In 12 months, through four distinct seasons and an emotionally impactful year, it is Japan that taught me how to be strong, graceful and unafraid.  For that, I am forever grateful.

２０１１年はとても大変でした、でも日本が大好きです。

January

Gyouden Park in Namerikawa on a snowy January morning

February

Hakuba Ski Resort in Nagano, Japan

March

Volunteers in Namerikawa, Japan pack boxes filled with relief items for victims of the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami

April

Cherry blossoms in Kojo Park, Takaoka, Japan

May

Bonsai rooftop garden at Bonsai Guesthouse in Osaka, Japan

June

Sea of Japan sunset from Namerikawa

July

Creek in Kamiichi, Japan

August

Nebuta festival in Namerikawa, Japan

September

Owara Kaze no Bon Festival in Yatsuo, Japan

October

A traditional Japanese garden in Toyama, Japan

November

Design Festa in Tokyo

December

Two brothers enjoying candy canes at Namerikawa International Day

All of these photos were taken with my iPhone, Nikon Coolpix S6000 or Lumix G2.

Kawaii culture in Tokyo

Train Stories #5 - On most days,  with wild, unkept hair and pants that don’t always fit me properly, I generally think I look like a hot mess  – or a life-sized fuzzball walking down the street.  But because I am white, slender and have greenish eyes, a lot of teenage Japanese girls seem to think I look somewhat exotic.

I am always flattered when I walk past someone in Japan, and I hear them quietly whisper, “Oh, kawaii…”

Kawaii (かわいい) is the Japanese word for cute, and it is used almost as much as teenage girls in America say OMG!

See that Winnie the Pooh pouch? Kawaiiiiiiii!

See that three-foot cellphone charm? Double kawaiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

On Saturday night, I took the train to Takaoka for a nabe (Japanese soup) party.  I was dressed pretty casually — in jeans, Converse shoes, a winter coat and red cap.

The journey to Takaoka takes about 45 minutes by train, so once I found a seat on the train, I put on some music and took out my book (Murakami’s What I Talk About When I Talk About Running).

Midway through the train ride, at Toyama Station, a bunch of high school students suddenly stepped on the train.  What was once a peaceful journey turned into a mini-high school drama akin to a scene in Hana Yori Dango.

High school girls in short blue skirts, knee-high socks and matching jackets were giggling and looking at their ketai (cellphones).  The boys around them, in disheveled white dress shirts and slacks, tried to look cool and oblivious, so they played games on their cellphones or looked out at the windows.

Even on Saturday evenings, most Japanese high school students wear their uniforms for club activities or tests, so I wasn’t surprised to see so many students still in uniform. Just as the train started to move again, two high schools girls sat across me.  I looked up briefly and suddenly heard one of the girls say, “kawaii.”

I smiled at them and went back to reading my book, but before I could finish the next word, her friend, who seemed shocked by my smile, instantly repeated “Oh, kawaii.”

This made me laugh and take off my earphones.

“Oh, kawaii….” they said once again, this time looking straight at me and giving me the Manhattan Once Over.

“Are you high school students?,” I asked.

“Eh?”

“High school?,” I said again.

“Yes.”

“Cool!”

Both girls looked at each other.

“Kawaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!,” they said again.

Since kawaii seemed to be the only word they liked saying in front of me, I smiled one last time and went back to reading my book.

The girls went back to talking to each other and texting on their phones.

As soon as we arrived at Takaoka Station, I said bye.

Their last words to me?

“Bye bye. Kawaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.”

Later the next week, I took the same train to Takaoka for a birthday party.  This time, I dressed-up more in a purple dress, black boots and make-up.

I left my red cap, however, in my bag.

I sat next to a young woman who looked about the same age. She never made eye contact with me and clutched her leopard-print bag the entire way.

As the train stopped at Toyama Station, once again a large group of high school students got on the train. This time, however, everyone ignored me.

It must be the red cap that is extra kawaii.

(^_^)

かきぞめ (kakizome)

Kakizome is a traditional New Year’s celebration where Japanese people write positive kanji messages to wish for a strong and happy New Year.  Many junior high schools also hold kakizome events before classes begin.  This year, my students, huddled in the gym on a snowy morning, wrote three phrases – 雄大な志 (yudai na kokoro zashi; big heart/grand ambitions); 日進月歩 (nishin zatsupo; gradually improve step-by-step) and 初心貫徹 (shoshin kantetsu; to achieve one’s goals).

2. Mountains

The view of the Tateyama Mountain Range from Namerikawa

3. “The Curse” by Josh Ritter

I once read an interview where singer-songwriter Josh Ritter said he approached songwriting like his parents (both surgeons) approached surgery.  He is so meticulous in his writing that I believe every word of that comparison.  “The Curse,” Ritter’s song about an archeologist who falls in love with a mummy, randomly played from my iPod as I walked home in the snow after work last week.  This strange love story is a verbose gem.

Winter has really hit Toyama this week.

Every night, I make some chamomile tea and wrap a blanket around my shoulders.  Just as I get ready to take a sip of the steaming tea, I turn off any music or TV show and listen outside for just a few minutes.

I always hear the  tempestuous wind, howling at anyone in its path, and making its boisterous voice known to everyone.

The Woman with the Flowing Skirt in Nakanamerikawa Station, Japan

Japanese train stations are some of the most modern and efficient places I have ever seen, but here in the countryside, life moves at a slower pace.  Our trains are still generally on time and used by the masses for work and leisure, but many inaka train stations here are rustic and barren, minus the waiting seats and vending machines.

But at these desolate places, I see stories.

Inside Nakanamerikawa station (中滑川駅), part of Toyama’s Dentetsu line, there is a wall mural that always catches my eye when I walk past it.  In the mural, a young couple embrace.   They look more Western to me than Japanese, but they could easily pass for two characters in a manga.  The slender woman is clasping onto the man’s broad chest like her life depends on it.  Her blue skirt is flowing so that it looks like an ocean wave.  The man, wearing a tailored brown coat and slacks, looks ahead as if he is about to leave her to serve in a war.  Duty beckons, he thinks, and he must protect his woman and his country.

I don’t know the facts or history behind this mural, but I am drawn to it nonetheless.

A few feet away from the mural, there is an elderly woman who works at a sweets shop frequented by students.  She sells fresh crepes and ice cream in a rundown train station.  She is the only worker I have seen at the shop.  Except for the junior high school and high school students who buy sweets and giggle on the nearby bench, her only company is spiders and Winnie the Pooh dolls.  She is no more than 4 feet 11 inches tall and looks about 85~87 years old.  She stands with a slight hunch, always wearing a checkered apron and bowing or smiling when I walk past her.

To me, she is the woman in the mural.

She is smiling, and waiting.  Waiting for her husband to return, and waiting for the days when she does not feel so alone.

Sidenote: This is my 100th post!  Thank you to anyone who has ever read any of my entries, commented or simply inspired me to write.

My New Year's Resolutions

It’s somewhat clichéd to say, but New Year’s resolutions can be a good way to reflect on your goals for the year.  Writing them down with pen and paper makes them feel palpable.

2. Cinnamon toast

Cinnamon toast at a cafe in Namerikawa

So simple, so delicious. おいしい！

3. Walks through the snow

Snow field in Namerikawaー雪！

Walking through snowstorms in the early morning isn’t my favorite thing to do, but when the sun finally peeks out and the sky turns just a little blue, I enjoy putting on my boots and trekking through fields of white powder.

“Good, it’s cloudy, but it’s not snowing yet.  I can bike to work.”

I hit the snooze button on my alarm and fell back to sleep.

Big mistake.

I woke up 20 minutes later and put on my glasses to take another peek outside.

“Oh, crap! I was wrong. It’s snowing like crazy! I have to walk to work!”

Turns out, the snow had blended into the gray clouds, and without my glasses, I had failed to see the storm brewing outside.

Winter has definitely come to Toyama, one of the snowiest prefectures in Japan.  This part of Japan, as well as other neighboring prefectures on Japan’s northwest coast, is referred to as Japan’s snow country, or yukiguni 雪国.  While the northeast of Japan is blessed with cool but usually sunny weather most of winter, the west gets pounded with heavy snowfall and thick clouds that suffocate any trace of blue sky.

This morning, when I realized I had to trek through the snow and make it to school as quickly as possible, I ran to the toilet, washed my face and teeth and put a piece of frozen toast in the oven as I slid my pants and boots on.

On most days when it’s not raining, my commute to work looks like this from my bike:

Today, it looked like this from my two front feet (all day, mind you. The snow never let up):

Indeed, here comes the snow.

New Years Day service at a Shinto shrine in Namerikawa, Japan

Happy New Year, everyone!

あけましておめでとうございます!

I spent my Christmas break in Vietnam and Cambodia and have much to write about my journey, but I am enjoying some relaxing time in Japan now.

In Japan, the New Year’s holiday (oshogatsu, お正月) is the most important holiday of the year and many Japanese spend it with their families.  Several of the Japanese women I know said they would be busy preparing elaborate food (osechi-ryori) for the special celebration.

After a hearty New Year’s breakfast, I visited my town’s Shinto shrine to pray for a happy and healthy 2012.  I wish you all the same.

Omikuji (おみくじ), little strips of paper with fortunes written on them, at a Shinto shrine in Namerikawa

Shinto shrine in Namerikawa, Japan

But, like little Christmas miracles, there is occasionally an artist who writes a memorable holiday song so heartfelt that it just might become a classic in 20 or so years.

In no particular order, and in my humble but sometimes snobbish opinion, here are the three best holiday songs written in the past 30 years.

1. “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey

Carey released this song in 1994 for her holiday album Merry Christmas and it is quickly becoming a classic.  I love the contrasting holiday spirit the song evokes – one of jolly jingling cheer and also longing to be with someone.

2. “Christmas Eve” by Tatsuro Yamashita

I first heard this song last year after reading an essay about it by About.com’s Namiko Abe.  Per her translation, “the song is about a man thinking of a girl on Christmas Eve, which in Japanese tradition, is a time for a couple to spend a romantic evening together.”  Below is a clip of the song as it appeared in a cute 1988 JR Shinkansen commercial.

Last year, as I walked through the first snowfall of the year in Toyama on Christmas Eve,  I wrapped my scarf tight around my neck and played this song on my iPod.  Even though I missed my family, something about the song made me smile.  Yamashita also recorded an English version of this song, but I think it sounds better in Japanese.  You can hear the full-length version here.

3. “2000 Miles” by The Pretenders

If I could only listen to one person sing holiday songs for the rest of my life, I would probably choose Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders.  Something about Hynde’s voice always reminds me what it is to be a woman and to always be searching for warmth somewhere in the cold.  In this 1983 song, she describes a lonely character waiting alone for a man on a frosty night.  Just one yer prior, The Pretenders lost guitarist James Honeyman-Scott to drug-related causes.  The song is also quickly becoming a classic, as KT Tunstall and Coldplay have performed versions of the song.

Honorable mentions:

“Calling on Mary” by Aimee Mann

“Christmas in Hollis” by Run-DMC

“Last Christmas” by Wham!

“Hurry Xmas” by L’Arc en Ciel

Mochi

In a cold gym on a brisk Saturday afternoon, I lifted a heavy wooden mallet above my head and aimed for the large pile of steaming white rice directly below me.

Taking a deep breath, I struck the gooey rice with as much force as I could, trying not to hit the large wooden container it was sitting in.  Pounding the rice felt like striking a giant bowl of oatmeal or glue.  The mallet stuck to the rice for a moment, but with a little push, I tried again.

I lifted the mallet for a second time, and pounded once more as adults and children looked on and cheered.

This, briefly, is how it feels to make mochi, pounded rice cakes that Japanese people often eat in the winter in soups and for desserts.

In Namerikawa, elementary schools often hold mochi-making festivals, or mochitsuki, so students can learn the detailed tradition of mochi-making.  I went to two mochitsukis last fall/winter and attended my third one last month.

Briefly described, mochi is made by soaking rice overnight; it is then put into a large usu (mortar) and pounded with a mallet.  One person rotates the usu and rice inside while the other pounds it until the texture is right.  Once the rice is ready, it is formed into a ball or square shape and flavored (red bean paste, green tea, sesame are some popular toppings).  There are also more modern ways to make mochi, and it sold in ice cream form at Trader Joe’s.  These are some photos from last month’s mochitsuki at Kitakazumi Elementary School.

たのしかったです。

Sifting the mochi

Fresh crab

Giant pot of nabe, which fed all the elementary students

Finished mochi