Parting words…

Early in our trip, Samia bemused that she felt like Alice in Wonderland. This statement became the theme of our trip, as we marveled daily at the surreal surroundings and events enveloping and captivating us. As cheesy as it sounds, much of the trip really did feel like a dream. We experienced and witnessed so many things that are completely different from our daily lives, or in some cases, different from anything we have known. At the same time, even within completely unique situations, we always felt a silent sense of comfort and content.

Throughout the week, the three of us noted random things that might go into our “Top 10 Things to Love About Japan” list. I can’t possibly boil my list down to ten things, but I can identify my number one, without hesitation: The Japanese people. They are incomprehensibly kind and helpful, unfailingly polite and mannered, and they have a truly remarkable collective conscious that skyrockets their quality of life in so many ways (physical & mental health, environment, family, crime, urban infrastructure). They are simply marvelous.

Each of us truly fell in love with Japan, and we are individually thinking of how to get back for a more extended period of time. I hope to pick up a bit of the language, and I believe Samia and Rachael are planning on doing to the same. We barely skimmed the surface of the land, the people, and the culture in our 10 day visit; as I sit here on the plane back to the States, I am longing for more of Japan, already. This trip was exactly what I needed, exactly when I needed it. Thanks for caring enough to let me share it with you. :)

Finally, Samia made it into a jail cell…

Throughout the trip, Samia joked that she was certain to wind up in a Japanese jail at some point. Well, on our final night in Tokyo, her wish came true! Actually, it wasn’t a real jail cell, but a pseudo-dungeon cell at a restaurant called The Lockup. :) I had read about this place in my Let’s Go guide, and was absolutely determined to get there before leaving Tokyo. It was well worth the wait!

The Lockup, with full-velocity kitsch, is designed with a dungeon/mad scientist theme. In fact, even getting into the restaurant/bar is a bit of a challenge. Rachael finally figured out how to open the door by sticking her hand through a small, non-descript opening just outside. Once inside, the hostess motioned that we should choose a person from our group (without mentioning why). Both of the girls immediately pointed to me…at which time the hostess slapped a handcuff around my right wrist and led me (with the attached chain) through dark, winding halls to our table. We were all too stunned to take even one photo, unfortunately. Our table was in cell number 77…literally a small, dark space with a sliding door of jail bars. :) Soooo funny.

The drink menu was just as entertaining, with a mad scientist theme. Rachael ordered some type of drink that came in a beaker and had a fake eyeball floating in it. I opted for a chemistry set-type thing, which included a beaker for drinking, a lab flask (I forget the exact name, despite the many hours I have spent in chemistry labs in my day) full of sour mix, and a whole row of test tubes with an assortment of brightly colored juices and alcohol. :)

Sumo, Sake, and three Japanese Sugar Daddies…Just an Average Sunday :)

(Note: I have a couple of videos to add to this post, but they don't seem to want to upload at the moment...I'll keep trying!)


I just experienced one of the most fun days of my entire life…which says a lot, because I’m no stranger to fun. :) Every moment seemed to be more entertaining than the last—Rachael and I agreed that it was a perfect day.

The beginning of the day was a little sketchy, as I seemed to be fighting some kind of cold/sinus thing. I wasn’t feeling awful, but wasn’t feeling tip-top, either. I didn’t have the energy to be on my feet all day, so Rachael and I agreed that it would be the perfect day to attend the grand sumo wrestling tournament that happened to be kicking off in Tokyo that day! :) Seeing a sumo match was one of the items on my “must-do” list in Japan, so I was practically jumping for joy that our visit coincided perfectly with the semi-annual tournament.

Most tickets were sold out, but we were extremely fortunate to be able to purchase two box-seats without breaking the bank…after agreeing that we would be willing to share the box with two other strangers if anyone else happened to purchase those tickets (which didn’t happen—woo hoo!). Well…the “box” was literally a little square area (on the main level of the arena!!) with four floor cushions where we were to perch our behinds. The upper level/balcony area had typical chairs, and we quickly agreed that “chairs are for squares.” :) We settled into our little box around 1:00pm, thinking that we would only stay a couple of hours, max. The matches had been going on since 8:30am, by the way, and weren’t scheduled to end until 5:30pm! We thought there was no way that we could stay there until 5:30…but oh, how wrong we were!

We quickly read through our programs and picked up a few little facts about sumo. I also read a bio about one of the top wrestlers this year, who happens to be from Bulgaria…so I felt like I had someone specific to root for when his time rolled around. After the first match that we witnessed (which lasted all of 10 seconds), we were totally hooked! The matches were SO entertaining and







were also bookended by fascinating little rituals, ceremonial and otherwise. I believe there were 200-something matches that day, beginning with the apprentices (we had missed that), then moving onto the junior class, then the main guys. As the day progressed toward the big name wrestlers, the crowd sweltered and the energy level in the arena became palpable. I took a couple of little video clips of the wrestlers, which I have watched an embarrassing number of times since. :) I loved it!

So…in addition to the entertainment value of the sport itself, our day became over-the-top-fun thanks to the help of three distinguished, middle-aged Japanese businessmen in the box next to

ours. They had obviously paid a premium price for a package deal, as they were showered with fancy foods and assorted beverages from the moment they sat down. We, of course, simply had granola bars and bottles of water for our sustenance. After a few large bottles of Asahi (a local beer), the one man who spoke fairly fluent English leaned over and asked where I was from. When I said, “America,” he thought that was absolutely fantastic. He told the others that Rachael and I were from America and all kinds of excited chatter followed. They were clearly amused by these two random American girls with box seats at the sumo tournament, and they thought everything we said was hysterical. Keep in mind that only one of them spoke fluent English (so was presumably the only one who understood us)…but one of the others just giggled like a school girl anytime Rachael or I would speak. In turn, we of course thought THAT was hilarious!

The next thing I knew, they presented us with one of their bottles of sake, and two cups. :) We politely thanked them and timidly sipped the strong rice wine. Before long, they were passing over little boxes of (quite tasty) mystery meat on a stick, and rice crackers. Next came the very fancy bento boxes with an assortment of Japanese delicacies (sushi, salmon, shrimp, fancy-cut vegetables, some type of animal organs) and rice. And then came another bottle of sake! As a side note, I have to say that this was the best sake I have ever had; usually, I think it’s disgusting…but Rachael and I polished off these two bottles with relative ease. :) We thought this was all a little strange, but professed our gratitude regularly and assumed it was just another example of the wonderful warmth of the Japanese people that we had been noting all week.

Well…then the cameras came out. :) The one English-speaking gentleman started taking photos of Rachael and I—separately, together, close-up, far away from the left, far away from the right—there was seriously a 20 minute photo shoot taking place as Rachael and I realized that we had inadvertently acquired some sugar daddies. Oh my.

The kind photographer then asked for our email addresses so he could send the photos to us. I tried to think of someone else’s email address that might not mind being a buffer, but am not good at thinking on my feet in those situations…so I gave him an email address that I am about to retire. I felt bad about being suspicious of them, because they were SO kind to us and super friendly. But, still…it was a little odd, right?

Soon, though, the English-speaking one turned to me and translated something that one of the others had asked…”You look so young. Are you married? Because he is looking to get married and wonders if you are married.” Then he giggled and said something about how the other guy was 60, and was probably old enough to be my dad. I was dying…wishing so badly that I had a hidden camera capturing all of this for posterity. My response is a total blur to me, but Rachael told me later that she was holding her breath and was relieved when I gave just the right response. :) So, long story short…the wedding was a few hours later…just kidding!!!

After this little awkward marriage discussion, we all just laughed and they kept trying to share their giant bottles of beer with us (which we were adamantly refusing at this point). We all enjoyed the final few exciting matches of the tournament, and were stunned by how quickly the day had flown by! After the final closing ceremony, we prepared to depart (i.e. put our shoes back on) and exchanged goodbyes. One of the gentlemen who had not spoken any English up to that point said, with typical Japanese reverence, “We are pleased at our day. Our seats were great because you are our neighbors.” Then they all bowed goodbye…

I love this country.

Ketchup is NOT a vegetable…

Since I work in school nutrition policy and have visited numerous lunch programs around the U.S., my friend Takako (a native Japanese lady who now lives in Missouri) offered to help organize a school visit for me in Japan. I took her up on the offer wholeheartedly, and was touched that she went to the trouble of orchestrating all of the logistics. I was really excited to see the school meals program, to compare and contrast with the American program that I know so well. However, the day came to mean so much more to me than that, as I simply fell in love with the children and had one of the most heartwarming days ever.

First of all, the school itself was simply amazing. The modern, spacious, and bright interior immediately brought sunshine into my tired day. Second, the school foodservice left me awestruck. The meal consisted of: miso soup with tofu and mushrooms; a perfectly-steamed green bean-like vegetable; a deliciously-seasoned main dish of sticky rice with fresh shrimp and salmon; white milk; and a sweet bean-paste dessert. The food was perfectly prepared and beautifully presented. There was no “cafeteria”; rather, the food was delivered in steam pans to the classrooms, where the children took on all of the preparatory cleaning and organizing, as well as the service of the food. I was with a first-grade class (still within my favorite age group—love them!), and they were amazingly orderly and cooperative throughout the entire process. The lunch service went off without even the remotest of glitches.

Apparently they rotate jobs regularly; the children that were in charge of actually handling the food that day (i.e. scooping onto the plates) wore little sanitary masks and mini chef-type coats. It was absolutely adorable, and simultaneously symbolic of the general conscientiousness of Japanese society.

In addition, the children are expected to eat all of the food that they take (the Japanese are clearly opposed to unnecessary waste of any kind). Therefore, once everyone’s plate is served, they are allowed to go back to the little serving station and return some of their food before they dig in. Similarly, children who are still hungry are welcome to help themselves to these extra portions. The system works…every single plate was clean, and all of the steam pans were empty, without any type of instigating remarks/pressure from the teacher. I was speechless at the entire process.

Oh—and they all had individual plastic chopsticks in their desk, in a little pencil-box type carrying case. :) The chopsticks allowed them to show a little bit of personality—I saw Hello Kitty chopsticks, blue glittery chopsticks, plain white chopsticks, etc. They all also had toothbrushes, and knew to brush their teeth after eating.

As fascinating as this all was for me, I was even more impressed by the children in general. Their sense of order and manners extended well-beyond the meal service. They were absolutely the sweetest children in every way. I wanted to scoop them all up and take them back to America with me! :)

The teacher had obviously assigned three of the children to be my little helpers/guides; these three were wonderful in making sure that I had everything I needed, that I knew where to sit, etc. One little boy, especially, very shyly took me under his wing, and motioned that I should come & help them work on an art project before the meal was ready. He walked me through every step of the origami project (without speaking—only with big smiles). Afterward, he led me to the sink where I was to clean the glue off of my hands. After I washed my hands, I realized that there were no paper towels (which is more common that not in Japan—again, a conservation effort). Upon sensing my moment of bewilderment with dripping wet hands, he went to his desk and retrieved his little personal towel for me to use…and presented it to me with a little bow. :)

Before we ate, the children also had an opportunity to raise their hands and ask me questions. The first was “Where are you from?” I responded, “The United States,” and received a room full of blank stares from the six-year olds. After a brief pause, one little boy quizzically shouted, “The United States of America???” then there was a lot of “Oh! America!” echoing around the room with obvious recognition. :) They also asked how old I am (and gasped when I told them…haha), and when my birthday is. Gotta love first-graders.

I ate with the children, who were very amused at my remedial use of chop sticks. The food was absolutely delicious and the company was perfect.
As absolutely perfect as these children were, I was relieved to see that they were also still children. Near the end of the meal, one little boy at my table decided to make a little farting noise by blowing on his arm…and all of the others followed suit, giggling merrily (as I did, too). The whole experience was definitely one of the top highlights of my trip…thanks, Takako. :)

More reasons to love Japan...

Just a couple of random photos...

1) Pagodas instantly make me happy. Love, love, love them.

2) A vending machine full of beer, in the middle of a quiet street. Not sure what the milk-carton thing is at the bottom...

How would Mrs. Pauls feel about THESE fish sticks?

Saw this on the outskirts of Kyoto yesterday... :)

Thanks a lot, Buddha.

After our dramatic entrance into Kyoto (racing through the rail stations), Rachael, Samia and I decided to take a day-trip to Nara, a quiet, historic town about 45 minutes away. Nara has a couple of claims to fame: 1) it is home to the country’s largest Buddha; and 2) hoards of "sacred" deer roam freely throughout the city. With that kind of intrigue, who could resist?

Let’s address the deer first. Initially, they were adorable. I even walked up to pet some of them, despite being a little freaked out by the cleanliness of that venture.

After being goosed a few times, though, and having more than one of them chasing my bag of snacks (my cherished bag of snacks, I might add), I was ready to wrestle these crazy deer to the ground. Funny...since I then saw a postcard where men in some type of traditional Japanese costumes appeared to be doing just that (yes, I bought it, and John was the lucky recipient). In reality, the postcard was depicting some type of antler-removing ceremony, but I was happier to think that the deer were simply being wrestled out of spite at their goosing and snack-stealing. :)

Much like the deer, the Buddha was initially heartwarming. In fact, I was literally awestuck at it's greatness inside of the temple; the moment that we stepped inside was yet another in a series of surreal moments that have come to define my time in Japan.

We wandered around the temple for a while, admiring all of the symbols and statues, then picked up our fortunes as we were leaving. That's when things took a turn south. :) Here's what the great Buddha has forecast for Rachel's life:
"You will become happy later, although you will face hardships in the beginning. You will get well, although it may take some time. You may have to overcome some obstacles. The person whom you wait for will come late. A thing you have lost will be found after you have given up." Uh...ok. Sounds super. Thanks for that bit of cheer, Buddha. :)