A Year in Japan

August 2002

Late July and August is the traditional festival (Matsuri) period in Japan when every town has its own celebrations. After a day`s teaching at Shimodate on Saturday, Yuka, the Teaching Assistant and me walked downtown to watch the festivities. Matsuri (meaning both `festival` and `worship`) are riotous occasions where Mikoshi (portable shrines) are shouldered by a seething, chanting crowd, usually fortified with quantities of saki and driven on by resonating drums.

This was a local affair and different parts of the town had their own laquered Shinto shrines containing the spirit of a deity. The heaviest were carried by men on a grid of heavy wooden beams shouldering a heavy gilded wooden shrine with lit lanterns hanging off it. Some of these had over 100 sweating men in white headbands and costumes under them all yelling chants of "Wasshoi" . They`d stagger down the street, like huge drunk elephants, careening into the sightseers standing by the edge of the road. After 5 minutes of shouldering the burden, A-frames would be placed beneath the wooden beams and everyone would take a break. They teetered around narrow packed streets for three hours before heading for the central meeting area near the Temple. Other lighter shrines were carried by groups of women and children. When the shrines came across each other in the street, they would totter around each other and try and outroar the opposition.

Every shrine was accompanied by trolleys of drums which were also carried while drummers beat out a rhythm to keep the shrine carriers in synch. Four of these in the same vicinity sounded like a heavy metal band auditioning for a new drummer. Rapid rat-a-tat-tat mixed with really loud deep thudding. The largest shrine had a huge canopied drum platform being carried behind by 50 men. The immense drum was about 2m square and was bashed with huge drumsticks by a shaven headed, costumed man.

The streets were packed with locals. Many had dressed up for the occasion in costumes and kimonos, but in the heat, most of the teenage girls had dressed down or not at all. There was a carnival atmopshere, where people greeted each other and laughed at their friends staggering around beneath the shrines. I bumped into half a dozen of my students during the evening. That evening, before the festival, my last class of three lovely ladies had bought in a hotplate and cooked me stuffed Japanese pancakes and Monji (like a thick vegetable gravy/stew). They were obviously worried I was losing weight!

Since the schools had finished for the summer, various students were away on holiday or cancelling to have a break. I cruised through as many classes as possible and banned all homework. My teaching hours hoovered around 25 hours. In the sweltering heat, I`d turn up to schools sweating like a pig, even though I drove with all the car windows down. The classrooms are all air conditioned so I soon cool down. Its not just the heat. Its the humidity and lack of wind. On a few occasions, I would attempt to sunbathe in the back garden but would retire back to my fan after 30 minutes. I was dying out there.

The humidity would build up over days and then be dissapated by terrifying electric tropical storms. I was driving home from a school one night, when a storm hit the area big time. There were lightening storms all around and in long blasts the entire sky all around me would erupt from darkness into light. It was as bright as day. Then the rain crashed down. The road had an inch over it within 10 minutes. My little car had water coming off the tyres like a waterskier. Then the thunder and lightening bolts started. Right over head. Tremendous cracks. I was drenched getting from the car park to the flat but had the luxury of watching the rest of the storm from my window. The storm had blown my laundry off the balcony.

During July, there was a serious breakdown in communication between the teachers and the Japanese staff. I seem to get on with everyone, including the staff at Headquarters and the teaching assistants at the individual schools. English Steve had also told me that my students `loved me`. Despite a five and a half day working week, I was relatively happy with my schedule. Other teachers were being messed around. We are supposed to arrive 20 minutes before our first lesson. Noone had told James this when he arrived (admittedly he did not read his contract either) and for the first month, merrily turned up 10 or 15 minutes early as he had done in his last job in Hungary. At the end of July, he was told he would be fined 15,000Yen for "being late". His reaction would have been mine. He threatened to quit on the spot. "How can I be fined for arriving early to lessons?". The school backed down and he stayed.

Inevitably, it is how you deal with the individual teaching assistants at the schools. On the few occasions I have been late, the TAs have still written 20 minutes against my name after sweet talking to them. James trusts them about as far as he can throw them. There were also some problems with teachers swapping classes. We all have our own fixed schedules and only under exceptional circumstances were teachers allowed to take a day off, if they could find another teacher to cover. Then that teacher would work an extra day for their cover person later on. The school, in typical Japanese style decided to stamp out cover by fining Canadian Debroah who had covered Forest for two days when he headed back to the States during the last major vacation. Upon return, Forest covered Debroah for the two days owed. Imagine her surprise when she was told that she was losing 2 days salary for failing to turn up, even though her classes were covered. She quit on the spot, as did her husband Jason and Forest also thought sod `em. He handed in his notice. So by the end of August, instead of 3 teachers leaving, we have 6; 25% of the workforce. To date, only 2 new teachers have arrived.

Morale was so low, that US Sam and Christina took it upon themselves to draft a two page list of issues to be discussed at the monthly teachers meeting. 12 teachers met in advance to discuss the strategy of attack. Fortnately, the BES Team who run the show (Yuko, Margot, Shun and English Steve) have recruited Canadian Luke from the teaching staff. He has been here nearly a year and has watched the place go crazy.He is really keen to try and sort it out and is now acting as a mediator between the teachers and the BES team, which many teachers have lost confidence in. Cool, calm and diplomatic, Luke`s doing a good job, and has got the confidence of the teachers behind him. Personally, I don`t get involved in the personal agendas that people have. It makes fun gossip as I watch people self destruct in frustration, but I`m not here for life. I`m nearly 5 months through a year`s contract. I just keep my head down, my powder dry and my pecker clean. It is starting to feel like a year`s overseas duty in Vietnam. You start counting off the days. Every month brings a new list of casalties. By the end of August, I`ll have gone from being a new boy to one of the `lifers`.

On top of all this, the school is trying to introduce new teaching contracts. The old contract is supposedly for 30 teaching hours over 5 days (though I offered to do the company class in the evening of my day off) with a strange bonus system that noone can work out (teaching hours, numbers of students and amount of classes etc). The new contract is for 33 hours over 6 days with a rise of 10,000 yen a month, a 5000Y bonus for perfect attendence and a 10,000Y bonus for each month completed. I for one do not want to teach 6 full days a week and would rather earn less money if it gives me more free time. I seem to be cruising on 25 hours a week which is comfortable. I tried 33 when the school went tits up last time and after 3 weeks of it I was gonna kill somebody. So the existing and surviving teachers are sticking to the old contract, and any new poor sod has to sign the new one. Aussie Keith, had kicked up a fuss over the old contract when he arrived and hadn`t signed. Because of this he was forced to sign the new one and is kicking himself over it. How I laughed.

So with all this internal politics going on, people needed to talk and when they needed to talk, they needed to drink heavily. During the first week of August, I had 6 heavy boozy nights of banter among different people which never ended before 3am and usually petered out around 5am. One night, at 2am, Forest, James, Lindsay and me raided the local dump where I found 2 sets of skies, 3 sets of ski boots, poles and even a ski carrier for the car roof. So thats the winter sport taken care of. We also found a bag of unused fireworks that we let off in a paddy field. You can buy fireworks here all year round for about 1000Y a bag.

I had been given a directory of available radio stations on my internet radio. They totalled around 240 channels! Here is a selection. 24 hour Elvis Presley, Beatles, and Oasis channels, Heavy Metal, Japanese Harp, Japanese Cute Girls (eh?), Baroque, Radio Disney, Sea Wave Seashore, Sea (Whales and Dolphin noises), Music For On The Job (oo-er), Pachinko Arcade, Naval Marches (where Japan pretends it won the war), Yodel, Argentian Tango etc etc. Something for all the family.

You may remember how I last told you that Aussie Keith had left his wallet on his dashboard with the window down and it was still there. When I rolled home one morning after crashing at Canadian Joans, I could see a policeman in the parking lot of Grandale. Keith`s car had had a window smashed and the contents stolen, as had Kip`s, a new teacher who had only been here for a few days. So much for crime free Japan.

At the end of that week, it was Irish Karl`s farewell meal. He was headed back to Belfast after 8 months to get a proper education. We had booked a restaurant where for 3000Yen each, you could eat and drink all the beer you wanted in two hours. Considering that a beer costs 500Y in Japan, you only needed to drink 6 to pay for the night. That took me about 30 minutes. Sat on tatami mats (no chairs in Japanese restaurants), I gorged myself on kebabs, nibbles in batter, raw fish and chatted among the 18 teachers who were there. The largest social gathering we have had. I met Kip, a 43 year old new teacher from Seattle who has been in Japan for 3 years. He told me about campaiging in 1991 for Bill Clinton when he made his first bid on the US Presidency. Kip concluded "He`s a very intelligent guy, but emotionally he`s a retard". There were two other new teachers; 22 year old Chris from Canada and 42 year old Jane, with a broad New Zealand accent. Around 1pm after the meal, a dozen of us retired to a quiet basement bar where we shot pool and slurred our way into the dawn.

The following day, I visited the Gama (Toad) Festival at Mt Tsukuba shrine. Once upon a time, a certain toad was locked in a cage with mirrors to sweat out it`s grease, which was bottled and sold as a magic health tonic. To continue this tradition, this festival had half a dozen men dressed in ye olde Japanese costumes and long swords. They stood on a stage with a box and spent ten minutes presenting a speil about the wonders of toad grease. One man pretended to slash his arm with his sword. (False) blood trickled down his arm. He then applied the grease and hey presto, the bleeding stopped. The heat was blinding and everyone in the crowd were given colourful Japanese fans to wave in front of their faces.

Wednesday morning. 4am. It was too hot to sleep. I was awoken by a booming chorus of cicadas (large Japanese crickets) outside. The noise was ferocious. I sat outside on my balcony where it was cooler. An ambulance went past and woke the Hound From Hell who howled away in tune with the siren. Then the Jogger From Hell turned up, grunting away. The perfect start to the day. I drove down to Narita Airport early that morning to collect my parents who had flown in from London for 11 days.

I had warned them about the heat, but when they left the airport, the impact slapped them in the face. As we walked around the Narita Shrine Complex and gardens (see first Japanese update for details), my dad, in long trousers and vest (to stay warm in the air conditioned plane), said later `I thought I was going to die from heat stroke`. More importantly, the vast amounts of English chocolate hauled over were baking in the suitcases in the Mr Whippy car. We retreated to Tsukuba and took in the Big Buddha (tallest statue in world, see earlier update) nearer home. `Not something you see everyday, in the middle of nowhere` quipped father.

Travelling Business Class, they had almost unlimited weight restrictions and had kindly hauled over about 35km of gear for me, most of which was food. So at the great upwrapping ceremony in my room, I was surrounded by English cheese, PG Tips t-bags, coffee, Shreddies breakfast cereal, bars of chocolate and chocolate biscuits, baked beans, polos, a haggis for a Japanese student, deoderant and shaving supplies, spare shirts, t-shirts, pants and socks, slippers, running shoes, towels, t-towels, bed linen, suntan lotion for Danielle and James, a stack of CDs and mags from a mate in England, and books and guidebooks for my next travelling. Just what the doctor ordered. Some proper English food.

You have no idea how good a cup of proper English tea tastes after months of crappy Japanese teabags. My dad accompanied me to my Company Lesson late that afternoon to have a chat with the students and on the way back we did a cheap supermarket run to pick up half price sushi and assorted Japanese foodstuffs for tasting. Dad was shocked at the price of fruit (`7 quid for a watermelon? They`re taking the piss`). In the heat, my freezer full of popsicles became a lifesaver for the Jack family 24 hours a day. You have to hand it to my parents. Both 69 years old, they were able to survive on my blow up double mattress which took up half my room every evening and rough it like the best of them (while I kept my bed). My mum immediately took over the kitchen department and organised the washing. Considering the heat in the first few days, they didn`t seem to have much jetlag, having slept most of the way here.

I was still teaching for 3 more days, so on Thursday and Friday, I took them for excursions in the daytime with early starts to avoid the roasting temperatures. We zipped up to Mito (capital of Ibaraki Prefecture) to visit Kairakuen, known as one of the three best garden parks in Japan. The 3,000 Japanese apricot trees had bloomed in February, We wandered around, sheltering from the sun in the shade beneath towering cedar trees and collossal bamboo trunks. My dad was fascinated at the Japanese habit of `mutilating` their trees. They cut off the main truck and forced to tree to grow it branches out horizontally instead, propping up the many metres of branch with wooden supports. `Torturing trees seems to be a national pasttime`.

I also took them to the shrine at the bottom of Mt Tsukuba and we toured downtown Tsukuba with a sneak visit to the Space Centre. I also took them for a tour of the local farmlands to see the rice paddies (which were starting to brown, ready for harvesting) and go scrumping Japanese Pears. It was interesting to see my parents reactions. It all looked new to them so they would remark on things that I had long ago taken for granted; the heavy black tiled roofs, how neat and tidy it was, the lack of litter, what people were wearing, the polite but slow driving, the endless traffic lights etc . After our touring, I would leave them in my room and head off for a full shift of teaching. Its tough going to work after being a tour guide, knowing that your popsicle supplies would be decimated.

On the Saturday, my parents escorted me to Shimodate school to observe me teaching the hoards of kids and put the kindergarten children through their paces. I got them standing on their heads, but failed miserably to get them to jump of the table and do a parachute roll on the floor. I`ll have to work on that. They will also have to be taught `Now drop and give me 20`. My mother chipped in with 35 years of teaching experience throughout the afternoon. Since I had some new students, I could illustrate how little they knew compared to my two sisters who I`d had for over 2 months and knew so much. My dad commented later in the week, that he felt I was a `natural` teacher. Which was nice. After school, in the evening, we met Danielle at Shimotsuma school and went to see the `3000 explosions` firework festival held at the town lake. There were 90 minutes of loud, colourful explosions launched from rafts in the lake, with classical music booming over the water. Many of the local women and girls wore traditional kimonos.

We took a train into Tokyo on the Sunday to stroll through the Imperial Palace Gardens. En route, a rather fat American tourist yelled at us for ignoring the red pedestrian lights on an empty road of cars and jaywalking; `Hey respect the laws in this country`. To which I wanted to reply `What are you gonna do lardass, bomb us?` but bit my tongue. The heat was again stifling but my parents enjoyed the greenery. Leaving my mum in an a/c waiting room at Tokyo Central Station, dad and me caught a train round to Harajuku to see the punks and weirdly dressed youth (very few today in the heat) and strolled through the Meiji-Jingu shrine complex where we bumped into Irish Tom who was still trying to remember the farewell dinner from the previous weekend. All these Tokyo sights were covered in an earlier update.

Back in Tsukuba late that afternoon, my mother recuperated enough to be introduced to the 100Yen shop which turned out to be the highlight of her trip. In these shops, everything is 100Y (about 55p) and is a goldmine of either useful stuff or complete tat. I sat outside in the sun and sipped cold beers while she explored the aisles like a bloodhound on the trail of an escaped murderer, examing everything and comparing prices with the UK. 90 minutes later, she emerged, 5000Y lighter and half a dozen bags full of gear. Revealing their existence `was a big mistake son` my father concluded. For the rest of the trip, you could forget the sights. My mother just peered out of the car window looking for new 100Y shops to exploit.

To head anywhere west in Japan, we had to go through Tokyo. Last time, I had driven it by night. Today we opted for a daytime assault on the untested (by me) Shunto Toll Road Expressway. This is an road that has been built above the city and weaves in and out of the tall buildings like an artery system of concrete. There are actually 4 expressways that make up the Shunto and we were looking for No 3. Mid morning, we were predicably stuck in grid locked traffic and crawling along. There were no traffic signs to tell us where we were on the Shunto. I stuck to my golden rule to `never leave the main highway until you see a sign, even if you think you are wrong`. My parents, frustrated by the traffic told me to pull over at some toilets and ask someone. Hardly anyone speaks English, but I found a young couple who told me that I was on the right road. They were headed for Fuji and we could follow them out of the city. My parents were happy and two minutes after we set off, a sign appeared. I was on the right road for No 3. I rest my case. We followed them for an hour and west of Tokyo, the expressway opened up and we could make good time. We had decided to splash out on the toll roads to save time and have a more comfortable traffic light free existence. We would spend over 110 English Pounds in tolls for the round trip but it was a relevation to me to drive so quickly and easily across Japan.

Its not until I had three adults and luggage in the car that I realised how small it was. My dad would stretch out on the backseat with cushions and hand out sandwiches and drinks like an air hostess when required.. Air conditioning was having the windows down all the time. I also discovered that I had little suspension at the back. The car would make a painful crunching sound over any bumps in the road. That said, the Mr Whippy car with its 660cc of engine was able to cruise comfortably down the Tomei Expressway Toll Road at 100kph. Periodically, the traffic would be backed up for inexplicable reasons and the Japanese would politely all stay in their lanes with plenty of space from the car in front and just crawl along as if they had all the time in the world. This afforded me the opportunity to switch between 3 lanes and the sliproads to get through the jams picking the lane which was moving the quickest. (`Feel free to pick a lane son, and stay in it!` Dad)

En route, on a beautiful hot day, we had glimpses of the sea on one side and the heavily forested hills on the other. There were many green tea plantations, something I hadn`t seen here. We passed Mt Fuji which was completely covered in mist and never saw it. We crossed over Nagoya (Japan`s 4th largest city) on the raised expressway in 30 minutes and were making excellent progress until another major traffic jam clogged our progress. I spotted a couple of hotels and decided that since it was 6pm, we might as well call it a day. When I entered the first hotel, there was noone around. Not even a reception. Instead, there was a panel of photos of the available rooms with serious bad taste themes and deco. You pressed a buzzer and the bedroom door would open. Flashing lights in the corridors led you to the room. I hadn`t come across this before and didn`t understand the procedure. I had entered an infamous `Love Hotel` where couples rent the room by the hour for a quick bonk and a rest. The rooms were equipped with everything you`d need including plates of conceptives, disposable panties and a karaoke machine (eh?). If you wanted the room, you returned to a slot in a wall in the lobby and paid for the time required. You could not see the receptionist and they could not see you. A hand would appear through the slot to take the money. It wasn`t quite what I had in mind for my parent`s first night in a Japanese hotel. The second hotel was the same. We trawled around the town looking for something and found a third hotel. It also turned out to be a Love Hotel. I`m sure they wondered what sexual deviates had walked in. A 69 year old couple and younger man? So I dragged my dad away from the disposable panties and we fled town back into the traffic jam which rejoining 90 minutes after we had escaped it was twice as bad. It was my only bad decision all week, but it was an `educational experience.`

Sometimes you really hate this country. I really hated it when I was stuck in this traffic jam that moved at the speed of the ice age in both lanes and we had to enter a 8 mile tunnel with our windows down, the trucks pumping out exhaust fumes and the warm humid temperatures increasing with the hot engines around in a trapped area. The other Japanese drivers sat patiently in their air tight, air conditioned cars with the stereos up loud and just sat it out in comfort. Bastards! By the time we turned off at the next town, Igaueno, it was 9pm. No sign of a hotel anywhere. I popped into a beer shop and asked. There was a hotel just down the sidestreet. The City Hotel turned out to be a kosher hotel with proper receptionists, dressing gowns and slippers (for us, not the receptionists). Leaving my parents to recover, I found a large supermarket for the late night discount sushi. By the time I returned, it was after 10pm. I had been driving for over 12 hours. Did that first cold beer taste good or what?

The following morning, it would have been tempting to explore this pleasant castle town with streets like a checkerboard. It was the hometown of Japan`s most famous poet Basho, a Haiku poet. In Japan, they have replaced the impersonal and unhelpful Microsoft error messages with Haiku poetry messages. Haiku poetry has strict construction rules - each poem has only 17 syllables; 5 syllables in the first, 7 in the second, 5 in the third. They are used to communicate a timeless message, often achieving a wistful, yearning and powerful insight through extreme brevity. Here are some actual error messages from Japan that are the essence of Zen:

Your file was so big.
It might be very useful.
But now it is gone.
---------------
Chaos reigns within.
Reflect, repent, and reboot.
Order shall return.
---------------
Program aborting:
Close all that you have worked on.
You ask far too much.
---------------
Windows NT crashed.
I am the Blue Screen of Death.
No one hears your screams.
---------------
Yesterday it worked.
Today it is not working.
Windows is like that.
----------------
First snow, then silence.
This thousand-dollar screen dies
So beautifully.
----------------
Stay the patient course.
Of little worth is your ire.
The network is down.
----------------
A crash reduces
Your expensive computer
To a simple stone.
----------------
Three things are certain:
Death, taxes and lost data.
Guess which has occurred.
----------------
Having been erased,
The document you're seeking
Must now be retyped.
----------------
Serious error.
All shortcuts have disappeared.
Screen. Mind. Both are blank.

Instead, we left early for Nara and met Sayo and her husband. This 40 something couple had lived in Lowestoft, England (my old home town) for four years on a job exchange. My mother had met Sayo at flower arranging classes and kept in contact. Originally from Osaka, they had lived in Nara for 5 years. For the next 24 hours, they were exceptional hosts taking us around, feeding us and showing us Japanese culture.

Nara; Todai Ji, Horyu Ji

Before Kyoto became the capital of Japan in 794AD, this honour was held by Nara, a town 35km further south in an area which is regarded as the birthplace of Japanese civilisation. It was the first permanent capital of Japan. Previously, the capital had moved to the palace of whichever Emperor was reigning. But from 710 to 794AD, Nara was a large metropolis of palaces, temples, shrines and dwellings. During this period, particularly the seventh and eighth centuries, Buddhism became firmly established within Japan alongside the indigneous Shinto religion. A frenzy of building and artistic creativity culminated in the unveiling of the great bronze Buddha in Todai-ji Temple in 752AD. As the temples became increasingly powerful, so the monks began to dabble in politics and even tried to usurp an Emperor who decided to move his court and founded Kyoto.

Today, Nara is a relaxed, attractive place (pop 390,000) set against a backdrop of wooded hills. The main sights are all gathered in the green expanse of Nara-koen (park) where 1200 semi wild deer sheltered in the shade or looked for handouts from the many visitors here. In olden days they were considered messengers of the gods and today enjoy the status of national treasures. I think the message they are conveying now is that `(deer) shit happens`. I rate Nara-koen as the most attractive urban place I have seen in Japan. It was wonderful to have the deer wandering around the beautiful gardens and temples.

General Photos of Nara

Todai-Ji Temple was founded in 745 by Emperor Shomu, (to ward off the terrible epidemics that regularly swept the nation, but also as a means of cementing imperial power), It took 15 years to complete and the main hall became the world`s largest wooden building. It is protected by UNESCO World Heritage. The present structure (rebuilt in 1709) looks huge from the outside but is only two thirds the size of the original. The main entrance lies through a suitably impressive Great Southern Gate (Nandai-mon) where two wonderfully expressive guardian gods, both 7m tall are sheltered. Beyond it, lay the horned, sweeping roof of the Daibutsu-den, the Great Buddha Hall which houses Japan`s largest bronze statue. A 16m tall, blackened figure on a lotus throne, the Great Buddha is an impressive sight and was a phenominal achievement for the time. It consists of 437 tonnes of bronze and 130kg of gold. Earthquakes and fires have destroyed most of the original. Walking around the Great Hall, the size of the tall wooden pillar supports was just as impressive. Japan must have had some huge trees. One had a hole in the bottom where people tried to squeeze through. Success apparently reserves you a corner of paradise. Sayo got through, my mother half way. I couldn`t even fit my shoulders in. At Nigatsu-do, a sub temple nearby, we climbed up to the wooden terrace for a view over the city. While my parents had lunch with our hosts, I scooted off to Kasuga Taisha which had 2000 stone lanterns in its grounds. That night, they would all be lit for a lantern festival.

Photo of Great Southern Gate
Photo of Guardian at Great Southern Gate
Another Photo of Todai-Ji Temple
Another Photo of Todai-Ji Temple Photo
Photo of the Great Buddha

Nara is equally famous for Horyu-ji, 10km southwest which was completed in 607AD and is also protected by UNESCO. I was amazed that Sayo had never visited it so I became the tour guide to show the Japanese their own sights. As you enter the large but immaculate complex of stone walls, the Five Story wooden Pagoda catches your eye first. But its actually the righthand building, the Kon-do (Golden Hall), which is Horyu`s star attraction, the world`s oldest wooden structure dating from the late seventh century. It`s not very large but is a very striking building with its multilayered roofs, sweeping eaves and elablorate second floor balustrade. Inside the murky depths were various famous Buddhist statues dating from the seventh century. My father was impressed with the complex. `This is just how I imagined Japan to be`. We also checked out the eastern precinct (To-in Garan) with its centrepeice of the octagonal Yume-dono (Halls of Dreams). The museum (Gallery of Temple Treasures) housed Horyu-ji`s priceless treasures which looked very impressive. The air conditioning was also a godsend on this hot sweaty afternoon.

Photo of Horyu-Ji Temple Gate
Photo of Horyu-Ji 5 Story Pagoda

After a hectic day`s touring, we repaired to an onsen for a well earned communial hot bath. There were separate sections for men and women. You changed outside in the dry room and walked in naked with all the dignity you could muster( `Ever seen a grown man naked?`). The 5 baths had assorted temperatures from`Bloody Hell, I feel like a boiled egg` to `Bloody Hell, did they just break the ice?` We moved in and out of them, the jacuzzi and one with a waterfall of cold water that crashed over your head and shoulders to massage them. It felt like Chinese water torture to me. Japanese usually take their main bath before dinner. It is very rare for them to bathe first thing in the morning.

Their house was on the side of a steep hill south of the city. As we sat around drinking cold beers, the couple produced an outstanding array of dishes that Sayo`s mother in law had prepared for us that afternoon. They included smoked eel and pork in breadcrumbs. We tried saki, the potent Japanese rice wine which left my dad looking very happy. It was a lovely evening of traditional Japanese hospitality and the first time that any of us had spent a night in a Japanese home. The next morning, before we set off, a proper English breakfast was produced (bacon, sausage, eggs, toast).

Uji; Byodo In

Uji, mid way between Nara and Kyoto was our next destination. Set by a fast flowing river, it boasts one of Japan`s most fabulous buildings the 11th century Byodo-in which appears on the back of 10Y coins. After the imperial capital moved to Kyoto, Uji became a popular location for aristocratic country retreats. This was one such villa that was converted into a temple in 1052. The central temple, the Phoenix Hall, is miraculously, the only building from the original temple to have survived. The Rough Guide says "The best place to view the Phoenix Hall is from the far side of the pond in which it sits on a small island. The hall itself is surprisingly small, but the architect has added two completely ornamental wings which extend in a broad U, like a pair of open arms. The whole ensemble is in perfect balance, while the little turrets, upward sweeping roofs and airy, open spaces create a graceful, almost gossamer light structure which appears to float on the reflecting water. A third corridor extends west behind the main hall, giving the building its distinctive, birdlike ground plan from which its name is said to derive. However, the phoenix is also an ancient Chinese image of rebirth, which is what this building, and its now much diminished garden, represents".

In the sunlight, the temple`s wonderful reflection lay over the lake. Lotus flowers were starting to bloom. My father thought that the setting was spectacular and everything seemed pefectly in balance. It was his favourite place in Japan. We also took a stroll by the river, over the brightly painted orange wooden arched bridges. A large heron perched between three fisherman, waiting for their catch. Not many western tourists visit Uji which is a shame. Its worth a day trip from Kyoto to see this UNESCO World Heritage Site. I later learnt that the Byodo-in temple is Japan`s most visited sight by the Japanese.

Small Photo of Byodo-in
More Photos of Byodo-in

Kyoto

I thought that the traffic approaching Kyoto`s 1.4 million population would be a nightmare, but it moved pretty swiftly and before we knew it, we were right in the centre of Japan`s most popular tourist destination. The capital of Japan for more than a thousand years, Kyoto is endowed with an almost overwhelming legacy of ancient Buddhist temples (1600 of them), hundreds of Shinto shrines, majestic palaces, a clutch of imperial villas and 200 gardens of every size and description. During World War Two it had been high on the list of potential Atom bomb targets but had been spared by the Americans because of it`s supreme architectural and historical importance. There is so much to potentially see, that I had prioritized a list of the most famous sights that we could cover over a 48 hour period, concentrating on the impressive gardens that lay like gems around the city. Most of these were on the World Heritage List. That afternoon, we visited two places.

Eastern Kyoto

On the edge of Kyoto`s eastern hills, the Temple of the Silver Pavillion, Ginkaku-Ji, numbers among Kyoto`s most celebrated sights. The Temple is not silver (they ran out of money), it is wooden and sits quietly in the wings. Here, its the garden that takes centre stage, dominated by a truncated cone of white sand whose severity offsets the soft greens of the surrounding stroll garden. The `dry garden` comprises of a raised, rippled "Sea of Silver Sand", designed to reflect moonlight and a large "moon facing" cone. They were probably designed in the Seventeenth Century. The gardens were very busy, but we strolled around the meandering paths and up and down the hillsides of moss, trees and stone lanterns. My mother felt that this was the nicest place she had seen so far in Japan.

Photo of Ginkaku-Ji Temple (Silver Pavillion)

In the far northeast of Kyoto, the foothills provide a superb setting for `one of Japan`s finest examples of garden design using borrowed scenery (Syakkei)` (Rough Guide). How do you borrow scenery? With a scenery library card? If its borrowed, when do they have to give it back? Entry to Shugaku-in Rikyu, an imperial villa is by invitation only, but I had secured free tickets for a 3pm afternoon tour. It was built in the late 1650s by an Emperor as a pleasure garden, rather than a residence. It is made up of three seperate gardens, each in their own enclosure among the terraced rice fields. Of these, the top lake garden is the star attraction. About 25 of us were led around by a Japanese tour guide who spoke no English. The impressive grounds were tainted by having to be part of a crawling tour group where we understood nothing (apart from an English leaflet). It was an education to be part of a Japanese tour group, led on a strict route (with a security guard behind to ensure we didn`t stray). The 90 minute tour seemed to take a day and we abandoned the idea of visiting the other Imperial Villa at Katsura Rikyu on the Friday a similiar tour. No wonder they commit hari kari. We nearly did after that tour.

That said, it could have been a pleasant unaccompanied stroll. We climbed up towards the upper villa, passing between tall, clipped hedges, before suddenly emerging at the garden`s highest point. An airy pavilion occupied the little promontory, with views over the lake covered in lotus flowers, the forested, rolling hills in the middle distance and the mountains beyond. Walking down through the gardens, the grand vistas continued with every twist and turn of the path, passing the intricate Chitose bridge, and intimate tea ceremony pavilions which decorated the complex.

Photos of Shugaku In Rikyu Imperial Villa

I found Kyoto`s grid system of well sign posted street names easy to negoitate and we found our reserved hotel, the Kyoto Garden Hotel, at the first attempt. Right in the centre, we had a small triple a/c en suite room on the Top (9th) floor for £70 a night which was exceptionally cheap for Kyoto. More dressing gowns, slippers, green tea and free internet in the lobby. We could park in the forecourt and leave the keys if they needed to move the car. The next day, was a full on, assault of the sights. Everywhere had an admission charge and car parking fees to match, so I`d drop my parents outside the site and disappear into the side streets, park illegally and walk back. I was risking a hefty parking fine but I got away with it every time and saved a fortune. Having the car was a real advantage. We could drive between the gardens and cover them very quickly. Surprisingly, the weather was cooler than Tsukuba`s. Everyone had told me that Kyoto, surrounded by mountains, was the worst place to visit in August, but we found the climate mostly pleasant and were not wiped out by the heat.

Western Kyoto

Daitoku-Ji is one of Kyoto`s largest Zen foundations, with over twenty sub temples in its large, walled compound. Of these, only four are open to the public, but within them, you will find a representative sampler of the dry gardens (`kare sansui`) for which Japanese Zen Buddhism is renowned. The Daisen-in temple is the most famous. This sub temple contains two gardens built around 1509. For the first one "the miniaturized, allegorical landscape is squeezed into a narrow strip, then cut in two by a corridor with a bell shaped window. Replicating a Chinese landscape painting, the garden only uses carefully selected rocks, pebbles and a few scaled down plants to conjure up jagged mountains, from which a stream tumbles down to the plain, then broadens into a gently flowing river. Just in front of the bell shaped window, a boat shaped rock `floats` (on the sand) seawards, enhancing the garden`s allusion to the passage of life".(Rough Guide)

We followed the `river` south and it opened into the second larger garden. Here an expanse of raked, white gravel represents the `Sea of Nothingness`, into which two cones of purity are sinking; the idea is that a soul must be pure, or empty to face it`s destiny. Both gardens were designed in the Sixteenth Century. We were lucky. Visiting it, first thing in the morning, we had the temple and gardens to ourselves before the tour groups. Removing our shoes, we padded over the polished wooden decks around the paper thin walls. It was very tranquil and silent. We peered at the gardens trying to find wisdom and enlightenment while a monk conducted a buddhist ceremony in the temple. My dad, a keen gardener, didn`t fancy having to rake these gardens every day though you could volunteer to do it. `Not bloody likely. It must take hours.` he concluded.

We met a friendly young American man from Colorado who was living at the Zen Foundation for a year. He was clipping the hedges along with trainee Buddhist monks. He led us down secret pathways to the Ryogen-in, a temple which claims to be Japan`s smallest Zen Rock garden, but it was closed today. `The abbott is on tour in Europe, but he would have invited you in for a cup of tea`, The American returned to the hedges, and we ducked in and out of various temple gardens. One had an entrance with a forbidding looming forest of bamboo, in front of which was a carpet of thick green moss and a few pruned trees. It was like entering a page from `Alice in Wonderland`. Overall, Daitoku-Ji was a lovely spacious and quiet complex. You wouldn`t have guessed it was in the city. It deserved more than the hour we gave it. I rated Daisen-in with it`s peaceful ambience and challenging dry gardens as the nicest ones I visited in Kyoto and I think my parents agreed. But visit it early in the morning.

Photos of Daisen In Temple Complex

Down the road, the tour groups had arrived en mass to see Kinkaku-Ji, the famous Temple of the Golden Pavilion. Originally, the retirement villa for a Shogun, it was converted into a Zen Temple and the lake garden provided the setting for the gilded extravaganza which dominates the eye. The whole gleaming apparition seemed to float on the aptly named Mirror Pond (Kyoko chi) and even I had to concur that it looked spectacular (in the autumn with the colourful leaves, it must be absolutely stunning). The Fourteenth Century Pavillion was torched by an `unhappy monk` in 1950 (he was probably pissed off having to rake the dry gardens) and rebuilt. The elegant harmonius building consists of 3 types of architecture. the 1st floor is traditional wooden palace style, the 2nd floor Samurai house style and the 3rd floor, Zen Temple style. The 2nd and 3rd floors are covered with gold leaf on Japanese lacquer.The gardens seemed to swallow up the crowds, but like the Silver Pavillion yesterday, it was a case of following the paths around the mossy gardens, fat carp in the ponds, and dealing with the slow lines of Japanese tourists photograghing every leaf.

Photos of Kinkaku Ji (Golden Pavillion)

While Kinkaku-Ji is all about displays of wealth and power, the dry garden of Ryoan-ji hides infinite truths within its riddle of rocks and sand. It was designed by someone called Soami in 1473 but went unnoticed until the 1930s. Now it is probably Japan`s most famous garden. The garden consists of a long, walled rectangle (30m x 10m) of off white gravel in which fifteen stones of various sizes are arranged in five groups, some rising up from the raked sand and others almost completely lost. In fact, the stones are placed so that whenever you stand one of them is always hidden from view. The only colour is provided by electric green patches of moss around some stones, making this the simplest and most abstract of all Japan`s Zen gardens. Its thought that the layout is a `Koan` or riddle, set by Zen masters to test their students. Popular theories range from tigers crossing a river (I don`t think so ) to islands floating in a sea of infinity. (Dad: `Its a bunch of rocks in some sand. What`s the problem?`). There were more tourists here than at the Daisen In Temple and it lost some of the ambience that is undoubtedly there. But it was interesting to sit and ponder the garden and stroll around more wooden walkways and watch the gardeners trim the surrounding bushes with long handled shears. I had wondered how they could trim bushes 10 feet wide.

Photo of Ryoan Ji Rock Garden
Photo of Ryoan Ji inner courtyard

Upon leaving, I saw a wonderful little Buddhist mantra which I pass onto you:

Each day in life is training
Training for myself
Though failure is possible
Living each moment
Equal to anything
Ready for everything
I am alive - I am this moment
My future is here and now
For if I cannot endure today
When or where will I?
(Soen Ozeki)

In the late 19th Century when the capital moved to Tokyo, the Kyoto authorities felt the need to reaffirm their city`s illustrious past and came up with the Heian Jingu, an impressive but rather garish (we`re talking serious bright illuminous orange paint overload here) shrine which was a scaled down replica of the first Imperial Palace in Kyoto built in 794. It was constructed in 1895 to commemorate the 1,100th anniversery of the founding of Kyoto. The present buildings are a 1979 rebuild but this is still one of Kyoto`s most famous landmarks and had the crowds to prove it. The shrine`s bright orange (to say the least) and white halls have an unmistakably Chinese air. Two wings embraced a huge, gravelled courtyard with the main worship hall at the far end.

Eastern Kyoto (Again)

On the eastern side of Kyoto are a host of temples and shrines that need at least a day to take in. In the pouring rain, I chose just one to view. Chion-in was a big busy complex and HQ for the Jodo (Pure Land) sect of Buddhism. I`d never heard of them but I suppose they weren`t that bothered. Plenty of other devotees had. Everything was built on a monumental scale with the buildings dating from the early 17th Century (est. 1175). It did boast Japan`s largest bell. This colossal 67 tonne monster takes 17 priests to ring it. They weren’t happy when I did a Tarzan dive onto the bonger and swung around like Charlie Chaplin.

Photo of Chion In Temple

Just south of this we came across an inviting cobbled lane, known as Sannen-zaka (Three Year Slope) which preserved some of the last vestiges of the old Kyoto townscape. The two storey wooden townhouses dated from the late 1800s. They were now souvenir and food shops but at least the street had some atmosphere. My parents strolled down the street while I followed in the car at a discreet distance, rather like the royal courier following Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip on a Royal Visit. They loved the buildings.

Final stop today was Kiyomiza-Dera. with its trademark wooden platform overhanging the valley, it is one of Kyoto`s defining sights. There`s been a temple here since 778, though the current buildings date from 1633. To reach it we climbed up the steep `Teapot Lane`, so called because of the numerous shops lining the approach that sell Kiyomizu ceramics. It was jammed packed with tourists. We saw a typical Japanese sight. An Australian man had bought an icecream and did not notice he had dropped two 1000Y notes (about 11 English Pounds). A little Japanese woman picked them up and chased him through the crowd to hand the money back. `If I hadn`t seen it with my own eyes I wouldn`t have believed it` said my dad who really seemed to enjoy the Japanese way of doing things, especially the politeness and graciousness. We took in the newly painted 3 storey pagoda and surrounding buildings but passed on the entrance fee. You had a good view of Kyoto from the outside terrace with out paying to stand on it inside. All in all, it wasn`t a bad trawl of Kyoto`s major sights, though I could do with a return visit just to mop up the lesser attractions.

Photos of Kiyomiza Dera Temple

On the final morning, my dad and I took off for Sanjusangen-Do Temple on the southeastern edge of Kyoto which was a fitting way to finish. Here, we found a 120m long temple hall with the ranks of 1001 lifesize gilded statues inside. It was a truely awe inspiring sight. At first, the impassive, haloed figures (made from Japanese cypress trees) appear as identical images of Kannon, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, portrayed with eleven heads and a thousand arms. But they all have subtle differences in their faces, clothes and jewellery or the symbols held in their tiny, outstretched hands. Rather than a thousand arms, the statues have been given only 40 apiece but each of these can save 25 worlds. In addition, every figure represents 33 incarnations, giving a total of 33,033 Kannon to help save mankind. There are also 28 large disciples of Kannon out in front with the muscular gods of Wind and Thunder at either end (worshipped in olden days in hope of a good harvest).

In the middle was a large, seated Kannon to make up the 1001. What is amazing is that the original (1164) burnt down in a fire in 1229. By 1266, it had been completely rebuilt and has survived until today. We strolled slowly down the lengthy and relatively empty hall attempting to take in the stunning sight. My dad concluded that since their little hands all held something, they looked like human Swiss Army Knives. `Look, there`s one with a bottle opener, a can opener and a corkscrew`. What I found just as amazing was the that temple had free car parking outside. That really was a first for Kyoto. If you ever visit Kyoto, don`t miss this sight. Its like a Japanese version of the Terracotta Warriors in China.

Goodbye Kyoto. We took off mid morning and took the Chuo expressway heading northeast and followed the southern edge of the Japanese Alps. Good fast travelling punctuated by inexplicable traffic jams along the way. My parents marvelled at the scenery; the lush green forests on the hills and the paddy fields and small towns in the valleys, with a bright blue sky all around. As usual, I nearly ran out of petrol in the Japanese Alps (see previous roadtrip), but found a small village where a friendly couple (we were probably their only customers that afternoon), plied us with fresh watermelon sprinkled in salt (eh?) and a map. Five minutes later, we came across 3 garages on the main road (Doh!). We cut around the northeastern edge of Tokyo as the Friday night traffic built up. The outlying districts were swathed in neon lights everywhere. Eventually, 11 hours after starting, we arrived back at my apartment. Mum`s navigation had been excellent.

On my parents last day, we did a magical mystery tour to the coast, passing by Lake Kasumigaura. With a circumference of 198km, an area of 168sq km and a maximum depth of 7 metres, the Lake is the largest lagoon in Japan and the second largest freshwater lake. Fish farms (vast series of underwater nets) had been set up all around the lake. More interesting to my parents were the acres of lotus flowers which were just coming into bloom. The whole edge of the lake was a flood of large green leaves and white and pink lotus petals with rice paddies breaking up the greenery.

My father was interested to see how the rice would be harvested and we were fortunate enough to come across a farmer who was harvesting his crop well ahead of the others. He sat on a mini combine havester (about 2m wide) which cut the rice and crushed it into a container. I think he found it funny to see tourists clicking away their cameras as he crawled up and down the field on his lawnmower sized harvester. When his tiny wife appeared with a truck to take the rice away, she posed for photos in her traditional baggy clothes, floppy sunhat with her large knife in her hand.

At the coast near Kasama, we found the sea raging into the coast. I didn`t know it at the time, but a typhoon was about to hit the area. The beaches were near deserted and it looked a lot different from my sunny day there a few weeks ago. My mother was able to add to her collection of seashells around the world before demanding to be taken to a 100 Yen shop for last orders. Furious packing went on that evening, as mum tried to fit a 100 Yen shop into 2 suitcases. Along with all my souvenirs and films, Dad had kindly offered to take my snowboard back with him. "I`m not sure how they`ll react when they ask `Are you carrying anything for anybody` and I say `No, I`ve just been snowboarding` while leaning on my walking stick!". In the end they took home more than they bought.

It was an easy Sunday morning drive to Narita Airport. I think that my parents were genuinely sad to leave Japan (or maybe as they said later, they didn`t like to leave their son in such a strange place). They had suffered the heat, the endless driving and traffic jams and a full on `Bob Jack Guided Tour` but felt that they had done Japan justice. Mum `had never thought she`d ever get to visit Japan` and Dad concluded that `I don`t think we could have seen anymore in the time`. By the time I was home, they had taken off for Vienna, just in time to miss the 24 hours of non stop rain that the typhoon bought. It was strange for me to return to my room for my solitary existence again.

A few days later, my dad sent an email. "People keep asking me what I thought of Japan and I find it difficult to answer in one sentence. In some ways, to me , it seems a real old fashioned place with strong family values and a stict moral code. Real money is used and everyone is polite. On the other hand it has got a lot of the problems of modern society, traffic, urban sprawl, crowds etc. It has big unpleasant cities and also beautiful countryside, modern industry and age old agricultural practice. In short you can find anything you want in Japan!"

Thanks for coming!

10 cats, 8 dogs, 3 birds, 1 bird of prey, 1 fox, 1 frog, 2 UFOs (unidentified flattened object)