こんにちは！

I don’t have much to report on the study front this week.  I had a really fun lesson, but basically we were just practicing descriptions some more.  We played a game where we described a face to each other (looking at a picture card) and had to try and draw it.  It was lots of fun.

So, nothing much to say this week I’m afraid!

I did, however, get some real practice in last night.  I went and joined the DVD rental store!  It was really easy actually, although I was kinda nervous.  What I found odd, especially after my recent Tokyo experiences, was that the guy in the store just rambled in Japanese at me, almost as if he didn’t know I was a foreigner!  It was so bizarre!  It’s not like I went in there with much to say in Japanese, but he either assumed I was fluent or didn’t know what else to do and just said he what he would usually say anyway (at his usual pace, I might add!).  Anyway, I walked out of there with a shiny new rental card and 3 DVDs to keep me amused.  So I’m happy!

Today I went to the Nippon Domannaka Festival, also known as Domatsuri.  I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it turned out to be enormous and lots of fun!  Basically it’s a dance festival, where dancers from all over Japan gather in Nagoya to compete.  I didn’t watch the actual competition, just one of the many street parades that was happening in Sakae.  (There were also parades by Nagoya Station and down at the Port, I think.)  I tried to capture some of the atmosphere, and took hundreds of photos.  The full collection is on Flickr, but here are the highlights:

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This dance group decided to get all nearly-naked by the end!

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(With apologies as usual for the poor video quality)

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And, of course, what day of dancing in Sakae would be complete without my favourite Rockabillies?  Today both groups had quite an audience, so I felt a little braver about taking photos.  They really are quite amazing!

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(If you listen carefully you CAN hear the rock ‘n’ roll!)

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I’ve got to get me a decent video camera! :S

Anyway, what a fabulous day, full of dancing and costumes and… even a jacket potato and a chocolate coated banana! ;)  I love it here!!

I stumbled on a poem today, which I would like to share with you all. It has nothing at all to do with Japan but if you’re reading this blog and planning an adventure of your own, or if you’re not quite sure if you can do it, this might help you.

Good old Dr. Seuss…

Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

You’ll look up and down streets. Look ‘em over with care.
About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.”
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you’re too smart to go down any not-so-good street.

And you may not find any
you’ll want to go down.
In that case, of course,
you’ll head straight out of town.

It’s opener there
in the wide open air.

Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy
and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen,
don’t worry. Don’t stew.
Just go right along.
You’ll start happening too.

OH!
THE PLACES YOU’LL GO!

You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers
who soar to high heights.

You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed.
You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you’ll be the best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don’ t
Because, sometimes, you won’t.

I’m sorry to say so

but, sadly, it’s true

that Bang-ups
and Hang-ups
can happen to you.

You can get all hung up
in a prickle-ly perch.
And your gang will fly on.
You’ll be left in a Lurch.

You’ll come down from the Lurch
with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then,
that you’ll be in a Slump.

And when you’re in a Slump,
you’re not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself
is not easily done.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.
Some windows are lighted. But mostly they’re darked.
A place you could sprain both you elbow and chin!
Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?
How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And IF you go in, should you turn left or right…
or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?
Or go around back and sneak in from behind?
Simple it’s not, I’m afraid you will find,
for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused
that you’ll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place…

…for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or a No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a sting of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.

NO!
That’s not for you!

Somehow you’ll escape
all that waiting and staying.
You’ll find the bright places
where Boom Bands are playing.

With banner flip-flapping,
once more you’ll ride high!
Ready for anything under the sky.
Ready because you’re that kind of a guy!

Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done!
There are points to be scored. there are games to be won.
And the magical things you can do with that ball
will make you the winning-est winner of all.
Fame! You’ll be famous as famous can be,
with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.

Except when they don’t.
Because, sometimes, they won’t.

I’m afraid that some times
you’ll play lonely games too.
Games you can’t win
’cause you’ll play against you.

All Alone!
Whether you like it or not,
Alone will be something
you’ll be quite a lot.

And when you’re alone, there’s a very good chance
you’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.
There are some, down the road between hither and yon,
that can scare you so much you won’t want to go on.

But on you will go
though the weather be foul
On you will go
though your enemies prowl
On you will go
though the Hakken-Kraks howl
Onward up many
a frightening creek,
though your arms may get sore
and your sneakers may leak.

On and on you will hike
and I know you’ll hike far
and face up to your problems
whatever they are.

You’ll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You’ll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life’s
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3 / 4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU’LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

So…
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O’Shea,
you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!

You know I love Japan, right?  But I have a small bone to pick at the moment…

Cockroaches, cicadas, rainy season, humidity… No one mentioned any of these things to me before I came!  I knew about the long working hours, the extreme politeness, and the possible earthquakes, but no one even made the slightest whisper of scary bugs and extreme weather conditions.

Well, guess what?  I found out what comes next…

Typhoon season.  I’m not kidding.

So, come on Japan, and residents of this beautiful country.  It’s time to lay your cards on the table and tell me what you’ve got!  I don’t want any more surprises.  So if there are any more creepy crawlies lurking out there, or climates I’m yet to experience, tell me now!  OK?

おはようございます！

This week’s Japanese lesson was lots of fun!  I learnt all about describing people.  It can get quite complicated, for two reasons.  (1) There are different words for wearing clothes on different parts of the body (above the waist, below the waist etc), (2) Katakana.  Most of the new words I will share below are katakana words, which I still find very difficult!

First, let’s look at different items of clothing/accessories, and how to say ‘wear’ for each category.

。。。かぶる (to wear on your head)

ぼうし - hat

。。。きる (to wear above the waist)

うわぎ - jacket

ジージャン - jeans jacket

スーツ - suit

セーター - sweater

ブラウス - blouse

シャツ - shirt

ワンピース - one piece (dress)

きもの - kimono

水ぎ - swimsuit

。。。はく (to wear below the waist)

スボン - trousers

はんズボン - shorts (lit. ‘half trousers’)

ジーパン - jeans pants (”jean-pan” - it cracks me up!  It sounds like breakfast!!)

スカート - skirt

くつした - socks

くつ - shoes

。。。かける (to hang - used for glasses)

めがね - glasses

。。。する (to wear, general, for accessories etc.)

イヤリング - earring (clip)

ピアス - earring (pierce)

ネックラス - necklace

ネクタイ - necktie

ベルト - belt

とけい - watch

ゆびわ - ring

けしょう - make-up

メイク - make-up

マニキュア - nail varnish

こうすい - perfume

So, here are some example sentences:

私は今何を　きていますか？

What am I wearing right now?

みどり　ブラウス　を　きて、　くろい　スボン　を　はいて、　とけい　を　しています。

A green blouse, black trousers, and a watch.

As you can see, we use ~ている to talk about what we are wearing.  The above example is talking about what I am wearing right now.  If I want to talk about what I was wearing yesterday, or plan to wear tomorrow, it’s like this:

あした、　私はワンピース　を　きて、ピアス　を　します。

Tomorrow, I will wear a dress and pierced earrings.

きのう、私はワンピース　を　きて、ピアス　を　しました。

Yesterday, I wore a dress and pierced earrings.

So we can still use the ~てform to link the items of clothing, but we need to end with ~ますform.

Next, we talked about parts of the body:

かみ　(髪) - hair

みみ　(耳) - ears

くち　(口) - mouth

て　(手) - hand

め　(目) - eyes

はな　(鼻) - nose

ゆび　(指) - fingers

は　(歯) - teeth

くび　(首) - neck

あたま　(頭) - head

かお　(顔) - face

かた　(肩) - shoulders

むね　(胸) - chest

せなか　(背中) - back

おなか　- stomach

おしり - bottom

あし　(足) - leg

した - tongue

あご - chin

こころ - heart (i.e. ’she has a big heart’)

So we can describe how someone looks with this simple pattern:

[person] は [part of the body] が [adjective] です。

For example:

私は　目　が　大きい　です。

My eyes are big.

So, I learnt lots of new words this week!  More than I can memorise at the moment, but I’ll keep practicing! 

こんにちは！ Yes, I’ve stopped counting my lessons as I post them on my blog. I figured it would only get depressing when the numbers got really high! So, from now on, it’s just “日本語　の　べんきょう” - my ongoing study of Japanese!

So… this week I studied ~ている, which is either (a) an action in progress, or (b) a past event that is connected with the present.

Let’s look first at (a) an action in progress.  For example, 今、私は　日本語のべんきょう　を　しています (Right now, I am studying Japanese).  And it doesn’t have to be about an action which is taking place right now.  We could say: 私　は　おもしろい　ほん　を　よんでいます (I am reading an interesting book).  I don’t have to be reading it right this moment.  And we can also talk about the past using this form, for example: きのうの　二時、私は　ともだち　と　コーヒー　を　のんでいました (At 2 o’clock yesterday I was drinking coffee with a friend).

Now, let’s look at (b) a past event that is connected with the present.  For example, to talk about the future, I could say: 私　は　けっこんします (I am getting married), or to talk about the past: 私　は　けっこんしました (I got married).  But if we want to talk about being married, we need to say: 私　は　けっこんしています (I am married).  We can also use this to talk about where we live or work, using ~に　すんでいます and ~に　つとめています.

When I first looked at the chapter on ~ている in my textbook (Genki 1, p. 136, for anyone who’s keeping up!) a couple of weeks ago, I’ll admit that I freaked out!  It all seemed a bit too complicated and heavy on the grammar.  But now I’ve studied it some more, I actually understand it, and also understand why it’s so useful! 

According to a friend, and (after a little bit of Googling) according to the Japanese version of Wikipedia, today (August 19th) is Haiku Day, or 俳句の日.

I had no idea there was a day for celebrating haiku, and there doesn’t seem to be much information about it at all in English anywhere on the web. But I’ve had one brewing for a while now, so here goes…

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taiko resonate

familiar, powerful,

Japan’s beating heart

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It was Sunday morning in Harajuku, and I walked past a Christian church. In the doorway were a Western man and woman, the woman with a baby hanging off her, greeting everyone in English as they poured into the church.

I, on the other hand, was searching for a church of my own. Amongst palaces of fashion, such as Dior and Louis Vuitton, I was searching for Next, just a humble British highstreet store, rumoured to be hidden somewhere on Omotesando, Harajuku.

Eventually, I found it! It was tucked away, down a backstreet, just as the map had seemed to imply, literally right behind Louis Vuitton! (Is Next not good enough to be beside Louis Vuitton in Japan?!)

My hunt was fruitful in more ways than one. Next, itself, was a veritable treasure trove of trousers which actually fit me, in sizes I actually understand, and I wanted to buy everything I saw! I settled for 3 pairs of trousers, but came away wishing I had splashed out and bought more. Why can’t Nagoya have a Next? Sigh.

The other treasure was actually on my journey to Next. I spotted a sign which declared ‘model sized footware’. Could they possibly mean ‘regular sized shoes for western people with normal sized feet’?! They did! I made my way to the shop, feeling giddy with excitement, and was greeted by two surprised looking sales girls, who giggled at my delight of finding shoes which actually fit me. Again, I wanted to buy up the shop, but settled on two pairs of ‘No Boundaries’ shoes, one for work and one for pleasure, which are simply gorgeous. The ‘pleasure’ shoes were in the sale too, at 50% off! The shop was called Kotuca, and it turns out they have an online store, (which they told me was in English but doesn’t seem to be…). They gave me the card and asked me to ‘please come again’. I will, of course, even if only virtually!

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Tokyo is a strange place. I found myself caught in this mixture of Japanese and English, not quite knowing what language to speak. In the shoe shop, they spoke English. In GAP, the girl who served me spoke English good enough to make smalltalk with, and all the staff in the shop asked if they could help me (constantly) in English too. In Next, they spoke English. But it’s really bizarre. In Nagoya, lots of people speak English, but more often than not they speak Japanese first. In Tokyo, people greeted me in English, people in cafes served me in English, and most of the time my Japanese attempts were ignored. It confused me. I couldn’t live there.

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Sat in Lavazza, and Italian cafe, drinking lovely coffee, I listened to a Japanese man speaking in English to a French man. He was talking about Kenny Rogers.

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Kiddy Land. Just what it says on the tin. I only went in because I was waiting for Next to open and had an hour to kill (seems these rich folk in Omotesando Hills don’t get up before 11am!). I was struck immediately by the intense cuteness emanating from the store, from the staff, and even from the customers. Five floors of Hello Kitty, Rilakkuma, Snoopy, Disney, Tare Panda, Monokuro Boo, Ghibli… I could have spent all day on just the Hello Kitty floor!

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Tokyo’s a funny place. It made me think. It made me shop. It made me use my credit card! But it also made me happy. I guess it was nice to have a little burst of Westernisation, and to have the ease of shopping in English and finding products I’m used to. And I’m delighted to have some new trousers! I’m glad I don’t live in Tokyo, but it’s a nice place to visit.

I had the fortune of staying in two hotels worth mentioning whilst in Tokyo.

First, my mum and I stayed in the Hotel Edoya, near Ueno. I booked via their website, which is in English and very helpful. On the website it gives a couple of routes to take to find the hotel. We chose to take a taxi from Ueno, which was definitely the easiest route if you have luggage and don’t know where you’re going. But if you’re feeling more adventurous, it is actually only a 5 minute walk from Exit 5 of Yushima subway station.

I was really impressed with everything, and I can be quite fussy about my hotels! Having once stayed in a really awful ryokan in Tokyo (Kimi Ryokan - I’m not afraid to name and shame!), I was a little worried that I would be subjected to the same again. But Hotel Edoya has everything you might want from a traditional Japanese ryokan, whilst also being enough ‘hotel-like’ to make it very comfortable for anyone to stay in. For example, there was an elevator taking us to our room on the 5th floor, we could keep our shoes on until we got to our room, and we had our own private bathroom (there was also a shared facility on the 6th floor, I think). Breakfast was provided, and it was a buffet style affair with a mixture of Japanese and Western breakfast options. I tried a bit of both and all the food was lovely.

I noticed that the majority of guests were European, but there were some Japanese guests too. I guess Hotel Edoya is a bit like staying in a ryokan for beginners - but I totally recommend it.

The highlight for me was the staff. The lady who seemed to be in charge, was simply lovely, and was so kind to me. I attempted to do everything in Japanese, and she not only politely listened to my bad Japanese, she responded in normal Japanese as if I wasn’t really making a million mistakes - and she spoke perfect English. I heard her speaking to other guests in English, and on occasion she spoke in English to me too, but on the whole she let me attempt to communicate in Japanese, and didn’t respond in English like most people do when they can. It would have been easier for us to communicate in English, I expect, but she seemed to understand and respect that I wanted to have a go. Thank you, nice hotel lady!

We stayed in a ‘deluxe twin’ room, as they didn’t have any standard rooms available when I booked. But at 12,930 Yen a night I didn’t think that was bad really.

Here are some pics:

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(There was a shower in this room too. I think it was meant to be like your own private Japanese bath, where you shower first, and then soak.)

So, if anyone out there is looking for a ryokan to stay in in Tokyo, I highly recommend the Hotel Edoya.

In complete contrast, I spent my last night in Tokyo, Saturday night, in the CityHotel Lonestar (confusingly, their website address and emails all say ‘Lornstar’, but the sign outside the hotel said ‘Lonestar’…). Again, I was able to book through their English website, and it was all very convenient (you could even go in and amend your own booking). When I arrived, I was greeted in English and didn’t have to speak a word of Japanese - in fact, when I did, they still responded in English! Ordinarily that would piss me off a little bit, but when you’re tired and just want to relax in a comfy hotel, that’s actually quite welcoming!

The hotel was locaed a stone’s throw away from Shinjuku station, and closest to exit C8 of Shinjuku-sanchome station. It was incredibily easy to find, and exactly what I was hoping for. It was basically your standard business hotel - free toiletries, a bag of nutrs when you check in, super helpful English-speaking staff, and a continental style breakfast in the lobby. The bed was really comfy, and the bathroom facilities were basic but fine. I haven’t slept in a proper bed for 4 months, so it was really nice to spread out and I slept really well! The aircon was a little noisy, as were the neighbours, but I soon fell asleep and missed it all!

The hotel wasn’t really anything to write home aboue, but for 7,400 Yen for a deluxe single room in walking distance of Shinjuku, I’m certainly not complaining. It was very convenient, and for that I would recommend it.

Ueno: Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

We arrived in Tokyo early afternoon on Thursday, and checked in to our LOVELY ryokan near Ueno (I’ll say more about this in another post). Not wanting to waste the day, and both feeling excited to be in Tokyo, we set off to explore Ueno Park. I have to admit, I didn’t have particularly high hopes of finding an afternoon’s worth of entertainment in a park - but how wrong I was!

The park itself is gorgeous, and massive. We were greeting by a huge pond of lotuses:

I don’t think I’ve ever seen lotuses before, and at the time we didn’t know what they were and it took me quite a while to work out what I was looking at!

Benten-do, a temple dedicated to Benten, the patron goddess of the arts, is on an island in the middle of the pond.

Big kids that we are, we decided to go to the zoo. I have to say, at only 600 Yen each (about £3.00) I thought it was a massive bargain! You get hours of entertainment for that price, and plenty of interesting animals to gawp at (even if the giant panda, Ling Ling, the zoo’s main attraction, did pass away earlier this year…). The temporary state of panda-less-ness didn’t stop the zoo from cashing in on the popularity of pandas, though!

I think my personal highlights, as far as animals go, were the gorillas (which were hard to photograph because of the glass):

The lions and tigers, which were also pretty hard to catch because of all the reflection:

The hippo, which moved surprisingly fast (once it was done pooing all the way up the wall… ugh!):

And of course the elephants, which, of all the animals, looked the saddest:

Conditions in the zoo seemed pretty good, but you’ve got to wonder how happy the animals can really be.

Akihabara: bright lights and maid cookies…

After Ueno, we walked to Akihabara, perfectly timed so that it was getting dark as we reached Akiba, the ‘mecca’ for otaku, and people like me who just love Japan’s crazy side.

Bright lights:

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Strange sights:

Costumes:

Omiyage - maid cookies:

Character shop - so many cats!

You’ve gotta love Akiba!

Taking a walk: from Shibuya, to Harajuku, to Meiji Jingu, to Shinjuku…

We started the next day with a coffee in the famous Starbucks by the scramble crossing in Shibuya (made famous by Lost in Translation, one of my favourite movies). I’ve been here a number of times, and always seem lucky enough to get a window seat so I can watch the world going by across the crossing. My photos from Starbucks weren’t so good this time, but here’s a pic of Starbucks itself:

I know it must seem like I’m obsessed with Starbucks, maybe I am, but this one is special because of the movie, and also because it’s one of the first places I ever went in Japan (two years ago).

As I have done it a couple of times before, and sort of know the way, we walked from Shibuya to Harajuku. It’s quite an interesting walk, and you get to see lots of shops etc on the way. Harajuku was chocca-block, I assume because of the holiday, and we could barely move! We did manage to get some of the famous Harajuku crepes though!

The shops were, of course, full of many weird and wonderful things, and some interesting t-shirts:

I do like Takeshita Dori, but I sometimes wish it wasn’t always so packed full of people! I bet you could get some really cool stuff if you had time and space to browse properly…

After Harajuku we wandered into Meiji Jingu for some shade. Part of it was closed off, presumably for renovation of some kind, but it was still really cool, and also full of tourists. In this day alone, I felt like I had seen more non-Japanese people than I had in my four months in Nagoya!

I learnt on this day that the little signs you write messages on and hang at shrines are called ‘ema’, and that they are meant for personal prayers and gratitude.

Some of the messages were really moving, and some even had drawings on them:

After a bite to eat, we walked to Shinjuku, where life is a whole lot faster, brighter and taller!

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And, as promised in my last post, we went up the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building and took photos from the great height of the 45th floor…

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After skyscraper spotting, and a spot of shopping in the wonderfully tacky giftshop located in the middle of the observatory, we headed into Shinjuku and managed to stumble upon a streetlive by Shinjuku station! The band were called Inshort and they were pretty good!

The sound on this video isn’t great, as it was taken on my phone…

And here are some stills:

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Unfortunately, something happened after a few songs and it looked like they might be getting in trouble or something. So we quietly slipped away!

Ginza - Kabukiza!

After the excitement of Shinjuku, we decided to take a quick look at Ginza, and snap the famous Kabuki theatre by night. Two years ago I went here on my first day in Japan, to actually watch one act of a kabuki play. Looking back on it now, I don’t know how I managed it!

Asakusa - Sensoji Temple

On Thursday, our last day together in Tokyo, my mum and I went to Asakusa to kill time in the morning. I didn’t really know what to expect, as I hadn’t been there before (well, I don’t think I’ve been there before!), but it was awesome! It was also really crowded, but it was the perfect place to lose ourselves before the inevitable goodbye at Narita that afternoon.

Following a map I had picked up at the tourist information, it suggested we should approach Sensoji Temple through Nakamise, a shop lined street which leads right into the temple grounds.

The shops were mostly filled with tatt for tourists (some of which I love!), and also lots of nicely packaged food for omiyage, which is a very important part of Japanese culture.

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The shops and stalls continued right up to the temple itself:

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The temple was totally packed with tourists and, again, many of them were non-Japanese tourists.

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It’s quite amazing how much we managed to cram in to a week! Tokyo surprised me, too, as I didn’t think I liked it so much, but I had a wonderful time! It’s very different to Nagoya, and I certainly wouldn’t want to live there, but it’s a fabulous place to visit!