伊豆藩と Izu Peninsula

This weekend, down the east coast of the Izu Hanto (peninsula) a most beautiful place. Incredible terrain, rugged sea coast, small sheltered bays with surfers and fishermen, the road follows along the coast and climbs and falls... a lot. Got the train with my bike all packed in it's new bike bag and then changed trains, got out and followed the coast. Fantastic roads and scenery but the weather was foul - started raining 30 minutes after I started and just carried on. The traffic was surprisingly heavy as well, due to it being the only road. Then a 3 hour cycle to my friends' house for a party. Arrived, wet, onsen-ed (just about the best thing to do after 3 hours cycling in the rain!) and then feasted on huge hamburgers in a hawaian styled cafe playing Eric Clapton.
Great weekend, am knackered for school tomorrow though.

Bat Rides & Dam Hills

I'm back! And it was awesome. I took my new shiny bicycle out for a quick spin last week first chance I could. Just cycled along the river until it got pitch black and then turned round. Just as dusk was turning into night I was cycling down this long path with trees overgrowing on both sides. All of a sudden, I feel these things flying inches from my nose... big things... BATS! Crikey it got interesting. They were all flying through the tunnel and past me. I was going a little fast perhaps for my visibility but they seemed to have no trouble avoiding a big hairy white guy on a yellow bicycle. But that was just a quick ride to make sure nothing was about to fall off.
At the weekend I gathered myself together, packed some rice triangles for lunch and off I set... North! roughly speaking. I didn't bother with a map as there was nowhere especially I had wanted to go - going itself being the important thing. So I followed one of the main roads out of town for about an hour or so and then turned off the main drag and headed for the hills. I quickly discovered that although suburban sprawl spreads to the very toes of the hills, once you're half way up the shin there's no-one in sight. It plateaued for a little while and I found myself cycling through persimmon and peach farms. This peculiarlar landscape gave way to small hills, then medium size hills and finally I was met by some granddaddy hills just sitting there waiting to giggle as I tickled my way up 'em. I really had no idea how much height I'd gained for some time as many of the roads are enclosed on both sides by pine forest. Gorgeous cycling, perfect roads, no cars, quiet (except moi over here, huffing and puffing). A sudden break in the trees off to one side and I can see that I'm really out in the sticks now. The valley floor spreads out about as far as I can see all forested and sprinkled with thin winding roads up and around corners hugging the contours.
I starting following some signs for a dam, thinking that it'd be a nice spot for lunch. Well, the signs kept coming, as did the hills, the bends, some more hills and then a man in a helmet waving a red stick at me. Naturally I stopped despite the fact he was precisely at the base of a steep hill thus surrendering all my momentum. He uttered "something something something dame."
"Ah dame?" (using my fantastic knowledge that dame is something that's just not cricket)
"Hai dame."
"Daijobu (no problem) Arigato." and with that I was redirected over the gorge and back up the other side. Well I eventually relocated some more signs for the dam and followed them until sometime later; some marvellous descents ran down turn after turn of downhill, while I frantically glanced in the fantastically placed mirrors on each hair-pin bend to make sure nothing was going to squish me upon my successful navigation of each turn.
Last hill... it was a big one and then the sky comes down to greet me as I break through the clearing and the dam appears before me.

GOTTA RUN TO SHORINJI KEMPO - WILL FINISH SOON

Well I am sorry about that, didn't realise the time. Shorenji Kempo was good, they just show me black belt techniques because there's no-one else big enough to learn with; and they seem to think I'm reasonably good at it too... I think. Today after everyone else left the sensei just had me doing punching and kicking drills because he was amazed by my reach. He's told me there are no Shorinji Kempo clubs in England so I should become a black belt and then go back and set one up! How's that for a long term goal!
Well as I'm already diverged so far from the topic at hand I'll use it as an excuse to introduce you to my new hero,

THE man behind Shorinji Kempo... and just look at that beard!
And here's a photo of my Japanese English teacher with his lovely pregnant wife. The chap responsible for me leaving you all just now. Really nice guy - and he cycles too!

Ok, Ok, back to business. So I take a quick look around at the Dam, "My what a big Dam." was probably one of the many thoughts that plodded through my noodle as I sat down, took off my cycle booties and munched into my onigiri (rice triangles). The other was that I had relatively little sense of direction now as I'd made so many turns and twists to get here. I was not entirely sure which way was home...
Anyway I remembered my camera phone so whipped it out to see what it could see. As it turned out it couldn't see very much, but here's what it made of the day.





and the cool part of the bike!

Well to cut a long story short, I went home.

How's that?

***

Ok, a touch more elaboration; on returning to the comfort of my abode I investigated my map to see if I could figure out roughly where I'd been. As it turns out I'd probably done about 120 km, and cycled into the next prefecture. Best of all, despite not cycling properly for two months I felt great, and was barely stiff the next day!
When I went to pick up the bike I got talking to the shop owner (in Japanese!) and he invited me to go on his shop rides; leaving the shop at 6 am on Sunday mornings... and that's only the fastest guys! The slow folks leave at 5! He also mentioned a 400km ride across the Japanese Alps... without stopping! Riding through the night and heading to the beach in the wrong direction! Now that sounds fun, but might need to get fit... now there's an idea!

IT'S HERE

gone cycling... check back soon.

Matsuri Time

Ho-Hum,
it's been a little while...
In that little while I have been schooling and so forth, went to a conference in Shizuoka to inform me how to be a better teacher, and been to an observation lesson to watch how a seasoned third year JET handles the crowd. All most informing I can assure you. I've given lessons on bodyparts, directions and facial features. I've been told I have a "beautiful beard" by students... twice! Only one was a girl... not sure about that. I've been screamed at by a group of san-nensei girls "We love you" across the space between the two school buildings while teaching a class; much to the amusement of my assisting Japanese teacher and my vice-principal who could hear it in the room below. I've been entertained by two of my teachers at my different schools. All the while I've been waiting for my new bicycle... due to arrive any minute now I wait for the call.
And somehow I managed to squeeze in the Yuto Matsuri - the local Shinto festival which every local town has once a year, wind, rain, snow, blistering heat or typhoon regardless! I was lucky enough to only have to put up with constant drizzle, and mild humidity. Basically from 10.30 in the morning you don the 'hapi' (over-garment specific to each locality) put on your two-toed slippers if you got 'em and hoist a large taiko drum on a float around the town. It wasn't my local town but my Canadian friend Douglas' town, he provided hapis for myself and Kevin (Irish) to parade around in for the day. Or rather two days.
Well, once you've begun to hoist the thing around tight backstreets with rather large rope the drinking begins. And the drinking continues for the rest of the weekend. Being of a somewhat tall Viking-like disposition I could not help but draw the attention of the locals who proceeded to run at me brandishing kettles full of sake and were generally quite insistent that I partake to the rousing chants of "Aisho! Aisho!". I think I held up my end of the bargain admirably. This continues for some time as you weild your drum around and bang out your local towns song accompanied by fue (bamboo flute). Every hour or so you sit down at someones house and they bring out a feast to accompany your drinking. Huge amounts of food are given you and the parade slows to a mild drinking pace while everyone that has come of age, or is new to the town, or is a foreign spectacle (I couldn't hide from it), stands up and introduces themselves and downs a litre or so of beer.

"Aisho!" , quite.

I managed to concoct "beer nomimashyo!" (Let's drink beer!) Much to the consternation of Kevin, who had to follow me, and despite being Irish, is a poor drinker.
This pattern of events carries on into the evening at which point all the different towns congregate –with their floats– at the local shrine where they continue to bang out their particular song alongside each other. Each trying to better their rivals and prove themselves the greatest drinkers, eaters, singers, drummers, and ipso facto the greatest town. At this point the groups are barely able to stand and this, combined with bravely swinging around drum sticks the size of baseball bats results in a frenzy of jumping Japanese people, not dissimilar the liveliest mosh pit at a Slayer concert. Only less hairy.
I believe it was at this point of the evening that I began hoisting my female companions: Mina (Korean-American), Lisa (Chinese-American) and Melinda (Japanese-American... and also technically, my boss) into the air and jumping around. The results if you truly care to behold them are here.
but I warn you, it is not for the faint of heart.
The pictures come courtesy of Melinda. But I am told that I also appear heavily in the collected photos of Kevin, Mina, and Pin... ahem.

Well, that's your lot! Are you happy now?

Bicycle Investigations

So I have been without a proper trusty steed for 2 months now... it is time.
On first arriving I found my perfect bike in the local shop - a bright red keirin track bike; one gear - no brakes, simplicity and beauty it had in rackloads. And it was a fantastic price too... trouble was, I hadn't been paid yet, and I didn't know the japanese to ask for a go. So I psyched myself up and waited until my first pay check - then I took out my money and headed into town. Disaster number 1, the bike shop was closed for a holiday. I'd been waiting all week for that moment and to say I felt a little deflated would not be adequate. Ok, so I wait. And I go back the following Tuesday after work when it re-opened. And they'd sold it! How dare they! Sell my thing of beauty! Well that put a hold on my bicycle ambitions for a little while. Eventually after a couple of weeks of being bikeless (the Whale is actually worse than having a bike, as it looks, smells, and sounds like a bike without actually tasting like one) I cracked! Ok, a bike with gears will do. So I find another bike shop and am staring at one very good looking bike, red also, for half an hour or so, running through the components one by one. I ask the guy to take it down from the ceiling to have a closer inspection. It only then becomes apparent that it is not the bike for me, being for a fellow a good foot smaller than myself... nuts.
After much effort I finally located a bike shop that might be able to help me out, it's a trek, so I wait fo the weekend and head out, with minimal directions "If you can find this temple, you'll find us." Well, after ambling around for a while and asking some locals who look confused, one kind lady takes an arm and pushes me in the right direction. I turn up and the guy looks me up and down and thrusts an ordering book into my hands and leaves me to it. I note some prices and ask any questions that I can put into Japanese. It starts raining heavily and I'm in no rush so I take my time to wait for the rain to go off. When I do finally leave I spot what presume to be th entrance to the temple hidden down a side road, so I decide to take a peek.
The entrance turns into a road that winds up a forested hillside with various paths and gateways leading off either side up through the forest to various shrines and temple grounds. This thing is huge and now only 5 minutes walk from suburban sprawl.


I wander slowly through some of the forest paths, and unfortuneately I was without my camera. These images come courtesy of my phone camera, so aren't too hot. But when I wandered through this part I couldn't help thinking I was in the scene in Spirited Away when all the little creatures crawl out of the forest and start shaking their heads. The fact thatt everything was softly dripping really gave the place an incredible atmosphere.

Even cooler, in the little shrines, there are all these tiny little sculptures adorned with crocheted orange hats! I think I've found my religion!

It felt very odd to leave, walk 2 minutes around the corner and be confronted with a new motorway under construction. Jst a million miles away.

Anyway back to bicycles! So I found another shop with the friendliest man in the world, who despite not speaking any english has invited me along on one of his rides; leaving the shop at 6 in the morning they ride about about 35mph for a good wee while. Not sure I'll be able to keep up - ga ganbarimasu!
So I've ordered my bright yellow racing bike with my name custom printed on the top-tube! I've even got a ghostbuster's 'Who Ya Gonna Call' sticker for it. Picked up in a toy shop in Nagoya with this happy chappy hanging around outside.

Also spotted in Nagoya, some crazy guys with slicked back hair in full leathers dancing around to 50s rock 'n' roll while their friends sat on their Harleys and pushed play on the massive sound system they'd brought for the occasion.


And after all that raucous behaviour, in the middle of a shopping district you are suddenly confronted with this rather impressive temple complex.



And finally a compulsory shot of a night-time downtown scene.


Unfortunately this might be the last of the pictures for a while (apart from a couple of the Nakatajima Dunes) as my camera has died. It refuses to open the lens cover. So until I can fix it I'm a bit bothered...

But in another week and a half, I'll be cycling around the mountains, valleys, coast and rivers battling with Zen monks, Ronin and peculiar catfish... so maybe it's just as well.

校内休育大会 - Sports Day

They open the sports day –which translates better as sports festival– with much parading and fanfare. This is the 3 team leaders at Kami. Kami's a smaller school than Maruzuka so it only had 3 teams of about 100 students each.

They get pretty competitive and each team has huge arranged cheering to accompany the racing.

This was a race for the 1st years. They run to a table, have to blow up a balloon, then sit on it until it pops and tn scamper to the finish line.


This was a crazy race that involved each student being assigned a nursery school kid and fitting into a pair of shorts with them and being dragged around bollards. Here's some of the doting parents of said tiny people.


This was an event where four students would support one of their friends then they'd run around trying to steal each others head-bands. They were working on mass as a team too. It got pretty hectic and looked like a full scale war scene! All the dust was getting kicked up to shroud the most aggressive participants.


This event is called the mukade, which means centipede! The ichi-nensei tie their legs together and race around the track. If one falls - they all fall. Some of the teams had fantastic military discipline.


This was the san-nensei (3rd years) event, a massive tug of war. The kids were really giving it some, some of the rounds took some time.


One of the most spectacular parts of the day was the girls dance performance. Each team had an elaborate dance sequence that utilised every girl in the team to the funky beats of a terrible pop melody that ranged from Avril Lavigne to Daphne & Celeste to Ballroom Blitz! But when 100 girls run at you screaming it's scary...


The boys response to this was a gymnastics display thing that involved synchronised posing to a taiko drum.


Reminded me of the scene in Enter te Dragon when the camera rolls back and reveals 1000s of guys practicing drills.

Now Maruzuka! Maruzuka had a bunch of different events and a slightly different atmosphere buut much the same, and slightly insane.

This was a game where they had to gett as many beanbags into the basket as possible - cue lots of beanbags going a lot of places besides the basket.

There are a lot of team-based games and events, this was one where they had to run around and around bollards.

This is an infinitely expanded version of the three-legged race, most teams had at least one kid hit the dirt during this one, but one team was outstanding and practically sprinted every race.

They had one more split up into the various school teams - here's the kendo team. Just cool.

This was an event where one kid had to run across his team-mates as they ran ahead all the time.


And finally, the finale for the boys gymnastics - a six level human pyramid that was held until an order made everyone collapse on top of each other - mildly dangerous...