Hokkaido: First Day
The first trip I went on after I arrived in Japan was a trip to Hokkaido, the north island of Japan. At the end of September we had a Monday off of school for “Respect for the Aged Day,” so a big group of us headed out on Thursday night to see the sights. The trip was completely student organized–a Czech graduate student who lived here last year had the idea to bring some new students on trip similar to one that he had already done. I heard about the trip later than a lot of people so I decided to go only 24 hours before we left. Even though it was a last minute decision, it was probably on of the single best decisions I’ve made since I got here. It was a great weekend.
A group of 15 of us set out from AIU on a Thursday night. My good friend Titus from the US was going too, a few of the others I knew from classes or the dorms, but I didn’t know anyone else very well. For the long leg of our journey we had made a group reservation on a ferry. The only problem is the ferry starts boarding at 6:40 and leaves at 7 am. Which meant that we had an entire night to kill in Akita city and had to find some way to entertain ourselves.
It turned into a memorable night. Our trip leader J. walked us through the rain to an all night bar that he knew of. We shared umbrellas in the rain as we walked and talked about what we wanted to do in Japan. Unfortunately, J.’s friends’ bar was busy and didn’t have enough room for 15 dripping gaijin. However, they gave us directions to a karaoke place and an extra umbrella. In Japan, lots of karaoke parlors are open all night (in this country, groups rent small rooms to do karaoke in privacy with their friends) and they usually have a discount for those unbusy hours. So we rented a room and stayed up singing till 5 am.
We walked a little way, looking for some breakfast, and ended up taking taxis to the ferry landing. It took us half an hour to write down all our names and addresses. Some students had only been learning Japanese for a couple weeks, and I can vividly remember having people sound out their names so I could write them down phonetically. Then I sat with Cat, who was tallying up prices, while everyone else ran off to get food before the boat departed. It was my first time spending much time with her, even though we lived only two rooms from each other, and we were both realizing that we had a good chance of gettting along well.
There was a small panic at about 6:45 when the other students still hadn’t returned from the convenience store. Cat shoved all the papers and tickets at me, left her bag at my feet, and ran after everyone else. I got watch all of them run to the building just in time to make the ferry.
We had a shared room with cubbies and floor space for sleeping (actually we had two rooms, but our Japanese wasn’t good enough to understand that until the return trip). We settled our things and then made our way up the deck of the ship. Standing at the back, we watched the dock pull away and the city sprawl under the early sun. It was great feeling, and despite the earlier rain, and the tiredness, it was a perfect start to our journey.
After the boat left port, most everyone went back to sleep. I was too restless. I stayed up and talked with Cat for while, until she too needed to sleep. Then I wandered indoors and watched the scenary. Japan is absolutely beautiful from the sea. Full of mountains and some mist, sailing in a boat surrounded by bright blue water.
After a confusing conversation with an old Japanese man (who wanted to know where I was from and then proceded to explain how much he loved skiing (I didn’t really understand that part)), I headed to bed myself. I only slept about three hours (we had a ten hour journey on the ship) before I was too restless to sleep anymore. I went back up to the ship and wandered around some more.
Things I remember from that trip:
The water was so blue–I didn’t want to look away!
The conversation with the old man, one of my first real connections to regular people in Japan.
A man who moved from place to with his guitar, playing as he went.
Wandering, bumming into one of the other students, talking a little, and then just looking out at the waves.
Seeing the very first view of the north island as we came around the edge of it. For no real reason, it was so exciting and so beautiful.
The water was so blue. The sun was so warm. The sound of the water. It was a perfect day.
Knowing everyone else was sleeping and missing it.
Japanese word of the day: fune ／ふね (foo-nay) noun: boat, ship
Weekend Trip to Tokyo: Part 2
On Saturday, k. had to stay at home because she was officially sick, but the rest of us decided to explore some more. Now, most people visiting Tokyo for the first time would visit all the best historical and sightseeing spots, but with two girls in the group and being surrounded by Japanese fashion, we headed for some of the shopping districts. First we headed to Harajuku for shopping, lunch, and seeing a shrine (though not in that order). We got a big surprise when, after wandering around looking for a restaurant that didn’t have a waiting list, we came across an American-style burger place. It was a little bit expensive, but they gave us more food than we could eat–it was like being home!
Once we were no longer hungry and distracted, we head to Meiji Shrine, which is right by the station exit. This shrine was created by the order of the Meiji Emperor (who was responsible for opening up and modernizing Japan in 1848). In the middle of the city, he had a small forest planted, with a lily garden and wide paved square within the shrine. At every entrance are tall torii gates that you must pass through to enter the shrine. (They’re taller and wider than any others that I’ve seen so far, and I think they’re the largest in Japan.)
After one last small(er) torii, you reach the group of buildings that make up the shrine. The main part is a large paved square enclosed by by walls. At the far end is a god tree–a tree marked with rope and strips of paper to mark that a kami (god/spirit) lives there–that is surrounded by a wall of wishes. Past the tree is the shrine itself, though people can only enter the front to pray and offer a few coins. This shrine–since it was commissioned by the Meiji Emperor–is very large and beautiful, but it’s difficult for a casual visitor to see much.
Meiji Shrine is really popular for weddings. While we there, we saw three couples, including one very grand and stately procession:
After seeing our fill of the shrine we headed for Takeshita Street, one of the main venues of alternate/teenage fashion in Tokyo. It was ridiculously crowded, but a lot of fun. There were sightseers and regulars, and plenty of the things to look at. The stores all have their best stuff displayed, and plenty of the customers were dressed to the nines as well. It’s an area that I’ve heard about since I first became interested in Japan as a teenager, so it was great to be able to see it in person. Also, Harajuku is also known for its crepes (crazy fruit/sauce/ice cream/whipped cream/cheesecake combinations that are wrapped in soft pancake-type crepes. They put them together in front of you). We just had to get some:
We wandered and shopped for a couple hours, and the jumped one station stop to Shibuya, a higher-end district and our last stop for the night. It was full of food and shopping, and we wandered there for an hour or so as well. It was a big schock to get off the train. Harajuku was popular and full of people, but Shibuya was RIDICULOUSLY busy. It looked like Times Square in NYC. The station is next to a big intersection where, after all the vehicle traffic signals cycle once, all the Pedestrian walk signals light up at the same. The result is a big mass of people moving in their chosen direction. The street corners look less like an intersection, and more like a plaza in a busy city.
The crowd in Shibuya.
The next day, Sunday, was the last day of our trip. K. and k. had homework to do (and k. was still sick), so we had few plans and a slow start to the day. In the afternoon, I went off on my own, exploring the local neighborhood. I did a little bit of shopping (sweets, books, and keep-sakes) and about four hours of wandering. One thing that I was reminded of as I walked down a local backroad was how in Japanese cities things are piled on top of each other. Walking down a street of restaurants, bars, and houses (all looking similiar enough 
they’re hard to tell apart if you don’t know your way around), I came across small Buddhist temples, tiny cemetery plots, and shrines every block or so. Over a high street-side wall, you catch a glimpse of an ornate roof, and the next moment, you’re watching past the entrance of a small local sanctuary.
After walking further, I came across Yanaka Cemetery. It had some beautiful
fall foliage, but I didn’t plan on spending much time there until I found a sign that said the land had several large sections dedicated to the Tokugawa clan. (The Tokugawa’s were the group that took power in the early 1600s and stabilised and unified Japan after its warring-states period. Supposedly (with my limited Japanese, I’m only relying on wikipedia for this) the Tokugawa shogun rests there.) I decided that was pretty cool and set about trying to find the famous tombs. I had mixed success–two of the most famous plots have walls and locked doors around them, and I simply wasn’t tall enough to see much. I did, however, see a few dozen cats. They were every where in the cemetery, and I think I saw as many people taking pictures of cats as of trees or graves.
After leaving the cemetery I tried to head back to K. and k.’s, and ended up on the wrong side of the railway. There were lots of big bright shops (very different from the cramped, twisty roads of K. and k.’s neighborhood), but I didn’t take much time to explore. Instead I headed back to my friends.
They sent us off with one last meal of sukiyaki (soup, but better) and then Titus and I navigated our way to the night-bus pick up. After some tricky conversations, we figured out which bus we needed and got ourselves settled. (Along the way, we met up with two other pairs who were heading back to AIU, which meant some nice chatting.) It was a long bus ride–longer than the first–and we realized the cause of the slow going when we woke up to trees covered in snow. It was very beautiful, but by the time we reached Akita City it was mostly rain. (We saw the snow just after first light, so I think we may have been up in the mountains still.)
Thus ended our long, fun Tokyo trip. I can’t wait until I can visit my friends again!
Japanese word of the day: kankou suru / かんこうする (kahn-koh-sue-rue) verb: sightseeing, tourism
Weekend Trip to Tokyo: Part One
On Thanksgiving Day, Titus and I reached Tokyo at the early hour of 6:30. We took the night bus from Akita Station to Tokyo Station–a 9 hour trip. We arrived to early morning light, tall buildings, and a crowd of salary men making their way to work. After several confusing minutes of trying to decipher the train map, we got our bearings and headed for K. and k.’s place at Toyo University. We got there about an hour earlier than planned, but luckily our friends were already awake. So for the first time since last May, the four of us finally met again!
After a quick trip to a local bakery, we settled in to talk and nap while k. went to class. It was
Salary men in Akihabara
great to have a chance to compare our experiences at very different schools in Japan and just to see each other. When k. got back from class, we had a small lunch and then caught a train to Akihabara. Akihabara is known as the electric town of Tokyo–it’s where you can buy the newest electronics and find the best deals. It’s also famous for manga and anime and basically nerd-culture. Like every other part of Tokyo, shops were piled on top of shops. Our first stop was a little cafe on a second floor that K. and k. had found a couple weeks earlier. It was relatively cheap and the food was good. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon wandering in and out of shops searching for figurines and souvenirs.
That night for our Thanksgiving dinner, we to a small bar/restaurant near our friends’ apartment and ate yaki-tori and yaki-niku (grilled chicken and grilled meat that are the Japanese version of kabobs). The man who runs the bar has a perpetually irritated expression, and he quickly directed us to a small table away from the bar. Despite that, he was very helpful when we were trying to decipher the menu (he pulled out a selection of meats to show us what each one was). We ate chicken and shared a couple beers until it was obvious that we had over-stayed our welcome (and possibly ordered too many rounds of chicken and onion).
As one last Thanksgiving celebration, we ended up at one of K. and k.’s friends’ room, where the international students at Toyo University had gotten together to cook their favourite holiday foods. They still had some dessert left, and we sat with them and ate apple and pumpkin pie while we played games.
The next day was much quieter because both our friends had morning classes and k. started feeling sick from her flu shot. We met K. at one of the university’s cafeteria for a small tour and food (curry!), and then spent most of the day talking, exchanging stories, and resting. We made one short excursion for groceries so k. could cook adobo for us and some other friends. Two of their Japanese friends, Ryohei and Aki, came to eat with us. It was a lot of fun to sit around and talk with them.
Every time we met K. and k.’s friends, they were very welcoming and happy to hang out with us. It made the weekend even more fun.
Japanese word of the day: ryokou / りょこう (ryo-koh) noun: travel
Adventures in Japan 
