Sakura, Sakura

Sakura in Japan is a big deal.

In English, we say “cherry blossom” for the flower, and “cherry” for the fruit. The fruit is the thing; the blossom is just how you get there. In Japanese, precedence goes the other way: the blossoms are sakura, and the cherries perhaps later produced are sakuranbo, the natural result of having sakura. But sakuranbo, I should mention, aren’t as big or juicy or sweet as the imported American big-ass cherry, or black cherry, or whatever.

First blooms, school driveway.

From Hanami 2011

But what makes the sakura so damn special? Why does it become the flavor of every consumable food and drink imaginable ‘ere springtime approacheth? Why does the weather start to carry bloom forecasts along with sun and rain? Japan loves the sakura for a number of reasons. One is the brevity of the blossoms: sakura blooms in an area for about one week before the petals start to drop. It’s kind of symbolic of the preciousness of youth and beauty, how shit fades really fast, and you gotta enjoy it while it’s there. I think the other reasons are that it signals the start of real spring. Sakura opens when the sun makes it warm enough, so normally, sakura time is open-windows, outside into the sunshine time.

From Hanami 2011

Last year, hanami season was right after I returned from spring break in warm sunny Okinawa. Last year, hanami season was cold as a bitch. We bundled up in coats and gloves and shivered in the dark outside Himeji-jo, snagging some good photos just before the castle went under tarps, and then hurried home to turn on heaters and crawl under blankets.

Himeji Castle hanami, 2010.

From Hanami

Hanami is supposed to be lying back on blankets, setting up BBQ pits on riverbanks, sipping sake in the warm sunshine (or in the evening, under lamplit trees). It’s supposed to be the way people enjoy the lovely warmth of spring.

From Hanami 2011

Last year, I didn’t really get into sakura season, partly because I returned from Okinawa and everything was in full bloom, and it’s only downhill from there. I was too busy with the new school year and post-vacay catchup to really go and enjoy them, plus there was the Cold of Winter-Ling’ring. I preferred, I found, the new-formed leaves of later spring, the robust appearance of the healthy living green that covered the hillsides after hanami-season was over.

Kagoshima, Yoshino Park

From 2011_04_02

But this year, it’s a little different. I spent spring break in Kagoshima, where at the time sakura was just blooming down there. Sakura bloom moves like a wave over Japan, starting down in Okinawa in like February, and moving up to Hokkaido by May. They’re blooming now around here, with the ones higher up in the mountains in full bloom maybe today, while the stuff closer to sea level was full-bloom about last weekend.

Center Ichinomiya

From Hanami 2011

Those gnarly, unimpressive trees draw the sap up from where they sent it to hide during the effing-cold of the winter months and their very first act is an explosive orgiastic excess of pale pink petals. The landscape is bare except for evergreens, the last of the plum blossoms, and then the ridiculous fervor of the sakura, branches nearly invisible beneath the blanket of blossoms.

From Hanami

They’re thick with the blooms, like cloud puffs of light pink. It goes well with the light blue of the sky, really. So this year, I like the sakura. I like looking out the window of the bus and seeing them like signatures across the mountainsides. I like the way they are just everywhere, their visual mating call resounding, each to each, as they line roads, riverbanks, fields. You don’t have to go to a festival or special place to ‘view’ them, because they’re along the driveway to work, and they’re along the river that the road follows north, and they’re in your neighbor’s yard.

And just as suddenly and madly as they bloom, they fade, petals fall like warm snow, get swept into eddies and canals, and dust the edges of paths.

From Hanami

From Hanami

Something else I like about sakura (this year) is the way that some of the trees are little and puny, some are like regular trees, and others are clearly masters of their respective areas. Last weekend, I spent Sunday riding the Himeji Riiide route with Illustrator JET to make sure we had that nailed flat (conscientious? you bet!), and I spent Saturday on a mini-roadtrip to Yabu with three other Shisonians. Our pilgrimage was to go see a sakura tree that is 1,000 years old.

You'd need scaffolding too, if you were a thousand.

From Hanami 2011

A thousand! This tree was around before.. before.. well, before lots of things! I love the idea of living things that are so old. They call it the Oya Daizakura (or is it O-zakura? I dunno) and it’s a monster of a tree, a huge sprawling thing, pretty in a sort of massive, oddly-shaped kind of way. The tree, sadly, was not in full bloom, being a bit higher up in elevation than the Himeji trees, but it was a great roadtrip and we packed a hell of a good picnic, and made several stops along the way there and back. The rules of the roadtrip were, each person in the car has to call for at least one stop (only one?) along the way there or back, at any place, be it combini for supplies, shrine that looks interesting, the dam that holds up the reservoir in Haga…

Hello picnic! We failed to bring utensils, so we ate the chicken salad by scooping it with bread or spinach leaves.

From Hanami 2011

On the path in Himeji, pre-PEPY-ride with the Illustrator.

From Hanami 2011

So overall, it was a good and exhausting weekend. I prefer to take my hanami on the road, because I feel like I see more, and I like the idea that I’m not just sitting, but moving through the picture. I biked from Himeji station to Taiyo Park and back again on a free rental bike (courtesy of Himeji tourism office) in flip-flops, while the riverbanks below the bike path played host to a hundred blossom-gazers and  their kids wading in the water and their uncles grilling on the BBQ pit. The smells were intoxicating. “It’s like Memorial Day weekend,” I observed to the Illustrator, “only not so damn hot out.”

 Click on any of the above photos to go to the full albums, including gratuitous overphotography of blossoms, and of the thousand-year sakura, and other spring things.

Video Games

From 2011_01_17

View from my front window this morning.

From 2011_01_17

View from the bus stop.

I've come in from shoveling snow (an activity in which I had never in my life partaken, until today) because it is snowing again on top of the, what, foot and a half we have already.. there is no class today, which means I can do more of what I always do at my desk.. though this morning I really just wanted to get out in that fine powdery goodness. And roll around. Or something. Sledding might have been cool. But shoveling was okay too. The teachers, without students around to keep them in line, became children, flinging snow on one another in liberal doses by means of snow shovel (okay that was only like twice before it got old). I'm going to be sore tomorrow. Or maybe tonight. I might go shovel some more later, but I'll wait til its sunny again to do that.

From 2011_01_17

Shoveling off the "veranda"

From 2011_01_17

Time to give up (for now).

The world looks awesome and ridiculous to me under so much snow. All features get smoothed over. Objects become murmurs in the smooth evenness of the snowscape. Sidewalks cease to exist. It's like a zen paradise of nothingness. I love it! But walking through it is difficult. I had no idea it was so deep until I stepped into it and it went up halfway on my calves.. and this was in front of my door. It only got worse going out, going north toward work. I was halfway there on the slow, heavy, chain-tired bus when my school sent me a message saying I could stay home today.

I'd kind of rather not heat my own house, though I guess there is some cleaning I could be doing.

You should have seen me yesterday. There was less of it then, but I had the balls/stupidity to bike in it. Because I had a meeting in Himeji and even in what little (comparatively) there was yesterday, I was not gonna drive. I biked to the bus station. Taking the bus is actually more expensive than driving, even paying for parking, but.. I've been thinking about things like public transportation, lately, anyway, since my trip. I'll share more about my environmental thoughts later, though.

Anyway.

I've been thinking about video games lately. It might be the winter, or maybe the way that I've been using a lot of Mario adaptations in class (MarioKart games, find-the-coin/star/fireflower/etc.) .. I keep having these flashbacks to video game parties or even just afternoons with Dean.

More recent was the Kansas apartment and occasional gaming with Dre or by myself. I won an XBox360, once, that I didn't really deserve because I didn't use it nearly enough to be owning such a thing (I mean, I used it some).. but lately I kind of wish I had it around, just to tool around in a gameworld. I am strangely averse to tooling around on a computer gameworld. I want it to be the TV. C'est la vie.

Anyway, I recently read this article and thought it was pretty cool, passed along from a friend who also posted a pretty weird (see: disturbing, took a while to get it out of my head) video called something like Mario, a Sad Story.

But this is pretty cool.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/12/20/101220fa_fact_paumgarten

Winter Vacation: Winter Wonderland and A Real Japanese New Year's

You can view the full album here, although I'll attach a slideshow at the end of this post. There are 250 photos in this album, so feel free to not be constrained by the slideshow, and just browse at will! (note: this album is for both Kyoto and Tokyo, though this post is for Kyoto only)

Winter Vacation Part I

Our journey began with the bus to Kyoto at 9:30 in the morning on Friday the 31st. At the bus stop, we picked up some little origami charms made by the toll gate people, for travelers. We were about to roam far and wide, so it seemed an auspicious start.

It was snowing in Kyoto as we picked out some gifts for our Malaysian friends. After wandering all over the station in search of one open establishment without a line out front, we gave up and hit the streets and were finally blessed with a deserted Italian cafe of lovely atmosphere.

From Winter Vacation Part I

We next set out to see Ryoan-ji in the snow.

Have water, will travel.

Which was gorgeous, especially the garden area out front.



The rock garden was interesting in the snow, but I think I liked the rocks better in summertime.

From Winter Vacation Part I

The area up near the pagoda was breathtaking, though.

You aren't supposed to touch these trees. I didn't know that, but Miriam read me a sign just as I was eating snow off the branches.

Huh?

We intended to see Ginkaku-ji in the snow, too, but by the time we were done with Ryoan-ji, it was 4:30, nearly dark, and closing time. So we went back to meet up with Nami and Hiroshi!

They took us home to treat us to New Year's, Japanese style, kinda. Which meant we hung out and talked for hours, munching on homemade cookies (courtesy of Miriam), chips and salsa, and other snacks. We taugh Hiroshi-san some English not necessarily found in his study program while Nami-san laughed at us from the kitchen, and watched NHK's New Year presentation (hosted by, who else but Arashi!).

At midnight, you eat soba as you cross into the new year, and we had a look at some osechi-ryori without actually eating any, because by then we were too full from having spent the previous three hours eating.

Not long after midnight, we just bathed and went to sleep. I'd gotten up at like 6am that morning, and was quite ready to call it a day!

It was really nice, though, to spend New Year's together with a family. The family of Nami-and-Hiroshi is a small one, but I've known Nami-san for such a long time, that she feels to me like my Japan family, like my big sister. She and Hiroshi are always so nice to me and whoever I happen to have come to Kyoto with at any given occasion.

From Winter Vacation Part I

Happy New Year!

On the 1st, we got to accompany the two of them to give the traditional New Year greeting to Hiroshi-san's parents. (Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu!) Though they didn't eat with us, they did give us a lot of the special foods for the holiday (osechi ryori), and we sipped sake and tea and sat in the formal room. Most of the foods in the osechi boxes had symbolic meanings, and sitting around eating them generally made me feel really calm and happy. I felt then, as so far, that this is going to be a very good year.

From Winter Vacation Part I

Pre-meal.. we're standing because once we sit, we're gonna be in seiza for a long time.

On our walk back, I saw a biking post-person delivering the New Year cards (nengajou)! When we got to the apartment, Nami-san put Miriam's nengajou next to my Christmas card (I sent a nengajou too, but Miriam's was home-made). Next we went into Kyoto city to make the New Year's shrine visit (hatsumode).

First up was Hiroshi-san's natal shrine, Yasaka jinja. It was absolutely packed. In fact, the entire district was packed. We couldn't even walk on the sidewalks, or not very well, anyway. Too many slow old people and stuff. Once we reached the gate, we elbowed our way up to the shrine where we tossed coins and said prayers. The first time I visited Yasaka, I said a little prayer to end the swine flu issues that were then effing up the lives of students everywhere (school closings, tubs of sanitizer, etc.) because Yasaka shrine was connected to an epidemic long ago (the stopping thereof, I mean).

From Winter Vacation Part I

Calm and peaceful, yes?

But I didn't have any swineflu to stop this time, so I made a little wish, and even in that roaring crowd, felt pretty peaceful. Everyone was buying fortunes (omikuji) but I didn't want to.. I don't really like to buy those very much, because I worry that if I read one, it'll come true, not because it was destiny, but because the stuff will get into my head, and then I'll make it all self-fulfilling prophecy. Off to another side, there was a booth for people to retire their old 2010 charms, things they'd bought last New Year's Day. I was surprised to see all these being basically thrown away, but as I was told, the charms have served their purpose, done their work, and now they can go. I guess if everyone kept every charm, they'd have craploads of the little (sometimes big) things hanging around. I personally will only be in Japan a few years, so of course I tend to keep them all.

Nami-san was reading to me the different aims of different charms. I almost bought "transportation," but then she translated another one as "opening up your future" or something like that. Pretty generic, but it was how I was feeling.

We got out of there and headed for Nami-san's home shrine, Shimogamo, but her father reported that it had taken him like an hour and a half to get in and back, so we skipped it in favor of going to her parents' house to eat and be merry.

From Winter Vacation Part I

Yay~!

Now, Nami-san is weird. Not in a negative way, but in Japanese way. Most Japanese people are vaguely interested in foreign cultures as long as they stay just like that, foreign. Fewer people want to actually get involved in foreign stuff.. but Nami lived in the US for many years, and even considered making it permanent. Having been to her family home, now, I know she comes by it honestly. It struck me as basically indicative of her family's way when I got their addresses from her to send thank-you notes after the trip. In the email she asked us to write to Hiroshi-san's parents in Japanese, and it was okay if we made mistakes. To her own parents she said English, Japanese, Hebrew, Russian, whatever we wanted to write was fine, and they loved getting postcards from anywhere. (We sent Hiroshi-san's parents a classy Thank You note.. actually left over from my graduation! And we sent Nami-san's parents a postcard we got in Kuala Lumpur)

So we got a great traditional cultural lesson with one meal, and just hung out at the other. Hiroshi-san made okonomiyaki in a style I loved better than either Osaka-style or Hiroshima-style. Nami's sister and I made takoyaki (yes, octopus balls) like pros. All too soon we had to leave to catch our train to Tokyo!

Though the day wasn't even over, and we were pretty tired, I have to admit that it was one of the best New Year's I've had, partly because it was very different from any New Year's I've had. It wasn't loaded down with expectations, but it was relaxed, educational, and warm of heart. I loved that.

From Winter Vacation Part I

The day isn't even over yet? (Stay tuned for Tokyo)

Christmas in Nara

Nara is like the poor man's Kyoto. ~somebody

Nara was the capital before Kyoto was the capital (which was before Tokyo was the capital) of Japan. So what's left there is mostly very old stuff, some temples and other cultural property from when Nara was the most prestigious place to be. It's a lot smaller than Kyoto, and the feel of it is a bit less pretentious. You can take it all in within about one day, whereas Kyoto requires a lot more time (and cash).

I had never been before this Christmas, which was the reason Osaki-san offered to take me. M joined up as well and the three of us used train tickets that function kind of as all-day passes. It was snowing very lightly as we left, and I worked on New Year cards on the train.

Our first stop was Horyu-ji, a very spacious temple area with a cool onsite museum full of historical art stuff. Horyu-ji is home to the oldest surviving wooden building in the world! Wiki-travel says to expect to wait in line to get in, but we wandered about at will in the chilly December wind. The grounds were very lightly populated with tourists, and a light snow continued to fall at intervals.

It was pretty magical.

From 2010_12_25

From 2010_12_25

From 2010_12_25

From 2010_12_25

From 2010_12_25

From there, we had lunch, tried to unfreeze our hands, and hopped a train the rest of the way into Nara.

There were deer everywhere, a thing for which Nara is known. I was told they would bow to passersby, hoping for a handout, like a dog that gets so excited when it sees you holding a treat it spontaneously beings doing all the tricks it knows, hoping one of them is the one you're about to say.

From 2010_12_25

They didn't bow much, but I figured that would change once I bought some treats. Later.

First, Todaiji.

From 2010_12_25

We went into the temple and wished Daibutsu (literally, Big Buddha) a merry Christmas.

From 2010_12_25

Inside the temple, Osaki-san showed me the pillar hole which Miriam said was the size of Daibutsu's nostril, and which was supposed to bring good luck for a year if you went through it.

From 2010_12_25

Osaki-san said she'd never seen it without a line before. So I thought, what the hey, when am I going to have a shot at doing this without an audience of strangers ever again? And I told her I believed that I could fit. This was a lie. I did not believe I would fit. I was going to try anyway.

From 2010_12_25

Incredulous.

To my surprise:

From 2010_12_25

If you turn your shoulders diagonally, you can totally do it. Osaki-san never lies.

Then it was back outside into the freezing, beautiful day.

From 2010_12_25

The deer, they look so peaceful...

Who would even believe what people say about them?

From 2010_12_25

Yeah, except:

From 2010_12_25

Even more upsetting was that just a little further down the path, I encountered a deer which was perfectly civil and did bow to me, and I no longer had any treats to give to it!

From 2010_12_25

Next we went to Kasuga shrine, famous for its lanterns (of both stone and hanging varieties).

From 2010_12_25

As it got later into the evening, we made our way over to Nigatsu-do, famous for the Omizutori festival in March, culminating in a big event involving fire which Osaki-san pointed out had blackened the wooden beams.

From 2010_12_25

From 2010_12_25

After this, we walked back toward the station, enjoying the brisk (BRISK!) air and occasional snowflakes. We stopped for warm drinks in a place called Benten, where the very nice owners warmly invited us to visit them again.

From 2010_12_25

And that concluded our stay in Nara!

From 2010_12_25

(that deer guy is Sentokun, Nara's kinda weird mascot, who made an appearance [along with Santa Claus and our own town mascot] at my elementary school recently!)

Of course, we still had to ride back to Himeji (all covered under the seishun kippu) and drive home. We stopped in Himeji and by some stroke of awesome, found a Christmas special with half price yaki-niku. There was no better way to end the evening.

From 2010_12_25

The end!