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Meoto Iwa, or the Wedded Stones, in Futami, Mie Prefecture, Japan.
This is a loooong post. It’s about my weekend, but also about some cultural/historical info and observations about Shinto shrines, among other things.
Thursday I went clubbing. It was a BLAST. We all headed downtown to Nanba to an izakaya (pub) for nomihoudai (all-you-can-drink) for a couple of hours, and then to two different clubs. For some silly reason, clubs have to have a dancing license (like a liquor license) to allow their patrons to dance, so dancing wasn’t allowed at either clubs we went to. Didn’t stop us!
We were having too much fun to want to catch the last train home at 1am, so we ended up staying out until the first train at 5.30, getting home closer to 6. I may or may not have fallen asleep in public a couple of times before we got home. It was exhausting and a blast. :)
I spent most of Friday recovering (I’m still sore from doin’ my groove thang), but I did get out to LaButts to watch movies (IM CAUGHT UP ON KORRA HOORAY) and chill with Rosie and Karli. And then went home early, put myself to bed early, and stayed up past 3 reading Game of Thrones. I blame Karli and Tessa - this book is absolutely tearing me apart.
Slept through my alarm today, but was awoken by the ever-patient Kati-hime so I could throw on some pants and run to the station to meet Gabe and Rosie for our MIE ADVENTURE HOORAY. We set out from Aikawa station and, a train and a subway and a subway and a train and almost 3 hours later, we arrived in Ise, in Mie prefecture.
We walked leisurely through Gekū, the Outer Shrine, and around all the groovy paths and smaller shrines, before getting on a bus to Naikū, the Inner Shrine. We found a great shopping street and a place to snag some lunch. Shrimp and udon are the local specialties, but I’m broke so I had some Ise udon. YUM.
Naikū was much fanicer than Gekū, and bigger. The paths between shrines were through a forest of these huge old trees, the likes of which I haven’t seen much here. And the Kotaijingu - the main attraction, the shrine to Amaterasu, goddess of the sun, was way cool. The line to pray was monstrous, but we were patient and got to pray and peek inside.
The cool thing about Ise shrine and a lot of other Shinto shrines is that they are ritually rebuilt every twenty years. And not just, like, remodelling or fixing what’s broke. Everything in the shrine complex has two plots of equal size, and every 20 years they built everything anew, transfer the gods over in a giant beautiful ceremony, and tear down the old one. So all of the actual buildings I saw today were younger than I am (last re-building was in 1993 - next one is next year!), but they use the same building materials, tools, and techniques as they did when the shrines were first built (in this incarnation) in the 600s. Somehow, the fact that the actual buildings are young, but the building techniques and designs are OLD makes me feel closer to history than walking through an ancient castle or cathedral that has been standing without change for hundreds of years.
Also, what makes Kotaijingu extra cool, is that we can’t go inside the shrine itself. We just pray outside, with a glimpse of the top of the shrine building over the fence surrounding it. Okay, the fact that we can’t see it isn’t cool, but the REASON is cool. First of all, Amaterasu doesn’t like to be disturbed (or so I’m told), and second, the shrine contains the Sacred Mirror, given by the gods to the first Emperor of Japan. Way cool. :)
After we saw all there was to see in Naikū, we wandered up and down the shopping street next door. I bought more tea. No one is surprised. We took a bus and then a train to Futami for a pleasant walk to the beach on Ise Bay, and Meoto Iwa, or the Wedded Rocks (pictured above). They are said to represent the union between Izanagi and Izanami, the creators of the world and father and mother of all of the Shinto kami (gods). SO COOL AND PRETTY. Especially because the sun was setting as we were walking towards it and we got to take lots of artsy photos. :)
A super-fast power-walk, a train, a train, a subway, a train, and another 3ish hours later, we found ourselves back in Osaka, footsore but content. I realize I’m going to either die or have legs of steel after this weekend, what with dancing all night Thursday, walking all day today, and walking/climbing stairs all day tomorrow (field trip with my Spirituality class to Byodo-in and Fushimi-inari Taisha). Who knew being sociable and looking at cool old stuff could be such a great workout?
And now to sleep and pray I’m not TOO sore in the morning. お休み -
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Here’s a pretty picture of some pretty sakura blossoms to cheer everybody up.
Big scary presentation tomorrow. がんばります！
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Okay, I couldn’t help myself. This is a picture of my lovely new tetsubin teapot I bought in Doguyasuji on Friday. Isn’t it lovely? Japanese Tetsubin (cast iron) is especially good for teapots because it retains heat really well and enhances the flavor of the tea. I even read somewhere that, since it’s made of iron, a little bit of iron gets into the tea so it’s good for people with anemia.
Plus… it’s teal. And y’all know how I feel about teal. What’s that? You don’t know how I feel about teal? I FREAKING LOVE TEAL.
Whew. Glad I got that off my chest. :) I’ve decided not to actually use the teapot until I get back to the states, for a number of reasons, but you should expect some more pics of the teapot in action (exciting, I know) after I get back.
Today has been another stay in, be boring, and Do All The Things sort of day. I plowed through a 6-page-paper in 2 hours (not counting breaks) with only about 45 minutes of procrastination in between. YAY. I have now crossed 16 things off my to-do list.
And then I made the silly mistake of whining about how hungry/lazy I was in front of Sakura, so she said “Oh here, I have these delicious leftovers of stuffed bell-peppers that I made last night. Would you like them? Eat them! EAT THEM!” And who am I to turn down such a delicious offer. And they’re SO delicious. :)
More homework tonight. Tomorrow is my final Spirituality presentation. Wednesday I have my final Japanese and Intercultural Communication presentations. Yikes. がんばろう！ -
One of the stores selling dishes, etc. at Doguyasuji (道具屋筋) in Namba, Osaka. I was so nervous about breaking stuff it took me ages just to walk down an aisle. Then there go the shop staff, running back and forth and not disturbing a single teacup. Wow.
So I haven’t done anything exciting today except do more homework, freak out about more travel plans, and cross more things off my To-Do list. I have now crossed 9 things off my to-do list. YAY. Sakura and I went to the grocery store, too, which was groovy. We spent the whole walk home moaning and whining about how we don’t want CET to be over yet. :(
It’s starting to look like summer, and I can finally wear shorts. YAY. But alas, I’m cooped up all day doing All The Things. My life is really hard. -
The Gilco man, a giant neon sign in the middle of Nanba in downtown Osaka that’s one of the more famous sights of the city. Not quite sure why.
Yesterday my Japanese class went to Nanba, a shopping and entertainment district downtown, to visit a Ukiyoe museum and wander around. Ukiyoe are traditional Japanese style woodblock prints.
We met Isomi-sensei downtown, and wandered around the area for a bit before finding the museum. We saw the main canal and the Gilco Man, pictured above, as well as a lot of really weird signs and statues advertising restaurants. Isomi-sensei bought us a big batch of Takoyaki (balls of fried dough with a little chunk of octopus inside - Osaka specialty!) to share from a street vendor. We stopped by a shrine that Isomi-sensei told us people prayed to for love, finding a boyfriend, and general match-making. Instead of ringing a bell before praying, we threw water on the statues. The statues were completely unrecognizable under a thick layer of moss from hundreds of people coming there to rpay.
The Ukiyoe museum was a very small building in the middle of a regular street full of shops and restaurants. It had two floors of displays. There were beautiful and weird and awesome prints from all the way back to the Edo period (the 1600s). AWESOME. Once we reached the top floor, though, two craftswomen gave us a mini-tutorial of how it works, gave us some printing blocks, paper, and ink, and we made our own. It was pretty snazzy :)
After stopping briefly in the gift shop (of course), Daniella, Thao and I left the group to continue exploring, because the three of us didn’t have class afterwards. We did some MAJOR shopping. We stopped at a big electronics store (I bought the world’s tiniest cutest USB stick; I’m so absurdly excited) and toodled around. I asked for directions to the USB memory stick section from a very kind gaijin (non-Japanese) employee, which I’d never seen before. But neither of us assumed the other spoke English, so I asked for and got directions in Japanese. It was a strange experience.
We headed to Doguyasuji, a long shopping street full of stores specifically for restaurant owners, chefs, and amateur cooking enthusiasts. The shops sold everything from cutlery and dishes to cash registers and chef’s uniforms. I was in heaven. I dragged Thao and Daniella into nearly every store on a mission to find My Teapot. Each store was pretty different, some laid out with care, with lots of displays on the walls and pretty tables with the wares set out gracefully. But some had so much merchandise piled everywhere, there was hardly room to walk.
I’ve been in the market for a new teapot for a while, but with 3 weeks left in the country, I figured I’d better get crack-a-lackin. And I FOUND IT. It’s a beautiful small tetsubin (Japanese cast-iron) pot with teal enamel and a pattern of leaves around the side and on the top. I decided that, instead of trying to find a matching set with cups, I’d just find some cups that sort of match but are unique and make an eclectic set. I found 2 cups I liked, so the search shall continue in the next weeks for 2 or 3 more. I also bought a chashaku (bamboo tea scoop for powdered green tea), which means that I’m about halfway towards having the full set for tea ceremony. HUZZAH.
By that point we were all exhausted. So naturally we headed across the street to a place called Play Land for my first frozen yogurt since I’ve been in Japan. It was DELICIOUS. It was in Sweet Cece’s style, where you choose your yogurt and toppings and pay by weight. I had mango, melon, and matcha yogurt with peach slices and mochi on top. Yum.
We headed back home, where I skyped with Mutti and Daddy and solidified my flights home. I’m heading out on the afternoon of Sunday May 20th, and get into Boston that night. It’s getting real, y’all. I’m having an absolutely AWESOME semester, but it’s coming to a close and I’ll be heading back to the states soon. I’m excited to see my family and Nashville friends again, but I don’t wanna leave Japan! So many feelingus D:
I heard whispers of gyoza (dumplings) for dinner at Vivian (the boys’ apartment down the street) so I headed over after skype date. Turns out Mikkun, Takumi, and Kaz had been slaving away all day making 300 gyoza. They were delicious! There were a bunch of us there, and it was really fun to just sit and chill and relax after another long week. I had my first taste of hot sake out of teeny-tiny cups. We discussed everyone’s romantic history. Hilarity ensued.
I was about ready to crash forever when I got home, but I remembered I had a VOB board meeting to skype into. We’re all figuring out what needs to be done over the summer to get ready to hit the ground running in August when we all get back to school. I also got a brief glimpse of THE SCRIPT as Jessie waved it past the webcam of the computer I was skyping in on. I’m beyond excited. SO. BEYOND. EXCITED. Have I gushed about this yet? We’re doing The Drowsy Chaperone, which is one of my favorite musicals EVER. Yay yay yay yay YAAAAYYYYYYYY
/ahemToday I slept forever, cooked myself some delicious lunch, and made myself a to-do-list that covers the front and back of a page of notebook paper. Yikes. I have a LOT of stuff to get done this weekend before the insanity of the last 2 weeks of the program starts, so this weekend will be full of the quiet fury of my productivity. Fun, no? I crossed off four things today, so that’s pretty good.
いつもがんばっているね。>.< -
Sakura (cherry blossoms) I saw on the way up the 1,000 step climb up to Konpira shrine in Kotohira in Kagawa prefecture a few weekends ago.
Whenever I don’t have a good picture from the day, I’ll just post a pretty picture of cherry blossoms to brighten everyone’s day. Okay? Okay.
So today was one of those days. I was a wreck in class and nothing I did would please Isomi-sensei, though I did pretty well on the last quiz. And then Rosie made an example sentence about how I get mad when Karli talks about Shrek and how there’s no need to be upset and then Isomi-sensei wanted an explanation for why I hate Shrek and it was TERRIBLE. MY LIFE IS SO HARD.
Lunch was delicious udon. When I first got here I really really liked soba noodles (they’re thinner and made from buckwheat) and wouldn’t eat udon (thicker noodles, made of regular wheat-flour) if I could help it. Because udon noodles are much thicker, they’re harder to eat with chopsticks without getting broth EVERYWHERE and making an absolute fool of myself. But then I lived in Osaka for 3 months, where udon is the favorite noodle, and I got better at not making a fool of myself while eating them, and now I’m an udon-girl through and through. You know they say you’ll go through transforming life experiences while studying abroad. I guess this is one of them. ^^
Spirituality was groovy. Sengoku-sensei played a tape of a hypnotist walking us through guided meditation (in Japanese) while she read the translation. It was cool and everyone else seems to have had an interesting experience, but I fell asleep about 5 minutes in. Sometimes, being able to fall asleep in strange circumstances is useful, but sometimes I’d really like to be awake for things. Alas.
Kati and I walked home in a leisurely fashion, which was lovely. There’s nothing like a nice walk to clear your head.
Tomorrow my Japanese class is going on a field trip to a woodblock-printing place. I’m not sure if it’s a museum or a workshop or a school or what, but it’ll be groovy. Then I’m gonna stroll down the cooking shopping street (Doguyasuji) and maybe buy a teapot. Hooray! -
Onigiri! Japanese rice balls, flavored with rice seasoning and wrapped with nori (seaweed). I’m getting better at making them real-onigiri-shaped. :)
Long day was long.
We gave our mock final presentations in Japanese. Mine was a shambles, but oh well. I know what I need to do for the real final presentation on Wednesday. Dalton’s class was fine. Moaned about nationalism and language, took a quiz, ran to the grocery store and then over to LaButts for wine and bad movies. By bad movies I mean Scott Pilgrim (not bad at all! quite good, actually) then Cinderella 3 and Lion King 2. Yikes. Cinderella 3 is laughably awful, but I keep forgetting how GOOD the music is in LK2.
Now? Sleep or homework? The eternal question. -
Pretty view of the river on the way to school today!
Today was a beautiful day. We walked to school and it was sunny and lovely and the walk was just gorgeous. I bothered Kati and Kevin by stopping every 5 seconds to take another picture. I giggled a bit to myself when I realized that I was the only one out and about in short sleeves (it was 23 degrees - I was in capris and a tank top). Pale skin is the Ideal Beauty here so everyone was covered up head to toe - some even wear gloves and masks and hats and carry umbrellas. It’s not modesty or prudishness - short skirts and shorts are all over everywhere in the winter and when it’s cloudy. But if the sun comes out? HIDE YO’ WIFE, HIDE YO’ KIDS.
Isomi-sensei did her impression of the first time she ever went to an American grocery store. We died laughing. I love that woman.
Went to lunch and then back to school for another tea-ceremony lesson with Lauren-san. I got to perform the whole ceremony for myself last week (YAY OMIGOSH IT WAS AWESOME YOU GUYS) so today I just watched as Kathleen and Karli were beautiful tea-serving butterflies. Huzzah.
Then Karli and Gabe and I pored over travel books in the J-Chat lounge forever, figuring travel plans for May. I’m sticking around in Japan for a week after the program is over (on the 12th, btw) to do a bit of traveling before I head back stateside. I’M SO EXCITED. But I want to see alllll the things, and can never possibly fit all the things into one week (or one semester, for that matter), so that’s frustrating. Hiroshima? Miyajima? Kouya-san? Ise? Tottori? GOTTA SEE ‘EM ALL.
We watched a movie about Tibetan refugees in spirituality class. Specifically, the journey of Tibetan children fleeing Tibet to the refugee camp in India so they can get a decent education. Because, you know, China denied the Tibetan people of the right to free education, and they’re too poor (*cough*cough*because they’re oppressed*cough*) to afford tuition. Because an ignorant population is easier to control. So they go to India and the Dalai Lama to huge children’s villages to learn. But they have to cross the Himalayas to get there. Children. Have to cross. The Himalayas. TO GO TO SCHOOL. Kind of makes all my whining about having to ride the dorky yellow school bus sound weak, huh? Yikes perspective.
Another lovely walk home, bento for dinner, and homework. We have our mock presentations of our final projects tomorrow in Japanese and I’m beyond nervous. Blarg. So I’m listening to A Capella music in the common room with Akane (who’s sick. :( poor dear) and browser-window-shopping for bone china instead. Good idea? Yes.
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it’s me and malika! we were SO HAPPY the weather was so lovely and ise was so beautiful and the...
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"Made in Japan" Syndrome, otherwise known as the "Why Don't They Have These in the US?!" Conundrum
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oh I’m sorry let me clarify
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kati-hime (katidactyl)
