Golden Week cont'd.... Kamakura.

I've been here several times before, but it's worth photo-ing every time. The beautiful hike through a range of heavily forested hills from my aunt and uncle's place takes us down into the ancient city of Kamakura, featuring magnificent temples and shrines.

This boy was deeply into his DS. I think his family made him come on this trip when really, all he wanted to do was stay at home and play DS so he compromised by doing both. He would run ahead of his family, plop himself down and play for a minute while his family caught up with him, and then run ahead again, etc...

Bamboo is awesome.

There's that kid again! Brett and I were a bit startled... "Didn't we just pass him...?"Old, old trees received as gifts from China in the year 7th century.

A father chasing his well protected-child.

Stacks of traditional sake kegs... with Asahi beer cases??

Golden Week continued... Tokyo.


A really weird Uniqlo store in Harajuku district. Uniqlo is a Japanese clothing brand specializing in cheap, simple fashion - cool t-shirts, sweaters, jeans, fleeces, etc. Nothing high-brow, but ideal for everyday fasha. This particular store, however, had nothing but t-shirts... moreover, t-shirts sold in plastic canisters with codes written on them... it was like a giant t-shirt vending machine.

The floor was a giant mural.

My cousin Taiki and me. He took me and Brett to a really good yakitori (lit. "grilled bird") restaurant that he works at. I gave it a thumbs up.

Here is photo that I felt moved to take. Japan's cities are really messy and cluttered and much of that has to do with the fact that they don't bury their telephone or cable lines like we do in the rest of the modern world. When I first came to Japan, this was something that I noticed immediately... Why the heck are their so many powerlines everywhere?? It brings new meaning to the image of "urban jungle".

Azusa at the gate of the controversial Yasukuni shrine. It is dedicated to the memory of soldiers and others who have died serving Japan. The controversial part is that of the roughly 2.5 millions people enshrined, over 1000 of them have been convicted of war crimes by a post-World War II court. Some of these guys did some sick sick things during the war.

A bookwall.

"Live at the Budokan!" We didn't see a show, but we saw the outside of this legendary stage where many a rock star has made their Japan debut.

Oh, wait, this isn't part of Golden Week at all! This was when Brett, Aaron, Matt (above, with Brett) and I went to Tokyo to see the FOO FIGHTERS. Which rocked the hell out of us. Here we are pre-show, eating outside a nice cafe. It was cold out so the waitress brought out these really nice Scottish wool tartan blankets.

Golden Week 3 Months After The Fact: Featuring: Brett and Ken's Relatives.

On this trip, Brett finally gets to come across Japan and meet my relatives.

First: Yamanashi, the land of fresh fruit and clean air and majestic mountains ringing the city.



Also, the land of electronic recorders. About a month previous to our visit, my Grandpa came down with a case of shingles which crept into his inner ear (screwing up his sense of balance) and his eyes (which screwed up his vision). This led someone to give him this electronic recorder to play with because it didn't require vision or balance. Incidentally, Brett has OK vision and excellent balance, but horrible hearing, which I think is better for playing the electric recorder.
My grandpa has since recovered (pretty much miraculously) very well and is back to his usual out-and-about ways.

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Yokohama with my Dad's youngest sister's family.

This store is in Motomachi, an old upscale shopping area of Yokohama with many clothing boutiques like the Wood & Pecker.

BBQ at my Aunt and Uncle's place. Left to right: cousin Jun, Brett, cousin Hidemi.

This family enjoys their fine alcoholic beverages so I brought them a bottle of my Dad's favourite whiskey, Bush Mills, and it's more expensive sibling, Black Bush pictured above.

Brett and I swinging sweetly in the lovely backyard created by my Aunt Eiko.

Uncle Eisuke grilling steak, chops, and chicken. Great guy. He always has his hands in his pockets (he's always cold) and slouches around in the manner of a powerful man who has no need to impress anybody.

Meatless Like Me.

http://www.slate.com/id/2190872

BURMA --- CHINA ---: How can you help?

www.mcc.org

The best NGO out there!

Mennonite Central Committee is a non-governmental organization (NGO) and personally, one of the best that I've ever come across. I went to Uganda, East Africa for a year after high school with MCC's SALT program, and was very impressed with the way MCC worked in building communities, helping the grass-roots at the most micro level.

You may be aware that the Burmese military government has been appallingly negligent of their own people by basically blocking out foreign aid and letting their own citizens die by the tens of thousands as disease and hunger spreads day by day. Getting aid into Burma has been a tricky logistical thing for major aid providors, but fear not, MCC has partners (local NGOs) that are already established and running in Burma and all donations to MCC will go to these trusted NGOs.

Give a few bucks, please.

OKINAWA Part III: Aquariummmm.

Outside the aquarium: a misty kid-cooler-offer (It cools kids off. It doesn't offer cooler kids).

That monstrous giant of a shark is the whale shark. I was telling my students how awesome this whale shark was - just going on and on about the size of the whale shark whale shark whale shark! At the end of that day as I was about to hop on my bike to go home, what do I find on the seat of my bike, but this anonymous little gift pictured below!

OKINAWA: Part I.

This distant speck of a prefecture, historically and geographically closer to Taiwan and China than Japan, is a strange, sad, wonderful place. To many, Okinawa evokes images of pristine beaches, clear water, and a relaxed island culture that features reggae and hip hop music. This is one face of Okinawa.

Another face of Okinawa proper is, in the words of Robyn, my friend and host during my brief 5 day holiday there, the 'concrete eyesore' (to be fair, nearly all Japanese cities are concrete eyesores). At least Naha is, and everyone says Okinawa City is even more ghetto. But there is, at least in my eyes, a kind of alluring quality to the crumbling storefronts and faded facades. Okinawa has character.

The fact that Naha, Okinawa and other cities in Okinawa appear so old is an interesting paradox inasmuch as no building on the main island is older than 60 years. Over 80 percent of the island was bombed to rubble by the U.S. near the end of World War II and as such, practically every structure you see on Okinawa is relatively new; rebuilt during the post-war period. The crumbling oldness in Okinawa is, in fact, more to do with the fact that Okinawa is Japan's poorest prefecture than the passing of time.

Some very terrible things happened to Okinawa and her people during WWII in which many Okinawans were not only killed in battle, but also sometimes ordered by the Japanese military to commit mass suicides (to avoid capture by the barbarious Americans).

Okinawans are now often seen as a resilient, hardy people who nonetheless, or perhaps because of these hardships, also have a reputation for being much more laid back and carefree than the rest of Japan. Maybe they see more than others how fleeting life can be and thus, are determined not to let their office be their coffin, as is the case for too many mainland Japanese salarymen/women.

Enough of the heavy.
________________________

My visit to Okinawa was really a visit to my friend Robyn, whom I had met at JET orientation in Toronto so many years ago. She basically devoted 3 whole days to me; driving around, showing me beaches, mountain-top restaurants, and all the places you don't get to see on tour.

Some photos:


Robyn on the left, her friend and fellow Canadian Khadija at the tombs of ancient Ryukyuu royalty.

Shuri Castle. Tons of Chinese influences in the design.

The best seat in the house.

Crumbling oldness.

Hello Kitty.

Robyn.

Robyn approaching the best pizza place in Japan. Located on the top of a very green hill, you have to drive through windy tiny roads , weaving your way through vineyards and gardens until you come across this place (which was packed). Great view, great decor (all old dark wooden beams and boards) and great pizza. Two kinds: Meat, or Veggie.

Meat.