firefly

I saw my first firefly last night and I was like a little kid chasing it around the parking lot. It was a lone firefly and stayed too briefly for my liking. I had never imagined they were so bright or beautiful. Apparently Japan has a long standing love for fireflies.

It is popular to view the fireflies' glow during hot summer nights (hotaru-gari). The Japanese word for a firefly is "hotaru." In some cultures hotaru might not have a positive reputation, but they are well liked in Japanese society. They have been a metaphor for passionate love in poetry since the 8th century. Their eerie lights are also thought to be the altered form of the souls of soldiers who have died in war. However, since hotaru inhabit only clean streams, their numbers have been decreasing in recent years due to pollution.

The firefly departs

so quickly, so breathlessly

it leaves behind its light

Kobayashi Issa

what goes away
is not limited to love
an evening firefly
Suzuki Masajo

I think I earlier wrote about Japan's obsession with Auld Lang Syne well I have since found out it is a song about fireflies.

"Hotaru no Hikari (The Light of the Firefly)" is probably one of the most popular Japanese songs. It is often sang when bidding farewell to one another such as at graduation ceremonies, the closing ceremony of events, and the end of the year.

Hopefully there will be more fireflies to come!

My beautiful town!

americans in agamachi

A couple of Jimbo's friends came to visit Agamachi so we partied it up to show them a good time. Evan and Jim were insisting they eat horse. The good man that Jeff is, he refused out of principal of owning horses. Chris gobbled it down like chocolate even though he has horses as well. I still am holding out and will remain staunch in my position.


Evan and I got into a little altercation because he (in an incredibly intoxicated state) slapped his JTE (who is a 90 pd Japanese woman) across the face. Rie and I are pretty good friends and as some know people should never mess with my friends. I ended up subduing him using dirty methods but only after he had done the same to me. He looks like he is laughing in this pic but it is a mad laugh.

Group shot, Jim, me, Evan, Chris, Rie and Jeff in the front.

We decided to tag along on the Tokyo leg of the voyage and went out to this great little Irish pub where there were lots of foreign men and rugby on the TV. The boys kampaiing with redbull and vodka...or I should say vodka with a dash of redbull.

Earlier that day Chris, Evan and I decided to venture into a maid cafe. It is basically a restaurant where all the waitresses dress up as maids and call you master. Uber geeks can go onto websites to check the stats of the maids and I have even heard of maid trading cards. Our waitress was mirukuchan or milk chan. It was interesting but I expected more. There were four poses we could pick for the picture. I attempted a heart but it is deformed.

My second attempt was a bit better but Jeff's outshone mine and he wasn't even there.

Dancing in the club, bottle full of bub.

Went to Hard Rock before we came home. It was so nice to have western food again.

city + soccer

More soccer pics thanks to James who ended up being the Niigata photographer!

Went to our favourite bar with Misael and Melissa. Melissa absent due to hate for the photographic media (well hate if she is the subject). I do have some but I'm sure she'd want them taken off so I'll just keep them for future bribes ;).

I had a taiko performance the next day and they weren't ready to quit party so Lefty and had a little nap.

overheard in new york

something interesting for a boring, hot day at school.

New York, New York!

conference in the big city!

I am really behind in my posting so I may play a little catch up this week. The conference is couple weeks ago already. We reconvened in the beautiful Keio Plaza hotel in Tokyo. I don't recall if I gushed about my room there at the orientation conference but it was gorgeous. I didn't have a digital camera then so I only have real life pictures but take it from me it was beautiful. Now, I am absolutely grateful that my BOE payed for the trip and everything but my room was a hovel compared to the last. I wouldn't think a room that ugly and worn down could exist in the same hotel as the beautiful trendy room I stayed in before. I have noticed this trend in Japanese hotels to have very nice lobbies and shit hotel rooms. Back home if you have a shit room the lobby will typically reflect that as well, god know I worked in Howard Johnson. These Japanese are tricky that way!

Enough about hotel rooms, though. The conference had its informative points and many sessions that were a waste of time. We had a good time out in the city though.

We ended up eating at this restaurant called the Lock up and it was an interesting experience. Japan apparently has many themed restaurants and the lock up is a jail or a mental institution where you are lead to your room in handcuffs and locked in.

Many of the menu items are eccentric as well. Reggie and I tried the test tube cocktail concoction and my salad had a bubbling glowing dressing.

They periodically turned off the lights and had a "prison break" where the inmates come and accost you with glowing cleavers and mangled up faces. Jason came and made out with Chris or stole his soul, we have yet to decide.

We also went to a few clubs and let me tell you they are a bazillion times better than those in Niigata. They play decent music and people actually go to them. The drinks are quite expensive though. We encountered these crazy dancing guys at Gaspanic one of which had Melissa in their sights. Its been a while since I have seen so many foreign people.

We missed the last train and Reggie decided she had a late night ramen craving so we squeezed into a cubicle of a store and she had a good chat with an old Japanese man while Chris and I were falling asleep over our bowls.

Shibuya the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world.
We did a bit of karaoke as well and Melissa and I rocked out the Whoomp, there it is.....

nagano soccer

Well this is long over due but I was waiting for pictures from someone who had said they would make sure we all got them. At this point said person has not delivered and so I will post other pictures that I have swiped off of some of the girls facebook pages.

So soccer...we went to Nagano to compete in an ALT soccer tournament. In the past the Niigata girls had done quite well and despite having hardly ever played the game I was fairly confident that the other teams were in the same boat. WRONG. Our team had maybe four experienced soccerettes but perhaps due to not a single practice we were all lacking in stamina. We ended up at the bottom of the heap with many bruises and sore muscles but at least we were as far as possible on the board from the hated saitama team. I have discovered through this experience that I am not really a foot-ball type person but much more a hand-ball person. I pulled my quad early on in the first game and assumed the heavy responsibility of goal keeper. Goalie is like a combo of volleyball and rugby so I was in my groove, although I did let some goals in. It was a good time being surrounded by people who speak English and enjoying the beautiful weather and Nagano scenery. Just made me realize how out of shape I am though.

Good to be back in the blue and white smurf colours of basketball days. I still have my snap off pant somewhere!

Suppose to be the tough team shot but some people didn't get the memo.


The boys and their ugly uniforms (sorry guys everyone is in consensus). Tom won the day with his broken nose but I got quite a few gold winning bruises.

school trip!

Went to Aizuwakamatsu on Tuesday with my eighth grade. Aizuwakamatsu is on all the road signs because it is the next big city going east from Agamachi. When I first came to Japan I found this name extremely long and completely unpronounceable typically calling Aizu blah blah blah but now with the vast amounts of Japanese I have acquire I can pronounce it loud and proud! Anyhow, finally went to the mysterious city beyond my town and was a little disappointed. The train station was pretty small and unassuming but I had great hopes for the castle. Tsurugajo (Crane castle) is the first Japanese castle I have had the chance to view and ... it was small. Pretty much the whole castle is a rebuild because the Meiji emperors tore it down and the inside is a museum. It is a pretty castle but I appreciate the real thing. Most Japanese castles were built out of wood and thus not as long lasting as their European counterparts.

The unfortunate fate of the Byakkotai of Aizuwakumatsu is extremely interesting, though. The Byakkotai (White Tiger corps.) were a group of young samurai between the ages of 14 and 17. A group of twenty Byakkotai were on a nearby mountain preparing for battle during the Boshin war 1868-1869 when they saw smoke billowing from Tsurugajo castle. Thinking that their castle had been taken and their daimyo (leader) killed; they all committed seppuku (ritual suicide). What makes the tale even more tragic though is that the castle's defenses had not been breached; the smoke was but a fire in the courtyard.

My English teacher and school nurse by what is probably the oldest part of the building.

In the castle they had a kimono people could try on. Apparently this type of kimono would be worn by the daughter of the daimyo. When I put the kimono on this cute little old lady took it upon herself to make sure I was presenting the kimono in the appropriate manner and adjusted, tucked and folded it until it met with her approval. I don't think she realized I understood when she told her friend that I was too tall.

We also went to a samurai residence as well and I found this the most interesting part of the trip though the students all said it was boring. I was surprised at the lack of obvious wealth. The rooms were mainly tatami floors with sliding doors. To decorate they would add a colourful folding screen or a few choice pieces of furniture. It was the location of another tragic event in Aizu history. The head of the house and all the samurai had left for battle during the Boshin war and the women of the house had heard news that they may have been captured so they all committed suicide before the enemy could capture them. One woman was unable to kill herself, due to fear I think, but fortuitously a man entered the house. She asked if him if he was a retainer of her lord. He said he was and he helped her complete her task. The man had lied however and was a scout for the enemy. The Japanese commend this man for his great mercy.

BBQ

Errol's buddy had a BBQ a few weeks ago and a bunch of went before Peter's going away party. The weather was horrible and we often huddled around the BBQ to stay warm but the food was pretty good and good ol' rye helped keep the body warm, as well. Regi and I were goofing around on the play equipment which was quite elaborate for Japan since my school only has monkey bars. The castle has slides coming out of it and a star of David?

No one here has propane BBQs they are all charcoal.

We all squeezed into the back of Aki's vehicle to get to and from the beach. Another model pose for Evan.

rice planting season

They have flooded the fields and planted the rice and are now praying for it to grow. The fields surprisingly come in all shapes and sizes. Some are fairly large (nothing like a wheat field) but some are as small as 10 x 10 feet. Generally they are square but I have seen some wacky shaped fields because they attempt to squeeze them in anywhere, on the edge of cliffs, in between houses, yes you even will see rice fields in the middle of cities. The field is built up around the edge to contain the water once it is flooded but it also contains masses of frogs! They are quite loud as of now but it is a somewhat peaceful song. I scrunched far to many of the poor little guys under the tire of my car though. The fields are very beautiful once flooded reflecting the sky and the mountains as you drive by. This, however, is not a very beautiful picture.

Some people still plant their fields by hand using a basket full of seedling on their shoulder. Many old women are permanently stooped at a 90 degree angle; I am assuming due to planting and gardening. I should mention they also cover themselves from head to toe in various clothing meant to keep their skin white in avoidance of the sun.

Many people around these parts though use a tractor like machine to do the planting for them. They simply load the seedlings in the back and it somehow plants them into the ground. They also have mini-combines for harvesting in the fall. I was a bit disappointed because I was unable to plant rice with my elementary school but perhaps next year.

dokoka gorge park

A few weekends ago James and I went for a hike on a trail somewhat hidden deep in Mikawa mountains. The weather was quite nice but the bugs were terrible. They did not bite just hovered around incessantly to drive us insane so much so that I didn't even stop to eat. It was a gorgeous climb though with multitudes of blooming flowers and verdant greenery that carried the smell of freshness. We couldn't make it to the top however because there was still snow and it became slightly dangerous and to be honest we were tired anyway. I have been lax in any sort of exercising of late and there were points where I was sure my lungs were going to burst and I was not alone. When we where on our way down though we realized just how steep much of the trail was and felt somewhat vindicated.

It does not look as steep as it is.