Keiro no hi

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Today is a national holiday in Japan known as Keiro no hi or Respect for the Aged day. Regular schools and many businesses close but it’s work as usual for us. Because our schedule is designed to ensure that each class meets the same number of times over the course of a year, we’ll have a different day off in lieu.

I suppose I should have done my research sooner and been in touch with our wee grandson to let him know that this is a day when children present their grandparents with gifts! Sometimes they just send them messages, however, wishing them good health and long life. We did receive a message from Drew a few days ago. I had a little difficulty interpreting it but maybe that’s what he meant! It looked like this:

z7dc0orbov ccccccccccccccccccccpksxVvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvpcpoJc09 //.;;;;B VRD5GGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

As you can see below, the little man loves the computer. His training began early.

Schools sometimes host special events in honour of the students’ grandparents for Keiro ni ho. I’m assuming that our local elementary school did something of that nature yesterday as we noticed many neighbours of grandparent age heading in that direction between 9:30 and 10:00 in the morning.

How I became a baseball fan

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Baseball is hugely popular in Japan so Richard and I decided that we should attend a Chiba Lotte Marines home game. Since we live in Chiba Prefecture, the Marines are our home team and today they played the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks from Japan’s southern island of Kyushu.

We woke to a misty sky and a few drops of rain this morning so I packed our rain capes but by game time the mist had burned off and the day was glorious. By late afternoon, when the sun was low enough that our side of the stadium was in shade, we were happy for the respite.

Richard purchased our tickets electronically at one of our local convenience stores a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, the young clerk who assisted him entered his request for two tickets as two separate transactions and so, while our seats were in the same section and the same row, they were numbers 157 and 172! Both were excellent seats overlooking first base. Obviously, though, we would have preferred to sit together and hoped that we might be able to find a way to do that when we got to the stadium. When the young usher who helped us find our seats realized that though we were together, our seats weren’t, he took it upon himself to contact some other members of the stadium staff and try to resolve the situation. After much deliberation, they were able to offer us two seats together but the location wasn’t as good as the ones we had so we thanked them and declined the offer. Before game time, we loaded up on a typical stadium lunch of burgers, fries and pop and prepared to settle into our separate seats. Seat 172 was just one seat away from an aisle and it was obvious that the man occupying that seat had come to the game alone. When I sat down and Richard passed me my food, it became obvious to the man that though we were together, we weren’t sitting together. He watched with curiosity as Richard made his way to seat 157, down the row from us. When Richard returned a short time later, showed the man his ticket and indicated that he was interested in trading seats, it was no surprise to me that the man swapped tickets willingly and we were able to watch the game together after all.

Since I’ve never been much of a sports fan and have never attended a professional ball game in Canada, or anywhere else for that matter, I have nothing to compare today’s experience with but it was definitely fun. The locals are obviously passionate about their team and watching them was sometimes as much fun as watching the game. Lots of them were dressed in team jerseys, t-shirts and hats. Like pretty much everything else in Japan, the cheering was very organized. Led by loudspeaker, the fans clapped, cheered and sometimes sang in unison. Before long, we were joining in. Unlike in North America, where a hush would fall over the crowd during a pitch, the noise continued regardless of what was happening on the field. It made no difference which team was up to bat so it was obviously a cultural difference and not a sign of poor sportsmanship. When either team changed pitchers, which they both did several times, the replacement pitcher was driven onto the field in a little silver convertible! During the seventh inning stretch which took place midway through the seventh inning rather than at the end, hundreds of long whistling balloons were released into the air and stadium staff quickly ran onto the field to gather up any that landed there.

The game itself was quite exciting. The Marines scored runs in the first and fourth innings but the Hawks came back with three runs in the top of the fifth. The Marines responded with four runs in the bottom of that inning and so it went with the Marines finally winning 9 to 5.

Saying that I’ve become a baseball fan is probably stretching it a little but I’m very glad that had the opportunity to attend today’s game. Sharing the fun with thousands of Japanese fans was definitely a great experience.

Waterworks

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This is the scene outside our window this morning.  Work began sometime around 8 o’clock and, as you can imagine, it’s been quite noisy!  We did have some advance warning that this would be happening.  Work has been going on around the neighbourhood for several days and markings on the pavement seemed to indicate that our corner was one of the spots that would be dug up.

We received a notice in our mailbox yesterday that was written entirely in Japanese.  Of course, we had no way of knowing what it said or that it was related to the work going on around us.  For all we knew, it could have been an ad for an upcoming sale at a local store.  It didn’t have any pictures though and looked somewhat official so we did what we always do in such cases.  Richard took it to school with him and had one of the receptionists translate it.  They’re very helpful that way.  It turns out that it was a notice informing us that our water will be off from 1:00 to 5:00 pm today.  Since we’ll both be at work the entire time, it won’t be any inconvenience to us at all.

At every construction site that might in any way interfere with traffic, either vehicle or pedestrian, there is one person whose sole responsibility is to direct traffic.  On our quiet street, at this time of day, there might be a vehicle every 15 minutes but this poor man is standing out in the broiling sun waiting to ensure that they’re able to navigate the street safely.  When we leave for work, he’ll ensure that our path is clear and will likely bow to us as we pass by.

By the time we return from school this evening, the work will be completely finished, the pavement patched and the area clean.  But for the darker patches of pavement, we’ll hardly know that anything has been done.  By tomorrow morning, the crew will have moved on to another spot.

Fires, earthquakes and typhoons

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September is safety awareness month in Japan so the focus of this week’s staff meeting was school safety. As Richard says, it looks like our best bet in terms of fire or serious earthquake is to pray that we don’t experience either one! Like most buildings in Japan, neither our schools nor our apartment are equipped with smoke detectors. None of the classrooms are at ground level. Most are on the third or fourth floor, often accessed by very narrow stairways, and none have proper fire escapes. There are rope ladders to use in the case of an emergency but I don’t want to be the teacher who has to convince a class of frightened five or six years olds to climb down one of those to the pavement below!

The instructions in case of a fire are much the same as they would be at home. Remain calm, account for all students, leave personal belongings behind, close doors and windows if possible, and relocate to a designated meeting area away from the school. Earthquake instructions are much the same but also include turning off gas and electrical appliances to prevent fire and watching out for falling objects and broken glass. While the building is still shaking, it’s advisable to take cover under a table or to stand inside a door frame. Bathrooms are also sturdier than most other rooms so they are considered good places to wait out a quake. Opening a door or window is recommended as once a building shifts, people are sometimes trapped inside because they can’t get the doors open. Fortunately, Japanese schools conduct earthquake drills, much like the fire drills that we’re familiar with at home, so the students are well acquainted with what to do should one occur.

At this time of year, the biggest safety concern is typhoons. A typhoon is the same thing as a hurricane. These are strong tropical cyclones with winds of up to 180 miles an hour and heavy rainfall. Typhoons that hit Japan are often accompanied by damaging high tides and landslides are also a serious concern. Schools generally close during a typhoon but our general manager doesn’t see fit to close MIL. Of course, teachers cannot always get there because trains often stop running and traffic comes to a standstill. Does this sound familiar to any of you Battle River teachers?

The good thing about typhoons is that they move slowly and there is always plenty of warning when one is on it’s way. When we see our neighbours securing or taking in all the movable objects from their yards and balconies, we’ll know there’s a typhoon coming. Our apartment is equipped with metal shutters to cover our large windows and keep them from shattering and the glass in the smaller windows is reinforced with wire. Some of our classrooms have large windows that don’t have shutters but there are places within each school where we could move the students during a severe storm so that they would be safe from flying glass. Japanese buildings are not well sealed (which helps explain how the insects get in) so leakage around windows and doors is also common during a typhoon.

So, does all this have me shaking with fright?  Not at all.  We knew that Japan was a land of earthquakes and typhoons before we left the relative safety of the Canadian prairie but I believe that this is where we’re meant to be and that we will weather whatever storms may lie ahead.  Just think of the stories we might have to tell!

What’s with the boots?

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There are some things about Japan that I will never understand. I think fashion might be one of them. I really like a lot of the styles but why is it that during the colder months it wasn’t unusual to see girls wearing teeny tiny shorts (does anyone else remember hot pants?) and micro mini skirts but now that it’s sweltering hot, just as many are seen in blue jeans? And why is it that at a certain age, women seem to lose their fashion sense and begin to appear in public in the most outlandishly clashing combinations such as the loud flowery pants and animal print top that I saw on the train platform yesterday?

I really shouldn’t comment on skirt lengths as I do remember when I hemmed mine at my fingertips but some of the outfits that are worn in public here would shout “hooker” on any North American street. The most incongruous though, are the high school girls who wear very proper school uniforms complete with knee socks, neckties and skirts so short they’re in danger of showing off their underwear!

It’s the boots that really have me wondering though. As in other parts of the world, the clothing stores have recently put their summer stock on sale and the shelves are filling up with winter wear. I wasn’t surprised to see winter boots appear in Seiyu a few days ago but what amazes me is that as soon as they appeared in the store, they also started appearing on the street! It’s broiling hot out there and girls are wearing knee high winter boots! How does that make any sense at all? I’ve even seen boots being worn with shorts and sun dresses. I try not to laugh out loud.

Tatami

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I really like the traditional Japanese floor covering known as tatami. There are three parts to each tatami mat; the tightly woven rush cover, a soft core that was traditionally made of rice straw but is often made of synthetic material today, and a decorative cloth edging that is most often a green brocade. Each mat is a standard size, approximately 90 x 180 cm. Except during a period of mourning, tatami mats are never laid in a simple grid pattern. Since it’s considered bad luck to allow three or more mat corners to meet, they’re always laid in interesting patterns.

Tatami provides at least as much cushioning as carpet, making it a comfortable floor to sit on and providing extra padding under the futon mats that we sleep on. I also exercise on the tatami every morning and find that it provides all the padding I need. Tatami is also thought to have a number of health benefits. Apparently, it absorbs both heat and humidity, a definite plus in this climate. The natural smell is said to relax the body and soothe the mind. This smell, which is really quite pleasant, is most noticeable when the tatami is new.

Tatami is amazingly easy to keep clean. It just needs to be vacuumed regularly and if anything does spill on it, it beads up and can be wiped away without leaving a mark.

Given all of the above, what’s not to like about tatami? My only complaint is that it harbours insects! Last spring, when my friend, Seiko, and I went shopping for the various products needed to prevent or do battle with moths, mold and cockroaches, she warned me about this problem and showed me what to buy if we found we needed it. If you start to notice insect bites that you can’t explain, she told me, they’re likely living in your tatami! We’ve managed to live through the rainy season and most of the hot, humid summer without encountering a cockroach but I did begin to notice itchy bites awhile back. We purchased the spray which comes in a can with a pin-like nozzle that is pushed down into the tatami mat to deliver the poison to the inner portion of the mat. We treated the entire tatami room and hoped for the best.

Shortly after our return from Korea, however, I began to notice new bites appearing. Once again, Richard gave the tatami room a thorough spraying. Imagine my disgust a little while later when I noticed that the centre mat was littered with dead and dying insects that had crawled out of the matting to escape the poison! I had heard these insects referred to as fleas or ticks so I had visualized tiny flea-like critters but these were winged insects about the size of a mosquito. Some were considerably bigger and they’d been biting me during the night! How gross! Richard vacuumed them up and decided to treat the centre of the room a second time just in case we hadn’t massacred the entire population yet. That was several days ago. This morning, he’s just finished treating the room once again and we intend to keep this up on a regular basis for a little while just in case there are more nasties hatching out below the surface.

While we’re on the topic of insects, there are plenty of unusual ones here in Japan. Some time back, I blogged about the tiny moths that had taken up residence in our bathroom. Once Richard figured out how to remove the panel in front of the bathtub and cleaned out the buildup of hair and slime under there, we were rid of those.  The sink and tub both drain into that area and the moths must have been breeding in the dampness.  (Have I mentioned how blessed I am to have a husband who does housework?)

We’ve also been entertained all summer by the loud high-pitched sound of the cicadas, gigantic locust-like insects that inhabit the trees all around us.  Not all the insects here are as obnoxious, however.  We also have butterflies that are literally the size of small birds!  How beautiful!

Korea continued

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During our remaining days in Seoul, we visited two more palace complexes. Like most historical structures, much of the Joseon Dynasty’s first royal palace, Gyeongbokgung, was destroyed during the Japanese colonial period. Reconstruction has been ongoing since 1990 but the structures that are standing today are impressive and palace guards in period costumes added to the atmosphere.

The part of Deoksugung, Seoul’s smallest palace complex, that stood out most to us was Seokjojeon, the first western style building constructed within the walls of a Korean palace. This huge stone structure with it’s European style rose garden and beautiful fountain looks quite startling surrounded by traditional Asian buildings.

In addition to our afternoon in Insa-dong, we spent quite a bit of time strolling through Namdaemun Market, Seoul’s second largest market area. Located a few blocks from our motel, this complex maze of tiny crowded stores and street vendors selling all sorts of foods and ready made items was fascinating. We also visited the Shinsaegae department store, the city’s oldest and definitely one of it’s finest. What a contrast! From the noisy, crowded market where much of the activity takes place in the street to the opulent department store where name brand items are tastefully displayed in spacious surroundings. Of course, the prices are just as different and so are the food venues – from street vendors selling both raw and ready to eat foods to an entire floor of classy restaurants.

Our visit to Seoul also included a subway ride to Samneung Park to see some uniquely Korean royal burial mounds, a couple of hours at the National Folk Museum and a visit to Namsan Park, the upper portion of a small mountain in the centre of the city. We rode a cable car up into the park then ascended the Seoul Tower by elevator. From the observation floors, we enjoyed views of the enormous city spread out below us.

We left Seoul on the morning of Wednesday, August 13 and traveled by express train to the port city of Busan, located on the country’s southeast coast. Traveling at speeds of up to 300 km/hour, we were in Busan in just under three hours. The train ride gave us an opportunity to see the countryside between the two major cities. Korea is a land of lush tree covered mountains with most of the usable land between the hills being used for agricultural purposes.

Busan is Korea’s second largest city and is an industrial and commercial centre as well as a centre for domestic and international trade. Compared to the vibrancy of Seoul, it seemed somewhat quieter. It is, however, a popular tourist destination for Koreans because of it’s beautiful beaches. It seemed a good spot for us to unwind and relax after our very busy days in Seoul. We especially enjoyed Haeundae Beach which was like nothing we’d ever seen before. We literally shared it with thousands of other people! Earlier in August, the Haeundae District had vied for the Guinness World Record for the number of parasols installed on a beach. I don’t know if they were successful or not but an estimated 12 000 colourful parasols are set up on the 1.5 km stretch of pure sand each day during the peak season. For 5000 won (approximately $6) we were able to rent a beach mat and space under a parasol for the day. Vendors wandered up and down the beach all day long selling food and drinks. It was noisy and crowded but fun and we enjoyed playing in the ocean waves along with hundreds of others.

Our second day at Haeundae was cooler and I got quite chilled after spending some time in the water so, rather than spending the entire day on the beach, we walked the promenade circling Dongbaek Park, a wooded knoll jutting out into the ocean next to the beach area.

While in Busan, we also visited Yongdusan Park where we went up the Busan Tower and enjoyed spectacular views of the city and the harbour and Taejongdae Park where we rode the 4.3 km circuit on a cute tram getting off at various spots along the way to enjoy the ocean views. We were especially intrigued by the open air “restaurants” set up on a rocky point below the lighthouse. Shaded by colourful tarps, visitors sat on wooden platforms overlooking the water and were served fresh seafood by women who cooked it out in the open.

What were some of our overall impressions of Korea? Had we not spent six months in Japan first, I’m sure we would have experienced culture shock but since the two countries are similar in many ways, we didn’t. We did observe that Korea is much dirtier, however. In spite of the fact that there are very few garbage cans in public places in Japan, it is a very clean country and we have quickly grown used to that. As mentioned previously, the Korean people are less reserved than the Japanese so it’s a noisier, more vibrant place. We enjoyed it thoroughly but I was very happy to come “home” to Japan!

A day to remember

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Thus far, August has been all I’d hoped it would be but it’s actually been nice to get back into routine the past few days. Perhaps now I’ll finally have time to write about our trip to Korea!

We flew to Seoul on Saturday, August 9 and spent the next three days exploring that city. Though we didn’t know it until we arrived, that was a perfect time to be a foreign tourist in Seoul due to a promotion called the Seoul Grand Sale 2008 which provided us with free passes to several of the historical sites that we wanted to visit as well as free transit passes.

Our first full day in Seoul was especially memorable. After breakfast, we caught a bus to Changgyeong-gung, one of the three palace complexes that we visited. Though many of these historical buildings were destroyed by the Japanese at various times throughout history and have since been rebuilt, the throne hall at Changgyeong-gung escaped destruction and is said to be the oldest building of its kind in Korea. Much work has been done in recent years to restore the rest of the palace complex to its original state. The buildings were very similar in design to many that we have seen in Japan.

After touring the palace complex and walking through the peaceful grounds, we made our way to the nearby Jongmyo Royal Ancestral Shrine where two long buildings house memorial tablets for many former kings, queens and other royal family members. Jongmyo is considered the most important shrine in Korea and one of its two main buildings is the longest traditional wooden building in the country. Once a year, in early May, a ritual Confucian ceremony is held here. During this six hour rite, special food and wine are offered to the spirits of each of the departed kings, ceremonial recitations are spoken and traditional musicians and dancers perform. A video presentation gave us a glimpse of that.

Next, we walked to Insa-dong. Full of antique stores, art galleries, handicraft shops and restaurants, this well-known shopping district was an intriguing place to poke around in. After much deliberation, we came home with a handmade lamp that we both fell in love with. We enjoyed lunch in a tiny, authentic Korean shop in Insa-dong. It was here that we first tried a popular Korean dish called bibimbap. Though we found much of the Korean food to be too hot for our liking, this dish was very tasty.

After leaving Insa-dong, we visited a small park that is somewhat of a shrine to Korea’s independence movement as it was from the park’s octagonal pagoda that the Declaration of Independence from Japan was read in 1919.

Late in the afternoon, we started to make our way back toward our motel on foot. That’s when the day really started to get interesting! First, as we enjoyed a Starbucks coffee break a group of high school students spotted us through the window and came in to ask if they could interview us for a project they were working on. A little later, quite by accident, we came across Cheonggyecheon, which I recognized only because I’d read about it the evening before in some of the tourist information that we’d picked up at the airport. This once badly polluted waterway had been covered over with cement after the Korean war to create more roadways and decrease traffic into the downtown area. In 2003, the mayor of Seoul initiated a major project to uncover and revitalize the stream. Completed in 2005 with waterfalls, fountains, stepping stones and historical bridges it is clearly an asset to the city and drew many people on this hot summer afternoon! We decided to walk along it as it led in the general direction that we needed to go. What an amazing experience that turned out to be. At one point, we heard drumming in the distance and soon came across a colourful group of street artists performing traditional music. We sat and listened for awhile before continuing on to the end of the waterway where we discovered that the Korean Olympic committee had set up a huge TV screen, a stage where a live band was performing and even a huge electronic Olympic flame! As darkness fell, we joined the large crowd that had gathered there and watched the Korean women’s archery team win the gold medal! What a moment that was, complete with fireworks! The square rocked with loud music and cheering. It was a wonderful privilege to share that moment of national pride with the local people gathered there. Eventually, we moved on, stopping for a quick supper along the way. A little later, we once again heard music in the distance and were drawn to Seoul Plaza, an open grassy space in front of city hall. There we caught the finale of an open air symphony concert complete with vocalists and dancers!

A few more blocks brought us back to our motel and the end of a wonderful day. Though most of it was relatively unplanned, we couldn’t have planned a more delightful day if we had tried. In my next post, I’ll try to give a summary of the remainder of our Korean holiday but this day was definitely one to remember and one that cried out for a more detailed description.

Revisting Mt. Fuji

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On Wednesday morning we left for an overnight trip to the Fuji Five Lakes area with Matt and Robin. We stayed at an inn on the shore of Yamanakako, one of the five lakes which are scattered around the northern side of the mountain. When we first arrived, the mountain was shrouded in cloud as it often is. Toward evening, though, the clouds began to clear and as we walked along the lake on our way back to the inn after dinner, we watched the sun go down over the mountain. Exactly five weeks after watching the sunrise from the top, this seemed so very fitting. Later, we could see the lights of the mountain huts marking the trail that we had followed up the mountainside.

Yamanakako is a holiday destination for Japanese tourists with many spots along the shore where bicycles, paddle boats and pleasure boats can be rented. An enormous swan-shaped hovercraft does regular tours of the lake but I thought the many live swans were much more beautiful!

In the morning, after enjoying a traditional Japanese breakfast at the inn, we set out to walk to the far end of the lake, a few kilometres away. We ended up walking all the way around the lake! If I’ve read the map information correctly, that’s a distance of about 13.5 kilometres! On our way, we stopped to watch a high school marching band practice, snacked on ice cream, and enjoyed resting in peaceful shady spots. We even saw a campground. After all the time we’ve spent in bustling cities recently, this was a very nice break.

At the end of the day as we waited for our buses, a violent storm blew in. Lightning flashed over the lake, thunder crashed and rain pounded down. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. We took shelter in a second floor restaurant with enormous windows and watched in fascination. Fortunately, the storm subsided somewhat before we had to venture out again.

Rich and I returned to Tokyo by bus then home to our regular daily lives by train. Matt and Robin caught an overnight bus to Kyoto. They’ll be spending the next few days in Kyoto and Osaka visiting good friends and favourite haunts from their two years living in that area. Fortunately, they’ll be back to see us again before they leave the country.

Fish Markets

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I really do have some catching up to do here. Korea was a great experience and I’m looking forward to writing more about it but as long as Matt and Robin are around, spending time with them comes first! Robin managed to sprain an ankle yesterday but she’s determined to keep on going so they’re off on a day trip to Kamakura today and we don’t have to leave for work for a while yet.

While we were in Busan, we visited the Jagalachi Market, Korea’s most active fish market. There were fish of every description as well as crabs, squids and other creatures crowded into plastic tubs. Richard found it fascinating but I didn’t much enjoy looking at row upon row of writhing tubs of sea life waiting to meet their demise! If I want to see living sea life, I’d rather wander the tidal pools or visit an aquarium.

Yesterday morning, the alarm woke us at 4:40 a.m. so we could make an early morning trip into Tokyo to visit Tsukiji Fish Market, the world’s biggest. In comparison, it was enormous. Fish weighing a total of about 2140 tons are sold there each day. When your only real contact with tuna has been the little cans on the grocery store shelves, seeing the giant fish being cut up was probably the most interesting sight.

We wandered around the stalls that sell directly to restaurants, retailers and other buyers. I found it much more enjoyable than Jagalachi, mainly because the fish were already dead!  They were frozen or packed on ice. In general, other than the fact that many of the workers were smoking, it also appeared to be much more sanitary. In fact, I’m rather suspect of the food handling standards in Korea.

After wandering through the market, including the agricultural section and the outer market where one can buy a wide variety of cooking utensils, we ate breakfast in one of the tiny restaurants that cater mainly to the traders. Unlike North America, where certain foods are considered suitable for breakfast and others are not, Asian breakfasts seem to consist of the same foods as their other meals. A typical Japanese breakfast would consist of fish, rice and miso soup. While we tend to prefer a western breakfast, we ate sashimi (raw fish served with rice) yesterday! I had crab which I knew I would enjoy and sea urchin which I had never tried before. I also had a bit of Matt’s tuna and tried a few of Rich’s fish eggs. We all ate tiny stuffed squid. It might be a good thing that I didn’t know what those were until after I ate them but they were very tasty!