Dids and Didn’ts
We’re down to 8 days until we move to the US and I think a review of the things I did and didn’t do is in order. As our time winds down, I frequently think about the things I regret not doing or buying, but a person can only pack so much in one life and still remain sane. As I lie awake in bed last night, the victim of insomnia secondary to stress, I came up with this list of things I didn’t see or do, some regrettably so, others by choice, in no particular order:
1. Japanese Giant Salamander Me and about 99% of the Japanese population, so I guess I have no right feeling shortchanged. This is a massive salamander that reaches lengths of up to 5 feet and can weigh 55 pounds. They only live in the clear, cold streams of northern Kyushu and some parts of remote Honshu, but like a lot of other animals, are critically endangered due to habitat destruction. Years ago I saw one on TV and was thoroughly impressed as it snapped and lunged at the person holding it. I never would have imagined at that time that I’d actually be living within driving distance of them.
2. Geisha Yes, they are alive and well and still entertaining in Kyoto among other places, including Tokyo. In fact, given the right connections, you can spend an evening with a maiko (geisha in training), but it is extraordinarily expensive and is by invitation only. Gene and I went to Kyoto where the largest concentration of them still live and work, but we didn’t exactly seek them out. I would have loved to see one, but I feel a bit creepy staking out a neighborhood and waiting for someone. I’ll never understand how paparazzi live with themselves. Frankly, I’d go to great lengths to see an animal, but not a person. Some foreigners get this obsessive romantic notion of them and stalk them for photos as they hustle from teahouse to teahouse, but you know what? Under all that kimono and makeup, they’re humans too, and humans just aren’t my favorite animal.
3. Climb Mt Fuji Sweat your ass off, freeze your ass off and then get a splitting headache while fighting a crowd of people schlepping it up a steep moonscape. No thanks. I used to feel obligated to climb Fuji – after all, isn’t it a requirement of foreigners? But all I needed was even the smallest reason not to do it in order to assuage my guilt. Not one of my Japanese friends has climbed Mt Fuji and I figured if they don’t care, neither do I. So I never went and I don’t regret it.
4. Japanese Red-Crowned Cranes This one I seriously regret. Coming to Japan and not seeing the cranes is sacrilege in the birding world but we just never made it to Hokkaido. These birds are among the rarest birds in the whole world. Usually they spend summers in Siberia and migrate to Hokkaido in the fall where they overwinter in marshes. There’s a small population that reside permanently at a sanctuary in eastern Hokkaido and there’s a viewing center where visitors can see the birds without bothering them. I plan on coming back here to visit and Rieko and I have entertained ideas of meeting in Hokkaido, so maybe all is not lost.
5. Tea Ceremony I’ve engaged in a lot of traditional culture here, but tea ceremony is just something that never quite struck my fancy. I’m not interested in ceremony of any type (we didn’t even have a wedding) and my attention to detail is sometimes lacking, so something as slow and deliberate as this would have been tortuous for me.
Negativity out of the way, here are the things that I did do, again in no particular order
1. Sumo Up close and personal. So up close, in fact, that I sat in the Prime Minister’s seat and watched as Asashoryu performed for us. At that time, Asashoryu was the only yokozuna (top-ranked wrestler) and I saw his first defeat of that tournament. He freaked out, by Japanese standards, kicking zabuton (pillows) and showing disgust and shock on his enraged countenance after he’d been defeated. Things went downhill for him from there – a month ago he was taking a break from wresting due to a back injury, but someone caught him playing soccer in his native Mongolia. Oops! Busted! he returned to Japan and was the first wrestler in history to not only be suspended, but suspended without pay. On top of it all, he’s been diagnosed with depression. Poor guy. I hope he gets his act together.
2. Ikebana A good friend of mine is very skilled in the traditional art of flower arrangement so she taught me the basics. This is something that I will probably continue for the rest of my life. I really enjoy flowers and this is a great way to display them in the home while satisfying my artistic need.
3. Language One of the best thing I ever did for myself was to study the Japanese language. I can by no means hold a meaningful conversation, but I know enough to get by and can read and write even more. With every new word I learned, I felt as if a whole new world was opening up for me. I realize now that one can never truly understand a person or their culture without understanding their language. Believe it or not, there are foreigners who live here for years and never bother to learn how to speak. I think that’s a slap in the face to the natives.
4. Gasshyo Zukuri are the old thatched-roof houses that you find in the mountains. Gasshyo means to put one’s hands flat together in prayer and you can see this in the steep roof’s configuration that is built to withstand heavy snowfall. Last fall some friends and I took a trip to the villages of Gokayama, Shirakawa-go and Takayama. In Shirakwa-go we stayed in a 400 year old gasshyo zukuri and I’ll never forget it. I love old houses, so this place was a real treat for me. In all honesty, I could have stayed there the rest of my life.
5. Tokyo Salarymen Getting on a train packed full of salarymen at night in Tokyo must be what it’s like to be in a mass grave. Most of these guys are half dead from overwork and look like zombie figurines just rolled off the assembly line and packed into a tin can ready for shipment somewhere. If anyone has the energy to talk it’s only because they’re drunk. I’ll never forget the first time I was returning from a hair appointment in Tokyo late in the evening when the train stopped and the door opened. To my great horror the door opened and I saw nothing but men in dark suits. I hesitated boarding, but it was either risk it or wait for the next train. I got on, then, and many more times after that without falling victim to any furtive ass-grabbing incidents, and was thus initiated into one more facet of Japanese culture.
6. Karaoke I can’t sing. Not even a little bit. Until I drink a beer and a shochu, then I sound like Karen Carpenter. Really, I do.
7. Soma Nomaoi This definitely ranks up there in the top 3 for me. I just posted about this last month, so I won’t go into detail again, just scroll down for photos. I’ll never forget this festival.
8. Kimono I bought a kimono last spring, complete with all the extras including the undergarments and obi. There’s not much point in owning one if you don’t know how to wear it, so I went to kimono dressing classes. I am grateful for the opportunity to learn, but it’s one of those things that requires more patience than I possess. Despite my Japanese friends protestations to the contrary, I really feel that the only person that looks good in one of these things is a Japanese women. Foreigners just don’t cut it. A friend of mine calls me a repository of useless knowledge – I know things that one would only hear coming out of the mouth of Cliff Claven…but had to ask my husband last night when the next US presidential election will be held. So, kimono dressing went into my vast cornucopia of useless knowledge.
9. Noh is a very old form of classical musical drama. Noh is very different from what westerners think of as a play. Actors never rehearse together, but individually with the head of the school or “coach”. This assures that the tempo of the performance does not hinge on one person, but rather depends on the spontaneous interactions of all the members. Right now there are about 1500 professional Noh actors in Japan, all of them men. This is not something everyone can sit through – it’s slow, deliberate and highly stylized, but is an excellent event representing many things about Japanese culture; austere, yet powerful, refined by generations, yet each performance retaining some aspect of individuality or ichi-go ichi-e.
10. Monkeys Most of my Japanese friends are baffled by my fascination with the Japanese macaques. They think they’re a total pain in the ass and when you’ve grown up with them, I am sure they are. But we don’t have monkeys in America and the Japanese macaque has the distinction of being the northernmost monkey in the world so it’s a little bizarre to see a primate in a temperate climate. A friend of mine positively loathes them after having grown up with them stealing his lunch and breaking into his home. In Nikko they enter restaurants and shops and steal food right off the tables. Back in May when my mom was visiting we were driving through Nikko on our way to Yunishigawa Onsen when suddenly Rieko yelled “SARU!” and there they were up in the trees alongside the road. I couldn’t believe it! Wild monkeys!
12. Onsens Known to westerners as “hot springs”. This is one of the true delights of Japan. I never dreamed I would enjoy public bathing – naked, no less – but it’s one of my favorite activities here. There are few things more relaxing than soaking in a steaming hot pool of water on a cold winter’s day, followed by a bowl of soba. After seeing the physical condition of so many naked old ladies, I think onsens must be the fountain of youth and maybe what gives Japanese women the longest lifespan of anyone on earth.
13. Temples and Shrines I spent an incalculable number of hours in these places taking photos and just soaking up the atmosphere. The smell of the incense, sound of the bells and chanting of the priests at the ancient temples and shrines in Kamakura is forever burned into my consciousness.
13. Mt Fuji I prefer to view from a distance. I spent a lot of time over in Hayama trying to get the perfect photo
I could keep going, but those are the highlights and if I think about this too much, I’m going to start getting weepy. I was doing OK until a few days ago when I had my first goodbye to a friend. It was rough and each successive goodbye has been more and more difficult – I should be a real basket case by the time we leave.
