So, as already said in the last post, here are some few, last impressions from the wonderful time in Japan. Two photos taken at the Rikugien park in Tokyo. A rather interesting view of Fujisan (well, there are more beautiful pictures of “him” out there, with cherry blossoms or maple leafs in the foreground, the mountain mirrored in the lake… settings like that. But I really like this one, too, sticking out of a massive sea of clouds.

Then, there are two shots from festivals – one taken at a Summer festival here at Ninomiya House, the other at the “Tsukuba Festival”. Followed by a rice planting machine – though the view of a person working in a rice field might look typical Asian, and maybe even supply a somewhat romantic feeling, it’s really hard work. Seeing this machine planting the rice with amazing speed was kinda cool, too, though.

The cicadas are pretty large here, and make an enormous loud sound. Often, people complain about the noise. To me, however, this sound is strongly connected to Japan and Japanese summer, and generated a calm and definitely precious atmosphere. Similar to drinking tea – so take this as a transition to the second last picture: Green matcha tea. It’s rare, however, to see it being served cold, so naturally I had to try it. Well, I like the hot version better, but it was rather refreshing. Last, a cup of sweet sake (see the caption for more information).

Kai

When speaking about Japanese food, the first thing that cames to peoples’ mind is sushi. The very first picture of today’s entry was taken in a very nice restaurant in Tokyo, where we sat at the counter, ordered whatever sushi we wanted to eat, and watched it being made right before our eyes. The “sub-pics” of mackerel and sea urchin are just two examples of the splendid food we ate there. The next pictures show a kaitenzushi place where you can just pic up whatever looks good, then pay by the plates. It’s a wonderful way to spend an evening, sitting there, talking, drinking some green tea, eating whatever grabs your attention. The third type is called Chirashizushi: fish and other stuff placed on top of rice. Delicious!

Leaving the sushi places, but still remaining “in the sea” (thematically speaking), take a look at the 6th picture. Any idea what that is? Well, we ordered a cooked fish head, and quickly dissected it with our chopsticks. I was lucky and got the chance to try a fish eye for the first time in my life – actually, it tasted quite nice. Ｌｉｋｅwise nice were the tsukubai (in English, whelk, I believe), cooked in a bit of soy sauce, sake and mirin.

The 8th photo is from a really nice restaurant here in Tsukuba (actually, the setting reminds me of some places in Kyoto, and I regard myself lucky to have found such a restaurant in Tsukuba): We chose the “gourmet set” and had a great time eating all of the stuff. It took well more than 1 hour, and I thought the amount of food might last for a few days. ^^

Ever thought of putting noodles into bread (or, a hot dog bun)? Well, Japanese are doing this – check out the 11th picture. It’s a strange thing, but actually not that bad. Still strange, but better tasting is the stuff in the next photo: Tororo, raw yamaimo (a type of yam potato) grated and mixed with some sea weed and a raw egg.

The last row’s pictures are there simply because I like them, esthetically ^^. First, the cooking of fresh edamame (soy beans). Then a dried (thus hard, but really tasty) scallop, and finally a close up of some grapes and pieces of a nashi pear – typical fruits of Japanese summer.

In Tokyo, we went to a special eel restaurant; pretty secluded, tiny, a real insider tip. The food was great, too, all in all a real wonderful experience … however, I wouldn’t order again the stuff you can see on the 5th pic: Sake (rice wine) heated together with a piece of roasted eel. The taste was strange, naturally pretty fishy, and tolerable if you didn’t breath in while drinking. The smell, however, was another story. On the other hand, after we bravely finished the sake, the piece of fish tasted wonderful.

Then, two shots from the symposium (cf. the Kusatsu entry): As typical for Japanese events, attendance is obligational, but sleeping through it is totally accepted. So, after spending most of the nights partying, this was a common sight. However, I have to laugh every time I see that pic, so I decided to share it with you. Next, I guess I have to explain this “cocaine photo”… well, we were fooling around a bit, and some of this white powder got spilled – actually, it’s “Pocari Sweat” powder, used for making this popular (though too sweet) soft drink by yourself.

On a particular crowded day, we chose to leave the cafeteria, just take our food outside and make a kind of picnic. Nothing special, but fun. Then, one of the parties at an izakaya (Japanese-style pub) near our dorm. Looks like Kiwa-san on the left never can sit still ) The following photo was taken during one of our many visits to a sushi restaurant (kaitenzushi): Comparing my 5 plates in the front with the 14 of someone from our group looks kinda ridiculous, doesn’t it?

This green drink from the 11th picture tastes exactly as it looks like (which is not a good thing): A wild mixture of carrots, apples, grapes, radish, green pepper, celery, green peas, asparagus, kale, cabbage, pumpkin, lemon, and other stuff (all in all 24 such ingredients). Whoever invited this unfitting medley of fruits and vegetables should be shot! There’s also a red variant of that juice, but I don’t really want to know what’s inside that one. Ahh, well, I’ll have to try it eventually (you know me; if there’s something new and unknown, I can’t resist), so I’ll acquire this unwanted knowledge in time, too. Update: After drinking some more of it, I about got to like this green stuff (I don’t really need the red one again, though). Next is a photo of bread backed with fish eggs (mentai). It tastes better than it looks like, but too salty, if you ask me.

The last row shows two photos with stuff from Akihabara: The first one is an arranged picture with something that is supposed to look like one of these “adult manga books”, but in reality is a package of cookies. The second shows a vending machine (mostly) with actual food instead of drinks: curry noodles, buckwheat noodles, etc. Crazy? Yes!! Last one of today’s entry: Not a photo, but an ad I found at the Yahoo Weather page: Is this boy pushing up his glasses, or does the image depict a rather crude, yet well known gesture?

I had the chance to experience this traditional and private festival firsthand: My former host family (who made my very first visit to Japan possible) invited me to spend these days with them and to participate actively – an offer that I accepted gladly. The photos below show some of the described stuff. Then again, some scenes which I simply liked: For example, the view of some “anti mosquito incense” in front of a Japanese sliding wall. Or a picture of a tatami (straw mat) – with its nice, earthly smell and the fine texture, great for sleeping on it – facing the garden.

On the second day, there was a kind of fire celebration: Small though somewhat heavy balls on strings were set on fire, and people (especially children) hurled these fireballs in the direction of a straw “nest” on a long pole, in order to hit and ignite it. The whole action looked kinda risky, especially when from time to time the balls went of into the wrong direction (accompanied by loud shouts of “ahhh, dangerous, dangerous”), but also made lots of fun. Of course, all caution was thrown aside when enjoying the mesmerizing view of the burning fireballs in the dark night, and hearing the laughing voices. The last four pictures are from my last dinner with the host family, eating soumen noodles – a traditional dish when someone is leaving, wishing for a good journey.

只管打坐  •  nothing but sitting

Anyway, another aspect of typical Japanese behavior in traffic involves their concept of “belongingness”. The world is basically divided into two halfs – the people that are part of your group (uchi, 内) and the rest (soto, 外). This group can be the family, your colleagues, the people you travel with, and so on, depending on the current situation. (Quite often, this belongingness is even made explicit by wearing the same uniform.) In general, everything that is outside of your group is per se unimportant. Now, this separation wouldn’t be so bad if there weren’t something wrong with the obstacle detection algorithm of normal Japanese people: Quite often, they seem to have problems sensing objects and people from outside of their “group area”, as if they just don’t realize there’s someone there. Sometimes, this gets extreme: If you see a bunch of school children on bicycles coming your way, run for your life (I didn’t decide yet whether girls or boys are more dangerous. The prior ones are noisier, but the latter ones are generally a bit faster).

Someone told me this story where she observed two Japanese approaching each other frontally on bicycles, driving slowly as always. Getting nearer and nearer … and finally crashing together in slow motion, because nobody moved aside. Surely not because none of them wanted to give way, but probably because their sensing of the other person as serious obstacle was faulty. It must have been a hilarious sight. I actually would pay for a video of that crash.

At the beach: However, I have to add to my sentences above: If you manage to be in some group, you can have a lot of fun, as today’s pictures prove. ^^ We spent a whole day at a beach in Ooarai (大洗): First, stopping on our way at a (slightly expensive) Kaitenzushi restaurant to eat some very fresh and very good sushi. Then spending hours of swimming, playing volleyball, just making nonsense, barbecuing, and finally a bit of fireworks. Again, a very well spent day!

Well, writing about volleyball reminds me of another story (I know I digress again, but so what?): During the symposium in Kusatsu, we sometimes used the gym for playing a bit of basketball. As I already explained in the “brest entry”, Japanese like to shorten their words. Correspondingly, I often heard the sentence: “Let’s play basket!” (バスケットしましょう). The first few times, the image entered my mind of people gathering in the gym, standing around, doing a performance of “playing” baskets; maybe branching out a little, “playing waste bins”, too. I really would have liked to see such a performance.

(PS: To be precise, the literal translation should be “let’s do basket(s)” – but, frankly, the idea of “doing” a basket scares me even more. ^_^)

The first row shows something that are probably the typical sweets of Kyoto: yatsuhashi. They come in two variations: The ones in the second picture are called “raw” yatsuhashi (with a filling of red beans), followed by the “baked” version. The smell and taste reminded me so strongly of my old “hometown for a year”. I’m very glad to be able to make some version on my own now. And the Japanese friends I did them for were pretty surprised, too. ^^

Next is a cake with green tea powder, followed by some fish dishes: something called “tai meshi” (which is usually prepared for celebrations), and mackerel saury pike. The mackerel is a typical dish during this time of the year, grilled and served with grated radish. Some more words about the tai meshi, a dish often found at formal celebrations: Originally, you use a whole fish (sea bream) for this dish, rendering it pretty expensive! So I went to the supermarket, looked around for slices … but found none. When asking, they showed me the whole fish (of several kg) and then did the most amazing thing: After confirming that I wanted two slices only, the took the fish away and came back with slices cut out of it. I couldn’t believe it. Yay to the friendly Japanese!

What would Japan be without sushi? In Europe, we normally have the image of makizushi in mind – these rolls with seaweed on the outside, which taste OK, but are just a trivial secondary version. The “real” stuff is nigirizushi, rice with fish (and other stuff) on top. And that’s what we did in my room: With salmon, tuna, shrimps, scallop, and yuba (tofu skin). Doesn’t it look cool?

After a simple but very good dish of fried tofu (yummy!), there are two of self-made ice cream: I chose ginger pineapple flavor, and it turned out to be quite delicious, if I may say so myself. My guests also couldn’t get enough of it, so that’s a good sign.

Last but not least, some – in my opinion – nice shots of a special carafe for sake (with a second, smaller, hollow space within, to insert ice for cooling purpose). In the background, you see the obligational edamame: Green soybeans that go sooo well with sake (and even with tea or simply water), I can’t get enough of them. If anybody knows where to buy them in Germany, please tell me… well, I have to admit that I didn’t really look for them yet at the typical Asia stores, but I don’t want to raise false expectations. The very last pic is a variation of this theme, with dried cuttlefish instead of the beans – also a typical and very tasty snack to accompany alcohol.

Anyway, instead of becoming depressed, I’ll use this thought as motivation to make the best of my remaining time here (well, I think I also managed quite well so far in this regard)! So, on with a description of a cool event at one of my professors’ house:

Soumen are a specific kind of noodles, made out of wheat, pretty thin, and typically eaten in the summer: cooked, then cooled down and dipped into a tasty sauce. Now, a very special way of doing all of that is called Nagashi Soumen (流しそうめん): You split bamboo stems in half, remove the inner partitions, thus yielding long pipes. Putting two or more of them together, pointing slightly downwards, and you get a system of pipes where water can flow nicely all the way down. Next, the cooked noodles are put into the pipe, and people fish them out of the running water with their chopsticks. It’s not the most convenient way to eat noodles ^_^, but heaps of fun!

The whole thing gets even better if you produce all of the stuff by yourself, like we did: Cutting fresh bamboo, driving away the snakes, splitting the bamboo to build said pipes as well as all the needed tableware: cups, bowls for the sauce, and the chopsticks! It was totally amazing.

In addition to the soumen noodles, there were roasted chicken skewers (yakitori) and tempura: For the latter one, we just went through the garden and some bushes along a small creek, collecting leafs and herbs that were eatable (according to my professor ^^), pulling them through some batter, then deep frying them. Especially the shiso leafs were delicious.

We used some of the remaining bamboo to building a tool that is known as “deer chaser”: a type of shishi odoshi (鹿威し) by the name of sōzu (添水). It’s basically a hollow rod that slowly fills with water until the weight causes it to swing down, empty its content and swing back with a loud “knock”. It’s really amazing how much fun you can half with just some trunks of bamboo. Later, we let the event wind down by strolling along the creek, searching for crayfish and other underwater creatures. A typical party of the traditional kind, and a very enjoyable day.

Space is limited
In a haiku, so it’s hard
To finish what you

I won’t go into detail about the symposium. Instead, there are lots of things to say about Kusatsu itself. It’s maybe the most famous hot spring resort in Japan, and is built around Yubatake (湯畑), lit. “hot water field”, a spring that produces an amazing 5000 liters of boiling hot water per minute. The water is then lead through a system of wooden, open conduits (also being denoted by the same name), to cool down a little, before being distributed to various onsen (public baths) in town.

Actually, there are much too many onsen in this place to try them all during our short trip. However, the most interesting onsen experience of these 4 days (well, really of my time in Japan so far) was an “river onsen” by the funny name of Shiriyaki (尻焼, lit. “cooked buttocks”): It’s simply a normal, public river, which is heated by a natural hot spring. Actually, it’s free of charge, since you just enter the river for taking a bath. Now, the problem was to chose the correct timing. Some of us went during the day (while I joined a hike to an active volcano, see below). They said later that it was nice, yet somehow embarrassing, getting into the river naked, with whole families around and most people in swim suits. Now, I’d've liked to experience the whole setting, if not only to be able to say “been there, done that”. However, going there in the night was a fantastic and quite exceptional experience: Arriving there, we just saw a rather stony river, and couldn’t imagine this would be the right place. After walking along the river for a bit, though, we found a designated spot where you can strip off your clothes and get into a more “tame, tidy” part of the river bed. The whole area was illuminated by one small lamp only, thus we were largely blind. Finding your way through slippery stones and the steaming water, then lying there, looking up into the sky which was full of stars (I can’t recall ever seeing so many before) … definitely an activity to remember. A rather wild experience, and one that you nearly won’t be able to have elsewhere in Japan. Thus, while I would have liked to see it during the day, too, coming there at night was surely the right decision, if you ask me.

Another special place, not as spectacular, yet also enjoyable and also “open air”, was a very large outdoor bath called Sainokawara (西の河原) with a size of about 500 m². While good onsen often have a small outdoor section of some few square meters, it was a grand feeling to wade freely through this large area, lying relaxedly in the hot, steaming water, just enjoying the view. [Click here for some additional pictures of these two places.]

On the other side of the spectrum there were several tiny onsen, nothing more than a small underground room where you can get into a tiny basin with usually very hot water, for free: Picture #13 shows such an onsen, with just enough space for 3 people at most; the water was so freaking hot (people were estimating 46°C), we flinched away from the overflowing water. After testing it with my hand, I decided that I will not be able to enter that. However, peer pressure worked wonders, and soon I found myself sitting inside, being slowly cooked, but actually withstand longer than the others. Later that evening, we went to another one, which was even hotter! No kidding! Most of the other people from my group didn’t even enter, and I came out totally red and burning. But it was fun.

Last but not least, there is a still active volcano by the name of Mount Shirane (白根山). Hiking there was fun, yielding fantastic views of the surrounding area and its crater (which we were even able to enter).

A short funny story to finish this entry: During the first evening, we used the onsen-style bath inside the Seminar House. After spending a relaxing hour in the hot water, we finally decided to go out again … when one of the students got a bit frisky and lay down flat on the floor beside the bath, for whatever reason. Thus, I did the only thing I could do: taking the douche and spraying him with ice cold water. The reaction was better than expected: He shrieked and slid sideways back into the hot water, like being pushed by the pure force of the water jet. I was rolling on the floor laughing (nearly literally). Later, in bed, I found it really difficult to meditate, because this picture always found its way back into my thoughts, forcing me to snicker again.

Since I don’t have any other Tanabata pictures, let’s continue today’s post with some more daily life impressions. In the second photo, you can see a cool machine at a supermarket: Having bought frozen stuff, you can put your bag inside, close the door, and it will be flooded with an icy steam, leaving dry ice inside of the bag. Not a bad idea, really.

Next, you see a rather typical view: When using an escalator, you’re supposed to stay on the left side, so that people in a hurry can pass on the right (it’s reversed in Kansai area though). Somehow, this view always amuses me, although it actually makes sense.

Then, there’s a different kind of paper slip: You remember me telling about getting this type of notification (a warning, really) when miss-parking your bicycle? Well, this person seems to collect them.

People here sometimes make fun of foreigners who wear T-shirts and stuff, with Kanji printed on them, without knowing the meaning, just because they supposedly “look cool”. However, it’s totally true vice versa, too: You often see shirts with strange, nonsense-English around here; and English printed on signs is quite often pretty funny, too, as you can see in the fifth picture.
(Some weeks ago even a person from my lab wore a shirt with two kanji, one of them of unknown meaning to him – despite being Japanese. Now, that was amusing! Of course, I did my best to make fun of him.)

Followed by some pictures from the Botanical Garden in Tsukuba, there are two of Okonomiyaki, as it should be (taken at a nice restaurant in Osaka). I hope you do remember me mentioning Okonomiyaki in my last post, right? It’s topped with flakes of dried fish (which seem to squirm on the hot dough), and can be rounded off with several sauces and other toppings at the table. Not the most sophisticated food, but pretty tasty and enjoyable.

Well, that’s it for today. I’m afraid this post was written in a bit of a hurry, since I’ll be away at a symposium this week (I just hope the function of posting the entry at a specific date works). Stay tuned for the next post.

1. In a shop in Tokyo, I found tiny “mini marshmallows”, which lead to an extensive session of roasted marshmallows in the lab, spiking them on toothpicks and roasting them over a lighter. Sometimes, they started burning, but still tasted good. People coming into the lab always looked at us strangely at first, then joined happily.

2. The second picture displays a series of “me doing seppuku” (or “harakiri”, for the illiterate Western people) after a particular long and boring meeting. Behind me my “suicide assistant”, kaishakunin (介錯人) in Japanese. Lab life is fun!

3. Being thematically already in pre-modern times, the third picture fits perfectly: In front of a KFC shop, I found this statue dressed in the traditional clothes of Shinsengumi, a kind of Samurai special police force.

4. People knowing a bit about Japanese food have probably heard of (or even tasted) Okonomiyaki – often translated as “Japanese pizza” or “pancake”, though both is pretty misleading and only relate to the shape. Anyway, while Okonomiyake is an invention of the Osaka/Kyoto area, people in Tokyo got the idea of Monjayaki (which is shown in the picture):
The dough is egg-less, pretty watery, and cooked/fried until reduced to a semi-hard lump. Then (5.) you use these tiny toy-spatula to get a bit of dough, press it against the pan until it’s half burned, then eat this small patch. Well, the taste is not bad, but it’s much too much trouble, and rather a snack than real food (no matter what Tokyo people are saying). Yay to real Okonomiyaki!

6. I’ve told you before about this tradition of reserving our seats with cellphones… well, for that purpose, I bought myself a toy cellphone, so that I can put it on the table proudly, declaring this seat to be mine.
(check out this plastic thing, right next to my pretty tasty lunch.)

7. If you trust these thingies, found at a train station, you can use them to recharge your cellphone batteries – about 60 ct. for 20 min.

8. Something probably every Japanese knows from childhood times: Umaibou (literally “delicious stick”) – a nondescriptive mass, looking like oversized peanut puffs, with flavors such as chocolate, chicken curry, mentai (fish eggs), veggie salad, cheese, caramel, and several more. And believe me, Japanese are good at artificial flavors. Only, if you eat too much, your mouth might tingle from all the MSG.

9. This delicious looking piece of apple pie is actually fake. Meant to be placed in the show window of a coffee shop, now on display in our lab.

10. Akihabara, “Electric town”, is a district of Tokyo known for electric stuff, comic/film figurines, strange toys … simply everything your typical geek or nerd (“otaku” in Jpn.) needs.
You have big department stores solely with electric devices, nearly side by side. In between, lots of smaller shops, selling comic stuff, computer equipment (with pretty good prices), and the like. Then, there are little arcades of small booths (11.), selling specialized hardware: cables, connectors, batteries, diodes, resistors, … whatever you can think of. And for your physical well-being, search for one of the several coffee shops – but beware, they may be typical Akihabara-style, so-called “maid cafes”, where the waitresses are dressed as maids (or what the typical Japanese may have in mind when hearing this term). The last picture shows two of them, advertising such a place.