kumamoto, mt. aso

We got up early this morning and took the express to 熊本市 Kumamoto on the west coast of Kyushu. Kumamoto's star attraction is one of the major castles in feudal Japan, 熊本城 Kumamoto Castle. The castle is restored but is beautifully done, with a castle interior (rather than a museum, which was done at Osaka Castle). Kumamoto is also famous for the art of samurai swimming in full armour (I couldn't get a photo, so I took a picture of a picture).

 

We left the castle and went to the Kumamoto Folk Crafts Centre, which was a market with local artisans selling their handmade goods. They had really amazing Japanese crafts, including Kumamoto's specialty - blackened iron inlaid with gold and silver. I wanted to get a sword pommel protector as a necklace, but they only had a cellphone strap about a centimetre wide- for $60.

We left Kumamoto and headed east on the train for 阿蘇山 Mt. Aso, which is the largest active volcanic crater in the world. The train station looks like a kind of miniscule-sized log cabin with a series of large shelves presumably meant for pamphlets, but sat empty, apart for one small poster for the BEPPU GUEST HOUSE. We called them and　they had a room free. So having booked accomodation, we were free to enjoy the rest of our day. The JR Mt. Aso Station is a pretty quiet place, even though it was a weekday at 2pm, everything looked closed. We went to the Tourist Information Centre to get rid of our luggage, but we couldn't fit our luggage into even the largest size of coin lockers, so we left it with the grumpy lady who agreed to look after it. We checked the train timetable to make sure we could leave Mt. Nowhere and get to our next destination.

We then took the bus up to the mountain. As we made our ascent up to the ropeway station it started to rain and get very foggy. When we asked about taking the ropeway up to the crater's edge, the lady said it wasn't a good idea because we wouldn't be able to see anything. But, since we'd braved the sticks of Japan and the grouchy luggage lady thus far, we gave it a shot anyway. The rain was still pouring and the fog was thick and heavy as we made our way in the gondola, looking outside you would have thought we were floating in a sea of grey. We made it to the top, umbrellaless of course (and our waterproofs were with Grouchy Luggage Lady). There were signs warning about dangerous volcanic gas.

We managed to see the bubbling blue volcanic pool. Huge clouds of steam were billowing from the pool, and as we stood there watching, the fog began to clear and we could see the pool nearly perfectly. To add to the atmosphere, thunder was rumbling overhead. We stood　sandwiched between two flavours of Nature's wrath, sounds from above and below. It was humbling.

We found our way back to the ropeway station, then down we went on the bus, and back to JR Mt. Aso Station. We got our luggage back not a moment too soon (I wondered what would have become of our luggage had the lady packed up and gone home). We were soaked to the bone, on a heavily air-conditioned train, shivering as we left the mountain and to the small resort city of Beppu. We arrived, found our way to the BEPPU GUEST HOUSE, and went to have a quick dip at what looked like a Buddhist temple but was actually a hot spring resort.

nagasaki

Early this morning Carrie kindly drove us to the ferry terminal, from which we took the early speedboat to Nagasaki. When we arrived, it was a quick rush to the Toyoko Inn to drop off our stuff, and thus begin our day of sightseeing. First we hit the A-bomb epicentre. We made it there before 11:02, in hopes to hear the daily bell ring but realized that the bell that rings is located in a temple near the station (oops, oh well). Around the black pillar that marks the point above which the "Fat Man" (nickname for the bomb) exploded, there are traces of what was the largest cathedral in Asia, as well as incense lanterns that manage to survive. There is a large display of paper cranes for the dead in that area.

We then went to the 原爆資料館 A-bomb museum, which shows Nagasaki before the A-bomb, the injuries sustained by civilians, and a history of nuclear testing in the world. Their centerpiece is a partially destroyed clock stopped at 11:02. I had no idea that there have been more than 2000 nuclear tests (atmospheric and underground), roughly half of which have been performed by the USA. There was also some paper crane art made by children near the entrance, as well as statues and memorials to the victims. Near the park is a 片足鳥居 one-legged Torii gate that was partially destroyed by the blast but managed to keep standing.

After the museum, we hit this tiny Chinese-style restaurant for some チャンポン Champon ramen, a specialty of western Kyushu. The noodles are thick and straight like spaghetti (Hokkaido ramen has thick noodles too, but they are curly). The broth is milky and thin, and very delicious. I liked Champon, but I with they'd gone easy on the cabbage and beansprouts (and hadn't put in squid and octopus tentacles).

We then took the tram up to the Statues of the 26 Martyrs of Japan, a memorial to 10 Spanish friars and 16 Japanese Christians (two of whom were boys of 12 and 13) crucified during the Japanese prohibition of the religion. We then walked over to 福斎寺 Fukusaiji, one of the really famous temples in the area, that has an 18-foot statue of Kannon, the Buddhist goddess of mercy, standing upon a giant turtle. Inside there was supposed to be a giant model of the Earth but we couldn't find it.

They also had a fortune vending machine. Just when you think you've seen it all, haha.

After that, we took the bus to a penguin aquarium. They had really well-designed exhibits showing the penguins swimming around on the bottom floor, and then the water's surface on the top floor. They also had tropical fish and giant crustaceans. And let's not forget jellyfish. I hate those.　The other funny thing they had was the Engrish translations. Usually these are funny or nonsensical, but whoever wrote these ones obviously hated people： We have a long sad history between penguins and humanbeing. Once these birds are just foods or stuff for oiling. We use 'penguin skin', 'penguin oil' and 'penguin egg', 'penguin meat' sacrificed on countles penguin deaths, and to make matters worse, we had destroyed penguin's habitat and introduced many awful new predators as a pest into their colonies. Nowadays humanbing must be the terminate predator of penguins.'

They also had very large crabs.

We caught the bus back to Nagasaki and we headed west to the former European quarter, the so-called オランダ坂 Dutch Slopes. The Europeans used to live here in their large houses, but couldn't go any farther into the city. The houses are very European set up amongst the tiled rooves of the Japanese houses. With the ubiquitous power lines, of course. We left the Dutch Slopes and walked past a Chinese-style shrine to Confucius, but it had closed so we had to take a picture over the wall. It was still cool.

We then walked to the 稲佐山 Mt. Inasa ropeway and took the gondola to the top, where we had a very enjoyable and, surprisingly, inexpensive dinner at the top. We enjoyed our Turkish pilaf (all Japanese, they admit, nothing to do with Turkey), and castella cake (Nagasaki's specialty) while we watched the sun set as Nagasaki transformed from its daytime self into a sparkling sea of white lights.

So today was kinda busy. But it was awesome.

prison. horror. pirates.

This morning was more errands as I prepared to one again pack up my life across the Pacific. We left the apartment early but due to train and bus schedules, barely made it to the airport in time for our flight, probably within 30 minutes.

We flew to 福岡 Fukuoka and had lunch at this Japanese-Italian place. I had a panini. We kicked around the stationfront area malls a bit, looking at the ridiculously priced clothing. Outside the malls they have a Dutch feeling to the place, as Fukuoka was once one of the few ports open to foreigners in the pre-Perry era. Carrie and Lorianne arrived from Sapporo on the flight 2 hours after.

Carrie had booked us dinner reservations at this place called "The Lockup". I highly recommend this place for an amusing time. The atmosphere is a cross between prison, horror and pirates. They give you cool menu choices like 'Russian roulette rolls' - five rolls of sushi, one of which is laced with tons of wasabi. The drinks are cool too, you are given a syringe of alcohol, and you mix the drink by injecting the alcohol into a beaker of Sprite (yes, a beaker, not a glass :P)

During our meal the lights went out, sirens sounded, and there was a 'prison break'. This masked guy went around scaring the patrons in their cells. It was so funny hearing the screams of the other customers.

japanese wedding pics

A few weeks back, my roommate DS proposed that as an early wedding present, we could get traditional Japanese wedding photos done. I thought it would be a cool experience for us. This type of photo is expensive and takes a long time - it took the assistants over an hour to get me ready. The bride dresses in 4 different kimono (all at once) plus about 15 other layers of various wrappings. On top of that, makeup and hair has to be done (I was wearing a 鬘 katsura or wig). I opted for a natural tone for makeup, because I thought white would look funny (I think the assistants agreed :P)

Once my makeup was done, they wrapped my chest with gauze then dressed me in an underkimono. It was wrapped with two cords to secure it, and then an obi. A plain kimono was put on top, again tied with two cords and an 帯 obi. Then another kimono over that one, and tied beautifully with another obi and supporting cords. They then put the big katsura　wig on, which was heavy, and attached the delicate decorations and the white cloth to cover up the bride's 'horns of jealousy'. On top of all this, the 打ち掛け uchikake or wedding kimono, was placed on top. It was weighted at the bottom and had silk cranes embroidered on it, and beautiful knotted cords on the long sleeves. With over 40 pounds of material on, it was difficult for me to walk, or do anything. The assistants even had to help me sit down.

After this was all done, the camera guy took about 50 photos of us in various poses. We chose four of them to be printed. Since the camera was digital we asked the owner if we could have digital copies. The answer was no, even though we explained that the photos might be ruined coming back to Canada. But they still wouldn't budge. They then added insult to injury by offering them for $500. Of course we refused and asked if we could just get the photos we picked, but even that was $300. It was extremely frustrating, but we were glad to get our photos and get out of there.

We went for lunch at this great 胡麻そば gomasoba (sesame seed in buckwheat noodles) place. I had a soba salad with sesame dressing. It was soooo goood.

After that we did some errands and met Carrie and Lorianne for dinner at this amazing restaurant in Susukino called 金魚楼 Kingyoro. Their food is a bit on the expensive side but the atmosphere is just incredible. The food is also really different. Some of the dishes are served on farm implements.

the zoo!

So this morning we somehow managed to get up and ready by 10am. Mrs. Watanabe made us some breakfast, and then we went to meet with Carrie and Lorianne at the Kuuneru Taniguchi mini-hotel. Carrie brought five bundles of Udon from her islands, where it's the specialty. I gave a bundle to Mama, and she started crying. She wished us happiness and we promised to come back to Kamikawa. I'm gonna miss her crazy antics. As we waited for the train, in a moment of idiocy, I had my picture taken posing like the bear statue in front of the station.

We said farewell to the hotel staff and caught the train to Asahikawa, then off to the zoo we went! 旭山動物園 Asahiyama Zoo is well known as the most progressive zoo in Japan. Their exhibits are well designed, taking advantage of the animals' natural habits to maximise visitor's chance of seeing them active. The penguin house, polar bear house and seal house are especially well done. The penguin exhibit has an underwater tunnel where the penguins swim over your head and around the tunnel walls. The seal exhibit has a giant vertical tube where the seals swim up and down inside right in front of you.

And on top of that, they have mechanical pandas that you can ride. I don't know if that's considered progressive, though. Notice the kid on the left gawking at us. We must have taken 4 or 5 pictures of us each on this panda, and she just stared through the whole thing.

In a moment of randomness, a dragonfly decided to land on Carrie's head.

In another unrelated moment of randomness, we had our pictures taken as seals.

In yet another totally unrelated moment of idiocy/randomness, we caught a picture of James standing behind the security guard on duty. Notice his hat: "Very Work Japan". The guy had no idea his picture was being taken. When he looked at me I pretended I was taking a picture of the mountains behind him.

So we were waiting by the bus shelter for the bus. When we had arrived, there were about 10 people or so. We waited with our heavy luggage (3 cases) and tried to get on 2 wrong buses that were going elsewhere, while the shelter filled up more and more with people until there was about 30 or 40 people waiting for this bus. Finally the right bus pulled up, and we tried to get on. Suddenly, angry shouts from the bus shelter mob, as a whole bunch of old folks pushed us out of the way and get on the bus. Apparantly there was a lineup. A secret lineup that we didn't know about. And the old folks pulled the "top of the Japanese societal totem pole" trick to push us out of the way and board first. That's all well and good, they're older, they need to sit, but we'd been standing around for 40 minutes with our heavy bags. (Later Anyram suggested that I use the gaijin "Nihongo tabemasen" trick, pretend we don't understand and board anyway, but I guess that might be bad if we incur the wrath of 30+ old ladies. Who knows what could happen?)

We decided to ditch the bus and take a nice, air-conditioned, fast cab. We passed the bus on the way over to Asahikawa Station, too. Hahahaa. Stupid bus.

We returned back to the station and walked to the Isis & Osiris イシス&オシリス Egyptian restaurant in Asahikawa, but the mamasan was out shopping :( So we went next door for okonomiyaki. I had yakisoba wrapped in an omelette. Mmmmmmmmm. Carrie and Lorianne had a Hokkaido style okonomiyaki each (the standard cabbage with pieces of potato, corn and bacon), and James had a pork meatball one. When we finished our dinner, Isis & Osiris was open, so we introduced everybody and then went back to Sapporo for a very welcome sleep.

to romance, the last time for a while

We woke up, grabbed breakfast from SeicoMart and took the bus to Sounkyo for a nice soak in the hot spring. It had been sunny when we woke up but it was starting to rain. Again. There must be some kind of weather conspiracy.

We got back to the town, went to visit some of my good friends for the last time, and had a good ol' bowl of Kamikawa ramen. After that, James went to the hotel while I went to rehersal - after that, we picked up Carrie and Lorianne from the station and we had our live concert!

Boss on guitar, Tomoe on piano, Erika on keyboard, Kunihiro on drums, Mika on vocals, and myself on taiko and tongas. The Defenestrators' final concert for a long time. Who knows when we'll be back in Kamikawa to jam. Hopefully soon :)

So after that, we headed to the izakaya Ikoi for dinner, then to Romance. Carrie and Lorianne met Aiko and Mama, and craziness ensued. Which is an everyday occurance at Romance.

from wakkanai with love

When we looked out the window this morning, it had finally, finally stopped raining. And we saw that there was actually a mountain on Rishiri. And of course, it was just as we were leaving. Typical.

But, we got some photographs of this beautiful mountain as we made our way back to Wakkanai on the ferry. There were so many tour buses, so the ferry was so packed we couldn't get a proper seat. But we were able to stand on the deck and enjoy the view. :)

There are only three daily trains from Wakkanai to Asahikawa/Sapporo, so we had to kill three hours for the next train. We had yakisoba, and looked around the 'bustling downtown core' of Wakkanai. On the road signs as well as shop signs, we saw Russian signage. They even sell Russian dolls in the souvenir shops. There is a 300-dollar ferry (one way) to Sakhalin Island from Wakkanai. It's interesting to see that on Japanaese maps (even recent ones), the bottom half of Sakhalin Island is seen as "neutral territory" and shown in white. There are also signs saying "GIVE US BACK OUR ISLANDS!", referring to the desputed Kuril island chain which have been so for most of the 20th century. Apparantly in Nemuro on the east coast there is also a sizeable Russian population.

We left Wakkanai, went to Asahikawa and then to Kamikawa. Which, of course, means Romance.

yay! james!

James arrived today. I have many plans for unleashing the power of strange food and customs on him.

Don Qixiote here we come... hahahahaaaaaaaaaaah.

wow! a kimono!

so I was given a kimono today. A real one. I already own two yukatas, they're both stylin'. But this is the first kimono I've ever worn. It's cream with gold cranes on it, with some green and orange. The obi is black and gold with some blue, green and red on it. It's soooo awesome.

A few days ago my roomie told me her mother's friend's friend has a few kimonos and she would like to give me one. I was really surprised, because these things are so expensive. The cheapest one I've ever seen was a used one selling for $1500.

So this evening, my roomie's mother's friend, who knows how to wear a kimono (don't be fooled, it's a really complicated task, especially if you have to do it by yourself), came round and we had a kimono party. We put them on, tried on different obis, and I learned how to fold one up (again, it's complicated). Then we went for sushi. What a Japanese evening, haha.

awesome!

Today I mostly rested, as I'm pretty sore from yesterday, as you can well imagine. Chatting with Lorianne over MSN about yesterday's exploits, her response was, "You'll be one of those energetic adventurous crazy old people who go parachuting and stuff"

I'm SO flattered! *beams*

a lot of cycling

I've been reading Leigh Norrie's blog, which includes his amazing trip around Japan's 47 prefectures by bicycle. I've done a few long-distance rides, the longest being 120km in one day (Kamikawa<->Asahikawa round trip), and that includes plenty of shopping. He started out in Saitama (north of Tokyo), rode north, around Hokkaido, and then south again all the way west and then to Okinawa. It is quite an achievement, I really admire him.

I think if I were to do that kind of thing, I would start in Wakkanai, go through Kamikawa, Biei/Furano, Sapporo, Hakodate, and then south. I know many people dotted all over the islands. So all I would need is six months and plenty of cash, haha.

　I was sitting in the living room practicing my Kanji when I heard the sound of taiko. Of course I can't resist but go find out where the sound was coming from. The neighbourhood community association was holding an Atsubetsu お盆 Bon Festival. This included the drums and a huge circular dance of costumed people under the lanterns and the moonlight. One of the guys was dressed as a castle (Japanese style).

So I went for a bike ride....

There's a crater-lake called 支笏湖 Lake Shikotsu-ko about 50km south of Sapporo. It's supposed to be really beautiful and boasts amazing hot springs. So on Saturday I got up at 6am and went. Got a bit lost trying to find a cycle-friendly route, but kept going south. The sign said "Right to Lake Shikotsu-ko". So I turned right. No more signage for a good 5km, so looking at the signs going the other way... "Left to Lake Shikotsu-ko" ... damn bewildering signage. Found Route 453 eventually. Through some Hoodoo-looking rock formations at Ishiyama, past some country clubs, and then there were no more pit stops to be seen... (note to self: stock up at those convenience stores. There may not be one round the next corner, or for the next 40km.)

50km would have taken me less than 6 hours if it wasn't for the three mountain passes I had to traverse to get there. The third pass, as I recall, is around 700m above sea level. The final descent to the lake is a 4km stretch of steep downhill (owing to the fact that it's a crater lake). Sapporo is near-sea level. So now, I'm paying for all that uphill riding (and at some points, walking. I'm not ashamed to admit it, I'm no Olympic athlete here)...

When I arrived, I had run out of energy and water, I was feeling just exhausted from all that uphill riding. I had a very welcome soak at the Marukoma Hot Spring on the lakeshore (it's supposedly haunted ... ooo), had a bowl of iced buckwheat noodles and rode the bus home. I knew it would be a one-way trip so I took my bike apart at the hot spring, put the bits into the handy nylon carry case, and took it with me on the bus. As I was taking the bike apart a very interested Japanese family from Otaru were watching me, the dad was very interested and asked me to teach him. The three daughters wanted to help, so they kept the bike upright (there's no kickstand) and held the bolts in their hands. The mum went off to buy everybody an iced coffee. Such hospitality...

And when I got to Sapporo station I put the bike back together and made the short 10km jaunt home. When I got back I was feeling pretty tired (I slept the entire 2 hour bus trip back) but my roomie Ikuko invited me to go camping on the beach with her and her friends. So I did. We had a barbecue with marinated lamb, shrimp, squid and vegetables, lit lots of fireworks, and had a blast. I had to turn in early, sleeping and barbecuing is a recipe for disaster.

punk concert

My buddy Yoshihisa invited me to a concert where his band 'High Sense' would be playing. He's the drummer. High Sense are apparantly really popular in the Sapporo punk scene. According to his email, "We'll make a punk lover out of you!" We'll see about that. :P

So I arrived a good 20 minutes before show time, most of the crowd looks like university students. I get stares of course. The show starts, some of the newbie bands open up. The first band, 'THANKS' wasn't bad, but the audience didn't really warm up to them. The second, 'Tanetaroh' was pretty good, some of the 40 or so audience members started to groove. The guitarist/vocalist guy did some really crazy things with his guitar, and at the end it looked like he was trying to eat it. The third band, 'GRAVE A NAME' was this wierd mix of punk and hip-hop. The voalist trying to look like a rapper amused me. Number four was 'Men's Life Station', I missed them because I needed to get away from the second-hand smoke and get some fresh air. 'High Sense' was last, and they were obviously who everybody came to see. The audience suddenly ballooned to about 200 people crammed into this tiny club. Their music is good. These crazy guys at the front, maybe 8 or so, started pushing into each other and taking ramming charges at each other. I thought it was kinda bizarre but it turns out they were trying to mosh. And they did. A few guys climbed up onto the stage to jump onto the crowd. The club wasn't really big enough, nor the cieling tall enough for that kind of thing, but they did it anyway. I was glad I was further back.

I bought High Sense's CD too. Bike music of course. For when I'm angry. *big grin*

tanuki koji = diagon alley?

This is one of the older bookshops at 狸小路 Tanuki-Koji shopping arcade south of Sapporo Station. It's hard to move around inside. But it's got so much character, and the guy behind the counter is really nice. It's like being in Diagon Alley, seriously.

gigglin'

Spare me my life!

aka

If you are robbed in a park by a bunch of English speaking hooligans who speak verrrrrrrrrrrrrrry slowly, this Japanese TV clip will clearly tell you what to do.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Q9M5ddlZOYg

pachinko

I tried pachinko for the first time today. There's a good reason why I haven't bothered to step in a pachinko parlour until now -- they're smoky, noisy, and the fluorescent lighting hurts my retinas.

They're pretty depressing, actually. Rows upon rows of people put 1000 yen at a time into these machines, and they play with these little ball-bearings that shoot up into the machine. It's a bit like pinball without flippers, and 100,000 little balls to try and hit this tiny target. If a ball goes in, the screen shows a slot-machine type image.

As expected, I was very bad at it. And I don't think I'll bother going again.

more random taiko gigs

So I'm on my way to taiko practice, on my bicycle of course. I pass Odori park, and I hear the sweet sweet sound of a drum beat. I can't resist but go see.

There's a freelance group playing in the middle of the road. It's a city sanctioned perfomance because they have detour signs around them. But in the middle of downtown, there is a taiko group playing in the road. Sapporo is such a cool city.

One of the pieces involved one big drum laid flat, and three masked members sharing it... one playing a base beat, and two playing a rhythm on top of that. I think it was pretty freestyle and impromptu. They swapped in and out, and while not playing they would walk around and act the part they were playing with the masks. It was such a cool, unusual style.

Halfway through they started getting random people off the street, handing them a pair of bachi, and letting them have a go at playing. And guess who they make a beeline for... the gaijin on a bicycle. Fair enough... but instead of taking the guy's bachi, I pull my own from the bike pouch. The guy's eyes go wide as dinner plates. I groove with the beat and play any rhythm that comes to mind. It was just such a beautiful moment of impromptu drumming, just like my first practice with Hashimoto.

Taiko rocks.

nebuta

The Ohta's gave me a ride from their lovely home in Towada to the Misawa train station. We stopped at the Towada Crafts centre where I saw the making of obis and other cloth items with traditional looms. Even got a demonstration, very nifty.

We said our goodbyes at Misawa Station. Usually there are amenities around major train stations... not here. The sticks. I found one ramen restaurant after quite a bit of searching. With a heavy backpack, it was a welcome rest.

Took the train back to Aomori, found Mrs. Ikoh again, gave her some souvenirs from Lake Towada. I managed to get the last train before the Nebuta Festival started. This festival is huge, everybody from Japan seems to descend on Aomori to see it. There's a good reason. The atmosphere was electric, dancers, drummers and flute-players performing almost continually. The floats are just incredible lit up at night, and they're all powered by people pulling them.






I'm so glad I didn't have my backpack because it was difficult enough to move around. I walked around the entire parade course, saw the floats, got some festival food. It really was an amazing time, and so surreal.

At 10pm I grabbed my pack from the Ikoh's, gave them a bottle of icewine from my pack, and headed for the station. I was 45 minutes early for the train, but knowing festival time, I knew there would be a lineup. And there was. By the time the train rolled in (the same old crummy one) the crowd was huge and it looked like many people wouldn't get a seat. The doors opened, and the stampeding crowd made its way onto the train. I managed to get a seat, but many people didn't. The 'reserved section' with it's AC and large seats were fine, but for those of us cheapskates on the Unreserved cars, it was hot, packed, and just not very pleasant.

So the train lurched off back to Hokkaido, and with all the passengers, the inside of Cattle Class started to get very uncomfortable. The old ladies sat in front of me said they were having trouble breathing 2 hours into the trip. Children started crying. The heat was really getting unbearable. I had about 8 free fans that I was given, so I started handing them out to people. When we finally finally arrived in Hakodate, we couldn't see out the windows because they were so steamed up. About half the people got off, so everybody could have a seat, and some people had two seats to themselves. And then the nice train men decide to turn on the AC. AFTER half of the longsuffering passengers had gotten off! Why they didn't turn it on before was just bewildering.

I arrived home, but didn't sleep. I unpacked, and, like a kid at Christmas, took my beautiful new bicycle for a test ride. I rode south to taiko practice, a good 4 hour round trip. But it was just so exhilerating to be on two wheels again!!