 108 times for the New Year. I'll post more when I return.

Btw, those of you who got my emails in the summer remember me complaining about how horrible the humidity was. Well, now I guess it's the exact opposite in the winter. It's crazy dry here, hardly any rain, and it's dried out my skin something horrible. I spend most of my time just itching. I asked some students what they do to remedy it, and they just kind of looked at me blankly and said they just itched. So looks like I'm going to be itchy for the winter. Damien gets to be Scratchy, though.

Has anyone heard about the earthquake off the coasts of India and Thailand? It caused tidal waves about 5 meters high in some places. The death toll's up around 21,000 so far. They say 2004 is the year of the disaster. In Japan alone, we've had over 2,000 deaths from the various typhoons and earthquakes. That's pretty good, considering over 40,000 died in the earthquake in Iran at the start of the year. Like I said, crazy. Maybe the cultists are right and the world really is ending.

Spirit of Xmas

Well, a belated Merry Christmas to all! I've finally finished work, and am now starting the designated New Year's holiday. It usually runs from a day or two after Christmas, until the 4th of January. Unfortunately, our company doesn't give us Christmas Day off, so on that special day, while you all were opening presents, I was teaching. Our benevolent masters were kind enough to give us early shifts, so we got off about 6 or 6:30, but it wasn't that great.

On the upside, a few of us got together and had an honest-to-goodness Christmas dinner, complete with a few chickens (small game hens, really), and various side dishes. I tried my hand at egg nog, and I presume it was a success, since nobody got food poisoning. That's how you can tell if a meal's a success: if no one dies. At least by my book.

It's rather surprising that Japan celebrates Christmas, it being a non-Christian country and all that. During the closed period, from about 1580 until the Meiji Restoration of the 1860s, Christianity was outlawed, and renegade Christians were mercilessly tortured. You think the Romans were bad? Check out what the Japanese would do. There's a really thought-provoking book called Silence written by a Japanese Catholic named Shusaku Endo. It's a fictionalized account of real occurrances.

But nowadays, Christmas is pretty similar to the USA, except that there's really no religion in it. It's just a commercialized mess, a reason for parents to buy their kids toys, and for couples to buy each other jewelry. Around town, there were tons of Christmas lights, and I even saw a house or two with Santa's sleigh and 8 reindeer made of lights. It's not bad, per se, but there's no real religious significance to it. Not that there's anything wrong with that. We have a Christmas tree and wreaths and holly and Santa that all came from pagan, decidedly not Christian roots.

So they sort of celebrate Christmas as more of a holiday to have a party than anything else. New Year's is coming up, and that's really the time to celebrate and have fun. But first, it's time for an extremely thorough housecleaning. Usually the lady of the house enlists any other females, if there are any, and they clean like nothing else. The department stores are having sales on everything related to that: lightbulbs, tatami mats for the floors, and every sort of cleaning product imaginable. Usually people will have a party or dinner, or stay up really late and watch the sunrise. Then the next 4 days are for going to the local shrine or temple and saying prayers for a good new year. 2005 is the year of the rooster (or chicken, depending on who you ask), so all over the place, products bearing a rooster or chicken are for sale. One of the major alcohol brands is offering I think a premium whiskey in a chicken-shaped bottle.

So yoiotoshio everyone! Meri Kurisumasu and Happy New Year!!

Site Maintenence

So, a few words as you view my site. See that little blue link at the bottom of the posts? It says 'x comments' where 'x' is a number that's probably zero. That means you can open it up and see comments posted by you, people who are probably my friends. This way you can comment publicly on what I say. C'mon, you're not chicken to post something are you? Heck, I post my feelings to the world (well, not the dark, brooding ones always, but something at least), so you can do the same. Disagree? Go ahead and say so. If you're my friend and you've thought through your position, go for it. If you haven't, expect to get skewered by myself or someone else.

Also, if you want to check out my photos, that link on the line at the top goes to my photos page, where, thanks to Yahoo!, I've uploaded a gazillion pics, usually of tanuki statues or me drinking.

So let's hear from you all out there. It'll make for some fun times. So far, my friend in town, Damien, is the only one to post. He's the one that says 'chook,' which may become the new name of this blog since I like it so much. That, or Tanuki

Warning: Incoherent Rambling - don't mind the drooling maniac

I just started reading a book by one of Indianapolis' most famous sons, Kurt Vonnegut. I'd gotten to page 14 of Timequake when I was suddenly hit by an urge to write something. You should read this book; even though I've barely gotten through the prologue, it's pretty good. I was struck by a remark he made about a fictional story in which a 3rd airplane was sent to drop an atomic bomb on Japan. I connected it with something my friend Glasser said once about how authors and actors shouldn't use their celebrity to promote this or that political agenda.

That's the point at which I thought, What gives anyone the right to determine how other people live? What gives GW Bush the right to be president and make all sorts of decisions that affect every single human being on the planet? He certainly never went to President school? He was a numbskull in his own university, one who would probably be a homeless druggie if he didn't have insanely wealthy parents who leeched off the lifeblood of people who actually do something somewhat productive for the world. He certainly isn't exemplary of the 'values' that the uber-conservative Indiana instilled in me: he didn't make his own was in the world, he never suffers the consequences of his idiocies, and he certainly doesn't practice what he preaches.

Then I thought, it's probably not nice to write that, I'll probably offend someone. The next thought that went through my mind was, Well, fuck them. People are way too goddamn sensitive.

So in short, read Timequake, writers should be able to have their voices heard, even if they're famous and I don't like them, and I'm definitely in need of sleep. Later.

Fire Festival

On Monday, I went with Ana and Dam-o to Odawara City for a fire festival at a Buddhist-Shinto temple/shrine. We got there just before dark (which happens about 4:30 in this country, something I've never quite understood), and the place was lit up with traditional red paper lanterns, with crowds wandering around buying okonomiyaki and mochi. Up at the temple, people would come to drop some coins in the prayer box, make a little prayer, and shake this giant rope connected to a large rattle. This I guess is so their wish comes true.

We found a couple of other foreigners seated in the temple. One was a religious studies doctoral student who is doing his dissertation on this type of deity. The other was an American teaching English in a suburb north of Tokyo. The deity is part of an old-style blend of Buddhism and Shinto religion, which was the standard religion up until the Meiji restoration when a separation of the two and purification of Shintoism as a state religion came about. He explained that the deity they were there to worship was a half-man, half-bird monster that was supposed to inhabit the mountains of Japan. The ritual was supposed to bring good fortune during the winter months. But nowadays, it's just an excuse for a party, it seemed.

The ritual kicked off with a procession of monks chanting and blowing gourd horns as they approached the temple. They entered and lit a sacred fire, and then proceeded to chant for over an hour, with one guy playing the drums the entire time. It was amazing to behold. The rhythm was so soothing that I wanted to fall asleep. Eventually it ended and two torch-bearers brought the flame from the temple to a bonfire constructed on the flat grounds below. They lit the fire and all the monks came to sit around it. They did some purification (?) rituals where they'd move around the fire in a square as the fire burned and collapsed on itself, making a nice bed of coals. Then the person I guess was the highest since he had a hood-type hat on, got up and blessed the fire, and then walked on the coals. The monks got up and and took turns walking across the hot coals. Then it was the bystanders' turn.

I knew I'd have lots of strange experiences here, but I never thought I'd participate in a mad rush to walk across hot coals. But nearly everyone, old women, children, gai-jin, everyone wanted in on it. By the time we got up there, so many people had gone through that there weren't many coals to walk on, mostly a dirt path cleared out. But it was still a little hot, though by that time our feet had been numbed by the cold.

It was so exciting to experience a ritual like that. If someone were to look at the pictures and see the movies I took, with the chanting and fire-waving, it might seem to be something more satanic than anything else. But everyone there seemed to have a good time, and after it was over, the monks stood on the balcony of their dorms nearby and threw packets of mochi and bags of prawn chips to the crowds. The Japanese, known for their politeness and respect, showed none of that there. Two middle-aged ladies were scuffling on the ground for a packet of mochi that couldn't have cost more than 100 yen, and everyone was trying to get something. Afterwards, we went out with Sheila to an izakaya for sushi and beer. On the whole, a satisfying experience.

It makes me want to learn more about the different festivals and the Shinto religion. Most Japanese are pretty areligious. They get married in a chapel or a church, not very often at a shrine or temple anymore, because it's considered popular to get married in the Western fashion, with a white wedding gown and a priest to officiate. No matter the Christian implications. Just like how everyone has Christmas lights up now and displays are all over the place, but most Japanese have no clue what it's about. At least, I can't figure that out from my students.

Remembering Pearl Harbor

Well, here in Japan, people would rather not remember it, since it's a big source of embarrassment and strong feelings. Last Saturday I went to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. It's the one that's very controversial because, although it translates as the Peace Country Shrine, it's built to honor the war dead and has several convicted war criminals enshrined there.

To hear about it, it sounds like they have models of heads on spikes and crazy rightwing Japanese running around chanting and threatening war or something. But it's a rather unassuming place, very quiet there and peaceful, just like any other shrine. There's a nice Japanese garden with a pond and stone bridge and carp. Next to the shrine is the Yushukun Museum, which is dedicated to the military tradition of Japan. It's rather fitting overall, since of the past 2,000-plus years, only the last 60 have been devoted to peace. The Europeans who came here in the 1600s were apalled at the scale and level of violence in battles, and the general gruesomeness present in everyday life. These Europeans were certainly not squeamish or pacifist, but the Japanese regularly had battles consisting of hundreds of thousands of soldiers, and surrender was never an option.

The ancient history part of the museum is very interesting. They show the tranformation of Japanese swords, archery, and armor. But about half of the museum is devoted to the post-Meiji Restoration period of conquest and expansion. And while it discusses it pretty well, it fails to mention much in the way of the atrocities committed. It's strictly facts and figures only in that respect. But it is a bit revisionist in some places. It tries to explain away the 'incidents' in Manchuria, and hardly even mentions Nanking, or the Korean occupation. It's a far cry from the prison-museum in Seoul that I visited that dealt with how the political prisoners were treated.

The discussion about the lead-up to Pearl Harbor and the US involvement in WWII is interesting. The museum basically claims that Japan was forced into doing it, despite many attempts at peace. I don't know the truth about it, American history books claim that it was a surprise attack, and that we'd never done anything to provoke the Japanese. In fact, I've learned from actually reading modern history books that Americans had sanctions running, and were basically starving the Japanese nation of oil and all sorts of resources. It's really amazing to see how they learn one version, and we learn something completely different. The museum claims that the fleet was wiped out in Pearl Harbor, whereas we're told that many of the important ships were on manoevuers at the time. The atomic bombs don't get very much mention, surprising for all the importance given them in actuality.

Every year, Prime Minister Koizumi pays a visit to Yasukuni, and every year Korea and China issue protests and vehemently denounce these visits. It's something to think about, because the Chinese and Korean perception of Japanese snobbery and insults is one of the key blocks to the region moving forward and becoming more open. Recently, a Japanese Supreme Court justice took 2 minutes to throw out a lawsuit by 2 Korean sex slaves seeking reparations from the government. It's things like these that make the Chinese act so viciously towards the Japanese, like they did at a football game recently.

I don't blame most Japanese for these attitudes and feelings. Like anywhere, it's a small percentage of hatemongers and bigots that ruin it for everyone. But the Japanese government is certainly not trying to change the status quo. From what I hear, the textbooks portray the Japanese as merely victims of atomic attacks, and completely omit anything that might make them feel uncomfortable, like discussing the massacres and atrocities committed against their enemies during WWII. This is a very touchy subject for most, and it's difficult to discuss it with them. It's verboten to talk about it at work with students, probably a firing offense if someone complains. So it's difficult to really find out what people think. But more on this later, it's time to quit for the day & get some rest.

A Prolonged Weekend

We had a terrible storm here Saturday night. Ana, Damien, Julian and I went to see the opening of 'The Incredibles,' which is a great movie, I loved it. When we got out, it was cold and pouring down rain, so we all got soaked coming home. But after I'd gone to bed, the wind was howling, rattling the scaffolding that's still outside and whistling through the drafty sliding doors I have. Some say it was a typhoon, but some other students said it wasn't, so I'm not sure. But the weather here today is beautiful. There's not a cloud in the sky, and it blew away all the smog and pollution. You can see Mt. Fuji in amazing detail, he's got his snow cap back on. You can also see the island O-shima, which is at the mouth of the bay, maybe 100km or so away, but pretty clear. I think today we're going to a fire festival in Odawara. Not sure what that is, but sounds like fun.

I'm winding down my vacation time now, and starting Wednesday I'll have to work every single day but one between now and December 27th. And no, that one day off has nothing to do with Xmas, I'll still have to go to work Christmas Eve and Day. Which sucks, royally. But I'm trying to keep a Secret Santa/Xmas party organized and on track for Xmas Day, which should make it a bit more fun. One teacher last year supposedly read the Bible to every class, including ones who could hardly put together a sentence. Might be interesting to try.

Back from a trip

I just got back from a relaxing 2 day trip to the Mt. Fuji Five Lakes area. Specifically, Ana and I stayed in an amazing hotel/onsen (hot spring) on the shore of Kawaguchi Lake. There was an outdoor onsen pool, and the men's had a commanding view of Mt. Fuji. I got to bathe naked with a Swiss computer programmer who was travelling around the country. What do you ask a guy when you're both sitting naked in the same pool of water? Evidently, "Been in Japan long?" is a good icebreaker.

We also had an amazing seven course dinner with sashimi and nabe (Japanese stew served in the winter), as well as rice and tea. The only part that wasn't delicious was the side soup, which had something that looked like a small testicle floating in it, and evertime you put a chopstick in, it came out covered in fine green seaweed that looked like hair. Ick. There were only 4 other people dining then; the Swiss couple, and 2 young Japanese women. The waitstaff practically outnumbered us. I couldn't see it, but Ana said that every few minutes, one of them would rush forward to see if we needed anything. If we didn't, she'd back away quietly. I never heard a thing, but the moment I finished my little bowl of rice, she was right there to refill it for me. Strangely, I had to refill my water glass myself. Water isn't normally drunk often with meals in Japan, so if you ask for a glass, you get a very tiny glass. I drink a lot of it, so I practically drained the pitcher there.

It was very quiet because we went in the middle of the week, and during the late fall time, after all the brilliant colors have left the leaves. But it was still pretty breathtaking. The major downside was that since we went there on December 1st, lots of things closed or reduced their hours starting that very day. We tried to see a bat cave and nature hike exhibit, but it closed down the day before. But we did find a wild bird park, where several old Japanese men used multi-thousand dollar photo lenses to take really close shots of birds. Walking around, we evidently disturbed the guys, because one came running out and herded us around the side of the building. He never said a word to us, but motioned for us to follow him. He led us around down a small path and he and a friend began using their bird-callers to try and attract some birds. The small birds here literally eat out of your hands, as we learned when we held our arms outstretched for what seemed like an eternity, to have the little ones flit towards us, grab a seed, and fly back to the trees. It was pretty cool, and the old men seemed tickled to watch us feed the birds.

The whole day, we had Fuji-san towering over us. It was a strange experience, seeing such a majestic cone, for someone who grew up in the flatlands of Indiana. Before, I'd only seen Fuji poking above the distant mountains. I don't think I can see it from my window with the same sense of awe as when I had to crane my neck to look up, and that when I wasn't even technically on the slope upwards. It heightens my resolve, though, to climb it next summer. I'll be prepared.

A belated Turkey Day post

I wanted to have some semblance of Thanksgiving dinner in Japan, even if it meant making do with what's on hand. So my American friend Ana, Aussie pal Dam-o and I got together on about 2 hours notice and created ourselves a nice mini-feast. Most Japanese homes don't have an oven, and even if I had one, finding a turkey to stick in it would be near impossible. So we made do with a couple of small game hens precooked at a stall near work, mashed Japanese sweet potatoes, boiled Japanese pumpkin (a lot like acorn squash, really), and some assorted odds and ends to round it off. It worked out pretty well, we feasted and gave thanks for friendship in a strange land, and toasted our way through a bottle of wine and some Korean soju (rice wine, I think). Dam-o was, in typical Aussie fashion, partially lit beforehand, so he was incoherent by the end. Just another typical evening in Japan.

I think Roommated Joe was a little peeved that we had something going at home, and I disturbed the last 5 minutes of his movie with his girlfriend. So he hasn't spoken but a few words to me since Turkey Day, and I can finally be thankful for not having to hear his cracking voice. (More on Roommate Joe later.)

I'm heeeere

I've finally arrived! After so long trying to code/set up my own webpage, I broke down and went for blogger. I think it will be a good thing overall, especially if I don't have to pay anything for it. I've been pretty slack in writing, so you should be able to read more of my updates here. So stay tuned for more exciting adventures of...."Hoosiers in Japan!!!"