Izu Oshima – Part 1!

Flowers of Oshima

Recently, one of those rare, precious vacation periods came up (three consecutive days!), so I was off to Oshima island for some adventure. Inexplicably, Oshima and its chain of brethren is part of the Tokyo metropolitan area, but thankfully, the islands are nothing like that craphole. Actually, Oshima is nothing like any part of Japan I’ve yet seen, which made it more pleasant and refreshing than I had anticipated.
So, anyway, I reserved passage on a jet foil (a ship with a fucking jet engine!!!) from the city of Atami, set to depart at 10AM. This required getting up at 5AM and riding a hell of a lot of trains, and I still only just made it. Upon arrival to the island, I was greeted by a very handsome man from the Global Sports Club – a diving outfit with English-speaking guided. He didn’t really speak much English, so he was a bit quiet until I said something in Japanese. “Oh, is Japanese okay for you?” he asked me over the rattling of the van (it was used to ferry customers to and from their dives, so everything was covered in plastic, including the seatbelts, so I guess people just hang on to something…) I told him it was okay, I spoke a little.

I love you.

After arriving, we were greeted by the two cutest dogs ever, and the most laid-back and most contented Japanese people I’ve met in Japan. I imagine being a professional nature guide (scuba, mountain-climbing, and whatever else they did) in Japan is a much-envied and rare position to find oneself in. I immediately decided I was in the wrong line of work.

The dry-suit - always flattering!

Ishida (my guide) went over the finer points of diving: I’d be wearing a dry-suit (as opposed to a wetsuit), which has air pumped into and out of it. Would it be okay if he adjusted the valve on my chest. Sure, handsome! I’d have to take deep, even breaths, so no panicking. Okay… The water pressure would be pressing on my eardrums constantly, so I’d have to release the pressure to prevent my eardrums from getting damaged. What?!
Once I actually made it to the water, I couldn’t keep from laughing constantly – I was so excited about and so terrible at what I was trying to do. I was made to wear about 20 pounds of weights so I didn’t float to the surface, and Ishida swam above me, his arms wrapped around me to constantly adjust the valves on my suit. Awesome.
I wanted to touch everything, even the stuff I knew I shouldn’t, like the giant fugu swimming in front of me. Was that really a blowfish?! I reached out, and Ishida waved his hand to indicate, “NO!” I did the same thing with the sea urchins and eels. He did pick up a couple of sea cucumbers and toss them over to me like they were footballs. That was a little weird. A big, purple football with an anus on one end. And then there were these little sea plants/animals that lived on the rocks, with delicate, feather-like appendages that swept the water for food, presumably. We brushed them with out hands and they shot like reverse puffs of smoke into their little barnacle-shaped holes.
We both spotted the sea turtle at the same time, and he was so excited, I could hear his voice making excited sounds. Suddenly, we picked up speed and pursued it, until it finally outswam us. Ishida and I waved good-bye.
After the dive, everyone suggested I go to the local coffee shop, so Ishida dropped me off with an umbrella and bid me farewell. The coffee shop was a geodesic dome – certainly not the first thing I expected to see in a tiny island town, but whatever. I was stuffed to the gills with hand-carved, -forged, -printed, and -etc. crafts from the locals, and all of it was exceedingly cool. The best part was the gaggle of obaachan that were conversing excitedly over all the news of the day. One of them eagerly approached me and tried her best to speak excellent English, as I assured her it was. We chatted for a bit, while all of her companions watched and clucked their tongues in adoration. After a moment, my new friend conferred with the others, and it was decided that they must all buy me an omiage. I tried to pick the cheapest thing I could that I actually liked, and they made me pick out something else.

The welcome wagon

After this, I decided I should head on down to the indoor onsen, and it was here that the weather turned foul. Seriously. I was like being in a hurricane. It was all I could do to keep my umbrella from staying inside out, the rain poured down, the freezing wind blew (and I do mean freezing, as in snow), and the sky turned black. I hid out in the hot water for an hour or so before venturing out again, after the storm had passed. Dinner was fried fish, miso with fish, and fish salad. (Did I mention I had sashimi for lunch?)

The northern port of Oshima

In the morning, I woke up to a delightful breakfast of broiled fish, fish soup, and some non-fish food items – delicious! And so, it was off to the flower park and squirrel zoo. Oshima is known for its camellia flowers, and March is right at the end of the blooming season. The flower park was pretty spectacular, although the best feature was a grassy hill covered in violets with 180 degree view of the ocean and mainland Japan.

Camellia garden

The previous night’s storm had blown away all the haze, and Fuji-san was clearly visible from the island.
I eventually made my way down to the squirrel section, where creepy little forts have been constructed out of logs, and they are jammed packed full of psychotic, horny squirrels. It was a warm day, so most of the critters were laying in the sun being mounted by their more energetic counterparts.

Before the melee

I paid 100 yen for an oven mitt and a packet of sunflower seeds to feed them, but they didn’t seem all that excited at first. Eventually, the fat ones came out – you know the little bastards that probably shove the weaker ones out of the way so they can stuff their fat faces with a few more seeds, and the party started. The little log fort erupted with fur balls, and one of the fatter little shits jumped on me. After shaking it off I backed up, far enough so they couldn’t reach me from the fort. Then I realized they were watching me from the tall grass. It was like Children of the Corn – I could hear them skittering and chirping to each other. I eventually gave all my seeds to on squirrel and headed out of there.

Furry evil

I stopped by the rabbit pen for the last few minutes before my bus came, and I wished I had spent time with them instead. They were softer, gentler, slower-moving little creatures, and a hell of a lot cuter. Also, they couldn’t crawl up my pant leg.

What I’ve been up to!

And the night commences!

Lots of fun with my buddies these days, whether we are eating icecream (three scoops in one trip!!), drinking in tiny bars with bat-shit crazy strangers (who turned out to be minors!), or drinking cup after cup of tea while making copies and lesson plans late into the night (okay, I do that by myself)…
At the moment, I’m still trying to figure out where I’m going to go from here. I have it narrowed down to a few different ideas, but in the end, it really comes down to who will take me.

Votes?

	Pro	Con
California	Close to Colin Lot of outdoor things (at least where I’m going) New and exciting! The sun comes out.	Farther from family Sales tax Not licensed
Washington	Closer to family I think they have jobs there, more resources for public schools	Crappy weather Meh.
Oregon	Close to friends/family/etc. Familiar territory Already licensed Some jobs, maybe	Been there Crappy weather Not really a lot of jobs
New Zealand	It’s fucking awesome. And did I mention, it’s AWESOME!	Long, elaborate certification process Farther than Japan
UK	See above	See above And, have you SEEN these peoples’ teacher aptitude tests.  Unreal.
Japan	Familiar territory Close to host parents. I like it here Adventure!	No work Far from family and friends All the cement stuff gets depressing after a while.

In other news, the weather has been getting nicer, after the SNOW last week, yes, snow. It’s been sunny the last few days (‘cept for when it wasn’t), and I’ve been meaning to get out more. Then there was this cold. Boy, that sucked. Anyway, I made it over to Shimonita. It all started where I thought, “I wonder what’s by that bridge over there… -” that one past the other one – the farthest point west I’ve been on my bike, maybe. So, I went and saw.

I really was there

I first came to the edges of town, with assorted shrines and temples. Despite my intent to go straight on to my goal, I did as always and let myself get side-tracked. After hiking around a temple or two, I went up to a shrine (that housed another, older shrine) and found a narrow trail snaking its way into the woods. It led up a hillside, along the spine of a mountain. On the south was bamboo, and on the north was pine. As the wind blew, the bamboo rubbed against each other, making a whining sound that I at first took to be wild pigs.
Further down the road and around a bend, I came to the bridge. The river was pretty, but further on looked more interesting, so I followed a little, winding road from a small clutch of houses on into the woods. The road became wet and mossy as I entered another pine forest reminiscent of something around Eagle Creek. Eventually, I came to a tunnel, short and straight, or so it seemed, and I thought, “Well, I can keep going or turn around.”
About a quarter way in, I realized how dark it was (I couldn’t see the walls or ceiling or ground, for that matter), and how much longer it was than I had originally thought. I had no light on my bike (still in my bag), and if a car came, I would, at best, be embarrassed and the cause of huge inconvenience, and at worst, I would become one with the pavement.
I imagined myself years later, at a party, where someone says, “What was the scariest thing you ever did?” And I would say, “Actually, it was also the stupidest thing I ever did…”

On the other side, I came to a path leading into the woods. This one had a sign in Japanese telling me to go one way or the other. It went pretty far in, all the way over, actually, so my bike was to come along with me. Further on, the path forked: one way was easy and wide, the other was steep and narrow.

best friends.

You can guess which way I went – I mean, was I going to have an adventure or not? And I did. And I came out on the other side, into Shimonita, and back to the highway, and back home, after 7 or 8 hours.
Excellent.

Health Care in Japan

I’ve had a knee injury that’s been giving me problems for over a year – the kind of thing that comes and goes when I’m not paying attention, but serious enough that I’d always wanted to see a doctor about it.  Of course, I haven’t had anything resembling affordable health insurance since I was 24, so I only go to the doctor when I’m dying from some sort of infection (like that time I got staph IN MY FACE).

Anywho, since I have public health insurance (all residents are required to have either public or private – public is just automatically deducted from your paycheck every month – for me it’s about $100 a month), I figured I might as well take advantage of it.  I went to the local muscle/joint clinic near my house (you can’t spit without hitting a specialty clinic, hospital, or dentist in Japan) to make an appointment for my knee.  After the initial difficulty of trying to communicate what was wrong, the nurse asked if I had time right then.  Well, sure, why not?  So, 10 minutes after walking in the door, I was talking to the head doctor about my knee.  He sent me in for x-rays, which took another 15 – 20 minutes, including the wait time.  Then he talked to me some more (nothing wrong with the bones, dear readers!) and gave me some advice and a prescription for some joint medication.

Well, crap, thinks I.  I only have a few bucks in my wallet, but I assume they must do some sort of payment plan for the bill, right?  Nope.  She hands me the bill and expects me to pay right there.  It’s 3,010 yen (a little over $30) for my examination and x-rays.  I almost laughed out loud.  What?!?  How can this be?  I guess my insurance pays for a larger percentage than I thought.

Next, I head over to the pharmacy across the street.  No line – they take my prescription and I take some free tea and sit and wait for all of two minutes.  Out comes a pharmacist, with a form to fill out.  She asks if I can read kanji.  Nope.  So she fills it out for me.  Next, another pharmacist comes out and explains the medication in detail (little pads that stick to my skin).  When I don’t understand, he explains it again until I do.  I am utterly flabbergasted with the price for my meds:  960 yen (about $10).

The real shock comes later.  When talking to one of my students, I tell her how cheap everything way.  “Of course,” she tells me.  “With your insurance, you only pay 30% of the total cost.”  Do the math.

Cold in Tomioka

Still cold here, but the sun came out today, so I think I felt warmer than I actually was.

The funny thing about the weather here is how it is so much more sunny and dry, and therefore much, much colder on average.  When the wind blows, it’s really cold.  But still, there’s so much less rain that NW Oregon, so going outside is just so much nicer.

The time has come for me to look at jobs in the states again, and with it, asking for a letter of reference from my boss.  It’s weird, dear readers, to imagine the end to all of this.  I know it’s coming, but now it seems so much closer than it did just yesterday, and approaching much faster.

Currently, I’m doing a little research about the town of Garibaldi (pop:  around 800), which currently has three openings at their elementary school.  I’ve always wanted to live at the coast…  The best thing I’ve found thus far is a little piece written by Ruth Porter about her life there.  I suggest you all read it, especially the part about the barber shop parakeet:

When a customer came in the door, it would say, “Haircut, mister?”  Then it would dance around in its cage and say, “Petey is a pretty bird, Petey is a pretty bird.”  And, then when the customers were leaving it would say, “Good-bye, sucker.”

Lunar New Year in Yokohama

the monkey king in Yokohama

As I’m sure you know, dear readers, Sunday was Valentines’ Day, which in my opinion is kind of silly and arbitrary, but there you are.  The only reason it has anything to do with romance is because of a misunderstanding in the middle ages, and now we’re stuck with an obligation to buy people chocolate?

Fantastic cakes that go largely unnoticed.

In Japan, the chocolate companies introduced V-day as a time when women give their significant others chocolate (not cards, not flowers, but strictly CHOCOLATE), and this has since expanded to include all male family members, friends, and coworkers.  There is special chocolate (giri-choco, which translates as “obligatory chocolate”) sold in huge packages for office ladies so they buy in bulk for work.  They sell lower-grade stuff for the co-workers you don’t like.

If that’s not bad enough, “White Day” was invented in the 1960s by the chocolate companies as the day when men have to give chocolate to all the women.  So now the companies can sell even more.  Pretty brilliant if you ask me.  On the plus side, chocolates are freakin’ awesome here, as well as supplies for making them on your own.  I’ve seen chocolates painted to look like the planets, covered in edible gold, and various other fancy crap.

Do not enter! Octopus danger.

Anywho, every department store was crawling with ladies looking for chocolate, so after purchasing some loaves of whole-grain bread (I am so excited to eat it!!!) at a boutique bakery (the only place you can find such fancy things like that), I headed over to Shibuya from where I would catch my train to Yokohama for China Town’s lunar new year celebration (much cooler than Valentines’ Day, if you ask me).

Shibuya’s the place that you see in all the movies where the director’s all like, “Look how crazy Japan is! Giant TV screens everywhere! Oh, the craziness!” The spot right outside the station is it – there are four giant screens, and an intersection where people cross in all directions at once (see the thrilling video).

To be sure, it’s a kick in the pants to walk around there for an hour or so, especially if you live in Gunma, like myself. Unlike what most people think, Japan’s not like this everywhere, so it was pretty fun for me, although, I think if I lived there I would… well, I would never live there.

Yokohama skyline.

Model of Perry's ship (right) in a campy arcade made to look like old Japan

Yokohama, the second largest city in Japan, is also home to its largest Chinatown, due in large part to the fact that it was the only major port that allowed foreigners in the 1800s.

Every Japanese person (and very few Americans) know about Perry and his “black ship” – the dude who showed up and demanded Japan open its ports for trade, or face a pummeling by the U.S. military.

Cute cartoon Perry on a claw game.

Narrow alley with video games nestled in Japonica (it's like Americana, you know?)

Currently, the city is an interesting amalgam of cultures and times.  The mildly terrifying and aggressive actions of the West have been largely forgotten by the Japanese in favor of romance and nostalgia (and a bit of campiness) at our arrival.

Here's an old building!

There are many older western buildings and houses around the city, as well as a pretty strong foreign influence, with an abundance of European style restaurants, among other things.

The city through a lighthouse lens at the maritime museum.

Chillin' out and scarin' children. Does anyone really like this guy?

The sheer number of malls is kind of amazing, but it’s probably due to the fact that the Yokohama seafront is mainly an amusement area, and people here definitely see shopping as a major form of recreation.

That being said, there’s a lot of weird, ultra-modern looking stuff everywhere,

Yep.

and garish advertising mixed with tasteful design.  Also, it’s a bit dirty (for Japan), and polluted, but then, my basis for comparison is pretty far off.

The town itself, while providing a fair amount of neat stuff to gape at, doesn’t hold a candle to the people.  I’ve never been in such a large city where everyone looked like they were so thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Awesome sculpture, but it was a shame there weren't any giant marbles racing around inside.

Gung hay fat choy!

I finally made it to China Town a little after the lion dancing had commenced. This place is a huge chunk of awesome, I tell you what. It was totally packed, so it took a good while for me to get a good view of the lion dance (annnd get my head “licked” for good luck, as you will see).

I spent time wandering around the shops and chatting with the locals.  My favorite episode occurred in a Chinese grocery, when, after juggling my many packages, I spilled my change all over the floor. Everyone dropped what they were doing to help pick up the coins, one of which had rolled under a shelf and then rolled back out. The shopkeeper moved the shelves, and when I told her there was no need, showing her the coin, she laughed and punched my arm. After paying, I somehow managed to spill my change AGAIN, and everyone laughed and helped me pick it all back up. Everyone was delighted by my Japanese ability and wished me well when I left. I hadn’t gotten more than a hundred feet when a customer chased me down, laughing, to return a 100 yen coin I’d left behind.

Shark fin soup, anyone?

Not surprisingly, the proprietess of this store was a little rotund and sassy.

Many people figured out that the lion dancers hadn’t yet been to the stores with the red envelopes still hanging above the doorways.  These are for the lions, who “eat” them and bring the shopkeepers good luck and prosperity.  I went ahead of one of the troupes and shopped around in a couple stores, until I was lucky enough to get up close to the lion and shoot some really great video.  The dancers came all the way into the stores, thrilling the customers, whose voices you can hear in the background. One mother kept asking her daughter, “Isn’t he cute?” to which she replied, “Yeah, but he’s scary too.”

Crazy and bright temple

I made it to a spectacular temple which, despite the huge number of temples I’ve seen, managed to really amaze me. It was garish and bright, but really fantastic, all lit up with silk lantern dragons and phoenixes, candles, and ropes of LED Christmas lights. I stood around for a while, waiting for the right moment to ask someone to take my picture.

Inside the temple

There was a Japanese family of six or seven people, and at least three or four generations. “Grandpa,” a white-haired, stooped over and ancient man, was in charge of the camera for some reason. The family stood on the steps, taking photos for a while, the younger people giving direction and grandpa saying occasionally, “Huh? This good? Okay, let me take another one.” When the photos were done, the parents said, “Okay, let’s go home!” but the rest of the family was incredulous. “We came here just for photos?! Let’s look around!”

Phoenix

At this point, a younger couple was attempting to take a photo of themselves by holding the camera out at arm’s length, which I’d never seen before. Usually, one person will just volunteer to not be in the photo rather than sacrificing a good backdrop. I walked up and asked, “Tetsudaimashouka?” (Shall I take it for you?) and they were quite surprised. After taking their photo and checking to make sure it was acceptable, they took mine. Aside from the Japanese-speaking part, the fact that I just volunteered to help was a bit unusual, as people, despite being very polite, tend to mind their own business when it comes to stuff like that. We were all very happy with the results, and I heard them say as I walked away, “Wasn’t that awesome?”

Woohoo!

Cute cartoon Perry on a claw game.

Narrow alley with video games nestled in Japonica (it's like Americana, you know?)

Did you know?

I’m learning tai chi, dear readers, in a class full of lovely obachan. They are all totally cute and at least twice (and in some cases almost three times) my age. The shortest lady in the class was utterly delighted to point out that she was the oldest (at over 80) and shortest, and I was the youngest and tallest.
Everyone assures me that I am skillful and cute (as they remark quite often), but my sensei always has to remind me to relax, a skill I have yet to master (among many others).
As I am sure you have ascertained, our sensei is quite good, and she studied in China for a few years. I heard from one of my classmates that she is a national champion (she’s in her sixties). When we do warm-up stretches, she cheerfully lifts a leg up to her head while balancing on one foot, or sits on the floor, her legs straight out in either direction, and her torso laying flat on the ground.

All the ladies, sensei front row, center. I feel like a freakish giant. Trey and Dan made an appearance, but they haven't made it back to class since.

Kawarayu Onsen

On Saturday, dear readers, I made it up to Kawarayu Onsen.

It was so powdery, I stayed totally dry despite being buried in a layer of snow.

train bridge

I had originally intended on going to Naganohara, a town near the prefectural border with Nagano, but Kawarayu looked far more interesting.  It’s much smaller, less crowded (I saw perhaps five people on the street the entire day), and it will supposedly be underwater in five years or so, due to a dam.  Naturally, the cement-loving construction enthusiasts that make up the Japanese bureaucracy plan on moving the entire town up the valley wall, so everything’s hunkey-dorey, right?

The new bridge at the edge of the world.

how the landscape will change

the blue-green river water flowing into the brown

Last I heard, the money ran out for this construction project (what?!?  Money running out for  a construction project in Japan?!  Never!), so it may never happen, but the town has already begun dismantling itself, shops have closed, and the new bridge to span the behemoth river yet to be is almost finished.  The town itself, and the surrounding flora is beautiful, with an aquamarine river (from the hot spring) and huge, craggy mountains.  The snowstorm only served to enhance the otherworldly aspect of the place, making mysterious, lonely, and totally awesome.

These photos, however, only give one the merest impression of the freakin’ crazy weather that day, dear readers.  Sure, the snow fell in abundance, but so did the wind blow, with gusto!

I was quite amazed, and appreciative of my vantage point from within a relatively sheltered valley.  Still, however, it was pretty insane, as the video helps to illustrate.

Taken in town and from the train on the return trip.

Now I mentioned that I saw almost no one outside, mostly due to the fact that only idiots like myself (us people from out-of-town) ventured out doors.  Once I made it inside, I found a splendid sampling of humanity that made this particular experience one of my favorites so far as onsen-related ventures are concerned.

After hiking a ways up the road. The town is further down the river.

First, there was the omiage-ya-san (souvenir shop lady), a little granny, probably in her late seventies or early eighties as genki as all get-out and quite chatty.  She told me all about the different food she sold, and recommended the anko-stuffed wafers that were made right in Kawarayu, or thereabouts.  After purchase, she told me all about how two of the singers from the boy-band ARASHI (the most popular band among my jr. high students) stopped by the onsen and her shop.  She had a poster on the wall – a cartoon of her and her husband (I presumed) holding hands, and added on either side were the two smiling singers.  She was so excited to talk to me, and she insisted I take her card and come back soon.

From the town shrine. They provided slippers for walking on the surrounding platform.

Next, I went to the onsen for a quick and much-deserved dip.  It was only 300 yen, which is by far the cheapest place I’ve yet been to.  When I first arrived, it was completely empty, but soon a mother and young daughter arrived and chatted a bit with me.  The father was in the next room, in the mens’ tub, and he knocked on the door, asking if they could chat.  But the daughter said, “Sorry!  There’s a lady in here with us (actually, she called me a gyaku-sama, which is an honorific for customer, a common title for strangers one might meet at a store or business, or so I understand)”.  The little girl was soooo cute.  She kept saying, “Wow! This is so nice.  So nice.  Very comfortable.  I’m enjoying myself.  Aren’t you mom?  I think you should sit here by me.  Isn’t this nice?”  Usually kids here are such little boogers, but I really enjoyed listening to her go on and on about how great everything was, and genuinely enjoy herself.

a house used to be here

Finally, I made it to the only restaurant left in town – a noodle shop.  It actually looked more like a Western-style cafe/diner.  There were only three tables, so I sat with another woman who eventually started talking to me, as did the rest of the people there.  There were five of us, and I told them a little bit about where I was from and Oregon hot springs.  I had an enormous bowl of mushrooms and noodles and some peach juice (which is totally amazing, I must tell you).  The shopkeeper was telling everyone how her friend made better noodles, but his shop had closed (for the time being), so everyone came to her.  “My noodles are good, but his are much better.  Everyone says they like mine, but I say, ‘you should really try so-and-so’s.  His are great!’”  It was warm and cozy, and everyone was laughing and having a good time.

the way home

I finally wandered back to the tiny train station where the friendly train conductor sold me my ticket back to the city.  I watched the snowy landscape pass by for as long as I could before finally falling asleep somewhere around Nakanojo.  When I woke up, the sky was blue, and the snow was nowhere to be seen.