A Husband in Japan

This year my husband, Mike, came over for our "Break Week" a couple of days early. He wanted to see where I live and teach for eleven weeks each fall. He made his way from the airport to Shinjuku by himself without a hitch, and was met by my colleague who brought him to Hachioji and Inume-machi near Kogakuin University where my apartment is this year.

 

My apartment in Hachioji

Kogakuin U campus

Mike loves the fact that I teach in Japan each fall, and why, you ask? Because he gets to come visit me, and with my skoshi language skills and knowledge of the train system, we can cover a lot of ground and eat some excellent food!

 

Riding the train in Tokyo

Mike loves fish, but sushi makes him squeamish. He’s tried it, and now he’s done. I love sushi, and wherever we go, I can get my fill of one of my favorite foods, and he can choose tempura, or soba, or udon, or any combination of things.

 

Tsukiji Fish Market

In Hiroshima we ate okonomiyaki, which is a vegetable and seafood type pancake, which may sound weird, but it is delicious, especially when you sit at a counter with the hot griddle in front of you and watch the chef make a dozen at a time for all the guests surrounding you with yours in the mix! At the restaurant we chose, there was even an English speaking chef who probably owned the joint, and he made his way over to us several times during our meal. He surprised his other guests who were all Japanese because he was practically fluent in English!

 

Oyster stall in Tsukiji

In Osaka, we stayed at a fabulous hotel with several wonderful restaurants on the twenty-second floor, one traditional Japanese, where I had sushi and Mike tempura. Another restaurant had Kobe beef, and we indulged! We may never do it again, but we decided to splurge. Mike got the Kobe beef dinner, and I got the Bunkyo beef. We joked that we were using our children’s birthday and Christmas gift money to pay for the pricey meal, so thanks kids!!

 

Osaka night sky

For the Kobe dinner, once again, our chef stood before us. A hot grill stood between us and a plate glass window, and the night-lights of Osaka glowed in the background. We had a maître de and two waitresses serving us. We watched as our chef prepared vegetables, garlic oil, garlic chips from making the oil, meat grilled in the garlic oil before our eyes. He grated fresh wasabi that we used to flavor the tasty morsels he cooked, and we ate everything. EVERYTHING! I refrained from licking my plate, but just barely. Course after course was cooked, presented, and served, and I was thinking, “I could get used to this!”

 

Kyoto Silver Pavillion

We had noodles in Nara, rice bowls in Kyoto, and pastries in Ginza with the most delicious freshly ground coffee. We feasted and then we were off to the next site, palace, castle, shrine, or garden. The hardest part of this whole week was when Mike had to return to the states, and I had to return to the classroom. We did it, but we we weren’t happy about it!  The upside is we get to do this again next year, and we’re thinking onsen and mountain hikes. I can hardly wait!

Hiking in Japan

I've learned to see hiking in Japan as a group sport, especially on festival days or holidays. Then people flock to the mountains in families and groups of friends to hike and enjoy a day together. Many mountains are home to Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, so these hikes are a meditative experience for many.

Along with the groups of Japanese hikers, visitors like myself come to the mountain trails, too. We join the crowds on the trails and make the flow of traffic up and down the mountain a challenge to say the least.

This past weekend, I was headed to Mt. Takao for a day of fresh air and exercise. It was a perfect sunny day, so I was pretty excited. Until I boarded the train for Mt. Takao with about 500 other hikers!! I’ve never seen the train that packed for a day hike up the mountain, so I did some thinking as I was pressed in on all sides by backpacks and shoulders, and decided to hop off the train in Takao, a city named after the mountain, as soon as the doors opened. My destination—the ruins of Hachioji Castle, which is usually much less crowded. On this particular day, it had quite a flock of visitors too.

I visited this site the previous weekend, and walked from the station to Hachioji Joseki grounds, which is over a mile. There is a bus, but on this particular day, I wanted the workout. I hiked through a cute little merchant street in Takao, then hiked into the ruins of the castle, passing memorials, shrines and little temples along the way.  Unlike Mt. Takao where there are huge buildings and clouds of incense, at Hachioji Joseki, there is only bird song and fresh air. I met several people on the trail, but I didn’t have to fight droves of people on the trail, and walked at my own pace, which is faster than many in Japan want to go.

I made a new friend on my trek, too, which is always fun. Kame-san is a guide at the ruins, and he pointed out the best shot of the bridge. He offered to take my photo by Hachiji gate then sat and visited with me while I ate my onigiri (rice ball) lunch. We parted ways, and I continued up a trail and got the workout I was seeking. When I hiked out, he was at a little maintenance building. When he saw me, he stopped me, ran into the building, and brought out a CD that he had recorded that told all about Hachioji Castle, the people, the war (16th c.), the haunted forest, and all the shrines. The only drawback is it’s all in Japanese!

It’s okay, though, because as I told Kame, I am going to use it to study the language, and that I would see him again next year. He smiled and waved, and I made my way back to the station and my apartment, after a truly relaxing hike. 

Zen-Japan

Many people think of peace and quiet when they think of Japan. They think of tea ceremonies, bonsai, and perfectly landscaped gardens with waterscapes,  and tea ceremonies. I think of those things too, but what I experience most of the time is not Zen, and when it is Zen, it’s because I’ve learned how to make a space, or I’ve found a space that is quiet and peaceful.

Incence burning at Yakuoin Tample on Mt. Takao

One of these places is at a neighborhood Hachioji Temple near where I lived last year. The traffic roars by, horns honk, pedestrians chat, and dogs bark, but in the park-like setting near the temple, there are benches, and trees, and a waterscape that trickles a lovey little fall of water into a crystal clear pond. I went there more and more often last year after I found it.

Kyoto, Ginkaku-ji, the Silver Pavilion

I do not feel Zen on a daily basis. I feel stressed, trying to do my job without access to the Internet, or access to a printer, or access to a phone that dials out of the country (which my rental is supposed to do but doesn’t). That’s when I go in search of the temple. A student needs to print out a form for financial aid, sign it and fax it within 24 hours. Great! Except we have a field trip the next day, and there won’t be anyone on campus to help us until next Tuesday. Some how we get it done, then I run in search of the temple.

This is Dotonbori Dori in Osaka. I'm using it to represent chaos!

Zen is surprisingly hard to find here, but nearing the end of year two, I’m at least used to the roadblocks to serenity. I’ve found a few places where I can escape and take a breather, and this year my apartment was one of them. I can’t wait for next year, to do this all over again because Zen is really a state of mind, and I’m getting a lot of good practice. :)

Itsukushima Torri Gate on Miyajima

Language Study

I’m studying language, Japanese language that is. It’s hard. I have never had any formal language classes nor have I learned hiragana or katakana, the characters used in Japan. I’m surrounded by this language, though, and I can pick out words as I sit on the bus or in a restaurant, and it’s satisfying to know that I’m picking up a little bit.

 

If I could read these characters, I could read my fortune!

One of my students this year came over with Mononucleosis. He didn’t spread it around or anything, thank the goddess, but he did require several trips to the doctor’s office at the local university hospital. I took him on five different occasions, ad he was finally given a clean bill of health. He had more Japanese than I do, but we managed to take taxis and get through all the reception areas in the hospital. They did provide an interpreter, but I think we would have been fine.

 

Or these shop signs, some of which are in interesting English. I can read those. :)

To make a long story short, he bought me a gift to show his appreciation. It’s a calligraphy-paintbrush-pen. It’s the coolest writing tool I’ve ever seen, and it came from Japan. I’m using it to practice my Japanese characters, and the brush really makes it fun because they look so cool and authentic with the brush!

 

This is not my photo. It's from an add for the pen my student gave me.

I don’t know how much language I’ll pick up over the next year, but I do know that since last year, I’ve doubled my meek and minimal vocabulary. Thank you Pimsler’s. I listen to their tapes on my drives to Portland or my drives to Seattle. Unfortunately my drives to work are only about ten minutes long, so I don’t get much studying done during the week.

 

I just ordered a tall and left it at that. Needless to say, it was delicious!

When I return home this year, I’m determined to keep up the habit of opening my Japanese textbook and studying vocabulary and sentence structures. Sound dry and boring? So desu ne! You’re right, but I will be returning to Japan in 2015, and I’ll have more to say, and I’ll be able to read the train signs—I hope!

This actually says, Tokyo. See I learned something!