Wherever We Go, There They Are

One of the nice things about living here in Ogaki is our relative location. We can get on the train at Ogaki Station and by heading East for 30 minutes be in Nagoya, Japan's third largest metropolitan area; or we can head West for 30 minutes and be in the deep recesses of the Japanese Alps. Last weekend we headed West, through the mountains, on our journey to Osaka. Recently it has been quite cold here in Ogaki and we've had some snow, but mostly we've been watching the mountains get dumped on from our balcony like in this picture.

Now, either I was really paranoid (refer to our adventure in Kyoto in Japan Today Newsletter 12/6/2007) or else I underestimated the efficiency of trains in Japan, but as we traveled through the mountains I was sure the trains were going to be stopped by the heavy snow. As we passed through the small mountain communities that actually had train stations, the snow reached the train windows, meaning it was almost three feet deep on the platform and the opposite tracks were completely covered. The conductor even stopped opening the doors at our stops unless someone wanted off or on because it was too cold to keep the doors open. As the train continued to wind its way through this winter wonderland we saw countless buried rice fields making patterns in the snow as seen in this picture taken from the train.

After making it through the mountains, we continued on to sunny Osaka where we stayed with the Miura Family. The Miuras are special to us because the last time we were in Osaka I was friends with Naomi, a wonderful woman who has spent a lot of time in Los Angeles and wanted to get married but was fed up with Japanese men; and Tyler was friends with Tsuyoshi, a man who had also spent a lot of time traveling outside Japan and wanted to marry a woman who didn't necessarily think the way Japanese women do. Well, as it turns out, we all ended up attending the same church (Tyler invited Tsuyoshi to attend after meeting him on the street) and Naomi and Tsuyoshi were married a few months before us. They now have an adorable 1 year old daughter. On Sunday, we were all able to go to the church where we met together and it was exciting to see how many of the church members remembered us and how warmly we were once again welcomed.

Although Tyler and I have been back to Osaka together before, this was the first time that we gave ourselves time to freely explore together. When we lived there before we had both loved walking by a certain moat that surrounded a kofun near a beautiful park in Sakai. We had never been there together so we set off to find it. Locating the path was a little tricky since neither of us could remember exactly where it was. It took our combined memories (Tyler knew it was across the tracks and I knew it was further west) to find it. It was fun knowing that neither of us would have found it without the help of the other.

We also went to my school, Kenmei Gakuin, to see my host sister graduate. It was fun to see the school that I attended as an exchange student, but sad to realize that none of my friends were there anymore. Most of the teachers that I had known were also either on leave, abroad, retired, or had quit. I was not completely without acquaintances, however, as my first friend at the school, Hiroko, had come with us to the graduation. After touring the school together we went out for some Okonomiyaki and I was happy knowing that even though my days at Kenmei were over, the relationships with my friends were not. This was made even more apparent to me that evening as we went over to my first (I had three total) host family's home for takoyaki and kitsune udon. My host mother hugged me and nearly cried herself into hysterics and we talked and laughed the evening away with my Japanese sisters over their new jobs, entering university and their desire for rich boyfriends.

The warm feelings that our Japanese families and friends left stayed with us all the way home and carried us through the snowy mountains back to Ogaki. After arriving back in the city we currently call home, we stopped by a friend's house for a quick chat about their weekend and to discuss getting together later in the week. After laughing and talking with them for the better part of an hour we finally headed back to our apartment. As we biked through the frosty night, Tyler and I mused about all the wonderful people we had encountered throughout the weekend and felt blessed to have so many friends throughout this tiny island.

To Television Set Owners

The Japanese have somehow managed to squeeze bribes-- er, extortion-- I mean, fees into nearly every aspect of daily life. "Key Money" is a fee (amount varies between 2 to 6 months of rent) paid to your new landlord on top of your first months rent and deposit. Not only does this money help ensure the rental, it also allows you to show your (mandatory) gratitude for being allowed to move in. ATMs charge fees for using them after their normal business hours. (I'm assuming this fee is somehow connected to paying the machine overtime wages.) And car owners beware! When buying a car in Japan, mentally add at least $10,000 to the displayed price because your insurance, inspection, and mandatory repair costs every two years can be thousands of dollars. Even though we have had time now to acquaint ourselves with these various fees, the latest addition to our monthly bills really floored us.

Last Saturday, in the middle of a snowstorm, a man arrived on our doorstop. Our conversation with him went something like this.

Man: Do you watch TV?
Us: Um . . . yes?
Man: Do you have a Broadcast Receiving Contract with NHK?
Us: A-- what?
Man: You owe us money.
Us: HUH?!
Man: Read this pamphlet.

At this point we were given a pamphlet in English with a large "To Television Set Owners" printed on the front followed by a Q&A section. Although there were many questions with very detailed answers, after reading it through very thoroughly we realized there were really only two take away points.

Q: Why should I pay the TV Receiving Fee to NHK simply because I own a TV set?
A: Because I said so.
Q: Great! Where do I sign up?
A: First give me money because I walked all the way over here in the snow. Then give me your bank account number so I can take more money out.

Feeling alarmed, I slipped away from the door and let Tyler talk to the NHK representative so I could look this up online and make sure we weren't being scammed. Unfortunately, this turned out to be quite legit. Apparently there is such as thing as "public broadcasting" paid for by the public as opposed to "commercial broadcasting" which uses advertising for funding and profit. Despite the overall legitimacy of this new fee, I am starting to understand more fully why Japan continues so happily as a cash society -- cash is highly untraceable.

Washoku

Yesterday I decided to try my hand at preparing washoku (traditional Japanese food) for dinner. Having never ventured far into this genre, I thought a good place to start was with our washoku cookbook of the same name by Elizabeth Andoh. After three hours of browsing recipes that called for fish heads and devil's tongue (I kid you not) we had chicken for dinner and "Washoku" (2005) went back on the shelf. I think I need a little longer to get used to the idea of a diet that as Tyler says, "comes from someone standing in the ocean with a butterfly net and eating whatever gets caught in it." In the meantime, however, I am very impressed with the ethos and aesthetics of washoku as presented by Andoh. Here are the five principles of washoku that can be applied to meals with or without fish heads.

Five Colors (go shiki): Every meal should include foods that are red, yellow, green, black (or dark purple/brown), and white. Vitamins and minerals will come into balance naturally if your food is colorful.

Five Tastes (go mi): Have a harmonious balance of flavors - salty, sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy -to stimulate the palate without overwhelming it.

Five Ways (go hoh): Prepare food with a variety of methods such as simmering, boiling, and steaming to limit the total amount of sugar, salt, and oil consumed.

Five Senses (go kan): Be mindful not only of taste, but also of sight, sound, smell and texture.

Five Outlooks (go kan mon): This principle is concerned with the way in which you partake of food and has its basis in Buddhism. First, respect the efforts of those who made the meal possible. Second, do good deeds worthy of nourishment. Third, come to the table without ire. Fourth, eat for spiritual and physical well-being. Fifth, be serious in the struggle to attain enlightenment.

For those of you still in doubt, here is an example offered by Andoh of a soup-and-sandwich lunch that follows these principles. "Imagine the following: pale and creamy potato-leek soup, nutritionally and aesthetically enhanced by a garnish of snipped chives and minced parsley, alongside tuna salad spread on triangles of whole-grain toast, accompanied by a lemon wedge, several cherry tomatoes, crisp radish sprouts, and pitted black olives . . . this American lunch follows the color, flavor palate, and multi-preparation guidelines of a washoku meal. Because it adheres to the five principles, this soup-and-sandwich lunch also achieves nutritional balance and visual interest" (p. 5). And there you have it! Perhaps by following these principles I will somehow eventually acquire a taste for dried sardines and kelp.