As my Tokyo Blog won’t properly take off until September 2009, I have decided to edit and re-post my journal from my first trip to Japan (7th Dec 2005 – 6th Jan 2006). I went to stay with missionaries, but despite the healthy dose of Church-going I had an amazing time, and it was this trip which really solidified my desire to study Japanese and spend as much time there as possible!! I have put in a few edits, and written a wee epilogue too – it has been really amusing re-reading this, which I wrote, you’ll remember, when I was 16!
Journal – Japan 05/06
Wednesday 7th December 2005
9:20 am – I got up really early this morning and finalised my packing, trying to eat as much as possible to set me up for what is bound to be rather an adventurous trip! At seven o’clock promptly the lovely taxi man Roger arrived to take us in what was a simply funky-liscous car! As we drove along, the sun slowly rising, I still couldn’t believe that I was finally going to Japan, and when we arrived at the airport I could hardly contain my excitement. After having bought some food to munch on in departures, my parents and I caught sight of the KLM desks, so we popped over there, deposited my luggage (which was thankfully within the weight restrictions) and then, finding that the WHSmith in the airport didn’t appear to stock Vogue Hommes (odd, as it was Bristol airport 
), I said goodbye to mum and dad and moved around the maze of cables and machines to the departure lounge. That is where I am now, writing this on an old A4 pad of paper. I don’t seem out of place however – everyone is very diverse here. I have a while until my flight but I may move now as the TV screen I am trying to watch, for information about my flight, is slowly being flooded with sunlight, and thus becoming utterly illegible.
9:30 am – Unsure of a) what gate I’ll be at and b) what to do, I have moved to the middle of the lounge, watching a TV which appears to be making no sound, and more importantly, a group of children all with red santa hats on, accompanied by adults in like attire. Their jumpers say “Rotary Club of Yatton and district” on the reverse, and emblazoned across their chests, accompanied by a blazing white image of Santa in full flight, are the words “Search for Santa”. I don’t know where they’re going but I bet it’s cold – rather them than me! I have to say, they all look extremely happy. This is, I think, partly due to the recently concluded act by a children’s entertainer, who I admit played a part in my shift of location. Ok, fine, he was the only reason. I now have no departure screen at all instead of one in full sunlight and my inkpen has just run out.
10:00 am – Having moved for yet a third time, the voiceover has just delivered a rather unwelcome message – instead of leaving at 10:30, the plane will now arrive at 11:15, giving me 45 minutes less in Amsterdam which I admit to finding rather annoying and a little worrying although it did happen to Jack and he managed, so I should cope. Nevertheless, a slightly stressful addition to my trip. “We apologize for the inconvenience caused.” Whatever pout.
Thursday 8th December 2005
4:40 pm (Japanese time) – After a rushed change at Amsterdam, due to the late arrival of my first flight, I settled down for the journey to Osaka. This was fun, and I had lots of things to keep me busy. This was, I have to admit, mainly the personal entertainment screen on the back of the seat in front. Films I watched to conclusion included “Bewitched”, “My Best Friend’s Wedding” and “Ladies in Lavendar”. I started “The Island” but it was too stressful to watch on a plane – at that moment Judie Dench was much more appealing. One moment was a little stressful – this was when I had to call for an immigration form which they had failed to give me. However, I arrived in Osaka, and having collected my luggage I went towards the exits, the meet the smiling faces of my amazing hosts – David and Esther, along with a super cool Japanese lady called Mikiko san who gave them (and me) a lift and was just generally cool. We left the multi storey car park after going around it a few times. As we gently moved with what became rather a traffic jam, I saw loads of Osaka as I basically drove around the whole bay. I love Japan so much! I want to learn Japanese even more now! We arrived at David and Esther’s flat, and they showed me my adorable bedroom, and after some serious freshening up we had a cool British yet Japanese lunch thing, where I taught Mikiko the words patronise and cliché. After this, I went out to the shops with David and my impression was mainly that the cashiers are like acrobats the way they pack the food so quickly into the bags, and count out the change. Anyway, after a brief talk with my parents on the phone, I decided to write this, my journal entry. Et voila – my tea is now ready.
Friday 9th December 2005
Today was my first full day in Japan, and it has to have been one of the best days of my entire life.
I awoke slowly, having no difficulty remembering where I was – in Japan! I got dressed and opened my bedroom door, wondering whether the light which filtered through the curtains indicated that I had slept in for long – after all the time is totally different here. I was greeted by David and Esther who told me that it wasn’t quite 7 o’clock yet, thus relieving me of my original worry. I had a filling breakfast of porridge with cinnamon and sultanas, and some bread and, after talking to my friend Eric from school on Skype for a little while, I then washed my hair and did my face. My matinal ablution rituals out of the way, I decided to take some first photos of the house. In my room there is a wardrobe in the wall at one end, from which Esther said she had moved rather a lot of her things – most kindly. I decided to exploit this space, and did – along with my desk – so the finished product was a lovely, tidy, Japanese bedroom.
When I went back into the kitchen, Esther told me what the plan was for the day – we were going to go up Mount Rokko, using lots of different means of transport, to get a birds eye view of the bay – I was really excited and set about preparing my money, coat and camera. I omitted to do my hair, by accident, but I hope I shall not do that again! At least I had washed it though…
At about 9:30 we set off, walking down the road, over a bridge and along some more road, to the station. I should mention that I was struck by the number of dogs people seem to have here – a lot – and also how cars are always shiny, and as we walked along the street we saw an elderly Japanese lady simply cleaning the flower boxes on the side of the road outside what I presumed to be her house. After a ride on a train which, whilst not underground, was not dissimilar to the London underground (it was called the Hanshin), we moved to a bus, and then a cable car, and then another bus, to reach the highest point of the mountain, which, despite my gorgeous coat, I did not fail to find more than a little chilly. After walking around a little, and popping into a shop (a welcome break from the cold weather) we went and sat in a bus shelter to eat the lunch which Esther had prepared including some rice with seaweed which we had bought earlier, at a local convenience store. I just went to ask and it’s called “musubi” – i.e. rice ball, although it wasn’t really very ball shaped I have to say. After this, we started to walk for at least part of the way down. What I haven’t yet mentioned is the fact that there was a lot of snow and ice around. This made our walk a little treacherous in places but my loafers, about 4 days old, coped admirably.
We arrived at the cable car after a while, having enjoyed some simply splendid awe-inspiring views from the mountain. As the cable car made its sedate way, effortlessly moving down the rather steep hill, with the lulling muzak and the dulcet tones of a Japanese lady in the background, I looked around, breathing in the lush sights, the sounds, the view of the bay, and the atmosphere. That was when it hit me – Japan is far better than even I imagined; I want to get to know this fascinating country better, and everything about it.
After another tram ride we went shopping! Firstly we went to a chemist, to get some kairo – amazing handwarmers which I have to say I loved sooo much. We then went to the one hundred yen shop and after recovering from the shock of such a, well, reasonable shop selling such a huge range of things, I proceeded to spend about 1500 yen oops – oh well I got some things for Jack, but I still have lots of other things to get for people. I might be going to a denki shop in Osaka to get a translator or something but I haven’t decided yet – it sounds rather fun thought I have to say. Anyway, after this bout of theraputic albeit restrained consumerism, we went home via some more great public transport, and I experienced my first heated platform waiting room which was really cool, complete with its pentatonic jingle to tell us of our approaching train. After this final ride, and a brief encounter with a rather irate and thoroughly intoxicated Japanese person who stumbled off the train just as we ourselves were disembarking, we walked home. When I arrived I got all my stuff out and had a little gloat before a lovely evening meal, which Esther made; then I went to bed after listening to some Japanese radio.
Saturday 10th December 2005
Today was a nice relaxing day, but I have still done quite a lot. After getting up at some unearthly hour, I soon ascertained that unearthly hour to be about 3:55am, so I went back to bed. I got up, for the second time, at about 7 o’clock, and had breakfast with David and Esther. After this, and a surprisingly mountainous volume of washing up, I did some wood burning which was really fun – I made a little sign which said my name in katakana on it and varnished it to make it shiny – I was very impressed with the final product. After this, and taking some random photos, I gave David a lesson on cloning parts of images in Photoshop (especially to remove conspicuous power lines from otherwise tranquil scenes of Japanese countryside). I then had a lovely lunch with the bread which Mikiko had brought and some amazingly nice soupy noodle stuff, and fruit with those little useful sticks in it. After this I went out with David and Esther. Esther went shopping and David took me to practice the piano for my little recital tomorrow. After practicing for just over an hour I felt more confident. However, I am still mildly nervous, but I’m sure I’ll be fine. One thing David said was that he had a meeting yesterday, and took along the tape of my practice which he had recorded. The Japanese lady with whom he was having the meeting asked whether I was professional. That gave me an ego boost which I sooo needed. I walked back home with David and decided I’d write today’s journal entry before what looks and smells to be a fantastic meal which Esther has made.
Sunday 11th December 2005
Today was the day when I was to give my piano recital. I awoke bright and early, and, after a fortifying breakfast of Weetabix and a freshen up, we went off to the church room. When I arrived I was introduced to the two people who were already there. I should at this point mention that I find it very hard to remember Japanese names so don’t expect too many references. Anyway, as people arrived I was introduced to them and they seemed to like me – it’s surprising how far up a simple Japanese how do you do will take you in their estimation! After a little communion service, with Esther my faithful interpreter whispering in my ear throughout the service. After this was lunch followed by my little interview, which was hilarious, as David’s questions were in a different order to my rehearsed answers; everyone seemed to love me though, so that was cool. Then there was my playing which they seemed to like as well. After this service finished, I hung out with a little posse of uber cool Japanese people (Hikaru kun, Tomoe chan and Chie chan) whose English rather put my Japanese to shame, but I suppose they’ve had rather more lessons than I so I could cope with that. After that we went home but were intercepted by a gentleman whose mother’s house I went to and played the piano and had some Japanesey style snacks, although I couldn’t try the rice cakes because of my dental appliance. After some showing off and listening to the little girl play the piano (really really well I should add) we left, after admiring the grandfather’s Christmas lights – it gets dark both quickly and early here at the moment. Now it’s just about 6:00 pm and we’re about to eat.
Monday 12th December 2005
This morning was a record – I got up at 6:05 am yay! After checking my e-mail and doing everything else I usually do in the morning we went out to the dentist. I should mention that I don’t miss the UK much, at least not yet. I love Japan, and every day here reinforces my desire to live here. I got lots of smiles in the dentist as I, a tall, dark, western person (who has on more than one occasion been told by a Japanese person that he looks older than 20) sat, whilst David and Esther had their check-ups, reading aloud the Hello Kitty book designed to encourage tooth-brushing. As it was in Japanese I reached a number of stumbling points, but it was fun – I’m probably going to get some books like that to practice my kana reading. After this, and a visit to the hundred yen store to buy rather more for my friends and family than for myself, we came back home.
At about 12:00, Esther left to go to her ladies’ meeting and meal and then David took me to my first Ramen bar!! I have decided that I actually adore ramen. We had to queue to get in – the restaurant was packed, the lucky cat over the counter evidently working overtime! We had to wait for virtually no time, and I ate almost at a reasonable pace, despite the fact that I had never eaten Japanese Ramen before. When I had had my fill, we went to buy our meal ready for the evening – a bento – at a shop which was like Waitrose but classier, called Daimaru. I am now staying at the flat until we go out again.
3:00 pm – I have just returned from a visit with David to an elderly gentleman’s house. He had two sweet yet rather yappy little dogs – a pekanese and a Yorkshire terrier – and he babbled away in Japanese to David, with David interpreting at intervals. He also gave me some biscuity things which was really kind of him.
8:00 pm – I had a great time this evening! We went (David and myself) out to see the Lumiere in Kobe, and it was really pretty. It was, in essence, very nice Christmas lights, arranged in the shape of a cathedral outside. When we had taken enough photos we nimbly made our way through the market stalls, narrowly avoiding the huge crowd which was approaching. As the dramatic choral music faded into the distance, we went into a department store. It was enormous but I decided to buy simply a pencil case. I bought some postcards as well so I should write them sometime. I was cold and tired by then so we went home and I guess I will go to bed soon.
Tuesday 13th December 2005
1:50 pm – I’ve had such a good time this morning. We left early, leaving Esther at home to do some craft work. We took the hanshin from Ashiya to Osaka, and went into Yodobashi Kamera – a huge department store devoted entirely to electronic goods. It was overwhelming, and 5 minutes and 27000 yen later I have a translator yay! I spent the rest of the morning looking around and wondering whether to buy an mp3 player on the off-chance that it might work with my UK computer… oh well we’ll see. When we came home we had a lovely meal of salad and kiwi, and I fiddled with my translator.
Wednesday was a relaxing day
Thursday 15th December 2005
I woke up really early this morning, after an early night the night before. I was excited – I was going to Kyoto to stay with Tomoe and Chie – two super cool girls – and their mother. I packed all my things carefully, as I knew I’d need enough stuff to last me through to Saturday. After packing a rather heavy bag along with some apples as a little present for my temporary hosts, and eating a good breakfast, I left with David for the walk to the JR station – not the hanshin this time. It was a long walk and after a while I let David carry my really heavy bag. I can’t get over how kawaii the little children are and we saw loads. After 20 minutes on the JR train we got off and went to the shinkansen which was really cool, and far less crowded. Soon we got off that though and switched to a local train which took us to meet the two ladies who would be looking after me today. After David had left it was just me and the two ladies in the car. A tried to speak in Japanese, but it ended up a mixture – my vocabulary is rather limited. I ascertained that our first stop was Kinkaku-ji – the Golden temple. When we’d arrived and had parked the car we walked at a leisurely pace to the entrance. At this point I had to change my batteries for my camera again – I now have only one set left so I guess I should do something about that? Anyway we went around the directed path, breathing in the beautiful, and to me alien, scenery. Just towards the end of the trail we paused to have some Japanese tea ceremony tea which was lovely. I also had this sugary beany thing but right now I can’t remember what it’s called. As I thanked them profusely, the ladies smiled and told me it was lunch now.
We went to a lovely Japanese restaurant, and after a lot of thought, I ordered a meal with noodles, rice and tempura. It was delicious and I didn’t touch the knife and fork the ladies thoughtfully ordered for me. I choked rather violently on the shrimp tempura, and succeeded in attracting the attention of practically everyone in the restaurant but hey. With retrospect this could have had something to do with the fact that I ate the tail. Despite this however it was a lovely meal and all in all a memorable experience.
After I had recovered, we left the restaurant and set out for Eiga Mura, which proved to be if anything more exciting than Kinkaku-ji. As we walked around, I realised that the whole complex was made up of sets from Japanese period dramas – and the result was not unlike a village from 200 years ago. I had a photo taken with a monk, or at least a guy in a ninja outfit, and watched some drama which was hilarious (although I don’t think it was supposed to be). There was a particularly hilarious group of American tourists in hire clothes of period costume and I have to say they looked uber cool. After looking around here for a while we found the exit and went out, and popped to the shops for some food. After this, and some water, and a random but nice thing like a pancake filled with custard, they sprung the final surprise. We drew up outside the enormous Kyoto Eminence hotel. I was, they said, to be staying here as there wasn’t room in the house as Mrs Sunden was moving in January. I am now in my room on the fourth floor (room 405) and I’ve just spent an hour writing this. In another hour, at 7:00 pm, I have to go downstairs to meet Tomoe so now I’m going to look around my room, take some photos, and perhaps pop the TV on.
Later – The evening was amazing. Tomoe chan picked me up from the hotel and took me to her aunt’s house (Mrs Sunden’s sister’s house). Everyone was amazingly nice and kind of funny and I had a great Japanese meal including my first tofu (which I didn’t really like but it wasn’t at all horrible). After this I played the Ballade to my 3rd audience haha and was accompanied by the howls of Alex chan – the kawaii little dog. After that, the third girl there this evening, whose name I forgot sorry, played the traditional song Sakura Sakura on the piano and I loved it. At about 10:00 pm they kindly drove me back to my hotel and I was in bed by 11:00 pm.
Friday 16th December 2005
This morning I had breakfast in the hotel and whilst I didn’t know what it all was, it was oishii delicious and the room was very empty and quiet when I arrived. One thing I think I will miss in England is the fact that there is very little talking, or none at all, in public places like that indoors. People are quite and polite – like I try to be (edit WOW am I still like this?!). Anyway, I am now watching children’s television, waiting to be picked up by someone at 9:30 (at least I think that was the time, not 9:00…).
Later – Today I had a great day as well. In all honesty I am utterly exhausted. We went to a temple in Kyoto which is really famous. I took lots of pictures, did more shopping and generally got very tired which is why I’m going to bed right now.
Saturday I had an amazing last day in Kyoto with Tomoe, Hikaru, and another friend. I walked across the nightingale floor and saw Kyoto from very high up. I could say more, but I’m utterly exhausted now and I did take a lot of self explanatory pictures.
Sunday 18th December 2005
Today was a Christmassy day despite it being a week away. We had a nice morning service along with loads of Japanese tea which I like a lot – those who know me will know that I don’t really like English tea at all (edit THIS has changed now!). After this we went up the road ‘en mass’ to a larger room. We were joined by quite a few more people including… Kaoru San who was sooo cool (we exchanged e-mail addresses). We got on really well in Japanese, English and French. There was some entertainment including a sweet little nativity play in Japanese. My Japanese listening skills are improving a little although I still have a way to go. Anyway, we had a kinda 2:00pm brunch. Before this we set out the tables and I realised that there is one thing I am rather better at than Japanese people – that is laying the table. They were utterly clueless in that respect, and I felt rather smug as I quietly went around, straightening out the plates and aligning the tea cups. After a fun afternoon we walked back to the house and I updated this.
Monday 19th December 2005
Today I got up in quite good time, but when I came into the kitchen I realised that it wasn’t quite good enough oops. This being the case I ate a solitary yet hefty breakfast to set me up for the day, consisting of Weetabix and a banana. After putting my face on (edit – I don’t think I say this any more!) and deciding what was most sensible to wear in what is undeniably bitterly cold weather, we set out walking to the Hanshin line and first going to Naruo. Here we went to, bizarrely enough, a Chinese restaurant. As David and Esther knew the owner she was really pleased to see us, and we were ushered through, having removed our shoes, to a quieter back room. The meal was divinely fabulous. I should admit that I turned down the chance to eat shark, but I’m sure that another will arise soon enough. After this we said goodbye and left on the Hanshin for Osaka. Here I revisited Yodobashi Kamera and was extremely naughty and bought an iPod nano yay! After gazing in awe at the huge television sets (65 inches) on offer for about £800 000 (edit – not sure my maths was quite up to scratch here … that does seem quite extortionate!), we left and after some more Hanshin-ing, I arrived tired and happy back at Rivie-ru Ashiya.
Tuesday 20th December 2005
Today was a relatively busy day. I got up in good time and had a lovely breakfast of muffins and jam. After this, and popping my vitamin pills, I did my face and got dressed. I offered to wrap up some presents for Esther and so I did just that. I don’t consider myself to be at all good at wrapping presents, especially when they are peculiarly shaped, as were some of those ones. However, she seemed happy with them, and if I can be of some help then all the better. After I had done this, I spent the rest of the morning beginning the long task of computerising my journal so far. With a current word count of over 4000 words you can imagine that this was quite a work out for my fingers. We had ramen for lunch which Esther made, and that was lovely, although I still utterly refuse to make any kind of noise when I’m eating it, as is very much the fashion in this otherwise civilised country.
After David had done the washing up we went out to do some shopping. David went off, but Esther took me to a department store which I loved and in which I bought quite a few things, although I am being relatively careful; what with iPod nanos and translators it pays to be careful. We had quite a wander through the shop but it was extremely hot, especially as we had dressed up to combat the very cold weather outside. Soon we got rather warm and went to the basement shop to get some drinks before starting the walk home. The meal tonight was a lovely mix of Japanese rice with mince and brocolli lol fabulous. I did little else this evening except research exactly what my currently dormant iPod will be able to do for me when I get home.
Wednesday 21st December 2005
After having breakfast and doing my face I spent about 2 hours this morning sorting through all the stuff I have bought and working out if there are any presents which I need to buy – and the answer is yes, although mostly at Amsterdam on the way back now. My yen are getting low due to afore mentioned various expenses and with various trips around Osaka in the pipeline for after Christmas I am going to lock them up or something. I like the way my trip is taking shape actually – the beginning up until the Kyoto trip was packed with loads of sight seeing and generally tiring activities which left me more than a little tired. This period at the moment is one of recuperation before what promises to be a busy after-Christmas and New Year period. After lunch I went to the Assembly room and did three hours of piano practice. This may sound bizarre to those who are not musicians but I assure you that a month is a long time to go without practicing, and I have so much coming up here and so many rehearsals ready to be thrown at me when I get back to the UK that free time is practice time. With hindsight I probably overdid it as my fingers were bleeding beneath the nails by the time I had finished. I know – niiice. Anyway, after putting various ointments and cream on my worn out hands I had a lovely supper, and then decided to publish the first half of my journal on the internet. I intend to go to bed quite early tonight, as I have been doing for the past few nights, as I am feeling rather tired and want to be fighting fit for Christmas and the trip to Osaka to stay with Mikiko.
Thursday 22nd December 2005
Today was a similarly relaxing day, as we’re going out all day tomorrow, which promises to be relatively tiring. After breakfast I did my face, hair, and had a shower. After this I spoke to some people on MSN for a little while but it was getting late in UK time so most of my friends were in bed. The rest of the morning I spent quietly doing a large and rather tricky jigsaw puzzle, of which an unbelievable amount appeared to be bright blue sky, whilst sipping Japanese tea and crunching (with care) rice cakes. After a lovely lunch I fiddled around with my iPod for a little while, messing around as I realised that there was a little bit of battery power in it despite the fact that I have not connected it to my laptop yet, as my laptop happens to be in the UK. After this I lounged lazily around listening to lots of Japanese radio, mainly Kiss FM Kobe which was really cool, and after a meal with some pork from the Sundens and flavoured rice, along with lovely fresh salad, I decided to write this and then go to bed ready for my long day tomorrow. I’m not entirely sure why I am feeling so tired – I’m probably consuming more carbohydrates than usual I suppose. Oh something else I had entirely forgotten until this exact moment – today it snowed, a lot. Although it didn’t fall for very long, it took a while for the sun to melt it, and in other areas it was far far thicker than here on the Kobe-Ashiya border. I took lots of photos of this (well… about 15) but the inclement conditions were hardly enticing as I struggled out in my jacket with my umbrella and camera!
Friday 23rd December 2005
Today was a busy day. After getting up bright and early once more, we set off walking briskly to the JR station, and took the train for a stop two stations away – Amagasaki. We were met by this sweet guy who was from like the church there where David was speaking, and we went to this restaurant. I had a lovely meal (which I couldn’t quite finish actually – I find that the enormous increase of carbs intake is a little much sometimes and I just have to say no). I also spent a little while marvelling over the middle of the table which kind of came away and inside there was a stove area in which some of the meals could be cooked – i.e. you would cook them yourself however much you wanted. I however had some noodle type things except they were thinner than normal, and had great fun (and caused great amusement) due to the fact that I still find (especially with long noodles) that hashi are really difficult to use (chopsticks) and also that if you drop the noodles into the sauce (which you are supposed to dip them in) you can end up splashed with all sorts of gooey mess. After this lovely meal, we went on to the church which was really nice actually – a flavour of home in a way – with its tinsel, Christmas trees and other homey touches. Everyone was really welcoming and I was once again forced to play. As it was rather unexpected this time however I had to sight read some random Christmas carol arrangements – they seemed to like them though so that’s ok. I find that Japanese people are almost starved, in a way, of the level of music culture that we enjoy in the UK and thus a rendition of a rather average arrangement of Ave Maria is apt to induce an awe-inspired silence. (edit: oh my god Douglas, are you really that snobby?!… apparently yes!) They place so much emphasis (perhaps too much than is healthy) on academic achievement and the Arts, whilst appreciated, are I think seen as almost second rate. The UK, whilst not without its minority of a similar mind, is less that way inclined I feel, and that is a good thing – indeed, a Japanese lady said this to me. For tea I was offered crab but frankly I took one look and thought ugh I’m sure it’s lovely, but my palette has had so many new tastes recently that I think I’ll stick to sushi. The sushi was lovely actually and I didn’t regret my decision at all. After this we thanked the people, and they thanked me of course, a lot, practically just for being there and being British – I really didn’t do a great deal – and then we left for the Hanshin station and soon arrived home tired and ready for bed.
Saturday 24th December 2005
I had a great Christmas Eve today. After getting up rather late at about 8:00 am oops I had breakfast which was some lovely, almost French, bread which someone had kindly given to us. After this, and popping my vitamin pills in the usual fashion, and doing everything else which I’m sure I’ve mentioned in my earlier entries, I spent the morning on the internet catching up with various people. The highlight of my day was, of course, yet to come. After lunch which was really yummy soup with more French bread (which I ate loads of because I liked it so much) David took me out to the beach area and across to the nearby island which is on reclaimed land (a concept which I found only mildly scary). We had not got very far from the house however when I realised my camera batteries were flat and I needed to change them, all four of them. I felt rather stupid as we went back to change the batteries, but I was glad we did, because the photos I was able to take, all seventy one of them, were really cool. We strolled down the river (which was actually rather dry – in fact it had no water in it at all). After this we turned left and went along walking by the edge of the sea, with me stopping all the time to take photos of the sweeping bay and also what was an incredible sky. We carried on walking around like this for some time. One thing which I found particularly funny was a solitary water ski person, who was going up and down the area of sea which was enclosed so as to look rather like a river, and who, despite his best efforts to perform acrobatic leaps and suchlike, kept disappearing beneath the surface of the water. He kept on trying however and I was thoroughly impressed. Another thing I saw which I still remember very clearly was when we saw two bicycles, each one with a mother and son, father and daughter, respectively. The mother was going as fast as she could, whilst her son screamed loudly, hanging on for dear life. The father was following at a similar breakneck speed, riding with one hand on the handlebars and the other holding a mobile phone on which he was holding up, capturing the priceless moment in digital video. After popping into Daisou to make a few purchases (and sorry but escalators will never lose their novelty value for me!) we went home, taking the route through a slightly barren (due to the winter I presume) park and seeing a rather lovely pond, we went home, arriving just as it got dark – and it gets dark remarkably quickly here.
The next surprise was supper which was essentially a Christmas dinner. As Esther pointed out, we shall be so busy entertaining tomorrow that we might as well enjoy our Christmas dinner tonight – it will be curry tomorrow I think, which whilst delectable in every sense, is perhaps not quite so festive. This included a second course of Christmas pudding with white sauce which was really delicious. I know it may sound peculiar having a British Christmas dinner in Japan, but if you came you’d realise that Christmas isn’t the same here and it’s nice to add a bit of festive spirit even if it means resorting to Britishness. After this David and Esther said it was time to open presents, and whilst I was rather bemused (as I have received no presents in the mail or anything – they’re all waiting for me at home) I went through to the kitchen. They then produced four presents for me, from them, which they had got for me and frankly this made my day. It was so sweet of them to realise that I would otherwise have nothing to open on Christmas day. “Hold on!” I hear you say… “it’s still Christmas Eve!” I realise this, but tomorrow is going to be really busy and rather unlike Christmas so in a way we moved Christmas to the 24th and I’m not complaining! There were loads of different presents all of which I am so thankful for – I’m so happy right now. Anyway, after this, and helping them open some of their presents, I thanked them as profusely as I could, and popped into the office to write my journal. I will go to bed early tonight I think, although I’m not sure how early that will be…
Sunday 25th December 2005
Today I had a really nice day, if somewhat different from Christmas in the UK. After a relatively normal but still lovely breakfast we set off for the Church room and we spent a little while there with a service (in which I had to play for the hymns and the singing practice argh!!! – but I managed) and a lovely lunch. After a little talk I went back home with Esther early to prepare for the visitors who we were likely to be having in the afternoon. As Esther finalised the food and preparations in general, the people arrived – about ten of them. I knew them all from before of course but I got to know them a little bit better today. We played some games which, whilst a little tricky in places due to the fact they were largely in Japanese, and about Japanese things, I thoroughly enjoyed. After these games we had a lovely supper of Japanese curry with rice which everyone concurred to being really delicious. After this, and some drying up (which I nobly helped with :p), we had some puddings, which I couldn’t really manage much of, but which nevertheless looked really nice. Then a couple of guys played some tunes on the guitar, and we had a rather Japanese rendition of Scarborough Fair which was interesting and also rather brave I thought. I made friends with this guy called Yoshy who I really liked and who gave me this CD of Japanese music (which, he dramatically informed me, is performed by someone who recently committed suicide – erm… Hide he was called) and I was very grateful to him. After this the guests left, en mass really, and we were left in a quiet house once again. It was a lovely yet rather tiring day, so I am going to do my hair, have a shower, do my face and go to bed.
Monday 26th December 2005
Today whilst not the most eventful was nevertheless productive. After getting up in the usual manner I spent the morning catching up with friends, including one who decided that she was going to just skip a night’s sleep on the evening on the 25th and who was thus happy to talk to me after my other friends had gone to bed. After a filling lunch of soup and cheese on toast, with mikans, we set out to go on a little shopping trip. We took the Hanshin to Uozaki which was one station away, and went to a shop which sold largely DIY equipment. It did however have an excellent range of hats and I bought the one which I thought both suited me the most and was the most Japanese. After this, and a little more browsing, we left this shop and went back to Ashiya. David and Esther split paths at this point and I went with Esther to Daimaru which is such a nice shop although rather expensive. Whilst ordinarily I don’t find food shopping particularly stimulating, in Japan I find it really exciting. You walk up and down the isles trying to read the characters on the bottles and boxes to ascertain the contents, and occasionally come across something like green tea flavoured kit kats and cannot help but laugh. There was even a little stand from Waitrose there but it was rather overshadowed by everything else. As it is getting close to New Year (which is far more of a celebration here than Christmas is) there were lots of extra things in the shop which whilst expensive looked really lovely, and were I am sure quite delicious. After this I returned home to find a lovely long e-mail from my mother which I proceeded to read. After a super supper consisting of the curry which had not been finished yesterday but which was still very tasty I had a hair wash, a shower and did my face. After this, feeling thoroughly cleansed, I proceeded to write this and no doubt I shall soon be going to bed.
Tuesday 27th December 2005
Today was a lovely sightseeing day. After getting up in a somewhat leisurely way and having a lovely breakfast, we set out on the Hanshin to Kobe. I’m getting used to the Hanshin now and decided I find it really fun – especially when it isn’t I who is paying for it haha. We walked around Kobe for a while, stopping all the time so that I could take pictures – I ended up taking over sixty today. After walking for a little more through sheltered streets crowded with shops, which I found fascinating due to their variety, we took a train which took us on a loop over the man made island which was really cool and it went slowly enough for me to be able to take some relatively good photographs. We got off the train and walked a little way to an enormous building with twenty six floors. We went up in the lift, which when it was built was the fastest lift in Japan, to the twenty fourth floor and the Sky Buffet restaurant. We had as much food as we wanted from this great buffet – so I had a tray-full for starters, a tray-full for main course, and a tray-full for dessert. The restaurant had huge windows which gave sweeping views over Kobe which were magnificent and really something to see. I took lots of photos from here as well. After we had eaten loads and loads we went flying back down the elevator, ears popping, and walked around Kobe more – the pictures describe it rather better than I can. We were a little weary by this point so, after pausing to swipe some cheap ex-rental Japanese Pop CDs from a little store, we took the Hanshin home and collapsed.
Wednesday 28th December 2005
5:25pm – Today I have had an amazing day, which is by no means over. I got up at my usual time which was about 7:30am. After doing my usual things, I packed up ready for what promised to be a really exciting few days, staying at Mikiko-san’s house yay! I was really excited although I didn’t quite know what I would be doing. I said hello to a few friends on MSN before Mikiko arrived with her youngest son to pick me up. He was rather shy, as would I be if I met someone twice my size. We set off after saying bye bye to David and Esther. Mikiko began by explaining what I would be doing, as we drove around the bay on the same highway which she took me on all those days ago when I first arrived at Kansai Airport. After some driving, and pausing to look at the golden shuttle bus which was painted with cartoon impression of the first foreign settlers in Sakai city, we arrived at Mikiko’s lovely house. I was introduced to her other sons, who were hiding under a traditional Japanese table, used only in winter, which was heated underneath – then I did some piano practice. After a lovely meal of soba, with what Mikiko-san described as a fish sausage sauce – which was really oishii – I went with the three boys to play on the gamecube. Firstly we played on GT racing or something (and I wasn’t last every time so I coped) and then we played Mario Golf, which I took a while to pick up, but at which eventually I became most adept in my opinion.
As I finished my apple which Mikiko had diligently cut up for me because of my teeth (edit – I had braces at this time!), she said it was time to go to my calligraphy class, so I got my camera and went off in the car with her.
We drew up, after a short while, outside the house where the two ladies, mother and daughter, live, and where they teach calligraphy to over 200 students a week! We rang the bell, and after a while a smiling bowing elderly Japanese lady (Kamitani san) appeared at the front door. I politely declined the rather erm… petite slippers (that is something any fellow big-footed Occidental will find in Japan – the need to carry one’s slippers upon one’s person at all times) and went through to the room, watching my head as the house itself had rather low ceilings, and even lower doorways. A fantastic lesson ensued. The ladies were utterly thrilled at my Japanese speaking and writing ability (which in my opinion are both rather limited, especially my speaking, but as I have said before, if you do your best, Japanese people will be most encouraging) and said I had a natural talent for calligraphy which thrilled me rather. I produced an okay piece of work which said ‘tsuri’ or ‘fishing’ and then my name in katakana characters. As they were so thrilled they gave me another to do, with two brushes and lots of spare paper, and some specially made calligraphy pieces for me, which are really lovely. I should note one thing here which, again, my fellow Occidentals will find interesting. Japanese people kneel a lot, on the floor. Chairs and tables are found, but traditionally people kneel on the floor (especially in a traditional room, in a traditional wooden house like that one). This gets rather painful after a while, to use a British understatement, but don’t worry – Japanese people are aware of this – indeed, the two ladies seemed rather concerned about my legs’ welfare. I should note that I chose to write the next part in French for some reason, but as I type up this diary I have decided to translate it. It is interesting that I often speak in French when I mean to speak in Japanese (and vice versa sometimes) as my French is rather better, currently, than my Japanese.
After having said good by to the ladies and thanking them profusely for the gifts which they practically showered upon me, we went home. However firstly we went to Tsutaya – a media rental shop! It was amazingly huge and Mikiko bought the latest Otsuka Ai album for me, and made me feel rather guilty although also rather happy. After this we went to buy some octopus which we ate when we got back. It was relatively nice to eat, although I found it thoroughly disconcerting to discover tentacle pieces inside the ball shaped things, of which I was given six and ate five. After this I decided to write my journal.
1:00am – The rest of this evening was really great as well. This Japanese American lady came, and I confess that I thoroughly enjoyed babbling away in English, with a good deal of reciprocity. It was doubly interesting to talk to an American and stumble across areas of one another’s culture of which the other had previously been unaware. After a lovely, and rather large, meal we talked about lots of things and eventually Hitomi san left although not before we had exchanged MSN addresses. After this I watched Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in Japanese, had a shower, and went to bed, at about 1:00pm.
Thursday 29th December 2005
Today I got ready for breakfast at 8:00am. Whilst it didn’t come quite naturally, I did my best and I managed. As I strode, if somewhat doggedly, up the stairs, I met Mikiko who apologetically informed me that she didn’t mean 8:00am she meant 8:30am. She put together a lovely if solitary breakfast for me and I watched some CNN (in English I confess – at least, American). After this I went out with Mikiko and a lady who was, I think, her mother-in-law. She was a really cool lady who, despite her years, and paralysed husband, did an English Course for four years (she knew the word “calligraphy” for instance) and is currently doing a computer literacy course. After some shopping for New Year, oshougatsu, (well, rather a lot really, although all from just one shop) we left, with the two ladies praising me for my bag packing and carrying skills, saying that I would be a very useful husband.
We popped back to the house to pick up the boys, having dropped off the mother-in-law and helped her unpack slightly – we then set out with Yui-chan (a high school student who was really nice) for USJ! That is… Universal Studios Japan! That said, I can’t describe the whole day in a journal – I took lots of photos which should help a little – but we went on lots of rides, with Spiderman being my favourite. Furthermore, I had plenty of opportunity to demonstrate the British ability to queue without questioning, for in one case over an hour. I ate a hot dog and popcorn for lunch – something I have never done before – and whilst I felt rather American, it was nevertheless a peculiarly enjoyable indulgence. Everything was in Japanese of course, even when E.T. spoke, instead of saying ‘ouch’ he said ‘itai’. I didn’t feel wholly un-Japanese however when I did not so much as even blanch at the Green Tea flavoured ice cream which was on offer. I enjoyed all the rides I went on, even Jurrassic Park, which involved an amount of water with a large wet splash as the finale – I admit I was rather sceptical beforehand. After going on Terminator, E.T., SpiderMan, Jurassic Park and Water World (which I loved, and which was banned at one time for the enormous and illegal amount of gunpowder it used), we went home via a rotating sushi bar, at which I ate my first sashimi – raw fish. In this case it was tuna, and I have to say I didn’t particularly like it. However I have now eaten it, and I will make progress in due course I’m sure. I had udon for the first time as well and I loved that. I was a little scared at first, and I cannot express my relief when I saw, progressing round the conveyor belt, cooked tuna sushi – tuna (as we would get in tins) wrapped in rice and seaweed. After that I was reassured and tried also boiled shrimp. All in all this was an amazing day, and now I am seriously considering an early bed as we are making omochi rice tomorrow and getting up at 6:30am – I will need sleep, as I had only six hours of it last night.
Friday 30th December 2005
Today was a really cool day although there is not a great deal to say about it, and I omitted to take my camera so I have no pictures of it (I may yet steal some of David’s however). I got up ready to leave Mikiko san’s house at about 6:30am just as she had said, and we drove to a house belonging to one of her relatives – her mother or step mother I think. We met lots of family (the names of whom I have long since forgotten) and we made omochi rice. This involves pounding a large lump of rice with a hammer many times, with one person hitting the rice with a mallet, and the other turning it over between hits, and kneading it a little. Of course this took place outside. Inside however, which is I admit where I generally chose to remain due to the rather cold weather, we rolled it into balls, sometimes filled with these sweet beans, all mashed up, and put them onto trays. We made lots and lots of it, including a few ice cream ones which we ate straight away and were delicious. There was also green-coloured (i.e. seaweed flavoured) mochi and mochi mixed with dried shrimp. I generally liked it although it was extremely chewy, and I got covered in the flour which we were rolling them in (which was, incidentally, made with potato). After lots of pounding, and having some special soup made from the by products of the sake making procedure which was lovely, and eating some rice, and drinking lots of green tea, we left to go to Mikiko’s house. We stayed and chatted for a while before gathering everything together, saying thank-you for a lovely time, and getting into the car so that Takeshi san (Mikiko’s husband) was able to drive us back to Ashiya. When I got back, I sorted out my e-mails and after a lovely meal I spent the rest of the evening organising my photos and typing up my journal.
Saturday 31st December 2005
Today was a relaxy day about which I can say very little except I managed to do about three hours piano practice.
Sunday 1st January 2006
New Year! Again I have not an enormous amount to say, but I still have rather more than yesterday. After breakfast we set out for the morning service, in which I played the piano and I said goodbye to the people who were there, most of whom I won’t be seeing for a very long time now. Mr Sunden gave me some lovely presents on behalf of everyone, including a cool photo frame as well – which was very kind of them. They made me feel so welcome and I think I will miss them when I get back to England. After we said goodbye then, we went back to Rivieru Ashiya to have a snacky lunch because we were going to the Shimamoto’s house for a New Year celebration. We arrived there at 1:00pm (they are just down the road from here, a minute’s walk) and were warmly welcomed. Incidentally this is the same house which I went to on the 11th of December, last year in fact! After some introductions, I met three boys, one in Y8, one in Y6, and one only six years old. They are all Japanese, but they live, with their parents in… Oxford! That’s right! So here I was, able to babble in British English, to these Japanese boys – and I admit it was wonderfully refreshing to speak to Japanese people with british English, and not American English. Their school is really good as well actually – Magdalen College High School in Oxford, and what’s more the eldest played violin and piano, and the second oldest played the cello and piano, and youngest played the piano – so basically we got on very well, and the eldest even sight read some of my chamber music with me on the piano and he on the violin. Bearing in mind that the music is post Grade 8, and Eric (for those who don’t know, my friend who plays the violin) even finds it a little taxing in places, I felt he did really well to get half way through, battling through what is very difficult Fauré. Anyway, we also had a sake ceremony whilst we were there, and despite being teetotal (edit – what a JOKE!), I had some (only realising afterwards that it contained alcohol) – in a way I was glad to have had it – although it was not especially nice, it was quite a traditional ceremony and thus another aspect of Japanese culture. After a little while of chatting with the boys in particular, and having some very interesting Japanese New Year food – including raw fish, which I loved this time – now I realise that the raw fish I had before had wasabi with it – a hot tasting thing – whereas this didn’t and was as a result really delicious. One incident struck me as rather funny – we were all sitting around in the living room area, and I glanced to the right, only to glimpse in the kitchen an enormous multi pack of walkers crips! This was the only time I ever felt homesick during the whole trip – it was just such a British thing to see that I found it rather homesickness-inducing. Granted, the feeling didn’t last very long at all, but it was still there.
After we said our goodbyes, we popped back once again to the flat before going, via the Hanshin, to meet the Chinese lady again and her family, who invited us to her house as she had this one day off and wanted to see me as she wouldn’t have another chance – she is ironically one of the nicest people I have met here. We had an amazing and rather Chinese meal, with two cookers on the table for us to cook our own meat in very hot water. It was fun because there was English, Mandarin, and Japanese flying around that table, which I found absolutely fascinating. We stayed for quite a while, chatting, talking about English and lots of other things. Eventually we had to leave of course, and the lovely lady told me to come to see her next time I was in Japan – and I will make a point of doing so, even if that is in about four years time!
A short walk and a Hanshin ride later, we were home and I was tired so I went straight to bed.
Monday January 2nd 2006
This morning I surprised even myself by waking up at the rather late time of 8:30am. I had breakfast and did my face, before spending the rest of the morning catching up with my friends on MSN and erm… MSN. It is good to keep in touch, and I think that is partly how I can cope with such a relatively long stay away from anyone I really know too well – I can still communicate with them quite easily. Anyway, this afternoon David and I went to Sannomiya on the Hanshin and that was fun because we went to the temple there which was literally packed with people because of it being the second day of the New Year. I took quite a few photographs, which sum up the day rather better than I can in words (once again) but in essence we walked around the temple and the grounds, looking at all the food stalls and charm stalls, and losing each other (oops) at one point although I didn’t really worry too much. After this we went around looking at all the shops and things in Sannomiya and eventually we went home. I am tired now, but felt I should update my journal really, and thus have done so, whilst munching on some lovely chocolate orange which some friends sent to my hosts for Christmas and which they are sharing with me yay!
Tuesday January 3rd 2006
Today was the last day to see the Sundens, and it was really a memorable day. We left the house at about 9:30 for the considerable walk to the Hankyu station at Ashiya-gawa after about half an hour and 60 miles of train riding, including two changes we arrived at the station to be picked up by Mr Sunden who took us to the Sunden’s new apartment which is part of a brand new mansion – they are on the 5th floor which is relatively speaking quite low. The apartment was really lovely, complete with a heated floor of which I was rather envious (which did not, however, extend to the traditional tatami room, which seemed a rather bizarre thing to find in an otherwise ultra modern apartment – this seems to happen a lot though, mixing of old and new – for example, I have seen ladies walking around in kimonos one of them clutching a Louis Vuitton handbag and chatting on a mobile phone). We played some games, which were hilarious, including a Japanese traditional version of pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey which involved putting facial features on a face (both Tomoe and Chie drew one) with a blindfold on. It was rather amusing to say the least. We had a lovely lunch, consisting of sandwiches, which whilst popular here were still rather British seeming, and then some sushi – but different sushi, which included egg but I still actually rather liked it so I was very impressed with myself. After this and lots more chatting we said goodbye, for the last time, and left the Mansion. We did see Chie briefly at the station however. She had somehow overtaken us on the way (that could have had something to do with the fact that I kept stopping to take photographs) to give David’s translator back which he had left at the apartment. Thoroughly tired we arrived home and after a meal I went to bed, quite early really.
Wednesday January 4th 2006
I got up at a relatively late time this morning, but I have been veering in that general direction for quite a while now – getting up at 7:00 each morning in holiday time just doesn’t come naturally to me, even in a different time zone. After a lovely breakfast (of Weetabix, yes I know it’s British, but I could not have gone an entire month with no taste of Britain) I set off for the Hanshin and David waved me off to Umeda – I was going to meet Ryo, Jack’s exchange partner, who I hung out with quite a lot in England, and who I was thoroughly looking forward to meeting. I arrived at Umeda (having not sat down for the whole twenty minute journey) and made my way through the usual crowds to the barrier. No sooner than had I popped my ticket into the slot, had it chewed up, and got through to the other side, did I see Ryo coming towards me with a big smile on his face. The rest of the day is slightly muddled in my mind, in view of sequence of events. However, we went from Umeda on the subway to a nearby area with a huge variety of shops. I did the obligatory walk around Louis Vuitton, and the obligatory walk past adidas. We walked through arcade after arcade of lovely shops, each with their owners shouting welcome (ii rasshaimaseee) as we passed. I should mention also that one finds an abundance of people on the streets giving out free tissues with advertisements on the packets. Whilst Japanese people always walk past them I make a point of going up to the people and smiling and taking at least one packet, just to make their day, and more importantly because the tissues’ wrappings always have Japanese on which I like to try and read even if I don’t get very far. We walked around huge department stores, electronics stores, and two music stores – and also around arcades both above and under ground. During all this, at about 12:30 I think, we stopped to have lunch which was ramen. We went to a restaurant on the side of the street which didn’t have walls, rather it had water proof curtains which hung down to about knee height all the way around, and I felt very Japanese as I took my shoes off and sat on the tatami mat to eat my ramen with my chopsticks (hashi). When I finally arrived at the Hanshin in the evening, after saying goodbye to Ryo, and thanking him profusely for being such an excellent guide, I would be lying to say I was not glad to sit down (although I would not have exchanged today’s experience for anything) as I had walked for so long. We did pause briefly in a restaurant not unlike McDonalds, when even Ryo admitted he was feeling a little tired and in need of a sit down. I had a really lovely day today – thank-you Ryo! I think I shall go to bed now – tomorrow is my last full day in Japan.
Thursday January 6th 2006
I am writing this entry at 3:37pm. I got up at the amazingly early time of 7:30 am, for no real reason other than I thought that it was rather later. I had my penultimate breakfast in Japan, and did my face as usual, before beginning the arduous if mildly satisfying task of packing up my various effects. When I arrived in Japan, a month ago, my case and hand-luggage bag were both full. I now have a great deal more to take back with me, and I will not be leaving that same amount here. In simple English, that means that I am taking back with me far more luggage than that which I took here in the first place. This made packing a little tricky. At this precise moment, my suitcase is packed, and my handluggage almost packed. I think everything is going to fit eventually but right now it all seems too much. I realise that I will have lots of space to use on the first leg of my flight – indeed, on the way here, I had a whole compartment to myself for my luggage – however, on the Cityhopper flight from Amsterdam to Bristol I am not sure whether it will be quite so easy and my handluggage is rather large. I have also checked-in on the Internet now, and chosen both my seats. Anyway, after my last lunch in Japan for a little while, we went off to Kaoru’s house, only fifteen minute’s sedate walk away, and we spent about two hours there. It was really a lovely place to go, and it was nice to see Kaoru for the last time before I leave. He was eager to practice his English so, this time, I was more than willing for him to do so, as I felt rather drained from all the packing this morning. His English is really good so there was no problem there, but we ended up talking in the same mixture of Japanese and English (10% Japanese, 90% English) which I think would be rather bemusing to listen to if you were unfamiliar with Japanese at all. After we had had a lovely little mid afternoon tea with ice cream, sandwiches, and both English and Japanese tea, we said goodbye and came back here, to Rivie-ru Ashiya. I decided then to write this, my last journal entry, so that I might then write my photographs and journal and in fact the entire contents of my computer, onto two CDs to take back to Britain for me. I shall therefore do this right now.
Epilogue
I have re-read this a couple of times now, before uploading it here, and it has been so interesting to see how I reacted to things when I was in Japan! When I go again in September, it should help that I have been before. However, I was in very suburban Kansai on this trip – central Tokyo will be a completely different experience! Nevertheless, I couldn’t be more excited!
A few extra photos…
An eyecatching building in Kobe
