Onsen: The wonders of the Japanese Bath

Onsens. If there's one thing that you can't leave Japan without experiencing, it is the onsen, aka hot spa. Recently I went with Meli to Tenzan-no-yu onsen for my first onsen experience. For those of you who don' t know, at Japanese onsens you enter only with the barest of necessities. In other words: you get naked. There's no ifs or buts about it, and you'd look even more out of place if you tried to sneak in a bathing suit. With this is mind, naturally I was filled with a little trepidation, however after reading about Tenzan-no-yu in Kyoto Visitor's Guide (a wonderful resource for those of you thinking of visiting Kyoto), I couldn't help but give it a shot. I mean who could resist after reading this description:

Tenzan-no-yu Onsen

"If you want to enter paradise, then this place is a great place to start. Indoor/outdoor soaking and warming (on stone beds!); sauna; massage; private stone bathtubs full of herbal blessing from the Japanese alps; lots of reclining lounge chairs; a killer restaurant that allows a bit of napping right after, during or before your meal..."

I was hooked and indeed the description was not a let down. Meli and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, so much so that we stayed there from one until nine at night. Eight hours!!?!?? Yeah, we could hardly believe it ourselves, but its definitely feasible at an onsen, where you can get in and out of baths and eat a little food, then read some and doze off in these really comfy chairs, eat a little more, get a massage/facial etc, get back in the baths for round two...what ever cycle or permutation you like until before you know it, it's time to go home and, still warm from the baths, to fall into a deep, relaxed sleep once you hit the bed...or not. At the onsen there are also these pools you can dip your feet in which have little fish. These fish then nibble at your toes and clean your feet of any dead skin or bacteria and, if it's indicative at all about my feelings towards these fish, that night I had a dream about them clinging to my feet like magnets...yeah, borderline nightmare. Needless to say, that was one thing Meli and I haven't tried, but who knows? If we can get up the nerve to go naked in public, maybe that'll be the next step: letting little fish get comfy with our feet. HaHaHa.

One other thing, for all you first time onsen-ers out there, I just want to let you know that you have to give yourself a good sudsing and wash up BEFORE you enter the baths, because otherwise it's seen as dirty. Also, (at least at Tenzan-n0-yu) the two shower stalls when you first walk in are NOT for this purpose. I think they're just for rinsing off? Meli and I stopped there first and after we got all good and soapy, realized that all the weird stares we were getting from everyone around us was not because Meli is obviously foreign, but because there is actually a whole area dedicated to washing off, complete with a multitude of shower stations and this season's themed brown sugar soap. Oops. Luckily it was still early in the day, so there weren't as many bathers!

More to come on New Years in a bit!

The Holy Spirit

Spectacular view of Mt. Fuji from the bus Saturday morning (a rarity I am told)

I have found the soul of Japan.

Maybe a month or so ago, a friend of mine said rather jokingly that Japan has no soul. Thinking of the souls and the spirit of the Christian friends I have found here, I disagreed vehemently with him, but at the same time I could understand what he meant. First of all, there is the salaryman image that for the past forty years has been the building blocks of Japanese society - the man who goes to work from early morning to late at night, dresses smartly in a suit and coat, gets a little tipsy (or more than a little tipsy) with coworkers into the early morning hours and then comes home. And then repeats the same monotonous routine the next day, and the next, and for the years to come at a job that he's not even really interested in until he is forced to retire.

Well I've been here, however, I haven't really seen much of the salaryman life as my host dad is retired and all my other acquaintances are my age. I have seen, however, a lot of people starting their search for a job and I have to say that it seems different from the states. It is during the junior and senior year of college that nearly everyone engages in job hunting. People apply to a lot of companies and there are all sorts of tests and interviews that one has to pass in order to enter the working world, very similar to the U.S., but what surprises me is how even at Doshisha - a prestigious university by Japanese standards - the way people select the companies is not so much out of personal interest, than through the fact that they are good companies and that they will provide the monetary support needed to sustain their lifestyles.

In the states, however, I feel like there is a much greater effort to align your interests and your career path (even if that doesn't always happen), and a lot of people go to college in order to gain the means of carrying out the career that they had envisioned for their future, or to find out what exactly it is that they enjoy doing - that they have a passion for - so that they can find the career that best fits them.

In Japan, however, what people want, what they envision as a life goal or a life purpose, isn't so clear cut and so it is harder for them to figure out what it is that will personally suit them. Until they start job hunting, kids are told what to do by their parents. Their parents make their decisions for them. They start going to cram school in elementary school (actually, I was told recently that kids start going to special schools from age 1!!!! How is that possible?!?!???) so that they can go to the best elementary, middle, and high schools that will feed them into the best colleges. It is all about getting into a good college and then getting a good job that pays; kids are told what their goals should be instead of discovering for themselves what they can contribute, what they're good at, what they love enough that they can do for a lifetime. Granted, a lot of college students in America don't know what they want to do or what their place in society is yet, but at least we are encouraged to find out for ourselves what we are best suited for and what is best suited to us, and we are raised to think that way from the beginning; in Japan, by the time people start job hunting in college, they've lost some major formative years in their life, they've lost out on a lot of personal growth potential, and so as their college career comes to an end - college, the thing they've been working toward for all their lives - and they begin to consider the ways in which they are to carry out their lives as active members of society, they often times have an identity crisis. Who am I? What do I personally believe in? What is my life goal? How am I to carry out the rest of my life? These are questions that maybe for the first time they begin to seriously entertain. And after a life of following the desires of parents, this naturally can be a shock to the system, especially if you have a year left of college during which you have to decide the course of a lifetime. It is no coincidence, I think, that a lot of the people in my church began believing during their college years.

Another thing about Japan is that it is all about the collective mentality, and so it's harder for individuals to discern their individual desires and to thus go about finding a way to achieve their dreams. I'll give you an example. In Japan, they're all about the おすすめ (osusume) or "recommendation". In stores and restaurants, there will always be signs telling you what the recommendation of the day is or what is the number one selling product. You know immediately what pizza everyone else likes, what shoe is the number one seller, what outfit combination is currently popular, what make up brand everyone is currently wearing, what cd everyone is listening to etc etc etc. And what's key about the recommendations is that they change constantly. They're not static because they have to show the current trend so that people know exactly what is popular NOW and not three days ago. But by putting up the ubiquitous recommendation sign, stores find a way to draw people in and customers find a way in feeling safe about their purchase; if it's what the majority of people are buying then it must be a good product and it must be one that will get you into the "in" crowd.

In this way consumerism is taken to new heights here. I'll give you another example: In American there is only one kind of kit-kat bar, but in Japan there are TONS of different kinds (like tiramasu, ginger ale, soy sauce...) and they vary by region too! The varieties also change frequently so that you can only get a certain kind for a limited amount of time. Thus the kit-kat bar, that innocent (or not so innocent if you're counting calories) long-time favorite sweet has been suddenly turned into a collectors item. And in Japan, this is only a small example.

I've been tempted to buy things that are totally unnecessary and useless and which in the states I would never think of buying, but which here seem too cute to pass up and which seem to be a necessity. For example, cell phone charms. Little charms that dangle for your cell phone which everyone has (and which, I'll admit, I caved in and bought as well, yikes!! But it was just so cute you know??). There are also the accessory stores which are like giant treasure boxes filled with glittering pins and jewels and flowers. There they sell tons of different varieties of hair ties, some with flowers others with beads etc. Thankfully, though, I've been able to hold out on these little baubles so far...

A wall of cell phone charms (don't worry, if these don't do it for you, there's another wall and more tables that are available for your perusal as well!)

Hamburger anyone? Man, I miss In-in-out T_T

Personally, I don't see how anyone could buy a cell phone charm that looks like ice cream or any other delectable food. Every time I'd look at it, I'd want to eat it!

Anyway, sorry, I've gone off on a long tangent about materialism, when what I meant to talk about was its opposite: spirituality. On Saturday I went with my church to Tokyo in order to go to a conference about the Holy Spirit (perhaps something like Urbana in the states?). I have to say, I've never been so moved in my entire life. Before coming to Japan I had been worried because Christians are supposedly only about 1% of the population, and I definitely didn't expect to find any defining religious moments during my time here. But on Saturday, the passion and love and thanksgiving in that room was overflowing, was absolutely overwhelming. After the sermon, people were on their feet sobbing and praying and I have to say that I was one of them. There are absolutely no words to explain how I felt, except to say that the Holy Spirit was there. Over a thousand people were in that room and I saw Japanese people - people who if you met on the street would most likely be stoic and reserved, albeit polite - on their feet praising God and weeping. Halfway through the service, I remember looking around at the whole crowd and knowing if I went to any of the people there I would be met with nothing but love because of God's love that was flowing so strongly through these people's hearts. What an amazing feeling that was! To think that every single person in that hall was a brother or sister in Christ, that that great singing, weeping, praying, dancing crowd was God's family and I was a part of it and it was a part of an even bigger family world-wide. It was such a beautiful feeling and at that moment all I could think of was how wonderful it could be for everyone to feel this love and peace. For the whole world to be united in such joy so that every person you meet you'd have an instant connection with, just like how I felt securely bonded in love with the other 1000 people in that hall...

In a country where real religion - religion that is of the mind, heart and soul - is almost dead, where materialism has hollowed out the bones of spiritual stability, where the suicide rate is one of the highest in the world, where there are television specials on how the young people don't have dreams anymore, in such a country as this with all these heartbreaking problems, there is also belief that is stronger than any I've ever seen. Belief that has moved me (a Christian for all my life) in a way I have never been moved before. I prayed to God that he would guide me during my time here and that He would keep me close to Him throughout whatever trials and joys that would come my way, and He's done an amazing job so far. And for that I am forever grateful and my life has been filled with unimaginable joy.

God is good. He is great and His love is boundless, and I just wanted to share a little bit of that with you today.

Hopefully this month I'll be putting up more posts (I know I've been slacking off lately) because I'm finally on BREAK!!!!! :D

Merry Christmas everyone and God bless!

With all my love,

Elisse

OKINAWA

The moment I stepped off the plane, I could feel the difference between Okinawa and Kyoto in the humid cling of the air and the casual postures of the people around me. Okinawa is more like Hawaii than mainland Japan and island life is relaxed to say the least. From the clothing to the buses that come either a few minutes before or a few minutes after their appointed time - a thing that is a rare occurrence for mainland transportation vehicles. The people - from the restaurant owner who gave us free donuts and a ride to the ferry to the girl at the aquarium who, instead of kicking us out during closing time as we made little acorn creatures, made us an origami box to protect our creations from the elements - were remarkably kind.

They're supposed to be really cute, but mine turned out kind of freaky. Like they're possessed or something.

You can definitely, however, tell that Okinawa is a lot poorer than mainland Japan, despite the large influx of visitors that flock to its pristine beaches and warm weather. The number of dilapidated buildings are much higher than a city like Kyoto and its main city - Naha - consists basically of one big street (aka tourist trap). I think literally there must have been maybe 3 companies that owned that one street, for we saw a dizzying amount of permutations of the exact same shops, sometimes with the same name and right across the street from each other or even next to each other (starbucks style). Though - for those of you from California, you will appreciate this - I saw a Yogurtland!! I had no clue it had expanded so far...

Anyway, the one other place that a lot of money has been poured into was the Ocean Expo in Motobu - the town where we stayed in for most of the trip. On Monday it was really rainy, so we decided to take advantage of the Ocean Expo, which is this huge expanse of land with exhibits that include botanical gardens, an traditional Okinawan village, an aquarium, obstacle courses for kids and the "Banko Forest" where you can supposedly "forest bathe." Funny thing was, that little bit of fun was only in the English translation and in the Japanese there was no mention of "forest bathing" so I guess only foreigners get to experience the wonders of a forest bath, whatever that is.


We ended up spending most of our time in the aquarium, and I have to say that I've forgotten how impressive aquariums can be. Some of those fish are asbolutely HUGE. There was this one tank with gigantic manta rays and a whale (????) and sharks all mixed into one. Yeah, pretty dynamic. One thing I'd like to point out is that, while the fish may be the same kinds you can find at aquariums in the states, Japanese aquariums definitely have a different atmosphere. I'll give you an example:

*In front of the giant lobster tank*

Me: OMG. Those are FREAKY! They're like giant spiders.
The girls behind me: kore, TABETAI. Literally: I want to eat these.

It seemed like everywhere I went, I heard people evaluating the fish not on how pretty they were or how strange or awe-inspiring etc etc, but on how delicious they looked and how they could be prepared as sashimi/sushi. Or if it's something like octopus, the conversation would turn to tacoyaki (fried octopus balls). It was amazing, but this was a bona fide gustatory excursion for these people! I had no idea that a trip to the aquarium could be such a mouth watering experience...I did notice, however, that at the cafe in the aquarium, there was spaghetti and sandwiches and taco rice, but no sea food...I guess you have to draw the line somewhere ;)

After the aquarium, we went to the dolphin show and once again I was astounded. It was actually really cool and those dolphins can jump HIGH. Like ridiculously high. What movie was it that had the dolphins leaving the earth - or was it taking over the earth - after biding their time manipulating humans into thinking that humans could control them with paltry tricks? Was it Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy? Anyway, I couldn't help but think of that as I watched it. Simply because in that scene the dolphins jump straight up and swim away into the sky and I thought it was ridiculous, but now - while I still think it's ridiculous - I acknowledge that dolphins can jump so high it's like they're flying. What a glorious feeling that must be!



During the whole show the weather behaved itself and there wasn't any rain, but after that, we got to watch the island Ie disappear on the horizon as the rain came thundering towards us and within minutes swept us up in water and wind. For about an hour we had to bide out our time in the gift shop as we waited out the rain, but it was worth it because I think in that hour two-day's worth of rain was bundled up and unleashed so that Tuesday and Wednesday were absolutely beautiful! On those two days we went to the islands Ie and Nina and experienced the most gorgeous beaches ever! And the best thing was, since it's November and the off-season, they were pretty much deserted even though the water was warm enough to swim in! I'm not exaggerating when I say that it was like those paradise posters people hang in dorm rooms and put as their desktop wall-paper.

Nina Island

Ie Island

Well that's about it for now, but more pics can be found on picasa ~

Peace, love and rice balls! jya ne~~ \(^-^)/

Kakigari and Kouyu! (Harvesting Persimmons and the Changing Colors of Fall)

Shizendo - this gorgeous little temple in the mountains

It's the middle of November and while the stores and stations may have already brought out their faux Christmas trees decked out with tinsel and ornaments, the trees lining the avenues and mountain slopes are still decked out in their fall finery. One glance at the trains and buses packed with camera-wearing, map-bearing people is all you need to confirm that Kyoto is one of the best places to view 紅葉　(kouyou) - the changing of the colors. The ginko trees lining Horikawa Avenue are an incandescent yellow, so flawless their leaves could be the manifestation of sunligh itself, and the momiji - maple trees - at the temples have turned red, the leaves suspended above silent gazers, delicate and as transient as wishing stars.


But on the other side of the mountains to the North of Kyoto, there is a strip of land that skirts the shore of lake Biwaco that is beautiful for a different reason - a reason that is, nevertheless, still connected with fall, and can be summed up in one word: KAKI aka PERSIMMONS. To me, kaki trees are one of the most beautiful species of trees I have ever seen. They aren't too tall, so they don't overpower you with their height and give you neck cramps when you look up, and their branches are low enough that even if you are short like me it's not a stretch to pick the lower fruit. The distance of the branches are are pleasantly spaced and are far enough apart that you have a pleasant mixture of leaf, branch, fruit and sky.

Fruit and sky.

That, I think, is what tops it off for me. The bright orange of the kaki set against the bright blue sky with a few wisps of cloud and green leaves is a gorgeous composition of color...

Adam and Shin-chan

Workin' Hard

But enough about the aesthetic wonders of the kaki tree. More than being beautiful, kaki are DELICIOUS! In the U.S., unfortunately, persimmons aren't a popular fruit and so besides the occasional farmers market, I don't think that you can find persimmons at regular supermarkets. Which is really such a shame because I think all the sweetness and colors of fall must be packed in that singular succulent fruit, which can be as juicy as a plum or as crunchy as...an apple?...a carrot? a cross between the two and a taste like neither? it's hard to describe. But anyway, either way, it's really delicious and last weekend I went with Meli, Max and Adam to Max's host family's kaki field where we spent the day harvesting (and eating) kaki. The weather was perfect, with enough of the fall chill to give the atmosphere some flavor but not freeze off our hands. Some other finds beside kaki: a tiny green frog and an iridescent green beetle that Adam named the uchyujin no daitoryou, or the "president of the aliens", much to Shin-chan's (Max's host parent's grand kid) delight.

The harvest

After our hard work (if you could call it that), we went back to Max's family's house at the other side of the field and had lunch. Which was also spectacular. They had this fire pit in the middle of the floor where they roasted whole fish skewered on sticks, meat, lobster, mushrooms, peppers, onigiri (rice balls), and other delicious food stuffs. It was great. I felt like a rustic Japanese person.

The Feast

The four of us content and happy after The Feast

One of the other people who came along was a 書道 (shodo - Japanese calligraphy) teacher and so after lunch we had a mini shodo lesson. I learned how to write 喜美恵(Kimie - my middle name) and 家族- kazouku, or family - shodo style.

Shodo

All in all, it was a wonderful day.

Some more pics of our explorations around Shizendo and Tanuki mountain:

The gazillion stairs that led up to Tanuki Shrine. The shrine was so funny. "Tanuki" means raccoon and apparently it was the shrine to raccoons so there were tons of statues of them everywhere. The best part was that after the crowds of Shizendo there was pretty much no one at the shrine...which was great...until we saw this dark black statue of a monk looming ahead of us in the gathering dusk. Lucky for us, though, the day didn't turn into some kind of Japanese horror movie. \(^^)/

Under the torii at Tanuki Shrine in the mountains

For anyone who is interested, you can see more pictures online at: http://picasaweb.google.com/ELISSEOTA.

jya ne~ updates from Okinawa to be posted shortly!

Warning: Do Not Kill the Deer in Nara

Last weekend I went with my Japanese Buddhist class to Nara to visit the temples Kofukuji and Todaiji. It was an all day affair because Kofukuji was waaaayy more crowded than we expected. In addition to the "leaf peepers" - the multitudes of people who swarm the Kansai area every year to see the fall colors - Kofukuji was busy because of the recent Ashura craze that has taken hold of Japan. Ashura is a three-headed, 6-armed being that is one of the eight guardian deities of Buddhism, and the sculpture that we saw has been recently on tour throughout the country. It's from the Nara Period (AD 700s) and it reminded me of the Mona Lisa (at least from what I've heard, since I've never actually seen the Mona Lisa) in that it was a lot smaller than I thought it would be. I was expecting it to be perhaps human-sized, maybe a bit bigger, but it was in actually a small wooden figure about a meter high. It was actually kind of cute. Apparently, it's really popular with girls because of its kind boyish face, and I guess I can see that.

Ashura

What I can't understand though, was the three hour line to get in the building for the brief minutes that we got to look at his face. The line was ridiculous! If we weren't there with a class, the general consensus was that honestly we probably wouldn't have stuck it out and seen the statue, no matter how beautiful and sweet it was supposed to be. It was simply amazing to us that so many people would be that committed to view a statue. But in the end I guess it was okay. Max brought these huge black edamame - soy beans - from his family's garden and we munched on them while we were in line. We also got to see the deer that we lolling about the temple grounds, and I consequently learned that killing a deer is punishable by death. Apparently the deer are believed to be kami - gods - and so they're considered sacred, I guess much like the cow is in India. Who would want to kill a temple deer? I don't know, but apparently it has been done and the punishment has been death...crazy!

Yup, see that hoard? That was the line to get in. It zig zags back and forth.

After Kofukuji, we went to see Todaiji where the Daibutsu - this huge Buddha statue - is. There, we saw more deer and more people swarming the avenue leading up to the entrance of the shrine. There were stands along the side of the road selling deer biscuits which people could buy and feed the deer, who have long lost any sense of danger towards human beings. Deer were everywhere, lolling in the mud under the bridge, walking on the pathway in front of the temple, sleeping in the gutters....in Japan there are a lot of unsavory little jobs and at Todaiji I saw witnessed two that I think would be terrible to have: 1) counting the people who came in and out of the temple (there were swarms, so it wasn't like they were in a nice, neat little line) and 2) sweeping up the deer poop, which was plenteous. Trust me.

Deer!

Hey there little fella

Anyway, the Daibutsu was grand and there was some semi excitement when we learned that we could climb through his nose. But that ended up just meaning that you could try squeezing yourself through this hole at the bottom of a pillar which represented the dimensions of his nostril. Not exactly the same thing. Max was disappointed. He wanted to be a booger in the Buddha's nose.

The DAIBUTSU

Naked Men Carrying Torches

are hot. Literally. Though I admit I exaggerate on the naked part. They were almost naked - a loin cloth and a little straw skirt short of naked to be exact. Whoever says that Japanese people are serious business men/women who wear dour business clothing and are workaholics has obviously never seen a Japanese matsuri. Let me just say: Japanese people can turn up the heat when it comes to parties.

Last week, I went with Max, his host dad and Meli to the Kurama Hi Matsuri. It was epic. First of all, I got to experience my first mannin densha, which basically means a train so crowded that even if you aren't holding on to anything, if the train is jolted you will barely move because you are wedged that tightly between one person's shoulder and another person's chest and the clear panes of the train door. Slightly uncomfortable to say the least.

At the actual festival, however, we were one of the lucky few who didn't have to join the herd of futsu *normal* people roped off into narrow sections beside the street; Max's host dad had connections with a family who lived there and so in addition to stuffing ourselves with sushi and soba beforehand at their house (which was on the actual street the procession passed by), we also got these special passes that let us walk wherever we wanted during the festival without being held back by the police. Which meant basically that we got to walk in the middle of the procession.

The Kurama Hi Matsuri is a fire festival and so there was fire EVERYWHERE. It was astounding that a wooden city like Kyoto which is so cautious when it comes to fire would actually have a festival like this. The festival starts at 6:00 when fires called kagaribi are ignited all at once in front of the houses, and the climax (or climakusu in Japanese) is around 9:30 when the mikoshi is carried down the mountain. For those of you who are wondering what a mikoshi is, it's basically little portable shrine for the god because, you know, its rather tough to spend all your days in a stuffy, dusty hall and it's nice to taste a little fresh air once in a while! Throughout the festival - here is where the almost-naked men come in - a procession filled with people holding large and small pine torches (taimatsu) winds up and down the mountain. The pine torches total more than 250 and the huge ones weigh more than 80 kg each. They are held on the shoulders of as many as four men at a time wearing nothing but loin cloths and chanting Saiye! Saiye! Saiyo! Saiyo! and sweating like crazy. Those who are lucky have someone trailing after them, dousing them with water and swiping the sparks from their skin.


Also in the procession were taiko drummers and people carrying these long poles with bells at the top that jangled with each footstep. We got to walk amongst the torch-bearing people and the bells and whatnot and there were several times where I could feel the heat of the torches come alarmingly close to my face. At times, however, the fire felt good as it's getting increasingly colder here in Kyoto, especially in the mountains where the festival was held. Smoke was everywhere, and there were moments when it was so thick that it made my eyes burn. By the end of the night our shoes were black from stepping on all the burnt black heaps where the torches fell. But other than that, the festival was pretty great. At the festival's climakusu as we watched the mikoshi descend through a conflagration of torches cascading down the hillside, I found myself mesmerized by the cinders swirling in bright flecks across the dark, cloudless sky: the sweet scent of burning pine sap: the voices chanting saiye! saiyo! as the mikoshi swayed vigorously on a tight knot of bare shoulders: and the people-packed houses and shops on either side of the street channeling the the light into a bright lasso around the dark mass of the mountain...

Here's the Mikoshi!

Other news:

Last weekend AKP took us on a field trip to Obama - a small town which became famous with President Obama's election - where we visited a chopstick factory and made chopsticks! We also made washi - traditional handmade Japanese paper - at another place.

Basically to make washi you dip these mesh metal boxes into the bins pictured above. The bins are filled with goopy grey material (if you've ever had Chinese egg drop soup, it's kind of like that consistency) which you then swirl around in the mesh boxes until the water drains and the goopy stuff settles to the bottom. Then you decorate with flowers and sparkles and colors to your heart's delight and dry the goop and voila! You have washi.

Ready, set, go!

My Otoosan and I walked out of the house and into the morning sunlight tempered by the shadows of clouds and an autumnal breeze, sweet and refreshing. It was Sunday and the streets were busier than usual - for the weekend - and there was something different about the way people moved. They were all heading in the same direction, toting sports bags and bags with snacks and drinks, and instead of business suits and school uniforms the outfit of the day was was work-out clothes: sweat pants, tennis shoes, towels. It's not everyday Sunday that people bust out the work-out suit (although every Sunday so far it seems that I have for one reason or another - running with my Otoosan, playing bball) and that day was not just any day. In fact, it was a very special day that only comes once a year and sweeps up the neighborhoods with fervent excitement and it's called: undokai.

Now, there's nothing quite like an undokai in America, and the closest thing to an English translation would be "sports festival." In America we may gather together for a sports event - a pro game or a school game - or we may get together at someone's house to watch a game on television while enjoying good conversation and good food, but there's never a time where the WHOLE neighborhood gathers together and EVERYONE (toddlers and the elderly included) participates in a myriad of silly, serious, fun games in which you're competing against another maybe 10-15 other neighborhoods in an all day extravaganza.

In Japan undokais are a big thing. There are undokais for school, neighborhoods and companies, but since colleges (it's only elementary school to high school) usually don't do undokais and sinceI'm not part of a Japanese company, I only got to experience the wonders of the neighborhood undokai


The main event that I was signed up for was the 400 meter relay, but before that, I also did this game where you had to try to get as many balls as you can into a basket lofted into the air on a really tall pole. My Otoosan put me in it expecting that I would be good because I play basketball, but I think I might of gotten only one in. Despite my lack of finesse, however, we still won. =)


After that I did the relay, during which I realized about half way through I had not yet recovered from the weekend in Tokyo (we had just come back the night before and I was still tired/sore from walking around ), but we still got first place and advanced to the finals and got second place overall!

While the 400 meter relay is something one would expect to find at a sports festival, there were many other events that were quite a first for me. Examples:

punt-a-football-through-you-legs-and-run-around-cones relay


Grab-as-many-fruits/veggies-as-you-can-and-drag-them-over-wooden poles-on-a-platter-without-overturning-it relay

And my favorite:



who-can-grab-an-eel-the-fastest-and-put-it-in-a-bucket relay

Some other events that I did not see but heard about were: the bread eating relay, marshmallow eating relay (you have to stick your face into this trough of flour and grab a marshmallow and start running), and a relay where you roll around a huge ball, among many others.

Overall, my neighborhood Makura-cho came in 2nd place, which is farthest they've come in years! After the undokai we had dinner together in this outdoor lot a couple of houses away from my house and celebrated with sushi, this mochi-azuki soup, and other delicious foods and drinks (beer for the older people, calpico for the younger ones;)). It was an exhausting day, but fun nonetheless.

Other than the undokai, here are some other brief updates in my life:

Like I mentioned earlier, the Thursday-Saturday before the undokai was the AKP field trip to Yokohama, Kamakura and Tokyo. Here are some pics:

Daibutsu (Big Buddha) at Kamakura

Hachiman Shrine in Kamakura. Find of the day: An afro Buddha keychain at one of the nearby shops.

Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo

Asakusa, Tokyo - this is the street leading up to the temple. It was packed with people and there are stands selling food and trinkets lining the walkways. We bought these fish-shaped cakes with azuki bean inside (azuki = sweet red bean paste...sorry I hate using the
word "paste" because it sounds so unappetizing when in reality its super good, but I can't think of another word at the moment...I'll work on that)

And finally, this past weekend Kyoto hosted the Japan writer's conference (for English writers) which I got to attend as an intern at Kyoto Journal. It was great being able to attend such lectures on how to create characters through dialogue and how to go about writing children's books...and also we got to hear Vickas Swarap talk about his novel Q&A which was the basis for Slumdog Millionare!!

Bike Culture

So, I meant to put this post up on Wednesday, but then a typhoon struck and I lost the internet at my house and then I went to Tokyo with AKP for our fall field trip. But because it's late and so many things have happened since then and Wednesday, I'm just going to put up this post for now and then update it later with all the adventures of the weekend (Tokyo, Undokai, etc.)!

On Tuesday my bus pass expired, so Wednesday was the first day I rode to school on my bike! Unfortunately,Wednesday was also the first day of the big typhoon that swept from southern Japan up to Nagoya, so I was confronted with the quandry: to ride or not to ride, which was then decided for me when I realized that Wednesday was my early class and I had already missed 30 minutes of it. Ooops. But, fortunately it hadn`t started raining too hard by that time and so I hopped on my bike and zipped to school in a whopping ten minutes, a record that beats the bus by far.

Bike culture is big in Kyoto. And, unlike me, a little bit of rain won't deter the average biker here. Every day at Doshisha, rain or shine, the curbs are jam packed with bikes. Everyone rides bikes. Kids going to school, women in high heels and skirts, and business men in suits are all part of the endless stream of bikers that zoom down the sidewalks. And they`re fearless too! They dodge effortlessly around cars and poles and pedestrians (a skill which I have yet to develop) WHILE doing crazy things like texting on cell phones, smoking cigarettes, texting on cell phones AND smoking cigarrettes, and, on rainy days like Wednesday, holding umbrellas to shield them from the rain (a skill which I`m not even going to try to develop). Speaking of umbrellas, unlike the US where a clear umbrella is few and far between, the clear umbrella is ubiquitous in Japan. Every conbini (convenience store) sells them, and men and women alike (I don`t know how this came about since there are no clear umbrellas in the states, but to Americans clear umbrellas seem to be considered effeminate) tote the clear umbrella faithfully along with their backpacks and briefcases and bikes and whip them out at the slightest hint of rain. After witnessing this phenomenon of widespread clear umbrella use, however, we have since deduced that not only do they provide a lovely view of gray skies if you`re so inclined to look up, but they also allow people to see where they`re going if it`s held low over their eyes, which would be necessary for people biking through the rain. So it's practical and not only a fashion statement.

"But what if you lack the dexterity to ride a bike in the rain and hold an umbrella at the same time? Or what if you're just plain too scared?" You may be wondering. And the answer is: The Rain Suit. As I was walking the other day, a woman (or man?) decked out in a rain suit rode by me. It was dark blue and looked like it was covered in stars and moons. Like pajamas. Rain suit style.

So enough about bikes and rain and umbrellas. Back when it was sunny (the weekend before) I went to Nara with my Buddhist art class to visit at Horyuji and Yakushiji (which are both temples). Nara is a little over an hour away from Kyoto by train and is known for its swarms of deer. And its mascot is a man-baby with antlers on its head...I understand the antler part, but the man baby? Who knows. I didn't ask. While there, we didn't gt to see any deer (we weren't at the right temple), but we did see a lot of interesting art work and afterwards went to a 月見　-Tsukimi (literally, "moon viewing")!

In the US we have nothing similar to a tsukimi (at least as far as I know), which is basically a festival where you gather together and look at the moon. It happens every Autumn on the night that the harvest moon is at its fullest and many shrines and temples will have special activities going on. The tsukimi we went to was at a pond near Kofukuji shrine. There were brightly lit food booths around the perimeter selling things like french fries, beef-kabobs, okonomiyaki (this delicious pancake-like vegetable creation that has egg and meat), squid-kabobs, and fried chicken, and the air was permeated with the sweet smell of these mini sponge cakes that were popping off the griddles by the dozen. As the darkness fell, the red and white paper lanterns strung along the perimeter and bobbing in the little wooden boats on the pond grew brighter, and it was like we were in an old fairy tale or something. By the time the procession reached the lake (there was a procession that starts from the train station full of people who are dressed as the nobility of old), the area around the pond was packed with people. Then, when the two boats filled with the procession participants starting circling around the pond, the darkness beyond the lanterns flared with the bright lights of camera and cell phone flashes.

One boat was full of musicians, and the sound of the shakuhachi (Japanese flute) and koto (stringed instrument) with the occasional solemn drumbbeat sounded somberly across the water. There was also another instrument which I couldn't identify, but sounded kind of like a bagpipe, but was much slower and melancholy.

The funny thing about it was that the two boats circled twice and then that was pretty much it. Max and I were confused because we thought it would last much longer since people were already staking out their spots over two hours before hand. But no, the second time around with the boats and pictures flashed and then the crowds dispersed into the night. Like I said, there's nothing quite like this in the U.S...

Tsukimi photos courtesy of Max!