Blogs from Takagi , Nagano, Japan, Asia

My last week in Japan! I could hardly believe a whole year had passed since I arrived in a nervous whirlwind the previous July. The rainy season had passed and my house was transformed from the winter freezer into a baking, hot sauna. I sat, lethargically most days after school, sprawled on the sofa, sweat streaming down my face.....there was no respite from the heat unless I went and trawled around the local supermarkets to enjoy the aircon. This was a busy week of cleaning, packing and parties. Monday was my first leaving party with the board of education guys. They picked me up from my house so I could drink and took me to a really nice traditional, and fairly informal, Japanese restaurant. We shared lots of delicious fish dishes - although at one stage ... read more

June is "hotaru" (firefly) season in Japan. I have never seen a firefly before, and so I was quite excited to join a local group this evening on a firefly hunt around the local paddy fields after dark. I went to a local community hall around 6.30pm, for a short lecture on fireflies by a retired science teacher. I didn't understand too much of the talk, given that it was all in Japanese, but I did glean that there are two types of Japanese hotaru, Genji botaru, which are the larger and brighter than the smaller Heike botaru variety. These delicate creatures live around rice paddies and streams. Their larvae need clean water and a plentiful supply of small water snails to eat. Unfortunately their habitats are in decline and so are the firefly numbers. During ... read more

This has been a bad week! On Monday after school I drove over to Matsukawa, a neighbouring town about 40 minutes north of Takagi. I needed to drop some photos off with my block leader Marion, who is an assistant English teacher in that town. She lives in a block of teacher flats, and when I got there I was struggling to park in a small area near to the entrance. I was in the process of reversing to give myself more room when someone drove behind me and I clipped the back of the car as I went back. It turned out to be one of Marion's JTEs (Japanese English Teacher), who I also know from karate class. She came over to me once I was parked and asked if I was ok. I apologised ... read more

The month of March is Hina-matsuri, or Japanese doll festival. Since January I'd noticed these creepy looking ( but very expensive) dolls appearing in the shops. On 3 March people celebrate "girl's day", where families with daughters wish for their happiness and healthy growth. Traditionally, families with girls will collect a set of these ornamental dolls for the child for display. The elaborate display represents the Emperor, Empress, attendants, and musicians in traditional court of the Heian period (about a thousand years ago). The old belief was the dolls possessed the power to contain bad spirits. Last Saturday my friend Sumiko invited me to her village of Achi, which every year has a Hina-matsuri display at locations throughout the village. Unfortunately the weather was atrocious - it was blowing a gale and tipping it down with ... read more

With two weeks to go until I run the Tokyo marathon, disaster struck last Tuesday......I started feeling grotty in the evening and woke up Wednesday with what I thought was the beginning of flu. There have been several outbreaks at school and the last time I went to elementary school the place was like a plague zone, with everyone - teachers and kids wearing masks! So, feeling tired, achy and a sudden hacking cough I thought my best bet would be to get to a doctor asap and see if I could get some anti-virals. After school I headed to where I thought the village surgery was located. Turns out the first place I went to was in fact a dentist (The drilling noises should have given it away), but they pointed me in the right ... read more