October 29 - November 18

As I have fallen into a routine, it has become a bit more difficult to plan sudden trips to the remaining places I would like to go to while in Japan. The main Japanese midterm I had was throughout the first and second weeks of November, during which I didn't go too far out very often. The rest of my time has been divided among schoolwork, Aikido and going out to explore Tokyo with friends. Although the schoolwork can become a bit tedious at times, I noticed that my spoken Japanese has become much smoother than it was when I had first arrived- though I still lack a solid knowledge of vocabulary and kanji in particular, I can comfortably communicate with most locals that I come across... Of course, all of this doesn't quite mean that I have forgotten to take pictures whenever I had come across something interesting.

October 29th and 30th, the Aikido club worked on setting up and running an "okonomiyaki" (japanese-style pancakes) stand together with the Shorinji Kempo club. When I wasn't directly helping create the "okonomiyaki", I had the opportunity to walk around and sample other traditional festival foods made by the various clubs and groups of Oberlin. A stage had been setup in the middle of the campus grounds, where various bands and performances could show their routines. Even though I didn't have much money on me, I decided to spend what I could to try all the different kinds of snacks that I had yet to sample.

Although the stand was setup on the 31st as well, the Aikido club had to perform their demonstration at the "Aikido Enbu Taikai", and left the stand to the Shorinji Kempo club to handle. Many of the top-notch practitioners from the Honbu dojo were in attendance, and the son of the creator of the Yoshinkan style also attended to demonstrate his mastery. I didn't manage to get a good look at the VIP section located opposite from my seat, but according to my club members, the wife of the Japanese Prime Minister (Miyuki Hatoyama), several olympic medalists and foreign ambassadors had come to attend the demonstrations.

On Saturday, November 7th, I went with a friend to a night out in Machida. We didn't quite have a particular destination in mind, but we stumbled upon a "neko no mise", or "cat cafe", where we decided to stay for a while. The cafe was standard in terms of Japan's standards (with books, coffee, internet and etc.), with a special twist; at least a dozen cats and kittens were allowed to roam around the lounging area. They were tame and friendly (if not somewhat lazy), and customers were allowed to pet them after washing their hands. Cat toys were also available to freely use, but I noticed that none of the cats really wanted to get up out of their spots... But I suppose the novelty was worth it, if only for the first time.