Who knew I would be dodging TV crews and cameras in anticipation of the super friends. This pig flu thing has dominated news coverage. Reporters and cameramen swarmed Kansai's international terminal waiting to talk to someone from Flight 885 - the only incoming United flight from America that day. In the end, I was able to squeeze between everyone when I caught my first friend glimpse. There was Scott, looking so masculine, Andy and Aubrey donning homemade vacation t-shirts complete with kanji and the ever-present Dave Cantos baseball hat - either Cubs or ND, I don't recall. Since my patience had been running thin, waiting for them to emerge from behind the customs doors, I attacked them with the force of a large white man who'd been away from his family for ten months. It was a cross between a polar bear and a really happy...minus the collar but plus the uncontrollable urination - apologies. After my hug flurry and Shuko introductions, we all got on the escalator and began the trip. But, to my surprise, no tears fell...perhaps replaced by shock.
The next few hours seemed like a whirlwind to me but I can only imagine what it was like after coming off a 12 hour flight without much sleep. But they were willing participatory zombies. After stopping in the middle of the street in Shinsaibashi to gather ourselves, we found our Nazi camp doubling as a capsule hotel. This is a place that not only forced me to write my Japanese address but insisted I do so in kanji (I would include that here but I can't even figure out how to make it on the computer). Once Shuko told me that she was not allowed to enter our room or any of the lobby bathrooms. It was then I assumed it was commandeered by the Third Reich and the term 'group showers' lost its allure. We would have high-tailed out of there if it wasn't for the promise of a group capsule room...and the lack of options. You can deal with anything for two days, including a militant hotel whose decor idea seemed to stem from the idea that jamming a room full of chairs constituted comfort and style. Chairs outnumbered people and beds. Thankfully we planned on inviting the other dirty, travel-weary tourists and the drunk Japanese businessmen to a nice sitting party so it worked out nicely.
Well, onward to Koshien for the Hanshin Tigers/Yokohama BayStars clash. Man, did I feel like a Dodgers fan. After showing up in the middle of the fourth, we absorbed the different baseball culture, sent balloons flying during the seventh inning stretch and were exiting our really nice seats in the top of the eighth inning with the Tigers trailing 2-0. We would learn later that the Tigers came back to win 3-2. (New info: my student recounted the game - two outs in the bottom of the 9th, Hirano singled and wass tripled in by Imaoka 2-1. An error by Yokohama's shortstop allowed Imaoka to score and Sekimoto stood at first 2-2. A single by Arai moved Sekimoto to third and he was singled in by the ageless Kanemoto for the game winner) In fairness, none of us are used to our teams coming back in late innings and we had no reason to suspect such activity and we headed off to Kobe for okonomiyaki.
Okonomiyaki was the first time I got to see what it would be like for a bull of a man like Andy to adjust to Japanese surroundings. I would not say I don't face similar size-related challenges here but I am a touch more graceful with my actions. What I was curious to see was how he could control his body having to duck under low ceilings or, in this case, contracting his legs to fit under the okonomiyaki table. As is the case with me most times, it wasn't totally smooth but nothing was broken either. The Japanese tend to kneel and then sit back on their legs and that's the common sitting position at restaurants like this. I've accustomed myself to withstanding the Japanese pose for a while but, inevitably, I lose feeling in my legs and resort to the western 'indian-style'. Transitioning between the kneel and indian style makes for some high comedy for its viewers...especially people of a more rotund shape. If anything could remind you of Tommy Boy in the airplane bathroom, this is it. Elbows and knees are flying and trying to work with the stomach to maintain some semblance of fluidity but, mainly, to not allow limbs to fly and things to break. I noticed Andy making this attempt and I must say, I was impressed because the first time I tried this in Okayama, I nearly obliterated a partition at a restaurant with my new trainee friends.
After a very exhausting and non-stop first day, adrenaline wore off and the super friends hit the capsules. I know a great deal about the friends but I hadn't really seen what happened when they were tired and delirium set in a little. I learned that Scott's years (as few as 28, as many as 59) as a man served him well because he exhibited patience and willingness while still keeping his wits about him. Even though tired, he was on his game...you know, as a man. Andy was exactly how I am at that point - still generally good-spirited on the outside and when talked to but in down times, stares blankly at nothing and is a small step behind reacting to things. I probably can't remember everything but I must say that I couldn't imagine living a day in Dave's body...he loves sweets more than anyone, yet is lactose intolerant, he has the bladder of a hummingbird, can be extremely tired but not sleep for 30 minutes after going to bed, can't fall asleep touching someone or being touched and I am fairly sure the list goes on and one...spectacular!
Our second day together started the way every day should start...showering with your best friends on buckets and no real understanding of common procedure or bathing technique. Don't take that the wrong way, in our years on this planet we've learned to hit the major spots while cleaning ourselves. There were buckets to sit on, faucets that didn't pour continuously, confusingly marked bottles of soaps, conditioners and shampoos and a slew of naked J's traipsing around. Have you ever had that feeling of everyone's eyes fixed on you and your every move? That's the best way to describe this, except that we were all naked and formed into a line, almost as if we were going into a nude battle. I'd say it was uncomfortable but I never felt that way. What made me a little uneasy was that the super friends and I were having a gay old time but everyone else remained stone silent. Maybe if their best friends came to naked time with them, they'd be a little happier.
What a wonderful way to start the day that will live in infamy as one of the greatest of all time...for anyone, anywhere. Following shower time, we all got ready and made our way to Kyoto. Despite being a few minutes late, I was amazed at our morning efficiency and the ability to make our 10am appointment - to become geishas. It took phone calls to several different places ad the explanation that we weren't looking to be made into samurais to get this appointment scheduled. In the same manner as the Sears photographer displayed last year, the girls about to make us over took some extra interest in approaching their jobs that day. We were a rowdy gaggle of gaijin that were overly-excited about being painted as pure Japanese ladies. Here are reasons I know I was not made to be a geisha. 1) The kimonos did not in my preferred blue and orange. 2) The kimono needed some ingenuity used in order for it to look appropriate. 3) The entire make up process was wholly uncomfortable. We sat in a thin robe and underwear watching other people get started - like going to prison and waiting for the delousing powder. Once it was time to roll, we sat on stools about eight inches high. This left little room for our legs, and we're a tall bunch. So, we sat hunched over while the girls plastered our faces with white make-up - which was remarkably cold. Upon finishing with the plaster, I closed my eyes for what seemed like an eternity. My quads were burning and starting to shake a little from holding my position on the mini-stool and trying not to fart - for fear the makeup girl would get startled and jam the brush into my eyeball. Along with the shaking legs, I had sweat running from the back on my knees down my calves and my torso contorted strangely so the girl could apply the make-up properly. Between the ticklish lipstick application and Dave telling me he was "as hard as a rock", I could barely maintain a straight face. Overall I'd say the experience was fun, interesting and made me a better person but painful.
Finally we were cinched into the kimonos, and the ceremonial head wear was placed on (weighing roughly a Japanese child) and we proceeded down really steep and narrow stairs. Although there were no accidents, I could just imagine us idiots pouring head over heels down a staircase, dressed as geishas with people feigning concern and holding back laughter. We were each called in to get our professional photos taken. As some of waited in a separate room, I commented that I hoped the staff wouldn't leave us to our own devices with cameras because we just may devastate the reputation of the whole country. Well, they did and we might have. We took a lot of regular shots but we took some questionable ones. One picture shows Shuko kissing me - it looks more creepy that funny in retrospect. A few more iffy pictures involved spider monkey and Pooh-san stuffed animals. I even thought I was a more bad-ass Gene Simmons. In the end, we got through everything without really embarrassing ourselves. Earlier in the week, my Japanese lesson was the grammar for "Among _______, who/what/where/when is the most ______?" I put it into practice and asked the girls who looked the most beautiful and the most Japanese. They copped out and said 'everyone' to both questions. Come on! My friends didn't understand the question and they wouldn't have understood the answer, I just wanted some opinions. Oh well, maybe you can offer some.
Still reveling in our geishadom and with makeup still hiding in our facial crevices, we hit the road to Smile Burger. I'd heard about this place from a friend, ate there once with Gino but it had been closed the other three times I tried going. I found they close when they run out of meat for the day. But it was lunch so there was no danger of that. We all partook in wonderful, juicy burgers - a true Japanese culinary cornerstone. Shuko ate the entire thing, despite it being roughly the size of her whole body. Andy needed to consume two because one was roughly one millionth of his. Smile Burger was one in a long line of wonderful food consumed.
After lunch, we took the subway to the south of the city to the shrine at Fushimi Inari. This is the same place David, Hirman and I wandered around at night and was the focal point of three months' worth of nightmares. The shrine was much less frightening but more beautiful during the day. The foxes protecting the shrine looked more like protectors and less like soul suckers this time around. This shrine is known for really long paths lined with toriis (gates) - some were old toriis but most were newer ones donated by people or companies with names, insignia or messages inscribed. And just one train stop from Fushimi Inari was our next stop, Tofukuji - this is a temple I'd never visited before. It was particularly gorgeous...located in the middle of a neighborhood full of trees and traditional Japanese homes. I am not sure what the specific significance that separated Tofukuji from other temples is but it was spacious and not very crowded - my kind of place! Before dinner we rested near the Kamo River and watched a koi fish attempt to swim upstream. He'd likely been trying since 1904 because I am not sure he moved more than 1/4cm in an hour and a half. Alas, he was a player in the super friends drama and, therefore, worth noting.
Despite the presence of beer and sake, our dinner at the unagi (eel) restaurant went without an incident. No one lost their balance and fell on a table or anything. Unagi was probably the most unheralded meal of the trip. It was good but wasn't totally exceptional so it was lost in the shuffle during our recaps. We started the day at roughly 7am and it was nearing 9pm at this point - being tired from walking and geishaing, we returned half-dead to the capsule hotel and passed out...ending a truly blessed day, with more to come.
The next morning, Andy and Scott woke up extra early and decided to take naked time together, eschewing the pre-established foursome but I guess they needed their alone time. Day 2 got off to a later start than I had hoped but it was acceptable because we were heading to Iwatayama - the monkey mountain! I figured early on that our transport to and up the mountain plus the time there would eliminate my plans to see a few more temples but that's fine. Nothing could have prepared us for the monkey mountain; a true sensory overload. As Andy and Aubrey followed a few minutes behind us - Dave, Scott and I saw our first macaque monkey. He was making his way down the mountain stopped on our path to lie down. I got a nice close picture with him but Dave chose to ignore the 'don't look them in the eyes' rule. He was growled and swiped at but this, of course, only strengthened his desire to be among the monkeys. From that point, we fed the monkeys, watched them climb fences, steal food from unsuspecting people, throw poop from the ceiling, fight our peanuts, hump each other - sometimes without consent, groom their young, make Andy run like a scared schoolgirl and provide years worth of memories. From someone who will watch monkeys at a zoo for an uninterrupted hour, it was difficult the leave but this experience went above and beyond any expectation. We snacked on food from the train station for lunch and our Kyoto journey had come to an end...it was on to Nara for the afternoon.
At this point, I should just post some kind of link to Dave's travel journal because it's more factual and approaches our trip from a point by point perspective. Instead you get a tangential narrative. Yay! The reason I mentioned that is because I did some fact checking while proofreading his journal and learned more about the history of Japanese capital cities. Nara served as the capital for some 74 years before it was moved to Tokyo. Even though it was only capital for under 100 years, Nara is celebrating their 1,300th anniversary of existence. That is truly astonishing to me. America has no real recorded history older than 500 years, right? At that point, Nara was getting its pubes as a city. Visitors to Nara come to see one thing above all others and that's the five story Buddha that lives there. Of course, our trip to Nara began after it closed for the day so we settled for whatever was open to the public. Almost immediately after being welcomed by my friend, Ami, we saw a deer. Along with the Buddha, Nara is also known for having a ton of deer...and they're respected or even revered in the area. They graze freely and barely pay any attention to their surroundings - including over-zealous foreigners. Again Dave proved himself the animal man - as he befriended a few deer...whose names became Rick, Bowlegged Murphy, Stubbs and Yentyl. Dave and Rick met first as Rick was trying to put his little deer lips down to the cool, clear water and bam!!!...a f***ing bullet rips off part of his head (what movie, anyone?). Once Rick's novelty wore off, we searched for more furry friends. The next hour or so included my dare to Dave to remove a straggling leaf from Yentyl's under-carriage and my juvenile exploits of throwing leaves on three deer that we're lying under a tree. I wanted to see if there'd be a reaction - there wasn't so I brushed them off - then threw some more on and ran away. Ami brought us to a temple that was flanked by enormous devilish looking statues. Andy was roughly up to their ankles. Finally my mind tricks paid off, the super friends were done with the sightseeing and wanted food. Our first attempt at food was at a kaiten sushi place (conveyor belt) but it was loaded so we landed in my favorite restaurant in Japan - Coco Ichiban Curry House. In Himeji, I can enter this place and basically ask for "the regular" and I walk out without saying more than "thank you". Getting back to Himeji from Nara was just tedious. Already exhausted from the day, we had to change trains in Osaka, stop in Kobe to pick up luggage and then get back on the train for the Princess Road.
For the next few nights, we would tip-toe around each other as we cramped ourselves into my mini-apartment. This place is fine for me but a crowd of five (and six the night Shuko stayed) was pushing it a bit. Getting ready in the morning took a longer time than I would have liked but what else should I have expected...it wasn't easy or convenient but it was free! My favorite part of home-time was listening to the comedy stylings of Jim Norton and Mitch Fatel while Scott, Aubrey and Andy slept. In fact, one night Andy rolled over and in his best sleep-talking (or whiny three year old) voice asked me to turn down the volume. I did so but I was very confused by the tone.
On the morning of May 3, we headed to the train station, grabbed a few roadies and boarded the shinkansen to Hiroshima. As I've told people, Taco Bell is located on a naval base near Hiroshima and is open to the public only one day per year - for an air show. Well, May 3 was two days before this annual opening by St. Pedro. Yes, Taco Bell is Mexican heaven. We came to Hiroshima on Children's Day and the day of a flower festival so the Peace Park area - which is probably always busy was downright manic in spots. We navigated through crowds, giant origami-inspired cranes and countless food booths to the information building. About a month ago, Dave's sister sent me a ginormous box of paper cranes for us to deliver to Hiroshima. There is a famous story that after the bomb dropped in 1945, a girl named Sadako got very sick and thought that if she made 1,000 paper cranes, there would be peace restored in the world. Unfortunately she died while trying to fulfill her dream. Since then, people from all of the world visit the Peace Park with 1,000 paper cranes - decorated in beautiful patterns and have them stored near a crane bell - which people ring and ask for peace. So the students from the high school Dave's sister teaches at worked together to string together 1,000 cranes and we were honored to bring them to Hiroshima for them. It's truly an amazing and heart-warming story and I am glad to have been a part of it.
Once we escaped the controlled chaos of Hiroshima, we went to Miyajima - famous for the water torii and a few temples on the island near it. We didn't expect Miyajima to be among our favorite places to visit but it certainly was. The entire scene was great. We had to take a ferry from the mainland to the small island port and had a chance to see the torii from different angles - while continuing our day-long game of password. This was day-long partially because Scott visited the outer reaches of his brain to come up with some of his passwords. Thankfully Dave tried his hand at deer charming again. This time, after feeding a particular deer a few times, the deer wanted some more corn but Dave was out. Instead of satisfyingly leaving us, he opted to lunge toward Dave and take a bite out of Dave's plastic bag. It's really fun to watch humans react to seemingly harmless animals. On more than one occasion I've let out girl screams because a bird has flapped its wings way too close to me. I suppose this was the same phenomenon. We're such weak creatures...cowering at the sight of a pigeon flying or a deer nibbling at a plastic bag. In a stroke of luck, we were able to find a kaiten sushi restaurant on the sixth floor of the Hiroshima train station. Even though it was near closing time and not that high in quality to begin with, we got one of our necessary food experiences crossed off the list before heading back to Himeji.
The next day was spent strictly in the Kansai area and was my favorite day I believe. A few weeks before the trip, I asked my Japanese teacher/Himeji tourism board member to set us up with an English speaking tour of Himeji Castle. Becky and I took this tour as well - it's a world of difference to hear things explained, rather than relying on your powers of perception. I don't think that our tour guide was as good as the one with Becky was it was still very interesting. Going during Golden Week was the only real problem here because the place has more people than I have ever seen in my ten months here. There was a wait to get into the actual main building of the castle that would have taken 3 hours to get through - had we waited in that horrific looking queue. We chose to take many pictures from the outside and allow some time for souvenir shopping. During their shopping time, I went home to charge my phone and ended up passing out on the floor. Apparently it took the super friends about a half hour to get back inside - as I had not responded to the doorbell. I was quite shocked and disoriented to see them but it was a well-deserved nap. It was time for my most anticipated meal - Kobe beef. Our potential problem was that we arrived in Kobe at about 2:30 - and many Japanese restaurants close between lunch and dinner hours. I set out to find the first place I could that didn't look like a poophole that served Kobe beef. We landed upon a place called Steakland. I was worried by the name but we gave it a shot. Its decor reminded me a bowling alley lounge. Again, a negative but the food looked wonderful at the other teppanyaki tables so we stayed. We each got Kobe beef which came with garlic chips and a bunch of vegetables. I cannot remember food that had been so built up living up to expectations, but this did. It was so tender and juicy...one of those meals where you ration your bites and finish the sides before the main dish because you just don't want it to end. Oh, and I didn't. I believe I had about 10 pieces to start...everything but the meat was clear and I had six pieces to work with...heavenly. My student had given me 5000 yen worth of gift certificates that just so happened to work at this place so I had the best meal of my life for less than 700 yen.
Still basking in its glory, we wandered around Sannomiya, Chinatown, Motomachi and eventually to Harborland. At Harborland we explored a little memorial to the Kobe earthquake in 1995 that killed over 40,000 people. I don't think I'll ever understand how devastating an earthquake will be unless I experience one...but this place gave me a pretty good idea. We walked along the harbor with a promise of crepes keeping us going. Inhaling the crepes took a few minutes and we hopped on another train to Nada for some organized naked time...at a public bath called onsen. It sounds dirty and horrible but it's not like what you'd see in the states. It's family friendly, very clean and supposedly very relaxing. This place was a series of baths...one hotter than the next. We moved from bath to bath for a few reasons. One reason was because the temperatures were affecting us and we needed to keep moving. More importantly we were approached by a man who wanted to speak English. I've come to learn how to deal with these people but this guy had an ulterior motive...we think. Suffice it to say, upon the mention of my girlfriend and Dave's wife, we were excluded pretty rapidly from the conversation. We would enter a bath and quickly leave in the hopes that he would get the message and not follow us...he did not get the message. I am not sure how he was finally left behind because I do believe I abandoned Andy and Dave with him and headed for the bamboo to lie down and stare at the sky. Onsen is interesting. After so much naked time in Japan, being free in Japan doesn't really bother me but the onsen just gave me a queasy feeling and I am not sure I'll be back. We ended the night the way so many have for me in Japan...with karaoke. My only wish on this trip was that karaoke was a little better. We'd been so tired every day and it came out during karaoke. It was fun and lively at times but you're putting weary people in a dark room with couches. No one fell asleep but it wasn't too far off. Day 4 concluded with six of us occupying every square inch of my apartment.
In the morning, we left Aubrey and Shuko in the apartment to get ready as the rest of us went to visit my friend, Koba, and get some ramen. I was glad to hear later that Andy really loved the ramen...because that is really the only place I demand for visitors to go when they come to Himeji. Although I think the food is really good, the place is almost a rite of passage for foreigners here. Koba and Tatsu are two of the nicest people I've met here and each foreigner that lives here feels somewhat obliged to introduce Koba to visitors and send inquiring tourists to his place. It's a special and unique relationship we all have with a local shop-owner and I think it's pretty cool. Buying green tea powder was vital to Scott, so we hit the grocery store before rushing him off to his train. A few hours later, we saw Shuko off and headed for Tokyo. Our plan to stop at or near Fuji hit some snags...namely rain and darkness. We had to forego that idea and get to Tokyo and check into our musty hotel. We went on a sojourn to find a small place called Monster Cafe in the middle of a maze of tiny streets. Eventually we found the place and gorged ourselves on burgers and taco rice. Mmm, delicious...right Becky? The next day was full of Tokyo. Tokyo is nothing more than New York to me. I can live without either place but I understand that it's a destination for tourists. We got to Tsukiji for sushi in the morning and headed off to Shibuya, Asakusa, Shinjuku and Imperial Palace before Dave and I left Andy and Aubrey because they were staying to explore Tokyo for the next few days.
On the shinkansen rides, Dave and I watched "Hot Rod", "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" and episodes of "Arrested Development"...doesn't get too much better than that. Before going to sleep, Dave and I watched American Idol and talked like 13 year old girls until we couldn't keep our eyes open anymore. The next day was the end of the trip...maybe if I didn't sleep, it wouldn't happen! In the morning we talked and got ready before going to the Sakura Cafe for a traditional Japanese lunch before I had to start work. And with that, the trip was over. The Super Friends trip is something that I truly will never forget. It was so great to see them all again, even for a few days. As Dave wrote (and I'll paraphrase because I am too tired to look it up), "I realized that it's only with this specific group of guys can I have this kind of fun." I really love that, with us, we don't need distractions or something else to focus on to have a great time. We could all be holed up for five days and just talk...and it would be just as fun. Since we had the setting and the opportunity, we got to share a once in a lifetime trip...I wish that Gobel and Jeff could have made the trip but I am not going to complain at all because this whole thing was a blessing and there's no reason to cast any negative light. I hope you've made it to the end of this marathon blog without falling asleep. I intended on placing photos in strategic spots but, again, I am tired so here they are!
I am not sure that I even look human in this picture but I don't even recall where this was taken...maybe in the elevator down to the international terminal
Scott was the first to be hug attacked
Unbridled happiness!
Andy and Aubrey Go to Japan!
Andy attempting the escape from his capsule lair
Ah Pooh-san!
Missing our baby girl but the family picture was reprised
To haunt your dreams...
My friend, the spider monkey
Five lovely geishas and my undoubtedly proud girlfriend
Under one of the thousands of toriis at Fushimi Inari
I have been waiting for a picture like this for years...and years.
Monkey see, monkey do
The remnants of a building destroyed by the A-bomb at Hiroshima
The water torii at Miyajima from the ferry
A nice group shot of us just in front of the cast of thousands waiting to get in Himeji-jo.
I believe the man in front of me was a pirate. One of Dave's jokes of the week was, "Hey Matt, think a gay pirate came by and left his shoes"
