Kanazawa pics

Front gate at Kanazawa station

View from the hotel

Fish dogpile at Omicho Market

Whale blubber for sale in Omicho market. Sure, Japan, your whaling is only for research purposes...

The master of Owase. Coolest...dude...ever.

This was very cool...it's raw squid in some sort of salty sauce...tastes fine on its own, but then you can cook it on this hot stone that is on a flame and it changes the taste and texture tenfold.

OK, so unfortunately before the meal started I vowed that I would eat every last bite of what was put in front of me (it's a set menu). To my horrific surprise, the middle of the course featured a bowl full of fresh sacs of raw cod sperm (in Japanese, sperm is shirako...translates as 'white children'). Yes, I ate all of it. Let the jokes begin.


Master being masterful with fresh crab (we ate EVERY part of the crab, including eggs)

In Owase

Our new friends

The best fatty tuna money can buy...I didn't know fish could actually be juicy like fresh fruit

in Kenrokuen garden


Garden's main pond

Yuko and Tree-san

Cobblestone streets and earthen walls and gates of the samurai district


Side alley















Old style wooden architecture in the pleasure quarters
















Some Kanazawa Kouyou (autumn foliage)

Kanazawa

Just back from the quick trip with Yuko to Kanazawa for the weekend. Kanazawa is a great city down the coast of the Sea of Japan in Ishikawa prefecture. It's famous for being called 'Little Kyoto' and has lots of beautiful old cultural things that were preserved because the city wasn't kaboomed in the war.

Saturday morning we left on the train, less than 3 hours trip on the express. Got into Kanazawa station (very cool building, but I still think Kyoto station is ichiban ace) and the hotel was across the street. After checking in we headed out to the Omicho fish market to take in the sights before dinner. The market was rad but was pretty mellow since we were there in the afternoon, but I saw every imaginable kind of edible bit of any kind of fish or thing you could find in the ocean, from black squid ink goo (which I managed to spill down my shirt of course) to whole fish to whale blubber (oh, Japan, stop doing that).

Later we had a dinner reservation set up for us at a little back alley upscale Japanese style eatery and sake bar called Owase. It's the kind of place that only certain people know about, and usually only has regular customers coming in. The master was a rad old character, very skilled and very personable. The place only seats about 15 people but it filled up after we got there. The master explained that his place has been popular and in business for 20 years, but he would never make it bigger because it would compromise atmosphere and quality. In this kind of Japanese resaurant you truly are in the hands of the master who will not only take care of you, but befriend and entertain you as well. It was a truly Ishikawa meal with mostly seafood that was just caught from the Sea of Japan, and local sake (and almost too much of that). We made buddies with the old married couple to our left who were out for their wedding anniversary, and to our right, some seedy Yakuza-looking guy with his dumbbrains hostess call girl date.

The next day was kinda lazy until we motivated and did some sightseeing. I wanted to see Kenrokuen, which is one of the greatest Japanese gardens in the world and fulfills the 6 attributes of perfection that a garden should have, according to the Chinese people that made the garden rules. The weather turned nice (it rained Saturday) and it was just lots of strolling and enjoying such a solemn, beautiful place. We then taxied over to the Samurai district to take in the old-style samurai homes and museums, and finally we hit up the Higashi geisha district with the old architecture and tiny back alleys before having to get back to the station for the train. Didn't even spend 30 hours there but it was a great trip, though I didn't see nearly as much as I should have, so I will definitely make it back there at some point in time.

Got fresh sushi bento for the train trip back and slept off last night's sake/seafood hangover...

Pumpkins from pumpkin carving at my apartment with Debbie, Martin, Yuko and Keiko. I got these pumpkins from some nice old ladies by the side of the road up in the mountains of Gunma. Martin was the architect of the creative one on the left, and I was the master of the more childish gimpy one on the right. On the left is "Jessica", named after my sister since it was her birthday. On the right, "Jasper", named for Debs' old friend who also had a birthday that day. Jasper is now rotting on my porch and Jessica is somewhere in town. Where did she end up?

Ah Nikko...

The weekend trip was great. I feel refreshed and feeling like I'm seeing more of Japan. I've got a lot I want to see before Christmas and I've got the next couple weekends planned out already.

I started the trip Saturday after sleeping in a bit. Actually hesitated going because I slept through my alarm in classic fashion, but went anyway. Lots of people, including the Japan national highway website, said I should drive well down near Tokyo on the expressway, and then back up through Tochigi prefecture, but I sat down over some curry on the way and looked at the map...and it just seemed like a nicer drive to head straight through Gunma ken, over the mountains into Tochigi and into the back side of the national park.

Moral of the paragraph: The Japanese often only do what seems the most common thing to do, rather than creating their own plans, so don't forget to check your own options and trust your instincts.

It worked out awesome, because I discovered some towns in Gunma prefecture that aren't far that look awesome as far as having great onsens and mountains. I headed up through apple country and into the higher elevations where the roads got windy. I stopped at a random attraction full of roadside veggie stands and swarms of people, to find it was a beautiful hike down to a great waterfall and gorge.

Moral of the paragraph: Stop at random roadside fruit stands and attractions because they are the best.

Apple stands and a wicked waterfall in neighbouring Gunma-ken. I like Gunma!

Headed over the pass and down into Nikko national park. It was getting dark and figured I wouldn't see the rest of the park until the next day, so I stopped at a famous onsen area on the way called Yumoto (Origin of Hot Water). The second I stepped out of the car I could smell the sulphur and see people walking around in yukata robes. I found a hotel that allowed guests to use the springs and took a real onsen...by real I mean it's obvious that this is special water, the color, clarity and smell of it is coming straight from some underground process. The water wasn't all that scalding like I'm used to in Niigata, but was just hot, and you could tell that people don't come for the heat of the water, but its quality.

Moral of the paragraph: Last one in the onsen is not only a rotten egg, but will smell like one too.

After the onsen I was at a loss for what to do, so I figured I'd head into Nikko City for dinner and find a place to camp out in the park. On the way I realized my friend Take (skier I met in Taos) lived in Utsunomiya, the capital city of Tochigi, which was only 30 miles from Nikko. I called but he had gone down to Ibaraki prefecture for the night to see an old professor...but invited me to head down there to stay with them. I hesitated cuz I had driven a lot through the mountains and was relaxed from the bath and was ready to pass out, but decided to make the extra drive down to Ibaraki to see an old friend...and have a place to stay as well! By the end of the drive I was only like 60 miles from Tokyo! I was greeted kindly by Take and his friends, and Tochan Sensei was the coolest, sweetest old dude ever. I was fed and quenched (owamori, whiskey, sake, the best umeboshi ever), and had a futon to rest on. Fun to meet new people and be with an old friend too.

Moral of the paragraph: Solo trips rule because you can make any decision to change plans on a whim.

Roadside mounains on the drive, Take and friends, Me and the friendly Sensei
Woke up at 5:30 the next morning to beat the traffic back to the national park...ended up finding a quick route and it only took an hour. Reached the main temple area called Toshogu shrine, where Ieyasu Tokugawa (the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate that ruled Japan for so long until the 1800's) is mausoleumed (new verb). It is the greatest, most beautiful place, not only because the temples and buildings are cool looking and historical, but because it is set in an open, natural setting with huge pines and an authentic feel everywhere you go.

Moral of the paragraph: When I die, I want to be enshrined in Nikko too.

great gardens earthquake-proof pagoda

Tokugawa's tiggity-Tomb at the Meimon gate

I saw countless shrines, tombs, temples, art, buddhas, gates. Saw religious fanatics and tourists, Japanese weddings and martial arts, priests and gaijin. There actually isn't a huge amount to see, but the architecture is so packed with detail in the woodwork that you could stare at it forever. Just a great place to let your mind wander around and take in the extravagance...

Moral of the paragraph: Every country has its national treasures, and Nikko is one of the best.


architecture details...elephants carved by a guy who didn't know what they looked like

A wedding couple posing in front of the place they tie their fortunes

That's right, I saw the original three monkeys! Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil

kendo training in one of the original halls where it was developed



Decided to head up into the mountains and backtrack the way I came...but unfortunately I hit the traffic heading up the insane switchbacks into the hills where the autumn leaf viewing was in its full splendor. Spent a good 3 hours to go about 7 miles up the hill, but it worked out OK because the point of going up into the mountains was to look at trees, which is what you do when you are stuck in a car anyway, so I killed two birds with one stone there. Started down below where they hadn't turned yet, up through the perfect area, and above that where the leaves had already fallen and into a new inch of snow. Hit the big lake, and down the other side of the pass, down through the same layers, back through the same villages I had seen the day before.

Moral of the paragraph: Japanese people will go through painstaking trouble to look at colored trees.

Had planned to meet Debs, Martin and Keiko in Muikamachi for dinner at 7 30. Pulled into the parking lot at 7:29 after driving through 4 prefectures over 10 hours or so. All the driving and timing and routes just worked out awesome. I love when that happens. And car-san ruled. And Nikko ruled. And I was so happy to be out in nature and seeing a part of Japan that is so great, but really so close. I feel good!

Moral of the paragraph: Get out of Niigata every once and a while because Japan really is awesome. Listen to your instincts because doing things you want to do usually are pretty cool, which is why you wanted to do them in the first place.

Next weekend, Kanazawa in Ishikawa-ken! Hotel's booked and everything. Yoshi!

Nikko for once

Sunday marks the 1-year anniverary of the big quake that shook us up last year. After teaching juku and some private lessons tonight, then burgers at Kaori's, my plans for the weekend are to try to head out late tonight or tomorrow to Nikko, which is a world heritage sight in the mountains in Tochigi prefecture, maybe a 5 hour drive east.

I really should stay in Tokamachi because of the things that are happening this weekend. My base school has their culture festival on Sunday and have asked me to come, plus a work enkai that night. On the same night, I want to get together with friends who I went through the quake with last year for a little bonding. There are a couple other less important obligations I should stay in town for as well.

But I have to go to Nikko. Last year, all autumn, I told myself I would go to this tourist mecca known for its natural beauty and unrivaled temples and architecture. It seems a place in Japan that would suit me well, and is a mecca for the kouyou (autumn colors) viewing. Last year on the weekend of the earthquake I had planned to go, but I think the typhoon hit a couple days earlier and I called it off. I stayed in town and got rumbled up by the quake, and since then I have always itched to get to Nikko just because I felt I should have gone last year and I hate feeling like something I want to do may go unfinished before I leave. The fact that it's on the quake anniversary date just makes it more poignant to be there now. But I really want to try to be with everyone this weekend in town and support my students, please my teachers, and be with my friends.

But there comes a time where you just gotta listen to yourself and stop putting things off. The fact is that if something inside of you is screaming at you to finally do what you really want to do, you have to fulfill that desire. And it's not like Nikko is all that special, it's just the principle of listening to yourself and scratching that itch to do something that had been delayed or ignored over time, whether it's big or small or means anything at all. I will be intirely annoyed with myself if I put off another attempt to get to Nikko in the fall. And even though it's just the idea of taking the trip that is superceding the trip itself, I'm going! It's progressed from a trip that I want to take, to one that I need to take - and I think that continuing to ignore the things that you feel you need to do is what eventually leads people to be unhappy and unsettled in their lives.

Today's lunch conversation

As usual, my lunch conversation with the 14 year old Nakajo boys giggled me up. Some of what was discussed:

-Britney Spears used to be hot, but now she's pregnant.
-I don't like women's underwear. They asked me!
-I don't have two wives, or even one.
-I've held hands with a girl before.
-World leaders: George Bush is not smart, Koizumi has cool grey hair, and Vladamir Putin has a funny name.
-I can speak English.

Social experiment and appearances...

Recently it was getting colder and I was in Joetsu...I decided to buy a cheap but decent-looking sport coat/evening coat that I could wear to work and for the occasional night out if I wanted to look or feel nicer than usual.

After wearing it and a couple people noticing and asking about it, I decided to make a bit of a social experiment out of it. I decided to simply pay more attention to my outward appearance and dress nicer on a more consistant basis to see if it changed the way other people interacted with me. I'm not saying I'm all GQ now or that I know a drop about how to dress nice, but just actually paying a little more attention and wearing the coat to work instead of a $3 button up shirt. I'm just curious about it in this country, because appearance is everything in this culture. Coming from rural New Mexico, not as much importance was placed on that sort of thing...and the rougher, laid back approach was what I grew up with and was comfortable with, because I was taught that people should be judged not by how they make themselves appear to others, but by the nature of their personality and integrity. I don't like to consciously put out the effort to try to impress somebody on a superficial level because I figure it is up to them to make honest judgements about people based on interactions, as I like to do. I remember my job at the opera, the way I dressed and looked at the daytime was probably not up to their tacit standards (what with the long hair and shaggy clothing) but I knew I was respected for doing a great job and that was what I was ultimately judged by. If I work there again, I do plan on dressing nicer because as I've gotten older I realize that it is important, especially at a high profile company, but I would never give the way I appear at my job more importance than the way I actually do it.

But in Japan, the fact is that people place much more importance on the superficial, and a first impression truly is everything. There doesn't seem to be much of an ability for people here to change their first impression of you, whether it be when they first met you or if it was just a rumour that influenced their view. It seems impossible to actually take initiative and trust their own instincts, and change their perception of you if what they originally thought was wrong. I've noticed that the westerners here have a better developed sense to say 'ya know, i was wrong about you, you are actually so and so' or whatever.

I've now been shaving everyday, sometimes twice, wearing decently respectable clothing, the infamous coat to work, tucking in my shirt and wearing my shiny belt, and trying the occasional attempt at color coordination.

The experiment has been on for a week or so, and the change from people has been noticeable, but mostly just comments; here are a few of the responses I've heard from students, friends and teachers:

"You look different!"
"Kakkoiiii! (japanese for 'slick duds, coolcat!')
"Why do you look nice?"
"Why are you wearing that coat to work today? Is there something special? You did not dress right last year"
"Nice jacket!"
"Looking good dude!"
"Where'd you buy that ridiculous coat? Uniqlo? You loooser! What is it with you guys and your stupid coats?"

So, until I get too lazy, I'll keep trying to see if people treat or react to me differently, and ultimately to see if I am treated with more respect and admiration simply because I'm wearing a coat. Also, I kind of like it and it feels nice to look decent, so I'll wear it for that reason too...

The wiggity-weekend

Rock on! Another weekend in Tokamachi! I'm giving myself till the end of October to have a nice weekend outside of the prefecture for the first time in aaaaages. Other than Hawaii, but that doesn't count.

Thought about going to Nikko on Saturday but decided to go the next weekend because it will be on the anniversary of the earthquake (Nikko is where I meant to go the day of the quake but ended up staying in town, only to get rocked silly). Also, I really wanted to have a night out in town on Saturday with everyone cuz I haven't seen much of people lately and haven't had much of a chance on the weekends to have a real night out.

On Saturday afternoon I went to a free concert of Mozart's Requiem, one of my favorite pieces that I've actually never seen done live. Was kind of cool that it was in my little Japanese town...wasn't with full orchestra though, just a piano, but the voices were more impressive than I expected and it was nice to hear live music that I was so familiar with...gave me a taste of that stuffy western culture that I've grown to love. Made lots of things go through my head about the nature of western music vs. eastern, performance practice and interpretation and if that's influenced by your cultural environment and the culture of those performing the piece, and blah blah blah blah blah.

Saturday night ended up a bust but Sunday was nice and mellow, Kaori and Yuko and I headed up to Tsunan for some classic katsudon and went up to some famous nature reserve/creepy misty monster swamp. We hiked around a little bit and hit up some fruit and vegetable stands and just did old-mountain-man-type things.

Spoke on the phone with my mom and then my dad this weekend which was really nice, it was the first time I've been able to talk on the phone with my mom since August and it was fun to talk to my dad again since I saw him in Hawaii.

Warning: End of post has random touchy-feely serious-type rant.


There's been a lot of serious crap on my mind lately, a lot of it having to do with missing my family and people back home, and also the reliability and nature of friendship in general.

First of all, I know it's quite a cliche, but it's an important one: Friends and family are definitely the most important things that a person could ask for. Anyway, I just want to tell all my friends who read this - no matter if you are a very close friend or not, or if you are in Japan or back home, or how long we've known each other, or if it's been a long time since we've talked because I'm bad at keeping in touch (please forgive me) - that you are awesome and that I will always appreciate you on every level because any friendship with a good respectable person is something that I cannot consider to be either dispensable or replaceable.

Anyway...

It's Miller Time! Nothing says 'refreshing' like cold, delicious magical mountain spring water being barfed from a freaky dragon's mouth

one torii wing span 

Kaori and Yuko at the creepy misty swamp lagoon that I want to go to on Halloween and get freaked out by telling scary stories like the Green Hand