Cherry Blossoms by Night

Well, Spring is everywhere at the moment even if it did rain for all of Thursday, and in Japan that means cherry blossoms - Sakura. People are out and about celebrating the arrival of spring with 'Hanami', hard to define, a sort of celebration though. After a long, cold winter, where even Yokohama saw some snow, the white and pink flowers are out on the trees and Spring is definitely in the air.






I must admit, I feel that Japanese people are just a little too obsessed with the cherry blossoms. There's no product that isn't more marketable with 'Sakura' in the title. It's a common girl's name. Advertising uses the cherry blossom image a lot. Lots of manga incorporates it. But for Hanami, it is celebrated by people going out at night with night stalls set up selling all kinds of food, games for the kids like ring-toss and shooting-parlour games, and small tents that double as bars. Here are some of the photos I took last night when out not too far from central Yokohama.




I was hoping to sit down and eat and drink, but the consensus appeared to be that we would drink, eat and walk which wasn't quite so easy. Still it made for a very pleasant evening out. But I started to realise that when you are with the in-laws you don't get the chance to sit back and enjoy at the pace you'd like to. It's nobody's fault, they are busy, there's work after all and dinner to prepare and all that. Still, it would have been nice to grab a chair and chat and meet some people.

But you know, such is life as a great Aussie once said. Thanks for reading everyone today - tomorrow I will be back on the culture shock bandwagon as it were talking about my experiences dealing with it in West Africa. Until then, may the journey never end!
(Yes, I have a catchphrase now!)

Boo! Here's a friend I made.

Catching fish to the joy of the kids!

False Spring

Although the hills look quite beautiful today, I must admit to being rather sick of winter. Today was supposed to be the first day of spring!
Oh well, Ichinoseki can be quite beautiful even with snow!

Where the Wild Things Are.

Well, today was an interesting day! Not too far from Ichinoseki - perhaps 30km or so, is... wait for it... you won't see this one coming....

A SAFARI PARK!

I kid you not. Somehow for 2 years I have resisted going. Perhaps it was the cost, or the fact that I didn't know where it was, or perhaps it was the fact that I thought - ' A Safari Park in cold Iwate? Now that is ridiculous!'

But
today I had an offer from a friend here to go with his family to the Safari Park, and as some sort of initiative the Safari Park was allowing free admission to everyone living in Ichinoseki. So off we went!

What can one expect from a 'Safari Park' in Northern Honshu, Japan? Well, we piled into a bus cunningly disguised as a giant tiger. Bit gates opened to let us in, shut behind us too. We were in a large enclosure with a tiger. Just the one. There was another in a separate area. A little further on there were some cheetahs. I think. Or leopards. Am I a moron for not being able to tell the difference? Neither can change their spots, I know that much!

The area right now, indeed in Ichinoseki too, is just recovering, very slowly, from winter. So everything is brown, it looks a little like Victoria at the end of a long, dry summer. It's the lack of sunlight combined with having a bit of snow of course making it seem that way. But today you could almost be forgiven for thinking spring was thinking of arriving. Temperature was pushing ten degrees and it was sunny.

There's nothing that amazing about the Safari Park. The normal cost is 3000 yen entry. There are quite a few animals in there including giraffes, zebra and lions. The zebras and giraffes along with lamas and deer and similar creatures come right up to the bus and the kids can feed them biscuits sold for a rather expensive 1000 yen. But the kids LOVED it, especially the giraffe - I never realised just how big a giraffe head was until it came up to the open window of the bus.

The lions paid the bus almost no attention. They sat stoic and proud in their pride. The change from winter to spring made some of the animals look dirty - there was a bit of mud around. After the safari ride in the bus - around 45 minutes - was done, there were elephant rides to be had.
I imagine winter must be hell for the poor creatures not used to this climate. The summer is probably pretty nice although it would be nicer for them to have their freedom. To be honest though, I was pleasantly surprised at the conditions - they were better than I expected, and there certainly was a wider range of animals to see than I expected as well.

If you are in Ichinoseki, you'll probably need a car to see the Safari Park  - and a decent map. It's not very Japanese but for local families it's a decent day out. It was a nice day out for me too!

For my ebook on Japan, go here - Short Journeys: Japan

A Day in Morioka

Well, yesterday I paid what could well be my last visit to Morioka. I needed to collect my new spouse visa at the Immigration Office - my contract is nearly finished but I will be in Yokohama for 6 weeks from the end of March, and return a heavy bag of text books to my company's office.
It wasn't a smooth day by any means, I left with barely enough time to make my train, and then on the way to the station the bag fell apart, and books lay on the road as light snow fell and I had to pick them up and carry them in my arms to the station. Bought my ticket, ran to the platform to see the train pulling away. 30 seconds too late. Some days are like that. It was over an hour until the next train. I bought a bag to carry the books and read a good deal of 'A Dance with Dragons', which I stalled at reading last year but am determined to finish sooner or later. I am 60% of the way through. Still confident it will get finished before the next book is out though!

In Morioka there was a severe wind-chill factor and at no point, inside or out, did I even consider taking my thick jacket off. To get my visa I first needed to pay a fee, which you do on a different floor and you get a stamp that you hand to the staff at the visa office. It looked like a normal postage stamp and for all I know, it was. The photo I had given them was the same as the one on my residence card for the previous 12 months, and they wanted a new one and directed me to go to a nearby building and get more photos taken. However, I pulled out a different passport sized photo from my money belt and they accepted that. Hassle, averted!

I was lucky enough to bump into some fellow employees at the visa office who gave me a lift to the company office, my bag of books was going to be a pain to carry the 2km or so. After returning the books I wandered around to find the 'rock splitting cherry tree', something of a 'natural national treasure', located outside a government building. Not so impressive until spring hits and the cherry blossoms are in bloom, you can see by the photos it is pretty well-regarded!

Then to the building 'Aiina', where I met my good friend and long-term resident Dean Rueztler, to record a conversation. What? What's all that about I hear you say? Well, some time ago I said I was looking into getting a podcast happening. Finally, I have started. Look to mid-April for the first one to be available for free down on the net, it may or may not be the one I recorded yesterday with the man below, Dean. We waxed lyrical about living in Japan, the best and the worst, the frustrations and so forth. It promises to be a great listen!

And then there was time for dinner and political talk before I made my way back to Ichinoseki. I'm here until nearly the end of March (28th I leave, nightime bus). And I realised, well, my time is coming to a close in Iwate. I had my last day at my other school on Wednesday - stay tuned for more on that tomorrow. Oh and before I go...

Short Journeys: Laos

is now available for only 85 cents on Payhip (same price now for Short Journeys: Ethiopia and Kazakhstan too). Second edition includes a couple of useful websites, a few changes and tinkering and perhaps one or two new photos. Also, you'll find previews available for all three books on Payhip too. Short Journeys: Laos also added to Lulu for $1.99.

More information on the podcast will be coming. Keep your eyes peeled!