I have erased the first sentence of this entry 6 times. It is so very cliche, but usually words just spill out when I sit down to write (actually, words seem to spill out of me most of the time – - I’m fairly chatty). Now I sit, staring at a computer screen with everything in the world to say, and no way to get it out. I’ve spent the last month trying to figure out the proper tone, the right level of detail, the most effective phrases (haven’t come up with one) to convey what’s happened since I last wrote. What I’ve finally decided is that how I write this is less important than that I write it. In fact, until this is written I don’t think I’ll be able to take back up where I left off and write anything else.

So to pick up where I left off….

My dad did eventually get better for awhile.  When I was in Kansas in September he was suffering from an infection in 2 of hisvertebrae (for the medically inclined amongst you – osteomyelitis in T12 and L1).  He spent time at the hospital, at a rehab facility, back in the hospital, at home, and back at the hospital before finally going home in mid-November.  There are obviously lots of details being left out here, but I find I don’t want to cover them again.  It was exhausting enough the first time around.  If you’re interested in such things, you can get a blow-by-blow account by reading the blog we maintained for our extended family during dad’s illness at http://daveupdate.blogspot.com/.  I’ll sum it up here by saying that he came home in time for Thanksgiving.  He was cranky, and sore, but on the road to recovery.  The infection was on the run and his kidneys fully functional again (oh yeah, they failed in early Nov.).  

And when I say he came “home” I mean to his home.  The one that I said they were moving out of the last time I posted.  During the time dad was in the hospital his buyer backed out of the deal.  Usually not a huge problem, but here was the glitch – my parents have a 3 story, 3 bedroom, 3.5 bath HUGE house.  They were set to move into a teeny, tiny one bedroom house.  In preparation we had a huge estate sale at which we sold just about everything.  Anything that was left we packed up and put into a storage pod to await the move.  Oops!  Luckily they had bought furniture for the new house, so we were at least able to furnish the main level of their old house. 

By early December dad was mobile enough to look after himself and we hired someone to come to the house several times a week to clean and cook and help look after Mom.  My mom has Pick’s disease, which is a type of early-onset dementia, so the help was very, well…helpful.   At this point I had been in Kansas for longer than I had lived in Japan.  Rick visited for Thanksgiving, but I missed him and it was time to go home. 

In February Megan called.  Dad was back in the hospital.  It appeared the 2 vertebrae that had been infected were weakened enough that they had collapsed.  He was in considerable amounts of pain and drugged to the point that he couldn’t really talk.  I made tentative plans to fly home.  Feb. 4 – a new xray showed shadows on dad’s lungs.  The doctors won’t say for sure, but they think it could be cancer.  Feb. 5 – I jumped on a plane and flew home.  Feb. 6 we’re told that dad does indeed have metastatic cancer.  He’s so weak and has lost so much weight over the last 6 months that he will not survive treatment.  Feb. 7 we bring dad home for hospice.  Feb. 8 he passed away with mom and megan and me holding his hands.  Yes, I recognize there were 3 of us and only 2 hands, but somehow we made it work.

And now, life moves on.  It’s different, but it keeps moving.

In the meantime I’ve been busy helping mom get the house packed up since she and dad are moving into a new house on the 15th.  There is a theory being tossed around that dad’s illness may have been strategically planned.  I can’t say for sure, but I do notice that he got out of all the packing!

I do have some pictures and updates from Costa Rica, but I think those will have to wait until I’ve got a bit more free time.

Until then, be well and take care!

All I could think the entire time was “But shouldn’t YOU be flying it???  I mean, my car will drive straight for awhile if I let go of the wheel, but that doesn’t mean I should.  And there are mountains right THERE!!!!”

My favorite part was when we landed, then immediately took off again.  We were not 10 feet off the ground when the instructor sat back and with no warning said “The plane is yours”.  

“No it isn’t!”  I said (well, maybe shrieked).

“Sure it is.”  he replied, hands in lap.

I have another lesson scheduled for tomorrow.

Would you hike up that slope?

Earlier this week I renewed my search for the elusive frying squirrel.  I headed back out to the Mitake Valley and this time decided to ascend Mt. Mitake herself.  I started from the train station at the floor of the valley and hiked to the top of the 3,000 foot peak in about a half an hour.  Then I….  Wait.  No I didn’t!  That would be insane.  I actually walked about 30 yards from the train station to take a 10 minute bus ride up to the cable car that took me almost to the peak.  From there I could have taken a chair lift to the very tippy-top, but I decided even I could handle the 15 minute walk.

I was expecting to find some beautiful hiking trails on Mitakesan.  I wanted not only to find my hairy prey but also to get some exercise, wander around in solitude for the afternoon, and basically embrace nature. As usual in Japan, the reality was a bit different.  

The youth hostel in the town at the top of the mountain.

At the cable car stop I got out with a throng of middle-aged Japanese tourists.  From there we all quickly explored the gift shops and the nicely paved lookout.  Some of us (I won’t say who) even took a quick break on the nice picnic benches.  After that I hiked up the (paved) path to the 1,200 year old shrine at the peak of the mountain.  Of course, before getting to the shrine I made a stop at the visitors center, and at the gift shops and restaurants along the trail and at the TOWN between the cable car and the shrine.  Who puts a town on top of a mountain?

The shrine was beautiful and after exploring it I wandered off to find some wilderness.  I found a less-traveled (gravel) trail that seemed to lead up and into the woods. Once I got into the woods I discovered

Japanese purple droopy flower

 what all the Japanese tourists had come to see.  There is a flower (with a name that looks very pretty in Japanese) that blooms for only one month and only on this one particular peak, and only every leap year.  Or at least that was the only way I could account for the hordes of people standing around taking pictures of the things.  So of course I took a few pictures too.  Who am I to pass up the once-in-a-lifetime chance to photograph the rare and ephemeral Japanese purple droopy flower (my translation of the Japanese)?

Needless to say, with all of the humanity crawling over the mountaintop I did not spot any frying squirrels.  This may have been a good thing because I now have reason to believe that they are dangerous.  I think they might even carry tiny little spears.  But I can’t be certain.  I’ll let you know when I find out though.

Translation: Beware. Squirrels carry flares and will fry things.

The cool thing about Japan is that even when all the paths are paved and there’s an unexpected town and people are just plain everywhere — there are still plenty of beautiful things to be seen, both man-made and natural.

Not quite perfect

Edo – seat of the Tokugawa shogunate, birthplace of Ukiyo-e “pictures of the floating world”, center of Japan’s political power and the place that I partied last weekend.  You probably know it as Tokyo.  

Oh, I know what you’re thinking.  ”But, you told me you LIVE in Tokyo!”  I live in Tokyo much the same way that a person from Long Island says they live in New York City (you know who you are).  Technically, we’re both right but the reality is something different altogether.

So on Sunday I packed a bag, got on a bus and rode an hour into central Tokyo.  This is the Tokyo you’ll see in your tour books.  This is the setting of that really terrible Bill Murray movie (what was he thinking?).  I checked into my hotel and met up with my friend Stephanie.  Steph used to be a JET instructor (http://www.jetprogramme.org/) and had some ideas on where we should go.  I had a PDF from my sister about where to find fantastic cocktails in Tokyo.  Together, Steph and I would be unstoppable.

Day 1 – The Japanese have a festival (AKA mitsuri) for everything.  They also like to rank things.  So when ranking festivals there are the “big three” in Tokyo.  These are the Sanja Mitsuri, Kanda Mitsuri and Fukagawa Mitsuri.  The Fukagawa Hachiman Mitsuri is held every three years and involves 5 days of celebration.  On the last day of the festival the celebrants carry 55 shrines through the streets of downtown Tokyo.  To refresh the shrine carriers, spectators douse the parade participants with water, earning the festival the nickname “mizu-kake mitsuri” or water-throwing festival.  

Thus the name...

Steph and I were lucky enough to be in town and catch the last day of the water-throwing.  As we wandered in to the festival area we found ourselves in what appeared to be the staging/resting ground for the parade.

Preparing

 Would-be parade participants lounged about in their happi coats and white boxer underwear.  The portable shrines, each carrying a piece of the local shrine’s deity, were set down on supports while the carriers rested and recuperated  or prepared for the march.  We wandered in, not only the sole round-eyes but also two of the six tourists present.  I had read that about 500,000 people attend the festival, so was a little concerned that we may have entered terra-non grata.  But we went unchallenged (who wants to argue with a giajin anyway?) So we continued.  We eventually reached the main body of the parade and watched with amusement the water dousing and the showmanship of the 30,000+ shrine-carriers who 

Really, really heavy!

 maintained a steady chant of “wasshoi!  wasshoi!” which I assume means “this is freakin’ heavy!”  When the shrines reached the suspension bridge on their path they stopped for the major show-boating.  The shrines were lifted high into the air, dipped down as if bucking under a violent surf and then emerging again.  All the while the carriers maintained their chant and

Getting ready to do the crazy stuff.

their marching, causing the entire bridge to vibrate and shake.  The first time it happened I thought it was one of Japan’s frequent earthquakes.  The second time it happened I started thinking about suspension bridges and the effects of harmonic resonance (http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=P0Fi1VcbpAI), so we continued our trek.

The crazy stuff

Everyone helps out with the water-throwing.

A few people showed up to help carry.

Next stop was Harajuku to see all the freaky little cosplay kids, but it was raining and they had all fled back to the ‘burbs so Steph and I returned to the hotel for a rest before going out.

The chef/Our table

Unfortunately, we got just a little lost and it took us a while to get back to the hotel.  So we were pretty well exhausted and opted to delay our dreams of finding the perfect cocktail and simply find a good meal.  We found a Okonomiyaki (vegetable pancake) restaurant near the hotel and enjoyed a few biru (beers) over dinner.  Most Americans are familiar, whether they know it or not, with Teppanyaki which can be found at your local Benihana.  It is basically the type of restaurant where they cook at your table.  Here, it’s not so much them cooking at your table as you sitting in the “kitchen” and using their grill as your table.  It’s a bit warmer than most western diners are accustomed to, but at least you know that no one spit in your food.

Day 2 – We got an early start at around 2 PM.  First stop was Asakusa.  We went to see the “old city” but didn’t quite make it there.  On the way we were sidetracked by a souvenir shopping plaza that led to a giant temple.  The shopping and the temple-viewing were all-consuming and prevented us from venturing any further.  We eventually had to turn back and return to the hotel to make sure we had enough time to prepare for the

Shopping in Asakusa

evening.

We dolled ourselves up and headed out to the first bar on my sister’s list.  After a lot of wandering and question asking and head scratching we decided that the place was no longer around.  It wasn’t the best start to the evening, but we were confident our luck would change.  Steph knew of a place with great ambiance and good food where we could have dinner.  We headed over to Shinjuku and started again with the wandering, questions and head scratching.  We eventually found the place that had been her restaurant.  Oh well, there are lots of other places in Shinjuku.  We wandered from restaurant to restaurant and bar to bar for the rest of the evening.  The cocktails weren’t bad (melon daquiri -yum!), the sake was cold and smooth and the scotch was just right.  After putting down a few drinks in Shinjuku we decided to head over to the Park Hyatt Tokyo where the PDF article said we could find 2 bars with expert mixologists.  Unfortunately by then it was past midnight and we decided the hotel bar would probably be closed.  So we stayed in Shinjuku for a few more drinks before heading to the hotel, defeated.

Shinjuku

We failed in our mission to find the perfect cocktail.  Some of the drinks came close, but none were what I would describe as “perfect”.  The cocktails were either too weak, the ice was too chunky, or the ratio just wasn’t quite perfect (although I will definitely try the lychee/rum cocktail again!).  Luckily the city is only an hour away and I still have my PDF list.

The first time they went to meet one another they discovered there was no bridge to cross the Amanogawa and Orihime began to cry, thinking that she could not visit her love.  Her tears were answered by a flock of magpies who created a bridge of their wings allowing the star-crossed lovers to meet.  Each year the lovers return, and if it does not rain the magpies create a bridge for them.  -Chinese folktale

Fussa Tanabata Festival

This folktale is the origin of the Tanabata Festival, held in August every year in Japan (Tentei was using a lunar calendar).  This year the date fell on August 7 and Fussa City hosted a 4 day festival to celebrate the meeting of the two lovers.     Orihime and Hikoboshi are also known as the stars Vega and Altair, which can be seen in the summer night sky in Japan.  Accordingly, the festival is held at night.  And that is really where the relationship between the festival and the folktale ends, as far as I can tell.

Eggplant in brine. Good to try once. Just once.

The Tanabata Festival, as is the case with most festivals, heralds the arrival of miles of food booths, decorations, parades, bands, singers, theatre, street performers and at times crowds so thick that we were merely moved along in the current, unable to steer ourselves in any particular direction.  This was fine, since we really didn’t have anywhere particular to go.

After the eggplant, we decided to give this one a pass.

The food was stellar.  We ate some things that we could readily identify (sushi), some things we couldn’t (some kind Korean vegetable stew that was very spicy and delicious) and some things that we thought we could identify but were very, very wrong to eat (skewered eggplant soaked in brine???).

The entertainment was also great.  There was a stage for singers and bands, several parades (although we missed the shrine-carrying parade) and what my extensive knowledge of Japanese theatre leads me to believe was a kyogen style play.   It could also have been just two drunk guys in masks, but they were REALLY good.  Add to that the people watching and you’ve got a rockin’ party.  And the sake doesn’t hurt much either.

Mamba!

The sake man. The cups are made of aromatic wood.

Kyogen Theatre?

People watching...

The river of people

Mountain scenery, with just a hint of hellfire

The sulfur mines.

This weekend we went to a few more national parks.  First on the list was the Owakudani Valley in Hakone National Park.  For some inscrutible Japanese reason, the area referred to as Owakudani Valley is on the side of the largest mountain in Hakone.  And this being Japan, when I say “mountain” I of course mean “volcano”.  Mt. Kami (our destination) last erupted about 3,000 years ago, but is still spitting out hot, sulfurous gas.  In fact, the place so much resembles the underworld that the old Japanese name for it translated to English as “grand hell”.  But when Emperor Meiji visited in the late 19th century they had to change the name.  It just would not do for the leader of the Empire of the Sun to visit the land of eternal darkness.

Apparently active volcanoes don't scare the Japanese.

I have made it a goal in my life not to die doing something that would get me laughed at during the funeral.  It’s not a major goal, but one I think about occasionally.  And it has the side effect of keeping me away from foolish things that otherwise might sound like a good idea.  For example, despite growing up in Kansas, I have never been cow tipping.  It did occur to me that vacationing on the side of a volcano that is literally spewing brimstone might fall under the category of “things that will look stupid later should this go horribly wrong”.  But I figured that it worked at Arenal in Costa Rica, and maybe my luck would hold.

Don't you have one of these to boil your eggs? That is sulfur gas, not steam wafting out of that pit.

On the side of this volcano are multiple gift shops and restaurants.  There is also an amazingly brisk trade in hard boiled eggs.  It turns out that there are pools of 175 degree water in the park.  Into one of these the faithful (and one might might also say foolhardy) park workers dip crate after crate full of eggs.  Once they are properly boiled you can buy an egg, still hot from the hell pit it was cooked in and eat it.  Despite the blackened shell, the eggs are quite tasty.  And I have it on good authority (by way of local legend) that eating one egg boiled in Hades adds 6 years to your life.  Two eggs adds 14.  I’m not sure what 3 eggs will get me, but I’ve still got one more in the fridge.

Deviled egg, anyone?

After leaving the volcano (my luck held!), we headed down to Lake Ashi, which is in the caldera of another volcano.  Typically one can expect to see spectacularly breath-catching views of Mt. Fuji from here.  If you’ve seen photos of the famous mountain picturesquely reflected in a still, pristine lake you were probably looking at a picture of Lake Ashi.  We had a slightly different experience.

Summer in Japan is hot.  I would explain how hot, but I’ve exhausted all of my Hell metaphors.  It is also a little humid.  So what we saw at the lake was mostly clouds.  And haze.  Luckily it wasn’t so cloudy that we couldn’t enjoy the firework show on the lake from our tour boat.

Our tour boat. Notice the lack of view.

The next day we went hiking in the Chichibu-Tama-Kai National Park.  This place is surprisingly accessible by train from our place.  The park is just shy of 500 square miles in area and boasts 8 peaks over 6,500 ft tall.  Obviously we didn’t see the whole thing.

Yes, the pointy one....

We hiked up one tiny little peak and saw a shrine.  During the trip back down we were caught in a torrential rain that turned the trail into a river with what I swear were class 2 rapids at one point.  And in between those two fantastic adventures I spotted Japanese herps #2 and #3!  The Rhacophorus was particularly exciting.  Not just because I’m a dork, but also because….no wait, entirely because I’m a dork.  I had seen it’s picture in my field guide and really wanted to find one.

Rhacophorus arboreus - about 8 cm, so most likely a female

I will definitely be heading back to explore Chichibu-Tama-Kai more extensively.  Not just because of the great hiking, and the 2,000 year old shrine that is on one of the peaks (not to mention all of the sprightly, younger shrines on the other peaks), or the herps, or the caves but also because I read in one of the brochures we got about the park that it is great habitat for “frying squirrels”.  And I really want to see one of those little buggers cook!

juvenile Rana ornativentris - look close!

Heaven!

I know this may come as a surprise to some of you (stop reading now mom!), but I do like to drink a little.  So imagine my excitement when I discovered that there is a brewery of beer and sake less than 2 miles from my front door!  I had to go immediately.  And I’ve been twice in the last 5 days.  

One hundred and something year old beer brewing cauldron.

Right now the brewery is run my Mr. Ishikawa.  He’s the 18th Ishikawa to run the place.  Either they have extremely high turnover, or this place has been around awhile.  The facility is a walled compound which houses the brewery, a museum, a shop and two restaurants as well as a garden that they won’t let me in to.

Inside the compound

The restaurants are fabulous.  I meant to take a picture of the food, but I was hungry.

Trust me, it looked beautiful. Tasted good too.

And as if good beer, good sake and good food wasn’t enough, this place managed to throw in my other favorite hobby too.  I found my first Japanese herp.

Bufo japonicus formosus

For more info on the brewery, including maps and photos:  http://www.tamajiman.com/english/top.html

Tama Zoo Entrance

Last week we also checked out the Tama Zoo.  It’s only a short train ride away.  It’s a small-ish zoo with an average animal collection.  It looks like there have been some updates and remodels recently, but there’s still a lot that needs to be done.  Most of the yards looked pretty torn up and I didn’t see much in terms of enrichment.  However, there are two “bug houses” that are phenomenal.

In the butterfly house...duh

The first building features a walk-through butterfly garden that is outstanding.  The butterflies were beautiful and plentiful.  There was also a patch of grass with giant locusts all over.  I loved those.

Butterfly house

The butterfly building also houses a bunch of smaller exhibits with a great variety of creepy-crawlies.  The second building was more of a museum, with lots of interactives on how insects work.  There were also a few small insect exhibits and an entire room with a glow worm exhibit.

These bugs have faces on them!

Picky, picky....

We got to the zoo too late in the day to see everything, so we skipped the elephants and tigers (boring!).  But we made sure to see the chickens and rabbits (can you feel the excitement?).  And we we found no way to avoid seeing the macaques.  I’ll admit it – monkeys can be cute when they are separated from you by a giant pit.   The babies were wrestling and jumping around on all the ropes.  It almost made my grinch heart grow 2 sizes.  But the exhibit was depressing (all rocks, no vegetation, climbing structure the only visible enrichment, no shade), so my heart remains as coal-like as ever.