Kimono Day

Four women and three men (which was all men in the program) in our 15-people program participated in the kimono event today. It really takes a long time and two to three people to help one put on kimono. We also learned how expensive they are. The one for wedding costs 5,000,000yen on average.

The ones we wore today are not for casual occasion but for when one attends a friend's wedding, or a match-making meeting.

The long sleeve and ribbon style we women wore today are for single women. Yes, I was the only married person in the group, but all the teachers said I am single while in Japan.

Belated Birthday Entry

Saikat and I hosted a birthday party together, having the same birthday, with him one year younger than I. We had it on the Friday before our birthday so our teachers could attend also. We invited our conversation partners' organization, and 11 of them registered while others also came.

It was a very big party, with at least 45 people attending. I scheduled food, a short game of charade, and then karaoke. Everyone said they had fun. I was just tired because I was running around taking care of people, and thus did not know if I could call myself relaxing. But it was so great seeing everyone's smile.

Unexpectedly (really), I got presents from many people, and everyone except for one person in my 15-people program. I was pleasantly surprised because I honestly just wanted to have this opportunity to have friends and teachers taste Taiwanese and American foods, and Saikat's Indian food also. I felt embarrassed to receive presents. But I definitely felt everyone's love and joy. I thank them.

I made too much foods, and ended up having to throw away some of the Taiwanese sushi the next day after we could not finish them. We also got together one more time when Saikat made Indian curry and Miyuki made Korean kimchi soup. But we had to throw away most of the white rice. I also threw away some fruit salad. I really hate to throw away foods.

Happy belated birthday to all my family and friends! I am sorry that I did not message or email you but you are in my thoughts, your birthday or not.

Nabe

Directly from the airport, I took train to the station near my conversation partner's house last night to have dinner. We had nabe (hot pot), sushi, fruits, and mochi. Apparently every Japanese was eating mochi yesterday for the special day. Supposedly they made them yesterday and then ate them.

My conversation partner was hosting 3 Argentinian musicians. Merce from my program was present as Spanish-Japanese translator. I was surprised at how much Spanish I still understood, but then sad at how I can no longer speak any word... Argentinian humor is interesting, but not easy to understand.

Asakusa

I stayed at a hotel near Shinagawa in Tokyo and went to the Shinagawa Historical Museum yesterday morning (Sunday, Nov. 8). I did not know until after I got there that it was the site of the famous Omori Shell Mounds discovery site. It was a nice place with a pretty garden too.

I then headed to Asakusa Temple and Shrine. Out of the temples and shrines I have been to in Japan thus far, Asakusa was the most crowded one. It did not help that it was a Sunday and a special holiday for Japanese to bring their 3, 5, or 7 year olds to the shrine. I was not impressed with the temple or shrine at all, except for the following:

1. Chrysanthemum festival/contest winners and participants. They were fabulous.
2. Japanese money performing special jumping and walking obstacle courses.
3. Kids performing kabuki on stage.

Temples and shrines in Kyoto, Nara, Koyasan, Kamakura are just way better than this Asakusa place.

Shiawase

I met with Professor Rob Eskildsen at Obirin University on Wednesday- his work is outside my field and time period, but he was helpful. He also gave me copies of his articles.

Then yesterday, Thursday, I finally met with Professor Hong Yu-ru at Hitotsubashi University whose research is closest to mine (probably in the world), and she was super nice! She is still young, has published many articles and her newest book won some award in Japan- and she gave me a copy! The book costs 9700 yen plus tax (right now $1=90yen). She also gave me a copy of one of her articles, gave me coffee from Tully(? Tulley?) right when I walked in (she had bought two cups).

After the nearly two-hour talk about research and ourselves (our personal life also), she took me out to lunch! I was so happy to eat with her, and then she would not let me pay for my share. I had Japanese spaghetti for the first time, it was very Japanese because the sauce is this pickled plum vegetable with fatty pork slices. Can you imagine it? The corn soup was salty, but pretty good even though the corn have been crushed to bites. The dessert was really good, I am not sure what it is called. We also had coffee/tea. It was so great.

The story did not end here. We took train together until I transferred to a faster line to get to Shinjuku. We kept on looking at each other and waving to each other until my train moved away. I already like her very much because of her personality and work. Her hospitality really make me feel as if I was floating in the clouds, and as if I was dreaming. It was so unreal.

On the same night as when I had this wonderful experience (yesterday for me), I had another wonderful experience. I met up with Kyoko whom I knew from when I lived in International House at the University of Chicago. We met up in Ginza, walked around and then had sandwich for dinner. She totally spoiled me because she would only go where I want to go. Her words, `if you are happy then I am happy` really warmed up my heart. She has always been sweet, but her hospitality was superb.

There were two other great parts, it is her birthday today but I did not know, yet she gave me presents and treated me dinner! I was so embarrassed when she told me her birthday was today, after she had given me presents and bought me dinner. The presents included yummy Japanese corn stick cookie rolls and a really cute barbie doll dressed up in yukata/kimono (I cannot differentiate clearly) and geta (shoes). The barbie doll is so adorable!

These experiences, and the meeting-up with Colin at Shinjuku and he also treated me wonderful absolutely delicious dinner, all make me wonder if I deserve all these wonderful people`s kindness and love. Of course not to mention how the Japan Foundation Kansai Institute, the program I am in right now studying Japanese, has spoiled me in Japan. I am too lucky! I wonder if I deserve all of these...

I do wonder after all these wonderful things if bad things are going to happen next... There is Chinese proverb and Japanese also use it, that says good things do not necessary lead to good things in the future, and bad things do not necessary lead to bad things next.

Japanese school system

I visited a professor at Obirin University today. While hopping onto the bus, I realized that the school has kindergarten through university. I think it is fairly common in Japan to have the through-system. I think they tend to be private schools too.

I wonder why and how it works.

School uniforms

Mariana from my program once said to me that `because the skirt is short, they must be high schoolers.` Ever since then, whenever I see students in uniforms, I try to figure out if they are junior high or high schoolers. I think the length of the skirt is fairely accurate. Junior high schoolers have skirts below their knees while high schoolers have skirts above their kness (some are really short, like mini-skirts).

For boys, junior high schoolers tend to have the all-buttoned-up one-piece top (dark blue or black) while high schoolers tend to have suit-like clothes with ties (girls would have bows instead, and skirts intead of pants).

Perhaps wearing uniforms, especially suit-sytle ones, is the training for future professional dress code. If they can get used to it at a young age, they would not mind wearing them for work.

Akihabara

I ended up spending 3.5 hours at Akihabara, in which I was lost for probably 30 minutes. Akihabara truly lives up to its reputation as the electronics town. The electronics stores are all over town. Besides electronics, many manga-anime-related stores also exist. To my surprise, I found myself sort of fitting into the place because I like anime (even though I am only following two at this point and have no plan to start to follow any new ones). I saw the coolest anime merchandize ever- the manga/anime Bleach`s character, Urahara`s hat! After I told Jason, he and I really wished I had bought it. Unless something brings me back there before I leave Tokyo this Sunday, I do not plan to spend train fares just to buy the hat.

Highlights:
* The town is mostly men in their teens and twenties, but also older than that. I have finally met otaku.
* You can build your own ideal female figurine by not only buying her clothes but her body parts also.
* You can put as many coins as many times as possible in at least hundreds of vending machines that sell anime-Tokyo related toys/keychains/cell phone straps.
* You can get many electronics for cheap here.
* A guy I do not know hugged me from behind (like a lover`s hug). Luckily I had my (big) backpack on and so I felt the least impact possible. He probably mistakened me for his girlfriend who was standing next to me.
* Anime-lovers must come to this place. You can find cool merchandize like I did (but did not buy).
*Second-hand electronics and toys are also for sale.
* After a while every electronics store looks the same... So were the anime stores...

Shinjuku, Okubo, Shibuya, Meiji Shrine, Harajuku

I was in Shinjuku for two hours with Colin on Thursday, Oct. 30. I then remember that it was the place I went to with Jason last year. The place I did not like because the big TV screen flashed at me right after we got off the train station last year. I am okay with it this time though.

Shinjuku has people from all age-groups and seems to have all types of shops everywhere. I was too tired to walk around though.

Okubo, where I stayed in the hotel, is a Korean area. It means you can eat Korean foods and buy Korean goods here. I only walked a bit near my hotel because I was too tired after doing research all day in Waseda University (6 hours the first day, then 10 hours the next day).

I wondered around in Shibuya for a bit, not knowing where I was going. This is supposed to be where young people hangout, and I guess it is true because I saw more young people than elsewhere. Shops also to be hip and expensive.

From Shibuya, I ended up in Meiji Shrine walkway, which have super-expensive shops! Armani, Gucci, etc.

I decided to walk to the Meiji Shrine, but stopped because my legs were too tired/hurt from the all-day walking. Instead, I end up in the Harajuku area, which has cheap shops. The stores also to be on the younger and hip side.

I saw the most foreigners in Tokyo compare to other parts of Japan. Yes, not even in Osaka or Kyoto are this many foreigners present.

Flea Market

I walked into the Yokohama Arena and found the flea market taking place today. I ended up spending a lot money, but only 300 yen on used stuff- one shirt, one scarf, and one umbrella.

I did not understand the event at first because merchants I encountered at first were all selling new stuff, and I did not realize I had bought second-hand shirt and scarf until much later when I began to see tons of places selling `100 yen-only` for shirts, pants, jackets, shoes, etc. This made me realize that Japanese are instead in a bad recession. But then I also remember reading the article in my Japanese textbook that says flea markets are getting more popular in Japan because Japanese are becoming more environmentally-conscious and they also like cheaper but good-quality goods.

Two complaints- the smell of second-hand goods was not that great and that most places have so much clothes piled on top of each other in big piles that it was difficult to select goods.

Japanese kids and Baseball

When I first got to Yokohama today, I walked to the park where games were taking place. I think all kids are elementary, maybe early junior high. They already have stronger arms than I do and can throw the balls really far and strong. I am impressed with their skills. I thought how everything really start when kids are young.

I also thought about how true Japanese say it costs a lot of money to raise kids. If a kid participate in baseball team activity at a young age, they have to buy all the equipment (uniform, socks, shoes, bags, cap, etc.) and probably pay some fees from then until they quit the activity. This is just one thing that costs money for Japanese parents.

Still, I see more kids in Japan than I thought. But I must say so far I see way more kids in the Kansai (west) area than the Kanto (east) area.

Yokohama`s Ramen Museum

I went to Yokohama on my first day off research-related activity. I did not go to the *real* Yokohama, but to the Shin (means `new`) Yokohama station area to visit the Ramen Museum. I thought I had wasted my 300 yen admission fee at first because I only saw the souvenir store and the display of ramen`s history in Japan, the various styles of ramen in Japan now, and the essential tools used at a ramen shop. But when I head downstairs to have lunch, I became happier because the set-up was a 1950s Japanese shop area. Police station, barbershop, salon, train station, tobacco shop, doctor`s office, residential places, hot bath place, motorcycles, and movie theaters. One can only see the outside of each place and not enter except for the policy station and the phone booth. One could also see the locker area of the hot bath place and the train station.

Besides the various ramen style restaurants, they actually sell drinks, snacks and games in the style of the 1950s Japan. There was also one shop where they sold all `traditional` Japanese toys and snacks. I wanted to buy this gel thing that you get to make a ball/balloon thing because I used to play with it as a kid in Taiwan. I did not buy it because I wanted to wait until I get to Taiwan- probably cheaper.

In summary, I think it is worth it to go visit this place once, especially if you like older things or/and ramen.

Bathroom-less, Internet-less Hotel

In a hurry, I booked a bathroom-less and internet-less hotel in the Okubo area to stay at while conducting research at Waseda University for the last two nights. Besides that, the hotel`s proximity to the train station (literally right next to the train track), and the slight tobacco smell, the room was actually nice. I reserved a Japanese style room, which means I got to sleep on comfortable futon (and interesting pillow) on tatami mats. It was fun sitting on tatami eating my dinners, and wearing yukata (Japanese bathrope) after taking a bath. The hotel has two bathrooms. The manager let me use the bigger one the first night, and the bathtube was heart-shaped. The second night I used the much smaller bathroom, it is the standard size if you have ever seen one (similar to Taiwan`s size).

Tokyo in general

I only spent four days in the Kansai (West Japan) area doing research before heading to Tokyo. I have been in Tokyo for five days now, and I think I am getting used to how there are more people and noise in Tokyo. Everything has a faster pace. Things start early and end late everyday.

I like the foods better this time because I am eating mostly onigiri (rice balls) with mandarin oranges or vegetables. They are not as salty as the bento (lunch box) I had most of the time the last research period when I was in Tokyo.

Research typing

Because it costs 50 yen (exchange rate is about 90 yen per dollar) per copy, I decided to type up research notes at Waseda University Library (instead of write because I got tired from hand-write research notes for 6 days almost straight, with one-day break after the fourth day). I spent two hours typing up two-page 12-point-font word doc file. The book was quite large but it was 2.5 pages. I wonder if it is worth it to type it up. I had thought about typing up all my handwritten notes at some point...

The good thing was that I got to learn how to read a 1919 Japanese government document, which means older Chinese characters (actually traditional Chinese format with meaning closer that Taiwan uses now) and older Japanese grammar. I got to learn how to read the kanji in Japanese.

Unlike the last research period (one-week at the end of August), I feel like I am actually doing research this time around (two-week period from Oct. 24 to Nov. 8). Rather than browsing through sources, I read through them and thus have more knowledge than before. I begin to feel excited about research again but I need to find my master thesis topic before I head back to the States.

Train conductors

I wonder if train conductors greet each other when they pass by one another while driving the trains... Is it possible for express train conductors? What about Shinkansen conductors?

Zoo, a Sad Place

I cannot look at zoos the same way anymore... I visited the third-most-famous zoo in Japan, Tennoji Zoo in Osaka, last Sunday, October 25. It was a great zoo with many different animals from all over the globe. I really enjoyed the place, including seeing many parents with their children there. Young couples and older women friends were also there.

Whenever I could tell, I swore that the animals were all sad. They all looked so lonely, as many of them live alone in the cage. There was one especially sad-looking primate, whose hands held onto the bars, and stared at us. I felt like crying, but I stared at him for a long time too...

I don`t think I can go to a zoo again unless I take my kids there for their sake. I much prefer to find animals in their natural habitat. It is much more fun that way also, to understand where they live.