Trip to Shirakawa

Our school here in Japan is nice enough to provide a school funded trip to a remote part of Japan so that the students can get an authentic Japanese experience...and what an experience it was. An experience including scenic bus routes, authentic Japanese cuisine, mountain hiking, and of course someone falling off a ledge breaking his heels. Our school provided a very cushiony bus for the three hour trip.


We started early in the morning to get a head start on the day. The trip was breath-taking because of all the beautiful nature around us. We were heading north to a place called Shirakawa.

We had a brief bathroom break which included funny Japanese robot dancing.

I decided to take the break as an opportunity to take a picture of a mountain scene. Friends demand mountains...so I provide them. As you may notice, the trees were turning color and it was very cold. It only got colder as we went north.

We had another bathroom break at a dam (the kind that blocks a river) site. Here is a picture of Jessica and I in front of changing trees.
Essentially our school booked a traditional Japanese hotel (Usually cost around $200 per person). Before arriving to the hotel we were given a nice lunch at some nature school along the way. Here is another mountain picture.

The nature school had these very nice traditional houses with thatch roofs.

Inside they had a gift shop and I decided to buy a little critter....can you find him?



After our nice lunch we were treated to a mountain hike! It was very beautiful and the mountain was not too small. The picture below is the mountain we climbed.


Along the way our tour guide explained in Japanese various forest facts. Since I had only taken one year of Japanese prior to coming to Japan, I could not understand everything. However, it helped that he used fuzzy props to help illustrate the various facts.
The tour guide did not hesitate to leap out of the path after small but quick frogs. The frog looked hungry, and so did I looking at him. I never had frogs legs before, but I am certainly willing to try them.


After the long hike we went back on the bus to get back on our trip. We eventually arrived to be greeted by frigid air in Shirakawa. The town itself was very old and very small having many many thatch roofed houses. Our hotel would be such a house.
Here are two very happy students in front of the doorway to were I stayed. Notice their perfect choreography. Scared me a little....

Unfortunately for one of our students, the trip would turn out a disaster. Jessica and I were walking around town until one Korean student came running asking for the professors help. Jessica, the Korean girl, and I would find our fellow classmate Charlie mangled at the bottom of a three story cliff! A couple more people came to help. It turned out he was trying to take a photo of the mountains on top when he slipped, grabbing on to the small rope fence which flipped him over the cliff. He hit his head on the way down and landed on his heels which essentially shattered on impact. We tried to lift him to take him up but decided that it would be too dangerous. He hit his head and who knew if his back was broken in any way. It was best not to move him and call an ambulance. One of the professors eventually called and the paramedics arrived.

I was one of the people to carry Charlie to the ambulance. There is a picture of Charlie doing a Richard Nixon...at least he didn't break his neck.


After the fiasco, I headed back with Jessica. The girls and boys were in separate hotels so we had to part. That is why there are not as many pictures of Jessica. I was a camera hog! I came back just in time for dinner. I explained to everyone what happened and then ate dinner. Here is a picture of me in front of the fire in the eating room.
We had a very traditional Japanese cuisine involving many vegetables in small portions and a small fish. It was very good, but it is very easy to see why the Japanese do not have the weight problem the Americans have had in the past 15 years.
After dinner we had the opportunity to go to the local bath house. It was my first time going to one but it was a very relaxing and rejuvenating experience. Only about four of us men went while most of the women went. Unfortunately and obviously it was separated by sex. There is nothing like soaking in some hot water for a couple of hours.
When we got back, Jessica and I joined our fellow class mates for some sitting and fortunate telling. If the candles blew out during your telling, it is supposed to be some sort of sign. Mine blew out every 30 seconds or so. Strangely, it was always the same candle.
Here is a group shot of some of the people I know. I am doing a cool thumbs up, no?
I slept very well that night and woke up around 7:00am for some breakfast. The breakfast was very similar to dinner...very very similar. However, it was very good. That morning I decided I wanted to find poor Charlie's digital camera which he lost when he fell. I gathered a search party of three other people to go look. Here is a picture of morning fog rolling off of the mountains. The air was crisp, and good for a hunt.

Close to the bottom of the cliff where Charlie fell was a river.

We looked and saw the camera in the water. However, it was not accessible from where we were and we had to get to the other side.

Because it was dark when he fell, I was unable to take a picture of the ledge he fell from. In the morning I had a Japanese friend stand close to where Charlie fell to get a good idea of the height. He fell where that house is on top all the way down...not a bad fall indeed.
We were able get the camera out of the water! Here is a picture of camera and the accompanied SD card where the pictures are stored. The SD card had some water in it but after a good drying, it worked! The camera however was beyond repair. The story goes that Charlie tried to get a better shot of the mountains by slowly walking backwards when he slipped. If the camera company only provided a better panorama mode!
I was happy when we found the camera. The morning was beautiful with the sun hitting the trees just right.


It was a fine trip with many interesting experiences.

Another mountain picture to close off the day for those that demand them!
During the ride back we were all tired. Since there was not many pictures of Jessica, I decided to sneak one in while she was sleeping. She's not pleased....

Notice the sneaky finger in the picture...that is how you know I took it sneakily.

I hope you all enjoyed this entry. Please leave a comment and make sure to watch out for my next one.

Globalization

I would like, today, to tell you about all the exotic places I have eaten at in Japan. Exhibit A:

Yes, that is a good old Starbucks. This particular Starbucks is located in Sakae (Rich part of Nagoya, Sakae sort of means "prosperity"). For anyone wondering, yes, Starbucks in Japan is just as popular as Starbucks in America. In fact, when you walk in one here in Japan, you would think you are back in America...Except for the Japanese Menu. Exhibit B:

I know, that is really a poor picture and does not capture the whole menu. I felt a little strange because I was a white guy taking a picture of a menu. I choose not to be too strange, being white is strange enough for many Japanese...Especially the Japanese children. The next picture is another very delicious and fun place you can go and eat. Exhibit C:


Hardrock Cafe in Nagoya is truly a treat and I would recommend anyone visiting to go. It has delicious steak in large servings costing only a little more than one in the U.S.A. Also it comes with English menus and Japanese waitresses with quasi english speaking abilities. When we went here, there was a large group of Australians with a large group of loud children. It was Halloween time so there were decorations everywhere (Yes, there is a small following here in Japan who celebrate Halloween). The children ran around and literally destroyed said decorations. Did I dare to take a picture with the parents right there? Yes I did. Exhibit C-Bad Children:

I covered the child's body with an adorable picture of a kitten to disguise the identity (I don't want lawsuits here). As you notice, the child is preparing to throw the poor and not so scary pumpkin onto the floor to destroy it. There were things thrown, smashed, and punched around us through the whole dinner. The poor and nice Japanese manager tried to get the parents to stop the kids from being so naughty. But this is a feat impossible because well it takes an adult to stop a child....and the Australians were no adults. They were also rowdy, hanging off railings, being drunk, and loud...encouraging their kids to smash things. I say, might as well put breasts on the Japanese manager because he had to be the mother to all the "Children" that night. But, I cannot complain, it was like watching a really funny movie. Now for Exhibit D:


I have not visited the Denny's here in Japan yet because frankly I am scared of the food at Denny's in America. Should I dare go and indulge in a craptastic night of dingy food? The bigger question is, have the Japanese improved in any way the Denny's we have loved? I visited Denny's in the US many nights with my friends Tyler and Andrew...so maybe in homage to them, I will explore the Japanese version of the underbelly of American cuisine. Oh and here is another Starbucks!!!

And yes, like Starbucks in America, this one is also located a block away!

Here is a Mercedes Dealership...They like them over here. And what blog post would be complete without Japanese Elvis impersonators!
This is a picture of a Japanese Elvis impersonator competition. Some were really really good believe it or not...because I certainly didn't!

I hope you really liked this post...next post will be about the School sponsored trip to the middle of nowhere. Oh and please leave a comment.

Adventure Around Seto

We all decided one day to check out all of the interesting temples and shrines around the city where I am staying. It was Robert, Spring, Jessica, and me who went. Seto is an average sized city with about 150,000 people in it I think. Here is a picture of the main street where there are tons of ceramics stores and the like. This area is called Owari Seto, which means "End Seto". This is the end of the line of the train I take to get to school. In the far back you can see the building called Parti Seto, which is sort of the information center. It has many restaurants and a convenience store.


Here is a temple just very close to the streets you see above. It is Shinto based as you can see with the Shinto style entrance.
Notice the intricate roof.
Here is Jessica and I under red "Arches". Notice my skull shirt.
A close up shot of a statue at the temple. It seemed old to me so I took a picture.

I took this picture for the little building and the weird statue. I cannot decide whether the statue is a fox or a very very large and scary squirrel. Lets take a vote :)Here I am, looking sexy. I am on a swing in a play ground near the temple. Notice the chains on the swing protect the hands from the dreaded pinch! I now wish my old childhood playgrounds had these wonder chains created by gods loving hand. But, in the end, I still got my shoes and pants wet. Notice the puddle under me.

Here is a typical scene where girls get distracted by shiny ceramics.

I am officially addicted to these cans of warm coffee . Let me tell you, if there is anything that I am going to miss when I leave, it is going to be these. There is nothing more satisfying in winter than grabbing a nice hot can of coffee on the street from one of these wonderful machines. In winter, this is as close to heaven as you can get.We eventually left the Shinto shrine and headed to a Buddhist temple. Let me tell you, these people are very careful with everything. The bushes and trees are cut with a very nice aesthetic sense. I can take a picture of anything and it will be a good picture. Look at the random shot below, its good no matter how much I tried to botch it up.
When we entered there was absolutely no one there, no one. It was quiet and sort of creepy. I expected a ninja at this point crawling on the top of the roof to jump down to the ground so we could commence hardcore ninja fighting. But, as I have feared, no such ninja appeared. Yes, I am a poet and I didn't even realize it (Props to Damien). I would have said Kung Fu fighting, but this is Japan man!

Here is a picture of little Shinto stone statues inside the Buddhist temple. For those that do not know, Japanese usually follow both Shintoism and Buddhism. Often you will see small Shinto shrines inside Buddhist temples.
Here is the entrance to the main building. Notice no ninjas. Peace is the way of the Buddha.

Here is a touristy shot of Jessica and Skull Shirt.

Here is a big beautiful tree that reminded me of fractals. For those of you mathematically inclined, this picture will be amusing. For those not so mathematically inclined, I am a loser.

This was a nice area of the temple. But the best part is the bulbous bush at the very bottom. We need more of those in America.

Here is Jessica bored because there were no ninjas.
I have recently watched Bill and Ted. I think I make a good Keanu Reeves impression. Oh, and eventually someone came to the temple. See the car in the back? So I don't want anyone telling me I lied about that.

Here is a picture of Robert and Spring. Robert was also confused of the absence of ninjas. Scratching his beard. Eventually we decided we wanted to treck up the biggest hill in the city. There was supposed to be something at the top so we were excited. On the way I took a picture of this beautiful rusty shack. As rusty shacks go, this one is a winner. I think it is important to show this part of any rich nation. The difference here however, the houses around it were nice, big, and old.

Here is a picture of the street on our way to the mountain/hill. I liked this part because it was definitely an older part of town. The street is very narrow, but cars still go through here. I am surprised every time when I see a car go through a street such as this. You would think that there would be many damaged poles, but there are not. I guess it helps that people have to pay about $2,000 dollars for driving school just to get a license.

This was funny because one of the houses was a factory which made red masks. They were cool devil masks. If anyone (Anyone I know) wants, I can find this place again and buy one for them :-)

Another picture of rusty shacks.


We finally found the path to the mountain and trekked up there. The climb was steep until we came upon a cemetery with Shinto shrines.

We climbed farther and ended up at the top where Jessica and Spring had this picture taken. In the back you can see apartment buildings. Just to give you a sense of how high we climbed. Jessica is of course satisfied with herself so she gave the patented dork smile. Notice its dorky power.
Here is the majestic temple that we so eagerly climbed a mountain for! OOOOOHH shiny! So nice and new! So spiritually metallic. I think I liked the rusty shacks better than this.


But I guess it was worth it for the beautiful hidden cemetery we found.


Here is a picture of Jessica scared of potential ninja ghosts.

Here is another shrine. Notice that there is a little cup under the statue. This cup was filled with nice sake. I guess if you can find enough of these shrines and drink all of these, you can get drunk. However, are there any alcoholics worthy enough?
Here is a picture of a spider the size of a golf ball. Needless to say, Jessica ran the other way.
Now this is a rusty shrine shack worthy of a mountain climb. Unlike the strict metallic one, this one doubly useful as a place to put old wood and gardening tools.
Ah, a fine days end to a fine trip of seeing shrines and temples and climbing. I wish I can play you some kind of music to set the mood of the picture below.

I hope you enjoyed this post. I have been very busy so I really do hope you enjoyed this post. Just a note, to show how far behind I am, right now when we go outside, we put on heavy coats and mittens. I have the Shirakawa and Kyoto trip to post. So keep an eye out for them. Oh, and leave a comment if you can.