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Happy birthday to me!

If you're wondering, I have so far gone out of my way to take it easy. slept in, hung out, went to the golf course, and am planning an evening of cooking meat with fire and drinking water and grain combinations. it should be fun.

and yes, sometime i will get around to finishing the Japan portion of the blog, and i can promise you that won't be today.

Is no creature safe? (Tokyo, 8pm, 5/11/2008)

Just when you think you've tried it all. Jellyfish. At some point I'm going to make a list of all the weird shit I've eaten on this trip. That should be quite a compilation.

as a side note, sake is good. compei!

Japanese Style...

You haven't really experienced Japan until you've used a japanese-style toilet. I mean, really used one. It's really something. it's basically just a hole in the ground (don't worry, it does flush). And you just squat over it. Kosuke says it's more sanitary, which makes sense - there's no seat to share with anyone else.

One thing is for sure: it's a workout. Luckily there is also the option of a western-style toilet as well.

It's not really any different than camping, i guess. Maybe that's why I don't go camping very often.

"What? How in the hell are you supposed to use this thing?!"

"Kosuke, show us how it's done"

Clusterf@#k (Tokyo, 1pm, 5/11/2008)

Tokyo has a shit-load of people. It's really incredible. I've been to new york, chicago, boston, seattle, and i've never seen anything like this. some of the places we went, there was no relief from the throngs of people. and presumably, they do this everyday. more people, smaller streets, tiny stores and restaurants. there's no way i could handle it. it really is something to see.

going native (Kurashiki, 5/7/2008)

today was 'pretend to be japanese' day. chris and i started by heading off on bicycles to tour kurashiki. by ourselves. it was fun. we weren't sure we would find our way back, especially by our kosuke-imposed deadline, but we managed just fine.

on our trip we explored a japanese grovery store (in case you were wondering, a lot of fish and not a steak to be found). walking through seafood, there's actually a specific octopus section. there is also budweiser in the beer section (but not much, and only by single cans).

after our excursion we met back up with kosuke to help his father tend the family plot. it's ironic that i have lived in america for 27 years, and on my trip to japan i learn how to farm. anyway, we did some watering, cleared out some weeds, and plowed part of the field. it was kinda nice to be outside and doing something productive - plus, it's probably the least we could do considering all the hospitality we've recieved.

after the farming, we went to see Kenji-san's building/warehouse/workshop deal to see all his 'junks' (kosuke, 2008). there must be 6-8 cars on the property, as many motorcycles, a snowmobile, and uncounted tires, wheels, and random car parts (including at least 4 complete doors). this is not counting the 10-12 vehicles on the 'farmland'. or the cars that stay at the family auto shop. or the everyday car that stays at kosuke's house. honestly, to say that the kojima's have 20 cars is probably a gross understatement. and there are at least 4 models that can be found in triplicate (or more). it really is something.

after, we went to the '100 yen' store, which translates, almost exactly, to the dollar store with kosuke's niece and nephew (An and Keita), and for a swim where kosuke used to train.

now it's bedtime. sorry, no exciting new food today, oh, except for the chicken insides. like hearts and livers. but even that's starting to seem rather pedestrian by now. it really is amazing what people eat. and that it's actually pretty good.

oyase me

At The Crossroads of History... (Hiroshima, 5/6/2008)

Taking up the challenge of finding our way back to kosuke's house provided us with a great opportunity. we just didn't think of it until we were already on board the local train to Hiroshima Station.

Instead of just staying on board and heading straight back, we got off two stations early, and hit Hiroshima to see the memorial for the atomic bomb victims.

it really is something to see. there is one remaining structure from the blast (i believe it is the only one left). the walls are still standing, and the steel skeleton of the dome is still in place. that's about it. apparently it avoided total destruction by being almost directly beneath the bomb when it detonated. this devestated most of the building (and hiroshima), but left the structural components. i think it was good to see what happened on the other side of history. americans may think of august 6, 1945 as a good day, when we ended the war, but it did have it's costs. i feel we have an obligation to at least appreciate that.

it's not about right or wrong. i'm not sure there is a 'right'. it may be justified, but in the end, we did what we did, and we have to live with it. even if most of us weren't alive at the time.

there is a more traditional memorial across the river from the A-Bomb Dome. there is a nice park, a pool with an eternal flame type structure, and the tomb for the remains of the victims. the memorial is all in line with the dome, so it can be seen along the length of the memorial. something like the reflecting pool in washington d.c.

I don't know for sure, but i think the victims' remains are interred at ground zero. it seems consistent with the information at the dome (the bomb detonated ~160 meters SE of the dome, ~600 m above ground)

if you don't get the chance to see it yourself, take a look at the pictures. i believe they enlarge if you click on them.

two thoughts:
-experience something is a whole lot different than reading about it. i kind of felt guilty about it, as an american in hiroshima. kinda like taking responsibility for what happened, even if it is somewhat irrelevant. it's humbling.

-63 years ago hiroshima was leveled by the U.S. today it is a huge city. huge. and there are no apparent signs of the trauma. it would be very easy for a visitor to get around hiroshima today (probably on the way to miyajima) without realizing. it's pretty incredible.

Miyajima (5/6/2008)

today kenji-san (kosuke's dad) drove us out to see miyajima. we drove down to hiroshima, then took the streetcar out to the ferry. after a short trip across the channel (or some form of body of water) we were in miyajima. the island is a japanese national park, and includes several temples, and many incredible views. the mountains literally drop right down into the sea. very impressive.

the place is a big tourist destination, and as a result there are countless shops and vendors, and deer. the deer are everywhere. if you have food, they will follow you around in packs trying to get it. it seems funny, until you are trying to eat. terrible.

the area more than makes up for the deer though. the main attraction includes a temple, with a gate of sorts out in the sea. the tide was down, so we could have walked out to the gate, but when the tide is up, the temple appears to be out in the sea, with the gate further removed from the land. very cool. included is a pic with high water to show you what it looks like. this is not my picture.

even with the water down, it was very cool. it's hard to say for sure, but this may have been my favorite place in japan (at least at this point). The picture below is probably my favorite of the entire trip.

during the drive down, kenji-san proposed one, of what promises to be many, 'Japan Challenge' (one of many we anticipate throughout the course of the trip). the challenge was to find our way back to kurashiki on the shinkansen (using the ever-handy japan rail pass). chris and i obliged, loving both challenges and the opportunity to really experience japan. we also took it a step further by electing to make our way to the shinkansen via local trains, instead of being driven to the station (it's all free with the rail pass, so why not? besides getting hopelessly lost and being incapable of communicating with anyone).

aside from the love of a challenge, it also provided us with a great opportunity we didn't realize until we made it onto the local train...

kosuke is one funny... (cinco de mayo)

i thought this one deserved a seperate post.

often times i've tried to explain that kosuke is one of the funniest guys i've ever met. the fact that he says everything with a japanese accent only makes him funnier. it's hard to explain without meeting him, and most times it just sounds like i'm making fun of the foreign kid. well, tonight he provided a perfect example.


while at the japanese barbaque with most of his family, he was playing with his nephew Keita (5 years old). kosuke tells keita to punch me in the ass, which he does, and to yell "pearl harbor" as he does it. classic.

the humor was not lost on the japanese.

i just hope that this kid talks about the time the americans visited for the next decade.

Casa Kojima (Kurashiki, 5/5/2008)

alright folks, to start there are two announcements.

1. this post is out of order. i just felt like adding this one off the top of my head, so deal with it. i will post date the entries before it, so be on the lookout.

2. you will notice a lack of pictures with my posts. i plan to add them after I return. if you're still interested,　come back then and check them out. i hope they will be worth it.

onto the show:

first off (after the announcements, of course), happy cinco de mayo. until this year, this was my favorite non-american holiday. now i may have to go with the japanese 'boy's day', which also happens to be on may 5th. must be serendipity.

we went out on a boat with kosuke's dad today. this guy has to be the funniest guy i know that i don't understand. seriously, i have no idea what he says. ever. but he's still funny. must be genetic.

so i saw the pacific ocean today, from a second location. someday i'll see it from the west coast of the US.　　

after the boat tour we went to the don quixote store (i don't think that's how the japanese would spell it, but since i can't read characters, we'll call it even)this place has everything. and most of it you wouldn't want to buy. good thing it's cheap.　

we also went to a traditional japanese tea ceremony. It was kinda cool to experience, although for the most part it consisted of me asking kosuke "what is going on?" or "what did they just say?" followed by chris asking me the same thing. as an important aside, kosuke had also never been to a traditional tea ceremony either, so he wasn't always much help. at this point, chris and I are as japanese as kosuke. as long as you don't count the speaking, or reading, the language deal.

after tea was the japanese barbeque, which was awesome.they cook approximately everything on the grill, and each person sits by the grill to cherry-pick what they want. there's no 'grill-master' to tell you when things are ready. you just jump at what you see, when you feel inspired. it's pretty awesome. especially when you consider that it includes everything. steak, hotdogs, vegetables, rice (yes, rice on the grill), fish, and squid. It wouldn't be a japanese dinner without squid. I've been here for 3 days, and eaten squid at least as many times. actually, it's pretty good. 　

finally, a note on the kojima clan. kosuke's family is awesome. they are extremely hospitable, helpful, funny, and they try quite admirably to communicate with the americans. sometimes it works. many times is doesn't, but i think it's the trying that counts. part of me wanted to write that it must be part of the japanese culture (and that may be the case as well), but mostly i think it comes down to good people. i know my parents would do the same (well, not the same. there would be no squid, and considerably more english. but you get the point), as well as many of the folks i've stayed with in the past (special honors go to the Bergstroms of the St. Paul, MN area).it just goes to show that having friends pays off. especially if they live half-way around the world.

at this point, it's still the morning of cinco de mayo on the east coast, so make it a good one. have a couple of coronas for me (or dos equis, or pacifico, or tecate - you get the idea). i had a good excuse for passing on the mexican beer this year.
sayanora

Shinkansen (Kyoto to Okayama, 1 PM JPT, 5/4/2008)

we are departing kyoto now for okayama (enroute to kurashiki) via the shinkasen high speed train. this is our second trip on a bullet train, and having seats and daylight this time makes the trip a whole lot better. the first trip was on the nozomi shinkansen (the fastest of the fast, which makes the least stops), so it did have that going for it. but sitting down is pretty awesome.

to call these trains impressive is a drastic understatement. they will travel up to ~185 mph (300 kph), run very smoothly (like an airplane without turbulence), and are very quite (unlike an airplane). also, they are so much more comfortable than the airplane. it's great. the seats recline further, there is way more legroom, and much more room to roam around if you're concerned with DVT (or just want to walk around)..

also, it runs entirely on electricity, so it's green. despite the fact that it's painted white and blue.

if we had these in the states, i'd take them everywhere.

Japanese Idol (kyoto, 5/4/2008)

karaoke in japan really is different. and kinda weird. unlike the american version, you rent a small room (by the hour), set up with all the equipment, and sing only to the folks in your group. it still is a bar, and you can order food and drinks (to be delivered to your little room), but the stakes really aren't the same as singing to a bar full of strangers. and the group of people you know who are going to harass you to no end.

it should also be noted that they must have every song by brittney spears, but nothing from either tom petty or johnny cash. they certainly aren't catering to americans.

the song books include 20 pages for songs in english, with the rest of the book devoted to chinese and korean songs. and another book dedicated to japanese songs (which include the japanese language versions of american songs).

When in Kyoto... A Gastric Adventure (Kyoto)

First off, Happy Birthday to Kosuke today. He's old. He may die soon.

ok, ok, enough of that now. back to our regularly scheduled program:

So, there's all kinds of foreign aspects to Japan, but we'll start with the food. It really is an adventure in and of itself.

Several restaurants make you pre-purchase tickets for your meal. This is apparently to cut down on the timeless 'dine and dash.' So, you go to a vending machine to buy your ticket, and trade that for food at the counter. It's odd, but if the vending machines have pictures (some do), it makes the whole experience a lot easier for a foriegner.

For lunch today we had ramen. yes, ramen. it's kind of a big deal here, and rightfully so - it's a hell of a lot better than what we get freeze-dried at kroger (or albertson's, or safeway, or giant eagle, or marsh, or where ever you may shop. IGA, perhaps.).

We also enjoyed soy flavored treats, as well as green tea ice cream while walking Kyoto, and finished up at a japanese restaurant.

Kosuke's friends took care of the ordering, which was good because the menu was entirely unreadable to me (and Chris, I would imagine), and included no pictures. This is really the way to go, because it's likely that the pictures would not have convinced me to order anything. Plus, they're Japanese, so they know what's good.

While at dinner we had various vegetables, rice, a sort of japanese hamburger (hamburgu), fish, octopus, squid (little, whole ones), duck, chicken, and something fish smelling that out waitress spilled down my back. It was really hot. On the bright side, I got two free beers out of it (futatsu namachu). Sugoi!

Kyoto (Kyoto, 5/3/2008)

waking up today, chris asked about the time. kosuke told him it was happy hour, and was entirely correct. in bloomington. it was 8 am in japan. this will definately take some getting used to.

while walking around today, kosuke was telling us about octopus. eating it. he explained that it was probably the texture that would bother us, which he described as "chewy, octopus-like." thanks kosuke.

on the subject of food (ood, as a japanese would pronounce it), everything here is flavored with: fish, soybean, or green tea. this includes, but is not limited to, cookies, candy, and ice cream. seriously. trust me, i've tried each.

Land of the Midnight Sun...(5/1/2008, 9pm EDT)

I know, you're thinking "you're not going to alaska, Japan is the land of the rising sun." Well, you're right on both accounts. kind of. for two reasons.

I ｃａｎ say that i've seen alaska now. I won't count that as visiting, but i can say that i've seen it. apparently at this time of year, 30000 ft above alaska, the temperature is -60 F. That's what the monitors onboard say.

the second reason for the title is that during our travel, we will not see darkness until friday night. in japan. after leaving thursday morning. we've outrun the sun. pretty sweet.


as a side note, you can see that i'm able to add to the blog. the posts are backdated to when they were written, and do not reflect the date of posting. i'll try to stay as up to date as possible as i can, but i make no promises.

oh yeah, we made it here safe and sound also.

(the picture included is actually from the return trip. deal with it.)

Last Call...(Detroit Airport, 5/1/2008, 1:20pm EDT)

Boarding the plane to Tokyo was quite an experience. First off, a 747 is big. Really big. I know, you're thinking "of course it's big," but i think it's a lot different to understand that it's a big plane and to experience that it's a big plane. The jectway is a brick and mortar building itself, three stories tall, with both an elevator and an escalator.

My seat assignment is 59J, and, based on the NWA literature, there are about 400 other folks on this plane with me. BIG.

Not surprisingly, there were a lot of asians waiting to board(which continues to china). this was when the 'I'm going to a very, very foreign place' realization hits. it's exciting, but it is also seriously pushing the envelope of my comfort zone.

Leaving the jetway and stepping onto the plane, i' now committed. All In. now i'm accepting my role as a foreigner - at this point i have effectively left the United States. And the English speaking world.

Going Dark...

just to be clear, communication will be highly limited while i'm in japan. no cell phone, no text messaging, no voice mail, or any of that crap.

i will be off the grid, and i expect it will be awesome.

i have reason to believe that i will be able to update the blog occasionally (if not, blame koichi), and i may pick up an international phone card, but i make no promises. especially because i would also have to learn how to use a japanese telephone, and country codes.

both of those are probably much easier than i expect to be, but i may just be lazy and forget the whole thing.

expect to hear from me again on may 12th.

if you really, really, really need to get in touch with me, just send a telegram to the address below:

James McKenzie
Japan

bags are packed...

ready to go now. everything is packed (i hope), and we roll out of bloomington at 8:30am. at this point, the idea is to stay up late, sleep on the plane, and - hopefully - be reasonably acclimatized to japanese time (GMT +8, or 13 hours ahead of eastern time). we'll see how all that goes.

it may not really matter, since the best case scenario is arriving in sync with the area, and not having a damn clue what is going on.

on with the sushi and sake.

hikooki wa tonde imasu.

we don't need no education...

well, finals week is effectively over. now i just have to get everthing ready for tomorrow morning. yeah, i know. tomorrow. time to get moving.

i hope to have some clever, witty entry before i leave, but we'll just have to see how well i get through my errands today.

Game Face

In preparation for the trip, i decided there was a need for a new facial haircut that would be fitting for a trip to asia. and to represent all of america. besides, i couldn't let the playoff beard go to waste.

That's all for now - it's finals week, and i have a paper to finish, but i couldn't let all of you down.

ride the lightning... (the plan, part 2)

possibly the most exciting part of going to japan is riding on high speed bullet trains (shinkansen). i mean, seriously, look how cool that thing is. it could probably make it into space. if it wasn't stuck to rails on the ground, that is. also, how can something that travels great distances in a short amount of time, which is also named after a lethal projectile, not be cool. i challenge you to come up with a reason.

i'll save you the effort of trying to come up with something. there is no reason a high speed bullet train would be uncool.

i'm not sure that the rail pass will allow us on a bullet train, but i'll try my damndest to hook it up.

oh yeah, also, the culture, people, food, castles and temples - those should be pretty cool too. especially if they include high speed travel.

if only the nozomi could arrive before it left. i guess the 747 still wins.

the general plan includes travels to nagoya, osaka, kyoto, kurishiki (to stay with kosuke's family), hiroshima, and, of course, tokyo.

awesome

the plan...

it seems reasonable that you might be wondering, "so when is this grand adventure going to take place?"

i'm so glad you asked. the trip is not nearly as far off as it may seem from my vague, carefree, and seemingly random (obscure?) posts. i leave next thursday. yeah, 8 days.

コースケだけに、あなたのためにそれを日本語にします。私たちのままで8日間！

i'm not sure the scribbles above mean anything. i'm sure kosuke will let me know (it's not my fault, it's google translator. unless it's right, then it was me).

oh yeah, the plan.

depart:
thursday, may 1st (11:18am - 8:00pm, may 2nd)
northwest airlines
indy to detroit, NW1016
detroit to tokyo (narita), NW25
tokyo to nagoya, NW77

return:
monday, may 12th (3:00pm - 4:30pm)
northwest airlines
tokyo to detroit, NW26
detroit to indy, NW1505

you'll notice that the total travel time going (including time changes) is about 32 hours. coming back it is 90 minutes. the flight from tokyo to detroit lands 75 minutes before it leaves tokyo. if only doc brown were here to see it.

Culture Clash

To say that the trip may be something of a shock is probably an understatement. The culture, language, and food is different. I don't know the lay of the land, and there's a good chance a map won't help. And that's just the layover in Detroit.

Preparing for the trip, i tried to make the comparison to traveling to europe. it only fits to a point. yes, the people speak a different language, the food may be different, and the chances are good of ending up lost or in jail.

The big difference is being able to tell which way is north on a map. or being able to recognize the name of the city. In japan, this is a direction, and this page describes a japanese city. if that's not intimidating, I'm not sure what is (at least assuming you're a native english speaking American - laugh all you want japanese). at least in europe you can follow the 'nord' signs back to munchen. or whatever.

your helpful hint for the day: when you find yourself in japan, stay away from ヤクザ.

Sayanora

Why Japan? The long answer

Meet Kosuke Kojima (koze-key ko-jim-ah). He is a grad student here at Indiana University, also in the Kinesiology Department.

Kosuke is Japanese, and he has a sharpie mustache in this picture. He did that himself. Without any sort of provocation. Really. He's a big fan of Captain Morgan. Not necessarily the rum, just the captain himself.

Kosuke is from the city of Kurashiki (curr-otch-key). It can be found in the southern area of 'main' japan. south of osaka, and about midway between hiroshima and kobe. If necessary, refer back to the japanese map linked in the 'japanese geography lesson' posting.

Kosuke invited pretty much all of the grad students to visit Japan with him. See the sights, hang out with japanese, eat raw or undercooked seafood, and just whatever the japanese do. everyone thought this sounded like a great idea. several wanted to go. when it came down to it, only Chris Brammer and I actually threw down for a ticket.

This is Chris. his mustache is real. and quite a bit more impressive now. Colleen is in the picture with him (she's the one without a mustache). she does not come into the story. at least for now.

so there it is. we're going to japan, riding high-speed trains (hopefully - we will at least ride moderately high-speed trains), and camping out with Kosuke's friends and family in various places throughout japan.

i expect it to be some combination of Mr. Baseball and Lost in Translation. If i get to meet tom selleck, bill murray, or scarlett johansson (or any combination thereof), i'll call the trip a success. I'm hoping to limit the similarities to Tora! Tora! Tora! Here's to hoping!

in case anyone is wondering, yes, i am pretty proud of myself for figuring out how to add pictures, and get them were i wanted them in olnly my fourth blog posting. the benefits of a graduate education!

"Japan?! sounds cool! but... why?"

good question - i thought you might be wondering (for those of you wondering about your wondering - i planned on covering this, and also got asked about it, so i'm not sure this has anything to do with giving the people what they want).

the short answer: kosuke kojima

stayed tuned for the long answer

japanese geography lesson

first off, let's take a look at japan. as you can see on the map, japan is made up of a bunch of islands, but we're only concerned about the main parts. included in this region (these regions?) is tokyo, osaka, hiroshima, kobe, nagasaki, mt. fuji, and a bunch of other places you probably are less familiar with.

the map calls these parts honshu, shikoku, and kyushu. these are what i'm going to call the main islands. that may not be correct, but i'm not really concerned about that.

i hope this is a helpful reference for later posts. sometimes it nice to have some idea where i'm referring to.

for those of you requiring the remedial lesson on where japan is in relation to the rest of the world, check it out here. they have the white flag with the red circle.

thanks to Randy Johnson and www.ontrack-japan.com for their maps. i don't know either of these folks, but i do like their maps.

welcome

alright folks, here's the story: with a trip to japan rapidly approaching, i decided to set up a blog to chronicle the trip. i figured that the novelty of the trip would provoke interest in others, and this would be an easy means of sharing stories, pitfalls, pictures, and whatever else may come of the journey.

but first, a few ground rules:

1. i may not use caps. ever. maybe i will. depends on the day. i don't want to hear about it though. any other grammatical issues are open to criticism.

2. i have no idea what internet connectivity will be once in japan, so i may end up posting a may 5th blog (happy cinco de mayo) on may 15th. you'll just have to deal with this. i plan on having some sort of journal with me, so i can write on any given day and transcribe later.

3. i have no specific plans for this after the trip. maybe i'll keep adding with the random crap that happens in everyday life. maybe the blog will just go dark. i guess we'll see.

4. three ground rules isn't very many, so i'll add #4 to make the list more inmpressive. oh, and i reserve the right change the rules anytime i want, with or without notice. membership has its priveleges.

5. comments are allowed and encouraged, however this is not without peril. i take no responsibility for anyone's comments - they're not mine, so if you don't like them, take it up with the commentator.

6. comments (cont) : i do believe in free speech, and in that spirit i will generally allow anyone to say whatever stupid thing they want - but i will also leave it up so everyone can see what your stupid comment is. only highly inflammatory, accusatory, malicious, or otherwise offensive comments will be removed. i reserve the right to determine what that means.

7. interesting in something in particular? want an answer to a question in the format of the blog? well, you are welcome to request it (in an email, comment, phone call, whatever). maybe i'll follow up on, maybe i won't. maybe i plan on covering the topic at a later date, and you'll just have to wait. as they say (they? who is 'they') "ask and maybe you shall recieve... at some point."