白川郷: Shirakawago

A few days after the festival in Nagoya, a friend and I ventured into the mountains to experience a taste of traditional village life. Nestled in a valley in Gifu Prefecture, next to Fukui, lies Shirakawago - a collection of thatched roofed houses that have been declared a World Cultural Heritage Site by the United Nations.
Although Fukui was warming to nice spring temperatures, the mountain village still had snow and a chill in the air. There isn't much to say about the village except that it's quiet, peaceful and scenic. People who live there seem to enjoy tending to tourists' needs, managing agriculture and owning dogs. Really not a lot to do in the area for anyone with an itch for livin' la vida loca.We stayed the night in one of the houses. this is the main room where we ate. The fire pit in the middle is the traditional means of heating houses and cooking meals. We used an electric space heater in our room. Although the village experience may not sound very exciting, it was a great escape. Day after day going to a job with no work was wearing on my nerves, and the hot bath and quiet evening away re-energized me just in time to take on spring break.

NOT SAFE FOR CHILDREN festival

A few weeks ago, my favorite little former host sister from Nagoya turned 10. Conveniently, many girls here in Fukui really wanted to go to Nagoya the weekend of her birthday, so it wasn't hard to fill a car with people for the journey over. The Fukui girls, however, had no idea any birthdays were taking place. They had an ulterior motive: a 2 meter long, wooden ulterior motive.

WARNING: the pictures in this entry probably aren't so great to show the kids (even though many children were at this festival)Every year in spring a couple of shrines in Nagoya host festivals in celebration of fertility just in time for spring planting. One festival takes on a female theme and the other has a male theme. The male themed festival draws in the largest crowd, including the most packed group of foreigners I have ever seen in Japan (what does this say about the collective maturity of we non-Japanese residents, I wonder?)
There is food (pictured above) to match the theme, and a small parade. During the parade, people marching hand out many cups of free sake to onlookers and encourage some good luck pats on various wooden "structures".
The festival ends when the "structure" enters the shrine at the end of the parade. At the end of it all, the Western onlooker can't help but laugh at the large gathering of pale skinned persons and lament the great shame we've been taught to render our own bodies. Would this festival be so intriguing to us if we didn't deem it so naughty? The Japanese don't seem to find much offensive about it.
Now, to make up for the strange pictures above, I've added a nice sunset photograph from the Oasis structure in the Sakae district of Nagoya.

First Nations and Tight Accommodations

Another neat spot South of Sapporo is the Ainu museum, which, unfortunately, seems to be more of a large flea market of repetitive wood-carved souvenirs than an actual museum. They do, however, have some nice traditional huts on display and it is possible to learn a little about Hokkaido's native people, the Ainu.

The Ainu, before intermarrying and hiding their identity to avoid discrimination, were physically, linguistically and religiously completely different from the Japanese. Never great in number, estimates say that today roughly 50,000 people have two ethnically Ainu parents and several thousand more are of mixed lineage. The vast majority speak only Japanese, as Japan's rush to catch up with the Western democracies in the mid-18'th century brought in a wave of ethnocentric lawmaking. Only recently have Ainu begun to speak out about their heritage and gain rights and recognition.

Two side notes: 1) Many city names in Hokkaido derive from the Ainu language.
2) I had a really nice potato and salmon soup at the museum. I mention this because, well, I like salmon and that potato in my soup was probably the best potato I've had in Japan. The food in Hokkaido, in general, was some of the best I've had since coming here.
This hut is called, "The Next House". I've no idea why.
Changing the subject abruptly. Here are a couple pictures of the capsule hotel where I stayed during my last night in Sapporo. Each one of the capsules in the picture above is one bed for one person. Personal belongings are stored in a separate locker room. The picture below shows the inside of my capsule (the box in the corner is a television).
The capsule hotel really wasn't cheaper than staying in a youth hostel. In fact, it was a little bit more expensive. Why bother? Well, the capsule hotel also doubled as a spa with indoor/outdoor hot springs, saunas and cold springs. I spent probably at least 3 hours moving in and out of pools with Infectious Laughter, shooting the breeze about the relationships that have formed and deformed since coming here, the people who are staying another year, the people who are leaving in the summer, the people who spend too much time listening to tawdry Japanese pop-singers, the people who crack their eggs on the narrow side, the people who crack their eggs on the wide side and all things Fukui.

Turns out, most of the people who've appeared on this blog won't be on it at all next year. They're moving on with their lives, reconnecting with significant others and venturing beyond the confines of this little island we've come to call Fjet (Fukui JET).

Infectious laughter also taught me something about the US Presidential election. It seems the town where he's residing in the Fukui prefecture has a preferred candidate. Click here to read about whom the citizens of Obama, Japan would like to see elected.

One of the JETs there has made some videos and posted them on youtube. I haven't watched them yet, but, she seems much less objective than the article. "In Obama, for Obama" I believe is the catchphrase. Personally, I'm more of an "In Fukui City, for whomever won't cause the country to self-implode"

地獄谷： Hell Valley

Just look for the demons along the highway south of Sapporo to find your way into an area known as Hell Valley.
It's earned its nickname from the naturally boiling sulphuric ponds nestled in the mountains. Volcanic activity is responsible for the steam rising from the snowy hills you see in the picture below. The gases released in said activity also give the area the distinct aroma of a log cabin in Northern Wisconsin full of deer hunters shortly after Thanksgiving dinner.
In spite of the smell, the neighboring town of Noboribetsu (登別) is a bustling vacation spot for those interested in spas and hot baths.
While walking the pathways of Hell, I couldn't help but notice all the snow and ice around me calling back to all those times someone has said, "it'll be a cold day in hell before I go out with you," or "sure, I'll give up my serious relationship with Ian and marry you just as soon as Hell freezes over!"
Ahem, looks like fate has dealt me a fair hand in this one.
For all the talk of volcanic activity, however, anyone with the patience to wait until just before sundown, when all colors fade into a blue-ish gray, will see the real cause of the mix of snow and heat.

チョコレートの工場: The Chocolate Factory

Not mentioned in the guide book ,but surprisingly worth a look, was the factory where the most famous of Hokkaido "omiyage" (souvenirs) are made. 白い恋人 (shiroi koibito), or "white lover" as it is often improperly translated to the delight of puerile native English speakers everywhere, makes a very fine chocolate product at this very factory easily reached from the Sapporo subway system.

Outside the factory lights, snowmen and singing animatronic machines were in great abundance. The official factory tour was closed by the time we arrived, but the gift shop was still open. Entering through the side door, which apparently is normally just an exit, we were able to see the whole factory for free.
And what a factory it was! Everything a 7 year old could ever want in a chocolate factory without the creepy little green men singing songs about bratty children turning into giant blueberries (they did, however, have creepy singing robots). This place features a toy museum, collections of antique cocoa and coffe cups, a lounge, many strange decorations and the soothing aroma of chocolate in every nook and cranny.

That's right, Abraham Lincoln, Ludwig Von Beethoven and Pinocchio all take a break for chocolate in the White Lover Factory.

Elegant 19th century European style architecture and classical artwork made this building one of the most interesting and unusual I've seen in Japan so far. Oh, yeah, and they make chocolate here too.