snow and ice and more snow: sapporo snow festival

A couple of weeks ago I finally managed to do something I've been wanting to do since I came to Japan: go to the Sapporo Yuki Matsuri (Snow Festival) in Hokkaido! I first learned about it during my first year and every year I said I'd go, but you have to book hotels so far in advance that I never managed to do it in time. But this year, since I thought it might be my last year, I decided I absolutely had to go and it was awesome! :D

I left on Friday and after my flight and a bus ride that was much longer than I expected, I finally arrived in Sapporo! I checked into my hotel, which happened to be my first ever capsule hotel, which also had a really nice spa, and while I admit I was a little bit disappointed to not have a capsule that was on top of another, it was a very cozy space with its own little TV inside so I was pretty happy with it. :)

My next excursion was to find a ramen place, while also checking out the ice sculptures at the Susukino venue of the snow festival, which was just one street down from my hotel. After much wandering I finally found ramen-doori (ramen street), which was a very little alley crammed with ramen shops, and had a delicious bowl of miso ramen, which I think Sapporo is famous for.

And then I went to look at the ice sculptures, which were very pretty and delicate and filled me with the sudden urge to smash them (I didn't). I was a little surprised at how many were commercial (i.e. giant sculptures of Suntory whiskey bottles, a boat race sculpture, Kirin/Sapporo beer mugs), but there were also cool things like sculptures that had real fish frozen in them and a little bar (like for drinks) built entirely with blocks of ice.

And then I decided that while I was at it (since it was still pretty early in the evening), I might as well just go see the main venue with all the snow sculptures. It was at the same place where we performed for the Yosakoi Soran Festival in June (and actually so was the area around my hotel) so it was weird to see everything again covered with snow and almost recognize it (after this trip I feel like I have a decent grasp of those areas of Sapporo, which I'm sure will come in handy when we come again this year).

Anyway, the snow sculptures were really cool! I started out right by the main piece, a giant Star Wars sculpture to celebrate the new movie. I'm not a Star Wars fan so I admit I probably didn't appreciate it as much as others, but right when I got there it was lit up with colored lights and they were playing music from the soundtrack, which was pretty cool. And then when I went to the next sculpture, which had something to do with an Alice in Wonderland movie (?), there was a mini musical performance around/on top of it, with crazy costumes and an orchestra and a projection of live sand art!

In addition to the main giant sculptures (I remember looking at one from behind and being amazed at
just how much snow it was made of), there was also a sculpture contest involving different countries (most were still working on them when I went) and lots of smaller sculptures by the citizens of Sapporo. Including one built by Hokkaido AJET, featuring National AJET's major character, Tsuru-chan! :D

And then I just went home and enjoyed the outdoor bath and strawberry bath and jacuzzi baths and the other fun stuff at my soda capsule hotel and called it a night. :)

The next day I went to Otaru, a nearby town that was having a light festival at the same time. I spent the day wandering around the touristy areas filled with little shops, watched some more glass-making (Otaru is famous for its glassware), ate a delicious seafood donburi, and found a temple looking over the city that was completely free of people. It was beautiful and serene and reminded me that moments like that are some of the best things as about traveling alone.

In the afternoon I took a free tour of the Otaru beer brewery (you'll see that this was kind of a theme during my trip) and tried some smoked beer while waiting for it to get dark. When it finally did, I went to see the main attraction of the festival: lights along the canal! There were lighted floats in the water and little candles set along sculptures by the road, and although it still wasn't that dark, it was really beautiful. There was another main venue a few streets down, which included a miniature maze of sorts, which I enjoyed a lot.

And then I rushed back to Sapporo for a dinner with AJET blocks 1 and 6 at one of the famous beer halls! It was all-you-can-eat genghis khan (a dish that is pretty much yakiniku with lamb meat) and all-you-can-drink, and there were over 100 people there! I was a little worried because I thought I would only know a couple of people there, but as it turns out a quarter of the AJET National Council and some other people I knew were there too, plus I met some new people, so it was actually pretty fun! The rest of the night involved more shenanigans with council people and some dancing. :)

Despite a slight hangover, the next day I got up early to meet some friends from Chiba to take a tour of the Sapporo beer factory! Unfortunately since it was Sunday none of the machines were running, but the tour was free and included a beer tasting and some tasty cheese and snacks! After lunch with everyone I left to meet up with some CIR friends from the forums - actually some of them I had never met in person before but felt like I knew already from all our interactions online, haha. We had a long and fun 女子会 of talking and pancakes, and then I met up with some friends again to try and find a soup curry restaurant, on my friend's recommendation.

I was curious as to whether soup curry would be any different than just watered down normal curry, but it was different and delicious! Exactly what we needed after wandering around in the cold rain (it was warm enough to rain, which had an unfortunate effect on many of the snow and ice sculptures, especially the ones with real fish in them). And then in our quest for dessert, we happened across a place where you could pick different kind of liqueurs to put on top of vanilla ice cream. Since there were five of us and we could pick two each, we got to try 11 flavors (they gave us one extra for free) and it was amazingg. :D

The next day was my last in Sapporo, so I decided to first go to the last venue I hadn't been to before, the Tsudomu venue. When I got there it was full of elementary school students with their teachers, because this place had snow slides and play areas, which I decided not to line up for, but also a little zipline, which I did try! It was short but fun and also ask of the volunteers were cute young men so I was glad I tried it, haha. After that I went to the Sapporo Beer Museum (which we had danced in front of during the yosakoi festival), which was not the same as the factory and focused more on the history than production. Also there was not a free tasting, though I decided to try another type they didn't have at the factory anyway. I then had lunch at another beer garden nearby, only instead of the typical genghis khan instead I had a crab doria, completing my list of typical Hokkaido/Sapporo foods to eat.

I still had a couple of hours until my flight, so I decided to visit the Ainu Center, because one of my fellow linguistics majors had been very interested in the Ainu language and it's also interesting to learn about different peoples in Japan, which seems like such a homogenous country. The center was very small and mostly empty, but there were some exhibits of traditional clothing and artwork, which were cool.

I still had some extra time, so then I stopped by the red brick prefectural office (which was yet another place we had performed in June), to look through even more exhibits.

And then it was time to say goodbye to Sapporo! My flight on the way back was delayed for an hour so I didn't get back home until almost midnight, but I felt very satisfied with my trip and glad to be home again. :)

tour four: fruits and flowers and fine craftsmanship

A few weeks ago was our last Chiba-kun Ambassadors tour of the year! It's always sad to think that something is the last, but at least we ended everything on a good note - lots of people were commenting that this was one of the best tours.

Our first stop was strawberry-picking at a place called Koyama Farm in Sammu (Sanmu?)! Last year we did the same thing in Tohnosho, but I'm definitely not complaining about getting another chance to eat as many strawberries as I can in a limited amount of time! This time we even had 40 minutes (rather than 30), which meant even more strawberry goodness. This strawberry garden had several different types of strawberries, including one that had just been developed and didn't have a real name yet (it was labeled something like "experiment #6", haha), and they told us they don't provide condensed milk so that people can focus on the different sweet tastes of the strawberries themselves. Pretty cool, I thought. They also told us which order we should try the first two types of strawberries in, so that we could tell the difference in taste more clearly. It was fun trying all the different types and picking a favorite, though just like last time I got full much faster than expected...


Koyama Farm
Address: 1912 Shimoyokoji, Sanmu, Chiba 289-1314
Hours: 9:30AM - 3:30PM
Cost: 1,100 - 2,000 yen from January to May (varies by month)
Website (Japanese only): http://koyama-farm.jp/

Our next stop was a different kind of picking: Gerbera flowers! Apparently Gerbera is a genus of flowers in the daisy family (says Wikipedia), but anyway they're really beautiful! The owner of the garden gave us a (rather long) talk about the history of their garden and how they actually get their plants (not just seeds) from the Netherlands, and then we were free to pick 8 flowers to take home! I ended up picking them based on how they looked individually so I don't think they made a very good bouquet (somebody else picked ones that went very well together and I was impressed), but they were still very pretty. I'm currently trying to dry them in my apartment, despite the fact that I suspect they may be giving me allergies... but they're just too pretty to throw away!

And then it was time for lunch! The restaurant we went to specialized in (or at least or choices were limited to) iwashi, or sardines. I picked the sashimi option (though the tempura also looked great), which I think was a good choice because I hardly ever have sashimi of that type (I tend to go for things like tuna or salmon) and it was delicious! The rest of the meal also involved different kinds of iwashi dishes, like iwashi with sesame seeds and a fish meatball in the miso soup.

Maruni
Address: 6928-235 Katakai, Kujukuri, Sanbu-gun
Hours: 9:00AM - 9:00PM
Website (Japanese only): http://maru2-99.com/shokuji-maruni/

After lunch we headed to the nearby Sadako Mochizuki Museum, featuring oil paintings by Sadako Mochizuki, who was the current museum director's mother. The paintings were mostly of local scenes by the ocean, and I was really impressed by the colors and textures. Even more impressive though, is that apparently she only started painting after retirement and keep doing it until she passed away.

And then we got to watch a local group perform a dance for us! Apparently it was a dance from the area, but they used naruko and it was very like yosakoi (actually maybe it was, I don't even know), so I really enjoyed watching it. :D

Sadako Mochizuki Museum
Address: 6928-235 Katakai, Kujukuri, Sanbu-gun
Hours: 10:00AM - 7:00PM, Thursdays - Sundays
Cost: 300 yen
Access: 5-minute walk from Katakai Station Iriguchi bus stop, on the bus headed for Motosuka from JR Togane Station (Kujukuri Bus, west exit bus stop 1)
Website (Japanese only): http://www.mochi-museum.com/

Next, we went to what was the highlight of the day for me: a glass-making experience! We got to pick a color and shape, so I chose a plate, as it seemed most useful. Because we could only go one at a time, there was a lot of time for us to watch the artisans at work. Apparently on Sundays they don't make things to sell, but rather spend the day trying new things and practicing their skills, and watching them work was pretty mesmerizing. My favorite was watching the guy blowing glass balls, which I realized much later became the bases for the vases everybody else was making. Pretty cool.

And then it was my turn to make my plate! They brought over a giant hunk of glowing red glass, and I worked with one of the workers to spread it out and shape the sides. I was surprised at how much heat it was giving off, though I guess it should have been obvious since it was literally molten glass. Anyway it was all over very quickly, but I made a plate! :)

Sugahara Glass Mini School
Address: 797 Fujishita, Kujukuri-machi, Sanbu-gun 283-0112
Hours: 9:00-18:00, closed only during year-end and New Year holidays
Cost: 2500 - 4000 yen for adults
Website: http://www.sugahara.com/english/

Our final stop for the day was Minori no Sato, a little market by the road where they sold local vegetables and souvenirs. I think the intent was for us to get souvenirs, but I was amused by how many people just bought groceries, because they were so cheap! I had a good time looking around at everything they had (no giant plushies to tempt me this time, luckily), and then it was time to go home.

Minori no Sato Togane
Address: 1300-3 Tama, Togane
Hours: 9:00AM - 6:00PM
Access: 1 5-minute walk from JR Gumyo Station
Website (Japanese only): http://minorinosato-togane.com/

All in all, it was a fun day and a good wrap-up to this year's tours. Lots of good pictures and memories and experiences! :)

restaurant recommendations in chiba city

So earlier this week I helped out at the ALT Skills Development Conference, and during our block meeting we had everybody go through and share something they had discovered in our area. I prepared a list of some of my favorite eating establishments in Chiba City, so I figured I should share it here as well! They're all places that I've either stumbled across on my own or been introduced to, and while I've only visited some of them once (and don't have pictures of all of them), they're the first places that come to mind when I think about places I'd like to tell people about. Of course, there are lots of good places in Chiba City, but these are the ones I like for being unique and slightly off the beaten path.

Perrito

This is a place I've actually already written about, in my post about my wander-bike to Makuhari, but it's worth mentioning again. The second time I went back, almost a year after my first trip, both the chef and the server lady remembered me, which was pretty impressive. I had a nice conversation with them and learned that most of their customers are regulars who just let the chef decide what to make them (instead of ordering off the menu). Pretty cool.  

Selling point: The chef will make you whatever you feel like eating that day (provided he has the ingredients), based on your budget

Address: 1-1-4 Takahama, Mihama-ku, Chiba City

Hours: 11:00 – 15:00, 17:30 – 22:00

Tabelog: http://tabelog.com/chiba/A1201/A120103/12027289/

Mother Moon

It turns out this restaurant is actually just one of a few locations all around Japan, which surprised me because it's tucked away in an area surrounded by factories and office buildings. My friend introduced me to it because it was apparently listed in a book of recommended cafes/restaurants in Chiba, and even though I've only been twice, I'm always impressed by how nice it is.

Selling point: Delicious food and dessert in a great atmosphere

Address: 117 Shinminato, Mihama-ku, Chiba City

Hours: 11:30 – 22:00

Tabelog: http://tabelog.com/chiba/A1201/A120103/12000148/

Necoman's Bar

I've only been here once, but this is a place that had caught my eye many times before, partly because cats are a motif of the design. I actually wasn't able to find a website for it, and since it's only open on weekdays I suppose a lot of the people who go there are regulars (since I imagine it'd be hard to stay open otherwise). I really liked the decor and the owner/chef seemed nice, though I didn't talk to him much. 

Selling point: A cozy little restaurant/bar with menu items that are hard to find other places (like spare ribs)

Address: ? Behind the Doutor in Chiba Ginza, next to Lava Cafe

Hours: 17:00 - ?

Closed: Weekends

Petit Gourmand

I came across this place with a few other new JETs/Wisconsin ALTs after Chiba Orientation, just a month after coming to Japan. I like it because it has a very casual, cozy atmosphere and I tend to take people there whenever they want a place that isn't a typical bar/pub/izakaya.

Selling point: A small, low-key place to grab drinks/food at a reasonable price

Address: 2-12-6 Fujimi, Chuo-ku, Chiba City

Hours: 16:30 – 24:00

Tabelog: http://tabelog.com/chiba/A1201/A120101/12027036/

Syu's Garden Deli

This was another store that I'd been wanting to try for a while before actually going in, and it was exactly what I'd hoped it would be. The first time I went I had a really tasty lunch set with salmon/vegetables that was very well-priced for the amount of food that came out. I think they try to use seasonal and local vegetables, which is great, and the last time I was there I saw the owner hand-writing the menus, which was pretty cool. 

Selling point: Earthy décor and tasty, healthy food involving lots of vegetables

Address: 1-7-8 Chuo, Chuo-ku, Chiba City

Hours: 11:30 – 15:00, 17:30 – 24:00

Closed: Sundays

Tabelog: http://tabelog.com/chiba/A1201/A120101/12029472/

Beer O'Clock

This is a place that somebody introduced to me recently and I couldn't believe I had never found it sooner! I really liked the design of the shop, but they also had a ton of craft beers and everything on the menu sounded delicious.

Selling point: Craft beers (including a mini sampler set) and yummy food in a stylish setting

Address: 1-4 Shindencho, Chuo-ku, Chiba City

Hours: Mon. - 17:00 – 24:00

Tue. - Fri. - 12:00 – 15:00, 17:00 – 24:00

Sat. - 12:00 – 24:00

Sun., holidays – 12:00 – 22:00

Tabelog: http://tabelog.com/chiba/A1201/A120101/12032448/

Pantry Coyote

This was another place I was introduced to when I first got here, during lunch at Chiba Orientation. It's a very small shop that's decorated in an American Western style, and the burgers are amazing. I remember also being pleasantly surprised because they were playing Cat Power once and had a nice short conversation with the owner about it. 

Selling point: Delicious burgers and beer from all over the world in a cozy rustic location

Address: 3-11-11 Chuo, Chuo-ku, Chiba City

Hours: 11:30 – 22:30

Closed: Third Tuesday/Wednesday each month

Tabelog: http://tabelog.com/chiba/A1201/A120101/12020222/

Tapo's Coffee

I can't remember exactly how I discovered this cafe, but it was probably because it stuck out to me as the only interesting shop on the road it's on. It's a very small place but I find it very relaxing since there are usually not many other people in the cafe (though a lot of people come and buy things to take out), and the owner seems very nice.
Selling point: A simple but stylish cafe, with tasty desserts and latte art. 

Address: 1-4-10 Shinjuku, Chuo-ku, Chiba City

Hours: 8:00 – 19:00

Closed: Mondays

Tabelog: http://tabelog.com/chiba/A1201/A120101/12020222/

hello 2015

Well, it's 2015! I'm sure I say this every year, but 2014 really just disappeared - it was April and then suddenly it was December (and now it's January, what).

It's been a year of change, which honestly I didn't expect, given that my circumstances were pretty much the same as in 2013 - still on the JET Programme, living and working in Chiba City. But there are a few big things that made 2014 very different.

First and foremost, in April I joined my yosakoi team, CHIよREN北天魁 (Chiyoren Hokutenkai). I don't think I knew what I was getting myself into, because I most definitely did not expect for it to become such a big part of my life in Japan. There's so much I could say about what I like about the team and why I'm glad I joined it, but for now I'll just say that it's probably the first time that I've truly felt like part of a team (and I've been in lots of teams) and the first time in a long time (probably since karate in high school) that I've been able to really throw myself into an activity and give it my all. They've actually asked me to be the chair of a new international committee they're making this year, and while I really don't know what that entails or how much responsibility it is, I'm really flattered to be asked and am looking forward to getting more involved and learning more about how things work behind the scenes. Though I suspect this is also the one thing that's going to make it really hard for me to eventually leave Japan...

Then in June, I began my position as the CIR Representative/Project Manager for the AJET National Council, after running and being elected in February/March. This has been another brand new experience of working with council members all over the country and learning about how to organize people around a project from start to finish, which I've never done in quite the same way before. It's a lot of time and quite a commitment, but it's great to be involved and feel like I'm helping contribute to the JET community as a whole. Our terms last until June, so there's still a ways to go, but I feel like we've accomplished a lot in six months so hopefully this'll continue in the future!

Around the same time, I also organized elections and was elected president of the first Chiba AJET council (in recent memory at least). Although I helped out a lot with Chiba AJET before, it's been really nice having a group of people to work with to organize events and the like, and I feel like we've been doing a good job so far. I enjoy running the meetings and being able to delegate tasks, and I think we're setting a good foundation for Chiba AJET in the future as well, so I'm pretty happy with this.

Finally, the last big change was enrolling in Simul Academy and starting their interpreting course. One of my friends had taken a course there in the past, and since I realized if I didn't stay in Japan that this could be my last chance to take it, I decided to sign up (for the sake of professional development). As I mentioned in my last post, I tested into the class that usually takes a year or two to get to if you start from scratch (I was hoping for the introductory course, so getting into one level above - which is also just one level below simultaneous interpreting - was a big surprise) and am the youngest/only non-native Japanese speaker, so in the beginning I was pretty intimidated and thought it was pretty hard, but after a few months I feel like I've settled into the course. I'm too busy to really take advantage of everything and study/review for class like I should, which is a shame, but the material we use is really interesting and I do feel like I'm getting good practice/training. It's really made me realize how my Japanese could still use a lot of work, especially in terms of being able to express things smoothly in a register that is not conversational, so that's something I hope to improve in the future. I've started actually watching/reading the news and am actively trying to read more books in Japanese, so that's something.

So even though a lot of other things happened in 2014 (trip to Taiwan, two! weddings back in the States, lots of big events at work, visits to/from friends, etc etc.), these were the main things that really changed the way my everyday life plays out - now I'm on a pretty set schedule where I have class twice a week, practice once a week, meetings on the other two weekdays, and then the weekends (which are all over the place), which is much busier than before but worth it.

Probably most significantly, though, at least two of these have given me a reason to want to stay in Japan for at least one more year, even though up until now I've considered 3 years the perfect amount of time. I want to be able to keep dancing with my yosakoi team, so I can experience all the different festivals and tournaments at least one more time, and I also want to be able to continue my interpreting course until the end, which requires another 6 months past March.

Ever since I came to Chiba City I've been told that I should consider 3 years the longest I can stay, since technically the JET Programme states that the limit is 3 years in principle, with 5 years being allowed for those with exceptional performance (though most places I know simply take this to mean that the max is 5 years). There's also never been a CIR in Chiba City who has stayed for longer than 3 years, so I was planning to apply to be a Programme Coordinator at CLAIR (the organization that runs the JET Programme) or look for another job (hence participating in the Tokyo Career Forum a few weeks ago).

But, on my last day of work, I was officially asked to recontract for a fourth year! Through some previous conversations with my supervisor and boss, I had begun to think that maybe the possibility existed, but I didn't actually dare to think that they would, because as far as I know it's never happened before. I think the reason they want me to stay is because there will be several big events happening next year (an international wheelchair basketball tournament, 40th anniversary events with two sister cities, etc.) and they'd prefer to have somebody with experience rather than a brand new person, but that works out perfectly because those are also reasons why I would want to stay another year. I've always told myself that I shouldn't recontract if my main motivation behind it were just to stay in Japan, since I believe that work should be meaningful and not just work, but I don't think that this is the case, and so I do think I will recontract. It may just be delaying the inevitable, and I do think I will have to work to find more ways to keep growing at my current job, but it also means that I can definitely stay for one more year and continue both yosakoi and my interpreting course without interruption.

So I think I can say with relative confidence that 2015 will not be my last year in Japan, despite what I thought for most of 2014, but other than that I'm not sure what the year will bring! Since I'm starting off on a path that I hadn't visualized before, I honestly can't say how I'll feel or what I'll be thinking at this time next year in terms of staying in Japan or the future in general, but for now I feel pretty content to let the future stay hazy and just take the present as it comes. Maybe after I turn 25 I'll feel a little more pressure to think about my life after JET, but luckily there's still a good 7 months until then. :)

一年間大変お世話になりました。今年もよろしくお願いいたします。
Happy New Year!

wrapping up 2014

All right, before I (presumably) make a post to reflect about 2014 as a whole, I feel like I need to fill in all the blanks of the past three months, where so much has happened that I just haven't been able to post more than the bare minimum.

Notable events of the past 3 months (super summary version)
 - went to FujiQ, a famous amusement park in Shizuoka, with some people from my yosakoi team
 - started the interpreting course at Simul Academy, the school associated with one of Japan's leading translation/interpreting companies. Actually I can't believe I haven't written about this at all yet - just another sign of how crazy these few months have been, I guess. I have class twice a week in Tokyo, and I'm the only non-native Japanese speaker and probably the youngest in the class. I'm also the only one who hasn't had formal training before now (I tested into a course that people usually reach after a year or two of study), so it's been challenging, but also very interesting!
 - lots of yosakoi events, including the biggest yosakoi festival in Chiba and our
 - went back home for the second wedding of the year and had a fantastic time with family and friends
 - took the BJT (Business Japanese Proficiency Test) but am not really looking forward to the results...at least it's not pass-fail
 - was invited by a Chinese lady to her house to have lunch and play with her kid - the whole family speaks Chinese, Japanese, and English to varying degrees and they were really nice
 - was in charge of Chiba AJET Thanksgiving
 - interpreted when the mayor of Montreux came to visit our mayor and his family and couldn't get over how adorable the mayor's kids are
 - went to Kamakura with a couple of friends from my yosakoi team, which was super chill but super fun
 - had a good time seeing people again at CIR mid-year
 - held my first ever event, making graham cracker gingerbread houses with elementary school students. The kids seemed to enjoy it and made some pretty creative houses, so I'd consider it a success!
 - finished the AJET report and presented it at our annual opinion exchange (this involved so much time and energy I don't even want to think about it anymore. So glad it's over, but scared to think about how I have to do it all again in a few months)
 - went to the Tokyo Career Forum and met up with a friend from Niigata
 - went to our yosakoi team's end-of-the-year party and stayed out later than I probably ever have in Chiba
 - had a Christmas shabu-shabu dinner with my coworkers and exchanged gifts - I got a nano blocks Tokyo Tower set that I should try to put together sometime during this winter break
 - went to see a gorgeous Christmas illumination in Nakameguro
 - went swing dancing and wandering around Yokohama and Roppongi with a friend from Carleton, which was nice because I don't often just explore Tokyo (and every time I go to Yokohama I just can't get over how nice it is)

If I were to go into detail about everything it would probably takes pages and hours to write...so I won't, even though I kind of wish I would (but am too lazy). And now that that's all written, time for a general post about the year!

kicks in kamogawa and katsuura

So the third Chiba-kun Ambassador's tour was the day after my last blog post, but it's taken me a month to write about it...oops. >_<

Anyway, both years I've participated the third tour has been the one overnight tour of the year, but this year unfortunately I only came for the first day. I'm sad to have missed the second day (particularly the tour of the sake brewery), but I chose to go to my last big yosakoi event of the year instead so I can't really complain, haha.

We started out in Kamogawa, way down on the southern end of the peninsula. I've been there before to visit Kamogawa Seaworld, but it's right by the ocean and really beautiful so it's always nice to go back. Our first stop was to try maiwaizome, a traditional type of dyeing that the area is famous for. I say dyeing, but the part that we did was much more like painting, so it was totally different from the dyeing we did on our last tour last year. Maiwai is apparently the name of the type of kimonos that were worn to celebrate a good catch, and the designs are really colorful and elaborate.

Since obviously we wouldn't have time to design, paint/dye, and complete entire kimonos, we each picked one out of three pre-stenciled designs to color in ourselves with the dye and paintbrushes. Since they said just painting it would be too easy, they also showed us how to make gradients and encouraged us to try it, so I did! I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out, especially since it was kind of hard to tell when we were actually doing the painting, since the stencil (which was apparently made out of the same stuff that senbei is) was surrounding all the colors and I could only see the finished product after soaking the dried cloth in water for 24+ hours and washing it out. I love doing this sort of taiken (experience) activity, especially when you end up with something you can keep, so I really enjoyed this. :D

Kamogawa Maiwaizome: Suzusen
Address: 211 Maebara, Kamogawa-shi
Access: 10-minute walk from JR Awa-Kamogawa Station
Hours: 7:00AM - 7:00PM (closed Wednesdays)
Cost: 1500 yen for adults
Website (Japanese only): http://www.awa.or.jp/home/suzusen/

Next it was time for lunch, at a place called Minna no Sato (literally translated: everybody's village), which had places to eat, souvenirs and goods from all over Chiba, a little art gallery, and more. The lunch we had was centered on local ingredients, mainly vegetables, with onigiri and tempura, and it was great. Normally I only have onigiri from convenience stores, so it was nice to have some that didn't come in a plastic wrapper, haha.


After lunch we heard an explanation of the facility in the little gallery, which happened to be full of pictures of the Oga lotus, Chiba City's flower! I was surprised to see them there in Kamogawa but also happy that I identified it correctly, haha. Also, in the souvenir section I discovered a gigantic plush version of one of my favorite yurukyara (mascots): Piinyattsu, a combination kitty-peanut which is super adorable and from Kamogawa. I actually already owned a smaller plush and a little bag, but I've never seen the big version before so I had to get it, and it was definitely the best decision I made that day. So cute and so huggable! <3

Minna no Sato
Address: 1696 Miyayama, Kamogawa-shi
Access: Nitto bus from JR Awa-Kamogawa Station for Tokyo-wan Ferry or Hiratsuka-hongou, get off at Minna no Sato
Hours: 9:00AM - 6:00PM (until 5:00PM from November - January), closed on New Year's Day
Website (Japanese only): http://minnami.com/

Originally after that we were supposed to go ride a boat somewhere, but unfortunately this was cancelled due to the weather...I also missed the boat ride on our first tour (because I overslept -.-') so maybe boats and I are just not meant to be this year. Even though I love boats. T_T So instead we just moved onto our next location, Tanjoh-ji, a shrine of the Nichiren sect of Buddhism. We listened to an explanation of the very elaborate carvings that we found there and also visited a small exhibition about the creator of the sect, and though I will admit that I understood very little of it all, it was pretty cool to look at. Even better, just as we left, the sun finally came out and everything looked a million times more gorgeous.

Tanjoh-ji
Address: 183 Kominato, Kamogawa-shi
Access: 23-minute walk/5-minute drive from JR Awa-Kominato Station
Website: http://www.tanjoh-ji.jp/e_index.html

Our next stop was one of my favorite parts of this tour (tied with the dyeing), a spa in the Hotel Mikazuki (in Katsuura) called Aqua Palace! Unlike onsens, this was a spa, which means that everybody went in with bathing suits and therefore all genders could enjoy it together. There was both an outdoor section and an indoor section, and we went right around the sunset, so the view looking out over the ocean was spectacular! The outdoor section had several different baths, including one that maybe included sake (?), but my favorite was a section where the pool was formed into a little path, with little alcoves periodically set along the circle. I assume they're mostly meant for couples (this place would actually be a really great place to go on a date), but I enjoyed them just the same. The section indoors was also pretty cool, with even more types of baths and falling water, jacuzzi areas, and more. There were a few people who didn't go to the spa and I think they really missed out! Would definitely recommend this as a fun place to go in Katsuura.

Aqua Palace (Hotel Mikazuki)
Address: 830 Tona, Katsuura-shi
Hours: 10:00AM - 10:00PM (last entrance at 9:00PM)
Cost: 1000 on weekdays, 1500 yen on weekends, 700 yen after 6:00PM (prices slightly higher in summer)
Access: 1-minute by free shuttle bus (reservation required)/less than 10-minute walk from JR Katsuura Station
Website (Japanese only): http://www.mikazuki.co.jp/katuura/aqua/index.html

And then the last part of the day was dinner at the minshuku where everybody was staying, Kanda. Needless to say, it was amaazing. One of the first things to come out was an enormous plate of sashimi, complete with (decorative) fish head and tail. One of the best things about going places near the ocean is, obviously, the fantastic seafood, and this menu did not disappoint.  Nomnomnom.

Kanda
Address: 818-19 Tona, Katsuura-shi
Access: 5-minute walk from JR Katsuura Station
Website (Japanese only): http://kandamaru.com/

I went home after that, but apparently the next day they visited the morning market, a sake brewery, and an underwater sea museum! A shame to have missed it, but I guess that's just another excuse for me to go back to Katsuura someday - maybe next time in the summer. :D

monorail mania

Yikes, it's been over a month since my last post! There's just been so much going on that I haven't had the time to report, but today I'll write about one of my favorite Chiba City things: the monorail!

So I know I've written about the monorail before (when I went to the monorail matsuri last year), but I'll just say it all again because I love talking about the monorail.  :D

The Chiba Urban Monorail first opened in 1988, and when all the sections were completed a few years later (construction was done in segments), it became the world's longest suspended monorail at 15.2km total (it's actually in the Guiness Book of World Records; I checked). A year or two ago, the newest model of monorail car, the Urban Flyer, which includes a small section of glass flooring in the driver's room, won a Good Design Award. These are all the major facts that I knew about the monorail until recently, which I proudly boast to everybody who I talk about the monorail with, haha. 

Well, a few weeks ago, a delegation from Mersin, Turkey came to Chiba City to observe that monorail, because they are considering building one of their own. (Actually I'm pretty sure they're planning to build one longer than ours and steal the claim to fame as the world's longest suspended monorail, but...) So I spent the day accompanying them through their courtesy visit to the mayor, lunch, trip to the monorail company, and the Chiba Zoological Park (which for some reason they requested to visit). Except this time they hired a Turkish-Japanese interpreter, which means I hardly had to do anything! 

So obviously the highlight of my day was when we went to visit the headquarters of the monorail, not far from the Zoological Park. Since this was the main purpose of their visit, the delegation had a lot of questions for the monorail officials and took the

discussion very seriously, so by being there I learned a lot more about the monorail, which was pretty cool. For example, I learned that there are generally two types of monorail, suspended (where the rail is above the cars) and overlapping (with the rail below, like a normal train), and that one of the first suspended monorails was built in Wuppertal, Germany, which the delegation had also visited before coming here. And I learned that they considered both types of monorail and also a subway system when deciding what king of new public transportation system to build, but chose the current type because it fit best with the numbers and needs of passengers. Also that the monorail can run with 4 cars at a time, but with current needs it only uses 2. Also a bunch more technical stuff I can't trait remember but was very impressed that the interpreter could translate just like that (because I'd have had trouble; I guess that's the difference between amateurs like me and professionals).

Last lifeline!

Anyway, after lots and lots of talking, we went to tour the facilities! I'd actually been there before during the monorail matsuri, but this time they made us put on hard hats and I got to see a few things that most people probably never have the chance to see. Like the control room, where they monitor the lines that are running, keep track of time schedules, etc. I totally geeked out while watching the monorail moving real time on the screens and seeing the special phone they use to call conductors. So cool! We also went to look at the cars that were in the depot and they explained more technical things I mostly don't remember, other than when they pointed out the thick metal cord that is the last lifeline in case the monorail ever falls... oh and also when they showed the different ways people can evacuate in case of emergency, which includes a cloth chute in a corner of the floor that people can slide down to safety in! I'd love to try that someday, haha.

So basically I had the chance to fangirl all day over the monorail, which was really awesome and informative (have I mentioned how cool my job can be?). Also the other day in doing some research I learned that you can buy both a stapler and a flashlight that are in the shape of the monorail, and went and bought the stapler today... anyway, this ends my rambling about the monorail. If you ever come to Chiba City, be sure to check it out! :)

Chiba Urban Monorail
http://chiba-monorail.co.jp/