Eden and Josh in Japan

Back in Canada

2006-03-08T02:37:00.000+09:00

Hi, we're no longer in Japan. We've moved back to Canada and are busy graduate students. Hope you enjoyed reading about our life in Japan and the various things we experienced. We hope that our posts will encourage you to apply to the JET Programme or visit Japan. Get out to the mountains and hike! You'll discover friendly people and a lovely country.

*No more updates to this blog, but our Flickr account will remain active.

Climbing Fuji-san

2005-07-10T23:17:00.000+09:00

We had planned on visiting Fuji and possibly climbing it since we came to Japan nearly three years ago, but it wasn't until this July that we actually got around to getting up to Tokyo to do so. We decided to start our hike on July 1st when the official climbing season opened and the bus service would be more frequent. We were lucky enough to get a bus right to Kawaguchi-ko-guchi Go-gome (5th station) 河口湖、口五合目 from the Shinjuku bus terminal. This site, gives a pretty good description of the hike and what to prepare for if you're interested. One thing to note is that the English phone number was no longer valid and you would need to call 0555-72-5111 to make a reservation (in Japanese). In early July there were two buses a day leaving from the Shinjuku west gate, one at 10:55-->13:20, and the other at 16:50-->19:15. However, there are more frequent buses after July 16th.

Arriving at 7:15PM we decided to kill some time before the hike because even in July, Fuji is cold (we each wore a longsleeve t-shirt, wool sweater, polar-fleece, and rain jacket and were very, very cold) and we wouldn't want to be waiting at the top for the sunrise. So after eating "dinner" and snacks we hit the trail at 10PM with our flashlights. Unfortunately, just as we left the 5th station it started to pour but we decided to carry on; after all, we had come this far. Eden's little Petzel head lamp was barely adequate and my big 4, D-cell flashlight was really necessary to stay on the path. Otherwise we would've had to go at half the speed. After reaching the 7th station it became obvious that we were climbing too fast, we would freeze at the summit for around two hours waiting for the sunrise. We decided to slow our pace and make frequent stops at the many shelters between the 7th and 9th stations. About an eight minute break was enough to rest before we got to cold and had to carry on. Many hikers climbing Fuji overnight also fall ill to altitude sickness, so we made sure to breathe oxygen (from our can) at these frequent stops. Not really sure if it helped, but I was feeling ill on the way up. At around 2AM we were a mere 50 minutes from the summit and decided to rest in a hut and buy some hot cocoa. We dragged it out and then made it back to the path to reach the summit at our planned time of 4:30AM. We arrived slightly early and sat freezing at the summit watching the sunrise. Due to the rain the previous night the clouds and smog cleared and we were given an amazing sunrise. Although we were cold and wet, it made up for it.

After visiting a hut at the summit for some more hot cocoa we began our decent down the Gotemba-guchi-tozando 御殿場口登山道. This route is the longest back, but Lonely Planet's Hiking in Japan gave it a stellar recommendation, so we decided to take it. The path down was quite easy, and for about half the way down the trail is soft volcanic sand. This allows you to run as fast as you dare and at times almost felt like downhill skiing; just pick up your feet and fall. In the last year a number of the huts along the Gotemba route have collapsed and we were a little frustrated to learn at the 5th station that the hourly buses had since been replaced with a twice daily bus service! At 12pm and 3pm. (Shouldn't this be marked at the start of the path at the summit??) We reached the 5th station at around 9am, and were exhausted. We didn't feel like waiting for three hours for a bus. Luckily, we met another hiker who shared our fate and with his help the three of us were able to hitch-hike to the train station for the ride back to Shinjuku.

Onsen

2005-07-08T23:23:00.000+09:00

Two weeks ago we decided to visit a family bath in the Aso region of Kumamoto. Usually when we visit a hot spring, we’re separated and spend most of the time chatting to wrinkly old people who want to know where we’re from, why we came to Japan and so on.

We chose a place in Oguni town Yuuka kazoku-furo　裕花　家族風呂 which has 14 baths made of stone, cut stone, and Japanese cypress. The best things about family baths are the privacy, quietness, and fresh bath water. Our bath and accompanying room was lovely. The only drawback of these baths is the time limit of 50 minutes which can seem just a tad short by the time the bath fills and you wash up. I suppose you could pay for two sessions though. If you're ever in Kumamoto, I highly recommend the Yuuka family baths.

Taue 田植え– Rice Planting

2005-06-24T21:10:00.000+09:00

For the past two years Eden and I have been going to a rural region of Kumamoto City to participate in traditional Japanese activities. It is part of the internationalization part of our JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) Programme experience. Last week we got to help plant rice. In China the farmers toss the rice seedlings into the mud while standing erect (much easier on the back). But in Japan it isn’t good enough to have rice growing this way or that, each seedling must be placed in neat, evenly spaced rows.

The two small flooded, muddy fields we planted we’re alive with leeches, larvae and frogs. It wasn’t the easiest thing to ease into, but luckily the leeches didn’t bite. All in all I’m not sure if it’s something that I’d choose to do again but am glad that we did it once. The poor old men and women who’ve done this there entire lives are bent over with their backs nearly horizontal, partly due to the hard work and I think partly due to a lack of calcium (traditionally Japanese people don’t consume dairy products, they get all their calcium from fish bones).

Need for speed

2005-06-20T19:07:00.000+09:00

Yesterday, for the first time ever, I was caught speeding. On my commute home from school it is impossible to go faster than the limit of 40 or 50 kph in all but one place, and that’s just where I was caught. For most of my drive the roads are too narrow, windy, crowded or have too many stops to touch above 50 kph for more than a few seconds, but traffic clears up nicely when the road crosses the river and follows an overpass avoiding the intersection below. On this particular section, 50 kph seems like a crawl and everyone pushes their car to at least 60 kph. As I was descending the overpass, picking up a little speed, two men ran in front of my car waving large red flags. Not expecting someone to dash in front of a speeding car, I slammed on my brakes and swerved to avoid them. They then gestured for me to pull over and asked if I was in a hurry because I was speeding. I always think it’s unfair to point the radar gun at people descending a hill or something, but considering I was driving 76 kph in a 50 kph zone, I had little excuse. What really did irk me was the stiffness of the fine, 18,000 yen or around $220 CDN, and the fact that people don’t get in trouble for running red lights or watching TV while driving; two very common driving habits in Japan that I would consider much more dangerous.

I suppose though that the fine did serve its purpose. It has made me slow down to the speed limit (or just a little over) and I suppose this makes things safer for myself and the public.

Hita, land of clogs　日田、下駄の国

2005-05-25T22:35:00.000+09:00

This weekend we drove up to Hita in Oita prefecture (70 km north of Kumamoto City) with two purposes in mind. The first was to stroll down Hita’s scenic old streets and the second was to find clogs. Hita produces more wooden clogs or geta than any other place in

Japan

, and I’m very particular when it comes to certain things. Thus, it seemed that to find a clog that I’d be happy with, a trip to Hita would be necessary. (Eden also wanted to pick up a pair of geta, but going to the source to find them wasn’t really necessary in her case.)

North of Hita station is an area called "Mameda" 豆田. It has been kept quite traditional with a number of nice, well-worn, old buildings. Having visited Uchiko内子, in Shikoku the week before, Hita seemed a little less special, but it does have the finest old street I have found in Kyushu. (Yanagawa 柳川and its canals are just as pleasant, but there are fewer old buildings.)

On my search for the ideal geta I found a few interesting pair. One was a duel support stilt geta which would make me about five inches taller. Another was a single support stilt geta which would prove rather difficult to walk in. The third interesting pair had a very round arch, almost semicircular. At last, I did find a pair which appealed to me, (dark wood, wide, rectangular, dark strap and with a short, dual support so that the clog rocks when you walk) only to find out that they were just too small. Eden, who is less particular than me when it comes to geta was able to find a lovely pair for only 1100 yen, about $13 CND.

Currently listening to: Pearl Jam - Ten
Eden is reading: Cry, the Beloved Country - Alan Paton
Josh is reading: The Hanging Garden - Ian Rankin

Highlights from Shikoku 四国のおすすめ

2005-05-15T22:01:00.000+09:00

Having spent ten days travelling around Shikoku this Golden Week, visiting three of the four prefectures, here are my recommendations in descending order:

1. Spend a night a Chiiori.
If you have the time, and are able to make it to the somewhat remote Iya Valley 祖谷, I highly recommend spending a night or more at Chiiori. Chiiori is a traditional thatched-roof farm house near Miune-san 三嶺山 in Higashi-Iya 東祖谷 village. It is maintained by a group of volunteers, and is more of a private residence or cooperative than a hotel. There are various work weekends throughout the year where you can help cut thatch for a new roof, help garden, or other work needed to keep the 300-year old structure standing. All guests sleep in the main hall on futons. Normally a Japanese house such as this would be partitioned into a few smaller rooms, but when Alex Kerr bought the place thirty years ago, he removed them to bring more sunlight into the rest of the house. Still, it is quite dark inside and adds to the romance of the place. Sitting around the hearth drinking tea, smoke billowing up to the rafters, rain and mist obscuring the trees and mountains was a wonderful experience.

2. Dogo onsen　道後温泉. Not the most relaxing bath in Japan, but perhaps the nicest bathhouse building. We decided to visit Dogo onsen around dinner time when the place should’ve been less busy but it was still packed. Shoulder to shoulder naked old men, hot, hot water. Along with Beppu別府 it is probably the most well known hot spring in Japan but unlike Dogo, Beppu spreads the tourists out over dozens of baths. The old, carved granite baths were impressive but more enjoyable was the tea, biscuits and atmosphere in the tatami room upstairs of the ‘kami no yu’ 神の湯, “Bath of the gods.”

3. Shin-Iya-Onsen, Kazura-bashi Hotel 新祖谷温泉　かずら橋ホテル. This lovely onsen has to rate as one of my favourites. It is newer than the other baths in the Iya Valley but it has been especially well done. On the third floor of the hotel are the indoor baths and sauna, but catch the lift up the side of the mountain to the rotenburo 露天風呂(outdoor baths) and teahouse. The mens’ and womens’ rotenburo have stellar views of the valley below. While we were there it was lightly raining and quite peaceful. Something surprising about this hotel is that it has a mixed bath or konyoku混浴. I believe that these are rather rare in Japan nowadays and only a few old ones exist in rural Oita, Kumamoto and Kagoshima. After our bath the three of us relaxed on the teahouse porch, soaked our feet in a foot bath and enjoyed the view. Later we went into the thatched roof teahouse for some complimentary tea. For 1,000 yen this bath was well worth it.

4. Oku-Iya Kazura-bashi (Vine Bridges)奥祖谷かずら橋.
No trip to the Iya Valley would be complete without visiting the vine bridges. We decided to visit the less touristed “fufu” husband and wife bridges on the way to Mount Tsurugi. The vines on the bridges are replaced every three years and are supported with steel cables. In the past the bridged were just made of vines and bamboo so that they could be easy to sever for the Heike warriors fleeing the Shogun’s army.

5. Iya-kei祖谷渓. The actual Iya gorge is deep, natural, and beautiful. However, due to the roads, houses, and other construction it lacks the mystical feeling apparent in Yakushima (especially in the early morning mist around Miyanoura-dake). It is easy to imagine how the area must have been, and how inaccessible it was when the Heike warriors fled here. Wild, isolated, lost Japan.

6. Hiking from Tsurugi-san剣山 to Miune-san 三嶺山.
Tsurugi-san is a sacred mountain in Japan, where the Heike warriors buried their emperor’s sword after their defeat at Shimonoseki. With a chair lift up, the summit can be a little crowded, but most are day-trippers and the trail to Miune is relatively clear. The hike is quite easy in most parts and the trail is well marked in all but a few spots. Thick bamboo grass blankets many of the mountains, leaving only a thin, saw-tooth path leading off into the distance over the next peak. The Miune Hutte has been rebuilt since the Lonely Planet Hiking in Japan was published, and is quite nice but the toilets are not good. (The other mountain huts or yama-goya do not have outhouses at all.)

7. Shimanto-gawa 四万十川.
The last free flowing river in Japan is something to see. We noticed a dam on one its tributaries and wondered if this distinction should stand. The river is only 196 km long, which makes it rather sad that it is the last free flowing river. As construction is the lifeblood of rural Japan, the river had a plethora of bridges, but no dams, diversions or straightenings so I guess that is ok. We camped along the upper reach of the river and had a brief swim. The area is quite popular for kayaking just downstream from where we camped. Coming from a place like Canada, the Shimanto was nothing special and what I found more interesting were the 22 submersible bridges. Most of the bridge decks were 3-5 metres above the water level, and I could imagine the smaller ones being submerged by a metre or so during typhoon season. One bridge we saw actually had a few sections washed away, which made me think of the forces acting upon it. A log jam in one of those bridges could be disastrous, but I imagine that the area is so thoroughly managed that this is not a problem. In North America, we’ve stopped removing large woody debris from rivers (to prevent jams) because we’ve realized that they contribute to the morphology of rivers, creating deep, cool pools, and providing shade and shelter for fish.

8. Uchiko　内子.
This small city in Ehime prefecture is a nice place to spend a few hours. The old merchant street with late Edo period buildings has been well preserved and it offers a look into what Japan used to be like.

Currently listening to: Pearl Jam - Ten
Eden is reading: Angels and Demons - Dan Brown
Josh is reading: The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

5.7 Magnitude Earthquake

2005-04-20T16:16:00.000+09:00

A 5.7 magnitude earthquake struck Fukuoka this morning around 6am which woke Eden and I up. Fukuoka is around 100km north of us but the quake was quite mild in Kumamoto. It was enough to wake us up, but nothing fell over. (AND I had stacked five packs of ramen noodles on top of our kitchen cabinet last night and they didn't fall).

The Boston Globe carries an article about it. It occured in the same spot as the earthquake a month ago.

Shikoku Golden Week

2005-04-20T14:47:00.000+09:00

This year the wonderful holiday period known as Golden Week ゴールデンウィーク will actually run for an entire week! On May 3rd, 4th, and 5th Japan celebrates three consecutive national holidays (Constitution Day, National Holiday, and Children's Day). Two years ago we had a Golden Weekend. May 3rd was a Saturday, May 4th a Sunday, and only May 5th was off :( This year we will take two days of paid leave (May 2nd and 6th) and combine it with another national holiday, Green Day (April 29th), and have an incredible ten days off! For these magical ten days we're planning our longest Japanese road trip ever; to the island of Shikoku.

Our plans are pretty much to see, eat, drink, bathe, and hike as much of Shikoku as we can. Hope we don't wear Krista Glen (Eden's friend) out (she's visiting for 2 weeks). Next Friday, April 29th, Eden, Krista, and I will pile into our little Suzuki 650 c.c. kei-car and drive to the east coast of Kyushu and the lovely? port of Saganoseki 佐賀関 to board our ferry for Misaki 三崎, Shikoku. This was the quickest and cheapest ferry between Kyushu and Shikoku, which I believe makes it the best option. From Misaki we plan on driving up to Uchiko 内子 and visit the local candle-stick merchants. Uchiko is famous for having one preserved old street, which I'll have to see how long it takes before we see a vending machine. After Uchiko we'll head to Matsuyama 松山 and the Dogo-onsen youth hostel. Dogo-onsen 道後温泉 has a history of 3,000 years and is the oldest hotspring resort in Japan so I look forward to seeing if it measures up to the waters in Kumamoto and Oita.

After doing our thing in Matsuyama we'll be driving to the famed Iya Valley祖谷which boasts deep gorges, vine suspension bridges, and roads to nowhere. I'm hoping to walk across some of the less visited vine bridges and have picked up a hiking map of the area which appears to have them labeled. After our first day of wandering around, eating soba noodles, and relaxing in onsens we'll camp at one of the excellent 500 yen sites along the river. The following day, May 1st we'll be staying at Chiiori, the 300-year old thatched roof farm house owned by Alex Kerr (author of Dogs and Demons, and Lost Japan {I've read both b.t.w.}) and Florence Mason (of Lonely Planet fame). The house/project is a non-profit organization that aims to "revive and preserve Japan's vanishing culture, arts, traditional lifestyle and natural environment, while promoting responsible and sustainable moderization." It seems like a cool place to stay and is quite well known in the JET community.

After our day at Chiiori we will start our three day hike. The first day we'll climb up Tsurugi-san剣山 and camp near the summit. The following day we'll make our way to Miune-san　三嶺山, described as the most beautiful mountain in the area, and camp around there. The third day we'll hike down to the road and then catch a bus to our car. That day we'll drive to either Tokushima or Takamatsu and spend our last night with Krista before we send her off to Kyoto, where she'll spend two days before heading back to Toronto.

From May 5th - 8th Eden and I don't have any solid plans. One route is to follow the inland sea back to Misaki (it's supposed to be lovely), and the other route is to head down to the Pacific coast and Kochi prefecture and do some beach camping and then going to the Shimanto-gawa 四万十川 and camp along it. It is famous for being the last/longest undamned river in Japan but at 196km it isn't *that* long. Particularly interesting are the 22 bridges along the river which don't have any side rails and are designed to submerge when the river swells!

So it looks like this will be our last major trip in Japan, which is a bit sad, but we're also looking forward to it and am sure we'll have a great time.

Currently listening to: Pearl Jam - Ten
Eden is reading: Devices and Desires - P.D. James
Josh is reading: Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks (I'm a slow reader)

Mom and Dad come to Japan

2005-04-06T22:31:00.000+09:00

I was surprised to hear a month ago that my parents would be coming to Japan to visit. They had talked about it, but with Dad's work and Janine's wedding coming up in August I wasn't sure if they could make it. They arrived in Tokyo on March 23rd and spent a day and a half walking around, riding the subway, drinking expensive coffee (Starbucks in Japan is cheaper than at other shops) and filling up on ramen noodles.

Then on Friday, March 25th they caught their plane to Kumamoto. Having not seen each other in 2.5 years it was nice to talk over tea and cards nearly every night. We saw the usual sights around Kumamoto: Aso National Park (active volcanoe), Kumamoto Castle, Suizenji Park (Japanese garden and tea house), Hosogawa Mansion (House of the feudal lords of Kumamoto), a number of temples and we spent one day touring the canals of Yanagawa by boat.

Mom also bought a digital camera, a Sony DSC-W1 5.1MegaPixels, for a bargain $230 CND which we used to photograph and film Dad eating as well as take regular tourist snapshots. Some of Mom's video clips are quite funny, you'll have to ask her to show them to you.

Perhaps the funniest part of the trip was Mom's insistence on having sushi. Eden wasn't really interested and Dad and I were indifferent. Being accustomed to California rolls and similar tame sushi, Mom was a little surprised to see that most shops only served raw fish on cold rice. On their last night, April 2nd, we decided that we must finally bring Mom out for sushi and we went to the local kaiten rotating sushi bar. For around $18 CND the three of us (Eden was ill) ate around 13 plates of various items. It was quite tasty and it was a good experience. Mom seemed to stick to the safe bets of California rolls and prawns while Dad kept choosing "something exotic" and teasing Mom for picking "things you can get at home." One dish that we found quite good were fish eggs that had been laid on a blade of sea grass.

Other interesting things that we ate were grilled eel when we went to Yanagawa and ramen made with water from the Shirakawa river fountain head. (Water bubbles up from the ground there at 1000 l/second or about 60 tonnes a minute!)

What surprised Dad the most were the prices. He came to Japan expecting $10 hamburgers, $200 hotels and $5 coffees. He was quite amazed to find a good filling lunch for between $7-10 CND. At one restaurant in particular, Chikyu-ya in Kumamoto City, we ordered four sets of the fried chicken lunch and had so much left over chicken that we had it for two meals after. The total bill was less than $40 CND for the four of us.

On April 24th, Eden's best friend will visit us for two weeks. During Golden Week, April 29th - May 8th we will visit the island of Shikoku, hike in the Iya Valley and stay at Chiiori, a 300-year old traditional thatched roof farm house!

Currently listening to: Tracy Chapman - self-titled
Eden is reading: The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
Josh is reading: Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

Eden and I at Kumamoto Castle. Check out the beard!

2005-04-06T22:30:00.001+09:00

Mom and Dad at Kumamoto Castle

2005-04-06T22:30:00.000+09:00

One of dad's plates at the rotating sushi bar not far from our apartment.

2005-04-06T22:29:00.000+09:00

Shopping for fresh fish in the basement of the Tsuruya department store, Kumamoto.

2005-04-06T22:28:00.001+09:00

Dad getting a mouthful of ramen. Sluuuuuurp!

2005-04-06T22:28:00.000+09:00

Mom and Dad eating Ajisen ramen in Hakusui, Aso. The water for the ramen came from the Shirakawa river foutainhead and is ranked in the top 100 waters of Japan.

2005-04-06T22:27:00.000+09:00

I caught Eden here weighing herself on an old-fashioned scale outside Chikyu-ya (also known as half-door chicken for the low entrance way).

2005-04-06T22:25:00.000+09:00

Takahashi Inari Shine near one of my junior high schools.

Earthquake

2005-03-20T22:35:00.000+09:00

This morning a 7.0 earthquake struck just off Northern Kyushu near Fukuoka (about 110 km north of Kumamoto). It was a little bigger than the 6.8 quake that hit Niigata prefecture in October and slightly smaller than the 7.3 quake that hit Kobe in 1995 and killed 6,433 people.

In Kumamoto it was a bit scary and lasted for about 30 or 40 seconds. Here it was of magnitude 4 whereas in Fukuoka it was a magnitude 6. We were at church at the time and the fish tank was sloshing back and forth and pictures shaking but not falling off the walls. Everyone kind of froze, Eden and I weren't sure if we should run for the doorway, get under a table or what. Fortunately only one person was killed and 386 have been injured in something that could've been much worse. In Niigata 39 people were killed and 46,000 people were/are living in emergency shelters from the October earthquakes.

2005-03-17T21:32:00.000+09:00

Snowing during our decent from Tawarayama in Nishihara town, Kumamoto.

2005-03-17T21:16:00.000+09:00

Shine gate omikuji (written oracle/charm)

2005-03-17T21:15:00.000+09:00

What passes for a 2 lane road in Japan.

2005-03-17T21:13:00.000+09:00

Tengu-mine of Neko-dake seen from the eastern peak.

The Eden dance. (She thinks it looks like she's climbing the peak in the background)

Hifurishinji of the Aso fire festival.

Pop culture bubble

2005-03-05T18:45:00.000+09:00

The last 2.5 years we've been living under a stone and know very little of what's happening at home. BUT we know all about Howl's Moving Castle (ハウルの動く城) and Orange Range. We read the news daily at cbc.ca but haven't sought out new music, TV or trends. Because of this, we first heard about the Atkins diet from Jeff and Karla when we visited them in Saipan and Tinian last June (2004!). At the time we didn't know why Subway had all these Atkins friendly wraps as it had been over a year since we had eaten at a Subway (in Kyoto station). I think we've stayed up with TV, renting 24 episodes and downloading Scrubs, Simpsons and 70's show but I only just heard about the O.C. and Lost last week.

The biggest gap and perhaps the most shocking for us is how little new music we know. Looking at the CDs we have, most are early-mid to late 90's. (Which will one day be looked on as the Golden Age of Alt-Rock). I've tried a bit to get songs from Kazaa but lots of the files tend to be corrupted and I just don't know what to get. That's what makes radio so nice. But we have listened to 99.3 the FOX on the computer.

So about two years ago my good friend Mike told me about Jack Johnson and I downloaded Flake and two other songs. I liked the music but left it at that. Fast forward to Saturday, February 26th. We're at Parco in Kumamoto City and I'm reading the information board about upcoming concerts. Most of the bands are Japanese, but two caught my eye, Simple Plan and Jack Johnson. I know Simple Plan are Canadian but that's about it, and I knew the name Jack Johnson but couldn't place what he sung. The note on the Jack Johnson sign said, "On sale from today" Hmm... maybe I'll have to look him up when I go home. Monday I end up back downtown after school and I decide to stop into Tower Records. See this yellow CD with the silhouette of a tree at number one in the US AND Japan. Surprised that this CD unseated Ayumi Hamasaki and Orange Range. Look at the CD, pick it up, read the tracks but don't bother to give it a listen. Tuesday night decide to visit the Jack Johnson website, download two new songs and decide that yeah, it would be nice to see him in Fukuoka. Wednesday morning stop at a convenience store to buy tickets on the way to school but the machine tells me the Fukuoka show is all sold out, tickets still available for Hiroshima, Nagoya, Osaka and Tokyo. Grrr...

Anyway, decide to go back to Tower Records after school and give the CD a listen. Get hooked on the first few tracks and decide to buy the CD/DVD combo. Wednesday night listen through the CD a few times and really wish I had given him a listen a few days earlier. Go back to the Jack Johnson website and see that he's playing in Burnaby (Vancouver) August 14 and Toronto on September 17, tickets not on sale yet but $25 cheaper than Japan. Cheer up a bit.

Currently listening to: Jack Johnson - In Between Dreams
Eden is reading: Sick Puppy
Josh is reading: The Wind-up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami

I can't English

2005-02-28T18:26:00.000+09:00

After and exhausting week of interviewing 220 7th grade students, repeating the same or similar questions over and over again, I was looking forward to sitting at my desk and correcting homework. Usually correcting sentences which students write is fun because some kids try to write interesting or funny things. One boy wrote recently, "I like high school girls."

Sometimes though I run into the problem of not recognizing mistakes. If you see the same incorrect thing over and over again, sometimes it starts to look right. Just if you read the same word over and over again you begin to doubt the spelling. At first, "I can play swimming" and "I can't English" were obvious mistakes, but after a while I wasn't sure anymore about sentences like, "I can play bowling" correct/incorrect I wasn't really sure. After some deliberation though I came to the conclusion that it should be, "I can swim/bowl/skate/etc." and kept my degenerating English level from declining any further.

Currently listening to: Ashlee Simpson - Autobiography
Eden is reading: Another City not My Own
Josh is reading: Sick Puppy

Do you mind?

2005-02-15T21:40:00.000+09:00

I've had this problem recently where I reply to questions in the exact opposite form of what I mean. Eden has been known to ask me, "Do you mind taking out the cutlery?" to which I always respond with, "Yes." It has really been confusing. My defense is that Japanese is confusing me and I forget how to respond in English, Eden just thinks I'm special. In Japanese a lot of polite requests happen to be formed in the negative form such as "Won't you come to the next class with me?" with the answer being, "No, (I will come)." When in English it should be, "Yes, (I will come)." So the end result of all this is that I am a very confused person and tell my teachers that I won't be coming to class and to Eden that I won't do anything around the apartment.

On another note I noticed something interesting in class the other day. All of my seventh grade students at school have these laminated banners on their desks with catch phrases that the students made. (Not sure if catch phrase is the proper term, but I can't think of what else to call it). Anyway, most of the students have phrases like, "Let's study for at least an hour everyday." or "Studying and sports club are equally important." or "Let's greet each other in a loud voice." that sort of thing. One girl in particular had two phrases that I liked, the first was, "Let's listen carefully to what the teacher says." and the other was, "Endure (persevere) through cleaning period." As the students have to clean the school, but for the most part do a very poor job and mainly just sit around and chat, although a few do really work hard. I just thought it funny that all the students wrote these sucky phrases and have them on their desks. I didn't see one that said anything about enjoying school but almost every student had one about studying or enduring/persevering. Sad.

Dazaifu, Kyushu

2005-01-31T16:15:00.000+09:00

This weekend we stopped at Dazaifu on our way up to Costco in Fukuoka. Yes, even in Japan there is Costco. Somewhat strangely, there are only five locations in the entire country and the first one was built in Fukuoka. There is also one in Hyogo, and the other three are in Greater Tokyo. Being addicted to bagels with cream cheese, every four months or so I get the itch to drive up to Fukuoka to get some. We're also able to pick up other favourites like cinnamon rolls, cheddar cheese, frozen strawberries and Prego or Classico pasta sauces.

So, on the way up we stopped at Dazaifu, which was the administrative capital of Kyushu a long time ago. The main reason to visit the city is to stop at Tenmangu temple, which is dedicated to the god of learning. As the school entrance exams are approaching, it is an important place for junior and senior high school students to visit and pray before the tests which will decide their future. Almost everyone of my grade nine students has a good-luck charm (omamori) on their school bag from this temple. The above picture is from a sandal shop on the way to the main temple.

Stereotypes and the Sunshine English Textbook

2005-01-26T11:23:00.000+09:00

Kumamoto City uses the Sunshine English textbook. While it isn't the worst of the five Ministry of Education approved textbooks, it is rather bad. One thing that I never really noticed, but was brought to my attention by a student drawing a picture about Mario, the exchange student from Brazil, was his huge nose. My students were each required to write about someone: a friend, a pro baseball player, a family member or whoever. This student chose Mario. When he was writing his sentences about Mario they were along the lines of, "He is from Brazil. His friend is Li. He likes ramen. He has a big nose." This kind of surprised me, because some foreigners do have bigger noses than the Japanese, but should a government approved textbook really be propagating this stereotype?

The above picture illustrates this well. The main character, Yuki, arrives in Seattle to visit her aunt Mari and uncle Gorge. Both Yuki and Mari have small bumps for noses, whereas all the Americans (or other foreign travels) have huge noses! The only exception is the boy in the purple t-shirt, Andy. In the top corner Yuki is thinking, "Wow, there is nothing but foreigners! I wonder where my aunt Mari is." Well Yuki, you're not in Japan any more, you're going to have to get used to being surrounded by nothing but foreigners. In the lower right picture Yuki is thinking, "Ooh, I have a good feeling about Andy." Do you think they gave Andy a smaller nose than the other foreigners to make him more attractive to Yuki?

The following picture is from when Yuki visits Tacoma, not too far from Seattle. Here she meets Andy's uncle, a cowboy. What I can't believe is the size of his nose! What a beak! He then gives Yuki an improbably large sandwich. All my students think that this is a standard size sandwich in America. This is why ALL Americans are fat, and why ALL Japanese are thin. One of my teachers (who is overweight himself) brought in some pictures of his trip to Texas two years ago. He showed the kids pictures of his host family and of the steaks they ate one night. The steaks were as big as dinner plates! While Texans may eat big steaks sometimes, and his host family was all overweight, it is too bad because it really does add to the stereotype of fat Americans. Being Canadian, Eden's been asked a few times if Canadians are as fat as Americans. Often late night variety shows in Japan feature fat Americans stuffing their faces and spilling food all over themselves. Be glad that you're Japanese.

The last page from the first grade textbook I'll introduce is Yuki's conclusion of America. Having visited Seattle and Tacoma for a week or so, she concludes, "EVERYTHING is big here. Big houses, big yards, big hats... and big sandwiches!" What this basically boils down to is that Americans (and Canadians through association) are wasteful. We use more natural resources and are fat. Japanese people are efficient and thin. However, Yuki did enjoy her trip and her souvenir (omiyage) will be her many pleasant memories.

We'll be making our decent into JR Omuta Dust Port, please faster your seatbelts.

2005-01-24T11:04:00.000+09:00

On our way to Hiroshima we had to change trains in Omuta, Fukuoka prefecture. In the waiting room we sat across from this lovely dust port. I'm never quite sure which dictionary someone consulted for some of these translations at bus and train stations, there seem to be an infinate number of different English names for rubbish or trash bins/cans without ever using the words rubish/trash or garbage.

Long weekend visit to Hiroshima

2005-01-13T16:07:00.000+09:00

It's the new year and we've started our first week back at school. Eden's birthday was January 5th, and we celebrated it somewhat quitely in Kumamoto. The way Eden's birthday is read in Japanese is, "Ichi-gatsu, itsuka 一月五日" which is the first month, fifth day. However, a way to shorten this is to use the two numbers which make up your birthday, in Eden's case a one and a five. One in Japanese is "ichi" and five is "go", so Eden's birthday becomes "ichi-go" which just so happens to be the Japanese word for strawberry.

This past weekend we took advantage of the Seishun Juu-hachi kippu 青春十八切符 which is a hugely discounted train ticket for use on JR rail. The ticket cost 11,500 yen, about $130 CND and was valid for five days of travel using the local and rapid trains. Perhaps the best thing about these tickets is that they do not have to be used for consecutive days of travel and can be shared between people. The drawbacks are that they can only be used three times a year when university students have breaks and you have to ride the slow trains. While these trains are much slower than the bullet trains or express trains, they are also a fairly good way to see the country side, and for 2,300 yen a day it can't be beat. To plan your trip using a Seishun Juu-hachi kippu I recommend visiting http://www.hyperdia.com/cgi-english/ This is the best site for working out train schedules in Japan and is especially useful because it allows you to select only local trains in your search.

So on Saturday morning at about 5:45 am we left the cold confines of our apartment and bicycled along the dark, empty streets to Kumamoto station. We were lucky enough to arrive early and boarded the 6:29 train for Omuta. Our fellow riders on the train consisted mainly of Tamana high school students who had to be at school at about 7am on a Saturday morning!

So we rode the train for about six and a half hours up to Miyajima in Yamaguchi prefecture. Miyajima is famed in Japan for the floating torii gate, and we used our time there to stretch, see the temple and eat some wonderful okonomiyaki. Perhaps the best I've had.

After that we boarded the train for Hiroshima and arrived in the early evening. The city had some interesting streets and the Peace park and A-bomb museum are well worth the visit. But it is pretty much like every other Japanese city: Same drab concrete structures, covered shopping arcades, and such.

The following morning we caught a 9:30am train for Iwakuni in Yamaguchi prefecture because we wanted to check out the lovely five-arch bridge. It was definately worth the stop, and the castle on the hill above was fairly interesting too. After that it was a further seven hours to our cold apartment in Kumamoto.

Safe and sound

2005-01-04T22:46:00.000+09:00

Sorry for not writing to everyone sooner. Eden and I are safe. We were never anywhere near the tsunami affected zones and where too far away to feel the initial earthquake. We're sorry to have left some of you wondering of our whereabouts and condition.

We do have several friends from Japan traveling in the region this winter so we have been quite worried ourselves, but it appears all of them are safe. Our hearts do go out to the families and survivors of the ordeal. As it turns out, we were on Patong beach in Phuket at that same time exactly a year prior. Then we were on the Phi Phi islands for the following few days. It's quite eerie thinking about it as we also spent some time diving, and I don't think there were any survivors amongst the divers.

Making popped rice at a town in the Mekong Delta.

Merry Christmas!

2004-12-25T23:02:00.000+09:00

Merry Christmas one and all! Josh and I are in Hoi An, and boy, what a place!!! It is truly wonderful! This small city epitomizes how most people picture Asia -traditional buildings, lanterns lighting the streets and lively, interesting locals! We love it and are having a great Christmas day.

We got an early start and roamed the streets looking at all the small art galleries along the way. There are so many artists in this city and we were able to buy a few gorgeous paintings to grace our walls some day. We also were fitted by some tailors who will whip us up some clothes by tomorrow. Hoi An is also famous for it's tailors. In the afternoon we relaxed by the hotel pool and then went back into town for dinner.

After dinner we once again roamed the lantern lit streets. We were drawn to some comotion in the street and found that it was a kind of carnival game. People were paying a small fee for the chance to walk masked toward and small, hanging clay jar. The masked individual then had one chance to swing and smash the clay jar. If they were successful, they won a prize. Josh and I watched for a while and no one was winning. I decided I wanted to try my luck too, so I handed over the little sum. I donned the mask and marched forward with my baton. I did not think I had a chance of winning, but when I took my swing, I felt a SMASH! I won! I think everyone was very surprised!!! I won a little blue silk purse. I am very proud of it, even though I probably could have bought it for about a dollar.

Well, that has been our Christmas day and now we are heading to bed! We miss all of you and think of you often!

Love Eden and Josh

Halong Bay

2004-12-22T20:38:00.000+09:00

Eden and I just got back from a three day tour of Halong Bay in Northern Vietnam. Yesterday we paddled kayaks for six or eight hours and are a little worn out. Good exercise and a lot of fun. It would be nice to do up in the Queen Charlottes or Powell River, but is probably horribly expensive. On the other hand, you could probably see orcas and sea otters so that would make it quite worth it. So the first night we spent on the boat and last night we spent in a hut on a small beach on a small island with eleven other travelers. Surprisingly, another traveler is a JET in Kagoshima (near Kumamoto), another girl works in Osaka, and another man lived in Tokyo about ten years ago. So in our group of thirteen, eleven of us had a connection to Japan.

Tonight we're boarding an overnight train (not my favourite) and will spend one day in Hue, before moving on to Hoi An were we'll stay for Christmas and maybe get some clothes made.
So far things are working out fairly well, things are a lot less hassle than they are in some other countries, and the weather is nice, around 22 C. Hanoi has a fantastic feel to it, and I think that a lot of people end up spending more time here than they plan on. Hope everyone is doing well, send us an email if you have time, we'd love to hear from you.

Hanoi

2004-12-19T01:56:00.000+09:00

Well, Eden and I arrived safely in Hanoi late at night on December 16th. We arranged for a pick-up from the airport from the hotel we booked with, the Stars Hotel. It had a pretty good review in the Lonely Planet, so we thought we'd give them a try. However, when we got to the Stars Hotel this guy opened the car door for us and said that there were no rooms and that we should go to their "other" hotel. Given that sometimes in Asia this is a not so clever ploy to get you to go to a dodgy hotel from what is probably a fairly decent one. So Eden and I demanded to go inside and speak to the person incharge. As it turns out, Stars Hotel frequently overbooks their rooms, and then sends the people to their other hotel, the Hoa Linh. So we were rather upset, given that it was nearly one in the morning, we had already paid a deposit on the room, and it looked like they were trying to scam us. Realizing that we were at a loss, (other hotels had pulled their metal screens down for the night), we decided to check the Hoa Linh out then make a choice. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that it is a rather nice hotel! I suppose they just use the Stars Hotel to make the bookings because it has the good write up in the Lonely Planet, even though the Hoa Linh is nicer.

So the past two days in Hanoi have been rather pleasant. The old quarter is lovely, and there are loads of wonderful restaurants. Today Eden and I went to the Ho Chi Minh Masoleum and Museum and it was quite interesting. We also met up with Felicity, a girl we travelled with this summer in China. She's been living in Hanoi for the last two months and she heads back home to England this week after a year of travelling.

On Monday we will leave for a three day trip to Halong Bay, where we will do some sea kayaking and staying on a Chinese junk touring amongst the limestone cliffs. Should be rather fun.

Vietnam, December 16 - January 2

2004-12-14T15:13:00.000+09:00

Eden and I will be leaving for Vietnam this Thursday. We have a rough idea of where we'll be going and we'll try to post to this blog when we're on the road. We'll be flying into Hanoi and then slowly working our way south to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). Our rough itinerary is as follows:
Dec 16 - arrive in Hanoi at 10:30 pm.
Dec 17-18 - explore Hanoi. Capital of Vietnam. See Ho Chi Minh's mummified corpse, etc.
Dec 19-21 - Halong bay. Limestone cliffs. Overnight train to Hue
Dec 22-23 - explore Hue. World Heritage Site
Dec 24-26 - explore HoiAn. World Heritage Site
Dec 27 -28 - fly to Saigon, try not to be run over by cyclos.
Dec 29-31 - visit Mekong Delta
Dec 31 - new years eve in Saigon
Jan 1 - finish up in Saigon and go to the airport
Jan 2 - 1 am leave Saigon

So Vietnam is pretty much the last of the Southeast Asian countries we've really wanted to visit. If we had more time we'd like to travel around southern China and Laos as well as maybe diving in the Philippines, but you have to make choices.

Lantern festival in Kumamoto city around October 16, 2004.

Fievel goes west

2004-11-18T22:24:00.000+09:00

This is one of my favourite things about Japan. The mascot for our bank is none other than Fievel the mouse. But no, not just Fievel from the original "An American Tail" but from the sequel "Fievel Goes West". Am I wrong to assume that perhaps the original "An American Tail" is endorsing another bank? Only in Japan would people feel safe depositing their money at a bank with a cartoon mouse on the bank books. Usually western banks like to give the impression of being strong, secure and professional; whether this is truly the case or not. Well, there you are; Higo Bank of Kumamoto, proudly endorsed by Fievel goes West. Imagine if Royal Bank ran a campain featuring Simba from the Lion King. He could replace that boring lion logo they have now. It'd make me switch from Bank of Montreal.

Tianamen square photo

2004-11-14T16:57:00.000+09:00

In front of the Gate of Heavenly Peace, entrance to the Forbidden City, Tianamen square.

China, August 2004

2004-11-14T10:35:00.000+09:00

Well, we traveled to China this August for some 28 days, but it has taken us this long to get some of our photos scanned so that we can share them. Normally Eden and I are fairly independent travlers; we like doing things at our own pace, and in most countries this is easy enough with only English. However, given the size of China, our limited time (try seeing all of Canada in a month without flying), and the thought that if rural China is anything like rural Japan, English would be non-existant, we decided to travel with a group. We narrowed it down to Intrepid and Geckos Adventures. We decided on on the China Odyssey from Geckos because it offered pretty much the same trip for less.

On July 30th we left Fukuoka for Hong Kong. There we spent three days shopping, eating, and sightseeing by ourselves before we met up with the Geckos group. We were lucky to end up with a good group of people, something we were a little worried about before we left.

I won't say much about the trip other than the Giant Panda breeding centre in Chengdu, the Terracotta Warriors in Xian, the Grand Buddha (world's largest) in Leshan, and the limestone peaks in Yangshou were real highlights. Where we went to the Great Wall, near Badaling, was a disappointment. It was just overrun with so many people that it wasn't enjoyable. The Forbidden City in Beijing was great, and our hotel was near Tianamen square, but the city was just so spread out that you had to taxi everywhere. Xian was a nice city to explore on foot. Sadly it is one of the last remaining walled cities in China. Shanghai is ever changing, and we even saw a Canadian Navy ship in port, a bit of a surprise! Hong Kong is pretty unbelievable. Along the lines of Shinjuku ward in Tokyo, but cheaper. The river cruise up the Yangtze was pleasant. It was probably the place where our group bonded, and friendships were formed. It was really quite sad to see how the dam is going to change the lives of the people living in small villages upstream. It seems like the governement has told them that instead of traditional farming and fishing, they can now make a living selling trinkets to tourists, but the boat loads of tourists will probably diminish once the reservoir fills up.

To view some of our photos from the China trip click here, and if you'd like any of the photos full size send me an email.

Amakusan sunset

2004-07-21T19:26:00.000+09:00

Tori gate sunset at Takahama beach in Amakusa, Kumamoto-ken. We camped about five metres from where this picture was taken.

Meeting up with Chris, Katherine and Janet in Kyoto

2004-06-22T11:08:00.000+09:00

At the end of May, and the first week of June, Eden and I were able to see five of our friends from home who we haven't seen in two years. So it was pretty exciting for us.

Janet and Katherine, our housemates from our fourth year at Queen's would be in Japan for different reasons, around the same time. Katherine and her boyfriend Chris, had been working in Australia for the past year, and were taking a few days in Japan before catching their flight back to Kingston. Janet would be in Kyoto for two weeks for a Physics convention, and although the first week would be nothing other than Physics discussions and seminars, her second week was free. So Eden and I took the overnight bus up to Kyoto to meet them on May 21st. We stayed at a guest house in Kyoto, known as the "Uno house" where rooms went for 1,650 yen per person! This is a third of the price of the next cheapest place I've ever heard of in Japan. In comparison, when I went to Nagoya, I stayed at a capsule hotel. A capsule hotel has a common lounge, and bathrooms but each person has their own "capsule", more like a coffin, where they have a TV, alarm clock and bed. The capsules are then stacked on top of each other, usually two high. The capsule set me back 4,000 yen for the night, about $50 Canadian, and these capsule hotels are often the cheapest option. (However, sometimes you can rent karaoke rooms really cheap from midnight to 5 or 6 am, so sometimes it's better for a group of friends to rent a karaoke room for the night and try to catch a few z's after singing a few songs.)

So, the Uno house was a little ghetto, but being Japan, it was clean enough. We spent three nights there enjoying the sights of Kyoto with our friends, before Chris and Katherine took the train back up to Tokyo and Janet came back down with us to Kumamoto for a few more days.

The next weekend, Eden and I left for Saipan and Tinian to see Jeff, Karla and her family. Karla's father is one of the two doctors in Tinian (famous for being the Air Force base where the atomic bomb was loaded on), where there wasn't more than 2,000-3,000 people. So we hung out with Jeff, Karla, and her family for three days there, before catching the ferry over to Saipan. In Saipan we stayed at an all-inclusive hotel where we could do all sorts of activities, but we mainly spent our time around the pool and waterpark. For me, it was really nice to see Jeff, hang out and play cards.

Golden Week hike Sobo to Katamuki-san

2004-05-10T11:07:00.001+09:00

May 1st to 5th is Golden Week in Japan, a weekend combined with three national holidays, along with another national holiday on April 29th. It is pretty much the only time that most people get a real vacation, and desert the cities by either visiting the countryside or travelling abroad. This year Eden and I decided to drive to nearby Oita prefecture and try the "longest, true backpacking trip in Kyushu" by climbing the peaks of Sobo-san and Katamuki-san. You can read Eden's account of our adventure by clicking here.

Said to be the most beautiful mountains in Kyushu, we were quite excited to start our trip. We had warmed up for the hike with some morning jogs, and short day hikes. However, a three day, forty kilometre hike is not that easy to prepare for. Originally, we had planned on arriving in Taketa city, and taking the 8:43am bus to the trailhead. Unfortunately, the city website was out of date with the bus schedule, and we had to drive to the trailhead, and then worry how to get back to the trailhead, and our car, later. The hike started off fairly well, a 900 metre, 4.5 kilometre climb through deciduous forest along a river with waterfalls. At the end of day, we stayed in a crowded, mountain hut near the peak of Sobo-san. Supposedly one of the best mountain huts in Japan, it was equipped with a composting toilet, solar panels, two windmills, and a spring. The operator of the hut threw us off right away because he was weird, but things worked out.

Being foreign is definitely a novelty, and that afternoon lots of other hikers wanted to talk to us. Two men in particular were extremely funny, and rather drunk. One of them was video-recording his trip for his daughter, and later that evening he was performing the "Head and Shoulders" song/dance, to the chagrin of the people trying to sleep near him. At 8pm the lights went out, and those few who weren't asleep yet, closed their eyes and tried to sleep in the chorus of snores. At 3am, the alarm clocks started going off, and tired hikers began to wake up. Eden and I didn't "wake up" until 6am, and then had a quick breakfast and started our longest and most brutal day of hiking. Day 2 involved hiking 20 kilometres, up and down 6 peaks over about 10 hours. It was tiring. At the end of the day Eden's toes were like pieces of raw meat.

On the third day we decided to leave our packs at the camp ground, make the hour-twenty minute hike up Katamuki-san, and then return to our packs and descend the mountain the "easier" way. It had rained a fair bit the preceding night and the trail was thick with mud, and the rock scrambles would be too dangerous in the wet weather to continue on our planned route. Unfortunately, when we reached the summit, Katamuki-san was surrounded with clouds and the marvellous view was nonexistent. Oh well, we climbed back down to our packs, put them on, and began our decent. Eventually we met up with the path down to a 75-meter waterfall, one of the highlights of the trip. Once again, unfortunately, I didn't read our guidebook closely enough and the trail had a serious lack of markings. For some reason, I had thought that the trail would lead down to the base of the falls, whereas it didn't. Instead, I tried leading Eden down the steep slopes of the valley down to the waterfall, by following a path that kind of came and went. After reaching the bottom in the most dangerous way, we couldn't find the trail, and had to climb all the way back up. An event in which we weren't really sure if we'd make it up. (We found out when we got back to Kumamoto, that this week three hikers who went to Yakushima, were drowned when trying to cross a river in a similar situation).

After making our way up to the trail we managed to make our way down to the parking lot and rest area where some kind strangers offered to drive us the five kilometres to the bus stop, where we waited for an hour before riding the forty-minute bus to the train station, where we caught the train over two stops back to Taketa, where we had to hire a cab to take us the forty-minutes to the trailhead where we parked our car on the first day! All in all, it was a long, exhausting three days, but a lot of fun as we got to see some lovely parts of rural Japan.

March break, Okinawa

2004-03-28T11:01:00.000+09:00

Well, what's new? Eden and I are going to spend this Golden Week hiking up some mountains in Kyushu, and then at the end of May, Janet, Chris and Katherine (from Queen's) are coming to Japan! So we'll all meet up in Kyoto for a few days before Chris and Katherine head back up to Tokyo and Janet will come back to Kumamoto with us for a few days. Then at the beginning of June, we'll be going to Saipan and Tinian to see Jeff and Karla. Fun, fun.

With the Japanese school year finishing in March, Eden and I had about two weeks without any classes. As such, we were required to go to the Board of Education every day, unless we wanted to take some of our paid yearly leave. So, we decided to hop a plane and head down to Okinawa, the former Ryukyu kingdom, and enjoy the sun. Unfortunately, the sun only came out for four of the eight days, but it was still nice.

We ended up taking two shore dives in central Okinawa, right beside the U.S. Air force base, and hanging around there for a few days. The Americans are not well liked in Okinawa as twenty percent of the main island is occupied by the U.S. military. Being foreign, we were assumed to be American, and the usually Japanese friendliness wasn't extended to us... unless we spoke Japanese. The area around our dive hotel was surrounded by All-you-can-eat restaurants, due to the American presence, and we agreed with our dive instructor that this region probably has more All-you-can-eat than the remainder of Japan combined.

After that, we took off for the somewhat distant island of Kume-jima for some camping, and rural Okinawa. The island was lovely, with some excellent beaches, and a seven kilometre, white sand bar just offshore. Unfortunately, mother nature decided to unleash on us on our first night of camping. It begun with moderate rain, and then changed to strong winds. The other foreign couple who decided to camp there with us was gone before we woke up in the morning! Eden and I stuck around for another two days and even did a little snorkelling... but it was cold. Not Canada cold, it was still warmer than any lake I've swum in, but it was cold for Japan.

A few days before we left for Okinawa, I went up to the Toyota headquarters near Nagoya. Toyota paid for twenty JET participants in western Japan to come up to tour the factory, a Prius test-drive, and have some discussions about Toyota and the environment. If you haven't heard about the Toyota Prius, well... let me tell you about it. I was thoroughly impressed with the car. Toyota was developed a car and a van, with a SUV and three more models coming out in a couple years, which have an internal combustion engine as well as a battery and electric motor. The onboard computer decides which system to use based on a variety of factors and there is a seamless transition between the two. For example, the car uses the gasoline engine to accelerate, then switches to the electric motor to maintain the speed. When you brake, the car's kinetic energy is converted to electric energy and stored in the battery. Also, at traffic lights the engine will actually turn off to cut down on emissions. But, when you step on the gas, it is if the car had been running the entire time. The car is so quiet that you can barely hear it, and it doesn't even have a key! There is this card thing that you insert, but to start the car you just press a button. The car gets 35 km/l and the van gets 18 km/l!! With the van, you can drive for 1000 km's on a single tank of gas. The price, only about $30,000 Cdn! This really blew me away, I was expecting the car to cost so much that regular people couldn't afford it, but it was similarly priced with other Toyota models. Toyota is also guaranteeing the electric system, so if the battery gets wrecked in the first couple years, then they'll replace it, and after 5 years, they will pay 75% of the $4000 cost for a new battery. The Japanese model also has the added feature that the car can parallel park itself! Sadly this feature won't ever be available in North America due to the liability.

So, after two days at Toyota, I went to Nagoya and met up with Genji before taking the night bus back to Kumamoto. It was nice to see him and we had a lot to talk about. I was really impressed with how well his English has improved since he lived in Canada... but that may be due to the fact that my job is to speak English with Junior High students, and I'm so used to speaking at the absolute lowest of levels. He told me that his friend, Yu (who lived with the Young's), is getting married this summer and that he will probably ask his girlfriend to marry him sometime this year. Go Genji. He's working for his dad now, but doesn't really like it. It seems like times are a little tougher, and he's trying to save some money up so that he can live and work in a foreign country.