Stu's Japan Blog

Snowed under in Manchester

2011-06-15T01:43:00.000Z

So, here I am in Manchester. Been doing this intensive course for two weeks now, and it has been just that. I've steamed through a lot of homework. And managed to keep pretty well on top of it. Until today that is.

My landlord for the house I'm renting phoned me this morning and asked if I'd mind swapping to one of his other properties because he has a family of 6 that need a place. I'm the only person in this 4-bedroom house paying for the price of a room, so it makes sense for me to move to another place so that this place can be used to accomodate a family. I don't mind so much. But what it meant was that I had to spend much of the day doing housework instead of homework.

And then he came round to tell me that he'd rather if we moved my stuff tomorrow morning at 10 instead of tonight, and that he has a cleaner coming in tomorrow. So all that time I spent doing housework could have been spent doing homework.

To give an idea of the amount of homework I've been getting and how I cannot afford to waste even one day, this is how behind I have become due to one day of not getting any homework done...

It's 2:30 am and by 1pm I still have to: write a letter to a Japanese teacher, do the readings and answer the questions for chapters 20 and 23 of Genki, do another reading from a booklet of reading material she gave us, do the kanji practice for chapters 19 and 20 of Genki workbooks, write a self introduction, do an exercise called 'memo' that ive totally forgotten what she wanted us to do, do a double-sided A4 sheet of questions about causative-passives (or was it Keigo, I've forgotten) and come up with a plan for a presentation.
Oh and, I still have to write yesterday's and today's diary entries. And this isn't even taking into account the class reviews and checking my homework corrections that I've been getting into the habit of doing. And to make matters worse, I'm FUCKING SLEEPY, and im supposed to be moving into a new house at 10 am.

I bet most people couldn't even be bothered to read that list, let alone actually do all the things on it.

What sucks most is that I know for a fact im not going to get it all done... I also know for a fact im going to have to get some sleep tomorrow... which means I won't have time to catch up on the things I didnt get done tonight... and I'll get at least another 5 or 6 tasks tomorrow which will be due for Friday.
and to rub salt into the wounds, I'm pobably not gonna have internet to help me for the next few days.

And while I'm at it, I've got an earache too.

It's confirmed...

2011-05-25T10:43:00.000Z

I'm officially spending the rest of my 'year abroad' in Manchester. After being so close to having my visa in my hands it was decided by those who know best that in order to get me to the level I need to be at, I should take the intensive course in Manchester. From June 1st to July 29th I will be cracking on like I've never cracked on before.

I'm gutted that I won't be going back to Japan any time soon. Getting back has been my number one priority for the past ten weeks, but now too much time has passed. It's no longer about getting to 'see the south', it's about not messing up my degree.

I do intend, funds permitting, to retun to Japan in August, for a week or two. I already have a flight home from Tokyo booked on August 21, so I only need to book a one-way ticket. I might look at going to SummerSonic if I can get a ticket. I would also like to pop to Korea, but again that depends on fundage. On top of that, I have a bunch of money sitting in a Japanese bank account that I can't retrieve without actually going there. Which is kind of good really, because it means I won't spend it over the summer. And the best part is, I won't be bound by Newcastle's ridiculous insurance policy and I can go whereever the hell I want, so I might even pop back to Akita just because I can.

Bye for now x

Hiroshima!... or Manchester?

2011-05-24T23:55:00.000Z

It's been a while since my last update. This is supposed to be my 'Japan Blog', but here I am still stuck in the UK. Shortly after my last post I recieved the bit of paper I had been waiting for in order to apply for my visa. This document is a 'Certificate of Acceptance' from Hiroshima University. It's basically a letter confirming that, yes I will be a student there until such-and-such a date. Another document exists called the 'Certificate of Eligibilty', but I had been told on the phone that I wouldn't need this particular peice of paper.

I received the CoA the day before the Royal Wedding and resulting 4-day bank holiday, meaning I had to wait until the following Tuesday before I could go to the Embassy and apply for my visa. Then, I was led to beleive, it would be another five days wait until I would get my passport sent back to me with a visa in it. Alrighty then.

But, of course, noing is that fucking simple, is it. Apparently there was some query. They had to ask their chums in Tokyo a couple of questions before they could process my visa. One question being the posibilty that I might be able to use the visa in my old passport (which I had previously had sent to me from Akita, where I had left it). This would save me the 40+ quid it costs to get a brand spanking new one in my new passport. I told them I'd rather just pay for the new one (my uni would be covering the cost anyway), but they said they still had to ask Tokyo anyway. I said okay, and then I thought to double-check whether or not I would need to provide the Certificate of Eligibility they had already told me I wouldn't need. She smiled and confirmed I would not need it, as these were 'special circumstances'.

The other catch was that Golden Week was just starting. Golden Week is basically a week long public holiday in Japan, meaning nobody in Tokyo would be able to respond to the Embassy's queries for a good few days. In fact, those few days turned into two weeks. I got a phone call and it turns out Tokyo's answer was 'no', I would have to reapply for a brand new visa in my new passport. Which is exactly what I intended to do in the first place. What a waste of two weeks! But, oh well, we're nearly there. They can just make me up the visa in the normal five day period, right? Well, actually no... I would also need my Certificate of Eligibility...

You Fucking What? I genuinely could hve murdered someone, and it would have felt so good.

As it happened, that very day, Hiroshima had sent the CoE to Newcastle, and they were swift to forward it to me. The document arrived this morning (or yesterday morning as it's gone midnight) and I'm planning to go to London first thing in the morning. I could very well have my visa by the end of tomorrow, because he said they could rush it through for me and I wouldnt have to wait the normal five days due to the 'special circumstances'. I'm sure you appreciate why I'm a tad skeptical, but it would be great to finally have that bloody visa in my bloody passport.

Hooooowever...

While all this was going on, one of my teachers, the lovely Moretti-sensei, who I have yet to meet in person, had been enquiring about an intensive summer course run by the University of Manchester. The idea being that if the whole getting-back-to-Japan thing ended up taking too long or falling through altogether, I would have a back-up plan.

So, last thursday I travelled to Manchester, found the right building and looked for room S3.16... I couldn't fnd it though. I walked up and down the corridor, S3.19, S3.18, S3.17, throught the double-doors, past the ladies', past the gents', S3.14... wait, what? I was sure I was mistaken, but it seemed like S3.16 was the ladies' toilet. Was this some kind of joke because I'm from a rival university? I went to the office to find out, and it turned out I had misread the email... I was after SG.16.

So I went downstairs and met Iwakami-sensei, who was very sweet and very polite despite my complete faliure of her placement test. I had pretty much totally messed it up and it was painful for both of us when she painstakingly went over the papers listing all the mistakes I had made. Nevertheless, we did get a little bit of dialogue going in Japanese and that felt nice. I left her, feeling quite embarrassed as a representative of Newcastle. I felt like I had let the side down. I met up with my friend Sarah, who lives in Manchester, for a swift pint in the station before catching my train home, where due to a lack of lifts and 4 duff taxi numbers, I had to walk for over an hour (about 30 mins of which was in utter pitch black) before I was recognised by a fellow Ticehurstian who stopped and drove me the rest of the way. Thanks Nick.

Today, I got an email from Moretti-sensei informing me that by some miracle, I had been accepted onto this class in Manchester.

Which, assuming I get this visa tomorrow, leaves me with two choices. Do I finally go back to Japan, to Hiroshima, after a continuous two-month barrage of obstacles and set-backs, or do I spend the next couple of months in Manchester? At the end of the day, my Japanese is the main priority, and I have asked my teachers to advise me as to whether or not Manchester might in fact be the wiser decision academically. The last thing I want is to be unprepared for beginning Stage 4 in September. I don't want to be failing and dragging my classmates down with me. Hiroshima is still my first choice, but at the moment I think I could be persuaded by the Manchester option if my teachers think it is a better option.

Sorry for the boring block of text with no pictures. Hopefully there will be some Hiroshima pics withing the next couple of weeks. If not, then how about some Manchester pics? Hmmm. We shall see.

Bye for now x

This sound puts the willys up me...

2011-04-18T20:52:00.004Z

Last night I found a sample of Japan's Earthquake Early Warning sound. This sound is played on Japanese television and even on mobile phones, moments before an earthquake occurs, giving people precious few seconds to brace themselves for the shaking.

It is played every time there is a quake or an aftershock, so the guy who wrote it must be rolling in royalties following the recent quake.

It's an innocent enough sound on its own, but it has become the grim, nerve-jangling soundtrack to the lives of millions in Japan. I have been back in the UK for a month now but hearing that sound again last night brought back tense memories of sitting in the hostel in Tokyo on the night of March 11 wincing and saying 'oh fuck, when's it gonna stop' every time that sound played. And I presume it's still being played fairly frequently, because the aftershocks are far from over.

Click Here for more info about the Earthquake Early Warning System

The saga continues...

2011-04-12T23:02:00.003Z

It has been a month since the big-ass quake of 2011, and while Japan is continuing to be battered and shaken by aftershocks, I'm continuing to be battered and shaken by some seriously bad decision-making. After returning to the UK on the emergency passport (the palaver mentioned in my previous post), I have since had to apply for a brand new passport, and am still waiting for a document to arrive to allow me to apply for a brand new visa.

My university have no told us that they are happy for us to return to Japan. Good news right? But as if my their decision to haul us back to the UK hadn't caused enough of a faff, they have now decided to make things even more difficult for me by telling me I am not allowed to return to AIU
, due to what they refer to as "the situation in Akita". After asking them nicely, they have still not given me a straight answer as to what this "situation" might be. Instead, they have arranged for me to start at a completely different uni in Hiroshima.

Way over a year ago, when we were asked to pick our top three preferences, Hiroshima Shudo had been my 2nd choice. I was furious at being sent to Akita, which is at the opposite end of the country from where I wanted to be. Now they have decided to sent me to Hiroshima, and I am furious with them again.

Why should I be so upset? Didn't I always want to see the south?
True, and there is a part of me looking forward getting there. Once I'm settled it should be okay, and my friend Emma is already a student there, so I won't be entirely alone, but Newcastle (and the many legal/insurancey people who appear to be pulling the [wrong] strings) don't seem to realise the sheer stress this is going to be before I can begin to get settled. Not only do I have to re-enrol at a new institute, start new classes, buy different textbooks, apply for new accomodation, and all the rest of it, but they are also telling me I can't return to AIU for a few days to say goodbye to my friends, return my library books and collect my belongings, which are still in my room there... my room which I have already paid 100,000yen to cover next semester. I should be able to get that refunded, but it's just an extra hassle I don't need. I may not have wanted to go to AIU originally, but I have made a home there and I love the place and the friends I've made there.

They forget I'm supposed to be a 'mature' student. I'm nearly 28, but I'm being told by the grown-ups that I'm not allowed to go past the lamp-post on the corner because it's 'too dangerous'.

My main concern through all this, though, is my Japanese. I'd been getting some very good grades in AIU... perhaps that means I was in a weaker class than I should be at the level I'm supposed to be, but it was doing wonders for my confidence. Now I'm going to be thrust into a new classroom with people who are probably going to be much better than me, and I'm going to feel just as useless as I did back in Newcastle at the end of last year.

What I need now is to get back to Japan ASAP, and slip straight back into the routine of learning the sodding language, which is the whole sodding reason for my being there in the first place... but I'm going to be too busy sorting shit out for the first few weeks that I'm not going to learn anything... on top of that Hiroshima's semester has already started, so I'm missing classes the whole time I'm still in the UK.

I'm still not sure when I will be back in Japan. It all depends on how long it takes to sort this visa out, but as soon as I have that I will be booking my flight.

Being back in the UK has had it's plus points. I've met up with a few friends, eaten lots of the food I had been missing, gained a few pounds, and met my new nephew, who is a little bundle of awesome. But I'm just waiting to see what kind of curveball Newcastle will throw at me next.

Bye for now x

Big-Ass Quake 2011

2011-03-22T10:50:00.004Z

In my last post I mentioned I was about to travel down to Tokyo for a bit and then maybe head further south. I spent the first week in Tokyo, meeting up with friends, drinking, eating and generally pissing about. Much interesting stories came out of that week and it probably would have made a readable blog post in itself - but then, on Friday 11th March at 14:46, the ground below my feet started shaking. The rather unsnappily named "Tohoku Region Pacific Ocean Offshore Earthquake" had struck.

I was walking along the street in Waseda with my friend Ina looking for a decent coffeeshop, when we became aware of a shaking sound coming from one of the shops we walked past. An old lady was standing in the shop's doorway looking up. My eyes followed her gaze and I realised the taller buildings were swinging backwards and forwards. Then I became aware of the ground beneath my feet shaking and lurching. By this point, cars had stopped and people were coming outside to stand in the street.

People keep asking me "What does it feel like?" I had trouble answering this question at first, I couldn't really describe it. People 18 stories up a skyskraper have a much different experience than people on the ground. For us on the ground it's not so much like the ground shaking, but more as if gravity itself is shifting beneath your feet. On the way home in the plane we experienced some pretty nasty turbulence, and it definitely had a similar vibe to the quake, a kind of lunging and jolting feeling in the pit of your stomach.

It took a while for the shake to die down, and for ages there was a creepy echo of the swaying buildings - giant wobbleboards resonating through the streets. Me and Ina agreed that it was both awesome and creepy, but the question had to be asked... just how bad was that? We both have little TVs on our mobile phones, so Ina turned hers on and said "shiiit!" Some coastal areas were already starting to flood from the Tsunami, which hit almost immediately. Then again "shiiiiit!" More pictures were coming in, pictures of newrooms full of helmet-clad Japanese newsreaders trying to conduct themselves appropriately while their entire studio shakes.

We made our way to a nearby tapioca coffee shop all the time keeping an eye on the TV. The Shiiiiiiits were getting longer with each new set of images coming in from the news. It was starting to sink in now that this was a disaster of serious proportions. My initial excitement was beginning to turn into fear. What if it's not over? What if that was just a prelude for somehing greater?

I went back with Ina to her dorm, and she had to go and work on a presentation, but another mate, Dan, lives there too, so he came and joined me. We wandered around for a bit, trying to find somewhere for a coffee or a pint, but soon realised that the streets were packed full of people. Many higher buildings and shopping centers had closed due to the quake and the rail systems had closed all lines resutling streets full of people queueing for busses and payphones, or just hanging around, not knowing what to do next. Few places were open and it was hard to find a seat in any of them, but we did mangage to find a couple of seats in a nice cafe where the manager, for reasons we never did quite work out, kindly bought our coffees for us.

Not knowing what to do with ourselves we decided to walk to Shinjuku. The streets of Shinjuku are some of the busiest in Tokyo at the best of times, but tonight they were ram-packed. We spent some time watching the news on one of the giant screens, and then it transpired that some of the subway lines were about to reopen so I headed to my station and made my way back to my hostel. On the train I spoke to another English guy, Joe I think he said, who told me that he was actually in a dentists chair the moment the quake struck... sod that!

That night I didn't sleep. I just stayed up watching the news, too scared to go to bed, in case I needed to be awake in an emergency.

The next day, and for the remainder of my time in Tokyo, there were apparently something like 500 aftershocks, some of them decent quakes in their own rights, and it was a tense time, but I was sure the worst of it was over and thoughts were turning to carrying on with my holiday in Kyoto. But news had started to focus on the situation at the nuclear reactors in Fukushima. By this point, the French and Germans had already scarpered. I don't know what their media had been saying, but they were genuinely scared. The British were a bit more relaxed. The FCO were recommending that British Nationals avoid travelling to Japan unnecessarily, but they never said anything about those already there having to return to the UK. Just stay out of the 30km exclusion zone, was their advice (straight from the words of the British Consul in Osaka, who I spoke to in person a few days later).

Unfortunately, Newcastle Uni apparently misinterpreted the danger and told me and my classmates to basically get out of the country. At first they gave us a choice, but by the time I had got to Kyoto, they had changed their minds. They wanted us out. My problem was that when I had left Akita for Tokyo, 7 days before the Quake, I had neglected to bring my passport with me. Well how was I supposed to know THIS was going to happen? Travel to the north by rail and road was limited or impossible depending on your source, so if I was going to leave the country I would need an emergency passport. I told Newcastle this (adding that I was perfectly safe, and that I get more radiation from my mobile phone than from anything happening in Fukushima) in the hope that they would tell me to carry on with my holiday. But it wasn't to be. I'd just come from Tokyo, so I couldnt very well turn straight back to go to the embassy, so I went to the British Consulate in Osaka to ask about emergency passports. I was in there for a total of 12 hours over two days.

NCL's travel insurers had said they would book my flight home, but that I needed to have my emergency passport for them to make the booking. The consulate said they would give me the EP, but that I had to give them my exact flight details. So this little catch-22 went on for much longer than necessary and what made me so angry was that it was all for nothing, all because Newcastle over-reacted. My other English friends from Leeds and other home universities didn't get recalled, although most of them have decided to come home for a while anyway.

The Consulate was nowhere near as busy as it might have been, but I met some interesting people there, including a guy from Bloomberg News, who seemed to have some knowledge that the rest of us didn't have, and a guy who worked for Ikea, who had chartered a plane for the company's employees in Japan. He felt awful because all the foreigners were being told to leave, while the Japanese employees had to stay put in Tokyo. Well done Ikea, way to completely destroy the working relationships between your employees. They'll never be able to look their Japanese friends in the eyes again. Not a single person in the room actually wanted to leave Japan. They were either being forced to by TPTB or had wives and children and wanted to send them to the UK as a mere precaution.

But leave Japan I did, against my better judgement, and the mission to get back ASAP is already on. In using an emergency passport they had to void my current passport, which means I have to now apply for a new one, and I also will have to get old of another Student visa. They don't normally dish out the same type of visa to the same person twice, but I'm hoping they'll understand my plight. All my stuff is still in Akita, and I've already paid for the Spring semester, which starts in mid-april, so I'm going back whether NCL like it or not. I'll keep you up to date with how this goes...

I've done a lot of moaning in this post, and in the past week in general. Poor me. And while I do genuinely feel that I've been a bit hard done by, I haven't forgotten the people who really need our sympathy. There are still something like 12,000 people unaccounted for in the aftermath of the Tsunami. And the chances of any of them turning up alive are pretty much gone now. I'm lucky that all of my friends are accounted for, but I've met people who still haven't heard from a grandmother here or an aunty there. Miles and miles of Japan are in a complete mess that will take years, if not decades to sort out and thousands of people have lost everything. I'm hearing more and more about voluteer programs being set up to help out in the area. I really wish I could sign up and lend a hand, but instead I'm stuck here in the UK being absolutely useless.

The Japanese people have been amazing through this time, and I love them more than ever before. They deserve our recognition and help. The best I can do at the moment is urge anyone who hasn't already, to consider making a donation to the Red Cross Japan Tsunami Appeal, or something similar (be warned there are a lot of fake donation webpages out there).

http://www.redcross.org.uk/Donate-Now/Make-a-single-donation/Japan-Tsunami-Appeal

Bye for now...

Happy [belated] New Year!

2011-01-27T16:08:00.002Z

Jesus, has it really been nearly 3 months since my last post. Ooops... Oh well, bygones and all that.

I'm officially on spring break and this time tomorrow I'll be on a night-bus heading for Tokyo, and then I'm considering a little excursion to the south of the country.

It suddenly occured to me that I still haven't blogged about my Christmas travels, so I'll breifly chat about that now. I went to Sendai, Tokyo, Ise, Osaka, Kyoto, and Niigata, spending 2 or 3 nights in each place before coming back to AIU.

Sendai
Getting to Sendai was a pain in the arse. I was already using the 'Seichun 18 Kippu' (a cheap train ticket that requires you to take the slowest route possible, travel all day and make 5 or 6 changes per journey), then 'high winds' meant that one of the trains didn't move for over an hour, and hen we got herded back and forth between about 3 more trains in as many stations before finally moving again. By the time I reached sendai I was about 3 hours behind schedule.

Sendai was awesome, though. I'd been told to try the famous 'gyutan' (cow's tongue), so I decided to do that as soon as I arrived (the station alone has a good half a dozen gyutan restaurants), but the queues were too long and the prices a bit too high for me, so I found a bar that was selling gyutan stew at a much more reasonable price.

After some walking aroun to get my bearings I found an internet cafe and holed up for the night. Internet cafe's in Japan are at the same time awesome and vile. Awesome because it's a cheap room for the night with free internet access, free soft-drinks and ice-cream and even a shower. Vile because... well I don't wish to describe some of the noises I heard coming from some of the other cubilces. I feel sorry for the cleaners.

The next day I went to Sendai Castle. It's actually just the base of a castle, but from there is a pretty spectacular view of the city... and a rainbow:

I'm a sucker for high views of cities. Especially at night, so that evening I found a tall building and went as high as I could get:

Tokyo
My friend Anna, from back in Newcastle, kindly offered me room at the inn over Xmas, so I didn't have to sleep in a barn. On during the day we met some Newcastle chums, Henry, Ina, Cesca, as well as my AIU friend Qwen, for a Karaoke session in Shibuya. Of course, being Xmas, Slade was essential. It was awesome to be able to spend Xmas day in the company of friends.

I hadn't been too fussed about being away from home at that time, but I was glad not to be spending the day alone. In the evening, after a delicious dinner of tomato ramen with Qwen, Aishah and Qwen's mum, I returned to Anna's and had a short but sweet Xmas skype session with my family.

Ise
My friend Mariko, who had been on exchange in Newcastle last year, invited a few of us to her house in Ise, Mie prefecture. Mariko, Nao and Emma met me off the train and we drove to Mariko's house. The house was gorgeous and her family were very kind, and kept us well fed with all manner of delectable food. The next day we went to Ise-jingu, a huge labyrinth of shrines, paths and bridges and the last place I'd expect to bump into a fellow AIU student. It was such a surprise when a girl came up to me out of nowhere saying "What are you doing here?" that it took me ages to realise who she was.

After that crazy random happenstance, we went for a wander round the shops and had some expensive but delicious Tekone-zushi, a kind of sushi for which Ise is famed.

Osaka
When I arrived in Osaka it was getting late so I found a nice high vantage point, The Umeda Floating Garden. This place was full of couples, and I felt like a bit of a lurker wandering around on my own, but I did that the opportunity to treat myself to some ridiculously expensive food:

That night I found a sports bar near the hotel and managed to convince the very attractive girl behind the bar (in Japanese, I might add) to change the channel so that I could watch the Spurs V Newcastle game while slowly getting drunk before stumbling back to the hotel via McDonalds at 3 in the morning.

The next Day I met up with Emma who was stopping of in Osaka for the day on her way back to Hiroshima from Mariko's place. We visited Osaka Castle, which atually had a castle on it this time, and rode on a giant ferris wheel for some more nice views of the city:

Then we ate Okonomiyaki (which Osaka is famous for apparently - it seems every town in Japan is famous for one dish or another), and wandered around for a bit to kill time before Emma had to catch the bus.

Kyoto
The next day I mooched around in Osaka for a while before catching a train to Kyoto. It somehow took me more than two hours to even work out how to get out of the station and to the hostel I had booked. But we got there in the end. I dumped my stuff and then met up with Eri, another friend who was studying abroad in Newcastle last year. It took us ages to find an Izakaya that wasn't turning away customers. This was the New year weekend, so everywhere was packed to the rafters. We finally found a place, had some food and a drink and then went to a purikura.

Purikura is short for 'print club', those very girly photo booths that let you edit the pictures with hearts and stars and all things pink. They are so girly in fact, that men are forbidden from that floor of the building unless they are accompanied by a lady. So, I was allowed to be there... but not everyone plays by the rules, apparently, because hanging around on his own was... I wouldn't even call him a cross-dresser. He was a man in a skirt... with a 5 o'clock shadow. He'd put no effort whatsoever into trying to look female, but I guess that's the machine's job.

After I parted ways with Eri, I headed back to the hostel, and the next day I woke up late, looked out of the window, and Kyoto was covered in snow. My footwear isn't exactly up to par, and depite living in Akita, which is famous for its snow, I've still managed to avoid buying a new pair. But after a couple of hours of geisha-spotting in Gion (I didn't spot any geisha) my feet were soaking wet and I couldn't feel my toes to the point where I nearly couldn't walk.

I decdied to go shoe shopping before the New Years Celebrations kicked in. There were plenty of shoe-shops to choose from, and the sales had kicked in, so there were some good prices, but there was nothing in my size. So, knowing that I'd be spending the rest of the night standing in the freezing cold, I decided to wear my a plastic bag between two socks on each foot. It made a horrible noise when I walked but my feet stayed dry :-)

It was time to go back to Yasaka shrine for the New Years Celebration... it was fun, even if it did involve standing in a crowd of thousands in the freezing cold, a crowd which collectively managed to miss midnight because nobody could hear the famous tolling of the bells that were supposed to mark the turning of the new year. Still, it was a good night, and I did get the chance to eat heart-disease in a bun, the fattest burger I've ever eaten, complete with fried egg, bacon and cheese. Heavenly!

The next day I headed to the famous Golden Pavilion and the lake around it was frozen. For some reason, I'd always expected it to be bigger, but it was still impressive. Although I would call that yellow, personally.:

I found out my friend Ina was in town with her sister and parents, so I went to meet them, and we wandered around in search of ramen. After dinner I said good bye and headed back to sleep.

Niigata
Kyoto to Niigata on the Seichun 18 ticket takes the best part of 12 hours. I was only staying one night, and by the time I arrived there wasn't much time to do anything. I had secured a couch for the night courtesy of the awesome Ryoko (through Couchsurfing.org), who kept me well watered with sake and shared her osechi with me, which is a special kind of bento box given at New Year's.

The next day, Ryoko drove me to the station, taking me to several places on the way, including her workplace, which happens to be a tall building with an alright view of the city, and the market, where we ate some delicious meat and fish for breakfast:

And then I was on the next train back to Akita (well, 5 trains).

So that's that long-awaited post out the way. Other noteworth stuff has happened since then, but they can wait for another post.

Bye for now! x

November and a bit... FAQs

2010-12-04T14:35:00.005Z

Okay, so I'm slacking.

I'll skip the apologies and get stuck straight in.

My friends and family back home generally ask me the following four questions:

How are your classes going?
What have you been up to lately?
Is it cold and/or has it been snowing in Akita?
What are your plans for Xmas?

I'll attempt to tackle each one in turn.

How are your classes going?
Generally pretty well I think. Been getting some generally pretty good marks, but nothing worth sticking on the fridge. I still have no idea how well I'm doing relative to my Newcastle classmates, though, which to me is the most important thing. I could be top of my class at AIU (which I'm not, but still...) and it would mean nothing if I went back to Newcastle and was still rubbish compared to my NCL chums.

But I have been knuckling down compared to last year, and seem to have found a bit of a system that seems to work. Although it might be worth mentioning that I did lose my bet with Sophie by 7 points (a fairly close margin for the semester), which means I have to declare myself a 'massive homosexual' in front of a cafeteria full of bemused students at the height of dinnertime... If I have anything to do with it there will be no video evidence, but you might be lucky.

What have you been up to lately?
Nothing tooo exciting as yet (see question 4). Quite a lot of walking around taking pictures of local scenery and stuff. One thing AIU has got going for it is that it's in a gorgeous location. A few weeks ago, on a nice Autumn day me and my friend Aishah decided to go and explore, taking some scenic snaps as we went. Would you believe THIS scene is about 15 minutes walk from campus:

Click on photo for more mobile Autumn pics

In another, albeit colder excursion, me and my friend Qwen decided to walk to Wada, small town 40 minutes walk away, in search of cream puffs:

mmmm... cream puff!

We've also been eating out quite a lot, which is the best way lose and gain pounds at the same time. There has been all you can eat yakiniku, several trips to the sushi place, Japanese-style burgers and okonomiyaki, to name but a few...

No-one told me they were meant to be round...

Other notable activites since the last post include:

Self mummified priests - We went to Yamagata to see some 400-year-old Buddhists who somehow managed to mummify themselves. The day also included a visit to a sake brewery. I don't really like sake that much, but free alcohol is free alcohol and much free samples were had by all.

Kamakura, Manga Museum and Weird Fun-Castle - Another school trip to various places around the prefecture, including the Kamakura Hall in Yokote. These Kamakura are basically Japanified igloos that never melt because they are kept at a constant -10°C inside a walk-in freezer much like the one in Budgens. The manga museum was nothing to write home about, but the Weird Fun-Castle was pretty cool. Four floors of optical illusions and games culminating in a 30ft vertical slide in a potato sack. Fun times.

More Exploration - As I had to go to the City to buy my train ticket (see question 4), me and Qwen decided to explore some sections of the city we hadn't seen yet.

Here are a few more pics

Is it cold and/or has it been snowing in Akita?
Yes, it is getting pretty cold, but so far we've only had one day of snow. We're expecting it pretty soon though, and it's going to be pretty bad around these parts, judging by the huge metal walls being erected at the sides of the roads, the wooden structures being erected around the trees in people's gardens and the red-and-white poles being erected along walkways throughout campus and the prefecture at large (I think that's enough erections for one paragraph, thank you very much). Hopefully Japan's public transport system can cope with whatever December throws at it (see question 4), but they seem ready for it:

What are your plans for Xmas?
Question 4 - you may have already seen it.
In December I get a nice 2 or 3 weeks off around Xmas. The train ticket I mentioned earlier is the 'Seichun 18 Kippu', a ticket that allows you 5 separate days of train travel, the only catch being that you must stick to the slow local trains. The ticket costs £90. If I was to do the trip I'm planning to do using the Shinkansen and express trains, I could be looking at spending four or five hundred pounds on trains alone. Put another way, without this ticket I would most probably be sitting alone in my room on Xmas day.

I've been invited to a couple of parties in various locations around central Japan. I'm going to try to make it to both, but it all depends on timing. I'm waiting on some times and dates before I make any concrete plans but the general gist is this:

Akita --> Niigata (where I should have a roof for the night courtesy of Couchsurfing.org) --> Kansai (Kyoto/Osaka and thereabouts --> Tokyo --> Sendai --> Back to Akita

The whole thing should take about 10-12 days, and will cover Xmas, if not New Year's Eve aswell, and should be an all round barrel of laughs

That's about it I think.
Bye for now x

Day out!

2010-10-21T12:35:00.003Z

I've actually remembered to take a food photo. Unfortunately it didn't come out very well:

This is Kiritampo Nabe, one of Akita's most famoustest dishes. It's pretty tasty!

Last weekend we went on a Fall (Autumn if you're normal) foliage viewing daytrip around Akita Prefecture, first stopping off at Kanmanji, a pretty temple and gardens with lots of shrines and cats:

As always, click on the images for the full gallery.

After that, we got the bus up Mt. Chokai, the tallest mountain in Akita (although it's peak is actually in neighbouring Yamagata pefecture). There we admire the gorgeous Autumn views. Saying that I couldn't help feeling that we'd missed the best views by about a week or two, but it was still breathtaking:

Finally, we went to Jukroku Rakan on the coast and had lots of coastly fun playing on the rocks and admiring more awesome views:

Other than that rare day out things have been pretty uneventful here at AIU. Mainly just cracking on with studying and eating. Still spending too much money on coffee... I've been here for 2 months now, and without going in to too much detail I thought I should mention the fact that my guts have not been right since day one...

Til next time ;-)

Sunday roast!

2010-09-19T17:29:00.005Z

One thing I miss about home is a good Sunday roast. Yorkies, stuffing, gravy, the works! I'm on the meal plan which means I don't have to cook for myself, but I do have to put up with some rather interesting concoctions. That's not to say it's bad food. It's usually quite tasty, but when you start having dreams involving bowls of rice and miso soup, you know it's time for a good roast.

True to form, I've been forgetting to take food photos as always... In fact, I've been forgetting to take photo's full stop. But here are a few of the campus taken on a rare day when I remembered my camera:

Click on the pictures for the full gallery

Classes have started since my last post. So far they're going pretty well. I had to take a placement test and managed to get into level 300 for Japanese, which is pretty much exactly where I should be. The classes aren't too intense but we do have a quiz every day, and they go towards our grades... and if that wasn't incentive enough, I'm also in competition with my friend and classmate, Sophie, to see who can get the most points by the end of the semester... If I lose I have to stand on a chair in the cafeteria at peak lunchtime and shout "I am a massive homosexual!"... I'm currently three points behind :-(

One other thing worth mentioning about AIU is the library.

I've been spending a lot of time in there and in the LDIC watching The X-files with Japanese audio, so I can call it studying.

Bye for now x

CSI: Akita

2010-08-28T00:03:00.002Z

I'm so glad I decided to spend some time in Tokyo. It was a great few days. Almost immediately after my last post on Sunday I went to meet my friend Nao and we went all over the place starting in Ueno's Ameya Yokocho area with lots of stalls for food and clothes. Then we walked to Asakusa via Kappabashi-dori. We saw the Tokyo Sky Tree, which is already taller than Tokyo Tower and is only half finished.

After that we went to Akihabara for a bit of otaku spotting and I managed to build up quite a collection of random flyers from all the lovely maids. Then, after buying myself a cheap wallet, we found an ochazuke restaurant and I had this delicious tuna meal... which reminds me I need to get into the habit of taking food pictures... I'm always too busy thinking about eating that I forget.

After Akiba we went to shinjuku, and went to various places including Hub and Dubliners. One's an English pub and the other is an Irish pub I ame to a few times on my last visit.

Monday morning I had the worst kind of headache. Jet-lag, lack of water and the severe heat probably had something to do with it. I managed to put my Japanese to use by asking for painkillers in a pharmacy, then I sat in a coffeeshop in Roppongi for an hour or so til I was feeling myself again... After that I went to Shibuya and couldn't beleive the giant HMV was closed! At Monday lunchtime? I found a cafe that had free internet so sat in there for a bit before deciding to find some noodles for lunch. Again I forgot to take a picture... whops.

In the evening, I went to Ochanomizu to meet my friend Irina, who I lived with in Sakura House. It was great to see her again and to meet her new little baby son. He's a cool dude. We went to Tokyo Dome and the surrounding amusements and had a nice catch-up and some dinner. It was great to see her again.

Tuesday, I killed some more time in Shibuya and went back to that café with the free computers. Then I headed back to Shinjuku and met up with Ichi, Nao, Etsuko and Genki, all friends who studied in Newcastle last year. We went to karaoke for a few hours and then went to an Izakaya for dinner. It was a good end to my stopover in Tokyo, but now I had to catch the bus to Akita. Nao and Ichi came with me to the bus place which I'm glad they did because I wouldn't have had a clue what I was doing and would probably still be there now without their help.

So I said my goodbyes and got on the bus. The journey lasted about 9 hours, and I managed to get a tiny bit of sleep, but nothing to write home about. When the sun came up on Wednesday morning there were some stunning views out the window (pics coming soon). Finally I arrived at Akita station and met some fellow AIU folks almost as soon as I got off the bus. Together we had to wait for another bus to fetch us and Take us to AIU.

The uni is beautiful. Tiny though, there's something like 700 students. After check-in and a some breif tours and orientation sessions some of us went to check-out the nearby Mall. It takes time and money to leave campus, because it's pretty isolated from the city, but the Mall is a nice place to escape if you can't afford/be bother to go into the city. When we got back I pretty much went straight home to bed. I met my roommate, an American guy called Andrew. We had been led to beleive we'd be paired up with Japanese roomates, and most people have, but for some reason there's just too many internationals, so they've had to pair some of us together. We get on pretty well though, so I'm not fussed.

Thursday consisted of a bus trip to the city all to apply for our gaijin cards and then some more orientation, including a talk from some members of Akita's finest. They talked about drugs and self-defence (getting us beating each-other up in the aisles). The also talked about stalking... apparently it's quite a big problem in Akita. After that we all piled into the cafeteria for a gathering of music and food eating... I would call it a party but there was no beer.

Friday (yesterday) was the day of the Japanese placement test. I did... pretty badly... so it looks like I'm gonna be put into a class going over stuff I should really already know. The revision will be welcome of course, but I'm afraid of not being able to reach the level I need to be at for when I return to Newcastle.

Today is a doss-day... there's some fireworks somewhere this evening, but it take an epic (and probbaly expensive) bus ride to get there, so I think I'm just gonna see what other people are up to and guage the situation.

Tomorrow is the Scavenger Hunt, where we get into teams and run around Akita city taking photos of all the things on a list, such as 'cutest baby', 'good looking old woman', 'strangest Engrish'... It sounds kind of lame but I think I'm gonna join in anyway. It's a great way to get to know the city.

Pics are coming soon.

Bye for now x

Good to be back.

2010-08-22T00:22:00.003Z

I made it! Currently sitting in an Internet Cafe in Ueno, killing time before meeting a friend. Everything so far has gone according to plan.

The first flight was okay. I watched two amazing films - Exam, about a group of cross-section representatives competing in the worst job interview ever, and Liar Game: The Last Stage, a film of the Manga and TV series Liar Game. This 'Last Stage' involves entirely of voting for apples, winning or losing millions depending on a bunch of arbitrary rules.

After a brief wait in the gorgeous Dubai Airport, the second flight was a bit rubbish. My in-flight entertainment hardly worked and I couldn't sleep, so most of the time was spent waiting for the next meal (Emirates food is yummy by the way. Brownie points!)

When I landed and clocked in, I headed straight to Shinjuku, and managed half an hour's kip on the bus. From there I got a taxi to my capsule hotel, checked in and went straight to bed deciding to shower in the morning. This was about 9pm, and after a fitful nights sleep I decided to get up at 6 and have a wash. Naked men evrywhere! I felt pretty self-conscious but I just decided to do what I had to do and get myself clean.

Which didn't last long, because as soon as I stepped outside (at 7am bear in mind) I was covered in sweat again. I wandered around Shinjuku for a while, making sure I knew where to catch my bus on Tuesday, then came to Ueno, charged up my old Suica card (which still had 350円 on it) and then found this little place to kill a couple of hours.

Bye for now.
Don't forget to follow or subcribe :-D

The Countdown Begins

2010-08-10T20:50:00.002Z

In a little over 10 days from now, I'll be back in Japan! This new adventure is nearly underway, and this time it's personal...

It's been a while since I posted. So much for "there'll be plenty for me to write about in the months leading up to departure". To be fair, though, it would've only consisted of me groaning about how skint I am, and I've decided not to talk about money in this blog, because I'm fed up with talking about it in real life.

Here's the situation: Got my visa, booked my flights, sorted for a bit of Yen to get me started, accomodation is under control. All that remains are a few loose ends (various forms here, a few phone calls there) and to tidy the hell out of my bedroom, which would be deserving of a blog of its own, it's that much of a task.

When I get to Japan, I'll be staying in Tokyo for three nights before catching an overnight bus to Akita, where I'll spend the best part of the next 12 months.

I decided to go cheap for my short stay in Tokyo, and ended up booking three nights in a Capsule Hotel, slap bang in the middle of Shinjuku's Kabukicho, something of a red light district. But I assure you that's not why I chose it (I'm skint, remember). Not only is it about as cheap as anything else I could find, but it also happens to be about 10 minute walk away from where I need to catch my bus on the Tuesday night. The downside is that you have to check in and out every day... Oh, that and you're sleeping in a coffin.

Hopefully I should get to meet up with a few friends while I'm Tokyo. It's a shame I'll have to say goodbye to them and head straight to Akita, where I'm not going to know anybody. But I know I'll make friends there too, so it will be worth it.

Apart from tidying my room (found my old favourite X-Files t-shirt today, which I'm wearing now - legendary), and the nasty paperwork, the only other thing I need to do over the next 10 days is to study study study. I've done nowhere near as much Japanese as I intended to over this summer holiday, but I've given myself some daily targets and intend to stick to them.

I said in the previous post that I'd try to post in Japanese as well as English. Instead, I've decided to keep this blog predominantly English, and to use Lang-8.com for keeping a Japanese journal. The beauty of Lang-8 is that you write your journal entries in the language you are learning, and then native speakers of that language can come along and correct your mistakes, so that you know where you're going wrong. Luckily for me, it's a Japanese-based website with mainly Japanese users.

Don't forget to follow this blog by subscribing to the RSS Feed. And if you're bored, why not leave a comment or two?

Bye for now x

Stu's Japan Blog 2010

2010-01-11T00:04:00.003Z

Welcome to the new look 'Stu's Japan Blog', previously known by the equally imaginative title 'My Japanese Adventure'.

In my last post, on September 25th 2007, I was standing at an internet booth in Kuala Lumpur Airport on my way back from a five month stint in Tokyo. Upon my return I immediately set about applying for Japanese at university. In order to acheive this, as a mature student with poor A-Levels, I was required to spend a year taking an "Access Course", during which I received all the guidance needed to apply for uni, while studying a variety of random modules in order to bump up my UCAS points.

I applied for 'Linguistics and Japanese' at five UK institutions, and got rejected by four of them. The one uni who decided to give me the benefit of the doubt was, Newcastle University, and that is where I am now. Currently in my second year out of four, I get to spend my third in Japan, and have just been told where I will be posted.

Akita International University, in the northern part of Honshu. It wasn't my first choice, or second or third. In fact it's the complete opposite end of the country from where I was hoping to go, but my initial disappointment has waned and I'm now kind of looking forward to it. So much so that I've decided to ressurect my old blog.

stujapan.blogspot.com has been given a bit of a makeover since KUL'07, thanks to my discovery of some sexy Blogger Templates and I'm looking forward to getting back into posting about Part II of 'My Japanese Adventure'.

The application process is just getting underway, and I have a doctor's appointment, a visa and a serious financial headache to sort out, so there'll be plenty for me to write about in the months leading up to departure. Where possible, I'm planning to try and write at least some of my posts in both English and Japanese, for the benefit of my Japanese friends as well as for my own practice. So if you're at all interested, bookmark this site, or hit the RSS link at the top there, and feel free to leave a comment.

-Stu

Contact

2010-01-10T22:25:00.002Z

If you want to get in touch with me, you can:

Email me - stu@toxicsock.co.uk
Tweet me - @StuartForbes

Or just leave a comment below.

Links

2010-01-10T19:13:00.003Z

Here is a constantly updated list of links relating to my year abroad in Japan and the study of Japanese:

Akita
Akita City - Wikipedia
Akita International University (国際教養大学)

Japanese
My Japanese Diary (日本語の日記)

Misc
Green Plaza Capsule Hotel, Shinjuku
Kosokubus

My Summer 2007 Trip to Japan

2007-10-01T22:52:00.000Z

In 2007 I went to Japan and lived in a Gainjin House in Tokyo from April to September. My original intention was to go out there for as long as one year and to get work teaching English. That proved to be easier said than done, as without a degree, nobody was interested in employing me. Still, I had an amazing time, made some wonderful, life-long friends and have many memories of my time in Tokyo.

Some of those memories I wrote about on this very blog. All the posts below this one are from my 2007 excursion to Japan, and the months of preparation leading up to it.

Please take the time to have a read :-)

The full gallery of 2007 pictures can be found on my
Photobucket Account.
(The album isn't empty - check out the list of
sub-folders on the left-hand side)

There and Back Again...

2007-09-25T14:30:00.000Z

Remember my 'halfway there' post from Zurich Airport? Well this is my 'halfway back' post from Kuala Lumpa. The flight was extremely turbulant and I must confess to almost shitting myself a couple of times. But the view from the window was awesome, especially when we flew past a storm-cloud... not through it, but past it. It was awesome. Two towers of black cloud flashing and sparkling with evil intent like something out of some horror fantasy.

So anyway, I'm not in Japan anymore... bit sad, but ultimately looking forward to going home and seeing my peeps. What did I do in my last few days?... Well, some frantic souvenir shopping which was more difficult than it should've been. And a Polysics gig. A free gig, because I won the ticket on MySpace. To enter, I had to write an application with an explanation as to why I should be one of the lucky 200 winners... I can't say my explanation was at all interesting, but they chose me anyway.

All that was asked of the winners was that they wear blue to the gig (MySpace colours). As I didnt have anything blue enough I went out an bought a blue T-shirt... only to discover when I got to the gig that they were selling special MySpace/Polysics Tshirts.. So I bought one of those aswell.

I was a tad late but got there just in time to see the support act 'Ogre You Asshole'... They were brilliant. The guys voice was amazimg and the music thumped so hard my neck hurt after two songs. But then Polysics came on. And owned the night. Even they were wearing MySpace blue, which is something special because they're well-known for wearing Orange jump-suits, so to have been present at one of the few gigs wear they wore a different colour is a pretty cool claim.

I'm gonna have to start thinking about finding my gate in a minute. I'll do one last post, a summary of sorts, in afew days time. And then that will be the end of this blog. Boohoo!

Bye for now.

Coming home... and other stuff.

2007-09-12T13:36:00.000Z

'Scuse the lack of updatage again. Although my 3 readers per day are very important to me I can't help but feel I'm losing steam with this blog. Just as well I'm coming home then, soon isnt it?

What was that?... that woke you up didn't it.

Yeh, I decided it would be wise to call it a day at the end of September lest I run out of money and can't get home. So the year travelling and working around Japan didn't quite happen, due to me having decided to work in a cornershop while all my friends were at university (well done, Stu). But I can still say I had a five month holiday in Tokyo. I've got two weeks left. That's like a holiday in itself, so I'm not grumbling.

What am I going to miss most about Tokyo? I can't really say theres any one thing about this city that I'll miss more than any other. I'll just miss living here. It's been great, but then I havn't had to work so I guess not having to work in any city is great. But I feel like I've made a second home here and I'll definitely be coming back. I'll miss the friends I've made... some more than others (they know who they are), and I'm looking forward to visiting them in their respective countries and for them to come to England where I'll somehow have to try and make my country seem interesting to them.

I won't miss Japanese television. It is crap. And I'm sure I would still hold that view if I could understand Japanese. Their crazy gameshows are famous the world over, but in reality you'd have to be flicking through the channels non stop for over a fortnight to randomly come across one of the better ones (no, I didn't test this evaluation).

I won't miss the mosquitoes. Bastards. I'm currently sporting nine extra nipples, resembling mini-volcanoes, on my arms and hands. And they really really itch. And they hurt, too, where I've been scratching the magma out of them (or milk, whichever simile you prefer). Nine for crying out loud.

I mean... Cheeky bastards. If they're really desperate for my blood they only have to ask nicely and I'd happily give them a drink. Why to they have to put me in such agony for the sake of what, one milligram? That's like some dirty scag-head comimg up to you in the street and stabbing you in the scrotum with an AIDS infected needle while he takes 10p out of your wallet. Now imagine nine of the wankers.

The first thing you think is "Oi. Give me my 90p back!!!"

I'm coming down with something, too. I hope it's just a cold, and not malaria or something. But whatever it is, I hope I get home before it kills me (maybe I should be touching something wooden right now... ahh, there it is... ooohhh, naughty... anyway...). My legs and arms feel weak as though some chunks of muscle have painlessly fallen off, and I actually feel cold, which isn't something I've said too many times this past five months.

But, some pills, plenty of water (Mother Nature's medicine), and a couple of good night's sleep should do the trick. In all honesty I want my mummy, but I'll just have to wait another two weeks. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone again. I'm gonna miss Tokyo, and I'm gonna miss my new friends, but man, I just want one of my Mum's roast dinner's and a proper bath.

Kabuki

2007-08-16T16:14:00.000Z

Yesterday I had the opportunity to tick off one of the items on my To-do List. Kabuki is a special brand of traditional Japanese theatre in which all the roles are played by men in historical stories of intrigue and drama.

We arrived at the famous Kabuki-Za Theatre in Ginza and joined the queue for the special cheap seating for people who only want to watch half the show. Infact we watched both halves but bought two separate tickets and it still worked out cheaper (2,000 yen as opposed to the 14,000 yen paid by the people at the bottom-row).

To be honest, although we were further away and the voices were a bit faint I thought we often had a better view than the people paying the bottom-row prices. If I learned anything from today it was that Kabuki is a very 3-dimensional performance. This was especially apparent in Act I, which was entitled "The Hanamizu Bridge" (Hanamizu means snot or "nosewater"). This was a fight scene involving 10-15 swordsmen all trying to attack one person, but their combined abilities we no match for this guy who seemed to have a magical ability to dodge the attacks or to fool the swordsmen into missing him.

The players were moving all over the stage, very slowly and meticulously. It was very well choreographed and I was actually grateful for our position at the cheap top-row because we could see their use of the whole stage rather than just watching it from from left to right in 2-dimensions.

Act II was fairly good, but the speaking increased, therefore my understanding decreased. It was a humourous drama that, according to the program, had something to do with the failed attempt at poisoning a Lord and the stealing of 200 gold coins. I still found it fairly entertaining even though I couldn't understand a word.

After the interval, the last two acts were even heavier on the talking. And it was painfully slow and deliberate speech. Act III was particularly monotonous, but ended with the whole stage-set being raised to make it appear as though we were watching events underneath the floorboards. That was pretty impressive and beautifully executed.

Act IV was still a very talky one, but was somehow more dramatic and watchable. A bit of a sword fight took place ending in the death of one particular actor's character. This actor is Nakamura Kanzaburo, and is supposedly quite a big name in the Kabuki industry. His final exit was met with a huge round of applause from the audience and cries of "Nakamura-ya, Nakamura-ya".

This wasn't the only time his name was shouted out during the performance, and several of the other actors had their names shouted out as well. This practice of shouting out the actors' names is called Kakegoe. Expert members of the crowd shout out at various points to mark a good piece of acting or skill. The shouts are usually timed well so as not to disrupt the events on stage. But even so they're still bloody annoying for the non-expert. It's like going to see Die Hard at the cinema and somebody next to you keeps shouting out "WILLIS-YA, WILLIS-YA".

As I mentioned briefly earlier, the stage sets are magnificent. We had an almost fully kitted out traditional Japanese house with the tatami floors and the tracing paper on the doors. We had an elegant gold-decorated traditional office room. We had a revolving stage, upon which the entire set was built with an origami-like precision. How much space they've got behind that stage I don't know but there was an awful lot going on and it was all beautiful. Just I shame I didn't have a clue what was going on.

2007-08-15T04:49:00.000Z

I've been here for 123 days now (I wish I'd thought to celebrate the 100 day mark, but it doesn't really matter), and in that time I've rarely had many real opportunities to practice what little Japanese I do know. The occasional "where is...?" or "can I have...?", but little in the way of conversation.

Yesterday I helped the new Italian girl, Alessandra, to find a building for a language school she wants to join. When we got inside, I noticed a sign (ironically in English) saying something like "Use only Japanese in here please". As I waited for Alessandra to fill in some form or another I started pacing about looking at posters and reading notices I couldn't understand. Then, the Japanese girl who was dealing with Alex's application invited me to take a seat, and started firing questions at me in Japanese. They were fairly basic questions like "Where are you from?", "What are you doing in Japan?", etc, etc, and I understood them all. Answering them was another matter. I think I managed it okay, albeit with a few grammatical howlers, and she seemed to understand my answers.

When she'd finished with me, though, I realised I was covered in sweat, as if I'd just come out of an exam or a police interrogation. But that five minutes was really the most Japanese I'd spoken since I got here. And seeing as though everyone else in the room was paying 50,000 yen for a two week course, I'd just had a free lesson.

Welcome to the New Season, Spurs.

2007-08-11T16:36:00.000Z

This evening I went to Roppongi to watch the first game of the English Premiership season, Sunderland V Spurs. What a waste of time and money. Not only did Spurs lose, but I missed half the game due to technical difficulties.

I got to Legends Sports Bar (a gaijin favourite) and forked over four quid for a beer. Then a glance at the menu persuaded me to by some fish and chips at another seven pounds. The match had better be worth it.

Only the match never came on. The station they had it on had changed the schedule, but no worries, the Hobgoblin next door is showing it instead. Thanks for telling me 15 minutes into the game. So I polished off my beer and food and went next door and stood by the bar. I seemed to be the only punter interested in the match. Too much gossiping and not enough football spectating.

The picture quality was awful. It was like watching an old match from the 70's on YouTube without the colour. And the guy standing in front of me kept getting in the way and as I grew ever more pissed off with what was (or wasn't) happening on the TV I felt like saying "Sorry mate, you're a good looking chap and I could look at the back of your ginger head all day, but not while the football's on Okay, mate."... but instead I just suffered in silence.

Then about 60 minutes into the match the TV cocked up and we started watching Celtic. Celtic are really popular in Japan at the moment because of Shunsuke Nakamura, but I came to see a Spurs game. Eventually the Tottenham match came back, but four times it flicked to the Celtic game again and each time I wished I was at home on spurs.co.uk hitting f6 over and over again... the coverage would've been ten times better.

Then, Sunderland scored, seconds from time. I walked out before finishing my pint. Nearly got knocked over by a Sunderland fan screaming his head off and jumping up and down like a tosser. Felt like lamping the cunt, then there would've been a proper English bar brawl to add to the English pub theme.

I can honestly say that was the most aggravating few hours of my time in Japan. More so than the toilet incident up Mt. Fuji, more so than being spat at by an old man.

Welcome to the new season, Spurs.

New Approach

2007-08-10T16:11:00.000Z

I've been thinking about this blog and realised it's missing something. I'm not quite sure what but most other blogs I read have a certain something that makes them worth coming back to. This one doesn't really have it.

Maybe it is a lack of rantings or musings... most bloggers have something to moan about or ponder, and that makes them readable. This one is just me writing a [sometimes overly] detailed record of some of the things I get up to.

So from now on I'm going to try to change two things. For a start I'm going to post more often, but keep the word count lower (unless I have something major to report on, such as Fuji-San). And secondly I'm going to make sure I either have something to moan about, or some kind of insight or observation to share.

A couple of weeks ago I was telling a friend that the reason my post-rate dropped was because I'd become a bit disheartened due to a large drop in audience for this blog. Every writer (even a hack blogger) feeds off their audience. But my friend turned it around and said "Maybe the reason they've stopped coming is because you've stopped blogging."

Shit, she was right. Or we both were. It's two way thing. If I keep blogging, you lot might keep coming back, and the more you come back the more reason I have to keep writing. So from now on posts will be shorter, sharper and more frequent and they might even be slightly entertaining.

I've done Jack Shit since Mount Fuji, and that includes the Fuji Rock review. I got as far as covering the Thursday (the music hadn't even started yet) and I'd written far too much, burnt myself out and lost interest.

If you want to read what I got so far then click on the following link, and if you're still interested in reading about the rest of the festival then let me know and I might be persuaded to finish it.

www.toxicsock.co.uk/fujirock07

Seeya soon

I climbed Mount Fuji.

2007-08-06T12:09:00.000Z

Mount Fuji Gallery can be found here:
http://s50.photobucket.com/albums/f349/Captain_Stu/Japan/Mount%20Fuji/
...or click on any Mt. Fuji picture.

Saturday morning I gave Irina a ring to confirm it was all going ahead. Half of me was thinking "she'll probably be too busy and call it off", the other Half was thinking "I'm not ready, shall I call it off". But neither of us called it off and after waiting inside Shinjuku Station (reportedly the busiest station in the world) for an hour I finally met Irina and her friend (a fellow Bulgian and a judge) we finally set off.

Two trains and a bus ride later we were at Fuji-san Go-gome. The fifth of ten stations placed at regular intervals up the side of the mountain. Only proper hardcore hikers and/or idiots start from the base. Most people just want to pop up and down and say they've done it.

We set of on the climb at about 9pm. The idea is to climb overnight and watch the famous Japanese sunrise from the summit. Torches in hand we marched off, the path actually going downhill for about half an hour which was quite confusing.

The distance from Go-gome to the 3776m high peak is about 1.5km in height, which sounds pretty much like taking the scenic route to the post office, but in terms of walking/climbing the distance is closer to 13km. The path zig-zags up the mountain which makes the climb take longer but also makes it possible. You couldn't go up in a straight line unless you were supposed to be saving the world instead.

The first few kilometers were just like walking up a steep, rocky slope and being unfit as I am I was already thinking of turning around and patting myself on he back for being a good sport. My mouth was constantly dry and I was drinking water every five minutes and this was just the beginning.

After the a while I started thinking to myself 'why do they call it "climbing" the mountain if all you do is walk? About ten minutes later my question was answered. Finally some real climbing. The rocks got bigger and path disappeared and it was looking more like being on a mountain. This was actually my favourite part. Being forced to use your hands as well means that you can share the exertion between four limbs and not just the legs. I was actually having fun here rather than gasping for more water and praying for another rest.

Around about the 3000ft point, the climbing phase came to an end and the walking resumed, but it wasn't so bad because the path was narrower and more people trying to funnel into it meant that it was impossimble to just march up the hill. It was like a giant queue for the great post-office in the sky.

At about 4-5ish (I forgot to make a note of the time) the sky to the East started to show signs of brightening, and we knew we wouldn't make it to the top before sunrise. After a little while we decided to get into a good position and wait for the spectacle to occur, then we would resume the last 100m or so to the top.

I took far too many pictures of the horizon getting slowly and slowly ever brighter. But eventually the sun popped into view over the black horizon and everybody cheered. It was a beautiful spectacle indeed and was definitely worth the climb. It wasn't long before it became just plain old sun-in-the-sky again and the rest of the view down the mountain was engulfed in clouds so we finished the climb and cracked open our beers at the top. It must have been about 6am when we reached the top (again, I forgot to make a note) so it took about nine hours to do. The websites and guide books normally say it takes six or seven hours, but maybe they don't include the time spent waiting in the giant queue.

We spent maybe two hours at the top. Had something to eat and admired the crater then we started the trek back down. Now, you'd think the downward journey would be easier than the climb, being like... downhill and all that. But it was horrible. Not fun at all. The path down wasn't so much a deathtrap, it was just fucking uncomfortable. Slightly too steep. Just enough to allow gravity the upper hand. You can't walk down normally, you have to stomp down and if you dared to start running, you'd never stop in time before being sent hurtling down the mountainside.

On top of this it was so dusty I was slipping and sliding and tripping (and triding?) for miles at a time. I'd do Mount Fuji again, but on the one condition that I have a helicopter waiting for me at the top to bring me back down again.

Less than halfway down all that water I'd been drinking suddenly decided it wanted out and I had to hold it in until the next station, but this was no easy task what with the constant stomping and falling over.

When I finally made it to the next station I found the WC and had to put 200 yen into a machine that would let me into the toilet. 200 yen? thats 80p. Even Charing Cross doesn't charge that much. Still, I coughed up and put the money in, but the gate wouldn't open. I must've done something wrong, but I don't know what could be so complicated about putting two coins in a machine and walking through. I wasn't about to cough up again, so I went and told Irina. She speaks Japanese and might've been able to get someone to help. But then I saw it. The gap under the turnstyle was just enough for one person, so I lunged under it.

"Excuuuuuse meeee!" Came a woman's voice. I explained to her that I'd just put 200 yen in the machine and the gate wouldn't open.

"No!" she said.

"Yeah!" I replied, perhaps a little too smugly.

"No!" She said again. How dare she just assume I was lying.

Now, I was tired, I was ratty, I'd just climbed up a mountain and was having a horrible return journey and I was this close to pissing myself. I and stormed out and swore at her, bruising my right bollock on the turnstyle as I went. I don't know if she understood my words, but I wasn't proud of them. This was the first time I've lost my cool in the three and a half months I've been in Japan and it was not my proudest moment.

I eventually spent a penny in a different WC which cost only 100 yen (40 pennies) and once the relief came flooding in I immediately felt like a complete idiot for losing my rag. The rest of the journey down was still horrible but it only took about 3 hours and by the time we reached Go-gome I was in good spirits again as we waited for the bus to take us home.

Mount Fuji Gallery can be found here:
http://s50.photobucket.com/albums/f349/Captain_Stu/Japan/Mount%20Fuji/
...or click on any Mt. Fuji picture.

Fuji Rock Festival Review is still in progess. I'll post it soon.

Festival Photies.

2007-08-04T01:41:00.000Z

The full FujiRock '07 review is on it's way. It's taking longer than I had hoped but I'm pleased to say the full FujiRock '07 photo gallery is now open. Admission is free, as are the tea and biscuits, and theres a poetry reading at six. Please join us by clicking...

...HERE!!!

I should mention the festival was awesome, by the way. I'm definitely going again one day.

Today I may or may not be going to Mt. Fuji with Irina. The plan was to go today, and the weather is good (too hot actually, but that's because I'm British). But Irina's a busy girl, so it might not go ahead. I don't know if I'm actually ready, anyway. I've still got sores on my feet from FujiRock and I'm not sure I can stand the heat, but it's Fuji-San. I have to go at least once before I come home.

Back in a couple of days with the FujiRock review and possibly some Mt. Fuji action to talk about.

Fuji Rock Festival Photo Gallery (hosted by Photofuckit):
http://s50.photobucket.com/albums/f349/Captain_Stu/Japan/Fuji%20Rock%2007/

Fuji Rock... Here I Come.

2007-07-25T23:54:00.000Z

This is it.
The highlight of my little adventure.
In less than a couple hours I'm leaving for the festival. I bought a tent yesterday and you don't want to know the price. It was the cheapest one in the shop and was only a one man jobby. I had no choice but to fork out or sleep rough all weekend. I forked out, but refused to buy a sleeping bag to go with it. So I'll still be sleeping rough, I'll just have a tent to do it in. If it gets cold I'll just have to wear my coat.

I haven't got a rain coat either. They were just too costly for my budget. So I'm hoping the Japanese weather forecasts are more reliable that the British ones because it's supposed to be a beautiful weekend... If it does start pissing down I'm sure one of the sponsors will be dishing out free plastic hoods with their logo all over it.

I haven't even properly planned my journey, and I don't even know how much the train ticket is going to cost me. I'll be taking the Shinkansen (bullet train) so I'll be able to tick that off my list (oh shit yeh, the list), but I'm not sure if it will reach top speed on such a short trip to Niigata.

I'm taking a bunch of batteries with me for my camera. I think the Samsung is fine, it seems to be the chargers that are causing me all the grief. So I'm taking non-rechargable batteries... it's the expensive option (especially when you've already forked out for a charger) but if I wanna take pictures (and, of course, I do) then I have to fork out. This is turning into an expensive holiday. I'd buy more forks but they cost money.

Anyway, I've gotta get ready to go. I'm getting quite excited. Mainly just because I get to see Muse again. Hopefully I'll meet some folk and won't be alone the whole weekend. Wish me luck on the photography front and I'll return in the near future, maybe with a full review... maybe.

Follow Fuji Rock Festival at www.fujirock.com. Theres an "English" button in the top right-hand corner of the page. And also check out youtube or any coverage if you can find it. Especially for Muse's set because I'm going to position myself right where the camera will be, and this hulking Gaijin won't be too hard to spot in a sea of Japanese people.

Miscellany

2007-07-21T09:10:00.000Z

Oh yeh. so much for that virtual tour I promised.
Sorry. I've been having serious camera troubles and expect photos to be fewer and further between from now on. Instead just click on the photo below for some pictures of my residence and the area around it that I took a few weeks ago.

Click Picture for Sakura House Gallery.

Among a few of the activities I've been up to since my last post (which doesn't feel that long ago, my bad) include Ueno Zoo where I saw some large animals in tiny enclosures. It was a little uncomfortable to see, but I still found myself pointing and saying "kawaiiiiiii" with the rest of the crowd. And we missed the two main attractions, the Giant Panda and the Elephants, so we'll probably go back at some point for more.

Click Picture for Ueno Zoo Gallery

On a clear night at the end of June I decided to go for a lone wander in the early hours of he morning and take Onder's tripod with me. I strolled up the Sumida river, taking photo's of all the things I'd taken photo's of before in daylight. Then I went to the Temple and took some photos there. I'm really pleased with the way some of them turned out. The place is completely transformed at night. Not just because its darker, before you go stating the obvious, but because the crowds aren't there. Just a few dog walkers and couples holding hands.

Make the most of these pictures, because unless I sort my camera crisis out there'll never be any more like this. Buying a new charger didn't seem to do the trick. I mean it did for one night, that was when I took these photos, but since then nothings working.

Click pictures for Asakusa and Sumida-gawa

Last Sunday my housemate Irina had a rare day off, so me and her went to the Science and history museum and savoured a magnificent Aztec, Inca, and Mayan exhibition. Over 200 items ranging from decorated pots through jade mosaic masks to a fully preserved mummy hunched up in a sitting position looking pretty gaunt. I chilled Irina to the bone by whispering "heeeelllpp meeee" in her ear. That was fun.

Unfortunately there are no pictures of that because they don't allow cameras in the museum, and besides, as I say, my cameras had it.

On Thursday night I went to Akasaka to find a live house called Graffiti. I'd heard a band called "SexRex" were playing there and I'd heard some of their stuff before so I went to seek them out. Found the place easily enough and went in. The 2,300en door charge had somehow been turned into 2,900en but a drink was included.

Four acts played starting with a sole chick on guitar called 二村佳代子 (Futamura Kayoko). She was great, had a lovely voice and after the first song I began to feel less guilty about having spent so much on the entrance fee. After six or seven songs she said her goodbyes and it was not long before SexRex took to the stage. This six-piece Jazz outfit looked the part. With their suits and shades and ties and trilbys and the frontlady in her scorching hot red dress, these guys looked as though they were going to kick arse. And they did. Their eclectic sound centres around Jazz but goes on all sorts of adventures, taking everyone in the room with them.

The third act was a woman on a keyboard called Karuta. She glided down the side of the room towards the stage, followed by a man with a hood over his head, holding a red, oriental-style umbrella over hers. When they got to the stage, he put down the umbrella and and went and hid in the corner where I think his job was to press play on a tape recorder for the backing noises while she played crazy tunes on the keyboard. I was reminded of the episode of Friends where Ross thinks he's good at playing the keyboard, but all he plays is a series of sound effect. She was more advanced than this and some of the songs were really mellow and quite hypnotic, but their power wasn't strong enough to make me buy the CD.

Last up was 新谷さや香 (Sayaka Shintani). This was balladic J-pop. Not really my scene, but it was nice. The girl had a really strong voice and the songs were fun. She even attempeted to make the audience JUMP out if their seats on one song near the end, but only a handful of people up either flank were corageous enough to bother. I was sitting in the middle so didn't seem to be expected to take part, thankfully.

Overall, an enjoyable evening. I definitely want to see SexRex again before I come back home. Which, incidentally, will probably be September. Lack of a degree has proven to be a major flaw for someone on a Working Holiday Visa, especially if he doesn't speak Japanese either. I'm not too fussed. I'll still be able to come home and say I lived in japan for five months. Haha, I win.

This time Next week I'll be in Niigata. This is where they had a 6.8 Earthquake last week. It is also the prefecture that hosts the Fuji Rock Festival (basically the reason I'm here, so it better be good). I've got under a week to sort my camera out, or buy a new on, unless I can get someone to lend me theirs for the weekend.

Bands I'm looking forward to the most are Muse (of course),
The Cure,
Kings of Leon,
Kula Shaker,
Ash,
The Boredoms,
OMAR RODRIGUEZ LOPEZ GROUP,
Kaiser chiefs,
and a veritable cornucopia of Japanese bands whom I've never even heard of before. But what would be the point of coming here if I just saw bands I've seen before?

I'll try to come back next week with some kind of Fujirock Review, but as you might've gathered, I'm a bit lazy. Let's see what happens. If your lucky (and if I'm lucky) there might even be some pictures.

Matta Raishu.

Been a while.

2007-06-16T12:13:00.000Z

Jesus this place is dusty. My bad. Due to several lame excuses such as computer problems, having a cold and maybe being a bit lazy, I haven't got round to updating the blog for a few weeks.

The main reason really is that there hasn't been a hell of a lot to talk about. Not that I've been bored. I've just been getting into the swing of daily life, learning to cook for myself, shopping for bargains (40p a pot for Korean cup noodles - 1.20 in a certain village shop I know). And I've really been hitting the books aswell, I'm dead set on learning the lingo even if I haven't quite got the hang of English yet. None of this is really blog material, so I haven't included it.

Notable events of the past few weeks include going to the last day of the sumo. Unfortunately we left it too late to get tickets so we couldn't actually go in, but we hung around outside for a couple of hours and watched some of the wrestlers arriving.

The interesting thing about this is that all the wrestlers (with the exception of the real legends of the sport) turn up on foot, or on public transport. They don't get special treatment, they are humble. It's like seeing George Michael climb out of a black cab outside Wembley Stadium before going on stage to scar Wembley's legacy forever.

Today I had my first Japanese haircut. I had originally planned to do this yesterday, and set out to do so. I came across dozens of barber shops and hair salons with prices ranging from 4-20 pounds. I found a nice-looking place and walked in. Before I'd even had a chance to open my mouth the old guy sitting in a chair said "No!". In the friendliest possible way with the nicest smile, he just didn't want to cut my hair. It put me off and I went back home.

Today I asked my housemate Jeung-Eun, who is fluent in Japanese, if she would accompany me and help relay my instructions to the barber. We went to another place, where the haircut cost a whopping 5 pounds and I let this dude loose on my head.

I watched him in the mirror the whole time. He was playing my head in the same way a harpist or a violinist plays his instrument. He had an orchestral elegance in his motion and his scissors never lost the rhythm, even when they were nowhere near my head. snip snip snip... snip snip snip...

And after an intense crescendo with the clippers it didn't turn out too bad, you know. A bit shorter than I was expecting but I'm sure I'll grow into it.

I've been taking some pictures of the house and neighbourhood so the next update will most probably be some kind of virtual tour... I almost made that sound interesting.

For all my pics click HERE!!!

Tokyo Tower

2007-05-23T09:00:00.000Z

On Monday me and a couple of the girls went to Tokyo Tower, a large tower not unlike France's Eifel. This structure stands at 333m tall and we went as high as the main observatory 150m up. This is a more than ample height to witness the whole of Tokyo, and you start to get some idea of just how massive this city actually is.
It was mid afternoon when we got there and we stayed well into the evening, so we were treated to a pretty good sunset.

To see all the pictures click on one of these four.

As promised here are some picures of Harajuku, Ueno Park and the brilliant Sanja Matsuri Festival. Expect some more Harajuku pics, I know that's a pretty shoddy selection.
Again, click on each picture for their respective galleries.
For my complete Japan Gallery click here.

Update

2007-05-19T10:58:00.000Z

What have you been up to since Yokohama?, I hear you ask.
Good question. And the answer is simple. Not a lot. And there are several weak excuses for this including rain, lethergy, and a bout of the runs.

Notable events of the last ten days or so include:

My housemate Irina's birthday, where a few of us went to eat at an Izakaya, a traditional Japanese restaurant with tatami mats, where you are expected to take off your shoes before stepping on them. Normally you are also expected to sit on the floor at a very low table which would be very uncomfortable to an overweight, tall Englishman who can even cross his legs properly. Luckily, though, they had cheated. The table was a regular table that had been lowered into a hole in the ground giving you the option to hang off the edge of the hole as though you are sitting on a chair. We ate a range of different things, all of which was delicious and none of which I can remember the name of. I also forgot to take my camera so that give's me an excuse to go back for another helping.

Harajuku. I've been there twice now, and I'll be going back again. This is where all the sexy people hang out. This is where trends are born. Not being a very trendy person I probably stood out as much as all the other westerners with short curly hair and plain t-shirt and jeans, but even I managed to find some shops that I didn't mind browsing through. This place is definately for skinny people, but I did buy a weird t-shirt cum jacket thing which is slightly too small for me. As I've been slowly losing my flab since I came to Japan I'm going to see if I can get it to fit within the next month. Wish me luck, I don't fancy taking it back because I'm too fat for it.
I also went to the "Design Festa Gallery" which is basically an old block of appartments that have been turned into an art gallery and cafe. Some of the work was pretty good, but art isn't really my bag so I didn't stay long. I got a few photo's of this and of some other parts of Harajuku, but my batteries died so I didn't get very many.

Today I went to Ueno Park with some of my housemates. This weekend is infact Sanja Matsuri, a three day festival, and apparently Tokyo's largest. It's in Asakusa, literally ten minute walk from our house, and we would've missed it, too, were it not for Sami's keen ears detecting some distant drumming. We made our way to Asakusa and there was a large crowd of people and not much happenning, so we decided to go to Ueno Park and come back later to see if anything more was happening.

The park was quite cool. I'll go back there and make a day of it soon but I got a few pictures and we went on the boat lake in a giant duck just as it started to piss it down. On the way back home we came across some festival activity so all was not lost. Three teams of about 20-30 men carrying these three "mikoshi" shrines.

I took a some photo's of this which I'll put up tomorrow along with the Harajuku and Ueno Park ones. I can't be arsed to do it now and I've gotta find out if theres a way I can watch the FA Cup Final which kicks off in a couple of hours.

Yokohama

2007-05-10T07:59:00.000Z

On Tuesday the 8th, my first excursion out of the City of Tokyo was to her little sister, Yokohama, a port city not far South of Tokyo

Managing somehow to spend nearly four times as much as I needed to on the train fare I finally made it to Yokohama Station and began by looking at my map of the city for inspiration. Only to find that Yokohama's very own station wasn't on my map of Yokohama. I didn't know where I was.

So I wandered around for at least two hours eventually coming back to the station and not having come across a single landmark from my map. I even checked to make sure I hadn't gone to some other town with a similar name like Chokahomo, but no I was in the right town.

Needless to say I didn't get any photo's of this area because I was simply too angry to stop and take my camera out, there wasn't much to see in this area anyway. Eventually I decided to go underneath the station and come out the other side, and suddenly it clicked. I knew where I was... I had finally crept onto my map. So I bowled it off in the general direction of some landmarks and finally felt like putting my camera to good use.

Heres a two-mile long stretch of Graffiti and some Skyscrapers:

Here's a closer look at Landmark Tower, the largest Skyscraper in Japan.

The I decided to have a go on the Cosmo Clock 21, a giant ferris wheel (the largest in the world apparently). On the side of the wheel is a large digital clock which displays the current time and is controlled by the turning of the wheel, which takes exactly 15 minutes to complete one rotation.

After this, not that I really had the legs for it, I decided to head towards town and wander about. I came across the baseball stadium and managed to sneak a peak through the gate, even though the stadium was closed.

Then I went insearch of food. Thinking Chinatown would be a good place to start I headed in that direction. Chinatown was nice, and pretty and the smell of the food was enough to set my stomach growling, but the prices were extorionate. 1500yen for a bowl of noodles. Thats 6 quid. I took some snaps and got out of there:

It was getting on a bit and although I had originally planned to make an evening of it and had even found a live music venue, I decided to make my way home and rest my poor, overworked legs, but not before eating. I wandered about on a cheap food mission and eventually found a nice curry house with reasonably priced food and beer on tap.

I ate, I came home, I slept.

Yesterday (the 9th), went by without much activity, but in the evening me and Onder went to a local Japanese Language class run by volunteers and at a grand total of 50yen (20p) per lesson I'll probably go back again.

Ginza

2007-05-05T10:25:00.000Z

Today I decided to go to Ginza, Tokyo's Shopping District. Not to do any shopping, mind you, I'm on a budget. As soon as you come up from the station below you are slapped bang in the middle of a seemingly endless boulevard of department stores, restaurants and all sorts of expensive places.

At first I just walked in a straight line, ignoring most of the designer outlets, that not really being my scene. Then I came to the end of the road, so I turned back. It was exactly the same and I was just about to start getting bored when I decided to go up a side-road (Ginza's side-roads are what pass for High Streets in most English towns and cities) and I ended up on another eternal stretch of ridiculously priced shops.

But something was different. The road had been closed. Today is Kodomo no Hi or Children's Day. A very special public holiday in Japan. Though it might well also be Mercedes Day because lined up on display in the middle of the road were a host of classic Mercedes Models, I don't know their names or engine sizes so I'll just put a few photos here.

When I'd seen enough I carried on up this road and I was just in time to catch an amazing street act. Firstly, this girl comes out and starts contorting her body into all sorts of strange positions, feet over the head and all that. Then she does it all again but with a weird chandelier type thing balanced on her head. It was truly awesome. But it wasn't enough. She lay down on her back and put the weird object on her foot and the bloke comes out and puts another one on her other foot, then another one on each hand and one on her head. But she doesn't just lie there waiting for the applause she already deserves. No, she starts rolling around and making all sorts of elegant poses, without once even threatening to drop these things.

Incredible stuff. She goes off for a well deserved break while the guy comes out and does some pretty nifty things with a giant whip. But then the girl comes back and this time, she's got bowls. The guy begins picking her up, spinning her round and generally throwing her all over the place. All the while, she's balancing these bowls on her head, feet and any other limb you can think of.

Once they finish I move further up the street. This time there is a duo who call themselves "Funny Bones". They perform a sequence of hilarious and deliberately bad magic tricks. The twist is that the biggest laughs come when they actually show you how they did it, pretending to accidently drop the hat, or turning around at the wrong time to expose a dangling wire. They were pretty hilarious and I might track them down if I ever get married to perform at my wedding.

Next up was a guy dressed as some kind of hag, or witch who has just discovered she has some powers. She brings a bat back to life only to kill it again, and tries to get the broomstick to fly. Unfortunately, the music kept cutting out forcing him to the performance in total silence and it wasnt the best act of the day.

I caught the tail end of another act involving the spinning of balls, hoops, cups and even wooden boxes on umbrellas then I went in search of the holy golden twin-arches of Maccy D. It's not as hard to order a burger in a Japanese McD's as one might think. As soon as they see you are foreign they flip the menu over so you can read it in English. How Sweet.

Spat at.

2007-05-05T09:45:00.000Z

The other day I had a funny five minutes. Spat at by an old racist man and offered a can of drink by a sweet lady. The guy sat there next to me and summoned a dirty gret clob of phlegm and spat it out. Okay, not at me as such, but then his missus came round the corner and he said something to her which I didn't understand. But she repeated it and I recognised the words "baka Gaijin" which basically means stupid foreigner. Charming no?

Then as if in balance an even more surreal thing happened. A nice old lady came up to me with two cans of drink and insisted I choose one. What I chose turned out to be the closest thing I've had to a decent cup of tea since I got here.

At first I thought maybe the woman had seen the old man spitting and being rude and felt sorry for me. But then I realised she probably didn't feel sorry for me as such, she just didn't want me to think that this was how all Japanese people behaved. To me that shows a level of national pride and duty that we rarely see in England. Ironic thing is, the old racist guy probably considers himself to be quite patriotic aswell.

Pictures

2007-05-02T13:05:00.000Z

I've finally solved my laptop problem (well Onder sorted it out for me). This means I can now start putting my photos up.
To view all my Japan pictures click Here for the complete Gallery.
I've also split them into separate galleries for neatness' sake.

	Hotel Room It wasn't until the last day there, on a beautiful crisp clear morning, that I realised I could see Mt Fuji from my window. I was pretty excited by this and got a bit too snap-happy, but you'll agree they are incredible pictures.
	Shinjuku With skyscraping enormities in the west and dazzling neon in the east, Shinjuku is a very photogenic place. I haven't even finished there yet so expect so see more where these came from.
	Shinjuku Gyoen National Gardens This place is much bigger than it looks on the map and I didn't get all the way round because I could barely walk, but I took some nice photos on the way to make up for it.
	Asakusa This place is about 30 minutes walk away from where I'm living so I'm gonna come back after golden week when it' not so freakin' busy and take some better ones. The temple is Asakusa Kannon Senso-ji Bhuddist temple.
	Miscellaneous These are just random and interesting things I couldn't bring myself to delete.

Home, Sweet Home

2007-04-30T07:46:00.000Z

My first weekend in Tokyo was a bit quiet. Shortly after writing my last post I received the key to my new abode for the next three months. I made my way by rail to Kuramae, a little area about 20 minutes walk from Akihabara and about the same distance from Asakusa. Off the train and I looked at my map striding confidently off to the new place. But it wasn't there. I managed to get myeslf lost somehow. A nice lady seeing I was foreign started to give me directions but she wasn't using any terms I recognised. I told her gave her my thanks and walked in the general direction she had been pointing. Then a man came running up to me saying "Hoteru hoteru..." I said "no Sakura House" and he told me it was over the road, contradicting my initial map reading. That would explain why im lost, then. So over the road I went and found the place like that *clicks fingers*.

Up eight small flights of stairs and open the door. Inside is Sami, a Canadian guy. He's sitting in the dark watching some cartoon on TV. We introduce ourselves and I go to dump my bags in my room. When I return Sami has disappeared and the TV is swittched off. There doesn't seem to be anyone else about so I turn the TV on and flick through the 50-odd channels. Then I hear a noise and a guy in a camouflage jacket steps into the light and introduces himself as Leon, an Australian Manchester United fan. He's the guy I have replced, and he was hanging about waiting for his mate to turn up to help him take his stuff to his new location.

I chatted to Leon for a while, he gave me some cultural pointers and warned me not to steal a bike in Japan.

My roommtes appeared a bit later on. Onder is a Turkish laptop collector, who goes to Akihabara every day to pick up parts for his many broken laptops which he fixes in his spare time. He showed me his laptops and said he'd help me fins a cheap one the next day. My other roommate is Thai guy whos name I still havent got the hang of. Cheung or Kung or Kan or something. His English is not brilliant, but it's enough.

I haven't met all of the other guests because they all come and go and most of them seem to keep themselves to themselves. There are two girls. One Mexican girl I haven't had a chance to speak to yet and a Bulgarian girl. Her English is very good and her Japanese is pretty nifty, too. She was telling me that we have a ghost and that the other girl had taken a photo of it... I've yet to see this photo so I won't judge yet, but I'm sure it was just the curtain.

On Saturday Onder took me to his street in Akihabara, where he spends his days walking up and down. Here there are dozens of shops all dedicated to selling used and broken laptops, and parts from broken PCs and laptops. He helped me find a cheap used laptop for 80 quid and the only thing wrong with is is a broken USB port. It has two anyway, so one broken one is not even a problem.

For anyone who doesn't know, Akihabara is geek central. Everyone from Anime enthusiasts to Laptop collectors gather here to indulge their particular interests. One such being Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu, (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya), an anime series based on a series of books about a high-school girl, bored with her life and struggling to fit in, who creates strange and interesting people and situations simply by imagining it.

The series is famed for it's ending credits which involves a dance routine that millions of Japanese people, could perform backwards in their sleep. This video was taken about a month ago when a group of online chatroom friends decided to meet up in Akihabara in costume and perform this dance.

This is awesome, and watch it right until the end becasue something amazing happens:

Anyway, I got my laptop and we decided to go back. And in the space of bout 5 minutes it went from nice and sunny to thundering, lightning and pissing with rain. We got back, soaked to the bone, and I spent the rest of the day playing with my new toy.

Sunday was sunny again but that wasn't going to fool me. I took my coat with me this time. I went to pay a visit to Asakusa Shrine which was packed. There are rows and rows of shops and stalls leading up to the shrine all selling souvenirs and food. The shrine itself is impressive and I got some photos but I need an external CD to plug into my laptop so I can uploal my pictures.

Inside the actual Shrine there were hundreds of people all bunging coins into a big pool or something. I didn't really enjoy it much because it was too packed. But it's just a short walk away so I'll have plenty of chances to go back when I can see in front of me and actually enjoy the attraction. Also I know where to come to stock up on souvenirs now aswell.

This week is Golden week, a string of public holidays and a time when most Japanese take time off work and go places so everywhere will be really busy.

Today I haven't done a lot, this has taken over an hour and the only other thing I've acheived is learning how to use the washing machine. It's a difficult thing to do when you can't read the washing powder, but I think it went ok. It should be dry by now actually, so I'll report back to say if it has shrunk.

Tomorrow I'm going to go to Akihabara again and pick up a cheap CD Drive and a Doner Kebab... Yep, they have real Turkish kebab joints just like the ones back home. So I'm happy.

Shinjuku

2007-04-27T02:09:00.000Z

Harrow.

So what have I been doing with my first few days in Japan, then.
Well I arrived at the airport at 7.50am on Tuesday morning and made my way all by my own to Shinjuku and my hotel with three full bags of crap, still wearing my coat in the broiling heat becasue I couldnt be arsed to carry that aswell. I dumped my bags and went walking around Shinjuku because I wasnt allowed to check in until 3. At which point I was so knackered (I didnt sleep a wink on the plane), that I was asleep by 4 and didnt wake up until 6am on Wednesday.

Bright and Early, Showered and breakfasted, feet blistered already, I went for another wander. In search of an adaptor plug. And it wasnt long before I found one of the many Department stores dotted about. A group had formed outside the door waiting for it to open at 10, I obediently joined the back of a ten strong Queue before realising that they were queueing for something else entirely... god knows what, a special VIP area or something perhaps. When the doors opened there were rows and rows of assistants standing there with huge smiles and bowing profusely saying Irasshaimase. I found a plug section but no adapters, so I confidently asked an assistant in my finest Japanese where I could find one. Unfortunately I hadnt prepared for the fact that I couldnt understand her reply. But she showed me a floor plan and pointed at the Fifth floor and I kicked myself when I realised shed been saying Go kai meaning fifth floor... I knew that

More wandering around and a few errands run and I was getting hungry so I poped into a convenience store. These are much like the ones in England but ten times more magazines and theres guaranteed to be at least 3 people flicking through them even if the rest of the shop is empty. I picked up a rather tasty looking chicken Bento or boxed lunch and went to the counter. The girl kindly offered to heat it up for me in the microwave and I declined in my politest Japanese preferring to take it back to the hotel and eat it in my room. But then it occurred to me that maybe it wasnt supposed to be eaten cold. So back at the hotel I took out my Bible (the Kondansha Kanji Learners Dictionary) and tried to decipher the text... There were heating instructions, as well as orders to Keep cold, but nothing that said it was Okay to eat it cold. I did anyway... I ate half of it and waited to see if I got the shits. A few hours later my stomach felt fine so I ate the rest. Well Im still here I guess.

Time for a night time wander and I was looking for a decent drinking establishment when I was approached by a sharply dressed insistent black man called OJ. Said he was from Ghana and spoke good English... "Take a walk with me" he said "Let me show you where all the foreigners go", "Have you ever been with a Japanese girl"... This guy was either a pimp or was paid to drum up foreign clients for the local Hostess bars.

"Ahh, nah, Im not really looking for that at the moment cheers mate" I said, "Just wandering about, you know, taking pictures" wondering if he was going to let me go. He followed me for about 2 blocks saying "Come with me, Ill show you around". Then made the mistake of turning into a side road expecting me to follow. I started to cross the road saying "Im gonna love you and leave you." and he started calling after me but thankfully let me go. At least I know who to look for if and when I need some hostess action. But not tonight, thanks OJ.

Yesterday I went to the Shinjuku Gyoen National Gardens. Supposedly the largest Gardens in Tokyo... Got lost on the way, twice checking my map and the second time realising that I was in exactly the same place as the first time I had checked it. Also realising that I had not long ago been one block away from the park and that I was now walking away from it. But I got there eventually.

Its massive, especially for this poor sod with achy legs and blistered feet, and I got a bit bored of all the flowers and trees about halfway round, but I took some cool pictures including one of a tradional English meadow with dandelions and other weeds. There was also this masive greenhouse which was like the land of the giants. Some of the trees had leaves bigger than me Im sure of it. And a Lemon tree with lemons the size of melons. When I exited the greenhouse these three little girls were staring at me like theyd never seen a Gaijin before. Well two actually, one of them ran off as soon as she clocked eyes on this hulking barbarian. But the other two just stared until one of them ventured to say "heroo" practising her English on me and I wanted to say "Rraaaaaarrrrrggggghhhh!!!" but instead I said "Konnichiwa" and they cracked up laughing as if it was the funniest thing theýd ever seen. Im glad I can make people laugh.

Lunch in the park restaurant and a nice beer. To order your food you have to buy meal ticket from a vending machine and then give it to the lady to take to the kitchen... I recognised the Katakana for kariiraisu (curry rice) and biiru (beer). and fumbled for the right change. Tasty meal though and set me up with enough energy to find the exit and do some more wandering.

After some more zigzagging around I found a little pub called the Dubliners. A cute Irish bar which seemed to be popular for other Gaijin. Drank three pints and listened in on a conversation bewteen an Aussie, a Yank and a British Indian who went off on one about how much he hates watching fat Americans eat. He was quite graphic with it and I had to stifle a chuckle and read my book instead.

Thats about it, so far. Its been fun and Im afraid to say Im not homesick yet. Culture shock... what culture shock. Later today I move into the new place with my new roommates. So its goodbye to Shinjuku unless I decide to take OJ up on his offer.

Photos will come as soon as I can get to a computer that will allow me to put them up. If that ever happens. I might have to invest in a cheapo laptop, saw one for 25,000yen yesterday, thats about 100 quid so which is bloody cheap, trouble is its Japanese Windows so Ill have to get someone to install it for me but Itll do for my purposes.

Sorry for lack of Question Marks, apostrphes and other puntuation, this keyboard is crap... it doesnt even agree with Japanese keyboard rules which Ive just started getting used to.

Til next time.

Tss Good Start

2007-04-23T08:47:00.000Z

I'm currently at the airport in Zurich, on a computer whose keyboard is all over the place. The Z is where the Y should be and vice-versa. And I've just had a horible scare. I went to buy some Yen from the Bureau de change and the machine wouldn't accept my card. And I thought Cirrus and Maestro were universal. I thought I was stuck. Didn't have enough Yen to last the first couple of hours in Japan, let alone a few days. And I was seriously contemplating getting the next plane straight back to England when My mum suggested trying an ATM... oh yeh, good idea. And it worked. I didn't have a clue what the exchange rate was between Swiss francs and the Pound so under pressure I presed 200... I thuink thats about 70/80 quid. Got that changed into Yen. That should at least be enough to get me a ride to the hotel. And I'll take it from there.

Must admit my heart did skip a few beats but I'm relaxed now. I've got a couple more hours to kill and then the real Journey begins.

Pthrphrhtprhhthrpp.

First Three Months Sorted

2007-04-08T10:30:00.000Z

Who needs an agency anyway. I've managed to book a hotel for my first three nights and then a Gaijin House for the next three months. That takes me snugly up to Fuji Rock Festival, which will be my home for another 3 nights.

The Shinjuku New City Hotel is a pretty standard affair. The website doesn't give much away in terms of pictures but my room will look something like this:

I don't intend on spending much time in there except to rest my weary head. Instead I'll wander round Shinjuku taking pictures and breathing in the fresh smog.

Then, on the 27th I'll make the trek across to Akihabara, the stomping ground of Tokyo's Otaku, and move into this place:

That will be my home and base for three months. It's cheap at about £180(ish) a month, so that's less than £600 for three months, maths fans. That's how much I saved when Real Gap did the dirty on me so they've done me a favour really.

I'll be sharing a room with two other people. They could be anyone. I know two things. They'll be male and non-Japanese. But the whole house will be full of Gaijin - probably Canadians and Aussies mainly - so at least I'll be able to have a conversation with some people in a language I understand.

Setback!

2007-04-03T10:12:00.000Z

I knew I was about due for a setback. The wonderful RealGap I keep banging on about have informed me that their cousins in Japan have pulled the plug on the Japan Working Holiday programme. This is a pain in the arse but not fatal. It just means I won't have their help in finding a job and somewhere to live. And there won't be anybody to meet me and show me about when I get there. I'm going to be alone for the first few days. A stranger in a strange land.

The good thing to come out of this is that I will get a refund, so that means I have an extra £600 in my bank which will come in very very handy. I need every spare penny I can get my hands on at the moment.

On a lighter note. See that red diamond on the top right-hand corner of this page? If that turns green, that means I'm online and if you click on the link you'll be able to chat with me. Click on it now, anyway. See, it's my own little chatroom at the bottom of the page. It only works when I'm logged in though which is a shame. I'll leave little notices saying when I'm likely to be online and y'all will be able to meet me there.

Flight Booked

2007-03-21T23:13:00.000Z

I'm getting used to life with my thumb out of my arse. I even booked my flight today. How's that for moving things along. And it means I have a deadline for everything else. And that deadline is April 23rd Ladies and Gentlemen, at 6.15am. Who knows there might still be some Cherry Blossom left to have a look at.

I went on Lastminute.com and found the cheapest flight possible to Tokyo on that day. £360 one way. Not bad from what I gather, but I'll probably have Deep Vein Thrombosis when I get there.

I arrive in Tokyo Narita Airport at 7.50am(local time) on the 24th, where I will hopefully be met by someone who might be able to tell me what the hell I've let myself in for.

This isn't the only thing I've done since my last post. I've even wired some money to Japan for a ticket to Fuji Rock Festival. That's in July and Ash and Kaiser Chiefs will be there, as well as the out-of-hiding Kula Shaker and a return for The Cure. Should be good then.

Of course I won't be sticking to the bands I've heard of. You should never do that anyway, but if the festival is on the other side of the world then it'd be rude not to check out some of the local talent.

My next steps are to check that my money has gone through so that I can go to the festival, and to tell Real Gap that my flight is booked so that they can organise my accommodation and somebody to tell me the rules. It's really moving forward and I'm not even that scared (yet). I Just can't wait to get out of Ticehurst and do something for myself for a change.

Diamond Visa

2007-03-12T22:59:00.000Z

I've got it.
It's been a while since my last post because quite frankly, I was a getting a little pessemistic about the whole thing.
Since my Last post, just after I sent my deposit to Real Gap, they sent me a copy of the Visa Application Form and some very helpful information, all of which was already in the brochure and on their website. Nice to see my money's being put to good use, then.
It was then up to me to make up my application and take it, by hand, to the Japanese Embassy on Picadilly. It consisted of:

A CV/personal history

A Written Reason for wanting the visa

A proposed Itinery for the first six months

Proof that I had enough money in my account

and, of course, my passport.

I went up there on Feb 21st, a Wednesday, and found the Embassy easily. I didn't have a clue what to expect. I'd been told there was the possibility of being interviewed so I tried to look smart, despite the fact that it was quite humid and I'd just bowled halfway down Picadilly. My back was sopping. I had to step through an airport-style metal detector (incase I was an anti-whaling terrorist I presume), and then through a glass door into a waiting room. And wait I did. For a good few minutes before I realised I was supposed to take a ticket from a machine with two little green fruit-machine buttons. When I finally had my number it wasn't long before it was called.

I stepped into what looked more like the counter at the bank, or the visiting room at a high-security prison and handed my application to the clerk. It was not long before he told me my application was incomplete and that my proof of funds was not acceptable (to be fair I had just given him a slip from the ATM, it could've been anybody's). So he said I could run down to the NatWest down the road and get a more feasable slip, but that he would also require a more detailed statement which I could fax him over the next few days.

A few days passed and I didn't have a fax machine... I also didn't want to send my most recent posted statement, because I didn't feel it was a true representation of my bank account, so I decided to go to Wadhurst and get a printed Statement from the bank. Then I found out that Celia Hammonds Charity Shop in Wadhurst has a fax machine that customers can use at 50p a sheet. So I send the bits along with a copy of my reference code, and bowled it off down the high-street feeling really good about myself.

Then I got back in the car and realised that the bit of paper I'd just faxed off to the Embassy doesn't even have my name on it... again, it could've been anyones.
I was really downbeat after this and was expecting a phonecall saying "You dickhead, you can't even apply for a visa properly how do you expect to use one?" or soemthing like that. But this morning I decided to ring the Embassy and tell them I think I'd made a boo-boo and that if they don't mind I'll send my next officially posted statement when it comes in a fortnights time. The guy however (whose voice I recognised as being the 'Clerk' at the Embassy), told me that my visa had been issued and was ready for collection. I said "Thanks" and "cheers" and "nice one", but not "Arigato" for he was English.

I hung up and punched the air. I haven't felt so happy in a long time. I'm going to Japan and I'm leaving the shop. The visa is valid from the day it's issued and I won't be going until the end of April so I'll only get ten months instead of the full twelve but ten is plenty and I can still call it a year without getting accused of exaggeration.

My only concern now is how long I'll last, but at least I know I'm definately going. I'm so happy. I no longer have to worry about my bank-balance not being heavy enough and I can enjoy booking the flights and looking forward to living in possibly the coolest country in the world.

Deposit.

2007-01-23T08:49:00.000Z

Well, Yesterday I sent off the booking form along with a deposit of £175. Lask week I gave RealGap.co.uk a ring and spoke briefly to the girl. She seemed unconcerned about my worries about finding a job out there, which was reassuring and gave me a whole new level of optimism and excitement.

She said I'd have to visit the Japanese Embassy at some point in order to collect my Visa. I'm not sure what happens there. Is there some kind of interview? Will I have to brush up on my Japanese for it? The prospect is more nervewracking than the actual adventure itself.

I should get a load of paperwork through the door in the next few days about exactly what I have to do in order to make this happen and when I do I'll summarise it all here. Also I should soon have a clearer idea of when I Can actually go... that's when the real excitement will begin.

When?

2007-01-11T12:11:00.000Z

I've told myself early April, and that still stands but when you're planning something like this it's difficult to find a cut off point. theres always something that you wish you could stay for. My sister's 18th birthday is in July and Muse are playing Wembley stadium in June. I'd love to be in the country for both of these events, but if I was to hang about much longer then more things would come up.

"Oh, I'll just wait for the Reading festival, then I'll go.... oh, I might as well get Christmas out the way." And before I know it, I'll be 30, still selling tins of beans at the local store and still talking about going to Japan.

No, it has to be this year and it has to be before June. So April is my target.

Real Gap based in Tunbridge Wells, has a great package, and this is the one I've been looking at for a while now.
599 pounds is a nice sum to pay for help applying for a visa, finding a job, somehwere to live and access to the computers in their 11 offices dotted around the country.

Flights are paid for separately, so I'll probably go to the flight centre and get a one way ticket, or see how much an open-ended ticket is going to cost.

The next time I post I shall probably have booked the programme... either that or been rejected for being under-qualified at anything useful to any Japanese employer.

So til then.
Cya

Welcome to My Japanese Adventure

2006-12-30T12:25:00.000Z

2007 is two days away. Time to pull my socks up and my fingers out and make the arrangements I've been threatening to make for nearly a year. The goal? To get out of England and live in Japan for a year.

Until the day I leave, this blog will be my way of sharing my preparations with anyone who wants to follow them. When I'm in Japan I'll be using it to share my adventures and experiences with aforementioned interested parties. With any luck it'll be worth reading. If I don't keep it up to date then I'm either having the time of my life and can't be arsed to come online or I've got nothing to say coz it's shit. Lets hope it's the former.

So until I have something intersting to say...
Happy New Year!!
Stu