Atsuta Shrine

Yamasa was closed for Obon yesterday and today, so yesterday I went to Atsuta Shrine with two other women from school.

Atsuta is the second most revered shrine, after Ise. The Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi (草 薙の剣), one of the three Imperial Regalia is housed there, although nobody gets to see it except the emperor and certain priests. It was last seen during the enthronment of Emperor Akihito, but not by the public.

As a side note, speaking of the Imperial family, Crown Prince Naruhito climbed Mt. Fuji on the 8th, too! He had tried earlier, but had to turn back because of weather.

Like most Shinto shrines, Atsuta is rather plain. Shinto shrines are also regularly torn down and rebuilt. The area around Atsuta is a nice park, though.


Sake for the gods.














A nice shady park for a stroll.














The shrine at Atsuta.














A replica of the sword.














Some flowers in the park.














A turtle and koi in a pond in the park around the shrine.

Mt. Fuji

Here are some facts about Mt. Fuji:

• It is 3,776 m (12,388 ft) high.
• The official climbing season is July-August.
• It is an active volcano, although the last eruption was in 1707-1708.
• The "san" in "Fujisan" (富士山) means "mountain". It is not the same "san" that is used after people's names.
  

The Yamasa group of 19 people left Aoi Hall at about 3:15 Friday afternoon. Our Fearless Leader told us we had one last chance to choose to go to an onsen instead. This will be his 9th climb. The bus took us to two rest areas, then to the 5th station on the Fujinomiya route. There are several routes up Mt. Fuji, and most people start at the 5th station of whichever route they have chosen.

Fujinomiya is the shortest route, starting at 2,400 meters. There are 7 stations after the 5th station: 6, new 7, 7, 8, 9 and 9.5. New 7 and 9.5 were put in after the originals, and the originals were not renamed.

I had with me my camera and case on my belt, 2 liters of water, 2 half-liter bottles of a Gatorade-like drink, the shell of my Columbia jacket and a fleece jacket, ear muffs, scarf, biking gloves, lots of sweet snacks and energy bars, 2 energy gel-drinks, sunglasses, a walking stick, rain pants, sunscreen, ibuprophen, anti-diarrheal medication, a can of oxygen and ID, a flashlight and batteries, all in my backpack. I wore jeans, hiking boots and a biking t-shirt (not cotten).

We reached the 5th station at about 8:30 at night. Since we were told that this would be the last clean toilets we'd see, I decided to take advantage. They certainly didn't smell clean, even from several feet from the door. I took the first stall I could find, and used it even though it was Japanese style. I assumed they all were. When I stood up, my camera case slid off my belt, right into the toilet it went! ARRRRGH!

I went into the shop to see if anything could be done. The answer I got: "Sho ga nai." (Nothing can be done.). Crap. I wasn't so worried about the camera -- I'd get another and EVERYONE else had one, so I could get pics later. But I had just gotten a 4GB card for mine that I didn't want to lose. I had pics on there that I hadn't unloaded. Crap! I looked down there with my flashlight. Omigosh, I could see it! It was sitting on top of, well, you know....

I went back to the shop, and said, "Kamera ga miemasu! (I can see my camera!)"
Shop guy: "Mieru? (You can see it?)
Me: "Hai! Miemasu!"

So he came and looked, and he could see it too. So, he found a hook on a stick and got it out for me! Woo-hoo!!! He plopped it in a sink for me to wash off. Lots of domo arigato gozaimashita's later, I dared to peak inside the camera case. My camera and extra cards were DRY!! I tested the camera -- it worked!! I put the case in a plastic bag that I'd brought for garbage, tied it up tight and put the camera in a zippered pocket.

I told everyone that we'd had our one disaster and all would be well afterwards.

So, we started climbing. And climbing. We would climb to the next station, then wait for the whole group to get there and rest. Then we'd move on to the next station. At about the 7th station, I asked our Fearless Leader where exactly was that onsen he had told us about. Too late, he said! So, I kept climbing. It was dark, so I used my flashlight.

Then, the trail got a little easier. The distance between stations got shorter, it was less rocky for a bit, and my sugar buzz hit. I'd consumed both my energy gel-drinks, lots of the gatorade drinks and a lot of rock candy.

Our group passed and was passed by a group of Marines several times. They are stationed near Mt. Fuji. They sang cadence songs as they went, and we could tell when the song was cleaned up because there would be a slight pause as the leader remembered the clean lyric.

Large portions of the trail have ropes by them. These are both to hang onto, and to let you know which chunk of rocks is the trail. The whole trail has a lot of switchbacks.

Unfortunately, around here one guy had to drop off and go down a station. He'd gotten altitude sickness. He was one of the fittest guys in the group, but that doesn't prevent altitude sickness. The only way to know if you'll get it is to get it. You can get just a headache, or nausea, or diarrhea or worse symtoms. So our poor friend stayed at a mountain hut, where you can rent half a futon for about 8000 yen, or around $80.

Near the top, there is a torii gate. Mt. Fuji is sacred in Shinto, so the top is a shinto shrine. Around the 9th stations, it started getting rocky and I thought it would be a pain to go down.

We reached the top at 4:00 am on Saturday. It was dark, and it was very cold, but we'd made it!! WOO-HOO!!!! We were at the top of Mt. Fuji!! I'd actually climbed a mountain!! WOW!

We were on the "wrong" side of the mountain--we had to be at the top to see the sunrise. The Marines went around the crater, and we went to the top of a peak where an now unused weather station was. Several other people were there as well. Our Fearless Leader pulled a glass and a can of Guiness from his pack, and poured a glass of Guiness. Photos were taken, and the beer was drunk. I had a swallow. It was very good at 3,776 meters.

The sunrise was glorious. Absolutely beautiful. The Japanese did a cheer. We went to a platform on the weather station, and were able to see the shadow that Fuji casts. Wow.

We came down from the little peak, and everyone went to get postcards to send from the post office at the top of Mt. Fuji (there is one), buy walking sticks or souvenirs, or just rest.

We left the peak at around 6:00 am. It got warmer just because the sun was out. I was very happy to be able to see the trail to go down, especially where it was rocky.

I tried to drink my water, but I'd lost the little mouthpiece on the drinking tube. For awhile I was able to drink without it, but I must have been just too tired. At the next station, I went to transfer the water from the backpact bag to a bottle, and discovered the bag was empty! I'd drunk almost 3 liters of water and gaterade on the way up. Yikes. Fortunatly, our Fearless Leader had part of a large bottle of Aquarius that he "didn't want to carry". I asked him how to say "mensch" in Japanese. After telling him what "mensch" meant, I got a reasonable answer: yasashii hito.

Climbing down is hard, even when it's not rocky. Mt. Fuji is a volcano. So, there is a lot of pumice. Even the gravel is pumice. And gravel likes to shift when you step on it, so your foot likes to slip forward and you end up stopping with your weight on your toes. Ouch. A good walking stick helps a lot.

About the same time as we collected our friend, it started to rain. Then it started to hail. Around here, I got behind the group. When it stopped hailing (or I got below the hail line), and it kept on raining, I got my rain gear out.

Before, the rocks were points of stability -- a good place to step compared to the shifty gravel. Now, they were wet and slippery. I didn't make good time to the next station. When I reached the next station, everyone was still wandering around the shop, so nobody noticed how late I was. Yay!

After a bit it stopped raining. There were only a few more stations, then finally I reached number 5. Yay!!

We got on the bus around 11:30 on Saturday morning. It was decided that we would forego the trip to a waterfall that had been scheduled. That was OK with me.

We stopped at one of the rest stops, and got back to Aoi Hall at around 3:15 on Saturday. I dragged myself back to my room (Hooray for being so close to school!), took a shower and crawled into bed.

Today (Sunday), my legs still ached so I went to an onsen that I have been to before, and wanted to go to again on this trip to Okazaki. I was much improved after soaking in hot water and sittting in saunas.

I'm glad I went, but I won't go again. If you go, here are my tips:

• Climb at night. It's cooler, the sun won't burn you. It's easier to climb than descend by flashlight. There will be fewer people coming the other way. If you make the top in time, you'll see a great sunrise.
• Wear good hiking boots that go over your ankles. You will have plenty of opportunities to fall and turn your ankles anyway.
• Bring plenty of liquids. At least 3 liters. 4 if you are generally thirsty or a guy.
• Bring non-aspirin pain-relievers and anti-diarrheal medication. Even if you don't need it, you'll be a hero to anyone who does.
• Bring sweets and high energy foods.
• Either bring a light, collapsible walking stick or buy one at the top. You won't need it on the way up, but you will need it on the way down. If you buy wood one at the top, you can get it branded at each station on the way down to make a souvenir.
• Wear tough biking gloves. The rocks are pumice and you will either fall on them or have to hang onto them. Pumice is sharp.
• Bring a proper backpack with padded shoulder straps and a waist strap.
• Bring sunscreen and sunglasses. The atmosphere is thinner and therefore less protective as you get higher up.
• Go in a group. You can encourage each other, and someone will know if something happens to you. It will be a lot more fun, and you can share pictures afterwards.
  

So, here are a few pics:

Sunrise, from the top of Mt. Fuji.














A few nearby mountains peeking through the cloud layer.














Mt. Fuji's shadow, as seen from the top.














The top of Mt. Fuji looks like Mars, except for the other climbers...














Here you can see the switchbacks on the trail.














Here we are finally seeing some plants. You can also see the slope of the mountain.

Tidbits

There is a song that I've heard played at the seafood section of several grocery stores. It's called Osakana Tengoku (おさかな天国). Apparently, it was a hit song at one point. It has several almost-puns in the lyrics, so it's kind of funny too, or so I've read. You can watch You Tube video of the song here.

For several evenings, I've heard a cat outside Yamamoto House. Not loud or long enough to be annoying or anything like that. Just enough to make me curious about the cat. Well, today I went out late to go the grocery store, and came across a cat sitting on a car. I think this is my serenading cat.


I now have a video game!! I bought a Nintendo DS Lite today. For very academic reasons -- really! There are several "games" available for studying kanji (Chinese characters) and improving your handwriting of them. I now have two kanji "games". The one I got for handwriting was so popular that when it first came out, stores restricted purchases to one per customer. The initial supply actually sold out. Now, imagine trying to sell something like that in the US for people to improve their handwriting!

Today we had our safety session for the Mt. Fuji climb. After that, I went shopping with another woman in my class for any supplies we didn't have. I guess I'm one of the few that brought hiking boots to Japan. I have high energy food, a water bag with straw that fits in my backpack, some oxygen, clothes for hot and cold weather, sunscreen, a hat, a parasol, a camera, and various other things to deal with the possible ugliness of altitude sickness. We are going most of the way up Friday night, finishing up on Saturday morning, then coming down. I was told not to plan anything for Sunday. Still, I'm looking forward to it!

More Pictures!

I am going to post more pictures in a Picasa Web Album. The first set are from my trip to Mt. Mitake.

Just click on "Mt. Mitake" above to see the album.

Let me know if you have any problems seeing the pictures (or not!).

I'll work on creating more albums. The albums for trips will include a map, so you can see where I am at the time! Unfortunately, the map will be zoomed in and in Japanese. Just click on the "-" to get a better view, plus some English labels.

Brewery Tour and Fireworks

The observant reader will notice that I've mentioned beer not infrequently on this blog. There is good reason: it's hot and humid here, which makes beer the ideal beverage.

Today I have an especially good reason, though: I went on a tour of Asahi's brewery in Nagoya with four fellow students. I've been on brewery tours before, so even though I didn't understand all the explanations, I do know the general process. This brewery makes canned beer.

The tour guide used keigo the whole time -- that's polite Japanese used by shop keepers and when speaking to higher-ups. It was good practice for us to try to follow it.

Everything was pristine and efficient, and there were large signs indicating what was going on for the tourists. After the tour, we all enjoyed a few glasses, even though it was before noon. I didn't know that Asahi made a dark beer -- I will have to hunt that down at a liquor store. We sampled some jerky, which I liked. I bought a small bag if it.

They have breweries in other parts of Japan, as well as two Nikka whiskey distilleries. My souvenir was a small bottle of 10 year old single malt whisky. My hubby will get an Asahi hat.

Asahi also owns Loewenbrau, Jim Beam, Absolut, Jose Cuervo and Bireley's.

After the tour, the other ladies when to a matsuri (festival) in Nagoya, while I went to Sakae (a part of Nagoya) to go to the Maruzen bookstore there. Amazingly, I only bought one book.














Zoning in Japan is interesting. As we were walking from the station to the brewery, we were tallking about how you can see old next to new, and see a rice field in an empty lot, surrounded by buildings. As if on cue, we came across this rice field which illustrates the point nicely.

Lunch/Dinner was a hamburg steak with a sunnyside up egg on top at Denny's, along with a melon soda.

In the evening, the our dorm's Ojiisan (caretaker) who lived in an attached house, had a party for us on the roof for Okazaki's hanabi matsuri. That's a fireworks festival. They make a large majority of Japan's fireworks in Okazaki, so that's the theme of the city's festival. A lot of people come from other parts of Japan to see it. Most people go to the castle, but we beat the crowds by going upstairs! There were two hours of fireworks, great food, and some icecream that Ojiisan made himself.


I wish I had a yukata to wear -- I have two, but they are in the States so I didn't feel like buying another. But I had a great time!!

Studying

I don't have a lot to report, except I am really enjoying studying Japanese in Okazaki. Here are some pics of my dorm building.

Here is the outside. The first window to the right of the part that sticks out is mine.














You go in under my window (not the garage door), then up stairs to the balcony, and here is the door to my floor.















There will be a fireworks festival on Saturday. Okazaki is famous for fireworks, so this should be quite good. The caretaker of Yamamoto House, Mr. Yamamoto, will have a party on Saturday for everyone here. Then we can watch the fireworks from here.

The weather is hotter here than in Tochigi, but it's less humid, so that's better. It's also sunnier here than in Tochigi. I have a green umbrella, and I have a phone strap that indicates the UV level. I tested using my green umbrella as a parasol, and aparently it wasn't blocking the UV rays much at all. So I bought a black parasol. Japanese ladies use them a lot. They are more comfortable than wearing long sleeves, and easier than reapplying sunscreen. So that's one Japanese habit I've picked up.

Another odd thing I've seen is the light switch for the toilet room is usually outside the room. I can imagine every Japanese child going through a phase of turning the light off when other people are using the toilet!

Walking the Nakasendō

Today, I did something I'd wanted to do for a long time. Before the Meiji Restoration brought trains to Japan, the Nakasendō was an important road. When the Meiji Restoration modernized Japan, some parts of the country got left behind, like parts of the Kiso valley which were formerly important towns on an important road. In the 1960's residents of some of these towns decided to preserve and restore their Edo-era appearance. They did, and the tourists came.

There is an 8 km. (5 miles) section of the old road between two of these towns, Magome and Tsumago, that is now a hiking trail. Magome is in Gifu prefecture and Tsumago is in Nagano prefecture. Today, I hiked that trail.

Part of it is the original stone road. I thought about the porters who got to carry people in palaquins while wearing straw sandals. Part of the trail is gravel and part of it is paved. There are a few short stretches where you have to walk on the highway.

Being Japan it is, of course, hilly. It took me 3 hours to do. It was very beautiful, with woods and the occasional waterfall. It seemed like a route a party of D&D characters would use!

I took a train to Nakatsugawa, then a bus to Magome. I hiked between Magome and Tsumago, and waited for over an hour for a bus to Nagiso, then took a train to Nagoya, then back to Okazaki. All in all, a full day!
Here is a view of the area before I got to the trail.








Here are some views along the trail.

































Here is a straw horse I saw in Tsumago. It makes sense that there would be a horse in this area -- the "Ma" in Magome means "horse"

Fun in Okazaki

Today I had a placement test, and then orientation. I finished the Minna no Nihongo series the last time I was here. But due to a lack of practice, I will be re-doing some of it. That's OK, though. I haven't had a lot of opportunities to use some of the grammar points, so this will reinforce them. Language learning is a "use it or lose it" endeavor.

There have been some additions to the campus since I was here last, including an indoor tennis court and a community learning center. I had lunch at the campus cafe, which is a bar on weekends. I've met several interesting people as well.

I went to Aeon mall with a fellow American afterwards. From where I am staying, it's worthwhile to take the bus from the train station. In cooler weather, I'd walk.

The road sign above says "Silver Road" in the blue section, which I'm guessing is sort of like the "silver seats" on buses and trains that are reserved for the elderly, pregnant, infirm or those with babies. Underneath it says to watch out for the elderly.

Okazaki has an unusually high number of traffic accidents, in part due to the high rate of car ownership. That in turn may be due to Toyota's headquarters being nearby. Also, even though there are a lot of cars, the roads are the same width as they have been for a long time. The city is not laid out on grid. Originally, Japanese towns and cities were purposely NOT laid out on a grid to make it harder for invading armies to invade.

Classes start tomorrow. There are 23 classes per week, with only 3 on Fridays. Next week the "intensive" bit kicks in!

I'm in Okazaki

I got to Okazaki at around 8:15 am. The night bus was uneventful, except that the bus was waiting across and down the street from where another woman and I were expecting it.

I'm staying at the Yamamoto House dormitory. It's very nice, and closer to the school and train station than the dorm I stayed in the other times I was here.
My room has a fridge with freezer (the white and yellow thing in the pic). The fridge is bigger and nicer
than the one I have in my apartment! And there is a TV. I'll just leave it on when I'm here for listening practice.

The drapes are closed because the sun would beat in otherwise. There are a lot of noisy birds outside. It's hot here, but not as muggy as Tochigi.

Since I was here last, there is a new grocery store between here and the school, and a new shopping area with movie theaters by the Student Village, where I stayed before.

Beer index

I check the weather on the Japanese Yahoo! site each day. Today, I discovered the beer index! From what I can understand, it's an index of optimum beer drinking conditions. From the map, it looks like you can't go wrong with a cold one anywhere in Japan today.




















Less fun, but equally useful to those of us who must hang our laundry out to dry, is the laundry index.