Kyoto, Reborn

Ah, at last, the semester has come into full swing. Well, the classes have been doing their thing for a while, but my social life has kicked back into gear this weekend! On Friday night, I went for drinks with some friends, new and old. Oh, and it turns out that one of my new Japanese friends also likes Vocaloid! I don’t know to what extent he’s into it, but I’m thrilled.

Today was a special holiday known as setsubun. I’m not exactly sure on the origins, but it seems to be the Japanese equivalent of Groundhog’s Day. Well, the beginning of spring. And let me tell you, the weather has been GREAT. Yesterday was freakishly warm, and I wandered out in a t-shirt. Today was a little chillier in the morning, but it turned into a fine spring day by noon. If only it would stay like this…

Right, setsubun. Essentially, the big thing to do is to have someone dress up as an oni (Japanese demon) and have kids throw mame (soybeans) at them while shouting “Oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi (out with demons, in with good luck).

I invited a bunch of people to go to Yoshida Shrine, which holds one of the biggest setsubun festivals in Kyoto, but due to scheduling (everyone went on Saturday), only my friend Dani showed up. We found our way to the shrine, mostly by following the big crowds of people, where there really was a matsuri set up. Various stalls had food for sale, and some featured games. We made our way up into the shrine, tossed in our coins, and then wandered on up the hill.

We somehow went up through to a different shrine, and then out from there to a lovely little park on the top of the hill. Kids were playing, older folks were out walking, and there were these adorable little puppies running around. From just off in the distance, you could still hear the sounds of the festival.

Along the way, Dani had decided that she wanted to check out Fushimi-Inari, another famous shrine located south of Kyoto. So, after buying charms and getting fortunes, we walked (Yes, WALKED. The weather was nice.) down to Karasuma Oike. Now, all the while, Dani was wearing this red oni mask. Walking down the street, we got a lot of smiles from people passing by. Some kids doing bike tricks by the river waved to us. Twice, parents pointed Dani out to their children, who were frozen stiff. Not sure if that was the oni or the two gaijin, but is was adorable. 

Since we knew he lived in the area, we called up Nick to join us at the shrine. Getting there was a tad more complicated than I expected: the shrine is NOT near the Fushimi Kintetsu station, so we had to go south, change lines, then go back north. Anyway, we made it there. Eventually. We were kind of hungry, so we went to a ramen place Nick know. By which I mean, the people there know him. He chatted a little with the shop owner, and then one of the other customers. Nick knows EVERYONE. 

Having eaten, we set off to climb Inari. This is no little shrine – the thousands of torii gates go on and on, up and down the mountain. Flashback three years, I was there in the dead of summer, when all the creepy crawlies were out in full force. Going in late winter this time was a good decision. We climbed, higher and higher, but our spirits dropped a bit by the time we reached the first landing. We’re all fat and out of shape, so it wasn’t easy going…

Anyway, we pressed onwards. It took a good while, but we got to the top just before sunset. Well, not that you could see the sun set really well, since there were trees and stuff in the way. But the sky was pretty. We made a small offering, prayed, and then took a rest on the steps. The way down was…well, not easier than going up. The steps are made kind of stupidly, so they aren’t easy to go up or down on. Ah well. As Nick pointed out, the shadows are cool there at night.

Arriving home slightly later than anticipated, my host family had already prepared dinner. But before that, my host mom brought out the beans I had asked her to buy, which I took out to the garden and tossed, scaring away any oni that were planning on taking my fortune this year. GET OUT AND STAY OUT! :P

And then, we ate. There is a special type of maki sushi eaten on setsubun known as ehoumaki (good direction sushi). It’s a long sushi roll that you eat facing a certain lucky direction, which changes yearly. This time around, it was south-south-east. So, facing the south-south-east, I devoured the ehoumaki, and then had some tofu and stuff to go with it. Good stuff, very tasty.

My first setsubun, enjoyed to the very fullest. Today was a good day. Not just because I got to go to a festival, nor because I participated in some Japanese traditions. Today was a day of sun and smiles. Trees are green again, and flowers are starting to bloom. After a long winter, Kyoto is coming back to life. And I, too, see a new beginning on the horizon.

Chronicles of Nara-nia

Last Saturday, I had a promise with a friend to go sightseeing in Nara. Unfortunately, my friend caught the flu, and so we had to cancel. But that evening, there was a big festival where they light a mountain on fire, so I wanted to go see that. I hopped on with another group that was going, and I met up with them in Nara.

First, we walked over to Todai-ji, a famous temple housing a giant Buddha statue. Oh, wait, but on the way there, we ran into those guys. Nara is probably best known for the wild deer that live around those parts. They’re totally used to people, and they’ll come up and eat your food. Or your clothes, bags, hair, etc. You can pet them though, and they’re pretty cute. Ah, and since we went in winter, they didn’t have those killer horns, which is a major plus. Anyway, Tina got all excited and took some pictures with them.

We went inside the temple, where the GIANT Buddha was chilling out, as always. A person is probably smaller than one of his fingers, just to give perspective. And, as always, one of the temple’s most popular attractions was this small hole in one of the pillars. It’s said to be the same size of Buddha’s nostrils, so…guess what they call it. If you can squeeze through there, you get good luck. Bam, there you go. 

So, three years ago, I came here. And somehow, I made it through that hole. And when I got back to America, I wrote my college application essay based on that experience. That essay got me into college. What I learned at Tufts brought me back here again. The circle is complete.

Since there was still time before the main event, we found a place for dinner. The place turned out to be a curry restaurant with model trains rolling around. It was pretty tasty, and the train theme was cute. You could pay 800 yen to control one of the trains for a bit, but that’s a little pricy. So we just watched them.

When it was time for the main event, we made our way through the crowd and waited. There was a mountain, but it wasn’t on fire. But then, they started the fireworks show. BOOM! BANG! Japanese fireworks are SOOO pretty. I saw some new tricks, including deer-shaped fireworks. It was a fairly big show, and by the time it finished, the mountain was ablaze. I don’t know what to say beyond that. I mean, they lit a mountain on fire. ON FIRE. Which was super cool to watch.

Oh, and Tina bought chocolate candies that, because we were in Nara with the deer, were labeled “Deer Poop Choco”, and she didn’t notice. Whoops. We didn’t say anything at the time because we all thought she already knew…

It Begins...Again!

The Spring semester of KCJS is now underway! Just within this first week, a lot has happened. I came down with carpal tunnel, made my first visit to the doctor, considered changing host families, and decided to tough it out where I am. This semester, I'm taking a Women's Studies course all in Japanese. It's been pretty interesting and manageable thus far. And the new KCJS kids seem like a good bunch. There are a lot of new faces, though, and I'm still learning names. I know that I still haven't written about my winter break yet - I'll be putting those up as 'flashbacks' as I get around to writing them.

As a whole, not that much has happened this semester. I'm still contacting groups that I'm interested in joining, mostly non-collegiate circles. Japanese college students have break from February to April, so most club activities stop as well. I plan to continue Kyudo, but until my wrist gets better, I have to take a break from it.

Today, we had an Exchange Party with Japanese students. By which I mean, our 38 exchange students, and 3 Japanese students. We had ordered food for 80 people. Remember, Japanese universities are in finals season, so most kids were busy. Three or four more showed up midway, but the format wound up being one Japanese person at a table and seven or eight of us. We didn't get much farther than self introductions and small talk while eating the sandwiches and muffins that were provided for lunch.

Afterwards, though, five of us wound up taking six Japanese students to the cafe, where we talked for a good three hours. It was great, really. I feel like my motivation to keep meeting people has returned. Look out Kyoto, here I come!

Take it to the South: Crab-Eating Adventures in Shirahama

My glorious winter vacation began as I woke up at an ungodly hour and prepared for my departure. As soon as I started loading up the car, however, I immediately regretted the amount of baggage I had with me. One suitcase, one backpack, one shoulder bag, and one keyboard. It wasn't easy getting all that in the car. To be honest, it wasn't easy getting all of that around the train stations either. There were times I was forced to leave one bag behind, carry the other up some stairs, and then return for the second one.

I was wiped two hours later when I arrived in Amagasaki, having dragged my bags to the Fujiwara household. Everyone was surprised that I was crazy/dumb enough to bring my keyboard with me, including myself. Luckily, I was able to ditch most of my bags at their house before we departed again, this time for warmer climes.

Hidehiro led our party around the station at Shin-Osaka, looking for our bus. It took a bit, but we eventually made it onboard. I spent most of the time "practicing Japanese", by which I mean Animal Crossing. Masako (Haruhi's mother) teased me about it, since it is a game for kids. Ah well, it's fun!

The bus stopped halfway at Kuroshio Ichiba, a fish market close to Shirahama, our destination. It was hopping, and the main even appeared to be the maguro show, where a chef would slice up a tuna in front of the crowd. Masako shoved me through the crowd, telling them that I was a foreigner who really wanted to see it. I was actually more interested in eating, but she told me I should take advantage of being foreign and go up front. I didn't think it was fair to the others, but she wouldn't let me object. Reminds me of my mom, actually.

Finally, Hidehiro came to the rescue, reminding us that we needed to eat before the bus left. We picked a restaurant on the second floor, and got the tuna bowl sets. Fresh tuna over a bowl of rice, yum. I got to try tororo, this sticky grated yam thing that most foreigners don't like. Guess who likes it now?

An hour and a half later, the bus arrived at our hotel. Well, I should probably say resort. Shirahama is best known for its white beaches, but it was too cold to go swimming (it was a lot warmer than Kyoto though!) Of course, beaches aren't Shirahama's only selling point - our resort had a hot spring attached to it.

After checking in, we picked our yukata and headed up to the rooms. I was about to grab this one yukata, when some old lady grabbed it for herself. How nice. Masako wasn't a fan of her room, so in the end we decided everyone would sleep in our Japanese style room. Just like a real family! We all went for a walk around the complex to get used to our bearings, and then the girls decided to head to the baths. I wanted to see the area before it got dark, so Hide and I went off to explore.

We made our way down to the beaches, which were absolutely gorgeous. Splendid white sand, and sparkling blue water. We sat by the ocean for a while, walked over to the pier, and looked over the sea. Man, I wanna go back in the summertime!

We had a lot of time left before dinner, so we decided to hit the baths after all. It was awesome - they had an inside and outside bath, plus a sauna and some other gizmos. We had a nice long soak, which was just what I needed after all the travel. I also got to try shampoo made with...horse oils, assuming I'm not mistaken. Logically, my hair should be long and flowy like a horse's mane, right?

By the time we got out of the bath, I was starving. When it was finally time to eat, we made our way to our table, and the main objective of our trip revealed itself: all you can eat crab! For side dishes, there was a huge variety of sushi, fish, salad, fruits, noodles and rice dishes. But I mostly ignored those, and focused on the piles of crab they served up. I definitely ate the most crab, and as it turns out, my crab-eating form is totally American. Omnomnomnom. Delicious crab.

I stopped eating around the time I was too full too move, and the obi on my yukata had been swallowed up by my very full belly. Opting for some light exercise, we all played ping pong (being careful not to whack the yakuza with the ball) for an hour, and called it a night.

The next morning, after breakfast, we hit the baths again, and then went to karaoke. Unfortunately, they had the old system where you had to look songs up in books and plug them in to the remote control. So retro. Reminds me of what they had back when I was here three years ago. They still had a decent selection of songs, so it all worked out in the end. Afterwards, we hung out in the lobby waiting for the bus, since we had nothing better to do. Oh, and on the way home, I tried out Fire Emblem on my 3DS. Too many furigana-less kanji! What's a guy to do?

That evening, I went over my parents' travel plans with Masako. She helped book better, more conveniently located hotels for my parents, which would turn out to be a lifesaver a week later. I spent the night at their house, and the following day embarked on my journey to the north.