TraveLLs

One of the largest tour destinations in Japan happens to be in a prefecture very close to Aichi.  It is a place called Shirakawa-go in the prefecture of Gifu.  It attracts tourist (mostly from Japan) all year round due to its different but equally attractive seasonal beauty.  My friend Yukari invited us to go on a tour during the winter season.  Gifu is the place where everyone around here goes to ski on the weekends so it is extremely cold and very snowy.  I knew I was in for a cold day, but the beauty made it all worth it. We woke up early to catch the bus at Nagoya station at 8:00 a.m.  It took around 3 hours to get to our lunch destination.  We were ushered into a giant cafeteria with hundreds of place settings.  In the states it is not uncommon to have a big cafeteria however the difference is the number of plates to clean.  In Japan it is common to have many little dishes in one single meal.  This was the case in our lunch set....

Recently I have decided to tackle the task of learning Hiragana and Katakana, two of the three alphabets of Japanese.  My friends Anna Claire and Jake were kind enough to lend me a wonderful book Japanese Hiragana & Katakana for Beginners that has led me to learn Hiragana in less than three weeks.  I can now read all the characters of Hiragana with some difficulty.   The catch: I still don't know what it all means. 

In Japan it is common to visit a shrine first thing in the New Year.  This shrine visit is called H atsumōd e .  The Japanese usually visit the first , second, or third day of the New Year .  For my hatsumode I visited the Geku Shrine in Ise located in the province of Mie.  This is said to be one of the most famous shrines in Japan.   It took us about an hour on the JR (Japanese Rail road) to get from N agoya t o Ise.  In Ise there are several shrines .  One could wonder around Ise from sunrise t o sunset.  We decided to just hit one shrine, the Geku shr ine.   When you fir st walk into the shrine you are required to cleanse hands using the bamboo buckets at the purification fountain.  You collect some cleansi ng water i n a cup, first rinse your left hand, then your right hand, then pour water into your left hand and use it to rinse your mouth .  Then you are meant fill the cup up one last time and dump it backwar...

This new years I had two celebrations.  I had the countdown in Tokyo and I was lucky enough to be invited over to my boss, Mitani-san's, house for a traditional Japanese new year bento box.  The Japanese celebrate new years as we celebrate Christmas in the states.  It is a time for families to gather, dine and relax.   While the concept of New Years in Japan is similar to that of Christmas in the states the cuisine is very different.  Every family makes a osechi ryouri.  Osechi ryouri is supposed to be made before New Year’s Day dawn, and to last for days without refrigeration during the 7-day New Years holiday. The original reason for this period of rest or non-cooking was supposed to be to appease the fire god, Kohjin, who might get angry if one made fires so early in the year. Then in later years, this period of non-cooking was ostensibly to allow the wife (or cook of the house) a rest and time to spend with the family.  Mitani-san st...

P andora M icro-brews Y oga B allet F amily F riends E nglish These are the things I miss most.  In eight months I will have the opportunity to have these things for the rest of my life.  For now, I am in Japan with a whole different world at my fingertips--for just eight more months.  Time will fly.     

I am going to split my "New Years Post" into two different posts: the traditional Japanese version and the crazy Tokyo version.  I was lucky enough to get to experience both this year. A few months back a few friends of mine and I decided to spend the New Years Eve countdown in Tokyo.  With some help from my coteacher, Miho, we successfully booked round trip bus tickets to Tokyo from the December 29, 2012 to January 1, 2013.  Thankfully the Mayans were incorrect in predicting the end of the world and we were able to carry out our New Years plans. We left Nagoya on a night bus on the 29th.  We arrived in Tokyo at about 6:00 am, just in time for the subways to open!  We took the subway to Dom's friend Toshi's apartment.  Toshi was kind enough to let us stay with him as well as be our unofficial tour guide.  He was also a great addition to our Tokyo democracy we had established on our trip. Shabu Shabu   After taking a much needed rest ...

I knew this Christmas would be different than any I have experienced in my life and it has proven to be one I will never forget.  Despite my family being on the other side of the world, the adventures I had and the people I shared them with were upon the best I have had. Last year I was in Thailand for Christmas.  The only sign of Christmas was a giant neon Christmas tree outside of Central, the local mall.  There was no Christmas music, no Christmas lights, no Santa Claus, and no Christmas activities.   This year, in Japan, I had a large fix of Christmas!  Everywhere I went I heard Christmas songs and there were various Christmas trees scattered throughout the city.  The city streets were decorated with lights and there were even some locals who chose to decorate their own homes with Christmas lights.  We played Christmas songs in the classroom and had a holiday concert to celebrate the end of the term.  Santa even came to visit the chil...