Tis' The Season

Wow. Finals. Those are over.
I thought I would write about what Christmas is like in Japan. Even though it's not really Christmas yet. Because Japan does not celebrate Thanksgiving, the countdown until the big day started right after Halloween. The decorations for winter started as well, as did the preorders for Christmas cakes. As of December 10th, they ended and preorders for Valentine's cake opened. Just from the pictures they looked pretty amazing, and from the prices you can tell they're super special cakes (you can spend about six dollars on a small piece of cake, and about fifty on fancier ones). Around Thanksgiving the stores started to play Christmas music. English Christmas music. And sometimes, Japanese versions of Christmas songs.
Christmas trees and Santa are the two biggest icons of Christmas here, and the Colonel Sanders that stand outside KFC's donned Santa suits sometime in October, reminding you to order your chicken for Christmas. KFC is the traditional Christmas dinner here (it's really expensive, and most Japanese think it's a Japanese company, someone getting the answer wrong on a quiz show once).
In the smaller towns like the one I'm staying in don't have too many lights up, but Kyoto and Osaka stations both have pretty big Christmas trees on display, and special light-up events are happening all across Japan in places like Kobe. Tokyo is where I saw Christmas the most though. Special events like "Sky Tree Christmas!" and Christmas parties were being advertised in English and Japanese everywhere. The strangest part was how much English there was in Tokyo, actually, but I'll talk about that in another post. Going out to Roppongi Hills (it's the Beverly Hills of Tokyo, and has a large concentration of foreigners), there were special Christmas shops set up with ornaments imported from Germany and Santa figures were in a lot of places.
The craziest Christmas display we got to see was in Odaiba next to the Gundam, where snow lights were shown and a special video with Gundam in Santa suits was displayed instead of the one traditionally on display (even a major space station in the series was shown as an upside down Christmas tree).
Essentially, in the bigger cities where there's a larger concentration of foreigners, Christmas seems to be pretty publicly celebrated. The consumerism is still there (oh boy, during a visit to Nipponbashi did we see that), but not so much the spirit. If Halloween was the biggest Halloween Japan has seen (it was publicly announced that way), then it'll be interesting to see how much Christmas expands. To be fair, though, it's in the middle of two weeks worth of holidays (birthdays, Christmas, New Years...), so it's not too surprising it gets a little mixed up in the commotion. To sum it all up, below is an advertisement for a convenience store chain's fried chicken (other chains are trying to compete with KFC these days it seems...).

This is very much Japanese Christmas in a nutshell.
Happy Holidays!
~Zenko~

Day by Day

Although I take if for granted usually, there are many things that are simply part of day to day life that are quite different than what I am used to in America. For instance...

Folding my bed everyday
Because I live in a traditional style room, the floor is tatami (bamboo) mat, and I sleep on a futon. In order to prevent mold and other icky things from growing, I have to fold up the main futon mat, the futon, the light futon, and (in the colder weather) a blanket. Although normally you would move these into your closet to make room for the day, my roommate and I mostly just move them off to the sides of room.

Speaking of preventing things from growing...
Although we have dryers for laundry, no one really uses them. Partially because they are the epitome of inefficient dryers, and partly (in the case of the Japanese) because of a strange superstition that they do not kill certain harmful bacteria. So instead you can tell when everyone does their laundry by whether or not it is hanging out to dry. Our balcony has a special double layered railing that extends so that we have more drying room. Somehow, though, I always manage to time doing my laundry to days it rains...

Cold Weather Blankets?
The reason why we need blankets is because Japanese homes are mostly designed to allow all the cool breezes of summer to get through. So there is no insulation and no central heating. Air conditioners for single rooms also act as heaters, so there's no problem there, but if you are out at a restaurant locally or smaller train stations, you can find heaters with teapots on top. Kotatsu are also popular, but those are for priavate homes so I have not seen any.

Convenient Convenience Stores
Convenience stores, even 7-11 are totally different compared to their American equivalents. With local food (like okonomiyaki) or sandwiches, and even grab and go warm drinks, they offer all sorts of crazy things if you need to grab lunch or dinner. Apart from this, stores like Lawson and Family Mart are partnered with Amazon so you can usually have your packages shipped there and even if you cannot you have the option to pay at them. Amazon receives the information through an order code you place into something similar to a credit card machine, and through an invoice the cashier processes when you pay. You can also pay your bills in general there.

Okonomiyaki?
Probably my favorite food and go to choice for dinner when I do not want to cook, okonomiyaki is egg, cabbage, and  some sort of meat that has been fried like a pancake. A sauce is put on top of it, as well as mayonaise and dried, aged fish flakes called bonito.

Trafffiiiiccc
Although there is as much traffic as any other road, there is another special kind of traffic: pedestrian and bicycle traffic. One of the most interesting sights to see is during bike rush hour, where you can see hoards of bikes cross the street or heading to the grocery store. The main bike model here, rather than the male-female designs in America are referred to as "old lady" bicycles because even old ladies can ride them with ease (and they do, since some have assist motors that work the more you pedal).

And really, cars?
Okay, so unless you are going someplace far out in the country that has no local train station, there is no where you can't get without a car. In fact, if I wanted to I could bike to Kyoto or Osaka along the river trail (I have not, because I have not had time and no one else owns a bike). Even if you cannot bike there, you can take the train and if that is not an option, you can take a bus. Trains are not really expensive, and are surprisingly nice and on time. The double decker trains are set a the same price, as tickets are based on location and only subways special express trains have a fare adjustment fee.

Election Day!

What is it like studying abroad during an election year? A little stressful and a little fun. Being fourteen hours ahead means that the polls were closing during lunchtime.  As the election is also one of the more important things to happen for Americans, the university I'm studying at streamed the live CNN coverage during the day. For those with few classes it became a hang out spot and stopping by between classes allowed me to get stressed and relieved in the span of an hour. Funnily enough the countdown I started the first time continued all the way to California closing.
So many professors checked in worrying about Romney that it almost got exhausting. In fact,  one of my professors left during class to go check the results and came back declaring Obama the winner.
The aftermath of the election was essentially everyone saying "thank you for electing someone that isn't Romney" including the Turkish guy serving us schwarma.

A Fox is a Fox, But Never Inari

Fushimi Inari is one of the most important and most famous shrines in Japan.  Incidentally,  it's also one of the few most foreigners know about. I think the usual way I've heard it referred to by foreigners is as "that shrine with all those torii". Even I did before I learned its proper name and if I were to describe it now ... I probably do so the same way!

A tunnel of torii.

But just why does it have so many? A big reason is that every year dozens of companies donate one, which means every year the number of torii increases.
So what? Doesn't every shrine receive donations?  Yes, but not to this degree. You have to understand who Inari is.

Inari's horse. You can also make monetary offerings.

About Inari
Inari is a war god, but primarily his (or her if you aren't Shinto) role is looking over rice. What does Japan thrive on? Take massive amounts of pride in? You guessed it, rice.  The shrine also has quite a reputation for the amount of foxes it has, but it's important to note that they are not Inari, but a fox couple that acts as his messengers,  especially during harvest season. Because Inari is a war deity as well, you can also pray to his (or her) horse. It's actually pretty interesting, and pretty fun to walk up to the main gates and see the horse waiting there with all these carrots in front of it. The one place you are forbidden from entering in the shrine area, however, is Mt. Inari where the deity is said to reside. Interestingly enough, Inari's full name is OInari-Okami, which suggestions a connection to wolves as well as a signifier of sacredness (Okami can be read as wolf and great god). As wolves were once thought to be alternate forms of foxes (foxes would often retreat into the mountains where wolves were plentiful), this is probably no coincidence.

About  Foxes
During the harvest, Japan most likely had a dense population of foxes. As such, they came to be associated with the harvest god. But hold on, Japan does not just view them as a positive benefactor. No, only foxes associated with Inari are. Others are portrayed as tricksters and largely malevolent, often tricking men to their deaths in the woods with their fox fire. In fact, foxes were so negative that it was thought that when a woman became upstart, she was possessed by a fox spirit. Because Inari's foxes were so wise, as youkai and foxes that live for a long time were often thought to have knowledge beyond humanity's, they were enshrined in Fushimi Inari as well. Even along the roads within the torii you can spot small fox statues hanging around as if waiting to come alive. They guard one of the main shrines (a mirror indicates the shrine of a kami), as well as the main entrance.

Food Food Food!
Did you know that there are two foods specifically associated with foxes and Inari that have nothing to do with rice? That may be a bit surprising, but Inari is a harvest god so I suppose it could really be related too. Fried tofu is a treat found largely in Inari, as foxes are said to be unable to live without it they love it that much. Thus there are foods like Kitsune Udon (fox noodles) and Inari Sushi (a cucumber roll wrapped in fried tofu) which are both delicious and plentiful in the region. As it's mass produced by Nishin in their instant noodles, you can most likely find a version of it at your local Asian grocer.

One of the guardian foxes.

~Zenko~

Trains Trains Trains

Until I get back on my laptop to add in some pictures from my last shrine visit, I thought I'd do a quick post about trains in Japan. There are two main trainlines and depending on where you live you may need to take both. Keihan (written as Kyoto in kanji but pronounced Keihan) services most if the Kansai area, and is known for the green and white color scheme of their trains. The other big player is Japan Railway (JR). As you can probably guess, they service most of Japan.
There are different schedules and types to look out for as well, such as Limited Express, Express and Local. These are always labeled with different cokors,  so even if you can't read kanji you can find your way.
There's a proper technique for getting on the train as well. You should stand to the left or right and let others off before boarding. 
Its also interesting to note that tickets are priced by location rather than type of train which means you can get on a really nice double decker train thats faster for the same price as a normal train.
In any case, the system is really convenient and would be an interesting thing for Pennsylvania to have.  After all, the rails are already there.
~Zenko~

Let's go Shrine Seeing!

Last week was a special festival called Karasu Zumo in Japan, or "Crow Wrestling." It's celebrated at Kamigamo Shrine in Kitaoji, Kyoto, which from our location took a little while to get to. In fact, it took us about an hour and a half, so lets get to that part first.

On a Quest

The train system in Japan is relatively easy to navigate, especially if you take a mainline train, such as Keihan. We took that to Tambabushi first, which is a major hub for the Kyoto area as you can change to the local line from here. In our case, we did not know it, but to reach the station we needed we had to take the subway, which resulted in it not being listed on the main board [which took up a solid chunk of the wall]. Usually all you have to do is fine the station you're going to, which lists the fare next to it, and hop on a train heading that direction. One of the elderly women that had been watching us asked where we were headed and pointed us to the main office. There the conversation went something like this:

"Where are you trying to go?"

"Kitaoji."

"Kitaoji?"

"Yes. Kitaoji."

"Kyoto?"

"No. Ki-ta-o-ji."

"Oh! Kita-Oji. Take the subway off platform 2."

That started us in the correct direction, but we were still stumped as to how we were supposed to get tickets. This led to one of us going to ask again where we buy the tickets, then him magically appearing at a section in the wall that opens and pointing out how to change the screen to subway prices. With that we set off onto the dark world of the subways. Or what we thought would be dark. They're actually the same type of train that runs above ground, are just as clean, but just spend more time underground than above it. Getting the correct station though involved some careful reading of our google directions. It told us which stations to travel through, but did not show us how they were written. Luckily go and shi ended up being stations four and five and from there we were able to find the "O" in Kita-Oji.

Once we were off we found ourselves smack in the middle of the Kyoto suburbs, and relied on Google Maps to get us to our destination. We passed one shrine and it told us to continue on, but as it seemed pretty busy we asked if this was Kamigamo or not. With an affirmative answer we headed inside.

The main torii gate at Kamigamo Jinja

About the Shrine and Festival

Kamigamo was originally founded in the 8th century BC in dedication to the thunder kami. After it burned, it was rebuilt during the Heian period as a means to purify the Demon's Gate coming from the imperial palace, the northeast corner of a house. This is why there are two large mounds of sand in front of the main ceremony hall, as sand is used as a means to purify this area. Several ceremonies are held throughout the year to help further this purpose, including the Hollyhock festival and the Karasu Zumo/Chrysanthemum festival.

Karasu Zumo is dedicated to the crows that taught people how to sumo, and two priests act as crows at the beginning of the ceremony, hopping around and cawing. The young boys who sumo in white loin cloths are also symbolic of crows. Watching the festivity is a priestess chosen to act as princess, who played the same role in the Hollyhock festival during the spring. She is offered up the chrysanthemums to purify before the bouts begin. After the sumo bouts, chrysanthemum sake is served to purify the body and soul.

Kamigamo is currently a world UNESCO site, as it carries a great deal of history and is one of the oldest shrines in Japan.

Where Did I Find All This Out

Sake is one of the most sacred parts of a shrine festival, and is especially important as the shrine brews it themselves. While we were in line, one of the residents started to speak to us in English. As a general rule, we've learned that if someone starts speaking to you in English they are usually trying to practice. He most likely was, but it was really beneficial for us as he worked for the company in charge of researching UNESCO sites. He said it was his first time actually getting to see the festival and showed us a paper compiling all the information he had found out about Karasu Zumo and even why Kamigamo was so important. On the back he had drawn a rough map of several shrines around the imperial palace in Kyoto. It was a real coincidence, and if I hadn't been suffering the starts of heat sickness I would have loved to talk to him more about it.

After the festival, we went and said our prayers and wishes to the main deity at Kamigamo, as its actually an entire family that is housed there. It was probably one of the better shrines to do so at, as the main hall had directions in English on how to pray.

First throw in your offering of money.
Bow deeply twice.
Clap twice.
Recite your prayer or wish.
Bow deeply once.

At other shrines, I think you may also have to ring a bell before you bow to wake up the kami housed there.

~Zenko~

Go Go Gaijin Rangers!

My first week in Japan was a very hot and humid one. I had to take several trips to the pharmacy and generally learned my way around the area we are in. Already, I've managed to get lost on the bus once, when the coordinator told us any bus driving by Kansai Gaidai's main gate will go down to Hirakata-shi Station and City Hall.

No.

Only buses going in that direction will end up at Hirakata-shi Station. All others go to Nagao. Which is further into the countryside. On the brighter side of things, we met a little girl and her mother, who we did our best to speak in Japanese with. Eventually we were able to make our way back to Kansai Gaidai and from there to the city hall. Something interesting to note, is that in Japan spiders don't really care what kind of weather it is. They just enjoy relaxing in their webs, despite how big and terrifying they are (as opposed to house spiders, that just want to scurry everywhere).

The bus system is also really easy to navigate, though we've mostly been using it to get to Hirakata-shi station and our house. We did take a trip to Kyoto by train one day, and the trains here are ridiculously fast. Just to get an idea of how fast they are on film, you need to take a video, as still photography does it no justice. It's actually a little terrifying to think about what its like to be passed by a bullet train in that event.

Right.

Trip to the pharmacy first.

It's actually a bit more like the Japanese equivalent of CVS, called Kirindo. Because I am as sweet as andoughnut (a doughnut filled with sweet bean pasted) to mosquitoes and poisonous plants in Japan, I have had to pick up cream for my legs several times, even though I keep asking for anti-histamine. As fluticasone is an over the counter cream here, though, it did end up ultimately helping. Most pharmacies also have at least one staff member that can translate from English, which was very helpful as my Japanese is not quite good enough for me to say "my leg is inflamed and I itch really bad, what is good?"

On our trip to Kyoto we were surprised to see that many of the Japanese students had face towels with them, so the next day our group planned to buy some, and with the new Pokemon movie coming out I was able to get myself a pretty snazzy one. Face towels are actually so common, because when its hot out you need something to get rid of the sweat from your eyes, that the most expensive one was probably seven dollars.

The walk up to the shrine was pretty intense, as we went up a street full of Chawan. It was worth it, though, as nature was wonderful as well as the architecture of the building. The Kannon that was enshrined was pretty big, and makes me wonder just how large Daibutsu is. That is a trip for another day, though.

Food wise I've tried everything that looks out of the ordinary and limit my consumption of anpan and onigiri. I've had takoyaki and okinomiyaki which are both popular in Osaka, but I was not a big fan of okinomiyaki because of the egg in it. There are a lot of desserts that involve custard, which is even crazier, almost as much as having class on Labor Day.

~Zenko~

Across the Wild Blue Yonder!

The trip to Japan was significantly better than previous trips I've had. Well, it was definitely better than domestic flights I've taken (of course, the three Benadryl I took helped). Perhaps the worst plane was American Air, but it was one of their older planes.  Cathay really took me by surprise as they provided us not only the usual pillow and blanket for international flights, but headphones as well. One of the more intersting things was also the fact that we were given a menu for the flight, which included a shrimp cocktail.

What.

Movies are sort of a hit or miss thing on long flights, and I jokingly told a friend that the best movie would be the Avengers, because I wanted to see it in Japanese.

Wish granted. They had Iron Man and Captain America as well, but I opted for the Joss Whedon marathon option after Labyrinth and watched both Avengers and Cabin in the Woods.

I forgot to mention, but they also provided an outside camera view during take off and landing, after which we climbed high enough to see the entire continent of North America.

Arriving in Hong Kong was pretty neat, and very smooth despite the typhoon warnings. To make up for the five hour lay-over, we did a lot of exploration, and were surprised to discover that much of the airport looked like a mall. A very ritzy mall. Ritzier than King of Prussia. It was difficult to find out gate, as it continually changed, but while we were in Hong Kong my mind kicked into Chinese and said "Let's think in Mandarin for a bit." It made studying very difficult but was still alot of fun.

The pilot on our flight to Japan warned us we would be flying higher than scheduled to avoid the two typhoons that were heading in out direction. He got us there as smoothly as possible, and with very little turbulence. Landing in Japan was amazing, as the first thing you notice is how blue the ocean is. It's not Ocean City gray or Caribean clear, but a deep blue. Going farther inland also let us take in the mountains, and you could see that many of the towns were built at the base of mountains, with little urban development on them (but trees can hide a lot).

Thus far, Hirakata-cho is pretty fantastic, and the people are as well. Once my internet is good to go, expect pictures from the trip and some posts on food (my favorite)!

~Zenko~