A Week Away

Leaving
Having caught a bus from Nago, I arrived early for my plane to Tokyo Haneda. It was a nice flight, I sat on the aisle and was able to snooze quite well; I'm pretty sure I've conditioned myself to sleep on planes. This is a very nice thing, since I've never done anything productive inside a fuselage anyway.

Tokyo
I stayed in the Asakusa district of northern Tokyo for three nights, hauling my stuff between two hostels since long reservations were hard to come by. I should have realized that the winter holiday would be busy, since the new year in Japan is perhaps the most important (Golden Week in May I hear is busier because of three or four consecutively occurring holidays). But I managed just fine and had a good stay at both, and though the second hostel appeared less nice, the people were far more into having a decent conversation.

My time in Tokyo consisted of walking until I was lost then finding my way back using the amazingly well-connected subway system. I probably spent a good bit of money on these wandering adventures, but the cost of such can't compare to the fun had by finding myself in some interesting places. These include the night markets of Ueno, the spasm-inducing electro-district of Akihabara, the glitzy & unaffordable Ginza, and perhaps best of all, the centrally located Zojoji, a buddhist complex located under the shadow (and mellow orange lights) of the 333m tall Tokyo Tower.

I don't recall which day it was, but I found myself inside the Zojoji complex, wondering if I had missed my chance to see it, being about 5:30pm and getting dark. But I strolled in anyway, past the countdown timer for 2008. Gladly finding a pair of monks in mid-chant, I quietly found a seat and relaxed as the repetitive prayer and beating of the slightly spherical drums filled the large wooden hall. After this "auxiliary" prayer, a procession of eight monks entered the main section of the temple and proceeded to begin what I can only describe as their evening prayer. I loved it. The beauty of the chant and the implicit message of peace and relaxation were more than enough to make me feel extremely fortunate at my random discovery. The monks were not shy, however, about clapping me and the rest of the observers out of the temple as they closed for the day.

My last day in Tokyo was the busiest. Having had a slight panic attack the previous day while attempting to buy a train ticket to Hakata Station (Fukuoka City) and then spending 30,000 yen on a first class shinkansen ticket (great purchase by the way!...what a way to travel), I spent the last 12 hours of my time in Tokyo at the famed Tsukiji fish market and a remote spot called Takao-san, close to Tokyo but far enough away to forget about the rush.

Tsukiji is the fish market where tons and tons of fish are brought and sold for the fairly immediate consumption by the Tokyo public. I caught the 5:04am train and met up with Cameron and his buddy Joel before finding Kerri and her friends Azrael and QL. I missed the frozen fish auction, but was plenty mesmerized by the sight of huge frozen tuna bodies being transported by hand-trolley, octopus ready for slicing, and the fish so fresh they flopped around in their container as we walked by. Our visit concluded with breakfast at one of the sushi shops (the name escapes me). It was good, sooo good. Our order was varied, with everything from 514 yen fatty tuna to slightly roasted horse sashimi. I couldn't pass up the chance to have one of my earliest beers ever and was proud to have taken a sip by 6:19am.

Moving on in the day, after checking out of my hostel and stashing my bags, I met up with Kerri et al at Takao-san, a mountain and temple facility located some 40 minutes by train west of Tokyo. It was a very relaxing day, though the decision to hike the 4km back down didn't seem so hot when the incline reached 10 degrees, stayed there, I stepped on a wet spot and lost it, and my train was leaving in a little under two hours. On the plus side, it was a perfect way to end my time in Tokyo and I was fortunate enough to draw "big luck" for my second to last day of the year. This may have played a part in retrieving the previously stashed bag. I worried about my ability to find the locker upon my return, and sure enough I spent 15 minutes wandering around looking for the zebra motif locker station. All worked out and I made my way out of Tokyo.

Fukuoka
And then I was on the train. But not just a train, the super-luxury method of passage known as the 新幹線 shinkansen. Okay, so that's out of proportion. The only ticket I could manage two days before new year was a first-class ticket, costing around $300US. Sounds expensive. But consider that the trip took five hours, I had a seat as comfortable (if not more so!) than one on an airplane (do airplanes offer heated seats?), I was allowed to bring my own food and beer(!) on board, there was no annoying hassle getting through security, and everything happened like clockwork - the doors closed at 17:51pm, the listed departure time. The only downside to this trip was that it occurred at night and I wasn't able to see much of the passing scenery. But the lights of Tokyo and the other large cities we passed (Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima) more than made up for it.

The train pulled into Hakata station around 11 p.m. and the first thing I noticed was the cold. Although I had traveled further south, I think Fukuoka City is at a higher elevation. I hurried to the hostel and found my key waiting just where they had told me it would be (a little background: since I was arriving after check-in, I had to arrange a special entry and was provided with an after-hours key-code and pictures indicating the secret hiding place of my room key - very cool and great service to boot). Once I put my bag down, I drank my last beer in the company of some Navy servicemen, though they struck me as quite young, perhaps 22 years old? They invited me to their new year party the next day, but I declined stating I had other plans.

My first full day in Fukuoka was busy. I took a somewhat late start and made my way to Dazaifu, a famous temple located outside Fukuoka reachable by train. I had read about a cleansing ceremony that would start that afternoon during which the faults of all present would be absorbed by paper dolls. It sounded like a good idea to me. I arrived early and with camera in hand, took some pictures that hopefully can portray the beauty of the place. I also ran into one of my roommates at the hostel back in Fukuoka. His name was Shahal (sic) and he was traveling from Israel. He was easy to talk to, open-minded, and decided to stick around for the ceremony as well.

We happened to be in a very lucky spot when everything was getting started, meaning that we were at the front of the ceremony, near the main gate of the entrance to the temple courtyard. The priests (monks?) led the ceremony, during which we wiped ourselves clean with paper effigies. We moved to the side of the courtyard entrance and proceeded to place our tainted dolls in the fire that had been started. But we didn't just burn the dolls, we wafted the smoke in our direction, because it is supposed to bring health and happiness - who would refuse? Best of all, during the ceremony, snow started falling rather heavily, contributing to the cold day the official feeling of year-end.

The early evening hours were spent trying to figure out what to do for the new year. I decided to try visiting a different temple, mainly because I read that there would be taiko, or drumming; my experience with this type of music in Okinawa, in the form of eisa, led me to believe this would be a great choice. I was mistaken. The temple was all but empty, save the people actually working behind the stalls. I discovered later that this temple, Atago, is considered the temple of couples and newlyweds so it is frequented by those looking for engagement and marriage blessings. Knowing this beforehand would have been good information. So I returned to Dazaifu.

It was a great choice. By 11 p.m., the temple grounds were packed. People were waiting in a very long line to approach the temple, make their offering (in the way of small change), and say their prayers (I read later that 1.9 million people pass through the temple in the first three days of each new year). I joined the crowd and as we moved closer and closer, new year came amidst cheers and friends congratulating each other. Once we cleared the last of two bridges approaching the temple courtyard, the traffic thinned out and I was able to move quickly to cleanse my hands and enter. Once again, falling snow blessed us with a beautiful sight, this time welcoming the new year. My last day in Fukuoka complete, I ate some new year mochi, caught the train back to the city, and got ready to move on once again.

Beppu
The last main city of my visit was Beppu, Oita prefecture. It is touted in some information guides as the Las Vegas of Japan. I think that designation is crap. I never once felt like I was in a town obsessed with gambling and sense/pleasure overload. Perhaps I was in the wrong (read: right) part of town, but there weren't any large, culturally irrelevant buildings located on any main strip, nor were there advertisements for ostentatious shows and performances. I also didn't see any of the purported wide-spread 'soaplands,' or 'establishments for the discriminating gentleman.'

What I did find was the luxury of onsen, or natural hot spring baths. Being quite volcanic, Japan has sources of hot water springing forth in many places across the country, some of the most famous being in Beppu. Like the exposed pools in Yellowstone National Park, Utah, so too in Beppu can you find pools of scalding water (colored red, muddy, or clear as far as you can see) that would cook you alive. Sadly, I arrived after the parks had closed, but I vow to get back there some day just to check them out. I'm sure this won't be hard, as Kyuushuu, the southernmost of the four main islands, is beautiful. As Beppu has many springs at varied prices, I had no idea where to start.

It was a pleasure then to meet Hiroshi Nakamura, on vacation from Hiroshima. As I was finishing my dinner at a local restaurant, he sat in the seat next to me at what I can only describe as the bar (the kitchen-front seats for those that want to see the cooks in action, or more likely, single parties). We chatted for close to two hours (his English was very good) and as I began to make my way, I asked for his suggestion on onsen. He suggested a place right up the road, Koto Onsen, and for 300yen, and after a very thorough shower (etiquette in Japan requires you to clean yourself more than you probably ever have in your life) I relaxed in some of the hottest water I've ever had the chance to want to touch. I lasted perhaps four or five minutes in the hot bath, before moving over to the slightly cooler pool where I found myself for about 15 minutes.
Relaxed and warm, I wandered back to the hostel, started chatting to a Japanese teacher from Osaka, had two girls from Korea join us (one to die for! - she had the most adorable rosy cheeks, the other married), and went to bed around 1 a.m.

Kagoshima, et al
With my mainland travels almost complete, I caught my final train to Kagoshima, a port town in Kagoshima prefecture. Because the discount flights are blacked out during the new year, I had decided when planning my trip to keep it kind of cheap. So I decided that taking a 24 hour liner back to Okinawa would be the best way to go. I'd never taken a boat such as this before, either, so it was a great first opportunity. I really enjoyed it! Despite having very few places to roam once leaving the large (103 person) sleeping room, I found myself catching up on sleep, waking to see the sunrise (though it was ruined by thick cloud cover), passing some of the most beautiful isolated parts of Japan, and again not having to worry about baggage restrictions, delays, security, etc.

Arriving back in Okinawa at 4 p.m. on the 3rd, I was ready to be home. I completely enjoyed my little sojourn 'abroad' and would love to see even more parts of Japan, but it's a little tiring trying to figure out where to go everyday and to recover from those accidental two-hour side trips. I'm pretty sure I'll change a few things next time. First, I won't travel at the second highest travel period of the year, for the most part it being too expensive. Second, I'll try and keep to a smaller area of Japan, as travel costs made up a majority of my expenses. But like I said, I had a blast. It was great to meet up with some of the ALTs from Okinawa, to meet some new ones from up north, and to have the occasional run-in with some random nice people.

I'm back at school today and it's the start of the third and final trimester of the school year. It's short, ending in March, but pretty intense as far as I can tell. The ninth graders are gearing up for their high school entrance exams and teacher rotations will be announced in February (teachers typically work at one school for 3-5 years then move on, allowing them to work in a variety of educational situations, i.e. city to country, large to small, etc.). It will be bittersweet I'm sure, but as with everything else so far, I'm looking forward to it being pretty fun.

In other news, I'm working my ass off on learning kanji and have solidified about 750 meanings of the 2000 general use characters. I can't read them all, but at least when I see them, I'll have a really good idea of what's going on. My goal is to reach adv.-intermediate ability by the end of this year. So far, it's going well. Happy new year. Waisu desu.