Nara

Last weekend we had a JCMU-sponsored trip to Nara, the ancient capital of Japan, and the large Buddhist temple complex where one of the largest Buddhas in the world is held. Also the main temple structure is the largest wooden structure in the world (according to wikipedia).

We got up early in the morning to catch a 2-hour bus ride down to Nara. After sleeping a fair bit on the bus, we arrived and departed. Right at the entrance there were vendors selling "sembai" or biscuits for the tame deer roaming the park. These deer have been domesticated after years of tourists feeding them biscuits. However, if you don't keep moving you will soon have a gang of deer crowding around you for your biscuits; nudging, bumping, and biting to give you some encouragement.

Moving along down the long street, you first come to a large gate containing two very large Buddhist statues. Its hard to see the scale on some of my pictures, but if you can see a person in the picture, try and use that as a reference point.

Moving on , we entered through a side-gate in the wall around the main temple. Getting the first glimpse of the building was staggering. The scale just seemed wrong, we were about 1/2 a mile away, but the building already looked impressively big. As we got closer, it was staggering to see how large the building actually was.

You can see people walking into the temple here.

Moving inside, you immediately see the "Daibutsu" or Big Buddha. He is approx. 50 ft tall with his palm at 8 ft. tall. Its difficult to get a good picture because the entrance is so close to the Buddha, so you can find a better picture here.

On both sides of the Buddha, there are fierce-looking guardians. I'm not entirely sure the purpose (besides looking really cool), but they make for great pictures.

Around the edge of the temple vendors have set up shop and they sell all sorts of interesting trinkets, charms, pendants, gifts, and general touristy things. I saw charms for passing exams, good health, protection from traffic accidents, and many others.

Just to the right of the Buddha, there is a small pillar with a hole in the base that is said to be the same size as his nostril. This presents a challenge to many people to see if they can fit through Buddha's nostril. It is said to give you good luck and happiness in your next life.



After visiting the temple there was still plenty more to see in Nara. The temple grounds are gorgeous, and all the small shrines, temples, fountains, etc. are all very picturesque.

After a quick lunch at a "Okonomiyaki" (O-co-no-mi-ya-ki) place (think cabbage, egg, and pork pancake with barbecue sauce and mayonnaise, strange sounding but not all bad), we boarded the bus and went to another temple complex. By this time everyone was pretty tired, so I didn't really grab many pictures.

After about 5 hours of temple-seeing, we boarded the bus and had another 2 and a half hour ride home. All-in-all a pretty good day.

Vending in Japan

In my three weeks here I have realised that the vending industry in Japan is superior to the one in the US. Vending machines are everywhere; on practically every street corner, and for about $1.20 you can choose from a wide verity of soda, coffee, tea, juice, foods, beer, cigarettes, and many more absurd items.

In the machines here in the residential building there is a selection of at least 30 drinks you can choose from. Popular choices include: Calpis soda, Poccari Sweat, Green tea, and Coke. There are also many other verities of chilled coffee, milk tea, fruit juice, liquid jello, milk / fruit combinations, and sodas.

Vending machines here make any environment seem a little more safe. You'll be walking down a dark alley and think: "It's O.K. theres a vending machine down the alley", and its true, the vending machines look like beacons in the night. Their flouressent lights cast a bright glow around them. Instead of street lights, I think Japan has decided on using vending machines instead.

Last night I was with some friends in Nagahama (north of Hikone), we were walking through the streets  looking for a resturant that we heard was good. Along the way we saw a vending machine and thought nothing of it. However once we took a second look, we saw that this vending machine carried beer, wine coolers and other various alcoholic drinks.

It wasn't in a high-traffic area, and there was noone around. Realistically anyone with $2.00 could buy beer here. No identification required, just money. It was striking to us Americans because so much emphasis is placed on being able to drink. We were thoughly surprised.

Commuting

I just moved in with a host family this week, and a big part of staying with a host family is commuting to school every day. By far the easiest way to commute is by the excellent train system throughout Japan. Primarily I see students on the trains (all in matching formal uniforms), but there are also buisinessmen, office workers and a hodge-podge of other people. Usually I am one of the two "Gaijin" or foreigners on the train.

My morning commute is about an hour each way, which means I have to get up around 6:30 to get ready in time for my first train. I'm out the door at about 7:10, with my first train leaving promptly at 7:20.

I get on the train at the "Tarobou" station (more of just a platform, no attendants or turnstyles), ride for about 15 minutes and then get off at "Omihachiman", a kind of hub for local trains.

Because the local train is run by a different company than the main line (Japan Railways or JR for short), I have to switch trains at Omihachiman. The trains are in the same station, but I have to swipe a train pass to be let onto the JR train.


The train passes are basically credit cards, only instead of swiping through a reader, each card has a wireless chip in it. All you have to do is press it over a pad on the turnstyle and you're let through. Its amazing how integrated technology is in daily life. The infrastructure required for this service must be extensive, but it pays off in efficentcy. Almost an entire train full of people during rush hour (500 people minimum) can move through a checkpoint in less mere minutes.

I get on the "Hikone" train and ride for about 15 minutes and then get off at Hikone station. Once there, I leave the station and get my bike from the guarded bike parking lot just outside. From there its about a 20 minute bike ride to JCMU. I pass tall office building and shopping centers as well as rice patties and farmland. Also, I get a nice view of Lake Biwa just as I pull into JCMU.

It's somewhat strange because the trains are ALWAYS on time. My host mother was telling me the only time they are late is for a suicide, In which case the attendants will hand out notices to all of the passengers that act like doctors notes explaining why you are late. Despite how morbid it sounds, its still amazingly efficent.

Overall its kind of fun, it gets hectic in the morning because there are LOTS of people everywhere. Often I am pushed shoulder-to-shoulder with high school students, with standing room only. But by the end I get to class with about 40 minutes to spare every morning. This extra chunk of time can be well spent on  studying or on enjoying a can of iced coffee from the convienent vending machines.

Taiko

So this past friday evening a few of us JCMU students decided we wanted to try and see if we could join the local Taiko (Japanese traditional drumming) group. Only one of us had any previous experience at taiko so we were a bit anxious in going. This was an actual rehearsal  for them, so we didn't want to intrude and make them teach us the basics, so we just watched while they (and Kouri, the student with experience) practiced one of their peieces.

It was sweet even to see them just practice. We were the only audience there, besides themselves, and it was interesting to see them acctually in a rehearsal setting. Often members of the group would make mistakes, and it was humorous to watch the other members joke at them about it.

At the end of the rehearsal they let us join in  for a quick exercise. They set the drums in a circle and taught us students a simple rhythm. Then, after 3 times everyone would move one drum to the right, so now you were playing on your neighbor's drum. It added some challenge to the whole routine, but it kept it interesting. Anyway, it was tons of fun and I was able to grab a video of the first part of  the reahersal... Enjoy:

Hikone Taiko

Hikone Castle

So I didn't have as much time as I thought I did last night, but anyway...

Hikone castle is one of the few castles remaing in Japan. Its a Japanese national heritage site and a fun weekend activity for tourists and families alike. A few of us students decided to check it out, so we suited up with our helmets and cameras and peddled our way out to the castle. The castle has a commanding view of the town, and you are able to see it from just about any street.

Once there we found a place to park our bikes and decided to head inside, but first we had to cross the moat.

Just the entrance was impressive; the huge stone walls would have been very difficult to scale. After buying our admission tickets for the castle tour we met Hiko-nyan the local town mascot.

The walkway upto the castle was impressive. Each step was inclined and a bit too long, so you couldn't just climb them normally.

 

Halfway up they had a gate with a large bridge that could be demolished in case of emergency.

Now coming up to the keep we had a great view of Hikone, the city spread out around us and Lake Biwa was glimmering in the sun.

 

Finally we got to the keep and had a majestic view of the traditional Japanese architecture.

 

The inside of the castle was interesting too, most of the joints in the beams did not use nails, instead the beams just fit together like big lincoln logs. All of the stairwells inside were intensly steep, It felt like more of a ladder than stairs. After getting out of the castle we were free to enjoy the view for a bit.

Engrish

So Far, it's been about a week here in Japan. Before coming here I was expecting to see some Engrish (www.engrish.com for some examples). What I wasn't expecting was to see it everywhere. It has permeated the culture to the point where everywhere you turn you see poor English sentence trying to be understood. The one example that I have in mind is on the bicycle that JCMU has lent me for my time here:

Another example is on a notebook purchased at the local dollar store:

There are many, many more that I could get photos of, but I think this shows the idea very well.

First Day Bike Tour

First thing in the morning was a 2 hour informational meeting where first everyone introduced themselves in Japanese, then there were some presentations about our surroundings. What cities and towns are nearby, which places would make good weekend trips, and some of the interesting facts about Shiga prefecture (the 'state' we are staying in). Shortly after that we recieved our JCMU-supplied bikes, and started on our bike tour.

Everyone was divided into groups, and we were led around Hikone by a Japanese college student studying at a nearby university. They showed us important places like the the nearest coffee shop, resturant, and karaoke bar; as well as less important places like the supermarket, convienence store and train station.

We had lunch in the food court of a Wal-mart-esqe supermarket. McDonalds seems to be a favorite of many Japanese, but most of the american students chose a Japanese fast-food type of stand.

After the bike tour was done, we headed back to the JCMU campus to relax. Most of us here forgot at least one important item, so we decided to head back to the supermarket to see what we could find.

Most people have a good idea what they want to buy when they walk into a store. Walking in was staggering, we had no idea what we even wanted to look for. Walking around looking lost, I eventually found some staples: bread, milk, rice, some tea, ramen.

Dinner was at the resturant next door to JCMU, similar to a dennys but serving curry rice, steak, and other seafood related meals. Here we see the girl next to me with a Denny's classic:

 

French toast and beer.

This morning is going to be the placement exam, and then the home-stay interview this afternoon. Also on the schedule: A high school is coming to give a presentation, and we all were invited.

Arrival

Woah, what a day. Woke up at 6:00am, went out to breakfast with my parents. Then, shortly after we get back, I find out I have to rush to the doctor's office for an unplanned flu shot. Anyway, get home, hang out for about 3 hours, then its off to the airport.

Get on the plane, spend 13 hours sitting on the plane... get off the plane and get through immigration and customs. Once thats over with, get onto a bus for three hours and finally get to where I'm going to be for the next few months.

Needless to say, I've been awake for close to 24 hours and my body is clueless as to what time it is. Tomorrow its an early start at 8:45 (without an alarm clock), then orientation the rest of the day.

Maybe I'll get some pictures up tomorrow.