Back in Our Second Home: Japan
What can we say? We knew that all of our friends from Japan could not come to see us. Tom was eager to go back for the kite festival in Hamamatsu, and wanted to see our friends. So we planned an extensive trip to Japan. It lasted close to a month, was extremely busy, very emotional, and was full of many new memories.
We noticed changes in Japan in the four years since we had been there. There were changes in the foods that are eaten. In addition to the subtly flavored traditional dishes of which the Japanese are so proud, new things had been added. They had discovered avocados. Many more Italian dishes had become popular, and it seemed that we ate in more Italian restaurants than those offering traditional food. And if you use our taste buds as a guide, that cuisine had significantly improved since our last visit. Bread also had become much more popular. While it was difficult to find good bread when we were there four years ago, now it is possible to get a great variety of bread that is similar to that which we buy here. Also more bread is served at meals -- even when rice is also served.
Personal styles had also changed. We saw dyed hair everywhere -- brown, blonde, red, blue, you name it -- and not just in Tokyo and not just among the young people. There were people of all ages and both sexes in towns and cities all over the country sporting this new trend. We found it a bit startling but very interesting.
Another more controversial trend is for young people to wear brown makeup with white eye shadow. This topic was addressed by friends and the media as we traveled. Finally, the very high platform shoes, shown by Sayaka on the left, were quite intriguing to us.
We still don't know how the young women can walk in them at all, but enjoyed watching them totter, while hanging on friend's arms to maintain their balance.
What young people will do all over the world to show their own style and rebellion...
Another more alarming and sad change is the climbing suicide rate. We were told that the Chuo Line, the train that travels from Kofu to Tokyo, has to be stopped at least once a day because of people throwing themselves onto the tracks in front of an oncoming train. It has become a popular way to take one's life. Apparently the main cause of this increase is the poor economic conditions.
A less serious concern, but life-changing one, is that trains no longer can be counted on to be on time. During previous visits and stays in Japan it was an anomaly for a train to be late. Now it is much more common. Also we noticed that the bullet train (Shinkansen) seemed to have longer pauses at the stops.
Along with the changes we observed, or which were reported to us, we saw many things and many people which made us feel that we had been there only yesterday.
We had wonderful, heartwarming reunions. It was great to see good friends again. We have enough pictures and things to tell you about from our Kofu reunions, alone, so please check out our Yamanashi Reunions page.
But for now, suffice it to say that in the 12 days we were in Kofu, we stayed in 8 different homes, due to Yasoji's painstaking work in developing a schedule for us. We hoped that no one's feelings were hurt, and that we weren't too much trouble for anyone as we were entertained like royalty while we were there.
Everywhere we went we were offered food and drink, ranging from the sweets that are popular for greeting guests, to very formal meals such as that at a traditional hotel at a resort area in Suwa.
Good food and good company went hand in hand in so many places it is impossible to mention all of them. Each was special in its own way and we were introduced to so many foods that we wish we could remember the names of -- so that we can learn to make them at home. Instead we just savored them.
We had an exquisite meal served to us by a good friend, Sayoko who, according to her daughter, had practiced cooking and serving the meal to family for months before our visit.
Each item was perfectly prepared and a delicate treat for the eyes. Above all, however, we appreciated the loving care that went into the planning and preparation.
This kind of care was a pattern with all of our friends as we visited the Kofu area.
We had many multi-course meals, including a fantastic sukiyaki dinner,
compliments of our hosts, the Aikawas, at their villa near Kiyosato. and an equally elaborate breakfast there the following morning.
We could go on for days just about the culinary experiences Japan. But we have no tales of live lobsters or wriggling fish this time. We only had raw horsemeat once or twice and we noticed that even our hostess at an elegant formal meal skipped the octopus and squid. We finally realized that we didn't have to eat anything just to please and that we didn't have to eat everything on our plates. We were relieved when a young Japanese friend said to us, "It is not rude when you don't eat things you don't like. I wouldn't eat live fish. Why should you?"
Of course it is always a thrill to see Fuji. Our first glimpse was from our friend, Fumiko's, apartment in Kofu one morning and we had other views as we traveled, and when we were in Zushi. The most spectacular views were when we were in Minobu-san with the Endos. That's where this picture was taken.
In Kamakura, where we were privileged to again stay at the Zushi Marina, we were blessed with gorgeous sunsets. There we had delightful reunions with good friends who are teachers at Kamakura Jogakuin. Again we were amazed at the proficiency of English at Kamajo and we were to learn more about our good friend, Mrs. Inoue, who is largely responsible for that development. We always knew that she is a truly remarkable woman, but we learned that she is even more astounding than we realized. She is the primary reason that Kamajo is revolutionary in encouraging English to be spoken by all teachers and staff at the school. She is also the reason that students are encouraged and not discouraged from speaking good English when they return from English speaking countries. That indeed goes against the grain of the tradition of the country.
Now that Mrs. Inoue has "retired" she has gone on to help to improve the English program at another school in Tokyo - a daunting challenge -- and she has left the English department in the hands of another amazing women, Mrs. Negishi, who will doubtless carry on her legacy.
We were also touched to be so warmly welcomed (and invited to sit in on a class) at Kamajo by Mrs. Negishi and Mrs. Ishihara and the other teachers who took time in their busy schedule to spend time with us -- even though we had just dropped by. Later we realized that we would be welcome there at any time, without notice, in this country where everything is carefully scripted and spontaneity is almost non-existent.
We couldn't help but be painfully aware of the direct contrast to Eiwa where the administration is distancing itself from exchange programs that would immerse the students in English. At Eiwa, exchange programs that take students as a group to another country for a shorter period of time are okay, but a program that allows students to study individually in another culture for a year is just too threatening to deal with. The students develop too much individuality and may be too difficult to bring back into line when they return. Also as many of the students have reported to us, their English may be better than their teachers when they return, and that creates problems. Thus we are very sad to report that the PV-Eiwa exchange program that functioned for more than 20 years, and to which Tom dedicated a great deal of emotional energy, has been rejected by the current administration. Now students, on their own, can still arrange for a year of study in another country through programs to which they pay fees. However, the free program that was officially sanctioned by Eiwa is "no more".
Bottom line is that Eiwa is more typical of schools in Japan in that regard, and that is what makes Kamajo even more remarkable. What a contrast between the schools!
In addition to seeing old friends and visiting familiar places we did add visit some new places. We spent five days in Nagoya which we thought would be a central location for visiting other sites of interest.
From there we traveled to Ise Shrine which is the most important shrine in the Shinto religion. The shrine consists of many buildings dedicated to various deities and to the functions of the shrine. The innermost sacred building holds the mirror brought to Japan by the sun goddess. The most unique thing about the over 1000 year old shrine area is that all of the buildings are rebuilt every twenty years. No one knows for sure why this is done, except that it might have something to do with Shintoism's aversion to anything that is not fresh or life affirming.
It was difficult to view the unique architecture of many of the buildings because of the fences constructed around them. However, it was very calming to stroll around the grounds in the presence of magnificent ancient trees, serene gardens and the tranquility created by the many hues of green.
Tom had a personal reason for visiting the shrine. During a previous trip in 1975, he took a small torii left by a pilgrim, that had been inscribed with a prayer. He used it in his classes when teaching about Shintoism. However, over the years, his conscience always bothered him. It seemed that he had violated a sacred trust of the pilgrim, who had put the torii at a shrine so that the god might see it and answer his prayer. Tom packed the torii, determined to return it on this trip to Japan.
Upon arriving at Ise Shrine, he looked for a shrine in a quiet corner where he could leave the torii. Finding such a site, he put the torii on the steps leading to the shrine, clapped his hands (in the Shinto fashion, to alert the gods), offered a prayer and left his guilt behind.
And with that we left by way of the magnificent bridge that leads into and out of the area -- feeling a new peace.
We visited the only privately owned castle in the country, where we met the grandson of a samurai who died in a battle on the castle grounds. (He is the one who insisted on taking the picture of us that is below.) We were not familiar with Inuyama, but when we asked friends in Kofu, what trips we could make from Nagoya, the castle was enthusiastically recommended. The castle is not very large, but it's a graceful structure, built at the bend of a river and in a beautiful setting of gardens and trees.
Inuyama is also the location of a famous teahouse. Initially, we attempted to find it using our tourist map. On a second attempt, we were guided there by several gracious ladies. We were surprised that the teahouse was actually on the grounds of the Meitetsu Inuyama Hotel.
Sandals are required when walking on the grounds of the teahouse. But Tom was considered a "special case" (sandals don't stay on his left foot) and could wear his own shoes. The ground's garden was inspiring and serene. It was designed by the younger brother of a shogun to keep him out of trouble. Over 500 plants can be used in the tea ceremony and 300 of them were in this garden. Marie took many, many pictures because of the beauty of the site and to get ideas for home. The picture at the beginning of this chapter is one of those.
Our last day trip while staying in Nagoya was Gifu, the center of paper-lanterns. We hoped to visit a factory and watch the process of lantern-making. However, we arrived when the factories and showrooms were closed for lunch and didn't want to hang around for a couple of hours until they would open again. Consequently, we wandered through the town, watched a man hand-crafting the famous lanterns, and visited small shops where the lanterns are sold. This shop is the one where we bought our lantern and visited with the nice couple who owned the store.
The kite festival in Hamamatsu was even better than we hoped.
We were afraid that it would be a letdown after the last time we were there. You know how you build your hopes "sky high" but when you see the movie or read the book it isn't as good as you anticipated? Well it was even better than we remembered! We enjoyed every moment, found people to be wonderfully welcoming and we were glad that we were staying for the full three days.
Although the kite festival is well known among kite enthusiasts around the world, it is an event that is not featured in travel books and Hamamatsu is not even listed in the Japan encyclopedias with which we are familiar. Consequently, as some of the few foreigners there, we received a lot of attention.
People were curious about our view of their city and wanted to make certain we were having a good time. They wanted their pictures taken with us, gave us headbands for souvenirs, and did everything they could to assure our enjoyment.
We were happy to meet up with the crew from "our kite". Tom was even given the opportunity to help fly the kite again. What a thrill!
(If you want to read more about the kite festival you can find it in our Letters site where we devote a whole chapter to it.)
A final note here... We stayed at the Meitetsu Hotel again and it also was even better than we expected. Even though it was the most expensive hotel we used while in Japan, next to our one night in the Hilton, it was well worth it. Its location is superb, being less than a five minute walk from the train station, and it has all of the modern conveniences at a price that is reasonable for Japan during a festival. (A warning though -- if you are interested in staying there for the kite festival, which always occurs on May 3-5, many people reserve a whole year in advance.)
From Hamamatsu we headed back to Tokyo for one night before heading to Australia. We had arranged to stay in the Hilton because of its location, we knew exactly what to expect, and we knew it would be a good place to regroup, and we wanted to catch up with two more friends before leaving the country. We knew it would be quite expensive (over $300 US) for one night but thought it wouldn't be too bad for just one night. In retrospect, it was a good choice. However, we would not want to stay there for any longer period of time as we might as well have stayed in the US. English was more common than Japanese and we could have stayed there a month without having any Japanese cultural experiences...
This is the tip of the iceberg of our stay in Japan. Each day was so rich and full that we cannot even begin to capture it with words. We do talk a little more about it in our Yamanashi Reunions page, as we mentioned above so you might want to check that out.
However, for a more in-depth view you might want to look at our book on the web that discusses the time we lived in Japan and traveled about Asia. Reading our letters will give you the background for our latest visit in Japan.
Sayonara and stay tuned...
Meanwhile, please join us as we travel to Australia.
