Hey all,
It's the first day of Spring Break! Yay! And now, finally, I have the time to make a decent post. *deep breath* Here goes!
Its a Saturday, and thus the campus is usually not crowded. However, I forgot that this particular Saturday is graduation day for the Japanese seniors. Yes, it's been a month since they took their final exams, and now they come back to campus to graduate. The campus green is full of boys in tuxes, girls in splendid kimonos and their proud parents. Seriously, there is a great variety of kimonos out there in all kinds of colors - it looks like a rainbow. They've even brought the school band out in tuxes to perform outside on the steps. Well I'm not at all involved with the ceremony so I'll stay out of their way. However, this does mean that the new semester will be starting soon, and hordes of Japanese students will be returning to campus. Good time to make some friends!
Well I know I promised to say something about White Day when it happened, but there really wasn't much to say. White Day was on Wednesday, and it came and went just like any other day. The only notable thing was the amount of sweets/candies advertised in the stores under the "White Day" banner. I also saw a good number of things to buy for your girlfriend that WEREN'T sweets, but I don't think I'll go there! Let's just say that some of that stuff was very prominently displayed when I went to Namba last weekend. Mayu received little presents from the boys in her class, like a box of cookies and a bunch of erasers 'n stuff. Pretty cute. Okaasan received some kind of necklace from Otousan, but I didn't see it.
Ok let's switch from one marketed holiday to another. Happy St. Patrick's Day! I'm wearing the greenest shirt I own, and Haley wore clover-patterened socks yesterday, but that's about it. This holiday is of course virtually unknown here. They have really no concept of what it is to be Irish, although the other day my Okaasan made boiled cabbage and carrots that taste just like Granny's. It was kinda strange! It seems that it's just another way she likes to prepare vegetables. I told her that it was a very Irish style of cooking, and all she needed was to add some corned beef in there to get the traditional Irish meal. I think though, that corned beef will be impossible to find here. Also, the Japanese don't need another reason to go out and get drunk with friends...they do that enough already.
**Pi Day and the Ides of March happened sometime this week, but there really wasn't much I could do for them. I'm not taking any math classes here....Sam pretended to stab me with a knife so we could act out Cesear's assasination by Brutus...but that was it and it was pretty lame.**
Ok, on with the exciting stuff - Spring Break Plans! I have been plannning what we were going to do for about a month. I had certain goals for this break, and so before planning I laid them out. They were:
Go to a REAL onsen (hot spring), not one of those public baths that you can find just about anywhere. I'm talking in the middle of nature, a natural hot spring, traditional Japanese inn where they give you yukatas to dress in and give you the bazillion-course traditional Japanese meal. Why? Because I haven't done it, it's my only chance to do it, and I want to experience myself what I've seen in just about every anime ever, the traditional high school trip to the onsen. Finally, I will be able to do it myself.
Go to Tokyo. I've been to Tokyo, yes, but not on my own, not doing what I wanted to do. I'm not going to Tokyo to see famous sights, not really. I want to go see the pop culture of Tokyo - see the famous style of the Harajuku girls, marvel at the glitter of Shinjuku, and of course visit the famous electronic stores and anime mecca at Akihabara (henceforth, I shall refer to it as Akiba, like the otakus do). I really couldn't care less about stuff like the Imperial Palace or the Meiji Shrine, since I've already been-there-done-that.
Go climb Mt.Fuji - I saw it when i came to Japan three years ago, but I wanted to experience it more directly. I remember seeing it from a distance on a hazy day and you could barely make it out. This time, I wanted to get closer to it and really experience it. I dispatched the idea of actually climbing it about three seconds after I started searching for information online. The climb is actually pretty strenuous, taking 7-9 hours to summit. Mt.Fuji is 12,388 ft tall, about twice the height of the tallest mountain I've ever climbed. Neither Haley nor I are experienced mountain climbers, so that idea went into the can. "Well, if I can't summit, maybe I can just climb to the base?" Normally, this would be possible but actually the climbing season doesn't begin till June. Anyone climbing the mountain in the off season has to register with the police and prove that they are experienced climbers beforehand. Ok, scrap that idea...."Well, maybe let's just get near it and look at it". Allright, I can live with that.
So, my three goals were - go to an onsen, go to Tokyo, go close up and look at Mt. Fuji. HOWEVER, in my searching I stumbled upon something that I knew I absolutely must do during the break. This is not just a fourth goal, this is the SUPREME goal. And that is...to attend the Tokyo International Anime Fair, or TAF. I read the site online, and I knew I must go. This is THE fair, the place where all the people who make anime meet and make business decisions, the best anime of the year is awarded, singers perform and the newest wares are sold. It's the BIGGEST ANIME CONVENTION IN THE WORLD.
What kind of coincidence must it be that this convention happens during the few months that I'm in Japan, during the very week of my break, during the very time that I was going to go to Tokyo anyway? Clearly, my fate is to go to this convention. I obviously have no choice but to bow to my fate and go~
So, I did much internet searching to accomplish these goals. Haley and I were going together no matter what, and finally Sam and Jake decided to come with us as well. After much discussion and deliberation, we have finally decided on the following schedule:
Sunday Morning: We will meet in Hirakata, and take the train to Kyoto. From the station, we will take a bus to Kurama Onsen, which is apparently very remote. Sam and I decided to go there after reading its website. It seems the ideal place to go. It's secluded, peaceful, has got an outdoor hot spring, the building is in traditional style, two Japanese meals are served. We made a reservation for Sunday night for the four of us. We'll be staying in the very traditional bamboo-mat floor room that has a paper slider to separate girls from boys. I'm very very excited for this - it will be as Japanese an experience as I'm going to get. Then on Monday morning after we check out, we'll hang out in Kyoto for a while to do whatever everyone wants to do, whether it's looking at shrines or shopping. We return to our respective homestays Monday night.
Tuesday: Most of the day is free, but that night we are going to take the night bus to Tokyo! The bus is ideal because it transports you at the same time letting you sleep on the way. It's like a moving hotel, but not nearly as comfortable, I'm sure. That was the business transaction I made here at campus - I was able to reserve the night bus for all four of us by myself, in Japanese. The lady was very nice. I'm sure it'll work out, but we'll be tired. The bus leaves at 11:40 PM and gets to Tokyo at 7:30 AM.
Wednesday - Saturday: We will be in Tokyo, or at least stay in Tokyo every night. Where are we staying, you may ask? Good question - poor college students can't really afford a hotel for three nights. Youth hostels were also all full! So I pretty much saved the day when, with my ingenious searching, I discovered a wonderful, cheap place to spend three nights. And it is: the Akihabara Capsule Hotel!
I'm not sure if you have heard of the phenomenon of Japanese capsule hotels, so here's a summary from Wikpedia:
"A capsule hotel (カプセルホテル, kapuseru hoteru) is a hotel system of extremely dense occupancy. Guest space is reduced in size to a modular plastic or fibreglass block roughly 2 m by 1 m by 1.25 m, providing room to sleep and little more, although facilities usually include a television and other electronic entertainment. These capsules are then grouped and stacked, two units high." - Wikipedia
The one in Akihabara happens to have a wonderful site in English: http://www.capsuleinn.com/index.html
Yes, we'll be sleeping in little boxes, compartmentalized and stacked in rows. The ultimate ideal in Japanese efficiency. Here's a quote from the site that I found hilarious:
"You might recall the movie The Fifth Element, directed by Luc Besson. Our capsule units will remind you of the main character, Bruce Willis' small living and sleeping area."
Pic:
It will be an experience, no doubt. I've told several people that we're doing it, and they have raised an eyebrow and laughed. Hey, I never said it will be comfortable or luxurious, but it gets the job done! And its in Akiba, no less. I will get to go to sleep and wake up in the anime capital of the world. I could not be happier.
Wednesday, Friday: We will explore Tokyo together. I'm sure everyone else will want to see places like Meiji Shrine and the Imperial Palace, and of course I'll go with them, but I'll be more excited to see things like the Longest Escalator in the World, which is in Ikebukuro, and of course explore Akihabara. We have two days to see everything we want to see...
Thursday: We will take a trip to Mt.Fuji. It's a long haul from Tokyo, about two hours by bus. Since we are not familiar with the area, I suggested we sign up for a tour that will bring us from Tokyo, show us Fuji, then bring us back to Tokyo. It's a real deal - for about $100, it'll include all this stuff:
"Deluxe motorcoach drive along the expressway to Mt. Fuji
Depart from Tokyo to enjoy a scenic drive aboard a deluxe motorcoach to Mt.Fuji (3,776m . or 12,388ft.)
Fuji Visitor Center
Nature, culture and artwork concerning Mt.Fuji are on display at the information center. When the center is closed (Monday and certain other days), Peace Pagoda located on the way to Hakone will visit instead.
Drive up Mt. Fuji 5th station (Base camp, essentially)
Enjoy the spectacular drive halfway up Mt. Fuji to the Fifth Station (altitude 2,305 m.). The natural scenery en route is sure to impress.
Lunch at a local restaurant
Enjoy western-style lunch at a restaurant. Vegetarian food is available on request.
A cruise on Lake Ashi
Experience a delightful cruise on Lake Ashi aboard a large sightseeing boat. Let the crisp air & surrounding scenery refresh you.
Mt. Komagatake Aerial Cableway
Ride an aerial cableway up and down Mt.Komagatake for a sweeping view of celebrated Hakone National Park."
And then it brings us back to Tokyo. I'm fairly sure that if we went by ourselves, we could never figure all that out. Plus, the tour will be in English, and we can learn stuff easier. Everyone agreed with my plan. It certainly fulfills my goal of looking at Mt.Fuji - according to the day plan, we'll be looking at Fuji five different ways. I may even get sick of looking at it. Oh well!
Saturday: TAF Day! I plan to spend all day at the world's largest anime convention. The information at the English site is a bit sparse, so I'm not exactly sure what kinds of events there'll be. But there will be the award ceremony, anime performances, the dealer's room, companies showing off their newest creations...so I'm sure it'll be great, and I know it will take the entire day.
Saturday night: Haley and I are returning by night bus to Kyoto. Sam and Jake will stay an extra day in Tokyo. The reason we decided to return is that we thought originally there was an art field trip for our class, but there isn't. Instead, there is a optional field trip that my Mass Media and Communications class is participating in - a trip to the Comic City doujinshi fair in Osaka. We're studying manga right now, so it seems appropriate. Doujinshi is fan-made manga, or amateur manga. They get together at conventions and fairs to sell their wares. I love doujinshi too, so I'm definitely going! Although I'll be dead tired after the night bus...but I'm still going. Straight from anime fair to doujinshi fair - I'll be on overload. But it's the time to go - this Comic City is the largest event in the area, and if I go with the field trip group I'll get reimbursed too.
So those are the plans! Usually on spring breaks, college students go somewhere warm and get drunk and party. I think this spring break is much better than that, in fact I can't think of any vacation more exciting that this is going to be. There's no where in the world I'd rather go, and nowhere I'd rather be. I will of course take lots of pictures and videos while I'm gone. I'm debating on taking my computer or not to Tokyo so I can make daily posts or not...hmm.
That's it, folks! I'm off on spring break. About to have the time of my life - I hope you all are doing well too.
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