The One Where I Went To Okayama To See Jen

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0.25

Wow, it seems like only a few days ago I set down to type my latest adventures in Japan. Now that time has come once again. I’m amazed at how quickly the time has passed between my last email and this one. I’m even more amazed when I consider that Oct. 24 marked my third month of living in Japan. To put it in another perspective, I’ve completed a quarter of my contract. Or as one of my fellow JETers put it, we’ve earned a quarter of our money. Whatever way one chooses to look at it, though, I can’t help but marvel at how quickly time is moving by.

But perhaps I shouldn’t be so amazed. The old adage (stop me if you’ve heard this one), holds that, “time flies when you’re having fun.” Certainly I can say that after three months, (aka “the first fiscal quarter”) I am still having fun. Life, though, has become somewhat more routine as compared to the previous two months. A weekly schedule is now firmly entrenched: Monday, touch rugby followed by grocery shopping. (the good people at Spark 24 Hour Grocery could probably set their watches by the weekly arrival of a big-haired, sweaty, smelly foreign kid); Tuesday, Japanese language classes; Wednesday, water the plants; Thursday, night off to try and catch up on emailing; Friday, Molly Malone’s Authentic Irish Pub (would you believe there’s such a thing in Hiroshima!); Saturday morning, try to stay awake and focus on my Japanese lessons; Saturday afternoon, clean the house and do laundry; Saturday evening, see Friday; Sunday morning, sleep; Sunday afternoon, sleep; Sunday evening, prepare for the upcoming week, iron the work clothes and watch the weekly English-language movie.

While the aforementioned activities are, as I’ve said, firmly entrenched, I shouldn’t mislead you into thinking that there is no room for variation. Sometimes, for example, I’ll clean house on Sunday. Crazy! Oh, and let’s not forget the weekly typhoon. That will certainly affect the old routine. Then again, around these parts, the weekly typhoon is routine. Okay, never mind about the typhoons. I guess for the most part I did pretty much stick to my routine during the month of October.

Amidst the excitement of Japanese lessons and watering the plants, though, I did manage to get up to some mischief. You may recall me mentioning that Jen Sargent was living 2 hours away in Okayama. Well, I was fortunate enough to be invited for a visit during the Thanksgiving long weekend. Of course, it wasn’t Thanksgiving in Japan, but we also had a long weekend for Monday Oct. 11 was “National Health and Sports Day.” While Canadians ate turkey, drank beer and watched football, the Japanese ate tofu, rode their bikes and played table tennis at the Rec Centre with their children. Grateful for Jen’s invitation and the opportunity not only to celebrate Thanksgiving with a fellow Canuck but to also visit a new city, I boarded a train and headed east.

To Okayama, and Beyond… (Part 1)


The trip did not start out as smoothly as planned. To begin with, I left all my packing until the last minute (aren’t you glad to know that Japan hasn’t changed me Andrea? Still the same old Ken) so I was scrambling to catch the streetcar to the train station. As I boarded the street car, I followed the normal procedure of inserting my pre-paid bus card into the debit machine. Only unlike previous times, my card did not reappear. Considering my card still had like, 3000 yen left on it (about 35 CN dollars) I wanted it back. Using my expert communication abilities, which consisted of a combination of monosyllabic Japanese words and pantomime, I was able to express my dire need for the retrieval of my bus card to the driver. At the next convenient stop, the driver cut the power to the street car, rummaged through his assortment of tools for perhaps the largest wrench I’ve ever seen, and proceeded to disassemble the bus card debit reader. After some minutes, my bus card was safely back in my hands, the street car was on its way, and my face was that brilliant shade of red you all know so well from when I either laugh too hard or am slightly embarrassed.

With a scant five minutes to spare, the street car pulled up to the train station. Those next five minutes were a whirlwind of activity. I think I achieved more in those few minutes than I did during the entire month. This included figuring out how to use the automated ticket teller, deciphering the arrivals/departures signboard, and navigating Hiroshima Station to find the correct train platform. Yes, all these great victories and adventures in such compressed time, and the train was itself late. Is this considered karma?

To Okayama and Beyond… (Part 2)

I’ve said it many times, but it bears repeating: being a JETer has many advantages. Jen, however, had one up on all of us: free cable. Cable here in Japan usually includes a few English language stations, and ah, the delights of English language television. I didn’t consider myself a regular television watcher back home, but I don’t think I can adequately express what a refuge English language television was. Jen jokingly (though perhaps with a hint of seriousness) remarked before she left for work Saturday morning, “Don’t spend your whole day watching TV.” When Jen returned for lunch, though, she found that I had not moved from my position in front of the television. Oh the joy of it all! The Cartoon Network was particularly appealing: The Power Puff Girls, Tom and Jerry, and all 21 episodes of the Star Wars: Attack of the Clones cartoon back to back to back to back to back to… (Steve—and all other Star Wars fans--have you checked this cartoon out? It’s worth viewing if you haven’t). MTV Japan was another favourite. And it was educational too, as I was able to make note of Japanese bands worth checking out and avoiding. Plus, thanks to MTV, I was able to follow Ashlee Simpson’s rise from older sister Jessica’s shadow to her own pop star prominence. High culture indeed. After seeing first hand the hardship and heartache that young Ashlee has endured, I think the media are being way too hard on her for lip-synching on SNL. Leave her alone, gosh darn it, or you’ll drive her to her grave just like you did to Diana!

Eventually, after some self-prodding, I left the couch to explore the city of Okayama. I read in my Lonely Planet guide (thank you Australia for the LP series) that Okayama had a castle worth checking out. Indeed, from the outside, Okayama Castle was an impressive site. Done up in black with gold trim, it sat high upon the river bank and had a commanding view of Koraku-en Garden on the other side. Now it should come as no surprise that many of the original castle structures were destroyed during the Second World War, and Okayama Castle was no exception. The rational behind destroying these cultural monuments was to demoralize the Japanese, and as is often the case in war times, little thought was given to the cultural or historical value such monuments would have in the years to come for Japanese and foreigners alike. Be that as it may, the castle was rebuilt to its “original” state. Or so it was advertised.

Now perhaps I am a bit spoiled after my years of working at the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village, but when I think of “rebuilt,” or “restored,” I think of a process by which the integrity of the original building is maintained as much as possible. Should some touch-ups be needed, then an effort is made to keep any construction authentic to the original methods. As such, I thought that this would naturally be the same approach the people of Okayama used when they went about “rebuilding” their castle. So with these preconceived notions, I set forth to explore Okayama Castle. No sooner then when I paid my admission did I realize my exploration would be met with utter disappointment. Where I was expecting to step back in time and experience historic Japan, I had, in actuality, stepped into a giant souvenir store. I confess I was deftly lured in by this tourist trap. Attractive on the outside, it snared me on the inside. I should have stopped with the impressive photos I took outside the castle and called it a day. But alas, that was not so. The whole experience was like getting a Bev Facey cheese bun with out the cheese. Sure it will look pleasing on the outside, (thanks to Cheryl’s fantastic baking) but once you bite into it you’ll find something’s missing. Then again, maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on Okayama Castle. I mean, I had just watched 21 episodes of Star Wars cartoons. Anything after that would naturally seem unimpressive by comparison.

To Okayama and Beyond… (Part 3)

The story of Momotaro is quite famous in Okayama. As legend has it, an old couple was feeling quite lonely because they had no children. One day as the old woman was washing some clothes by the river, a giant peach came floating by. The woman took the giant peach home to eat for dinner, but to the surprise of both her and her husband, a young boy jumped out of the peach before they could cut it open. The boy said that the Gods had taken pity on the old couple and sent him to be their son. The couple decided to name their new son Momotaro (meaning “Peach Boy”), because “James” had been taken and they didn’t want any trouble with Disney’s lawyers. When Momotaro turned fifteen, he decided to set off on a quest to fight the evil demons that were plaguing the village. During his journey, Momotaro met and befriended a spotted dog, a monkey and a pheasant. Together, they decided to help each other vanquish the evil demons. After a journey of many miles, they at last came to the demon cave where the might and wisdom of the small and unusual battalion overwhelmed the evil demons. Momotaro and his companions returned to the village not only victorious but also wealthy for they exercised their colonial right and took all the demons’ treasures. Momotaro, his parents, and his anthropomorphic friends lived happily forever more. (I would have ended the story with “happily ever after” but “happily ever after” is a registered trademark of the Disney Corporation and any unauthorized use of “happily ever after” is punishable under clause 441, subsection 22a of the Copyright Protection Act).

Like Momotaro, our journeys on Sunday took Jen, Jen’s friend Mel and me to the island of Megishima: supposedly the site of the demon cave of lore. From the ferry terminal, we enjoyed a fine hike up the mountain to the location of the demons’ cave. We hiked the 2.5 km because we felt it would be a fine way to enjoy the weather, scenery and each other’s companionship…and because we didn’t realize that there was a bus from the ferry terminal up the mountain to the cave. We arrived at the caves just in time to see the bus and all the other tourists depart for their return to the ferry terminal. But that was okay, because we could then explore the caves at our own leisurely pace and not have to contend with the crowds. The lack of other tourists was perhaps for the best, as they were spared our mockery of what was, and is, perhaps the tackiest tourist site in all Japan. I would consider the demon caves as a contender for tackiest tourist site in the world even. You see the caves themselves were fine, but the local tourist board decided to litter the caves with cutesy wood and plaster demon and Momotaro mannequins to recreate the legendary battle and supposedly make our experience more “authentic.” All these models served to do, however, was make our experience feel like being on Sesame Street but underground. Tourist Traps 2 - Ken 0. Nah, make that Tourist Traps 2 - Ken 1. The caverns themselves were interesting, and the sheer cheesiness of the mannequins holds a soft spot in my heart.

Following our return to Okayama, Jen put her exceptional culinary skills to use and cooked us up a fantabulous Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey is hard to come by in Japan, so we had chicken instead. No complaints here, though. Jen was even kind enough to spring for dessert which we enjoyed while watching that holiday classic, Terminator.

To Okayama and Beyond… (Part 4)

Ever the resourceful one, Jen managed to secure free tickets to a holiday Monday performance of Noh theatre (For those unfamiliar with Noh, it is a traditional form of Japanese theatre. It has a reputation for being extremely long). I had never before experienced Noh theatre, and we were both very eager to give it a try, though not for the entire 8 hour performance. After my brief 1 and a half hour experience, I can tell you that Noh is theatre at its most minimal. The stage is bare cedar, and there are no props except for a fan or maybe a sword. Even the movements of the actors are minimal. Small, concentrated movements, like say, the flick of a wrist, can signify a huge development in the story. A slow turning of the head from left to right could mean as much as “my love is a stupid jerk, for he forgot our anniversary as he was off playing at war with his stupid friends. When he returns home I shall play coy and make him pursue my love once again. Ha, that will teach him the value of my affection. I am so clever.” Truly, Noh actors seem to epitomize the Zen philosophy of “saying a lot with a little.”

Furthermore, based on what I saw, the actors themselves do not speak other than through actions. Rather, the story is told by a chorus seated somewhere on the stage. Again, the concept of minimalism is seen in the chorus. The 5-6 chorus members provide only their voices, though perhaps two or three of the chorus will sometimes employ a small drum or a flute. The chorus, including any female members, sing in a manner that I can only describe as low and glottal. This, combined with the seemingly random notes played on the drum and flute, make for a rather unmelodic experience (like listening to me sing and play guitar).

But having shared these seemingly unfavourable observations, I must say that I was nonetheless quite impressed that the traditions of this very old style of theatre have been preserved for so long. And while a performance of Noh would likely do very poorly in any Western country, the Noh performance we attended drew a respectably sized audience. Moreover, I was very pleased to have finally had the opportunity to experience traditional Japanese culture. This was what I was missing at Okayama Castle and the demon caves. Tacky Tourist Traps 2 - Ken 2. And as I think more about Noh theatre, I realize that, although present in minimal quantities, there’s dancing and singing and instruments…why, it’s the predecessor of the modern musical. Dawn and Larry, if you’re looking for a piece with a traditional flavour for the next Bev Facey theatre season, maybe you’d like to consider putting on a performance of Noh. For the value of the creative titles you could come up with alone, a performance of Noh is worth staging. Consider a new twist on an old theatre saying: “there’s Noh business like show business.” And who could resist seeing such musical hits as “Hel-Noh Dolly” or “Noh-klahoma!” And let’s not forget that the Bev Facey Drama Department can adopt the motto, “Noh-body does it better!” Yes, I can see big things for the future of Noh theatre at Bev Facey, though I think by now Dawn and Larry would probably disagree.

Content with our well and truly cultural experience, Jen and I spent the rest of the morning touring the beautiful Koraku-en Gardens. The gardens have been described as “one of the big three gardens in Japan.” Those who made this claim were referring to the overall beauty of the gardens, as opposed to the overall size, which was itself impressive. The main selling point of the gardens rested in the fact that it had a sprawling lawn as its centre piece. Not bad, but as Jen pointed out, coming from a land like Canada where we have the space to have our own private sprawling lawns, Koraku-en seemed less than impressive (heck, the sprawling lawn at 84 Ridgemont Crescent-ku-en looked better). At the very least, if a well kept lawn is all it takes to be counted as one of the “big three” gardens in Japan, we wondered what the other two “big” gardens looked like.

Once we finished strolling through Koraku-en, we made a quick trip to the city of Kurashiki where we hit the touristy shopping district. In this district, the buildings served as rice warehouses back in the day and were characterized by their black tiled roofs. Even though the buildings have long since been emptied of rice and turned into shops hawking tacky souvenirs, it was still neat to wander along the water canal with the striking black roofs as a backdrop. As for our shopping experience, the cat store was a particularly amusing stop. If you were a cat-lover this was certainly the store for you. Every conceivable cat-themed product they had. I felt a touch of pity for the store employees though. Not only did the have to wear demeaning cat ears on their heads, they were also forced to endure “The Jingle Cats” over and over and over and over. I was in the store for only a few minutes and I felt the urge to start hurling cat-themed ash-trays and dinnerware at the speakers. Lord only knows what fragile mental state those poor employees are in. I’m sure any day now I’ll hear a report on the bilingual news about several Kurashiki cat store employees running amok smashing and setting fire to cat statues all over Japan.

As the day wore on, Jen’s thoughts turned to getting ready for the upcoming week of work and I started to think about returning to Hiroshima. So Jen and I said our goodbyes and parted ways for what will likely be a long time. Then I boarded a train bound for Hiroshima, this time with less drama than the trip to Okayama.

Homeward Bound

Three weeks after our visit in Okayama, Jen returned home to Canada. So there’s one less Edmontonian here in these parts, and Ken is much sadder. At least until January, when Justin Dilk will be heading out to Japan to help set up an English school in Sendai City. On a personal note, thanks Jen for the good times and for putting up with me the past few months. I really appreciated the trip to Okayama. Justin, I’m looking forward to seeing you again, big guy. I’ll set aside the extra futon for you.

And in keeping with the personal, thanks too to everyone who sent me an email over the past month. I am grateful for your support and for being able to hear word from the home and native land. I’m sorry I haven’t been very diligent in replying but I promise that in the next few weeks, I’ll write back to everyone in due time. I just humbly ask you all to continue to please be patient (by the way, Kelsey, “konnichiwa” is probably the best all purpose greeting in Japanese).

Well folks, as always, I could keep going on and on, but I see that I’m already close to quota here, so I will close this edition by letting you know that the recent earthquake and floods occurred in northern Japan, very far from me. I have yet to feel any aftershocks here in The Shi, and I assure you I am quite safe and very much alive at the time of writing. However, the effects of the recent typhoons, floods, and earthquakes have indeed been quite devastating for others. Many lives were taken and there are still thousands of people who are forced to live in local school gymnasiums, tents or in their cars even. Recovery has been very slow as there are still low level aftershocks affecting the worst hit areas. This is making any hope of returning to normalcy, for the time being, very remote. If you are a religious person, please offer a prayer to your respective god or gods for those affected by the recent disasters here in Japan.


(A huge thank you goes out to Helen for agreeing to let me use some of her Okayama pictures to supplement my own. Always the model of humility, she was reluctant to accept credit for her pictures even though I offered to clearly state which are hers and which are mine. Despite her reluctance, I still feel I should give her due credit for the photos she took, so let’s say that the good ones were taken by Helen and the rest by me. It’s the truth anyway).

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Photos

Okayama Castle
This is Okayama Castle as seen from the bridge joining Kurakuen Gardens and castle grounds.

Okayama Castle
The castle from the same bridge only closer.

Okayama Castle
The gate leading to the castle grounds.

Okayama Castle
Due to it's black appearance, the castle has earned the nickname, "Raven Castle." Clever, huh?

Okayama Castle
Same castle, but take from a different angle and a little closer so you can see some of the details. Okay, are you over seeing pictures of the castle yet? On to other things...

Momotaro and the Demons
Life ain't easy for a boy born from a peach. What did he ever do to deserve this mockery of his folktale?

Koraku-en
A fascinating picture, eh? Do you know what it is?

Koraku-en
That’s right, it’s an umbrella, from under which you can view the expanse of Koraku-en Garden.

Koraku-en
Sure it looks neat, but one has to question the practicality of this bridge.

Koraku-en
More Koraku-en

Koraku-en
I have no idea what this hut is used for and even less of an idea as to why it’s on this island, but it sure makes for a pretty picture.

Koraku-en
One thing I’ll say for Koraku-en is that it sure has a lot of lawn. The building pictured here features an old-style Japanese thatched roof which bears a striking resemblance to the one covering Grekyl house out at the UCHV.

Koraku-en
Okayama Castle blends almost seamlessly into the tree line above Koraku-en.

Kurashiki
A Kurashiki alleyway. The town is known for two things: its black-tiled merchant’s district and for being the only municipality in Japan to bury its telephone lines.

Kurashiki
The willow-lined canal running through Kurashiki’s merchant’s district.

Kurashiki
The canal swans.

The Cat Store in Kurashiki
Which is most alarming: that is place exists, that this place is actually busy, or that the only music they play is the Jingle Cats in constant repetition?

Comments

[kelsey]

???
ken ken ken... oh dear.... well david things your blog is pretty