Philosophical Picnic #3

I stand in the center. The middle of my existence. Nothing pulling on any side. It would be peaceful, but without any direction I just float, uncertain and empty. Maybe this is how it feels to be in space?

It as if I had to make a choice to stay or to leave. But nothing is pulling me to go either way. I want to keep running though. Keep going. I know now this is not because I am running away because I am not being chased, but I am running towards an undeniable goal. I also want to stay, because I am tired of running in space. Maybe it would be easier to embrace this perpetual solitude in my life. It seems fate draws me cards to keep me alone. When the cards are dealt I am givin' isolation.

When floating in space, it's hard to know who you are. Which way are you floating?

Wheels of Freedom

Classes started last week. Summer 'vacation' is officially over. Although I still had to go to school during summer I miss my 2 hour lunch breaks and the ability to come into work an hour later than usual.

Even though summer is over, except for the persistent sweaty heat wave this year, I am pretty happy. Last Friday I finally got my Honda Super Cub 50. After my school made a big deal about me getting a motorbike, which they really have no real say in except if I use it for work, I finally got to drive it home last week. The only thing I really needed help with from my school was someone to sign as my co-signer for a 100,000 yen ($1,200 USD) loan. Since I am a foreign resident, they wanted reassurance I would pay for the next 6 months and not just flee back to America on my new freedom machine. Thankfully my Board of Education supervisor signed and it was approved. If I had to pay for the bike upfront then I would have to wait until after the 10th of September and live for a month on bean sprouts and rice.

Anyway, after picking up the bike and enjoying Indian curry and naan in good company, I drove about 35km on the highway from Kusatsu to Hino. Since it was late, traffic wasn't too bad but there were a lot of trucks on the road. Overall it was great though! The summer night breeze was a great relief from the abundant hot and humid that I have grown accustomed to. I was back at my door step in about an hour and saved about 500 yen ($6) in train fees.

In 2006 the Honda Cub was named the best motorcycle of all time on a show aired by the Discovery Channel. You can watch their review of it with Chinese subtitles!

Today I took it out for its second spin around my area. I went to Minakuchi to make a spare key for the bike and buy some groceries. Minakuchi is about 20 minutes away from Hino. But when I came back I wanted to drive some more. So I headed up to Yokaichi which is north of me by about 25 minutes. However I got lost so spent about 20 minutes wandering around, which I didn't care about too much.

For being a 50cc engine, it seems pretty quick to me. Granted it maxes out on flat areas around 60km/hr. Which can be scary on the highway sometimes although the speed limit is 60km/hr. Most cars go about 80km/hr. The roads out to Yokaichi were very hilly though, so I was maxing out at about 40km/hr up hill on a road with cars whizzing by at about 70km/hr. Technically for 50cc vehicles if you go over 30/km you are breaking the speed limit. But it seems like nobody except grandmothers follow that rule.

My hundred million yen ride!


Not new, but beautiful.

When Under the Influence of Depression, Don't Attempt to Fly

A sad story.

On Monday I went to the city of Kusatsu to check out a green Honda Super Cub 50 that I am trying to purchase. When I was on my way back home I waited at Minami Kusatsu station for about 40 minutes.

Why?

A freight train came through.

So?

It went through someone.

Japan has one of the world’s highest suicide rates. In Japan, suicide is the leading cause of death for males aged 20-44 and women aged 15-34. For some, jumping in front of a fast moving train is the easiest, considering train stations can be found every ten or so kilometers. Oddly the rail company charges the family members a fee for causing traffic disruption if it is found that the cause was suicide.

Monday, was it suicide? I don’t know. All I know is my train pulled into the station for a scheduled 30 second stop, the freight train was passing through on the adjacent platform and it sounded its shrill whistle and slammed on its emergency breaks leaving the residual smell of burning rubber in an electrical fire.

Before anything was announced, I already knew just by the expressions of those on the platform that probably witnessed it. Our train, although on another track, didn’t leave until police came and the body was removed. All I saw was some blood and a blue tarp concealing the victim being carried away by police.

I don’t know what to think about it, just a feeling of sadness. Did someone throw themselves in front of the train? What was so painful in their life that they thought an oncoming train would be more peaceful? Was it an accident? Was someone drunk? Did someone trip?

I read in the paper today that a drunken man from Hino City (Not my town, a city near Tokyo) knocked another person in front of a train near Shinjuku, Tokyo. The event at Minami Kusatsu didn’t even make the paper since it’s not news to most Japanese. Was it a man, a woman, a child? I would be sad for the person, if the person was injured or killed by accident. I would be sad for the loved ones if it was suicide.

The faces of the people around me. On the platform. In the train. Shock in the eyes of the people standing on the platform. Grandmothers holding back tears. Irritated salary men. Oblivious children. And the man across from me with a small unsettling smile. The nearly perfect white circle in the sky expressionless to what it has seen many times in its lifetime.

In A Race With The Sun

I’ve been to 3,776 m (12,388 ft) and back again.

Two weekends ago I reached one of my goals, climbing Mt. Fuji. I left my town and boarded a bus for Shizuoka prefecture along with around 30 Japanese ready to climb to the highest point in Japan! After about 12 hours and no sleep on a bus, picking up a few others along the way, we arrived at the Yoshida Trail Head 5th Station at around 11PM. At this elevation most of my companions thought it was freezing, I thought it was refreshing. We waited for about 40 minutes to adjust to the altitude change and slowly we made our way up the mountain.


Maki trying to sleep on the bus.

While climbing the gradual incline to the 6th station, I was happy I didn’t put on my warm clothes yet. Actually I had to take off my rain pants in order to stay cool enough without getting tired from heat. I like my weather crisp when I hike. The cold weather keeps me going, refreshed and awake. Everything was going well from the 5th station to the 6th station. I even saw a shooting star, which was amazing. At this altitude, although not even half way up the mountain, the stars seemed so close. I could almost taste them. We were lucky to be hiking on a night when a meteor shower was happening.


My climbing party

After the 7th station one of the members of our group, a girl named Mai, started falling victim to altitude sickness. The hike between the 7th and 8th station was very long and although we were taking it slow, almost too slow to my liking, by the time we arrived at the 8th station and met up with a few others, Mai was in rough shape. The path had become steep and rocky. Before arriving it looked like she could fall over at any time. I followed her closely to make sure she wouldn’t. It was decided that her and another girl Maron who wasn’t feeling well would stay at the 8th station, rest and climb down after feeling better. One man volunteered to stay behind in order to help, since he climbed Fuji before and said it was fine if he didn’t make it to the top again. This was good because when climbing a mountain, your party should usually always consist of 3 people. If one gets injured, one can go for help while the other stays with the injured person.

After everything was sorted and we piled warm clothes on Mai and Maron, we lifted the two girls into the back of a small abandoned flat bed tractor to protect them from the wind. A storm was coming. It was about 3AM, the 4 remaining members of our party continued on.


Taking a break around the 8th station.

Between the 8th and 9th station we started to lose visibility and the typhoon that was hitting Japan was bringing strong winds to the top of Fuji. The sky was getting brighter; I knew we wouldn’t make it to the summit to see the sunrise. About half way between station 8 and 9 we were climbing a steep incline in a misty fog thicker than almost anything I’ve ever seen. We were in the clouds. Another girl of our team was falling ill and was looking faint.


The first sight of dawn.

While we all lay against the volcanic rock catching our breath and regaining our strength, I take a deep breath from my O2 can. Then suddenly the clouds around us flash orange, and dim out. At first I thought it was the result of the altitude. Then it happens again, and again, and becomes brighter. It was beautiful, and I thought I may have died and was now floating in heaven. Then suddenly the mist parts a little and a beam of golden light shoots through the sky. It’s the sun! Only for a moment do I see the golden disk before I’m enveloped in clouds once again.


The sun through the clouds.

I really wanted to see the sunrise from the top of Fuji. I also wanted it to be clear. But nonetheless the sunrise was breath taking although most of my breath was gone. I have never been in the clouds when the sun has risen. All the tiny particles of water that make a cloud, light up with the color of the morning sun.

Still not done we press on to the 9th station. I try to keep the group moving. I go to the front of the line. I know Asuka isn’t feeling well, so I make sure to ask her if she is alright. She says she is fine, but I know every 20 steps forward is going to be 3 minutes waiting. I really want to make it to the top, but I also want everyone to make it with me.

We reach the 9th station and meet up with another group of 7. Our group is the only one who had to break off before this point. But that didn’t mean everyone was O.K. After a decision process that seemed to last forever, following in Japanese tradition, it was decided that Asuka would stay behind with another girl and head down. She wanted to make it to the top so badly that she had to hold back tears knowing she couldn’t go on. With only 3 members of my group remaining, we merged with the other 6 we met at station 9. One more station to go until the top!

By now visibility was about 4 feet in all directions. Half way from the 9th station to the 10th (the top) I started to feel the altitude affecting me. Much later than most of the members, but I decided to take a few deep breaths of my canned O2, which helped a little and kept me pushing forward. It was freezing. The water in the clouds clung to my orange rain coat in the form of frost. I lost one glove somewhere so only could really keep my left hand warm, the right I wrapped in the bandana I got while in India.

Somewhere around 6AM we passed through the Shinto torii gate, signifying that we made it to the summit. I got the last stamp on my wooden walking stick at a Shinto shrine that also doubled as the 10th gate of Fuji. The weather was cold, like late November, and visibility was near zero. So I couldn’t see the caldera or the vastness of land below the holy mountain. Only an hour or so to rest and it was time to head back.


The torii at the top.

Going down was much easier. Every step forward was a step towards oxygen. We took a small short-cut through the sand/ash pits. I enjoyed it, since if you ran a little you could slide most of the way. You would suffer a shoe full of sand and stone though. But this seemed easier than resisting the natural flow and stopping yourself from slipping down the mountain.


Slopes of sand into clouds.

That evening it was soaking in an onsen (hot spring) and a small party. Then sleep, sounder than the dead. Staying awake for almost 40 hours and climbing up and down a mountain during that time is definitely a test of endurance.

Overall, a great experience. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) one I will have to re-live, since I want to see the sun rise over the horizon while standing upon the tallest point in the land of the rising sun. I want to see the land below, out to the ocean under a clear blue sky.



会う日まで。

Riding 6 Horses at Once

So after being here in my remote town that is highly isolated for over a year, I decided it was time to find a way to make things a little easier.

Yesterday I woke up at 5AM. Why you ask? Because I live far away from everything. Trains upon trains upon trains away from my destination for the day. The destination being a city called Moriyama. Having to transfer at 3 stations and a bus ride, about 2 hours later I find myself at the Shiga License Center. That's right! I spent a good whole day, about 12 hours including transport time, getting my Japanese scooter license. Now I can ride anything under 50cc, which basically means 49cc mopeds (approx 6 horses)!

Licensing in Japan is a pain the the ass. Everything is so bureaucratic that it makes the DMV in America look like a cake walk...or maybe not! Anyway, licensing in Japan is super strict. The reason for this is because of a lack of space and the government trying to control the number of vehicles on the road. Probably the most easiest license, the scooter license, takes a whole day with a difficult written test where you can only really miss about 3 questions out of 48 (about half failed), lectures, 2 hour driving course, and some more stuff that I really couldn't understand. Not to mention there was a typhoon happening. Which actually delayed the trains by 20min or so. Which is a big deal in Japan where everything is precisely on time. I got to the license center at 8:30AM and didn't leave until about 4:30PM.

Needless to say, I passed! Thank my lucky stars because I really didn't want to haul my sorry ass back out to the license center and pay another 10,000 yen ($110) if I failed. Not to mention to sign up for the class I have to also go to another city, since my town doesn't have a police office. Like I said, everything is so far away from Hino! But now, that I can drive a scooter, hopefully things will be closer. Most exciting of all, is I don't have to ride my super expensive private train line, the Omi-tetsudo, when I want to go to Kyoto. To get to the JR station I had to pay 400 yen ($4.30) every time! I also had to leave Kyoto by 10PM but now I can stay until 11:30PM, granted I won't be able to drink alcohol since I would be driving which seems like one of the only valid reasons why I would stay that late. BUT, it is nice to have the option and save some cash!

Now I am off to climb to the highest point in Japan (by foot). Mt. Fuji...in a typhoon.

Time is Slippery Like Glue

It was officially one year since I landed on Japanese soil as a JET on the 26th of July. Today is the day I took the Shinkansen to Shiga, had an awkward meeting with some government officials and taken away from the city into the winding roads of the Japanese country side to my new home in the small town of Hino to meet more government officials. Alone, miles away from the next JET, but not afraid. Just tired from the journey and excited to start a new life.

The sultry days of summer have returned once more. Now I know it is not easy to ride my bike to the next town. However, I still have the desire to try because it's something to do. I probably wont though.

Summer night in Hino

Time has passed fast. I am glad that I am staying for another year, even if it is just so I don't have to move again and fit my life back into a suitcase. I have been to new places in far off countries, and new places just beyond my doorstep. Both, just as amazing in their own right. I have met many faces, many I will never see again but never forget. And in this time, I loose track of time itself. There is so much I still want to do! So much I want to learn. So much to make me stronger. What is it? I still haven't found what I am looking for. I still have not found myself. It's slippery.

Time has passed slow. The monotony of life. The everyday work that is required so that one can survive. At my desk and in these confined walls where my mind can't wander freely, time sticks. Minutes are hours, hours are days and days are weeks. This kind of time is hard to shake loose, many times it follows me home. It makes me slower, but not relaxed. The mind becomes lazy because of lazyness. Even my free time is dictated by the next work day. Is this really free? At least I can pretend and give into the illusion that it is. It is this slow down of time that makes time so quick. For when it decides to speed up, sometimes I forget to catch up.

Is time slippery or sticky? Like wet glue! Sometimes you get stuck, but sometimes you can piece something together and make it work. If your not patient though, nothing will hold together. If your too patient, the glue's power is wasted. One year gone! One more to go. I need to find more pieces of something without getting stuck in a sticky mess.

Gion Matsuri

Lately I have been in a weird funk due to a lot of reasons. Today was a day that reminds me why I am here and what I love about living in Japan.

Every July, the city of Kyoto hosts the famous Gion Matsuri where basically there are lots of people and huge shrines are lifted and carried around the city. I started the day off late, missing the morning portion of the festival but arrived around noon to meet up with some friends for lunch and evening festivities. I also got some great pictures because I had something resembling a real camera with me!


Who likes short shorts?


Lunch with a friend.

Believe it or not, one of the reasons this day was so great is because I spent it with some beautiful women. I would post photos of these beautiful women but actually since I want to respect their privacy and God only knows who might steal them for their personal albums (I know I would...), you will just have to take my word for it. To make up for it, I will post pictures of cute kids!


This kid can milk the pose.


Why are Asian kids so cute?

I guess this festival is so famous that even the Yakuza like to show up and celebrate. I didn't take the best picture to prove this, because I really enjoy my head firmly planted to my neck. Of course I am only joking, everyone knows Yakuza are nice guys...right?


If your looking for Mafia Suzuki check the chest tattoo in the upper left.


A portable shrine parade!


Happy faces of the festival, and the death stare from beyond!

After watching the shrine floats being carried through the streets and meeting some exchange students from Germany, it was time to make friends with the local Shinto priest.


A very cheerful fella...really! Like Yoda with a very cool hat.

The priest gave all of us rice crackers and sprinkled curry powder on one of the fine ladies with me that evening.

After being blessed in some Shinto voodoo or something, we had some dinner and sat by the river to share a drink and watch the fire dancer.


My favorite picture of the evening.

I don't know what it was. Being in the company of beautiful women all night, being in one of my favorite cities on earth, being at a energetic festival or the joy of finally having the opportunity to take some sweet pictures! For most of my readers, they probably already know that I love photography. I want to share what I see with you! I want the way that I see the world to be a different way for you to see the world. I wish all my entries could be full of pictures like this.

Without going into much detail, all I can say is that this night has hit something in my soul. Something that needed to be lit and has been out for far too long. What spark ignited it, I can't say for sure! But I feel...happy tonight!