japanese finger signals & going away parties

The Japanese have many different finger and hand signals that I was not aware at the beginning of my term here. Two in particular have given me problems on numerous occasions. The first is a hand signal I like to call scoot, as you would scoot a dog away. Holding your hand out with palm down you move your fingers from the palm out. In our culture it means go, get outta here, leave me alone! In Japan it means come here and I have run away from a few people, including my vice-principal, before I understood this one. The other I have had problems with is indicating oneself. We westerns generally tap ourselves on the chest but Japanese point their index finger at their nose and tap it. I initially though people had runny, or sore noses, now I use it like a pro.

There are a few other gestures that have meaning in Japan. A pink finger raised means girlfriend and can be a question or an answer. Conversely a thumbs up means boyfriend, my students like to use this frequently. Using your index finger to pull down the bottom of your eye indicates you think the other person is an idiot. To duck a little while moving your hand in a chopping motion in front of your face means you would like to get through and be unobtrusive. Using your hand to fan in front of your nose (like there is a bad smell) means no no, not me, or no thank you.

Below Justine and I are demonstrating sad which is placing your index finger on the table and circling it. Jon thought he was demonstrating another version of sad but after speaking to my students and teachers it typically mean shy, or timid and is only a gesture females should use. Apparently, if a woman does this men will think she is cute! Who knew it was so easy! We are making sad because it was Justine's last night in Niigata, she has since gone home to Canada to eat wonderful food and speak to many people who understand English. Can you tell I am slightly craving western food today! It was a month of many goodbyes and now the welcome parties have begun! I will post pictures from Scott's party later. Good luck to all who left!

himeji castle

Himeji was around an hour and half train ride out of Osaka but being the largest surviving castle in Japan; I didn't want to miss it. We thought Osaka was hot but Himeji was scorching and since the old thing didn't have air conditioning we had to suffer! Himeji is sometimes known as the white heron castle because it apparently resembles a bird? It is quite beautiful though and the mark of history is ingrained in every stone and beam. The current castle was begun in 1601 but different areas have been rebuilt a few times due to the Meiji Restoration and WWII.

Inner courtyard view

We had a little old lady, who still had a manual camera, take our picture and thus we are midgets dwarfed by the heron!

The castle had an amazing defensive system with three separate walls, three moats, 84 gates with confusing passages, numerous gun/ arrow holes and openings used for dropping rocks and boiling liquid as well as racks throughout the castle for guns, spears, and munitions. With all these armaments James and I were a bit confused why the histories of the castle never mentioned any battles... because there were never any battles at Himeji-jyo (I later discovered) and that is predictably why it is so well preserved. It seems a bit of a let down that the greatest castle left is the one where nothing happened but I suppose it is better than nothing.

It was well worth the trip out, though it may have been better viewed in spring or fall as some of the stairs were fairly steep and some of the buildings were stifling in the hot weather.

osaka

Where thoughts and makeup melt. It is hot hot hot in Osaka this time of year and I must had rid my body of every toxin it had accumulated up to this point through the buckets of sweat I shed. I should really title this Osaka and Kyoto because we spent the first day in Kyoto; I didn't realize how close they are. We arrived in Kyoto after a long eight hour drive with Iwan alternating sleeping and playing on his cell phone. Yes you heard me correct he has a CELL PHONE. After thirty years of acting above us slaves to technology he now can not put his down. By the way Iwan was the only one who knew where we were going as James and I had never been there and kind of left the planning up to Iwan. We made it safe and sound though and decided to explore Kyoto a bit.

The boys had never seen a geisha so I was hoping that the street where mom and I had seen four would produce but it was a fruitless effort and we decided to push on the Kiyomizudera since Jim had missed that on his trip to Kyoto ( it is only the most famous temple and all). The streets of Gion are very traditional and provided a glimpse of life in older times but when we arrived at Kiyomizudera ...

That's right we had just missed the closing time by twenty minutes, if we hadn't have stopped at Starbucks for a nice cool drink we probably would have made it. I was all for sneaking in but the guys were not up to espionage and so we trudged back to the station for supper.

Looking a little weary after the long drive and from this picture my biceps would suggest I have been training with the German women's Olympic team.

Iwan had not made any reservations in Kyoto and we had arrived at the peak of Obon (Japanese holiday) so the hotels and youth hostel were stuffed to the brim. Iwan had been in this same situation before (I am not surprised he is kind of a fly by the seat of your pants kind of guy) and suggested we crash at a love hotel. Love hotels are mean for *love* and can only be booked by the night (or short stay) and are fairly cheap. They are also really cheesy with different themes and facades, think West Edmonton Mall for lovers. Anyhow, you drive up into a parking garage and each parking spot has a picture and price for a room. You then drive into the spot/ room you like where there is a convenient door that takes you straight to your room without having to see anyone. Our rooms were somewhat subdued only a large dumbo painted on the wall of one and a florescent light palm tree in the other. Biggest bed and bathtub I have seen in Japan and just as cheap as a regular hotel.

Next day we drove to Osaka and explored there a bit. It is only a 30 minutes train ride but it took us over and hour to get there by car. We went to Americamura, which is a supposedly an Americanized shopping district. I saw a few American stores and many wanna be hip hop shops but beyond that not too much caught my eye. Iwan was in heaven shopping for his reggae records and I think I happened upon a clothing store for transvestites (the shoes actually fit me).
Jim and I wanted to go on the trip to explore Osaka but Iwan wanted to go to shop for reggae records and see his girlfriend. Tomoko is very cool and speaks alot of English so she was great company and probably saved our butts a couple times.

Osaka is famous for takoyaki(octopus balls) and okonomiyaki. I really don't like the texture of octopus or the taste for that matter but I was all in for the okonomiyaki. We happened on a fairly famous shop and had to wait in a line for a while as there were only around 15 seats in the whole place. At some okonomiyaki restaurants you can make your own okonomiyaki and others they make it in front of you, this was of the second variety and after this experience I think I will let them make it from now on. It was delicious!

It is basically this pancake batter thing with meat and onion fried on the grill with a sauce spread on after. We ate directly off a grill like surface that ran along the seating. Here he is artfully applying the sauce.
After we went for a bit of a walk to work off the okonomiyaki and got a brilliant view of the city.

Our hotel in Osaka was a nice hotel but it was in a somewhat sleazy area with many "cabarets" and strip joints along the way. We stopped into an arcade because I was going to kick Jim's ass at taiko, again, and happened upon an interesting claw game. There are tons of claw games in Japan but this one contained g-string underwear in plastic balls (they were clean not of the used variety that apparently could be bought in vending machines). Jim was a ringer and got it on the first try. Always something new in Japan!

It was a Monday night with not much happening and we stumbled upon a bowling alley so went for a go. I had never been bowling with a big ball before (in Canada we typically go glow bowling with small balls) but I eventually caught on somewhat and it was a good time. Tomoko screamed at her ball the whole way down the lane but unfortunately it rarely listened.

The next day ventured out to Himeji Castle and the aquarium of which I will post pictures later. That day before we had happened upon an Outback steak house and decided to make it our last supper. In Japan portion sizes are much smaller and I think my stomach has shrunk somewhat and my skeptical look on my ability to finish this was justified. I ate most of the meat and left everything else. Jim can still pack it down though with a massive steak and 5 large glasses of diet coke. Iwan is simply a monster!

hanabi

Recently I went to a hanabi (which is a fireworks festival) with my vice-principal and a few teachers. I have always loved fireworks but the ones in Japan are beyond comparison. They have perfected it to an art and the scale of the shows are massive. It was a great evening on the banks of the shinano river (longest in Japan) eating grocery store sushi and viewing the amazingfireworks.

Hanabi means flower fire in Japanese and the stills from my pictures actually do look like flowers.

on washitsu, tatami, and futons...

I guess I have been negligent in discussing daily Japanese life and have decided to remedy this after Shelley's question. Washitsu is a traditional Japanese room where the floor is covered in tatami mats. What is a tatami mat well...tatami mats are made of woven straw and packed with straw or styrofoam and are approximately 5cm thick. Around my area most people have at least one tatami room to entertain in, sleep in or both. I am the only ALT I know without. Tatami gives off a specific grassy type smell so you can always tell if a house has them. Melissa hates the smell but I think it is kind of nice. Anyhow, often rooms in houses are not measure by square feet but by tatami mats (even if there are none) so 6 tatami etc.

I'd say over half the Japanese population around here do not own a bed. They sleep on futon sprawled out on the tatami.

I had a funny conversation with my Japanese tutor a while ago. She asked me if I was scared of falling out of my bed. I can't recall ever falling out though perhaps it happened when I was little or slightly intoxicated but apparently she has this great fear. She lived in Australia for a year and she said she always fell out of her bed. She said that it was a hot topic of conversation between her friends. Can you imagine, "We stayed at a hotel last night and I couldn't sleep because I was so afraid I'd fall out!" I guess she grew up sleeping on the floor and did not develop an awareness for the edge of the bed. Families often sleep in the same room and she was also describing how all three kids are always kicking them during the night(one of the reasons for love hotels I'm sure). Families sleep on their futon on the tatami but during the day the futons, blankets and pillows are folded and stored in a special closet.

Futons need to be aired because of the dripping humidity so during the summer houses are decorated with futons hanging, or draped over ever surface, balcony, windows, roof. It can paint a colourful picture.

fuji rocku

Spent the last weekend in beautiful Yuzawa at a rock concert strangely named Fuji rock (no where near mt. Fuji). Apparently, in the years before there have been really big bands as headliners but this year I thought the line-up kind of stunk. The big bands were The Cure, Beastie Boys and Iggy Pop, all has beens in my opinion. As such I ended up discovering many less know bands that rocked my world. The weather threatened rain but it held off until the end, nonetheless rubber boots were a staple fashion item. Iwan graciously drove us and to my shock did not play a single reggae CD!

Many of the other ALTs decided to camp but we opted for a Japanese style hotel. The room was barely big enough for the four futons and we had a colony of ants tickling us while we slept. Also, there were no western toilets in sight but it did they job.

They had a funky club area set up with random statues and oddities. Unfortunately I never really checked it out, perhaps next year.

Lily Allen

I was looking forward to seeing Feist but she was on the farthest stage which was about a 30 minute walk from the main. She ended up playing my favourite song first and I only vaguely heard it while I was running to get there.

Massive slabs of meat for the kebabs (which is meat in a pita?).

The Shins

Favourite by far was the John Butler Trio. Evan had introduced this Australian band to me earlier this year and they were amazing! I am not much for instrumental solos but the guitar solo practically made me cry. Unfortunately, they were only slotted for an hour so they weren't able to play much. I will definitely go see them if they happen to be anywhere near me in the future!

second leg of the journey- tokyo and kyoto

Well it is past overdue but here is the second half of our trip. We spent some time in Asakusa and Ueno. Went to the National Museum and was overloaded with pottery. I love archeology and history but after the first 200 pots or so it all looks the same. The samurai swords and accouterments were very interesting though and some of the tapestries and scrolls were amazingly beautiful. We also visited Asakusa shrine and caught some low budget Japanese movie in the filming process. Did the sushi thing as well. Mom doesn't like raw fish.

Asakusa at night with movie lights.

Went back during the day to see the whole thing and encountered many crazies along the way.





Next to Kyoto and the nicest hotel along the trip. It is a beautiful city but the weather was horrible and never really stopped raining.

Streets in Gion






Was lucky to catch a few maiko (geisha in training) dashing between a teahouse and a waiting taxi. Some people are really shameless and were sticking their massive cameras right in these poor girls faces.

Kiyomizudera where the flocks of savage tourists gathered. It was incredibly beautiful but with the bazillion tour groups running around it was like a circus. Many of them didn't care about the historical significance or even the beauty they simply wanted to get their picture taken in front of it to say they'd been there.

The popular expression "to jump off the stage at Kiyomizu" is the Japanese equivalent of the English expression "to take the plunge". This refers to an Edo period tradition that held that, if one were to survive jumping from the stage, one's wish would be granted.

Survival appears plausible: The lush vegetation below the platform might cushion the fall of a lucky pilgrim, though the practice is now prohibited. 234 jumps were recorded in the Edo period and, of those, 85.4% survived.


We took a short rickshaw ride around Kyoto and felt incredibly bad for our little crazy-eyed driver traversing the slopes with our combined weight.

Next day went to Nijo Castle which was the Kyoto residence of the Tokugawa Shoguns from 1601 - 1867. It was quite fascinating the walls were all brilliantly painted and covered with gold leaf and wood carvings with secret doors for the bodyguards in cases of emergency. For additional security they constructed the floors of the walkways to squeak like birds thus named the Nightingale floors. This was to prevent sneak attacks and assassins from catching the family unaware.

Went back to Tokyo and had a night out with yaki-niku, an Irish pub and karaoke. We also went to Harajuku, Shibuya and Akihabara all in the midst of a typhoon. Needless to say the crossing at Shibuya wasn't as busy as always.


All in a good trip! Was awesome to see my ma and catch up and I think I had my Starbucks intake for three years. They are on every corner in Tokyo and Kyoto why do we only have one in Niigata?