Japanese Hospitality

We have encountered countless examples of hospitality in this country. Invariably gracious and always accompanied by delicious snacks and meals. Two examples pictured here are our Komatsuka hosts Shigeko-san and Akio-san, but another incredible hostess must also be mentioned. She is Kenji-san's sister Etsuko-san who invited the Okano's, another Okano-sensei and ourselves on November 23, 2012 for "omochi" or pounded rice lunch. She teaches cooking and Kenji-san says she enjoys hosting guests and it seems she never sits still enough to have her photograph taken, but we managed to capture her.
Kenji-san entertained some of us be performIng 'magic'. He took soybeans that had been well soaked and converted them to fresh tofu and a residue that can be used to make 'vegi' burgers.
The guest Okano-sensei who we met for the first time is another incredible person. He is an avid fisherman and makes lures from shells. This skill evolved into the creation of shell jewelry which we were able to see at 'Cloud Nine' in Tsukuba City. He is a horticulture expert like Kenji-san. He enjoys horseback riding and does dancing/acting on stage dramatizing traditional Japanese tales.

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Japanese Hospitality

Tsukubasan Views

We have been living in the village of Komatsuka which is part of the Kanto plain, a large reasonably flat area including Tokyo. We have a view of Tsukuba Mountain from Komatsuka, but Tsukubasan hides the mountain ranges behind it to the west and north. Seeing these mountains forces one to realize that Ibaraki prefecture is not as flat as we have believed based on where we live.
We drove up the mountain near Tsukubasan on November 20, 2012 and were able to glimpse Kasumigaura (lake) and Tokyo Skytree. The latter tends to replace Tokyo Tower as the must see place of Tokyo. The area around Tsukubasan is called Ishioka-shi.
Of course we had to go to 'Cloud Nine' in Tsukuba Science City for coffee/tea etcetera after such a wonderful day.

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Tsukubasan Views

Thatched Roof Home in Yasatomachi

There are still a significant number of thatched roof houses in the Yasato area. The one we visited November 20, 2012 is still in the family after more than 200 years. The "Ojiichan" or grandpa who gave us permission to see the place was quite proud of his family home. There are eight layers of thatch in the roof which can be distinguished by the variable colours. The traditional Japanese garden in the front includes natural water from the mountains flowing into the pond. There is a splendid view of terraced "tanbo" or rice fields and "yama" or mountains through the traditional front gateway. "Otoosan" or father and "Okaasan" or mother were busy in the tanbo cutting down the second growth of rice with 'brush wackers'. "Obaachan" or grandma was out in the "hatake" or field working with the vegetables. Trust Kenjisan to get permission to pick the last two "kaki" or persimmons growing near Obaachan.

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Thatched Roof Home

Minedera Saikoin in Ishiokashi

On November 20, 2012 Kenji-san showed up at breakfast time and took Okano-san, Yayoi-chan and myself off to see Ibaraki prefecture tourist attractions.
Minedera Saikoin is a temple in Yasato-machi in Ibaraki-ken which is often called the Kiyomizudera of the Kanto area. The reason is that it is a resemblance to the Kiyomizudera temple in Kyoto with beams and posts supporting the structure over a steep hill.
This is an ancient temple with a magnificent view of the plain below. Most tourists probably come here for the view of the Kanto hei (plain) on the edge of mountains. Even with the haze in the air often seen in Japan it is nevertheless a remarkable vista.
After we went to a grocery store and each of the four of us picked up an obento lunch of our choice and went to a grassy park to enjoy our lunches.

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Minedera Saikoin

Imonikai at Komatsuka

Earlier we attended an Imonikai in the Tokyo area of former residents of Yamagata prefecture where Yayoi grew up. On November 19, 2012 Shinomiya Masao showed up with the fixings for another Imonikai. The weather was not cooperating so Yayoi cooked the satoimo and other vegetables inside. What a delicious soup it turned out to be! Okano-san was able to join us for lunch and he and Masao-kun had a good chat.

Paradise

It was cool in the house this morning at about 11°C, but after taking Muku for a walk or rather him taking me for a walk, I went out to the 'hatake' or field and began to pick green beans or 'ingen'. Then the word entered my consciousness. These people live in paradise.
I was out in shirt sleeves on November 18, 2012, the sun was shining from a clear sky and a cool breeze was blowing. Click, click as my "hasami" scissors cut bean after bean until the large basket was overflowing. The climbing bean vines can be seen on the left in the photograph of the greenhouse. What a beautiful day! The chrysanthemums are blooming everywhere and such a variety of them can be seen in southern Ibaraki prefecture. The citrus fruits are ripening, the persimmons are firm and sweet. The gardens produce food the year round. Why live anywhere else?
A phone call and we are invited to lunch at Kenji-san's sister Etsuko-san. Shigeko-san is kind enough to drive with us and a wonderful lunch and pleasant conversation awaits. After the afternoon as we drive home at dusk (5pm) Shigeko-san points out Fuji-san (mountain) in the distance to the south-awesome. A fitting end to a fabulous day!

Momiji or Japanese Maple

The Momiji is a Japanese symbol, in my mind, as memorable as Fuji-san or sakura ( cherry blossoms). It is a good thing we chose to take the cable car (train) down Tsukuba-san as the pedestrian route had nothing like the brilliant display of the journey down the mountain by train and especially the terminal station at the bottom. It was a fitting end to a lovely weekend. Thank you Kenji-san and the Okano-sans.

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Momiji or Japanese Maple

Tsukubasan or Mount Tsukuba

Everyone in Japan would like to be able to say that they climbed Fuji-san. Yayoi mentioned to Kenji-san that she would like to see/climb Tsukuba-san so he arranged that Akio and Shigeko Okano would join us on November 13, 2012 and at about 8:30am Shigeko-san drove five of us to the tourist village at the base of the mountain.
The mountain itself is higher than Tokyo Skytree and is a bit of an anomaly in the Kanto plain. From Komatsuka where we live it is the only mountain we can routinely see. The city of Tsukuba is on the far side of the mountain relative to Komatsuka or the west side.
It took us about three hours to make the climb on a very rocky (sometimes slippery) pathway. At one spot we had to pass beneath a rock precariously jammed in a large crevasse that looked as though a nudge would send it toppling down on some hapless victim. But thanks to a Japanese hero by the name of Benkei (companion to Yoshitsune) living in the 1100's who hesitated seven times before passing under the rock making conditions safe for subsequent pedestrians.
At another area spotted people throwing small stones up at a mouth like opening created by two rocks about 3 meters above the ground. The existing pile of small stones prevented new stones from finding a resting spot. I decided to give it a try and my stone arced over the pile of stones and embedded itself in the throat of the structure. Then I am told that this means I will become rich. Well I am holding my breathe!
I taught Kenji-san two new English expressions. On a long ride children will ask their parents 'Are we there yet?'. I then suggested that a better expression is 'Are we having fun yet?', which was more appropriate to our circumstances as no one seemed to know how far the summit was so we might as well enjoy the journey.
We met many people including very young children on the climb. We asked one old man coming back down how much further? As part of his reply he told us he climbed up and back every day.
We decided even before reaching the summit that we would take the cable car train back down. Going down an incline is always more difficult than climbing and the rain would have made the rocks treacherously slippery.
We had a delicious lunch at the top provided by Kenji-san's and Akio-san's knapsacks carried laboriously up the mountain. Then we bought 'train' tickets to go down a beautiful autumn scenery route surrounded by Japanese maples conspicuously absent on the trek uphill.

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Tsukuba Mountain

Tsukuba Science City

Tsukuba is a city with a university of course and many agencies dedicated to science research. It is home to JAXA or the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The headquarters of the Asian space program is also headquartered here. The city of Sapporo in Hokkaido is more non-Japanese in appearance than many cities, but Tsukuba was built from plans so that streets tend to be laid out more like a North American city and unlike Sapporo is built on flat land.
Cities such as Tokyo are essentially an amalgamation of a number of villages without any overall plan and apparently very few restrictions as to how things must be built. This results in a very erratic street pattern. Navigating some intersections can be a mind stretching exercise.
Tsukuba has a large conference centre and when we had breakfast on November 13, 2012 in the Okura Hotel near Kenji-san's as well as John Delp's mansion many "hakujin" or Caucasian people came in to have breakfast. Of course John approached the table next to us and asked 'So where are you folks from?'. The answer was Canada. Apparently most of the people having breakfast were all from Canada for some sort of science conference.

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Tsukuba Science City

Woodblock Prints and Kichijoji

On November 12, 2012 Kenji-san and we took the Tsukuba express train to Tokyo to see a Japanese artist's woodblock prints. Her name is Naoko Matsubara and in the photograph she is second from the left. She currently lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and is visiting Japan. Then after viewing, chatting, drinking tea, Matsubara-san accompanied us to a small restaurant near the station where we had a delicious lunch.
After we went with Kenji-san to Kichijoji where we spent some time in the L.L. Bean store where Kenji-san purchased pants. After we had tea and carrot cake at Rose Bakery. Then we spent some time in the park nearby and did a little browsing in the typical Japanese style shopping street leading to the park. The park is unique in that Inokashira pond which it surrounds is created entirely by spring fed water which has been running for more than 500 years.

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Woodblock Prints and Kichijoji

Parking in Japan

Even for natives this can at times be a daunting experience. In a standard parking lot probably more than 80% of the vehicles are parked by backing in. Many vehicles are equipped with GPS navigation units which include a backup camera that automatically activates as the car reverses into a parking spot. The navigation systems are indispensable in Japan, but Japanese people who are familiar with North America think it is ludicrous that North Americans have navigation units.
I have mentioned a parking lot we encountered in Shizuoka previously where we stopped the car, jumped out and then the computerized parking system took over and moved the car somewhere into the bowels of the building. The photographs are of a parking area at Kenji-san's mansion. Here Kenji-san lifts the ground level car, backs his car underneath and lowers the system so that his car is hidden from view. A photoelectric eye automatically stops the system if someone steps near the parking area.

Specialty Schools in Japan

Are you finished high school and don't know what to do? If you are into sports you can go to a sports only university where the three R's would be a minor concern. Yayoi's brother has taught at and been president of universities that specialize in agriculture. Currently he is president of a college in Sendai that teaches veterinary assistant skills. If you don't want to go to university, then maybe cooking is your forte. On November 11, 2012 Kenji-san picked us up to go to Tsukuba City. On the way we stopped in at a cooking school where his sister Etsuko-san teaches. Every time we get together with Etsuko-san there seems to be good food involved as two of the photographs can attest to.
Here in two buildings students were being taught a variety of cooking skills and merchandising as well. Kenji-san and Etsuko-san purchased some of the products and we sampled the tasty treats. The booths used to sell the products are a common sight in Japan wherever people gather. Some people like to be photographed and others? Two of three girls kept ducking down whenever the camera pointed at the second story window.

Culture Weekend

November 3 is Culture Day in Japan. On November 4, 2012 Shigeko-san drove Yayoi and I to the same venue where we had earlier seen a

Noh performance to hear Akio-san sing with his choir. We had seen his Town Chorus earlier at a
Spring Concert. There were a number of groups performing including one with about ten "koto" on stage. Later we left to see exhibits in the next building, including bonsai, various crafts, paper cutting art "kirie" and some beautiful photography. Then back to the theatre to see and hear the last performance by a school band playing a number of pieces including the national anthem.

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Culture Weekend

Rose Bakery

For a long time we have known that Atsuko-san has a niece that is working in a patisserie (actually three) in Ginza, Marunouchi and Kichijoji. I hoped that we would eventually be able to sample some treats at one of these places. So on November 2, 2012 Atsuko-san and two of us hopped on a train and went to Kichijoji. Apparently this part of Tokyo is one most people would like to live in. I assumed we would have to travel away from the station to get to the Rose Bakery, but as with so many good eating establishments in Japan, the Rose Bakery is located in Kichijoji-eki or train station.
Atsuko-san's niece Tomoko-san is quite young and in charge of the pastries at the three Rose Bakeries. A while ago she went to France and worked in the original Rose Bakery. She was so impressed she suggested to the owner that Rose Bakery might do well in Japan. Quite unprepared for the rapidity of events soon after she found herself back in Japan in charge of pastries. And as the blurry photographs can attest she is always busy. The Rose Bakery serves delicious lunches as well including a vegetable or salad plate with a variety of delicious treats artistically arrayed. The carrot cake we ordered was then prepared for us to be picked up after we did a bit of window shopping and wandering through an interesting park in the area nearby the station. It didn't take long after we got back to Ome before that delicious cake showed up on the table.

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Kichijoji and Rose Bakery

Jindaiji and Jindai Garden

On November 1, 2012 four of us took the train to Mitaka-eki and then a bus to Jindaiji to see the temple and then the park, Jindai botanical garden and greenhouse nearby.
Already November and still the roses were blooming beautifully along with dahlia and other flowers. We were still in Tokyo enjoying one of the many treasures it has to offer. And when there are people inevitably there is a lane dedicated to serving up a variety of treats from multiple open fronted stalls.

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Jindaiji and Jindai Botanical Garden

Mount Fuji and Fujigoko

October 29, 2012 after a night at the "minshuku" like university farm sleeping quarters we were served a breakfast rivaling that of many an "onsen" or spa hotel in Japan. After a last admiring look at Fuji-san from this vantage point we left the farm and began a day of tourism.
We stopped at Narusawa where some of us examined the icy entrails of one of many caves surrounding Fuji-san. Yayoi was thrilled to have a Japanese chickadee land on her hand.
After Naoki drove us up a long drive to the fifth station on Fuji-san or as high as cars are permitted. The station reminded us not of Banff, not of Jasper, but possibly a bit like Whistler, British Columbia. We admired the views and then drove back down to the Fujigoko area to see the colours and more of Fuji-san. But first we stopped at one of the many places in Japan that serve a variety of breads and had a delicious late lunch. You can never have too many photographs of Fuji-san or fall colours. It was extremely difficult paring down the photos for publication.
Tsutomu-san is very interested in animals so when we spotted a man and a performing Japanese monkey we had to watch. I estimate that if we were as athletic we could jump four meters from a standing start.
We ambled back to the beach to view Fuji-san as the sun set to the right.
What a magnificent day and on the drive back to Ome we were fortunate to just miss a traffic jam up ahead and drove until we spotted a restaurant serving pasta where we had spaghetti served with all the attention to detail that would embarrass North American 'eating places'.

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Fujigoko

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Fuji-san