From the Mid-West to the Mid-East

JAPAN

I just got back from a 10 day trip to Japan with Brian. It was utter and complete culture shock. I know for a fact that in all my past lives I was never Asian. It's hard to describe it very well, but I'll try to give a brief outline.
Pictures at kodakgallery.com, kinneretkohn@gmail.com, password: israel (lower case)

We took Alitalia from Israel to Milan (perhaps the worst airport in all Western Europe; the only shopping was Ferrari or Dolce and Gabana and there were no comfortable seat). On the ride to Japan we were offered an Italian meal or Japanese, and the stewardesses didn't really listen for the answer but gave you your meal based on racial profiling. So I returned my safe ravioli for some sobe (cold buckwheat noodles) and sushi (perhaps salmon?). This was not so much my choice but a test that Brian had set up. From here on out I can't vouch for the spelling of anyone's or anything's name...

Arriving in Tokyo we took the 3 hour train ride to our ryokan (traditional hostel) and although it was a hassle with all the luggage it was a nice way to be introduced to the sprawling city. By the time we arrived and took off our shoes to enter our room and then place our things around our bedrolls on tatami mats, we had to go out to meet up Madoka. Madoka is Brian's friend from elementary school and the reason we were in Japan, to attend his wedding party. We went to a very stylish and hidden restaurant and there met with Madoka, Dyjoon (the kindest person on Earth, who went far out of his way to try to speak English with us), Madoka's wife Nizoomi, two other very kind friends, and Vo, Brian's "brother" who we would be traveling with for the next week.

We headed out early for Kyoto and spent the next two days there. On the ride over we took the shinkansen, a bullet train that goes faster than a landing plain. Brian is obsessed with most forms of transportation, especially trains, so I am full of facts, email me and ask whatever you want. Kyoto is a very traditional looking city with wooden houses, lots of pickled vegetables to taste, tea ceremonies to watch, and tourists to walk amongst. We (Brian and Me, Vo is Vietnamese-American) were the only white people, and that was a first for me. There were a lot of tourists, but all Asian. We saw a love shrine and the Golden Shrine and walked in a bamboo forest which was gargantuan. Kyoto was used for the outdoor scenes in Memoirs of a Geisha, if that helps give you an idea of the city.

We went back the night of the 6th to Tokyo so that we would be ready for the wedding party the next day. I wasn't sure at all what to expect, but it was a beautiful party. Madoka and Nizoomi had been married two months before, but none of their friends had been invited, so they re-enacted the bridal walk down the aisle and exchanged vows. Although it was all in Japanese, it was easy to understand that these two people are very much in love, and all the speeches given were saying so. It was an interesting mix of traditional Japanese culture and modern. One doesn't give gifts at a wedding, but a designated amount of money because homes in Japan are tiny and gifts would take up all the living space. Everyone at the party was gorgeous, and although I'm hardly fashionable, I couldn't take my eyes off all the women's shoes the entire trip. Brian's only regret was there wasn't any dancing.

Nikko was our destination for the next two days. It's a mountain town up North and we got there just in time for the fog to roll in and cover the city with drizzle. Walking around in cold wet weather to half-see shrines didn't put me in a good mood. That night we had dinner, yakitori which is grilled meats, in a little restaurant with business cards and mementos put up by guests from around the world. I saw Bukeye memorabilia (Ohio just leave me alone already) and Brian and I left a Nisha's card (Probably the best pub in Arad!). The next day we continued touring in nominally better light.

We headed back for Tokyo to spend the night, and the next day Vo was on his way back to Seattle and computers. Brian and I took a very long train ride down to Hiroshima. I've been interested in visiting Hiroshima for a long time, and especially wanted to see the Peace Memorial Museum. We arrived in the late afternoon, hungry, and went for the fastest and easiest food we could find: McDonalds. I was pretty shocked, THE American food standard standing in the middle of a city absolutly devestated by the US. It's like having a bratwurst restaurant next to Aushwitz.

The museum is incredible; it lays out very succinctly Japan's rising militarism that lead up to WWII, then a brief history of Hiroshima as a city, then discussed the creation of the Atomic bomb, and later America's rationale for using the Atomic bomb in Japan and why Hiroshima and Nagasaki were chosen. Then it showed models of the utter and complete damage that was wrought by the bombing. The only word I can use is Holocaustal. I could go on and on about the horrors that were depicted in models and decribed by survivors, but what struck me was the complete hope and lack of vengeance that the survivors and the museum promoted. The whole exhibition was a warning, a plea, to make sure that an Atomic bombing never happens again. There was an exhibition showing all the letters written by Hiroshima's mayors calling on different countries that have participated in testing or building nuculear bombs to cease their activities in the name of humanity. It was truly moving, especially since the most recent letters were all addressed to George W. Bush. You really wonder how people live without shame. Around the museum are a number of memorials; one to Korean victims of the bombing who had been in Hiroshima as slave laborers by the Japanese and who had not been recognized until recently, a memorial arch and eternally burning torch, and a burial mound with the ashes from the many 1,000s of victims who could never be identified and every year more victims who have died of cancer or other radiation related diseases are interred. There was also a children's memorial which depicts Sadoka, a young girl who survived the bombing when she was two and developed cancer and died when she was 12. In Japanese culture there is a belief that if you fold 1,000 origami cranes any wish you make wil come true, and Sadoka worked her last years to do just that in order to wish for life. She never completed the project, but her schoolmates took it up after her and now school groups that visit the museum bring with them strings of cranes. That night we headed to a little noodle place and then a tiny bar with two patrons and a friendly bartender. They ended up buying our drinks and plying us with Japanese snacks (mmmm, squid!) and we had great conversations about Israel, scuba diving, and Hiroshima being the best city in Japan.

We headed back for Tokyo and stopped in Hijemi along the way. It's home to Hijemi castle, the epitome of Japanese feudal architecture. It's very different from European castles, much lighter and basic with white walls instead of gold brocade. There was no furniture but there were some military costumes and scrolls of art. Also lots of little windows perfect for throwing rocks or pouring down oil on not-so-welcome guests.

We spent our last days in Tokyo trying lots of interesting foods. Cabbage pancakes cooked on the table in front of us, more udon and kitzune (my favorite), octopus balls (I kid you not). We walked in the red-light district, and quickly ran away. We had out last dinner with Madoka and Dyjoon and Aki and then headed back for Israel.

Now I'm breaking free of jet lag and excited to share my pictures and the gifts I brought back for family (and myself!)

posted by A Mus-Ed Blogger @ 2:06 AM