Prologue To A Grand Voyage

Hello there, loyal blog reader. I thought I’d drop in with a quick update to let you know what I’ll be up to during the next week or so. In mere minutes I’ll be en route to Aomori City where I’ll hop a bus to Tokyo-the first leg of a trip so ambitious in scale, it would make old Kerouac blush. Our plan is to take the bullet train from Tokyo down to Hiroshima and to then spend the next ten days gradually making our way up Japan’s East coast back up to Aomori. We’ll drive over the world’s longest suspension bridge between the islands of Shikoku and Honshu, see a whale shark in a tank in Osaka and visit Tokyo’s infamous parasite museum. Well, that’s the plan anyway. Updates will resume sometime after the 9th of May, pending my recovery from a week of revelry. See you then.

Asamushi Aquarium

Two weekends ago, Matt, Ryan and I took a trip to up Asamushi Aquarium outside of Aomori City, one of the last well-known tourist traps in Aomori that I had yet to visit. The aquarium enjoys a reputation as one of Aomori’s “must sees” and it’s no wonder-450 different species and over 6,000 aquatic animals does indeed sound impressive on paper. I consider myself something of an aquarium fan, so it’s really quite remarkable that I managed to live in Aomori for nearly a year without making the trek. Unfortunately, Asamushi didn’t quite live up to my expectations due to its rather small size, a few poorly maintained tanks and the occasional questionable choice of fish (neon tetras?). Still, the aquarium mostly succeeds at its goal of displaying a wide variety of aquatic animals (practically all of which are indigenous to Japan) in a fairly small space. There were even a few really strange animals here that I had never seen before. I would definitely recommend a visit, just so long as your expectations aren’t too high.
Here we see the outside of the building replete with flipping dolphins. As you will see, acrobatic dolphins are one promise that Asamushi actually makes good on.
Here’s the much touted “underwater world tank and marine tunnel”. The aquarium’s official literature hypes this thing up so much you’d think it was an endless “underwater world of wonders!” (their words, not mine). The reality is that, for the most part, it’s pretty lackluster when compared to similar tunnels at other aquariums. The tank did feature an absolutely monstrous sea ray though, who wasn’t shy at all about gliding over the tunnel.

How many eels does it take to jam up a rusty pipe? The answer is, apparently, four.






OMG giant squid! This one was found off of the coast of Hokkaido.
Here we see the so-called “touch and discover zone”. A more accurate name perhaps would have been the “torture and discover zone,” due to the numerous small children seen running around the room with clams and crabs in hand, seemingly oblivious to the fact that these animals generally prefer to stay in the water.
Perhaps Asamushi’s biggest selling point is their dolphin show. When we showed up it was only “dolphin feeding time” but even this modestly named event featured a number of tricks. As Matt pointed out, the small size of the room and tank allow spectators to get closer to the dolphins than at just about anywhere else we could think of. Keep in mind that this is not without peril, as this curiously worded sign reminds us:


Sadly, we missed “Dolphin’s Super Live” but from the looks of it, there wasn’t much that we hadn’t already seen at the feeding.

After our brief stint at the aquarium, we headed over to Aomori’s western side, to Hirosaki. While technically smaller than both Hachinohe and Aomori City, Hirosaki gets my vote for Aomori’s best city to hang out in. This is likely due to the presence of the local university, which attracts “young people” (an unknown species in most of the prefecture) and all of the strange things that they seem to enjoy. Hirosaki also boasts:
Taco vans!
Ireland’s answer to the Fonz, Mark “Mongo” Montgomery,
internet celebrities in their easily spotted orange plumage,
and hardcore players like Hirosaki's other Irishman, Kevin (seen here writing his digits on a girl’s face).
If there was anything more remarkable than the weekend’s festivities it was the humbling sight of Aomori in late April on the drive back home. For a while there I kept telling myself that spring had to be on the way but I think I might have jinxed it. Sorry, Aomori.

Anarchy In The Toy Aisle

Rock historian and author Greil Marcus once wrote that Johnny Rotten’s voice was “a voice that denied all social facts, and in that denial affirmed that everything was possible”. Luckily, he also realized that “The Sex Pistols were a commercial proposition and a cultural conspiracy, launched to change the music business and make money off the change”. To that end, I suppose it’s not all that ironic that the iconic British punks have been immortalized in plastic by Japan’s Medicom Toy Corporation, makers of the popular Kubrick line of collectible figures. For those of you living outside of Japan, you can order your own set from my friends at Rotofugi in Chicago. Your future dream is a shopping scheme!

One Hell Of A Homecoming: The Strange Tale of Uwano Ishinosuke

A few days ago, I happened upon a rather curious story being reported on by various news outlets; an 83 year-old Japanese man who was believed to have died in Russia following the Second World War had been discovered in Ukraine and was preparing to visit Japan for the first time in 63 years. Much like the countless Koreans, Taiwanese and other colonial subjects who remained trapped in Japan following the war, many Japanese soldiers who served overseas were also never repatriated. Many of these soldiers, especially in Russia, were either outright killed or died in labor camps. So the story of Uwano Ishinosuke’s return-especially after more than half a century-is indeed quite odd.

The actual details of his life since the end of the war are still quite sketchy-not much has been revealed to the media at this point. All we know is that he was last spotted in 1958 on Russia’s Sakhalin Island where he had fought during the war. Mind you, that’s a full 13 years after Japan’s surrender in 1945. In 1965 he moved to Ukraine where he has since married and fathered three children. Apparently, after living in Eastern Europe for over 60 years, Uwano suddenly decided to get in touch with the Japanese government. While he technically never returned from the war and probably had no means of doing so immediately following capitulation, it seems quite likely that he decided not to return to Japan out of his own free will. That is to say that the story seems less like the “missing solider discovered after 63 years” tale that the media is billing it as and more like “guy who happened to be a soldier and who disappeared following the war decides to return”.

The Japanese media do love a good story about a soldier discovered after decades of hiding in some remote part of the world though. Ever since 1945, a number of so-called “holdouts” have been discovered, eluding capture in remote locations where word of the war’s end never reached them-one as recently as 1980. To comprehend the logic behind this seemingly extreme behavior requires an understanding of the doctrine of personal sacrifice as a means for preserving national honor that was espoused by the Japanese wartime government. As one holdout plainly stated upon his surrender in Guam in 1972, “We Japanese soldiers were told to prefer death to the disgrace of getting captured alive”.

Almost all of the holdouts recovered since the war have returned to doting media attention and a hero’s welcome from the Japanese public. While their stories are certainly remarkable and worthy of telling, I can’t help but question whether the celebration of these stories might somehow stem from the ability to reclaim some honor for the defeated Imperial Army-something that right-wing revisionists seem likely to celebrate. Regardless, the Japanese media has been aching for a fresh holdout for a while now, especially after last year’s search for two soldiers in the Philippines turned out to have most likely been a wild goose chase.

So it’s no surprise that the media is having a field day with Uwano’s return. I just watched a segment on TV where reporters followed him as he returned to his birthplace in nearby Iwate Prefecture. He and his half-Ukrainian son met with aging family members, visited his elementary school and paid homage at the grave of his parents. After 60 years away from Japan, Uwano has lost the ability to speak Japanese and as such, was accompanied by Russian interpreters virtually everywhere he went. Since he was listed as dead in his family register, his Japanese citizenship is no longer valid, so he is actually visiting Japan as a Ukrainian national. At one point during his tour of the school, an elderly man walked up to him and excitedly began retelling some story about them having traveled to Morioka together back in the day, in the completely unintelligible speech that seems characteristic of all old Japanese men. Poor Uwano just stared at him with a completely blank look on his face before bowing his head and slowly shuffling away. As a fellow foreigner in Japan, let me impart one piece of advice onto you, Uwano-San: you had better get used to it.

How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Nuclear Plant

Last week, a number of Aomori bloggers (including my pals Mongo and Charlie T.) linked to a BBC article regarding a water leak at nearby Rokkasho’s nuclear reprocessing plant. That reminded me of something that I had completely forgotten to discuss up until now: the infamous Rokkasho nuclear “bonus”.

You see, as Japan is the only nation in the world that has experienced a nuclear attack (this is actually debatable depending on whether or not you consider depleted uranium munitions nuclear weapons-I do), the Japanese people have a long tradition of eyeing anything relating to nuclear energy with grave suspicion-a trait that has only become more prevalent in recent years due to a number of high-profile accidents. Back in 1993, when construction began in Rokkasho on what was to be the first next-generation nuclear plant in Japan (of a proposed 16-18), local residents rose up in protest, citing safety concerns. It turns out that their concerns were not unfounded as the construction was delayed for years due to design flaws. The plant finally began its inaugural 17-month test run last month, only to spring a leak less than a month into its trial operation. Whoops. Guess they’ll have to reset that “Over 12 days without an accident” sign now.

Wait, if there was such vocal opposition from the local community (in a culture where any form of dissention is generally frowned upon), how did they manage to build the plant in the first place? Well, they quite simply bought everyone off. Residents of Rokkasho now receive a check for ¥20,000 (roughly $169 USD) once a year from their friendly, local nuclear plant. Additionally, residents of communities likely to be destroyed in the event of a meltdown in the vicinity of Rokkasho also receive a similar stipend. Even though I live about 20 km away, I still got a check in the mail this past October for ¥9000 ($76 USD).
So what did I splurge my not-so-hard-earned, irradiated cash on? A Hazmat suit? A Geiger counter? A copy of Dr. Strangelove on DVD? Actually, I completely forgot to cash it. If I’m reading the check correctly, it was only good through November 2005, so it looks like the nuclear plant has won again. Somewhere out there, a frail, old millionaire is twiddling his fingers and uttering the word “Excellent”.

P.S. Am I the only one who finds that image of the glowing ziggurat-like houses casting long shadows a little menacing? The shadows especially recall some of the more chilling photographs of the bombs’ aftermath.

P.P.S. I made my victorious return to teaching today after a few weeks with no classes. One of my kindergarten students was even more excited than I was at this prospect but unfortunately chose to express his enthusiasm in a rather messy manner. Luckily, the teacher allowed him to enjoy “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” while standing on a plastic garbage bag.

Matt vs. The Seagulls Or "A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Birds"

Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to welcome you all here for tonight’s title match! In this corner, weighing in at 160 pounds, the mountain man from New York State, Maaaaatt Cosneeeeeett!

*Audience applause*

And in this corner, weighing in at three pounds, the flying poop-machine from the Orient, the black-tailed seagullllll!

Tonight’s fight will take place in just a few minutes folks, right here in the parking lot of Kabushima shrine in Hachinohe.

Oh wait-here comes the contender right now, buying a pre-fight snack of shrimp-flavored crackers.

Little does he realize that his opponents recognize the bag! He’s instantly surrounded! Oh, the humanity! (Click on the image above to see the fight)
Kabushima shrine, located in Hachinohe’s industrial district, is a 700 year-old shrine that sits atop a small island. The island is in fact, no longer an actual island, as it was connected to the mainland about 50 years ago in order to accommodate visitors. At any rate, the land that the shrine sits on is a breeding ground for Asian black-tailed seagulls-perhaps one of very few in the world that sits so perilously close to human civilization. Every February, somewhere in the neighborhood of 44,000 seagulls (umineko in Japanese, literally “sea cat,” due to the gull’s cat like squawk) descend upon the island where they live and breed until the end of the summer.

The shrine was originally built for local fishermen, so that they might pray for good catches. Fishermen often observe the flocks of seagulls to inform them of where the concentrations of fish are highest and this shrine probably evolved as a means for giving thanks to the gulls. Here we see Matt putting his differences with the birds aside and washing the statues of the seagulls. What good sportsmanship folks!

By the way, if you’ve never seen 44,000 seagulls in the same place before, I would heartily recommend a trip to Kabushima. Here you can find seagulls doing all sorts of things:

Flying.
Standing in a repeating pattern.
Squawking (there was a lot of this going on. A lot).
Pooping.
Sitting on shrubbery.
Standing on top of other seagulls.

As for the title match, well, I don’t want to shame the defeated party any further. Let’s just say that this picture is worth a thousand words and leave it at that.

Sightseeing In The Seat Of A Once Great Shogunate

Just south of Tokyo proper, wedged between Mount Fuji and the sea, lies Kanagawa prefecture. Once the seat of a medieval shogun, the prefecture now acts as a sort of extended suburb within the greater Tokyo area. You’re probably at least familiar with Kanagawa’s large port city Yokohama, where Commodore Matthew Perry’s black ships infamously landed in 1854 (and where the continued presence of the golden arches and foreign nationals make clear the fact that those ships never really left). You probably also know of Hokusai’s famous woodblock print “The Great Wave at Kanagawa,” arguably the most recognizable piece of Japanese artwork in the world.

Well, my old college buddy (I’ve never felt quite as old in my entire life as when I just typed out those three words) Matt is an ALT in Kanagawa, so a trip down there was always in the cards. Luckily, Kanagawa is also known for its many temples and shrines, so I’ll be talking about those instead of boring you with Matt’s and my reliving of our “crazy” days together in the EALC department (poor Ryan wasn’t quite so lucky).

Most of Kanagawa’s tourist traps can be found in Kamakura, the capital of Japan for two centuries during the Kamakura Shogunate. The city is said to be a “natural fortress,” nestled as it is in the mountains and many ancient structures from medieval times have survived to this day.

Perhaps the most famous of these is Kotokuin, the “Great Buddha of Kamakura”. Originally cast in bronze in the year 1252, this 121 ton statue of the Amida Buddha became famous in 1498 when a tsunami swept away the temple that housed it-but left the statue unharmed. In the five centuries since then, the statue has stood outside where it has been exposed to the elements.
If you donate a few cents to the temple, you can actually go inside of the statue.
The interior of the Kotokuin statue.
Every Buddha needs a pair of sandals, even 44 foot tall, bronze ones.

Next stop: the Hasedera Temple complex. The complex, which sits on about 3 acres of land, is said to date back to the 8^th century. In addition to housing a number of shrines and temples it also features a serene garden, a series of caves filled with statues and carvings and a scenic observation point. Hasedera also boasts Japan’s largest wooden statue of Kannon (the temple’s principal image), which, unfortunately, cannot be photographed.

Who says that no one ever stops to smell the flowers?
Yukiko, Matt’s girlfriend, had to tell him not to drink the purification water.



The Hasedera complex is full of jizo, statues that represent mizuko (aborted fetuses, lit. “water children”) and other children who died at a young age. Japan has a very long history of abortion and since the usage of oral contraceptives was only approved in 1999, the sculpting of jizo has become a lucrative practice for many temples. The temple's official phamplet states that the jizo "comfort the souls of unfortunate unborn children".

At the top of the hill sits the main temple complex, with temples devoted to Kannon and Amida as well as a museum that features some of the artifacts discovered at the temple site.
Finally, we arrived at Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu, allegedly the most important shrine in all of Kamakura. While it was originally built in 1063 near Yuigahama in honor of the Emperor Ojin, the first Kamakura shogun moved the temple to its present location in 1191 and dedicated it to Hachiman, the Shinto God of war. Man, what a stone-cold diss. Speaking of stone-cold, do you see that huge, dead-looking ginko tree on the left? In 1219, the third Kamakura shogun was assassinated by his nephew, who was hiding behind that tree with a bow and arrow.
Here we see visitors praying inside the shrine.
While en route to the Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu, we were lucky enough to observe a traditional-style Japanese wedding taking place. I imagine that it was the groom’s idea to be married in the presence of the God of war and not the bride’s.

Kamakura contains such a wealth of temples and shrines that it would probably take a few days of sightseeing to really see it all. Unfortunately, we wore ourselves out just seeing the highlights. On our way back into Tokyo, Ryan had no problem blending in with the locals.

An Ode To Takoyaki

One of my favorite foods-nay, favorite things about Japan has got to be takoyaki. In fact, it holds a much-coveted place in my hallowed holy trinity of Japanese foods, along with sushi and ramen. If you’ve ever been to Japan, you’ve probably at least seen street vendors selling takoyaki during festivals and near tourist attractions. For those of you who haven’t tried it, you’re really missing out.

Takoyaki are essentially, balls of pancake-like batter, filled with octopus (tako), ginger, green onions and various other tasty things. They are fried in what is called a takoyakiki: a comically-named frying pan containing a number of small wells. The batter is poured into the wells and the takoyaki are then flipped continuously, resulting in a spherical ball that is evenly cooked on all sides. Afterwards, they are served together (usually in groups of six) and topped with takoyaki sauce (like a sweeter version of Worcestershire sauce but with a consistency closer to that of molasses), mayonnaise, pickled ginger and katsuobushi (dried fish shavings).

In the Kansai region, takoyaki is apparently served with rice as a meal. In most other parts of Japan, however, it is generally served as a fast food or at festivals. Here we see a typical takoyaki stand in Kanagawa, ready to dish out a snack to passing tourists. While the preparation is usually pretty similar, the taste of takoyaki can vary greatly, depending on the batter, the ratio of the ingredients and the sauces. My personal favorite takoyaki stand is the one in the bar district of Misawa. Even in the dead of winter that guy is out there, frying up takoyaki into the wee hours of the morning when the drunks emerge from their snack bars and stumble home. He’ll even make it fresh and deliver it to whatever bar you happen to be in, all for just ￥500 (about five bucks). Now that’s what I call service.