Autumn in Iwate

These pictures are from my second weekend with Hashimoto-san at the beginning of November. These were taken about an hour or so south from where I am, in Iwaizumi. The leaves in Iwate were at their peak then, but I was surprised to see that for the most part they were pretty muted compared to back home. Apparently this is because it doesn't get cool quickly enough for them to be really vibrant. Nevertheless, they made for an awesome backdrop against the mountains.

The photo above was taken when we drove out to the coast to a national park. This had to have been the most beautiful view I have seen since arriving. I couldn't believe how much the landscape could change within just a short 45 minute drive to the ocean.

Finally, this was taken while we had lunch. What you see is a large bamboo chute coming out of the wall toward a basket placed at the bottom. This gizmo is used for "wanko soba" which is famous in Iwate. "Wanko" refers to the type of bowl used for miso soup, and "soba" is a type of buckwheat noodle served cold. The idea is to eat as many small bowls of these noodles as possible. In this particular restaurant, servings of noodles jet out of the wall with water and slide down the chute. You then have to catch them with your chop-sticks and eat them as fast as you can before the next round!

Hakodate

Back during the first weekend in October I went with two other Jets to Hakodate, a port city up north in Hokkaido. The weather was awful as there had been two typhoons diverging on us , but the trip itself was great. It was the first time I had been up north and the city itself had a lot of history. Apparently Hakodate was one of 3 ports in Japan to be opened to international trade in 1854 following 200 years of mandated seclusion by the nation. As a result of this there is a really cool foreign quarter in the city that has a lot of Western-style architecture and influence. The picture above shows the view from this neighbourhood which includes Japan's first Orthodox church, as well as a Catholic, and Anglican Church, all still in operation today.

Hakodate is also famous for its evening skyline. We took a gondola to the top of a mountain to see it, though I seriously thought we were going to crash because the wind was so strong. The city is also home to Japan's first cement electrical pole, with a full set of tourist signs to guide you to it..... so random. Lastly, like many communities in Japan, the city has a mascot. Hakodate's is a bird called the "varied tit". I had a good laugh at that one.



To end, here is a picture of myself and Gemma, she's from New Zealand, and was one of the two to join me on our foray to Hokkaido. We're in a bar that just happened to have a Radio Flyer wagon, homemade pizza, and a penchant for Canadian music...pretty cool.

Iwate-san

Back in September a hiking trip was organised to climb Mount Iwate. At 2,038 m it's Iwate prefectures highest peak. It's also a volcano that has shown increased seismic activity in the last few years, enough so that most recent guide books don't have details about the hiking area as it has been closed. Luckily for me Iwate-san was having a nap this time around and we were able to climb!

The picture of the volcano at the top with the black rock base is actually the remains of a large lave flow that occurred in the 1700's. The flow ran so thick virtually nothing has been able to grow in the area since.
The other guy in the picture with me is Chris, he's from Ireland and also a first year JET. We climbed most of the way together and man was it tough going nearing the top. We made it though, and you can see a picture of where we slept for the night before making the rest of the trek to the summit for sunrise the next day.

After lights out at 8 PM I had one of the worst sleeps of my life and couldn't wait for 4 AM to roll around. We were packed into the cabin like sardines and you'd swear we had set up camp in a zoo with the amount of snoring. In the end, making it to the summit for sunrise definitely made it all worthwhile. I could see for miles and it felt like being in an aeroplane, we were so high. Apart from feeling like I was going to have a nosebleed from the altitude, it was perfect!

Here is a link to a live webcam of the mountain as seen from Morioka. - http://www-cg.cis.iwate-u.ac.jp/live_cam/index.html

Hashimoto-san

In late August a local woman from the Karumai town office and her family took me to southern Iwate to see some tourist stuff. Hashimoto-san dosen't speak English, and neither does her family but we get by using a dictionary. At the time I had no idea what was going on or where we were going because of the language barrier but it turned out to be great. Since this trip I've been out with them again to other places in the prefecture and we have plans to go make pottery in a couple of weeks! It's been easier to communicate since I've started to pick up a little Japanese, but you'd be surprised how much you can get across just by using gestures!

On this first trip the Chusonji golden temple in Hiraizumi and Genbi Gorge were especially impressive and really beautiful.

"Hiraizumi was established by Fujiwara Kiyohira in the latter half of the 11th century. It prospered for the following three generations, a hundred years, as a peaceful, idyllic place for Buddhism. During this period, it was second only to Kyoto in size. Nearly all the important buildings were later burned to the ground, but the Golden Hall and over 3,000 historical relics are still preserved and provide a glimpse of Hiraizumi's glorious past."

Genbi Gorge is designated as a natural monument in Japan. The gorge itself is full of koi fish and the water was really clear. We took a boat ride through the gorge for a 1 mile stretch in a japanese style gondola until we got to a beach where we had a chance to walk around a bit before heading back.

Morioka Sansa-Odori

On August 1-3 the capital city of Iwate prefecture, Morioka, held its annual summer festival. "Sansa-Odori" as it is called apparently boasts over 20,000 participants who form a procession through the main street as they dance to music made by wooden flutes and taiko drums.

I only saw the second night of the parade but it was pretty impressive. This was the first festival I saw in Japan and their were people everywhere! All ages participated and each group in the parade had their own costumes. Apparently this area of Japan (Tohoku) is where taiko drums originated.

Karumai, Iwate

(Karu) (mai) (machi)

I"m living in a small town of about 6000 people in Northern Japan called Karumai. The characters at the top of this entry are the Japanese Kanji for my town. It means "light rice" with the last symbol (machi) meaning town.

My town has a tulip festival in the spring that apparently attracts a lot of tourists. As for why they decided to build an electric windmill and have a festival in the first place? I'm still trying to get a straight answer on that one....

Here are some links to give you an idea of what's around me....

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?formtype=address&addtohistory=&address=&city=Karumai&state=&zipcode=&country=JP&location=RmZK%2f0wmOSzSDhXQHmfKuiOYrmvTeoAe%2bZEOIDzG%2bSypwQPK6nW6tudfFqBZV%2bE48%2bcaEv4YU17lRftguakTI7f%2fhw5XVwDX&ambiguity=1 - A map showing the location of my town in Japan. Yes, it's actually too small to be labeled.

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.town.karumai.iwate.jp/&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=7&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dkarumai%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D - A Google translated version of my towns website

http://www.pref.iwate.jp/english/ - Here is a link to information on my Prefecture (Iwate)

Tokyo Orientation

Back in July, I spent a couple of days in Tokyo at an orientation before heading up North to Karumai to begin teaching. We stayed at the Keio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku which was really nice and had a great view overlooking the city. There wasn't much time to explore beyond the hotel but I did manage to go out both nights despite the jet lag!

http://www.keioplaza.com

Finally, Internet!

After an incredibly long wait I finally have internet access at home! This means I can finally start regular posts and get some pictures up. I figure this will be a better way to stay in touch than sending out mass emails, so check back for updates.

Thanks to everyone who has sent emails etc. so far, it's been great to here from you and sure makes living in the middle of nowhere a lot easier!