The school year in Japan has a summer vacation during the last week of July and entire month of August, with the new term beginning September 1st. I'm really excited about summer vacation because I've been in Japan for about a year now and I get to spend a month with family and friends in Oregon and California. Just reflecting on this past year, I really feel blessed to have had so many varied, enriching experiences in Japan. But, I'm also looking forward to experiencing some of the great things I love about where I'm from. Here are a few reasons why I am happy to go back, in no particular order: I can eat food that has, for the most part, ingredients I can identify with - everyday the lunchbox (bento) I order at school has 6 or so small compartments of food, and I can usually only understand 3 or 4 of them; I can drive my Toyota 4-Runner again, on my own schedule; I can drink quality tasting beer with friends (there are about 3 major beer companies here, which make up the bulk of what you can buy in cans or on tap, and the beer they make all taste hobo-cheap); I can speak English at my normal pace, using a rich and slangy vocabulary, and not have to slow down my pronunciation or repeat myself; I can get and eat good and spicy Mexican food (of the Mexican-American style); I can play my guitar, which I miss a lot; I can walk around the house, barefoot, and not have my feet stick to the floor because of rich humidity of the air; I can enjoy watching people outside walk their large-sized dogs, not just their really little ones; I can avoid the curious, and often too long stare-downs of strangers in public; I can be around enough friends to get a game of pick-up basketball going on a whim; I can instinctively, half-awakenly cross the street and understand that people drive on the right side of the road; I can eat with my hands - fried chicken, shrimp, big, thick slices of pizza; I can enjoy again the wonder of cheese in all its forms; I can be openly sarcastic most of the time and be totally understood (one bullet I dodged was not using sarcasm or jokes during my self-introductions at my schools); I can go to a local church service in English, and understand the songs, sermon, and prayers (though I do particularly like the Japanese word for our father - watashitachi no chi-chi); I can go swimming in backyard pools; I can lay around on couches; I can check out parts of Oregon I've never seen; I can go back to places in Oregon I miss...
P.S. I finally edited my settings so now anyone can comment on my posts, something I should have done last year. Anyway happy summer to everyone!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
A Few Pics from Spring and Summer
A few spring and summertime pictures in Japan and Korea:
A field in Iizuka, around March.
My distant cousin Koki (grandma's cousin's son - ?) and I posing as sumo wrestlers in Tokyo. Koki and his wife Kazue took me to an awesome museum on modern Japanese history (in the background) - which happens to be in the part of town famous for sumo shows.
Cherry blossoms (sakura) in a park in Iizuka. The park is really beautiful, and its unfortunate I only checked it out during my last month or so living in Iizuka. It's quite a contrast to the rest of the city, which I wasn't super keen on taking photos of.
A garden at one of my current schools, Takasu Chuu. The English teacher there said this garden won some kind of award for being the best garden among middle schools in Japan. This picture doesn't do it much justice but now the flowers are in bloom and the grass is bright green and real pretty.
'Banana Man,' a statue in Mojiko, a port town near Kitakyushu.
A fish market in Karato, a ferry ride from Mojiko. My mom and I walked through this place and saw people scrambling around to get fresh sushi at low prices.
The famous 'Peace Statue' in Nagasaki. I came here in early May (Golden Week) with Elizabeth.
A famous Catholic church in Nagasaki, near the site where the A-bomb was dropped. We were suprised to find out that the Christian population killed by the bomb was disproportionately affected because of where it was dropped. I was also surprised when I first saw the church from farther away - as a prominent Christian building it stood out to me in Japan, but it's also set on top of a hill.
I checked out a 'sake tasting' convention with a few friends. It was held inside the Yahoo dome, where the Fukuoka pro baseball team (Softbank Hawks) play. I preferred the Japanese whiskey over Japanese sake (nihon shu, rice wine) and Shochu, a sort of Japanese vodka.
Outside the 'War Memorial Museum' in Seoul, which shows the history of warfare in Korea. The crowd of people are going to see a rock concert in a venue next to the museum.
From Orio station, near one of my schools. This is where I board a train back to Yahata, where I live, sometime around 5 pm. on the weekdays.
A field in Iizuka, around March.
My distant cousin Koki (grandma's cousin's son - ?) and I posing as sumo wrestlers in Tokyo. Koki and his wife Kazue took me to an awesome museum on modern Japanese history (in the background) - which happens to be in the part of town famous for sumo shows.
Cherry blossoms (sakura) in a park in Iizuka. The park is really beautiful, and its unfortunate I only checked it out during my last month or so living in Iizuka. It's quite a contrast to the rest of the city, which I wasn't super keen on taking photos of.
A garden at one of my current schools, Takasu Chuu. The English teacher there said this garden won some kind of award for being the best garden among middle schools in Japan. This picture doesn't do it much justice but now the flowers are in bloom and the grass is bright green and real pretty.
'Banana Man,' a statue in Mojiko, a port town near Kitakyushu.
A fish market in Karato, a ferry ride from Mojiko. My mom and I walked through this place and saw people scrambling around to get fresh sushi at low prices.
The famous 'Peace Statue' in Nagasaki. I came here in early May (Golden Week) with Elizabeth.
A famous Catholic church in Nagasaki, near the site where the A-bomb was dropped. We were suprised to find out that the Christian population killed by the bomb was disproportionately affected because of where it was dropped. I was also surprised when I first saw the church from farther away - as a prominent Christian building it stood out to me in Japan, but it's also set on top of a hill.
I checked out a 'sake tasting' convention with a few friends. It was held inside the Yahoo dome, where the Fukuoka pro baseball team (Softbank Hawks) play. I preferred the Japanese whiskey over Japanese sake (nihon shu, rice wine) and Shochu, a sort of Japanese vodka.
Outside the 'War Memorial Museum' in Seoul, which shows the history of warfare in Korea. The crowd of people are going to see a rock concert in a venue next to the museum.
From Orio station, near one of my schools. This is where I board a train back to Yahata, where I live, sometime around 5 pm. on the weekdays.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Nationalism, History and Violence
This afternoon one the English teachers I work with, Imamura sensei, invited me to watch a movie with the 8th grade students. She told me the movie was about Okinawa - the southernmost island of Japan - and that it was a sad movie. After having four classes in a row this morning, I was up for taking a break and checking it out.
The movie, though dramatic with a good story, turned out to be pretty violent. And it was all about Okinawa, but set during World War II, right after the Pearl Harbor attack. The war scenes had a lot of bloodshed and there were plenty of violent close-ups. What made me feel ok about the movie was the story, and how it depicted the American soldiers and Japanese soldiers. It didn't come off as biased because, though it did show lots of bombing, shooting and killing coming from the American side, it also showed the cruelty and mercilessness of Japanese commanders. One scene in particular I thought was telling: after showing bombings and firings from American tanks on villages in Okinawa, the following scene showed a Japanese commander shoot one of his own men because he refused to kill a wounded American they came upon in the jungle.
The reason I bring this is up is because I think telling this history is a real sensitive topic, and if it's going to be taught in Japanese schools it should be done with care. There were a few times when I was sitting in that room where the movie was being shown, genuinely hoping for a more or less unbiased account of what happened, lest my country be given a bad name because the film was taken out of historical context, or I get loads of stare downs from the students when the film finished. It was at one of these moments I remember thinking back to when Elizabeth and I visited the 'Peace Museum' in Nagasaki. The first exhibit there shows footage of the atomic bomb being dropped on Nagasaki (in slow motion, on several different screens) and I remember hearing a small Japanese boy say to his dad, while looking at this big mushroom cloud, 'America warui' (America is bad). And after recently reading a biography on the Japanese emperor at this time, Hirohito, and learning about all the wicked things that he and some Japanese leaders had done leading up to the war, I wanted to scream 'Look kid, you don't understand!' He was only about 5, so I let it go.
Though I disagree with showing a film with so much violence to these junior high kids (it would be classified as a drama but would have to be rated R given the scenes depicting violence), I think the film was balanced and empathetic. I couldn't understand a lot, it being all in Japanese, but I really think if there were some overtly racist or otherwise scenes I would have caught on. That kind of bend didn't fit this director's style.
Another reason I bring up this film is because I recently saw a public presentation of history that went beyond violence and promoted nationalistic, racist views. While in Seoul, Elizabeth and I went to a place called 'Seodaemun Prison.' This place was built around 1912 and run by Japan during its occupation of Korea (1910-45). When we walked down to check out the cell holding area, we immediately heard recorded screams being repeated and smelled a musty funk that made me light-headed. Inside the cells were manikins of Korean victims and Japanese guards, showing multiple still-lives of water torture, sexual torture and beatings. There was a lot of fake blood used in the displays and one of the Korean manikin women had her shirt torn open in the front. All the while endless recorded screams and a stale odor permeated the air. Being there was almost like hanging out in a nightmare.
Opting to leave rather than see the rest, we forewent the footage and photos of prison life they also had on display. On the ticket stubs we received they read 'A living education site for Korean history where visitors can pay a high tribute to the patriotic ancestors who valiantly fought against the Japanese invasion for sovereign independence, and renew the determination of the spirit of independence.' This is the thesis and narrative of the site. Elizabeth pointed this out - Does it make sense to talk about 'the colonizers' as if they are, monolithically, the same groups of people that existed in the first half of the 20th century and now? We both agreed that if you were a kid and went and visited that place (and to our disappointment we saw middle school aged girls and parents with kids that looked about 7) you could easily grow up hating the Japanese. And this is not to downplay the brutality of the Japanese occupation, but just to point out the Japanese today, though descendants, are a different generation than they were 60+ years ago, as were the Koreans, and should be treated as such. Let's just say, at Seodaemun Prison, the torture chambers had way more nuance than the introductory signs.
I think part of what made the Peace Museum in Nagasaki so well done was how it showed some aspects of 'gruesomeness' without going overboard with it. That's also why I think the Holocaust museum in D.C. is well done, because you get a sense of the awful experience of the Holocaust without having to, in a sense, experience it yourself. The film shown today and the prison site in Seoul are both historical expressions in public places. I think those kids I sat with today would have been better off with a film that didn't use so much gore to make a point, and the displays at that prison site in Seoul are not only too distasteful to be put on public display but also promote a dangerous mix of nationalism and racism.
The entrance to Seodaemun Prison.
The movie, though dramatic with a good story, turned out to be pretty violent. And it was all about Okinawa, but set during World War II, right after the Pearl Harbor attack. The war scenes had a lot of bloodshed and there were plenty of violent close-ups. What made me feel ok about the movie was the story, and how it depicted the American soldiers and Japanese soldiers. It didn't come off as biased because, though it did show lots of bombing, shooting and killing coming from the American side, it also showed the cruelty and mercilessness of Japanese commanders. One scene in particular I thought was telling: after showing bombings and firings from American tanks on villages in Okinawa, the following scene showed a Japanese commander shoot one of his own men because he refused to kill a wounded American they came upon in the jungle.
The reason I bring this is up is because I think telling this history is a real sensitive topic, and if it's going to be taught in Japanese schools it should be done with care. There were a few times when I was sitting in that room where the movie was being shown, genuinely hoping for a more or less unbiased account of what happened, lest my country be given a bad name because the film was taken out of historical context, or I get loads of stare downs from the students when the film finished. It was at one of these moments I remember thinking back to when Elizabeth and I visited the 'Peace Museum' in Nagasaki. The first exhibit there shows footage of the atomic bomb being dropped on Nagasaki (in slow motion, on several different screens) and I remember hearing a small Japanese boy say to his dad, while looking at this big mushroom cloud, 'America warui' (America is bad). And after recently reading a biography on the Japanese emperor at this time, Hirohito, and learning about all the wicked things that he and some Japanese leaders had done leading up to the war, I wanted to scream 'Look kid, you don't understand!' He was only about 5, so I let it go.
Though I disagree with showing a film with so much violence to these junior high kids (it would be classified as a drama but would have to be rated R given the scenes depicting violence), I think the film was balanced and empathetic. I couldn't understand a lot, it being all in Japanese, but I really think if there were some overtly racist or otherwise scenes I would have caught on. That kind of bend didn't fit this director's style.
Another reason I bring up this film is because I recently saw a public presentation of history that went beyond violence and promoted nationalistic, racist views. While in Seoul, Elizabeth and I went to a place called 'Seodaemun Prison.' This place was built around 1912 and run by Japan during its occupation of Korea (1910-45). When we walked down to check out the cell holding area, we immediately heard recorded screams being repeated and smelled a musty funk that made me light-headed. Inside the cells were manikins of Korean victims and Japanese guards, showing multiple still-lives of water torture, sexual torture and beatings. There was a lot of fake blood used in the displays and one of the Korean manikin women had her shirt torn open in the front. All the while endless recorded screams and a stale odor permeated the air. Being there was almost like hanging out in a nightmare.
Opting to leave rather than see the rest, we forewent the footage and photos of prison life they also had on display. On the ticket stubs we received they read 'A living education site for Korean history where visitors can pay a high tribute to the patriotic ancestors who valiantly fought against the Japanese invasion for sovereign independence, and renew the determination of the spirit of independence.' This is the thesis and narrative of the site. Elizabeth pointed this out - Does it make sense to talk about 'the colonizers' as if they are, monolithically, the same groups of people that existed in the first half of the 20th century and now? We both agreed that if you were a kid and went and visited that place (and to our disappointment we saw middle school aged girls and parents with kids that looked about 7) you could easily grow up hating the Japanese. And this is not to downplay the brutality of the Japanese occupation, but just to point out the Japanese today, though descendants, are a different generation than they were 60+ years ago, as were the Koreans, and should be treated as such. Let's just say, at Seodaemun Prison, the torture chambers had way more nuance than the introductory signs.
I think part of what made the Peace Museum in Nagasaki so well done was how it showed some aspects of 'gruesomeness' without going overboard with it. That's also why I think the Holocaust museum in D.C. is well done, because you get a sense of the awful experience of the Holocaust without having to, in a sense, experience it yourself. The film shown today and the prison site in Seoul are both historical expressions in public places. I think those kids I sat with today would have been better off with a film that didn't use so much gore to make a point, and the displays at that prison site in Seoul are not only too distasteful to be put on public display but also promote a dangerous mix of nationalism and racism.
The entrance to Seodaemun Prison.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Beppu and the Family Visit
Beppu is a small town in Oita prefecture on Kyushu island. It's one of the most famous spots in Japan for hot springs. It's both a resort town and a college town with an international university. I went to Beppu in April when my family came to visit me. It's only about an hour and a half by train from East Yahata, where I live now in Kitakyushu City.
The crew that went to Beppu included me, my aunt, mom, dad, and grandma. Though we stayed just for the weekend, it was a nice getaway and we saw some great sights. The hot springs there are for bathing as well as viewing. The hotel we stayed at, set a ways up on a hill overlooking the city and the ocean, was particular for providing guests with hot springs for bathing (onsen). I really enjoyed seeing my dad wearing a sort of yukata, or informal kimono worn before and after taking baths. Also the weather that weekend was amazing, not rainy but cloudy, with a cool breeze blowing into our Japanese style rooms. Lastly the outdoor cedar wood bathtub that linked with our room, accompanied with a wooden bucket and handle made me feel a little like royalty. Short as it was, we all were able to relax in Beppu.
Another highlight for me was hearing my grandma speak Japanese for the first time. I'd never heard her speak a word of it all my life, and in Beppu I was able to hear her have short conversations with cab drivers, hotel workers, and even strangers. Her manners were very polite, and it was more than touching to hear and see her sincerity in conversing in her native tongue. My friend Jay, who's been living in Japan for 6 years and was able to meet Yoshiko for a dinner with the family, said he was very impressed with her sincerity. He mentioned that he's seen many older people in Japan speaking quite insincerely; not because of the words they choose to use but rather because there's no feeling behind them. So it was refreshing to hear my grandma say in her native language 'Excuse me, thank you' when she received food from a chef, and actually mean it. Also, after having spent my first seven months in a pretty rural area on Kyushu, it was good to hear my grandma using words that could never be described as 'dirty Japanese.'
My mom and her mom, inside our Japanese style (Ryokan) hotel room.
Nice scenery outside some famous hot springs for viewing in Beppu.
One of the famous natural hot spring sites in Beppu.
My aunt, dad, grandma, mom and me - actually in Karato, across the water from Kyushu on the main island, Honshu. We took a day trip to Mojiko, a famous port town near Kitakyushu, then rode a ferry here. This day was very enjoyable.
The crew that went to Beppu included me, my aunt, mom, dad, and grandma. Though we stayed just for the weekend, it was a nice getaway and we saw some great sights. The hot springs there are for bathing as well as viewing. The hotel we stayed at, set a ways up on a hill overlooking the city and the ocean, was particular for providing guests with hot springs for bathing (onsen). I really enjoyed seeing my dad wearing a sort of yukata, or informal kimono worn before and after taking baths. Also the weather that weekend was amazing, not rainy but cloudy, with a cool breeze blowing into our Japanese style rooms. Lastly the outdoor cedar wood bathtub that linked with our room, accompanied with a wooden bucket and handle made me feel a little like royalty. Short as it was, we all were able to relax in Beppu.
Another highlight for me was hearing my grandma speak Japanese for the first time. I'd never heard her speak a word of it all my life, and in Beppu I was able to hear her have short conversations with cab drivers, hotel workers, and even strangers. Her manners were very polite, and it was more than touching to hear and see her sincerity in conversing in her native tongue. My friend Jay, who's been living in Japan for 6 years and was able to meet Yoshiko for a dinner with the family, said he was very impressed with her sincerity. He mentioned that he's seen many older people in Japan speaking quite insincerely; not because of the words they choose to use but rather because there's no feeling behind them. So it was refreshing to hear my grandma say in her native language 'Excuse me, thank you' when she received food from a chef, and actually mean it. Also, after having spent my first seven months in a pretty rural area on Kyushu, it was good to hear my grandma using words that could never be described as 'dirty Japanese.'
My mom and her mom, inside our Japanese style (Ryokan) hotel room.
Nice scenery outside some famous hot springs for viewing in Beppu.
One of the famous natural hot spring sites in Beppu.
My aunt, dad, grandma, mom and me - actually in Karato, across the water from Kyushu on the main island, Honshu. We took a day trip to Mojiko, a famous port town near Kitakyushu, then rode a ferry here. This day was very enjoyable.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Korea and the DMZ
I have internet! Thank heavens for it, my life feels so much more full than it did yesterday, when I could only use the computers at school (really not for recreational purposes).
I have a little catching up to do because I want to share some of the recent adventures I've had in Korea and Japan. I'll start with Korea, where I visited last month for another short weekend trip. I went to Korea the weekend of April 16-18 to visit Elizabeth. We decided before we left that we were gonna see the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) or go bust. The tour we originally wanted to take would have given us a chance to see and crawl through tunnels that North Koreans had dug beneath the DMZ, discovered in the 1970's. Though this tour was booked, we caught a later one that took us into Panmunjom and other DMZ hotspots. Our tour itinerary can be found here: http://www.tourdmz.com/english/07guid/tour1_1.php?tag=Image1_1
It was interesting learning about the current situation in North Korea, as told to us by our tour guide, a South Korean lady. On our drive up to the DMZ from Seoul, about an hour and a half via bus, she pointed out a few bare mountains on the North Korean side that could be seen from the bus windows. "The mountains are bare because the North Koreans have used all the trees for firewood," she explained. She also told us that all of the media families in North Korea have access to is only government propaganda. She said we can now understand some things about living conditions in North Korea because of the smuggling of a few cellphones to North Korean families, who have since told a few people their stories over the telephone.
It was also interesting for me to check out the DMZ because my grandfather had fought in the Korean War in the early 1950's. Though I didn't know it at the time, the hills and land I saw on the tour was terrain he more than likely lived on and knew intimately; a place where he and his fellow US Marines sacrificed everything they had to prevent Chinese occupation. I'm currently reading a book he wrote about his experiences and the history of US Marines who fought in the latter part of the war, from 1952-53. It's interesting to read this book after seeing with my eyes the kind of place and terrain he was living on during the war. The book is called "The Outpost War," and is the first of two books he wrote, the other being "The Final Crucible" - by Lee Ballenger. I'm certain more of the historical significance of my visit to the DMZ will unfold as I turn the pages to a book my own grandpa wrote! I really didn't realize that he was stationed right there so close to Panmunjom, defending hills I probably just gave a passing gaze to but which were to him, 56 years ago, truly his old 'stomping grounds.'
I wish I had better anecdotes from the trip, but it was what it was. I can only offer two nerdy facts that everyone should know: the Korean DMZ, 2 and a half miles wide, is the most heavily fortified border in the world, and has some amazingly well preserved landscape but due to the amount of landmines present (and other issues, I'll bet) has not been studied for environmental purposes.
I didn't take many pictures, but I think if I collaborate with Elizabeth I can score some of hers to put up on the site. Here's what I have so far:
A snapshot of the landscape of the DMZ and the Imjin river. In the middle right of the photo, you can see the 'Freedom Bridge,' (the smaller one with people on it) - famous for being a location for POW exchange. It was also used by Korean refugees coming from the North.
The entrance to the Freedom Bridge from the South.
A South Korean soldier standing guard in a room within the Joint Security Area (JSA), the only place where diplomatic negotiations can and have taken place between North and South Korea. Our guide told us that North Korean soldiers are sometimes present in this room, but we didn't see any on this particular day.
A view of South Korean soldiers among the blue JSA buildings and a large, important looking building in the background.
I have a little catching up to do because I want to share some of the recent adventures I've had in Korea and Japan. I'll start with Korea, where I visited last month for another short weekend trip. I went to Korea the weekend of April 16-18 to visit Elizabeth. We decided before we left that we were gonna see the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) or go bust. The tour we originally wanted to take would have given us a chance to see and crawl through tunnels that North Koreans had dug beneath the DMZ, discovered in the 1970's. Though this tour was booked, we caught a later one that took us into Panmunjom and other DMZ hotspots. Our tour itinerary can be found here: http://www.tourdmz.com/english/07guid/tour1_1.php?tag=Image1_1
It was interesting learning about the current situation in North Korea, as told to us by our tour guide, a South Korean lady. On our drive up to the DMZ from Seoul, about an hour and a half via bus, she pointed out a few bare mountains on the North Korean side that could be seen from the bus windows. "The mountains are bare because the North Koreans have used all the trees for firewood," she explained. She also told us that all of the media families in North Korea have access to is only government propaganda. She said we can now understand some things about living conditions in North Korea because of the smuggling of a few cellphones to North Korean families, who have since told a few people their stories over the telephone.
It was also interesting for me to check out the DMZ because my grandfather had fought in the Korean War in the early 1950's. Though I didn't know it at the time, the hills and land I saw on the tour was terrain he more than likely lived on and knew intimately; a place where he and his fellow US Marines sacrificed everything they had to prevent Chinese occupation. I'm currently reading a book he wrote about his experiences and the history of US Marines who fought in the latter part of the war, from 1952-53. It's interesting to read this book after seeing with my eyes the kind of place and terrain he was living on during the war. The book is called "The Outpost War," and is the first of two books he wrote, the other being "The Final Crucible" - by Lee Ballenger. I'm certain more of the historical significance of my visit to the DMZ will unfold as I turn the pages to a book my own grandpa wrote! I really didn't realize that he was stationed right there so close to Panmunjom, defending hills I probably just gave a passing gaze to but which were to him, 56 years ago, truly his old 'stomping grounds.'
I wish I had better anecdotes from the trip, but it was what it was. I can only offer two nerdy facts that everyone should know: the Korean DMZ, 2 and a half miles wide, is the most heavily fortified border in the world, and has some amazingly well preserved landscape but due to the amount of landmines present (and other issues, I'll bet) has not been studied for environmental purposes.
I didn't take many pictures, but I think if I collaborate with Elizabeth I can score some of hers to put up on the site. Here's what I have so far:
A snapshot of the landscape of the DMZ and the Imjin river. In the middle right of the photo, you can see the 'Freedom Bridge,' (the smaller one with people on it) - famous for being a location for POW exchange. It was also used by Korean refugees coming from the North.
The entrance to the Freedom Bridge from the South.
A South Korean soldier standing guard in a room within the Joint Security Area (JSA), the only place where diplomatic negotiations can and have taken place between North and South Korea. Our guide told us that North Korean soldiers are sometimes present in this room, but we didn't see any on this particular day.
A view of South Korean soldiers among the blue JSA buildings and a large, important looking building in the background.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
It`s Been a Long Time Coming...
Hey all, I`m writing from a nearby library that allows me internet usage for one hour/day. I should get internet connected in my new place this weekend. I just moved apartments, again, after recently settling into a noisy place in Kitakyushu. My new place is much quieter, more spacious, cheaper, and has a great view of my neighborhood in East-Yahata, Kitakyushu. It`s also closer to the train station, leaving me a little more time to sleep in before I head to work in the morning. For the record, I probably would have stuck it out in the noisy `LeoPalace` brand apartment I was in if it wasn`t for the noise of a nearby industrial highway keeping me up at night. In any case, the timing for the move was perfect because my parents, grandma, and aunt came to visit me at that time and were more than generous in helping me settle in. Props to each of them for hooking me up with furniture and lending some much needed helping hands.
At the end of this short post I`ll post my new address. For now, I want to say that the last month of my time here has been really enriching. I visited the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) with Elizabeth and was able to see more of Seoul, took a trip to Beppu in Japan with my family and saw some awesome hot spring sites, and just got back from a trip to Nagasaki with Elizabeth for Golden Week, a string of national holidays in Japan. Needless to say I have some cool pictures to post and plenty to write about, farther along.
My new address is:
Station Heights, Apt. 808
Yahata-Higashi Ku
Nihon-Machi 2-4-21
Kitakyushu City
Fukuoka, Japan 805-0061
At the end of this short post I`ll post my new address. For now, I want to say that the last month of my time here has been really enriching. I visited the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) with Elizabeth and was able to see more of Seoul, took a trip to Beppu in Japan with my family and saw some awesome hot spring sites, and just got back from a trip to Nagasaki with Elizabeth for Golden Week, a string of national holidays in Japan. Needless to say I have some cool pictures to post and plenty to write about, farther along.
My new address is:
Station Heights, Apt. 808
Yahata-Higashi Ku
Nihon-Machi 2-4-21
Kitakyushu City
Fukuoka, Japan 805-0061
Sunday, April 5, 2009
New Address and a Previous Journey
I am officially settled in to my new place in Kitakyushu City. Where I live is strikingly noisier than where I lived in Iizuka, and after a few difficult nights of sleep I am just now getting use to the busy road and parallel train line that surround my apartment.
Before I forget, the address to my new place is:
Paul Meuse
Apt. 204
3-11-15
Maeda Yahata-Higashi Ku
Kitakyushu City
Fukuoka 805-0069
Japan
Any and all mail is surely welcome.
Now, I want to talk about a place I visited a few weeks ago before I moved into the city. On the first day of spring, a national holiday in Japan, I visited a famous worship spot a few train stops from Iizuka station. A friend of mine told me that this spot was more than worth checking out.
The place was real busy when I went, at about 11:00 AM. Lots of old ladies (Oba-chans) and old men (Ogi-sans) came to this spot to pay reverence to deities. From the station, I could tell by walking through the tiny town that it was a kind of touristy spot, with the pathway to the shrines lined with souvenir shops and small ramen and food stalls. Once I made it to the entrance of the shrine(s), there were several different pathways I could take. Taking one pathway, immediately the scent of burning incense was strong and I noticed several smaller shrines where people were doing their prayer rituals. I really wanted to capture on film one old lady paying her respects, but decided against taking her picture out of courtesy (I really needed a spy camera).
Among the several smaller pathways I could take, there were many small stone statues, looking like demons and other characters, and one large, dominating demon figure with a fiery red background. There was also a waterfall flowing down the mountain into smaller ponds, making smaller waterfalls along a worship path. The mountain that lined the background had a grove of interesting looking trees. One path I took led me into a sort of cave. I had to duck my head to enter it and saw an alter at the cave's end filled with eye-burning, strong, smoky incense and old Japanese people praying. At this rural spot in Kyushu, at this particular time, I am sure I was the only non-native Japanese person present, and one of the few individuals checking out the scene.
I was amazed when I reached the giant Buddha, the main attraction. I think aside from the size and grandeur of the statue, I was truly awed to realize how spectacularly interesting this place was, and how it was only a 15 minute train ride from my apartment! It is a nook of Buddhist culture that has, in my opinion, a statue as breathtaking as the big Buddha (Daibutsu) in Kamakura; yet here there aren't millions of tourists coming to see it, only native Japanese people that have an understanding of its meaning beyond just 'a neat sight.' I was in the middle of all this, fortunate to walk around and simply observe.
Before I forget, the address to my new place is:
Paul Meuse
Apt. 204
3-11-15
Maeda Yahata-Higashi Ku
Kitakyushu City
Fukuoka 805-0069
Japan
Any and all mail is surely welcome.
Now, I want to talk about a place I visited a few weeks ago before I moved into the city. On the first day of spring, a national holiday in Japan, I visited a famous worship spot a few train stops from Iizuka station. A friend of mine told me that this spot was more than worth checking out.
The place was real busy when I went, at about 11:00 AM. Lots of old ladies (Oba-chans) and old men (Ogi-sans) came to this spot to pay reverence to deities. From the station, I could tell by walking through the tiny town that it was a kind of touristy spot, with the pathway to the shrines lined with souvenir shops and small ramen and food stalls. Once I made it to the entrance of the shrine(s), there were several different pathways I could take. Taking one pathway, immediately the scent of burning incense was strong and I noticed several smaller shrines where people were doing their prayer rituals. I really wanted to capture on film one old lady paying her respects, but decided against taking her picture out of courtesy (I really needed a spy camera).
Among the several smaller pathways I could take, there were many small stone statues, looking like demons and other characters, and one large, dominating demon figure with a fiery red background. There was also a waterfall flowing down the mountain into smaller ponds, making smaller waterfalls along a worship path. The mountain that lined the background had a grove of interesting looking trees. One path I took led me into a sort of cave. I had to duck my head to enter it and saw an alter at the cave's end filled with eye-burning, strong, smoky incense and old Japanese people praying. At this rural spot in Kyushu, at this particular time, I am sure I was the only non-native Japanese person present, and one of the few individuals checking out the scene.
I was amazed when I reached the giant Buddha, the main attraction. I think aside from the size and grandeur of the statue, I was truly awed to realize how spectacularly interesting this place was, and how it was only a 15 minute train ride from my apartment! It is a nook of Buddhist culture that has, in my opinion, a statue as breathtaking as the big Buddha (Daibutsu) in Kamakura; yet here there aren't millions of tourists coming to see it, only native Japanese people that have an understanding of its meaning beyond just 'a neat sight.' I was in the middle of all this, fortunate to walk around and simply observe.
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