Sunday, May 2, 2010
April - May, 2010
Although I haven't updated this log in a while, I'm hoping the words "not much has happened" will help. The spring vacation from mid-February to the beginning of April was fairly uneventful, though I attended Aikido practice around two times a week. Although I occasionally spent time out in Tokyo with other students that are still in the area, I haven't done anything exceptionally interesting enough so that I'd have updated with an entry.Fortunately, that changes at this point; since the beginning of the new semester, I've joined an additional club (Kyudo, or traditional Japanese archery using long bows) and met the new exchange students. With that, of course, comes additional travel and interesting trips. Since my friend and her host family lives in Sagamihara (in the bordering Kanagawa prefecture), I've gone twice to see them so far. Although mountains are visible from many areas in Tokyo, they are much more prevalent and visible throughout the Kanagawa prefecture.
Monday, January 11, 2010
November 30 - December 30
Aside from the standard schoolwork, the month of December was pleasant; the weather was mild, and there was barely any "bad" weather.
On December 21st, our Folklore teacher introduced some of his friends (one being the elementary school teacher of one we had been allowed to visit a few weeks before), and introduced the class to "Okazari", and how to make them. Okazari are good luck and protection charms created from straw, and are hung on doors, rooms and in the front of buildings for the new year. Nowadays they are used more often for tradition than out of actual belief, but the process of learning how to make the interesting twist and knot was quite entertaining.
On December 23rd, I traveled with some friends to the Imperial Palace, located in the middle of Tokyo. Although the grounds are difficult to visit beyond the castle moat, they were opened on this day for the emperor's birthday ceremony. The palace grounds, buildings and gardens were extremely well-kept, as expected, and also housed quite a few buildings from as far back as the 1600's (some renovated, some not). Emperor Akihito's speech itself was difficult to witness due to the immense crowds, but we managed to travel far enough to hear him clearly... of course, since our Japanese was intermediate at best, it was impossible to understand without a translator (which our Japanese friends were more than happy to help us with).
On December 25th, I visited Shinjuku's Illumination event with some Aikido club members. Many major towns in Japan had the "Illumination" ongoing through December, with many of their terraces lit up to the brim with bright holiday lighting. Although we weren't able to see the entire terrace, one glance at some of the patterns and designs begs the question of how much effort had gone into each of these designs.
On December 21st, our Folklore teacher introduced some of his friends (one being the elementary school teacher of one we had been allowed to visit a few weeks before), and introduced the class to "Okazari", and how to make them. Okazari are good luck and protection charms created from straw, and are hung on doors, rooms and in the front of buildings for the new year. Nowadays they are used more often for tradition than out of actual belief, but the process of learning how to make the interesting twist and knot was quite entertaining.
On December 23rd, I traveled with some friends to the Imperial Palace, located in the middle of Tokyo. Although the grounds are difficult to visit beyond the castle moat, they were opened on this day for the emperor's birthday ceremony. The palace grounds, buildings and gardens were extremely well-kept, as expected, and also housed quite a few buildings from as far back as the 1600's (some renovated, some not). Emperor Akihito's speech itself was difficult to witness due to the immense crowds, but we managed to travel far enough to hear him clearly... of course, since our Japanese was intermediate at best, it was impossible to understand without a translator (which our Japanese friends were more than happy to help us with).
On December 25th, I visited Shinjuku's Illumination event with some Aikido club members. Many major towns in Japan had the "Illumination" ongoing through December, with many of their terraces lit up to the brim with bright holiday lighting. Although we weren't able to see the entire terrace, one glance at some of the patterns and designs begs the question of how much effort had gone into each of these designs.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
November 20 - November 29
Shortly after the Oberlin University festival and the Aikido Yoshinkan Enbu Taikai, I joined some friends on November 20th to eat some Korean food. As Shin-Okubo in Shinjuku is well-known for its "Koreatown", we chose a restaurant there that offered the tabehodai (all you can eat). Although some of the sauces and kimchi weren't as spicy as I liked them to be, I still thought that the food was delicious.
Compared to the rest of Shinjuku and Tokyo in general, Shin-Okubo had a unique atmosphere; there were far more darker alleyways, and was generally less crowded. Since I was only able to experience it briefly during the night, however, I can't say I know the area in its entirety.
On November 26th, I celebrated Thanksgiving at an Outback Steakhouse in Minami-Machida with several friends. It may seem a bit odd that we would choose such a seemingly casual restaurant, but few of us had eaten steak or other Western-styled dining food for a while, and wanted a short break from the usual meals (it had been around 2 months for me). Although the restaurant itself and the menus were similar to the other Outback restaurants back in the States, it was staffed by Japanese personnel and felt rather similar to the other Japanese restaurants we had visited. We didn't have any problems since our Japanese had reached a point where we could comfortably survive in the city, and the food was similar enough to the steakhouses back home. This was my first experience in a Western sit-down restaurant chain in Japan, and aside from the slightly high pricing, I was happy with my service and food.
On November 28th (the Saturday afterwards), I traveled to Kamakura in the Kanagawa prefecture. A friend of mine lived here, and showed a group of us around the local market and the famous temples that were located in the hills around the town. Among the two famous ones we visited include the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, and the Zeniarai Benten Shrine.
The Hachimangu Shrine is Kamakura's iconic landmark; it has a large territory with vibrant buildings and trees that are tended to daily, and is often too crowded to move around comfortably. Crowds aside, I think that the Hachimangu shrine is a place that foreigners should absolutely visit, even if it is a bit far from the train station.
The Zeniarai Benten Shrine can be seen as the opposite of the Hachimangu Shrine in several ways; where the Hachimangu Shrine is bright and vibrant, the Zeniarai Benten Shrine is hidden behind a rather obscure tunnel. Most of Zeniarai Benten's buildings aren't colored the same bright red color, and the temple grounds are much smaller and surrounded by trees and high cliffs. An interesting contrast is that the Zeniarai Benten has a combination of Buddhist and Shinto designs and aspects (apparently, shrines were supposed to remove Buddhist influences during the Meiji era, and this particular shrine managed to avoid persecution). The well-known part of this shrine is the money-washing tradition; people come to dip their coins in the water, which will cause them to "multiply".
Compared to the rest of Shinjuku and Tokyo in general, Shin-Okubo had a unique atmosphere; there were far more darker alleyways, and was generally less crowded. Since I was only able to experience it briefly during the night, however, I can't say I know the area in its entirety.
On November 26th, I celebrated Thanksgiving at an Outback Steakhouse in Minami-Machida with several friends. It may seem a bit odd that we would choose such a seemingly casual restaurant, but few of us had eaten steak or other Western-styled dining food for a while, and wanted a short break from the usual meals (it had been around 2 months for me). Although the restaurant itself and the menus were similar to the other Outback restaurants back in the States, it was staffed by Japanese personnel and felt rather similar to the other Japanese restaurants we had visited. We didn't have any problems since our Japanese had reached a point where we could comfortably survive in the city, and the food was similar enough to the steakhouses back home. This was my first experience in a Western sit-down restaurant chain in Japan, and aside from the slightly high pricing, I was happy with my service and food.
On November 28th (the Saturday afterwards), I traveled to Kamakura in the Kanagawa prefecture. A friend of mine lived here, and showed a group of us around the local market and the famous temples that were located in the hills around the town. Among the two famous ones we visited include the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, and the Zeniarai Benten Shrine.
The Hachimangu Shrine is Kamakura's iconic landmark; it has a large territory with vibrant buildings and trees that are tended to daily, and is often too crowded to move around comfortably. Crowds aside, I think that the Hachimangu shrine is a place that foreigners should absolutely visit, even if it is a bit far from the train station.
The Zeniarai Benten Shrine can be seen as the opposite of the Hachimangu Shrine in several ways; where the Hachimangu Shrine is bright and vibrant, the Zeniarai Benten Shrine is hidden behind a rather obscure tunnel. Most of Zeniarai Benten's buildings aren't colored the same bright red color, and the temple grounds are much smaller and surrounded by trees and high cliffs. An interesting contrast is that the Zeniarai Benten has a combination of Buddhist and Shinto designs and aspects (apparently, shrines were supposed to remove Buddhist influences during the Meiji era, and this particular shrine managed to avoid persecution). The well-known part of this shrine is the money-washing tradition; people come to dip their coins in the water, which will cause them to "multiply".
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