四国 / Shikoku

To put it plainly, Shikoku was beautiful. So much of Shikoku was just forest, jungle (probably not but it felt muggy enough to be!), lush green valleys and hill, etc. It was nice to get away from all that concrete that blankets Japanese cities and to see what some people have called the "Real Japan" (whatever that means). We started our journey from Matsuyama city in Ehime Prefecture and traveled south, straight down the middle of Shikoku, to Kochi city in Kochi Prefecture. Most of the journey involved roads that looked like this:


I apologize for the shaky picture but as you can tell by the GPS system, Japan is definitely NOT driver-friendly. Mountainous terrain, 360 degree paths, off-road terrain, 90 degree turns, poorly lit tunnels, etc. were just some of the obstacles we had to drive through.


Leaving Kochi city behind, we headed along the coast towards Cape Ashizuri -- the southernmost point of Shikoku. The trek was full of peril and many times winds from the deep, untouched valleys would try to topple our car -- but we prevailed (okay, LIE). In reality, we rented a 4-four door Nissan Pilot (err, something along those lines) and it ran without a problem for the entire weekend. We had the A/C on almost all the time (except while we slept -- yep, we played it cheap and just slept in the car) and there was never a problem.


If Shikoku is famous for one thing (and I believe it is famous for only ONE thing), it is the 88-temple pilgrimage. Around Shikoku are 88 temples that many pilgrims (and pilgrim tour groups) try to visit. This pilgrimage was started a few hundred years ago by a Japanese monk and it has survived up to now as one of Japan's major religious/spiritual quests (another one, perhaps, would be climbing Mount Fuji). Read the Wikipedia entry here. We saw plenty of pilgrims during our stay in Shikoku .. to all of 'em, がんばって!


From Cape Ashizuri we traveled North along the coast towards Yawatahama city where we boarded the ferry bound for Beppu city. The ferry ride was only about 3 hours and we each got some much needed sleep; but, as this was the last day of our roadtrip, we decided to wake up early and check out some of Beppu's renowned onsens (hot springs). Boy, was that a disappointment! These places were pretty dirty and looked really old -- the onsens in Matsuyama city were much cleaner and looked much better (presentation-wise). Maybe we went to the "bad" onsens but yea, the Beppu city onsen-experience turned out to be a big flop.


Beppu's famous "Blood" Hot Spring.

All in all, the trip was a pretty good opportunity to see another part of Japan. Shikoku is not often on the list of most peoples' "must-see" list -- it certainly wasn't on mine. However, after seeing some of the natural beauty that actually is in Japan, I am looking forward to seeing the eastern portion of Shikoku sometime. I guess I had better get that international driving license soon, eh? :)

Out of order.

I had myself a little accident today so, I won't be posting any Shikoku pics this time. I had to go to the hospital and I'll be taking tomorrow off but I'm fine (considering what happened). My deepest thanks goes out to my neighbor Skip for taking me to the hospital and doing some translating/interpretation. 本当にありがとうございました。

ただいま！

I packed my bags on Thursday, rented a car with my friend Cyrus (F-O-B for the folks back home) on Friday, and headed towards 四国 / Shikoku (or, as I liked to call it given my friend's driving ability .. 死国) for the weekend. But before we get to Shikoku, we decided that, since we were gonna pass Hiroshima on the way, we might as well make a brief, overnight stop there.

We arrived into Hiroshima at about 22:00 Friday evening. The city was pretty quiet by then (well, at the least parts we went to) and we were really just interested in checking out the Peace Park at that time. I didn't realize how spectacular (I know, a poor choice of a word to describe something so tragic) the A-Bomb dome looked at night. I wish I had a better camera to capture the atmosphere of the place; if you think this place is solemn during the day, at night it is almost eerie.


Being poor travelers we decided to camp at a nearby park for the night. In the morning, we headed to Miyajima Island which is just off the coast of Hiroshima and to one of the top sights in Japan (Top 3 I believe). Though the weather was a little bit crappy it was still a pretty good day-trip. While I agree the view of the Shinto arches is pretty amazing, I don't think it's in my "Top 3". Maybe I just wasn't looking at it properly -- ah well, I still have another year to check it out again. :)


Don't ask me why I like to do those stupid head-shots .. I just can't resist. lol. On Miyajima Island is the exclusive store of ポエム　ハウス or Poem House (at least I think that's what it's called). I can't figure out the Japanese on the omiyage I bought but it's about a famous character in Japan (and abroad) that "teaches" simple, but profound, life-lessons. It's difficult to describe because I don't know 100% of the story behind it but yea, that's me in front of the store. :) My favourite phrase: 一人が笑う、二人が笑う、みんなが笑う、地球が笑う、笑うのがいい。


The Bridge to Shikoku! Leaving Hiroshima behind in the early afternoon, we were finally on our way to Shikoku. We decided to take the Setouchi Shimanami Highway from Onomichi to Imabari which involved crossing several bridges and islands. Stay tuned!

See ya!

Not much news to report except that I got off PRETTY early from work today. I'm off to Shikoku for the weekend (with a brief stop in Hiroshima) so, I'll have lots of pictures to upload then. And a reminder: It's Father's Day this weekend. Call home.

K1ーメン

I don't normally enjoy fighting/boxing/ultimate fighting/etc. sports. I think it's pretty barbaric when a society deems such activities "entertainment" (Remember the Romans? And look what happened to them!). I guess I don't really understand the entertainment value of two people beating the crap out of each other.

That being said, when my karate sensei invited my friend Skip and I to a K1 Fighting Tournament, it sounded like a pretty interesting offer (that and the fact that our sensei's sensei was in it made it even more interesting). Chucking "principles" and prejudices to the side, it turned out to be a pretty entertaining afternoon.


Most of the fighters were trained in some style of Karate. Others were trained in MMA (mixed martial arts), street fighting, Judo, Jijitsu or some other form of martial arts.


Each round lasted about 3-5 minutes with 3 rounds each bout. Some fights were slow-paced and not as fun to watch; the fast-paced fights with lightening-quick round-houses and swift punches were definitely much more entertaining.


Most of the fights ended up on the floor with one of the fighters trying to pin the other into submission.

While I wouldn't necessarily go to another K1 or similar-style fighting match in the near future (except sumo), I think checking it out once was definitely worthwhile. The karate I am currently studying/doing now is full-contact karate and eventually I will have to do some sparring in class however, I'll be honest, getting my arse kicked isn't exactly my idea of enlightenment. To each his own!


Anyhow, after the tournament Skip and I headed to the famous Ichiran ramen! Nobody does ramen better than the Japanese. Period. Ichiran ramen is my favourite ramen shop in Fukuoka and no trip to Fukuoka would be complete without eating at this world-famous store. It is simply the best Asian-style fast-food you can get.

In other news, over the weekend I ran into quite a number of teachers while I went about my daily business in Maebaru. From bumping into some at an izakaya (Japanese-style bar), to a kaiten-sushi restaurant (conveyor-belt sushi), then THREE separate groups of them at a nabe (hot pot) restaurant! *starts humming it's a small world after all~* Only in Japan.

Fight-oh!

I haven't done anything particularly interesting lately .. just work. Although a fight did sort of break out between a couple of teachers today that surprised me. Seeing a fight in Japan is rare (I think I've witnessed only TWO -- one on my most recent trip to Osaka and the other one was sometime last year).. seeing a fight between two teachers is unheard of. Like I said, the surprises never stop.

Not much else to update.. maybe something interesting will happen this weekend.

文化祭s

This weekend was a weekend full of culture. Having gone to my friend Sara's Sports Day way back in the fall, I was invited again to her school's Cultural Day. Every school has a Cultural Day where students show off a project, club, interest, sport, hobby, etc. to staff, parents, community members and friends. I was particularly interested in going to her school's Cultural Day because of how amazing her Sports Day was. I was not disappointed. It was so unusual (for me at least) to see the students actually passionate about something. I hear the remark -- from Japanese people nonetheless -- that, "Japan is a rich country but has a poor soul." Occasionally I can understand what they mean, especially at some of my schools, but definitely not this weekend. The kids even tried to explain scientific terms, astronomy, magic, game rules, etc. in English for us foreigners! That was, by far, the most surprising part of the festival. Awesome job Sara!


The "popular" girls doing modern dance in traditional Yukata.. Needless to say, the quad was PACKED for this performance!


After the festival, my friend and I rented a car and drove to Oita Prefecture for a weekend concert called "Concert on the Rock". My friend James and Shannon were in the concert and I felt it was my duty to see at least one of their performances before they left. Unfortunately, I was unable to arrive in time and missed their act. :( My apologies! I'll be sure to catch your goodbye performance in July.


The concert was mostly a weekend-long rock concert and, truth be told, I can't really say I like rock music! Often times I found it too loud -- almost to the point of having to shout in order to be heard (maybe that's the point?). That being said, it was a pretty kool party regardless. The venue was awesome and many people camped overnight. My friend and I decided to sleep in the car as neither of us are the outdoors-y type. Like I mentioned to James and Shannon, I really have no idea how to setup a tent!


Me pretending to be a VIP band member with some special all-access backstage pass.


On the way home from the weekend concert, we passed by a beautiful cliff that my friend originally had no intention of stopping at. At this point, I felt I had to invoke the 一期一会 card. This saying is, in my opinion, one of the most important and fundamental reasons for being "here" ("here" depends on where you are). I was surprised that neither my friend nor Shannon knew or understood this particular phrase. After a little bit of explaining, some persuasion and arm-twisting, my friend did a U-turn and we headed back towards the cliff (even the GPS navigation system protested!).

おつかれ〜

It's been a long week so far. This was my first week back to elementary school and I completely forgot how tiring it was. Wow. Interesting tidbit for folks back home: Dodgeball is BY FAR the most popular school-yard game here. The above photo is just another random photo from the beach.


On the plus-side, elementary school kids seem to really appreciate me being there. The above paper-crane is just one of the many gifts I get from my kids.


Oh yea, in case I forgot to mention: A couple of weeks back I attended my JHS's Sports Day. Sports day is unlike anything back in Canada. The kids prepare for this day a few weeks in advance -- from practicing the group dance, to the group relay, to the group basketball game, etc. The closest thing we have back in Canada is Track and Field Day. Sports Day in Japan is sort of like a performance for the parents, community members and teachers. Whereas Track and Field Day in Canada is meant to showcase individual talent, all events on Sports Day are group-oriented (it fits into the Japanese way-of-life..) and the success or failure of the group (or team) is more important than any single member.

Edit: I came to the realization the other day that there is NEVER any negative news about the US in Japan. I read the major headlines everyday (always from http://news.google.com among others .. I highly recommend this site) to get my fill. But when I read the Japanese-English newspapers I have yet to come across an article that examines or let alone reports anything negative related to the US. Interesting, eh?