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Learning Japanese in Sendai for Busy People

2009-11-09T06:00:00.001+09:00

After looking around by myself, I finally broke down and asked somebody where to find some Japanese lessons. Most of the lessons I found by myself were in the daytime, and I can't make those (no matter how long of a lunch I would take).

I contacted the Sendai International Center since I really had no where else to turn.

I was surprised when I got the response:

MIA (Miyagi International Association) Japanese Course - 3 months long, classes are Tuesdays from 18:30 to 20:30, next course begins in January. Contact the Miyagi International Association to apply http://www.h5.dion.ne.jp/~mia/index.html

Furisuku - Thursdays 18:00 to 20:00 and Sunday's 11:00 to 13:00. Classes held at Sendai International Center in the Koryu Corner. This class is a language exchange where you help Japanese participants with their English and they help you with your Japanese. It is a conversation class. Email furisuku-sendai@hotmail.co.jp to join.

Hands Japanese Classes - Japanese classes on Tuesday evenings at the Citizen Support Center. You can bring along what you would like to study. If you are interested let me know and I will try to find out more information.

Tohoku Fukushi University - Free Japanese classes on Saturday mornings from 10:30 to 12:00. You bring what you would like to study and they will help you with it. If you are interested email sigma3hukushi@yahoo.co.jp

Tutor - Come to the Koryu Corner at the Sendai International Center and inquire at the information counter about signing up for a tutor. The tutor is free but you must pay for their transportation plus pay for materials like textbooks etc. Also they give priority to those who have difficulty with everyday conversation. You decide with the tutor where the best place to meet is e.g. the International Center. The waiting list can be quite long, especially as it can be difficult to find a tutor that is available in the evenings so I recommend signing up for one as soon as possible.

Language Exchange - You can come to the Koryu Corner and leave a message on our bulletin board to say that you are looking for a language exchange partner i.e. you help someone with their English and they will help you with your Japanese. You work out all the details about when and where to meet with that person. There are many messages on the board at the moment posted by Japanese people looking for help with English so you should find a partner quickly.

I figured I'd share this information with anyone else in Sendai who is looking for lessons.

Thanks International Center!

Back to Ishinomaki

2009-11-06T06:00:00.000+09:00

Ishinomaki is a fishing town / harbor / manufacturing area on the Miyagi Pacific Coast. It's not very far from Sendai, yet in the two years since I have been here, I have only been to Ishinomaki twice - once to visit newly found family and once for work.

I finally got a chance to get back this weekend, and I went to Saint (San?) Juan Bautista Park (サン　ファン　バウティスタ)　where a replica of the Date Maru (Japanese name for the ship) / Saint Juan Bautista (Spanish name) was built.

In the early 1990's, the Japanese set out to remake the Date Maru the same way it was originally built. The Japanese are admirably sticklers when it comes to recreating historical artifacts - see Yamagata Castle.

From what I can tell, they did a very good job. The ship is surprisingly small though. I'd hate to be on it for more than a few hours. The beds the crew slept on were probably too small for me to even curl up on.

I think that they should sail this ship across the Pacific and retrace the original voyage. I know it's been done, and maybe the ship isn't in tiptop condition after sitting in port for 15 years, but I think it would be interesting. (As long as I did not have to participate.)

Sendai-shi

2009-11-04T06:00:00.001+09:00

One of my frequent visitors to my photo blog is a man named Abraham Lincoln. He always leaves comments talking about how much the city has changed since he was here after the war.

Well, he decided to start his own site called Sendai-shi. These are his pictures from fifty years ago from not only Sendai, but around Japan.

Check it out.

Campfire

2009-11-02T06:00:00.000+09:00

I was out with my wife's friends and I was asked why I like Sendai/Tohoku. One answer I gave was that I like to see some hint of nature every once and a while. That was part of the difficulty of living in Tokyo for me. The occasional trip out to the country didn't cut it.

We then talked about going up into the mountains to spend the day around the fire and cook with the possibility of doing some actual camping.

I started talking about how excited I was to have a campfire again since it had been so long. Everyone's eyes at the table got big and I was peppered with questions about campfires.

I didn't get it, but in Japanese, the word campfire means bonfire - big bonfire. The Japanese word for campfire is takibi 焚火.

I hope when we go we'll have a takibi. I don't want to start a forest fire.

Iwate Koyo!

2009-10-28T06:00:00.001+09:00

When I got my Nikon D80 the first thing I wanted to photograph was the cherry blossoms in the spring. The second was the autumn foliage. I got the camera at the end of July, so I'll have to wait for spring to get the cherry blossoms.

Since I'm living in Sendai, autumn comes earlier and with more of a vengeance than in Tokyo.

I often go to Iwate on family visits, and for the longest time I had heard that Hachimantai City was where the colors are the best.

I was brought up into the mountains and through the trees. We eventually came to a river.

And a numa.

And I saw a lot of color.

Geibikei

2009-10-26T06:00:00.000+09:00

Ever I since I went to Genbikei and Genbikei I've been itching to get back - especially since I didn't even go into Geibikei the last time.

On my latest trip back from Morioka, I decided it was time to go again since, I didn't know when I'd get back.

Unlike Genbikei, Geibikei charges a fee to go up the river. They can do it since the river is closed off and you need a boat.

I couldn't let 3,000 yen stand in the way of seeing what was around the bend. So, 3,000 yen later, my wife and I were headed out.

The day we went happened to be the same day that I switched my camera to "M" for Manual. (It's been more than a week and although there has been a steep learning curve, I don't see myself ever leaving.) These haven't been through an editor yet, and they could use a little touching up.

If you are in the Ichinoseki area, or even Sendai, I highly recommend going.

Sendai PhotoWalk

2009-10-23T06:00:00.003+09:00

On a Sunday, I went to the Komatsushima Campus of Tohoku High School to　森林公園 to Kita Sendai to Ichibancho. Then I walked back.

The whole loop took 4 hours, and I took about 200 pictures. That's good and bad. It's good because I have a lot of options to choose from, but it's bad because each photo has to be checked over then post-processed. (Post processing is easier using a script, but I prefer to look at each individually.)

I was lucky that the weather was so nice.

Below are a few of my favorite picture from the trip taken right from the camera and cropped.

If you are in the Sendai area, and would like to join me sometime, let me know.

Sendai as seen from Komatsushima.

Hasekura Tsunegana's grave.

Biking in Kotodai Koen.

I don't know how to say this guy's name. (むらし・ひらすけ）?

Festival bananas.

Up For Some Thai?

2009-10-21T06:00:00.000+09:00

Odd name for a restaurant.

Taken in Kumamoto.

Neighborhood Cleanup

2009-10-19T06:00:00.000+09:00

I got an interesting note in my mailbox the other day - I was being called to neighborhood cleanup duty. I'd never been to neighborhood cleanup duty before. My wife was no help at all since she refused to go saying that women don't have to participate.

I set out 15 minutes before the meeting time, but I had a hard time finding anyone. I expected to see a group of people with brooms or buckets, but there was no one around.

Puzzled, I went around the block but didn't see anyone. As I was walking back home, I saw my neighbor and asked him if I had the right date. He went back in his apartment and asked his wife who came out and said it was indeed the right date and asked if I was going. I said I was, and asked if they were going - they weren't either. They pointed me in the direction of the meeting place.

Wondering if I was the only person going, I went to the meeting place where I saw three women doing something that looked like raking leaves. As I got a little closer I saw they were sweeping, and so I asked them where the party was.

They were surprised that I was joining them, and gave me a broom and asked me to sweep up some leaves. So I did, and I listened to their gossip while I worked. I also thought of the irony of me being the only guy there.

After a little while, the leaves were all swept up, and the ladies told me that they/we had to return the equipment. One of the ladies took me to the local park where some other ladies were doing some trimming. We put our gloves, brooms, and dust pans away and took a few coffees for the road.

I then went back home a little dazed and confused, but feeling good after a morning's work. Sign me up for the next one!

Kumamoto Part 4: Fujisaki Hachimangu Festival

2009-10-16T06:00:00.000+09:00

This was one of the weirdest mornings I've had since coming to Japan.

I had heard some buzzing about a festival almost as soon as we landed. On my first day in Kumomoto, was told of a day-long festival that would be really loud. And it was. the morning of the festival I could hear banging starting at 5:30. Not wanting to let a good opportunity go to waste, I got up and headed out. My wife passed, so I was going solo.

Here's a description of the event from Kumomoto Guide.

The highlight of this festival is a day-long parade on the 15th. Soldiers in ancient armor and ornately decorated horses follow a portable Shinto shrine through the streets of Kumamoto. This festival is not to everyone's tastes however - and has been toned down over the years. This festival originated as a celebration of an attack on Korea, something which is now downplayed. The horses taken through the streets should think themselves lucky too - they were traditionally force-fed sake, until deliriously drunk and then slaughtered on the streets!

The hotel was near Kumamoto Castle, and more specifically, the site of Miyamoto Musashi's residence. So this particular morning I thought it would be a good idea to go there first, then go to the festival. didn't know how long I had, so I had to be efficient.

I had to cross two streets to get to Miyamoto's residence, and as I was crossing the first street, an elderly lady stopped me and said I was going in the wrong direction. In my best pigeon Japanese, I told her that I was just going to go here first then go to the festival. She lit up when I
spoke Japanese and ailed a taxi.

I had no idea where we were going, but I figured I should pick up the taxi fare (and I did after some polite arguing). She brought me to what she described as the best place to watch the festival in the old part of town.

I thought she was just a nice old lady until she brought me to a store that wasn't opened yet. She started talking to the shopkeeper as if she knew her well, but then started asking questions that revealed she didn't know them well at all. After the shopkeeper left to send her child to school, the old lady let herself in. I decided that I needed to make a polite getaway.

The old lady said something about going to see if something was happening in a different area, and I assumed that she meant we would go together. She up and took off, so I waited for her. Then a different elderly lady sitting on the other side of me struck up a conversation in English, but fortunately my wife called me back for breakfast.

Weird morning.

Hasekura Tsunegana Found

2009-10-14T06:00:00.004+09:00

I've been interested in Hasekura Tsunenaga since I went to Ishinomaki and went aboard the replica of his ship last year.

Hasekura Tsunenaga was the leader of the emissary that Tokugawa Ieyasu and Date Masamune sent to Europe via Mexico in 1613. Six samurai in the group stayed in Spain, and took on the surname Japon.

After reading about this interesting part of forgotten history, I noticed that the Wikipedia article says that one of his three graves is in Kita Sendai. I went to the place described several times, but could never find it.

Finally with help from a friend, I found out that Hasekura is in Komiyoji Temple (in yellow), and not in between the two temples outlined in red as said in the article.

Wikipedia is great, but sometimes frustrating.

Hideaway

2009-10-13T06:00:00.000+09:00

Here's a place near my house that I want to go to with a tripod at dusk when the leaves change colors. You can see from these pictures that:

Long exposures + me = out of focus pictures

And these were the keepers.

Kumamoto Part 3: Mount Aso

2009-10-12T06:00:00.001+09:00

According to Wikipedia.com, Mount Aso is the largest active volcano in Japan and has one of the largest calderas in the world. (The sign at the top said that it was the biggest.) I thought that Mt. Zao in Miyagi/Yamagata also has a cauldrea [Lake Okama], but I was wrong.

Aso used to be a super volcano before blowing up. Looking at Google Maps, I used my best estimate to see how big it was. Note: I'm not a geologist.

Since Aso is active, it regularly emits toxic gas which prevents people from looking into the abyss. I'm really glad that we were able to get to the top to look around.

It was a busy day ...

Into the abyss ...

The caldera wasn't the only interesting part of the area, the ride back was interesting as well.

Online Japanese Lessons

2009-10-09T06:00:00.001+09:00

When I first came to Japan, I studied Japanese like a man possessed. For the past few years I haven't studied at all. I've been lazy and I want that to change.

Yesterday I spent some time looking for some Japanese lessons around Sendai. I can't study at home. I've tried, I just can't. I found some lessons offered through the city and I fired off an email requesting an appointment to see what one lesson is like.

I have tried Edufire, which seemed perfect, but it's a home-based system. There are some learning sites that focus on writing. I tried one once, but it was more tedious than fun.

I also came across JapanesePod101.com. It costs, but I signed up for a trial since I can download the lessons and listen to them on my music player. NHK has free lessons on their site, but they are for beginners. The lessons on JapanesePod101.com seem more advanced and are 15 minutes each which should fill my commute time.

We'll see how this goes.

A Day Inside

2009-10-08T11:08:00.000+09:00

Typhoon Number 18 [Melor] made landfall this morning and should arrive in Sendai sometime this afternoon, so school was canceled. It's only moving around 50 mph so today will be spent indoors.

I guess I'll catchup on some reading and try to study some. It also seems like it will be a movie day.

I've already had some of my stuff outside fly around. Sorry neighbors!

Tilt-Shift Fields

2009-10-07T06:00:00.000+09:00

It's not easy to find something interesting to photograph when you [I] take the same route to work and don't have time to go exploring.

So I walk basically the same way to work everyday (I know that I could change it up, but that only goes so far) and have taken pictures of just about all that the walk has to offer.

One workaround is to use a photoeditor (like GIMP) and add something to the picture. My favorites recently are vignetting, tilt-shifting, and just tweaking the picture here and there.

It doesn't make up for a great shot though.

Kato Kiyomasa

2009-10-05T06:00:00.013+09:00

Kato Kiyomasa was a name I hadn't heard before I went to Kumamoto. I wish I had known of him earlier because I became a big fan of his after reading a little about him.

Not only did he build one of the most-fortified castles in Kumamoto Castle, but more impressively to me, he built an irrigation channel in a river that filtered the silt from the Aso volcanoes - hanagurri-ide.

I took the above picture when in Kikuyoumachi in Kumamoto. The bottom graphic was taken from here. And there is an English version here.

Kumamoto Part 2: Kumamoto Castle

2009-09-30T06:00:00.002+09:00

I was fortunate that the hotel was right across the street from Kumamoto Castle. In fact, it was right across the street.

Kumamoto Castle is one of the most famous in Japan. It is constantly mentioned along with Himeji Castle and Matsumoto Castle. The castle was never lost in battle, and even survived a siege by Saigo Takamori during the Satsuma Rebellion in the Meiji Period. [The Satsuma forces were called "rebel forces" on the signs around the castle. I was surprised since I assumed there would be more sympathy from a neighboring city.]

Looking at the castle up close, I could understand why. The walls are steep, tall, and protected by towers with excellent angels of sight. When looking down the walls from the top, they seemed to curve inwards.

This trip showed me that I really need lenses with image stabilization.

Kumamoto Part 1

2009-09-28T06:00:00.002+09:00

After figuring out what clothes to bring to Kumomoto, I had to figure out what to do about my camera. I intended to take a lot of pictures, and I initially thought that lugging my laptop/external hard drive was the way to go.

But just for fun I headed over to Yamada Denki to see if I could find a lighter option. I went to the SD card isle and grabbed a 16GB card for 9,000 yen. Looking back, it was a little over kill, but I had no idea how many pictures I'd end up taking and didn't want to run out. So, the first problem was solved.

My father-in-law was coming to Sendai from Morioka via the Tokoku Shinkansen. We had to meet up with him at the station, then take a train down to the airport. It was my first time going to Sendai Airport, and I was impressed. The airport was more pleasant than I imagined (as pleasant as an airport can be) and we found a cafe to wait in since we got to the airport way too early.

The next stop was a layover in Osaka. [Note to self: Next time take the flight to Hakata then the train to Kumamoto.] We had a 3 hour layover and went looking for a place to spend some time. Itami is surprisingly boring, but this time I found out that they have an observation deck where you can sit and watch the planes taking off. I'm glad it was evening.

One note: when I was having takoyaki, I wanted to get a shot of it, but my camera had an error. The FEE error. I had turned my camera off and saw a new switch I haven't seen before and I switched it on (or off). After that I saw the error and couldn't use the lens although I could use others.

The solution was to turn off the camera, turn the the aperture dial [the closest one to the camera] all the way up to 22, and then turn on the camera.

Sendai Jazz Festival

2009-09-25T06:00:00.004+09:00

The 19th annual Sendai Jozenji Street Jazz festival was held 9/12 - 9/13/2009.

This was my third year going, but I didn't stay for very long since it was the same day that I made my airport test run. When I ended up getting downtown and finding a parking spot, I only had about two hours until it started raining.

It didn't rain hard, but I didn't want to risk getting my camera wet.

Mantis

2009-09-23T06:00:00.002+09:00

Why did the praying mantis cross the road?

Out to the Coast

2009-09-21T06:00:00.002+09:00

I'm a few days away from going to Kumamoto, and decided that a test run to the airport was needed. (And good thing I did because getting to Sendai Airport takes a long time the way we will go.)

On the way to the airport we will be picking up another passenger at Sendai Station, so we included that into the trip. From Nakayama it took well over an hour. That was good to know and I decided that we will take a bus and train instead.

What do you do when you are at the airport with nothing to do? I went to the coast.

This was my first time to a beach [in Miyagi] since coming to Sendai. I've been to Matsushima and Shiogama which are on the coast, but it's not the same. Instead of seeing land>pier>ship>water like at the harbor, it was land>beach>wall>beach>water.

After scaling the wall, I was met by tetrapods.

Off to Kumamoto

2009-09-18T06:00:00.000+09:00

I knew it was just a matter of time, but I got the call. My father-in-law is from Kumamoto and it was only a matter of time before my wife and I would travel there to make an introduction; that time is over the coming long holiday.

I've only been to Kumamoto once. I spent the night there on my way to Fukuoka from Kagoshima. That was in 2003, and I don't remember much about it. I remember a large arcade, similar to Sendai's, and very old local train line. The station on the line simply had a gate and at the gate a box to drop the ticket in.

Since I'm in northern Japan, and Kumamoto is all tucked away down there,I took a look at the weather forecast on the Japan Meteorological site.

Date		13 Sun	14 Mon	15 Tue	16 Wed	17 Thu	18 Fri	19 Sat
Kumamoto		FINE	PARTLY CLOUDY	CLOUDY	CLOUDY	CLOUDY	CLOUDY	CLOUDY
Probability of Precipitation (%)		0/0/0/10	20	40	40	40	40	40
Reliability		/	/	C	C	C	B	C
Kumamoto	Low (°C)	20	21 (±2)	23 (±2)	23 (±2)	22 (±2)	21 (±3)	21 (±2)
Kumamoto	High (°C)	30	31 (±2)	31 (±3)	31 (±4)	30 (±4)	30 (±3)	30 (±4)
Normal		Precipitation			Low		High
Kumamoto		8 - 45mm			20.0 °C		29.1 °C

Maybe I should pack my shorts.

Iwate Roadtrip

2009-09-16T06:00:00.007+09:00

I went to Morioka during the first week of August for my summer vacation.

In Morioka Station, near the shinkansen platform, there is a large picture of the Iwate Pacific Coast. I'd been looking at that picture for two years just waiting to get a chance to get out there and see it for myself. (An example can be seen here.)

I didn't quite see that, but I did see some amazing scenery.

I'm looking forward to going back. Hopefully soon.

That reminds me, I still need to get back to geibikei and gembikei.

Ryusendo

2009-09-14T06:00:00.003+09:00

On my summer Iwate road trip to the Pacific Coast, we stopped in Iwaizumi 岩泉 to take a look at Ryusendo 龍泉洞.

Ryusendo is a natural spring that created an underground lake and carved some caves out of a mountain.Tourists can [pay a fee] and enter the caves.

Tourists can go inside the caves to look around and get wet from the dripping water. The powers that be have done a great job of adding color lighting to make the caves look more interesting.

I happened to go a few weeks after I got my D80 and I was still learning how to use it. (Well, I am still learning how to use it.) I'd like to go back and retake some pictures - and spend a little more time doing it.

The outside temperature was around 31 and humid, while the inside temperature was in the teens. After leaving the caves, condensation started forming all over my camera and I was pretty worried about it, but fortunately it was OK when the camera warmed up a little. Next time I'll warm the camera up inside my jacket or shirt before going outside.