Family at Tokiwa hanami

Why Daisuke is the coolest bartender in town (sorry Ezra)

I was just settling into bed with a book last night when my phone rang. It was Daisuke, the bartender at Healing Box Bigi. The conversation went as follows (in Japanese [I speak in blue]):

"Hello?"
"Hi, this's Daisuke"
"This is Evan"
"What're you doing?"
"I was just about to go to sleep"
"Well, this really cute girl just walked in to the bar, I was telling her about my cool friend Evan, so I think you should come down to the bar tonight."
"Aw, man, Daisuke, I'd love to, but I gotta work early tomorrow."
"That's terrible."
"Yeah, I know man, but watcha gonna do?"
"Yup, well, I'll call you later I guess."
"Right on. Night."
"Night."

Now, of course, this is just an approximation based on memory and translation. But, I got the important part right.
Daisuke has never called me before.

Visitors

Dansen stopped by last Wednesday night, which, in all honesty, was awesome. He's just returned to Japan after a year in Korea and three months in Hong Kong. The plan was to fly to Pusan and take the ferry into Fukuoka. But, there were some difficulties with his arrival; originally he was scheduled to come on Monday, however trouble making a timely connection from HK to Pusan and sold out ferries because of the equinoctial travel season led to his delayed arrival. Moreover, there were some minor difficulties in catching the correct train from Hakata to Ube. Minor difficulties which resulted in his, exceedingly brief, stay in Hiroshima. But, hell, I haven't seen the dude in two years, so delays are really quite inconsequential.
Wednesday, after I got back from work, we went out. First to the izakaya pictured at right, Doma, for tasty foods and drinks, but unfortunately they were out of chicken hearts, so we had to do with knuckles - a poor substitute. After, we went to Healing Box Bigi where where Daisuke, the bartender, was more than happy to help us out in our quest for potables. While there an interesting succession of people entered an exited the bar. First was a young couple, soon after they left a salaryman and a much younger woman entered and upon their exit a biker, leather and all, arrived in the bar. Needless to say, the topics of conversation covered that night were broad, but stuck to your standard "Sex, drugs and rock'n'roll" formula. We left Bigi and adjourned to Maybe Tomorrow but, at that point Dansen had begun to, as the French say, "pound in nails with his head." To be more direct: he fell asleep at the bar. Feeling that it was in his best interests to rest, we went home.
The next morning Dansen woke well before I did and rose me in time to get ready for us to meet his old friend from his Tokyo Nova days. So, at the crack of noon, we marched down to Higashi-Shinkawa (my local train stop) to meet Tanya. While they met in Tokyo some years ago, she's now in Onomichi as a JET. Together we hoped on the first train to Shin-Yamaguchi (the major local hub) and then sprang into mulling around aimlessly whilst deciding what to do with ourselves for the afternoon. We knew there was sightseeing to be had but our thought process had not extended much beyond that. But, the choices were quickly pared down to Tsuwano and Akiyoshido. This was a decision easily made as the train for Tsuwano came in two hours and the bus for Akiyoshido left in fifteen minutes.
Akiyoshido is a large cave. Very large. In fact I believe it may be the largest cave in Asia, however I will be willing to accept any and all correction on this point. But Akiyoshidai is a small , tourist town, depending on the cave, Akiyoshido, and the expansive boulder studded plateaus in the surrounding area. After some enjoyment in wandering the cave and enjoying the beautiful scenery we decided three things. One, we were hungry, two it was starting to rain, and three, we were a little lost. Eventually though we found the bus station just in time to catch a bus to Yamaguchi city and enjoy some quite stunning Indian food at Shiva, a noted restaurant in the area. After an immensely satisfying meal of naan and curry we struck home. Had a late night snack at Hai Kaladori, a friendly if mediocre izakaya where we attempted to meet a friend. Minor difficulties, not worth elaborating upon, ensued.
I saw them off to Beppu the next day, and am looking forward to Dansen's dropping back in on his way back up to Tokyo. If he is able to he should arrive within the next fifteen hours. Even if he cannot, it was good to see Dansen and meet Tanya. Having him around, a reminder of America if you will, made Japan seem much more foriegn than the familiar country it is fast becoming. A strange experience.

Even all-seeing-Vishnu couldn't tell us where the bus stop was

A desolate grave

Walking down the long hall

The "King of the Cave"

The famous Akiyoshido pillar

Photography is hard in the dark (I knew I should've brought my tripod)

The mouth of the cave

A beautiful spring day in Akiyoshidai

From Tsunoshima to Kitakyushu

About a week ago I took a trip with my friends Akemi and Miho out towards Tsunoshima, a little island on the Northwest corner of Yamaguchi, just past Kottoi. However, this time we were driving, so it only took an hour or so and we were also able to stop at some kofun. At Doigahama, of course, but also at a nice little roadside kofun too. The museum at Doigahama was nice, with some good examples of Kofun-period culture and some neat artifacts, especially pottery, but it was quite small, and fairly skull heavy. I'm not quite sure that skull shape has changed enough between modern times and the Edo-period to warrant comparison displays of skulls, but I suppose it doesn't hurt. From Doigahama, it was off to Tsunoshima, where there was a lighthouse, a parking lot and a squid drying machine. It was quite a nice turn of the century lighthouse, and after a climb to the top, the view was quite spectacular. From Tsunoshima, we meandered down to Kitakysuhu where we gazed at the turn of the century buildings there in Mojiko town and were pestered by jinrikusha (or, in English: riksha) drivers looking for a fare. It seems like there's not too much to say as it was a siteseeing expedition, so I'll let the pictures below speak for themselves.
There is one last thing though, upon our return home, I was treated to what I believe was a "challenge" meal, in other words: "Let's see what we can get the white guy to eat." Having passed the eel liver earlier that day, I was served blowfish (easy), crab brains (good texture, but horrible flavor), sazae - whole sea-snail in the shell, raw and boiled (tasty, but chewy) as well as some hirezake which is sake served with a dried blowfish tail in it (quite tasty).

Monkey and trainer, Kitakyushu

Tsunoshima lighthouse, forlornly lamenting GPS

View from the top of the lighthouse

Looking down from the lighthouse

Doigahama Kofun turned Intrepretive Center

Inside of the recently remodled Doigahama Kofun

Ube-Kosan at night

Ube-Kosan at sunset

One man's public art is another's only hope of fixing his Gremlin

I still don't care much for swans

This way!

Fallow fields in Winter

Cabbies and Cursing, Beamers and Buddha

The other night, I was out having a drink, at one of my favorite shot bars in Ube, "Healing Box Bigi". Whilst chatting with some of the other patrons I discovered that the fellow sitting next to me enjoying a beer and a smoke happened to be a monk, I took down his temple and number, told him I would visit the next day and exitied the bar. I flagged down the nearest cab and told him to take me to the 7-11 (or, as it's now known in Japan, 7 & i-Holdings) nearest my house. I was a little curious when he asked if I was a university student, but I payed it no heed. However, either he wasn't listening well or I was not speaking well but he took him quite far out of the way to a 7 & i near the local university. I corrected him and exited the cab some minutes later at the correct convenience store, grumbling to myself about a cab fare just a thousand yen short of my bar tab.
The next day, awaking at the crack of noon I set out to take some fresh pictures of Tokiwa. Only to realize that even though I had taken a cab home, I had rode my bike out to the bar the previous night. Thus, I had to walk downtown to retrive it before making my way to the lake. Eventualy though I was able to accomplish my picture taking mission to my statisfaction, so I decided to call my new friend and man of the cloth, Yoshi. As the temple was hard to find he arranged to pick me up nearby. He arrived some minutes later in his BMW, explaining, when I complimented him, that "I like cars." We arrived at the temple, which his grandfather built and where he lives with his parents and grandmother. He was kind enough to give me a tour and show me the tombstones he'd built, the kimono he wears when he prays, and even to identify the statuary for me. After this I joined him and his parents for a cup of tea and an hour or so of pleasant conversation. Unfortunately the conversation was limited to the scope of my Japanese, however they seemed to be lovely people. Early in the conversation his father asked me if I liked nihonshu, and when I replied in the affirmative he handed me a giant bottle of said fluid, from Niigata Prefecture. I'm saving it for hanami, when I will be surrounded by sake, barbecues and cherry blossoms. His mother, as I was leaving, told me to come again, I hope to be able to take her up on that. I shall just need to remember how to get there.

Only use your heating devices for their intended purpose

I had just made a cup of coffee and then decided to run out to the vending machine; I thought to myself, "I can just set this cup of coffee on top of my space heater and it will keep warm warm while I am out." No such luck. I returned and I picked up my mug, expecting a pleasantly warm cup of coffee. But, the space heater had heated only the handle. I was forced to drink my lukewarm coffee while wearing a leather glove to protect my hand. Let this be a warning to everyone.

It's easier to fast and meditate when you're warm

The biggest ice machine I've ever seen

Downtown Kottoi

The middle of nowhere reveals its secrets (or lack thereof)

About two weeks ago I was talking with some students about Japanese history; I mentioned my interested in seeing Kofun and asked if there were any in Yamaguchi. He told me that there were some near Kottoi, I took down the name and planned a trip. Thursday last I set out with Beth, and after two and a half hours of train travel and our transfers we arrived. As we disembarked we found all the locals sitting around the front of the station waiting for a bus, and, as the vibe was not a friendly one, I demured from asking if they knew where as kofun around there was. Moreover, knowing nothing of the local area, we decided that taking a bus would not be in our best interest as we could end up up a creek sans paddle. So we chose a direction and set out on foot; we soon saw a sign saying that there was civilization a mere three kilometers down the way.
After a pleasant walk, in pleasant weather, circled by pleasant hawks we arrived in Kottoi-mura. I was quite hungry and we set out upon a search for resturants and found all three of them to be closed. After purchasing our food at a supermarket, I left and went outside to wait for Beth. She took an inordinate amount of time inside and when I questioned her on this she said, "As soon as you left the cashier started speaking to me in English." (Naturally I was confused by this, was I that intimidating, or did I merely leave too soon?) The cashier told her that the resturants, for some inexplicable reason, were closed until school got out for the day. Mustering what remained of my courage, and hope, I entered the post office and asked there about kofun. Nothing. We then walked back to the train station and took the train home. I have questions I need to ask the student that directed us to Kottoi.

Update (2/14):
So, I related my misadventure to some students in class today and after some initial confusion ("I went to Kottoi." "Eeeh? Why?"), it came out that the kofun and history museum I was promised in fact were located some twenty kilomenters south at Doigahama, which is also apparently a famous and incredibly beautiful beach town.

Fixin' a box

Bowling for factories

The JGSDF springs into action

Last week, Jim (my roomate) and Beth (the new teacher) took a spur of the moment trip to Yamaguchi city. It was already late in the day and we arrived after dark; whlist looking for Rurikoji we became slightly lost. But, to our pleasant surprise, we happened across a Japanese Army (the Japanese Ground Self Defense Force) base. It was decided that, as the person least afraid of the military, I should ask for directions. The gate was about the size of a two lane road, with a spiked portable barricade in the center. The gate guard, and all the other soldiers I could see, was wearing camoflauge fatigues and a helmet. I walked up to the gate, waited for a bicycle and car to exit, then walked toward the guard. He saluted, I nodded back, and walked toward the office - at this point everyone became very surprised and alarmed. The exact thoughts running through their minds are, of course, a mystery to me; however I would suppose they were approximate to: "He walked past the guard! What'd we do? People aren't supposed to do that!" His CO ran over, to asses the threat I assume, and so I just asked directions from him. As we walked off I could hear them laughing at me.
I learned two lessons today, the first, as Jim so eloquently put it, is, "ALWAYS TALK TO THE GUY AT THE GATE!", the second, and aphorism of my own devising, "Where courage won't take you, obliviousness will."

Rurikoji, reflecting pool

Country roads

It was all I could do not to ring that bell

Prosthesis

Those clouds aren't going to make themselves

Say that you'll work for free and you can do anything

I just got back from the local radio station KiRaRa FM; I had stopped in a week and a half previously to ask about volunteer opportunities; we discussed various things that I could do, promos, working the board or helping with their sattelite broadcasts at Fuji Grand, the mall where I work. In the end, I left my name and phone number and they said they'd call me. Yesterday, I was just about to stop by the office to see how things were progressing and whether or not there would be any opportunities when they called me. It was an inopportune time as I was just getting my pants on in preparation for work (I've learned that pants are key to business success). But, with some difficulty, we arranged for a meeting today; I say with some difficulty because I struggle with business Japanese anyway, and trying to communicate over the phone while getting dressed just makes it more difficult.
I showed up at the station's office today thinking that we would just be doing more discussion about when I could volunteer and what I could do, but they tossed me in the studio to record a promo: "Rider's Cafe II, Speakeasy. Presented by Ube Bike." I was thrilled, but a little confused. Ms. Coppola must have done her resarch well; I felt like I was in Lost in Translation. After I would read it once, they would say something along the lines of "High tension! Low voice!" or "High tension! Tanoshiku (having fun)!" Eventually, we got it all sorted out, they were happy with the work and called it a wrap. On my way out, to my surprise, they presented me with a music gift certificate. I hope I can figure out what store it's for.

There is no nicotine in Japanese engergy drinks

I'd like to begin with an apology to all of those I (and Dansen, I'm dragging you into this as you pointed it out to me originally) may have mislead about the presence of nicotine in Japanese energy drinks or gums. On the back of the drink, the label reads nikochin san amido (ニコチン酸アミド), which translates as niacinamide, a variant of nicotinic acid, which in turn is the chemical name for Vitamin B3. So, as it turns out, these drinks (aside from the occasional presenc of caffeine), are non addictive and fortified with vitamins. I decided to do this research when after glancing at the amounts of "nicotine" contained in each bottle I realized that it would half to equal at least three cigarrettes, and in some cases upwards of half a pack, clearly dangerous doses. Couple this with no age restrictions on their purchase and it just didn't smell right. So, I hope to have set the record straight, and I apologize again to anyone who I may have confused.

Some general occurences

The new teacher came in on Friday. Her name is Beth - from near Chicago. After teaching social studies there for nine years, she said she wanted to see the world instead of teaching it. It's good to have a new face around. We don't know much about her yet, but she's got that "Midwestern friendliness" about her. We'll see how it pans out.
In other news, my boss is taking vacation next week and, thus, I'm working nine days straight next week. I get two four day weeks in a row after that as tradeoff, but I'm not sure if it's worth it, based on the severity of the cold I came down with yesterday.
I'd like to end this unfortunately telegraphic post with a quote from a student. I was doing a lesson on social porblems and asked about the causes of homelessness. His response: "In the United States, homelessness has many causes, unemployment and economic problems, drugs, alcohol, language barriers, and so on, but, in Japan, I think people are just lazy."

Civil servants are an exercise in confusion

The gas man came today. Rang the bell and got me out of bed, as is wont to happen when the Japanese world needs me to sign something or recieve something. He was so polite that I couldn't understand that he wanted in the house at first, so I tried to nod my way out of it and see if he would go away and let me go back to sleep. That didn't work. Eventually we figured out what was going on and he came in and tested all the gas appliances. After he ensured that they all worked he handed me a sheet with pictures of the types of apliances that might be powered by gas with the ones present checked off. "You have a stove, a heater and a water heater." I indicated that I was happy to be informed of this and he asked for my number because they didn't have one recorded on the form. I mentioned that I had a cell phone and he lept at the opportunity to record a number, I was a little hesitant because I dont know how long I'm going to be in Ube and I don't want Yamaguci gas calling me for the next several years. But, I couldn't really talk my way out of it, so perhaps I'm due to become the next Sam Bawden. Hoping (against hope I might add) that maybe additional information could get him to change the form, I offered him the number of the Osaka Nova head office. Showing him a sheet of paper with the information on it, he surprised me by taking out the company camera and asking if he could take a picture of it. After snapping that picture, he asked what time I started work at Nova, I directed him to my schedule which I keep on the wall (gotta have the memory failsafe device), and he again asked to take a picture. Having completed his bureaucratic tourism, he thanked me and left.

Lavratorial separation

Volunteering is an amazing way to gain experience

Well, after asking around I found out where the community radio station in Ube is, and today I marched down there and talked to them. I told them I used to work at a radio station in America and was interested in learning about radio in Japan; they gave me a tour and we chatted some and I asked about volunteering here. It seems now that I might be able to get a volunteer position running the board there at KiRaRa 80.4 FM, and maybe even doing remote broadcasts at Fuji Grand. I gave them my phone number and e-mail address and they said they'll call, it's looking good, but we'll see how this pans out. I'm realizing that if I want to do this tough, I'm really going to have to work on my Japanese, so I'm going to try and find some radio vocabulary online.

Sunset over Fuji

Accented Graffiti

Muraltastic!

Discoveries Abound

If you'll forgive me a slightly prosaic topic, but I have a story about my toothbrush I'd like to relate. I've owned this particular toothbrush for nigh on three months now and it wasn't until recently that I found out it was electric. This happened when I dropped it and it started buzzing. After I finally figured out how to turn it off, I was quite taken with the novelty, and needless to say, since then my teeth have been getting twice the brushing. In half the time!

I'd probably eat here

Lit fountains are just plain awesome

Osaka-jo, imposing . . .

. . .and accessible

The main streets of Osaka . . .

. . .and its tiny back alleys - there's always room for a shrine.

Osaka

After what proved to be a quite irritating (nine hour I might add) bus trip some days ago I arrived in Osaka at the - usually unknown to me hour - of seven. I met up with Ed, whom I met in the airport on my arrival two-ish months ago. It was at his apartment that I would be staying; we made our way there and, after a restorative nap of seven or so hours, I was recharged and ready to take on the day. Having made a key for me, we went to Kyoto for lunch, er, rather dinner at this point. We went to the Gyoen, where I took some fairly unsatisfactory pictures in the failing light. After enjoying a light dinner at a Mom 'n Pop tendon joint (excuse the pun), we adjourned to the Very Berry Cafe, for a much needed hot cup of coffee and cold pint of beer. We returned to Osaka and engaged in a night out, Japanese style. By which I mean, staying out past when the trains quit running, which necessitates staying out until they start running, usually around five. But, as there's no real closing time in Japan, it's quite easy to do this. In fact it's even easier for those of us on vacation, viz. me and Ed; what I don't understand is the ability of the salaryman to accomplish this, and go to work the next day. The Japanese have a fortitude of spirit that is beyond my comprehension.
One of the goals of this trip was to meet up with an old friend of a friend by the name of Masanori. He had done a homestay with the Clarks, some friends of ours in Olympia, some twenty-six years ago. So, the next day we met up with him for dinner. A dinner of the most amazing variety at, according to Masanori, the best seafood restaurant in Osaka - Totoya. I have never before seen, let alone eaten, that many kinds of fish at one restaurant. We had fish fried, raw, boiled, deep fried, mixed with rice, and even staring at us while eating. It was the best meal I've eaten since coming to Japan, perhaps even all year (2005 that is). It was good to see Masanori, and we had a nice chat, half Japanese/half English; I even brought him some ubekama (sorry dudes, but local fishcake specialty company websites are gonna be 日本語 only).
The next day, being New Year's, we went out again, intending on staying out all night. Were we successful? I should say so. But first, I spent the afternoon checking out Osaka castle and wandering around Umeda (one of Osaka's two downtowns), I then met up with Ed, his girlfriend and a friend of hers and we struck out. After hitting a couple of places in preparation, we joined Ed's coworkers at Le (something French, can't remember) Jardin, a fancy-esque place on the top floor of a building in Namba (the other of Osaka's downtowns). It was a nice New Year's set up, chandeliers on the floor, outdoor seating surrounded by a moat, cheap bar, buffet, and another room with karaoke, DJs and, at the stroke of midnight, indoor fireworks. Returning home at five the next morning, it was successful.
I embarked home the next day, traveling this time by shinkansen (taking only two hours to Shin-Yamaguchi, thank god). Travel was good, but it's good to be back home - howevermuch I want to move. I went out for a few with Jim (my roommate) and came back home, glad to sleep on my own futon.