Sumo Memories

I went to sumo yesterday with Regis. It was so exciting to see the giant men during the intimidation round where they grunt, posture and throw sacred shinto clarifying salt in order to intimidate their opponents.
Then the real battle begins....and ends in a few seconds. The train station was filled with giant pictures of old sumo yokozunas and the surrounding neighborhood sported various restaurants that specialize in "chanko nabe" a rich soup that the sumo wrestlers eat daily in order to maintain their girth. Why aren't these guys being checked for "metabo"?


A Gaijin face?


Yes......


.....and what a good wedgy-giver this gaijin is! Many foreigners are getting good at sumo and are rising through the ranks of sumodom by executing moves just like this:

"Hey guys, be nice!"



Being back at a sumo tournament really brought the memories of fighting the frail 60-year-olds of my village during the numerous sumo tournaments down in Kagoshima when I was teaching english. I bet those geriatric farmers haven't eaten dirt in quite the same way since then! I am planning a trip back to Kagoshima for fall break. Is there a chance it could coincide with the Hiwaki fall sumo tournament?! Could the former Yokozuna of Hiwaki village (a gaijin no less--que the village elders huffing and saying "eeeehhhhh?" in disbelief) come back to town and reclaim his title? We'll see!

Their only crime is being old!

Old!!!!

Guess what happened when I fought this young guy from a different village...
You are right, I lost!

Tokyo Honky Tonkin'

Wow, talk about surreal! This past Saturday I went to a "country saloon" located in the suburbs, just two stops from my train station in Todoroki. They had swinging doors, a juke box and a bar stool. They also had ashtrays with spurs on 'em! The goal of the night was to play a few songs for their open mic night, but I ended up befriending the house band and playing songs with them and other performers! What really got the ball rolling was when I started out the night with "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys" by Willie Nelson. From that moment on, everything ran quite smoothly. The house band specializes in bluegrass and their harmonies and pickin' skills amazed me. They have played together since high school so I guess that's why the are so darn tight! Here's Regis's video

Country Desho
Uploaded by cheribibiz

but you can also check it out on his website: http://rapdp.free.fr/projet204/
It is called "Projet 204" because that is his room number in the gaijin house where he lives. Three years ago, when we lived together, I was 201 or 203 (can't remember) and he was 202, so if you want to check out that blog, you have to look up "Projet 202."

The Yodeling Queen

On Friday the German Embassy put on an Oktoberfest celebration. Though it was raining heavily outside (Typhoon), inside the bountiful tent there was ritual toasting, dancing, sausage-eating, and yodeling. The "Yodeling Queen" even came from Germany and during her last number she came right into the crowd and yodeled in front of us! I was stunned at how flawlessly she was able to yodel despite the throngs of Japanese fans who kept swarming her. Again, with characteristic artistry, Regis captured the moment perfectly!!!

Oktober Fest
Uploaded by cheribibiz

Valley of the Nightingales

My friend Regis (with whom I lived in 2005 when I was working at the Canadian Embassy) is back in town and boy did we have a good reunion experience! He lives in this neighborhood called Uguisudani (Valley of the Nightingales) where there are a lot of love hotels (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_hotel ) and a lot of good little restaurants. Regis is a great film maker and he is constantly documenting everything that happens around him. I was surprised to find that he put together a short film using the footage he took of our reunion night. It was a great little yakitori restaurant with only six seats and the owner asked if I would sing them a karaoke song. The movie really captures the moment. I should get Regis to document my life more often!

KROK
Uploaded by cheribibiz

McMetabo

The new problem here in Japan, aside from "chikan" or "perverts" who harass women on the train system, is "metabo." There are articles every week in the local and international newspapers complaining about how the rate of "metabo" is increasing throughout Japan. (see article: http://news.scotsman.com/world/Metabo-tightens-belts-in-land.4186840.jp) The term "metabo" comes from the English word "metabolism." Japanese doctors measure "metabo" (and I know this because I was tested for it) by putting a special measuring tape around your waist and calculating your waste-to-height ratio. If your food-baby is too corpulent (like mine is) you are deemed "metabo" which I guess means that you are metabolically deficient or are eating more calories than your "metabo" can handle.

"Metabo" is the new buzz word, but the problem of obesity in Japan goes back decades. A few years ago, doctors and journalists noticed something alarming. Okinawa, Japan's southern-most prefecture, had the world's highest rate of people over 100-years-old but its youngsters were the fattest in all of Japan. (see article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?xml=/health/2006/09/04/wjapan04.xml) The finger was quickly pointed at the US army and naval bases that are all over that island. The bases sport large numbers of American fast food joints that lure local Japanese kids in for a belly bomb and some grease rockets after school and on the weekends. Although I agree that American-style fast food is bad for you, I noticed something at my local McDonald's that caused everything to be illuminated. Japan has an item on its McDonald's menu that the USA does not: the "Mega Maku," a Big Mac with twice the hamburger patties!

Japan's youth has been gorging itself silly with twice the fake meat of a normal Big Mac for....who knows how long. I predict that future nutritionists will look back at the advent of the "Mega Maku" in Japan as the beginning of the end for Japan's once-coveted status as the world's largest producer of healthy centenarians!

Digital Chicken Soup for the Gaijin Soul

Lately I have been a bit homesick so I have taken up the strange habit of using google maps to go to places I miss and using the "street view" feature to have a gander at the surroundings. I am not sure how google gets these panorama pics but it is very impressive and comforting. Here is the picture they have of my parent's house in Carmel. What year was this taken? You can tell based on Dad's famous flower arrangement by the mailbox!
View Larger MapTry clicking the image and moving it around. Pretty cool eh?!

Shinto Thin Air

"only Fuji knows,
how hard breathing has become.
slowed feet crunch pumice...."

--Haiku by: Tori Maku, Early 21st Century, Japan

I was jogging along the Tama River a few days ago when I noticed a mushroom-like shape jutting up out of a mountain chain in the distance. After staring at it for a while, I realized that it was the perfectly conical top of Mount Fuji. It is rare to see Fuji in the summer, as it is so hazy most of the time, so I felt quite lucky to see my favorite mountain peaking out as I ran.

Just a few days earlier I never wanted to see Fuji again. We started climbing at around 8pm on last Friday night. Most normal teachers at 8pm in Tokyo were probably about to relax for a post-school-week cocktail or head off to bed after an exhausting five days. Bucking convention like a malnourished rodeo clown, Tokyo Tori and friends decided to embark on a 12-hour journey that would take us to the top of Japan's tallest mountain, into sub-zero temperatures and low oxygen zones, and back again with no sleep whatsoever!




The climb was exhilarating and, at times, grueling (for me and Brendan...not necessarily for the Sherpa-woman Justyna who was always way ahead of us). We drove up to the 5th station (9 total) and hiked the rest. There were huts along the way that sold hot drinks and beer. We chose beer (still jovial) at the first hut and hot drinks (no longer jovial, very cold) at the second one we stopped at.

The mountain was completely deserted until 2am when all the huts became Japanese clown cars with hundreds of hikers spewing out of them in record time. It was almost as if there were tunnels beneath the huts that held more and more people. There was potential for a WW2 joke about the Japanese and their tendency to spring en mass from hidden tunnels ("banzai!") but the air had become so thin at this point that I had no energy left for creative thinking! Honestly, the lack of air feels like you have a water-soaked cloth over your head and no matter what you do, you just can't seem to get a satisfying breath.



We finally reached the top and passed through the Shinto Tori (sacred gate to mark a beautiful natural spot in the Shinto religion) at around 4:30, which gave us a chance to find a good spot to view the sunrise at 5:15. It was a gorgeous sunrise and we were enthralled to see some form of light after almost 8 hours of climbing through the dark. Because it was -3 or so at the top and the vendors up there do not sell hot soup past the end of August, we stayed for just a short while and then began our descent (see title picture at top). It was a great trip and I will take anyone who's interested back to the top....as long as you pay for the oxygen tank and the donkey.

Food Find #1: Best School Lunch....In The World!

Many of my fellow teachers don't agree with me, but I would argue that our school has one of the best school lunches out there. Various entrees that mix Asian and Western cuisine in ways you could never imagine. My brothers and I (having attended St. Mary's) loved the school lunch and our favorite was the school chef's unique take on lasagna. Delicately baked noodles and meat sauce with crispy cheese ladled over top of piping hot saffron rice. When you visit me in Tokyo, the school cafeteria is a must for anyone wishing to taste heaven on a plate.

Semi no Koe (The Voice of the Cicadas)

"So still . . . into the rocks it pierces, the cicada-shrill"
-Haiku by Basho (late 1600's)

I wish this was the case here in Tokyo, but the cicada situation outside my classroom is much more intense. Sometimes it is so loud I can barely lecture over it!