Toilets.

Let's discuss them, shall we? Japanese toilets are... unique. The actual, traditional Japanese toilets are little better than latrines in the ground that you squat over, and I go out of my way to not have to use them. If I absolutely have to, I've finally learned how... but still, I'd rather use almost anything else than them. They also have what they call 'western toilets', which are ones you sit on and are more familiar to you and me. But they are still different... they are Japanese. They have been infused with state of the art technology. You may laugh at me, and think I am exaggerating....but I'm not. Most of them at least have bidets. There are also ones that warm the seat so your bum won't be cold, ones that you can adjust the bidet and make it warm or cold and change how strong the spray is... It's insane. The toilets have control panels! Below is a video (again on its side, sorry about that... I've finally learned how to hold my cell phone to take right-side-up videos) of the most impressive toilet I've seen since I've come to Japan. When you walk in the stall, it senses your presence, lifts the lid automatically, lights up, and plays a little chime to welcome you. It automatically begins to warm the seat for your bum, and the control panel on the side has 3 different bidets, from three different angles that you can choose from.... It also starts to automatically play soothing music as soon as you sit down, which you can change from the control panel if you want. You can also choose to have it play a louder song, to disguise any sounds you don't want heard.... When you get up, it automatically flushes, closes the lid, turns off the lights and shuts down, while playing a little 'thank you' chime. In the words of the Simpsons, "My GOD, they're YEARS ahead of us!"

Culture Day

So, last Friday, the 9th, I had a little business trip. I use the term lightly though, since it was really too much fun to be considered work. Every year, the JET program hosts a 'Culture Day', where all the JETs in each prefecture get to gather and learn about their host country. Each JET gets to choose 1 seminar and 3 activities from a rather large list that they would like to participate in. In my case, I chose Sumo for my seminar, and Taiko, Aikido, and Shodo for my activities. Sumo is the big fat wrestling, in case you didn't know, taiko is traditional Japanese drum playing, Aikido is a martial art, and Shodo is Japanese calligraphy. The Sumo lecture was interesting, but I was a little disappointed it wasn't more interactive... We just listened to an expert talk for about an hour on the topic. It was okay though, since now I know what's going on when I see sumo matches on TV. The taiko was.... absolutely awesome. I'm in love with it, and it's actually a pretty tough thing to do. Everyone was sweating and huffing after playing for a little bit. I really want to find a taiko group that I can join near where I live, but we'll have to see how that goes. The Aikido was also awesome, and I have an interest in doing that too. All the teachers for Aikido were literally 55 years old and above, with the oldest probably being almost 70. And they kicked our butt. The oldest one grabbed my wrist, flipped me onto my back on the ground and didn't break a sweat.... and it hurt a little, but was amazingly fun at the same time. The JET I was partnered with was making jokes about how I was too strong for him, so the 55 year old teacher came over and asked me to throw him... so I did. And he went flying across the room. Everyone just stopped and stared at me, and I completely thought I just killed the guy... and then he got up and started chuckling. I honestly think he threw himself that far on purpose, but it was funny. Once my heart started beating again, that is. I can only hope that I'm still that active when I'm their age, it was amazing. Shodo, the calligraphy, was.... boring. But I should have expected that, I took one semester of it in college, and I enjoyed the class but I was really bad at it. I don't know why I expected to suddenly get better this time around, but oh well. :) All in all, a really fun day, and I'm looking forward to going to the one next year. Below is a video of the other JETs in my activity group playing taiko (there were too many of us in the class to all play taiko at once, so we split into two groups, hence why I can record the video), and unfortunately it's on its side, since my cell phone and I can't seem to agree on how to record videos. Hopefully you will get the idea, and my group played the same song. This class was so much fun, it's probably been one of my favorite things since coming to Japan.... I really need to find a group to join...

Engrish of the week

"See and Laugh"
Unfortunately sewn onto the butt of teen jeans.
Seen in a store in Shimoda.

Takkomachi no Niniku to Bego Matsuri!

Otherwise known as Takko town's Garlic and Beef Festival! Both of these foods fill my heart with glee, so the idea of a festival celebrating the combination of the two was simply too good to miss. So, last week I went with a bunch of other JET teachers. Takko is the town right next to where I live, in Sannohe. It's famous for garlic, and is called Japan's garlic capital. Everywhere in Takko there are references to it being the garlic capital, such as these garlic shaped light shades..... these are everywhere!


It's also famous for really amazing beef, but less so than its garlic.Takko is 'sister cities' with Gilroy, which is also a big garlic town, so the festival is also a sort of cultural exchange experience as well. Locals perform traditional Japanese dances, and then afterwards Americans from Gilroy come and do line dancing and things like that. I wasn't too interested in the line dancing, since it wasn't exactly rare to me, but if the locals enjoyed it then I'm glad. While all the performances are going on, everyone buys a bunch of meat, garlic, and vegetables, and they cook them outside on open air grills. It was delicious. Absolutely delicious. Just to make you all even more envious, have a picture of our cooking table. Look at it, and imagine the smell of slowly grilling beef and garlic permeating your nostrils, making your mouth salivate as you listen to the sizzle of onions and bell peppers..... And be hungry. ;)

Of Museums and Onsens....

So, about 2 weeks ago or so I went with my supervisor Yasuko to a museum. It was actually pretty amazing, but unfortunately the only thing we were allowed to take pictures of was the outside, so whee. This is a giant horse made out of flowers that guards the entrance to the museum, and he is currently wearing a sumo diaper in honor of the sumo display they have at the adjoining museum at the moment. The inside of the museum was all modern art displays, but they were actually really interesting. There was one that was just this white room with a chair on top of a table, and a seal's body hanging down from one part of the ceiling. Which was....weird. But then, you were told to climb on top of the chair, and when you do that there's a hole in the ceiling that you put your head through, and you see this whole amazing lake scene, with the seal's head greeting you as he's sticking out of the water. It was probably my favorite thing actually, since it was so unexpected. There was also a display where you walked into a giant chandelier, and all the crystal bits were shaped like men, and they were all different colors. There was also a giant old woman, who was maybe three times as tall as me, but was proportionate and looked real. You walked in the room and thought that they had captured some sort of real life relative of Hagrid or something... In any case, it was really cool, and I wish I had more pictures, but such is life. The only other picture I have is at the end of this post, which is of the wall you walk along to get to the museum. I thought the little crow statues were cute. :)

After the museum, Yasuko took me to experience my first onsen. An onsen, for those of you who don't know, is a giant public bath, that is usually outdoors, and is fueled by natural hot springs that come out of the mountains here. Basically, you get naked, go outside with a bunch of strangers, and sit in a natural hot spa. Did I mention the naked part? It was really strange, and at first I didn't think I would be able to do it... but eventually I calmed down. After watching my fifth 80 year old grandma walk by naked as the day she was born I stopped being so self-conscious. It was actually incredibly relaxing to be honest. The water feels amazing, it's so nice and warm and has this really unique smell. It also makes your skin amazingly, amazingly soft. You just sit outside, looking at the trees changing into their autumn colors, while the natural water bubbles around you and keeps you warm. I can see why the Japanese are so fond of them, and once you get over the whole naked thing it's really enjoyable. I even want to go back again... but I think I want to lose a lot of weight first. Japanese women make me look gargantuan.

Engrish of the week

"Worried about God's Damnation : Little Buddy"

Seen on a child's baseball cap in a store in Shimoda.

And once again, more things about Hirosaki....

So, this is the third post about my trip to Hirosaki with Laura and Karesa. This is amazing, considering we only spent one day there, and it was only for a few hours.... I guess I just took a lot of pictures in those few hours or something.

After we were done with Hirosaki park, Laura took us to a Neputa museum in town. Nebuta is the famous yearly festival held in Aomori city, but both Hachinohe and Hirosaki have their own versions. The one in Hirosaki is called Neputa because of some dialect difference or something. Nebuta/Neputa is a festival where giant hand painted floats with interior lights are drawn through cities while people play taiko/sing/dance/etc. The floats are made using this really unique paper, that is apparently incredibly hard to paint on since it doesn't really absorb liquid very well. They look amazing though, and the museum was fun. They had a little section where you could go and see people actually making little floats and painting lanterns. I also got to play taiko drums, which is always, always, always a good thing. :) So.....enjoy the following pictures. :)


This video is on its side...which I apologize for. Apparently I was holding my cell phone the wrong way while I was taking the video. In any case, it's a short clip of two traditional shamisen players, who serenade you as you leave the museum. All in all, Hirosaki was a really fun trip, and I need to go back one day when I have more time... And when it's spring. :) I need cherry blossom pictures!

Things I love about Japan

This thing is considered a valid musical instrument.

Hirosaki Park

Well, I ended up going to bed after the Hirosaki Castle post, so these are up a bit later than they were supposed to be... but better late than never. ;) These were mostly taken in the botanical gardens in Hirosaki park, and unfortunately it wasn't really the season for it. Most of the flowers had already bloomed about a month prior, and it was obvious the park was getting ready for fall, and then afterwards winter with its copious amounts of snow. Still, there were some very pretty parts, and I would love to go back in spring sometime when everything is alive and blooming. :)

This was a giant flower clock in the middle of the park, it was really neat. And before people start posting weird comments or freaking out, no, that is not a swastika in the ground there. Yes, it looks like it, but it's an actual kanji character. I think it means wisdom or something, but I'm too lazy to look it up right now.

They had this really beautiful rose garden, that had a water feature that went around the whole thing. I would love to just sit there for hours and read or something, it was very peaceful.

Near the water/rose garden, they had peacocks. Why? I have no idea, but they were fun to play with. :) They kept coming up and begging for food and attention from us. ^-^

There were lots of animal shrubs! Some of them were being taken down unfortunately though... The panda one is my favorite. :)

This next picture will be the last one for this post, and it's probably my favorite. I found the Secret Garden, and it is in Japan. Until next time. :)

Hirosaki Castle

I'm taking the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) in December, just to see where I'm at, and I had to get an application to take said test. Unfortunately, the application is only sold in Kinokuniyas, which are a huge national bookstore chain in Japan..... and there's no one anywhere near where I live. The closest one is in Hirosaki, so I went with Laura and another ALT from Misawa City named Karesa about two weeks ago. Hirosaki is about a two and a half hour drive from where I live, so it was a bit of an excursion. While we were there, we decided to go to Hirosaki Park, which is famous for two things: one, it has an existing, still standing ancient castle there (pictured above), and two, it's an amazing place to go see the cherry blossoms in spring. Unfortunately, this isn't spring, so there were no cherry tree blossoms to be seen, but the castle was still there! Even without the cherry trees blooming it's still a beautiful park though.As Hirosaki used to be an actual, functioning Japanese warlord's castle... it has a moat. A FREAKING MOAT! It surrounds the entire park... and is now inhabited by ducks and monster koi.


A picture of the actual castle itself. Now imagine all the green trees replaced by pink cherry blossoms, and you'll have an idea of why everyone comes here in spring. :)

You can actually go inside the castle and look around, it's been turned into a museum. Everything displayed is as old as the castle, which is pretty amazing. The last picture is of a diorama of what the entire castle compound looked like back in the day. The actual watchtower/castle part is the only part still standing today.

The view they had from the castle compound. There's a huge famous mountain in the background..which I completely forgot the name of. Oh well. That's me with Karesa posing. :)

There's also a botanical garden in Hirosaki Park that I took lots of pictures of, but this post is already picture heavy, so that will have to wait until next post, which I may or may not get to later today... we'll see. :)

Things I love about Japan

The Japanese word for bread is 'pan'. So, that would make the above 'Pandapan'! Also pictured: 'Koalapan' and 'Kumapan'. Kuma = bear. :) Seen in a store in Shimoda.

Sannohe Festival

So, the above picture is the only one I have of my town's festival, which was in the middle of September. Sad, huh? The truth is, I was actually IN the festival, I was helping pull one of the floats like you see above, so I was too busy walking and hauling and singing to take pictures. This picture is from before the festival started. Try to imagine a bunch of people around them pushing and pulling them, with students riding on it playing taiko drums and flutes while the pulling/pushing people sing and dance. Then multiply that by about ..16 or so. Each neighborhood in the town makes one of these floats, and they then compete to see who has the best one. They're really amazing, they have huge dolls on them, hand painted backgrounds, decorations, and all the student musicians wear costumes. All the floats have themes too, and they usually seem to depict something from Japanese folklore. The song that the puller/pushers sing is also very traditional, with two or three "main singers" with the rest of the pullers chanting the chorus. After about ten minutes, I memorized the chorus, and one of the "main singers" noticed. The main singers had wireless microphones, and at one point the one "main singer" guy was going around and holding up his mic to various people as they sang the chorus, including me. At one point, his throat got sore, and he decided he needed a little break so... he handed me the microphone and walked off. So, with one hand around a giant rope, and the other grasping a wireless microphone, I helped pull a float through the streets of my town while singing at the top of my lungs in Japanese. It was an amazing experience, I don't think I'll forget it anytime soon. :) To apologize for lack of pictures in this post, have this next one. It's just chilling in one of the restaurants here in town, and yes, it's a real one. I have no idea how old it is, but the restaurant is actually a really old traditional Japanese house, so it's probably as old as the house.... Enjoy!