Tradition amidst the chaos. (混乱の中で、伝統。)

Really, the title of this post refers to the content in relation to the rest of my blog, and not the content itself. I know, I know, I apologize--you went in to this with such high hopes, didn't you?

Anyway. Chaos, of course, means my regularly scheduled random wanderings among topics. Tradition, of course, can only mean 花見 (hanami, flower viewing), as of course it is that time again.

And because I'm so very busy lately, honestly I wanted to take a break with a bit of picture spam attempt to make up for my neglect with pictures of Kyoto nature at its finest.

Oh, dear. These are in complete backwards order. Curse you, blogger.

Anyway. This is a lovely bamboo-covered path up near 北山 (Kitayama) on the 鴨川 (Kamo river). I basically walked up the 鴨川 from 今出川 (Imadegawa), just pretend I walked the other way and he pictures will seem, for all intents and purposes, in order.

Or. Well. They're in order except for that first one.

... admittedly, the first one is quite nice. A good lead-in, you might say.

Well played, blogger.

Anyway, this is the true beginning of my journey--just after walking down onto the river pathway at Imadegawa. Ah, the sakura-lined 鴨川. Lovely.

I particularly like these willowy ones.

I was trying to get the 大文字 (daimoji, big character) in the background there, but I guess it didn't turn out so well.

Looking down the river towards  三条 (Sanjou...)

Still down, with the lovely lining effect.

And turtles! You can cross the river every now and again on stone paths, occasionally dotted with adorable turtles. Or boats, even. I like the turtles. These guys are at the crossing just north of Imadegawa.

What, non-sakura flowers? Blasphemy!

Ok, ok, that's better.

Ooo, aaah.

(Again, those white flowers. I thought they were nice, ok?)

Aaah, surrounded by blooms.

And then we get Edo's foray into the world of artsy shots.

This one is technically blurry because of a breeze, but I actually really like it.

I for some reason associate "close-up" with "artsy."

Ah, bad lighting. Also "artsy" in my brain.

Some college kids doing the same thing I was, just with better cameras.

At least I didn't have a backpack, so ha.

The falling blossoms. This one actually turned out better than I expected.

A lone tree on the opposite bank. I guess that guy liked it, though.

Nice stone stairway in the background there.

I particularly liked the reflection of these pink sakura in the river, so I had to get a shot.

Ah, there's that bridge again. Lovely.

A better view of the tunnel. Unfortunately, none of my wide views are very pretty.

And another nice close-up to round things off. Ah, sakura in Kyoto. I'm just too good to you readers.

This is Edo, signing off with cleaning to do and professors to e-mail.

Long time no... yea. (久しぶ。。。ん。)

Once a week is good enough, right? Right?

Hey. This time I actually have a reason.

Last week... I got....

Dun dun DUN.

Sick.

Yea, a boring reason, but a legitimate one nevertheless. Being a teacher apparently (a) wipes out your immune system and (b) exposes you to an entire population of people who don't understand the concept of "wash your hands and don't sneeze in my face please."

The doctor said it was just a strange sort of cold that's going 'round, but I rather think I had the 24-hour flu, and that Japan just doesn't differentiate between the flu and influenza. Not sure why, but there you have it. All I know is that I was achey and miserable, and colds don't tend to get you that way.

Anyway. Happier news.

Razzle Dazzle PART TWO was this weekend! HUZZAH!

Bigger and better than Nara, because everyone loves Kyoto and no one really cares about Nara.

...sad, but true.

And this time... I took pictures. 

First! The massively massive tour truck that was parked out back!

Ooo, aaah.

This actually helped us make sure that we were in the right spot, since we came from (what seemed to be) the less populated route.

Next, the line to get in!

You must realize that this is actually the second line we stood in--the first was to get tour goods, and Melon and I had the amazingly good fortune to be the last people able to buy merchandise before the booth closed down. Oh, yea.

Again, I was surprised by the number of men in attendance. I suppose that BUCK-TICK's awesomeness defies traditional Japanese concert gender norms. (Have you never noticed that it's mostly women?)

And since I'm a good girl and don't take pictures during the performance, the last one you get is over the truly touching good-bye message that flashed along the top screen after the last encore:

I am so glad I turned back around before we left. If I had missed this, it would have been a horrible, horrible thing.



It is now the standby image on my cell phone. Because I love it. How can you not?

.... I really am rather depressed that it's over now.

BUT! We have tickets to a Tokyo show (why? because) in April, so there remains something to look forward to! The BUCK-TICK love never ends, after all.

And hey, since I left you hanging for so long, have some 京都紅葉 (Kyoto fall colors) to make up for it, eh?

 

Nothin' better than a little 鴨川 (Kamo River) scenery to round off a good blog post, I always say.

This is Edo, signing off with a tune in her head and never-ending rock in her soul.

PS- They totally played Coyote. With some extra super-awesome Spanish guitar thrown in. How lucky can you get?



Never let it be said that clenching your hands together and muttering "Play Coyote, please play Coyote, come on do it do it do it do it..." as soon as you see the standing bass come out during an encore doesn't work.

Oops. (しまった。)

You know your posting schedule is getting bad when your grandma starts getting tetchy.

Though I admit that my grandma is a lot more likely to call me out on these things than your average friendly elderly lady.

But hey. It's... encouraging?

Anyway.

As I have just gotten back from Kyoto and have work today, you're all getting a very, very condensed recap of the past week... or so.

1. Getting a re-entry permit in Yokkaichi is the easiest thing ever.

Seriously. It took, no exaggeration or hyperbole, five minutes after I turned in the form.

Admittedly, this is because I knew to go and pick up my official payment stamp from the post office beforehand, but really, anyone with the internet can figure that bit out.

I meant to write a long, detailed post (something along these lines...) for all you foreign types in need of guidance out here in Mie, and maybe I will... sometime.

But that time, it is not now.

Suffice it to say that the toughest part of the whole ordeal is the ridiculously long drive.

And even that is sort of fun, really. There's a lot of interesting things along Route 23.

...most of which I had to drive by for  fear of getting there after the office closed. Pointless worry, but hindsight is 20/20, after all.

2. I made a super-awesome bento on Thursday.

.... or, well. At least I think I did.

It wasn't very complicated, but it did look nice.

  

What we have here is some 鮭塩焼き (shake shioyaki, salt broiled salmon), white rice, umeboshi (pickled plums) and steamed asparagus with salt.

Healthy, tasty, and super-easy!

I only wish that it was actually asparagus season so the stuff wasn't so expensive. Oh, how I love asparagus...

3. People in Mie don't go to Kyoto.

At least, not when I do.

Seriously. I'm the only one who ever makes the train change at 大和八木. It's kind of creepy.

4. I was a 狐女 (kitsune onna, fox lady) for Halloween, but unfortunately, since neither Melon nor I are very photo-enthusiastic, we have no pictures.

I do have a picture of the mask I wore (on the back of my head), however:

And that's better than nothing, eh?

5. I miss Kyoto. It hurts sometimes.

6. That does not mean that I don't think that even their last trains are too early. Still, however, they are far more reasonable than... other places. (ahem.)

7. It. Is. COLD.

And that, my friends, is all from your friendly neighborhood Edo for today. Tune in next time, when we will discuss something equally exciting, poignant, and relevant to your everyday life.

... it's a shame that sarcasm doesn't really translate well onto the internet.

This is Edo, signing off perplexed, as always, but that strange construction method that somehow makes the interior of Japanese houses colder than the outside air.

Alas, I'm home. (あら、帰っちゃった。)

Home again, home again, jiggity jig.

Except not, because good lord, Kyoto felt more like home than this does.

Not to mention the fact that the sheer convenience of everything there is simply mind-boggling in comparison.

Oh, and the improved fashion sense.

...and unfortunately the number of fat white tourists, but you take the good with the bad, eh?

But really, I say on my blog that I left my heart in Kyoto. It's the truth. I may find myself basing future job searches more on proximity to the old capital than my desired line of work... Oh dearie me.

My poor feet bear testament to my desire to get as much of my old haunts under my feet as possible. Oh dear indeed; good thing I don't work on my feet.

For those interested, my trip to visit my dear friend A mostly involved... eating. Eating lots of tasty, tasty food and wandering around Kyoto and generally having a good time for relatively little money. Funny; she's currently living there, and yet I was playing the local, pointing out all the spots to remember, where to get her hair done, where to go for foreign goods and the like.

And here I sit in Mie, not a clue about my new habitat and thoughts still stuck on Kyoto.

.... Mastusaka will grow on me?

Sigh.

Anyway, after a 3+ hour set of train rides (what I get for being cheap, what  can I say) we:

1) Went to a cake/pastry shop in 京都駅 (Kyoto eki, Kyoto station). A out おしゃれ'd me by a long way, which once again reminded me just how different our two new environments are.

....there's so little おしゃれ to be had in Matsusaka.

Sigh.

2) Took the subway back to her temporary place to put my bag away. Her new company is renting her a weekly apartment on their dime until her visa comes through (which was, coincidentally, today, but as the place is paid up for a while she's not moving quite yet), which is pretty damn nice of them, I think.

3) Popped over to her nearby supermarket to pick up food for dinner, etc. There I realize that, while the supermarket I have been frequenting is cheap... it is sorely, sorely lacking in so many essentials.

Thus, I must find a new one. Y has suggested Cosmos, so I shall try it next.

4) おしゃれ'd up (me, that is) and hit the town, aka Shijo-Sanjo-Kawaramachi area. Ooooh yea, now I was home, baby.

First we just wandered around a bit, heading for Kappa Sushi because we were in the mood for some super-cheap sushi times. After that we wandered a bit more, eventually leading to Lawson's for me to pick up the BUCK-TICK tickets I ordered online for the Nara gig (which turned out to be a pain in the butt due to a very picky Loppi machine, let me tell you). After that, we wandered around a bit more before stumbling onto Sex in the Moon, a bar I used to frequent back in my study abroad days. Unfortunately, it did not open for another hour or so, but A seemed interested in some cheap cocktails, so we wandered a bit more, scheduling a return trip.

We went to LOFT, which has been moved from its original side-street to lining Kawaramachi. What's up with that, I'd like to know. We dilly-dallied enough there to have time for a quick and cheap oolong-cha to split from the Lawson's before heading back to the bar, because everyone knows that drinking when thirty can only lead to horrible things.

We arrived at Sex on the Moon, only discover a bartender I didn't know working. No problem, but a little disappointing. We ordered a salad, some fried goodness, and two drinks to start. They would be followed by a kamikaze each (which I taught A is clearly the best value for one's money at such an establishment, as it is absolutely loaded with alcohol in comparison to, say, a cosmo), and me asking the bartender what his name was and why no one was there I knew.

Apparently, the entire crew I knew is long gone, and Yasushi-tenchou has been replaced by Shin-tenchou, who told us his name by pulling aside his shirt to show us the tattoo of his kanji on his left pectoral.

... have I mentioned how much I love Kyoto?

Unfortunately, Shin-tenchou was too busy chatting with the four loud, obnoxious girls at the counter to pay much attention to us (our fault, really; we should have sat there as well instead of at a table), and therefore I do not yet know if he can properly replace Yasushi-tenchou and his gang.

... considering I had a date with one of them, I highly doubt it.

After the bar, though, we gradually headed back home, as dinner proper was to be home-cooked, and our feet we killing us due to poor shoe choices.

We did pick up some knocked-down (due to the late hour) tofu donuts on the way, though. Yum yum.

5) We ate some mushroom risotto, and watched the first two episodes of Firefly together before curling up to chat late into the night. We hadn't seen each other physically in over a year, you know; we still have a lot of catching up to do, despite talking practically non-stop all weekend.

6) Woke up at a decent hour, and A made us her version of Eggs Benedict, which really only means less hollandaise (aka a reasonable amount) and the lack of English muffins that living in Japan brings. Very tasty, very rich, and a very good way to augment these weeks of jam and toast I've been suffering through living with.

7) Headed back out to the Shijo/Sanjo/Kawaramachi area for another day on the town, this time commencing with lunch at 一風堂, which makes the absolute best ramen I have ever eaten in my life.

Needless to say I had been craving it.

We then wandered, shopped, and wandered, eating a crepe, milk-tea boba, and a 抹茶カキ氷 (maccha kakigoori, matcha shaved ice) between us before heading back to her apartment once more. Though I had originally planned on leaving Tuesday morning before work, my paranoia got the better of me, and I was to set off on the last train Monday instead.

...I feel sort of sad about that now, as my housemate isn't even back from her weekend yet, and she stayed in Mie. Sigh.

Anyway, we watched some more things on her computer, she made me a salad, and then I was off to buy some おみやげ (omiyage, souvenirs) for my coworkers and an extremely cheap, extremely large eco-bag at the station before heading back to Mie.

Stupidly, I caught an early train out of Kyoto, not knowing that I would only get stuck further down the line when the boonies proved too powerfully remote to have more than one train an hour so late. So, due to my tendency to overestimate the amount of time I need to do things, and my general paranoia about being late, I left Kyoto and ended my weekend probably a good forty-five minutes before I had to.

... I suppose it's not much, in the grand scheme of things, but it matters when you're leaving on of your best friends and the geographical equivalent of the love of your life!

Sigh.

At least I have some good souvenirs... albeit in the shape of an eco bag, two moisturizers and advice from A on all manner of subjects.

Good souvenirs to me. I'll get おしゃれ things next time. You know, when I've had a paycheck.

Oh, and I did get the BUCK-TICK tickets, didn't I!

All in all, an excellent weekend which ended much, much too soon.

It was so very tough to make myself leave. Ultimately, I think it was that whole "I don't actually live here, and would therefore become a bum living under a bridge on the 鴨川 (Kamogawa, Kamo river)" thing that actually did it.

...a paying job and a place to live are nice, kids.

This is Edo, signing off and wishing Mie was just a bit closer to Kyoto after all.

Ah ha ha... (アハハ。。。)

Ok, so, this time, it's sort of my fault entirely.

But really, who thinks to make a blog post two days in advance? It's nigh unheard of!

...er. I think. Hope. Assume.

And you know what happens when we assume.

Oh dearie dearie me.

So, another brief rundown of my schedule, for all those of you desirous of being in the loop. For those not... well. Why on earth are you reading this?

1- As I write this on Saturday morning, I am blasting the crap out of my room with the AC (19 degrees, what on earth) so as to keep it cool for quite a long period of time (hopefully) after I turn it off and go to work. Why? Because clothes must be dried inside this time of year to prevent mildew due to the humidity. Not only does my AC keep it cool, it keeps it dry.

I probably should not have done laundry last night, admittedly, but I figured that the early shift would be matched up with today's, so evreything would be hunky dorey.

Admittedly, it might be just fine. It's mainly my jeans that have me worried at the moment.

2- As you read this on Sunday morning, I should be jetting off toward Kyoto on the kintetsu to visit my dear friend for some fun times. Mostly, we plan on eating and meandering, but... hey. I consider that to be super fun times, my friends.

If I take the 8:49 train, I only have to make one change-over! Huzzah! Definitely worth it, as the later trains are 8:50 and 9:06, requiring two and five changes respectively. I can wake up a scoche earlier for uninterrupted train time.

More likelihood of me dozing off during, eh? Just set my alarm and away we go.

3- As I write this now (something like fifteen hours later than that previous now), I just came back from an amazing welcome party, which really made me think that I made the right choice in coming to work with my school. Amazing feeling, amazing time, amazing people. You are all just amazing.

4- Melon and I are going to see BUCK-TICK. Twice. In Nara and Kyoto. How cool are we?

And that's quite enough for one day, I think. Details (maybe) on any and all of the above at a later time and date.

This is Edo, signing off and realizing that packing for a two-day trip isn't as easy as it seems.

EDIT- Yes, this has been back-posted; apparently, I left after hitting the wrong button. Oops indeed. 

Edo meets Kyoto. (エドが京都に会う。)

Man, never thought you'd see that title on an actual post, eh? The eponymous post of this blog, you might say! ...although, really, it isn't, because it came around some two years after I originally started the thing... But hey.

It still seems pretty cool, in my opinion.

Feel free to disagree, of course.

... of course, now I must wonder whether or not I DID use this title, way back when, back when it may have been more relevant...

Oh well. It's in the past (or isn't), and we musn't dwell upon the past.

Here we go.

As the last post sort of covered my first trip to Japan, we are going to have ourselves a little time-skip here; from the summer between my freshman and sophomore years of college, to the beginning of my junior year. Keep that in mind, eh?

京都府 (Kyoto), September 2008 - May 2009, Part 1 (And a little bit of Shiga too.)

Yea, this one gets a "Part 1" right off the bat, simply because I know better now. There's just absolutely no way that I'll be able to cover anything and everything I experience in Kyoto in this blog, let alone in one post. This way, at least it looks as though I'm going to take a semi-decent run at it.

...though admittedly I have sort of ruined it by describing my plan beforehand. Oh, well.

Anyway.

Like Tokyo, my first experience with Kyoto was (a) with a study abroad program (AKP), and (b) actually in Osaka, at the Kansai International Airport.

But really, KIX is no more Osaka than Kyoto, so we won't sweat the details.

As AKP had offered us the option of a group flight actually from the States (a much easier plan, though the rather incompetent travel agent booked me a seat in the middle of the five-seat middle aisle, despite my specifically telling her that I have bursitis in my left hip and cannot remain sitting for such long periods... sigh), all but one (Melon, actually; she beat us all and went on a Doshisha summer program and thus was already there) student arrived at KIX at the same time from San Francisco, tired, jet-lagged, and definitely looking worse for wear.

Perfect time for a group picture!

I've oft wondered if that was actually a bonding exercise, or just something for the office staff to cackle about later. We were not pretty, getting off of that plane.

As you can imagine, there was no aimless waiting around in the airport this time--once we had gone through customs and retrieved our baggage, we were whisked through security ("Are you on AKP?" "Yes." "Have a nice day!") and onto a bus headed for the Kyoto Tower Hotel, where we were staying for a week to properly gain our bearings.

Oh yea, these people have it together, I thought. 

The Kyoto Tower Hotel was certainly a welcoming site after that 11 hour plane ride, even though it took something like two hours on that bus filled with people we didn't properly know yet to get there. Have I ever mentioned how horrendously far way KIX is from anything? Endeavor never to fly there, unless you have no choice. Also, it's sinking. Doesn't that just make you feel all warm and cuddly when you come in for a landing?

... ahem. Anyway. The Kyoto Tower Hotel.

Definitely some nice digs; I actually got to stay there twice over the course of my year abroad, but that's another story.

Anyway, we were grouped off into threes, alphabetically, and roomed accordingly. I think that first night we were on our own to forage for food (with the money we had been provided on the bus; man, I can complain about that program, but I certainly will never complain about the free-flowing cash), which most of us did at the nearby コンビニ (conbini, convenience store). I did this out of nostalgia; I was desperate for some milk tea. Others did it out of necessity, as most of them had never been to the land of the rising sun. Many purchased booze, discovering that, huzzah, 20 is legal drinking age in Japan, what joy!

... what can I say, I'm a connoisseur. I much prefer mixed drinks and liqueurs, and thus forewent  the joys of cheep conbini beer.

We ate and drank, and then decided to wander around 京都駅前 (Kyoto eki mae, In front of Kyoto Station), because after all, you're supposed to stay up to your regular bed time to fight off jet lag, right? I'm sure that was our reasoning.

A lot of aimless wandering later (notice how I cleverly skipped over the part that is a little fuzzy in my memory), we finally went to bed, not availing ourselves of the 銭湯 (sentou, public bath) because we were either (a) too tired or (b) not entirely comfortable with that whole public nudity thing yet. I myself am not sure when I (thankfully) got over that and learned the joy of 銭湯 and 温泉 (onsen, hot springs), but I wish it had been sooner.

I actually don't think more than two people ever used the Kyoto Tower 銭湯, and that they said it was nothing special. Perhaps an opportunity missed, and perhaps not.

We spent the next week shuttling back and forth between the hotel and Doshisha University, five subway stops away, for orientation and placement tests and whatnot, again all on the program's dime. Luckily, in this case, placement tests were taken after we had recovered from our 11 hour flight; clearly, in my favor, as this time I was placed in the highest Japanese level available. (Although really, that may have been thanks to the horrors of my college's third year Japanese, and the ridiculous lengths I went to to make sure I passed... but that's another story as well.) It was summer vacation for the regular college kids, so for the most part, we were rather alone on campus.

Honestly, though, this is where I realize just how much truth there is in that whole fading-memory jest... I am having a hard time remembering what specifically happened during that first orientation week, aside from a lot of sitting in lecture halls, eating awkwardly in the Doshisha 食堂 (shokudou, cafeteria or dining hall) with people we still didn't know properly), and riding the subway like total and utter dorks (you know, hanging from the hand-holds, swaying back and forth, talking loudly and generally annoying the populous.) I'm sure that I met Melon sometime during that week, but damned if I don't remember that either.

But, I do remember that one fateful day in our lounge where we began talking randomly (or perhaps due to some internet video or other) and discovered that we both loved BUCK-TICK and a number of other J-Rock bands, forging our life-long friendship and program-long tendency of pairing off. See, I do remember the important things.

Er. Back on topic.

Sometime during the week, we were assigned volunteer "guides" from the university, who were told to take us to the homes of our host families, teach us how to get back an forth to Doshisha on our own, and then take us in to get the process started on our gaijin cards; that last part was probably the most important, as my guides were kind enough to fill in the forms for me. My handwriting is abysmal, and I didn't want it on record. (It was bad enough having it in my 定期券 [teikiken, commuter pass]...) Since my host family lived in Shiga, I had been assigned two students who were themselves from Shiga, glorious prefecture that it is--and no, I'm not kidding, I really liked Shiga. They were the ones who told me that Gackt is actually from Shiga, but lies about being from Okinawa because Shiga just isn't カッコいい (kakkoii, cool) enough for his image). I'm not sure whether I believe this, but it's interesting nevertheless; Shiga certainly does have some pride issues, and seems unlikely to let go of any birthrite they may possess. Otsu, the capital of Shiga, was the capital of the entirety of Japan (though it was much smaller back then, and not exactly "Japan" as we know it today) before Kyoto, and they changed the name of my station to let people know that--西大津 (Nishi Ootsu, western Ootsu) became 大津京 (Ootsu Kyou, Capital Ootsu) the year before I arrived.

Not to mention those statues of Murasaki Shikubu they have up in random places. Not sure about that one either, but if they say she was born there, who am I to argue?

But hey, this isn't a Shiga post, this is a Kyoto post! ... I have edited the title accordingly. Ahem.

Anyway.

After that week of orientation, getting to know the city and bonding with each other, there was a meet-the-host-family party at the hotel's fancy restaurant, where we were encouraged to dress our best and wait anxious while families showed up in ones and twos, not having any clue what our respective families looked like and hoping that we'd chosen to wore the right outfits.

(Yes, that is where I met crazy okaa-san, and no, you won't get that story today. It's my blog, so nyeh nyeh nyeh.)

After that, we were off--away from our week in the lap of luxury (maybe I exaggerate) and into homes with little to no air conditioning with people we had only met hours before. I myself was forced to haul my luggage on the train (though luckily not my two big suitcases, which had been shipped) because my family hadn't driven all the way in from Shiga.

Let it never be said that entering into a host family is an easy, relaxing experience which is perfect for every comer.

...but again, that is another story.

Which signals the end of yet another exciting installment in Edo's journeys through Japan!

Be sure to tune in next time, when I may or may not be continuing this series due to my coming back from this horrible excuse for a vacation.

This is Edo, signing off glad that she made that original warning about these posts having very little to do with the prefectures she was in at the time...

Will the sakura never end? (桜って、いつまで続くのやろう？）

In continuing with both the sakura-season and I-have-nothing-interesting-to-say theme of yesterday, I thought I would share a few more 花見 pictures from my Kyoto adventures.

This time, though, I thought I'd change it up a bit. No traditional 御所　or 哲学の道 for you today! No sir, today, we venture into the less traditional side of Kyoto. Today, we venture into...



木屋町!! Or Kiyamachi, for those of you without intimate Kyoto knowledge. Admittedly, that's nothing as bad as 先斗町... Read THAT one, Japanese students, I dare ya! Extra credit for those who get back to me with the correct ふりがな. No cheating!

Now, as you may or may not know, Kiyamachi has something of a seedy reputation, though mostly during night hours. It's where the host and hostess clubs are, mainly, along with love hotels, shady bars, and foreigner clubs. If you want sketchy in Kyoto, this is your drag.

And yet, during they day, it's lovely. And really, at night, it's only shady in atmosphere, and not truly unsafe; I walked through many a night, and return to you all unmolested. Because, after all, say what you will about Japan, but it is pretty damn safe, a fact for which I am eternally grateful.



See? They're just like the sakura everywhere else in Kyoto. Pretty, pink, and surrounded by tourists.



I also thought the river/creek/stream/whatever added a nice aesthetic touch. What can I say, we desert folk love us some water.

And speaking of tourists...



I do apologize if I captured you or anyone you know in this picture, and assure you that it was not intentional. Rather, during 花見 season in Kyoto... it's something of a miracle if you get through the day without having someone in your pictures you didn't exactly invite into them. I wanted a shot down the stream, gosh darnit, and I was going to get one, obscured by tourists or no.

Well now, there's a thought my pointless picture post (I love unintentional alliteration, don't you?) inspires... 花見 season was certainly a validation for me, especially seeing as how I lived in Kyoto. You see, that time of year, Kyoto's population nearly doubles (I may be employing hyperbole, but still) with sheer tourist inflation. So, for almost the entire month of April, I was actually more "local" than a good percentage of the people giving me funny looks. As Melon would say, put THAT in your pipe and smoke it!

Although at the same time, gaijin tourist also began to come in droves, possibly making actual locals have far more reason to think I was just another English-speaking gomer blundering through some world-travels... Oh well. I suppose you can't have everything.

This is Edo, signing off whilst wondering if anyone really likes tourists....

I miss the sakura... (桜って懐かしい。。。)

Well, 花見 season is just about upon us. And of course, when I say "us," I mean those of us who are lucky enough to be somewhere with sakura. Unfortunately, Southern California does not fall on that list, as far as I've seen. We do have some lovely orchid trees around though, so I guess that counts for something.

Anyway, since I can't amuse you all with stories of this year's 花見, last year's will have to do. And since I was in Kyoto, aka 花見 capital of the known world... I honestly think that last year should be enough to satisfy even the pickiest of readers.



Here, we have some lovely sakura from 御所, or the imperial palace. Say what you will about Doshisha University, but being across the street from 御所 was pretty darn cool, if I do say so myself.



These are some sakura from 哲学の道, or the Philosopher's Path. Quite frankly, I didn't see what was so philosophical about it. What I did notice was that there were a ridiculous number of soft cream/soft serve/whatever you want to call it vendors about... even though I foolishly did not partake in their wares. Alas, the follies of youth.



A close up shot of one of those philosophical sakura, because sometimes, I like to pretend I'm artistic. I could call it... "Contemplations in Purity." Or... "Pretty flower."



And of course, the obligatory 夜桜, or "nighttime sakura," or as we so eloquently condensed it, "yozaks." That's right, we gaijin are in your country, butchering your language for our own amusement. I can't remember if these were taken along the 鴨川 (Kamo river) or at Gojo... Hm.

With that bit of nostalgia for you, this is Edo, signing off and hoping you didn't realize she replaced actual content with pretty pictures this time 'round.

So blonde is manly? (金髪って、男っぽい？）

Considering the fact that the event which inspired this post happened approximately a year and a half ago now, you'd think I would have posted it a bit sooner.

But, you know how it goes. Study abroad kids are lazy as all get out, but senior kids doing thesis... well, we'll leap at pretty much any opportunity that involves getting out of our designated niche for a moment or two.

In any event, Halloween 2008. Me, studying abroad in Kyoto. For lack of a better idea, I decide to dress up as a host, because, hey, get me some blonde hair-spray and a dangly chain earring, and I was all set. (I mean, I didn't have the pointy shoes, but I wasn't going to drop $100+ on this thing. Come on.) I had seen my fair share of hosts of the lower class cruising in the area of Kiyamachi on Weekend evenings, so I figured I had plenty of research under my belt to pull off the role.

But why was I dressing up? Well, my glorious senpai had invited me over to Osaka for the evening, for a party and perhaps some clubbing to be had for Halloween discounted fares. This of course equated to getting out of crazy okaa-san's house for almost an entire weekend (I'll give you that story later), so really, party or not, I was ready to jump on that invitation like a kappa on a cucumber.

But I digress. In any event, while I was effectively meant to be gender-bending for my costume of choice, I did not have the means (nor the desire, as apparently it's quite uncomfortable) to bind my not-insignificant chest, so I gave it up for a bad deal and just figured I'd be a host with boobs. There are worse fates, I'm sure. Needless to say, I didn't think I'd actually be fooling anyone that night.

So, I waxed up my hair into a suitably large host-do, sprayed it golden (which had the unfortunate yet amusing consequence of dying my nose hairs golden as well, I found out later when I blew my nose) put on my fabulous host outfit complete with shiny (though not pointy) boots, leather emblazoned jeans and chain earring, and I was off for a night on the town.

Of course, living with crazy okaa-san in Shiga-fuck-nowhere, it took a while to get out on the town. Had a few obaa-san stare at me on the train into Kyoto, but I wrote this off to the hair. It was pretty fabulous. Or it could have been just plain ol' "oh god white person in SHIGA?" shock, but you never know.

Switched to the subway at Kyoto and headed out to Shijo, and thought things were going swimmingly. Until I saw two women whispering to each other. While staring fixedly. At. My. Crotch.

So. Three things.

1. These women are staring, point blank and unabashedly, at some gaijin's crotch.
2. Presumably they are in question about this gaijin's gender.
3. They are too STUPID to look UP and see the BOOBS that might answer their question definitively.

Clearly, that white shirt and jacket combo I have is much more capable of hiding my bust than I thought. Oh, and those jeans apparently completely obscure my curves and rather, ahem, femininely large behind.

I got off the train, a little disconcerted, but none the worse for ware. Waited for Debs to show up, dressed up adorably as Hibari from Hitman Reborn, after which we had a tasty dinner of Mos Burger before heading out to Osaka on the gloriously cheap Hankyuu. I noticed that, the closer we got to Osaka, the fewer stares the two of us recieved. I attributed this to Osaka's generally accepting and awesome vibe. (Only later did I realize that I probably should have attributed this to the fact that I was heading into the host capital of the world on a Friday night. Hur.)

We met up with senpai and headed off to her fellow gaijin friend's party, where things went well, as apparently fellow foreigners were not in the least bit fooled by my get up. Good times were had by all, and I met some very interesting people, one of whom had shaved off half of his body hair (literally, on a vertical axis) for his costume.

However, after we left and dropped Debs off at the train station... things again became a little strange.

We ran into two (presumably rather drunk) girls while walking out of the station who were either thrilled to bits over either senpai's costume or my 金髪, I can't quite remember which. Regardless, senpai started chatting them up in Japanese, asking them whether they thought I was カッコいい or not. Oh, yea, yea, they agreed whole-heartedly, inquiring as to whether or not I was half. Ok, fine, in dim light, and with beer goggles, I could be half, whatever.

But then senpai told them that I was not, in fact, a man, and merely a college girl dressing up for the night.

Cue startled squeals and gasps abound, with a few 本当？！ to boot.

For goodness sakes, I think I had cleavage showing.

After this, senpai was convinced that she should take me out trolling in Shinsaibashi, seeing how many girls I could rake in to go to club "Mickey D's" with my apparently very convincing host schtick.

Ok. Let me make this painfully clear. I am very obviously a woman. I have been told this any number of times. I curve, quite pointedly. I bulge in the right places. I walk like a girl, and most certainly have a girlish face.

However, if I had a nickel for every time I was certainly or probably mistaken for a man while in Kyoto... (one time a guy actually asked Debs while we were out together whether I was a man or not on her way back from the bathroom. Come on, at least have the guts to ask me about it.)

So. The question boils down to this. (Oh, you thought it wouldn't all be wrapped up into some poignant thought on Japanese culture? For shame.)

Has gender become so ingrained into distantly obvious secondary characteristics (height, clothing, hair) in Japan, that clearly gendered secondary characteristics (curves, bust, bottom) must take a back seat when it comes to snap judgments? Is my 5'8" simply so tall as to be considered outside the range of possible femininity? Or am I just secretly so manly that Japan is picking up on it?

Or let's look at it linguistically. I do my best not to speak with a feminine inflection, as it tends to annoy me--acting meek and demure goes against my better nature. Is this affecting my gender image to such an extent that I am actually mistaken for a man?

In a similar vein, perhaps it's because I'm aggressive and unconsciously act that way in day-to-day life? If that's the case, again, has gender become so ingrained in how we act that how we look is no longer a consideration?

I'd really like to know, because frankly, I'd hate to be sending the wrong signals.

This is Edo, signing off a little gender confused.

Life. (生活)

I really should post more often, but... I do have a life here, after all.

もっとポストしたした方がいいけど。。。京都に、生活があるからね。

Which, I guess, is something I should be writing about for the folks back home. Sorry about that.

そして、その生活について、アメリカの人々のために、書いた方がいいな。ごめんね。

I'm doing well, though, and having a great time. Being in Kyoto has only made me want to live in Japan after college even more. I should probably start looking into those Square-Enix jobs, then...

でも、元気で、本当に楽しんでいるよ。京都に住んでいるのは、大学の後で、日本にまた住みたいの感じがもっと強くしたんだな。そして、そんなSquare-Enixの仕事。。。ちょっと研究した方がいいな。

Sorry for the lack of photos in this post; I'll try to remember next time.

このポストに写真がなくて、ごめんね。今度、覚えるように頑張るよ。

Until next time, then.

じゃ、またね。

Weekend Adventures. (週末のアドベンチャー)

Even though I’m sitting here writing this Sunday evening, it won’t actually be posted until Monday. Which is, I guess, now. Just know that this is somewhat old news.

日曜日の夜に、これを書いているのに、月曜日までにポストことをしない。まあ、それ今だね。でもさ、これ、ちょっと古いニュースーだな。

Today was a pretty exciting day, so I thought it was worth posting about. Kelly and I went to Kiyomizudera! (After, admittedly, failing to do so yesterday.)

今日本当に楽しかったから、したことについて書いた方がいい、と思った。ケリーと私は清水寺へ行った!（昨日失敗したからね。）

We met up at Kyoto Station, and had some delicious ramen for lunch. I should have taken a picture of the delicious takoyaki I had yesterday, but all you get is the ramen.

始めに、京都駅に間に合って、おいしいラーメンを食べた。昨日食べたおいしいたこ焼きも写真を取った方がよかったけど、ラーメンしかあげない。



Afterwards, we waited in line for a bus to Kiyomizudera. It was a long line, and when we got on the bus, it was super crowded. Not a pleasant ride. Kelly almost had a panic attack.

そして、清水寺までのバスのため待って並んだ。長い間待っていて、バスに乗ったら、超込んでいた。楽しくなかった。ケリー本当に好きじゃなかった。（「パニックアタック」って。。。）

Luckily, since Kelly had asked her Okaa-san, we knew where to get off today. Did so, and followed the crowd up to Kiyomizudera. It was a long walk. And I mean long. Uphill. Also super crowded.

ケリーはお母さんを聞いたから、今日、バスから出かけるところ知ってた。ラッキーだった。その後、清水寺まで、皆の後ろに歩いた。長い間だった。本当に長い。めっちゃ大変。も超込んでいた。

We started taking pictures when we got to the temple itself. It was quite pretty, if still majorly crowded. However, we were there for the good-fortune-granting water, not the scenery.

お寺に着いたら、写真を取って始まった。きれいだったけど、まだめっちゃめっちゃ込んでいた。しかし、私たちは望みの水のために行った。

So, after much walking and a little confusion, we finally made it to the spring. Had to wait in a line there, too, but that was understandable. Nida had told us that the three springs each had different wish-granting powers (money, study, and love), but all the signs said that there was no difference, and that they all granted wishes, no matter what. As Kelly and I couldn’t find any distinction between the three springs, we chose to believe the signs. And then spent a while creating our really detailed wishes. We also found out that it’s the Great Merciful Goddess (who according to the legend is actually a hermaphrodite) who grants the wish, as it’s her temple.

そして、たくさん歩いて、少し迷っていたあと、水までに着いた。そこにも待って並んだけど、それ分かれるね。ニダによると、水の三つは別々の力が持っているけど、サインによると、違いがない。全部、望みをくれる、と言った。も、ケリーと私は違いを見つけられなかったから、サインに信じて選んだ。そして、本当に長い望みを作ってた。も、望みをくれるのは観音様（話によると、実は同性愛者だ）だと言われた。観音様のお寺だからね。



The rest of the post will be only in English, as it is late, and I am tired.

残りは、遅くて、疲れたから、英語だけだ。本当にごめんなさい。

We spent most of our time in line trying to work out any loopholes from our wishes, though admittedly, now that I know that the Great Merciful Goddess has taken my fate into her hands, I feel a lot better about it. I think she’ll understand if I accidentally drank out of the “fortune” spring… (Yes, I’m sure you all know what I wished for.) Regardless, if you know for a fact (though I don’t see how you could) that I didn’t drink out of the “love” spring… don’t tell me. It said on the signs that the temple itself didn’t support the idea that the springs were separate, after all. I believe the signs. “Wish-granting,” they said, and so a wish I made.

I also thanked the Great Merciful Goddess as I left. She’s a pretty awesome deity, if I do say so myself.

After drinking from the spring, we headed back down to civilization. Just as long a walk going back, in case you were wondering. And apparently, we just missed the rush, as it seemed to be far more crowded going back downhill than it had been coming up. Lucky. Regardless of the crowds, we both felt extremely good about ourselves, quite positive our 運命 (unmei; fate, destiny) was definitely on the up and up. (…and still is. Stupid English language and its limitations and connotations and whatnot.) Yea, we pretty much wished for the same thing. We’re simple gals.

However, upon reaching the bus-stop, we were both quite exhausted, and our feet were aching with every step. (And no advil to boot.) We were desperate to sit down, but unfortunately the buses around Kiyomizudera are notorious for being crowded beyond belief; we waited about fifteen minutes for our bus to come, and it was packed. Again. Luckily, after a few stops we were able to grab a seat.

Extremely luckily, as we were on that bus for another hour, almost.

Unfortunately, while the bus did go back to Kyoto station, it took perhaps the longest, most roundabout way to get there imaginable. However, we were pretty tired, so it was nice to sit down for a while—even if our butts were numb by the time we actually got to the station.

(A side note, which talking about the station reminded me of: while we were heading towards the ramen restaurant in the station, we found something which I called the “sparkly” store, and had to go in. They were selling, among other things, sets of five earrings—all different, all together. Only in Japan, we thought. And both wanted a set badly. Especially me, as it would have been perfect for my five ear-piercings. Would have bought them, too, if they hadn’t been about ten bucks each. Maybe some other time…)

Understandably, by the time we were back at the station, we both had a case of the munchies. We therefore set of in search of a パン屋 (panya; bread shop) and tasty treats. Found one at the back of the station, where I bought melon pan and milk tea, and Kelly got some sort of bun and lemon tea. The surprising part was that my melon pan was actually melon pan; it tasted like melon! See, for those who don’t know, melon pan usually tastes nothing like any sort of melon—which is not to say that it’s not tasty. However, this melon pan was filled with some sort of paste that tasted just like cantaloupe. Very surprising. (You know… I wonder why I’m not losing any weight yet, and it’s probably because of my horrible snacking habit. CURSE YOU, MELON PAN!)

After our snack, we went our separate ways—poor Kelly had to take the bus home. At this point, we could write a novel about our bus misadventures, I’m quite sure.

Came home, and luckily got a seat on the train, as apparently the around-five-o’clock train to Otsu-Kyo on Sunday isn’t all that crowded. Per usual, people avoided me, sitting four to a booth to avoid sitting with the 外人 (gaijin; outsider, foreigner). However, someone sat down across from me at Yamashina, which made me quite happy.

I love wearing my sunglasses on the train; I can people-watch without seeming nearly so sketchy. For instance, had I not been wearing them, I would not have noticed the guy across from me staring at me a few times. (Admittedly, I’m far more lenient with this behavior when it’s a young guy doing it. Most everyone else, it just gets old very quickly. At least with a young guy, I can fool myself into thinking that he’s staring because I’m good-looking.)

Bonded once again with my okaa-san over variety shows; the ones one tonight were quite amusing. One involved a race between two guys in Tokyo, trying to walk seven kilometers (from whatever JR station they started at to the television station) in the heat in paper shirts that fell apart when they got wet. They weren’t allowed to wipe their sweat off, but they were allowed to do pretty much anything to keep cool: one guy went to a “cooling down” salon, where they washed his hair with a special treatment to make it cold, and the other got a bag of ice chunks from an ice cutter. The latter actually went to far as to go into a department store and get sweat-preventing make-up put on to keep his face from dripping (the surprising thing was, it worked.) It was a highly entertaining show.

And now, as this post has become far longer than I’d ever intended it to be (likely because I switched to English-only mode), I’ll end it here. Thank you, and good night (or morning, as the case may be.)