Tadaimatte

Teaching in Japan

2013-02-28T14:32:00.000-05:00

I talk about a lot of cultural things on this blog, but many of my posts are not so much connected to my career in Japan as they are my after-school life. However, teaching seems to still be the #1 method people use to get started in Japan, as there are lots of companies and exchange programmes that do this, and take away much of the headache of getting you established in the Land of the Rising Sun.

I taught English in Japan as part of Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) programme. JET is a fantastic programme sponsored by three Japanese Ministries and serves not only as a way to educate schoolchildren in English, but also as a grassroots cultural exchange effort. ALTs (Assistant Language Teachers) are recruited from all over the world via a lengthy application process, followed by an intense orientation session in Tokyo, and are then dispersed all over Japan to their new schools. Junior high and high school are the most common placements, though elementary schools are slowly taking on more JETs.

When I was accepted, I received one of the most coveted placements - Osaka. Osaka no longer hires prefectural ALTs via the programme (only municipal ALTs, now), so I was very fortunate to have gone when I did, as Osaka was my first choice and has since become my second home. My three years living there were some of the best years of my life.

The JET application process is very extensive. The paper application was enormous, and required a number of documents that took time to put together. A medical self-assessment, proof of Canadian citizenship, university transcripts, a copy of my degree and letters of reference (one of which had to be from a teacher or professor) are just some of the items that had to be included for the application, due in November - to go to Japan the following August!

I had a lot of tutoring experience, which I'm sure is what pushed me to the next stage - I had spent a summer in my third year of university doing a work experience program very similar to an ALT's job at a local school. However, I was certain I'd blown the interview when they asked questions I hadn't ever considered a possibility, like Canadian census information. Luckily, my personality seemed to make an impact, and I even managed to answer the question about location so well that I received my first choice of destination. I gave the interviewers an explanation of how my hometown dialect was so different from most Canadians' that I knew I'd feel right at home in Osaka, where the people speak in a relaxed and easy way.

I was determined to broaden my cultural awareness - I initially hoped to join a few clubs at my school, but I felt like I would make them uncomfortable by being there, or be unable to commit the kind of time needed. My students were often at their club practices until evening - every evening! As an ALT, though, I was a de facto supervisor with the ESS (English Speaking Society), and made that my only school-related extracurricular.

In my spare time, I tried out aikido, ikebana, and yosakoi dancing for a time, and stuck with aikido for about a year, as I'd always been interested in martial arts. I returned to yosakoi after returning to Canada, as well. Through school and JET seminars I had opportunities to try out glass bead making, Noh theatre, and tea ceremony. I saw many Takarazuka theatre shows in nearby Hyogo Prefecture. I participated in holiday rituals, including setsubun, tanabata, and New Year's hatsumoude every year.

The cultural divide was very tough at points. I struggled a lot with the Japanese work ethic - work long hours, socialize with your co-workers, and keep busy even when there isn't anything to do. I was free to go at 4:30 as per my contract, but I was always the first person out the door when I did so - it was tough to stay in the office and look occupied when I was itching to go, but I felt bad saying "see you" and strolling out two hours before my co-workers. Besides the work ethic, I was the youngest person by far in the office for most of my time there. I got along well with the students because I was young and approachable and quite media-savvy - but it did set me apart from many of my co-workers.

Aside from that, I really disliked being such an obvious cultural outsider - one of the things that really did bother me about Japan was that no matter how hard I tried to understand, the sense of being "other" was always there. Fortunately, it got better with time!

The most important thing I learned about communication was that insecurity wasn't going to get me anywhere. For a long time, I didn't have the courage to try starting conversations or even going someplace where I'd encounter words that I didn't know - even the grocery store was frustrating at times.

It wasn't too long before I realized that my Japanese wasn't going to improve unless I used it, though, and that I didn't need to be afraid of talking to strangers - all of my best encounters came as a result of taking a chance with people. City-dwellers often keep to themselves, so many seemed unapproachable at first, but Osakans are some of the friendliest people in Japan!

By far, the thing I missed most about home was familiar foods. Even though I love Japanese food, I found myself craving "comfort food" when I was feeling down - not just my mother's home cooking, but even food from restaurants I almost never visited back in Canada! At one point, I was bringing home McDonalds 2 or 3 times a week - even though I had probably only eaten it a couple of times in the past decade. I craved the familiar, and took what I could get when it came to the selection.

I also missed the friendliness of Canadian people, and the tendency toward helping strangers - the Japanese showed their friendliness in somewhat of a different way that I found, at times, to be quite a lot more detached. The people of Kansai (including Osaka, and Mie, where I had a wonderful local experience) are somewhat more open, but not in quite the same way as the town I'd been raised in.

Toward the end of my exchange, I visited nearby Mie Prefecture, an area I had been to just once before, despite it being so close to Osaka. It was the first time I truly felt the "small-town values" so many rural JETs had spoken of. While my visit to Mie was supposed to have been a day trip, a local festival prompted me to make very last-minute plans to stay the night, even though I had only the contents of my purse (a book, a pen, a netbook and less than 6,000 yen in cash) to work with. Thanks to the attention and generosity of a local hostel owner, I had a place to rest my head and a way back to the train station at 5 o'clock the following morning in order to make it to work on time. Even though she had other guests to attend to, the hostel owner graciously made up a bed for me, a surprise guest, and offered to take me to the station, so that I wouldn't have to call a taxi so early in the morning. I will never forget that hospitality.

Teaching in Japan made an immeasurable impact on my life. When I returned to Canada, I knew I had to stay connected to this experience in some way - it really shaped my career aspirations, which until then had been very vague. I moved to Toronto and began working with a youth exchange program, at first as a volunteer and later as a part-time coordinator, helping high school students considering spending a year abroad. Japan is one of the most popular programs we offer, so I feel extra-confident sharing my advice with these students, since I've seen "life in a Japanese high school" first-hand!

As for my travel plans, going back to Japan to visit is in the cards for me in the next two years, I hope. I'd also like to visit Scandinavia, Europe and other parts of Asia - being abroad really opened my eyes to how many different people and cultures were out there. I want to see them all!

For Rockin' Out Loud

2013-02-12T16:03:00.000-05:00

Today's entry is a guest blog post.

I have to admit a little secret - I have a particular infatuation with a certain handsome Japanese singer. Takanori Nishikawa, better known by the name TM Revolution, is my dream guy. Even though he stands only 5'1', he is a tough little guy, and his height is no factor in determining his extreme sense of fashion, his upbeat ear-catching tunes, and irresistible live performances. Plastered on my walls are life-size posters of him, cluttering up my shelves are his CDs, DVDs, and official concert books, and the majority of my MP3 Player is filled with his songs. I am what you might call "a die-hard fan." He is my obsession! I would follow him to the ends of the Earth!

Ok, I am not that nuts, but I am a pretty crazy fan.

When I went to Japan for a ten month exchange in high school, I hoped that Nishikawa would do a concert so I could see him in person. I knew I was hoping for a lot, because since he is getting older, he doesn't do many live performances. In spite of this, I hoped and prayed my dream of seeing Nishikawa perform live would come true. "Oh please oh please," I said. "Please let my dream come true!" I even crossed my fingers and toes. Yes, my friends teased me, said I was crazy and told me to give up, but I never stopped believing!

Then, in early December, my prayers were answered. Nishikawa had announced four concerts in Osaka City, a mere twenty minutes from my home! I was ecstatic! I couldn't believe my luck. Nothing, not typhoon nor tsunami nor earthquake, could stop me from going to at least one of those shows. I patiently waited for an announcement regarding where I could get tickets. If I had to tackle someone for a ticket, I was prepared to do so.

As the days turned into weeks and no announcement, I started to worry that the concerts might somehow have been cancelled. The only thing that was for certain was the "Boys Only" concerts (yes, Boys Only. Please don’t ask.) tickets would go on sale shortly. Days passed and still nothing. Finally, I heard the most devastating news a girl could hear: the other three concerts on the itinerary had been made Fan Club Only. I - somewhat surprisingly, I suppose - was not a member of this elusive fan club, only because I was not a permanent resident of Japan - one of the main requirements. (Otherwise, I would probably be President by now!)

The Fan Club requirement was slightly unfair, I know, yet the unbearable truth. My teacher and I got on the phone and called everyone and anyone who we thought might allow me to purchase a ticket. The ticket sales, the fan club, the fan club president! But, it was all for naught. No one would take pity on this poor foreign Nishikawa fan. It seemed my dream was going up in smoke...What was this heart-broken girl to do?

Then, my teacher spoke the words that set a strange course of motion, "If you want to see him so badly, buy a ticket for the boys' concert, dress up, and go enjoy yourself."

My jaw hit the floor. "WHAT?! Are you INSANE?!" I thought.

...I am crazy. I realized this a long time ago, but I thought I had a bit of sense left in me yet. However, I knew I had lost it completely when I stood days later with a ticket to the Boys Only Nishikawa concert, tight in the grip of my shaking palm.

The preparations began. I had clothes to assemble, a wig to buy, and I had to practice my rough and tough guy attitude. I even learned to walk like a man. I left no stone unturned. I had to get in! On the day of the concert, ironically Christmas Day, I was a bundle of nerves. Taking place in a little concert hall in a popular area of the city, the young men surrounding me seemed to be staring right at me like guards, peering into the depths of my soul to uncover the lie. I felt somewhat like a secret agent as I walked up those stairs towards the fortress known as Big Cat Concert House. I tried to be as calm and collected as I could as I handled over the ticket to the man standing at the door. His eyes lingered on me for a moment, as though he knew my terrible secret, but was deciding whether or not to be merciful. Luckily, his words were like music to my ears.

“You’re in.”

I wanted to jump, scream, and dance around the room with excitement, but I was sure that would have blown my cover.

While I stood waiting for the concert to begin, I couldn't help but observe males in their natural environment. They are strange creatures; their true habits unknown to the rest of the world while they jump around and yell various profanities. I had officially gone were no female should ever go. When the concert started, I found myself in a herd of elephants, being pushed this way and that, barely able to catch my breath. I closed my eyes and held onto my wig for dear life, and to my extreme glee, was pushed to the front of the concert hall. I ended up less than three feet from the stage. I held my breath.

And then - there he was. Takanori Nishikawa. TM Revolution. In the flesh and just as God made him; perfect. I was in a dream! Nothing in life is this perfect, right? But it was. I had done it! Our eyes met at one point, and my heart skipped a beat.

We met after the concert; we fell in love!

Okay, I'm joking there, but our eyes did meet. The fact that there was a foreigner at his concert probably gave him quite a shock.

That night seemed to be so short. I didn't want it to end. But, once it did, I realized I had done something crazy and amazing. I’m not the first female to see Nishikawa, but I am sure that I am one of the only fans willing to go that far. If this was living on the edge, I had stepped clear over it. Furthermore, I would do it again in a heartbeat. So, remember, if you ever need someone to give you pointers on how to get into a boys-only concert in a foreign country, tell them to give me a call.

-Brynn from Ontario
Guest Poster

Photo of the Day - Marina

2013-01-17T05:46:00.000-05:00

"At 5:46, on the morning of January 17th 1995, the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake caused
this marina to collapse, and at that point, the clock was damaged. This clock now
indicates that time as an eternal reminder of the earthquake."

Nengajou 2013

2013-01-01T08:10:00.000-05:00

あけましておめでとうございます！ Here are the designs I used for my nengajou this year:

It`s the Year of the Snake, of course! Have a great 2013!

Japanese Bathrooms

2012-12-10T10:50:00.000-05:00

Cramped business hotel bathroom is still pretty neat.
This is called a "system bath" or a "unit bath" style -
it was introduced during the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

I love Japanese bathrooms.

Yes, I said it! Though I'm referring primarily to the room that contains the bathing facilities, not the toilet room/W.C. I thought the bathing rooms in Japanese houses and apartments were very neat. Three primary reasons for this:

1) Shower and toilet are usually separated (unless you're in a cheap hotel bathroom, see above)

2) Completely waterproof (so easy to clean!)

3) Super-deep tubs and separate shower area

Beautiful.

I suppose I was raised to appreciate bathroom decor to some degree, but there was something gleefully satisfying about just being able to hose down all the walls and see it all go into a big drain in the floor. This is a common feature of prefabricated unit baths, which are typical in small apartments, though some unit baths are so small that the washing area is eliminated in favour of a toilet. There are usually no windows in unit baths, either, so the small space makes it wonderfully comfortable for a winter shower or bath. None of the steamy air had anywhere to escape to! I steamed my clothes on a rack above the bath by just turning on the hot water for ten minutes. The idea behind it is to keep the room watertight and thus reduce damaged caused by wet rot, which can be particularly weak in earthquakes.

Many Japanese baths are also set up on a heating system called oidaki. In oidaki, one pipe sends water from the tub to the heater and the other sends the heated water back into the tub. It conserves energy and allows the bath to be used by the entire family or even re-heated the following day. This is popular in larger apartments and homes, though less common in the smallest unit baths.

If prefab plastic isn't your thing, well, there's always the more traditional type of deep bath found in Japanese houses, usually metal or ceramic, but sometimes made of wood in the style of onsen tubs. And who can turn down cypress (hinoki)? The scent of cypress is so relaxing and nostalgic! I wanted to bring home a cypress bath set (stool, basin, water pail) but they run a little expensive. When I have my own place with a sizable bathroom, I'll kit it all out in cypress.

I dearly miss my little bathroom in Japan, and look forward to having a huge deep bathtub again someday.

Photo of the Day - Ikebana

2012-12-07T09:00:00.000-05:00

Nothing special, but this was the flower arrangement I did as part of Mid-Year-Seminar cultural studies in December 2008.

I always really enjoyed ikebana (flower arranging) and wanted to study it more, but it seemed like such a waste to bring home beautiful flowers, and put them...where? On top of my VCR? I just didn't have the space to display them. The few times I did ikebana, I brought the arrangements to school, but transporting and re-setting them was quite the hassle.

Thinking

2012-12-04T09:00:00.000-05:00

The backstreets of Gojo, Kyoto

Sometimes I will think back to some incredibly insignificant detail of my life in Osaka and just be completely floored by how strong a reaction those memories elicit. Nothing is immune - today, glimpsing a photo of Ebisuchō Station on the Sakaisuji subway line, a filthy hovel at best and an unpleasant place to visit even in daylight, caused the wind to just go out of me, remembering those nights I spent wandering Den Den Town.

Of course, that's what I created this blog for. I really hope that at times other expats and ex-expats see my posts and find a little bit of themselves in them, too. Even though the sad nostalgia can be draining at times, it's better to remember well now so that we can continue to remember fondly, later.

Nengajou

2012-12-01T10:00:00.000-05:00

These traditional mailboxes can still be found around Japan.
This one was in Beppu, Oita Prefecture.

I've mentioned before how fun and interesting it is to take part in holiday traditions in Japan. During my first year in Osaka, as winter set in and Christmas decorations began to appear, so too did New Year's (oshougatsu) paraphernalia. For those unaware, New Year's is the biggest holiday in the nation, and loaded with customs very interesting to a visitor. Each New Year's, I took in a different type of celebration - once I did it traditionally, with ozouni and a shrine visit on January 1st, once in Tokyo at Aqua City Odaiba's shrine and osechi, and once in my own town with toshikoshi soba, watching the shrine next door burn its old offerings.

Every year, though, I sent the customary New Year's postcards, called nengajou (年賀状). These cards are sent out to friends, family and co-workers, and as long as you pop them in the mailbox by December 25th, they will arrive in mailboxes everywhere on exactly January 1st. There are markings on the card signalling to postal workers to keep the cards until New Year's; in fact, in my city, many mailboxes had one of their slots (usually there is a 'domestic' and an 'other' slot) entirely converted into nengajou drop-offs. I bumbled through my first year with some awkward store-bought cards, then moved onto making my own cards with special New Year's stamps.

Before leaving for Japan, I did a Christmas card list, and it was a tedious venture with the amount of friends I included at the time. After moving back to Canada, though, I continued sending nengajou rather than switching back to Christmas cards. I tend to forget about keeping up with communication when you take Facebook and Twitter out of the equation, but I can at least make a commitment during the holidays to remind people I've fallen out of touch with that I'm thinking of them, and sending cards for New Year's is a little more unique than sending Christmas cards...plus, nobody wants to receive a Christmas card after December 25th, but New Year's cards can trickle in a little late with no repercussions during a rough holiday season. It helps when you're sending cards all over the world - my biggest batches go out to the U.S. and Canada, and some to Japan where there'll be held until January 1st as long as I get them in the mail early, but some also go out to the Netherlands, Venezuela, Germany and points beyond, where I can't control when they'll arrive. The time flexibility there is definitely great.

Store-bought nengajou have lottery numbers on them which you can use (if you live in Japan) to win prizes. I never quite caught on to this when I lived abroad (admittedly, I sent far more cards than I ever received) but it's a great concept. Even homemade cards are often made using blanks from the post office with all the lottery information pre-printed. I feel a little bad that the cards I now send to Japanese friends have no lottery opportunities, but living in Canada restricts my opportunities to buy cards. Instead, I pick five or six of the free "make-your-own" templates Japan Post offers every year in November, and I have them printed up with a pre-printed address and 年賀 mark on the back, in the more traditional landscape-style design that we see on Western postcards. Looking over the designs for the year is a joy and writing out my messages and addresses for Japanese friends is a good way to practice handwriting skills.

My first batch of template cards, in 2011.
Not great examples of my handwriting, but this year's batch looks much better!

Spreading this little bit of Japanese culture that many living outside the country wouldn't normally get to experience is great fun, and I love receiving postcards from my friends in Japan. I also like to think that when my co-workers back in Osaka receive a card from me, they feel a little better about the sort of revolving-door situation that is the unfortunate reality of ALTs in Japan, and know that I am still thinking of them, even years on.

Tower of the Sun

2012-11-29T09:00:00.000-05:00

Prose

They said I would have my own empire to stand over, and it was true; for no one stood closer to the sun than I.

When I came to life, my kingdom was but a construction site. Only metal, sand and plastic, as far as my eyes could see. But I saw gleaming potential in every direction. My eyes, looking hungrily futureward, already saw the world as it would be.

And it would be glorious.

It was 1969 when my eyes first opened. Back then, my view was of the parkland and the beginnings of the Ferris wheel; when they placed the Golden Mask upon my face, it was then that I came to have Suita within my sights, and foresee the way the city would grow and change. I could look back into the past, as well, into Festival Plaza. I would see everything that was, and everything that would be.

I saw it all from there on the hill.

When you already know how your short life will end, or how it will begin to end, you have the most magnificent sense of perspective. The time between my birth and when the Tree of Life was taken out of my body was no more than an eyeblink for me – and of course the empire too began to disappear, bit by bit. Soon my coverings were gone, and then I stood alone.

My faces, though, always continued to stare in those three directions – past, present, and future. I never wavered, even when the lights of my eyes went out. Even when the park before me – for so long that pinnacle of the ‘future’ – was torn to the ground. I could see my end as sharply and clearly as I saw that the future I had been built to represent would never be.

Ah – but was it so bad? After all, no one else was blessed or cursed with such knowledge. No one else could see the whole of Osaka in quite this way. And even though other towers came to be taller than I, I was ever the closest to the sun.

Snackoos

2012-11-25T13:06:00.000-05:00

My friend and former co-worker recently sent me this box of sweets from Japan. I was absolutely thrilled to open it - it was like Christmas had come early! Blendy Matcha Milk, Meltykisses, karintou, Koala cookies and more - there were even traditional Kyoto wagashi, sweets I took to tea ceremony and properly enjoyed, of course!

I missed Canadian candy severely when I was abroad, but Japanese snacks are just as exciting now that I'm home...!

Santouka Ramen Comes To Toronto

2012-11-23T09:00:00.000-05:00

Santouka is doing ramen right in Toronto. Yes!

Things have been busy with NaNoWriMo going on - I apologize for the lack of blog posts this month! I did, however, want to say a few words about Santouka Ramen, the new shop that soft-opened last week on Dundas East. A friend of mine works here and she recommended it very highly, so I made an effort to check the place out before word had gotten around too much. I wasn't even thinking about writing a review on it, so I never stopped to take any photos, but after we walked out of the shop, I began jotting down notes -ah, blogging life! It looks like I was just in time, too - in the week since I visited, at least a dozen food bloggers have gotten to Santouka and the lines are apparently around the block. Their grand opening is today, and I can guarantee that it's going to be quite a lot harder to get in there without a wait after this.

The shop is just a little east of Yonge-Dundas Square, and initially I imagined that it would be competing with Kenzo and possibly Kinton for the customers in the area, but it looks like that isn't the end - buzz is starting to get around for a new shop on Gerrard called Raijin (also specializing in tonkotsu ramen) and of course Sansotei (which I haven't been to yet) is doing quite well for itself. A far cry from when I first moved to Toronto and only had Kenzo and Ajisen to choose between - and that was barely a year and a half ago!

Santouka looks to be a fierce competitor, though - they are a branch of a chain that has been operating in Hokkaido since 1988, whose owner was apparently inspired by the famous ramen film Tampopo. Apparently, there was a branch right in my town in Japan, at a shopping centre I visited often, but I wasn't nearly as much of a ramen fiend then as when I returned to Canada and started missing Japanese food! The fact that Santouka is Japanese-run is really encouraging (not knocking you, Ajisen, but those Chinese chopsticks are awful to eat noodles with) because I know Toronto is inching more and more toward authentic Japanese food. They have the same menu in all their overseas shops - the first Canadian branch was in Vancouver.

Toronto's version of Santouka appears to be very close to the original as well, of course. My shio ramen (salt-broth) came topped with menma (bamboo shoots), kikurage (jelly ear mushrooms), char-siu pork, naruto, and a single umeboshi - pickled plum. The umeboshi came as a bit of a surprise to me, as I'd never seen one topping off a bowl of ramen before. Many of the "usual" toppings you'll find at local ramen places (corn, egg, etc) should be ordered separately at Santouka, as each type of ramen has its own set toppings. The shio is the only broth that comes with an umeboshi.

According to Santouka's website, they simmer
their broth for 20 hours!

Notably, Hakodate is famous for its shio ramen (conversely, Hokkaido ramen is usually known for miso-based soups topped with sweetcorn), and usually shio is a clear, light soup that is chicken or vegetable-based, so this is what I originally expected, having not done my research on Santouka before turning up there! However, Santouka's broth most definitely was pork-flavoured, and when I asked, my server told me that all of their broths were actually tonkotsu. Their specialty is a blend of tonkotsu with the other three traditional types - not quite representative of Hakodate ramen, nor Hokkaido ramen, but their own experimentation. The four types of broths available at the Toronto location were shio, shoyu (soy sauce), miso and kara (spicy), which covers all the traditional types of ramen available. (Sadly, tomato ramen doesn't look to be going mainstream anytime soon!)

I found my bowl very hearty, but a tad too salty in comparison to other broths I've enjoyed - even for salt-broth ramen, it was a bit overwhelming for me. I hoped it was an isolated incident, but other reviews seem to indicate that this is characteristic of their recipes. My companion, enjoying the kara miso version, did not have the same complaint. That is not to say that I didn't enjoy it - it was excellent, and the size of the meal was pretty much perfect, but I might go for a different type of broth next time. And definitely their specialty, tokusen toroniku - wish I'd given this a shot the first time!

I also ordered as part of the set menu, which meant that I also received a rice bowl, pickles and egg on the side. The egg is my favourite part of a ramen meal, so this was an obvious choice for me, and I went with the char-siu donburi; succulent char-siu and greens atop a bed of rice. The egg was more hard-boiled than soft - it was even a little bit cold, but after spending a few minutes in my soup, it was delicious. The taste was perfect. Somehow I even ended up with two eggs - I think I have one of the kind serving staff to thank for that!

It's a real relief to see the ramen competition increasing in Toronto, and Santouka is doing it absolutely right. The atmosphere of the shop is perfect - I loved the wooden bench seats. The food was excellent and the staff friendly and prompt. I had a nice conversation with our server, who was from Kyushu - now there's some quality ramen! My only issues were the price (a little steep, but that's my complaint about just about every Japanese restaurant in this city except Okonomi House) and the amount of seating. The capacity is definitely going to be an issue for this shop, as there weren't nearly enough seats, and even though we walked in without a wait at 4:30 on a day before the opening had really been made public, by the time we left the line was out the door. It's going to be awhile before you have any hope of slipping into any downtown core ramen restaurant without a wait, though - be patient, because when that bowl of steaming noodles is set in front of you, it's all going to be worth it!

Bota Bota, spa-sur-l'eau

2012-11-12T12:18:00.000-05:00

Some of Bota-Bota's water spa facilities

I was in Montreal a few weeks ago for the International Travel and Tourism Show, and in my downtime I took a few hours to do what is probably now my favourite Montreal activity - visiting water spas. Finnish baths are very popular in Quebec, unlike Ontario, and they're a natural choice for a hot springs fan like me.

For this particular visit, my spa of choice was Bota Bota, spa-sur-l'eau; a classy water spa built in a refurbished ferry moored in the Old Port area of Montreal. It was a smidge more expensive than Spa Scandinave, which I visited in May, but to do the three-hour "layover" option on a weekday put the price at $45 (as opposed to the $65 for an all-day pass on a weekend).

The price includes the bathrobe and towel, but not sandals, which are mandatory, so you must bring your own. This seems to be a trend for water spas, or at least ones located in North America. In Japan, nobody wore sandals from bath to bath - why bother? These places do have many other services that the visitor may want to make use of that aren't located in the bathing area - massages, manicures, facial treatments, etc - so sandals are certainly of use to them, but for visitors just on the water circuit, having to buy a pair of flip-flops at the gift shop to get from the changing room to the bath doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Fortunately, I read a review on Yelp mentioning the sandals this time, and dug my summer shoes back out of storage. Body Blitz in Toronto supplied us with sandals, as did Spa Scandinave, so water spa fans should be aware that the rules do change from spa to spa. I recently visited a water spa in Ottawa that didn't even supply their bathrobes with the entry fee - more on that in another post!

Deck 4 sauna, looking out onto Vieux-Montréal

The water circuit at Bota Bota is located almost entirely outdoors, which was a pleasant surprise. There are multiple decks, and the baths are on Decks 3 and 4, on opposite ends of the ship. The open-air bath on Deck 3 is expansive and colourful, with an almost-view of Vieux-Montréal (the sides are a bit too tall to see out comfortably from inside the tub) and a relaxing feeling. There's a cold-water barrel tub located just inside, as well, to submerge in and open the pores. A steam sauna and Finnish sauna round out the circuit on this floor, and bean bag chairs are scattered around inside and out to help make guests comfortable. Deck chairs are also available outside.

Deck 4 has a smaller bath which is more like a hot tub, with water jets. It faces the St. Lawrence River and offers a view of mostly-industrial buildings on the other side. At night, however, this view is very pleasant. An outdoor cold-water barrel bath is located just around the corner, by the deck chairs, and there are spaces here to hang up your robe and towel. This floor also has a Finnish sauna and relaxing space inside.

Reviews I read mentioned that Bota Bota's facilities are a bit cramped, and given that it's located on a refurbished ferry, space is certainly limited. I didn't find it cramped, however, not even in the dressing room. The changing facilities are not the best I've seen, but not bad. I prefer some sort of sterilization when I use public hair items, and Bota Bota did not keep barbicide or a UV sterilization cabinet for its combs, so I was relieved that I remembered to bring my own hair items. I've gotten too used to Japanese super-sento, where you often can take a clean brush from the UV unit, use it for yourself and toss it into a bin to be cleaned and sterilized before it gets re-used. The shampoo and conditioner here were okay, but not great. I did appreciate the presence of a hair straightener, though there weren't many dryers.

Bota-Bota's main draws were the atmosphere and the outdoor baths. You haven't lived until you've relaxed in an outdoor bath in winter! For the price I paid it was a very nice evening, but with Spa Scandinave right down the street and offering free tea and cucumber water as well as sandals, I'm not sure their peak prices are good value. Still, for me, the outdoor bath made it completely worth it, and I hope to go back someday, after I've covered a few more of the spas Montreal offers. Magnifique!

All images courtesy of the Bota Bota website.

Photo of the Day - Final Fantasy VI

2012-11-03T00:21:00.000-04:00

Halloween is just past, so why not a costuming photo!?
These Final Fantasy VI cosplayers at Tokyo Game Show 2007 were so adorable!

Mister Donut

2012-10-25T15:57:00.000-04:00

A few months ago, I was driving through Vaughan, north of Toronto, on my way to IKEA, when I passed something that took me completely by surprise. It was a sign that had once said 'Master Donut,' in exactly the same font as in the photo here. Seems like that building was once a MisDo location that changed the name and kept most of the sign lettering, and a little thrill went through me to see it.

Mister Donut is by far the most popular donut chain in Japan. Krispy Kreme and Doughnut Plant have given MisDo a little competition in Tokyo, but with over 1,000 stores nationwide, it's unlikely that it's much for them to worry about!

I really liked Mister Donut - as a Canadian, my loyalties do lie with Tim Horton's, but it's hard to argue with an Angel Cream.

Of course, Canada no longer has Mister Donut restaurants, despite Wikipedia's claims - in fact, I haven't had any luck with them outside of Japan, even if I truly expected (and I don't) to find them anything like their branches in Asia. Though the chain was founded in the United States, most of the locations turned into Dunkin' Donuts in the early 90s. (The two franchises were actually created by brothers-in-law who broke off their partnership to begin their own chains of coffee and doughnut shops.)

In Pennsylvania and Ohio, many Mister Donut stores became known as Donut Connection, serving the same menu as Mister Donut once did (and my attempt to visit one of these on the way back to Toronto from Columbus last year failed, too!), and the Godfrey, Illinois location is supposedly still in business under the Mister Donut name, but it is the only one left.

It's a shame, because I found Mister Donut donuts a great deal lighter, fluffier and less greasy/heavy than others, plus I love iconic brands. I collected the MisDo point cards and had traded them in for a bunch of the special coloured coffee cups before I left. I hoped to obtain all six colours. As it turns out, disaster struck my cups one day, and now I only have two remaining!

On a future trip to Japan, I'm hoping to pick those up somehow. I don't think I could possibly eat the hundreds of donuts necessary to get all four via points, but I'll give it my best try, especially since to me, these donuts are head and shoulders above Tim's. Jam-filled and Bavarian cream are not my thing - but give me green tea, dark chocolate pudding, Pon du Lion or sugary, fluffy whip, and I could most certainly make a good effort toward my cups on a month-long trip!

Mister Donut, I miss you! Come back to Canada someday!

TV Japan

2012-10-23T09:00:00.000-04:00

We're just getting things set up to move into our new apartment (in what I consider to be "midtown," but to seems native Torontonians would say "uptown") and I came across an ad I had picked up at Bon Odori last year for TV Japan:

24 hour broadcasting available everywhere, to bring you the latest news about Japan and the world
Broadcasting schedule adjusted for each time zone
Regular live news broadcasts to bring you the latest news available
Continuous content expansion for information programming, entertainment programming, and cultural / educational programming, plus sports coverage including Grand Sumo Tournaments
High-quality cultural programming to enhance mutual understanding and foster increased friendly exchange between Japan and the United States / Canada
Providing “TV JAPAN” to hotels in key cities and resorts, including Hawaii, to better serve travelers on business trips or on vacation.

Well! That's very interesting, indeed. We haven't decided on a cable provider for the new place yet, if we have cable at all, so my question to you Tadaimatte readers - have you tried TV Japan, and if so, how is it? I may have to go down to the Japan Foundation Library one of these days and check out the programming - I seem to remember you can watch it at the library for free. Hmm!

From Demachiyanagi | 出町柳から

2012-10-20T13:31:00.000-04:00

On the topic of the Okeihan change over - I just found out that the Keihan Line actually has its own image song. That's so fantastic!

This track, released in 2003, is called "From Demachiyanagi."

I can't get over these lyrics! Maybe I'll translate them for a study project sometime?

出町柳(でまちやなぎ)から　電車は走る
ああ2人を乗せて　愛の2階だて
ダブルデッカー　(そうでっかー)

三条から乗客が　ふえだします
四条からは　買い物帰り
おしゃれな人々
七条やがて地上へ　そして丹波橋
中書島(ちゅうしょじま)から　補助席が使えます
夕日をあびた酒蔵(さかぐら)の街
まるで影絵のよう
左には競馬場
まるでどこかのフリーウェイ
まもなく車掌もくる

(セリフ)ご用の方はこざいませんでしょうか

出町柳(でまちやなぎ)から　電車は走る
ああ2人を乗せて　愛の2階だて
出町柳(でまちやなぎ)から　電車は走る
ああ2人を乗せて　愛の2階だて
轉載來自魔鏡歌詞網
ダブルデッカー　(そうでっかー)

この電車は　京橋までとまりません
枚方(ひらかた)市には
平日朝ラッシュ時の
淀屋橋行きのみ停車です
テレビカーなら
着くまでテレビが見れます
そのうちに京橋の街のあかり

天満橋(てんまばし)からまた地下へもぐります
次は北浜　そして終点は淀屋橋
淀屋橋が終点

(セリフ)ご乗車ありがとうございます

出町柳(でまちやなぎ)から　電車は走る
ああ2人を乗せて　愛の2階だて
出町柳(でまちやなぎ)から　電車は走る
ああ2人を乗せて　愛の2階だて
ダブルデッカー　(そうでっかー)

Japanese Pizza

2012-10-18T09:00:00.000-04:00

Last weekend, in a fit of weakness (spent the entire day practicing either yosakoi or tea ceremony), I ordered myself a pizza. I came home exhausted at 8 PM after three missed meals - I suppose you could count a cookie and a single Scotch Dark from Ambiance as at least 1/8 of one meal, but in general I was pretty close to starving. I had another commitment to attend to right away at home and wouldn't be able to cook anything, and I generally avoid keeping processed food in my kitchen, so there was quite literally nothing to eat.

I broke. I got on Pizza Pizza's website and ordered myself a buffalo chicken pizza, and, I'm ashamed to say, polished off most of it right then and there without even offering my long-suffering roommate a slice. Since I'm not a huge fan of pizza in general, and this particular chain is one of two that I'll willingly eat, I later lamented to some friends what I had just done. Who promptly reminded me, "You used to do that in Japan."

Ah, Japan. It's true - the other chain I enjoy is Pizza Hut, though you won't find me ordering a Super Supreme here anytime soon. It is Pizza Hut Japan that I yearn for. I gave Dominoes a try, but they didn't satisfy me. Unless we're talking about pasta bowls, but that isn't pizza.

Many people who have at least a passing familiarity with Japanese culture are aware of the fundamental differences - and some might say, travesties - separating Western-style pizza with what you might find abroad.

Just a few examples of Pizza Hut's fabulous Japan-only menu.
When I talk about Japanese pizza, I always mention the "Idaho Special" - parsley, mayonnaise,
black pepper, corn, diced potatos, bacon and onion.

Personally, as a non-fan of the Western version, I took to Japanese pizza right away, especially when our local Pizza Hut plied me with all those flyers in my mailbox. I looked forward to Pizza Hut's monthly, eager to see what they might try next. The first few times, I called them myself (and you know I'm serious if I willingly undertake a phone conversation in Japanese with a stranger!), but sometime around 2008 they set up a wonderful online ordering system that became my go-to method. I didn't buy too often, because pizza in Japan is an investment - even a medium pie was in the ¥2,000 range, and if you wanted something fancy, you were looking at ¥2,500, which at today's ridiculous exchange rate is $31. $31! For a single medium pizza! You can get a medium "base" for ¥1,100, but the toppings are ¥300 yen each - hardly cheap. It's notable that the prices include the delivery charge (you cannot eat in at most pizza places, including Pizza Hut in Japan) and you'll have your price adjusted if you pick it up yourself.

Pizza Hut warns you to be environmentally-conscious!

So, when I did buy pizza, it was usually with the expectation that I would stretch it over at least three meals. With Pizza Hut, I would almost always get the Mayo Q, which is barbecued chicken, mayonnaise, corn, mushrooms, onion and strips of nori. It came with little packets of green chili pepper sauce and maple syrup for dipping your crust in. Perhaps it was the off-the-beaten path combo of ingredients that made me a fan of the Mayo Q, but the reaction I usually get is "Ewww! Mayo!?" (Note: Japanese mayo is fantastic, especially when it is served warm, à la okonomiyaki.)

I do think that the reason I like Toronto's Pizza Pizza chain so much as well is because it's also a departure from the traditional - dare I say it, cheap and simple - pizza of my childhood. My brothers, both pizza lovers, frequently pushed for takeout on Fridays, and would get pepperoni, slathered in the cheap spiced tomato sauce that I hated from our local pizza place. I'm generally a fan of anything tomato, but it turns out that when it comes to pizza, you can just about leave off the sauce - it's the toppings that make it for me!

Bottom line - no matter how alarming it might seem, if you're in Japan or heading there soon, you really need to think about trying pizza over there. I promise that having sweet corn on your pizza is a mystical experience, even though the opinions I've gotten about it have been highly polarized. Pizza Hut's a good starting point - the online ordering system has made it a snap, especially with the Hut's very useful English ordering guide. Don't forget to get the cheese-stuffed crust. Try it at least once - it's an experience!

Photo of the Day - Dosei-san

2012-10-16T09:00:00.000-04:00

This oversized dosei-san character from the video game series MOTHER (known in North America as EarthBound) came
to visit arcades around Japan in 2010. He was partially animatronic and had a person inside, operating him!

Keihan-chan

2012-10-14T09:00:00.000-04:00

Keihan-chan (Keiko Morishoji) showcasing the goods of Higashiyama

In a PiTaPa ad

In 2000, the Keihan train line launched an advertising campaign called おかいはん (okeihan) to promote themselves using young, fashionable spokeswomen photographed around the Osaka-Kyoto area, seeing the sights and culture available in towns and cities along the train line. This campaign was still running when I lived in Osaka, and the current Okeihan girl was Keiko Morishoji (the idea being that she lived near Morishoji Station!), the third-generation Okeihan character, who started in 2006. Keiko (played by actress Jinno Sachi) was born into a musical family and was a Conservatory of Music student at the "Duck River Academy of Music." She was the face of the campaign until 2009, and I thought she was the cutest thing on this earth. Her clothes were bright, stylish and just the sort of things I liked to wear, and she was always doing something that looked interesting to me. I started to take photos of her ads when I saw them, and downloaded a bunch of Okeihan desktop wallpapers.

Emily often teased me about my enthusiasm for Keiko, whom I called "Keihan-chan," not knowing her name at the time. We travelled on that line pretty much daily, and often together, so whenever a new poster came out (and that was fairly frequently!) I was all over it. I professed my love for Keihan-chan every time I guided someone new through the Keihan train system. And then...then, they retired my Keihan-chan and replaced her with a new girl, Keiko Kuzuha!

Kuzuha was cute enough, but I never expected Keihan-chan to vanish so suddenly, so I was quite disappointed. At the time, I didn't realize that there were two other Okeihan spokesgirls prior to my arrival in Japan - Keiko Yodoya and Keiko Kyobashi. Well.

As it turns out, the Keihan line is launching their newest girl to stardom very shortly - voting starts this Monday, October 15th, for the brand-new Okeihan campaign.

Yodoya, Kyobashi, Morishoji (♥) and Kuzuha

Well! I guess it's my civic duty, then, if we MUST have a new Keihan-chan, to make sure the proper one gets picked! Be sure to pop by Keihan's website tomorrow and cast a vote!

Book Review - My Year of Meats

2012-10-12T09:00:00.000-04:00

My Year of Meats
by Ruth Ozeki
[Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada]

Have you ever bought a book just because it had a really intriguing title? That was how My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki ended up on my Amazon wishlist. Touted as a documentary-style work of fiction, it is both a story of relationships and a critique of the meat industry (which I freely admit I am a consumer of, so reading this book gave me the heebie-jeebies on occasion). The dynamics of the two main characters seemed, I imagined from the synopsis, very interesting indeed, and they did not disappoint. The narration is primarily from the point of view of a Japanese-American woman named Jane, who is hired to work for a Japanese studio producing a television show called "My American Wife." The show explores the lives of American families and is sponsored by BEEF-EX, promoting the use of American beef in Japan. (I only ever remember buying Australian beef in Japan, but what do I know!) The rigid rules imposed on her direction - only "perfect" Caucasian wives cooking with real American beef - cause Jane to stretch further and further in trying to show not just storybook people, but real families of different races, orientations and religions.

Alongside Jane's narrative is the story of Akiko, wife of Jane's boss and a very delicate woman struggling with abuse, infertility and an eating disorder. Her husband forces her to watch "My American Wife" and rate it as well as preparing all the recipes to help her increase her weight. His actions, however, cause her only to grow further away from him, and she becomes emotionally invested in the families Jane selects from the show. She grows out of her complacency and begins to really think about what she wants for her life.

Toward the end of the novel, the documentary side of the story becomes quite harsh as Jane exposes the truth behind the chemicals, hormones and terrible conditions the animals are living in. Soon, it becomes her personal mission not just to hint at the dark side of the industry, but to expose it fully to the public.

I enjoyed My Year of Meats, though at times I felt it focused too much on the anti-industry theme and not as much on the characters as I wished. Still, it was an interesting way of presenting a topic that the average person might not be likely to pick up a book about. For the most part, I liked the characters - Akiko was sympathetic and well-written; Jane's perspective was much harder to identify with, but interesting nonetheless. I enjoyed the minor characters like Miss Helen, whom we saw very briefly but received a very realistic impression of. Others, like Mr. Ueno, seemed to fall a bit flatter.

All in all, it was a good read and a good length for this type of story. Toward the end, I was growing slightly weary of Jane's point of view, but the Akiko scenes eased this considerably. Of course, once I had finished the book, I was also immediately considering veganism! Perhaps it's just a weak will, but Jane's narrative had me wanting to start myself on a shojin ryori diet right away. I think I eat too much red meat...

Check out Ruth Ozeki's My Year of Meats on Amazon.com or Amazon.ca!

Kotatsu

2012-10-10T15:20:00.002-04:00

I have been waiting to make this post.

I am an enormous fan of the Japanese furnishing known as a kotatsu. I own two of them - one big, one small; one is sort of formal and classy-looking for guests, and the other is pink-topped with a big fluffy polka-dot blanket, just the way I like 'em!

There is no possibility that I overdid it on the pink. None.

I also keep a third one at my boyfriend's house, you know, just in case. Technically I bought it for him. Technically.

My fascination for kotatsu started well before I actually arrived in Japan, though I can't quite remember where from. (Possibly even Ouran!?) I'm anemic and have low blood pressure as well as poor circulation, so I'm literally cold All. The. Time. I fell in love with the idea of kotatsu long before I had ever laid eyes on a real one - and no surprise, when I finally had one of my own, I was hooked.

So just what is a kotatsu?

The underside of a kotatsu

A kotatsu is a table that has a small electric heater built into the underside, and a removable tabletop. Cheaper kotatsu are often made of plastic and are light and easy to store, but classic wooden ones are still very popular. A square blanket - often two of them - is placed between the frame and the tabletop. A person then sits on the floor or on a cushion with their legs under the table. Originally, the intent was that the heat would enter through the bottom of traditional Japanese robes and exit at the neck to effectively heat the entire body - since Japanese houses depend largely on space heating and most are not insulated effectively (if at all!), a kotatsu is a cheaper way to stay warm in an inadequately-heated room. It has come to be symbolic of family life and domesticity, as families still gather around the kotatsu on winter evenings, and is a comfortable spot to read, eat, or nap on a cold day. In the summer, the blanket and electrical cords are removed, and the kotatsu becomes a normal coffee table.

Kotatsu have their origins in the Motomachi period, the 14th century. The cooking hearth, irori, was used for heating as well as cooking and fuelled by charcoal. Over time, the irori was adapted to have a seating platform, and eventually, a quilt, which trapped the heat coming from the burner. This was called a hori-gotatsu. In the Edo period, the concept was adapted into a square shape with the wooden platform encircling it.

The easiest way to sit at a kotatsu is with
a zaisu; a legless chair. Cushions also work!

The visual style of the kotatsu we know now came about with the use of tatami mats in homes. The charcoals were kept in a earthen pot on top of the tatami - this style is known as the oki-gotatsu. Electricity eventually replaced charcoal as the primary heating source, and the electric heaters came to be attached to the underside of the table. This is the type of kotatsu used in modern Japan today, and I doubt I would be exaggerating much to say that just about every household has at least one - in fact, we even had one at my school, in the resting room, and on the cold winter days when the students were off for New Year's break, I almost always chose to spend the day there rather than at my desk by the (open!) window.

My apartment also came with a kotatsu, courtesy of my predecessor - it was actually I really nice one; solid wood and in fantastic shape. Unfortunately, it was a bit too tall to be comfortable for me to sit at, so I put it into storage and later gave it to Marisa, who shipped it back to the U.S. (That was exciting - if you've ever pondered the logistics of packing up a twenty-pound solid wood table, well, it's something we expats need to think of at times!) I bought a brand-new one and spared no expense at this very exciting purchase - I must have checked out every major department store from September on, waiting to find my "perfect" one. Finally, I saw it at last, at LOFT in Shinsaibashi, decked out for Halloween:

This display caused me to throw excessive amounts of money at the Shinsaibashi LOFT

That was my kotatsu, I decided. I bought the one on the left, choosing a pink lacquer tabletop. The glass top was so inviting, but I knew I would be shipping the table home at the end of my contract in Japan, so I decided not to take chances. (Good thing - my table actually suffered shipping damage obvious enough that a glass top never would have survived!) I had a fleece blanket like the ones above, but later got a more traditional square one with a removable, washable cover, with the intent being that someday when I furnished a living room that wasn't entirely pink, I could sew a new cover for the blanket and make a new table-cover in a more vanilla sort of colour. As it turned out, upon arriving back in Toronto, I was lucky enough to be able to actually buy a bigger (double the above size), chestnut-coloured wooden kotatsu from a family selling theirs on Kijiji. It's the perfect size for guests, and I improvised with a twin-sized kakebuton for the blanket. I've watched Kijiji since, with an alert on the word kotatsu, but I've only seen two pop up in the year since I've been in Toronto.

That does mean that having your own kotatsu isn't necessarily going to be easy - the cost of importing even a cheap one is rather steep. I've seen guides to building your own online, which may be a good bet if you have the woodworking skills and the confidence to work with the heating element. (The heating elements themselves can be bought online as well!) A word of caution, though: I asked at the electronics shops in DenDen Town what needed to be done to take my kotatsu home to Canada with me, and he recommended a step-down transformer (it weighs at least 10 lbs!) for safety and to prolong my kotatsu's life, since using any appliance on the wrong voltage will wear it out faster. It was actually pretty tough to find the correct adapter, even in DenDen Town, because most Japanese appliances will work in Canada/the U.S. just fine. In the case of a heater, though, you want to be safe rather than sorry! I've seen these transformers for sale at Mits here in Toronto, or you could probably pick one up online.

Image via Wikimedia Commons
In case you were wondering what
a non-pink kotatsu looked like!

You can also buy yourself a kotatsu and the accessories online, of course. J-Life is based in the U.S. and they sell elegant, classic tables. Rakuten, on the other hand, is a little harder to purchase from (watch out for that shipping!) but they have colourful, modern kotatsu and kotatsu-gake. Personally, I like all types - the classic wooden style, the colourful tabletops and blankets with a ton of "pop," and even the lightweight retro plastic ones like the table we had at school. It was very 80s, like the rest of the room, and that was one of the things I loved about it.

So, are you ready to settle down for a cold winter under the kotatsu? I've found my perfect method: a puzzle mat (for comfy sitting and laying down) with a nice fuzzy rug laid over it. 100x100cm table with adjustable height extenders. Downy, fluffy kotatsu-gake blanket with a washable futon cover so I can change out the patterns and colours as I want them. Heat turned on a nice medium-low, and a small zaisu legless chair with padding on the back. A cup of tea. Earl grey - hot. Maybe a nice pot of sukiyaki, too!

I hate winter, but my kotatsu makes it bearable. ♥

Tokyo Fare Watch: October

2012-10-10T15:02:00.001-04:00

Looks like American Airlines is having a seat sale good enough to make an AA + JAL flight worth Torontonians' while! I got some really good results on Vayama.com for flights leaving Toronto, connecting in the U.S. and arriving at Haneda or Narita. For the current sale, you'd be looking at a departure between October 4th and November 30th, and a return between October 7th and January 31. Not bad for someone looking to travel through the holidays!

Christmas in October

2012-10-09T13:09:00.000-04:00

One of many.

Yesterday, as I went out to my relatives' place for Thanksgiving (Canadian Thanksgiving is the second Monday of October), I found a box from Japan waiting there for me!

Back when I first left Japan, I tackled that pressing issue that every expat encounters - what to take back to their home country, and how to get it there. My case was more dire than most, as I had replaced my entire wardrobe while living abroad, and I am also a voracious reader. I left Canada with just thirteen books in my suitcase and returned with two hundred. Let's be serious - no true book lover could possibly throw or give away a collection like that. I also knew that since the Osaka Board of Education was not taking on new JETs, I wouldn't have a successor to sell or give my household items to. When I handed in my final contract agreement at school, I had already started working out just how I was going to get everything home.

I'm a skilled suitcase packer, but my spacial perception isn't great, so I envisioned - wrongfully so - that I could creatively fit my most important belongings into four, perhaps five, large boxes, and give or throw away the rest. The post office was the best deal at about 14,000 yen for a 30-kilogram box. I would have liked to have used a moving or sea shipping service, as Shelley and Emily did, but since I was going back to my hometown on the extreme east coast of Canada, that option wasn't available. It was pretty much the post office or nothing.

I started out attempting to be very forward-thinking and responsible about my packing. In March, all the books that I wouldn't be reading before I left in July went into a sturdy Kuroneko box that topped out at 29.5 kilos (64 pounds). Then I realized that I wasn't sure how to get this box, which was more than half my weight at the time, to the post office. I strapped it to the back of my mama-chari, and then walked the wobbly five minutes to our local post office. Who told me they did not have the equipment to send via seamail.

Well...I wasn't going to spend hundreds of dollars extra to upgrade my shipping speed, so I wobbled back to the nearby train station, parked the bike and hailed a cab to take me to the bigger post office in town. Then I decided that I would find some other way to move out the rest of my stuff.

Luckily, I discovered a way, and that means that you (yes you, reading this!), if you ever find yourself moving back overseas from Japan, can do it too! The post office will actually allow you to call and schedule an at-home pickup. I went down there and grabbed a bunch of international shipping labels (for Canada, you must be very detailed in your contents description), and set a date and time a few days before my departure for the post office to come. At the time I was still thinking "Yeah, five boxes ought to do it." When the guy showed up, however, and took my five boxes' measurements, my apartment was still cluttered with stuff, and the packed boxes were overweight! I had to pull things out, and only half the apartment seemed gone. I had started with the things that I wasn't going to need during the month of July - so, of course, I had packed some pretty inconsequential stuff that I probably should have left behind, but I took thinking that I had the space. Well.

One of those five took a long side-trip, but I'll get to that later.

The process of sorting an entire apartment into boxes and bags.

We scheduled another pickup for two days later, the day I was supposed to moving out of the place. Needless to say, I had quite a lot on my plate already - between myself, Em and my friend Mitsu, who was going to be taking my couch, we barely got another four boxes packed up, as well as my precious kotatsu, the Gundam model kits Drew had left at my apartment en route to Mount Fuji, and the Fuji climbing stick left behind by Alec.

When the landlord turned up to pick up the keys, along with my go-between from my school, the place was still a disaster. Embarrassing. I said we were going to need a few more hours. He said I could stay the night - I would be heading out to the airport the following afternoon. So scheduled another post office pickup, one for after I was going to be long gone, to make sure it was all going to be done and ready. I spent the night hastily sorting tons of papers to avoid shipping home stuff I would never need again, hoping that the electricity wouldn't be cut off any minute (we had tossed an extension cord over the balcony to Emily's just in case!) and then at 4 AM, as the sun was coming up, I lay down on the bare hardwood floor for a nap. My futons and couch were already gone. When I finally stumbled out of my apartment to take my bike over to school and do a final check on my desk, I was running only on adrenaline. What I wouldn't have given to have pushed back my departure just a couple of days!

When I got back from school, it was time to go. Later, Em would pack up the last two boxes and return my keys to the landlord, while I got on the plane and headed back to what I still sometimes call "my past life."

In the weeks after returning to Canada, the boxes of my possessions trickled in, though it was impossible to fit an apartment's (even an 1K) worth of things into a small bedroom that already had a lifetime crammed into it. I took most of them with me to Toronto, so even now, when I visit my mother's home, it feels like I've stepped right back into my pre-Japan hobbies and lifestyle. It's very odd. Since I basically took everything from my Osaka apartment and plopped it into my Toronto apartment, I can look around this room, and at least half my possessions and 90% of my clothes are Japanese-made, even now, a couple of years later!

Of course, a post office move comes with its own complications, not counting the mistakes made by my poor planning. There was a box that came open in transit and lost a few items, two boxes that had the labels swapped and I opened "books and clothes" to find it full of housewares, a box that had been measured at thirty kilos and charged accordingly when it was only thirty pounds, and finally a box that didn't arrive at all.

Two months after I left Japan, the missing one turned back up at Emily's apartment, returned to sender with the explanation written in Japanese. It was labeled "household goods," but it really contained books and shoes, and the contents of the utility closet. (Maybe this is why it was returned. Oops.) It weighed thirty kilos - far too heavy to drag back to the post office on foot, so it sat there in Emily's apartment in the meantime.

Emily moved back to the U.S. the month before last, though, and she posted me that last box with a few additions - hence why it's Christmas at my apartment now, despite it being only October. As I went through the contents last night, some of them precious things that I thought were gone forever out of the ripped box and others items I had forgotten I ever owned, let alone packed, I just had this wave of homesickness and nostalgia for Japan. I know they're only things, but they were symbolic. Maybe it's the Japanese tendency to treat objects, especially beautiful or meaningful ones, with such respect. I had to pack it all away again, in preparation for our move to a new apartment at the end of this month, but the first time I drink tea out of those teacups or take my yosakoi naruko to practice, I'm going to take a little bit of time to really appreciate and admire these items like old friends.

Tea and Tsukimi

2012-10-03T08:45:00.000-04:00

Photo from Secret Teatime's Facebook Page

This past weekend, I went to a nabe and tsukimi tea party held by friends from my time abroad. At times, I really do regret spending so much time in Japan alone and wrapped up in my hobbies - as much fun as I had trying my hand at aikido, ikebana, yosakoi and others, travelling all over Honshu by local train, and of course wandering everywhere in Kansai on foot and by bicycle, when it came time for JET events, I was so embarrassingly out of the loop that I imagine anyone not from my year would have a hard time remembering my name. My Japanese friends were largely in Tokyo, and many local friends, JET and otherwise, returned to their lives abroad far too soon, so by my third year I was living the hermit life, and I have come to regret it a little since returning. Where I was antisocial in Osaka, I now go out of my way to be social back home, via cultural groups, JETAA events and now, meeting up with a few familiar faces from JET.

I didn't even realize there were so many former Osaka JETs here in Toronto! I attended a dinner last month with a group of six or so and had a great time, though the tsukimi evening eclipsed (see what I did there?) that by far. Helen and Sorlie are tea fanatics and students of the Omotesenke and Youkenryuu schools of tea, respectively, and Helen did her JET tenure in a city very close to mine. In case any of you readers forgot, I am a fan of tea of all kinds, so when she invited me over for nabe and tea ceremony, I could not say 'yes' fast enough.

Friends in Toronto, you absolutely must check out Helen and Sorlie's endeavors with Secret Teatime! They are setting up a studio in Scarborough, and are offering lessons in Japanese tea ceremony in the Youkenryuu style. Watching the ceremony on Saturday was a real treat, and we enjoyed luscious dark chocolates from Ambiance Chocolat. The chocolates were handmade and amazing, and brought me back to my days making trips out to the fabulous chocolatiers and bakeries in Kyoto. I'm really hoping to make it to more of their events in future and perhaps a few lessons as I've only learned the very basics of chanoyu. My roommate is almost certainly sick of hearing me talk about tea (though she graciously supplies me with it at Christmastime!) and I have a lot to learn about it, myself, so I'm looking forward to lots more Secret Teatime!

Game Center CX

2012-10-01T08:10:00.000-04:00

Cover of the Retro Game Master/Game Centre
CX DVD collection

I am so, so excited for the English-subtitled DVD release of Game Center CX (Retro Game Master), which ships out to pre-orderers on Amazon tomorrow! (Or, if you're in Canada, Amazon.ca is actually carrying it for $10 cheaper, to my surprise!)

This amazing television show was a big thing for me during my last year in Japan. It's been running for almost ten years, but I actually didn't hear about it until it was in its eleventh season! Comedian Arino Shinya, one-half of the famous Osakan team Yoiko, is the host and star of Arino's Challenge, what was once a small segment but quickly grew into a one-hour television show about retro video games. Arino, a fan of games of all types, looks like your typical middle-aged salaryman and while he struggles often to get through even easy games, is incredibly tenacious - this man somehow beat Ninja Gaiden, but took hundreds of lives while playing Super Mario 3.

I originally caught wind of this show on YouTube and though I didn't have the channel that it aired on, I rented the DVDs, one by one. It's a very popular show - our nearest Tsutaya had gaps in its library every time I went. (I had to bike 35 minutes away that first time just to get Volume 1!) And when I was sure that I was going to watch regularly, I went ahead and got FujiTV One, FujiTV Two and FujiTV NEXT on my beloved SkyPerfect satellite dish.

It's funny to look at it that way now, but leaving behind the brand-new episodes of Game Center CX was a heartbreaker when I left Japan! There are ways to see some of these, of course, thanks to the Internet, but there was something special about sitting down on Thursday nights to see a brand-new episode right when it aired. My friends and I would watch the raw episodes over Skype as a group, with me providing scant real-time translations while Arino provided the laughs. Many times I would come home from work and head straight to Skype to pick out an episode with the others to watch that day. This was three years ago - well before GCCX was known by many English-speakers.

Luckily for me, since coming home, the series has gained a little more popularity in the west. The Nintendo DS game didn't make much of a splash when it was localized, unfortunately, but I feel that was the timing - if the show had come out in North America first, maybe it would have been different. Gaming website Kotaku even aired 12 episodes on their website in 2011 under the title of “Retro Game Master,” though for me these were a massive disappointment - the episodes had everything except the main game challenge taken out, and the dubbing was terrible. The translations were dubious at best and many details left out.

However...what Kotaku did do was bring a lot of attention to the show, and that's why we're now getting those episodes, overhauled, on DVD by Discotek Media and translated with subtitles by a fan with genuine passion for the series!

Sadly, the show still can't be released intact - it doesn't contain many segments due to licensing issues, though the Japanese DVD releases omitted these as well. Still, even if it can't be perfect, I am so ready to support this release, just to bring more Game Center CX fans to the world and encourage more DVDs down the line. GCCX will always be a nostalgic reminder of my hobbies in Japan!

So get out there and buy it! If you're a fan of video games at all, you don't want to live even another week without seeing this show!