Sumon and I studied Japanese in Kyoto for a semester back in college, so instead of temples and shrines, he wanted to see some of the places where he spent time back then. I live on the same train line that he was on 6 1/2 years ago, so we followed his old commute to school, KIC which is on the campus of Kyoto University of Art and Design. Later we went to his favorite bar, ING, where the rock’n'roll bartender/owner remembered him!
College friends and world travelers, Snow and Sumon, joined me in Kyoto for a few days of catching up and sleeping in but we made it out of the house a few times. Our first stop was vegan restaurant, Mikoan, which really filled us up with delicious Japanese style dinner sets.
We wondered around a bit and went to a couple bars, thinking that we would head home early, but somehow when we checked the time, we had already missed the last train! Being committed to five more hours, we transformed from low energy to dance energy and had a great night! No photos of the actual dancing, but here’s one of a group of cute young salarymen enjoying the club, still in their suits from work.
I found the website for a shop called Veggie Sweets a couple months ago that looks interesting. They make vegan cake and ice cream and I’ve been wanting to go but there is no map and I don’t trust myself with Japanese addresses at all! The other day I checked the website again and there was a post about the Earth Love Festival (地球愛祭り) where they would be selling some of their sweets the next day! I invited Beth, a JET from New Zealand for the adventure.
It was a small but nice event with a few non-profit booths, music and dance performances, and some vegetarian businesses. The most exciting thing was all the vegan sweets! I bought way too many, and I found out where the Veggie Sweets shop is, so I’ll be going soon! I also met a woman whose small business making vegan cakes and selling them to stores and restaurants is called Spiritual Sweets. She doesn’t have her own shop, so I exchanged contact information with her, and she offered to teach me some vegan baking! Maybe we can trade tips!
One of the teachers I work with invited me to go with a group of people to see Son Rosado, a latin music band. I didn’t have any of the details, so I didn’t know if it would be at a concert hall or what, but it turned out to be at a bar called Mojo West. I was glad because we could dance instead of just listening! Of course we were shy at first, but after other people had been dancing for awhile Raymond (my fellow JET) and I got out there. Later, the singer gave a mini lesson, so everyone could dance to the remaining songs. It was so much fun! Every time I go salsa dancing I think I should do it more…
When I got back form Tokyo I still had a few days before school started so I asked my friend Hitoshi if he had some time to hang out. He is REALLY busy with work and never has weekends off so it’s hard for us to get together, but he had Thursday off! He wanted to go to the National High School Baseball Finals because a team from Okinawa, his home prefecture, was playing. It was as at Koshien, the stadium for the Hanshin Tigers professional team. Okinawa won! Here’s the Okinawa cheering section:
Since I was in Yokohama, I thought I’d check out the biggest Chinatown in Asia! Now I’ve been to all three Chinatowns in Japan; Yokohama, Kobe, and Nagasaki. I just walked around and took a few pictures. This is the temple gate from the inside of Ma Zhu Miao (“Masobyo” in Japanese) to the Goddess of the Sea.
I found the Japanese Overseas Migration Museum online and knew I HAD to go next time I was in Kanto! It’s all about the history and experience of Japanese people leaving Japan to start lives in other countries, which is part of my family history, as well as my academic interests. I have studied a lot about the Japanese American experience, so I knew much of the information in the museum, but the change in perspective, “going” instead of “coming,” was really interesting and I learned more about Japanese people in Brazil and Peru. Perfect for a rainy afternoon in Yokohama!
This is a display of suitcase and crates full of belongings that were taken on the long boat trip across the ocean to new homes.
There’s a new vegan cafe in Kyoto called Proverbs 15:17 that I’ve been to a few times and really enjoyed, so I thought I’d check out the owners’ original restaurant in Tokyo. At Kick Back Cafe, I was greeted by some of the same people who had been working at Proverbs, and they remembered me! They were really surprised and excited that I came, so my friends and I got the full star treatment with free drinks, no cover charge for the live music, waiters and cooks coming over to meet us and even face time with the owners!
The entertainment that night was Molly Jenson, a singer from the US who came to Japan just for a few days. She was great and I bought her CD!
For spring break I went to Tokyo to visit friends and catch up on interesting outings! This is Chiharu and Mio who took me to the East Garden at the Imperial Palace for some “hanami,” or flower viewing. The “sakura,” or cherry blossoms, were is full bloom and they were amazing!
I know you can’t see much, but this is the best of all the pictures I tried to take! I went to Omizutori in Nara with my fellow Joyo AETs (Assistant English Teachers) and two of our favorite JTEs (Japanese Teachers of English). Watching balls of fire fly across the balcony was great, I had never seen anything like it, but the crowd was kinda frustrating. It was so tight we couldn’t move and could barely see over the heads of the people in front of us! Festivals in Japan often come along with the feeling that you are packed in a confined space with a milion people, even if they are outside, like this one. For me it diminishes the beauty of whatever is being celebrated.
