memory lane, kumamoto

After our day in Hiroshima, we headed south to where the Shinkansen tracks literally end in Hakata city, and hopped aboard a local train to take us all the way to the south end of Kyushu (Honshu is the main island, where Tokyo is, Kyushu is the most southern "big" island on a map).

Jeff's mother Roz had spent a year in this area as a Rotary Exchange Student in the city of Kumamoto in 1970-1971, and this was her first time back there since leaving almost 40 years ago - needless to say, a lot had changed!  We were lucky to accompany her on this trip down memory lane, and we got to see some of the places she enjoyed most during her time there.

Here are Roz and Dick in front of Roz's high school.  When she attended, it was an all-girls Lutheran school - Kyushu Luther Gakuin (Academy) - but now it is secular and has male students.  But the girls' uniforms are exactly the same!

Here's Roz posing with some of the cheer squad that was practicing at the school that day (on the weekend - the campus was quite full!).  They were excited, if not a bit confused, to learn that she had attended the school. 

In the driveway to the school, which I am pretty sure she mentioned had been unpaved when she was here last, there were handmade koi nobori - literally: climbing (upstream) koi - which are hung in honor of boy's day (children's day as it is now known) during the first week of May.

We also visited the tiny hospital which was run by her favorite host family.  It seems that it is still in operation as a clinic and run by one of the sons of the doctor who had been her host father.  As it was a weekend, everything was shut down, but we were able to get a picture of the very cool post "box" out front.

Now how am I going to get one of these to Upstate New York....?

One of the only things that Roz says is largely unchanged from her time in Kumamoto 40 years ago is the Kumamoto Castle.

This thing, as you can see, is huge.  And this is only part of the whole castle complex that remains. 

This was part of a samurai room that has been meticulously restored using traditional tools and methods.  These are gilded sliding doors with traditional samurai life images. 

And look at this ceiling!

One last very cool thing about the castle:  Since it was designed for protection as well as prestige, it is fortified in several interesting ways to prevent enemies from being able to get in easily.  As you can see from the picture below, the walls are slanted in an arc upward.  It may be hard to tell, but at the top, the walls are actually designed to be angled past vertical, making them near impossible to scale.  It does appear that they would be quite fun to try, though there were signs everywhere requesting that my husband kindly refrain from doing so. 

Thanks, Roz for bringing us along on your adventure into the past!

Mata ne,
Melissa

hiroshima peace memorial

Back to recounting Jeff's parents' visit.... ummm.... two months ago.

We had the opportunity to spend a day in Hiroshima on our way further south and this was one place we wanted to be sure to see.  It looks just like any other Japanese city, actually, and appears quite modern and cosmopolitan.  There is a great community center/hotel (Aster Plaza International Youth Hostel, if you're interested) that we stayed in which has "peace study" rates for foreigners, encouraging outsiders to come and learn about the city's past. 

We spent much of the day visiting the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum dedicated to the story of the atomic bombing, and realized that almost all of our time in Hiroshima was spent in the part of the city that was completely leveled by the bomb.  The museum itself was a comprehensive exploration (in several languages) of the events leading up to, immediately following, and in the time since the atomic bomb was dropped, and serves as a powerful reminder of devastation caused by a weapon which in reality, detonated only a tiny amount of it's potential nuclear capacity. At just 50 yen (about 50 cents) it should not be skipped. 

The craziest thing I learned in the museum: Many middle and high school children had been outside working on various tasks as part of the war mobilization effort in the city, and that demographic was probably the most affected by the initial explosion (many were killed immediately, and bodies were never recovered by their families) and by the short and long term after effects of exposure to the radiation and radiation poisoning (victims of the bombing died months and even years later from illnesses directly related to radiation exposure).


There is a small shrine dedicated to the victims of the bombing near the museum and very close to the "ground zero" of the explosion. 

I am not sure why it is shaped like a covered wagon. 

The coffin looking stone box in the center of the memorial contains a register of all the victims of the bomb.  New names are added each year on the anniversary of the explosion. 

Behind the memorial shrine and to the left in the picture you can see the so-called A-Bomb Dome.  It is the remnants of what used to be the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, which was just a few hundred meters from ground zero of the explosion.  I am not sure why the lights look green. 

Because it was a modern building, designed to withstand earthquakes, it was able to remain for the most part standing, while almost every other building in a one mile radius was leveled. 

Here is a picture of the site in the daytime, to give you another sense of the extent of the damage. 

It is my understanding that the building has been preserved in the state that it was just after the explosion (so it will not further deteriorate due to weather or other factors) to illustrate what the city looked like after the war. 

And as you can see, the memorial and A-Bomb Dome are situated in such a way that those coming to pay their respects can look right through the memorial, over an eternal flame (that will burn until all atomic bombs in the world have been destroyed) and and to the A-Bomb Dome.

Of course, we weren't able to take pictures in the museum, but that's ok, because everyone should really try and see it for themselves.  Fair warning: it is a big downer, obviously, and you should be sure to give yourself ample time to see everything in the museum without feeling like you had to rush through it, and then time to walk around the grounds and to the A-Bomb Dome to decompress.
(For interesting pictures of the extent of the destruction, please check out this article from the Boston Globe online.  Some of the images are a bit graphic, but nothing too gross/scary.)

As it turns out, when we were in Hiroshima there was a big flower festival going on, and there were a bunch of high school students out asking people to make origami cranes, a symbol of peace. 

Let's just say my perfectionist and competitive streaks came together to create some of the best, and most quickly constructed, paper cranes ever made in Hiroshima by a nice Jewish girl from America, if I do say so myself. 

This was utterly ridiculous.  Please note (though you can't see it) that in addition to the middle-aged "conductor," the riders of this train were exclusively adults. 

 We were able to enjoy a (generous) taste of some local sake, ladled right out of this here barrel.  The nice gentleman behind the barrel dished it out, and is demonstrating a popular Japanese way of dealing with the heat and humidity.  Rather than removing some of the layers one is wearing, or putting on shorts (heaven forbid!) or light, loose fitting clothing, we've observed many Japanese people just taking a small towel, sometimes damp, sometimes not, and tucking it into their shirt collar around their necks.  A good sweat catcher I presume, but I think it would just make me even hotter!

Thanks Roz and Dick for a great time in Hiroshima!  Next it's off to Kumamoto, where Roz hasn't been for forty years!

Mata ne,
Melissa

kyoto on the kamogawa

Jeff's parents arrived shortly after mine left, and we got started right away with our whirlwind tour of southern Japan. 

After a few short days in Tokyo, we hopped on a shinkansen and made our way to Kyoto.  When we got there, we met up with an acquaintance of Jeff's dad for an unforgettable day.

First we headed to the geisha (or as they call them in Kyoto dialect, geiko) district to see the once a year performance of the maiko (apprentice geisha).  Pictures are not allowed, but let me tell you, it was spectacular.  Apparently, the same performance, the Kamogawa Odori - Kamo River Dance, has been performed since 1872.

There is a whole band of very talented musicians (all women) playing shamisen and other instruments and singing.  The maiko and geiko dance and perform a traditional play.  At the end, all of the maiko and geiko are on stage together for, what I have dubbed, the fan dance.  It was amazing.  If you every have cause to go to Japan and Kyoto, go in May and go see the maiko!

After that, we went to a restaurant with only outdoor seating that over looks the Kamogawa river and is only open for a short time each year. 

This was my failed attempt at getting everyone in the picture.

The food was distinctly Japanese, and we all (Roz, Dick, and I at least) did our best to eat like locals for the evening. Some of it was quite good!

Some of it I left for others to enjoy.

Yes, those are entire fish.  To be eaten just like that.  Yum?


After a wonderful meal, we said arigato (thank you) and oyasumi (goodnight) to our hosts and headed for bed.  Or did we....

Mata ne,
Melissa

enji experience number ni

Last dinner with my parents before they leave Japan (forever?)!

We got our marathon meal started right with some healthy portions of sake!  This is right after the waiter poured my dad's sake almost to the point of spilling all over the table in addition to filling the bowl under the glass.  Someone was excited!

We had made a reservation for the course meal after our great experience there a few weeks before, so we had no idea what to expect.  The whole meal was an adventure!  Here is our mackerel being "cooked" right in front of us.

Never one to shy away from a "food experience," my dad had to try the eyeball from the fish heads delivered to our table.  From what I understand this is some kind of delicacy.  Also, apparently the black part is hard and you're supposed to spit it out.  eew.

Some kind of rice-bake thing that finished stewing at our table.  It had bamboo shoots (yum) and mushrooms (which I so kindly offered to my husband) and was incredibly savory.  I need to learn how to make it!

Full and happy after a great meal.  Maybe a little tipsy too.  Maybe.

See you again in just a few weeks, mom and dad!

And one last thing: I've determined that Jeff was in fact correct in asserting that the place has a name. It's called Enji, and we are trying to figure out if that is a play on the name of our town Koenji.   

Mata ne,
Melissa

oh yea, and ni is two in Japanese.

torii, torii, torii!

On our last morning in Kyoto, we took my parents to something I consider a must-see, the Fushimi Inari Shrine with the thousands (millions?) of torii.  Torii are the orange gates often found at the entrance to shrines.

There are so many torii it's more like walking in a big orange tunnel than through the woods.  We didn't have time the morning we went with my parents, but when Jeff and I went to Kyoto on our own, we hiked the whole trail to the top of the mountain to see the inner shrine and walked through every one. 

Hurry up you slow pokes!  There's a lot to see!

When looking from the back, as in the picture below, the name of the organization or person that donated is it on the left pillar; the date it was erected and the builder is on the right.  All of the torii have been donated by businesses, many of them sake breweries from what Jeff could determine, as an offering in the hope that it will bring success.  There are huge, brand new, freshly painted torii, smaller and more modest torii, and even tiny ones, that individuals can purchase and leave as an offering higher up the mountain.

I think they enjoyed themselves, even though we didn't have the time to make it to the top (in all honesty, they didn't miss too much - just A LOT more torii).

So long Kyoto!  Back to Tokyo for one last awesome dinner, then K&S head home.

Jeff and I will be back though! 

Mata ne,
Melissa

Big Buddha #2

(backtracking to my parents' visit in mid-April)

On our last full day in Kyoto, we decided to take a small excursion to Nara.  Nara is a small city near Kyoto known for it's very old, culturally important sites.  "But wait," you say, "isn't that what Kyoto is known for?"  Well, yes, but Nara has even older things, just not as many of them.  And deer, but we'll get to that.

We took the train about 45 minutes from Kyoto station to the Nara station, then hopped off and walked to the cultural park. It's definitely close enough that this is quite easy, and there are so many tourists doing the same thing, it's fairly obvious where to go. 

We headed right over to the five story pagoda just a few minutes from the station.  You may recall our visit to a five story pagoda right in the Asakusa district of Tokyo with Aaron.  This one was pretty much the same thing.  Though it did seem a little taller? And maybe it was older? 

And on to the deer.  Nara is known for the wild deer that seem to have overrun the town.   The deer is even part of the awful cartoon baby that is the symbol of the city.  Apparently they are traditionally there as protectors of the city. To me, they seem like dirty pests which, for some reason, the tourists will pay to feed.  It would be sort of like feeding the rats in the New York City subways.  But, that certainly didn't stop my mother from contributing to the problem. Like pigeons, they get uncomfortably close to humans and nibble for food, even if you don't have any of the sembei (crackers) sold throughout the park specifically for the deer.

When she ran out of sembei and started to walk away the deer followed her and nibbled at her clothes and bag.  Ugh. I made her wash her hands immediately.

Then it was off to the real reason we wanted to visit Nara: The Big Buddha!

Well, that is actually the really big building that houses the really big Buddha.  Check out how little the people standing in front of it look.  Turns out, it is the biggest wooden building in the world.  And believe it or not, it is actually only two-thirds the size of the really big building that used to be here.  But on to the main attraction:

And of course, no visit to a giant statue would be complete without a picture of me kissing it:

It's a bit difficult to see from these pictures just how huge this guy really is.  I have a fun fact that will help, though.  There is a pillar in the building behind the Buddha which, legend has it, is the same size as the Buddha's nostril.  It is said that those who pass through the hole will achieve enlightenment.

Enlightenment?  Sign me up.  I made Jeff go first though.

On our way out of town, we stopped for some lunch.  Jeff was really hungry so rather than the regular sized noodles, he got the Big Buddha noodles.  He was warned by the staff they were really big.  Did he listen....?

Coming soon:  Karyn and Steve return to America; Roz and Dick visit Japan.

Mata ne,
Melissa

superlatives

Kyoto has this temple called Chion-in which, like Texas, embraced the motto "bigger is better" and ran with it.  

Exhibit number one: The biggest gate in Japan

Maybe a little perspective would be helpful.

My dad, in the blue top and red backpack at the top of the stairs, is about 10 feet in front of the huge wooden post of the directly behind him.  The thing is HUGE. 

Exhibit number two: the huge, steep stairs (not the tallest or steepest we've seen in Japan, but a good effort)

Almost there.  Ouch.  The smile is hiding the burning in my quads.  And I'm fairly certain I was muttering "stop taking my picture!" through my clenched teeth. 

Exhibit number three: the biggest main temple in Japan

Beyond just being absolutely ginormous, the building was also very cool for it's "nightingale floor" on what is best described to a westerner as a wrap-around porch.  The floor was specifically designed to "sing"(squeak) when walked on, making it difficult for intruders to move about quietly.  Or teenagers to sneak out at night.

Exhibit number four: the biggest bell in Japan

A picture could not possibly convey how big this thing is.  Unless there were six of me holding hands in a circle around it. If there were no fence preventing me from getting close.  And five more of me.  

In the words of Billy Fucillo (one thing I DO NOT miss from America) HUUUUGGGGGGGEEah.    Apparently it takes 17 monks to ring the bell for the New Year's ceremonies.  That big log with the white thing at the end is what they use to ring it. 

 I think our whole apartment might fit into the bell. 

Mata ne,
Melissa

hanami at The Philosopher's Path

Our first beautiful day in Kyoto was the perfect day to really play with my new camera.  Meet the Nikon D5000.  She and the Philosopher's Path are now well acquainted.



The Philosoher's Path is a 2 km walkway from Ginkakuji, the disappointing (non)Silver Temple, past several temples and heading downtown.  As I mentioned we were in Kyoto during sakura season, when the cherry trees lining the path were in full bloom.  It is a particularly popular path for hanami, flower viewing, but we started from the less popular end and had quite a pleasant stroll. 

My Thinking Man on the Philosopher's Path

Was it pretty?  Yes.

Do I feel smarter?  No.

Should you check it out?  Absolutely.

Mata ne,
Melissa