A Day in Hiroshima

In all my years in Japan, I'd never been to Hiroshima, so I made that my next sight-seeing destination. I arrived at around noon yesterday, and made my way to the Heiwa Kinen Koen (Peace Memorial Park). Hiroshima's modern history is well-known, I think, as the first city to have an atomic bomb dropped on it. This happened on August 6, 1945 at 8:15 in the morning. The Peace Museum puts names and faces to that day, personalizing the tragedy. Some have said that the museum is propaganda; in a way, it is - it tugs at your heartstrings, and seeks to discourage future atomic weapons. I was really interested in the history, and the personal accounts.

One of the main sites, and now a World Heritage site, is the Genbaku (A-Bomb) Dome - the bomb almost directly above this building, and it's disintegrated dome is a strong reminder today.

Genbaku - A-Bomb Dome

Peace Park, Memorial

[caption id="attachment_287" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Peace Park, Memorial Cenotaph and Genbaku Dome"][/caption]

Genbaku Dome seen through the Cenotaph

As I said, the museum contains many photographs - some very gruesome - and displays of victims' belongings. This is a recreation of what that day looked like in the immediate aftermath.

Display at the Heiwa (Peace) Museum - replica of victims immediatly after the blast

This watch, recovered at the site, is stopped forever at 8;15 a.m.

The watch of one of the victims, whose body was never recovered. It is forever stopped at 8:15 a.m., the time the bomb was dropped

This tricycle I found most moving. It was being ridden by little Shinichi Tetsutani that morning. His father buried his son's remains, along with the tricycle, in the back yard. He exhumed the body in 1985 to bury his son in the family tomb, and the tricycle was put on display at the museum.

The tricycle of 4 year old Shinichi Tetsutani, who was out playing on his trike when the bomb dropped.

Having had enough of this depressing tour, I took the street car (first time I've ever ridding a street car ever!) back to Hiroshima station, and checked in at my hotel - the Ark Hotel, part of the Route Inn chain. Later, I went for an evening walk along the river, and found Cafe Rigolo, lovely cafe with outdoor river-side seating.

Cafe Regalo

And finally, back at the hotel, I went to the top floor where I washed away the grit and gore of the day in a hot bath while looking at a view of the city.

Today I'm expecting to be more pleasant, with a trip to Miyajima, officially known as Itsukushima. It's one of the most famous visited places in Japan, and I'm looking forward to spending the day taking photos of shrines, and hiking Mt. Misen. I'm also looking forward to spending the night at the Kinsui Villa http://www.kinsui-villa.jp/

A Day in Nara

So, being unemployed, but not wanting to be unoccupied, I hopped on the train yesterday to Nara (Roundrip, total 1, 680 yen). I am located much closer to the historic cities of Kyoto and Nara than I was previously, so I am taking advantage of this!

Getting off the train at JR Nara station, an older man, wearing an ID on a lanyard and carrying a flag identifying him as Toshinori Hirata, an official tour guide for Nara Walk (http://www.narawalk.com), approached me about taking a guided tour. Just 2,000 yen for a 3 hour tour by an trained guide.

I'd been to Nara before, but actually didn't know much about it. And, I was alone. So, while I actually might have preferred a Japanese-only guide for practice of my Nihongo, Hirata-san was so enthusiastic, and I really felt I could use a true guide in English, so, I snapped up the offer.

Hirata-san (nickname Benny) is one of the many interesting people I've met in Japan. As we walked, we chatted about my upcoming return to Canada, and about his experiences living abroad when he worked for Panasonic. Then, he said, he retired at 60, but took another job for a small auto-parts manufacturer, and ended up living in Chicago for a few years. It was after he quit that job that he took courses to become an official tour guide. Oh, and he had just gotten back from a month of studying French in Quebec city...this is a man who will never rest!

It was a great day, and having such an interesting guide was good company and good information. 'Benny' is a Nara native, and besides the history of Nara I got to ask questions about Buddhist and Shinto rituals and customs that I wasn't quite sure about. And there was the added benefit of having someone on hand to take photos of me in front of the famous temples!

I highly recommend taking a guided tour if you go to Nara.

Click on the images below for a larger view.
[gallery link="file"]

Wild Monkeys on a Rampage in Susono

It's seeing a story like this that makes me feel so nostalgic for my old town of Susono. According to the news story, 47 people were injured by monkeys, 21 of the injuries being in Susono city. The video clip in the article is in Japanese, but the woman and man being interviewed, and the surroundings, are in the Chabatake neighborhood of Susono, which is the same general area that I used to live.

Wild monkeys are not uncommon, and Brian and I have seen troops of wild monkeys often when cycling in Susono. This, however, is the first time we've heard of mass attacks, and definitely the first time that I think Susono has made it to the national news!

Article with video clip from News On Japan

http://newsonjapan.com/html/newsdesk/article/83487.php

Beaches in Tsuruga, Fukui-ken

The heat wave here is not letting up, and this worked in our favor this past weekend.

As planned, Brian and I went to Tsuruga city, in Fukui Prefecture, on Friday night. Brian left from Shizuoka right after work - around 5:30 pm, and I left from my sobetsukai (farewell party) at ARC Academy.  Luck was really on our side, as my party was moved up to be in the afternoon, so I was done  by 5:30 p.m., and had time to get back to my apartment, pick up my packed beach bag, and actually meet Brian on the train in Maibara.

We pulled into Tsuruga city station at about 9:40, and checked into our hotel, the Route Inn, just one minute too late to be able to dine in the hotel restaurant. No biggie, though, as we went to a nearby izakaya, and were really too tired from travelling and earlier partying to stay out late.

We got up in time to catch the bus to Takenami Beach (see map below), where we had a reservation at the Matsuya minshuku.

The white sandy beach was simply pristine, and neither of us remembered swimming in such crystal clear water in Japan - so clear, that even from way up top, where we floated in the salty Sea of Japan, we could count the stones and rocks on the bottom.

We had originally planned to stay just one night, and head back to our respective abodes on Sunday, as Brian had to work on Monday. However - by mid-day on Sunday, Brian figured out a way to take Monday off, and I began combing the area for another night's lodging. It was really impossible to get another night, although the Matsuya was willing to have us but without meals (NOTE: I think the bubble has long ago burst, especially here, and though there were many minshuku around, none of them seemed to be taking customers, at least not at the last minute on a Sunday. My personal guess is that they get a government subsidy if they have a tourist-oriented business, but few are actually in business!). So, we decided to catch the evening bus back to Tsuruga, and make our way to a closer beach on Monday.

The closer beach, called Kehi Matsubara, is only 2.5 km from Tsuruga station, and we didn't really expect it to be awesome. However, we were very pleasantly surprised to find, although a less soft-sandy beach, just as beautiful as our earlier find.

And there was even a nearby inlet with a bridge that we saw some locals jumping from. Not to be out done, Brian and I gave it a try, too! (Not posting pics of my leap, since they are less than flattering!)

All in all, a great long weekend on the Nihonkai (Sea of Japan).

Old Cemetery in Takenami

Dinner at Matsuya

Night View of the Sea and Power Plant (from RIP　Beerbar)

Pristine sand at Takenami

Brian Shooting the Sunset over the Sea of Japan

Another lovely beach, closer to Tsuruga station

Taking the Plunge!

View Tsuruga beaches in a larger map

This Weekend's Plan - Tsuruga in Fukui-ken!

This Friday, the 20th, marks my final day of Japanese school. I'm a little sad, but also a little happy, as now I can spend some time exploring Japan a bit more freely.

It will be two weeks tomorrow since Brian had surgery to remove a neuromatic nerve in his foot, and he is healing totally well, and he's ready for action (as well as a little get-away). So  this weekend, we area going to do one of our favourite summer past-times - we're going to hit the beach! And, considering the recent heat wave with highs of 37 C nearly every day, the timing is perfect. This time, we're going somewhere neither of us has been, so it will be a vacation weekend for both of us. After looking at some maps and checking transportation schedules, we've decided to head to Tsuruga, in Fukui Prefecture. The beaches there look really lovely, and they are on the Nihon Kai (Japan Sea) side of the country, where we haven't been in years.

We've got a reservation at one of our favourite chain hotels for Friday night. We'll meet there, with me arriving later due to a farewell party I'll have with my classmates; we'll get a good night's sleep, then make our way to the Takenami beach, where we've reserved a simple minshuku for Saturday night.

Weekend should be great, and hopefully refreshing in this extreme summer heat!

Walking in Sakai

Since I moved away from the hubbub of the Dotonbori area, my life has become healthier and generally more pleasant. Oh, Dotonbori was great, but I love this room way better, and the location allows for more healthful pleasureableactivities, such as taking long, scenic walks (that don't involve eating or drinking!). Last weekend, I did just such a walk.

The city has quite a lot of nice places to see, and there are English walking tour maps available from the tourist bureau near Daisen park, at the edge of the famous tomb of Emeror Nintoku. You can also rent bicycles there for 300 yen per day.

Anyway, armed with a tourist map, I headed out last Saturday (the day before going hiking at Koyasan) and walked all around my new, temporary city. I of course went past the tomb (which, sadly, is not all that interesting from the outside because tourists, and even archeologists, are kept at quite a distance and not allowed to enter). I then continued to walk past several temples and shrines, until I got to the blade museum...which was, of course, closed for the summer holidays!

Me at Nintoku's Tomb; a kindly park attendant took my photo.

Lantern from one of the many lovely shrines"

Shrine pics..

Local wildlife!

And more local wildlife!

I plan to go back to the knife museum to check out the blades, and likely buy myself a new, sharp debacho...

Brian's Left Foot

I realize I haven't updated on Brian's condition - and I want to. He's doing Great!

The nerve that had the awful Morton's Neuroma was successfully removed over a week ago, and the stiches from surgery came out on Saturday (Aug. 14th). Brian's been walking just fine, and even taking long morning strolls to get some exercise. Running is not on the program just yet, but he assures me that the foot is doing great and the pain from the surgery is nothing compared to living with the pain from the neuroma!

Bibliophile - file 2: Audible.com

Even a year ago, I would have scoffed if someone had told me that I'd enjoy listening to an audio book. As far as I was concerned, audio books were for illiterates!

Of course, I definitely do not feel that way now. I, rather accidentally, discovered how wonderful audiobooks really were. The first one I ever downloaded was an Agatha Christie novel, and I got it on my iPod to fill the time while I was jetlagged in Montreal last year. Since then, I've become an addict, downloading everything from The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, to Super Freakonomics, to Born to Run.

I listen while I run, walk or do housework. I listen in bed before falling asleep, and in the morning on the train ride into town. Audiio books are good.

And of course, one can't love audio books without at least knowing about Audible.com. I've got a gold membership there (one credit per month), and occasionally buy frivolous fiction novels (think Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants) and less frivolous but still fun books like, well, Full-Catastrophe Living.

Audible has an auto-download program that you can install on your computer which makes it very, very easily compatible for the iPod. Books can also be transferred to the Amazon Kindle!

Hiking the Womens' Pilgrimage Path in Koyasan

Koyasan is renowned for its beauty, and for being the center of Shingon Buddhism in Japan. A town eventually formed around the many, many Buddhist temples, and tourists now flock to the famous place for sightseeing and temple visiting.

Koyasan is just about 1.5 hours from here by train (yes, I really do miss my car!) and I decided to spend my Sunday getting to and hiking in Koyasan, and to get a first impression of the town, as I plan to go back with Brian in a few weeks.

Hiking was great! I opted to do the Nyonin (女人） 'Women's Pilgrimage' course, from Nyonin bus stop to Oku-no-In mae. The hike was all off-road, and hilly, and, after the first kilometre, was completely people-free. I was totally alone on the trail, and it was a great opportunity to commune with myself, to ruminate over things past, things future and things now. And, being alone, with nature, a great reminder that the past is the future is now. So ...I remembered to appreciate the moment, to savour the scenery, and just be where I was.

After my hike, when I reached the 'goal' of Oku-no-In, I was delighted to see that it was a fantastic, sprawling cemetary, surrounding a beautiful temple. On this day, I was already tired from hours in the mountains, and had not gone there to adore the temples - that was for a later date. So I enjoyed a quiet walk around Oku-no-In, before catching a bus toward the Visitor's Center.

The Visitor's Center was my second purpose - to get more, clear information on the town and on shukubo - spending the night at one of the temples. I struck gold here - I got the business card of the friendly gentleman working the English help desk, who told me to call him when I wanted to make a reservation at a temple!

His name is Iizuka Shozo, tel 073-478-2724; cell 090-3704-1896

I plan to call him when Brian and I go to Koyasan together -which will be for temple visits and shukubo!


[caption id="attachment_236" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Homes tucked into the mountains"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_236" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="View along the Nyonin trail"][/caption]

My New Six Mat Room

I'm all moved in to my new guest house -Banana House - and it is great! It has sunlight, and a lot of good facilities that make this a great place to spend my final month in Japan.

Unlike my other apartment, I do not have my own kitchen here, nor my own bath - it is communal kitchen and showers - but I'm used to this when I stay at minshuku, and have no problem with it.

I also like the area - I've been able to run again in the mornings, and even have a great park nearby. With luck, I'll be able to shed some of the weight I've gained since coming to Osaka!

[caption id="attachment_227" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="My New Six-Mat Room"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_226" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Night View from Banana Rooftop seating area"][/caption]

Bibliphile - file 1: Calibre

I've been reading almost constantly recently, and as a result, find that I want to blog about books and things related to books. So - I've started a short series of Bibliophile File posts!

Today I want to mention Calibre - an excellent, powerful, free, open-source* software for organizing ebooks.

Why is this useful? Whether you just read your ebooks on your pc or whether you have an ebook reader (like the Kindle, or even an iPod Touch), Calibre lets you organize your ebooks, putting them in one central place, allowing you to change the meta-data (author's name, book title, description, whether it's part of a series, etc), and Calibre has a handy search function, so you can find anything you want.

If you have an Amazon Kindle and only purchase your books from Amazon, you may not see the value of Calibre. But if you download books from other sources, or if you want to upload PDFs or convert books from one format to another for transfer to the Kindle, Calibre is a superior tool.

[caption id="attachment_1786" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Calibre Screenshot"][/caption]

You can dowload Calibre here http://calibre-ebook.com/download. Available for Windows, OSX and Linux!

Packing for a small move

Brian was released from the hospital yesterday, and we spent the day together at his place cooking, cleaning and watching TV. I would have liked to stay another night, but had school today and also have to pack for a move, so I caught the last bullet train last night back to Osaka, arriving here at 12:30 a.m.

Why moving you ask? When I first formulated my plan to come to Osaka, I'd set my actual Japan leaving date to be, well, right about this week. However, I soon decided to stay longer - but this apartment was already reserved by someone else from August 11th. Not to be deterred, I found another place, part of the same guest house group, and have booked a room there for another full month.

The new place is called Banana House, and while the name does not inspire confidence, the place is quite pleasant and in a very quiet area in Sakai city (about 20 minutes by train from where I am now). While it will not have the conveniences of true down-town living, it has other things to offer - such as daylight! It also has a rooftop sitting area which I'm sure will be lovely on the warm summer nights.

Check out Banana House here -
http://guesthouseosaka.com/en/banana/index.html

Not wanting to be disappointed, I visited the building and looked at what would be my room last week. My room will be small - just a six-mat room. But it is tatami, which I love, but it is bright and has a view of the city. The kitchen and bath are shared, but this is fine with me. Also the rent is cheaper then where I am currently living.

I'm really looking forward to moving tomorrow, and will spend a few hours today packing my bags and tidying this place up a little bit.

Morton's Neuroma Update

So, as some readers may know, Brian has been having severe foot pain for several to many months, and it's been getting progressively worse, progressively more difficult for him to do any activity and find it pleasurable.

I was more annoyed, I think, by this ruination of joy than he was, but finally,after repeated cortisone treatments, the docs here in Japan agreed that surgery was the best option.

Initially, the plan was to open the foot and snip the 'strap' but not actually remove the nerve. However, once inside the foot, the doctor discovered that there really was a neuroma, and it really was pretty big! So, the entire nerve came out.

Brian is still in the hospital in Gotemba. His surgery occurred on Friday, and he's been alone there in the hospital since Thursday, when he checked in. He finally caved in to my repeated (strong!) hints that I go there to be with him, and I took the overnight bus from Osaka last night, arriving here, in Gotemba, at 6:30 this morning. After a pleasant morning walk, followed by a huge American breakfast, I made my way to Brian's bedside.

Brian was very happy to describe to me the size of the nerve and neuroma that was removed, as he asked to see it upon waking, and the doctor handed him the jar in which the nerve was now housed. Gross. Anyway, he is recovering extremely well and will be released tomorrow. I will take the day off school and stay with him for the day before I have to head back to Osaka.

Making Chicken Ramen in Ikeda City, Osaka

Yesterday, our class went on a field trip to the Nissin Chicken Ramen Museum in Ikeda City, about an hour away from here by train.

If you've ever eaten instant Cup Noodles, or seen them in the super market, they were very likely the famous Nissin brand, which got its start in 1958 when Momofuku Ando made the very first instant noodle product, Chicken Ramen.

I was looking forward to the outing, and although I had mistakenly thought we were going to a factory, this museum, where we got to make our own noodles from scratch, was educational and fun.

[caption id="attachment_212" align="alignnone" width="224" caption="Making Chicken Ramen"][/caption]

We even got to design our own package:
[caption id="attachment_213" align="alignnone" width="224" caption="My package design"][/caption]

Japan Losing its Old People…

I'm not kidding. I've been keeping up with the recent news in Japan, and after it was discovered that a 113 year old woman who was registered as living in Tokyo, was actually not living at that address at all, there was suddenly an epidemic.

The governments started looking into the whereabouts of centenarians, and of course, has discovered more people who have simply disappeared and were never reported to have died or moved by their family.

Check out this news article from Yahoo News...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100803/od_nm/us_japan_missing_odd

Osaka Kuidare (食い倒れ)

Read any tour guide for Osaka, in English or Japanese, and you will find the word 'kuidaore', with literally means, eat until you drop.

Osaka, especially the Dotonbori district, which is where I'm living, is considered a place of extravagant eating. When Brian is here, we truly do eat until we drop, but even alone, I find myself exploring various 'kushi katsu' (deep fried skewered meat and vegetables) restaurants, Mexican resto-bars, tasteful cafes...and because I'm in the heart of a city that has narrow streets congested with people walking, people cycling, and cars driving through it all maniacally, no matter how early I manage to get out, my runs have all but disappeard (I only do about 30 minutes twice a week on a treadmill). Add that to my new 'kuidaore' lifestyle, and it is no surprised that my diet plans have not been going well!

However - I am not going to totally stop exploring wonderful restaurants and food specialties of Osaka...I will really just have to hit the gym more than twice a week!

The Beach and a little of Dotonbori with Brian

The weekend was, as predicted by the omniscient forecasters, beautiful, hot and sunny.

Fortunately, Brian was able to take Monday off, so he had a three day weekend to spend with me at the beach in Wakayama!

He came to Osaka on Saturday morning, then we made our way together to Isonoura and Kada beaches for the weekend, staying overnight in Wakayama city. We had wanted to stay at a minshuku nearer the beach, but we weren't so lucky. However, we did get a really good deal on a very nice room at the Toyoko Inn, a good quality chain hotel that just opened a new hotel near Wakayama station!.

I didn't get many pics of the beach, but here is one, taken when we were relaxing at a little 'restaurant' before heading home.

[caption id="attachment_204" align="alignnone" width="297" caption="Post-Beached, post-showered, - resting up before heading back."][/caption]

After getting back to Osaka, we struck out for a night on the town, looking for good food and cold beer in the Dotonbori district.
[caption id="attachment_205" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Enjoying a few riverside beers at a little motsu-nabe restaurant (we didn't actually eat there though since we don't really like motsu!)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_206" align="alignnone" width="224" caption="Dotonbori River at Night"][/caption]