Tales From The Miso Soup

Misty Mountain Hop

2008-06-17T20:01:00.000-07:00

Hitting the road at some ungodly hour

A few friends and I went hiking the other weekend, partly to make the most of the nice weather (rainy season is due to hit any time now) and also as it'll be the last chance most of us will get to do so in Japan.

So after a bit of ill-advised vodka drinking the night before we set off from my place at around 6.30am, stopping only to fill up on rice balls and water from the conbini enroute.

Walking to the coast to start from sea level

We drove down to the starting point and then decided to take a short stroll down to the beach so that we could officially say we'd set off from sea level. So there is me thinking it wouldn't be so tough compared to climbing say, Mount Fuji, but then when you factor in the fact that you start climbling Fuji from halfway up the maths begins to look quite similar...

The long road up

So cue six hours (and a particularly harsh wrong turn) later and I'm more than beginning to feel the burn. While Russ and Tim march on like the outdoor-off guys that they are, Col and I lag a little towards the back but manage to keep up a worthy pace nonetheless.
Unfortunetly it was a bit steamy (literally) up in the mountains so there wasn't much of a view to be had. Then again, when you're concentrating on not ending up in quicksand and not falling through the snow you don't think too much about that kind of thing anyway.

Start of the tra

Our room for the night

Eventually, after around 7 hours of hiking we came to the top of Mount Shirotori, which came complete with it's own hut. The very same hut in which we discussed the merits of pushing on for another 4 hours to the next peak, OR, kicking back and getting stuck into the slightly ridiculous amount of alcohol that had been brought along.

Well, what are you going to do? This isn't some kind of survival show, and so after a brief discussion the snake-flavoured booze fromn Okinawa was opened and within a few hours a certain level of drinken revelry visited that small mountain hut that I imagine it's never quite seen before.

White Bird Mountain 1,226.9m

Beware of bears

...or just take the piss out of them

Then after a good nights sleep (at least for some) we awoke to a beautifully clear morning on the mountain top, where we ate eggs, drank coffee and smoked cigars whilst basking in the sunshine. The perfect end to a crazy old trip up a Japanese mountain.

Enjoying the views

It's like ajungle sometimes it makes me wonder how I keep from going under - uh-huh-huh-huh

L-R - Russ, Col, Me and Tim.

Back at the start

Tokyo ikimashita yo!

2008-05-19T21:55:00.000-07:00

Outside the Sumo stadium

The Captain

I just got back from a great weekend in Tokyo, the main purpose of which was initially to go and see a Sumo tornament, but in the end snowballed into a variety of weird and wonderful sights, just as any trip to Tokyo should.
First up on Friday was a night on the town in Kabukicho (the red light district of Tokyo - and also the location of our hotel). This began at the Criston Cafe - a huge bar that has been converted to look exactly like a cathedral inside, and although I can't say with any authority what a catherdral should actually look like inside I'm pretty sure they did a good job.

The deck hands

After making a few new friends and knocking back a few gallons of wine we then wandered off to find the 'Dining Bar Submarine' - another theme bar that is made up to look, well you know, like a Submarine (despite being on the 7th floor I might add). The place was just as weird and enjoyable as it sounds and as the rum flowed we were treated to a special appearence by the Submarine's Captain, a sort of Japanese Captain Birdseye who actually looks like he might spend his free evenings deep under the ocean busily making fish fingers.

The Mori Building

On Saturday, while my friends were either visiting Tokyo Disneyland or still in bed, I ventured out to the district of Roppongi to visit a Turner Prize Retrospective exhibition that was taking place at the Mori Building.
It turned out to be well worth the effort, as I got to see work by numerous artists that have been involved with the Turner Prize over the years, many of which I'd read plenty about in the past. There where plenty of highlights, but work by Gilbert and George, Damien Hirst and Mark Wallinger where among my personal favourites.

Mother and Child Divided (Damien Hirst)

A still from Mark Wallinger's 'Sleeper' film

After the exhibiton I took advantage of a free pass to the roof (a few more floors up to 54 if I remember rightly) where you could walk around, take a few snaps and land a helicopter if you happened to have one handy. Of course the views of the city ( I hear it's regarded as the best) were great, but having experienced a number of earthquakes in Japan I can never quite find it in myself to completely relax when I'm that high up. But, despite my fears of imminent disaster I did manage to stay up there long enough to enter a battle of wills with the security guard, who seemed determined to sidestep out of my pictures, and so deprive them of a little perspective. Suffice to say I got him in the end.

Around Roppongi

After the exhibition I spent most of the afternoon with my mate Luke, knocking back a few beers at a pub in Shibuya. After that we head across the city to meet up with a few others at a bar called Kagaya.

I'd been really looking forward to visiting this place ever since my girlfriend went there the month before and came back raving about how much fun it was. In the end it didn't disappoint and in fact was slightly more strange and hilarious that I'd expected.

Kagaya - he's a nutcase

This tiny little bar is owned (and run soley) by one guy called Kagaya. Apparently he had dreams of being a circus performer during his youth but had eventually ended up having to run his parents' bar. So instead of giving up on his plans entirely his decided to turn the bar into a sort of deranged performance art experience, including puppets shows, talking beer mugs, toys that come to life, games, and an interactive drink menu that is served in the style of the country you choose.

Kagaya in his frog outfit

If this all sounds a bit mad, it is - and more. My personal favourite thing was probably the drink menu. You basically order your round and then choose a country (UK, US, Japan, Brazil, Spain, France, China and a couple of others) for those drinks to be served in the style of. If I remember righly our first round was served in the style of Spain, whereby the owner disappeared only to reappear a few moments later in a Flamenco outfit and dance around to music like a complete nutcase for about a minute. I can't remember the time I last laughed so hard.

I managed to see most of the countries performed throughout the night and all were just as funny and utterly bizarre as the last. When you add to that the random appearence of a frog costume and an impromptu puppet show you have the making of a truly amazing place.

Definitely not a place for the faint of heart or humourless then, but if you're game for a laugh and don't mind ordering your drinks from a puppet it's perfect.

Outside the sumo stadium

Finally on Sunday we went to the sold-out Sumo tornament in Ryogoku. I've been a fan of Sumo ever since I saw it on TV over here. There's something about the basic elements of it that appeals to me I think. Just two huge guys trying to push each other out of a ring, no messing around (well, apart from a bit of salt throwing, but then something has to keep the evil spirits away).
The atmosphere at the stadium was great. We arrived fairly early in the afternoon before the whole place filled up and and a chance to get a little closer to the action and also see a few of the wrestlers milling around outside. I think the thing that surprised me most was the sheer bulk of most of them. Seeing them on TV you just sort of assume they'll be fairly short and very fat. It isn't until you're stood next to them that you really realise that they're massive in all directions, it's like being stood next to a wild animal - it just doesn't seem quite logical that they're as big as they are. Scary stuff.

Asashoryu - not your typical sumo wrestler

The fights themselves were great fun, and as the fighter get progressivly
better (and bigger) throughout the day the excitement levels never seemed to waver. I'd especially been looking forward to seeing Asashoryu fight - he's the Yokozuna (the highest level you can reach) and has won a huge amount of tornaments over the last few years. But despite his success and skill (check him out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xynNfe9ORU4&feature=related ) he's still fairly unpopular within the sport. I think this mainly stems from his slightly bad-boy attitude, which seems to manifest itself mainly in his slight disregard from some of the traditions of the sport. But then again, being from Mongolia (and originally a champion wrestler there before he came to Japan) it's got to be sort of expected. Apparently he lives a bit of a playboy lifestyle too which I think probably rubs the traditionalists up the wrong way a bit as well. Anyway, it was great to see him fight, and win under no uncertain terms, as is usually the case.

So, overall then a great weekend in Tokyo. And definitely one to remember as my time in Japan begins to tick away...

More pictures...

2008-05-12T03:27:00.000-07:00

Who knows what she's selling

Here's a few random pictures from things that have been going on over the last few months...

Chinatown (Yokohama)

"Let's have a pint of Ass..."

Nampa beer toweru

Playing in Joetsu

Getting into the Hanami spirit

Getting into the free sake

Hanami in Takada Park

Graduation day

Golden Week Camping Trip

2008-05-08T22:52:00.000-07:00

Lost in the rice fields

Golden week is the main holiday period in Japan, and seeing as it's the busiest time of year for travelling around and finding accommodation, a few of us decided to take a camping trip down to Kaga, in Ishikawa-ken.

Our camp

I never used to be all that interested in camping, or anything vaguely "outdoorsy" (god-I hate that term) until I came to Japan, but have since developed a new found appreciation for the wilderness.
Then again, calling our campsite by such is term would be a bit of a lie, what with the running water, toilets and shelter hut (not to mention the huge tents and array of futons we were armed with), but hey this is Japan afterall; the land of convienence.

The ensuite

Hiking

Enjoying the views

Anyway, it was great to get away from the majority of civilsation for a few days and lucky for us there were no bears, snakes and only a one downpour to contend with. In fact the only wildlife on show at that campsite was sat around our table.

The stove

Keeping warm

Don't get bitten by ticks, kids.

A bridge

Kaga

Videos

2008-04-28T07:02:00.000-07:00

Just a quick one to give you the link to some videos I've been making of late. Nothing too exciting, just some stuff from the Niigata Sake Festival, some snowboarding and some stuff from work. Anyway, dozo....

http://www.youtube.com/user/agentcooper420

Itoigawa Jones

2008-02-19T17:27:00.000-08:00

Just thought I'd add a quick note to say I've finally got around to recording some music of late, thanks in part to some free software I came across on the interwebs. Anyway, it's all very rough and ready but it's nice to finally get something down. Anyway if you're interested you can have a listen* to my musical stylings here:
http://www.garageband.com/artist/chrisjones

*it should maybe be noted that some songs include some rather crass language. Gomen ne.

Whole Lotta Snow

2008-02-19T17:04:00.000-08:00

As almost every one of my weekends since around December has been taken up with snowboarding I thought it was about time to put up a pictures. We're absolutely spoilt rotten here in Itoigawa, what with a nice ski resort being just 10 mins up the road as well as liberal scattering of great places all within an hour's drive. As such, I've been trying to make the most of it and finally seem to be getting pretty good. Well, good enough to get to the bottom anyway. Enjoy.

Hiroshima

2008-01-23T22:23:00.000-08:00

Xmas Dinner with some friends in Itakura

Hiroshima ABomb Dome

Well, I suppose I should start with a very belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I had been hoping to get back to updating this thing a little more regularly but more and more it seems as if there aren't enough hours in the day.
Anyway, Christmas was good fun and I spent New Year travelling in and around Hiroshima which was great, as I'd been hoping to get there since before I came to Japan.

Pic from the bridge that was used as the target for the bomb

Obviously the A-Bomb Dome and Peace Park area was very interesting but more over Hiroshima is just a very cool little city. I managed to meet up with a couple of friends whilst there too which added to the enjoyment.

Dogo Onsen

I also visited Miyajima and Matsuyama (the largest city in Shikoku) which were both pretty cool. As far as I know Miyajima is only really famous for the large tori gate that sit in the sea, just off the coast. It did however have a very nice small town vibe to and I'd have like to have explored the island a little more if it hadn't been snowing so much while we were there.

Miyajima

The trip to Matsuyama was mainly focused on visiting Dogo Onsen, which is the oldest onsen in Japan. Rather naively I'd assumed that this would mean the place would be rather spectacular, and while the building itself was quite impressive the baths weren't all that special. Then again, any bath you're sharing with around 30 other guys at any one time is never going to be amazing. Still a good time was had.

Night out in Hiroshima with Russ, Simone and Mara

And that's about everything for Xmas and New Year. Lately, the snow has been pounding down here and so every spare waking moment is devoted to throwing myself down mountains on a piece of wood. I'd just about managed to get my technique together last season so now I'm enjoying the fruits of off-piste exploration and speeding through the powder. Look up "fun" in the dictionary and you'll find a picture of me rolling arse-over-tit down a mountain - I really can't get enough.
Well that's it for now, but more soon (hopefully sooner rather than later).

The Love Hotel

2007-12-08T04:09:00.000-08:00

In Japan there are numerous types of hotels, each suited to a particular kind of customer. You have your average hotels of course, which tend to be found in a big cities and are pretty much the kind of places you'd expect hotels to be like. But hotels like these are usually populated more by foreign visitors than they are by Japanese people. If on holiday in Japan, they'd be more likey to stay at an onsen resort, which will include things like a hot spring bath, a karaoke room and plenty of fish to eat. After that you have the business hotel, which is mainly aimed at the travelling businessman and as such tends to be fairly small and basic. Lastly you have my personal favourite; the love hotel.

Love hotels were invented as a result of the fact that many young Japanese people tend to live with their parents for quite a long time, maybe into their thirties or even beyond. When you add to that fact that Japanese homes tend to be fairly small a problem soon arises for young couples who fancy a bit of, well, you know where this is going. I think the fact that all love hotel offer a 2-4 hour stay "rest" option says it all really.

The beauty of love hotels is that they run the whole spectrum of hotel possibilties. Each place tends to have its own theme, whether it be cute (Hello Kitty stuff everywhere), depraved (hooks, chains and all that jazz) classy or, as is often the case, just very odd. Then you have all the extras like karaoke machines, jacuzzi baths, themed decor, saunas etc.

The other strange thing being that a trip to a love hotel is considered to be a very private affair, so much so that you enter a hotel by driving into the parking space for the room you've chosen and enter the room directly without seeing anyone at all. You then have to pay in order to leave, usually via a kind of cash machine-type device that is found in your room. If you want to order drinks or any rooms service whilst there, everything is delivered via a hatch so that no one actually enters your room.

Anyway, I went to the fairly new Lions Hotel recently, which is about an hour from where I live and thought it was a perfect example to share with anyone who might be interested in one of my current favourite hobbies. Enjoy.

Boys weekend in Osaka

2007-11-05T18:14:00.000-08:00

I was back in Osaka recently for a weekend with a few of the lads from my area. Taking trips anywhere in Japan usually involves plenty of sight-seeing and cultural enrichment, which is why a few of us had got together and decided to have a weekend of doing nothing but going out on the lash.
Unfortuntely, for various reasons, it's not always easy to figure out which bars will be good and which won't in Japan. Usually it's simply a case of trial and error, which really wasn't much of a problem for us, as it was our sole reason for being there in the first place.
Of course, the first place we ended up in was a gay bar. A fact that wasn't fully confirmed until I'd visited the toilets and found some flyers for the Osaka Rainbow Parade. Anyway, a good time was had, although the owner did seem a little disappointed to discover we were batting for the other side. That said, it didn't stop him trying his luck a few times.

Camp-off

Incoming...

Whilst there we also decided to stay in a capsule hotel, which does exactly as it says on the box. Each night you put your clothes and belongings into a locker and then head down to a room filled with seemingly endless ailes of capules, which are just about big enough to squeeze into. I found it a little weird at first, what with the whole place resembling something you'd expect to find on a spaceship and with the cramped area in which you're meant to sleep. Luckily though we didn't get in until around 6-7am each morning and so it became quite easy to doze off without much concern for space.

Our hotel

A quick break between bars

I think I saw roughly about 20 minutes of daylight in three days, as each day we'd get up at around 12 and head straight down to the spa where we'd hop in the baths before spending the rest of the day in the Relaxation Room - basically a dark room wth lots of beds and reclinable chairs where you can watch TV and sleep to your hearts content amongst the other like-minded semi-naked Japanese men.

Off into some ropey club

No idea what that was all about

I won't bore you with all of the sordid details of the weekend, suffice to say that a good time was had by all and I hope it's not too long until we get to do it again.

Doing my best to stay awake for breakfast

Sportsday

2007-09-19T22:20:00.000-07:00

It was the annual school sports day at Higashi Chu, my main school, the other week. Everyone seemed to have a really good day and it was nice to watch events unfold now that I know the kids pretty well and understand what is actually going on on. Anyway, I got a few nice pictures so I thought'd stick them up here to make up for my recent laziness. Enjoy.

Mt. Fuji

2007-09-19T04:23:00.000-07:00

At around 5.30am last Sunday I stood on Mt. Fuji, 3,500 metres above sea level, and watched as the sun gently rose through the clouds, bringing an end to one of the longest and most gruelling nights of my life and washing my friends and I in the golden glow of a new day.

We’d started out the night before at around 9pm with high hopes of reaching the summit in time for dawn and enough water and snacks to feed a small army. At the time I had no idea what lay ahead, but was looking forward to what promised to be a challenging eight hour climb up Japan’s highest volcano.
Things started well and we soon had a clear view down to the twinkling lights of the city below as we began the ascent. However it only took around 20mins for our group of fourteen to split into smaller groups on account of the steep gradient at the beginning of our climbing route. It soon became apparent that the climb ahead was going to be a lot tougher than I’d imagined but after a while I seemed to hit my stride and kept up just behind the leaders for the next few hours.

Every half an hour or so we’d take a quick break for refreshments and take the chance to gaze down at the views of the city through the clouds before pushing on again up into the darkness. Gradually as we ascended further up the mountain the wind became stronger and the route more precarious as I climbed over huge rocks and repeatedly lost my footing in the loose stones and rocks underfoot. But it wasn’t until the rain stared pouring down that I really began to find things tough. Within an hour or so I was utterly drenched and with no sign of the conditions improving was forced to head straight up into the howling storm, being ever more cautious not to lose my balance on the way.

It wasn’t long after this that I realised the symptoms of altitude sickness were creeping up on me. I should mention that at this point we were well past the point where jet pilots are required to strap on their oxygen masks. The air had become noticeably thinner and I was finding it much harder to catch my breath the further we went. At first I put it down to exhaustion and tried my best to shake it off, but sometime after we’d passed the 3000 metre mark I found myself feeling increasingly nauseous and was struggling to cope with the dizziness by clutching onto anything I could find around me. Each step seemed like ten and I found my mind wondering away from what I was doing completely. Thankfully our group leader Russ was on hand to give me some moral support and keep an eye on me. If it hadn’t been for him and a handful of my fellow climbers I doubt I’d have made it as far as I did.

By around 4am we’d arrived at the last base before the summit and took some time to gather together for a small snack. By that time we’d already lost a small group from our party who’d succumbed to the altitude sickness and opted to bed down at a hut around halfway up. By then I was also still struggling to breathe despite having rested for around half an hour. I couldn’t eat anything on account of feeling as if I were going to be sick at any moment.

By about 4.30am we’d gathered together and began our last short push to the summit. My memory of this is a bit vague but by that time, as we headed back into the harsh wind and biting cold, I could barely feel my feet and hands and couldn’t seem to walk more than a few yards without out doubling over to be sick. I do remember my mate Colin grabbing me by the arm and saying “Come on, keep moving.” I then looked up to see a few lights a few hundred meters up that signalled the summit. I asked him “Is that it? Is that the top?” But I’d already lost him in the darkness. By that point it seemed as if the only thing my headlamp was illuminating was the rain as it headed towards me. I gripped my walking stick as best I could and stumbled on another hundred yards or so before having to grab onto some rocks, where I bent over and tried to breathe through the waves of nausea. I was sure I’d lost the rest of the group by them. What had been a team effort so far had understandably turned into an every man for himself assault for the summit, and for those few moments I was unsure whether I’d ever make it off the mountain at all. That’s when my friend re-appeared out of the darkness, his arms twitching uncontrollably on account of the cold and said “That’s it, come on, we’re going back.” For a second I didn’t want to go along but I knew deep down that no matter how hard I pushed myself there was no way I could make those last few hundred meters without getting myself into serious danger.

And with that we headed back to the base we’d just been at to rest and attempt to warm up, but all I could manage to do was sit in a spot out of the wind and rain, trying to catch my breath and think about how the last hour had probably been the most scary and challenging moment of my life.
In the end we decided to stay there and watch the sun rise. Once the sun was up we might dry out and could make it up to the summit with no problems we reasoned. So at around 5.30 I and a group of around six friends watched the sunrise up through the clouds. It was an amazing moment that made me realise just why I’d pushed myself so hard, and the fact that I was still able to enjoy it was a great feeling. A couple of hours later a couple of our group who’d made it to the top returned to the base, and we recounted tales of the evening and handed out plenty of handshakes and back slaps. By that time I’d acclimatised to the thin air a little better and probably could have made the last push to the summit without too many problems. But by then I’d realised the trip was no longer about reaching the very top for me, I’d made it just short and had pushed myself through the hardest few hours of my life and been able to smile and laugh at the end of it. I saw the sun come up at an amazing height and was just happy to know that a least a few of my friends had made it all the way.
So we headed down, with the sun beating down on us from a clear blue sky and the clouds and surrounding mountains still below us. We talked and joked about the night before and later that day we sat around a campfire drinking beers and sharing stories like only a group of people who’d shared the experience of Mt. Fuji together can. It was truly an experience I’ll never forget.

Fuji Rock(ed)

2007-08-06T19:08:00.000-07:00

I had a great time at the Fuji Rock festival here in Niigata the other week. To be honest I'd been excited for ages about seeing some good bands and hanging about with my mates for a few days and wasn't disappointed at all.

!!! on the main stage

Fuji Rock is the biggest music festival in Japan and is billed as the Japanese equvilent of Glastonbury, only without the mud or lack of toilet roll. In fact, the whole experience was vastly different to that of a festival back home. The main reasons for this included the fact that there wasn't ANY rubbish anywhere, everyone I saw seemed happy and easy-going, the toilets were always clean and the food always delicious. Also, I only had to queue once to get a beer in four days! Ah, it really was the stuff that hippy dreams are made of.

Disco trees

Battles

Anyway, the bands I saw were all great, so it's hard to pick any favourites. Thankfully, there was also plenty of time to catch up with old friends and make a few new ones along the way. I'm already looking forward to going again next year.

Spot the Jones

Party Time

2007-06-16T07:34:00.000-07:00

So there hasn't been a great deal going on of late. By that I mean nothing of much cultural significance. I did go down to Tokyo for a few days for the JET re-contracting conference the other week, which was pretty good fun. The basic gist being that all the first year teachers who have signed on for another year are invited for a free stay in a fancy Tokyo hotel where we're expected to attend a few teaching workshops and generally go wild in the big city for a few nights.

It probably won't surprise you to learn that I spent the majority of those evenings in a dungeon bar where I was subjected to large amounts of Nihon-shu (sake), hand-cuffs and more than a few attacks by people dressed as ghosts. Apparently I also made a few workshops as well but obviously that's a little vague.

We're also in the midst of plum season here in Japan, which doesn't mean that people are eating lots of plums but rather are brewing large amounts of plum wine (ume-shu) which should be ready to drink by Winter. Naturally, being the cultural ambassador that I am, I felt it only necessary to whip up my own batch of plum/strawberry wine, which means that anyone who feels like paying me a visit in the Autumn/Winter time can expect a large helping of sketchy wine on me.

It's also beginning to get quite hot here as Summer draws in. I bought myself quite a fancy tent last week as I'm planning a few mountainous hike excursions, not to mention the obligitory trip to Sado Island for the Earth Festival in August.

All of which pales in comparison to the fact that I'll be going to the Fuji Rock Festival this year; a sort of Japanese equivaent of Glastonbury at which I'll be seeing The Cure, The Stooges, Beastie Boys, Battles, Muse, Deerhoof, etc. So obviously I can't wait for that!

But really, all in all I'm a little short on news at the moment. So hopefully I'll have more to tell you in a few weeks. Until then....hisashiburi ne!

Rice Planting

2007-05-30T18:45:00.000-07:00

I'm bringing back the crack

Rice is very big business in Japan. Most people eat it at least once a day, if not with every meal, and much pride is taken in producing the finest kinds. Niigata is famous in Japan for it's superior rice, a concept I found hard to grasp when I arrived, but with which I've come to appreciate.

So when my friend's local ricefarmer offered to show us the ropes I headed down to Yoshikawa and helped out for a few hours.

Planting

Kazu herds us onto the van

These days they actually use a machine to plant the rice, as wading around in a giant pool of mud for hours on end is not only hard work but often pretty tricky. That said, I often see old people out wading in the mud around my local area so obviously there's still plenty of people who prefer to stick to the hands-on approach.

On route the fields

It ended up being a good laugh out there, although I could already feel my back giving up on me after just a couple of hours. Luckily enough I managed to avoid the leeches and snakes as well which is always a bonus. Afterwards, we all headed back to Kazu's barn for a few beers and a BBQ which more than made up for being caked in mud and loosing the feeling in my feet for a while. I only hope I get a chance to sample the fruits of our labour come harvest time.

Rinsing off in the stream

Local Celebrities

Living On The Edge (well, not really)

2007-05-22T18:46:00.000-07:00

I've eaten a few weird things during my time in Japan: raw horse meat, whale, salmon eggs, octopus, huge snails etc. The way I see it, you should give everything a go at least once. Life would be very boring if you never tried anything new.

Anyway, a few nights ago I almost had to rethink my approach whilst out having dinner with a mate of mine. We'd gone to a local Yakitori restaurant, a type of place that specialises in chicken dishes - primarily chicken kebabs (therein lies the appeal of said restaurant) and as the menu was mainly in kanji (see indecipherable Japanese) I took a random guess and ordered what I thought would be some kind of kebab. So, you can imagine my surprise when the waitress turned up a few minutes later brandishing a plate of raw chicken. Naturally I assumed I'd be required to cook it myself as some point, despite the fact that it was surrounded by salad and topped with a bit of chilli sauce. But no. That was actually the finished dish. Chicken sashimi (Raw Chicken).

Now, like I said before I'll give anything a go, but raw chicken? Raw Chicken??! Surely that's not allowed. I mean, raw fish I can handle fine, but chicken is a whole different beast. It goes against everything I was taught as I child. You just can't eat raw chicken, right?! Wrong.

Well, in the end I shared it my mate and it was actually pretty good. In fact, the only problem with it was the stress of waiting for the food poisoning to kick in afterwards. Of course it never did though. I think my stomach must be turning Japanese or something.

Same Old

2007-05-15T22:23:00.000-07:00

Been pretty busy of late so haven't had much chance for an update here. First of all the new school year started recently so my schedule has been fairly full what with extra classes and quite a few work parties.
Then my friend Alleyne was over recently for a couple of weeks. The two of us spent a few days in Tokyo and Kanazawa which was fun and the rest of the time just hanging around my local area. Seeing someone from back home for the first time since I left made me realise just how long I've been away and how much I've adjusted to the Japanese lifestyle during that time. It was a little strange at times but still good fun.
So everything is going really well at the moment. I have a few new collegues at both of my schools which makes for a breath of fresh air at work. One in particular has turned out to be really good fun to work alongside. It can sometimes be a little frustrating being the only foreign member of staff, especially as it's often hard to gauge whehter you're opinion about a particular thing is appropiate or not. But luckily my new collegue is really easy going which makes it much easier for me to let off a little steam from time to time and also have a good laugh in the office while I'm at it.
So that's about if for now. I've currently in the midst of planning a trip up to the Northern island of Hokkaido to do a little road tripping through the wilderness up there. Hopefully that'll all be sorted fairly soon. Oh, and I'm also getting pretty excited about the Fuji Rock Festival too - especially since I found out that the Cure are playing this year.
Well thats all folks. I'm off rice-planting on Saturday so there should be mre pictures on here soon once I've figured out how to get them off of my fancy new camera.

Hanami

2007-04-18T01:43:00.000-07:00

Takada Park

That'll be me

Naoko enjoying some octopus

The castle

Happy Drinkers

Traditional dance under the sakura

Sakura

Sakura Road

...oh, it is Japanese Sakura, oh yes, very beautiful I think

Back In Osaka

2007-04-10T03:18:00.000-07:00

Dragon-flavoured Noodles

I went back to Osaka for a little vacaction the other week. I really love Osaka, it's by far my favourite city in Japan at the moment. I think the main reasons for this are the fact that Osaka folk seem to be a little more crazy than most and also because of the slight dodginess that seems to hang in the air a little (quite a rare trait in Japan).

An example of the Crazy Osaka Styles would be the name of the hotel we stayed in; Metro The 21. Not 'The Metro' or even 'Metro 21' but Metro THE 21. It makes no sense at all. Ah, but you see, this is Osaka my friend - where things like that make perfect sense.

Downtown

A takoyaki restaurant

The next American president?

Anyway, whilst there we went to a huge Salvador Dali exhibtion which was very impressive. There was also a trip to Universal Studio which was pretty funny - seeing Kurt Russel speaking Japanese was a particular highlight.

Men's fashion - Japan style (seriously!)

How evil is this thing? I found him nextdoor to a hostess bar

Me and Terminator

Outside the Fugu restaurant

I also ate at a Fugu restaurant for the first time. If you don't know Fugu is the particular type of pufferfish that contains lethal poisons that can kill you in minutes. Of course the chances of you actually dying are pretty slim due to the fact that all fugu chefs have to be specially trained and registered in order to be responsible for removing the poisonous section of the fish. Well in the end the taste wasn't all that exciting, but the of possibly dying was.

Inside the Fugu restaurant

Fugu

Love Hotels

The Bert and Ernie train!

I've no idea about this one either

Kyoto

Oh, and they'll be more on Kyoto at some point in the future...

I Heart Onsens

2007-03-13T05:25:00.000-07:00

"Hot springs-ONSEN are made from "earth energy", so we can feel
the ground rhythm which is a big present from the earth.
How wonderful!"

I first came across the phenomenon that is the onsen when reading up on Japan before I came over. At first the notion stuck me as a little strange, as imagine it probably does with many a 'Westener'. You see an onsen is a sort of public bath house built around a natural hot spring, therefore providing hot water straight out of the ground. The idea being that you leave your inhibitions at the door (along with your underwear) and enjoy the comfort and luxury offered by the numerous baths and pools available for bathing

So off I trotted a couple of months back for my first onsen experience with a couple of friends. I'd been interested in trying it out for a while - mainly due to the very enthusiastic recommendations I'd received from, well, everyone - but how good could it be, really? I mean, it's just a big bath right? And you don't even get it all to yourself...

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Well, here I am a few months down the line and I'm utterly converted. Going to the onsen is probably the most relaxing thing I've ever done. To start with the whole place is devoted to relaxation. Someone descibed it as "an amusment park for the body" which sounds about right to me. Nothing really beats just sitting in a big steaming bath until you get bored and then decide to hop off to another pool. The real highlight for me though has to be the outdoor pools. Usually accompanied by some kind of amazing view (as onsens are usually found out in the countryside and in the mountains) as well as stuff like waterfalls, straw hats (to keep the snow off of your head)and in one case, monkeys.

My local

I also love the fact that going to the onsen can either be an idividual venture or, as is common in Japan, a place to be enjoyed with a group of friends. Indeed, large groups of teacher will often head off for a few hours at the onsen together before the office party - a pretty far cry from the kind of work party I was used to at home. The ritual is thought of as a social leveler as well, by which I mean it doesn't matter who you are outside the onsen, as inside everyone is just another naked guy in the bath. You've got to love it.

Anyway, I've included a few pictures so that youcan sort of get an idea of what I'm attempting to describe. I had to take them from the internet as I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to take a camera into the onsen,and I mean, where are you gonna hide it?

No, not there.

Snow Country

2007-02-03T18:48:00.000-08:00

I went snowboarding at Charmant yesterday, which is a resort about 20mins from my house. My mate Tim has been teaching me the basics and it would appear that I've just about got the hang of it now. Anyway, we met up with Tetsu and a few guys from Toyama and spent the day up on the slopes. Whilst up in Niigata last week I splashed out on some equipment and now intend to spend every weekend for the next couple of months up at Charmant. Anyway, here's a few pics from yesterday.

Christmas In Nam

2007-01-11T04:45:00.000-08:00

Christmas Keki

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year etc. Bit late I know, but I’ve been a busy un of late don’t you know. So Christmas in Japan was fun. Much like us blighty folk they like a drink and a bit of cake with their yuletide celebrations so that was nice. The Christmas work party ended up being a bit of a non-event really, but I managed to salvage the evening by going drinking with a few old-school rice farmers at the local dodgy bar, so all wasn’t lost. If teaching old Japanese men Yorkshire-isms was a profession I’d be in with a chance of having a proper job.

So after all that I went over to Vietnam for a little bit of sun and good old chilling out. I won’t bore you with all the sordid details of my holiday but I will at least recount a few of my favourite parts.

Waiting for the train to Tokyo

Somewhere over the Pacific

Vietnam Tale #1

So Saigon (Ho Chi Minh) is a pretty crazy city. I’ve been to some fairly crazy places before but this particular city has certain wild charm of it’s own. After a day of dodging the thousands of motorbikes and a few prostitutes wearing pants so tight you can see what they ate for lunch I was more than ready for a rub down.

Cyclo-ing around Saigon

Creepy Santa

Having a beer on the rooftop bar

Cue a visit to the Vietnamese Massage Institute, which is housed in a building so old and haggard you’d be forgiven for thinking it was used as a gun-turret during the war. But in I go, pay my three quid and am then led into what looks like a hospital ward from the 70s by a short, blind Vietnamese man. I should mention that all the massusers (that can’t be a proper word can it?) are all blind at this place – at least that’s the claim – I could swear that the guy sorting me out spotted the 10,000 Dong note in my wallet whilst angling for a tip. But I digress.

A Pagoda

The 'Gates Of Hell'

You said it

Ho Chi Minh traffic

So behind the curtain I go into a little cubicle containing the usual massage table and a small steel box in the corner. On closer inspection there was a scrawled message informing me that I should remove my clothes and put them in said box. ‘When in Rome…’ I think and proceed to strip down to my Calvin Kleins, stuff my clothes in the box and lay down on the bed awaiting the imminent return of my little blind friend. A minute later he wanders in and so begins a rather strange exchange that went something like this;

Him: Hello. Welcome. You come for massage.
Me: Hello. Yep, thanks. Looking forward to it.
Him: From England yes?
Me: Sort of, yes.
Him:…David Beckham?
Me: Yeah. David Beckham. He’s from England as well.
Him: (Begins to run his firm massuse hands down my back, right down to my Calvin Kleins) Manchester United yes?
Me: Yes, I hear they’re pretty good at football.
Him: Ah yes. Please take off pants.

That was the first time a bloke had ever said that to me, but fair enough I think, I’m no prude about such matters and after all the guy is blind so there’ll be no unspoken weirdness to the situation. So, off go the CKs into the box with the rest of my garments and back on the bed I go.

The long road to the beach

Mara liking a pint of German booze

"Take a ride on the what?!"

After that all is going well. He’s a little rough for my taste but I think that’s just the Vietnamese way and after a little while I begin to drift off into a state of relaxed bliss. But then something happens that I’m not quite prepared for. As any fellow massage aficionados reading this will know it’s not uncommon for your buttock region to see a little expert attention during a typical session. However, when you’re completely naked and the man performing said action climbs onto the bed and positions himself behind you, you can’t help but suddenly wonder what kind of show they might be running. But alas, after a few seconds of panic I realised that I wasn’t about to be violated by a strange foreign man and instead was simply being treated to a good back-cracking session. All in all then a very nice experience which I’d highly recommend. I think the massage I got from a girl on the beach a few days later would have been even more enjoyable if it weren’t for the look of shock on her face when I asked if I could take my shorts off.

Well, that's it for now. More on Vietnam soon...

Phu Quoc market

Fishing boats

Hard times at the beach

Back in Niigata

"Are you a witch?"

2006-12-11T04:03:00.000-08:00

As part of my weekly work schedule I usually visit two of the numerous elementary schools in the area. These visits are always a lot of fun, mainly because most of the kids have never actually met a foreigner in person and as a result they always go pretty wild with excitement. This usually manifests itself in the form of screaming, jumping around, struggling to catch their breath and trying to grab onto an arm, leg or any other part of my body that they deem a suitable place to hang from. So after the initial wave of Chris sensei-mania has subsided somewhat I am then usually interrogated about everything from the size of my feet to the current state of my love life.
My favourite question by far came last Friday during my first visit to Uramoto Elementary. After a few minutes one of the kids stood up and mumbled something in Japanese. I then looked over to the Japanese teacher for a translation, at which point he told me, in all seriousness; "He would like to know if you are a witch..." The comedy evil-cackle I then let out, far from gaining the laughs I thought it might, only resulted in producing a look of quite genuine fear in the eyes of about half the children. I was then forced to assure then that, no - as far as I was aware - I was not, nor ever have been, a witch.

Officially Winter

2006-12-06T04:29:00.000-08:00

Cooking class

Beers

Nagano City (home of the 98 Winter Olympics)

Well, it's been getting cold around these parts, and the mountains are looking decidedly more sinister thanks to the fact that they're now (almost) covered in snow. I managed to miss the first sign of snowfall though (last Saturday) as I was huddled up in my apartment eating beans on toast (quite an amazing experience after going four months without them) and devouring the books I'd bought during my Tokyo visit. I also watched The Fountain (amazing) and The Departed (not bad) thanks to the power of the wonderful interweb.
The area of Japan where I live just happens to have some of the highest levels of snowfall in the country (and the world according to some), which of course has both it's ups and downs. The ups being that you can snowboard/ski to your hearts content whilst being absolutely guaranteed a (quite severley) White Christmas. The down being that Japan isn't really a country that is built for snow/cold. As, despite being one of the world's leading technical innovators, this is a country that doesn't even know the meaning of central heating or double glazing. Yes, those sliding walls sure do look pretty, but your patience soon becomes as thin as the paper that covers them when you realise how worthless they are at keeping out a draft. Not that I have many complaints, thanks largely to a pretty nifty heater that warms upmy place pretty quickly. But, when you have to wear three or four layers at work most days just to keep your brain from freezing up you have to question the logic at work.
Despite this I obviously can't wait to hit the slopes and enjoy the snowball fighting. Meanwhile there's the business of Christmas parties to attend to, which should be keeping me fairly busy for the foreseable future. More on that soon though...

- Otsukare sama deshita -

Tokyo II: The Return

2006-11-06T04:02:00.000-08:00

Shibuya Crossing

Shopping for essentials

An evening in Shinjuku

Harajuku

Dogs + sunglasses = entertainment

A beat-boxing donkey head...?!

Late nights in Odiba

Ruining a perfectly nice view (the fake statue of liberty that is, not me)

Random Japan...

2006-10-21T09:36:00.000-07:00

Plum wine: a favourite despire it's appearence

Michino samples the catch

Fishing pimp

My desk at work

Niigata City

A few beers after work

Just what I was thinking...

Mmm...wine

Downtown Osaka

Halloween

2006-10-21T09:23:00.000-07:00

My mate Tim and I were asked to judge a local Halloween fancy dress competition last Saturday. It soon became apparent that one of the kids had somehow mixed up a picture of a ghost with a picture of a Klu Klux Klan member and was obviously completely oblivious to his costume's white-supremacist overtones. Naturally, my friend and I then had to janken (rock-paper-scissors) to see which of us would get to choose him as our winner. Unlucky for me Tim won, so I ended up with the infinitely less offensive Little Mermaid character (her shoes were mad funky though).

(L to R) A witch, some character from Harry Potter, an Office Worker (?), a Badminton player (?!), Pocahontis

Tim and Jimmy the Klu Klux Klan Ghost

Death

Crazy Times In Osaka

2006-10-10T08:04:00.000-07:00

Elaborate water feature

Last Friday I headed down to Osaka for the first time with Mara. I've been wanting to go there since before I arrived in Japan as I'd heard from quite a few people that it's the most friendly and lively city in the country.

We took the train and arrived about 11pm. We then spent the next hour roaming the back streets of the city looking for the place we were supposed to be staying at. Armed with only a pretty vague map and a description of something like "look for a 7 floor building" (about 80% of the buildings fitted this critera) we didn't stand much of a chance and eventualy ended up being given a two-man police escort (!) to the door of the place (I think the police were hapy to have something to do). By this time it was after 1am, and after six hours or so of travelling the only thing were capable of doing was crashing out.

Sampling the local takoyaki

Saturday morning we headed to the aquarium - the largest in Japan apparently. What can I tell you? It was an aquarium. Lot's of fish etc. My personal favourites were the crabs, two of which where about 1.5 metres wide - now that's a pretty serious crab. Afterwards we met up with Mara's friend from college and went to visit Osaka Castle. The actual original castle was destroyed by air bombs so what they have there now is a replica that was built around 50 years ago. Obviously, this means there's less a hint of history about the place and more a hint of plastic. But hey - the views from the top were pretty impressive. After that we went into the city to sample some takoyaki. Takoyaki is a food that's mainly eaten during festivals and is basically chunks of octopus wrapped in some sort of batter. Osaka is reknowned for its takoyaki and is the only place in Japan where they eat it all the time. I was a big fan.

The crab army

Mara wishing she was a fish

Osaka Castle

View from the top

On Saturday we went round a few bars in the main nightlife district of the city. It reminded me quite a bit of the nightlife areas in Bangkok but without the same levels of sleeze, which while still being there, are kept firmly behind closed doors. There were also more bars, restaurants and shops squeezed in together than I've ever seen before. Every other building will usually have a sign outside that tells you the name of 10 or so places that can be found on each floor. To imagine what its like being surrounded by all that flashing neon and towering structures just think of Blade Runner - its pretty much exactly like it!

Crazy Osaka Styles (matching trousers just out of shot!)

Outside the 'Gang Snowman' love hotel

On Sunday we busted out a visit to a love hotel. Basically these places are designed for a short 'rest' - you pay for 90 mins - and usually have weirdly themed rooms. We decided to visit 'Gang Snowman' after hearing it had a Cadillac on the roof that you could 'rest' in but unfortunelty that was already taken (at 4 in the afternoon!) so we had to make do with some room that had leopard-skin wallpaper and a huge jacuzzi. So not all bad then. All in all it was a lot of fun and certainly won't be the last time I visit one of those places.

Easy tiger

Enjoying the biggest bed I've seen since leaving England

View from the top of the ferris wheel

Later that night we hit the main streets of Osaka and had a ride on the ferris wheel that sits right in the middle of the city. You get some amazing views from the top (see pic). Afterwards it was off to an Indian place for a proper curry followed by a pretty drunken trip to the local 'Wine Bar' where I picked up a really nice Pinot Noir at a decent price by simply pointing at some random sqiggles on the menu.

Umeda Sky Building

On our last day I went up the Umeda Sky building. It's only about 40 odd floors high but when you're stood on the top and the planes are flying past you it feels as if you're much higher. You also have to take this crazy elevator of doom to get up there too (you can probably make it out in the pic - its the two lines going at a strange angle near the top) which is fun but also a little on the extreme side. After that we pretty much rolled around in the mid-day crowds and called at a bookstore so Mara could get the new Gabriel Marquez book. And that was it for Osaka - I'll definitely be going back sometime...

On the roof

Warning: Bears!

2006-10-05T02:02:00.000-07:00

On the hunt for a decent Ramen shop

There was an offical bear warning given out at my school today. Apparently two of them were spotted in the vicinity yesterday. All the kids had to go home earlier and the younger one's have each been fitted with small bells that ring as they walk - I'm sure they'll be 100% safe from now on (?!).

(In the event that this turns out to be my last ever post - I love you all).

Happy Birthday

2006-10-04T17:54:00.000-07:00

"Dear Chris,

A Happy Birthday to you.

For you, I am glad for good one day.

Because it is a turning point of season, please spend it in physical condition with care."

-message from my boss.

Kanazawa - Part 1

2006-09-26T06:26:00.000-07:00

The old samurai district

I took a trip down to Kanazawa with a few friends the other week. The Japanese refer to the place as 'little Kyoto', probably because there's still a lot of 'old-Japan' to be seen there. Anyway, a good time was had by all. The highlights being a trip to a Ninja Temple (full of all kinds of trap doors, secret passages and the like), a walk around Kenrokuen Park and a stop off at the local modern art museum.

My friend Mara and I also topped off the weekend in style by ending up in some shady Jazz bar o the last night. If my memory serves me correctly the place was actually called 'Welcome To Jazz'. Anyway, beers were drunk, songs were played with the house band and general good times were had. The only downside being that its very hard to find your way home through the samurai district when its dark and you've had a few too many Kirins.

Spot the gaijin

The fish market - where you can crabs so big that they'd probably eat you if there were still alive

Kanazawa - Part 2

2006-09-25T16:58:00.000-07:00

Old school Samurai outfit

Garden at the Samurai house

Kenrokuen Park

...it's a pretty big park

Directions to...

...the Geisha district

Smoking etiquette

Random bridge

At the art exhibition...

...there was an arty pool...

...that I liked a lot.

(the conquering of) Mt Yoneyama

2006-09-25T02:06:00.000-07:00

The road to Yoneyama...

So I went and climbed up Mt. Yoneyama the other week with a few friends. I saw a snake on the way up (they're a little more scary when they're not in a zoo) and also managed to make it to the top first - not bad for the only smoker of the group! I also had a slight hangover too so all in all I was quite proud/shocked with myself.

Lots of steps

Halfway point

Bit further to go...

View from the top!

A quick tour...

2006-09-20T05:48:00.000-07:00

Right, so I couldn't update this thing properly for a while because I didn't have the internet at my apartment. Anyway, now I'm hooked up here a few pics of where I live...

Apartment: This is me in my lounge. The whole place is a little small I suppose, at least by 'western' standards. I'm a big fan of the place though. Especially the sliding walls/doors.

The Coast: This is about a minutes stroll around the corner from my apartment. There's a couple of beaches dotted along the way.

Main Street: This the main street that runs from my apartment to the centre of town. It's about a 10 minute walk to get there which is pretty good.

The Sake Shop: This place specializes in all kinds of sake. They probably have around 300 types which all come in different sizes, from small bottles to huge drums of the stuff. They also sell 5 litre bottles of whiskey - 5 LITRES!

Higashi-Chu: This is the junior high school where I work for most of the week. Its located in a pretty scenic area of town and when I'm teaching the third years I can see the ocean out of the window, which is about half a mile away. I think it's the first place I've ever worked where I actually enjoy arriving in a morning.

Do androids dream of electric sportsdays?

2006-09-12T22:37:00.000-07:00

It was sportsday at my school the other day. Sportsday is a big deal in Japan. So big a deal in fact that the whole school comes in on Saturday to reherse the actual day. The whole event is run with military precision (I realise this statement requires some suspension of disbelief) and includes such highlights as a relay race (which includes the entire school), some sort of game that involves two teams trying to attack each other's poles (during which the principal said the game reminded him of WWII "Chris-san, you understand we want Japan to beat the Americans") and finally a game between the girls in which they try to wrestle huge tyres from each other - very weird.

Come to think of it, the term sportsday doesn't really do it justice. It is, in fact, more like one long episode of Gladiators (sans Fashanu) interspersed with bouts of rowdy chanting and dance rountines carried out to the sound of bad Japanese techno. Despite all this though, my personal highlight had to be the soundtrack to the 'events' themselves, and this is also what inspired the title of this particular bulletin. Namely, the repeated use of the theme from Blade Runner (that's right Vangelis fans). Suffice to say I found this incredibly hilarious and also, to some extent, quite cool. I mean we never got anything like that at school did we? During the girls event they used the theme from Jaws, which of course gave the whole proceedings a strange sense of foreboding.

After sportsday has finished there is then the obligitory party. The one I attended involved lots of drunken Japanese teachers (the idea here seems to be to get drunk as possible within the first half an hour of the party) only to be followed later by a mammoth karaoke session, during which I performed what was possibily the first (but probably not the last) ever rendition of 'Imagine' to include a bongo accompaniment.

Don't ever let it be said I can't multi-task...

A stingray too far

2006-09-06T23:19:00.000-07:00

Irwin interfering with some sort of exotic dog

So Steve 'Crocodile Hunter' Irwin died earlier this week. I wanted to pay tribute because I thought he was great. Everything you could possibly want from a...well...TV animal guy? (I don't know, but 'naturist' doesn't really do him justice). He was a little bit crazy (the exact extent of which was a constant topic of discussion in his heyday), he was Austrailan and most importantly he talked to the animals all the time as if they were his mates - haha great stuff. Oh, and his crocodile wrestling was actually pretty impressive stuff.

Who would of thought he'd be taken down by a stingray?! Madness. I guess you can only push your luck so far though. But at least he did - which is more than can be said for that loser Chris 'Cyberpunk' Packham.

Anyway, good on you Steve (RIP!)

On An Island

2006-08-23T18:19:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I went over to Sado Island to check out the 'Earth Celebration'. Suprisingly enough I managed to get there (via bike, train, taxi and boat) without any hitches. The celebration happens every year and basically involves lots of live performances (mainly of the taiko drumming variety), a sort of big market-type-thing where you can buy all kinds of hippy stuff and all kinds of food/drink.

Celebrating the Earth (I guess)

I arrived on the Saturday morning and spent the day checking out some amazing drummers and trying to find shade (I'm pretty sure it was the hottest day we've had since I arrived). I also had an amazing sausage pizza as well, but you're probably not very interested in that...

Anyway, so at night they have a big concert which you have to pay about 25 quid to see. I'd already missed the Kodo concert (ie, the best one) on Friday night as I was working in the day. The Saturday concert is always a guest performer, and this year it was some American tap dancing guy. Now, I like to think of myself as being a fairly open-minded guy, but three hours of tap dancing just isn't my scene at all, especially when there's a group of people heading to the beach for a party (much more like it).

Camping it up

So of we trotted to the beach, set up camp just over the road (see pic) then went about guzzling our way through the stacks of beer we'd bought whilst laying on the beach and generally soaking up the vibes (excuse the lingo - I've been hanging around with a few hippies).

As the night wore on there were drinking games, fire-jumping, sing-alongs, naked Russians and general good times. I think I finally fell asleep on the beach about 3am only to be woken a few hours later by the sunrise, at which point I went for a bath...in the sea. The perfect end to a perfect night (well, apart from all the bastard insect bites).

Sunset on the beach

Tokyo!

2006-08-22T19:03:00.000-07:00

Good times in Shinjuku

High in Shinjuku

Well it's been just over two weeks since I first landed in Tokyo. Finally getting there was a fairly overwhelming experience but I think that had more to do with the idea that I'd just left England for, well, who knows how long, than actually being in Japan. Luckily I was one of the few who seemed to get at least some sleep on the flight so as we were sheparded through the airport and onto a bus bound for the hotel I was feeling pretty good.

I spent the next few days going to various meetings (along with hundreds of other JETs that were at the hotel) about everything from the workings of the Japanese education system to advice on how to kill the various types of bugs I might encounter in the future (so far I've been fairly lucky...).

In the evening we were treated to large amounts of free alcohol as well as loads of free food (of which I missed out on - well, there was a time limit on the free beer so why waste time with the finger buffet?!).

Making it Suntory Time with Jenny

The main highlights of being in Tokyo were, of course, the nights out. The city itself is pretty astounding in the daytime but it's at night when it really comes alive, and all of a sudden it seems like a completely different place.

Probably the best night out I had was when I met a girl called Zoe, who within minutes had invited me out around Tokyo with her and her Japanese mate Rio. Later on Rio picked us up from the hotel and took us (via the underground) to Shibuya. After stopping to take a few pictures a Shibuya Crossing (apparently the world's busiest zebra crossing) we had a wander around for a while before heading up a tiny little staircase that led to a restaurant (the kind of place you'd never manage to find unless you had a Japanese person leading the way).

En route to Shibuya

Inside, we were led to our own room, where we could order (literally via the push of the button) whatever we wanted to eat and drink. And you could order as order as much as you wanted for a fixed price. Genius.

The night after I went to Karaoke bar with all the other people who were new to Niigata (the area I live in). I vaguely recall doing a pretty good version of the Journey classic 'Don't Stop Believin' - at least that's how I remember it. Afterwards, we ended up in a hotel bar where I finally got a chance to drink some Suntory whiskey and pretend I was Bill Murray. Good stuff.

Shibuya Crossing

The morning after that we were all shipped off to our particulr areas on the shinkansen (bullet train). I think it usually costs around 60 quid for a one way ticket to Tokyo from where I live. But as it only takes around an hour and a half it's not too bad. The alternative is to take the bus, which although takes 5 hours, is less than half the price! Bus it is then.

Anyway, so that was Tokyo. There's loads I haven't mentioned but I'm sure you get the picture. If you didn't I'll be going back there shortly so they'll be plenty more to come...

On the town with Zoe and Rio

Time to check out

2006-08-04T07:02:00.000-07:00

So this is it, a final farewell before I fly to Tokyo tomorrow afternoon. I've sold my car, packed my cases and given my liver a severe bashing with the help of practically everyone I know over the last few weeks. It's been fairly manic lately and now, all of a sudden, I've got less than 24 hours left in the UK - wow, that seems pretty weird. I can't wait to be partying in Tokyo but could do without the thought of a 14hr flight.

Thanks to everyone for making my last few weeks a lot of fun. Take it easy and I'll be posting here again once I'm settled in Japan!

But for now, Sayonnara...

Supersonic!

2006-07-24T06:21:00.000-07:00

I went down to the Supersonic festival in Birmingham at the weekend, along with a load of my mates. It's always a pretty 'eclectic' line-up and I got to see some great stuff, some of which I'd seen before (Isis, Modified Toy Orchestra) as well as a few I'd been waiting ages to see (High On Fire, Thrones, Zombi). It was good getting to hang out with everyone together for the first time in ages as it might be the last time I see a few of them before I jet off in a couple of weeks. I was also bought my first (and probably last) 'going-away' present, which took the form of a very cool 'Re-Animator' T-shirt!! (Thank you Alleyne).

As for the bands, well, Thrones was pretty intense - all low-end bass rumbling and multi-layered feedback jiggery-pokery. I don't think I was the only one who lost the plot a bit during that set. Very impressive.The only problem being that I was forced to miss the majority of Modified Toy Orchestra as they were playing at the same time. Swines.

Zombi were absolutely amazing! For anyone who hasn't heard them they sound just like the synth-ridden soundtrack to a 70s zombie film with a little disco funkiness thrown in. Genius. Cue lots of slighty drunken hip shaking by all, especially Feg who spent the entire set down at the front shaking around not unlike Bob the good zombie from 'Day Of The Dead'.

Having an over-priced can of beer with Jimbob, Scott and Adg

Isis were as good as always and sounded a little better than when I first saw them at Rock City last year. They played a track from the new album as well, which has now got me all excited about that coming out.

Mike admiring Feg's suspiciously long cigarette

The two Chris' reunited

Thrones makes my ears and mind hurt

Isis making some big noise on the main stage

A romantic VIP onion bhaji for two? Yes boss

High On Fire destroy everyone's hearing at the end of the night

The only bone I had about the whole day was the extortionate price of the shitty beer that was on sale. Luckily enough this was some remedied by Chris and Feg, who discovered it was possible to steal a seemingly endless supply of beers (and onion bhajis) from the VIP area without detection (possibly something to do with Caulderbank's new Christopher Walken-themed haircut). Chris, industious as ever, had also brought down a bottle of High Commisioner (don't ever let it be said he's not a true whiskey connoisseur!) and so everyone was able to get suitably messy in the end without having to worry about the price of anything. Nice work chaps.

This crazy sculpture is about 6 storeys high, and clings to the wall just outside the main entrance. I'm a big fan

The night was eventually topped off with a very loud set from High On Fire, who proceeded to completely slay everyone with some Godzilla-sized riffs. Even the most hardened of arty beard-strokers could be seen rocking out like it was Donnington '86 or something.

According to Chris I missed out by heading home at around 2am, as him, Anna and Mike ended up hanging out with Thrones and Isis backstage after I'd left. Ah well, I did however manage to have a fairly surreal moment the next morning in the hotel when Alleyne and I ended up having a fry-up sat next to High On Fire and Isis. Nice.

So a good Supersonic was had by all in the end and to honest I'm a little gutted I won't be around to do it all again next year. Then again there's always the Fuji Rock Festival to look forward to instead...

A Message From Itoigawa

2006-07-11T12:33:00.000-07:00

I got an email from my predecessor for the first time this morning. She's basically the person who I'll be replacing when I arrive in Japan. Anyway, she told me a little about my accommodation (I'll be moving into a new two room apartment that's already kitted out with most of the essentials, including a TV and DVD player!), and also a little about the city itself (it's a really beautiful place - see pic - that has 'loads of bars', restaurants, a winter ski-resort, beaches, a video shop and a pizza takeaway place-nice).

Apparently I'll be working at two junior high schools with another Gaijin girl and the staff/kids/people in general are all great. Plus there's already been a welcome party organised in my honour as well as a camping trip to a festival on nearby Sado Island. So yeah, I haven't even arrived and already my schedule looks pretty packed! Can't wait.

Meanwhile, things around here have begun to step up a few gears, what with me finally handing in my notice at work and generally having a mad scamble to go out drinking with practically everyone I know before I leave.

I now have less than a month left in this country.

I'm shitting myself - but can't wait to go either...

Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman

2006-07-09T08:54:00.000-07:00

The latest book by Haruki Murakami has just come out. Is it sad that I'm really excited about this? Maybe. Anyway, if anyone reading this hasn't checked out his stuff I'd definitely recommend you do. The best place to start? Either 'The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle' or 'A Wild Sheep Chase'.

Big Smoke and Spring-Fish-River

2006-07-08T06:20:00.000-07:00

I was in London for a few days last week for my 'pre-departure orientation'. This involved everyone who'll be leaving for Japan from the UK (roughly 150-200 people), and consisted of two solid days of seminars and language lessons. It was great to finally meet up with some people in the same boat as me and everyone I spoke to/had a beer with seemed pretty cool. I've already begun planning to meet up with some on them once we're settled in.

The seminars were interesting, especially the panel discussion, where we were told about everything from food (curry donuts should be investigated) to crime (apparently there's a big problem with female underwear being stolen from washing lines! Genius). Easily the most exciting thing about the whole two days was finally finding out about my placement, which is...(cue drum roll) Itoigawa City! Which, for the geography fans, is on the far west of Niigata Prefecture, about 3hrs north-west of Tokyo. If you don't know Japan that well, it's here:

According to the little bits of info I've managed to gather so far the 'city' status is somewhat of exaggeration, as the population is only around 40,000. More like two small towns sellotaped together in truth I think. Oh, and the name itself actually means 'Spring Fish River'.It looks as if I'll have the Japanese Alps on one side (there's a ski resort open in the winter) and the Sea of Japan on the other, which sounds good to me. It's going to make a nice change being out in the wilderness as well, although I'm already a little nervous about winter, as according to one website I looked at the area has "...some of the highest levels of snowfall in the world". In other words, I might have to ski to work at Christmas!

Anyway, that's it for now.

Otsukare sama desita.

Essential Reading

2006-06-26T11:55:00.000-07:00

In an effort to begin preparing for life in a Japan, I got myself a copy of a phrase book called ‘Making Out In Japanese’ the other day. I decided this was a necessity after seeing that Bill Murray had a copy in the extras to ‘Lost In Translation’, and if it’s good enough for Murray it’s good enough for me. Anyway, I’ve been having a flick through and can now say the following;

“Please make this drink stronger…”

“These dance-floor lights are cool…”

“Lick my nipples!”

“Who farted?”

“If I get drunk, it’ll be okay…”

“Stop playing these love games…”

I’m not sure how useful most of these phrases are going to be, but that isn't going to stop me trying out a few of them out on some unsuspecting Tokyo-ites.

In the beginning...

2006-06-22T14:31:00.000-07:00

So I've decided to have a crack at setting up one of these things as I reckon it's the best way of keeping in touch with everyone using the minimum amount of effort possible (always the best option in my book).

Anyway, I found out the other day that after a year of waiting, filling in mountains of application forms, sitting through interviews and yet more waiting I'm actually going to be leaving for Japan in the (very) near future.

This news has, of course, left me wearing a huge, shit-eating grin for the last few days despite the fact that I've yet to discover exactly where in Japan I'll be spending the next 12 months of my existence. To be honest though it's not too much of a concern, mainly because I once lived in Stoke-on-Trent and, well, anywhere but there is always a bonus.

The coming month or so is going to be pretty hectic but at least I'll have the warm,tingly feeling of handing in my notice at work to look forward to, and maybe just a few farewell drinking sessions. So here's to a year of strange adventures in Nihon and plenty of rambling blog entries...