Rokyan - Japanese know how to host a party

Farewell to host family and off to ryokan

Day trip with Host family

Welcome Home, Japanese Style. Mountains of food, "real" sake, fireworks and earthquakes.

Although I was not nervous for my homestay, I felt anxious as we left to meet the families. The only contact I had with the family was a note with their names and hobbies. I had no idea what to expect. Others had received emails and updates about what they had planned. I simply decided I was going to show up with a good attitude. The one thing I was aware of was the 2 year old liked to play hide and seek and the 7 year old liked to paint. I figured I could handle those two things. The Oohatas turned out to be great people with a hospitality beyond what I had come to expect from the incredibly hospitable Japanese. It was a little shocking how excited they were to have me. They are from a small town which was very excited to have us. Apparently there were over 200 applications to host 20 Americans.

As we drove to their house he said his english was not so good, as he had not studied since high school. He then handed me a Japanese phrase book and he showed me his. I with the Japanese pride being so strong, he was embarrassed he could not speak English. I reminded him I knew no Japanese so he was much further along than me.

The Oohatas are a young somewhat typical Japanese family. They are different since they really wanted to live in a small, rural town (Apparently most people who grow up in small towns want to get out). They were very proud of their "European" house surrounded by rice paddies and a handful of traditional Japanese homes. The house was pretty western, with the practicality and feel of Japan. Taketsug (the father) is 39 and an engineer for Hitachi making GPS units. Mako is a serious mom and has only been speaking english since they found out I was coming. Riku (the 2 year old) was a typical little boy and was obsessed with Ultraman. (Ultraman is the most watched live action / animation in the world. It has been around for thirty years. Imagine Godzilla type creatures, you know the really bad rubber looking monsters meets the Power Rangers, meets the Superfriends, yes, it is as bad as it sounds.) Wakasa is a shy but curious 7 year old 2nd grader.

Apparently hospitality in Japan is like many other places and involves mountains of food. I was immediately at the table eating a mountian of food. Mako decided to present a smorgasbord of Japanese cuisine, so I was in for quite the food fest (I was already a little worried what was going to presented). The first round was excellent, tempura, soba noodles, sashimi, plums, cucumbers, rice balls, miso soup and a few other things.

Our plans for the day involved shopping. I was not super excited, but they certainly were. Shopping was not the first thing that came to my mind when I came to Hitachiota, but alas I could not argue. It turns out they had a plan. I was to be given the opportunity to get some truly Japanese souvernirs and they had made it their mission to make sure I got good deals and not "bad" versions, because apparently that is all they sell in Tokyo. So after a full shopping bag of things they picked up for me, I was all set with authentic sake ceramics, a yukata robe, a few wood block printed t-shirts and various other things.

The rest of the day was hanging out flying kites and eating. The second round of eating was a little more adventurous. Mako asked my what I had and had not eaten (as far as I could tell from the small amount of english she spoke). She decided to fix a few more of the things I had not partaken in. Sugiyaki was a bit of a surprise. I has texture issues and there is some serious texture problems with sugiyaki. Imagine boiling bacon in broth, throwing in some jelly like fish cubes, some really slippery muchrooms and thin little rice noodles. Then in your bowl crack an egg. I was waiting for the part you cooked the egg or put hot broth to mildly cook the egg. I think they were worried when they saw the look in my eye when I said "you eat the raw egg!" They demonstrated for me, and indeed you slurped the raw egg mixed witht the mess of already questionable food. Thank goodness he poured a beer for me. I ladled some of the cold broth product into the beaten egg and slurried it around, and slipped it into my mouth. The trick I've learned is to simply let this sort of stuff slide down the back of your throat. Don't even attempt to chew. The great thing is the whole family watches as you eat so I big smile is necessary. Thank goodness she had about 50 other things. I kept raving about the wonderful sashimi (which was amazing... I am spoiled for life) so that meant she kept it on my plate. Every once in a while I would hurry a little sugiyaki just for show.

After stuffing my face and smiling, the kids were goign crazy about Hanuba or Hannuka or something. Riku kept yelling it over and over. Little did I know, but arrival marked a special occassion and the kids got pick out fireworks for the occassion. They were stoked.

After dinner Taketsugi asked me if I drank sake and I said I had not really enjoy any good sake yet. He both grimaced and smiled. He said "good sake make you go to heaven, bad sake make you go to hell." We headed out to the local store. To the unitiated, such as myself, I thought there was just sake. Apparently I am mistaken. The selection of sake is similar to the selection of wines you would find at Albertsons. Of course in Japanese I could not tell one thing from the next. He made it a mission to find stuff he thought I would like. Indeed his choices were good. After the children went to bed he smiled and Mako giggled. They said they were used to going to bed at around 9:30. It was already quater to ten. They brought out small cedar boxes and said it was the way you drank sake if you live in the cedar filled mountains they lived in. The cedar added a very nice taste. We laughed, tried to carry on a conversation and had a nice evening.

At about 12:30 I felt the house move and thought maybe a little too much sake was in my head, but the house kept moving and I realized I was in the middle of a Japanese earthquake. I looked at the them and said "big, little or medium?" They were pretty unphased and responded "medium-big." For about 25 seconds things wiggled and moved and then we poured a bit more sake. When you live on an island filled with volcanos and centered on faults, 5.0 earthquakes are not much to worry about. It added to an already great experience. I headed to bed on the floor, as that is what all Japanese do. And the Japanese futon is considerably different then the futons we are familiar with. Much thinner, but considerably softer. It made for a great place to sleep and I was beat, so it felt pretty good.

High School in Japan

Japanese high schools are a model of hard work and model behavior. The Japanese high school kids are under tremendous pressure. The test to graduate and get into college are so important the student spend their entire high school career preparing for them. The avergae Japanese student spends more than 200 days a year in school. (The US standard is 180 days). In class the students are so disciplined teachers can leave the room and the student work diligently. As we got the tour from an English teacher we came upon a room with no teacher and the words "Silent Study" on the board. We asked where the teacher was and he told us it was his class. The students were there for over and hour, on their own and they were working on actual homework. They were so disciplined that even when they noticed us they quickly looked away and went back to work. Not as outgoing and and gregarious as the elementary students. They had a job to do and they certainly were intent on doing it. High school is not required but something like 98 percent of all students enroll. The issue of pride is so strong in this country it would shame a family to have a student who did anything else. I've decided a happy medium between the US schools and the Japanese schools would do wonders for both.

Two things I really did like about the Japanese highs schools is the huge focus on the arts and the strong emphasis on the maintenance of tradition. The Japanese emphasize the role of art in all students. So starting from the elementary school students take classes in kanji (caligraphy) it is a technical art, but so asthetic it is an impressive skill. Art and artist take on a role often filled by athletes in the US. Good artists' work is displayed all over the school. I enjoyed visiting the art classes and the art teacher was very impressed with my "feeling". Not exactly sure what she meant, but I think it was a compliment.



The students had their kanji displayed all over and each had a little discription of what it said. Apparently the focus was for things you want or things you hope for. I particularly liked this one because it was beautiful and the translation was "allow me to stay in bed a little longer."












The other amazing thing I observed was instead of a huge athletic program, the afterschool activities were all traditional Japanese activities. Even baseball, which the country is insane about, is steeped in traditions. I did not attend a game, but those who did talk about the energy they felt in the crowds of 60,000 and 70,000.

Each campus had a Juko range for traditional archery. They also had Kendo dojos and Judo. Beyond the school day this was the one area the students really put their energies. I think it was the only thing they had in their schedule that was not homework or school.

Bash to the head, Middle School, Kids playing with swords, Judo butt kicking and Hot Sake... What a day

The ceilings, door jams and bathrooms are not designed for people over 5' 10''. I have yet to truly bash myself, but some light bumps are reminders of my size. The kids are always astounded by my size. They laugh when I try to make origami, since my fingers are so big, my feet are always comapred to their minute feet. My shoes are big enough the closet door won't close in my hotel room when I put them in it. I can barely stand in the shower and it is a 3 - 4 star hotel. Yep, I feel like an NBA star, minus the basketball skill.


Being schooled by 7th graders in caligraphy. It is a lot harder than it looks. My guide Taruya shows me how it is done.
Kendo kicks butt, seriously. Samurais to be are whacking each other with some serioud vigor. The idea is whack each other (with precision and certain footwork) to the point where your head must be ringing. I would not want to meet these kids on the samurai battlefield (including the petite little Japanese girls). They put on quite a performance. As an afterschool activity this would have been where you found me in 7th grade.
I did officially get schooled in the art of Judo. As yet another afterschool activity, judo is a lot harder than it looked. We observed 15 minutes of the instructors pummel the kids. (Seriously, they would have been arrested, questioned and front-paged for the way they "taught" Judo). Then, in their kind Japanese demeanor, asked if we would like to partake in a session of Judo. I, of course, had to oblige (in my proper dress pants and in the 100' temperature = lots of sweating). In his polite way, the sensai kept me at bay, smiled for the crowded, toyed with me like a fish on a line and then threw me to the floor with gusto. Yep, I actually tried very hard to move him, push him, grab him, pull him, trip him and bite him, if I could, yet he was tree like in his stance. Solid, unmoving and reluctant. After the throw-down I came at him again, and was no longer going to take it, but alas, like a 3 year old on a varsity football team, I was reduced to a flailing neophyte. I kept thinking of being on the defensive line as a football player trying to break through the line, but apparently that is not such a good strategy. When it was all said and done he did compliment me on my stregth and size. Soon I remembered back to my caligraphy session earlier in the day when they kindly cheered and clapped for my supposed "skill" in kanji. I was aware his compliment was only to the spare me embarrassment around the children. What a nice guy.... I've been strategerizing how I could have flipped him all day.

Considering we are not in a tourist town (Hitachiota is not in a single guide book and there is not an english word in the city) going out for dinner is always an experience. Once again... the Japanese are very kind. After staring at the menu with puzzled looks, the three of us (from North Carolina, Hawaii / Durango, Colorado and Idaho) were trying to figure out what to order on the menu. With foreigner written on our foreheads, a local came up and proceeded to ask us what we wanted and ordered us a full selection of grill meats and seafood along with a complimentary jug of hot sake. The meal was great and the locals kept the sake full. Another fun day.

Getting to know rural Japan - Hitochiota

The area of Japan I have been placed is called Hitachiota. At first I was a little disappointed because it was not in the mountains, near major historical sights or at the ends of the Japanese archipeligo. It turns out Hitachiota was not such a bad setting. First of all, it is not in a single guide book and there is virtually nothing on the internet about it. With that said, it is very much off the beaten path and very Japanese. We were told many of the students we met would be very unaccustomed to foreigners. It turned out to be true. I was the giant American, with white arms (apparently my blonde arm hair was a bit shocking to them),large feet, strange blue eyes and a big smile (that is what the kids often told me when I was in their English classes). As I found out on my afternoon jogs through the countryside or along the ocean, I was often a sight to behold. I guess it would be as though sasquatch suddenly came running through the North End of Boise. It was entertaining and made a great motivation to get out and run. I falsely assumed the Japanese were used to foreigners, indifferent to tourists and generally more stand-offish, like you might find Americans. Not that Americans are mean spirited, but being the diverse country we are, where so many people are different, speak different languages and have so many backgrounds, foreigners do not stand out as strange. I think Americans are afraid they may offend someone if they came up to a stranger and asked them where they were from. Because Japan is the most ethnically non-diverse country on the planet, anything different is very strange and stands out like a sore thumb. Japanese (at least in Hitachiota) will come across the street to make sure you are headed in the right direction, are not lost or just want to make sure you are doing OK. They seem to be very self conscious, if a foreigner is having a bad time, they would think poorly of Japan, and that would be shameful, so there pride in their country means they could not possibly let you go and not make sure everything was ok.



Anyway, our group was treated like rock stars and the city of Hitachiota wanted to make sure we knew how awesome Hitachiota was... We had a personal attache from the city office who arranged all the visits and took us to the all the big tourist sights, although there are not that many.


We were greeted the first morning by the Mayor at his office at city hall. Because the town was so small we were taken to a bigger town where there was a hotel that could accommodate a bunch of Westerners. It was kind of them, but I would not have minded a local Japanese hotel. Alas, the Nikko hotel was yet another fancy high end hotel.











At the mayor's office, posing near the "Year of the Boar" greeting us at city hall.



After meeting the mayor and city leaders we were lead on an a serious tour of the prefecture. The first "sight" were the wind powered turbines providing power to the region. The reason there is not a picture is there was a slide for kids made of rollers that was probably 200 yards long going from the turbine you visit to the parking lot. Of course I had to take it.














The countryside of Hitachiota. Most of the schools we visited were considered very rural by Japan standards. The state of Ibaraki is known for its rice, dairy and fruit trees. As green and lush as the Pacific Northwest.

Riding the "slide" in Satome town . I felt like a box at the UPS shipping area. It was a series of rollers.

Fields of iris at the Japanese Gardens. We went to a tea ceremony at in the garden and then walked around and felt soothed by zen vibes in the garden. The Japanese sure know how to do some beautiful landscaping. Apparently every stone, flower, walkway has a certain very distinct mathematical location to make it pleasing the to eye. Sort of the "golden ratio" of gardening.







Making soba noodles. A labor intensive process, and in typical Japanese style, filled with very rigorous steps in order to make perfect soba. The "master sensai of soba" kept coming by and correcting my form. He did like my chopping and cutting, but I do not have a very light touch with the roller.

Painfully Cute Japanese Kids

I never had much interest in teaching in an elemetary school, but the Japanese kids sure made a case for it today. I had a blast visiting the classrooms, eating lunch with the kids, signing autographs (yes I did say signing autographs), and getting a kick out of speaking with kids (speaking is a stretch, since they speak little English and I certainly speak no Japanese). A very fun day of feeling like a movie star and realizing kids are the same the world over.

At the elementary school the kids were doing very engaging activities. In this class they were growing plants and digraming the growth and what they observed. The kids were pretty proud of their plants. This little girl pulled me out of the hall to come see her pepper. They were a gregarious and amazingly outgoing group of kids. So much pride in their school, their work and what they were accomplishing. It made me want to suddenly change to be an elementary teacher in Japan. Very inspiring little ones. Compulsary swimming meant every kid was very comfortable in the pool. They were playing rock - paper - scissors to see who had to dunk their heads first. I would have probably taken Aoi home with me if she would have asked. Everytime I turned around she was smiling at me and pulling at my arm to show me something new. She was the accomplished unicycler on a campus of unicyclers. The kids smiled and smiled and smiled.
Japanese feed each kids every day and the kids are responsible for helping set up the classroom for lunch each day. The sense of community is amazing. The kids serve each other, eat at their desks and clean everything up when they are done. I sat in on a 4th grade class as the guest of the day. They welcomed me in and fed me. We also sang a rendition of John Denver's "Country Road" which they all knew. I drew some pictures for them, did a little breakdancing and felt like a super star. It was very fun.

Kanji Calligraphy is a requirement and this was a class of 2nd graders in class. Imagine an American class of 36 2nd graders with a table full of permanent ink, paint brushes and the instructions to meticulously do handwriting drills. Amazing. There was not a spot of ink on the floor when they were done. I have to say, I tried the caligraphy and it is very difficult. The second graders were respectful and they clapped for me when I was done, but it looked pitiful compared to what they completed. I was put in my place by a bunch of 2nd graders, what a blast.

Mountains, hotsprings and Japan at its finest

Continued the trip in the Japanese Alps. Not exactly the biggest mountains in the world, but certainly beautiful and full of lush green mountains. The hiking was low key but very "Japanese", which means well marked, well graded, absolutely clean as an E.R. and green.

The Ryokan Onsens ( the traditional bath houses) are very interesting. They are mostly inside a sauna like room, but sometimes outside. They are typically divided according to sexes and they have a very specific ritual you go through before getting the pool. First you get comfortable being buck naked. They provide you with a "modesty towel". These are small by Japanese standards and to put it mildly, I am a little bigger than the average Japanese. The bruises on my forehead may attest to this. Even the elevators require me to duck. I am often mistaken for a Yeti, especially by the children. I kid you not. Anyway, imagine a hand towel as a "covering". You then proceed to the shower area and take a soapy shower and get cleaned up, sitting on a bench about as tall as my ankles. Again, imagine the Alice in Wonderland sequence where she is too big to fit in the room and you have and idea what I mean. It must be like the Jolly Green giant when I come into a bath house. You then try ( key word... Try) to get into the scalding hot tub. It is outrageous how hot it is. The whole time there is a hole in the rock that is spewing out more insanely hot water. Since I was the only one in the room most of the time I pulled the cheater hose of cold water into the cedar tub. It took a while to get to the point I could dip in the water. I felt like a lobster or something, because I was turning bright red and quickly cooking myself. But it sure felt good. Although you sleep on the floor, in a "bunk" room with a real futon, the relaxed nature of my legs and body meant I was finally over jet lag in such a way I vaguely remember laying down. I managed to

Road Trip via the bullet train

A full day of events in Tokyo and then a last minute decision to go to the mountains outside Nagano. Beautiful mountains, lots of hot springs, monkeys and hiking. Great trip. Left Tokyo at 5:30 after a very long and interesting day. The best session yet was this morning. There was a survivor of Hiroshima who was nothing short of incredible. There were also two second generation survivors. Little did I know there was a tremendous stigma attached to those whose parents survived. They were often unable to marry and get good jobs. A power 2 hours of interesting insight. A memory I will not soon forget. Half of the 30 or so people in the room were not only brought to tears, they were sobbing. Powerful.

We then had and introduction performance from a famous Kabuki theatre performer. It was interesting and informative, but anything was a let down following the previous speakers.

I was originally planning a kayak session on a Japan river for my days off, but it did not come together so I had to make some quick changes of plans. At noon I was thinking of alternatives. I was looking for traveling companions. At three o'clock I had no idea what I was going to do, but by four I decided to head to an area outside of the 1998 winter olympics town of Nagano. It was a famous hotsprings town with hiking, hotsprings and snow monkeys. The only other person who had the interest and gumption (most people were reluctant to go anywhere... wimps) was Sara House, who started at Redmond after I left. Oddly enough she and I could share stories about all the students, staff and shenanigans of life at Redmond High School. Considering she knew Fred VonSeggern and he "prepped" her to meet me I knew we would get along. After a quick decision we hit the road at 5:30 and jump the bullet train to the mountains outside of Nagano. The people I met along the way convinced me the Japanese were some of the most friendly people I had ever met in any of my travels. So many people went out of their way to help it was crazy. One person decided to show us the way to the youth hostel and said it was "on the way" but clearly nothing this far out in the middle of no where is not on the way. Another ran after us to make sure we knew how to get to the proper train. The hostel owner decided to drive us up the moutnain to get the good hiking spots, and gave us a personal introduction to the archery of the samurai. He was not only the owner of a traditional Japanese youth hostel, he was a master sensai (teacher) of the art of archery. He was pretty impressive.

As reluctant as I am towards monkeys, (nightmares of finding monkeys under my bed... long story but frightening) to see the famous wild snow monkeys of Japan was pretty interesting. I have a feeling the winter months are the real time to truly observe them in their element, but it was still pretty interesting to see a horde of wild monkeys just hanging out in some beautiful hot springs tucked in the mountains.

Kids in the town of Shibu. Each kids carries a small leather rucksack that is part of their school univformIn this small town (which was small enough it did not have a single place to eat) had 9 public hot srpings / tubs and countless of private tubs. Very cool place. Youth Hostel owner / Master of the samurai bow. He could nail a target with a 2 meter long bow at 60 meters (180+ feet!!!). Don't mess with the samurai
After some "tough" hiking around Shibu and hot foot bath is just what the Japanese order. As I mentioned, the Japanese were so kind a couple of locals saw us looking at the hot springs and decided they needed to show the Americans how to do it.

Not a big fan of monkeys, but this was pretty darn cool. I have to admit they did a lot to develop an affection toward simians.