I See Dead Things

Today I had the day off work. This time, I actually received a call to advise me of this. I headed south by train for Kurashiki, a historically famous port town close to the city. But did I see the sites? No!

I went to a mall called Aeon a short bus ride from the station, to try and find a toy for an orphan I will be meeting in a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, the Toys R Us staff had never heard of what I was after. Instead, I joined a mile long queue for the movie theatre to see what there was to see, and ended up seeing Harry Potter. It was a brilliant film, and made me feel really at home. In fact, almost the whole mall made me feel at home. With the exception of the fashions on offer. I did manage to find the "big things corner" of the department store, and purchased three winter coats, but the rest was quite disturbing. Shoe shops were overflowing with baggy cowboy style boots, jewelry stores and stores devoted entirely to hair clips looked cheap and flashy and full of bling, and knickerbockers with pantyhose attached were everywhere. The clear favorite for this winter.... is dead things. You must have something dead, usually rabbit, draped about your person. Here are some pictures I took using my mobile phone.

Moo

For those of you that don't believe me when I say that farm animals are kept indoors, here is a "farm" I found in Niimi.
This long shed was full of cows. I could hear and smell them. An adjacent warehouse contained stacks of hay. There was a sign further down the road pointing in this direction and it said in English "farm".

Chotto Soko Made

A very useful phrase in Japanese is "Chotto soko made". You can use it when someone asks you where you are going. It indicates that either it's none of their beeswax, or, like me today, you have no plan in particular.

After going to the post office, I figured the weather was fine - if a little chilly - and I was feeling good, so I spent the day cycling around town on my mamachari and doing a little exploring.

I made my way up three different mountains to see some shrines and temples. The best one was Fudouzon, where a shrine had been set up protruding from a rocky outcrop. I could clearly see why someone in ancient history had decided a god must live there. It was stunning. There were beautiful views of Niimi and lots of kouyo. Sadly, the place was in decline. Where there should have been a water fountain spewing forth from the mouth of a dragon perched on a jagged outcrop, there was a murky leaf-strewn pool, where the pool should have spilled over and trickled down the slope through a mossy rock garden, there was mud and dead leaves. The old wooden viewing pagoda platform still teetered on wooden poles merely resting on the mountainside, but has been replaced with a great concrete monstrosity. The old approach to Nishirai was a winding stone slab stairway that went up the mountain through the forest. Now there is a more convenient road on the other side of the temple giving access to the cemetery. Visitors must pass a hideous shack that was once a toilet, then another block of makeshift toilet shacks that are more recent - I would say 20 years old and very reminiscent of the ones found on Mt Fuji, and then walk through an alleyway between the priest or grounds keepers house and bathroom to get to the concrete viewing platform scattered with those horrid blue metal chairs with advertising emblazoned on them. Why do they feel the need to string up electric lights everywhere? I will put the photos on my photo site at some point, but here are a couple.
Following that, I made my way to Nishirai Temple, a much newer and austere temple, again with a neglected garden. This temple is special because there are some historically significant graves here, however I couldn't read the signs so will have to work that out at a later date.
Finally, I also found Funegawahachimankan, the most famous temple in Niimi. This is where the Daimyou Gyouretsu procession (as mentioned previously) starts. The building was impressive, and I followed a path up the hill to find some ancient ruins amongst the bamboo, and a shrine that appears to have been renovated so much over the years that you could have built three more using the rubble and scrap wood dumped to one side.

Hard Labour

Today was a public holiday called Kinro Kansha no Hi, or Labor Thanksgiving Day. It's a day for everybody to show gratitude to others for work done during the year. This explains why there have been pictures drawn by primary school students plastered all over train stations and police boxes and public buildings.

I didn't know anything about it until I looked here:
http://web-jpn.org/kidsweb/calendar/november/labor.html

An excellent site about holidays and festivals in Japan.

I didn't have anything to do so decided to go on an exploration of Ikura Cave. This cave is right next to one of my schools, but I've never had the opportunity to go take a look.

Ikura-Do was opened to the public in 1959. It's one of three major limestone caves in Japan, and is about 1,200 meters in length. You enter the cave via an opening cut into the 240 meter tall cliff, after paying a 1,000 yen entrance fee.

It was once a beautiful cave I'm sure, but I was saddened by the way it had been made accessible. All sorts of lighting had been rigged up, plumbing put in, and metal stairs and concrete walkways ruined the atmosphere and beauty of the caverns and tunnels. Holes had been blasted into the rock in places to make it possible to follow the path of the water. None of the stalagmites and stalactites had been protected so they were worn and broken. The cave seemed dead when I compare it to the living ecosystems I've seen in New Zealand.

There were a few impressive caverns, waterfalls, and rock formations, all labelled with funny names such as "space of whisper", "boiler of hell", "demons gloves", "lunar spacecraft", and "conference on darkness".

Here is "lovely object that disturbs walking" - two sadly worn stalagmites that took thousands of years to form. I think this one is called "jellyfish-like rock" and the black bit is actually the roof of a huge rocket shaped cavern. This is the waterfall outside the cave. I can see this from the staff room at Ikura JHS.

Finally, I want to mention that outside the cave were the best looking shop fronts I have ever seen in a tourist location. Inside the restaurant was even more impressive, with a rock pool and water wheel.

For more pictures of the cave, and information in Japanese, go here:

http://www1.ocn.ne.jp/~ikurado/

Ich Ni San Shi Go Rokk Shich Hatch

It was very quiet today on my way up the mountain to S JHS. Usually I would be greeted with "Kia ora" from the students on their way to school, but there was no-one around. Something strange was afoot at the Circle K. Just as I arrived some teachers went past in a car, saw me and did a double take, reversed back up the single lane road on the cliff edge, and came to a halt beside me. "What are you doing here?" the Vice Principal asked in Japanese. I said "Going to school". He replied "Didn't anyone call you?", and I responded "About.....?". And that was the start of my bad mood. I hopped in the car and through the guffaws found out that today was Ekiden Day. Ekiden is a road race that the students have been practicing for since Sports Day was over and done with. My Vice Principal joked "If the Principal hadn't stayed back for a cigarette you would have found the school empty and would have caught the next train home". Damn....

So we headed into the mountains to Tetta where the event was to be held. I have to admit the scenery was breathtaking, and I was interested in seeing somewhere new. However, I was not impressed to find that I was to spend the day standing up outdoors in freezing temperatures when I was dressed to be indoors. There was a roadside temperature gauge conveniently located next to the local Primary School where we were. It must have been 1 degree for at least 2 hours before gradually moving up to 7 for a few more hours, and at one point reaching 11.

During the morning, I was able to see some interesting warm up exercises run in relays, one looking a bit like the hand jive dance out of Grease, and traditional stretches, all of which the students arranged themselves. All the students from all the various schools proceeded with the same stretches in the same order in their various groups - who said students these days were still conforming to societal standards?
The road race was run on a circular course that went around the valley, the girls running 2 km and the boys 2, 3, or 4 km in relays. While the girls ran it was fairly quiet on the streets, but when the boys ran, I was surrounded by girls screaming "Ganbare!" and "Lasto Lasto!". Prizes were given for first and second fastest school team, and first and second fastest male and female students. The event was closed off with another short ceremony and more interesting stretching.
Before we left for the day we ate an Obentoo lunch in the local park. It was funny to see the bad boys of the school messing around with the children's playground. Even one of the teachers had a crack.

Chronic Confabulation

From Wednesday to Friday last week, the "mid year" seminar for JET participants was held in Okayama City. Rather than spend four hours a day commuting back and forth from Niimi, I opted to stay in a business hotel conveniently located right around the corner from the premier night spot Red Moon. The Vice Principal of N JHS had helped me book the room using an internet special, and confirmed to them that I can check in using Japanese. When I arrived at the hotel however, the internet special ceased to exist. I was literally told by two different staff members that there was no such thing, and the higher rate applied. I wasn't in the mood for an argument so paid the higher rate for the first night, resolving to take up the issue again the following morning. My resolve paid off, because I came down to the lobby the next day dropping names (board of education and the manager of the hotel) and all of a sudden, the room rate changed!

The first day of seminars was as mundane as I expected, and even my JTE (Japanese Teacher of English) said she was having a hard time staying awake.

The second day was cut short by a visit to the hospital, which maybe I'll tell you about another time. My JTE made it clear I was expected by 1.30 to fulfill the role of "recorder" for a seminar so I dutifully informed the doctor I must go, detached myself from a drip, and stumbled my way to the International Centre on the other side of the station.

The third day was almost a complete waste of time as we were there for maybe an hour and a half for a Q & A session that didn't quite go according to our host's plan.

I will say it was an excellent week as I saw it more as a tabehodai nomihodai (all you can eat and drink) social event briefly punctuated with meetings, and I had a brilliant time.

It really brought home to me just how isolated I am up in the mountains of Niimi, and how important it is to me to interact with other people - something I've been sorely missing. It gave me a new lease on my inaka life and I hope I've made some good friendships. I also picked up some new reading material, another thing I have had to do without for too long - what an excellent idea the book swap was.

Be it the visits to Starbucks, Kirin-ya, Asahi Super Dry Okayama, Coco Curry, The Bagel Shop, Red Moon, 24 Hour Coffee Shops and Kimura Pan-ya, I was having fun.

Here we are after we were kicked out of Kirin-ya, not quite sated and in need of something else. Karaoke or Red Moon? Which is better, who is going where, and more importantly, who can remember how to get there? We must have milled about for at least 40 minutes, mooning taxi drivers, jumping on taxis and rolling to the ground, and generally upholding Japanese stereotypes of what a foreigner is.

I took a fair few photos this night, but don't worry, I won't post them. If you want me to send anything, just ask!

I also took the opportunity to take a look around the shops, something I'd never had the chance to do since I've been here. I found all the favorites such as Loft and Muji, Tower and HMV records, the huge Daiso 100 yen store, various department stores, interesting and pokey second hand stores, clothing stores, and a computer store that had the biggest selection of porn computer games I have ever seen. I didn't know that you could buy that kind of thing for your Xbox or PS2.

Here are some cool stairs that I found. I miss big cities.

I have a link to mention - it is not really work safe thanks to advertising (and yeah, some of the content, I admit), but the videos are good for a laugh - I need something to amuse myself after work. http://www.ebaumsworld.com/movies.shtml

Sports Day Remembrance

As absolutely nothing of interest happened in the weekend (there was a festival somewhere but I never found out where), I'll fondly recall for you the military drill that was sports day. The public holiday for sports day is held in October, however my schools performed sports day in the weekends of September. Weeks were spent preparing for the event which was to showcase the students strength, endurance, flexibility, and folk dancing styles.

The students family members, as well as local dignitaries such as police people and postal workers arrived promptly at nine am just as proceedings commenced. The day started with official speeches and military style marching and flag waving, and then a traditional stretching and warm up exercise that must have been around since the war. The music was a horrible plonking piano that took me back to my childhood ballet class days. Surprisingly, most of the family and members of the public joined in!

After the warm up there were various fun activities that had no athletic value whatsoever such as relays dragging a soccer ball in a bamboo basket, three legged races, and blindly kicking soccer ball relays. At N JHS I participated in a gumboot kick, which I didn't do too badly at, and an activity involving throwing balls into a bamboo basket held in the air on a pole.

At S JHS I delighted the crowd by participating in the teachers and PTA group jump rope competition. It was always me that stopped the rope, and we often didn't get past the first turn. I think we got up to 18 jumps at the highest. The problem was, I had no warning I was going to be participating in this. I had no belt on my pants and was wearing slip on shoes - you can see where this is going I'm sure. Shoes flying, shirt up, pants down, and lashings of bacon for Timmy.

After this there were some cheer routines and amazing gymnastic feats, a rousing log tug race and tug of war, and then folk dancing.

You may ask what does folk dancing have to do with sports, and I will answer f*%#ed if I know. Of course I had to join in and found myself at the mercy of nervous school boys and PTA members who thought it was all jolly good fun to prance around with a gaijin, or foreigner.

To round the event off, there were some athletic races (obviously not the mukade, or centipede race) and relays, and this is were we had casualties. When you slip over on the gravel, you get serious grazes and at least four kids and one parent suffered. Also a total of five girls fainted and one had her knees give out. This is a combination of weeks of intensive practice, and doing all of the above "sports" in 35 degrees with no shade. It was disturbing how quickly and quietly the bodies of the fallen were removed from the track while events continued around them.

At the end of the day, to celebrate a job well done, each school hosted an enkai, or drinking party. It was here that I was told not to worry that it was me that lost the jump rope competition. These events are always a team effort, so I should not feel singled out as the individual who was laughed at and who failed. Thanks, I think.

Banzai!!

Lets Exchanging

I had geared myself up for another awful day at S JHS. The English teacher insists on treating her students like babies. There isn't a whiff of challenge in the classroom, nor even a hint of encouragement. She gives them the answers for everything. Due to this, the third year students can't even answer first year questions such as "What is your name?" and "How old are you?". They refuse to read alone in front of the class, and refuse to complete worksheets on their own. The students have complete control over the English lessons, and I am just getting so frustrated.........

But I was over the moon to find out upon my arrival that we were having kouryuukai, or an exchange, with the local disabled childrens school. During the day, we painted pictures on a calendar, and cooked various foods such as crepes, baked kumara (yes, more kumara), and mochi.

It was interesting to see how the mentally disabled children were treated. I already knew that physically disabled people are marginalised in society. You hardly ever see an amputee or wheelchair bound person out and about, and only the very newest of buildings have wheelchair and disabled access.

Basically, all of the children could walk ok and none of them were blind, however they were constantly being pushed or pulled all over the show and positioned just so. One girl wanted to skip in a circle as she was so happy, however this was a no no and she eventually got chased down and clamped into the lap of her carer. On the other hand, there was one boy who appeared completely normal, if a little quiet, who flew into rages without warning, throwing things including food, plates, potatoes, and paint, and he was not stopped or reprimanded at all.

So the day started with some speeches and a song that sounded a bit like what I imagine a whale orgy to sound like. There was one boy with Downs Syndrome who managed to unconsciously make dolphin noises all day. The morning was spent painting pictures on calendar pages, the students hard at work while minders and media types buzzed around taking photos. Sadly, once the pictures were painted, the visitors had to sit back and watch as my students repainted the bits the visitors did, correcting borders, colours, and paint consistency.

After lunch, the cooking began. The students got changed into their home economics outfits, which I had never seen before. These consisted of bandannas and aprons. The girls all had cute designs and the boys had really staunch designs. There were a lot of camouflage prints, or racing cars and flames. The schools number one bad boy had his bandanna tied on his head like an OG from the hood!
Here are some third years making traditional sweets called mochi.
Here are some second years making sweets using mashed kumara.
Here are the first years utilizing he science lab to make banana cream crepes and toffee.
Here is the bonfire complete with metal buckets full of baking kumara. The student is trying to roast his mochi on a stick using some garden shears.
And the finale shot. The kid sitting in front kept running away and was dragged across the gym floor on his butt for this photo. Right after I took the photo, one of the female visitors smacked a male student in the head and started screaming....

In Season

Another feature of the Japanese autumn is kaki, or persimmon. These trees are everywhere, in gardens, and growing in the wild. The old folk travel by train to secluded valleys were they can freely pick the persimmon and take them home. I never noticed these trees previously, but in the last couple of weeks the vibrant orange of the fruit catches my eye everywhere I look.
The fruit can be seen strung up to dry under the eves of houses all over Niimi, rather in the same way onions are stored under the eves.
All these persimmons and I have yet to even try one.

Afternoon Delight

Seeing as I had spent all my money on Halloween, this weekend I hung around Niimi and decided to go kouyou, or autumn leaf, viewing.

Culture Vulture

Wednesday was Culture Day, a public holiday in Japan. However, instead of sleeping past six, I had to get up and go to N JHS to see the culture day expo and performances. It really was worth it though as this is my favorite school to spend time at.

The best performances of the day were the second years doing a hard gay skit that had been prerecorded, only theirs was "soft gay", and the third years doing a dance to Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation.

Once the performances were over and Obentoo eaten, we headed to the sports grounds to play Ground Golf with the family members. Ground Golf is another retiree game, and is very similar to gateball.Remember the kumara I mentioned previously? It resurfaced, was wrapped in tin foil and damp paper and was baked or steamed. The baked kumara was done using a barrel full of hot coals. The steaming was done in such a peculiar way.....lime was poured into a metal pot along with the kumara, then water was added and the lime explodes and starts steaming, and the vice principal would jump on top of the pot lid and place a brick on it. I was told this method of cooking was very rare, but used on such occasions where something needed to be steamed quickly. I tried to get a picture of the moment the water was added but it exploded and I was covered in white stuff. To top the day off, a pair of courting dragonflies thought the top of my head was a romantic spot and everybody got to laugh at the crazy gaijin with insects making love on her head.

Hello my Stinky Little Friend

With the change in season, there is a change in insects. My schools have been over-run with Kamemushi - colloquially known as Hattoji, or Stink Bugs. These little brown bugs have the power to make school girls scream and run and teachers to yell "kuse!", but they are just bugs that happen to get trapped inside the school building and produce a smell when scared (and it's not too bad, really).

I have seen these bugs tenderly picked up with a piece of masking tape, and dropped out the window to their doom. I have also seen them lovingly wrapped in masking tape and placed gently in the bin to die a slow death - why? Just leave them alone! I say, and maybe they won't use their defensive mechanism.