Japan – The Stupid American Tourist

Kindle Paperwhite: Powerful for Japanese Study

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Jun 052014

I finally bit the bullet and bought a second Kindle Paperwhite, this time for my Japanese language library. And I don’t regret it one bit. It has become an incredibly powerful tool for improving my Japanese, because I read more books, faster, with the Paperwhite than I have with any other reading platform.

And I’ve tried a bunch of different ways to read Japanese books.

Note that some of these are perfectly fine for English language books, but I’m judging them on their usefulness as Japanese learning tools.

I have tried:

Paper Books and an Electronic Dictionary.
- Disadvantages:
- Not portable
- Slow lookups disrupt reading
- Tiny text kills my eyes.

Vertical Text Viewer (for Android).
- Disadvantages:
- Lookups are easier, but require an external app, which can’t search online dictionaries if I’m on a plane, so EPWING dictionaries have to be added.
- Only Aozora Bunko formatted e-books work with it. That means I can access a library of out-of-copyright books, but nothing current. (Not legally, anyway.)

OCR Manga Viewer (for Android). Takes images, OCRs selected text, and offers a list of possible definitions.
- Disadvantages:
- Supported file format is scanned images, so no legal way of getting current titles, unless I scan every book I buy page by page.
- Constant dragging and selecting finicky text selection tool gets annoying after a while.
- Even if there are scans, if the scan quality isn’t perfect, the OCR software will have issues, so I’m back at the electronic dictionary stage again.

Amazon Kindle App (for Android). Updside: You can save a lot on shipping, and you can make text bigger. Long press on a word to look it up. (See disadvantages!)
- Disadvantages:
- There is only one dictionary. It’s Japanese-Japanese, and you better like it, because you can’t use any others with the simple long press function. The other option is search in another book, which is slow.
- Most books are text files, but a small portion are scans. If you wind up with a scan of a book you want to read, you will have no way of looking up words inside the program.
- The dictionary search function does not de-conjugate verbs, which makes the dictionary useless.

Google Play Books and Magazines App (for Android). Updside: I couldn’t really find one.
- Disadvantages:
- No dictionary I could find.
- Couldn’t find any current popular Japanese books in the Play store. Couldn’t access the Japanese Play store without a VPN, and even then, Google sent me back to the US store.
- The only books I could find were all scans of out-of-copyright books, or books I’ve never heard of by publishers I’ve never heard of.

Why Paperwhite?

So there you have it. Nothing really works the way I want to, well, except for the Kindle Paperwhite. Kind of. The Paperwhite is aÂ bit of a mixed bag, but overall I think it’s the best way to read Japanese books on an electronic device.

The Paperwhite has the long press to look up a word feature that the Kindle app has, which it turns out is incredibly useful,Â because you can add extraÂ dictionaries to the search. So if I can’t find a word in one dictionary, I can select another and another, as many as I have on the device. And I’m not limited to just Japanese-Japanese, I can get Japanese-English, etc. (I recommend getting one of the EDICT-based Japanese-English dictionaries. They’re cheap and good enough.)

Also, the Paperwhite will de-conjugate any verbs it comes across, making the dictionaries useful again.

The e-ink display is incredibly easy on the eyes, even for long-term viewing, and doesn’t guzzle battery, making it a good choice for long flights. Text can be enlarged, too. It looks really good.

It comes with a å˜èªžå¸³, which records every word you look up, and lets you go over them as flash cards. Not as versatile as Anki, but a hell of a lot less fussing is involved. And it automatically shows you the sentence you were in when you looked up the word! If it only did SRS, it would be perfect. Oh well.

Using it, I’ve been plowing through books at an alarming rate. Alarming in that I’ve never been able to read Japanese this fast before. Â I’m being serious here. I’ve tried a whole bunch of different ways of going about it, but this gives me the most enjoyment with the highest overall comprehension. And I can try books that may be a little too hard for me, because I have the dictionaries to fall back on.

Early on, manga looked bad on it. Really bad. But lately, publishers have gotten on board, and while it’s not as good as holding a real å˜è¡Œæœ¬ in your hands, it’s good enough for travel. You can even zoom in on images with a comic reading mode that isn’t too bad. It’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s getting a lot better. (I wish Amazon would come out with a bigger Paperwhite that did manga at a bigger size for ease of reading.)

I’m saving the biggest plus for last: what I’m saving on shipping and space taken up by books. It’s incredible. Oh, sure, I’m a bibliophile. I am surrounded by books. But I am not against using an e-ink device to read material like fiction. I just don’t care much about that. (Art and music are different. I like those on paper. Same with manga. Give me paper books… unless I’m traveling. Ugh.)

Now, it does not come without drawbacks. And they may be deal-breakers for some of you.

What it won’t help you with.

For starters, setting up an account with Amazon Japan in order to get access to the booksÂ takes some work. Amazon US has Japanese books, but the selection is a mess, and all the titles are in romaji, making it a big useless pile of nonsense words to me. I don’t do romaji, and nobody should have to in order to read Japanese books. Also, Amazon US doesn’t have anything I’d evenÂ wantÂ to read if I could find it. We’re back at the publisher problem. 20th century business practices in the 21st century. Ugh.

Also, if you already have a Kindle Paperwhite and use it with another Amazon, like Amazon US or UK, then go buy another one. The only way you can use one Paperwhite for both accounts is to constantly wipe it and reset it. Yes, I think that’s dumb, too, but there you go.

And don’t try buy a Paperwhite from Amazon Japan. Even if you use a service like Tenso, they will send you a polite warning never to do that again, or else your account will be closed for good. It’s odd, but they don’t care if you buy anything else and have it shipped to the US by a third party, but if you do it with a Kindle, there’ll be hell to pay.

The device itself tends to get slow over time. Hold down the power button and reboot it if it starts acting sluggish. I usually have to do it once a week or two.

Sometime Amazon Japan will have issues with my credit cards, for no apparent reason I can find.

I can’t find a good way to get at myÂ å˜èªžå¸³ outside of the Paperwhite. That kind of sucks. I’d love to be able to export it to Anki. So much for that.

There are a lot of booksÂ not available as Kindle versions yet. A lot of books I really want to read. And some Kindle versions don’t come out until a month or two after the print version.Â But with patience comes big savings, and it also keeps me from over-buying. I only buy what I intend to readÂ right now.

Finally, the DRM. It’s annoying. But it’s the trade-off I knew I had to make when going Kindle for Japanese. On the upside, as soon as a book is available in the Kindle store in Japan, I can be reading it if I so desire, at a fraction of what I would usually pay for having the real book shipped.

Summing it up.

So my advice to aspiring learners of Japanese is to get a Paperwhite. But first set up a test account with Amazon Japan and make sure you can buy books from them. Maybe try it on another device first, like an Android or iOS device.

Were I Amazon, I would publicize the heck out of this as a learning tool. The Japanese government is desperate to get new workers into the country, and to help teach people Japanese. This device would be a great tool for that, while also giving overseas fans a legit way to buy into “Cool Japan” without hassle. Everybody wins. Really. Everybody. (Well, except for DHL.)

Miku In The House // New Computer // Glass Coming to the RTP

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Oct 022013

So the Vocaloid software showed up yesterday from Tenso. It came in great shape. The install went smoothly, and everything runs fine.

Today I upgraded to Cubase 7.0 full version to get more flexibility with making music. Artist is fine, but the upgrade was cheap.

New Computer Up and Running!

Oh yeah, the software was all installed on my new desktop, which gets a 7.8/7.9 on the Windows performance index. That makes me happy, but also wishing I could get that last 0.1 out of it.

The SSD makes booting a dream. I go from BIOS screen to login in about 10 seconds. Maybe 15.

I tried to create a custom install for Win 7 using a streamlined set of drivers, apps, etc., but I found I was spending more time on getting a perfect slipstream than it would have taken me to just install everything.

I headed to the Black Viper’s website for info on de-cluttering my registry and services, and I also followed the advice in this post about getting the most out of my SSD in Win 7.

The only major pain in the butt was deregistering a lot of my software and uninstalling it from the old system. I wish there was an easier way to handle licensing. The Cubase USB dongle is useful, but if you lose it, you’re kind of screwed. I like what Adobe does with Lightroom: they trust the users not to abuse the number of licenses. Besides, it’s not like you can run more than one instance at a time, anyway.

I really like the new Vocaloid de-authorizing tool from Yamaha. That worked out really well. Uninstalling/reinstalling was a snap.

Glass!

There’s going to be a Google Glass event in Durham this Saturday, too. I RSVP’ed ASAP. I want to see Glass, and see if it’s going to be a game-changer or not. It’ll probably be a zoo there.

Getting Stuff Done Music

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Sep 272013

Who hasn’t seen the Lifehacker article about coffee shop background noise being good for productivity yet? Just about everyone has, or so it seems, anyway.

In that vein, I have been looking for some background noise to have going so that I would stay awake and productive without having to drink 8 cups of coffee.

I found a website called SoundDrown where you can listen to a recorded coffee shop loop over and over. It was okay, but not quite interesting enough for me.

I’m still looking for something suitably interesting. For now, I’m going to stick with Music For Programming, but I’ve listened to their mixes so many times I’ve lost count. They are awesome “Getting Stuff Done” mixes, though.

If I fire up International Departures, I’ll just stop working all together.

Miku’s Coming…

I got notified by Tenso yesterday that my Vocaloid 3 bundle has shown up at their offices. Great.

I had to provide proof of my US address, and that turned out to be a slight pain in the neck, because I forgot that my passport doesn’t have my address on it. That’s what I get for doing this stuff at 6 a.m. with no coffee in me yet.

I heard back from them at around midnight telling me that I needed to send something better, and I sent them a scan of my driver’s license. I just heard back this morning that everything is A-OK, so I’m looking forward to getting my stuff from them sometime next week.

The fees from Tenso are surprisingly low. The total cost of everything is 1990 yen, and that’s pretty cheap for getting something express mailed from Japan. That includes about 980 yen in handling fees, but to be fair, if I asked a friend to send stuff on for me, I would buy that friend a beer, anyway, and I doubt that that friend could get such a good deal on shipping.

If the package arrives in good shape, I’ll probably start using them more often, because Amazon is crazy expensive for shipping. Also, I can buy used books if I have them shipped inside Japan and save more money that way.

Building a New Computer

Finally, my old computer is dying a horrible, slow death from overheating too much. I keep getting BSODs due to overheating, and I have finally reached the “Screw it” point where I picked out some parts for a new rig. This time I’m going for an SSD main hard drive to run Win7 and all of my programs from, an Intel i7-4770 CPU, 16GB of RAM (for now), and a nice white Corsair case. For the mobo, I’m going with one of the ASUS TUF motherboards, to see how it does with dust, and an Arctic CPU cooler.

My old case was a ThermalTake LanParty, and as a mATX form factor case, it was great for small gaming rigs that could be really portable. But as a small form factor case, taking it apart and putting it back together was murder on my fingers. Also, graphics cards, HDDs, and PSUs all had to fit together like a puzzle, and the cabling would always get in the way.

And of course having all the parts on top of each other killed the airflow and heat dissipation. I’m kind of surprised it lasted as long as it did.

I’ll have to put it all together this weekend and get it up and running.

Miku 3.0 Bundle

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Sep 192013

Crypton Future Media, who makes the popular Vocaloid Hatsune Miku, announced an English version earlier this year, and also announced a bundle of the English version with new versions of the older voice banks for an upgrade price for those who own previous versions.

Since I own the older voice banks, I was intrigued. I haven’t given up on my grammar music project yet, even if it is on the shelf for now.

The deal is that if you owned and registered both previous editions, you could get the bundle for ~$150 US.

The bundle comes with a special edition of PreSonus’ Studio One DAW, so it gets a new user in the door of using a DAW. It also comes with Crypton’s new VST, Piapro Studio, that will handle its Vocaloid voice banks inside of any DAW that can use VSTs.

The only downside to Piapro Studio is that for now it only handles Crypton’s voice banks, and that’s minor. You could always create a track with Miku or any other Crypton voice bank, then output it in VSQX format to the Yamaha editor, then change the voice to the voice bank you need to use, and export it out as a stem.

I wanted to get the Yamaha Vocaloid VST plugin for Cubase, but this makes things easier, and saves me another $100 or so. It also comes with some extra VST plugins.

All in all, it’s a great deal, and for beginners, it’s great starter package.

Getting It…

There’s a catch of sorts. You have to have a Japanese address to get the upgrade bundle at this price.

To be fair, they have a US distributor, and that’s where a this restriction comes from. But the US distributor isn’t selling the bundle at this time. I don’t know when they’re going to sell it. Right now, the cost of the English bank from the US company is as much as the cost of the whole bundle from Crypton.

After some talking with customer support, I got myself a Japanese address at Tenso, who will gladly ship it for me. I set up an account with them, and voila! I have an address in Japan now.

There is another caveat: I won’t get support from the US distributor. I’ll have to get support from Japan. I am totally okay with that, because the Japanese customer support has been great.

Now I just have to wait for the software to be released on the 26th or so, and I’ll get it a few days later. Can’t wait.

Bargaiiiiins…

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Feb 142012

I joined the Costco Zombie Army a few days ago. I realized that I could save a lot of money just by buying gasoline there.

But I have to be careful when I go shopping there– it’s easy to wind up with more crap than I know what to do with.

Heading off to Asheville to help the folks out for a few days.

Some of my packages are coming back from Japan already. They’re all in surprisingly good shape, and nothing got broken or lost. The nice part is that I can kind of relive my trip as I go through the tons of crap I sent home.

Sayonara, Japan. Back in the US again.

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Dec 222011

Today was my last day in Japan for a while.

I rolled out of bed, had the hotel buffet, and got back to packing.

I wanted to go by Sekaidou one more time, because I want to get my dad one of the pens that I got at Itoya, but they only had the regular version in black. I think he’ll like it anyway. Pilot makes great pens. I also loaded up on refills, because I have no idea how that’s going to work in the US.

On the way back to the hotel, I stopped by the ticket machine at JR Shinjuku and bought a green car ticket to Narita on the N’EX. Yes, it’s pricey, at 4400 yen, but the green car on the N’EX is worth every penny, and I wanted a little luxury before I got crammed into coach. (Ugh.)

When I got to the airport, I had to do a lot of security dancing just to get in.

I went to the counter to do the automated check-in, and the machine presented me with an interesting proposition. “Would you like to upgrade to Business Class for 50,000 yen?”

Hell yes I would!

Okay, I know it’s a lot of money in today’s economy, but what a coincidence– I had 50,000 yen I didn’t spend on a Vita.

I flew over in business class, and landed feeling almost human. You bet I’m going to take advantage of it on the way back!

I stopped in the Admiral’s Club and spent a few hours chilling out, mentally preparing myself for the long flight back. I understand that it’s perfectly safe, it’s just that when I’m traveling, I like to stop the car and get out every now and then and stretch. You can’t do that on a plane. Even if you do, they always send you back to your seat. Boo.

Honestly, I would prefer it if airplanes had gyms in them. That would help me take my mind off of a lot of things, and leave me refreshed when the flight was over.

The flight back to Dallas was uneventful. I made it through customs okay, and then went to the Admiral’s Club to de-stress and wait for my 8:00 flight back to RDU.

Another uneventful flight, and I was back in RDU at around 11. I didn’t get to bed until 3 a.m., and my internal clock is totally out of whack now. Tomorrow (today?) I have to drive to Asheville for Christmas!

Harajuku, Akihabara, and a View I Won’t Forget

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Dec 212011

Today was my last full day in Tokyo, and there was a lot of stuff I had to get done, so more so than a touristy day, it was more of a shopping/shipping day.

For starters, I’ve been battling this nasty sore throat for two days now. It hasn’t really gotten worse, but it hasn’t really gotten better. What makes it worse is going outside, or going into really dry, overheated environments. What makes it better is hot soup, cold drinks, hot showers, Ricola, and steam.

I’m glad I bought those Ricolas in Nagoya!

I wasn’t all that hungry when I woke up, so I just had some yogurt and some Emergen’C… and now I know I’ve been thoroughly trained to wash my trash by living in Japan, because without even thinking about it, I washed not only the yogurt cup and plastic spoon before I threw them away, I also washed the tear-off foil lid, too.

But the hotel doesn’t do recycling like that here, so it was a wasted effort.

It took me a while to get started today, just because I generally felt so awful. It’s probably because I’m all run-down from the last few weeks of running around like crazy without taking time to rest. My body is screaming at me to take a break. I know this.

But I’m only in Tokyo for a day and half more, and I have no idea when I’ll be back. So I kicked it into gear and got going.

The first order of business was to get the last two boxes shipped. Another reason to love the Hotel Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku, as if I didn’t have plenty, is that there’s a post office right across the street. Awesome. The only downside is that they don’t do insurance on surface mail packages. Oh well. It wasn’t valuable stuff.

After a brief break, I was off to Harajuku again, to find one of the very last souvenirs, for one of my godchildren. He’s into ninjutsu, which makes it very difficult to find a good present. I don’t want to get anything that’ll get him injured, so I went to Kiddy Land again, and found him a Samurai Kirby.

Then I stopped at Shakey’s for an interesting pizza buffet lunch of grilled onion, then pepperoni (still normal), then shrimp, anchovy, pineapple and bacon, pineapple/chicken/bbq sauce, and “Mexican,” whatever that means. I skipped “corn and mayonnaise,” because it looked gross and offended my American sensibilities.

I like corn. I like mayo. But on a pizza?? No way, no how. I’m used to the seafood stuff by now. It’s actually not bad, if it’s well-made.

All the pieces were really teeny tiny. That’s why I could eat so many.

Then I went back to Shinjuku for a brief break, then off to Akihabara, finally. The place is a zoo, now, even more so than before. Between Gundam and AKB48 cafes, I’m just waiting for the inevitable Disneyfication of Akiba.

The Vita has only been out a few days, and I already saw 3 used units for sale… all of them 3G units, if that says anything. I tried to find some used games, but the deals on the pricing just weren’t that good. Book Off has better deals.

I picked up some manga, but that was it.

I can’t believe that’s all I’m going to buy in Akihabara. I’m sure in a few months I will most surely regret this, but there’s not much I can do. I haven’t figured out a way to manufacture extra time or extend my temporary visitor status. If I stay too long, I’ll get tossed out for good, and that would be bad.

I stopped off at Oasis, my favorite pay potty in the world. Such an experience for 100 yen. I recommend it to everyone. It’s across the street from Yodobashi Camera, near JR Akihabara. You can just tap your Suica and go. (Pun intended.)

Then I headed to Yodobashi Camera to gawk a bit. It’s 9 floors of electronics. Same as it was last time I was there 4 years ago. Not much to add. Lines were huge for the Vita now. Weird. Honestly, I don’t know what to think about it.

I played with one of the demo units for a while, and I really like the graphics and play, but the price is just keeping me from buying it. Curse you, weak dollar!

Then it was time to head to Maruzen to spend the rest of my points on a few books. Marunouchi is a nice area this time of year. Starting tomorrow night they’re going to have a light display every night for a week. Too bad I’ll miss it.

One of those Special Traveling Memories

After that, I headed back to Shinjuku for dinner, at the soba shop I went to night before last, Sou Hon Kei. This was another attempt to fix my throat. Roasted duck bits and soba in soup. It was absolutely awesome. It helped soothe my throat and my spirit. The view was splendid again as well. This time I sat in the Japanese style section, so it took a bit of getting used to.

But eating duck soba and watching the trains and people come and go in Shinjuku, and staring at the beautiful skyline? That’s one of my priceless moments from this trip. It was just incredible.

I very reluctantly pried myself away from the table and the view and headed back towards the hotel. A brief stop at the local Family Mart for a few snacks for later, and that was that.

I stopped by the front desk and paid the extra fee to check out late, because my flight leaves at 7, and I want the extra time to chill out in my room before I leave. I did it four years ago, too, and it worked for me.

Right now, it looks like I’m going to be flying coach back. I can’t say I’m excited about that. I’ve been trying to see if I can get some kind of upgrade to business class, because as soon as I get home, I have a four hour 250-mile drive waiting for me the next day. I need all the rest I can get!

Now it’s just frantic packing time, and I’ll be physically, if not emotionally, ready to head home tomorrow.

Toughing it out

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Dec 202011

Ugh.

I felt like crap today, so I had a late start.

It’s the season for it, and when I push myself too hard over a long period of time, I can’t say I’m surprised. I woke up, and my throat was sore. I had a nice little red patch on the back of my throat from the heater blowing right on me, and maybe an incipient cold? Oh, I hope not. The last thing I want on the flight back is a cold. That would be the worst.

So I really took it slow today.

First I went to Bic Camera in Shinjuku around 1 or so. I gazed longingly at the PS Vitas (Vitae?). The WiFi models were back in stock. Nobody was buying the 3g Models… and nobody was really buying the WiFis, either.

I think that the days of the handheld gaming machine are numbered to be honest. Smartphones are killing them.

I searched in vain for something for my youngest godson. He’s tough to shop for, but I don’t think Bic will have anything for him. (They do have a decent toy section, though.)

Sekaido

I hiked a bit in Shinjuku to try to find Sekaido, where I shopped 4 years ago for office and art supplies. It’s a good store, with lots of good discounts. It has just as nice a selection in some respects as Itoya, only with much lower prices. (Like 20% off the top just for starters.)

I found it, and did some shopping there. I saw two girls get in a screaming match. That was awkward. Especially because they kept moving it around where I wanted to be.

Can’t we all just get along?

I found some good bokujuu, which is ink that’s already been ground into a liquid form for æ›¸é“. Purists don’t like it for many reasons, chief among them is a firm belief that you should grind your own ink stick and make your own ink.

That’s great if you’re getting paid for it, or if you have lots of time to grind ink. It’s not so great if you’re just an amateur like me who likes to practice, and has scant free time. Grinding ink takes 20-30 minutes. And when you use it up, it takes another 20-30 minutes to grind some more.

I found a bunch of different kinds of ink to play with when I get home. Of course that’s all going in a box by sea mail, because I don’t want an inksplosion in my suitcase.

I got some bubble wrap and a few fun cool unique Japanese souvenirs for people back home, and headed to the Post Office.

Whirlwind of Packing

The Post Office in Okazaki is more together, to be honest. I never could find the forms I needed to fill out to actually send my packages. But I did get to buy the boxes. I think this will make 6? 7? Jeez.

I went back to my room and started filling them up… after I did some suitcase triage. The room looked like a tornado hit it. A very very messy tornado, full of stuff mostly for other people.

Don’t ask me how this story ends, because even I don’t know.

I got one big box filled, but the little box full of ink isn’t full yet. There’s still room for something. I’ll have to find something to put in it later.

I Will Follow You For Chicken On a Stick!

Around 7-ish I was feeling peckish, so I headed out to Roppongi Hills again for dinner.

I went to a restaurant called Momotarou for oyakodon and various bits of yakitori. The chicken breast was ninja’d with wasabi. At first I thought they sprayed lighter fluid all over it… no, that was wasabi. Wooo! Good stuff, though.

The oyakodon was really good. Just next time, please don’t serve me with a spoon… I know how to use chopsticks already. We even have them in the US. Honest.

A quick stop at Cold Stone… OMG expensive. 510 yen for a scoop and a half of ice cream. That’s $7! For ice cream! I could get a paint bucket full of ice cream for that much in the US.

I stopped again at Aoyama Book Center, which is a neat little book store, to get my brother in law another present, a cool book that should be useful for some random movie he’ll have to work on in the future. (Or not. You never know.)

Then home, on an jam-packed train.

I still feel kinda crappy, but I don’t think I’m getting worse. (I hope, anyway.)

Great Luck, Good Food, Plastic Food

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Dec 192011

I got a late start on the day, probably because the fatigue is catching up to me. When I look at all I’ve done in the last few months, it’s a little mind-boggling.

Today I went to Asakusa, and to Senso-ji for the Battledore Festival.

The raimon again:

Flyer for the Battledore Festival, called Toshi no Ichi in Japanese:

It sounded great from the flyers, but I didn’t see anything really special going on there. There were some extra stalls open, and some of the usual festival stalls selling the usual festival food. I used the chance to buy souvenirs for people, and took a few photos.

I went to the omikuji stand and this time I pulled a daikichi! å¤§å‰, which means “big luck,” or “best luck.”

There are two ways to look at this.

1. Yay, I’m gonna be reaaally lucky! (A typical Western view, and somewhat typical in Japan, too.)

2. I better work hard to work off the inevitable bad karma that will come with “great luck.” (You hear this in Japan sometimes.)

I got a talisman for general safety, in case 2 comes true.

On the way back to the station, I found a taiyaki vendor. I love taiyaki, so I looked at the menu, and made a great discovery– chocolate taiyaki! Someone finally listened!

It was awesome.

Yeah, I know. They made it especially for us non-Japanese tourists who aren’t fond of sweet bean paste. And for that consideration, I thank them!

I don’t mind sweet bean paste, but give me a choice, and I’ll take chocolate just about every time.

Do Not Eat

After the good food, I decided to go to Kappabashi to get some plastic food.

There are some really neat stores there, selling all kinds of cool kitchen stuff. I could easily drop 10 bills there on knives alone, but I didn’t.

I bought some platic food instead at Satou Samples. I liked the donut “covered in glass powder.” Looks like sugar, tastes like broken glass. Yeah, don’t eat it!

I wandered around a bit, then found a station nearby.

Here are a few photos from Kappabashi.

The Tokyo Sky Tree looms over everything now:

A sign for a salon/beauty parlor:

A love hotel with an interesting name:

Covering Sounds You Didn’t Even Know You Wanted to Cover

Nature called. Who am I to ignore the call of nature?

I had an encounter with the oddest toilet so far. They’re right there on the platform at this station, which is kind of handy. You can hear the trains come and go as you do your business.

And I found a rarity for me in a Tokyo train station– an actual Western-style sit-down toilet.

I haven’t gotten to the odd part yet. Now I will get right to it.

When I went into the stall and started taking off my backpack and jacket, it started agressively playing this “rushing water” noise to cover up whatever wretched noises I making… taking off my jacket, I guess?

Then when I finally sat down to get around to making some wretched noises, it was already done, and fell silent, which apparently made the machine feel kind of awkward after about 5-10 seconds.

So it started back up again.

Booktown!

I headed back to the hotel, grabbed a sandwich at a station on the way, and took a one-hour break.

Recharged, I headed out to Jinbocho, and looked at a bunch of used books in a bunch of different stores, but didn’t see anything I liked. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t fun, though! Jinbocho has a lot of great used book stores if you’re looking for used Japanese-language books.

On the way to the station, I found a neat stationery store called Bunboudou, that was selling some really useful æ›¸é“ stuff, like a booklet on how to carve seals. That will come in really handy.

I also found some nice book covers for my mom, who likes to use book covers when she’s reading in public, and sometimes in private, too.

And of course plenty of postcards. Really nice ones.

I was starting to feel a little crummy, so I headed back to the hotel to rest for a bit.

Recharged again, I headed across the tracks to Tokyu Hands in Takashimaya Times Square for more souvenir shopping.

I bought more Nanoblocks as souvenirs for some of my friends (and myself!), and some Rirakuma stuff for my goddaughter. (M-Sensei at Yamasa is a huge Rirakuma fan.)

They had an amazing collection of Stuff I Can Adhere to My Cell Phone to Make It Look AWESOME. I was sorely tempted for a few minutes, I have to admit, but I decided in the end not to. I like my Nexus One clean after all. Maybe next time!

Then I headed up to the 11th/12th/13th floors in search of dinner. They have a lot of restaurants on those floors of Takashimaya Times Square in Shinjuku. I recommend it if you’re looking for a good restaurant.

I found a really nice soba shop with an awesome view of the various Shinjuku stations called Sou Hon Kei (I’m sure I butchered it), and they had a cute Christmas dinner special for 2000 yen.

I love fresh soba. Their soba was delicious, and the view was fabulous. I was revived!

I went back to the hotel after all of that and crashed for the night.

All Over Tokyo on a Sunday

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Dec 182011

My main plan today was to go to Harajuku to see some cool outfits, go to Ginza to see the pedestrian mall and maybe shop a little, and do other stuff as it came up. I also needed to go to Ikebukuro to get some presents at the traditional arts center there.

A shot outside of JR Shinjuku– another beautiful day! (Nothing to do about the pole, though.)

I started off in Harajuku. I headed down the main street, turned right, and headed to Kiddy Land, which had great souvenirs/toys last time.

This time, it wasn’t as exciting. For starters, they moved the store to a new location with less room in it, and a lot of the funkier stuff has been replaced by theme goods, like Hello Kitty, Peanuts, etc. That’s all stuff I can get in the US for my nephew and my godkids.

I liked the old store better. It had more “funky” stuff and a cooler vibe.

Meiji Jingu Shrine

Then I headed towards Meiji Jingu shrine, and took some photos on the way.

Streets near Kiddy Land:

The MoMA (NY) Design Store in Harajuku?

Looking back at the main street of Harajuku as I head towards the station and the shrine/park:

I only saw one bunch of people really dressed up, and they were on their way out. Too slow to get a photo.

I guess I missed it? I dunno.

I got to the shrine, and walked and walked and walked. It was difficult to take good pictures, because the lighting was bad.

Here’s the entry with the IXY, which really struggled with the conditions:

My giant 60D did a little better, but not much, to be honest:

A lantern I saw on the path:

The shrine grounds are really pretty, but lots of shade means it’s hard on photographers:

I thought this sign was interesting. The English takeaway? No smoking. But in Japanese, it also says no eating and drinking while walking:

This area was a collection of donated Japanese and French wines to dedicate the shrine with:

Sake:

Barrels of wine:

Moving on to the inner garden grounds:

See the red umbrella? That’s a wedding party:

I saw a couple of Americans in Santa suits. WHYYYY? Of course they kept getting in the way of my photos. No, I’m not showing them. They weren’t that good, anyway.

While I was snapping away, a wedding procession came through, then came back. That was pretty cool. I tried to take a video of it with my 60D, but it kept not wanting to shoot video. It was very grumpy about the whole thing. I was probably pressing the wrong button or something.

A few shots of the inner garden and the honden:

After that, a group of girls and a group of guys asked me to take their pictures. I guess they figured that I knew what I was doing.

Then I headed out.

One last shot of Harajuku, near JR Harajuku:

I went back to the room to recharge for a bit and have lunch.

Road Closed

Refreshed, I went to Ginza. Since it was Sunday, the main road was closed to traffic, and the main street turned a giant pedestrian plaza. It was like a giant outdoor shopping mall.

The buildings looked great as sun was setting.

I headed to Itoya, one of my favorite stores on the planet.

People were jammed in tight there. I shopped a bit, and as I was heading out, I stopped by the pens. I found a beauty. Pilot made a special edition pen for earthquake relief for Tohoku. There was one red one left, and I bought it. It’s a gorgeous pen, and hopefully someone will benefit from my impulse buy.

I also bought some decorative paper for my sister, who loves the stuff.

Then I headed back out, and took a few photos.

At 5 there was an announcement, “We’re going to open the road to traffic now. Move it.”

Pedestrian heaven quickly became pedestrian hell, as everyone jammed back on to the sidewalks.

One last shot of a random Ginza Christmas tree:

I made my way to the subway, then headed to the hotel to drop off my Itoya purchases, and then turned around and went to Ikebukuro.

The Best of Japan in One Place

The reason for my trip to Ikebukuro was to pick up some souvenirs at the Japan Traditional Crafts Center. Some of the best craft work in Japan is for sale there, all in one store in Ikebukuro.

Finding it was slightly tricky, but I found it. They had a really good selection. If, like me, you want to buy a good handmade calligraphy brush, they have them from all over Japan.

The downside is that you won’t forge a relationship with the people who made it, like I did in Anjo and in Toyohashi. You also won’t get a discount for being nice and speaking Japanese. This is Tokyo, not Aichi Prefecture.

But you can find all kinds of stuff here. I found some nice brushes, one for my calligraphy teacher back home, one for a classmate of mine, one for me, and a nice print for my girlfriend back home.

On the way to the station, I found another Krispy Kreme.

Of course I bought a few doughnuts! I need the carbs… for energy! I still have way too many Krispy Kreme coupons. Every time I use one, they give me two back. I will never be able to get rid of them, and have fallen squarely into their trap!

I headed back to the hotel again to drop off my souvenirs, and decided to go to Roppongi for dinner.

Christmas in Roppongi

I went to Roppongi Hills, because the food there is good. There was also a Christmas tree-like decoration in front:

I found a good sounding teppanyaki place, until I checked their menu. The prices were way too high for my budget.

So I went to the noodle shop across the hall, called Masudaya, and got great chicken soba for a third of the price.

I still kind of suck at slurping my noodles like a local, but who cares? It’s delicious!

I wanted to go to Cold Stone, because I was craving something cold and sweet after all those hot noodles, but it was closed by 9. Boo.

On the way back to the station, I stopped by Aoyama Book Center for a book for my brother in law. I may have found something there, but I’ll have to double-check with my sis to make sure it’s in his strike zone.

I saw this neat Roppongi sign made out of lights. Kind of looks like the signs on Bourbon Street in New Orleans:

One last gratuitous photo of a subway poster while waiting for a train, full of things you shouldn’t do on the platform:

After all of that, I headed back to Shinjuku and passed out.

Towering Over Tokyo

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Dec 172011

The first full day of my fourth trip to Tokyo was hectic.

I started off with breakfast at the hotel. 1200 yen for the buffet. It’s pretty good. Some of it is a little unexpected, but that’s breakfast in Japan. The bacon was a bit bland to me, but I’m used to hickory-smoked bacon. On the upside, you can try out a Japanese-style breakfast, or chicken out and have your Western-style breakfast if fish is too much for early in the morning.

Anyway.

After breakfast, I went over to Bic Camera to check out the PS Vita. The crowds were crazy. Everyone wanted to look at it and try it out. The WiFi version was almost sold out, and I was tempted, but I had a hard time justifying the price, which would exceed 50,000 yen if I bought everything I wanted. That’s around $700 these days. No way. That’s more than my phone cost, and my phone can do a lot more without the geographic restrictions.

Here are a few gratuitous shots of Shinjuku on the way to JR Shinjuku. The skies were amazingly clear, so the skyline looked good:

I headed over to Tokyo station to go to the Travel Information Center there. It took me a while to find it. It’s not in the station proper– it’s outside, in a random, unmarked building. It needs better signage for us clueless tourists, because I walked past it a few times.

I got there and spent some time talking to the ladies behind the desk there. They had a lot of good ideas for things to do, and I grabbed a bunch of pamphlets. I’ll have to sort it all out later and figure out what I want to get done in this one week I have here. (Less than a week, really. 5-6 days, tops.)

What to do next… I know. I’ve wanted to go to the Tokyo Tower forever, but I have never been able to make it happen.

Towering Ambitions

So I hopped on a few trains, and got to the Tower after a bit of a walk. I had my camera, so I took a lot of pictures.

Waiting for my train in Otemachi subway station:

On the way out of the station near the Tower, I saw a map. I’m still not sure if it’s for the Tokyo Prince Hotel, or for the Tower:

Getting close to the Tower:

I took a few shots from outside before going in:

Detail shot:

There was a bit of a wait to get to the main observation deck, but I got there okay. It was crowded. Today you could see Mt. Fuji, so that view was exceptionally popular. It was popular with me, too!

I had my new circular polarizer, so I tried using it… and it failed utterly. The windows are coated with something that makes the polarizer do weird things.

See for yourself:

Yeah, even with a polarizer, sometimes I just got those weird ugly rainbows in my photos, so those went into the recycle bin. I had to use the lens bare, and deal with the reflections as I could. I did okay.

The views were beautiful. I stayed well after sunset.

Here are some of the shots I took:

You can see the new Tokyo Sky Tree under construction in the back:

I tried to make a panorama:

I really liked this shot in particular, even though there’s a reflection in one corner, and little artifacts. It’s just pretty to me:

And then there’s Mt. Fuji, which everyone was eager to get a picture of. I had my big heavy zoom lens on me, so getting shots of it was easier, but getting non-shaky in-focus shots was still hard, because the light was going, and I had to shoot around the crowds inside the observation deck. (And some photos had weird reflections in them, no matter what I tried.)

Some non-Mt. Fuji sights:

The sun is really going down now, so Mt. Fuji looks great!

The streets are in full light:

I really like this one:

I started to get tired and hungry, so I a snack at the cafe there. It was a little overpriced, but tasty. Then back to shooting photos!

It’s night now:

You can barely make out the Sky Tree in the background:

Here are a few shots I took with the IXY. I have no idea exactly when I took them, because the IXY clock is off. Still, this one is pretty:

Then I went downstairs to the museum/gift shop area and looked around. They had a special “Always” exhibit, about the movie. That was pretty cool. They even had a big scale model of the neighborhood in the movie.

While I was down there, I saw a flier for fireworks tonight by the Rainbow Bridge at 7:00. It was 6:20-ish. Maybe I could make it if I hurry.

Chasing Fireworks

I stopped outside the Tower to take a few more photos, and headed to the Oedo Line at Akabanebashi, then rode to Shiodome to grab the monorail.

A few last shots of the Tower and the surrounding Christmas lights:

I thought the “I heart Tower” sign was cute:

Even dentists do Christmas lights here:

On my way to try to catch the fireworks, I got a little lost transferring from the Oedo line to the Monorail, so I lost some precious minutes.

As I was riding the monorail (which is pretty cool, by the way), I saw the flashes in the background between the buildings, and missed the fireworks. I got to the Rainbow Bridge area by 7:15, and they were already long over.

Boo.

So I hopped back on the monorail, took it to the Oedo line, and headed back to Shinjuku for dinner.

Skewered.

I’ve seen Memory Lane on some TV travel shows. It’s an area in Shinjuku that’s supposed to give you a feel of Showa-era Tokyo dining. Narrow alleys, lots of small restaurants all bumping into each other. I thought, “Hey that might be fun.”

So I wandered around, and settled on a small place selling yakitori. I sat down and ordered some yakitori, and found out that there was a 300 yen “seat charge.”

Seriously?

I was hungry, and I hoped that maybe the food would be worth the 300 yen extra.

It wasn’t.

It was overcooked, chewy, and generally not very good. I’ve eaten a lot of yakitori. I know good and bad. That was bad, with an extra 300 yen thrown in to boot.

I left and grabbed something else at a conbini to make up for it, then wandered around a bit more. I stopped by Yodobashi Camera in Shinjuku to see if the Vitas were selling (the WiFi was), and then to Labi to see what they were doing. More of the same. I enjoy wandering through Japanese electronics stores, because they seem to be much more exciting than the products they’re selling. It’s not just a row of vacuum cleaners, it’s an exciting row of vacuum cleaners! Something like that.

By then it was late, so I went back to the hotel, and called it a night.

Sayonara, Yamasa, Sayonara, Okazaki. Tadaima, Tokyo.

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Dec 162011

Today was a whirlwind of emotions. I started out with about 3 hours’ sleep, getting up at 5:30 in the morning so I could finish packing up 2 boxes to send home. I grabbed a shower, then ran the washing machine so it would finish before I had to leave, then stripped the bed, packed the bedding into Space Bags, and stuffed all of that into a box.

By then it was 6:30. More packing, more preparations, more running around. By 8:15, the washer finished, so I hung everything up to dry, pointed the heater at the laundry, and got ready to head out the door for the last time for class. (Note: there will be a lot of “last times” in this article.)

Heading out the door for class, one last look at the apartment area:

A shot of the 248 intersection on the way to class:

When I got to class at around 8:55, I was the only person there. It was kind of sad, because usually it’s pretty lively at that time.

By 9:00, it was just me, M-sensei, and K-san. That was pretty much it for the start of class. People started to trickle in, but nobody was really in the mood to race to class today, probably because exams were over, and today was just a day to goof around before the end of the semester ceremony and all of the goodbyes.

We watched a video where a guy with a camera stalks a girl who stalks a pizza delivery guy who stalks another girl who winds up murdering the camera guy because he was stalking the first girl instead of her, so she became jealous. It was actually pretty well done. The actress who played the girl who stalks the pizza guy was very good. Her clumsiness came through really well, and she just flat out made me laugh with her physical comedy.

Anyway.

By the end of the video, we had seven people out of eleven. Not bad. Then we moved on to making å¹´è³€çŠ¶ (ãã‚“ãŒã˜ã‚‡ã†) nengajou, or end of the year post cards everyone sends out to each other to thank them for everything they did last year, and hope that they treat them well again next year. So we made one each.

Usually, you pick a theme based on next year’s Chinese zodiac sign. Next year is the year of the dragon, so dragons in general are pretty big these days. Mine wasn’t the most complex, to be honest. I wish I had thought to bring my brush pen. Doh.

We got our grade reports. I did okay. I got a B overall. I’m pleased, considering all the work I had to put in. (And all of the traveling I did on the side!)

Class Dismissed!

Then it was time for the end of term ceremony, which was held in Aoi Hall, where I usually ate lunch when I would just grab something at Domy. It was the home to my favorite vending machine. It was the kind that would squirt your selected drink, be it hot or cold, into a paper cup. I’ve always had a soft spot for those machines.

Anyway, on to the ceremony. The deal is that a student who is leaving gets a certificate showing all of his/her hard work, and then that student has to give a speech to the assembled crowd.

Yes, a speech. I found out about this on Wednesday. Some people prepared theirs, I didn’t. Why? Simple. I had no time!

So we started with the 101 class, and slowly worked our way to 201B.

Thank You!

Then it was my turn. Fortunately, V-san recorded it for me, because now I don’t have a very good recollection of what the heck it was that I said. I do remember thanking the staff, my teachers, S-Sensei and K-Sensei. I also thanked all of the JBPP people as well.

I wanted to thank everyone who helped to make me so much better at Japanese than I was when I showed up here with my language skills in total disarray. My skills are still a bit of a mess, but now I can hold down a conversation without fear, and that’s a huge deal for me. I have a feeling that I know where to start.

Thanks to Yamasa and the people that make it a great school. You are all incredible people who do something wonderful for us who come from thousands of miles away to ask you stupid questions, and you answer them patiently and graciously.

As I stared out at all of the people I had gotten to know over such a long, yet short period of time, it all felt a little bit surreal, and my mind kind of wandered. I looked over and saw Z-san, and the first thing that I thought about was all of the fun we had in JBPP, and the class we just had on talking about nothing. So I talked about it briefly. That class was a lot of fun in particular. The JBPP gang was great. I’m going to miss them.

I don’t remember how exactly I wrapped it up, but I’m sure I used proper keigo. Lord, they’ve been trying to drill it into my head for the last three months, so I hope it has stuck a bit by now.

Then we all got together for a few group shots, and talked a bit.

The After-Party

By then, the rest of the class had decided to show up, and we all headed in the general direction of Olive Tree, which is an all-you-can-stand-to-eat Italian restaurant at the corner of highways 248 and 483.

The deal there is simple– you put a little sign on your table, and a lady brings you a slice of pizza until you can’t stand it, then you turn the sign around. You can also get a spaghetti dish, salad, drink and dessert. So we did.

Unfortunately for P-san, most of the pizzas were tuna, tuna and corn, and other seafood varieties. (She hates seafood.) Then again, I’m not fond of it on my pizza either, but I was starving, so I ate it anyway.

Corn Pizza with Tuna:

So we ate, and ate, and ate, and generally horsed around until about 2:30, then the farewells started. Ugh. That round was harsh.

Everyone was getting all misty-eyed.

It was sad to say goodbye to everyone, because I don’t know if/when I’ll see them again. Hopefully we can get together online. That would be awesome.

Leaving Yamasa, Leaving Okazaki.

I had to go to Kurita for one last bundle of tape, so I did that, then decided to stop by campus to say goodbye. I dropped in and said goodbye to the CS staff and the teachers, M-sensei in particular, who was so very patient with me. I took some photos of the Yamasa campus.

Yamasa II, where we had class, and where all of the offices are:

Aoi Hall and the building on the left, where I had JBPP classes:

Another shot of Aoi Hall. FM Okazaki in the front:

It’s not a pretty building on the outside, but it’s nice inside:

Kitsutsuki, the cafe/restaurant where I had a lot of lunches. Get the A set. Can’t go wrong!

ZigZag, a warm, friendly little bar with the cheapest Guinness Stout in Japan:

Then I made the lonely walk back to the apartment to finish packing and get out.

One last look at Yamasa II as I head back to the apartment:

On the way back:

The rice field I saw every day:

I loved the way this shed looked:

The snapping turtle restaurant I mentioned before. I never did eat there:

The Daiso: land of 100 yen cheap things:

Heading back to my apartment:

I had to climb this hill every day by bicycle. It was never that much fun:

Almost there:

And the apartments are just up ahead on the left:

Frantically Fleeing

I got the last packages ready at around 6 pm, then called a cab to come take me to the post office. That’s five packages going by boat to home, total. Yikes.

When I got back, I made a quick video of the apartment before I left, then I called another cab to take me to the station.

This time, I got my tickets to Tokyo at the JR Okazaki station office. I did it all in Japanese, and it saved me a bunch of time.

I went to the platform with my insanely heavy luggage, and had a brainfart. I saw a train getting ready to leave and instinctively jumped on it. It looked a little different than the usual limited express, but I wasn’t thinking straight. I was flustered and full of emotions from the day, and that doesn’t always lead to good outcomes.

The train lumbered out of the station, and the next station was a station I’ve never gone to before.

Uh-oh, it seems that I had gotten on the local.

Arrrgh!

I rode it a few stops to Anjo, and grabbed the usual limited express to Nagoya. I had to hurry, because I didn’t want to miss my shinkansen to Tokyo! It was going to leave soon, and I was stressing a bit.

Back in Tokyo.

I got to Nagoya safely, and didn’t really have time to do much more than get to the Shinkansen platform and buy a bento for the ride to Tokyo.

I got on the train, and there wasn’t any good place to put my luggage. Fortunately, I was in the front row by myself, so I sat there with my luggage the whole way to Tokyo.

FYI, sitting with your giant suitcases is not fun. Please, pack light!

I was moving, so packing light wasn’t really an option for me.

I got to JR Shinagawa at around 10:30 or so, and I knew I needed to hustle to get to Shinjuku before the trains stopped running. So I lugged all of my heavy crap with me through the station to the Yamanote Line platform. It was Friday night, and it was packed.

That was an unpleasant ride where I got some unhappy looks. I know that backpacks are generally frowned upon on the trains here, but I didn’t have much of a choice. So I beared with it.

I got to Shinjuku, and made it to my usual hotel, the Hotel Sunroute Shinjuku. I love this hotel. They have saved my bacon a few times.

I stopped by a conbini for dinner, then passed out.

Fushigi na Tokoro

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Dec 152011

We got our results back from our tests. I passed the grammar/writing test. It was a little tight on the listening test, but I figured it would be tight.

Today was the last JBPP class. We had the Okazaki version of donuts. I forget what they’re called now, but they were good. S-Sensei brought us all kinds of donuts, and beverages as well.

It was a little sad to see everyone for the last time. I had a blast in JBPP, and learned a ton. And I realize there’s a ton more I need to learn still! Good luck to my fellow students, N-san, Z-san, and K-san! Thank you for your patience and understanding!

I made another trip to Kurita for more packing materials, and the Daiso for some more.

I got home, and there was lots of frantic throwing things in boxes, mummifying said boxes in clear tape, and a trip to the Okazaki Main Post Office to send two of them back to the US by boat.

I took a taxi. There was no other sane way to get there!

They laughed when I told them I’d be back tomorrow, but I’m serious. I will be.

Kitto Katta!

After that, I went to ZigZag for the Christmas Party. They don’t call it a Holiday Party here, because Christmas means having a hot date in Japan, or some KFC and cake and some pretty lights… no deeper meanings, so nobody takes offense.

Most Japanese, who are raised in Shinto and Buddhism, have no problems with celebrating Christmas. Considering that the Shinto religion has millions of gods, what’s wrong with celebrating one more?

I gave D-san my store of “edible stuff that I can’t take with me, because I shipped it here like an idiot,” and he graciously accepted it. I hope he can use it. I was really glad he took it off my hands, and I feel like a dork for bringing it all.

D-san hosted the Bingo game and everyone won something… like massage oil, Q-tips, salted Pocky, you name it.

I won KitKats, which made me happy. I love winning something useful and delicious. (I was fine with not winning massage oil.)

I hung out with P-san, T-kun, and some of the guys who have been working locally. It was fun. I probably stayed later than I should have, and I’ll probably pay for it in the morning. Such is life.

I wanted to be with a lot of people tonight, and I wanted to see everyone having a good time while I can, because tomorrow it’s time to leave Okazaki, and that’s a bummer.

I had a blast here, and everyone was great.

Fushigi na Tokoro/The Crossroads of Language Learning on the Tokaido

Yamasa is a strange, ephemeral kind of place. All kinds of interesting people come from all over the world to desperately learn Japanese in a very rigorous setting, and they all work crazy hard to do it, and then suddenly– VOOM– they’re gone.

Mission accomplished, or maybe not, but for whatever reason, they’ve done all they can either afford to or are allowed to by their government or the Japanese government through visas, and that’s it.

So everyone works hard, plays hard, and racks up the best memories they can. Students range from fresh-faced 18 and 19-year olds, to 60+ year olds who are looking for new challenges in life.

It’s a fun mix of people, from a wide range of different cultures, but we all have one thing in common.

We can all speak Japanese!

Stupid FOREX People

In my case, my study was limited by the strong yen/weak dollar. Those guys working the Yen FOREX trade essentially did me in, because everything here is just ungodly expensive for me. It makes me cringe just to think about it.

When I came here four years ago, the rate was 110 yen to the dollar. Now, it hovers around 77-78 yen to the dollar, and it has done so the whole time I’ve been here. I know, because I watch the exchange rate like a hawk. As soon as it hits 78, WHAM, it gets pounded down to the low 77s again. That’s how I know that someone, somewhere, is making a killing off of this.

It’s a shame, because it’s hurting businesses here and keeping tourists away.

Overall Results: Success!

We got our å®ŸåŠ› (aptitude/achievement) test results back today, and I’m pleased with the results. There wasn’t a really big change in my grammar/vocabulary abilities, but I wasn’t too concerned about those. What I was pleased with was the big jump in speaking and writing ability. That was the main reason I came here.

Since I was in a N2-level class, we covered a lot of material I already sort of knew, so there wasn’t a whole lot of new vocab to learn, nor was there a whole lot of grammar to learn. BUT there was a lot of learning “shades of meaning” that I didn’t even consider before. So I got to know the grammar I learned a lot better than I used to know it.

And while my passive vocab didn’t increase a whole lot, my active vocabulary shot through the roof. That’s due to all of the talking and writing in Japanese that I did.

All of my excursions were daily å®ŸåŠ› tests to see how I could handle all kinds of things in a 99% Japanese environment. Things like getting tickets, buying food, finding stores, ordering things, dealing with the post office, dealing with all kinds of people on an everyday basis– all of that was a series of daily exams.

I’m very pleased with my results.

Tomorrow is the closing ceremony, party, and then I head out. *Sniff!*

Last Trip to Anjo

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Dec 142011

Today was the last big test day, with the big listening and grammar test that covered, well, everything.

As usual, listening was hard, because it was all JLPT-style listening. Grammar wasn’t so bad, because the teachers have been working hard to get us ready for this. We’ve done all kinds of review drills and games to try to get the grammar firmly seated in our heads.

The day didn’t get off to a good start. I got up at 5:30 to finish up my resume and è·å‹™çµŒæ´æ›¸ (shokumu keirekisho) and send it all to M-sensei, but I forgot to attach the file.

So at lunch, I had to race home and send it, then race back.

Our Conversation Made the Earth Move

We met with local people after lunch to practice our conversational skills. It was a lot of fun. The wild part was when about halfway through, when there was an earthquake that felt like someone had just lifted up the building about 6 inches or so and dropped it with a loud “BAM!” and then it was silent while everyone checked to make sure nobody was hurt.

After everyone confirmed that they were okay, there was a little nervous laughter, and we all went back to talking.

I guess you just get used to this sort of stuff after a while.

All of the local folks were impressed with our conversational skills, and we got to practice our modesty. (Oh, no, I’m not that good at all!)

After that, it was time for JBPP, and time to say goodbye to M-sensei. She taught us a ton of useful stuff. Thanks, M-sensei!

Then I remembered I still had to go to Anjo to buy some æ›¸é“ supplies for one of my friends back home. First I stopped by the office supply store to get some packing materials.

I wasn’t thinking, and I bought too much! See, that’s what happens when my brain is hard-wired to just toss everything in my car like giant shopping cart.

So at JR Okazaki, I lucked out and discovered something I had always overlooked: the coin lockers at JR Okazaki! They exist! All five of them!

To get to the coin lockers, go to the BellMart outside the wicket, and look to your left. They’re right there. One stack of them.

I dropped my bags off there, and headed out to Anjo. As I waited for the Aichi Loop Line to come, I took a few snapshots with my IXY. (I love this little camera!)

The info board (which is a monitor) with real time updates on where each train is:

The light was good, so I took a few shots of the platform:

As a freight train went past, I tried to get a shot of it:

This is probably a better shot:

The æ„›ç’°å‡º sign is marking the Aikan (short for Aichi Loop Line in Japanese) track.

My train showed up, and I took the Aichi Loop Line to Naka-Okazaki, (Okazaki Koen-Mae for the Meitetsu) then switched over to the Meitetsu line that heads towards Anjo. I got off at Shin-Anjo, and hiked over to the calligraphy store, ready to buy a few things before I left, and to say goodbye.

I got to the store… and it was dark.

Uh-oh.

I checked the hours, and they should be open, but the lights were out. So I mustered up a little courage, knocked, opened the door and asked in Japanese if they were still open.

I got lucky, because the lady there remembered me and turned the lights on for me. Woot. See? That’s that whole “knowing the language and interacting with people” skill paying dividends!

I bought more paper and brushes, and got the 30% discount for knowing the people who run the store. They also gave me an extra brush as a freebie. Thanks! You were all great!

I still need ink, I think. I’m not sure what I’m going to do about that. I may buy it in Tokyo instead. I don’t have time now.

We talked a little bit, then I had to go back home and frantically pack some more.

On the way back to the apartment, I stopped at the Daiso and binged on packing materials and cool things like B3-sized clear files, which will be great for carrying calligraphy paper. I found some resume forms, some sakubun paper, some rubber stamps for my sister (she’s getting her teaching certificate, and maybe she can use these). I got some plastic B3-sized paper cases, too. 100 yen stores are awesome. (But why do I not like dollar stores?)

I packed until 2 a.m., and listened to FM Okazaki while I packed. Then I passed out.

Two days to go, then I have to leave.

A Master of Saying Nothing

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Dec 132011

We have our main class (AIJP) final tomorrow, for chapters 5-12. We’ve all been studying like crazy, too! Most of our classes have been review, and I’ve been reviewing whenever I can, including on the train.

Today I was awesome in JBPP.

I have fully mastered the art of saying nothing.

It’s important to know how and when to use filler words. Even in formal situations, there are times when they’re necessary.

I really have come a long way!

But I still have a lot of things to do before I can leave town.

Last Excursion to Nagoya, For a While, Anyway

After class, I went to the post office to pay some bills, get some cash, and then I headed to Nagoya for (probably?) the last time until I leave for Tokyo.

While I was waiting for the train at JR Okazaki, I snapped a couple of photos:

When I got to Nagoya, I stopped by Maruzen, and found some good æ›¸é“ books, then went to the æ›¸é“ supply store in Sakae to get things like stones for carving seals, knives for carving, etc.

While I was in Sakae, I took a few pictures. First, the area near one of the supply stores:

Then I headed to the park, and saw this weird little sign way off in the distance:

Aww, it’s kind of cute!

Okay, maybe creepy-cute?

I also grabbed an obligatory shot of the Nagoya broadcast tower:

And I tried a little too hard to be artsy about it:

For dinner, I made my last trip to Mokumoku. That food is great, especially the beef stew. I’m going to miss it!

Then I went down a few floors to Tokyu Hands to get a few more æ›¸é“ supplies for me, and some souvenirs for family members.

Going Home

By then it was getting on 9 pm, so I grabbed a train back to Okazaki. I wanted to say “home,” because really, by now Okazaki feels like home to me, but in a few days I will be leaving home to go to Tokyo, then back to my other home in the US.

Sigh.

This is all kind of bittersweet for me. I have had an incredible experience here, and a wonderful time, but it’s a little sad, too.

It’s also incredible motivation for me to get back here as soon as I can. I’m not sure how long it’s going to take, but I will come back to live here for a while. (More than three months, I can assure you!)

Jackson Pollock and The Tallest Toilet in Nagoya

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Dec 112011

Today I went to Nagoya again. (Again?) Yes, again. There was a Jackson Pollock 100th birthday commemorative exhibition going on at the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, so you’re darn right I was going. It was a collection of a lot of his major pieces, even pieces from Iran, which I would never be able to see in the US. So of course I was going.

Jackson Pollock is one of my favorite artists. There’s no way I wasn’t going.

I stopped at the post office on the way out of town, only to have my ATM card declined. Twice. Apparently I hit the limit when I was in Toyohashi, and it’s not US midnight yet. Doh.

I still had plenty of money, but I’m always paranoid about not having enough cash on me here. In a pinch, I can usually use a credit card, but there’s always a chance that my card will be randomly declined. Either it’s security or just incompatible networks, it’s embarrassing and annoying. I wish there was a way to tell them, “Hey, it’s me! Let it go through!” Sadly, not yet.

Also, a lot of stores here will only take cash, so that’s also something to keep in mind.

It’s Not All Paint Splatters!

I got to JR Nagoya around 1, then made my way to Sakae, where the exhibition was.

On the way, a gratuitous shot of Oasis21 with my IXY, which I keep in my pocket now pretty much all the time.

The museum was close by. They had an amazing number of Pollock’s paintings. As I said before, some came from places the US doesn’t have good relations with (like Iran), so I got to see things up close and personal that I probably would never be able to see in the US.

I also got to see a lot of Pollock’s early period work, and his really late work, both of which were surprisingly different from what I’m most familiar with, but were both impressive in different ways.

They even had a mock-up of his studio that you could walk around in, and a photo of his paint-splattered floor you could walk on. It was pretty cool.

They also had paint cans and brushes and other tools he used to create his paintings with.

After a couple of hours of geeking out, I headed to the gift shop and bought some post cards and a clear file. The clear file is awesome. It’s clear, but has a band from one of his paintings on it. Way cool.

Walkin’ In The Sky

I headed back to JR Nagoya, and decided that it was time to check out the Midland Square building, which is pretty darn cool. I had been meaning to go there for a while, but with all of the rain, it was impossible. Why? Because the observation deck is all outside! It’s 47 stories up, and the observation deck is 5 stories high, and all outdoors. According to their website, it’s the tallest outdoor observation deck in Japan.

It’s cool.

Well, it’s also cold, because it’s mid-December.

But I was willing to tough it out. I got some really nice shots, and even shot a little video of the walk around the periphery.

So here are some of the nicer shots of the Nagoya Skyline from my little Canon IXY:

JR Nagoya:

The spiky sculpture in front of JR Nagoya, from 47 stories up. Scarier than it looks!

You can see people boarding a Shinkansen!

Nagoya Castle in the lower left corner:

Looking down from the top:

I really like this angle and this shot in general:

The light in general was strong as the sun was setting, so there was a lot of dramatic lighting:

I felt the call of nature, and headed to the restroom there. That is one fancy and technologically advanced restroom. It’s almost as cool as the one at Oasis in Akihabara. Almost. But pretty close. There’s a hand dryer built into the sink, so as soon as you’re done washing, you can dry your hands without getting other peoples’ restroom cooties on your hands. And unlike a lot of air dryers in the US, it only stops when your hands are dry.

Of course I took a picture. It was cool!

I went back out and took some more photos. I only had my IXY with me, and just as I was getting into it, the battery started to die.

Boo.

I got a few more shots of Nagoya Castle, with more dramatic light as the sun was getting on with setting at a much quicker pace than I expected:

I managed to squeeze out a couple more photos, and then it quit completely.

This shot is one of my favorites:

And after the Christmas tree photo here, the camera called it quits for a while:

Well, I did manage to get this shot of JR Nagoya:

Not bad for a “cheap” little point-and-shoot camera, huh? It’s really not about the gear, it’s where you point it!

Supplies!

Satisfied with my trip to Midland Square, I decided to go look for some office supplies to take back home. I found Shimojima (ã‚·ãƒ¢ã‚¸ãƒž) using Google Maps, and hopped on the Sakura-dori subway line to Marunouchi. I got off there, and started walking. It’s a few blocks away.

Shimojima is 4-5 stories full of office supplies. They had stuff I didn’t even know I needed. So I stocked up!

I bought stuff like A3-sized clear folders, which are 20-page binders with 20 clear plastic pages. I can stick my good calligraphy pieces in there and keep them protected. I learned this from S-buchou.

I also stocked up on Frixion refills. Yeah, they erase in high heat, but for just jotting stuff down, they’re pretty neat pens. And the US version doesn’t take refills.

I also got some erasers, and a couple of cardboard tubes for putting paper, posters, and calendars in for safe transport. (Going back to Tokyo is going to be difficult!)

Then I headed to Sakae and Maruzen, and picked up some calendars. They make great gifts for the folks back home. They’re one-page calendars with traditional Japanese-style prints on them, printed on good quality paper. (And they’re only 1000 yen a piece. Not bad!) It’s a suitably Japanese-enough present, but not tacky. And after a year, they can toss them or whatever.

It’s almost as good as food.

I stopped off at a drug store in the Sakae Underground shopping mall to get some pain relief patches for my increasingly sore muscles. All of this moving around and carrying stuff is making me sore.

Then I headed to Hisayaodori to get some more books.

Then a trip to JR Nagoya, to go to the Tokyo Hands there, to get some Nanoblock puzzles for my neighbor’s kids.

After that, I needed dinner. Badly.

I’ve been at Mokumoku a lot, because it’s a good restaurant, but I needed to try something else. So I went Breizh Cafe Creperie. Crepes are BIG in Japan, but they’re not necessarily cheap. I got a salad, a bacon and tomato crepe, a chocolate crepe (as big as my head), and a ginger ale for 4,000 yen.

Yikes.

But they were some really fine crepes.

I finished up around 9:30 or so, then grabbed a train to Okazaki. I got home around 10:30 or so.

It was a very successful day!

Toyohashi!

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Dec 102011

Today I went to Toyohashi, which is a little north and east of Okazaki.

First, I stopped off at the post office to send package number one back to the US by boat mail. (It was expensive even for that, and it’s going to take two months to get back home.)

I hopped on the train to Toyohashi. It was a little odd, because I’m not used to going in that direction. I usually go the other way, towards Nagoya.

When I got to Toyohashi, I stopped off at the BellMart to pick up some Band-Aids, because I cut myself. Then I headed off to find the calligraphy brush shop before it closed. It was already 3:30, so I didn’t have a whole lot of time to mess around trying to find it. Remember, some stores in Japan close really early, and some have a quick trigger to close their doors.

Streetcars!

Toyohashi has one unique feature, and that is its streetcars. I rode one about 4-5 stops to get near the calligraphy supply stores, and found the brush shop I needed. (There are a number of calligraphy-related stores here.)

I met the man who runs the store, and he was really nice. I explained who I was, and that I was a student of S-buchou’s, so he called S-buchou to get the details, and found the brush I wanted. 15,000 yen was the sticker price, but he gave me a significant discount, for which I am grateful.

It’s an excellent brush, and I expect that it will last me 20 years at least. Even someone like me can tell when a brush has high quality, and this brush exudes quality. It feels great in my hand.

I thanked the shop owner, and headed out. It was already 4:30, so if I wanted to look around, I had to hurry before the family-run stores closed for the day. A lot of them will close at 5 or 6.

I wandered around some of the neighborhoods to see if I could find any calligraphy stores open, but struck out. I did see some other interesting shops, though.

I was starting to get hungry, so I decided to grab a streetcar and head back to the train station area. While I was waiting, I got bored and took a few photos with my IXY.

Looking the other way:

Oh, looks like my streetcar is coming!

When I got back the station area, I did a lot of walking around. As it started to get dark, I realized that I had to make up my mind. I couldn’t find a restaurant that really jumped out at me, so I headed back to the station to look around inside.

Before I did that, I took a few pictures:

A panorama of the area around the station:

Looking back up one of the main roads:

I think this is a pachinko parlor? At any rate, the Space Shuttle on top drew my attention:

Before I went in, I saw that their Christmas display was already up, but not on yet, because it wasn’t dark:

What Happens in Mikawa, Stays in Mikawa

Then I found a restaurant inside, called Mikawa, and asked what the local famous dish is. The waiter said I should go with the Curry Udon, so I did.

He brought me a giant paper bib.

At first I thought this was some sort of a “You probably don’t know how to eat this because you’re a foreigner” kind of thing, like when some restaurants will try to give me a fork or knife when I want chopsticks.

But I looked around, and a lot of people were wearing the same giant paper bibs.

When I got my bowl of curry udon, I understood why.

You take udon, put it in a curry soup, and it all sits on a small mound of rice at the bottom of the bowl. It’s delicious, but it’s incredibly messy to eat.

My white paper bib was all shades of orange by the time I was done, but the curry udon was delicious.

On the way out of the mall area, I found a Saint Germain bakery and grabbed some sandwiches and pastries for later.

I took some more photos of the (now lit!) Christmas lights:

Then I grabbed a train back to Okazaki. It was a fun trip to Toyohashi. I wish I had gone there sooner, because there’s probably a lot more to see.

One last photo. When I got back to JR Okazaki, I noticed that they had their own version of Christmas lights! (Well, okay, colored lights.)

Then I grabbed my bike and went home.

Jiko PR, Entry Sheets, Shopping and Shipping.

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Dec 092011

The grammar re-test went well. We got to go up to the 3rd floor and sit in comfy chairs and take it there.

M-sensei, my homeroom teacher, is awesome. She has gone above and beyond for us. She’s also helping me do some personal reviewing of the bits of grammar I still have issues with. Thanks M-sensei! You rock!

In JBPP, we had to work on ourã€€è‡ªå·±PR (jiko PR), which is this uniquely Japanese part of a resume where you’re allowed to sell yourself, but you have to do it in a polite and socially-acceptable way. So you get to brag a little, but it’s usually stuff about how you’re a great team player, how you respect your seniors, and stuff like that.

It’s completely alien to me in that regard. This is probably the hardest part of writing my resume materials for Japan.

Well, I thought it was the hardest part until we started talking about Entry Sheets, which are essentially juiced-up application forms for companies, but you need to not just write stuff out, you have to do it with panache — but with a socially-acceptable level of panache.

I get it, and I don’t get it all at the same time. It makes my head hurt a bit.

Imagine Me, Buying More Books!

This evening, I went by Imagine at Wingtown around dinner time to grab some æ›¸é“ (shodo, calligraphy) books, and maybe some ãƒ‡ã‚¶ã‚¤ãƒ³æ›¸é“ (design shodo) books, too. Maybe sometime I can leverage my æ›¸é“ skills to write a killer Entry Sheet.

I’m boxing up packages for the US as well. It’s kind of a sad feeling. By this time next week, I’ll be on my way to Tokyo, and a week after that, I’ll be back in the US.

Now I’m getting bummed out.

Re-testing and Re-testing.

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Dec 082011

I had the writing re-test due today. That meant that I just had to make the corrections and hand it in. Now that’s done.

In JBPP, I had to work on my è·å‹™çµŒæ´æ›¸ã€€ã—ã‚‡ãã‚€ã‘ã„ã‚Œãã—ã‚‡ã€€shokumu keirekisho, which is where you explain what you did at your various jobs. Sort of like a US-style resume, only with more detail, and less selling. It’s kind of a pain to write one, but necessary.

Tomorrow is my grammar re-test, so I’m going to cut this short to study!

The Aptitude Test Redux

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Dec 072011

Today we had the å®ŸåŠ›ã€€ã˜ã¤ã‚Šã‚‡ãã€€jitsuryoku or aptitude test. It was the same test I took when I first got here. It’s a good chance to see how far I’ve really come since I got here. As always, though, it’s long, and makes my brain hurt.

In JBPP, we took more phone messages.

After that, I met up with S-buchou to talk about calligraphy over tea. It was a lot of fun. He showed me some of his work, and gave me a piece he did of a peacock. I really appreciated that. It’s a lovely piece.

He also gave me the address of the brush shop in Toyohashi I need to go to, and told me to tell the owner that he sent me. Cool.

He also gave me some great advice about calligraphy in general. He thinks I shouldn’t worry so much over getting the forms right, since he thinks I have those down pretty much, and I should try to be more bold and adventurous in my calligraphy.

I can do that!

Calligraphy Lesson

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Dec 052011

Today’s JBPP lesson was about taking phone messages. That was good practice, because I can’t always catch everything that’s said to me in Japanese, remember it all in Japanese, and write it all down in Japanese. It takes practice!

After school, I had my calligraphy lesson with S-buchou, who works at Yamasa, and is a fine calligrapher. He creates some beautiful work. There was a small group of about four of us. Z-san from my JBPP class was also there.

Today’s lesson was on the character for dragon, because next year is the year of the dragon, and it’s useful if you want to write å¹´è³€çŠ¶ ãã‚“ãŒã˜ã‚‡ã† nengajou, or New Year’s postcards. Some people buy them, some do them by hand. Handmade are the best, but they take a lot of time to make.

Just about everyone in the class is better than I am. I’m out of practice, but I also know that even though I’ve been studying for five years or so, I still have a long ways to go.

I can write the characters just fine, but I don’t know how to add the right level of “oomph!” to it to make it as impactful as I’d like it to be.

S-buchou is really into ãƒ‡ã‚¶ã‚¤ãƒ³æ›¸é“ dezain shodou, or maybe the best way to put it is shodou that has non-traditional artistic elements to it. So instead of just writing the character for dragon, make the character for dragon with the characteristics of a dragon. It makes for really cool artistic expressions of what the artist’s image of a character is.

He’s a really neat person to talk to. I’m so glad my Japanese has gotten to the point where we can chat!

He showed us this one long brush that was impossible to handle. As you use up ink, it goes from being a fluid, flowing brush to suddenly seizing up into some twisted shape. It’s like trying to write with a small animal’s tail, while the small animal is still using it. I want one! (Brush, not animal.)

I love the results I got with that brush. I have a feeling, though, that it will take me 20 years or so to get the hang of it.

S-buchou agreed to meet with me on Wednesday so we can talk about where I can get one. He knows a guy in Toyohashi who made his brush, and can sell me one, too.

Toyohashi is a great place to go for calligraphy brushes (fude in Japanese). It’s a region where they’ve been making them for quite a while now, and the quality is famous in Japan. I’m excited! I’ll probably go to Toyohashi on Saturday.

N is for Nagoya and N is for N1

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Dec 042011

The N1 test was today, at the Aichi Gakuin University, Nisshin Campus. I checked with Hyperdia, and it was going to take 80 minutes just to get to Fujigaoka station, which was still 15-20 minutes away from the campus.

I left around 10 a.m., and caught the 10:30 train to Nagoya. I got to the station, then changed over to the Higashiyama subway line at 11:05 and caught the train to Fujigaoka.

When I got to the station, I started looking for the buses to the university, but I couldn’t find them. All I could find were buses to a place called “Fruits Park.”

I have no idea what a “Fruits Park” is. Maybe someday I’ll go visit all of the fruits there.

I flagged a cab. And as soon as we started moving, we were stuck behind… yes, a bus headed to the university.

D’oh.

2,000 yen later, we got there. The traffic was awful.

I got to the campus, and started hiking. It has a lot of open space. I got to the first building I could find that looked right, but it was the wrong building. The next building was the right guess. (Also, there were signs at that point.)

The construction of these buildings is just weird. All of the halls are exposed to the elements, like a motel or an apartment building. So the lecture halls were all like apartments for people with really bad taste in furniture. (Or who had lecture hall mania?)

The room we were in started off being really hot, and then got to be really cold.

The exam itself was a bear, but that’s what I was expecting. And like a bear, it tore me to bits.

Honestly, it felt like I had walked in on some other language’s test. I don’t know what that was supposed to be, but it wasn’t like any Japanese I knew. It was almost, but not quite Japanese.

I saw one of my N1 grammar classmates there, and we waved to each other, the same way fellow prisoners wave to each other, I think.

JBPP came in really handy. I nailed the business questions. At least there were a few of those.

Listening was more hide-the-football, only harder. No surprises there.

Well, there’s next year.

The worst part was the seats. They were built about 40-50 years ago for people who were, on average, a full foot shorter than me. My knees were screaming by the halfway point. Some kind soul had added a shelf below the desk, further upping the pain level.

I couldn’t wait for the test to end, and because it’s the JLPT, we can’t leave early for any reason.

After the exam was over, all 5,000 of us piled out of the buildings and raced to the bus stop. This is where the organizers did a great job of planning. There was a fleet of municipal buses, waiting to whisk us away to the station.

I exercised my long, sore, tired legs to get ahead of the main body of the crowd, and got in the second bus. Why? Simple. If 5,000 people are all going to the same station, what do you think that’s going to be like? Yeah, I think so, too.

I got to the station, hopped on the Higashiyama line, and got off at Sakae to go get some books at Maruzen, which is quickly becoming my favorite book store. Since I’m still in Japan, I decided to stock up on books for the next N1 I take, so I can have the materials ready! I also got some books to keep polishing my business Japanese.

I also splurged on the latest issue of “Science for Adults” magazine, which always comes with some neat thing or another to put together. This month it comes with an electronics kit you can put together to build basic circuits. Fun.

After all of that testing and shopping, I headed back to JR Nagoya, went to Mokumoku again, then went home. I got back around 10 p.m. or so.

And it doesn’t let up after this, either. We have tests just about every day this week at Yamasa.

Nonbiri Saturday

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Dec 032011

I took it easy today. No Saturday trip to Nagoya.

I went to the local post office to get some of their biggest boxes, because I’m going to need them soon. I need to fill some of those up and get them out ASAP. Time flies. Soon I’ll have to go to Tokyo, then back to the US.

After I dropped the boxes off at the apartment, I went to Kurita, the local office supplies store, to get stuff like packing tape and binder dividers. My binder is starting to get more and more organized, but I still have a small pile of papers left.

Then a trip to Family Mart for some dinner, and then home.

I’m not going to bother studying for tomorrow’s JLPT. It’s mostly a dry run for me, so I get an idea of what I’m up against now that I’m going to start challenging N1. I’m more worried about doing well at Yamasa, and there’s plenty to study for the tests here.

Kitsutsuki and Mokumoku

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Dec 022011

The den/kitchen area bulb went out this morning. Boo. One incandescent bulb left.

We started getting ready for the conversation test on next Tuesday, so we were assigned our partners. I’m with V-san, who saved me that 10,000 yen a few weeks ago. She’s really good. Much better than I am at this. Then again, she and her husband have lived here for a while.

I’ve been going to ãã¤ã¤ã Kitsutsuki a lot for lunch, and it’s done wonders for my overall feeling of health. I feel more å…ƒæ°— ã’ã‚“ã genki— lively, and less ã ã‚‹ã„ darui— sluggish.

I started eating there a week or so ago, and the food is great. I had been eating sandwiches from Domy (the grocery store down the street), but Kitsutsuki is more like food your Japanese mom would make. Three ladies work behind the counter, and they do everything from make the food to serve it, to handling the check. They make some wicked good food.

Generally, the best bet is to just order the A set, which is 550 yen, and comes with all the water you can drink.

You get a bowl of rice, a bowl of incredible miso soup, some steamed vegetables, and a main dish of some kind or another. Sometimes it’s stir fry and vegetables, sometimes it’s fried cutlets and shredded cabbage, sometimes it’s a fish thing, but it’s always, always good.

Kitsutsuki is on the Yamasa campus, right next to ZigZag, but not just students eat there. I see a lot of local folks eating there, too.

What I’ve learned from watching the locals eat is that if you dump the main dish over the rice, it tastes really good.

Nagoya for the Umpteenth Time

We finished out the week in JBPP with more practice turning people down.

After class, I took a trip to Nagoya to do some shopping. It might be one of my last chances to do it, since I have a lot of tests coming up (and the JLPT on Sunday. OMG.)

So I swung by some bookstores, looked at some CDs and used games, picked up some doughnuts, and went to Mokumoku again for dinner.

While I was waiting for a table at Mokumoku, who should I run into but the guy I met in Kyoto last weekend! Wow, it really IS a small world. We had dinner together, and I showed him how the restaurant works. We had a really interesting conversation about various economics-related stuff.

Dinner was great, and a lot of fun, too.

After that, I grabbed the 10:30 train home and got back in around 11:15 or so.

Long day, but good.

Genkan Confessional

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Dec 012011

I have a confession to make.

I have sinned.

I have generally been a good resident of Japan for the last few months, but I couldn’t help it.

I walked in my apartment with my shoes on.

It just slipped my mind, to be honest. Maybe it’s because I had a long day, and was tired.

I had to go and wipe the floors down, because even I could see the shoe prints on the hardwood floors. A maintenance guy was coming soon, too, so I had to hurry.

He came to change some impossible-to-reach light bulbs that have burned out on me, and to fix my curtain rod, which has been at a rather precarious angle for the past few days.

He was very nice and fixed everything, but now my nice, warm incandescent bulbs have been replaced by the harsh, cold glare of compact fluorescent bulbs. I’ve got two incandescent bulbs left– one in the entry hall, and one in the den, so the mix of light colors looks weird and kind of sickly.

I know CF lights are better for saving energy (and saving energy is big in Japan these days), but I wish they’d fix the color temperatures so they looked more natural.

There’s still lots more testing and other exciting events coming up. Next Monday, I’m having a calligraphy class (wooot!). Next Tuesday, I have another sakubun test and another speaking/conversation test. Wednesday we have to retake the aptitude test we took when we got here, Thursday is for re-tests, and so is Friday.

A full week coming up.

I also went to ZigZag tonight for dinner. The rice was delicious.

Candy Ensures Exam Success

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Nov 302011

We got tested to bits this morning. First there was a listening test, then a grammar test. The listening questions all came from either JLPT practice tests or old JLPT tests, to they were really tricky.

I don’t like JLPT listening questions, because they’re all “gotcha” games. I never have conversations like these with real people.

The conversation flows something like this: “Hey, have you seen the football?” “No, did your mother hide the football again?” “I don’t think so. Maybe I’ll go (unintelligible word) instead.”

And the answer always hinges on the (unintelligible word) bit.

The written part wasn’t too bad, since I studied for it, but my brain is pretty much empty at this point.

I also had to rewrite my sakubun test by the end of 5th period.

Good times.

Candy for Winning Spirit!

S sensei gave out KitKats in out last N2 class today, and explained why. In Japan, a lot of people are superstitious about things to do before tests, and KitKat bars are seen as lucky, because kitto katsu is how they interpret it, which means “definitely win.”

So eating a KitKat before a big test is like psyching up for it.

Also, tonkatsu or katsudon is also good winning food. Basically, anything with katsu in it. Katsu is the word that means “win.”

Stay away from losing or falling things, because when someone fails, they use a verb that really means “to fall.” So avoid anything with “fall” or “lose” in it. (And don’t fall down the stairs and lose your keys on the way to the test, or else you’re doomed!)

I forgot to mention that the omiyage went over well with everyone on Monday, especially the teachers.

I Can’t Quit You…

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Nov 292011

We’re learning how to turn down requests these days in JBPP, and I have to say that it’s a total minefield. If you turn down someone in the wrong way, you will give them the impression that their business isn’t as important as whatever it is that is keeping you from playing golf with them.

I suppose it’s difficult in the US, too. It’s hard to say no these days pretty much wherever you go.

My main problem with respect to Japan, where golf is popular in corporate circles, is that I am terrible at golf, and playing golf with me would likely make a client hate me and possibly hate my company. So I would rather have that person play with someone who will let them have a more enjoyable experience.

I have no idea how to politely say that in Japanese, though. I’m working on it!

Postcards From the JBPP Edge, How to Read Japanese Food Labels

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Nov 282011

Today was the final exam for my N1 grammar class. I think I did okay. Not great, but good enough. JBPP takes up a lot of time, as do my regular classes, and daily life eats up another chunk. I’m taking this more as an introduction to N1 level grammar, because I know that there’s still a lot I have to learn, so I’m not worrying too much about it right now.

We’re starting to do a lot of reviewing for the upcoming big tests in the main classes on Wednesday. Fun.

I’m a little tired after all the traveling this weekend, but it was fun, and I feel recharged.

In JBPP, we started working on how to mail letters. Snail mail is still important every now and then, so I have to know how to send letters properly. And it’s the sort of skill that transfers over to email as well.

Souvenirs!

Here are a few photos of the souvenirs I bought for everyone in Kyoto. I’m actually posting this from the future, but it fits with my “Kyoto Arc” here.

The cookie/wafer things came in two varieties:

A fall leaf motif:

Some kind of grass motif?

Anyway, they were a big hit with everyone. People like getting stuff.

How to Read Nutritional Info on Japanese Food!

Since I’m just tacking stuff onto this post, I might as well tack this on, too. It’s a really important survival skill in Japan if you have any dietary needs. That skill is how to decipher those labels!

Let’s start with the nutrition info from my cheese slices:

So the æ „é¤Š bit above the box is saying “Nutritional Information.” 1æžš means one slice, 18g å½“ãŸã‚Š means approx. 18 grams. (Well, it means exactly 18 grams, but realistically, it’s approximately.)

Now, let’s analyze the stuff in the box:

ã‚¨ãƒãƒ«ã‚®ãƒ¼ this is “energy,” measured in calories. (They use the more accurate kcal, for kilocalorie, but we just call them calories in the US.)
ãŸã‚“ã±ãè³ª this is protein.
è„‚è³ª this is fat.
ç‚æ°´åŒ–ç‰© these are carbohydrates.
ãƒŠãƒˆãƒªã‚¦ãƒ this is sodium.
ã‚«ãƒ«ã‚·ã‚¦ãƒ this is calcium.

The last bit, the é£Ÿå¡©ç›¸å½“é‡ bit, is just telling you the table salt equivalent of the sodium in the product. So each slice has roughly half a gram of salt in it.

Let’s apply this to convenience store food, because I eat a lot of it. (It’s probably bad for me!)

I bought some butajiru udon the other day. (It’s pork soup with udon noodles in it.)

Okay, the 11.11.23 bit is the “best by” date. 2011, November 23 is how you read it. The ãƒ—ãƒ© bit means that the whole thing is recycled with the plastic trash.

Below that, you see 1600w and 500w? Those are cooking times depending on your microwave’s wattage. One minute and twenty seconds for a 1600 watt, and four minutes for a 500 watt. (Useful!)

Now, under that is the actual nutritional information.

1é£Ÿå½“ãŸã‚Š we saw something similar before, but basically it means “one serving.”
ç†±é‡ is our calories again, just using a different way to say it.
è›‹ç™½è³ª is just another way to write ãŸã‚“ã±ãè³ª, except they used kanji. It’s still protein!
è„‚è³ª is back again. It’s still fat.
ç‚æ°´åŒ–ç‰© is also back again, still carbohydrates.
ï¼®ï½ refers to sodium by its periodic table name.

Everything else is the list of ingredients, and the address of the maker.

Hope this helps you figure out what’s on your plate!

Kinkakuji, Gion, LL Bean, and Going Home (Sunday, part 2)

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Nov 272011

It was an interesting bus ride to Kinkakuji, since I had to stand the whole trip. It was kind of like surfing on a whale in choppy seas. A very crowded whale.

I saw a group of American guys on bicycles doing some kind of tour of Kyoto while I was waiting for the bus. It looked like something that would be fun in the off-peak season, whenever that is.

By the time I got to Kinkakuji by bus, I stopped off at a place full of benches outside of the temple to take a short rest break, because I had been on my feet for most of the day so far, and I saw the guys on bicycles come riding in. So the bus was faster this time, but I’m sure bicycling in Kyoto has its own charms.

Right outside of the temple grounds, there’s a good view of one of the big characters they light on fire on the top of one of the nearby mountains.

It’s Still Made of Gold, and Tourists!

Visiting Kinkakuji is always a bit of a stuggle. It’s a struggle to get there, and when I get there, it’s a struggle for a good spot with a good view for a good shot. Sometimes it feels like too much work.

Coming in, even though the sky was gray, the leaves added some nice color. And there were some big crowds there, too!

Getting closer to the entrance:

The map of the temple grounds:

Entering the main gate:

For 200 yen, you can ring the bell!

I got there, and it was gold, pretty, and full of pretty red leaves. So naturally the crowds were amazingly packed in. (I think it was also in one of those popular magazines, but it’s Kinkakuji anyway. It’s one of the most famous buildings in Japan.)

But it was beautiful, in the only way a golden building sitting in the middle of lake can be.

Don’t believe me? Have a look!

I like this shot with extra Japanese Maple leaves in it:

Detail of the phoenix on the roof:

A close-up shot of the side of the pavilion.

And everyone is lined up to take a è¨˜å¿µå†™çœŸ (ããã‚“ã—ã‚ƒã—ã‚“ kinenshashin) or souvenir photograph.

On the way out, I got an omikuji, which is a slip of paper with a fortune on it you can buy at temples and shrines in Japan. I got a å‰ ãã¡ kichi, which means “good luck” fortune. This was a good omen.

Kyoto is sometimes a mess, and it’s often a battle with frustration, but it can be an incredible experience if you’re willing to put up with the little annoyances. Just understand that that’s the nature of the city. It’s the traditional cultural center of Japan, so you’re not just going up against foreign tourists, who were pretty thin on the ground here this time, but you’re really going up against large crowds of mostly Japanese tourists.

I Don’t Think We’re in Freeport Anymore

Done with Kinkakuji, I grabbed a cab to Kita Oji station, figuring that a cab all the way to Kiyomizu temple would be insanely expensive.

I got to the station (cost: 1,050 yen for ~ 1 mile), and what do I see?

An L.L. Bean store! YES! Score! Thanks å‰! I owe you one!

Why am I excited about seeing an L.L. Bean store when I could instead be looking at some more temples and shrines and getting more cultured?

I’ll tell you.

I’ve been freezing my tail off for the last 4 weeks or so, mainly because I can’t find clothes that fit me. I wear an XL in US sizes. An XL in Japanese sizes is closer to a skinny L or a fat M in US sizes. A US XL is more like a fat XXL or a skinny XXXL. Good luck with finding that at 99% of clothing stores here. I can’t find any clothes that fit me in the Japanese stores around Okazaki. Even the North Face store in Nagoya was a bust.

And it’s not like I’m particularly big for an American guy. I’m pretty average, but I have a big chest and big shoulders, so I’m kind of screwed.

I decided to check out the L.L. Bean store, and they still had about half of their men’s clothes in US sizes. (Oh, thank GOD!)

Sadly, they were converting a lot of their wardrobe to Japanese sizes. Don’t even bother to try to buy shoes there if your shoe size is over 10 (US) — you’re out of luck. Not that I needed shoes, but it’s a useful thing to know.

I found a plaid polartec button-down shirt, a sweatshirt, and a polartec hat. Woot! But now I had another problem. I had a bag full of bulky clothes to carry around with me, and that simply would not do.

Omiage Means “Thinking of You, and How to Fulfill My Societal Obligations to You”

I headed back to Kyoto Station, in search of another locker.

When I got there, I remembered something important: I needed to buy ãŠåœŸç”£ã€€ãŠã¿ã‚„ã’ã€€omiyage (souvenirs) for my fellow classmates and teachers. It’s just what you do here, and the students at Yamasa, even though they are from all over the world, have all picked up on this tradition.

So what should I buy for classmates and teachers? Well, it turns out that there are whole shops in the train stations devoted to providing the best omiyage to meet every conceivable social obligation.

I went to the store near the escalators and found some lovely rice crackers with a fall leaf design painted on them with some kind of edible frosting, I think. So I bought a box of 20 individually wrapped rice crackers for about 2,000 yen, and I was done.

Yep, I was done. I’ll give everyone a cracker on Monday, and they’ll be pleased. It’s not the present, it’s the fact that you went to the trouble to get people a little something. Of course, with other kinds of gift-giving, you have to put a lot more thought into it, because gift-giving here can be a minefield. But that’s not an issue today.

Food makes the best omiyage, because people can eat it and not worry about it taking up space. Space here comes at a premium.

Then I dumped everything in a locker, and checked the Shinkansen departures board for trains to Nagoya. They were starting to fill up fast. I got in line at the ticket office, and got a ticket on the 8:52 pm Hikari bound for Nagoya (and Tokyo, but I don’t care about Tokyo now.)

My only mistake was getting a window seat. Otherwise, it was brilliant to get my ticket now.

Goin’ to Gion

I used Wikitravel on my Nexus One to find a place to eat. I found a yakitori chain popular in Kyoto, and went to their Gion branch. It took a while to find it, because it wasn’t at street level– it was on the 5th floor of a nondescript building. Dinner on a stick was great. I had yakitori, yakiniku, a salad, and onion rings all for 1400 yen. Not bad. That was really my first full meal of the day, because I had been running around so much before.

After that, I headed to Gion to do some sightseeing. Gion is famous for expensive restaurants and geisha, among other things. It’s also famous for tourists and the shops that cater to them. It’s a lively and fun area. I stopped at a few shops here and there.

As soon as I crossed the bridge, I spotted the Minami-za Kabuki Theater, so of course I took some photos:

A few closeups:

The main road (Shijo Dori) through Gion goes for about half a kilometer or so, then ends at a shrine, Yasaka Jinja. Here’s a shot of the road from the front steps of the shrine.

When I got to the shrine, all of the lanterns were lit up for the evening, so it looked really pretty. I took some photos, of course.

Entering the main gate:

Heading to the stage:

One of the many lanterns at the shrine:

Artsy shot as I get closer to the stage:

A few shots of the lanterns surrounding the stage:

I really like this shot:

The south gate of the shrine:

At this point, my Canon 60D’s battery crapped out, and I switched to the tiny little Canon IXY I kept in my pocket.

Another couple of shots of the stage, this time with the IXY:

A lantern with some tied up fortune slips (omikuji) to remove the bad luck from bad draws.

Cool looking vending machine area:

Heading out and back to JR Kyoto Station:

It got to around 7:30, so I decided it was time to head back to the station so I don’t miss my train. It took 45 minutes or so just to get to the station, with all of the changing trains.

At one point, the subway car I was in just stopped at Shiyakushoumae (the station in front of the Kyoto city hall), and said, “That’s it. End of the line.” I needed to go one more stop. Vexing.

But I did get a good shot of the calorie-counting stairs!

I got back to JR Kyoto at 8:20, and headed to the restroom to freshen up. When I was done, I was in for a rather nasty surprise– there was no TP in the stall! I had to go back to the front of the restroom and buy toilet paper for 100 yen.

The joy of travel. I learn all kinds of new things every time.

I picked up my luggage from the various lockers I had stuffed it in, and made my way to the Shinkansen platform. I had time to kill, so I got an ekiben, which is short of é§…å¼å½“ã€€ãˆãã¹ã‚“ã¨ã† eki bentou, which winds up as ãˆãã¹ã‚“ or ekiben. A bentou is a meal served in a box. Sometimes it’s in a flashy, expensive box, and sometimes it’s just in a plastic box you recycle when you’re done. Ekibens are specialty bentous only sold at certain train stations. Every station has its own specialty.

I got mine, and waited for the train. It showed up, we got on, and then we had to wait 10 minutes for something to get cleared up, because someone somewhere hit an emergency button.

We all got lectured on how we should never do that.

The window seat was a terrible idea. The person in the aisle seat had built a fortress of luggage and crap that made it impossible for me to get to my seat without her having to move it all.

So when we were getting close to Nagoya, I almost killed myself falling over her crap trying to get to mine and get off of the train on time. My jacket got caught on something and everything just tumbled all over the car.

I’m never ever getting a window seat again.

I usually get aisle seats, no matter how long the trip is. I like being able to get out of my seat without too much fuss.

I managed to get off the train in Nagoya without any further incidents, took a moment to get sorted out, headed to platform 2 to catch my train to Okazaki… and promptly missed it by 30 seconds.

I had already used up that å‰ at L.L. Bean, it seems.

Or did I?

I managed to get a good waiting spot (I could lean on a post), and when the train came in, I was first in line, so I got a seat all the way back to Okazaki. Yay.

Don’t put your shinkansen ticket in the local train wicket. When I got to Okazaki, I had to go to the ticket office to get my tickets all sorted out because I did that. Oops.

I grabbed a cab home, and had a nice chat with the cabbie about the four seasons. In Japan, they are firmly convinced that they invented the concept of four distinct seasons, each with its own unique flavor.

Well, it’s interesting to point out that we have four very distinct seasons in the US, even more so depending on where you live, because there’s so much climatological variation here. How we celebrate the various seasons really does depend on where one lives.

In North Carolina, for instance, we have our own leaf-peeper season in fall, too. Just try to get a hotel room in Asheville in mid-October. I dare you. Summer is crazy hot here, spring is wonderful, and winter… well, winter can vary a bit, but it’s generally cold. Not much snow, but we get it. (In 2000, we got over two feet of it where I live.)

I got home, started up the washing machine, and crashed. It was a successful trip in all sorts of ways.

I want to go back to Kyoto and spend some serious time there drinking it all in.

But next time, I think I’ll do it in spring.

Nijo Castle (Sunday, Part 1)

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Nov 272011

Wow. If yesterday was busy, today might just have been busier. It’s a tough call.

I got up at 6:30, took my time getting ready, and then got stuck thinking about where I wanted to go to first, so I didn’t check out until 9:00 a.m.

When I got on the train to Kyoto at Shin-Osaka, it was jammed, so I had to stand all the way to Kyoto.

This was the start of a trend.

I got to Kyoto, and had to find a locker. This was a problem. Yesterday, I got to the station nice and early, around 8:30, so there were plenty of lockers to choose from.

But today, I only got in at around 9:45, and by then, about all of the lockers were gone. It was a fight to find something to cram my bags into. I really recommend getting to the station as early as possible if you want to use the lockers on the weekends. They fill up fast, especially the big ones Americans like me like to use.

I managed to find a locker eventually. B1F of Kyoto Station is your friend, locker-seeking people.

No Leaves? No Worries!

After that, I decided to go to Nijo Castle. My logic went like this: it’s historic, a World Heritage Site, and should be relatively devoid of leaf gawkers. Nijo Castle was the Kyoto residence of the Shoguns for over 200 years, so it’s a good place to visit in Kyoto if you want to see some history, and you’ve already had your fill of shrines and temples.

It was perfect for what I wanted. The grounds were great. Very attractive, but not full of fall colors to attract huge crowds. Well, there were some trees to look at, but since it wasn’t in any of the magazines, there wasn’t a huge crush of people.

Entering the main east gate:

There was one guy who created a small stir around him– he was taking pictures of some kind of action figure around the castle. As long as it’s fun, keep on keepin’ on.

The main castle was interesting. The main attraction for me were the “Nightingale Floors,” which squeaked like crazy so that nobody could sneak up on you.

Coming to the Kara-mon, which is the entry to the Ninomaru Palace (where the “Nightingale Floors” are.):

Entering the Kara-mon:

The old Carriage Receiving Area in front of the Ninomaru Palace:

After my tour of the interior of the Ninomaru Palace (no photography allowed), I saw these two bells outside of the entry/exit:

I turned down a path that led into the Ninomaru Palace Garden, and turned back to look at the palace building:

Looking down at the Kuroshoin:

The main pond at the Ninomaru Palace Gardens:

After that, I headed to the Honmaru portion of Nijo Castle. Here’s the bridge over the inner moat, leading to the main gate to the Honmaru:

Right after passing through the gate:

The Honmaru is actually a building from the Kyoto Imperial Palace. It replaces an older castle building here that burned down:

Another shot of the Honmaru, as I’m walking by:

After that, I climbed up the remains of the old donjon, where there’s a neat viewing platform, and took this photo of the Honmaru area:

Here’s a shot of the western gate leading out of the Honmaru, over the inner moat, from the top of the old Donjon:

When I finished up the main route through the castle and grounds, I wound up at the far corner of things, about 1 Km away from the entrance, so I had to hike all the way back to the entrance. It wasn’t as bad as it sounds.

On the way to the exit, I found the Koun-Tei. (I think it’s a place to have tea?):

It looked beautiful reflected in the pond:

The landscaping was nice. The ginkgo trees were especially pretty, because their leaves were a brilliant shade of yellow:

Some gnarled-looking trees:

After all of that, I headed to the bus stop outside of the Castle. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do next until I saw a bus go by that said “Kinkakuji” on it, and figured, “What the heck. I haven’t been there in a few years.” Then I looked inside the bus, and it was jammed all the way to the entrance doors. There was no way to even get on the bus, unless you just pushed your way on.

The people ahead of me in line were apparently not familiar with the concept of just cramming yourself in the bus, which is as applicable as it is on subways. It’s not like the next bus is going to be any LESS crowded, so you’re going to have to suck it up eventually if you want to get anywhere. There is no magically empty bus waiting for you, my dear princes and princesses. This is the height of tourist season, and everyone is on that bus, and everyone else is going to be on the next bus.

I met a nice guy from India while standing in line for the bus who went to the University of Michigan, so we chatted while waiting for the next bus to show up. Then we gritted our teeth and shoved our way on.

I’ll continue this in a “part 2” post, too, because it’s getting long.

Arashiyama (Saturday, Part 2)

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Nov 262011

I was in Kyoto Station. I headed over to the platform to grab a train to Arashiyama, but first I grabbed some sandwiches at the shop there, and gobbled them down on the platform to save money on cafes. I almost missed my train.

I made it to Arashiyama, and headed out of the station there. The crowds were massive. As I headed out of the station, I saw a bicycle rental shop right there. I wasn’t interested this time (because it’s impossible to bike in these crowds), but it’s something to keep in mind for next time.

I headed towards the main street in Arashiyama, and it was jam-packed with people. That was almost more interesting than the shops and the few street performers I saw.

Arashiyama’s main street is full of restaurants and souvenir shops that are designed to separate you from your cash. If you like browsing and eating, it’s definintely worth a trip.

I decided to head on over towards the giant bamboo forest I saw in one of the brochures for Arashiyama, because it looked interesting. In reality, it looked okay, but didn’t quite match up to the level of the magazines and brochures. (Of course.)

I lowered my camera a bit, and you can see the crowds!

One amazing thing: I spotted trash cans in Arashiyama! I could toss out my sandwich box from Kyoto Station there. Awesome. (No I did not take a picture. I probably should have.)

In the middle of the bamboo forest, I walked past a beautiful Shinto shrine, Nonomiya Jinja. It had great fall colors around its front gates, so there was a huge crowd trying to take pictures.

Getting around was kind of difficult at times, because there was a rickshaw service whose rickshaws were pretty big, and they would force the pedestrians out of the way so one or two people could get by. One guy would run in front of the rickshaw to clear the mob of people out of the way so the rickshaw could go through (although usually it was 2 or 3 rickshaws), and then another guy would bring up the rear.

It was really annoying.

Train Spotting

After that, I came upon the main JR line, and had to wait for some trains to pass, so I took some train photos as they went by. I wasn’t the only person doing that. Trains are a bit of an obsession for some people here. It stands to reason: there’s a huge variety of models, and some of them look kind of cool. And there are enough varieties of trains and railway lines that fans can probably argue for days on end about which is the coolest.

I love this woman’s body language as the train approaches:

Yup, it’s a train all right!

Back into the bamboo forest for a bit more.

My walking had an objective, and that was Nision-in temple. But I saw a lot of pretty sights along the way, like this cottage:

And this really big field:

Looking back at the way I came (same really big field!):

Nision-In Temple

I did some more walking, and then I finally wound up at Nision-in temple, on the side of a mountain. The views were great, and the foliage was pretty, too. I climbed the steep stone stairs up the side of the mountain for some great views of Arashiyama and Kyoto in the distance.

Entering the temple grounds:

Going through the gate (I like this photo a lot):

Inside the temple grounds:

The Honden, if I remember correctly:

A big bell you could ring:

Then I climbed a bunch of stairs into the cemetery on the top of the hill, and saw this beautiful view of Arashiyama and Kyoto:

To give you an idea of how steep the stairs were– going down was a little scary:

All in all, it’s a beautiful temple, and the walk there from the main street was also gorgeous as well. There were lots of fall colors and great scenery along the way. Another nice part about it: it wasn’t as crowded as the main street, and it definitely wasn’t as crowded as Kyoto.

Then I headed back towards the main street in Arashiyama again (still busy!):

I took a short break on a bench by some vending machines. That was a lifesaver. I had a Coke. It was in one of those oil can style aluminum bottles I only see in Japan:

Revived, I headed down the main street, all the way towards the Togetsukyou bridge, another famous Arashiyama landmark.

The sun was starting to set, so the scenery around there was especially pretty. The sun goes behind the mountains pretty early in that part of Arashiyama.

After all of that, I decided to head back to Kyoto Station. I had some fun trying to find new ways to get to the JR station in Arashiyama, but I eventually got there.

Dinner Time

In Kyoto, I decided to have dinner at Kyoto Station, on the 11th floor in a place called The Cube, where you can find a bunch of different restaurants. Tonight I decided on an Italian restaurant that I had eaten at 4 years ago. The food was good then, and it was still good now.

500 yen got me 3 pieces of cheese, 3 slices of tomato, and some basil. Yikes. But I got a decent pizza for 1200 yen. I ordered a slice of cake for dessert that was only slightly more challenging than a Rubik’s Cube to open. It was bound in some kind of plastic that was apparently also used to seal away demons, but the cake was delicious.

Generally, food in Japan is expensive. Add to that the crappy dollar-yen conversion rate, and it’s even more expensive.

OMG Osaka!

Sated, I headed down to the lockers to get my bags out, and headed to Osaka for the night.

The train ride from Kyoto to Shin-Osaka only took about 23 minutes, then a 10 minute wander through the maze that is Shin-Osaka station to the subway, and 1 stop to Nishi-something-or-other to the hotel.

That’s an interesting neighborhood. I got a weird vibe as soon as I left the station, but I shrugged it off. I got to the hotel, settled in, cleaned up, and headed out to get some food: breakfast for tomorrow and a late evening snack.

As I was looking for the 7-11, I was propositioned by not 1, but 2 very eager “massage therapists.” Yeah, it turns out it was that kind of neighborhood. They were aggressive, too. But I just kept on walking, got my food, headed back (alone!), and passed out.

Long day, but lots of stuff done.

Tofukuji (Saturday, Part 1)

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Nov 262011

Today was a very busy day.

Before I headed out for sightseeing, I tried begging at the APA Hotel for another night. No luck.

So I grabbed my stuff, and raced to Kyoto Station and managed to grab one of the last lockers in the basement area. They were pretty much full by 8:30 a.m.

Soft-sided luggage is a godsend, because I can squish it into a smaller locker. The softer, the better. The less of it, the better, too.

Then I grabbed a local train to Tofukuji to see the temple there.

On the way to Tofukuji, I saw my first pretty red leaves:

As I was walking, I saw a place called Rikkyou-An, and it had a lovely garden inside.

The sign says, “Do not enter to take photos:”

In Japan, people tend to follow the rules:

Then I arrived at the entrance to Tofukuji. It was packed, and the line was huge.

Tofukuji

It seems as if all of Japan has descended on Kyoto to stare at red leaves. I started my day by going to Tofukuji Temple, which a number of magazines recommended as a top place to see the fall colors.

That was my first mistake: relying on popular Japanese travel magazines. Japan is a group-oriented society, and everyone reads the same things, including the same travel magazines, so everyone was at the same place.

It was insane. Scores of people cornering some random trees with red leaves, shooting photo after photo.

Yes, they’re pretty, but are they that pretty?

We’re surrounded by 1,400 years of culture, countless UNESCO World Heritage sites, and nobody cares. It’s all about the leaves.

It’s somewhat mystifying.

That said, I managed to get caught up in the leaf frenzy too. I found myself taking lots of pictures of red trees and their red, red, leaves.

Have a look:

This is the Tsutenkyo Bridge, from the entry to the temple:

A little closer in:

I finally got into the temple complex proper, and it was busy:

We had to line up for all sorts of things:

The crowd was crushingly heavy. Folks were pushing, elbows, shoulders, bodies, all straining to get the same perfect shot that everyone else has of the same red leaves.

Looking back at the entryway I came across from my vantage point on the Tsutenkyo Bridge:

I wandered over to the Kaisando Hall:

The Kaisando has a Wet Side:

And a Dry Side:

Then I started to head back. I saw this lovely gate. I forget which one it is, though:

One last trip across the Tsutenkyo Bridge, fighting the crowds:

And after an hour of that, I left. Tofukuji is a very nice place to visit just about any other time of the year. The do leaves make it really pretty. It’s just the crowds that make it unbearable. Pick a weekday or come some other time of year.

I ran into a couple from the U.S., and we engaged in that usual activity of foreigners in Japan, which is a bit of head-shaking at the things we don’t quite understand. I’m sure everyone does it a bit when they travel somewhere.

Goodbye Welcome Inn

I headed back to the station. It was 11 a.m., so I stopped by the Welcome Inn Reservation Center for the last time. They are closing it permanently after the 30th. Shoot. Anyway, I tried to see if I could scrounge up a western-style hotel room, in a 40-mile radius, but didn’t have any luck. The lady suggested that I try the travel agencies in the station.

I decided to give Nippon Travel a shot, and waited a bit to see an agent. He managed to find the last hotel room in Osaka, at the Business Hotel Consort. I took it for 5,000 yen. What the heck. It’s not the most exciting name for a hotel, but beggars can’t be choosers tonight. My only other option is sacking out at an internet cafe, and while I’d like to try that sometime, I’m fine with being in a regular hotel, too.

After reserving a room for the night, I went to the Kyoto City info center for ideas, because after dealing with the morning’s crowds, I was stumped for what to do next. I didn’t want to go to another temple or shrine that was as crowded as Tofukuji and fight leaf peepers all day.

I asked one of the consultants there if there was a way to avoid the crowds and still soak in some of the Kyoto atmosphere.

He laughed.

Then he recommended Arashiyama. It was actually a pretty good idea, because Arashiyama has enough room to spread out.

Sort of. Anyway, Arashiyama is pretty.

This post is already long because of the photos, so let’s continue it in part two.

First Night in Kyoto

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Nov 252011

Man, I’m tired. I raced back to the apartment after JBPP, frantically packed, tossed out anything I didn’t need, repacked, still had too much, but left anyway. Yuck. Too heavy. I tried to take the bike to the station, but realized instantly that that was a horrible idea. The walk to the station wasn’t much better.

I really want to be one of those dudes who can just travel with a toothbrush and a spare pair of underpants. Seriously, how do they do that?

I managed to get a seat on the train to Nagoya, then grabbed a Nozomi to Kyoto.

PINning Down My Tickets

Here’s a tip: if you want to use a credit card, and you don’t have or remember your PIN number, buy your shinkansen tickets at a smaller station and talk to a human, if you can speak Japanese.

If you can’t, then go to the bigger stations, like Nagoya or Tokyo, and stand in line. The people working the counters there speak excellent English, or can find someone who does. (I learned this in 2007.)

If I had gotten my ticket at Okazaki instead of Nagoya, I would have saved 20-30 minutes of standing in line.

If you have/know your PIN, just use the machines. It’s a LOT faster. But if you’re trying to do something complex, humans are more helpful.

Hello Kyoto

I got to Kyoto at around 6:30, then headed straight to the APA Hotel, which was right outside of JR Kyoto. Fortunately, I had my confirmation number with me, because nobody in either Japan or the US can spell my name to save their lives.

The room was okay, but pricey: 10,000 yen.

I checked in, crashed for a few minutes, then headed over to Bic Camera to finally get a circular polarizer. I’ve been putting off buying one for too long. I looked around a bit, and found one.

Then I headed up to the restaurants on the 11th floor of Isetan, because it was starting to get late.

The Christmas decorations are already up:

I found a good okonomiyaki shop, and had a good modern yaki with bacon. That’s good stuff!

After that, I headed down to the second floor of the station, and went to Cafe du Monde for a beignet… only to find out that the Cafe du Monde in Kyoto Station does not serve beignets. What the hell?? It’s Cafe freakin’ du Monde! They do sell hot dogs and coffee. But no beignets? There was a Mister Donut next to it, so I waited for 10 minutes and ordered some donut-looking things from them.

It Has a Hole in the Middle

As I headed out of the station, I took a couple of photos of the Kyoto Tower Hotel, which was very purple tonight:

Then I went to the Lawson outside of the station, and it was jammed full of people. It was a madhouse. I decided to go ahead and get breakfast as well as beverages, because I wanted to save a trip here in the morning. (Seriously, it was nuts.)

I headed back to the room.

My room if full of amenities. See?

Then I ate my donuts. The MisDo (as they call Mister Donut here) donuts were really mediocre, like not very good grocery store donuts that had all of the flavor chased out of them by the bland police. Frankly, Harris-Teeter’s chocolate donuts taste better, and they’re average at best.

Now I understand why the lines at Krispy Kreme are so long here; these people haven’t been eating proper doughnuts! (There’s a difference between donuts and doughnuts, but I don’t want to get into it right now.)

The MisDo chocolate donut just tasted like it was… brown flavored.

I called home to let them know I was still alive, then I sacked out early. Gotta get up early, too. Tomorrow will probably be chaotic on a level I haven’t seen yet.

My Manly Hat

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Nov 242011

Two of my classmates, N-san and the other N-san, mocked my 1000 yen gloves. They told me that I should have bought them at the Daiso, the local 100 yen shop. Of course, they pride themselves on getting the absolute best bargains, no matter what.

But I’m a little leery of buying 100 yen clothes, because I’m afraid I’m going to get some kind of awful rash or something. “It’s 100 yen for a reason,” is how I see it.

That said, tonight was extra cold, so on my way to ZigZag, when I stopped off at the Daiso to look for light bulbs (mine have been dying off at an alarming rate), I found a great 100 yen ç”·å‰ otokomae, or “manly” hat.

I couldn’t find any decent light bulbs, though.

The hat itches like hell, and looks like a 100 yen hat. But it keeps my head warm.

No rash, either. Not yet, anyway.

It’s black, so it makes me look like a burglar in one of those Hollywood “heist” movies.

In other news, D who runs ZigZag says he’ll take my excess supplies. That’s good news. It would be awful if I was forced to throw them away when I leave in a few weeks. I’m sure he can make something delicious out of them.

I managed to find a hotel for Kyoto… for Friday night. No luck at all for Saturday night. The whole town is booked solid. I’ll probably just stay at an Internet cafe. It’ll be an adventure!

Feeling the Heat, and the Cold

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Nov 232011

Today was the real deal interview test in JBPP. That was pressure I could feel.

The interviewers were a couple of our teachers, but it was still stressful, because they were asking hard questions, and I not only had to answer in Japanese, I had to answer in the proper degree of polite Japanese.

That’s enough to make my brain melt a little.

I also had to remember to knock, open the door, bow, stand, sit, etc. all in the proper fashion.

It’s a lot to remember, but I think I did okay.

Family Mart Rocks

After class, I went to Domy to get some groceries, and got some good deals on the various stuff on sale, like bananas.

It’s been really cold these past few days, and I’ve been miserable. I really underpacked for the weather, and the lack of American-sized clothes here is killing me. I can’t find anywhere around here that sells anything larger than a medium.

Japan’s XL is America’s M. Well, slightly larger than M, but effectively M, because it’s smaller than L even. Japan’s XXL is just about an L. I’m an XL guy, so it’s been an exercise in futility trying to find anything that would fit me.

Even if I drop 20-30 pounds, it won’t change the fact that I have big lungs, big shoulders, and a large rib cage.

But on my way out of the Family Mart tonight, I got a reprieve. I saw that they were selling Thinsulate gloves for 1000 yen. That will help a lot. They even offered to cut the tags off for me at the register.

That was pretty awesome.

Brief Update

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Nov 212011

I got my sakubun test results back: I did pretty well, so I’m pleased.

Today in JBPP, we practiced asking for favors. It appears that doing so requires a great deal of the proper cushioning.

This week looks like it’s going to be pretty quiet, so I’m going to try to go to Kyoto from Friday – Sunday if I can find a room.

That’s going to be hard, because the leaves are peaking, and all of Japan wants to go there.

Okazaki-jo and Anjo

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Nov 202011

I decided to go to Okazaki Castle today, to continue my Tokugawa-themed weekend. The weather started out really nice today, so I just wore a T-shirt and my black windbreaker, because it was a little windy.

There are two options to get to the Castle from where I live. Option one: walk/bike there. It’s about 3 miles away, so it’ll take about 30 minutes or so. I would also have to walk/bike back. Option two: take the train. Sounds much faster, but it isn’t. Upside is that at least by taking the train, I don’t use up too much energy to do so. (Other than the energy it takes to get to JR Okazaki.)

On the way to the station, I took a few photos:

The bike shop that moved out a few weeks ago has already been turned into a flat lot. That was fast.

I pass by this rice field every day on the way to school. It’s a little strange having a rice field in the middle of a sprawling suburban city like Okazaki, but it’s also kind of cool.

I like the dog’s expression in this sign:

To get to the castle, I needed to take the Aichi Line, and one thing to keep in mind is that the Aichi Line isn’t run by JR. It’s a different company, so I needed a different ticket, which I could buy outside of the wicket.

Like a doofus, I used my SUICA card, and caused all sorts of problems when I got to the station near Okazaki Castle. I’m sure they see that all the time, though. A few hundred yen and a ticket later, everything was solved.

The Matsudairas’ Place

I got to Okazaki Castle Park, and made my way to the castle.

Here’s a map so we don’t get lost:

First, the park. This bridge leads to a shrine I didn’t go to, but it’s very photogenic:

The park was very pretty, and I bet it would be even more so in Spring.

The castle itself is five stories high, and hiding behind a couple of pine trees.

There were two tickets available. For 200 yen, you can just go up the castle, or for 500 yen, you can go up the castle and to the Ieyasu and Mikawa Bushido Museum next door. I paid 500 yen, because it sounded like a good deal to me.

As I climbed up the donjon, I took a look at the various exhibits about Okazaki’s various feudal lords, and some of the stuff they found on the site. Nothing particularly earth-shattering, but interesting if you live in Okazaki, and can read/speak Japanese.

One fact of note: it’s not the original castle. Most of the castles you see in Japan aren’t original. Many were torn down after the Meiji Restoration, or were destroyed in World War II. Most were rebuilt in the 1950s to spur on tourism, and/or preserve history, depending on your point of view. How accurate they are is a good question.

I made it to the 5th floor observation deck, and the wind was just howling. It must have been around 30-40 MPH, and it was cold. I was starting to regret my wardrobe choice. I really need more warm clothes. It’s getting chilly here!

There was a chain link fence up all around the balcony, so I couldn’t use my Canon EOS to take pictures.

This is what happens with a regular SLR:

Instead, I snuck the lens of my IXY through the gaps in the grid to get some decent shots of the Okazaki skyline. About as decent as you’ll get for a 13,000 yen camera, anyway.

I knitted some of the shots into a panorama or two. The first one is a wee bit wobbly if you zoom in on it at Flickr.

I headed down and took some photos of the park and the exterior of the castle and the museum, and went inside.

A statute of Motoyasu Matsudaira (who I’m pretty sure became Tokugawa Ieyasu):

A really cool clock made out of flowers:

Another interesting clock closer to the museum:

Finally, the Ieyasu and Mikawa Bushido Museum:

The museum is all about the Tokugawas and the battle of Sekigahara. Pretty interesting stuff, if you know your Japanese history. (I’m a little shaky.) They had the famous spear Tonbogiri as well. Well, the spearhead, anyway. One of Ieyasu’s generals wielded that one.

They had a neat exhibit where you could try lifting some mock weapons to see how heavy the real things were, and they had some armor you could try on to see how “comfortable” it was. Not bad for 300 yen.

If you have kids, that might be pretty fun if you’re in or near Okazaki for the day. Not fun enough to bring them across Japan to see it, unless they’re really big history buffs, but fun if you’re close by.

Yeah, I Like Shodo, So Sumi!

After that, I headed off to Anjo to pick up some calligraphy brushes for a friend of mine back in the US. I found a promising-looking shop by doing lots of searching online in Google Maps. The tricky bit is knowing what search terms to use. That took a bit of work, actually.

Leaving the park and heading back to the station to go to Anjo:

I took the Meitetsu line to Shin-Anjo and walked about half a kilometer to the shop. The lady there helped me a lot. She showed me some of their brushes, and let me try one out with water and one of those sheets that you can write with water on. You write with water on it, and it gets dark, then as it dries, it goes back to being all the same color again. It’s good for practicing calligraphy, or just for trying out brushes, but keep in mind that water does not flow like real ink does.

I found a good brush for my friend for around 3,000 yen (which is a good price for a practice brush), and then started searching for good practice-grade paper. I learned a lot about paper that day from the shop owner.

I have so much to learn about calligraphy, that I could probably spend the rest of my life on that alone and not even get close to mastering it. But I did find some good practice paper. I got 1,000 sheets for myself, and I’ll come back before I leave to pick up 1,000 more for my friend.

We chatted a bit in Japanese. I keep saying it, but it’s true: knowing some Japanese is the key to having everything go smoothly here.

Why? Because she gave me some freebies and a discount, too!

I think seeing a foreigner who could speak Japanese and write with a brush come to her shop to buy calligraphy supplies made her day. It was a great experience for me, too.

By the time I finished up with my purchases, it was already dark, and time to head home. As I opened the shop door to leave, the first thing that I noticed was that it was freezing outside.

Note to self: next time, check the weather forecast before you go out!

Also, buy some warmer gear!

I’m Only Happy When It Rains

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Nov 192011

It was pouring rain, but I decided to go to Nagoya anyway. Since my plans to go to Kyoto this weekend were ruined, I refused to sit in my apartment all day. I was itching to go out and do something.

My pants got soaked twice by the time I rode my bike to the station. I stopped off on the way to the station at the school, and hung out in Aoi Hall for a few minutes while I tried to dry off. Then when I headed back out again, I got soaked almost immediately.

I have a pair of North Face hiking pants that are supposed to dry quickly, and they do, but they also get wet quickly in a downpour, umbrella or no umbrella. Oh well.

Nothing Is More Refreshing Than the Rain

Meanwhile, at the station, JR Tokai was having its “Sawayaka Walking Tour,” or “Refreshing Walking Tour” of Okazaki event going on today. They are holding the event all over the Tokai region on various days.

I suppose it’s refreshing today, in the same way a cold shower while being fully clothed is refreshing.

I grabbed a train to Nagoya, and headed to the Mermaid Cafe for a quick bite because I skipped breakfast. Then I went to the information booth at the station to find the fastest way to get to the Tokugawa Art Museum. I started asking in Japanese, but she forced me into English.

I didn’t think my Japanese was that bad. Maybe her desire to use English was just stronger than my desire to use Japanese.

She showed me the city bus lines and the tourist bus lines. I decided on the city line, because it was cheaper, and because I thought it would be faster.

Back out in the soaking rain, the bus shows up at 2:35 instead of 2:20, and doesn’t get to the stop I want until 3:10.

Maybe the tourist buses would have been faster.

Also, every time the bus stopped, the engine cut off. Every time it got ready to move, the engine started up, and the driver announced that he’s going to move the bus.

That’s one major difference between Japan and the US.

The Tokugawa Art Museum

I got off at my stop and started trying to find the museum, and it was still pouring rain. I got soaked for the fourth time by now, I think. I found it eventually.

Here it is!

The museum had some really neat exhibits. There were swords from the 12th century on display, and a special exhibition of a lot of material from the Tale of Genji— manuscripts, etc., and they had a lot of tea ceremony stuff and incense burners on display, too. Actually, they had quite a lot of those on display.

If you like cultural stuff, then I’d recommend it.

The gardens are supposed to be really nice, but since it was late Fall and pouring rain, I can’t say one way or another.

You be the judge:

More Book Shopping!

At 4:30, I headed out and grabbed a cab to go to Ozone station. The driver was a nice guy. We had a nice talk about politics, in Japanese, of course.

Once again, I must reiterate the importance of speaking the language, wherever you go. You don’t have to be great at it, but people will generally appreciate it if you try to speak their language. I find I get a whole lot more out of living here by speaking Japanese. I can’t imagine living here longer than a few weeks without speaking it.

Also, talking to everyone in Japanese is great practice. And fun, too! I learn a whole lot more about Japan by talking to people than by reading books or watching TV. Maybe it’s my reporter background kicking in.

From Ozone, I took a JR line train to Chi-something, then grabbed the subway to Sakae to look at a couple of calligraphy supply shops. The first one was pretty good. It’s in one of the municipal buildings, and has a really good selection.

The second shop one was more of an art supply shop, and didn’t have what I was looking for, but it still had some nice stuff if you’re into brush painting more so than calligraphy.

After that, I headed to Osu again. I found a couple of used games, and did a little shopping at a book store where the music was so loud, I thought my ears were going to bleed. I stopped by Mandarake, because they have used games as well as interesting old toys, too. (Like old Godzillas and stuff like that. All ungodly expensive, but it sure takes me back!)

Then I went back to JR Nagoya, to check out Sanseido on the 11th floor. They have a nice collection of books for Japanese language learners, but it took me a few minutes to find it.

After that, I picked up some more doughnuts at Krispy Kreme, then stopped at Mokumoku for dinner.

I got home around 10:30 pm, by which time the rain had stopped, so my bike ride home wasn’t so bad. I got a full day in in spite of the rain.

I win!

Cushion Words Are Not a Kind of Pillow Talk

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Nov 182011

Woot. Friday. The weeks are getting more intense, work-wise.

I talked to one of my classmates, P-san, for a bit. She’s a nice person, and easy to talk to. We usually wind up talking in English instead of Japanese. She’s got a lot of interesting things to say, and she’s been through a lot, so it’s always fun to compare notes with someone who’s experienced a lot.

He Stuffs His Phrases with Cushions!

JBPP was about asking people for favors again, using lots of “cushion words.” Sounds much more comfortable than it is.

The concept is that some things are just not to be broached without a set phrase to “soften the blow.” And these phrases are called “cushion words.”

For example, you might start off by apologizing (without the other party even knowing why, but that’s what works), or apologizing for interrupting, or apologizing for interrupting at such a busy time, etc.

And the request itself is softened, too. “I realize that you’re terribly busy, but if you have a moment today, could you please take a look at this, it would really be a great help.”

That sort of thing, only in polite Japanese.

We use cushion words in English, too, but I think my fellow Americans use much less padding sometimes, at least internally. For dealing with customers, we use a lot of cushion words, too, we just may not realize it.

Beer + FaceBook = Bad Choices

This evening I went to ZigZag for dinner and a beer again.

I was reminded again that people can be scary, no matter what country you’re in. Alchol makes this worse.

Tonight’s example: One of the local women was trying to stalk one of the students online because she fell in love with his hair. To be more precise, she fell in love with a picture of him, so she wanted his name so she could find his FaceBook page… yeah.

So now you know where stalkers sometimes come from: beer + Facebook.

Not to Brag, But I Think I Did Well on My Tests…

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Nov 172011

The writing and conversation exams weren’t as bad as I thought they would be. It turned out that we could use what we had written beforehand and just copy everything over in class. I’m glad K-san pointed that out to me, or else I would have been totally screwed.

Part of the whole Yamasa experience is learning how they do things here. There’s so much they do here that’s just not how I’m used to doing things, and sometimes the details that everyone just sort of “knows” can slip by a newbie like me.

I really have to ask even more questions than I normally ask!

Fortunately, the conversation exam was pretty much the same as we had practiced in class. I decided to raise the politeness level a bit, and use some of the business Japanese knowledge I have picked up here. I made a couple of mistakes, but overall I think I did okay.

Regardless of test scores, I know that my speaking and writing ability have improved a great deal over the last month of class. Class here is intense, and every day feels like a week of Japanese compared to when I took it in grad school. I wish I had more time and money to spend more than just three months here, but that’s life. I’m trying to wring as much out of this experience as I can, both in polishing my Japanese, gaining marketable skills, and enjoying being here.

One of the lessons I have learned many times over in life is to enjoy things while I can, because I can never take for granted that “Oh, it’ll always be there, so I can just go back.” Sadly, the world is not that predictable.

There’s a Right and a Wrong Way To Open a Door.

Today’s JBPP class was on “How to Conduct Yourself in a Job Interview.”

There’s a whole pile of social knowledge tied into how to open doors, when and where to bow, how to sit, where to put your hands, where to look, all of that. It’s somewhat stressful, because there’s so much to keep straight without one’s head exploding.

Yes, there is a right way to open a door, and a wrong way to do it, down to the number of times you knock. Even approaching and sitting down in the interviewee’s chair is a task that is fraught with peril. For example, never, ever, stand to the right of the chair. Why? Because it implies that you think you’re better than the company, which is represented by the chair.

I had no clue.

Also, never sit back in the chair. You have to sit on the edge of your seat. I’m not sure exactly why– I think it has to do with a feeling that if you sit back in the seat, you think you’re hot stuff, and an interview is not some place to get comfortable and show off. You need to show a certain amount of respect with your body language, and using the chair back does not convey that to Japanese interviewers.

You’re also not supposed to show off. In the US, interviewers expect a certain amount of self-marketing, to the point where job-seekers will point out how often they’ve been indispensable to every organization they’ve worked with. (In which case, why are they unemployed?)

In Japan, you have to walk a really careful line about that, because the culture here frowns on boasting, and loves the whole modesty thing, even if it’s false modesty. As my mother would say, “It’s just not done.” Germans and Japanese have a lot in common that way.

I imagine it’s going to take me a while to figure out how to walk that tightrope.

ZigZag Heals All Wounds

In the evening, I went to ZigZag again for dinner, socializing, and the cheapest Guinness stout in all of Japan. It’s one of my favorite places to kick back and relax.

Yay, ZigZag!

I Regret Nothing… Except Maybe Not Buying a Decent Binder.

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Nov 152011

Had to skip first period today because I wasn’t feeling too well. I’m still feeling crummy tonight, but I soldiered on and went to class anyway.

We have a conversation and composition exam on Thursday, and I need to get ready for that. I have to finish my “regrettable episode” essay for that, and I’m racking my brain to think of something suitably regrettable. I’ll look over some of my previous posts for fodder.

I spent all evening trying to organize my in-class handouts, only to realize that it’s impossible with the tools that I have. We get these giant handouts that are the size of giant place mats, and they’re really difficult to wrangle.

I have tried to cut them in two and stuff them into these “clear file” binder things, but while it works well for the JBPP handouts, it’s not really cutting it for the giant class handouts. The JBPP handouts are A4-sized, so it’s easier to fit them in.

I took a look at what some of my classmates do for the general class stuff, and what I think what really need are binders and a hole punch. Trying to fit these giant printouts in a clear file is just not going to work unless I cut the handouts to ribbons.

Oh, those cool erasable pens everyone’s using? Yeah, turns out the ink will vanish when exposed to high temperatures. Better not leave my notes on the car dashboard or anything like that. Yikes.

I Thought I Smelled Smoke…

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Nov 142011

There was a fire this morning down the street. I heard the sirens wailing all morning long. I figured something was up, but since the earth didn’t shake any, I didn’t think it was anything too widespread. S-kun from class talked to the police, and they said it was probably caused by a cigarette– somebody fell asleep smoking. Apparently that happens a lot here.

Unlike the US, Japan still like cigarettes.

I lucked out in one regard today: S-sensei skipped today’s quiz. It was nice to have a break from that for a change. Mondays are still a little rough. Okay, not as rough as they could be.

I learned some fun new phrases in JBPP today: ã”é æ…®ãªã and ã”å¿ƒé…ãªã (Don’t hold yourself back, and don’t worry, but very polite versions.) I also learned that å¾Œã»ã© can be anything from 15 minutes to never. Sort of like “later,” I guess.

Makes Me Want to Eat My Phone!

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Nov 132011

Started off the day by going to Book-Off in Okazaki on 248 to check on a few things. For starters, don’t even bother trying to find Japanese textbooks at Book-Off, because they don’t seem to carry them. I did find some other cheap books there, though.

I headed back to the apartment to drop off my used books, then headed to JR Okazaki to head off to Nagoya again. It was a late start, so I didn’t get to Nagoya until 3:30, and I finally got to Maruzen in Sakae around 4:30 or so. I spent a lot of time looking at book covers. Maruzen has a lot of book covers there, and in a lot of sizes, but unfortunately, they don’t have any big enough to deal with the ultra-thick books I’ve been buying lately.

I went back to the 3rd floor to look at the Japanese language education books again. They have a really good selection. I picked up some good practice books, because for some reason, I suck at particles. I really want to fix the stuff I keep getting wrong.

I Discovered Oatmeal!

Then I went to the grocery store next door, it’s in the Meiji-ya Sakae building. (Look for æ˜Žæ²»å±‹æ „.)

The store had a lot of neat “foreign” foods, and a nice selection. It even had Odlum’s Steel Cut Oats, which are sold in the U.S. as McCann’s. Of course, now I feel like a fool for shipping so much oatmeal over in the first place, but I had no idea they would have oatmeal, let alone proper steel cut oatmeal, in Japan. It’s really smashing stuff for breakfast.

Book-Off was having a 105 yen sale, so I grabbed a few books (yeah, I just bought some in Okazaki, now I’m buying more in Sakae).

After that, I headed over to Osu to see if I could find the Kenkyuusha dictionary for my electronic dictionary at the big electronics store there. No luck. I went to one of the used video game stores there, and found Valkyria Chronicles 3 for the PSP for 1200 yen.

This Time, Try Asking Someone

I decided to go back to JR Nagoya and check Bic Camera again to see if I could get my hands on that Kenkyuusha dictionary. This time I decided to ask around a bit. After some asking around and explaining, the salesperson found a copy of the dictionary I wanted. It’s the Kenkyuusha 5th edition å’Œè‹± dictionary for the Casio electronic dictionaries. Score!

I used all of the points I had saved up for now to reduce the cost of the dictionary by about 2500 yen. See, this is where point cards are really handy. A 12,000 yen dictionary only cost me about 9,500 yen. Still expensive, but much cheaper than the paper version, which runs around 20,000 yen, and it fits in my pocket. (Sort of.)

Makes Me Want to Eat My Phone

I looked around to see if I could find a privacy guard for my Nexus One. I couldn’t find one that would fit, but I did see a lot of crap I can glue on my cell phone.

They had all kinds of fake crystals and candy and cupcakes and such… I think I’ll pass for now. I don’t want to cut my hands to shreds on platic candy. (Or see plastic candy all the time and get hungry.)

All of this running around made me hungry, so I headed to Mokumoku again to store up on more vegetables and that great beef stew. I really needed those veggies, even if they cost 2500 yen. (Hey, it’s all you can eat.) Dinner was once again delicious, even if my wallet took a hit. I’ll make up for it during the week by eating cheaply.

I know, I could buy local vegetables and make them more cheaply, but I don’t have the time for it right now.

I made it back to JR Okazaki at 10 pm, and got home at about 10:15 or so. I stopped at Family Mart to get some sandwiches, because I eat Spartan during the week. (If Spartans ate pre-made convenience store ham sandwiches, anyway.)

Installing the Dictionary

I spent about an hour installing the dictionary. I had to run it in Vista emulation mode to get it to run in Win 7-64, then I had to load a piece of software from the Casio website just to get the laptop to recognize the electronic dictionary. Pain in the butt, but it works.

If you have trouble installing dictionaries or getting your Casio recognized by Windows 7, I would head to the Casio Japanese website and look for the bonus software for the Ex-Word series. Installing it will install the correct USB drivers for detecting the Ex-Word series of electronic dictionaries. Now you can run the install software on the dictionary disc.

The good news is that you only have to do it once.

The Student’s New Clothes

Now I need to find some big & tall sports clothes. My North Face shirts are rapidly disintegrating, and it’s getting colder these days. Apparently, the velcro on my pants is chewing up the special knit fabric on the North Face shirts, so the net effect is that my shirts are rapidly getting torn up.

Argh.

The main problem is that Japanese men’s clothing sizes don’t go much beyond the US M size. That’s right, their XL is just a bit baggier than our M.

Nagoya and the Port Area.

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Nov 122011

It’s Saturday, and the sun was out. Amazing. Not one cloud in the sky.

I felt that I must go on an excursion in this lovely weather!

Carrier!

While I planned out the day’s activities, I watched a college basketball game between UNC (my alma mater) and Michigan State on an aircraft carrier in California via the Slingbox, which has decided to work again.

It’s weird when you think about it. From Japan, I watched a team from North Carolina play a team from Michigan on the deck of a ship in California, then the signal went to my house in NC, where it was then sent to me in Japan.

That kind of makes my head hurt.

After the game ended, I headed out to the station, and off to Nagoya. I noticed two things on the train ride over. First, the engineer was a woman. She’s the first woman engineer I’ve noticed so far. Cool. The second was not so cool. There was this really odd guy who was talking to himself, gesturing wildly, and going through incredible mood swings as trains came and went. I was just hoping he wouldn’t decide to suddenly heed the voice telling him to kill the big guy with the red hair 5 seats back.

There was also a guy in capri pants. No I don’t know why.

I got off at Kaneyama, so i could go to Atsuta Jinja, which is a pretty nice Shinto shrine in Nagoya with lots of history behind it. It’s where I saw an Iaido demo four years ago. It’s very park-like, but not very remarkable otherwise. It’s a nice place for a stroll, though. I was kind of hoping for something photo-worthy, but didn’t take any. Nothing really worth digging the camera out for. That said, it’s worth a trip if you’re in the area. It’s a nice place with a lot of history.

I did see a sakura tree blooming in the wrong season. So I can check that off the list. After the Nagoya Castle trip, I was kind of surprised to run into one there.

I probably should have taken a picture, but it wasn’t all that impressive, since all of the leaves were gone.

Port Call

After that, I headed to the subway station and took the train to the Port area. Getting to the Port area can be tricky if you don’t know your way around Nagoya’s subway. The purple line goes around Nagoya in a big circle, and then there’s a tail or spur of it that goes on to the Port area. You have to figure out which train you need to ride to get there. I managed to figure it out and headed down to the Port area, which took about 10-15 minutes. It’s at the end of the line.

I got out and wandered around a little bit. The first thing I noticed was a big orange boat.

The second thing I noticed was a Red Lobster.

Why there was a Red Lobster in Japan is one of those unanswerable questions for me. By the Port, no less. In a land that specializes in fresh seafood.

WHYYYY???

The area has a charm to it. I like the Port Bridge:

Speaking of fresh seafood, right next to the Red Lobster was the Nagoya Aquarium, which was chock full of aquatic species.

Since it was one of my objectives for the day, I headed on over. First off was the dolphin tank. They were very cute, but the water was kind of dirty.

Then I headed up to have a look at the dolphin show. It was included in the price of the ticket, so I might as well have a look. The dolphins were impressive, but I always have mixed feelings about performing dolphins. On the one hand, I’d rather they were free to do whatever they wanted to. But on the other, dolphins quite often get the short end of the stick in the wild, no thanks to us. And they did some impressive stuff.

After that, I headed to the aquarium proper, to do some staring at fish. There are lots of fish to stare at. I dunno… I’m not a huge fan of fish-staring. I tend to walk quickly through aquariums, unless they have something distinctive to hook me.

Fish sufficiently stared at, I left, and headed over to the Port Bridge, which is an interestingly designed footbridge that lets you cross one over from one side of the Port area to the other. (Well, I say Port area, but this is really just one little harbor. The whole Port area is much bigger.)

Some of the views from the bridge:

First the former icebreaker-turned-museum “Fuji”:

Another shot of the Aquarium:

And a shot of a passenger boat coming into port:

After that, I headed to the oddly-shaped Port Building, which has a really neat observation deck about 50 meters or so above the ground. There are some great views from there. I had to hustle to get there before everything closed, of course. Downside was that because I still haven’t bought a circular polarizer, I had a lot of reflections in the shots I took. Ugh. But I managed to get a few keepers. The views were spectacular as the sun set over the bay.

Sorry about the reflections!

Some shots of the port area:

A zoom-in of the amusement park:

A shot of the dolphin show stadium at the aquarium:

I like this angled shot:

The Triton bridge, off in the distance:

One last shot of the port area:

Finally, a shot looking towards downtown Nagoya:

This Really Is Turning Into A Shopping Blog, Isn’t It?

After that, I headed to Sakae and Book-Off, and had no luck finding books on Japanese Language study generally, and Minna no Nihongo, specifically. Naturally, tons of books in Japanese, but none of the books I wanted on Japanese, like textbooks and such. Well, I did find one. And I did find some light novels, too. I headed to Hisayaodori afterwards to pick up some new light novels as well.

I hopped a train to JR Nagoya and first stopped off at Krispy Kreme to get some doughnuts for snacking later this week, then dropped everything in a locker because it was getting heavy.

I headed to Bic Camera after that to see what was going on with the PS Vita pre-sales. They had finally managed to sell-out their pre-orders. I also took a look to see if they had any extra dictionaries for my Casio, but no luck. I’m trying to find the Kenkyuusha Japanese-English Dictionary for my new electronic dictionary.

I went to Mokumoku for dinner again. é£Ÿã¹æ”¾é¡Œ (ãŸã¹ã»ã†ã ã„ tabehoudai– all you can eat) is a scary thing. Mokumoku has some great food, especially the beef stew. It’s also good to get some vegetables in my system. I really can’t recommend Mokumoku enough if you just want to pound down some really fine organic food in Nagoya. It’s a little pricey, but then again, everything is pricey here.

I got home at 10:45 p.m. Long day, but fun.

Happy Pocky Day!

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Nov 112011

It’s Pocky Day here in Japan. In the US, it’s Veteran’s Day, because World War I ended on this day in 1918.

But we’re in Japan, and nobody cares about old European wars when you can have Pocky.

If you look at the numbers, 11-11-11, they all look like happy sticks of chocolate-covered Pocky, just waiting to be eaten!

Re-Making the Grade

Yesterday I got my grade back for my Bannou Fuku Meido presentation a couple of weeks ago. Not bad, considering where I’m coming from, ability-wise. I also got to hear about the test results of the first test. I retook the writing portion, because the first take was a bit of a mess. That involved editing my paper and handing it in for a grade, because there was a lot of red ink on that first paper.

But I did really well on the retake, so I’m happy.

At Yamasa You Get Do-Overs

At Yamasa, you can retake exams if you’re not happy with the results. You not only get to retake exams if you flunk them, you can also take them to improve your score.

That said, it’s extra work to retake the tests, so it’s not something to do to try to change that 95 into a full 100 points.

I’m not used to how to study for the classes here yet. In the US, I know how the system works really well. I know what’s expected, and what to expect on tests. Here, the problem is that I’m not entirely sure what’s going to be on the test, and since all of the instruction is in Japanese, if I miss something, I really miss it.

In JBPP news, I got my resume back. It was drenched in blo– err, red ink. I need to rewrite some chunks of it.

Shake, Rattle, and Roll… Or Just Shake.

There was an earthquake last night, or so I am told. Everyone felt it but me. Maybe I was too absorbed in whatever it was I was doing to notice it, or maybe it didn’t leave an impression on me. I dunno. Strangely I’m kind of bummed that I missed it. It’s kind of like missing the Big Event on TV everyone talks about the next day, but instead I was watching infomercials.

We had a pretty intense little earthquake along the East Coast in August. It lasted a good 30 seconds or so, and scared the crap out of everyone from NYC to South Carolina. Where I live in North Carolina, everything was swaying pretty well.

Last night’s earthquake must not have been very powerful, or maybe it was short.

Monkey In My Backyard

In other news, after class ended, I was talking to my classmates when some local police officers ran by, searching for a wild monkey on the loose. They searched all over the neighborhood, but they couldn’t catch the monkey.

I don’t like to get too close to wild monkeys, because they make me nervous. My mom always warned me that they can tear you to bits, and that has always kind of stuck with me. I’m not afraid of them, I just don’t want them near my face… or any of my more removable body parts, to be honest.

The monkey chase turned into a campus event. Some people went out to see if we could find the monkey. No luck. I didn’t venture too far from the building.

When I got back home, the Slingbox crapped out again, then came back. Ah, technology.

I went to Zig-Zag for dinner tonight again. Declan usually has something interesting in the pot behind the bar, and if not, he can whip up something tasty. Tonight was no exception!

A Short Update

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Nov 102011

This is going to be short.

The Bannou Fuku-Meido presentation results are in. I passed. Yay!

In JBPP, I learned how to use the phrase ã‚ˆã‚ã—ã„ã„ã§ã—ã‚‡ã†ã‹ in a sentence when I want someone to do something, yet I need to be polite. I will probably use this a lot.

For dinner, I made some improvised fried rice with eggs. It came out pretty good.

Resumes are due tomorrow.

I told you it would be short.

They Got the Computer Store, Too!

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Nov 092011

We have to submit our resumes for our JBPP class tomorrow, so I need a USB drive. I headed to the computer store to pick one up.

First I stopped at Family Mart, because I was out of food. (Except for rice. I have plenty of rice.) Anyway, then I went to the computer store. As I approached the door, one of the guys who worked there regretted to inform me that the store was closed, because it’s moving.

Ugh. Again? First the bicycle store, now the computer store, too? It’ll probably be a pile of rubble in 4 days.

So I stood in the parking lot and had a think. Where is the best place to find a cheap USB drive? I decided to go to the mall and try Aeon, and lucked out. I found a cheap USB drive for 898 yen. All it has to do is last for a couple of days, to be honest. Then I saw the big sale on the Frixion stuff. Score!

I’ve already burned through one of the ink cartridges in my blue Frixion pen. Aeon had them for 10% off, so I stocked up.

I browsed the book store again, and saw some really cool kanji books, but they’re kind of expensive. Maybe later. They look like kanji kentei prep books. (But really awesome prep books.) Downside: they’re 1000 yen a piece. A little pricey. Yeah, I said the USB drive was cheap at 898, but I was only buying one of those.

I also looked at the Minna no Nihongo books with lustful eyes, because we keep running into stuff from that in class. It’s tempting, but expensive. Maybe I’ll check Book-Off this weekend and see if I can find a used copy of MNN.

I stopped by Subway on the way out, then headed home.

It’s The End of the World. Or It’s Just Wednesday and We Feel Like It.

When I got back, something annoying happened. One thing that kind of irks me about living here is that I’ll randomly hear warning sirens– the same kind that you can hear on the tsunami videos– and I can’t tell if it’s police, fire, ambulance, or just Impending Doom. I heard them again this evening in my apartment, and quickly flipped on NHK, just to make sure I didn’t have to duck, cover, and kiss my butt goodbye. (You never know.)

Of course, as I flipped it on, they were showing a news show about how the tsunami warnings weren’t adequate enough, and in some places, told people that a 3m tsunami wave was coming, when in reality a 10m wave was coming, so people who should have fled, didn’t, and died as a result.

It was interesting, but I never could figure out what those sirens were about.

But I’m glad that they’re examining the whole tsunami warning system.

The discussion on the program about how to convey urgency to people was interesteig. Telling people éžé›£ã›ã‚ˆ (ã²ãªã‚“ã›ã‚ˆ hinanseyo “evacuate!”) instead of éžé›£ã—ã¦ãã ã•ã„ (ã²ã‚“ã—ã¦ãã ã•ã„ hinanshite kudasai “please evacuate”) conveys the proper urgency when a massive wall of water is about to obliterate everything. People may hesitate when they hear a more polite request to “please evactuate” (éžé›£ã—ã¦ãã ã•ã„) versus the more urgent and less formal “evacuate!” or “get out now!” (éžé›£ã›ã‚ˆï¼)

An Unfortunate Episode in my Life? How About an Exam That Keeps Me From Going to Kyoto?

In other news, it looks like no Kyoto trip this week. Next Thursday we have a conversation test and a composition test. We already have our themes to write about– “An unfortunate episode in my life.” Fun.

There’s no way I’ll be able to swan off to Kyoto for a weekend with that hanging over my head. Nagoya, maybe. But Kyoto? No way.

JBPP is really starting to pay off. All of the little lessons we’re learning are starting to accumulate, albeit slowly, in my brain. I realize I’ll probably have to go over all of this again by myself when I go home, but the info is amazingly useful.

We went over e-mails again today, and while it was difficult, I think I’m slowly starting to get the hang of it. Tonight, I have to finish writing my resume in Japanese. Strangely enough, I’m not too stressed about it. It’s easier than doing it in English, because everyone uses the same general form.

Puttering Around in the Rain

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Nov 062011

Today was another crappy weather Sunday in Okazaki. No plans to do much of anything, to be honest, except maybe shop for some groceries.

There were supposed to be fireworks tonight, but in this weather, I can’t imagine shooting anything off. Kind of a bummer, because I wanted to see some Japanese fireworks to see how they compare to the fireworks we get in the US.

Well, I needed to go by the bank, get some air in my bike tires, and take care of a little this-n-that.

If I’m honest with myself, a large part of my motivation is getting out of the house.

I stopped by the gas station (ã‚¬ã‚½ãƒªãƒ³ã‚¹ã‚¿ãƒ³ãƒ‰ gasorin sutando) on the way to Aeon Mall, and the guys there were kind enough to put some air in my bicycle for me. It’s like having a brand new bike. It went up those nasty hills like a dream.

My tires must have been flat or something.

Paying Cash is Painful, and Other Obvious Things

Then off to the post office by the mall for more money. Japan is expensive, especially with the high yen.

Cash economies are painful, but it makes me monitor my spending. If Japan wants to get out of its economic problems, just require every store to take credit cards, and require every citizen to have at least one, or five or six. That would fix that spending problem in a hurry.

Paying cash always hurts a little more than just handing over the card. (Maybe it’s because you get card back.)

Lost in the Mall Again

With plump tires, I headed over to Aeon mall. I stopped by the book store there for a couple of things: first, Kyoto/Nara travel guides. I want to find some prime leaf viewing areas. Next, I was looking for some good Japanese language study books. Not so much textbooks as reference books. I’m always looking for those. No luck. Finally, I’m always on the hunt for a decent book cover. No dice.

After that, I headed to Aeon, to pick up a couple of extra erasable pens and a couple of extra notebooks, because I tend to go through both quickly. I’m going to send any extras home, because I like the Japanese notebooks a lot.

Then I got lost in Aeon on the 1st floor again. There’s stuff and random shops everywhere inside the store, and I can never seem to get my bearings. Ugh. And it’s Sunday, so it’s jam-packed. I spent 15 minutes trying to find an exit. Scary.

When I finally found the exit to the mall, I headed to Subway. Yes, Subway. They have one right in Aeon Mall. And I was proud of myself, because I ordered a sub without any problems at all. A sub has a lot of parts to it, and I didn’t have any trouble rattling it all off in Japanese.

So if nothing else, spending all of this money on this trip will have taught me how to order food.

As I left, it started raining, so I punched out on the rest of my trip. Anything else I need, I’ll pick up after school tomorrow at Domy. I don’t like getting wet, and Japan is full of wet these days.

Shopping in Nagoya. In the Rain. Again.

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Nov 052011

It’s never a good idea to go to Nagoya without a plan. At least it’s not a good idea for me. But I went anyway, because the idea of sitting around all day on a weekend just gnawed at me. And yes, once again, this weekend it’s raining. Argh!

Every week I’ve been in Okazaki, it seems like the weather pattern has been the same. It’s sunny and beautiful all week when I’m in class, it turns cloudy on Friday, and then it rains all day Saturday and Sunday. Expletive expletive weather. This has been going on for about 5 weeks now, and everybody is sick of it.

By everybody I mean me. Although I’m sure I’m not the only person who hates this pattern.

I slept in a bit this morning, and lazed around a little bit while trying to form a plan. What to do in the rain… what to do…

At around 2 p.m., I decided to just go out and do something in Nagoya, so I grabbed the 2:30 train out of Okazaki, and got to Nagoya around 3 p.m. Part of the plan was to get some of the money I spent on my new electronic dictionary back from Bic Camera, because the day I bought it, I found it for 10,000 yen cheaper, and it turns out that Bic slashed the price by 10,000 yen as well. So I decided to follow V-san’s advice and get that 10,000 yen back!

Flick My Bic

I headed over, and sure enough, after a bit of waiting and some shuffling of papers, I got my 10,000 yen back. They had to “sell” me a new one, and I “returned” my old one, and I lost a few points in the process, but I don’t really care. Cash is cash, and with the yen as hideously expensive as it is these days, I’ll take cash any day over points. 10,000 yen is about $120 these days!

Thanks, V-san! You saved me a ton of money!

And Bic, that was awesome.

In Japan, Skippy is in the Imported Food Store, Next to the Caviar

I did some strolling, and found a 5-story drugstore nearby… it looked impressive on the outside, but it was really cramped on the inside. I kind of got wrapped up in a quest to find Pepto Bismol, just in case… yeah, that was a total failure. Not gonna find that outside of Tokyo, I think. Maybe not at all.

Then I wandered around some more, and went to the back of the station, back around, and found a neat International grocery store, called Seijoishii. It’s kind of wedged in back behind the station, behind the Marriott. If you’re craving some goodies from home (i.e. not Japan), they may have what you want. I picked up some Ricola lemon-mint cough drops, because my throat has been killing me on-and-off since I had that cold a month ago.

This is Now a Blog About Me Buying Books… Or Trying to, Anyway.

Then I headed off to see if I could find Sanseido. It shows up in Google Maps, but after walking around the target building and not seeing anything, I gave up and went to Junkudou instead. I found some nice manly-looking cloth book covers there. I’ve been looking for some of those. When you buy books here, they always offer you the paper book covers, but I don’t like them. I wanted the cloth ones for a long time. Sort of like cloth vs. paper grocery bags.

After that, it was off to Sakae, to look around at the Book-Off there, because it’s big. Book-Off sells not just books, but all kinds of second-hand stuff, like jewelry, clothes, sporting goods, electronics… but mostly used books.

I found a bunch of used books on sale for cheap, so I nabbed them.

Then I headed up a stop to Hisayaodori to pick up a few more books. There’s this sci-fi novel series I want to read, and all of the books are about as big a phone books, density-wise. The nice thing about buying them at the store there is that I get freebies for buying them there, but they weigh a freakin’ ton.

Bagging It

I crossed the street to the Tokyu Hands in Hisayaodori to get a cloth shopping bag. I’ve been meaning to do this for a couple of weeks, anyway. The 25 pounds of books that are making my hands go numb have absolutely nothing to do with it.

Okay, it has everything to do with it.

I went up about 5 flights to the floor marked “bags.” No luck. Wrong bags. Up 2 more flights, to “kitchenwares.” All I see are bags that are very much not for me. Then I saw a Trader Joe’s bag.”Well, at least it’s a brand I know…” Then I look over and saw a Whole Foods Market bag, and just laughed, because I shop there in the US. The Whole Foods in Chapel Hill is one of the oldest stores in the chain. It’s been there forever, and before that, it was an independent store called Wellspring, and it was pretty popular even then.

The laugh was on me, though. 1200 yen for a $4 bag. Yeah, I felt like an idiot, but the Trader Joe’s bag was 1600 yen. And all of the other bags had stuff written on it in French, and were too small. No thanks. Give me that American size bag that I can stuff a car or a whole cow into!

It’s Even Carolina Blue!

I’m hungry. On my way to the bookstore in Hisayaodori, I had spotted a nice little restaurant called The Sun Room, in the underground passageway called Cenrtal Park at the Hisayaodori subway station. They serve a lot of organic food there, and some vegetables, I think. Turns out it’s a chain, but it’s fine by me. The spaghetti with mozzarella and asparagus in pesto was good, and cheap.

One thing about restaurants here that’s different from restaurants in the US, and that’s ordering. In Japan, you order everything through dessert up front, then your server never comes back. In the US, the server keeps coming back to make sure you don’t want to order another cow, or another giant tub of ice cream, or whatever. (Now I’m getting hungry again.) It’s something small that I need to remember to adjust to every now and then.

Now it’s 7:30, and I had to rush to Takashimaya at Nagoya Station in a hurry, before it closed, to buy a decent blanket. It’s getting cold, and I can’t run the heater at night without wrecking my throat. So I caught the subway, got to the station, hustled up 9 flights of escalators, and made it to bedding by 7:50. (Hey, I was impressed.) The store clerks helped me find a blanket on sale that would fit my bed that I could wash and hang up to dry without having to wait a month. (Woot.) It’s even Carolina Blue.

And it’s warm and fluffy.

And I did it all in Japanese. Pardon me while I hurt myself patting myself on the back.

Ow.

After that, the store started closing, so the “Get Out!” music started gently playing, to gently tell us to “Get the hell out so we can clean up after you, then get a beer and go home before the trains stop running!”

But in a gentle way.

My Fellow Americans Make Me Want to Facepalm Sometimes. Okay, Frequently.

I decided to go get some Krispy Kremes on the way out. Hey, I had seen them in Sakae already, and I know there’s a Krispy Kreme at Takashimaya here in the station. Sure enough, there it is, and there’s the line. And there was an obnoxious American guy behind me, convinced that this line was just for Japanese people, and didn’t apply to him. He even got out of the line, walked to the counter, and tried to order.

Please dear God, when you go to Japan, don’t be that guy. The lines apply to you, too. You are not special because you’re an American. Get in line with everyone else and have some manners. I really wanted to give him a dope slap with my menu, not that it would make a difference. This is the same kind of guy who goes to a restaurant, orders off the menu, then gives them a bad review online when they can’t get it the way he wants it.

I hate that kind of guy.

Of course, by the time I got to the front of the line, they were out of the good doughnuts, so I got 2 chocolate crullers. I’ll take what I can get.

Then I went back to the international grocery to pick up the last few things. By now, I resemble a pack mule, carrying tons and tons of crap. But I managed to get some peanut butter (Skippy: sadly no JIF available), some more Ricolas, and some chocolate… the good stuff.

I just managed to make the 8:26 train back to Okazaki. The train ride was uneventful, but the bike ride home was… interesting. Juggling all that stuff was not an exercise I wish to repeat. The blanket was very big.

I have to keep unlearning shopping habits learned behind the wheel. If I want it, that means I have to schlep it home; there’s no trunk except my backpack.

Oh well. I have a big bag to carry it all in now!

Tested!

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Nov 042011

Today was my first big test in the main class. There was a listening portion and a grammar portion, and it felt like a mini-JLPT. We had a lot of review coming into the test, and as I said earlier, I went so far as to start a grammar outline (just like I did in law school), but I don’t know how much it helped me.

I also found out about the bread truck lady who comes by on Fridays. She has a truck full of delicious bread, and she sells it out of the back of the truck around 11 am at Yamasa. I bought some sandwiches and some other sweet bread for dessert later on.

It was delicious.

I had a quiz in my N1 class, too. I’m doing pretty well in there, I think. It’s hard.

In JBPP we started to learn how to write Japanese resumes, or å±¥æ´æ›¸ (ã‚Šã‚Œãã—ã‚‡, rirekisho). It’s interesting to me, because there’s less messing around with the format like we have to do in the US. I think I prefer it to writing resumes for US firms, because I’m never sure how far I should go with my design. Then again, the Japanese resume format is pretty strict, but there are parts where you have to write statements about yourself where you can individualize things. I’ll probably have more to say about it when I have more experience with it.

My å¤– Becomes å†… When I’m Dealing With Another å¤– Group.

We also talked about å†… (ã†ã¡, uchi) and å¤– (ãã¨, soto). å†… is your in-group, be it your friends, family, or your company when you’re visiting another company. å¤– are the people not in your in-group. So for business purposes, your clients are å¤–, and are to be treated as people to be respected. So you use respectful language to them, and not only humble language about yourself, but also your in-group, or å†…, in this case your company. So while you might be polite to your boss when you’re in the office, you will use humble language when referring to the same boss when you’re confronted with a client.

We also learned about writing about the weather and the seasons. It’s big here, even in business letters/e-mail. You need to use the right phrase for the early part of November. One would not use the phrase for the end of November, I think. We got a list of all kinds of phrases to use.

Gettin’ Busy.

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Nov 022011

Classes are heating up. Things are getting more intense and busier, with full weeks of regular class, JBPP, and electives. We don’t get any holidays this quarter, either.

And I have my first big exam on Friday, which covers 3 chapters of the book. I’m already making a grammar outline. We’ve got a listening/dictation test as well. Fun.

I Found a Better Price, Now What?

So I found the same electronic dictionary I bought this past weekend for 10,000 yen less elsewhere, but I really don’t want to go through the hassle of returning it, then buying another one on the other side of Nagoya. Is there something I can do about it?

The answer is yes!

I got some really useful advice from V-san, one of my classmates. She said to take the electronic dictionary back to Bic, and tell them that I found it cheaper. She said they’re really good about matching competitors’ prices. I’ll have to give it a try this weekend.

We had phone practice in JBPP today. How to answer the phone, hold basic conversations, etc. It’s one thing to do it in everyday Japanese, but entirely something different to do it in business Japanese, with the emphasis on proper use of å°Šæ•¬èªž (ãã‚“ã‘ã„ã”, sonkeigo) and è¬™è²èªž (ã‘ã‚“ã˜ã‚‡ã†ã”, kenjogo.) There are lots of complex phrases to remember, which are essentially really polite versions of the same thing. But which degree of politeness you need to use is important to know.

Dumb Things in the Rain

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Oct 302011

It’s Sunday, and I didn’t do much today. I mostly rested. But in the evening, I started to go stir crazy.

So I decided to go to the 7-11 that I saw on Google maps which was apparently a 20 minute walk away. I usually go to Family Mart, because it’s closer, but I hear 7-11 has good salads, so I figured I’d go there.

This was a dumb idea.

I decided to walk there. Another dumb idea. In the rain. Really dumb idea.

I spent about an hour looking for a convenience store that didn’t exist, in the rain. I did find a Lawson a block up the street, but it didn’t have anything, as in, it had been completely cleared out of bentos.

I had no idea that that sort of thing was even possible in Japan.

I trudged to the Family Mart, which was full of good food as usual. I decided to go for a hamburger tonight, because I miss America. (Pun intended.)

I nuked it when I got home, and had it with some Pringles. It was actually pretty good when I added some mustard to it.

Okay, this wasn’t a meal that would win any nutrition awards, but it was the best I could do given that I spent an hour walking to get it.

And now that I’m writing about this, I’m getting hungry again. Ugh.

ã”ã‚ã”ã‚ and é›»åè¾žæ›¸ (Gorogoro and Denshi Jisho)

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Oct 292011

It’s Saturday, and for once it’s not raining. It’s not really sunny, but it’s not raining. I’ll take what I can get. My electronic dictionary is dying, so I’m off to Nagoya to buy a new one, among other things.

I got a bit of a late start, because I felt like lying around a little bit and just generally loafing around the apartment. There’s a good Japanese verb for this: ã”ã‚ã”ã‚ã™ã‚‹ (gorogorosuru). It just means to loaf around. Yep. I did that until about 2 pm or so, then headed to the station and grabbed a train.

First stop was the Mermaid Cafe, to grab lunch. I wanted something simple, because for the past few weeks my stomach hasn’t been in top form. The Mermaid just does simple sandwiches and some basic pastries, and none of it is very greasy. I love their iced cocoa.

Finding a New Electronic Dictionary

Then it was off to Bic Camera, to stare at row upon row of electronic dictionaries. They have changed a lot in the 4 years since I bought my last one. Lots of color screens now, and lots of extra features, most of which I do not need. It was frustrating trying to find one dictionary that had all of the features I want, without a bunch of stuff I don’t.

The features I want are no longer available, and the dictionaries I want, I have to pay extra for. I wound up forking over 38,000 yen for the Casio Ex-Word business model. Handing over that kind of money is painful, but it has a lot of the stuff I want in it, and to be honest, I’m going to use it for at least the next four years. So I’ll pay extra to get that later.

If I think of it as a stack of 10 really useful dictionaries, and another 20 or so useful-ish dictionaries, in a form factor that’s searchable across all of them with relative ease, it’s totally worth it.

One thing it has that I really want is a working NHK accent dictionary that pronounces words through the little speaker. It’s awesome. Now I can get the pitch accent right if I’m inclined to worry about it.

I’ll review the Casio later, when I’ve had time to play with it more.

I spent a good hour or so staring, reading, poking, and buying.

When I think back to using paper dictionaries when I first started learning Japanese, there’s just no comparison. Electronic is the way to go. Even a cheap electronic dictionary is faster and easier than the best paper dictionaries.

Osu!

Done with buying at Bic, I headed back to JR Nagoya, and it was really pretty in the afternoon light:

After that, it was off to Osu (å¤§é ˆ,ã€€ãŠãŠã™), a big shopping district with a giant covered shopping arcade and a famous temple. It’s a lot like Osaka’s Dotonbori area, or Tokyo’s Ameyokocho, with some Akihabara mixed in.

I spent a few hours wandering around in there, just looking at shops. I stumbled across the Osu Kanon Temple at some point. It’sÂ pretty famous in the area. I snapped a couple of photos.

As I was leaving the temple, I lucked out. It was just turning 5 p.m., so the giant clock was striking, and a little exhibition or play of sorts was starting.

The reflections in the window were pretty bad. The IXY just couldn’t handle them.

Sort of like mechanical dolls, set to music. They did their dance, and everyone enjoyed it.

And then it went back to being a clock again.

I went back to strolling. I found a pretty big electronics store that was pretty cool. It had all kinds of stuff, most of which was cheaper than Bic. Including the electronic dictionary that I just bought. (Ouch.) Same color and everything. (OUCH!) About 10,000 yen cheaper. (Ouch, OUCH!)

On the first floor, there was a sort of a community market of electronics and random stuff, where people just set up stalls. One guy had a bunch of great old shortwave radios. Oh how I lusted after his radios, but they were hideously expensive. He knew he had good merchandise, and it was priced accordingly. There were also guys selling old vacuum tubes– you name it. It was a lot like a mini-Akihabara.

If you wander to the street just north of the covered street markets, you’ll find a few used video game stores and some manga stores and the like, if that’s your kind of thing. There are some games I want to buy, but I’ll probably wait until I’m in Tokyo to buy them, because I can probably get them cheaper there. (I will probably learn to regret this.)

There’s also a Mandarake if you like toys and other collectibles. (Who doesn’t like toys?)

After that, it was off to Hisayaodori for some book shopping.

On the way, a couple of snaps of the Nagoya TV Tower. Yes, this shot is blurry, but I LIKE it:

Less blurry but not as cool version:

I picked up a few things to read, then went back to the station.

Couchin is Japanese for “This Chicken is DELICIOUS!”

I was hungry, and it was getting late, so I decided to head back to the area around Nagoya Station. I went back to the 12th and 13th floors of Takeshimaya, because there are a ton of good restaurants there. This time, I went to a place called Torigoten, because it specializes in Nagoya Couchin, which is a special kind of chicken that’s supposed to be super delicious.

I was feeling kind of run-down anyway, so chicken anything was on my radar. All of the restaurants had huge waits. This restaurant had a relatively short wait. So I sat for only 25 minutes until I got a seat at the bar. That’s not too bad for Nagoya Station on a Saturday night.

I ordered a Couchin set meal that consisted of a really good Oyakodon (chicken and egg rice bowl, with some chicken broth), and some kishimen (a flat noodle that’s a specialty of the Nagoya region) in a chicken broth served with cooked chicken.

Just what I needed, because I was still feeling crummy from my cold that I had a few weeks back. Still feels like there’s a frog in my throat.

After that, I missed the 8:42 train juuuust barely, but it was okay, because that meant I could get a seat on the 8:58 train home. I got back to Okazaki at about 9:30 or so, then got home at about 9:45 or so.

Long day, but fun.

ä¸‡èƒ½æœãƒ¡ã‚¤ãƒ‰ (Bannou Fuku Meido.)

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Oct 272011

For the past few days after class and in the evenings, I’ve been working with my small group (with T and K… I know their names, but it would be rude to just post them) to prepare a presentation for class today. We had to come up with an idea for an invention, make visual aids, and then present it. In the presentation, we had to explain all of the many functions it had, and things it could do.

We also had to make sure to use the grammar points we’ve been studying in our presentations, and moreover, use them correctly.

So that meant a few meetings in Aoi Hall at various times of the day/night, when we were all free. K and I are both in JBPP, so we’re pretty busy on top of everything else.

I went by the local æ–‡æˆ¿å…·å±‹ã€€(ã¶ã‚“ã¼ã†ãã‚„, bunbouguya, or stationery store) to pick up some magic markers and cheap brush pens to work on the illustration. Might as well put my calligraphy skills to use!

Working on the presentation was pretty stressful, especially after we all got an email from M-sensei, telling us that we couldn’t use notes during our presentations… well, we weren’t supposed to, but if necessary, we could look down briefly, but it might affect our scores. Something like that.

Did I mention that my spoken Japanese is still bad? So this is a bit stressful for me, but I came here to learn how to do stuff like this. So it’s stressful, but educationally so.

It Does What?

We came up with the ä¸‡èƒ½æœãƒ¡ã‚¤ãƒ‰, which means it’s “The Mighty, All-Purpose Clothing Maid.” It’s a machine that will grant every laundry wish you may have, and maybe some you didn’t even know you had.

It is not a robot, because none of us could draw one.

Instead, it’s a big box that appears to consume your laundry, and dispense perfectly cleaned and folded clothes. (Or on a hangar if you want.) It’s powered by dreams. Dreams of not having to do laundry.

I’m sure it can even make you a cup of tea while chatting about the weather.

We each had to do a 3-minute presentation. K started, I came in the middle, explaining functions, and T made an incredible sales pitch at the end. His spoken Japanese skills are awfully good.

Still, 3 minutes can be an awfully long time.

I made it through without reading my notes too much, but I still have a way to go to get better at this.

That said, I’m already a lot better at speaking than when I first got here… but yeah, I’ve got a long way to go.

JBPP Stuff

We just finished working on ä»–ç¤¾è¨ªå•ã€€(ãŸã—ã‚ƒã»ã†ã‚‚ã‚“, tasha houmon, or visiting another company). There’s a lot of cultural “stuff” to remember.

For example, how early should you arrive? Five minutes is the generally-agreed on answer I got. It shows you’re not just punctual, you’re slightly early, but not too early, because that would inconvenience the people you’re visiting. So if you get there seven or nine minutes early, wait outside for a few, then go in as if you just got there.

Plates, Pens, and Tonkatsu. Must Be Aeon Mall!

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Oct 232011

It’s Sunday, and it’s time for more shopping. (Is this a shopping blog or something?)

Well, I went back to Aeon Mall to get some supplies and dinner as well.

First I went to Aeon, which, by the way, is a confusing store at first. When I enter the first level, it always take me a few minutes to figure out my bearings, because the first floor is part grocery store, part drug store, part department store, and Mr. Donut (which the kids call “MisuDo.”)

See what I mean? It’s confusing!

I grabbed the escalator, and made it to the second floor, then the third, where the kitchen stuff is. I needed a few bowls and plates, because I decided it would be slightly nicer than eating off of plastic wrappers and plastic trays.

Plates are civilized.

I bought some cheap ones, then headed over to get some ink for my Frixion pens, and some extra paper.

I like the Frixion pens, because they erase really easily. Everyone in class uses them, and swears by them. When you heat up the ink with the silicone eraser, the ink turns invisible. I guess the heat switches the dye off? Better not leave my notes on the dashboard of a car!

I’ll take my chances for now.

After that, I wandered around the mall a bit, and headed to the book store, Miraiyashoten. This time, I bought some Kyoto travel guides. I want to go when the leaves are nice and red! These magazines will hopefully show me the good sites.

I did a lot of browsing there. I could drop a large amount of money in a Japanese bookstore.

But I restrained myself this time.

I went down to the food court and started looking for a restaurant, since it was close to dinnertime. I found Saboten, which specializes in Tonkatsu, one of my favorite dishes. So I had a Tonkatsu set and a Coke, and chowed down. That was good stuff.

After dinner, I wobbled on home on my bike. I stopped off at the big main post office to get some money. Nice that’s it’s still open at 6:30 p.m. on a Saturday. In the US, this is not a big deal. Here, it’s really nice. It’s so hard to tell if I’m going to be able to get money when I go to the post office. I suppose I should write the hours down somewhere, but that sounds too much like work. I’ve got plenty of that to do for class!

It’s Saturday, So It Must Be Raining. Also, Wingtown.

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Oct 222011

It’s Saturday, so that means it’s raining.

Like hell.

I wanted to go to Nagoya today, but I don’t want to drown on the way there. So instead I decided to wait out a break in the rain and bike to the other mall in Okazaki, which is south of where I live. It’s called Wingtown. It’s a couple of stories, but it’s a bit smaller than Aeon.

What it does have, though, is Imagine. And Imagine is a big book store and stationery/music/video/game store as well.

My kind of store!

Imagine is pretty handy if you’re a student at Yamasa, because it has a bunch of different stores all bunched into one.

One of my problems right now is dealing with the massive influx of printouts I get every day at Yamasa. The pages aren’t just A4 sized, they’re more like A3 or B2-sized. Imagine something you’d use as a paper place mat for a really messy kid. Now make it just a tad bigger.

Now what do you do with a pile of 50 of these that you need to keep organized so you can study?!?

For now, I’m going to try the “clear file” solution, which entails getting some A4-sized book-like things that have 20-40 clear pockets in them, and stuffing the sheets in the pockets, folded over. We’ll see how it works.

I also bought a new memory card for my PSP, so I can keep my JP and EN gaming separate. And of course I bought some books to read.

I’ve said it before, I know, but I’ll say it again, anyway. I love Japanese book stores.

When I was ready to head back, a frog-strangler of a thunderstorm popped out of nowhere. Real lightning and thunder, even! It was my first thunderstorm in Japan. With it raining so hard, it was impossible to go back home, so I hung out and waited for it to pass. It took a while, but eventually it cleared up enough so I could go home.

Now I’m going to do some reading!

Running to Nagoya Castle

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Oct 212011

Before I get to the Nagoya Castle trip, an update about classes at Yamasa. My elective classes started a few days ago, and I think they’ll be useful in getting ready for the JLPT N1. I couldn’t get into the writing class, which was a bit of a letdown, but having two extra grammar classes will be a lot of work, anyway.

So, on to the topic at hand. Cherry trees, their blossoms, and why I wanted to go to Nagoya today.

Sakura, Sakura, Do I Know You?

I have never seen a Cherry tree in bloom up close and personal. That’s mostly because I have never been to Washington, D.C. in Spring, nor have I ever been to Japan in Spring.

I suppose I could find them around North Carolina, but to me, most flowering trees look the same. Having grown up in the South, I know of two important spring flowering trees/shrubs: Dogwoods and Azaleas. Really, that’s it. Wisteria, I suppose I can recognize, too, but not much more than that.

So please excuse me if I can’t tell the difference between a cherry and a pear tree in bloom. It hasn’t been in my cultural wheelhouse.

There are times when cherry trees get confused, and bloom out of season. Sometimes when it happens, it makes the news. (Well, it does in Japan.) I’ve seen it twice on the NHK News. Once when some trees in Tohoku bloomed in September, and everyone took it as a sign of hope after the Tsunami, and I saw it again on Monday, when they ran a story about a cherry tree blooming near Nagoya Castle in the park on the grounds.

Since I have never seen such a thing in person, I wanted to go and see it up close.

A Tree Blooms In Nagoya… Right?

Class ended early on Friday, and afterwards, I immediately high-tailed it back to the apartment, grabbed the big, heavy camera (the 60D), and raced to the train station. The castle closes at 5 p.m., but they stop letting people in at about 4 p.m. or so. I got on the 3:00 train, which meant I was really under the gun to get there in time. I got to JR Nagoya at 3:30, then had to run to the subway, change trains, then run to the castle. I got there right at 3:50.

Lucky.

I did the castle tour, because I might as well. The Google reviews on Nagoya Castle are mixed, and for good reason. It’s kind of… plain, to be honest.

Going in:

An outbuilding near the main gate:

I saw some deer and crows chillin’ in the dry moat as I crossed to the main gate:

And here’s the castle, with attendant souvenir shop. (The building that says ãŠã¿ã‚„ã’ on it.)

The good thing about Osaka Castle is that when you get to the top, there’s an outdoor viewing area.

No such luck in Nagoya.

The top floor is enclosed, the windows are tiny, and they were very, very dirty. To top it off, the scenery wasn’t much to look at, either. It was kind of a disappointment.

Instead of crying over getting lemons, I decided to try to make lemonade. So I used the vantage point of the top of the castle to try to find the out-of-season cherry tree, but I didn’t have any luck.

There is a very large park with a lot of trees on the grounds of Nagoya Castle, and I suppose that that area is really pretty in Sping and Summer, so that’s probably worth checking out. It’s fall now, but there are no fall colors yet, so it’s kind of plain.

As I wandered around, I kept looking for the tree.

Here’s the back of the castle from outside the walls:

And this canal looked kind of cool. Lightroom helped pick out some details:

Another shot of the castle from behind:

One More:

A few shots from the top of the castle walls, overlooking the lake:

The Name of this Song is “Please Leave. Now.”

I walked all over the castle grounds, and just didn’t have any luck. Finally, I started to hear music, which could only mean one thing in Japan: “Get out.”

I asked a security guard or two if they had seen a blooming tree, and they told me to come back in March. Translation: “You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.”

On the way out, I stopped and took a look at some of the Chrysanthemums being prepared for the big exhibition tomorrow. They looked nice, but I didn’t feel like taking any pictures.

Right by the exit, I saw the mascot character. Of course I took a picture:

After that, I was starving, so I set out to get some food.

The first order of business was to find a post office ATM. Thanks to Google Maps, I found one about a kilometer away. Then it was back to the subway, and off to Nagoya Station.

OMG Noodles

I finally got back to the station, and headed up to the 11th floor, where there were a ton of people (because it’s Friday), and a ton of restaurants to choose from. Picking just one restaurant was difficult, because each one had so many delicious things to try.

I wandered around for about 15-20 minutes before settling on a soba shop. I had one of my favorite dishes, zaru soba, which is chilled soba noodles with a dipping sauce. You get a little pot of hot water to pour over the noodles to get them to unstick from each other, but I made the mistake of pouring too much hot water over it and made a mess. That’s one of the joys of travel: learning new ways to embarass yourself and generally make a mess of things.

But it was all good. The noodles went great with a beer.

Revived, I headed back to Okazaki.

The Flowers of Yamasa

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Oct 212011

Okay, I’m done with the sky.

For the last couple of days, I’ve been taking pictures of flowers, to see how the macro function works on the IXY. It’s pretty good. Not stunningly great, but better than a cell phone camera, and that’s all I can hope for.

So behold, the shy, dainty flowers of Yamasa. (Okay, some of them are weeds, but the still looked interesting to me, and it was something to do in-between classes!)

I like the detail on the left flower. The right flower is out of focus. A weak point of the IXY’s macro mode.

It’s a little head-on and bulls’-eyed, but I liked this flower. The IXY did a decent job, considering I was hand-holding the camera.

The IXY did a good job with this weed/plant, too.

And finally, a shot of the South Okazaki Hospital sign/top floor, with lots of power lines in the way:

Next up is a story about my trip to Nagoya Castle. Good times.

The Skies of Okazaki

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Oct 192011

In-between classes, I started messing around with my new Canon IXY. Mostly, I took pictures of the sky, because I saw some interesting stuff in it. Yesterday, I saw some neat looking contrails from jets going wherever they’re going. Today, I saw some beautiful shimmery clouds.

Oh, and I also took a photo of a goldenrod weed near the school. Just because.

The 10-minute breaks are welcome, but sometimes it’s difficult to figure out what I want to do for 10 minutes. It’s just enough time to realize it’s not enough.

And now, the photos:

The contrails looked cool, and had a kind of lonely feel to them:

Sideways shot!

Power lines interfere with a lot of my photography in Japan.

It’s annoying.

I liked the blue wall and yellow/green plant combination here. Just a weed near Yamasa.

I really like this shot. The sky was kind of shimmery, and Aoi Hall was its usual corrugated self. Makes an interesting shot. Thanks, Lightroom!

Now just the sky without Aoi Hall:

One more:

If you look at it the right way, doesn’t this look like a dragon’s head? Just a bit?

Nagoya Matsuri

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Oct 162011

I took a bunch of photos for the parade, but there were so many that editing them will be a real chore. I’ll post them later. If you really want to see what the parade looks like, check out my 2007 Nagoya Matsuri Parade posts.

Since it rained like hell yesterday, all of the big parades for the Saturday portion of the Nagoya Matsuri were cancelled, and squashed into today.

The weather was perfect, too. So naturally, that meant that everyone was going to be crammed into the “best spots” for taking pictures and the like.

I tried to get there somewhat early, but my idea of early isn’t quite up to snuff when it comes to the idea of early here. (This is the “Land of the Rising Sun,” and I think some of the folks here take it to heart when it comes to these sorts of things.) My casual approach and my unfortunate height meant that I was in for it today.

As in 2007, the Kagura floats were fun to watch, but hard to take pictures of, because of my mortal enemy, the big floppy hats and prominent bald heads of the older segment of the population here. They had a knack for popping up at inopportune moments, but that’s just how it is here.

I’m tall, so people felt like they had some sort of mysterious privilege to just cut in front of me because they were short. What they didn’t realize is that they weren’t all that short, and wound up blocking my view, or screwing up my pictures.

More annoying than that were the security guards. Their job was to get in every other picture and screw it up. And when they weren’t doing that, they would just hassle people randomly for the sake of looking like they were doing their job, which is important when your job isn’t really all that necessary. It’s a parade in Japan, one of the safest countries in the world. It’s not like people are going to suddenly start acting up or anything. But they have to poke people and tell them not to stand there, or to move over, and so on and so forth. Because otherwise it doesn’t look like they’re doing their jobs, I guess.

Ugh.

But you just have to shrug it all off, or else you’ll go crazy and wind up getting arrested by the cop standing next to the security guard.

It’s just part of living here. Living here vs. other places is about making a set of trade-offs. If you want to live somewhere else, you have to make another set of trade-offs. You’re not going to find a tailored fit in an off-the-rack world. That goes for people and places.

Just like four years ago, I took way too many pictures. I’m pretty sure that editing them will be painful. (Note: It is. I’ve got it down from 500 to 98 photos.)

There were a few marching bands in the Flower Car Parade which followed, and one even had bagpipes. There were a few staged battles in the streets, and of course, Tokugawa Ieyasu ended things. The guy playing him was good, and said some funny things.

The Most Amazing Bus Station Ever

After the parade, I headed down to Oasis 21, which is a really fancy bus terminal, but it also has some open areas that were turned into an event stage and an area full of info booths from cities and prefectures from all over Central Japan.

First, I went to the rooftop area, a few floors above Oasis 21, which is a giant glass oval with a big fountain and pond in the center. It’s really interesting architecturally, and of course the views of the Sakae area of Nagoya are excellent.

Then I went down to the event area and looked around the booths, and talked to some people down there. That was a lot of fun. I got some information from the Aichi Prefecture people about some possible side trips, and some info from the Okazaki booth as well. There are so many cool places I’d love to go visit, but there’s only so much free time in my schedule, and frankly, only so much money in my budget.

Not to mention that some of these places are only reachable by car.

Travel in Japan can get expensive if you’re converting everything from dollars, and the exchange rate is only around 77 yen to the dollar. (And that’s on a good day.) It’s pretty painful.

After all of that, I grabbed my bag of pamphlets and headed back home. (Free clear file! And it has a strange local mascot character on it! Score!)

Mall-ed on a Saturday

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Oct 152011

I was going to go to Nagoya today for the big festival, but it was cancelled due to rain. They’ll just do everything tomorrow, when the weather is better.

I eventually started going stir crazy, so I went to the mall today for the first time since I came back to Okazaki.

I decided to walk, since it was raining off and on, and I didn’t want to mess with the bicycle.

On the way out, I was greeted by a somewhat unsettlingly large mass of birds near the apartments.

Then I headed to Aeon Mall. It takes a while to get there on foot.

When I got to the mall, I went by Aeon to buy some ink, paper, erasers, notebooks, and stuff like that. Then I wandered around a bit and checked out the bookstore. It’s big, but I couldn’t find what I wanted. (I’m always on the lookout for grammar or JLPT books.)

The mall has a huge selection of restaurants on the bottom floor. I’ll have to check some of those out when I have time… hey! A Subway! Okay, that’s pretty American of me to notice the Subway, but it’s been 2 weeks now since I’ve had anthing from my home country. Maybe next time I pass through here, I’ll pick up a sub.

I headed over to the bookstore on the way to the mall. It’s along the main highway. It’s small, but it has a pretty good manga section, and I was running out, so I reloaded on some new tankoubons to read.

Then back home to dry off.

On the way back, I saw this church:

Okay, it’s blurry, but it was kind of cool how the cross lit up the night.

Tomorrow it’s the Nagoya parades, weather permitting.

The Daily AIJP/JBPP Life

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Oct 132011

The way classes are taught here is interesting. It reminds me a bit of high school, but it’s much more thorough.

We have 3 50-minute periods of class in the mornings, from 9-9:50, 10-10:50, and 11-11:50. Then from 11:50-12:40, we have lunch. After that, from 12:40-1:30 we have the last AIJP class of the day. That’s followed by a 1:40-2:30 and 2:40-3:30 block each day for electives.

Oh yeah, we have to pick electives NOW. It’s more of a big deal for me because I missed a few days.

I’m probably going to go with only two, although I can do up to four. JBPP will fill in that last 2:40-3:30 block every day… except when it doesn’t. Sometimes we’re going to have long classes that go from 5th through 6th period, and sometimes we’ll have class during 5th period only, but that’s usually on Fridays.

It’s a little confusing.

Anyway, picking electives isn’t too hard. Because of JBPP I only have a few choices. There’s a writing class I want to try, as well as the N1 and N2 grammar classes. N2 will be good review of stuff I should already know, and N1 will hopefully cover stuff I desperately need to know. The main downside is that they only meet once a week up until the JLPT, then they end.

We’ll see where I wind up!

The way classes are done here in general is intense. We start off just about every class with a quiz, except JBPP. The first class in the day is usually taught by my homeroom teacher, M-sensei (different from the M-sensei in JBPP), who is amazingly nice. She teaches two blocks or so, which is grammar and vocabulary, then in the third block (usually, not always, the schedule changes every week, or so I’m told), another teacher will come in to teach stuff like speaking or reading or writing. Then after lunch, it’s either M-sensei or another mystery block of somethingoranother.

The class is impressively diverse. America, Germany, Greece, Singapore, China, Taiwan, Brazil, and India are all represented. I’m probably forgetting someone. I apologize.

But Japanese is our common language. It’s easier that way.

The cold is almost gone. I still feel a bit lousy, but it’s not nearly as bad.

JBPP: Can I Has Meishi Koukan PLZKTHX!

One of the most important things in Japanese business is ååˆºäº¤æ›ã€€(ã‚ã„ã—ã“ã†ã‹ã‚“, meishi koukan, or business card exchanging). It’s so important that it’s one of the first things we’re learning here. There’s an order to who offers their card first, and to whom, how it’s held out, how it’s received, what you say, and most importantly, where you put it.

The trick to understanding the whole thing from the Japanese side is understanding that business card = person. Once you understand that, many of the rules that seem kind of exacting make sense.

Also, understand that while visitors are treated as socially superior in a non-business setting, they’re not necessarily so in a business sense. If you’re coming to another company to ask for something, you need to show some humility, I guess. This is different from going into a store as a customer, because customers = gods in Japan. (Who else is going to spend money in their stores?)

Also, there’s the senior/junior dynamic as well. Seniority rules. Even if the boss isn’t going to do anything, if the boss is there, then the boss has to lead the ceremonies because s/he’s the boss.

The Basics

Ok, so the basics of meishi koukan are:

First, the order of who offers cards. (For this example, we’ll use a group of people visiting a company.)

Visiting company goes first. (You’re introducing yourselves, after all!)
Seniors first– company seniors, that is. So the most-senior visitor goes first, followed down the ranks to the most junior.
“Home” company goes last.
Again, the highest-level manager goes first.

Okay, that’s not too hard to remember.

So how do you do it?

Offer your card out with both hands, facing upside down to you. (So the other party can read it!) Don’t forget to bow as you’re holding it out.
Introduce yourself as you’re holding out your card, saying what company you’re from, who you are + douzo yoroshiku onegaishimasu, or the proper polite variant.
The receiving person receives the card with both hands while bowing as well.
The receiving person takes the card and says arigatou gozaimasu or whatever variant is required due to politeness level required.
Receiving person has to look at the card and study it for a few seconds. Really, take the chance to learn the other person’s name, or ask them about the kanji in their name, etc. Great icebreaker.

Wait, there’s more! Remember, I said that a business card is considered the same as the person you’re dealing with, so a few “don’t”s are in order:

Don’t put it in your pocket! (Especially your back pocket!)
Don’t use it as a tool! (Especially to pick your teeth!)
Don’t write on it!

So we have these precious business cards… uh… what do we do with them?

Okay, now what? Where do we put the cards? The answer depends.

If it’s just meeting on the street, or at a convention, and there’s no meeting afterwards, then put them in a business card case. (You can get one for cheap at an office supply store if you need one.) You’re showing the other party how you value their card, and them at the same time.

If you don’t have your case on you, put it in your wallet. Don’t just shove it in a pocket.

It there’s a meeting afterwards, then lay them out on the table in front of you, like a little seating chart. It’s really useful that way, so you can keep everyone’s names straight. It also shows that you’re trying to learn their names. It’s very courteous to do it that way.

Anyway, you get the drift.

In the US, we use business cards like disposable ads. They’re tossed all over the place, and are only used to keep track of contact info. We write on them, pick our teeth with them, sit on them, you name it. We only see it as a piece of paper that’s handy to have every now and then… but not much more than that. (Hence the numerous goldfish bowls used to hold business cards for raffles.)

We spent a lot of time in class practicing business card exchanges, with a variety of scenarios. It was challenging at first, but I got used to it.

Still, there’s a lot of cultural stuff for me to learn just surrounding business, and we’re only at the point of exchanging business cards. I can see that I have my work cut out for me!

And So It Begins…

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Oct 122011

Finally! My real first day of class!

I still feel like hell, but my fever is gone, so I didn’t really have an excuse to stay home and lounge around. Besides, we’re on the fast track here at Yamasa. Every day I miss is like missing 3-4 days of Japanese at a univeristy. Keeping up is hard work.

I got a giant pile of printouts to work on from when I was sick and missed three days of class. I have no idea what to do with them.

I got my textbooks, too. They have zero useful information in them. I have better info in my Japanese grammar books. I think we’re using them for the readings? I don’t know. There’s a ton of information in the printouts, though.

It was a bit overwhelming for me, coming in sick and clueless. But everyone is kind and helpful, for which I am grateful.

Unmasked.

I tried to use a mask, but my classmates told me to give up on it. They didn’t care if I used it or not. So I bagged it. It was miserable, anyway. My glasses were completely fogged up, and it was difficult to breathe.

I had lunch at Domy (the nearby grocery store). At noon, everyone runs down the street there to buy something to eat. I headed to the bakery and got a sandwich and dessert. I went back to Aoi Hall on campus and bought a drink there, so I could quietly eat and feel miserable.

Then we had more classes.

The main part that sucks is that I missed those first few days to get to know my classmates. Of course, they all seem to know each other pretty well, because most of them have already been here for a while, so I’ll have to deal with that as well.

I already missed the first two days of the JBPP class due to my cold, so I have some catching up to do here as well. There are only four of us in the class, but it’ll be exciting. One of my classmates is in my main class. She’s from Singapore, and really nice.

The other two people are another American, and a guy from Malaysia, who speaks Japanese really well.

The class is team-taught by two teachers, I-sensei and M-sensei, who teach on alternate days. Today we had M-sensei, and we plunged right into introductions and keigo review.

I need lots of keigo review.

After class, I got some money out at the post office and got some food at the conbini. I’m too tired to cook. I’ve been buying a lot of conbini sandwiches. I’m not really getting the most out of my Japanese cuisine experience, am I? Oh well. Food is food, and the sandwiches are pretty cheap.

But I have a lot of scrambling to do to catch up in class.

Stupid cold.

Hospital, Part Deux.

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Oct 112011

No post for the last few days, because I’ve been too busy trying to keep my head from exploding.

It’s hard work.

I felt a bit like death warmed up this morning, only not quite so chipper. So I called in sick again, and decided to go to the hospital next to the school because I was getting a lot of rather strong suggestions to “go get it checked out.”

I thought it was just a cliche that Japanese people went to the doctor for minor colds. Nope. They actively encourage everyone to go, even for a cold. I’m not sure where this comes from. It’s a cold. I know it’s a cold. It’s a lousy cold, but it’s just a cold. There isn’t anything that the doctor can do for me. I know that, he knows that.

But I’m still going, because there’s this strong pressure I’m feeling from all of my teachers.

Also, if I miss more than two days of class, I need some kind of doctor’s note for the absences to be officially excused, in case I want to ever get a student visa. (Not that I do, I just don’t want to close any doors inadvertently.)

So I got on my bicycle, and headed down to the hospital.

Really, I thought this was a bad idea the whole time. Bicycling, in fall, with a cold. Sounds like a lovely recipe for pneumonia.

The Okazaki Hospital Shuffle

Since I’ve already done the whole Japanese hospital thing once before, I figured I would have some advantage, and I did, kind of. The hospital here, however, doesn’t really have as much in the way of English language help, so I was really on my own. Fortunately I’ve been using a lot of Japanese lately, and I had my electronic dictionary with me, so I didn’t have too much trouble getting through the forms.

One thing that saved me was having my address written in Japanese with me. I keep that on me at all times.

Really, the most difficult part was the waiting.

And understanding what everyone was saying.

And understanding what I was supposed to do.

When they told me to go into the exam area, I thought I was supposed to go into a room, so I accidentally walked in on someone. Oops. I didn’t know I was supposed to go from sitting on bench #2 to sitting on bench #3, like I did at Westminster.

Well, I know that now.

I finally got to meet the doctor, and in a mix of so-so English and Japanese, I communicated the problem, and he communicated that I had a cold…. which I already knew.

OMG PILLS!

Then he pulled out a folder full of pictures of pills, rapidly pointed to five or six of them, summarily told me what they were, and what they would do, and sent me on my merry way in under 5 minutes.

The exam was basically taking my temperature (they do it under the arm– eww), and looking at my throat (yep, it’s a throat). That was it. Oh, and the pill pointing. Then it was just a shove out the door to wait for the real pills.

Why did I even bother? I can be sick at home and just rest and not bother with bicycling down here and sitting around more sick people.

I did get one useful thing out of this trip. I learned how to use my digital TV remote.

Huh?

Remocon!

While I was waiting to see the doctor, they had a really useful show on the TV at the hospital. It was some of the most useful TV I’ve seen in a while.

It was a show all about how to use the new digital remote controls for Japanese TV.

In Japan, there’s not only HDTV, there’s enhanced HDTV with data.

Say I’m watching NHK-G, for example. (That’s the local over-the-air NHK channel.) I want to know what the weather’s going to be like, but I can’t be bothered to walk 5 feet to my computer, I’d have to lean over to grab my cell phone, and don’t even ask me to open a window or a door.

That’s no good.

If I press the “d” button on my remote, up pops a digital TV menu surrounding the current program. (The TV program shrinks into a little box. I can still watch! Yes!)

Now, using those mystery red, green, yellow, and blue buttons you see on a lot of remotes these days, I can navigate through the menus to find the weather report, or latest earthquake news, or whatever.

If I know the Japanese for it all. Hey, that learnin’ is coming in handy!

If I hook the TV up to the Internet, I can get even more info, but that involves buying more Ethernet cables. No thanks.

I was glad to at least get this info. This will save a lot of time, and it solves the mystery of the red, green, yellow, and blue buttons I keep seeing all over the place on remotes, even in the U.S.

Bag O’Pills

Anyway, I got my sack of mystery pills, and headed home to look them up. I wanted to see what he saddled me with.

For starters, there was an antibiotic that failed to get approval in the EU, and was withdrawn from the US. Fun. Then an antihistamine and something that vaguely resembles ibuprofen, but isn’t. Then something like Axid and another stomach medicine, because all of the pills will apparently kill my stomach. And, of course, and iodine gargle.

I didn’t take any of them.

Well, I took one of the antibiotics… but stopped. It just didn’t feel right.

I don’t get the whole idea of going to the doctor when you’ve got a cold. Just stay home, rest, push fluids, push vitamin C, get some chicken soup and other hot comfort foods, gargle ice water if your throat hurts and take plenty of anti-inflammatories. That’s the advice I got from my M.D. years ago, and I can’t find anything that works any better. Eating chilled oranges works pretty well, too. Cold meds if you need them.

Antibiotics are only good if you have a real infection going on. Not a viral one, a bacterial one that’s trying to eat part of your insides. A cold is just a virus. There’s nothing you can do about it. Just take some meds to relieve the symptoms, and watch whatever goes for “The Price Is Right” here.

On the way back home, I stopped by Domy (the grocery store) to pick up a few things, most importantly, some masks, so i don’t spread my disease to my classmates tomorrow.

…As A Dog.

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Oct 072011

Ugh. I think I caught a cold on one of my trips to Nagoya, because I’m so sick I can barely move, and I feel really gross.

They brew up some downright nasty colds here.

Sadly, I’m going to have to skip my first day of class, and be that mystery guy who doesn’t show up.

No mystery illness, just a really lousy cold.

I’m going to rest up now, and try to get better over the weekend.

We’re Not Through Orientating Yet!

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Oct 062011

More orientation today, and the å…¥å¦å¼ (nyuugakushiki, or school entrance ceremony.)

We got a lot of info about various things, what to do, what not to do, and we introduced ourselves in Japanese.

What I said before about this being the UN of Japanese Language Education? I’m serious. We have a bunch of different countries represented here. It’s very cool.

And of course everyone has to speak Japanese. Unlike most of the rest of the world, instead of English, Japanese is the lingua franca here, which is awesome for me, because I really need to get better at speaking it. Even if I’m just stumbling and fumbling trying to do aimless chit-chat with my classmates, even if they’re my Fellow Americans, I need to do it in Japanese.

How cool is that? (Okay, you may not think it’s cool, but I do.) I’m totally getting my money’s worth!

Then we had all of the formal introductions and attendant ceremonies that go along with a Japanese school entrance ceremony from the faculty and staff. It was educational. The folks here are really nice, and go out of their way to make you feel welcome.

When we were done, we could go to the main building (Yamasa II) and check the board to see what classes we were in. I’m in class 201, which means I’m somewhere in Yamasa’s intermediate level. That’s about right. My abilities are all over the place, so in the intermediate level classes, I can polish the stuff I’m weak at, and reinforce the stuff I already know.

It won’t be easy by any stretch.

I also had to pay a large amount of money for my rent for the next three months. That was painful, but still pretty cheap compared to living in other places… okay, none of them are really coming to mind.

Then again, I requested a single apartment with a bed, and those are the most expensive apartments. But I can’t do futons at all. They kill my back. There’s no way I could sleep on a futon for 3 months. So I consider part of my rent as “bed rental” and a “being left alone from an annoying roommate fee.” I’m totally okay with that.

If you want to go to Yamasa to study and you don’t mind communal living, and you can handle futons, you can save a fair amount of cash by staying in the dorms or in the older shared apartments.

JBPP or not JBPP?

I had an interview exam for the Japanese for Business and Professional Purposes program (JBPP) as well. One of the main reasons I wanted to study here was because I really want to work on my professional/business Japanese. I want to be able to roll those long, complicated sonkeigo and kenjogo phrases off of my tongue with no hesitation whatsoever.

And I want to make sure I don’t make an idiot out of myself in business situations.

So when I found out that Yamasa had a business-oriented program as well, I was stoked.

The interview test was kind of nerve-wracking, because I’ve already had an interview with S-sensei, who gave me the interview exam for the overall placement test. He knows how rough my spoken Japanese is at times. But he’s a good teacher, and a really nice guy.

He said that they’re going to let me participate in the JBPP. I’m relieved. It’s one of the main reasons I came here. If I couldn’t participate, I don’t know what I would have done.

I also got to meet my future JBPP classmates. There are only four of us, but everyone is nice, and way better at speaking than I am.

After all of that, I headed home.

Class starts tomorrow. Can’t wait!

Orientation and Okonomiyaki in Okazaki

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Oct 052011

Orientation at Yamasa started today.

We learned lots of things that don’t apply to me, because I’m on a short-term visa, and will be gone in 3 months. It’s kind of a bummer, but there you go. But there was a lot of really useful information, too, like what to do with my trash.

I’ve been hoarding trash for the last week or so, because frankly, I don’t know what to do with it.

Welcome to Japan! You Fail at Trash!

When I got first got into my apartment, I was checking all of the drawers, and in the file cabinet there was this thick brochure, and in it was this whole dissertation on how to sort trash about 800 different ways.

So I figured that’s what I had to do. I went to the nearest conbini, bought a bunch of trash bags, and went at it.

There are trash bags for all kinds of trash here. It’s mind-boggling. Each type of trash gets its own special bag. We only have the one sort of trash bag in the US, and we pick based on brand loyalty, size, application, and how much trash can it hold before exploding.

In Okazaki (I’ve been told it’s different in other places), ordinary people have to sort their trash into bags of burnable trash, paper, plastic, non-burnable trash, and PET (plastic) bottles.

But wait, you’re not done yet. That milk carton is made of paper, so you think it goes into the “paper” bag, right? Wrong! It gets cut open and flattened (after you wash it out and dry it, of course), then stacked and bundled with twine, and disposed of at the proper place. (Wherever that is.) Same goes for newspapers, glass bottles, cans, and a long list of other things you probably didn’t realize.

You think you can just hide it in the trash bag? HA! You fool! You have to write your address on all of your trash bags, and one of your neighbors (the Trash Shogun) will be checking your trash for “improper items,” and that person has the right to reject your trash.

Yes, in Japan your trash can fail to be proper trash.

And you can’t hope that they won’t see it, because the trash bags are clear. Fun, huh? Makes you think twice before throwing out a lot of stuff, doesn’t it?

So rather than try to actually throw out the trash, I panicked and just stuffed it under the sink in a lame attempt to sort it until I got orders on what to actually do with it.

After orientation, I learned something very important.

I don’t need all of those bags.

Luckily, our apartment complex just has two blue dumpsters, one marked “burnable trash,” and the other marked “nonburnable trash.” At orientation, I learned that I just have to keep two little trash bags, and I can just use any old bags I want.

I don’t even have to write my address on them.

Thank God.

Recycling Back Home

Still, I miss the way we do it Back Home. How do we do it there? Simple: most recyclables go in the blue box everyone gets. Put the blue box outside on your designated day, and a truck comes and picks it up. Usually. When they feel like it.

Vegetables and other kitchen waste can be ground up in the garbage disposal and handled as raw sewage, or you can compost it, or just toss it in the trash. Bulky stuff, like electronics and the like, needs to go to a recycling center run by the county. Hazardous stuff goes to a special center. Not a big deal.

I learned a lot of other useful stuff, too. There’s a grocery store just down the street from the school. Woot. My lunch problem is solved!

I also got a ZigZag coupon. Yay. I hope I can get some beer with it!

After orientation, I went with a group of fellow students to a local restaurant that sells okonmiyaki. It used to be the kaiten-zushi shop, I went to four years ago, I think.

It was pouring rain, so when we got there, we were soaked.

The United Nations of Japanese Language Education

Yamasa does a really good job of mixing up the student body. It’s not just a bunch of Chinese or Korean students with the odd American. There are folks from all over the world here, not just Asia.

The group that went to the restaurant was a good mix. There was a guy from Switzerland, and a woman from Israel. And of course a couple of Americans, and some folks from other places, too. I can’t remember them all, but it was a good mix of people.

Then I went home, dried off, watched some TV and went to bed. Gotta get up early for class.

Placement Test!

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Oct 032011

Today was my last private lesson.

But first, we had a placement test at 9 a.m. I knew were going to have it, but I didn’t know it was such a big deal.

When I came to Yamasa four years ago, right after I got off the train and came into the teachers’ office, I was given a placement test. It was relatively short, and not too difficult. It pretty much confirmed that I knew some Japanese, but needed a lot of work.

So when I heard that there was a placement test this time, I was thinking, “Oh, it’s probably like the one I had four years ago. No biggie.”

Boy, was I ever wrong.

If I had known that it was going to be that thorough, I might have actually studied for the thing.

Note: If you’re reading this while considering going to Yamasa, you should study some for the placement test. It’s a whopper.

First off was a monstrous grammar test, the likes of which I hadn’t seen in a while. It seemed to just keep going on and on… I think if you do bad things in a Japanese language school and die, this is a bit what Japanese Language School Hell would be like. This test. Over and over.

The questions started off pretty easy. And then they kept increasing the tension until something in my brain snapped.

I have no idea how well I did, because they never told me.

Then we all sat in a room and watched Howl’s Moving Castle while we waited our turn to be interviewed. I never did find out what happened in the movie. I suppose I need to rent that sometime.

So I had an interview test in Japanese with S-sensei, which I floundered through. He’s a very nice guy, who did a good job of pointing out that I really don’t speak Japanese all that well at all, despite what random people may tell me.

Well, that’s what I came here for, so I’m not shocked or anything. I’m glad he was honest with me, and I hope they fix my bad habits.

I went back home after that.

The test started at 9, I got done at about 11:30. It was very thorough. At least this time I wasn’t jet-lagged like I was four years ago. But it would have been better if I had studied a bit… and could speak better.

I wish I had known how big a deal the placement test was going to be, just for my pride’s sake. But it’s kind of tricky– if I study for the placement test, then I might wind up in a class I really don’t belong in, because I don’t really have all of the previous material mastered, instead I know it just well enough to pass the test.

After the conversation test and my talk with S-sensei, I realized that I needed to get into a section that would help me with my speaking a lot. It was rough. So I’m not going to get too worked up over where I wind up. The main reason I’m here is to get better.

Then after I had lunch, I came back to campus for my last private lessons. More tutoring in things I have forgotten (mostly speaking), and then a CALL session, but the teacher wasn’t there. We’ll have to make it up or something.

Tomorrow we’re free to do whatever.

Me? I dunno.

Nagoya? Probably.

Sunday Is For Laundry, and Another Trip to Nagoya.

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Oct 022011

It’s Sunday, a day for laundry, and for going to Nagoya again.

So, laundry.

I have this really long metal pole that hangs horizontally in the middle of my apartment, over the TV. It’s suspended from the ceiling by two other big metal poles.

Apparently this is my clothes dryer.

I come from a country renowned for its household appliances. We have machines that wash dishes, machines that dry clothes, and ovens so big you can stick a dinosaur-sized bird called a “turkey” into it.

Alas, you will find none of these mythical machines in my apartment. They’re generally scarce in this country.

Well, I have an oven, but I don’t even think I could fit a chicken in it, let alone a turkey.

If I want to see a dishwasher, I can just look down. I have two of them sprouting off of my arms.

And while my washing machine had some misleading text that implied it could also dry clothes (wouldn’t THAT be awesome?), sadly, I am left with metal pole for my drying needs.

But I bought clothes that all dry really fast, so I just let metal pole do it’s stuff while I head to Nagoya.

This time, I need some JLPT prep books for N1, and for some accessories for my Canon IXY. And, it’s a good reason to get out of the house and do some exploring!

Before I headed out, I tried to find the Kinokunia I went to four years ago near JR Nagoya. I couldn’t find it anywhere on Google Maps. I did find Maruzen.

Before I left, I took a few test photos with the IXY. Here’s my apartment’s front door, and here’s my bright green bike that I’m renting from Yamasa.

Isn’t this a lovely shade of green?

The price on the bike isn’t bad. It’s 9,000 yen for 3 months’ use. That’s around 750 yen/week, if my math is correct. Yes, I could buy a bike for that much, but what would I do with it when I was done? I would have to sell it, and that would be a royal pain in the butt.

I headed to JR Okazaki (again), and along the way, I took this photo of the rusty clock/sign thing near South Okazaki Hospital. I’m a sucker for a rusty sign.

I got on the train to Nagoya, and saw some interesting looking ads. There’s a lot of stuff I want to do while I’m here, and whenever I see stuff like this, I want to be able to record it. What better way than with the IXY? They came out a little blurry, but I wanted you to get the idea:

Buying Camera-Related Stuff at a Camera Store, What a Surprise!

When I got to town, I headed to Bic again to buy some stuff for my camera. Mainly I was looking for a strap set of some kind. Something I can use to hang it around my neck, or maybe a wrist strap. I also wanted a nice case for it, too.

I found a strap set after some digging around, but I never really found a case I liked. I managed to find a clear plastic cover for the LCD display. I used up a bunch of points to knock the price down, then went back to the station to find out what happened to Kinokunia.

I asked at the info booth, and apparently, that location closed. Bummer. Well, there’s Maruzen. Google Maps said it’s near the Fushimi station on the Higashiyama Line.

The Nagoya subway system uses a card similar to the Suica card I use in Tokyo and here to go back and forth between Okazaki and Nagoya. Both cards work the same way– you fill them with money, then tap them at the wicket to get in/out, and it automatically deducts the proper fare.

Sadly, the Suica card won’t work on the Nagoya subway, so I had to buy a card for myself. It took a few extra minutes, because I had to give the nosy machine all kinds of info so my card could be returned to me in case I lost it. It’s kind of a pain, but it’s worth it to know I can get it back.

Google Maps Is Great, Except When It Isn’t.

Card in hand, I hopped on the Higashiyama line, got off at Fushimi, and wandered around for about 15-20 minutes before I realized that Google Maps was dead wrong. There was no Maruzen there of any kind. There were many things that weren’t Maruzen, but Maruzen was not among them.

So I went back to JR Nagoya, asked at the info booth, and they told me it was in Sakae, one stop over. Sure enough, as I walked past the Maruei department store, I could see the sign for Maruzen.

On the way, I saw this:

That’s pretty cool.

Google Maps was a bit of a disappointment, because I have had generally good luck with it. But that mistake cost me about an hour of wandering around and asking questions.

Maruzen

Maruzen is a nice bookseller, with solid inventory. It took me a few minutes to figure out where all of the JLPT prep books were. Oddly enough, they were in the Foreign Language section. I guess because foreigners need it more than Japanese people do? Dunno.

I picked up the new Kanzen Master N1 series. All of them. I’ll need them for the upcoming N1. Looks like it’s a bit different from the old Kanzen Master books.

I spent a lot of time just wandering around the store as well, looking for more books, just in case. But I decided to keep it to just the JLPT books for now.

Then I headed back to JR Nagoya, and back home to Okazaki.

It was an exciting afternoon, in that I had an adventure! Those are always fun.

Oh, and when I got back, my clothes were dry!

It’s Saturday, So It Must Be Nagoya.

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Oct 012011

It’s Saturday. No classes, and it’s beautiful outside. So I went to Nagoya to do some shopping for some much-needed necessities.

No photos on this trip, because I didn’t take my SLR with me. It was too heavy to carry around while I went shopping.

I needed to buy sheets, a wireless router, and after lugging my big digital SLR camera around Tokyo, I decided to find something small and cheap to take pictures with. My Nexus One is a good smartphone, but it’s a terrible camera.

I hopped on my bike and headed to JR Okazaki, and grabbed a train to Nagoya. That’s about 680 yen each way. Ouch. So I’ll be down ~$18 just on train fare each time I want to go to Nagoya. I wish the yen wasn’t so strong these days.

It’s Saturday, so everything was crowded.

JR Nagoya is one of my favorite places, because it’s full of all kinds of neat stores, and there are a ton of restaurants here, mostly on the 11th and 12th floors.

But I didn’t come here to eat, I came to get a router, sheets, and some kitchen supplies.

Sensory Overload

First, I got my bearings. For some reason, I always get turned around at JR Nagoya. After I figured out where I was, and where I wanted to go, I went out through the West Exit, crossed the street, and went into Bic Camera, one of my favorite electronic chain stores. (I’ve mentioned this before.)

The thing about Bic Camera is that for someone not used to it, you can experience sensory overload. There’s a crush of people trying to get in and out at the same time, there’s a guy yelling indecipherable stuff into a megaphone trying to sell you something you donâ€™t need, there’s music playing the store’s jingle at repeated intervals, and of course, there’s electronics piled high and in your face with strange writing all over them. (Well, the level of strangeness is proportionate to how much you study, I guess.)

I love it.

Bic Camera is one of my favorite places to shop for electronics. I don’t always buy there, but I love to shop there.

The first trip is always a bit stunning, in the “hit in a head with a heavy blunt object” kind of way, but once I got over the initial shock, I was okay.

First off, I looked for a router. The salesperson steered me to the cheapest one, since I’m only going to need it for 3 months. I also grabbed a power strip, because I have so many electronics vying for limited outlet space that I thought I’ll need it.

Then I headed down into the basement, where there are row up on row of cameras to try out.

If it’s currently made in Japan and takes pictures, you’ll find it in Bic Cameraâ€™s basement. I spent a good hour or so checking them all out and agonizing over each one. I got some help (in Japanese) from the sales staff, but in the end, it was my decision.

I wound up with a cheap but not dirt-cheap Canon IXY, which is the same as the ELPH in the US. It cost around 13,000 yen. I wanted to spend a little less, but I think the IXY was a good trade-off for price/performance.

I need something I can stuff in my pocket and pull out for those “Oh, that’s unexpected. I want a shot of that!” moments, and I don’t want to have to worry about having a giant SLR to deal with for those kinds of things. The IXY isn’t the smallest or thinnest, but it’s cheap and takes pretty good pictures, and that’s all I need.

I headed back to JR Nagoya for part two of my excursion.

Oh Sheet

Now it was time to get some housewares, and the best place for that is… huh. I don’t know. So I went to Takeshimaya, a big department store chain in Japan, which has a store in JR Nagoya, and I started looking around for sheets and blankets.

I went up about eight or nine floors on the escalator to the linens department.

Yeah, it’s a big store.

Unfortunately, I found out that although I’d measured my bed, the measurements didn’t mean anything, because the numbers I kept repeating to her just didn’t seem to match anything she had in stock. She said I probably had a single, but she wasn’t sure. (Of course, I didn’t use the best measuring stick in the world. I used a sheet of paper and a calculator.)

Frankly, the other problem I was having with Takashimaya was the price. I just wanted the Japanese equivalent of a $10 Wal-Mart/Target bottom sheet, and she was pulling out some fancy stuff. I don’t mind getting it wrong on a $10 sheet, but I mind if it’s a $50 sheet. Yikes.

Knives and Forks and Spoons, Oh My!

Having failed at bedding, I took a look at the kitchen section at Takashimaya, and it was nice, but a bit ritzy for my taste as well. Since Tokyu Hands was sharing floor space with part of Takashimaya, I started nosing around there a bit.

They had the kitchen knife I wanted, but I couldn’t get any help. It was in a case, and nobody was coming by. Not even close.

I decided to come back and went up to look for sheets– oh, hey, stationery and calligraphy supplies! No, must go look for sheets.

After a bit of digging, I found a sheet that was cheap and “good enough,” then went back to the kitchen section to try again. This time, I got someone to help with a nice ceramic santoku for all-purpose cutting, and a pair of kitchen shears. When all else fails, kitchen shears can probably handle it. A true multi-tasker.

I also grabbed some stuff like a small cutting board (with happy vegetables on it), a decent pan, some chopsticks, one setting of cheap silverware– you know, the stuff you don’t really know you need until you don’t have it handy.

After all of that, I headed back home, because I was carrying a ton of stuff.

Getting it back on the train wasn’t too great, but once I got to my bike, the last bit wasn’t so bad.

Now I’m going to enjoy some Japanese TV with my conbini dinner.

Getting Used to Apartment Life

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Sep 302011

More classes today. I have a lot of gaps to fill in in my Japanese. Today I have my private lessons, then I’ll probably go to Nagoya to do some shopping. I need to get a wireless router and some kitchen supplies, as well as some sheets ASAP. Those are all top priorities.

I’m getting used to the apartment. I like it a lot. It has some nice features, which I’ll go into some other time.

Shopping List

My B-Mobile data-only SIM card ate about 100 MB of data since I got it in Tokyo, and that’s too much, too fast. I want this to last the whole time I’m here, so I need to pick up a WiFi router to slow down the data drain.

My tablet is also kind of useless without a wireless internet connection. It’s not completely useless, but it’s about half as useful. So I better get a router.

My kitchen comes with a rice cooker (but it’s tiny), a few pots and pans (the “non-stick” pan isn’t very much of one), a toaster oven, a microwave that doubles as a tiny oven, a fridge, and that’s about it for the kitchen. The rest is pretty much up to me.

So I need to go buy a few things to make my life easier for the next few months. I suppose I can just live out of the conbini… but I’d rather make an attempt at not doing that.

Pillow Talk

Something else I found out is that Japanese beds don’t have the same sizes as US beds do, so the sheets I brought don’t fit. It’s like a fat twin or a skinny double, so my US twin-size sheets are too narrow to fit this bed.

That’s something else to buy.

I brought my own pillow with me. I know I sound like an 8-year-old, but I have a favorite foam pillow. It collapses nicely and fits into a Space Bag. I also brought a blanket, so I can just “camp out” on top of the bed for now. Not a huge deal, but I kind of want a bottom sheet at the very least.

That’s it for now. Gotta jet.

Back in Okazaki!

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Sep 292011

Today I made it back to Okazaki and Yamasa again.

I got up early, and grabbed a shinkansen, the Nozomi from Tokyo to Nagoya.

I could have grabbed it in Shinagawa, which would have made more sense, but I know the way to Tokyo Station better, and I didn’t want to get lost and miss my train.

For those of you who don’t know, there are 3 kinds of shinkansen (what we Americans call “bullet trains”) that run on the Tokaido Line from Tokyo to Nagoya, and on to Osaka and points further West.

First, there’s the Kodama. It stops just about everywhere. It’s fast in that it’s faster than an ordinary train, but it’s slow, because it stops a lot. It’s handy if you live in a biggish small town, but it’s not the way to get anywhere really big in a hurry.

Next there’s the Hikari, which stops at fewer places, and is a lot faster. (And more expensive.) This is the train you take if you’re using a JR pass, or if you’re on a budget.

Then there’s the Nozomi, which is just a rocket on rails. It barely stops for anything, and I think it goes around 270-300 Km/h or so. I know that I got from Tokyo to Nagoya in about a little less than 2 hours. The downside is that it’s not cheap.

Another downside: you can’t use it for free if you’re on a JR pass.

Arriving in Nagoya, With Just Enough Time to Change Trains

I grabbed a Nozomi to Nagoya, and got there in a jiffy, then grabbed a variant of a limited express to Okazaki. That bit took about 30 minutes or so.

I was feeling adventurous, so I rode in the front of the train and watched out the front of the car. I don’t know why, but I like to do that.

It’s interesting to watch all of the hand gestures that the engineers, conductors, and construction workers use. I saw something about that on TV a while back. Apparently, it improves safety if you force your employees to confirm each action they’re supposed to take with a specific hand gesture. As long as I get there safely, I’m all for it. It doesn’t look silly if it saves lives.

I got to Okazaki at around 11:50, and got picked up with my 2 monstrous suitcases and was whisked over to the school. It’s a pretty short walk from the station if you’re not carrying 100 lbs of luggage, but add the luggage, and the distance suddenly seems much bigger.

Since everyone was at lunch, I had to wait a while. Bad timing on my part. Fortunately, there were a few people hanging around in the Customer Service department who could take care of me and get me processed. We got my room sorted out (Villa 5, yay!), and then I got a ride to my new digs.

I Get to Stay Here? Really?

As far as temporary apartments go, this one is very nice. It’s a studio-style apartment that’s been very recently built. It’s Japanese-style, but with a bed. (Thank God.) I love Japan, but I can’t handle futons. Last time I was here, I had excruciating futon-induced back spasms. Thankfully, there are some apartments here with western-style beds.

It was also built to take a magnitude 8.5 earthquake. That’s reassuring.

After a few minutes to unload and freshen up, it was back to campus for my first private lesson at 1:40, followed by a CALL seminar at 2:40. It was challenging and a fun to get back in the saddle, as it were.

By then, I was pretty much starving. I staggered over to the Mini Stop to get some food, then spent the rest of the day figuring out the apartment.

Eye Yai Yai

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Sep 282011

I had the hotel’s breakfast again, then went straight to the front desk to take care of two things:

my eyes, which now hurt like hell
and finding someone who can do something about the stink in the bathroom. Seriously, what is that? It’s not me. It was like that when I got there.

A nice young woman at the desk told me to go to the JR Hospital down the street a block from the hotel, and she helped me write a short paragraph in Japanese, explaining just what the heck is wrong with my eyes.

Yeah, I know, I’m lame. But I haven’t studied medical Japanese at all. I did learn the word çœ¼ç§‘ã€€ãŒã‚“ã‹ ganka, which means ophthalmology.

Anyway, I had to hustle, because they stopped seeing patients at 11 a.m., and it was already 10. So I rushed over there, and started working my way through the Japanese Health Care Delivery System. And it IS a system.

A Hospital Is Approaching, Please Stand Behind the Yellow Line

First things first– it is the JR Hosptial. Yes, that JR, as in Japan Rail. Well, I’ve seen stranger things, I guess. But I can’t complain. The treatment I got was first-rate, just like pretty much everything Japan Rail does. (Except maybe some of the train station bathrooms… some of those can be kind of on the icky side.)

First I had to ask around to find the non-emergency clinics. Clinics found, I got handed around by a bunch of nice women, some of whom spoke English, some of whom did not. Eventually, they found a medical translator, and she helped me get through most of the forms, and helped me get my hospital card… which had my name spelled wrong in both English *and* in Japanese. Quite a feat, but not surprising. My last name isn’t easy for native English speakers, either. They always screw it up. Can’t say I was surprised.

The translator led me to the ophthalmology clinic, then I got a number, and got down to some serious waiting. And waiting. About 40 minutes of waiting.

I finally saw an ophthalmologist who spoke near perfect English, and she told me that my eyes were inflamed. (Which I kind of knew.) She gave me some prescriptions for some medication, answered my questions, and sent me on my merry way.

Then it was off to the cashier to pay, and then to the pharmacy department to pick up my meds. And I was done.

From “I’m coming to your hospital with my sick eyes,” to “Here are your eye drops, now get out,” it took about 2 hours, and cost about 11,000 yen.

That’s pretty good, considering that it usually takes me anywhere from 7-10 days to see my eye doctor in the US. By then, my eyeballs are trying to explode in my head. Maybe they can fit me in that day, maybe they can see me next week, or the week after. It’s not a sure thing.

To be honest, I like the Japanese system of coming in early, taking a number, and seeing the doctor that way, but I don’t think it would work in the US. It would be a mess. The doctors would just get totally swamped.

Oh wait, we already have that sort of thing, it’s called the Emergency Room. But it’s ridiculously expensive.

From the Eyes to the Nose

After I got my eyes fixed, I went back to the hotel to see what was up with my room. They were cleaning it.

So I goofed off in the lobby for a while.

I went back to check, and they couldn’t fix the bathroom, so they offered another room.

Hmm. I’m leaving in the morning. Is it really worth it to move all of my crap?

Yes. Yes, it is. The bathroom smells funky. It’s as if someone has peed on the ceiling, walls, and places I don’t even know about, with a musky kind of pee that is just awful.

Yes, I will take your new room!

So I moved to a room on the 6th floor, 639, away from room 1326. (I didn’t like being on the 13th floor anyway.)

Senso-ji, I Have Returned!

After a short break, it was time to head to Asakusa, to Senso-ji, for a little photography break, and to see the Kakminarimon again, among other things.

If you want more information or to see the photos from the first trip, they’re here.

The Kaminarimon is always interesting:

Nakamise Dori is still busy:

No lanterns at the Houzoumon this time:

Back side of the Houzoumon:

The Chouchin is still impressive, although the paint is starting to crack:

Chouchin supporters!

The Tokyo Sky Tree dominates the scenery:

Houzoumon and Sky Tree, Combine!

The Honden is still busy:

Heading out–Nakimise Dori:

Kaminarimon on the way out:

I like Asakusa a lot. It’s a neat neighborhood, and I really like the temple there. Granted, it’s usually choked with tourists, but it’s still fun.

I wandered around there for about an hour or so, and took all sorts of pictures. I thought about heading to the new Tokyo Sky Tree under construction, but it was too close to closing time and… to be honest, it was too much of a pain to get there.

Ameyoko

So I headed to Ueno, with no particular destination in mind, and wound up in Ameyoko-cho. (I think that’s right… could be wrong about that.)

Ameyoko-cho is in all of the guide books as someplace to see “great street life” or whatever. It’s interesting, and kind of useful, if you want to buy fish or $10 watches, or maybe a T-Shirt with some weird English on it, or maybe a random piece of luggage.

See, it’s really hard to pin down what you’d want there. It’s just stuff that people would buy if they live in Tokyo, not necessarily if they’re tourists.

“Hey, Mr. Tourist, I have a really big smelly fish for you! It just fell off of a truck! $5 okay?”

No, that just doesn’t work if you’re staying in a hotel as a tourist, you see?

Now, if you’re local, things change. “Oooo, just *how* smelly is it? Is it ‘peel the paint off the walls’ smelly, or ‘send me to the hosptial again’ smelly? Because I’m thinking sashimi if the worms aren’t too big!”

I wandered. I didn’t buy the fish, nor did buy the watches that were amazingly reduced from 10,000 yen to 1,000 yen for the next 10 minutes ONLY! What a coincidence!

Then it was back to the hotel for some dinner. But first, it was time to hit Takashimaya Times Square’s basement for dinner. Half-price basement food. Yum. Then back to the room to scarf it down.

After that, it was time for a trip to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, to check out some nighttime scenery.

The scenery is very pretty, but I forgot my circular polarizer again… doh.

I tried pressing the camera closer, but it still didn’t work:

One decent shot from pressing the lens right up against the glass, but I didn’t want to risk damaging anything (and you can still see reflections in the shot, even with the lens up against the glass!):

Then it was back to the hotel room.

Tomorrow it’s off to Okazaki. I hope they have a bed for me instead of a futon plank. I never heard anything either way.

Tonkatsu, Point Cards, and Burning Eyes

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Sep 272011

This was my first full day in Tokyo. I started with the hotel buffet for breakfast. 1,200 yen for all you can eat, either Western or Japanese style.

Some of the Western stuff is a little odd, but it’s good enough for me. Plenty of yogurt, and a decent strawberry sauce. Other stuff was available, of course: poached eggs, “baking bread,” whatever that is, Japanese-style bacon and sausages that don’t taste like either bacon or sausages, and some good croissants and OJ.

The most important points here are that: I didn’t have to make it, and it was right there in the hotel, so I didn’t have to find a place to eat breakfast.

It’s the most important meal of the day, you know.

Point Cards

Belly filled, I headed off to Kinokuniya in Shinjuku to get my JLPT application. It wasn’t too difficult. Just ask at one of the desks and you can get an application.

I also picked up a Kinokuniya point card.

That’s one thing you should definitely do while in Japan– pick up point cards whenever you get a chance. They’re very handy. You get points for every purchase, and then you can cash them in like money. A lot of times, though, they expire at the end of the month, so be careful. Better to use them as soon as you can, especially if you’re just on a short-term visit.

You may need an address and phone number for the point card. If you decide to specify one, well, I leave that up to you.

Ginza

Application in hand, I headed off to Ginza to do some shopping. First I stopped off at Itoya, which is my favorite stationery store. It’s 8-9 stories full of interesting stuff to buy.

If they don’t have it, you don’t need it.

I was looking for the a calendar similar to the kind I picked up 4 years ago, which is a standard yearly calendar on nice paper with a traditional Japanese woodblock print on it. But after combing through the store and the annex, I had no luck. I spent an hour wandering around, because Itoya is a great place to just wander around and look.

I managed to find double-sided sticky tape. I’ll need that for my JLPT application. (To attach the photo.)

It was soon time for lunch.

Rengatei

In the US, I usually watch a show called “Tokyo Eye” that comes on TV-Japan on Saturdays, and they did a show on a Ginza eatery called Rengatei, which is famous for being either one of the first, or the first place to serve tonkatsu in Japan. (Sorry, I can’t remember which.) It’s been in business since the 1890s, if I remember correctly. I’ve been dying to try their tonkatsu, and thanks to remembering to star the place on Google Maps, today was my chance.

Their tonkatsu comes with a pile of thinly sliced cabbage, and I ordered some rice and lemonade to go with it. The sauce they have is a bit thinner than the usual tonkatsu sauce. I poured it on the side, and dipped the katsu in it, as well as the cabbage.

It was a great tonkatsu. I’ve never had anything that light and crispy. The regular is 1,300 yen, and the large is 2,000 yen.

And it’s worth it.

Kyukyodo

After that, I went to Kyukyodo, because I still hadn’t managed to find those calendars. Kyukyodo is a very nice stationery store, but it can get pretty expensive. The 3rd floor still has a nice gallery full of calligraphic art. This time there was a display of calligraphy carved into wood. There were some really interesting pieces there. I spent some time talking to the dotients in my broken Japanese.

On the second floor, they had some nice seal carving knives, and some great-looking calligraphy books, but nobody was interested in helping me, and I wasn’t interested in carrying them all over Japan, so I decided it was probably for the best.

I’ll get that stuff in Nagoya.

Marunouchi & Maruzen

I got on the subway and rode to Tokyo Station to go to Maruzen. Maruzen’s always a pain in the butt for me to find. I spent a good 10-15 minutes lost around there looking for it. I did the same thing four years ago, too.

Google Maps wasn’t much help, because once I was underground, there was no GPS signal, and one building is a lot like another. I did find it eventually. I didn’t buy anything, though. Again, the issue was the whole “Carrying books all over Japan” thing.

I inquired about the BJT, or Business Japanese Test, because I was thinking about taking it as a backup to the JLPT, but nobody there had ever heard of it, and didn’t know where to get the forms.

I suppose I can ask at Yamasa when I get there.

After that, I headed back, since my eyes were starting to hurt, and it was getting late.

As the evening went on, my eyes wereÂ really starting to hurt. I stopped by the drug store kiosk in JR Shinjuku and bought some Visine, and tried it when I got home.

Eyes On Fire

Using Visine was a big mistake. It made my eyes burn even worse.

My eyes have been hurting ever since I got off the plane, and they’ve only been getting worse. So I decided to use Skype to call my insurance company’s overseas “OMGHELP” number. They were very helpful. They told me to go to any doctor I wanted to, and they would pay the claim when I got back, so long as I filed the right paperwork, and I had a year to file the claim.

Awesome.

They even told me the papers to get from the doctor, and not to worry if the papers were all in Japanese.

If you’re ever in that kind of a bind, make sure you get the paperwork taken care of.

I spent a couple of hours trying to find one of the “recommended doctors” on their website, but it was kind of a pain in the butt. I never found any of them in Google Maps. I’ll probably just ask at the front desk in the morning.

Off to Japan! (Wait, Didn’t I Use This One Before?)

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Sep 262011

It’s 3:30 a.m. ~~Saturday, September 24th~~ Sunday, September 25th. The driver is going to be here in an hour and fifteen minutes, and I’m trying to close my humongous Samsonite 29″ suitcase.

My plan was to have a giant suitcase big enough to stuff Jimmy Hoffa into, but slim enough to fit nicely behind the last row of seats on the shinkansen.

I have rolled my clothes into Space Bags, and everything looks like it should fit.

But it doesn’t.

One Bag Is the Rule, Except When Money Is Involved.

Well, everything does sort of fit, but the scale says that this bag is off the charts, and that’s bad for my wallet. (Weigh your stuff before you leave home!)

The stuff in the suitcase has the density of a neutron star. But while the suitcase itself is light, it doesn’t really handle very well. The saleslady warned me. I should have listened, but I wanted to save $80.

Cheaper is cheaper, but it’s not necessarily better.

So, change of plans.

I had to dig out my Old Reliable 26″ Samsonite, which I took to Japan the last time, tossed some Space Bags into it, and evened out the loads… and before going out the door, I have already violated my Prime Directive of Traveling: One Bag.

ONE. BAG.

It can’t be helped. I’m going to be gone for almost 3 months, and I pared the clothes down to the bare minimum.

Fall is a troublesome season. You need short- and long-sleeve shirts, and one or two really warm things, for when it finally decides to get cold.

Also, going with two bags will help avoid the overage fees for heavy luggage.

With the Dollar-Yen exchange rate at a crazy high rate of 75 yen to the dollar, I need to save every penny on this trip.

Getting Out of Town

At 4:45 a.m., my driver showed up. A nice guy from Elite Coach came by in a Town Car to whisk me away to RDU International Airport. It’s not my usual way to travel, but in this case, I think it was a good call. It put me in the right mood for the trip for the most part.

I got to RDU, and sure enough, the Jimmy Hoffa bag was over by 2 pounds, so I shifted some stuff to the other bag. Overage fixed. Hooray!

So in this case, two bags wasn’t too terrible.

The TSA check was a lot smoother than this summer. It only took about 10-15 minutes, and there was nobody swabbing my backpack to check for explosive residues this time. (Did I mention that about the London trip? They really did swab out my carry-on bag for explosive residues. Ah, Security Theater.)

I got patted down, but that was because I left a lens-cleaning cloth in one of my pockets. They were professional about it, and I was out of there quickly. There were also no hysterics about the amount of electronic equipment I was carrying, which was nice to see.

We live in the information age, so some of us carry a lot of electronics. I’m a nerd, so you can double the amount I carry compared to others. The hum of a computer is soothing to me.

Off to the lounge to wait for the American Airlines staff to show up so I could start begging. Lots of waiting. And waiting.

Finally, the guy showed up about 45 minutes before the flight, and I just about jumped him, the poor guy. But he was great about it. He got me into business class for the flight from DFW to Narita, which is all I cared about. I just wanted to be spared that 13 hours and 30 minutes of coach pain.

Right about here I started doing the “Upgrade Dance.”

Whatever You Do, Stay In Group 5.

It was time to cram into the S-80 to Dallas/Ft. Worth. The flight was full, in every meaning of the word.

Here’s an important note for folks wishing to fly American: whatever you do, don’t check in online, because then you’ll get to be in group 2.

I would hate to have more people in group 2 competing with me for space in the overhead bins, so please don’t check in online. Check in at the airport so you wind up in group 5 or 6. That’s much better.

In group 5 or 6, you’ll get on last, and have nowhere to put your luggage, while I’ll still be in group 2, and have my pick of anywhere I want to put my giant bags.

That was a public service announcement for all potential American Airlines passengers.

Joking aside, check in online before you go out the door. You’ll save yourself a headache.

I had been worried about what I was going to do on the flight from RDU to DFW, but it turns out the lady next to me had a lot to talk about, so we talked for most of the flight over. I don’t mind on a short flight like that, because I didn’t have anything I needed to do, and it took my mind off of things to just chat with someone.

Good luck to you, ma’am.

Back In Dallas, Briefly.

I got in to DFW a little early, so I had plenty of time to head to Terminal D and relax in the Admiral’s Club. (Huzzah! Free Admiral’s Club passes with every business class upgrade!) I called the folks back home, and then got myself mentally ready for the flight to Japan.

It’s a long flight.

I know that there are longer flights, but it’s still a long amount of time to be stuck in a metal tube, no matter how cozy the seats are. I lucked out– nobody sat next to me, and I had an aisle seat. So I could pretty much do whatever I wanted to. The guy on the other side of the center row was a Navy guy who had flown business before, and he showed me what I needed to know.

In a Metal Tube, Over the Water, at 540MPH

I’m in the club now!

Business class on American is nice. It’s very comfortable. I’m not just spoiled, I’m ruined.

I chose to sleep for most of the flight. I wound up listening to a marathon of “Says You!” episodes that I had bought from their website and stuffed onto my phone. It helped to pass the time.

But thirteen and a half hours is still a long time.

Business class made a HUGE difference in how I felt when I got off of the plane. Had I been in coach, I probably would have been a mess. I was in much better shape thanks to business class. Ah, if every seat in every plane was like that, I think everyone would enjoy flying again. Maybe they would even look forward to it.

Ralph Welcomes You to Japan. Over. And Over.

I arrived at Narita right around 4:30 p.m. Japan Time, and made my way to the bathroom. (Because you should go when you can.)

What music awaited me, but the sound of some poor guy in the stall next to me calling Ralph on the porcelain phone. Ralph wasn’t picking up, so he kept calling.

And calling.

æ—¥æœ¬ã¸ã‚ˆã†ã“ãã†ã€‚

Indeed.

The great thing about Japanese public bathrooms is that the stall walls go all the way to the floor, so there’s no danger of “the hand” coming up from the stall next to you, or worse, “spillage” from the next stall over.

But still, “Ralph” next door made me uneasy. I just hoped I didn’t catch anything that would give me the urge to call Ralph as well. So I boiled my hands on the way out.

I noticed that my eyes were itchy, too. (Foreshadowing?)

Dealing With Paperwork

Here’s a tip for arriving passengers to Japan: fill out your arrival form in INK. They will make you do it over if you do it in pencil.

I learned this lesson The Hard Way.

I also learned that speaking Japanese at this point makesÂ everything go more smoothly.

Seriously. Even my sorry Japanese helped me.

I headed to baggage claim, and I waited for about 30 minutes, while I stared at other people’s luggage. Not mine. So I went to the desk to ask where my bags were, and there they were. Well, I’ll take whatever I can get. So I loaded them up on the shopping cart thing and took them to customs. It was time to do the yakkan shoumei dance. Last time was such a pain.

I asked the customs guy what do I do with my yakkan shoumei, and he got all excited, because apparently nobody ever bothers to get one. He led me to a counter, and showed it to four or five other customs inspectors, who had probably never seen one, too, and they consulted a few binders, then said I was good to go.

I guess I’m the sort of endangered species that bothers to get the paperwork taken care of.

SIM City

I needed to go to the Softbank booth, to get a rental SIM card. The Softbank rental SIM is one of those, “It’s great so long as you never actually use it” sort of things.

It’s great for other people to call you, because incoming calls are free, but outgoing calls get expensive fast. And don’t even think about data. (Just thinking about using the data incurs a separate charge!)

This is the perfect SIM card for an old GSM dumb-phone that can’t do data, like my Motorola Razr V3X. It works like a charm, and doesn’t use data. (Rather, it can’t.)

Off to Shinjuku!

After that, I went to the station to catch the Narita Express (N’EX) to Shinjuku. I thought about taking the Keisei Skyliner, but I didn’t want to carry the bags all over Ueno Station and change trains.

A lot of people talk about taking the airport buses, and yes, they are cheaper, but they’re buses. You won’t get the amenities you get on a train (well, you may, but you may not), and more importantly, there’s traffic to reckon with.

Trains just go. If they’re not running, you have bigger problems to worry about than getting to Tokyo from Narita. Every now and then they’ll run a little late. By a little, I mean 10-20 seconds. More rarely, there will be an accident, and the train won’t come for a while. In that case, grab another train line.

But trains aren’t perfect. They come with drawbacks, especially for someone traveling with a large number of bulky bags.

There are few things more awkward than carrying huge American bags on a local train in Japan. You will get ugly looks from everyone around you.

The ugly stares will double if you commit the unpardonable sin of carrying a backpack on your back, instead of down on the floor, which is impossible with 2 suitcases, because you need both hands to hold on to them.

The N’EX goes straight to Shinjuku, and is designed for me and my American bags.

I had to wait until 6:52 for my train, so I had time to refill my Suica card, which STILL WORKED AFTER FOUR YEARS. It even had a balance of 653 yen on it.

That’s awesome.

Green Green Green

This time, I splurged and went Green Car. The difference is around 1,900 yen or so, but the seats are bigger, and I was bushed.

A woman brought a cart through the car, selling food and drinks, and I bought an onigiri and a bottle of water. I was hungry, but I only wanted to knock the edge off of my hunger. I was going to eat better when I got to Shinjuku. That was the plan, anyway.

What I did not grasp is where the trash bins are located. Call it jet-lag-induced stupidity or whatever, but they’re shown right there on the info card in the seat back. Even so, I still managed to get it wrong.

One nice bit about the N’EX is that there’s ample room for luggage storage in the front of the cars. There’s WiFi too, but I couldn’t get it to work in time… and I wasn’t that desperate.

Shinjuku!

I got to JR Shinjuku, and checked in at my hotel, the Sunroute Shinjuku, which is a really good hotel for the price. The rates run around 9,000 yen or so for a basic room, but the basic room is good enough. You get a good bed, fridge, and a decent TV channel selection. It’s not as good as some top-tier hotels, but everything is solid.

Well it usually is.

The bathroom in my room had some funky stink in it. As in bad funky.

I stopped long enough to change clothes and freshen up, then ran to the Shinjuku Yodobashi Camera, right before it closed.

Second SIM

I bought a B-Mobile Fair SIM card at Yodobashi Camera, because this one gets me 1GB of data on my Nexus One for up to 4 months for ~9,000 yen or so.

The other option is a 1GB for 1 month option for 3,000 yen, but once I’m set up with WiFi, I don’t think I’ll use that much data. And if I don’t, I’ll lose whatever is left over at the end of the month, and that’s no good, either.

Both options use DoCoMo’s network, and give you fast speeds, so long as you don’t break a 300MB soft cap. Then you’ll get throttled. Or so I hear.

No matter how much data I use, when the first GB runs out, I can buy an extra 1GB for 3,000 yen, which will last for 1 month, or I can do the Fair for 4 months again for 9,000 yen. The pricing isn’t great, but I don’t need to have a visa to get it, and it’s a lot better than the rates I’d get charged if I use the Softbank rental SIM for data.

Dinner was conbini yakisoba and whatever I could find in the conbini. No time to find a restaurant tonight.

Oyasumi nasai.

I’m beat.

Through the Trip Prep Looking Glass

Japan, Photography, Technology, Travel Comments Off

Sep 202011

Note: This is about stuff I did before the trip, but I’m actually writing it about 10 days into the trip, but I’m going to put this chronologically before it anyway, so that it makes sense.

Because It’s There.

Before this 3-month trip to Japan, I decided to do what I did before I came to Japan four years ago– go to Mt. Mitchell. Mt. Mitchell is about 6,700 feet high, the highest mountain east of the Mississippi River in the Continental U.S.

The sign says so:

I don’t know why I feel this compulsion to go there, but it’s probably because I went there four years ago at just about the same time and the resulting trip was just amazing.

So before I go to Japan I went there to sort of psych myself up and put my brain into Travel 7,000 Miles Mode.

I went there sometime in mid-August.

I loved the scenery, and the mosquitoes loved me.

Have a look:

Going up to the observation platform:

Another view along the way:

Even on cloudy days, the view here is great:

This time I didn’t fall or hurt myself, so I took that as a good omen.

Getting ready for the trip was a bit hectic, since I’m going to be in Japan for around 87 days. The longest a U.S. Citizen can stay on a landing permit is 90 days, so I’m going to be cutting it kind of close. I’m writing part of this from Okazaki now, so looking back, I’d say that some things I did were smart, and others were just boneheaded.

Flying is Annoying, and Other Obvious Things

The most frustrating bit of travel preparation was getting my flight squared away. I was once again forced to deal with American Airlines.

I had agreed to finally pay the ransom for my kidnapped frequent flier miles, only to find out that I had to wait until I had been “ticketed” before I could upgrade. Then, by the time I was “ticketed,” (because apparently them charging me $2,000 isn’t enough, they had to make me wait a week) it was too late to upgrade, because all of the upgradable business seats had already been given away.

So now I have to wait until the day of my flight to go and beg and whimper for the upgrade I already have the miles for… which they already took from me once.

If You Take Medicine, You May Need This. It’s Annoying, Too.

Another thing I had to get before going to Japan was a yakkan shoumei, which is a piece of paper to show the folks at customs if you have more than 30 days’ worth of medicines to bring into Japan.

It’s a real pain in the butt to prepare this, but if you contact your local Japanese embassy, they’ll e-mail you the forms to fill out. I wound up sending about 20-30 pages worth of stuff in the end. It takes a solid 2 weeks to get one, and that’s if you FedEx your paperwork to them, and fax your application. I’ve gone over this before in my 2007 Japan trip posts.

Shipping Ahead Only Works If You’re Smart

I spent a few days getting supplies together and shipping them ahead to Yamasa. I’m grateful that they’ll let me send stuff ahead, because it’s less junk to carry. The downside is that I wound up shipping future me way too much crap.

I’m planning on taking the N1 or N2, depending on my grade on the summer N2, so I sent a bunch of JLPT prep books ahead. I also sent a bunch of general grammar books ahead, too.

I wish I hadn’t sent so many books to future me. They’re heavy and expensive, and I probably won’t use them all.

And I wound up shipping things I just don’t need, like coffee. I like coffee. I drink it. But they have perfectly good coffee here. Why did I pack 2 bricks of coffee? And cocoa? Why did I pack it? I forgot why. But I did.

Oatmeal. Okay, I love steel-cut oatmeal. When I’m in the US, I eat it every morning. I cook it in my rice cooker using the porridge setting overnight, and it comes out great. I figured that there’s no way in hell that I would find steel-cut oats in Japan, so I sent 4 pounds of it over.

Dumb. Dumbdumbdumb.

Turns out that there’s a grocery store in Nagoya that stocks Odlum’s steel-cut oats. It’s in Sakae, right next to Maruzen. Actually, it’s cheaper than shipping from the US.

Much cheaper.

Experience Is Sometimes a Good Teacher, and Sometimes Isn’t.

I thought I would need an inflatable doughnut to sit on, based on my prior experience.

Nope. Didn’t need it.

The jury is still out on the protein bars. I sent a few ahead, just in case. I’ll probably go through them, just to avoid sending them home. They were really handy last time, so I sent some ahead this time.

But generally, I shipped too much stuff ahead, and most of it was stuff I did not need, or could have easily done without. Priority Mail to Japan is cheaper than Royal Mail (what isn’t?), but it’s still expensive, and Priority Mail is the only option you have for shipping from the US to Japan. There isn’t a significantly cheaper option, unless you grab an extra suitcase.

Upsell or Really Good Advice?

Speaking of suitcases, I went on a bit of shopping trip before I left. I bought a monstrously large Samsonite suitcase, a 29-inch model that’s light as a feather, and big enough to stuff Jimmy Hoffa in (allegedly). The sales lady tried to upsell me on a model that was $80 more.

I thought she was just trying to get a good commission, but my skepticism was my downfall, because I really should have listened to her.

The more expensive model was 4 lbs. heavier, though, and I was being slightly nuts about weight and cost, so I went cheap on the suitcase.

Big mistake.

The cloth handle just couldn’t take the weight of the filled suitcase very well, and the wheels had a hard time keeping up with me.

Get a suitcase with double wheels and sturdy handles. This suitcase didn’t have double wheels, it only had single wheels, and crappy ones at that.

I went big and light because I tried to go one suitcase with it– more on that in another post.

Do I Win at Umbrella Yet?

I found a collapsible umbrella that’s big enough for me– it doesn’t suck, but it’s slightly annoying, in that you have to “reload” it to “fire” it open again. Annoying, but it’s around 55″ big (sort of golf-lite), so I stay dry enough. If you search long enough on Amazon, you can find anything.

I also picked up a tiny external Western Digital 1TB 2.5″ HDD for storing photos, movies, etc. on.

As usual, I tore through The Container Store, and bought lots of little stuff, none of which I can remember off the top of my head. I’m sure I’m using some of it, I’m just unable to remember any of it.

I bought a $6 strap handle from Staples for carrying boxes around. I’m going to have to lug boxes around at some point, so I’m going to see if it’s a solution. Not like I can fit a cart in the suitcase.

Camera!

I swapped out my EOS Rebel XSi for an EOS 60D body. All-in-all it’s a nice upgrade. I really like the 60D.

But there’s one problem with any SLR, and that is that it’s an SLR, and about as unobtrusive as a tank at a 3-year-old’s birthday party. I use it for the tourist spots, and places where I’m okay with dragging it around, but it’s a bit of a dilemma for daily use.

Denser Than a Neutron Star!

Space Bags. I bought a lot of the Travel Size. The size that’s one size smaller is really useless. Space Bags are somewhat useful, but they pose a problem– if you reduce the density of all of your clothes down to that of a neutron star, then your bags become ultra-heavy. Also, you lose all of the cushioning you get from air-filled clothes.

Useful…ish?

Other Stuff I Love to Take on the Road

Motorola Xoom Android Tablet: I loaded this up with my eBooks to the extent that I could, as well as games and other stuff. I’m so glad I have this. The battery life is still around 8-9 hours, too, so it’s generally good to have around.

Motorola Razr V3X GSM phone, unlocked. This is my workhorse travel phone for “Oh crap!” moments. This is what I use for communication when I want to make sure that I don’t accidentally get dinged for data charges, because it’s a dumb phone.

Downside: it doesn’t do Japanese texting. Just pop in the SIM and go. No software to get in the way of calling.

Nexus One: my aging smartphone buddy. Unlocked, of course. (Am I the only person who still insists on buying unlocked phones?) I packed it full of music, because the app memory is crippled at only 1 GB.

There aren’t many apps that I can port to the SD card, and I hate that. But it’s GSM and unlocked, which makes it mighty. Mainly it’s mighty for 4 apps: Google Maps (most important), GMail, Chrome, and Music.

Aging Sony VAIO laptop: 3 pounds, but still felt heavy. It’s probably the extra battery.

Adapters: I’m still looking for the ideal power adapter solution for travel. The fewer I need to carry, the better. Motorola sucks in this department. The Xoom and the V3X still have 12V plugs. I’m using my old 2007-vintage iGo laptop power adapter for my laptop, so it would work with the 2-prong power outlets in Japan. For some reason it won’t work as a USB charger anymore, though. Bummer.

Traveling is an ongoing experiment for me. I’m always tweaking some variables to see how it improves my experience.

I just wish I could get away with less crap.

Going Back to Okazaki.

Japan, Japanese Language, Travel Comments Off

Aug 162011

I mentioned earlier that I was dissatisfied with the way my Japanese was progressing when I took the JLPT N2 last month. After talking to Michele, I realized that I have completely neglected my spoken/written Japanese in order to prepare for the N2, which tests neither skill.

I considered my options seriously, and realized that if I want to work in Japan, just having N2 (if I pass it) isn’t enough.

I need better Japanese communication skills.

When I went to Yamasa in 2007, I got a huge boost to my language ability in just 2 weeks’ time. I’m hoping that 3 months can make for a massive turnaround. So I’ll be back in Okazaki in a few weeks’ time, soaking up as much knowledge as is humanly possible.

And trying not to use English.

I’m just a little bit nervous, but mostly excited. I want to get better!

Android Apps For Japanese Learners

Japan, Japanese Language, Technology Comments Off

Apr 012011

If you’re going to go Android for Japanese first you need a keyboard. I like Simeji. It’s ugly, but very useful… and really, the only good choice out there, to be honest:

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.adamrocker.android.input.simeji

Also, if you like to add Japanese-style emoticons, then Kaomoji List is a great add-on to Simeji. It’s activated through the “mushroom button” on Simeji’s keyboard:

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.zeroindex.mushroom.kaomojilist

If you want to draw kanji by hand, then I recommend HanWriting IME:

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.KwanLye.android.HanWriting

For a dictionary, there are a couple of options. My preference is DroidWing. It works great with EPWING dictionaries (just create an EPWING directory on your SDCard) and with web searches, if you know what search strings to use. You can search multiple dictionaries all at once, which is powerful.:

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.aokabi.android.droidwingfree

If you just want EDICT, then it’s hard to beat Aedict. It’s free:

https://market.android.com/details?id=sk.baka.aedict

Vertical Text Viewer is great for reading é’ç©ºæ–‡åº« (aozora bunko) formatted books.Â é’ç©ºæ–‡åº« is the Japanese version of Project Gutenberg, only the difference here is that the format they use has become an “underground” standard of a sort. You can even buy books, have them sent to a professional to be scanned professionally, and then format them yourself in é’ç©ºæ–‡åº« format. (The books get destroyed in the process, though.) Of all of the é’ç©ºæ–‡åº« readers out there, I like Vertical Text Viewer the most. It has a Mincho font you can download inside the app for extra legibility, and when you press and hold on a word, you can send the word to DroidWing to look it up! VERY handy.

https://market.android.com/details?id=org.example.android.npn2SC1815J.VerticalTextViewer

If you’re learning Japanese, chances are, you’re also struggling with a way to remember everything. I hope you’re using an SRS. My favorite SRS is Anki, and there’s a port of Anki for Android, called Ankidroid.

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.ichi2.anki

When you’re in Japan, post offices are really useful places for doing 2 things: sending crap home, and getting money for cheap. Finding them, on the other hand, can be tricky. This app claims to do it. (Requires a connection.):

https://market.android.com/details?id=jp.co.efficient.pnpostoffice

This last app is just cool: the Hyperdia search app– you can use the Hyperdia service to search for ways to get from Aé§… to Bé§… (A Station to B Station) all over Japan. Of course, these days, that might not work exactly as you think. Also, this requires an online connection to work:

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.hyperdia.android.activity

Rich 1, JR Pass 0

Japan, Travel Comments Off

Jul 272008

I found the whole breakdown of the various trains I took on my 52,000-yen Japan Rail Pass last Fall, prices and all.

They’re in no particular order, but that’s because I’m too lazy to sort them out properly.

Sendai -> Tokyo 10,390 (Shinkansen)
Nagano -> Sendai 15,220 (Shinkansen)
Nagoya -> Nagano 6,390 (Limited Express)
Osaka -> Nagoya 5,980 (Shinkansen)
Fukuoka -> Osaka 14,390 (Shinkansen)
Hiroshima -> Fukuoka 8,500 (Shinkansen)
Hiroshima < – >Miyajima 1,200 (Rapid)
Kyoto -> Hiroshima 10,590 (Shinkansen)
Nara -> Kyoto 690 (Limited Express)
Kyoto -> Nara 690 (Limited Express)
Nagoya -> Kyoto 5,240 (Shinkansen)
Okazaki -> Nagoya 600 (Rapid)
Nagoya -> Okazaki 600 (Rapid)
Kyoto -> Nagoya 5,240 (Shinkansen)
Miyajima Ferry -> 300 (Boat)
Local Trains -> 2,400 (Locals and such.)

Total: 88,420 yen.

So I won. I got my money’s worth.

You can see that shinkansen trains are pretty darn expensive. There are special fees that come into play just for using one, and those jack up the price considerably. A shinkansen train will get you where you want to go twice as fast as a limited express train will, so that’s the cost of convenience.

You can also see that getting a green car pass for ~72,000 yen would still have paid for itself, although actually the fares would have been much higher, because there’s an extra green car fee you pay for green car tickets.

My advice– if you’re going to a lot of places, get a JR pass, if the math works out. But don’t bother with the green car.

One thing you should do is plan out where you’re going, and use the hyperdia website to see if it’s worth your money to get a JR pass. The nice thing about hyperdia is that it lists the fares for each train as well, so you can figure out how much you’d save by getting/not getting a pass.

Also, prices vary for JR passes based on the duration of the pass. My pass was a 21-day pass. The 7 and 14-day passes are cheaper.

Surface Mail Arrived.

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Dec 272007

Just a note for those wondering if surface mail (a.k.a èˆ¹ä¾¿ã€€ãµãªã³ã‚“ or funabin) really takes 8-10 weeks… it does. My packages finally arrived this past week. The last one I sent from Kyoto at the end of October just showed up today.

Surface mail takes a while, but it’s cheap.

Fight Travel Gizmo Clutter. (Or, Travel Less Dumb!)

Japan, Technology, Travel 3 Responses »

Nov 302007

I carried a lot of useless stuff with me to Japan. Itâ€™s the sort of stuff you see in a catalog, and think, â€œWow, that looks really useful!â€ when in reality you may use it once the whole trip, if you’re lucky, and end up having to lug it all over the place.

â€œBut itâ€™s so small, and folds away. Itâ€™ll hardly take up any space at all!â€

Sure, that one thing is small, thin, and light, but when you add 10 or 15 of its little friends together, they start to take up a lot of space and add a lot of weight.

Think logically, and take only what you absolutely know youâ€™ll use repeatedly with you.

Castoffs

Inflatable seat cushion: was actually less comfortable than the rock-hard chair.
Clothesline: never used it. I just found laundromats and did my laundry there.
Money belt: never used it. Itâ€™s Japan, not Europe. Sure, you might need one in Europe, and you might want to keep one on you just in case, but even the silk ones are uncomfortable, and in a country like Japan where even petty thievery is just unheard of, it felt totally unnecessary to me. Naturally, if you’re worried about losing your stuff, then go for it. I wasn’t too worried about being robbed in Japan. Now Europe is a whole different story.
Bicycle clips: didnâ€™t need them. The bicycles there donâ€™t eat your pants.
Luggage locks: didnâ€™t need them. I bought one of the locks with a short cable on itâ€¦ didnâ€™t need that, either. Locking your luggage is one of those marginal things. If they want to steal your stuff, they’ll get it, and the hasps on those locks are a joke. If you really want to break into a suitcase, all you need is a pointy object to undo the zipper, then just run the locked zipper over it again to close it.
Travel wash/Travel soap: the little stuff you can buy in a bottle? Yeah, you donâ€™t need that. Hotels have soap and shampoo, and it comes in big dispenser bottles, so you donâ€™t have to worry about ruining the planet. That goes for any soaps/shampoos you bring from home, too. You just donâ€™t need them, and all they do is add weight. If you stay in dorms, then buy your soap and shampoo there. Youâ€™ll smell like a local.
Little travel packs of toilet paper: just as scratchy as the stuff youâ€™ll find in the toilets there. I never used it. If you must bring something to take care of business down there, Iâ€™d recommend getting those little moist wipes that are individually sealed, if you want to avoid the sandpapery stuff.
Carnation Instant Breakfast Drink pouches: Seemed like a good idea, but added a lot of weight, and drinking milk in the morning was just tough on my stomach.
Flashlight: Never used it. Might still be good to have one, anyway.

Marginally useful stuff

Travel blanket/bedsack: These are useful if you plan on staying in dorms. I used them a lot in the dorm I spent 2 weeks in, but after that, I sent them home because they were too bulky. I borrowed the bedsack. The blanket was too short, making it very uncomfortable as a blanket replacement for sleeping in beds/futons. Find a bigger version if you’re a taller person and you plan on sleeping in dorms.
Foam neck pillow: Really comfortable, but a royal pain to take with you. Find an inflatable one instead.
Foam head pillow (really small version): Useful for dorms and in-flight, but doesnâ€™t store particularly well. I sent this home after I left the dorm. If youâ€™re only staying in hotels, you donâ€™t need it.
Portable travel radio: Wasted money, wasted space. The only radio I would take would be one thatâ€™s integrated into something else. Besides, 99% of what you can hear is in Japanese anyway. If you want to hear stuff from home, thereâ€™s always the internet.
Protein bars: Oh jeez. I took a ton of these with me, because I wasnâ€™t sure about the whole sodium thing over in Japan. They were useful in spots, but not 10 poundsâ€™ worth useful. Bring a few if you like to hike, but donâ€™t bring too many. The food in Japan is wonderful, and there isnâ€™t a protein bar out there than can compare. If youâ€™re on a special diet, then check labels on the food at stores and conbinis. Even the food at conbinis compares pretty well to food you can get at any restaurant chain in the U.S., and it contains less mystery-ingredient stuff that comes in a chemical drum.
Blindfold/Ear plugs: I had them, just in case. I didnâ€™t need them, but I had them. Avoid earplanes. Chewing gum is cheaper to unblock your ears.
Folding Travel Tray: Marginally useful, but I kept forgetting to use it. It does keep your stuff organized in hotel rooms, but you can just put it all in little piles on the desk, too.

Surprisingly useful stuff

Woolite pouches: If youâ€™re smart and bring clothes you can wash in the sink, youâ€™ll need Woolite. You can get packs of pouches at places like REI, and some kits come with a very handy flat plastic flap that works as a sink stopper. Or just pour Woolite into a tube and save a few bucks.
Coat hangers: 2 plastic ones are good for drying laundry, and less hassle to set up than a clothesline. Just bring two you donâ€™t mind having broken by baggage handlers.
Clothespin with hanger hook: 2 of these, if you can find them, are even better for drying laundry or wet towels. Also good for wet underwear. Doubles as a good way to keep hotel curtains shut.
Microfiber towels: I used one small and one bath sheet. I sent the bath sheet home when I left the dorm, but it was a good towel. I kept the small one with me at all times as a hand towel. Most bathrooms in Japan donâ€™t have paper hand towels, so BYO. Make sure you wash these a few times at home before you go abroad, and make sure you like them, because you may be using them a lot.
Plastic Knife/Fork/Spoon set: Usually, you will get chopsticks and such when you go to a conbini, but sometimes they forget, or they run out, or whatever, and youâ€™re left with nothing. Thatâ€™s when your KFS set comes in handy.

Best of the Best

iPod: Itâ€™s an iPod. It fights boredom. â€˜Nuff said.
Sony eBook Reader: I love books. I especially love trashy science-fiction and fantasy books. So I managed to cram about 30 or so of my favorites into this thing, and it totally saved me. It has solid battery life, so you can fight boredom wherever you go.
Electronic Dictionary: In Japan, they call them denshi jisho, but I call them awesome. The latest models have a small touchpad on the base that you use to draw kanji on. It made my life there much easier. If you donâ€™t know any Japanese, this wonâ€™t help you. Itâ€™s only useful for those with some Japanese knowledge.
Bose Noise-Cancelling Headphones: I canâ€™t get on an airplane without these anymore. The only downside is that theyâ€™re bulky, but they are worth the trouble. Enjoy the cone of silence.
Carabiners: Yes, carabiners. They’re the hooks mountain climbers use to secure ropes. They’re also handy for clipping small bags to large bags. I love them.
Cell Phone: I’ll go into more detail in a following post, but a good cell phone in Japan is really nice to have. It doubles as an alarm clock.

What I wish I had done/taken

Better non-cotton clothing: I love cotton. I love how it feels on my skin. It makes me feel civilized. What I hate about cotton is that every drop of sweat stays on you all day, and sweat stains look nasty. I also hate how long it takes to dry when you wash it in your room. Itâ€™s not good for washing in the sink. Next time, Iâ€™m going to bring well-worn polyester layer-able clothes that wick sweat better, wash in the sink better, and dry in under 2 days.
Less Luggage: I wish I had just had one small-to-medium sized roller.
Stain Sticks: Both the pre-treating wash stain sticks, and the ones that remove stains on the go are things I pined for while in Japan. Iâ€™m sure I could have found them there if I searched long enough, but thatâ€™s wasted time, in my opinion.
More Packing Cubes: These are great just for keeping stuff organized in your suitcase. I already had some gear pouches for cords and rechargers, but something a little bigger for things like brochures I wanted to keep, but didnâ€™t need, or a small cube for dirty laundry, one for clean shirts, etc. When everything is just dumped in the suitcase, it takes forever to find the little things.
A Good Compass: I needed one of these every now and then. When I needed it, IÂ really needed it.
Good Rain Gear: I still haven’t figured this one out exactly, but I think next time, I’ll bring stuff with Gore-Tex in it. It does rain a lot in Japan, and if you’re not prepared, you can prepare to suffer. Also, try to find a big umbrella that folds small. The ones you buy in Japan tend to … well … suck. Spend the extra money to avoid needless suffering.

In the end, you have to figure out what your specific needs are, and do what you can to meet them. But try to find things that multi-task, if possible. Pack everything early, and that way you’ll see just how much room the little gizmos will take up. For a long trip, try living out of your planned bags for a few days before you go, and see what you use/don’t use. Figure out what you think you’ll need, and then only take half. (Except medicines.)

Try everything out in real-world situations. Use the rain gear in real rain. Use the bedsack in bed. See how dark that blindfold makes the room. See if the radio is any good at picking up anything other than static. Try to avoid repeating my mistakes, please!

Returning and Recovering

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Nov 242007

It’s been 10 days since I got back from Japan, and I haven’t had much of a chance to post on my flight back and on readjusting to the U.S. again.

On the flight back, I met a nice guy, Dave, who shared similar gaming interests as me, so we chatted away in geek mode for a few hours. Then I had to rest my throat, because the desert-like atmosphere of the airplane just kills it.

So I went into cocoon mode, where I put on my noise-canceling headphones, listen to podcasts, and try to doze off in between meals. The food wasn’t bad, but for some reason I just can’t bring myself to order the fish on an airplane.

I spent a lot of time adding up all the various things I bought to fill out my customs forms, too. The last thing I wanted to do was submit anything that looked weird or out of place. I hadn’t really done the U.S. Customs arrival thing in a while, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I figured I’d prepare for anything.

OMG America

When I arrived in Chicago at 3:00 p.m. the same day, my slightly scrambled brain had to deal with being back in the U.S. all of a sudden. It was a weird feeling. I’ve spent the last month or so trying to adapt to Japan, and suddenly having to be an American again was a bit jarring.

Immigration was amusing in a way. When I arrived in Japan, the huge line was for foreigners coming into Japan. When I arrived in Chicago, the huge line was for Americans coming home. I guess it makes sense. After I got processed, I had to go pick up my luggage for customs. One thing to keep in mind– the signs say no cell phone use or camera use. They aren’t messing around. Turn off your phones and put them away.

Now, the whole time I’m going around here, I’m lugging my two backpacks, and my back is hating me the whole time. We’re talking, “I’m gonna get you when you sleep,” hate. This underlines my resolve to change the way I travel from here on out. Keep chanting, “One bag, one bag…” until I remember to carry just one bag.

At customs, I declared my Pocky, and then breezed on through without having to pay. I think the agent said that my books weren’t subject to duty, so I was under the limit. (Woot.) Then they took my bags and moved them on to the connecting flight right there, so I didn’t have to recheck them.

Now the fun part. Back through airport security. One thing I noticed that kind of irritated me was that first-class passengers had a different line for TSA screening. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought the TSA was a government agency. Why is the government playing favorites for first-class passengers? Meanwhile, the rest of us in coach are standing in a 40-minute line. Some poor guy with diabetes passed out twice in line. It doesn’t seem fair. We have to suffer in cramped seats, we pay these guys’ salaries in taxes, yet we suffer in line? I don’t get it.

After doing the TSA shuffle, it was off to find the Admirals’ Club. It’s totally worth the $50, because it’s nice to have a comfortable place to recover from your flight while you wait for the next one.

The club in Chicago wasn’t as nice as the one in Tokyo, though. The one in Tokyo had free food. The one in Chicago had one of those nut mix things you get in bars, and some broccoli. I think there were apples, too. But everything else was a cash bar. Tokyo’s Admiral’s Club had free sushi and free drinks. That’s tough to beat.

My flight to Raleigh was only 40 minutes late departing. I wish I had spent those 40 minutes in the Admirals’ Club, but like a dummy, I went to the gate early. No, I don’t know why. Since I was in group 5, I was the last person on the plane. I don’t know how I got put in group 5, but that’s where I had been put, and I wasn’t going to get on the plane any sooner.

My goal for my next trip is to get the hell out of group 5, and move up a bit.

On the flight, I met another nice person, and we chatted about the news and current events before arriving rather quickly at Raleigh-Durham. After that, it was standard stuff. Met my girlfriend at baggage claim, sprained by back getting one of my heavy suitcases, and limped on home.

Home Again Home Again, Jiggity Jig

I would have posted sooner, but I was busy recovering. When I got back, I felt like hell. They say that it’s harder to travel east than it is to travel west, and based on my experience, I agree. Coming back to North Carolina after being away for five weeks also had another effect. As soon as I got back on the ground at RDU, every single allergen that I had escaped for the last five weeks attacked me. I noticed it when my eyes started itching like mad on the ride home, and then the next day when my Eustachian tubes started acting up, too.

The other main problem I had was sleeping. I couldn’t. It took me about a week to get back on an almost-normal sleeping pattern where I could sleep for more than 5 hours a night.Â I still get very sleepy at weird hours.

Of course, coming back right before Thanksgiving added a certain amount of stress as well. Hey, it’s Thanksgiving. Everything has to be perfect, right? So trying to recover while also getting ready for Thanksgiving had its own impacts.

Finally, the hardest thing to get used to was the change in lifestyle. I was so used to walking a lot and riding trains, and suddenly I’m back in my car, muttering at the other drivers just like every other American. That was a jarring experience. To be honest, it’s the one part of coming back that I liked the least. I’ve gone from feeling like going out and rubbing elbows with millions of people to being in my house-pod, jumping into my car-pod, then doing my shopping in Controlled Shopping Zones, and scuttling back to my house-pod, with precious little unnecessary interaction.

Having a car is handy for carrying groceries, but I’m wondering at what cost.

I’m also not walking nearly as much as I used to, and I’m not even looking forward to going out to walk. It’s weird.

I do know one thing, and that is that I really want to go back to Japan, and spend some more time there. Despite the pain, frustration, and stress, I haven’t had so much fun in a long time. It was probably one of the best experiences of my life, and I’d highly recommend going, even if it is a difficult thing to do.

I think the difficult things are probably the best ones for us to do, anyway. You have to break out of your habits and get over yourself every now and then, you know?

Later, I’ll post some info on what I learned, travel-wise, for a trip to Japan, and for traveling in general. It’s not like I reinvented the wheel or anything, but I figure that if you’re willing to read this, you’re looking for any kind of information you can get.

Last Day In Japan. ;_;

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Nov 142007

I managed to get packed last night, but I was up late doing it. No surprise there.

First thing this morning I backed up all of my photos to DVD. I just had this horrible image of a security guy ruining my laptop, all 3,000 photos, with no backup… *shudder*

Then it was off to Shinjuku Station to reserve a seat on the Narita Express. This time I did get the Green Car, because I wanted the extra room for my luggage.

Yeah, that’s it. My luggage.

While I was there, I decided to make a very quick trip to Shibuya to get a photo of 109 and Hachiko. Gotta have a photo of Hachiko, right?

Hachiko:

109 (a famous fashion mall, I think):

The World’s Busiest Crosswalk:

Then back to Shinjuku, and a last stab at Kinokuniya, and this time, score! I found all of the novels I was looking for. Woot! Too bad I’m too illiterate to read them yet, but I’ll get to it.

On the way back, I saw a one-hour long line at the Krispy Kreme. Oh well. No time for that.

Now it’s just time to put the novels in a suitcase, and get out of here by 1:30 or so so I can make my train, and then my plane.

All packed!

The last photo!

Leaving Japan

(time skip)

So I’m on the Narita Express, heading to the airport, and I have to say it’s a very nice train. For 4700 yen, I get a big comfy seat all to myself, and there’s plenty of baggage room in the front of the car… since I got on in Shinjuku. If you get on in Tokyo, you’re going to have to improvise.

But anyway, I’m on the train, and I get my first taste of America in a while. Sitting in front of me is some random American Guy, who had to have heard the several announcements saying not to speak on cell phones in the middle of the car, but to move to the area between cars instead. Because really, nobody gives a crap about your parts supply issues, and we don’t want to hear them.

But this bonehead didn’t care. He decided to regale the entire car for 30 minutes about his supply issues, and how he doesn’t want to be here. Well, I’ve got news for him. None of us wanted to be there hearing him blather, either. And unless he’s just deaf or stupid, he couldn’t have been in Japan for 10 days without hearing this announcement in English at least 100 times.

Seriously, guy, they’re saying it just for your sake.

So if you travel, please, please, I’m begging you– don’t be that guy!

I jokingly call this blog “The Stupid American Tourist,” but I don’t mean that I’m “The Stupid Rude Inconsiderate American Tourist Who Annoys the Crap Out of People.”

Hot Doughnuts Now! Shinjuku, Takashimaya Times Square, Krispy Kreme!

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Nov 132007

Busy day today, with ups, downs, and a Krispy Kreme sighting.

I started off at 9:30 by running to Ikebukuro to buy a suitcase. Ugh. But I did find one. It’s not the best one I could find, but it was the right mix of cheap and not too shabby.

Then breakfast, which was more department store food. I love the depachika. (Depachika is Japanese for the basement, or bottom, so chika, of the department store, or depaato. So depachika.)

After that, I ran to Akasaka to meet up with Peter Galante, the host of japanesepod101.com’s many podcasts. I really like the podcasts, and it helped me a lot in getting ready for my trip here. I highly recommend the survival lessons. Especially the ones about trains and buses. Seriously. Don’t underestimate the importance of understanding the mass transit system here, because otherwise you’ll wind up like that poor lost Norwegian guy, adrift in Shinjuku.

You’ll probably feel overwhelmed and confused the first time you get here, anyway. No need to add to it.

It was fun meeting Peter, and I appreciate his listening to me ramble for 40 minutes. Sorry about that, Peter. I’m not always that talkative.

No, really, I’m not.

After that, it was back to Akihabara to raid some more shops. If you’re a nerd, you need to go to Akihabara, and be prepared to spend money. Of course, spending money implies buying things, and buying things implies carrying them around with you. If you live somewhere like New York City, you know this already. If you’re like me, and you live in the suburbs, then you need to consider it. I’m used to buying things, and putting them into my car. So I can buy a lot of heavy stuff without much thought. (Not that I do it often, but I do it.)

I went with my trusty backpack, which my girlfriend gave me before I went off to grad school. It has a lot of nice memories attached to it, but it has one little problem. Not to gross people out, but it makes my back sweat. And back sweat is probably one of the least appealing things you can show when wearing a charcoal gray shirt.

If you’re buying crap, consider your carrying strategies.

I raided Yodobashi Camera’s big store in Akihabara again. I found some nice game-related books there… so much data, it makes me want to cry when I look at the U.S. books.

After that, I went to Gamers’, and bought more manga there. There are sooo many good series over here that either haven’t or won’t come to the U.S. anytime soon. Then I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering in and out of various stores, browsing. If I did live here, I’d have a serious space problem, because I’d have a house full of gadgets and books.

But no Hello Kitty robots.

Probably.

Hot Doughnuts, Hot Doughnuts!

By around 4 or so, I was exhausted. So I headed back to Shinjuku before the crowds on the trains got out of hand. I took a break, rested up, started going through all of my receipts for Customs (ugh), and then decided to go to Tokyo Cityview in Roppongi for evening fun.

On the way there, I decided to stop at Kinokuniya to try to hunt down a few novels again. (Last time was a miserable failure.) So I got there at 7:50…. just as they were about to close at 8.

Seriously, can’t I get a break?

I did see something interesting on the way– a Krispy Kreme. In Shinjuku. Not 100 meters from my hotel. And the Hot Doughnuts Now sign was lit. But the line was not only out the door, it wrapped all over itself about 5 times. No hot doughnuts for me. But I did have a nice warm fuzzy feeling seeing it, and the thought of Krispy Kreme in Japan just made me laugh out loud. People looked at me funny, but I’m used to it.

Photos:

Is that… a Krispy Kreme?

OMG It IS! Look at that line! And the Hot Doughnuts Now sign is lit!

Mmm… Hot Doughnuts… sadly, no time to stand in line!

Some shots of JR Shinjuku from the bridge to Takashimaya and Kinokunia:

Christmas Lights at Tahashimaya:

Roppongi

Then it was off to Roppongi. And I finally figured out what made my headache on Sunday worse– the Oedo line. Seriously, it’s the loudest subway line in the world. It screams and groans like an angry rusted giant robot who hasn’t been oiled in 1,000 years trying to run across Tokyo.

By the time I got to Roppongi, I was feeling icky again, so I looked around a little, and wisely cut my trip short. It’s not going anywhere. I’ll catch it next time.

I took a few photos.

Roppongi Hills:

Tokyo Tower from Roppongi Hills:

Back to Shinjuku

Then it was back to the conbini, then the hotel. Now I need to finish packing and get ready to head home tomorrow.

I’ve had a great time in Japan. It hasn’t always been easy. In fact, there were some frustrating times, some hard times, and some times I just wanted to go home. But those times tended to pass, and the more I stayed here, the more I loved it here.

When I travel, I like to have “Wow!” experiences. I usually consider myself lucky if I have one or two. I had so many on this trip, I lost count.

I highly recommend coming to Japan, but not just planting your butt in Tokyo. Yes, Tokyo is great, but Tokyo isn’t Japan. Japan is a big country with a wide range of regional variation, and a lot of interesting cities, both big and small. Just going to Tokyo to judge Japan is like just going to NYC to judge the U.S. What about the Grand Canyon? Or … well, there’s a lot of other stuff out there. I’m tired.

When I get back home, I’ll sort out my thoughts properly, and post them on the blog.

Senso-ji and Akiba Fun, Part Two, Akihabara, Ikebukuro, etc.

Japan, Photos, Travel 3 Responses »

Nov 122007

Akihabara

So on to Akihabara, or Akiba as everyone calls it here.

First, I stopped at Asakusabashi station again, as I transferred from the subway to the JR line. I had a wait, so I took some more photos of Asakusabashi station:

Asakusabashi platform:

Roof detail:

Signal lights:

My train came in, and I made it to Akihabara.

First off was Yodobashi Camera. It’s just.. wow. A 10-story monstrosity full of electronics. It’s where nerds go after they die. It’s like 4 or 5 Best Buys stacked on top of each other, only with really cool stuff, and no lame junk.

No joke, it’s big:

But since I didn’t have a point card there, I decided to search for Bic Camera in Akiba, because I do have a Bic point card with a lot of points on it.

Thus begins my Fool’s Errand.

You see, there isn’t a Bic Camera in Akiba. But I didn’t know that… yet.

Before I started searching, I had some business to attend to. As you exit the JR Akihabara Station on the Yodobashi Camera side, off to the left you’ll see a small glass building called Oasis. It offers two things. A smoking room and a 100 yen pay toilet.

You might scoff at a pay toilet, but it’s a damn fine pay toilet. That was easily the best 100 yen I spent in Tokyo so far.

You enter, and a receptionist greets you with a polite bow. Then you head to the bathrooms, where you can deposit your 100 yen coin or just tap your Suica card and it’ll deduct the 100 yen automatically. Then the frosted glass door opens, and you walk into the nicest public toilet in Tokyo. (Well, the nicest I’ve seen so far.)

There aren’t stalls so much as there are small rooms with sliding, locking doors, and plenty of room to maneuver. You also get a powered-up shower toilet, soft fluffy paper, and a touchless sink. You can wash your hands and dry them without touching anything. So nice.

Controls!

Then it was off to Chelsea Market in JR Akiba for a burger. Nice, but kind of odd. Had a weird curry-based sauce on it, but pretty good.

After that, it was time to begin my Fool’s Errand! As I was walking around Akiba, I found the Toranoana Main Store. Oh, look! Manga! So I started climbing the stairs.

Hmm… they sure do sell a lot of comics here with guys with no shirts on hugging other guys… with no shirts on.

Oh, wait– comics without shirtless guys are next door. I guess that would explain some of the looks I got from some of the patrons on that side of the store.

So I looked in next door– ah, this is more like it! No more shirtless guy comics! Stuff I might actually read!

But before I started to load myself down with more manga, I needed to make a trip to Bic Camera. (Which still doesn’t have a branch in Akihabara, but I didn’t know that yet.) So more walking around.

My Fool’s Errand completed, I went back to Toranoana, where I loaded up on manga and light novels…. you know, to help me improve my Japanese. I got into manga while learning Japanese. It’s really handy to read, because the language is usually pretty simple, and some titles (usually aimed at younger audiences) provide furigana readings over the kanji, so you can look them up more easily.

Of course, I also like electronics, and the weirder, the better. So Akihabara is a natural sort of place for me. I found some stores selling all kinds of weird old stuff, and some stuff that brought back good memories.

I could spend a week in Akihabara and not have spent enough time there. All kinds of electronics, video games, and books. Fun.

Then it was back to the station to pick up some dinner for later at Vie de France, then on the train back to Shinjuku.

JR Akihabara platform:

Densha no Koto

A word about trains (again? Yes, again.) As you go from Shinjuku to the east, the Chuo and Soba lines run parallel until you hit Ochanomizu, then they split. The Chuo goes on to Tokyo Station, and the Soba goes to Akihabara. So in order to go from Shinjuku to Akiba, you need to switch lines at Ochanomizu.

It sounds like a pain in the butt, but it’s actually amazingly smooth. As the Chuo Rapid pulls in, a Soba local is pulling in the other side of the platform. So just hop from one train to the next. Smooth as silk. Same for hopping from the Soba to the Chuo. That’s brilliant.

Tonight I’m going to hit Kinokuniya one last time, then hit Bic to buy stuff. (And an extra suitcase. Yeesh.) If I’m careful about how I work it, I’ll be able to plow through all of my remaining Bic points. *Fingers crossed.*

Tomorrow is…. well, that’s something I’ll worry about later tonight. I’m going to stop by the japanesepod101.com studios to say ‘hi!’ (they said I could), then I’ll try to hit Shibuya to get a photo of Hachiko and see 109. Then… MORE AKIBA! Maybe I’ll go to City View in Roppongi tomorrow night, too. Dunno.

For Wednesday, I’ve already scheduled a late checkout for 2PM. It’s a little expensive, but worth it. That way, when I check out, I can just head straight for the airport and crash at the Admiral’s Club until my flight leaves at 7PM, and I don’t have to mess with having to find a place to put my bags for 4 hours. I’ll probably just take the Chuo to Kanda, then the Yamanote to Ueno, then the Keisei Skyliner to Narita Terminal 2. Or I could just take the Narita Express from Shinjuku, huh?

Time Jump

A few hours later…

At 6 or so I headed to Ikebukuro to the Bic Camera store there, because it’s supposed to be the biggest one in Tokyo. It’s actually in 2 different buildings. In one of the buildings, they have some stuff, and in the other, they have more of the same stuff. The difference is that in the newer building, they have luggage on the 8th floor. I should have bought it there. I should have, dagnabbit.

But I figured that if they had it in Ikebukuro, they’d have it at Shinjuku. So anyway, after futzing around in Ikebukuro for a bit, I couldn’t seem to find anything that I wanted.

Don’t Worry, that Stunned Look is Normal

So I went to Shinjuku. And helped a Norwegian guy buy a Suica card. The poor guy was so lost… he said, “I just came here from Kobe, and I’m totally confused.” I reassured him– Tokyo does that to everyone. It took me a little time to digest Tokyo as well. But now that I have a basic grip on things, and the Tokyo Street Map by Kodansha (in EN and JP), I’m okay.

Seriously, if you’ve never been to Tokyo, you’ll have that same stunned look on your face, too, when you try to navigate it. Eventually I got the hang of it, but at first, I felt like I was walking in mud as my brain tried to process everything. It felt good to help someone through that, even if it was only a little bit.

After helping the poor lost dude, I went to the Bic there. I found one of the things I wanted, and some privacy screens for my DS and my PSP. (Ah, privacy!) But no luggage.

Laundry Time!

By then it was 8:45, and everything was closing, so I headed back to eat some dinner, crash for a few minutes, and then head out to find the laundromat in Yoyogi they told me about at the front desk.

It took a little figuring out, but thanks to the street atlas, I actually found it. Right next to the neighborhood sento (public bath). Fortunately, it was open til midnight, so I could get all my laundry done. It was getting fragrant. Not like a flower.

When all was said and done, I got back around midnight.

But I had to have my clothes clean– I was down to the emergency clothes, and they were a little… ripe.

Rick Steves talks about doing laundry on the road. He says it’s a good thing to do, to meet locals and get local flavor. I agree this time. While it can be a bit of a nuisance to find a laundromat in Japan (or anything else that isn’t a tourist attraction), it’s totally worth it to see daily-life Japan. And by doing laundry and packing less, you save money on expensive hotel laundry, and you save space for those important souvenirs. (Or books, in my case. Lots of books.)

Tomorrow I’ll get up extra early to make a quick run to Ikebukuro to buy a suitcase. They open at 10, and I plan on rushing the door.

Then I’ll run back to Shinjuku, and my day can actually start.

In 42:30, I’ll be on a plane back to the States.

Shoot.

Senso-ji and Akiba Fun, Part One, Senso-ji and Asakusa

Japan, Photos, Travel 1 Response »

Nov 122007

Reversal!

I was at about 70% today, but I was good enough to go.

I decided to keep my plans simple. First off would be Senso-ji in Asakusa.

On the way there, I had to change trains at Asakusabashi station. So I took a photo.

I got to Asakusa, and headed to Senso-ji. It’s a nice place to visit. The Kaminarimon is a must-see. It’s the big gate in front of the temple with the massive red lantern hanging down. It’s the sort of thing us goofy tourists from all over want our picture taken in front of.

Like me:

More Kaminarimon:

As you pass through the Kaminarimon, you’ll see a vast expanse of souvenir shops selling, all kinds of trinkets, just like every other famous sight in Japan. This row of shops is called Nakamise Dori, and it’s been around for a really long time:

Closing in on the Houzoumon:

Now we’re approaching the Houzoumon, or Treasure House Gate. The gate is surrounded by many paper lanterns today:

Houzoumon:

Lantern detail:

Inside the Houzoumon, there are two Touro lanterns, and the one big red Chouchin.

Touro:

Touro Detail:

Chouchin:

Chouchin Detail:

As I pass through the Houzomon, I see more lanterns:

Then on to the temple proper. The big main building is called the hondo. That’s where you pray. You’ll see a big pot-thing filled with incense and billowing out smoke. You’re supposed to rub smoke on whatever ails you, so I just walked through the entire cloud, because I was hurting all over.

Pray here:

Facing the Houzoumon, you can see the smoke better:

After that, I sauntered over to the side, where they sell omikuji for 100 yen, and I got #69, which is… kyou, which means “bad luck,” (å‡¶ so you can recognize it.) It said that I wouldn’t have any luck finding a job, in relationships, etc., etc.

I did what any smart person would do. I tied it to one of the racks you’re supposed to tie bad luck fortunes to. *Whew* Dodged that bullet.

I hope?

In order to counteract any ill effects from the kyou, I picked up a good health and safe travel charm for 1000 yen, and I picked the red one, because red is a lucky color. I started to pick white, then I stopped and said, “Iie, akai onegaishimasu.” The lady behind the counter laughed.

So with my charm obtained, I wandered around the temple some more, took a few pictures, then went to the long row of tacky souvenir shops. I spent a good 20-30 minutes just looking around at crap, and buying some, too.

A tall building:

On the way out:

On to Akihabara, in Part Two…

Odaiba

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Nov 112007

I woke up feeling really crummy today. But I decided to head to Odaiba anyway. (Bad idea.)

I should have had a clue when I was feeling wonky riding the subway… but I didn’t. I pressed on.

The longer I rode the Oedo Line, the worse I felt.Â I had to ride for 15-20 minutes with theÂ wheels screeching all the time, even in the straight stretches.Â The sound just went right through my ears and into my brain, making me dizzy. I kept on going to Odaiba, though, because sometimes I’m more stubborn than smart.

I changed to the Kamome monorail at Shinsaibashi:

You can kind of see the station here:

And here:

Odaiba is weird. It’s totally different from the rest of Tokyo. It’s got a lot of empty space in between these giant buildings. It just feels… odd. Now I get why it’s seen the way it’s seen– as something sort of artificial. (Well, it IS a man-made island, but still…) It has the feel of a large corporate office park. Sort of like Las Colinas, TX, in case you’ve ever been there.

Anyway, I rode the monorail to Ariake, to check out the Panasonic building:

Panasonic Building

More Panasonic:

Then I walked to Tokyo Big Sight (a very large exhibition complex)

Saw a saw sculpture in front:

Then came back to the hotel. I had planned on doing a bunch of stuff there, but I was just feeling lousy.

I’ve been lying down in my room all day for the most part. I guess it was a case of just pushing myself too hard or something. Anyway, I should feel better by tomorrow. My plans for Monday are going to be severely scaled back. I don’t want to make it worse.

My mission will be accomplished if I can make it to Akihabara and get my goods. Anything else after that is gravy.

Besides, I plan on coming back here, so I need to leave some stuff on the plate, you know?

On the upside, I’m glad my hotel room is so nice. It’s made feeling like poo a lot more bearable.

Guess I should go hunt down dinner now.

Mind the Gap, Please

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Nov 102007

Long day. I got up early, researched some ideas, and settled on hitting Nakano Broadway, because it’s full of all kinds of shops, some of which I may be interested in. Since Time Out recommended a trip, I figured I’d give it a shot. I hopped on the Chuo Rapid to Nakano, got there, and all the shops were closed. Most didn’t open until noon. D’oh. This is just another example of how being over-eager can backfire, I guess. I did see a store with a cool name.Â It’s a used computer/old computer supply store called “Junkworld.” I like honesty in advertising. I also found an umbrella that doesn’t fail. It’s big. So big, I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it. 75cm is apparently the biggest you can find for under 1000 yen. The downside is that it doesn’t collapse.

Ueno and the National Museum

So on to plan B, the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno Park. 30 minutes of train riding later, and I’m there. And it’s pouring rain. Well, I can do rain, I’ve done it before. Trudge, trudge. As I approached the big fountain in Ueno Park, I saw there was some sort of giant tent thing there. Was it a festival? No, it was just a flea market/sale thing. They were selling Japanese housewares. Stuff like plates, bowls, teapots, iron rice pots, chopsticks– all neat stuff. I refrained from purchasing, however, in an amazing show of restraint. I thought about buying a set of 4 pairs of chopsticks… it was awfully tempting. I’ve gotten used to using them for salads. I think they make salads taste better. No metallic tastes. But I didn’t particularly want to carry them all over Tokyo with me, and to be honest, you can buy chopsticks just about anywhere. Moving on, the big fountain in Ueno Park: Then it was on to the Tokyo National Museum. Since I didn’t want to spend all day there, I decided to just visit the Honkan, which is where they store all of the important Japanese Art. And boy did they have art. All kinds of neat stuff. The downside is that not all of the exhibits have English explanations… in fact, I’d say 10% do. The rest just have English descriptions. It’s a little frustrating. It’s more incentive to study Japanese. The price is right, too. 600 yen for admission. Just buy it from the vending machine. I went to the gift shop, and found 2 great books in English on Shodo (Japanese calligraphy.) I’ve studied Chinese calligraphy for a couple of years now, and it will be interesting to study the stylistic differences.

Legend of the Fall

I left the museum and headed to Ueno Station: Then it was time to get food. Andersen in JR Ueno Station is always a good choice. They’re the same sandwich shop that chipped my tooth in Kyoto, but I think their food is the best of all the bakeries I’ve tried so far. After that came the turning point of the day. And not in a good way. You know how they say “Mind the gap” on the Tube in London? Yeah… I didn’t. I was stepping on to the Yamanote Line to head to Tokyo Station to pick up the Chuo Line, when I slipped and my right leg went right down the gap between the train and the platform. Owwwww. The shock of falling aside, my biggest fear was that the train would pull away without me, or worse, without knowing that I fell, and before I could get up. The thought of what could have happened still makes my blood run cold. Fortunately, I pulled myself up quickly and managed to get on the train okay… but I tweaked my ankle (on the side that didn’t fall down), and I’ve got a huge nasty welt on my thigh where it slipped down the gap. I also ruined my pants, I think. Train grease and filth… I dunno if I could ever get that out. I’m just going to bag them and give it a shot when I get home. Meanwhile, everyone on the train just sort of stared at me like I was a freak or something. It was really kind of weird. Nobody offered any sort of help or anything. I guess they didn’t want to get involved. If that happened in the U.S., I would probably have gotten a few offers of help, and some business cards for attorneys.

Limping Off to Jinbo-Cho

Then I headed back to Shinjuku to ice down my ankle for an hour.Â But since I was bloody-minded about not wanting to miss more than an hour, after some rest and some Advil, it was off to Jinbo-cho. Jinbo-cho is the book district in Tokyo. It’s full of used book stores and indy book stores. Of course, everything is in Japanese, so while I’m sure it’s a great place, it’s a little over my head at this point. I was there mainly to see if I could find a few more prints. Time Out lists a couple of print stores, and after a LOT of hunting, I did find both, but neither really had anything I wanted. What I really want are some more prints of the 100 views of Tokyo from the 19th century. No luck. Both had a lot of the 36 views of Mt. Fuji, but that wasn’t what I wanted. I did manage to find an Ace bandage for my ankle, so it wasn’t a loss. And Jinbo-cho will be a fun place to visit again when my vocabulary improves. I also saw a really cool shop or two. There was a kendo supply store with a wall full of bokken (wooden swords) that went up into the $500 range; a store full of nothing but brushes of any and all kinds, from toilet brushes to artists’ brushes; and a promising-looking calligraphy shop that closed before I could get in. (Dangit. They’re so fast on the trigger.)

Nakano Broadway Again

After that, it was time to try to head to Nakano Broadway again. So back to Shinjuku, and then back on the Chuo line. Good lord, was it crowded. They almost had to get the guys with the white gloves out to cram us all in. And man, was it hot. Tokyo is the only place I know where it can be 50F outside, but every train, station, store, and bus is 90F. I’m not sure how that works, but it’s like that wherever I go. Everyone else is bundled up, and I’m in a T-shirt, sweating like Sydney Greenstreet. So Nakano. It’s a dumpy little shopping arcade. But you probably knew that anyway. What it does have is a ton of nerd shops. Tiny stores with lots of action figures, toys, old games, old books, all kinds of stuff. I didn’t buy anything, because I’ve already got too much crap already. Most of the toy shops are on the second and third floors. If you like toys, it might be your thing. I also saw some old Godzillas for sale… I wanted one. Oh, did I ever want one. But they were in the hundreds of dollars. I watched a LOT of Godzilla movies when I was kid. Then it was back to Shinjuku to find a few more stationery supplies. If you ever need a cardboard tube to secure your posters, go to Sekaido. Just Google it. Their HQ is in Shinjuku. I took some photos of Shinjuku on the way to Sekaido: Sekaido is nice. Not as nice as Itoya, but it’s close to my hotel. Then I limped back home. And I think that pretty much does it for me for tonight. I’m totally wiped. Depending on the weather, I may either head to Shibuya/Harajuku to watch the Sunday fashion parades, or I’ll head to Odaiba and Akihabara to do other stuff. The forecast is more rain so far, so I’ll probably peek in at Harajuku, then head to Odaiba and Akiba. Oh, before I forget– subway signs and posters! Subway Signs: Today, I was the cucumber!

So I Was Shopping in Ginza Today…

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Nov 092007

I’m going to use my new favorite phrase now.

So I was shopping in Ginza today…

… yeah, that’s my new favorite phrase.

Some massive stores in Ginza (with matching prices, I’m sure!)

Seibu department store:

Anyway, I was shopping in Ginza today, looking for two stationery stores mentioned in Time Out Tokyo. But first, I hit the Sony Building to look at their shiny toys.

I saw a 70″ 1080p (not i) HDTV that’s coming out soon. Drool.

They also had some great artist-designed laptops, but not only weren’t they for sale, but they had chiclet-style keys, which aren’t my favorite. I also saw those same kinds of keys on the new iBook at the Apple Store, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

The Sony building isn’t as big as you’d think. But the way it’s laid out is interesting. You start on the first floor, look at stuff, climb 3-4 steps, look at more stuff, and so on… until you hit the 6th floor, where you can buy stuff. There really isn’t anything earth-shattering here, just a lot of Sony stuff. Some of it is neat, most of it I’ve already seen at Bic and Yodobashi. The 70″ Flat panel 1080p HDTV was nice. Very very nice. Probably costs well over $20k, though.

Kyukyodo

Then I got my bearings again, and went to Kyukyodo, a very nice stationery store. I looked around a bit, then saw an interesting calligraphy exhibit on the 3rd and 4th floors, and moved on. It’s a nice store, with some really good-looking calligraphy tools, but if you really want stationery, head a few blocks down Ginza Dori to Itoya.

Paper Paradise

Itoya. It’s like heaven for those of us who love pens, paper, paint, brushes, and all of that good stuff. I found all kinds of neat things there. I found brushes for my brother-in-law, and I also found brush markers for myself (don’t worry Bill, I got you a few as well.) They’re black ink markers, but they have a synthetic brush tip. Not felt. It’s an actual brush. Very cool. I got my mom some fine paper and envelopes, and I bought myself a pretty printed calendar and some flat bar paperweights for calligraphy.

If I had time, I would have spent all day there. They have 3 different buildings. They even have a scrap-booking center, if you’re into that. (My sister is.) The main building has 8 floors and a basement full of goodies. Just look for the big red paperclip next to Matsuya department store.

Just a ways back towards the station and across the street is the Apple Store on Ginza Dori. It’s nice. It’s an Apple Store. I checked it out, but it didn’t really do much for me. Really, if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen ’em all. It’s not like they have anything special there you can’t get at the mall, you know?

Look, it’s LV! So it’s Ginza!

Ginza is nice, but it’s mostly overpriced. Itoya was one of the more reasonable places I found there. Most of the other stuff is boutique stuff with names of people I couldn’t care less about.

But then those who know me, know that I’m not one to worry about names as much as I worry about pockets. You can’t have enough pockets!

Maruzen

After that, it was time to move on to Marunouchi, and a visit to Maruzen, the other wonderful bookstore in Tokyo. After a short ride on the Marunouchi line, followed by lots of wandering underground, and offers of help from nice people, I found exit B-4, and found the way to Maruzen. (I wound up closer to Tokyo station than to Otemachi station, though.)

So Maruzen. Ahh… so many nice Japanese books. I did find a really nice JP-> JP dictionary that was mentioned on another site here:

http://tinyurl.com/2cx9x2

I thought I was looking in the right area, but in the end I had to cave in and ask for help.

I also raided their manga section. Manga is a great way to learn Japanese while being entertained at the same time. The downside is that it’s pricey outside of Japan. $3 for manga here, compared to $9-$15 in the U.S. I’d buy more from Amazon.co.jp, but the shipping is too painful.

So I’m stocking up here.

The downside– it’s all heavy.

Carrying it all around drained me. I was starving, so I stopped at a cafe underneath Maruzen, grabbed a bite, then hit the Marunouchi line back to Shinjuku. Then I took time to grab a quick shower and rest a little.

Harajuku, Kiddy Land, and Roppongi

Tomorrow and Sunday are supposed to be rainy, so one priority tonight is to find an umbrella that does not suck. Most of the umbrellas you can get here fail utterly to cover my American bigness. I’m not fat, I’m just tall with broad shoulders and a barrel chest. (Wait, am I fat???) I’ll put it this way– I’m not fat for an American. In the U.S., I use a golf umbrella, and that works okay.

After a little rest and recovery, it was off to Harajuku to go to Kiddyland, a 5- story toy store. But it’s not the kind of toy store you’d expect. They have some cool stuff, and some weird stuff. Not all of it is for kids, either. I found some presents there. Prowling all the various levels was fun. The 4-foot high stuffed Hello Kitty was a little creepy, but Kitty-chan is popular here.

One thing you’ll notice pretty quickly is that most stores in Japan are multi-floor, so there will be a cashier on each floor to take all of your purchases to. I suppose it’s not really different from US department stores, really. Stores are taller in the big cities in Japan because it’s cheaper to build “up” than “out,” unlike most of the US.

I guess because I live in a more suburban area in the U.S., I’m not used to going to stores with a lot of floors. I’m more used to 20,000-50,000 square foot one-story monster stores with just one checkout area.

I set off for Roppongi to see Tokyo Midtown and have dinner there. Tokyo Midtown is a huge building with lots of expensive stores and some expensive and some kind-of-reasonably-priced restaurants. I had dinner there, because I heard there were a lot of good restaurants there. And they do exist. It’s just that some close at 9 p.m., some close at 11 p.m., and some close at midnight. It’s a little confusing. Most of the carry-out restaurants close at 9 p.m., so if you remember that, you’re one step ahead of the game.

I found a nice little restaurant and had some fried cheese wontons, followed by some squid tempura (which was incredible: so soft, and not chewy), and some small slices of roast duck with grilled spring onion. With 2 ginger ales, that wound up costing 3,300 yen.

Ouch.

But it was so good.

A tip– if you go to a restaurant and can’t make heads or tails out of the menu, ask if they have an English menu. A lot of restaurants do.

“Eigo no menyuu ga arimasu ka?” It’s a very handy phrase to know.

Then I made a blunder. I got Tokyo Midtown’s tower confused with Tokyo Skyview, which is also in Roppongi. Midtown does NOT have an observation deck available to the public, or so the sign told me.

Shinjuku at Night

It was almost 10, so I caught a train back to Shinjuku, and after consulting the 4 squids trying to hump each other, also known as the map of the Tokyo subway and train lines, I figured out which tentacle to ride back.Â I’ve consulted many versions of this map, and nobody seems to be able to make it not look confusing.

Just go with it.

The train ride back was crowded. Even at 10 p.m., the trains are packed. Get used to it. I recommend wearing clothes that breathe. Much as I love cotton, it doesn’t breathe. That’s one big regret right there.

When I got back to JR Shinjuku, I took a few photos from the bridge:

JR Shinjuku at night:

Times Square:

Time Square decorations:

The rain has already started, and I don’t have a decent umbrella, so that will be my first objective for tomorrow. Or maybe my second. First I need to figure out what to do in the rain. At least in Tokyo there are a lot of underground passages to get from one place to another, and that’s pretty darn handy.

I’m thinking I may head to Jinbo-cho to check out some print stores, and some book stores there. One other thing I need to locate is a cardboard tube, and maybe someone there will know where I can acquire one.

There are SO many things I want to buy here… ugh. Must restrain self, must restrain self…

Yeah, right.

Tokyoverload.

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Nov 082007

Leaving Sendai

Finally made it to Tokyo. A brief synopsis of the day: First, a jar of KitKats. Yep, a glass jar full of KitKats. Never seen one of those! I got up early to make my 10 a.m. checkout, went to the station, and made some calls overseas to the family. (Hi family!) I took some photos of the area around JR Sendai: I headed into the station (JR Sendai): A little closer in: Here’s my ride to Tokyo, another Max Yamabiko: Then I hopped on my last Shinkansen, the Hayate 10. It only took an hour and a half to get to Tokyo from Sendai. Nice. I’m a little bummed that I can’t ride anymore for a while. Riding super-fast express trains is really nice. I love the idea of getting somewhere without having to mess around with airport security. I can just grab my bag, grab a train, and get somewhere fast without the body cavity search.

Arriving in Tokyo

When I got to Tokyo, before I left the platform, I took some photos of the shinkansen engines in the vicinity. These were taken with my cell phone camera, so they’re kind of grainy: One last shot of the platform: Tokyo station is big, full of shops, and it can be a little overwhelming. The info desk was my first target, and it turned out to be a miss. No English language info I could find. Oh well. I went to the map and figured out how to get to Shinjuku by myself. I grabbed a Rapid train on the Chuo line, and got to Shinjuku in about 15 minutes. I’m glad I picked the Chuo line instead of the Yamanote line, because there was an accident on the Yamanote line, and it was delayed. The Yamanote line is a very useful train line in Tokyo. It goes in a huge loop around the “center” of the city. I use quotes because the city is so huge… and really center-less. But the Yamanote will save you, usually. The Chuo line is useful because it cuts across the middle of the Yamanote doughnut, and it has rapid and express trains that skip the custard in the middle. Anyway, I made it to Shinjuku.

Shinjuku Shuffle

Shinjuku is a bit chaotic. For starters, the station is big, and it’s got a lot of people trying to go in 800 different directions all at once. This can make things confusing. Since I already knew where I wanted to go, it wasn’t such a big deal. I just chose to move a little slowly to get there without getting crushed. Finding the hotel wasn’t too bad, either. I just used my powers of deduction, and found a map. (With North pointing down again, of course.) This is where having the Tokyo City Atlas by Kodansha, or Time Out Tokyo can be a real lifesaver, because both have good maps, and you will need good maps. Now, the hotel. It’s the Hotel Sunroute Shinjuku. Granted, I’m paying a little bit extra for this room. It’s running me $120 a night. But oh my god is it awesome. Right now, I’m staring at the best room view I’ve had in a loooong time, and the best one in Japan so far. (Sorry Hiroshima.) I’m looking out over the skyscrapers in Shinjuku. It’s an impressive view. (Photos were taken on a few different days.) The chair is comfy, the room has A/C or heating, whichever I want, a full range of soaps/shampoos, even shaving cream, an HDTV that doesn’t suck, ethernet (although the connection is a little sucky), a fridge, a humidifier, pants press, you name it. 10/10 so far. Even the keys are cool. They use RFIDs instead of swipe keys, so you just touch the key to the door, and it unlocks. My hotel room is really nice (taken the day I left Japan, actually, but it fits in this post): The only freaky thing is the glass door to the bathroom, and the window in the bathroom. That’s kind of… weird. In a sort of cool but not altogether uncreepy sort of way, if you get my drift. Oh! And before I forget– I found out why rooms are so scarce– the Tokyo Motor Show is still going on. At least I think that’s the reason… Either way, as soon as I can translate the flyer, I’ll go find it and check it out. I think. Maybe? There’s so much I want to do here, I’m suffering from overload. Ugh. (time jump of a few hours)

Shopping

I just got back from wandering around a bit. I went to the big Kinokuniya (a book store), the one by Takashimaya (a huge dept. store), and just wandered for an hour or so, totally lost. There are so many books I want to get, but I honestly don’t know where to start. Add to that 6 floors of books, and, well… I have a feeling that when I go to Akihabara, I’m going to be a mess. I know one thing I really want to buy, but I can’t afford… a laptop with a JP keyboard on it. I used a JP keyboard in Okazaki, and it makes switching over from EN to JP soooo much easier. But yeah… Kinokuniya is totally overwhelming to me. I guess I’ll just have to go once a day until I get comfortable or something. After that, it was Takashimaya’s basement for dinner. So much good food… but so expensive compared to the other department stores I’ve been to. Yikes. I had some tonkatsu chunks (yum), some more yakitori with negi, a sandwich, and some salad. One bummer- the person I was going to meet to talk about working here… had to go back to the US for an emergency. Shoot.

After Dinner Stroll

After dinner, I headed out to the electronics stores in Shinjuku. There’s a huge Bic Camera there, as well as a monstrously huge Yodobashi Camera. I think that one spans eight buildings. After checking out Bic, I headed over to the Tokyo Metropolitan Building for the free observation deck on the 45th floor. Heading to the Tokyo Metropolitan Building: What’s the best thing you can say about the 45th floor observation level? Well… it’s free. The views are nice, but forget about getting a really good picture. Too much glare on the windows. And yes, there are some horrendous souvenir shops there, too. And evil toy machines from hell. Views from the top of the Tokyo Metropolitan Building: After that, I started to head back “home.” I stopped at Yodobashi Camera, and they were still open. They only closed at 10:00 p.m. Wow, Tokyo sure is different from the rest of Japan. If this was Nagano, all we’d see are tumbleweeds at 10 p.m. Nice store, but it was too close to closing time to check it out. I stopped by the conbini across the street from my hotel. No decent food there. I need to find a 7-11 or a Lawson or something. I did some research, and the Tokyo Motor Show is in Chiba, so I’m not going. Chiba is way out by Narita, and that would just kill a day I can’t afford to kill. Tomorrow will be a shopping day, I think. I’ll do some of that to clear my head and then settle on some touristy stops later. That way I can make sure to bring home what I want to bring home, ya know?

Buses in Japan. How to Cope.

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Nov 082007

I’ve mentioned buses in Japan before, but I thought I would mention them again to give them a little special attention. In order to get to some out-of-the-way places, you will need to ride buses.Â They can be the most intimidating of the various forms of mass transit, because they can be a bit confusing, and because many don’t have a whole lot of English support.

Here’s what you need to know.

In most places that aren’t Tokyo, you enter in the middle of the bus. But not always.

Look for these two guys: å…¥å£ . That means entrance (iriguchi.) It’s the character for “enter,” followed by the character for “mouth.” Handy, huh? So it’s the mouth of the bus you go through to enter.

Don’t enter through the door marked å‡ºå£ (deguchi), because that’s the exit.

After you enter, you will need to do one of a few things:

Pull a paper ticket with a number on it from a little machine. This is the stop number where you got on the bus. You’ll need this to figure out your fare later.Â If you walk in without doing it, the driver will tell you to pick one up. (That’s why he’s talking to you! Get a ticket!) OR
Tap your electronic fare card if you have one. This is much easier, but isn’t available everywhere. OR
Insert your pass if you have a day pass or a multi-day pass. OR
Pay a fixed amount there.

The first bus you ride in a town will be a bit confusing, but once you figure out the drill, you’ll be fine. Just get a few steps back in line and watch what the others are doing. (They already know how it works!) Then use your observational data to forge ahead!

While you’re on the bus, you need pay attention. You should either pick up a bus map, or have some other way of knowing what stop you need to get off at.

Look around: you’ll probably see a linear map of the route on the interior of the bus, with the stops marked (usually, but not always) in English. Make a note of the stops before yours, and keep an ear out for them. Of course, this advice does you no good at all if you can’t read the map. In that case, ask the driver, or just ask around.

Just don’t fall asleep.

Assuming you’ve remembered your stop, and you’re about to reach it, if you have a numbered slip of paper, now is the time to look at it, then check your number on the board by the driver’s head. That number is how much you pay in yen. Pay in exact change if at all possible.

What do you do if you don’t have exact change? Well, there’s usually a change machine right in the front of the bus, and it’s part of the whole fare-receiving unit, usually. Fares get dumped in the hopper at the top. You just dump the slip and the money in there, and it goes along a little belt so the driver can see you’ve put in the right amount. Use the change machine to break any 1000 yen notes or 500 yen or 100 yen coins.

Just don’t drop a 500 yen coin in the hopper and expect to get change. You won’t. Once it’s in the hopper, it’s in the hopper.

Ask the driver which bit is the change machine before you start putting money into things. Sometimes the driver is the change machine.

And try to ask a lot of questions before you get on the bus to make sure you know where you’re going, and which buses you need.

A little research will make it a lot easier.

Matsushima, Seagulls, The Magnificent View, and Taiyaki. Part Two

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Nov 072007

Oku-Matsushima, A Hidden Gem… If you could hide something that big.

At the station, I got on the train to Nobiru. When I got there, I talked to the lady in the shop at the station, and rented the bicycle (there’s only one, and it was available!) for 300 yen for 4 hours. I was warned– the shop closes at 5 (of course), so I had to get the bike back by then.

I got my bike at 3 p.m., so I had to hustle, just like in Togakushi. I’ll admit it. I like working to a tight deadline, because it focuses me.

It’s 5 km to Otakamori, which is a really big hill/tiny mountain. According to Lonely Planet, it’s the best way to see the islands that make up Matsushima. So I got on the bike.

The ride was easy on my legs and my eyes. The terrain was mostly flat, with small, gentle hills, but nothing too taxing. There was lots of pretty scenery I didn’t have time to photograph, but it’s worth the trip. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to get there, because at the 2.5 km to go point, the signs don’t say much more until you get there. (It reminds me of New Jersey in that regard.) But it’s pretty much a straight shot.

When I found the mountain, I saw that there were 2 trails. I just picked one with a parking lot nearby to park my bike and leave. (First I grabbed some water because I was already hurting. Vending machines really are everywhere!)

If the view from the parking lot is this good, then the Magnificent View must really be magnificent!

Now we climb a big stairway:

I stopped for a few photos at the top of the stairs:

This is the road I came in on:

I started climbing again. It hurt after a long bike ride.

Then I see the first sign– 700m to the top.

The part of me that didn’t die in Togakushi… dies. It’s not a fun climb at all. It’s steep, uneven, and painful after a 5 km bike ride. My thighs officially hate me now. More climbing. More pain.

I pass through an area full of dragonflies. Neat. Then I pass an area full of bluebottle flies. Not so neat. I hate those. I think they could sense that I was exhausted, so they buzzed me constantly.

400 meters to the summit!

Catching glimpses of the view:

More climbing:

And more glimpses:

I liked this sign as I got near the top. It’s telling you to put out your cigarettes completely! So do it!

After about 20 minutes, I made it to the top.

Wow.

The Best Matsushima Experience Money Can’t Buy (The Magnificent View)

It’s another one of those OHMYGOD moments. The views were stunning. Just incredible. The sun was about to set in about 30 minutes, so the light was dramatic and golden, and just wonderful. There were five of us at the summit, and we were all sort of grinning to ourselves, because we were having the best Matsushima experience you can have.

And it was free.

No boats, no tour groups, no megaphones, no broken English explanations of rocks, noÂ seagulls, no cheesy souvenirs. Just a couple of benches, an info map thing, and a little covered area to sit.

Oh, and some of the most incredible scenery ever.

In Japan, this spot gives what’s called the “Magnificent View” of Matsushima. Indeed.

I felt smart again. I was feeling dumb earlier in the day when I first got to Matsushima. Now I felt like I was smart again. Whew.

That road is the road I rode my rental bike on:

close-up:

More of the non-Matsushima side:

Back to the Matsushima side again, with a wide-angle adapter:

This guide stone shows the names and locations of islands and landmarks:

Pull out a bit and you see it on the summit:

Some close ups of the bay:

Close up of the town:

Now the hard part: getting back. If I thought uphill was bad, downhill was worse, because it was a controlled crash down the hill. I was trying to keep momentum up without falling, and everything was uneven. Not fun. But I was still glowing from the view and the pictures.

I took a few photos from the top of the stairs, since it was sunset. Or almost sunset:

Sunset from the top of the stairs. The conical buildings are a museum of ancient artifacts:

Last shot as I left on my bike:

Then the bike ride back. Ouch. 5 km of more pain. I made it back in time, though, with about 20 minutes to spare.

I got on the train (it was a local. Dang.), and sat there for a minute. Then I saw a limited express come in… and I thought it said “Sendai” on it. So I jumped on board… and promptly went the wrong way. D’oh. 2 stops later, I wound up in Rikuzen-Ono Station. It was the tiniest train station I’ve seen. Ever. The scenery was pretty, though, so I didn’t feel too bad about the screw-up.

I took some photos with my Motorola Razr V3X, so they’re not all that hot:

Rikuzen Ono Station:

Dusk on the platform:

I waited another 15-20 minutes, enjoyed the scenery, and caught a limited express back to Sendai. (This time I double-checked.)

OMG Taiyaki

Then dinner. More raiding of various department stores. The department stores here totally rock. You can find just about anything there. I got some yakitori with negi… it’s grilled chicken and spring onions on a stick in a sweet soy-based sauce, then I grabbed some more tonkatsu chunks (breaded deep fried pork.) For dessert, I stood in line 30 minutes for taiyaki.

Taiyaki is a grilled pastry (sort of like waffles) with paste inside in the shape of a carp. I mentioned it a few posts ago. It was very hot, and very good. They had red bean paste and cream, so I got one of each. I think I like the cream better, but if they had chocolate, I’d never leave.

Probably because I wouldn’t fit on the airplane anymore.

Then I headed back here to the hotel to collapse.

I think I walked about 5-6 km again today, with about 10 km of cycling mixed in. No wonder I’m so hungry all the time.

The Lonely Planet guide isn’t 100%, but it got this right. Definitely go to Oku-Matsushima and climb that blasted hill. It’s another one of those, “Oh yeah, this is why I travel,” moments.

Tomorrow is my last Shinkansen ride– to Tokyo for 6 days of sight-seeing and rabid purchasing.

Fun.

Then I can come back to the U.S. and experience reverse culture shock.

Note from 8/2011: The 3/11 tsunami caused a lot of damage to the Tohoku region, and it pretty much wiped out Nobiru, a lot of the buildings and the road I rode to Otakamori, and the little station I wound up in accidentally, Rikuzen-Ono, which was near Higashi Matsushima. The tsunami even got one of the local trains as it was moving up the coast.

Miyatojima, the island that Otakamori is located on, was cut off from the mainland by the tsunami, but I haven’t heard any updates recently.

Matsushima itself didn’t get much in the way of damage, because it was shielded by its bay, but parts of Sendai (especially near the coast) got heavily damaged. Choumei-Ana in the last post was destroyed.

Before venturing to the area, you should definitely call ahead to make sure that the roads are clear, and that you won’t be a burden.

Otherwise, it’s a great place, full of great people who could really use your help and your tourist dollars. (And maybe while you’re there, you could volunteer a little, too!)

This is yet another reminder that every place I visit, I should treat as though I might not ever get the chance to see it again. If the events of 9/11 and 3/11 didn’t highlight this lesson for me, the recent London riots have underlined it for me.

Matsushima, Seagulls, The Magnificent View, and Taiyaki. Part One.

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Nov 072007

Today I went to Matsushima. Matsushima is one of the traditional Three Famous Sights You Have to See in Japan. Miyajima is one of the others, and the third is the Heavenly Bridge, which I had to skip due to time constraints.

Matsushima is Japanese for Pine Island or Islands, since nouns in Japanese can refer to either the singular and plural.

In this case it’s really plural.

There are more than 250 islands, covered with scraggly pine trees. And because it’s on the Top Three list, it means there’s never any shortage of tourists coming to see it. Raises hand.

I slept in again today until 9:30 to make sure I was really well-rested, because I knew I’d need all of my energy to get through this day. Sure enough, I went through all of my reserves.

To get to Matsushima, I took the Senseki line to Matsushima Kaigan. Don’t take the other line to Matsushima, because it’ll add a bunch of time to your trip. It took me about 40 minutes to get there. Try to aim for a limited express train, and not a local. Local trains are really slow.

The Bird Boat

The Lonely Planet guidebook says that Matsushima is overrun with touristy stuff. Yep! They also say that the cruises through the bay are really cheesy. Yep again!

Approaching the docks:

The boat I didn’t take:

It looks impressive on the water, but a little cheesy:

Cheesiness aside, the cruises do offer a few interesting points:

It’s a boat ride. Fun! At one point, we left the bay and were in the Pacific Ocean.
It’s an opportunity to dump 1400-2000 yen into the local economy. I bought a ticket for 1400 yen, then was offered the chance to upgrade to first class for 600 more yen. It’s a no-brainer, if a bit of a bait-and-switch. But I went first class anyway, because that way I could go outside and take pictures from the upper deck. Otherwise, I would have been stuck in a stifling hot cabin packed in with the other tourists. If I was going to the trouble to come all the way here, then I might as well go first class! (They already got me for 1400 yen anyway. 600 more? Sure, why not.)
There are English explanations, albeit a bit odd. I think the woman giving them was doing it in a Russian accent.
You get to see Japanese people enjoy themselves feeding seagulls.

Wait. Huh?

Yes. The big deal with the cruise for me was to see the islands. For everyone else outside on the deck, they were more interested in feeding snacks to aquatic sky rats. My brain totally jumped the tracks on that one.

Seagulls.

I’ll admit it.Â I’ve never thought much of seagulls. They’re just pigeons of the sea, and pigeons are sky rats. So I was totally and utterly confused as to why anyone would think feeding garbage-picking birds would be fun.

Maybe it’s because I was born on a beach, and spent a small chunk of my life near there (in spite of my pale skin). Maybe that has colored my perceptions.

The other annoying thing about the seagulls– they got in the way of half of the pictures I took. There was a huge swarm of them all over the boat, flying around the back end. Ugh. Just… ugh. I wanted to shake the other passengers. “Do you know what you’re doing?!?”

Even if you happen to like seagulls, it’s bad to feed them people food, let alone junk food.

Anyway.

I got some decent shots, I think. And I met a nice retired couple. We had a nice exchange consisting of English and Japanese.

The islands were very nice, when I could see them. See for yourself!

Futagojima (twin islands):

Close-up (the angle of this island changed as we were moving, if I remember correctly):

Kaneshima:

Close-up:

Komonejima–Choumei Ana (Update: the thin bridge of rock was destroyed on 3/11 in one of the massive earthquakes):

Komonejima rocks (rocks around Komonejima, to be more accurate!):

Nioujima:

One of many pretty islands I don’t know the name of:

People work here, too:

The town of Uratoishihama:

Matsushima, the town, as we start to finish our loop:

Coming into port, hoping we don’t all collide:

Safely approaching the docks! The next groups are already waiting for us to get off the boat already!

If you want to take the cruise and feed the seagulls, the boats leave at the top of the hour. Just find an old guy with a blue baseball cap. There were dozens of them all over the island, and they all work for the cruise boats to get people there. (That was another Weird Thing. I saw them all over the place.)

Yet another thing about Matsushima you need to know– there’s barely anything in English here. I don’t know if it’s just not popular with the foreign tourists or if it’s something else. You can get a very basic map, and that’s about it.

Oshima

After my adventure among the gulls, it was time to explore some more. There are two islands nearby that you can explore. The little one is Oshima, and the big one is Fukuurajima. There are also famous temples here, but I skipped them. I’m totally burned out.

I was cold, so I went inside the ferry office and got a can of hot cocoa. Canned hot drinks are awesome. You can usually get them from most vending machines, depending on the season. Coffee is the most popular, but you can also get cocoa and then there’s weird Japanese stuff, too, like hot sweet red bean soup. The cocoa is actually pretty hot. You can use the can as a warmer in a pinch. Man, I wish we had those in the U.S.

Heated up, I went to Oshima first. It was very small, very quiet, very nice. Lots of old Buddhist statues, an old shrine, a nice red bridge. Nice stuff. Have a look:

Heading to Oshima:

The path feels like I’m heading to a secret base of some sort. It’s pretty cool.

The bridge is very picturesque:

Crossing the bridge!

The views from Oshima are great. Futagojima:

Fall colors–a Japanese Maple:

There are a bunch of stone carvings and statues around Oshima:

And a tunnel of sorts:

Heading back to Matsushima, I saw this scene:

Fukuurajima

Then I hiked 1 km to Fukuurajima. It has a big red bridge you can’t miss.

Fukuura Bridge, from the boat earlier in the day:

As I approach it from land:

And a 200 yen toll to cross that bridge.

Aww, man.

I paid the toll, anyway.

Mid-bridge view:

Scenery of Fukuurajima from the bridge:

Map:

I walked across the 280-meter bridge, looked around for 5 minutes, saw there wasn’t much to see besides more shrines and tour groups, and headed out. I decided it was time to move on.

There are other things to see in Matsushima, but it’s touristy in the same way a lot of big Japanese tourist spots are.

Last shot of Matsushima from the bridge before I left for Oku-Matsushima:

I headed back to the station to go to Oku-Matsushima, the hidden gem that the big tours skip. Well, that’s what my guidebook said, and so far it had done a good job.

As I was heading back to the station, I bought some french fries in a cone.Â It’s pretty clever if you ask me. The fries stand up perfectly straight, so you can eat them hands-free as you walk. Multitasking!

Continued in Part Two!

The Voices!

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Nov 072007

If you’re in Japan long enough, you’ll notice that everything here talks to you. Everything. And I think it’s all voiced by the same lady. She has a very kind and gentle voice that kindly and gently informs you that the escalator is not a toy, that the bus is arriving, that a train is approaching, that your call can’t be completed, that the elevator doors are closing, that the boat is leaving the dock, that your drink has been dispensed, and so forth.

She’s a hard worker.

It reminds me of one maddening wait in Kyoto for a bus. The bus was running late, so for the next 40 minutes, I heard the same woman repeat the same warning about the escalator every 17 seconds. It took her 9 seconds to gently warn you to be careful when using the escalator, then she would pause for 8 seconds, and then she’d go at it again. I’d hate to work there. I’d go mad after… oh… about 41 minutes.

How did I know exactly how long she took to say what she said? I timed it, of course. I had nothing better to do for 40 minutes.

We Welcome Your Money!

That reminds me of another thing that impresses me about workers in the service industry here: they have to greet every single customer that darkens their door, or threatens to darken their door with an “Irrashaimase!” that has to be perky and energetic, in order to help you part with some of those yen. (Irrashaimase is very polite speech for “I welcome your money.”)

At first, I had no clue what to do. I felt like I had to acknowledge them, so I would nod to them or something. Now I just ignore them like I would any other Wal-Mart greeter. If you try to acknowledge every “Irrashaimase!” tossed your way, you’ll just go mad.

Retail in Japan is hard.

Travel Day. Nagano to Sendai.

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Nov 062007

Today was a travel day from Nagano to Sendai for the most part, just like the headline says. I sent a third package home, and my luggage is still heavy. I still don’t get it. Maybe the junk in my bags is breeding?

The shinkansen is no longer exciting for me. Instead it makes me sleepy. I guess I’m finally used to that bit about being here. The ride from Nagano to Omiya on the Asami was nice, albeit a bit foggy. One really nice part– the Asami cars have a baggage nook I can stick my Big American Suitcase into.

From Omiya to Sendai, I rode on the Max Yamabiko, which is a double-decker shinkansen . It’s pretty cool, except the bit where I had to lug my suitcase upstairs, because there are no baggage nooks. I had to resort to the usual “tuck it behind the back row” trick.

The Max cars are also nice because each car has a little built-in store, so there’s no waiting for the carts to come down the middle of the train cars. They even sell beer, to make the trip a little more relaxing. But, I wasn’t in the mood for beer at 1 in the afternoon. It’s just too early for me.

Finding a Hotel in Tokyo

One thing that really gave me some peace of mind was finally finding a hotel for my 6 days in Tokyo. I was up until 4 a.m. last night trying to find a hotel free for all 6 days, and coming up with nothing. I don’t mind smoking rooms for a night, but for 6? No thanks. So I kept at it. Then I had a brainstorm in the shower this morning, and hit Travelocity. I had tried Expedia, Rakuten, and hotels.co.jp, and had no luck.

Travelocity had a nice hotel in Shinjuku, which is where I wanted to be in the first place. Shinjuku is a great location because it’s where every line runs, so you can pretty much go anywhere from there.

Having the hotel straightened out took a huge weight off my shoulders. I’m sure I could have found something when I got there, but I might not have found something nice. For most of my trip, I haven’t been too obsessed with getting hotels, because it hasn’t been too hard. But certain cities can be a pain to find rooms in. Tokyo and Kyoto come to mind. Osaka and Nara were mildly irritating, but not impossible. Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Nagano, and Sendai were pretty easy.

My advice is plain common sense– if you’re going to a big tourist destination, try to nail down a room a bit sooner than you think you’ll need it.

Arrival in Sendai

I have arrived in Sendai, which is on the northeast coast of Honshu, the main island. It’s about 2 hours north of Tokyo by shinkansen. When I got here, I did my usual “Find the information booth” dance, and got some pamphlets, but they were all in Japanese only. It’s a bit frustrating. I wanted some good info on seeing Matsushima in English, but no luck.

I also wanted to see if I could make a short trip to Mt. Zao before heading to Tokyo on Thursday, but that’s going to be a bust. From what I gathered, the buses don’t run all the way to the crater, and only stop at the hot spring. To get to the crater, you have to rent a car in Sendai, and I’m not doing that. Drive on the left? No thanks.

After getting info, I checked in at another Comfort Inn. Another nice room for 6,250 yen a night (go AAA discount). Then some time to play with the TV– very nice. It’s HD, and I think if I feed it money, I can see the HD cable channels. I’m not too sure about that yet. For some reason, someone’s ad text is all over my CNN-J channel, and I can’t get rid of it.

It reminds me of the guy in The Diamond Age who got infected by a virus that made him see Indian TV ads in the corner of his eyes 24/7, and he eventually went insane and killed himself.

But it’s not that bad. It’s more background noise than anything else.

Wandering in Sendai

I did some strolling around Sendai. It’s a very lively city, and a very cold one, too. There are some nice shopping arcades as well. I found some department stores and raided their basements for dinner. I scored some chicken-katsu, a potato croquette, and a sandwich with a chocolate croissant.

On the way back, I saw a very busy taiyaki vendor, and I would have stopped if I didn’t already have food… and hunger. Taiyaki is a fish-shaped pastry filled with sweet red bean paste, and in this shop’s case, white pastry cream. I will go back there tomorrow to sample some of their taiyaki. The line was huge, so it must be good.

The rest of the evening will be spent resting, doing laundry, and puttering around. Matsushima will take a lot out of me tomorrow, so I need to rest up for it.

The longer I’m in Japan, the more I’m loving it here. For a while, I was really wanting to go home. Now I really want to explore more here, but that’s not in the cards for now.

I’ll worry about that when I get home, I guess.

I do think I’m going to get serious about looking for work here when I can get my Japanese to an acceptable level. Japan is fascinating, mystifying, and a hell of a lot of fun all at once, but I need to seriously level up my language skills.

Nagano: Zenkoji and Togakushi: Part Two: Togakushi and Notes

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Nov 052007

Togakushi. Tooi.

After some false starts, I finally got communications with the travel and tourism office people to work. I decided to head to Togakushi. It’s a close-ish town with mountains, trees, not many people, and a famous cedar-lined path that leads to a famous local shrine. I know I’m burned out on shrines, but this one is at least out of the way and scenic. I’m game. Maybe I won’t have to fight more groups for photos.

A one-hour-plus bus ride later, I’m at Togakushi Chuu, which is the shrine in the middle of the town. It has a massive set of stairs you have to climb to enter the shrine. After wheezing up the stairs, I made it to the shrine itself. It was nice. Nothing too fancy.

Photos:

From the window of my bus:

Togakushi Chuu Shrine:

This is actually Togakushi Houkou:

The stairs to Togakushi Chuu (foreshadowing!):

The honden at Togakushi Chuu:

Something I should mention first– Nagano claims to be an international city, but I hadn’t seen one English-language sign at any of the temples I’ve been at so far. Not even one telling me to stay off of something, or take off my shoes. Fortunately, I know enough Japanese to find my way, but I don’t know enough to know much about what I’m seeing, which is a little frustrating.

But I like pretty things, so I can deal with it.

Off to the main shrine. The sign points to the trail, and says it’s 1.4 Km away. Better get hiking!

I started heading down this path to Togakushi Oku Shrine:

I think this sign means it’s 1.4 Km to the shrine:

Okay, now it’s in English. 1.3 Km to the entrance. Well, that can’t be too far from the shrine, right? (It’s also 18.3 Km to Zenkoji, if I feel like a nice long stroll!)

It’s a beautiful hike nonetheless:

1.1 Km…:

Still beautiful:

This map gives you a bit of an idea of where I am, where I’ve been, and where I’m headed. In a way.

I need to point something else out here first. The buses to Togakushi run every hour or so. The last bus leaves at 8-something p.m., but the bus I need to ride back leaves at 5:10 p.m. That’s because the sun sets around that time, and I don’t want to wander in the Japanese countryside in the dark without a flashlight.

There isn’t another bus until 6:00 p.m., and we’re at altitude. (About 4,500 ft or so?) I set out from the first shrine at 3:00 p.m., and I knew it was going to be close to make it back by 5. So I had to move quickly.

The 1.4 Km hike was very pretty and very strenuous. Lots of uphill climbs, lots of uneven terrain, but lots of gorgeous mountains. Also lots of power lines getting in the way of my pictures. That’s one irritating thing about Japan– power lines and poles everywhere. They seem to just jump into my pictures as if taunting me.

So after 20-30 minutes of hiking, I made it to the entrance to the main shrine. Yay! Finally! (Well, I see the souvenir shop!)

It’s really pretty.

Really pretty!

Then I see the sign.

“Main shrine -> 1900 Meters”

Ah, crap.

I’m already sore, and now I find out I’m not even halfway there. And I still have to go back at some point! I’m not even 1/4 done with walking for the day!

Ah well. Let’s get moving!

Gorgeous Cedar Trees

The path to the mountain shrine is stunning. It’s lined with trees and is straight as an arrow. Lots of views. Also, along both sides of the path are little gutters, or streams, with water flowing down making a lovely gurgling noise. Very nice.

The nicest part? The sparse number of people. It feels like you’re more alone than ever, and it’s good. Nobody is crowding you, elbowing you, out-camping you for things… it’s just a walk down a tree-lined lane in fall. Everyone there feels that same vibe, too, and they actually nod and smile at you as you walk by. They don’t just bulldoze by you like you’re another obstacle.

Starting down the straight-as-an-arrow path:

The Outer Gate to the Inner Shrine, guarded by komainu:

Then I reached the highlight of the day so far– a 500 meter long path with a straight row of giant cedar trees lining each side. It’s another travel magic moment. As I said in my Nara post, this is why I love to travel.

The cedar rows. Stunning:

Of course, it’s all uphill, the road is a little rough, and it’s tiring. It’s 48F (maybe), and I’m just wearing my long-sleeve T-shirt because I’m sweating up a storm. I have the voice of the Survivorman guy in my head, reminding me that if I sweat too much in cold weather, it could be dangerous, so I’ve already peeled off my jacket until I’m down to just the T-shirt, and I’m still all sweaty. Also, everything is cotton. I’m learning on this trip that cotton is evil. It does a really good job of trapping sweat and holding it against you.

It’s work, man.

But oh my God, it’s worth it. It’s gorgeous here.

Then the main path runs out:

And then there are stairs. Lots of stone stairs that are uneven. Be careful!

We start climbing stairs:

Looking back down the stairs:

Now that I’m past the cedar rows and forest, I can start to see the mountains:

Made it to the shrine!

I finally made it to the shrine a little after 4 p.m. For once, I did the whole purification ritual you’re supposed to do when you enter a shrine.

The water was freezing.

Purify Yourself!

So how does the basic purification ritual work? Simple. There’s a pool of water with dippers in it. You grab the dipper with your right hand, pour water over your left, then switch to the dipper to your left hand to wash your right, then switch again to fill your left hand with water so you can rinse out your mouth. Don’t spit the water back into the basin. Then fill the dipper again and let the water run down the handle to rinse off all of your cooties. Put the dipper back where you found it. If you don’t know what you’re doing, ask someone.

When you’re done, you shake your hands dry like everyone else who doesn’t have a towel. (Or just carry a towel or handkerchief with you, like most people do here.)

I probably could have used some extra purification after all of that sweating. Nevermind, I’m thinking of a shower.

The shrine I’ve been killing myself to get to is a lovely little shrine. It’s small, but the views are what make it impressive. The mountains were just gorgeous.

The views:

And while small, the shrine has its own charm:

The Honden:

One of the other buildings at the shrine:

Some nice ladies offered to take my picture in front of the honden. I gladly accepted their offer.

I spent a few minutes at the shrine, checked my watch, and started to get nervous. I had to go 3.3 Km in rough mountainous country to get to my bus stop by 5:10 p.m. It was ~4:15 p.m. already. I was pretty sure I could make it, but I had to hustle.

Race to the Bus!

To top it off, I was already sore, and getting more sore by the minute.

Down the mountain I went. It was rough going down. I learned a trick from the older ladies– skip the stairs, and go on the terrain on the side– you move faster.

Heading back through the cedars. Still amazing!:

Racing to the exit!

I was burning shoe leather pretty well, so I stopped next to the entrance 1.9 Km from the shrine to buy some postcards and a Sprite (which I had to carry home with me– not a recycling bin in sight), then resumed my forced march to the bus stop.

1.4 Km to go.

Everything hurts.

Toga-kurushii?

I decided to rename Togakushi as Togakurushii while I’m speed-hiking, because kurushii means “excruciatingly painful” in Japanese. It fits. I chuckled to myself, but I kept moving. Suddenly, I found myself going uphill. Huh? I didn’t remember this bit being downhill on the way.

Keep moving, I told myself. Finally, I made it back to the bus stop with 5 minutes to spare. Lucky!

I had time to eat the chocolate croissant I didn’t have time to eat this afternoon for dessert.

The bus came on time and I had another bumpy bus ride home, this time in the dark. The main reason I wanted to catch that bus was because after 4:30 p.m., the sun sets here, and you don’t want to go fumbling around the woods in the dark. That’s a really bad idea.

Another thing I noticed– in rural Japan, stuff closes even sooner. Stores were closed at 5 p.m. sharp here. Some even closed at 4:30 p.m.

Other stuff:

Japanese road construction: when I first saw these long ropes of red lights, I thought something festive was happening. Nope. It’s how they mark off dangerous areas. They use ropes of dirt cheap energy-saving LEDs. Smart. And festive!

Also, they’ve replaced the stop/slow sign guy with a robot of sorts. 2 stands are put up, each with a light, one on each end of the work zone. One light will show a blue arrow to the traffic that can go through, while the other end shows a red light with a countdown timer. Neat. (But it puts the Stop/Slow sign guys out of a job.)

I’ve been seeing more and more countdown timers on crosswalks. It’s sort of an inverted pyramid with red bars. One red bar disappears every 5-10 seconds, then you get to go.

Oh, and crosswalk music. Dammit, I can’t get one of the little songs out of my head. Do-do-do do doo do-do-do do-do-do-do-do. I was even humming it to myself while hiking today. Mom informs me that the song is “When a Body Sees a Body Comin’ Through the Rye…” I still can’t get it out of my head.

Speaking of weird music. At 5 p.m. in Togakushi, I heard mysterious organ music, with no discernible source. It was some sort of church music, too, which is really odd for rural Japan, but I suppose there’s a perfectly good Japanese Reason for it.

EDIT: I found out the reason for the music: it has to do with synchronizing government time, so that everyone knows that it’s 5 p.m. It has something to do with disaster planning and preparedness. It also serves as a “gentle reminder” to the kids out playing that, “Now would be a really good time to go home.” Gotta love NHK.

Oh, and my theory of why is there so much weird and random English? Simple. Nobody over here cares if it’s grammatically correct, because it’s not aimed at us foreigners. It’s aimed at the locals, and they don’t think spelling “Lodge” as “Rodge” is that bad. (I did see a Rodge today.)

I have a new theory of why people avoid me. It’s because they think, “Ah, crap. A foreigner. I bet he’s going to start babbling to me in English any second now, and the only English I remember from High School is ‘Hello. Where is John? Are you John? No, I am Peggy.'”

At least that’s what I figure. Can you remember any of your compulsory high school foreign language? I know if I saw a desperate Frenchman asking for help, part of me would want to just keep walking and feign ignorance, too.

The only French I remember is “Ou est la toilette?” and “Je m’appelle Richard,” so I totally understand.

Total kilometers walked today… uh… 1.4+1.4+1.9+1.9+1.4+.5… that’s 8, right? I’m too tired to do the math.

Tomorrow is travel to Sendai, and not much else. I’m not going to be up for much more than that.

Nagano: Zenkoji and Togakushi: Part One, Zenkoji and Nagano

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Nov 052007

Another day in Nagano. Lots of walking.

LOTS of it.

I got up late. I slept in until 9:30 a.m. because I was tired.

I’m sure Nagano has a lot of great Olympic-related sights, but I decided to skip those. It just didn’t do anything for me, and if I can’t ride the bobsled, what’s the point? (Also, I didn’t want to risk injury on the skating rink at M-Wave.)

Zenkoji

First off was Zenkoji Temple. It’s famous. Or at least the mobs and mobs of people there led me to believe that. It was pretty, but I didn’t get much more out of it than that. Maybe I’m suffering from temple burnout. It was just a huge crush of middle-aged and elderly people shuffling around in tour groups having their pictures taken in staged settings. The photographer would have bleachers set up in the standard “Here’s where I take the group picture” place, and they all lined up and dutifully went through with it.

Definitely not my cup of tea.

I did take a few pictures of it:

Heading to the temple:

Looking back in the direction I just came:

The outer gate is impressive:

You can see the inner gate in the distance. Here’s a shopping street full of restaurants and souvenir shops:

Getting closer to the inner gate, but there’s nothing to see–it’s closed for renovation.

Entering the temple (more shichi-go-san, but no children present today, just tour groups of seniors):

Turtles Chillin’ Out:

Shots of Various Temple Buildings:

This is a backlit shot of the inner gate, if I remember correctly.

Heading out to JR Nagano:

Passing down the souvenir shop street again:

After the 1.4 Km hike there, I took the bus to the station to get lunch and get some ideas for seeing mountains and scenic stuff. Something that didn’t involve mobs of tourists and bleachers. Since it was noon, the department store was open, so I bought some sandwiches and a chocolate croissant.

I took a few photos of the area around JR Nagano:

Okay, this post is getting long. Time to break it into two parts. Togakushi is in Part Two!

Slow Train to Nagano

Japan, Travel Comments Off

Nov 042007

Today was another travel day. A very long one, at that. Sayonara, Osaka. It was fun. I have to come back sometime. I really loved it there.

Now off to Nagano, which takes a while to get to from Osaka.

Back in Nagoya

The Business Hotel Nissei was good to me. I got to sleep in until 8:30 a.m., because check-out wasn’t until 11 a.m. Then it was time to lug all my stuff all over Japan again.

I left Shin-Osaka at about 11:30 a.m., and got to Nagoya at around 1:00 p.m. It was time to spawn-camp the coin lockers. I managed to snag lockers for my backpack and day pack, but not for my big suitcase. I had to lug that thing around for a few hours. Note to self: how do you like that big bag now?

I wanted to take a break in Nagoya because I wanted to eat and just not think about riding on a train for a bit. Food eaten, shopping done, feeling refreshed, I went about looking for a train to Nagano.

There are 2 ways you can go from Nagoya to Nagano.

Route #1: the shinkansen. You ride for 1:45 to Tokyo, change to the Nagano shinkansen, then ride for another 1:45. You travel over 580 Km in 3:30. Roughly. If your trains connect nicely. If they don’t, it’s more like 4 hours. But traveling on the shinkansen implies a certain level of style and comfort that I have easily become accustomed to, and spoiled by.

Route #2: take the Shinano Limited Express from Nagoya to Nagano. It’s 250 Km, but it takes you 2:50 to get there. It’s called the “wide view” because the windows are, well, wide. It’s a limited express because while it doesn’t hit every stop, it hits about 10-15, and it doesn’t go that fast through the mountains.

I was going to go the shinkansen route, but I couldn’t get a non-smoking seat reservation for about 2 hours. So it was off to the Shinano.

Taking the Shinano turned out to be a good choice.

Shinano Wide View to Nagano

The Shinano isn’t a shinkansen, so it wasn’t going to race down the tracks, but I enjoyed the ride. Once we got out of the city and into the Japan Alps, the views were stunning, especially with all the fall foliage. And the way the train rode, it was very soothing and very sleep-inducing. I dozed off and on. Kachunk-kachunk, kachunk-kachunk…

I hate that we don’t have a rail network like this in the U.S. Amtrak is getting there, but it’s sloooow.

On this train, the shinkansen luggage trick doesn’t work very well. I had to strain to fit my luggage in behind the last seat, because it’s a much tighter fit. Then again, I had some massive bags with me. (Something I keenly regret over and over.)

The shinkansen Luggage Trick

The shinkansen luggage trick involves taking your bloated American luggage and sticking it behind the last row of seats in the car. There’s plenty of room to put it there. But it’s not always the case with other trains.

Only afterwards did I realize that I was a dummy– there is a baggage area in the front of the car on the Shinano that I just didn’t see.

D’oh.

Nagano

I arrived in Nagano, then had to camp the elevator to get to the taxi stand… seriously, sometimes Japan drives me nuts.

I got to my hotel, the JAL City Hotel, and got settled. I get American Airlines frequent flyer points for staying here- huzzah!

Naturally, the department stores had closed at 7 p.m., because Nagano is a small city, not a big one. I found a restaurant somewhere. I went with something safe tonight, because I was tired and not feeling 100%. You can always get decent pizza in Japan.

And Lawson always has something else food-wise. Japan’s conbinis have saved me on occasions so numerous, I’ve lost count.

Wash My Clothes.

I went back to the hotel. Now things got interesting. I found out my room didn’t have any Internet in it, so the guy at the desk switched me out. A bit of a hassle, but I need my Internet, because I have things to plan. It’s something that more and more hotels offer. (And the ones that don’t have Internet should get with the program!)

Then I asked the guy at the front desk where the nearest laundromat was. Well, he gave me directions, but I think he got confused, or maybe I got confused, because all I saw were strip clubs and those guys in shiny suits who ask you if you’re looking for fun.

Yeah… thanks, but no thanks. I just want my laundry done. Some woman who was dressed in some wild outfit approached me, and I asked her if she knew where the laundromat was. I don’t think she was expecting that.

I still have some Woolite with me, so at least I can have one set of not-too-fragrant clothes. Washing in the sink for the win.

Tomorrow is, uh… uh… I’ll have to get back to you tomorrow with that. I still don’t have a plan.

More Osaka: Giant Crab vs. Giant Octopus vs. Guy in a Clown Suit

Japan, Photos, Travel Comments Off

Nov 032007

It’s Saturday in Osaka, and time to go see more stuff. This will be my last full day in Kansai, so I want to make the most of it. I got up at 8 a.m., slowly got my act together, and made sure to get to the Osaka Aquarium (Kaiyukan) by 10:00 a.m., when it opened.

Osaka Aquarium

If you wind up in Osaka on a weekend, and you don’t get to that aquarium within 10 minutes of it opening, you’re done for. Luckily, I got there about 5 minutes after it opened, so the crowds were only annoying, instead of mind-bogglingly crushing.

About a block from the aquarium, there’s a Ferris wheel:

Then there’s another building. In front of that, there was an exhibit of art made from recycled objects by kids (You can see the aquarium looming in the background):

Then I got to the aquarium:

Which was already decorated for Christmas. (Early for U.S. standards.):

Then up the stairs on the right to the entrance:

The Aquarium is pretty good. If you don’t speak Japanese, then I recommend getting one of those mildly-annoying audio guides in English for 300 yen, because all of the exhibit explanations are in Japanese only. It’s handy because it turns on as you enter each exhibit, and stops talking when you leave the exhibit.

The only downside is that the script and the reader come off as a little difficult to understand. But it’s understandable enough to get an idea of what’s going on.

The exhibits were all pretty impressive, especially the whale shark. That was huge. They also had seals, sea lions, dolphins, sea otters, and fish as well, in all sorts of environments.

There were also plenty of opportunities to buy stuff. I wound up buying some post cards for my nephew, so he can get an idea of the exhibits there. Everything else was in Japanese, so he would have had to learn the language to get anything out of it. Then again, it couldn’t hurt him to have another language under his belt.

As I left the building at a little after 11 a.m., the hordes were arriving in force. The lines stretched out the door. So go early or don’t go on a weekend.

I saw the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga about 12-13 years ago, and while the one in Osaka is good, the one in Tennessee is better. I haven’t seen the one in Atlanta yet, although I hear it’s even more impressive. The Kaiyukan is good at giving you an idea of what’s in the waters of Japan, as well as all over the world.

There was also a double-size replica of the Santa Maria to ferry people over to the area where Universal Studios Japan is.

I have no idea why it was the Santa Maria.

But this is Japan, after all. They do things here that make perfect sense for them, and confuse the heck out of us foreigners. I’m already used to it by now.

Another shot of the harbor area (near the Santa Maria):

USJ in the Bag

I had mentioned yesterday that USJ was in my plans for today, but I had to make an executive decision– do I blow 1,500 yen to get there, then another 5,100 yen just on admission to see something I pretty much saw in Orlando? Or do I go back to the hotel, eat lunch, rest for a few minutes, then go to Dotonbori?

Well, duh.

I bagged USJ. I’ll visit it the next time I’m in Osaka. Or Orlando.

Dotonbori

After recharging batteries, itâ€™s time to go to Dotonbori, America-mura, Ebisubashi, and the Kamigata Ukiyoe Museum.

Leaving the hotel:

First off, Dotonbori.

It’s a bustling area around the river in Minami. It’s this wild collection ofÂ wild stores with even wilder signs. Is it fun? Of course it’s fun!

How is it spelled? I’ve seen it as “Dotombori” and “Dotonbori.” This sign says “Dotonbori, so I’ll go with it:

I needed food. I found the takoyaki stand with the biggest line, and waited 10 minutes for excellent takoyaki. (Takoyaki is a grilled octopus dumpling that Osaka’s famous for.) It’s screaming hot, so if you’re not careful, you’ll burn the heck out of your mouth.

The line:

The stand:

I took a lot of pictures around the area while wandering around. It’s a fun area to wander and people-watch. Just stay out of the pachinko parlors if you value your hearing. I’m not sure why, but apparently there’s some rule that every pachinko parlor has to be louder than a jet plane taking off.

Hey, don’t look at me. Rules are rules.

Some more photos:

Kuidaore Taro, locally famous:

Giant Crab!

An octopus eating takoyaki? Cannibal!

Hotel with interesting columns:

This one is a restaurant with a ship for a sign:

All Ferrengi will worship this guy (because he has the lobes for business!):

I may have mentioned this before, but Dotonbori is famous for its canals, which people have been known to jump in whenever the Hanshin Tigers when the Japanese Professional Baseball Championship. (Not very often.)

Another canal:

A lot of the canals have barriers to keep people from jumping in. I can’t figure out why anyone would want to, but I guess that’s a local thing.

Ukiyoe Museum

After blowing a few hundred yen on a UFO catcher (a crane game where you pay $10 to try to win a $3 toy), it was off to the Ukiyoe museum. I think I mentioned it yesterday, but ukiyoe is a style of art used to depict famous scenes from Japanese Theater in the 19th century. If you think of traditional Japan, you will probably get the image of an ukiyoe in your head. It’s hard not to.

Or just look at the poster in the photo below:

The museum has a collection of prints from the 19th century. If you’re a history buff or you’re in to art, then I recommend it. The museum itself is a little small, so you can get through it in less than an hour, which is pretty good for an art museum.

After looking at prints, it was time to hit the gift shop. Cute Things were found and purchased. I swear, Japan knows I’m a sucker for Cute Things. (But most of these are souvenirs for other people.)

America Mura

I set off to see what the big deal about America Mura is about. I’m still not quite sure, to be honest, and I was there.

I suppose you could buy clothes there or something? I wasn’t really feeling it.

Shinsaibashi

After America Mura, I wandered some more in Shinsaibashi, another shopping district/arcade just north of Dotonbori. It’s basically a long city street with a roof overhead.

One of the entry points:

I found some hard-to-find souvenirs, and had a delicious custard and chocolate crepe. They make great crepes in Japan. You can get them filled with all kinds of stuff, too. I’m sure you can get them in the U.S., but I’ve never seen lines like that for crepes.

Pro tip: In Japan, if you see a lot of people standing in line for a restaurant and you have an hour or two free, join them in line. Whatever they’re waiting for is probably good enough to make your head explode with one bite. Japan is full of people who will patiently wait 2 hours for a cheeseburger if the cheeseburger is the best damn cheeseburger you’ve ever eaten in your entire life.

I also found Atari-ya? Oh, another pachinko parlor. Dang. Got me all excited for nothing.

On the way back to the hotel, look! Glico Man! He’s another Thing that’s Famous Because It’s Famous:

I wandered some more then went back to the hotel to recharge.

Den-Den Town, Bic Camera

Recharged, I set out for Den-Den Town, the Osaka version of Akihabara (the electronics and nerd wish fulfillment zone) and realized too late that I was stupid again. Everything in Den-Den Town closes at 7 p.m., or just about everything. A lot of shopping areas in Japan are like that. If you want to fully experience a shopping area, you have to do it by 7 p.m. You can’t just set out at 7 and hope to catch stores still open. You’ll only get 1/3rd or 1/4th of them that way. The rest of the stores– you know, the ones with the really cool stuff? Yeah, they closed at 7. More like 6:50.

There’s always Akihabara in Tokyo, I guess. I’m still kind of bummed about it, but I think I’ll live.

I stopped by Bic Camera, Osaka style. They were having a deal where you got extra points if you bought something today, so I bought a Japanese PS2. Now I just have to figure out how to carry it around with me for the next week or two. Hey, that is considered a learning aid in my book.

I went back to the hotel to rest a little, and play a little FFTA-2 (itâ€™s awesome), then I went out for dinner.

BBQ, Korean Style

Dinner was great. I found a Korean barbecue place right down the street, and after a few false starts and some odd words on the menu I had never heard of before, I got a lot of tasty slices of raw meat, which I then cooked on the grill built in to the table. I love Korean barbecue now. This trip has totally spoiled me, food-wise. I donâ€™t know how Iâ€™m going to scratch my culinary itches in the States now. Pardon me while I go sob quietly in a corner to myself.

…

I still havenâ€™t seen any really weird vending machines here. Iâ€™ve seen ones for beer, cigarettes, drinks, laundry detergent, PPV TV at hotels, ice cream, tickets to enter attractions, camera film, newspapers, and thatâ€™s about it. I havenâ€™t seen any really weird stuff yet. Iâ€™m going to have to find some now.

Homeless Problem

Japan has a homeless problem. They may not want to admit it, and they may want to ignore it, but itâ€™s there. As soon as Den-Den Town was shutting down, lots of homeless people were bringing their cardboard boxes out and building temporary shelters for the night. I guess every society has the same problems, and no good solutions.

But every city I’ve been in now, I’ve seen lots of homeless people trying to build shelters at night, or camped out in parks. I hope for their sake that either the government or local organizations can get a handle on this problem.

Travel Tips (How to Use Public Transport Effectively!)

The best trick for saving money and hassle on riding the subways? Itâ€™s the minimum fare trick. Go to the ticket machine, dump in a few hundred yen, and buy the cheapest ticket you can. When you get where youâ€™re going, if you have to pay more fare, you do it at the fare adjustment machine, and it will give you change. Very simple, very easy, and you donâ€™t wind up overpaying for your subway ticket. (And you don’t wind up missing your train while you try to guess what your fare is going to be.) Better than buying tickets is using one of those fare cards, if they have one in your area.

Buses. Buses are very important to figure outÂ how to use while in Japan, because itâ€™s the only way youâ€™ll be able to get to some places that aren’t served by trains. Also, taxis can get expensive.

Get on the bus. In some places, a little ticket dispenser will issue you a numbered ticket. (Usually something from 1-40.) Itâ€™s telling you what stop you got on the bus. Then as you ride, youâ€™ll see a big board with stop numbers and fares by the driverâ€™s head. That board will tell you how much money you pay if you want to get off now.

When you get to your stop, check your number, look at the board, and dump the ticket and the exact change into the hopper. If you need change, use the change machine built into it. You wonâ€™t get change back from dropping a 500 yen coin into the hopper. I learned this the hard way. When in doubt, ask. Also, when youâ€™re going to be riding a lot of buses, ask if there’s a card that lets you use it all day. It saves you from having to mess with the tickets and the coins.

But make sure it’s worth the money first– it isn’t always a good deal.

For example, in Kyoto, some of the buses are 220 yen flat fare buses. Those are the ones to places like Kinkakuji. If you’re just going to Kinkakuji for the day, or that area, the 500 yen all-day pass isn’t worth it, because you’ll only spend 440 yen on fares.

I got interviewed by some people from the Osaka Chamber of Commerce or something similar. They wanted to know the most famous Osakan I could think ofâ€¦ and I guessed Toyotomi Hideyoshi. (I think thatâ€™s his name, anyway.) Heâ€™s the guy who had the castle built. Heh. They also wanted to know what I thought about Osakaâ€™s famous foods. So I told them- takoyaki is good, but the octopus is a little too chewy for my taste. Okonomiyaki is the clear choice. I could eat that every day. (Insert Homer Simpson drooling noise here.)

Tomorrow, I head to Nagano.

Oh, Osaka! Castles and Towers and Okonomiyaki!

Food, Japan, Photos, Travel Comments Off

Nov 022007

Today I left fun fun Fukuoka for Osaka. The shinkansen ride took about 2:45, and I got there right at 1:45 p.m.

The way the shinkansen works is that it runs on special tracks designed for high-speed rail. This means that not every station is equipped to handle these trains. So Instead of going to Osaka Station, the shinkansen stops at Shin-Osaka (Shin means ‘new’ in Japanese, by the way. You’ll see a lot of shins in Japan.)

On arrival, I went through my now usual drill whenever I get to a new city in Japan. I get off the train, get out of the way, take my bearings for a few seconds, then start hunting down the information booth, and raid it for maps and pamphlets. I find it’s the most efficient way to find the big sights in a town. I’ll cross-check with guidebook opinions, but I’ll go with the pamphlet’s directions, because Lonely Planet Japan’s directions suck.

The maps of Osaka at the station are great, and they’re free.

Free is good.

The next thing I do when I get to a new town is figure out how I’m going to get to the hotel.

Precisely, how am I going to get out of the station? Most major stations, and even minor ones, have at least 2 and as many as 40 exits.

Yes, 40.

40 exits.

So the exit you pick can become important, because if you choose poorly, you can wind up all turned around and lost. Find the station map, make sure which way North is pointing, then proceed to the exit you need.

Namba Mamba

Shin-Osaka is connected to the subway lines, so it’s not too bad. Follow the subway signs.

It’s kind of far away from my hotel, so I decided to just take subways instead of a cab to the hotel. It might have saved me some time to take a cab, but it’s risky to take cabs in big cities over long distances. Japanese traffic can be horrible, and I didn’t want to risk it.

I got off the subway at Namba station, and promptly got lost. No big surprise there. Prepare to get lost in Japan. It’s just hard to find things sometimes, and it’s oftentimes disorienting. This is why you got the map at the station, anyway. I should have brought a compass. It would have saved me a lot of time.

A nice security guard pointed out the way to go, and I followed it for a bit, then thought I could improve upon it, and got lost again. But this time I knew which way North was, so I figured it out on my own. It took a while, but I found my hotel. It’s the Business Hotel Nissei, and it’s 5,250 yen a night. Dirt cheap, the way I like it. It comes with all the usual amenities, except for Internet.

Ah, well. I’ll survive 2 days without Internet.

I dumped my stuff in the room, which is the tiniest yet– I have to go out into the hallway to change my mind– and made my battle plan. I know I can’t see everything in a city, and if I did, I’d wear myself out and not enjoy it. So I picked today’s and tomorrow’s highlights.

Today I was going to go to Osaka Castle, The Umeda Sky Building Floating Garden Observatory, and wander around Kita Osaka. (Kita is Japanese for North. Another handy word to learn.)

Osaka is broken into 4 districts. Kita (North), Chuo (middle), Minami (South), and the harbor. My goal today was to knock out some sights in Kita and Chuo, and then hit the harbor and Minami on Saturday.

Osaka-jou

Osaka Castle is in Chuo, and it’s very scenic. There’s a lot of hiking involved. I managed to get there just as the sun was starting to set, so I think I got some good shots of the castle. I love the “golden time,” when the sun gets low and the light gets really nice and reddish-orange.

Photos! Outer gate:

Now some photos of the castle exterior:

Fall colors:

Clouds loom overhead:

It looks like someone is climbing outside the guardrail???

Another angle:

Golden light hitting the front of the castle:

I climbed up to the top of the castle, and enjoyed the observation deck. The views from the deck are superb. You can see all of downtown Osaka, and with the late afternoon sun, it was all very beautiful.

Great shot of the castle grounds from the top:

And the Osaka Skyline:

Look, another Ferris wheel!

I went down and took a few pictures of the front of the castle again, bathed in the sunset:

On my way out of the castle area, some nice shots:

I went back down and started walking through the castle park on my way back to the hotel, when I saw a band office. That gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling.

The fountain in the park was pretty.

Longer exposure:

I walked a little further and saw some of the city’s homeless population setting up tents for the night in the park.

Kita~~!

I headed back to the hotel to rest a bit, because I had just walked about 3 miles on an empty stomach, and I was out of gas. I got back around 6, slept until 7:30, grabbed a quick shower and headed to The Umeda Sky Building Floating Garden Observatory, which is in Kita Osaka by Osaka Station. The area is called Umeda.

The Sky Building is two office towers joined in the middle up high by a big 4-5 story sqaure, so the building kind of looks like a boxy Arc d’ Triumphe. It’s a bit of hassle to get to the observation area, but worth it. Only downside– I got there after 9 p.m., so everything but the deck was closed. That was kind of a bummer.

In Japan, if a store closes at 5 p.m., you better get your stuff by 4:45 p.m., because at 4:50 p.m., they’ve already got everything covered up. At 5 p.m., the metal shutters go down. So it doesn’t really close at 5 p.m. It closes about 15 minutes before that. That’s been my experience so far.

Either way, I was out of a chance at souvenirs. Even the restaurants had closed. Then again, I’ve never been a big fan of any eating establishments at the top of Tall Buildings or Towers, except for the late Windows on the World at the old World Trade Center in New York. That was an incredible restaurant.

In general, though, the food at the top of buildings whose claim to fame is their tallness isn’t so hot. The Space Needle comes immediately to mind for some reason.

To get to the observation deck, you climb 3 flights of stairs, take a glass elevator for 32 stories, then go up a 4-story glass enclosed escalator (kind of like a habitrail tube), then you climb 2 more flights of stairs, and you’re there.

At night, Osaka is gorgeous. The views from the observation deck took my breath away. Totally worth it. I tried to take some pictures, but they probably didn’t do any justice.

Had to crop this one a bit:

It’s worth a trip there, if you’re in the area.

Music to My Stomach

By now it’s 9:30 p.m., and I’m weak in the knees with hunger. I’ve been walking all day on not enough food, and I need calories badly. But I don’t want more department store or conbini food. I want real Japanese food. Real Osaka food.

I started hunting, and I finally found a place that serves okonomiyaki. It’s a little tiny restaurant called Melody that has 4 tables and a bar. And it’s almost as big as my hotel room. So it’s a tight fit.

Everyone says okonomiyaki is “a Japanese pancake.” It is not. It is similar in that it’s made from batter and cooked on a griddle, but that’s all. Okonomiyaki is made with a batter with veggies chopped up in it, then you add toppings. The toppings are where it gets fun. I ordered mine “modern,” which means that you cover it with yakisoba (grillled soba noodles in sauce). Then I added shrimp, mayo (which is standard), bonito (dried fish) flakes, and a sweet sauce.

It was so incredibly good. Ah, man. I’m ruined. I don’t know how I’m going to get an okonomiyaki fix in the U.S. now. Let alone, a good one.

Stomach filled, I headed back to the hotel, and made a quick stop at a conbini on the wayto get some supplies for later. (Okay, snacks.) All of this walking consumes a lot of carbs.

I like to believe that, anyway.

Tomorrow I’ll try to visit the Aquarium at the harbor, maybe Universal Studios Japan if I feel like it, or the ukiyoe museum in Minami, and Dotomburi for dinner in Minami. Reality will probably dictate that I dump USJ, but I’ll try to see some of it. I do want to see the ukiyoe place. Ukiyoe is an old style of depicting nature and people. It was popular in the early-mid 19th century.

Random Stuff: you can get license plates where the letters/numbers in the tag light up at night. Way cool.

Everything closes at 8, 9, or 10. Main sights close at 4, 4:30, 5, or 5:30. They have a quick trigger finger on closing stuff. Seriously quick.

Hotels are stingy with power outlets. Bring a power splitter if you can.

Shopping arcades are awesome, and there are lots of shopping arcades in Osaka. I could really dig living here.

The other big Osaka specialty is takoyaki, which are little fried dough balls with octopus inside. I’m going to try to find some to snack on.

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