A little sight seeing

So last weekend I got the chance to do a little sightseeing around the Island. For those not aware, I live on Tokunoshima (you can google it) in the south of Japan. My island is pretty small by most standards and I live in the smallest town on that island. Suffices to say, there’s not much on the island. But, we do have a few claims to fame and I thought I would spend some time checking ‘em out! 

My island is probably most famous for Sugar Cane – it’s everywhere and everything on the island. Below is a picture of some sugar cane fields after being harvested and then some currently living it up. The majority of sugar canes are sent off to Japan to be made into what we know of as general white table sugar, but some of the canes stay behind on the island to be made into “black sugar”. The juice from the cane is squeezed out and then hardened into these small “black” rocks. It tastes something like molasses (it’s extremely sweet) and is a treat on the island. I’ve never seen it in the states before, but that’s probably because there aren't a lot of sugar cane fields...anyway, i'll try to send some home next time I get around to mailing some letters.

Tokunoshima is also known for having the “oldest” man and woman in the world (although they are dead now). Apparently there is some controversy among scholars of this sort of thing as to whether or not he and she were actually the oldest people in the world, either way, the island is full of 80/90 year old people who still get up everyday to farm some potatoes, eat some sugar cane, and constantly impress me with their youthful nature. Below is a picture of the oldest man (he’s got a statue), apparently he lived until 120 years old.

Last thing I’ll throw up for today concerns the American military base on Okinawa. In short, for those that don’t recall, the former prime minister of Japan had suggested (in a desperate last attempt) to move the American military base (or part of it) to Tokunoshima after failed talks with the U.S. concerning the base. Well the people on the island were pretty quick to mobilize together and give the prime minister a big ol’ middle finger (although in actuality they didn’t – not only does the middle finger not carry the same meaning as it does in America, but it’s generally impolite to point in Japan, let alone at the Prime Minister). Remnants of the quickly won battle still hang around my town in the form of signs (which, although I don’t feel any ill feelings from anyone who lives here, can sometimes be a bit awkward). I’ve thrown up some quick translations below, although you kinda get the picture in some of them.

"Against the Base"

"AGAINST the relocation on the American Military Base"

Against is written 反対 and is written in red at the bottom

"We don't need the American Military!"

"Military Base, No! Tokunoshima doesn't need it!!"

That’s about all for now, I’m all fine from the big earthquake, it hit mostly the northern part of Japan, but thanks for all those who asked after me, it was much appreciated.

Until next time,

-Josh

Hello world

So it's been a little while since I've posted, so I figure I'd get back in the swing of things. I've had a busy past two months: traveling all over Japan, Kendo tournaments, table tennis tournaments, and a whole slew of other things. I guess I'll start with a few pics from the trip I went on. First of all, traveling off of the island is a pain, either by way of ferry (16 hours - 170 bucks) or plane (1 hour - 300 bucks), it's no fun for the stomach or wallet. So when I do get off the island, I like to do some adventuring which is exactly what we did. I went on the trip with a friend of mine Beth Neal (who is also an ALT in Japan) and we traveled around the Kansai region (Osaka, Kyoto area - or about the center of Japan). I'll let the pictures do the talking:

 Me taking an artistic picture of Beth on our first day. We stayed at her host-parents place. While there, we met her host-grandma who was enthralled with my arm hair....

Beth and Maya

Me and Kana (freinds from Yamaguchi)

The famous five story pagoda in Yamaguchi

Our advisor in Japan (when I studied abroad) through a Christmas party every year and so we got a chance to go back and catch up! 

It was a really well done party. He is really into music and so one of his friends came over and played AMAZING live christmas music on the piano, it was pretty baller.

Yummy brownies

At the Osaka Aquarium, yes those are giant crabs. As you walked by you could hear whispers of "Oishisou" or "Looks delicious!" from young and old Japanese alike.

Same as above, it was a pretty cool place.

We then moved on to colder places. This is a place called Koyasan (高野山）, a world heritage site south of Osaka. The place is known for being the end of a long pilgrimage through various mountains and temples. It is the home of Shingo Sect of Japanese Buddhism, a more tolerant sect. While there we got to say in one of the temples for the night (yes, it was very cold) which was an amazing experience, I definitely recommend it.

On the way back from Koyasan, being on a mountain ("san" can mean mountain in Japanese), it got lots of snow. We traveled back on a rickety old railcar, some pictures from the ride.

At the oldest building in Japan. This man saw us and, seeing as we are lost foreigners, decided he was to be our tour guide. It turned out he knew about as much about the place as we did......

In Kyoto, we stayed at a really cool Hostel called IchiEnSo（一円相）, which derives its meaning from buddhist thought, the kanji mean 一(one)円(circle)相(mutual/together or aspect) so something on the lines of "Aspect of a circle". Anyway, it was a really cozy place and got to meet some really interesting people there from Korea, China, Spain, etc. A great experience. 

Whilst on my hiking in Kyoto...thought this was funny.

We then went north to another small village with 200 year old "farm houses". It snowed...a lot, but we got to have some really good food, meet a cool couple (one from Singapore and the other Japan). At first we thought they were both Japanese and then it wasn't until 20 minutes into dinner (we have communal dinners) that it came out that he was from Singapore. If you're unaware, Singapore's national language is English - so we got to talking about things and hit up lunch the next day. A good experience. :)

Next was skiing (this is obviously not a picture of skiing), but after that we hit up Kanazawa which is famous for it's old Japanese district (below) and 21st century contemporary art/architecture (yea, that's what I thought too...). Now I'm not big on the whole fancy schamncy contemporary art scene, I think it's interesting stuff and all, but usually I don't think it needs to be in a museum. But this place was different, very very cool! Above is a picture of a pool the you could go underneath to make it look like you are underwater. I thought it was pretty rad.

It was the new year so people got their fortunes. If you had a bad fortune, you had to tie it up on the rope/tree to make sure that it stays away from you...or something like that.

The old "tea district" in Kanazawa. Definitely what you think of when you think of old Japan. These 'Tea Houses' were somewhat like entertainment houses. There would be Geisha walking around and you'd go in and be entertained and drink some tea. The entertainment was usually music, dance, and song, scandalous back in the day!

Some friends we met in Kanazawa. The picture isn't very good, but you get the idea, lots of fun, lots of eating. :)