I have now been in Japan for three weeks, and am as much in love with this country as I have ever been. It is a relief to be in a place where I understand the culture, history, and language. Coming back to Kansai almost felt like coming home to me. Being able to say “tadaima!” (“I'm home”) as I set foot into the Ando house sealed that feeling.
My good friend Tokiko, whom I met while teaching Japanese at Mori no Ike, a part of the Concordia Language villages, has been gracious enough to let me stay at her house since I have been here. It is in Tarumi, a little ways outside of Kobe. She is about the same age as my mother and her parents, who live with her, are in their eighties. It has been wonderful to stay in a home atmosphere with nice conversation and good home-cooked food. When I first arrived, I was constantly slipping accidental Hindi, but in a matter of days, my fluency returned, even if I can't remember some of the more advanced grammar patterns and vocabulary. I guess that comes with staying with people who don't speak English. They taught me to play majong (which I still don't understand very well, but managed to win anyway), and I, in turn, taught them cribbage.
A lot of my time has been spent relaxing around the house, reading, watching Korean dramas with Tokiko and her mother, and running short errands with them. I have been recruited as 'young, healthy bag-carrier' on a few occasions. However, last week, I managed to catch a cold that kept me at home for two days, then throw out my lower back while trying to pick up my futon for cleaning. That has made me take things a lot more slowly, and I am still recovering.
Some fun outings I have had with Tokiko or her friend Tsurusaki-san have been to Suma Temple, the Sumaura ropeway, lunch and fabric shopping in Kobe, a takoyaki restaurant, and the Yume Butai on Awaji Island.
One day when I felt the need for a walk, and Tokiko's parents didn't like the idea of me wandering through a park on my own, they recruited Tsurusaki-san to take me to the temple near her house. It was the first day of spring, so before the temple, we cleaned and put flowers on the graves of her parents and her middle son. It was all done with an air of pleasant remembrance rather than sadness. She even had me pose for pictures next to both graves. Suma Temple is really one of the most interesting temples I have been too. It has neither spectacular architecture nor gardens, but it has lots of statues of different kinds, and a small museum about a historical warrior from that area. Then we went up the mountainside on the Sumaura Ropeway. At the top, there was a tower that had a spectacular view of the surrounding area and Kansai bay. From up there, I could see far inland. Along the coast, I could see almost from Himeji all the way past Kobe and Osaka. The tower also had a slowly spinning cafe, that would take visitors on a slow panorama as they had their tea and cake. (To get to Suma Temple, take the Sanyo/Hanshin line to Sumadera Station and walk straight up the road to the temple. For the ropeway, go to the Sanyo/Hanshin Sumaurakouen Station. The ropeway platform is a part of that station.)
I went into Kobe on a number of occasions. I must admit that I'm disappointed in the “Lonely Planet” for making it seem as if there is nothing to do in the city and surrounding area. I will do my best to disprove this, and provide what I can here. On one particular time, Tokiko and I went to Ygrekplus, a French restaurant with a bakery on the first floor. The lunch set special was absolutely delicious, and had a decidedly Japanese flair to it with lots of seafood. There was also an all-you-can eat bread table with many varieties of fresh baked breads. The desserts looked amazing, but were somewhat expensive. (To get there, get off at the JR Sannomia Station and head south from the central exit. It's about two blocks down, on the corner.) Just across the street from it was a great craft and fabric store, where I spent the better part of an hour after lunch.
Another day, I went by myself to the Yume Butai gardens on Awaji Island. The bridge to Awaji is only one stop down the JR Kobe line from where I have been staying, at Maiko Station. I only had to climb the stairs up onto the bridge and take a bus across to the island. A part of a massive Westin hotel, the gardens sprawl for many acres. I didn't visit all of them, but what I did see was beautiful. The greenhouse was stunning. Take traditional Japanese gardening aesthetic, add modern Japanese art styles and plans from all over the world, and you have the Yume Butai greenhouse. I had never pondered what a Japanese cactus garden would look like before, but when I saw one for the first time, it made a lot of sense. As per gardening aesthetics, everything was carefully placed and arranged as part of a grand plan. Outside, the main garden was full of tulips coming into bloom, while various paths led to impressive overlooks of the bay.
On Sundays, I have been going to my old church, Agape Christian Fellowship, that meets in the Keihan Kuzuha station building. Even though it means getting up early and taking a 90-minute, multiple-transfer train ride to get there. It is great to see all of the old members again, and meet the new ones as well. Since I have been there, one of the members bought an old cafe that the church is now working to renovate to use as fellowship space as well as an independent business. After each service, I have gone with some of the members to eat take-out lunch there and chat for a while. This Sunday, Easter, I will be singing a few solos as special music for them. Pastor Takeshi liked to ask me to sing for them back when I was studying abroad, so I thought I would bring some music along and offer to sing again. That offer was taken up with enthusiasm.
This week, since Tokiko is on a business trip, I have left the Ando house and done some adventuring on my own. On Monday night, I met Masami, who stayed at my house as an exchange student when I was a junior in high school, in Osaka for dinner and karaoke. It was great to see her again, and that she was doing so well. I had gone to her graduation at Kansai Gaidai a week before, but only had a minute to say congratulations before she hurried off. She is already starting her job as a banker this week, and hardly had time to see me, but I am glad it worked out. That night, I went back to Suma and spent the night in Tsurusaki-san's spare room.
The next day, I headed back for the Hirakatashi area to meet my old host family. Mayu has hardly grown, but she has matured. My host parents seem to be the same as ever. Since I stayed with them, they moved into a new house closer to the middle school Mayu wanted to go to. Now that she is in, since it is a combined middle-high school, she doesn't have to worry about entrance exams until college. It is good to see her playing more and studying less, like a kid should be. We walked up the river by their house and did some hanami (cherry blossom viewing), while eating snacks.
Back when I was studying abroad, I quickly bonded with Mayu over our shared love of Pokemon. She used to ask me to get out my DS and play Pokemon just so she could watch. Now she has a DS of her own, and she was very excited about the prospect of trading Pokemon for foreign versions. She sent me hunting for some of her favorites, and we did a bunch of trading. It was nerdy girl bonding time.
I also got a kimono review session with my host mother. She had taught me how to dress myself in a kimono and Nagoya style obi before, but I had forgotten a few steps. We practiced for at least an hour, and she even showed me a few different obi tying techniques. The big surprise, however, is that she had a bag full of kimono things that she and her cousin didn't need any more. It included four kimono, three obi, and one nagajuban (under kimono). That inspired me to go shopping the next day for more kimono accessories to complete my kimono kit. It is amazing just how many tiny details go into wearing a kimono. There are so many pieces that you never see, used simple to make the garment look perfect and stay that way. The next day, we biked to a kaitenzushi (conveyor belt sushi) restaurant for lunch. I must have had a silly grin on my face the entire time as I watched little plates of sushi and cake chug past, occasionally snatching one that looked tasty. From there, we said our goodbyes and I headed for Kyoto.
Kyoto is, as of yet, my favorite city in the world. That I hadn't been there yet in this trip was bugging me, so I finally took my chance. I reserved places to stay for two nights and made this my base of operations for three days. I started by going to Fushimi Inori Shrine in southern Kyoto. It is famous for its seemingly endless tunnels of brilliant red-orange torii gates. If you have see “Memoirs of a Geisha” you will have seen those torii in a brief scene where the main character is racing through them.
I then spent the evening in Gion, also famous from that movie, as it is the Geisha district itself. I, however, was there for the used kimono shops. I found good deals on the pieces I still needed to complete my kimono kit, while perplexing many shop workers by going straight for the undergarments instead of the kimonos. It's fun to shop for these kind of things, because the women working there are generally delighted to discover that a young, foreign girl is seriously interested in the art of kimono.
My hotel was the Kyoto Capsule Ryoukan. It wasn't my first choice, but was the only place I could find on short notice. However, it turned out to be perfect for my needs. One room had eight or ten bunk bed-like capsules. Each had a locker for belongings, and the bed itself had a blind that you could snap down for privacy. Inside the bed capsules were TVs, internet and plug hook-ups, as well as a built-in alarm clock. It was incredibly clean and comfortable. Close to the Kyoto station for convenience, I highly recommend it for solo travelers. It is also one of the least expensive places to stay in the Kyoto area.
Today, my adventures took me into Shiga-ken to the shores of Lake Biwa and the Hikone Castle. As a castle-lover and a lake-lover, I've been curious about Hikone-jo for a while. It was a drizzly day, but I still had a good time. I thought I would do a proper hanami and have lunch under the blooming sakura flowers, so I bought a bentou (lunch box) and found myself a nice rock to sit on in the castle gardens. Propping up my umbrella underneath the mostly un-bloomed buds, I had my lunch. I'm sure several people laughed a the silly foreigner, but I enjoyed myself. The great thing about bud-viewing on a rainy day, is that you have the whole picnic to yourself.
The castle itself is the smallest I have seen so far, but it was still very beautiful. There was a lovely plum orchard that was still in bloom, and a number of pretty water birds in the moat. The top of the castle tower provided a great (though misty) view of Biwako and the surrounding area. It is perched on a high hill rising out of the plains right on the shores of Lake Biwa. If I were a feudal lord, I would have put my castle right there too.
I only have a few more days left in Kansai before I head up to Tokyo on Monday night, and I plan to make the most of them. This time in Japan really has cemented my love for the country. It will be hard for me to leave. Though, I am seriously considering graduate school in Japan once I am finished with my Shansi Fellowship in India.
