Trip Overview
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I haven't finished installing all the hypertext links, but here's the idea:
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Trip Overview
The official reason for my first trip to the Far East was to attend the IJCAI-97 conference in Nagoya from August 24-29. Luckily, I was able to arrive in the country 11 days earlier to do some vacationing. From August 13-20, my mother and I were treated to a fantastic tour of the Fukuoka and Kyoto areas by the generous and knowledgeable Hiroshi Isaji, who was my mother's foreign pen-pal when they were teenagers in the 1950s! Our first three days were especially wonderful as we were treated royally as guests in the Isaji family home. After Mom returned to the US, I visited the mountainous parts of Honshu, culminating in the ascent of Mt. Fuji with my friend Thorsten on August 22-23. Finally, I attended the conference, which gave me the chance to see neat robots by day and explore Nagoya by night.
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Tuesday August 12
7am - Lis drops me off at downtown Pittsburgh airport shuttle stop. In Minneapolis, I met Mom near departure gate; we're both excited.
1pm - depart Minn., 1.5hrs late. Flight mostly spent grokking Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land."
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Wednesday August 13
4pm - land, 13.5hrs later (+13 time zones), at modern, new Kansai Intl. airport. After customs & baggage, we were too late for connection to Fukuoka, but very friendly kimono-wearing JAL agent switched us to JAS flight 1 hr later. Bought phonecard, called Hiroshi, then flew off to Fukuoka! Hiroshi met us at baggage claim.
8pm - After several wrong turns ("I usually take the subway"), Hiroshi got us to his lovely home. Wife Kazuko came out to greet us with enthusiastic Konnichiwa's! We were shown to our room, a tatami mat room usually the family room and their bedroom! We were served iced (green) tea and gave gifts awkwardly. Then came a feast at the dining table: tempura of eggplant, squash, green beans, lotus root, onions, herb-wrapped chicken, shrimp, squid, shiitakes, scallions. Fresh-grated daikons & ginger added to the dipping sauce. We drank mild cold sake. Oldest son Haijime, chemistry student, joined us. Yutaka, autistic & not fully functional, came down from upstairs & left again several times. After eating we left a msg for Dad & I had a nice call with Lisa.
10:30pm - toilet adventure. I'd never before seen a toilet with an 11-key digital keypad. Sprayed wall. Beckoned mom.... Found standard flush. Showered (didn't try bath) & here I am. Oyasumi nasai!
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Thursday August 14
7:15 Breakfast - bread, japanese pears
8:15 Walk around suburb of Imajuku, to ocean (Hakata Bay). Bamboo RR crossing gate. Homes with fancy central roofing tile to keep out evil spirits. Athletic field -- belonging to Mitsubishi. Ubiquitous vending machines, even on residential suburban street corners.
9:45 High school national baseball championship game on TV. After Fukuoka victory, players lined up and... bowed to each other.
10:15 Drive with Aya, Kazuko, Hiroshi & Ma to Ohori Park & traditional Japanese garden. Nice fish in ponds. Weird guy half-following us.
11:45 To "plum flower" (translation) restaurant of tofu delights! A long parade of 10 dishes in beautiful bowls. Oshiburo (warm washcloth), green tea (brewed at table), thick yogurt with sweet tofu, shumai dumplings, yuba soup, bamboo-stick sweet seitan-sicles, vanilla sorbet. Servers in colorful pajama-like outfits with matching socks. Induction heater built into table. Pink rounded walls. In foyer, families waiting for tables sat Indian-style on the floormats. Everything seemed so completely foreign until I recognized the Muzak: "Isn't She Lovely." Kazuko paid.
1:30 - To big department store. Money exchange. Looked at expensive kimonos, fans, scrolls, obis, yukatas (robes).
4pm- Sunny supermarket. McDonalds in it; familiar Cascadian Farm, Millina's, & Muir Glen organic products too! But also dozens of varieties of miso, and many strange vegetables and fishes. Got OJ (Minute Maid) from vending machine.
Dropped off Aya & Kazuko; made unsuccessful trip to historyville for doll painting & also couldn't find postcards at two or three bookstores and convenience stores. Narrow, twisty mazes of streets. Long twisty narrow bridges over small rice fields. Double-decker car and bike parking gadgets.
Success with exciting digital toilet wizardry. Yee-ha!
Dinner: salad, fried chicken patty, rice, beans, tofu dish with seafood, rice, miso soup, citrusy wine. Mitsuru & Aya joined us after Haijime & Yutaka left the table. Yutaka, unaccustomed to our intrusion, interrupted his babbling-singing to repeat, "Kitty-san bye-bye. Kitty-san bye-bye." Both parents and siblings are very affectionate and used to the surreal aspects of life with autistic Yutaka.
More toilet wizardry while Mom showed Aya & Hiroshi Hiroshi's old letters. Kazuko dressed us up: me in a yukata & Mom in a beautifully-tied kimono and obi.
I tried the tub -- after showering, rolled up tub cover & stepped into already-drawn always-warm blue bathwater that the whole family shares.
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Friday August 15
6:30 I'm up. Kazuko comes downstairs to prepare breakfast.
7:45 Breakfast feast! Kimchi, takuan (fermented daikon), moyashi (sprouts), natto (fermented soy with consistency of rice krispy treats, yecch), salmon, nori, rice, miso soup. "Dozens of kinds of miso, infinite ways to make soup, never tiring."
Learned: after Meiji restoration, the government felt western culture/technology was superior, so they changed writing to be left->right instead of right->left. Up->down is just like very narrow lines of left->right text!
11am - Hiroshi drove us, under an hour in heavy traffic, to Dazaifu.
Shinto shrine, Tenman-Gu, was unusually uncrowded thanks to the Obon holidays. Before entering square, use bamboo cups to wash hands in holy water. Buy good-luck fortunes by number for: good marriage, healthy childbirth, long life, safe travel, good exam scores... In temple, monks in white, musician girls in pink playing flute, drum, koto (sitting harp). At mirrored center, girls in kimonos ringing golden bells overhead. People in street clothes (minus shoes) inside watching: Hiroshi thinks they paid for the ceremony, for extra luck. To side of temple, steps up to forest & a series of small wooden shrines. Symphony: waterfall, cicadas, and flute & drums wafting up from shrine.
Kanko Historical Museum: dioramas of life of poet- scholar- governorexile Michizane = Tenman-gu = the god Tenjin.
Vending machine treat: juice of pineapple, orange, apple, lemon, and carrot!
Walked less than 1km to Komyo-ji Temple. A lovely, quiet house with Zen garden, many large tatami rooms, nice bamboo details, raked gravel paths, wood bridges. Memorial room with burning incense; hundreds of mini-shrines with cup of water, and often little goodies e.g. a can of beer to show what the deceased enjoyed.
Ate "umega i mochi" (plum dumpling), fresh off the auto-conveyor-griddle. Bought framed plum tree poem, mushroom card. Mom bought fancy candy (I sampled; the shopkeeper girls brought us 3 green iced teas on a tray). Got postcards (hard to find!). We saw maybe one or two non-Japanese people all morning.
Gas: Esso, full-serve.
Lunch out: the special Hakata ramen. Plain, mushroom, kimchi. Tatami area & stools. Comic books.
Bought flowers for Kazuko. Took them home and were treated to bitter, refreshing coffee jello. Then off to...
"Fukuoka History Town"! (We arrived before closing this time.) Many craft-making exhibits in stalls. Top-maker Tatsumi Hara let me, Ma & Hiroshi paint his tiny tops just after he made them from raw wood. Cloth weaving, glass blowing, blue dyeing from unassuming little plants, paper-making, bamboo crafting. At 5:00, we got into the clay Hakata doll shop, where Mom & Hiroshi waited patiently as I painted a girl in a kimono. I found out later I painted the obi different colors on front and back, oops! Hiroshi neatly wrote Aya's name on the front.
Arriving back home, I realized I couldn't activate my railpass in the morning at Hakata because the office wouldn't be open yet. So off I went to Hakata at 7pm by commuter train from Imajuku. Fun, bustling station; found exchange office before 8 & soon made it home; Hiroshi picked me up at commuter station. Had dinner alone (salad, pork with niga uri -- bitter cucumber).
Played piano, showed Aya my doll & saw her high school yearbook. Lots of familiar club activities (chemistry club, baseball team, etc.) in addition to less familiar ones (tea ceremony club, sword club).
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Saturday August 16
Early-am chat with Mom. Western breakfast. Sayonaras all around. Kazuko dropped us off at Imajuku station. Then transfer to bullet train to...
Hiroshima
With difficulty, stuffed our luggage into expensive lockers at station. Then took tram to near A-bomb sites. Saw the famous A-Bomb dome, the still-standing wreckage of the Industrial Promotion Hall, and the stacks of gorgeously colorful origami cranes piled around the fence in front of it. We crossed the Aioi-bashi bridge (Enola Gay's aiming point) and walked to the Children's Peace Memorial, heaped with yet more millions of paper cranes. Then visited A-Bomb museum. Large scale models of the city before and after 8/6/45. Charred clothing of victims; movies of the actual bombing taken by a U.S. aircraft that followed Enola Gay; the person-shaped "shadow" on the bank steps where a person's frying body had prevented a patch of stone from being bleached.
Left museum and walked through exciting bustling covered mall, seeking okonomaniyaki (savory stuffed pancakes). Found the perfect place on 2nd floor of narrow 5-story restaurant complex.
Back to bullet train. It was very crowded, O-Bon weekend, and we had to stand. I watched a mother deftly use chopsticks and her teeth to divide a tiny pickled umeboshi plum among her 4 toddlers, like a mama bird.
Got off at Himeji to visit their famed castle, Shirasagi (the 'White Egret'). 20-minute walk through another covered market to get there. I thought I would save $4 by carrying by big backpack instead of putting it in a locker; big mistake, I ended up stuffing it in a locker at the castle anyway. Built in 1580; painted beautiful gleaming white. Walls have neat geometric openings for shooting guns and arrows. We tramped around the castle sweatily, carrying our shoes in plastic bags and wearing rubber sandals that were too small as always. I was as excited to see the soda machines at the castle exit as any feature inside.
Around 5, returned to station, more standing up on the remaining hourlong Hikari ride to Kyoto. Long schlep through station to find taxi stand. Our taxi driver opened rear passenger-side door automatically, wore white gloves. Drove us near, but not quite to, our ryokan. Tiredly, I poked around the little shrine while Hiroshi tried to ascertain which way to the ryokan. We found it nearby, hauled our luggage up the very narrow and steep wooded stairs to our room. The room was nice enough, but suffered in comparison to Hiroshi's house where we'd just come from. Same size room (8 tatami mats), electric teapot, coin-op television, interesting shelves with Buddhist knick-knacks, sliding doors to room-length closet containing futons, pillows, etc.
We had time for quick showers before setting out to find a good viewpoint for the famous Kyoto O-Bon festival--daimonji gozan okuribi religious bonfires set on hills around the city. We climbed the streets to Kiyomizu-dera Temple, passing gorgeous monuments and temples in the dark on the way. A passage was closed and we had to go back down the hill and up a different, more commercial street.
It was crowded at the temple! We paid some admission fee to join the crowds wrestling for good viewing position on the stairs up to the temple. I scurried up a side path and found a place where I could set my camera down and attempt to photograph the faraway bonfires. It would have probably looked better on TV, but it was fun to jostle with the crowd.
We were hungry!!! Got ramen from a little noodle joint.
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Sunday August 17
Breakfast at Lawson's convenience store (Japanese word: "conveniencestore"). Yogurt, tropicana juice, and nori-wrapped triangular rice balls that we took back to our room. The Japanese guests at our ryokan were served breakfast in their rooms. Hmph.
Taxi to fancy Western hotel Tokyu. They held our bags. Bus 206 back to Sanjusangen-do Temple. Meaning: 33x unit of distance 6m, the length of the long temple hallway, site of ancient annual archery competitions. 1001 brass Kannons (Buddhist goddess of mercy), protected by 28 fiercesome guardian statues. Monks doing beautiful calligraphy in people's temple pasbooks for 300 Yen. Mom & I have big giggle fits, nonplussing Hiroshi. Shoes on again.
Great little restaurant, I got cold udon (served under ice, since pasta's freshly-cooked) with wasabi & green onion.
Up steps near Kiyomizu-dera, following the narrow street of Zen temples and monuments that we'd had to abort last night. At a small temple along the way, we watch people cup incense smoke over their shoulders & neck before praying. People also brought flowers, candles, and money to the altar: the usual. At a nearby stone monument, saw a little boy earnestly praying alone; I couldn't bring myself to photograph him, though it would've been a prizewinner.
At top of hill, reached Kiyomizu-dera temple. Its pretty, elevated wooden stage is mentioned in a Japanese expression: to jump off Kiyomizu-dera stage means either to have huge bravery, or to offer to sell something at a deep discount! Below the stage, an ancient wooden temple dispensed holy smart water: we partook using long-handled cups pulled from a convenient built-in UV sterilizer. Outdoor tatami mat seating at shaved-ice & noodle van!
Walked down, down shopping street, 'Teapot Lane'. Fans, candies and pickled veggies with free samples, cloth, Hello Kitty, pottery, bamboo, spices. Green-tea flavored soft ice cream.
Bus to hotel, check-in. Hour to rest, shower, wash clothes. The hotel bathroom provided illustrated instruction on how to use the Western-style toilet: seat up for #1, seat down for #2. Cab to a shojin-riyori restaurant -- Kyoto Buddhist veggie cuisine. Tofu made from sesame, imitation fishes, good, about $30 each. Huge gigglefest when Mom turned our heads to point out a man in the alley below, towing a huge wagon piled high withcardboard boxes... by bicycle. While we gawked, Mom discreetly blew her nose... but I caught her.
Longish nighttime walk back to our hotel, pleasant. At bookstore, found Fishbone CD! Wrung out laundry.
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Monday August 18
7am. Mom's wake-up call prank put her in a super-giggly mood for the rest of the day.
7:45am. Subway to imperial palace. Hiroshi & Mom waited in line for special foreigner permission tickets; I went to get us all breakfast at a convenience store (next to crowded McDonalds). Half a dozen men in suits looking at girlie mags. Got rice balls stuffed with fish & seaweed, bananas, bread, yogurt, juice. 995 Yen. Bowed & left... Returning to palace, saw an old man and young woman riding bicycles into palace grounds; both had cute, mildly-protesting dogs in their bike baskets. Later, saw a mom with cutest 2-yr-old daughter in bike basket. All with big straw hats; some with bamboo umbrellas for shade.
Much more hilarity as we had breakfast at an outdoor table. We knew we shouldn't giggle at the toilet that bleeps loudly every 30 seconds (it's for blind people), but we couldn't help ourselves.
Tour was a bust. We weren't allowed to be within earshot of the official guide, because as a native, Hiroshi could only accompany us under auspices of being an interpreter-guide. But we had to stay close enough to the group that one guard could keep an eye on both us and the group. Hiroshi knew a lot. For example, only the emperor's palace can have special chrysanthemums carved into edge of roof tiles. Wood of stage, very special: so old, no knots. Pretty garden.
Bus 59 straight to Kinkakuji golden temple. A bit crowded; too gaudy for a proper Buddhist temple, but pretty. Outdoor teashop, recognizable by red cloth covered benches.
No luck finding om-rice for lunch. Had nice box of green tea soba, fancy veggie rice, pressed scrambled egg, 1 piece of sushi-like stuff.
Walk down to fun private train line bound for Arishayama (storm mountain). Famous Togetsu-kyo bridge near ukai (cormorant fishing). Wander ISO WC.
Stepped into a really nice tiny coffeeshop. Bell to summon friendly waitress. Gorgeous garden & even outhouse (the point of our visit) was beautiful. Ice coffee for Hiroshi, sweet red bean soup for Mom, sweet green tea over shaved ice for me. With homemade, vari-colored gluten-rice stuff and one cube of coffee jello. We stayed and relaxed there; I wrote some postcards.
Continued into a glorious bamboo forest. The symphonic chorus of crickets, cicadas, doves, crows, the trees swaying noisily. Welcome shade.
Leaving the forest, we wandered more or less uphill through an upscale community, until we stumbled onto the lush grounds of the Nison-in Temple. It was 4:45 and the ticket office lady was nice enough to let us in, pointing to a side gate where we could let ourselves out after closing time. We followed our ears up the hill, through the trees, until reaching the temple itself, where a solitary monk chanted in monotone from a book, for no audience, accompanying himself by constant drumbeat in right hand (incredible stamina!) on wooden-fish drum, and occasional chime/gong in left hand. Sound of running spring water. We were transfixed. A mother and daughter came to pray, kneeling, sans shoes. Closing time -- doors slide closed, chant gently slows and finally stops.
We stayed, spending much time among the trees, ancient stone monuments, chirping cicadas, mosquitoes. I hammered the giant stone bell: once for good luck for me, twice for good luck for others, and thrice for world peace.
Green tea soft serve, 200 Yen. Lined up for boat excursion to watch ukai fishing up close, paid 1700 Yen ea. Amazing! Enter boat with ~10 Japanese; shoes off to sit on tatami mats. Open-air wooden boat with temple-like wooden roof; real candles burning in two rows of paper lanterns. Gondolier took us up river 15 minutes as dusk fell (clouds covered full moon), then back down to edge of mini-falls, near bridge. On the way we were amused when a motorboat selling skewered fresh-grilled meat & other snacks pulled alongside. Adorable toddler snacked. We tied up the boat, alongside about 8 others. We saw distant fireworks.
Then, the two ukai boats came. First I saw the sparks flying from the burning wood in a grille suspended above the boat. The boats went by slowly, parallel to us, each with 3 fishermen in monk-like long black robes, all standing. One used the long pole (15ft) to propel boat. One, in middle, steered with another pole, made loud thumping noises with his oar against the side of the boat (to keep fish fron swimming under boat? and why the sparking fire?), and watched the birds to notice if any fish were caught, at which moment he would chant/yell vigorously and point at the lucky cormorant. Finally, at the bow, the ukai himself, dexterously managing a knot of 6 ropes, attached to each bird by a tight ring arund the neck. The poor birds can't swallow their catch; as soon as they're spotted with a catch, they're hauled in and choked by the ukai so they disgorge their little silver fish (ayu) into the basket. Wow.
JR train + 20-min walk back to Tokyu Hotel. Got good bento dinners at 7-11, and ate in Hiroshi's room.
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Tuesday August 19
Check out of Tokyu, taxi, left bags in Kyoto station locker. Kintetsu line train to Nara.
11am Nara
Got convenience store brunch to picnic in park outside station --
tame deer everywhere! Pesky mama leaned over and snatched one
of our precious 150 Yen figs!
Todai-ji Temple - massive (though not as large as 8th century original) wooden structure. Giant angry gods guarding gate. 50-ft bronze Buddha inside. Bronze lotus flowers, butterflies. Kids crawling through hole in base of wooden support pole, to get enlightenment. Outside, souvenirs and more deer petting.
Long bus ride to Horyu-ji, temple with >1400-yr-old buildings. Very old wood & bronze carvings in treasury... I like Dream-Changing one. Octagonal temple cool.
Giggly commentary on delicious-sounding Japanese soft drinks: calpis, Pocari sweat. But I got Nihon-Cider, like ginger ale, with image of Fuji. I stole last bite of Mom's green tea soft serve, provoking more great giggling.
30-minute walk to JR Horyu-ji station. Rice & soy fields amidst industry & residential area. Many bikers with 2 wire seats, front and back, for their infants. 440pm.
8pm. 3 or 4 trains later, after fetching our bags from Kyoto station lockers (marvelous new station), we arrived at a commuter station very close to Hiroshi's dorm, "solitary confinement" for Mitsubishi employees in an urban area just outside Osaka. (To be precise: Tsukaguchi-cho, Amagasaki-city, Hyogo prefecture.) We walked about three blocks through the flashing urban nightscape. Hiroshi lives on second of three floors; Mom & I stayed in 1st-floor guest room, 8 tatami mats big. Room equipment: two futons, mini-desk, Mitsubishi air conditioner, Mitsubishi phone, Mitsubishi flashlight, Mitsubishi desk lamp... four common rooms on hall: TV lounge/eating area, bath (communal), sink & laundry room (machines: fuzzy logic, Mitsubishi), and toilets (all Japanese-style).
Awesome fun Kurukuru-sushi (kaiten-zushi?) dinner! Rotating conveyor belt brought a dozen varieties of sushi around the restaurant, past every booth. Grab whatever you like! China pattern of plate encodes 100, 150, or 180 Yen. Tried: tuna, squid, octopus, eel (paintbrush for BBQ-like sauce), corn, cucumber, roe, several unidentifiables. Isahi beer is very good; Mom had warm sake.
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Wednesday August 20
Mom leaves midday today.
Egg roll, shu mai, rice ball, lychee yogurt, sweet soybean pastry from self-serve bakery.
Wrote thank-you note to Mrs. Jitsuhara. Surprisingly, Hiroshi didn't know her name and had to ask her. She gave me a nakini (indoor yukata robe)!
10:13 Train to Osaka station. Full but not packed; 95% women.
Shopping in Osaka station dept store (Hankyu, the same company that runs the private railway we took). American girl buying fancy mask imprssed Hiroshi with flawless Japanese. Got sumo postcards. Teary goodbye to Mom, many arigatos to Hiroshi.
I'm on the Shinkansen bound for Nagoya, where I'll transfer for the northbound line to the Alps. Next to me are two cute kids ~9, with Tamagotchi necklaces, their mother and grandma. All seats on Shinkansen spin, so families like this one can sit together. I'm at Kyoto station now; train's overfull. Across from me, a ~13-yr old girl waved goodbye to her grandma outside the window & is now crying silently.
At Nagoya station, mailed Lisa a fan-letter. Got lunch at a self-serve bakery: (1)fried patty of mashed potatoes like samosa, but wrapped in bread and topped with ketchup; (2) pepperoni pizza-bread topped with parsley and... ketchup. I'll stick to rice-based stuff from now on. The 13:40 Takayama train departed at 13:41; I'm shocked and dismayed.
Comfortable, very scenic train ride along the river Hida. In the four cars I explored, I was the only Caucasian. I feel like a Westerner here, not an American. I represent Poland and Portugal and Canada... But the Japanese embrace and imitation of western culture is 99.9% USA.
Arrived Takayama 415pm. Trudged through touristy shopping area, up toward youth hostel, about 20 minutes. Got slightly lost but found Higashiyama walking trail of shrines and temples with well-marked signs of 3 kanji. My Youth Hostel is in one of the trail's temples, so I just followed the trail til I arrived. Shoes off, check in, was hurriedly taken across the street to small adjacent dorm. She was busy making dinner... as it turns out, for over 100 schoolgirls. That explains the loud recorder music I'd heard wafting over the temple grounds! I walked around & upstairs in the main building; saw families occupying the smaller YH rooms, and scores of ~10-yr-old girls who were curiously pointing at me and running to tell their friends to come look. When I said "Konnichiwa" they exploded in giggles (but said it back). One said "Hallo" which, when I returned the favor, sent them into conniptions.
For the nth time I put on my shoes and went out to continue the marked shrine and temple tour. Rewarding sidetrack into cemetery on wooded hillside overlooking sunset. Continued, but lost trail and was getting hungry, so found way into town where I charaded my wish for two skewers of shish-ke-bab. I asked her to repeat the name of the item--yakitori--and she was so pleased she gave me a free piece of something else, I think it was a slice of fried eggplant. Ate on a bench, was still hungry, decided to pursue Hida Soba (local noodle) but couldn't find & was walking in circles, now dark outside. Eventually I told myself I would walk into the next restaurant I found, no matter what, and so I bravely entered a tiny crowded restaurant with stools at the bar and sitting tatami tables on the side and in back. I sat at the bar and studied the strips of paper hanging from the walls, presumably the menu. No English, no pictures, no prices written in numerals -- yow!! Waitress and Itamae-San were the only two workers, both behind bar. Eventually the waitress was near, and I had no way to order (I didn't even know what genre of restaurant I was in) except to point at the plate of the businessman eating alone next to me. That, it turns out, was his sashimi appetizer... and that's what I got. Delicious on a bed of clear stringy salad, with side of soybeans in their pods. The man to my right helped me order a beer. But before I could toast with him, a couple came and squeezed in between us. The damage was pretty bad, 1700 Yen... this was a nice little place. I don't know the name, I have no receipt, and I could never find it again on that little side street.
Satisfied, I decided to head straight back to the YH for shower time (men, 7:30-9:30). But then a giant stroke of luck! I thought I was walking away from the river but then I met it, not in the center part of town. On a whim I left the sidewalk and took the narrow stairs down to the water's edge, seeking a quiet place for contemplation. I strolled along the bank for awhile, following the river upstream, no real idea where I was going. Then, I was surprised to see some boys up ahead scampering in the water. Closer, I saw they were gathering up candle lanterns that were floating down the river! There were hundreds of these lanterns, so beautiful, sparkling, flowing. Then I heard monks chanting distantly, in beautiful chant harmony. I saw the lit-up bridges of central Takayama up ahead, and fireworks in the distance. I climbed back up to street level and hurried into the center of town. There, it was all lit up and crowded with people, many of them families all in matching pajamas. At the center of the event, the monks' chant was loud (amplified); they stood in a semicircle on the main bridge before an altar that had been set up there. Old women prayed, camera shutters clicked. Upriver, I saw people setting more candles afloat. All in all, an amazing scene.
Got ice cream, headed back to YH without getting lost this time, made it just in time to shower, chatted with the German guys on the futons next to me, and fell asleep to the loud croaking of bullfrogs.
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Thursday August 21
High-fidelity shakahuchi music was piped in to help us wake at 6:30. Of 7 of us on the 1st-floor tatami room (men's adjoint dorm), 2 young Mormon missionaries from Utah, 3 Deutsch who didn't know each other (2 had girlfriends upstairs), and 1 Chinese or Japanese who'd bathed himself extremely throughly last night: he now spent at least 30 mins in lotus position silently stretching.
At 7:10 I was paged over the intercom for breakfast - "blah blah blah Boyan-san blah blah." Aforementioned Chinese man was already there and quickly done, left without a word. I ate boiled egg, banana, sweet soybeans, burdick root, miso soup, rice with nori & sesame, and green tea. Shrine in my little private dining room. The 100 little girls were in the main dining hall behind me, giggling away. Soon they paraded past my room on their way to the kitchen with stacks of dirty bowls, pausing to gawk or smile at me.
I rented a miserable tiny bike & set off. Mishiyama market was nice, farmer's wives selling produce on street above riverbank where lanterns floated last night. Biked through narrow pedestrian streets of old town, stopping for interlocking wood teacups. Up to Shiroyama park above town now--big, reminds me of Schenley with shaded trails, but also many shrines, temples, and monuments here and there. The crickets are very loud in this pagoda. A black butterfly just perched on my backpack, 2 inches from my hand, but couldn't get any nectar out of it.
What does 'ohte' mean? Idea for a koan. A young man is exploring a park in a strange land where he doesn't speak the language. He is intrigued by signs for the 'ohte' and resolves to find it and visit it. The signs bearing arrows are frequent, so it is easy to follow the path to the ohte. Abruptly the path comes to a T and the 'ohte' signs end. Ohte means path. I don't know if that's what it means or not, but it makes a good story.
230pm. I'm high up in the Japanese Alps, with a good view of Takayama & mountains beyond. I just wasted several photos on a beautiful dragonfly perched next to me. My right hand has a strong shroom smell from the white paste that oozed out of the big yellow mushroom I broke open for fun.
From 10 to 12, I biked thru town, stopping at Jiyama farmer's market to buy an apple-pear. South on highway 158, I reached Hida Folk Village. Spent 600 Yen & an hour seeing 19th-century rural farmhomes, many built with no nails. So similar to American farmhomes, but for tatami/sliding-screen rooms. Highlight was being dozo'd into a room in the Maedas House by a friendly old man, who I suppose worked there, and being offered tea & rice crackers.
ISO the Forest of Seven Lucky Gods, I wandered (pause to shoo dragonfly off my knee) up into the woods, recognizing the kanji for 'trail' now. Up shady paths, up up up, nice stone paths & log bridges at points, no one else around. Found a water source just when I'd run out. Now I'm in the hills, 909m high, near a remote shrine which I'll visit next.
Hiked down past birds & snakes. Biked back to station, stopping for grilled-rice-patty-on-chopsticks and a pre-made green tea soft-serve cone. Chatted with Mor(m)on missionary for awhile, trying to convert him to atheism, or at least get him to renounce the one-true-way aspect of his faith. He's lived here 18 months; he says the candle-lantern ceremony is only twice a year! I'm so lucky! That may explain why the YH was totally jam-packed full of Japanese last night, and practically empty today. According to my guidebook, candle-lantern festivals are common during the O Bon (Festival of the Dead) period; they signify the return of the departed to the underworld.
Rice balls and back to YH, met Thorsten! Laundry. Guarana soda. Out looking for a 'taoru' (towel), but couldn't find one under 2000 Yen. We lost 300 Yen very quickly at pachinko; a lady tried to show us where to aim the balls. Only minimal skill is exercisable in pachinko, but we didn't have it.
Found a nice little dive for Chinese soba salad with mayonnaise, delicious cold baby potatoes. Great long wake-up call to Lis from corner phone booth.
Back at YH, showered, retrieved clean laundry; then Thorsten & I chatted with our roommates (the two Mormon guys and a nice young guy from Seoul). Traded travel tips.
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Friday August 22
Wake up to ambulance (siren plus repeated recorded voice message), monk's drums, crickets and birds, and snoring. Today: Festival Floats museum, trains to Fuji!
At farmer's market with Thorsten, saw fish for sale with a little smokepot to keep flies away. I went off to change money, was given souvenir tissue pack. Floats museum very impressive; I liked Jinma-Tai, the "jealous woman" one. Got JR bento and made it to Nagoya. Now we're Fuji-bound.
From Shin-Fuji station, we boarded a bus for the two-hour ride to Fujinomiya Checkpoint 5, halfway up the mountain. It was cloudy and there was no sign of the mountain until we were on it; for awhile we suspected the whole Fuji thing was a prank.
The checkpoint was at 2400m elevation and it was quite chilly. We watched the sun set, sorted out our gear, and ate some tempura udon at the cafeteria.
[[the following account comes from email I sent to friends afterwards]]
Greetings from the top of Mt. Fuji! No, actually, I came down yesterday and am now at a conference in Nagoya. But there are indeed phones at the edge of the crater, 3700 meters up.
The climb was incredible. The idea is to reach the summit at dawn for the best chance of not having cloudcover, so Thorsten and I started around 7pm; it was already dark. It was a very clear night, and I wasted some film attempting to capture the dazzling sky. We saw shooting stars. The moonrise was brilliant orange. We snacked on the crackers and vitamin-water Thorsten had brought from Germany.
We weren't alone on the mountain: supposedly 5000 people were making the pilgrimmage that night. We were in a single-file line for many portions of the hike. Looking down the mountain, we saw the long line of hikers with their flashlights, snaking back and forth.
By midnight I was freezing, headachy and nauseous from the altitude (this was not helped by a man next to me throwing up). So we stopped at the 8th-station rest hut to sleep. For 5000Y (about $45) each, we were silently ushered to a space approximately the length and width of a small person, crowded between other hikers, in a room filled with 2 levels of futons on tatami mats. There was a nail to hang our backpacks on; serious space economy. I slept like a log... until 2:00am, when the lights came on and everyone got going again in order to reach the summit by 4:30 sunrise.
The queue to the top was even more crowded now. Clouds had moved in and it was frigidly cold, about 40 degrees and very windy, a far cry from the 90ish heat at the base. We reached the summit around 4:45 in thick wet clouds, though the sunlight was still beautiful where it tried to poke through. Though it wasn't raining, my glasses would fog up immediately after I wiped them down, so I put in my contacts.
We couldn't resist the phones; we both left crackly messages on our girlfriends' answering machines. Besides the phones, there was a souvenir shop, post office, smelly toilets, teahouse, radio antennae for the phones, and a fully-operating shrine complete with praying monks and donation box. (We had seen many gates indicating the shrine ever since back at the 8th station.) In the jam-packed teahouse, a woman had passed out and people were trying to resuscitate her. The crater itself was beautiful, with deep black trails of lava flow and rusty red volcanic rock everywhere. Despite the crowds and amenities, there was a spiritual feeling up there.
About a third of the way down, around 7:30am, we emerged from the clouds shrouding the peak into brilliant sunshine. Both the temperature and the mood of everyone around us improved. There were good vistas of the mountains to the south and west. The trail was now crowded with throngs of people going in both directions. At one point, we stepped aside to watch 6 groups of about a dozen people each, each pulling a disabled person up the mountain. The disabled person sat in a specially built mountain-climbing buggy/wheelchair with big insulated rear wheels and small elevated front wheels, and the group used ropes and levers to hoist the chair painstakingly up the steep curves and staircases. A moving and daunting sight!
It took about two and a half hours in total to descend, letting our feet slide freely in the sandy ash when the crowds (almost all Japanese, maybe 5% Gaijin) were thin enough to permit it. We saw the moon set. At the bottom, 9am, we discovered that our bus to Shin-Fuji station was leaving in one minute and the next one wasn't until noon! So we frantically gathered our things and piled onto the bus, with no time to clean up.
Soon we were on the bullet train bound for Nagoya and IJCAI!
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Saturday August 23
1pm, lost and sweaty in Nagoya, still filthy with Fuji ash, carrying all my luggage: the tourist office in station screwed up royally with directions to my hotel. Finally found it. Room had compact bathroom with one pair of faucets for both sink and shower. Ahhhhh...
Passed very cute busload of little girls all in straw hats. Freakily, met Thorsten again on subway to convention center. At RoboCup workshop, saw amazing videos. 1) Honda biped robot walks up stairs, keeps balance when shoved backwards. 2) Sony robo-pets with forty cute behaviors, waggy tails.
Ate bad Western food at robocup reception.
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Sunday August 24
reading Peter's novel, Possession by A.S.Byatt.
Called home.
Bummed around workshop, bad grocery-store experiments for lunch.
Email!
Dinner with Sebastian & Stefan; Wolfram & Dieter couldn't find meeting place at Satae underground exit 12. In Satae, saw parade floats and a dance troupe performing on street, with traditional costumes and instruments, great drums & flutes, kimonos. Lots of evening shoppers in kimonos, too. Dinner at trendy, unfancy pub with cool decor, young clientele; reminded me a little of the Medici. Sat on floormats, ate sashimi and raw beef.
10:10pm, met for Izakaya (loud Japanese pub) experience. Bit of a letdown: mediocre food, not crowded & shouty. Highlight: Wolfram & Dieter discovering that the large steins of 'beer' they ordered, by pointing to the picture on the drinks menu, were actually iced tea! Sebastian said, that look on their faces is the same they would have if their mother had just died.
Disturbing scene on walk home around midnight: across the street, in plain view, a ~20-yr-old was savagely beaten up by a group of 5 or so others. They continued kicking him for several minutes after he was in the fetal position on the sidewalk. A passerby man tried to intervene and was hit, Tucker went to call the police, but by then the attackers scattered. Eventually the man was assisted up and hobbled away.
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Monday August 25
TV: Japan's Funniest Home Videos!
Email, z-chat with Zoran. No luck getting in touch with Thorsten. So off to Inuyama-area shrines by myself.
1140am. On Meitetsu subway: the digital readout at end of car, when not showing the next stop in Kanji then Romanji, displays the train's current speed!
First, to Tagata shrine. A pharmacist helped show me the way. Stone phalluses along the walkway lead the way to a shrine room with an impresive collection of wood phalluses of all sizes. I nervously snapped a few pix and left.
Across the street from the shrine, I found a great self-serve noodle restaurant. You take your bowl of cooked noodles from a shelf of choices--small or large, udon soba or kishimen. I chose small kishimen. Then you pick side dishes & things to float over your noodles, cafeteria-style. Next, go to the vats of boiling water, dump your pasta into a long strainer, and hold the strainer underwater for a minute or so to warm it up. (I watched several people ahead of me to get the idea.) Strain the noodles, pour back into your bowl, and fill your bowl with broth from one of the taps. Finally, add green onions, those scaly-skinny things, and the tempura pieces you chose to the bowl. I had a giant lunch for 610 Yen.
I went bach to the Meitetsu line station and took the train north one stop for Oh-Gata shrine, 2000-yr-old fertility ritual site. I was underwhelmed by the small collection of vaguely vulva-shaped stones and logs. But the nearby souvenir store, with penis- and vagina-shaped candy popsicles, and little Buddhas holding their penises as large as their torsos, did not fail to entertain.
On the hot 15-min walk back to the station, I passed rice fields and a persimmon tree full of fruit; so I wandered around looking to buy fruit for awhile, but settled for ice cream (sandwich made of cone). 315pm, back on the train for Kanayama station, Nagoya.
On 20 min walk from Kanayama to conference center, I stopped at impressive CD store and then bright spacious arcade. Kids galloping on horseback, big-screen photorealistic driving simulators, carnival games like coinpilesweeper, mechanical horse-racing track with video backdrop...
Schmoozed awhile at conference. Opening reception: very good Tokyo Drum Troupe. Met Rich Sutton afterwards, learned my NIPS paper was rejected... now I feel pretty glum. Tired, and not much energy for anything, esp. anything academic. I'll read Possession to lull myself to sleep.
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Tuesday-Thursday August 26-28
26:
A full conference day.
Went to great sushi dive for lunch with Rich Sutton, Tom Dean, Craig Boutilier, Hagit Shatkay, ...
Robocup successes.
Taxi to exquisite Shabu-Shabu dinner courtesy of Barney Pell's Hitachi host, Funabashi-san. Also Mei Wang, Herr Peter Schuss, another German, Pandu, Nicola, Bob Frederking. Fun meal with boiling water for cooking raw beef, mushrooms, clear noodles, kishimen, etc. Got tipsy on 2 beers and sake. With Hitachi subsidy, only paid 3000 Yen of perhaps 7500 Yen meal. Servers in kimonos.
27:
Homesick? Got Pizza Hut for CMUnited squad at lunch. Toppings: tuna, mayonnaise, corn, ham.
pm: walk around Osu covered street mall, electronics shops. Conference banquet dinner @ Nagoya Castle Hotel.
28 thu:
All day at conference. Sutton talk. Called Lis.
Dinner at RoboCup award receptjon. After, wound up with high-powered group (Sutton, Kitano, Asada, Dominic, Fukuda friend of Takeo, Humboldt prof, Oulu bearded guy) at a fancy karaoke parlor! Nice table snacks; sake and beer always were kept full by charming yet garish 'companion' Yoko, not really a waitress. We were basically the only ones in that tiny exclusive place. I, mostly drunk, sang a lame Piano Man and lamer Girl from Ipanema, but my throaty 'Centerfold' was a hit. I was way underdressed in T-shirt and shorts next to almost everyone else's suits, and I realized later I still had my geeky conference nametag on. But I think everyone was too drunk to care. Dominic, very Frenchly, serenaded Yoko with French chansons. She kept smiling. No bill was ever shown to me. Walked 3 blocks back to hotel & bed.
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Friday August 29
Morning: Peter &co checked out, forcing me to change rooms. Shopped in Sakae. Took care of Max, Zoran & self. No luck at four department stores finding the perfect Arimatsu Shibori-dyed blouse for Lis.
Good pm talks. Then, off to Arimatsu! 4pm, starving, got bad okinomiyaki from cute dive. Accidentally boarded express train & went about 3 times too far, to Chukyo, turning an 11-min trip into an hour. Went to several shibori shops, good selection of styles but all sizes small! Got the biggest, most beautiful jacket after drawing stick figure with Lisa's height and weight, and being assured the size was okay (the shopkeeper tried it on and showed me that it was too big for her -- but not *enough* too big to relax me).
Back to Jingu Mae stn, 25-min walk to convention center, passing women tending quaint yakitori shop with fish smoking on an outdoor grill on the one side of the street; Denny's and Mobil on the other. Cut through shady shrine grounds. Picked up laptop, subway & walk to hotel, 7pm, who should be there but Seb, Stefan, Dieter, Wolfram, Hagit, and Rich, all set to go out for dinner. So I made a quick turnaround and led them on Rich's quest for a Tampopo-style noodle place. Got good ramen. Then, wandering for beer or chocolate, stopped into 5-floor arcade. Rich rode horseback; we got group photo stickers; watched photorealistic fight games; played amazing soccer.
Rich & Hagit left; the four Germans and I went back to the cool Medici-like restaurant hangout we'd been to on the 24th. Beer & sashimi. To bed.
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Saturday August 30
8am -- oops, 8:20am -- met Stefan & Sebastian downstairs with their enormous baggage incl computer & 17-inch monitor. Checked out. They took taxi and I took subway to Nagoya station; miraculously we met there right away, arriving at the same moment. Hurriedly got tickets, lugged stuff to the 9:03 Hikari. Spent a nice 100 mins in Shin-Osaka underground mall, getting final souvenirs and great cheap shabu-shabu. 45-min Haruka to Kansai, crowded check-in, couldn't find mailbox so gave last postcards to a smiley airport helper-person right before boarding. Now here I am, en route to Minneapolis at 1019 km/hr, watching our progress in latitude and longitude on the little screen on the back of the seat in front of me, with yummy cinnamony soybean-chickpea salad and pistachios for second lunch. I pronounce this diary officially closed! Itte kimasu (see ya) and sayonara!
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Manhole covers seen on the streets of Japan
Mom was very impressed with the variety of artistic designs on the "manhole lids" around Japan. Some people looked at us funny when we stopped to take pictures of them.
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Vending machines seen on the streets of Japan
NOT seen:
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Mom's camera's clock was set to U.S. time. This explains the one-day discrepancy between diary dates and the dates imprinted on some of the photos.
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