佐渡島 (Sado Island) - round 2 (mostly photos)

I went to Sado Island again, this time for a performance of the ALT charity musical. However, due to a general shortage of time and a lack of pictures, I'll just mostly be posting pics of Sado in a general kind of way. I might do a bit on the musical when I'm able to steal some relevant photos from other cast/crew who have actually been taking them at the performances. Until that time, here's some Sado:

First off, Sado is a comparatively remote location. Back in the good old days, it was where political dissidents were sent in hopes that they would either die of the harsh winters, or generally just calm down and leave the Imperial establishment alone. Modernization has changed things a bit, but it's still a bit of a hoof-



The train to Niigata takes something like an 1.25 hours, and then the ferry ride to the island is somewhere around 3 hours.

I've mentioned this once before, but the inside of the ferry is basically a big party. You have a wide, carpeted space on which to spread yourself out. Chatting and card games consume most of the time:



There were strong winds as the ferry set out, causing it to pitch and roll quite a bit. Before almost everyone succumbed to mild seasickness, we were running along the top deck and jumping as the ship pitched down, affording a good extra foot or two of airspace.



Here are a couple shots of the land along the mouth of the Shinano River as it empties its contents (ourselves included) into the Sea of Japan. The Shinano is the longest river in Japan (for what that's worth), and flows directly through Niigata City.





Here are some images to give the general effect of Sado. It is a very remote place, with more traditional wood houses with ceramic tiles still dominating the landscape. There are two mountainous lumps that make up the island's two halves (see the map above), so that during a visit one is more or less always in an expansive valley. Rice fields abound, as does bamboo.





When we went on a walk to the beach, I saw this unusual concrete structure, higher up and farther inland than the ubiquitous tetrapods. A Japanese friend confirmed for me that it was probably built to protect against tsunami.



Finally, just for fun, here's a pic of some of the ALTs kicking a soccer ball around on the morning after the performance.



That's it for Sado! I'm going to be preparing for my upcoming trip to New Guinea for most of the rest of the week, so this may or may not be the last post for about 2 weeks. Everyone can expect a beast of a post when I get back, however. Until then...

Just a Blurb

Today I was eating lunch with some of my favorite 2nd graders (elementary 2nd grade, that is)- when I overheard/participated in the following conversations (translated from Japanese):

Student 1: Your curry and rice has a carrot piece in in it! I'm envious.

Student 2: Why are you envious? The curry and rice always has carrots. It never changes.

-That, and while stacking used boxes from lunch:

Student: It's impossible to add another one!!

Me: I'm still going to give it a shot. (the box tower collapses)

Student: Well look at that, huh?

I love my second graders. Today was the last day that I would see them in their capacity as 2nd graders- starting in April they'll all be 3rd graders (who are also fun). Just thought I'd share. Cheers all.

Late Winter: Snow, Beer, and the King of Kinky

I've been putting off putting up some photos of the snowstorm that hit town for several weeks now, and I thought I should post them before Spring completely sets in. The weather has been progressively more gentle here over the last couple weeks, but freakish wind and snow flurries yesterday attested that there's still a week or two left of winter.

Before I show photos of the snow, however, here is a photo of what Arakawa has looked like for most of the winter:



And people wonder why I don't get out much anymore...

This, on the other had, is a little bit of what Arakawa looks like under a real blanket of snow:






I've said before that Niigata wears its snow well, and the snow does do a lot for sprucing up the drap winter landscape. Unfortunately, it throws the ugly power lines and concrete cube buildings into sharper relief. This is much lamented by Alex Kerr, one of whose books I read not so long ago. He says that the scenic beauty of Japan is having to be increasingly cropped out of photos that contain ever-larger amounts of power lines (which Japanese bureaucrats will not bury on the grounds that Japan has "special soil"), concrete slabs, and so on. As much as I like certain aspects of Japan, this is something I've noticed too, and it puts a damper on things.

Also:

I went on another large, group trip to the Zaou ski area. In terms of Zao as a location itself, it was good or not good for more or less all the same reasons I enumerated in my previous post that dealt with the subject. What was more interesting about this visit was my interaction with my shogakko teachers with whom I went.

The trip revolved, as so many Japanese social events do, around alcohol. The skiing was a secondary consideration- many of the teachers didn't go skiing very often, or weren't particularly interested in skiing per se. To wit- after about one and-a-half hours of meandering skiing, we retired to the lodge for a lunch that consisted of a small snack plate and no fewer than 3 beers (for the record I only had one beer that I cut with a generous plate of curry). This led to some interesting social interactions on the gondola on the way up:

Youngish, married female teacher: Do you like Japanese women?
Me: Sure.
Youngish, married female teacher: Do you think I'm a pretty girl?
Me: (awkward hesitation)
Youngish, married female teacher: You should say yes!

This kind of interaction is a little more typical here (especially after drinking)- so I don't think I was being as overtly hit upon as it might seem to an outside observer, but it was a little disconcerting (what does one say when presented with that situation?).

I can only assume that the beers didn't help with the actual skiing, either, but I was generally the fastest skier and didn't see how the rest of the group fared.

The real business went down at the nomikai that followed the skiing. It started out with a yakiniku (grilled meat) party, which quickly evolved into a drinking party in one of the teacher's hotel rooms. It was here that I learned that the 40something male secretary at my elementary school was studying English by means of his fanatic devotion to Sex and the City, from which he derived a nuanced command of the verb "insert."

The younger teachers all told me right then and there that he was a bit of a henjin BUT, they hastened to add, we are all henjin, after all.
This is actually a pattern of interaction I've observed at more than one nomikai: someone pulls out a label on someone- "hentai, kinky (and its further evolution "king of kinky"), and then "nice guy" have all made the rounds. After this, he hastens to affirm that he (it's usually a male), too, is a kinky/hentai/whathaveyou. After this, it moves around the circle and everyone gets a turn being the labeled one, ending with affirming that "we are all label." Once everyone's had a chance to assume the mantle, the conversation moves on.

This is a behavioral pattern that is, as far as I can tell, unique to Japan's communitarian psychology- and while it may sound silly (and that it is), each person at the nomikai is intensely aware of subtle cues that indicate that a person is feeling overly picked on or left out, and changes are quickly made to correct the discomfort. This results in a party where, toward the end, everyone belongs and a sense of comfort and well-being is pervasive.

Another dynamic made its way to the fore during what can only be termed "manly time" in the onsen after the party. We sat naked in the hot mineral springs, and I learned that some of the teachers were frustrated at two of the teachers who had sat by talking to each other during the party. Being an American, I had thought nothing of it at the time. However, this is Japan, and not participating in the group fun is seen as a slight against the other people there- indicating that perhaps you feel special or superior to or aloof of the other participants. Not only did I learn a bit more about Japanese social interactions, but I was also touched that they included me in their manly venting session as, in every sense of the word "one of the guys." It's nice to be included.

This should (I hope) wrap up the winter-related posts. The weather is getting progressively warmer, and yellow crocuses are already starting to bloom. Future events include- New Guinea trip (expect lots of photographs), taking a look at the sakura (cherry blossoms, for which the peak time is April), and whatever else I can dredge up as Japan moves into warmer weather. With the musical ending, I will suddenly have more weekends free, so expect more information about weekend trips to various locations hereabouts.

That's it for now. Peace all.