Sneak in Japan

This entry is not about Kendo, so those of you not into this martial art can proceed safely with reading. Although, it is Kendo-induced fear not… As I mentioned in one of my early entries, if in a need, one may take an ofuro after the practice. In my dojo bathroom is quite small - two showers and one bath tube - so by some ancient decree there are maximally two occupants at a time. The role of the changing room plays a two square meter area of dojo preceding ofuro, separated from the rest of the dojo by a curtain. After the end of the practice two highest in hierarchy transfer their standard clothes close to the curtain, go behind the curtain, undress and throw away their kendo clothes to the “public part” of the floor of the dojo. Then enter the bathroom. The one that finishes first shouts from behind the curtain “ofurooo doooozooo” (ofuro, please) wipes off partially soaking into furry doormat, grabs his standard clothes with his hand reaching behind the curtain and dresses up. In this time a third person enters behind the curtain, undresses and joins the person still remaining in the bathroom. In the bathroom itself, he cleans with use of the soap and water from ofuro and bowl or shower, while the other person heats up in the bath tube. Then the other person exits the bath tube ad the bathroom and the just-cleaned person goes into ofuro.

The only people who are allowed to move half-naked around the dojo are the senseis, who do it only to slip past the curtain to their small room and most likely only because the distance is about 50 cm. Others have to move around dojo dressed. I have heard this information from my European kohai (co-slave in Kendo) when… I forgot to bring my towel from upstairs and the obvious idea of mine was to slip somehow from behind the curtain up, avoiding the eyes of female kendokas. So, I was fortunate enough that he was dressing in mostly the same time as me, so I could wait and he brought my towel. My kohai did not participate in the next practice, however, unfortunately, my dementia did. I again forgot about the towel. For a brief moment I considered asking a sensei who was close by to bring my towel, but I decided it to be not appropriate. Of course, my lack of ability to explain were he would have to look for the towel had nothing to do with did. So there I was, standing behind the curtain completely wet and considering all possible options. Slip upstairs? To risky. Ask? Not appropriate. Wait until I dry up? May take ages. In the peak of my desperation I considered using floor rags that were within the reaching distance. Then, however, I would probably depart from dojo being more dirty when I came. But suddenly I was enlightened. The doormat. I was saved. However, future generations, beware! I must state a thing that may not be so obvious: doormats are not as good in wiping as towels.

The other day, coming back from practice I was tempted by a food bar, which I never was. There exist, for me, basically two types of food-bars in Japan, and each of them has two similar subtypes. My favorite ones are those with a coupon vending machines. One chooses a meal on a machine, pressing proper button (analogue or touchscreen), puts the money in and receives the coupon, which he then gives to the service stuff. Most of the time simple way, with no language stress. Unless… there are no pictures of the meals on buttons but only written information. I am always somehow magically reflected from the latter subtype of the bar. The second type of the bar does not have a vending machine but a menu. Printed or wall-hanging. Fortunately in most cases there are pictures of food in the menu. Those bars without pictures… again, the magical reflection.

So I was tempted by the menu-type of bar. Usually when you enter, you hear shouted invitation “irasshaimase”, seat, take the menu, choose and wait for the service. Then eat and pay when leaving. This time, however, the service near the cashier shouted something different. And there was a wall-menu hanging near the cashier. So somehow I decided that it must be the fast-food type of bar like McDonals, where you order and pay at the same time. So did I. Then proceeded to take a sit. I was fortunate enough that the service person who chased me spoke some English, so there was not a big problem to explain that no, I don’t want a take-out. Then, after some time, something enticed me into using a napkin. The napkins were in a stand, tightly fitted. I could not get one out simply pulling it, because then I pulled the whole stand. So I used my second hand to grab/push a stand. The effect was a loud bell sounding in the whole bar. I haven’t noticed that the stand is equipped with a bell-button for calling the service. So there I was, trying to explain a very helpful, but this time not English speaking waitress that I really do not need anything and I did not push the button on purpose. I am not sure if he believed me or understood, but finally she attended other customers. Since that day I reach for the napkins most carefully.

Some time ago I visited two junior-high schools in Japan. In the first one, being a reach and science-based school I have given a lecture on cosmic rays and an experiment I am working on. Despite my best efforts, I am afraid the students did not understand much of my English in connection with a quite difficult topic. However, I was given a tour around an impressive school with a pool, huge baseball and huge football grounds, great science labs and so on. The contrast have been the single seat tables in the classrooms which may remember the WWII. I have also noticed that the classrooms have more windows to the corridor then to the outside world. Exactly the opposite of what is common in my country. The school also had one judo and one kendo dojo, the latter one with a beautiful shining floor.

The second school, although probably poorer, was also large and impressive and quite similar to the first school. I haven’t seen the science facilities, but the play ground were also impressive. I was invited by my sensei who is a PE teacher there. I was introduced to lot’s of teachers as well as children, or I should rather say teenagers. I was asked to try to speak in Japanese to the adult stuff, but the kids were asked to speak in English to me and most of them somehow managed. The school was far from Tokyo, so a foreigner is probably not a common sight there. Therefore, when eating lunch in the common cafeteria, I was being observed and literally pointed out by the majority of student. Funny again, feeling like in the zoo, but on the wrong side of the bars. The situation did not correspond to the opinion on the shyness of Japanese at all. Even when I was being introduced to some of the male students on the corridor a group of girls emerged from the class to take a closer look at me. Then also they were introduced and they were not so reluctant to have an attempt to chat with me. On the other hand one student caught by my sensei and his teacher and ordered to introduce himself was hoping to be anywhere but the current location. Head down, long “etoooooo”s, he finally managed to introduce himself, but ran away at the first opportunity.

After some sightseeing and resting keiko time has came. The dojo was really if not extremely large. However, it was shared with a pingpong class, so the effective size was much smaller. I was brought in and introduced to the adult senpai and the teenage club members. Then I was left with the kids as the sensei and senpai walked away to prepare themselves. It was not very long time that I had to endure my being lost in the crowd, for the students formed a ring grabbing their shoulders with arms and making some sort of comrade ritual. So there I was, an adult probably twice the age of the kids, standing with them in the circle with head bowed, grasping their shoulders and pretending to shout together with them a war cry that I could not understand. Should I write: feeling young again? Not quite, but it was peculiar.

There was a kid that can be called the second senpai, for he was shouting the commands. On one hand he addressed me as “sensei”, probably being close to my degree, on the other hand he quite well managed to show me where to stay and what to do. I was in the “four” practicing with him. It has to be said that all those young kendokas are full of energy! Perhaps sometimes even too full. The student senpai was making kote men on me with the amount of energy that had carried him, after his men, nearly to tsubazeriai with me. And compared to them I have quite long legs and I was making as large step to the back as I could. Good for me, I have noticed that nothing was wrong with my steps - when he was motodachi he was just doing small steps for no larger were needed with other kids.

After a few some exercises and magical ninja movements that allowed me not to trip on a pingpong ball, the jigeiko came. I had to be the motodachi next to the sensei and adult senpai. Only two minutes for each opponent, but after facing a dozen kids each one wanting to show to the gaijin his place in the world kendo community, I was exhausted. This keiko and following practices in my dojo led me to some sort of observation. The Japanese often start exercises wrong. Wrong cuts, slipping on the side of the head or a completely wrong distance like with the senpai student. At the beginning I often thought: “Unbelievable! How could have they reached such a high degree? In Europe a kyu person often does better!”.

I think now I am starting to understand. They start bad, but then as the practice goes on, they improve to the level that is far above my current capabilities. No one stops them, no one says that they should fix what they are doing. Also, very small children just starting kendo are allowed to hit as they like, moving where they like, without any interruptions. My attempt to explain is that in Japan they have some model movements, steps and cuts, but everyone is allowed to reach that model naturally as is best suited for their body. So when starting the kendo in general or just a single practice they follow their body needs and possibilities, changing them slowly, coming closer to the model, but in their own, specific version, with time. Maybe one day we will practice in the same way in Europe, however I am not sure if it is possible for kendokas starting the sport being adult. Someone someday will have to try.

Post scriptum. I have practiced with the kids from the kendo club. But I have seen also some other children which have to take the kendo class once per week whether they like it or not. A column of boys an girls in bogu worn on sport suites moving toward the dojo, like the a student led to the principals office after being caught smoking in a toilette. Sometimes, when it happens that I do not enjoy a particular keiko, I try to recall that picture to remind myself that it could have been much worse.

The second tourists resort close to Tokyo which we visited was Hakone, famous for the volcanic fumes and the view of the mount Fuji. We decided on a one way trip and it is a really good choice if you are not a type of person that wants to take a look into every attraction that is available on-site. We followed the “Hakone Round Course”, shown on the Japan Guide webpage. For this, it is convenient to buy a Hakone Free Pass, which covers the round-trip from Tokyo to Hakone and communications on-site. At first we were a little bit skeptical if we will manage to do the round course, so if the pass will be an economically justified choice, but it proved to be no problem.

The express train that you can take on the Free Pass looks like a standard local train except that it is faster. I am not mentioning here the “Romance Car” which is not available for free for the Free Pass owners. The Romance Car looks better, gets to Hakone half an hour faster and is twice as expensive. The standard express goes to Odawara and one has to choose other form of transportation to get to other towns. We decided to get the ancient Hakone Tozan Railway up to Gora. It is a good transportation, although a little bit crowded. And, actually, against what is advised on the Japan Guide, it seems that the part of the trip from Odawara to Hakone-Yumoto offers better views that Hakone-Yumoto to Gora. Actually, the second part offers nearly no views, for it goes in the woods. If I were to get this train only as a tourist attraction, it is definitely not worth it, at least on this part of the road.

In Gora we proceeded directly to the cable car and ropeway leading to the Owakudani - the volcanic site. The ropeway has some really nice views and is probably the best way to get there. Odawara is really nice, although a little bit small. It consist of a cable car station, a few shops and restaurants and a single slope with some sulfur-boiling onsen and holes emitting volcanic fumes. The smell of the fumes is really strong and according to many warning signs it is a health hazard due to the amount of H2S and so on. No wonder, for from time to time some parts of the slope become invisible due to the white smoke. The cats lying close to the one of the onsens were to be a confirmation of the health hazard. According to my colleague, they were to be blind and overall unhealthy. They were not. What a disappointment. However, they thought at first that the rocks some children were throwing at them were food. So perhaps the fumes do not affect the sight as much as the mind or cats’ common sense.

The culinary specialty of Odawara are black eggs, owing their crust colour to the process of boiling in the sulfur onsen. I am sure that I felt the special taste about them and that K. did not was only the fault of the usual, women lack of taste (for all of you that now get upset by this comment - it is sort of a joke). So, it is a good idea to buy the pack of 5 eggs, divide them equally into 2 and 3 and eat a late breakfast on the slope, avoiding the fumes and contemplating a really magnificent view of the mount Fuji. Coming back you can enjoy other culinary peculiarities such as black-strawberry or wasabi ice cream. Do it at your own risk.

Then we took the rest of the ropeway to the Togendai, to reach the shore of the Lake Ashi. The town is ugly and everything closes early - in our case only one restaurant was open after 3 pm. Maybe it is similar in such tourist spots all over Japan, judging from the experience about Nikko. So we had highly overpriced curry while waiting for a pirate ship to take us through the lake to Hakone-machi. For me, an European, it would be much cooler to board a ship stylized after an oriental warship of some sort, not the want-to-be 18th century privateer frigate. But part of the crew is wearing pirate clothes and you can make yourself an image close to a cannon!… The lake is nice and there is both Japanese and English vocal guide. I cannot say “available”, for it goes through all the speakers on the ships, so you are forced to listen to it regardless of your phonic preferences. The trip is more then nice as a way of transport, but if you were to go there just to get it ass a tourist attraction, there are probably better ways of spending time.

From Hakone-machi it is really close to Moto-Hakone by foot (15 minutes) and there are some tourist spots in between, which we have missed because it was getting late. We were hurrying to the Hakone shrine which has a tori gate in the immensities of Lake Ashi. What can I say? It is a nice view and the shrine has some nice, water spitting small dragons. The town itself is, again, ugly, except perhaps for the large tori gates above the main road.

It was nearly an evening, so we took the bus to the Hakone-Yumoto for the last point of the programme - the rotenburo, an outside onsen. Again and again… beware of the pictures in the Internet. It is true that we have decided on the onsen on the basis of proximity to the rail station, but it was, anyway, among few listed on the Japan Guide. It was nothing special and most importantly, it had no view for which we hoped. So you can admire only natives of the same sex, yourself or stone walls, whatever is your preference. Additionally, the road that the bus takes is a hilly one, so if you do not have a strong stomach better refrain from choosing the onsen on the map/phone. Otherwise you may recall the taste of the black eggs that you had just a few hours before.

To summarize, Hakone is nice. A one-day trip really worth it. Even more, if you can manage to get up early in the morning and see more. Transportation is good, except the fact that the last ship is quite early (just after 16 hrs) and the last bus from Moto-Hakone not so late (if I recall correctly, after 20 hrs). Two days could be too much, however we have not seen many of the attractions mentioned in the guides nor had the opportunity for a free walk except the one on the slope of Odawara. And if you have not seen a volcanic mountain before it is a must.

Time for a little sightseeing. During last two weekend we have managed to spend some time in two known tourist resorts not so far from Tokyo. The first one was Nikko. We hoped to see a lot, so we bought a 2 day Marugoto Nikko Kinugawa Free Pass that makes it possible to see almost everything on the north side of the town - Kanagawa Onsen - and on the east side - Lake Chuzenji and Yumoto onsen. This was supposed to be a 2 day trip and so it was, but the plan failed. We got to Nikko around 3 pm, at least half an hour later then we were supposed to. And this is to late to go anywhere but Nikko, because everything closes quickly - shops, restaurants and many rotenburo (outside onsen). So you will be still able to eat something in the late afternoon, but I have heard that after 21:00 it becomes close to impossible.

The town itself is ugly. I mean usual, Japanese small town built in a modern style - nothing of any kind of atmosphere or a touristic attraction. Attractions may be temples, if you like them. For me, after visiting Kyoto, seeing a temple from time to time is fine, but making a whole trip based on seeing temples is not particularly interesting anymore. They are too alike. They are two things worth noting. The first one is the sacred Shinkyo Bridge. Why is it worth noting? Because it looks quite nice on the pictures, with good approach. In reality, however, it is connecting to a modern road, which destroys all of the possible mood. On the other hand, Kanmangafuchi Abyss is moody, at least close to the evening, when it is deserted (or was in our case). It looks strange and is close to nature, isolated for a large part from civilization. We ended in our ryokan Pension Logette Sanbois not far from the town-centre. It is worth considering, warm with a nice ofuro. Except for the fact that the room was heated by a gas heater, which after an hour of so decided that it should announce its displeasure with a serie of loud beeps and then switch off. Not a thing to enjoy during the night, and even less in the morning, when you wake up freezing.

The second day we got up early and went to the west outside of Nikko, starting with a Yumoyo Onsen. Be aware, that the main picture of Yumoto Onsen on Japan Guide (http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3807.html) is somewhat misleading. It actually shows some puddles with small boards on top. It is a nice thing, with smell and view of sulfur, but from the picture we had imagined something much bigger. Again, the photographic approach is the key. Close to the puddles one can rest in many of the hotels’ rotenburo. In our case it was quite nice, for the temperature outside was about -8 C, being 50 C higher in the pool, although without any particulary spectacular view. Be aware, however, that it is quite possible that after such a joy you will be even more joyfully stinking of sulfur for more than a day.

Then slowly coming back to Nikko, first on foot to Yudaki Waterfall, than by bus to Lake Chuzenji. The waterfall is nice, and we were lucky enough to find some snow monkeys playing closeby. However, everything that seems to be nice in Lake Chuzenji is another waterfall - Kegon Waterfall. You go with a lift in a rock to reach a proper viewpoint and it is worth its price. Apart from that, the town around 3 in the afternoon already seems deserted with very few people and very few places to eat something. The lake perhaps could be nice, although nothing spectacular, if not for some of the ugly, plastic, swan or duck shaped pedalo crowded on the shore.

To summarize, Nikko is not a lost time if you do not expect much. But it is really nothing special. Except the waterfalls, very average views and not much to do or even eat in the town. It has to be noted, that the last train on hour free pass was leaving a little bit past 18. Definitely too early and I cannot understand it from the touristic point of view - it was getting dark about half an hour earlier, so then you should maybe seek the bus to come back to the Nikko Station from somewhere or rest in an onsen, not hurry to the station.

The last paragraph is going to be a little bit bitter. I come from the nation which in many cases considers its “belongings” inferior to others. This goes for the common products as well as sights or historic sites. I may be proven wrong in the future, but in Japan it seems to be exactly the opposite. Every single view is breath taking, every monument spectacular. Even pure statistics shows that it cannot be like that and Nikko is one example. So beware of general articles about some sites that you can find in the Internet and keep in mind that most photos hide more then show. Better consult a few people before going somewhere, not to get disappointed.

According to the formal evidence of the dojo’s members, there is one person with the degree lower then mine and three or four with a degree equal to mine. That forms maybe 10% of the dojo members. However it may sound, it is a very convenient situation, because basically everyone can teach you. Further more, most of the time you do not have to worry about how do you perform, because, by definition, everybody performs better then you. For me such a situation is a perfect enviroment for a good progress. However, there is a finite probability that you encounter someone with a slightly lower experience than yours.

In this case it was my girlfriend, who has to quickly catch up with Kata forms to be able to attend Kata practices on a standard basis. Therefore, most often after keiko and during waiting for all people to perform their ofuro ritual (yes, the time one has to wait to take a shower is the disadvantage of being the lowest grade), we practice kata. So one evening I was happily progressing with teaching new forms. Happily even more, for for these short periods I could become the teacher and show, that I can actually somehow know more then an other person. So I was happily progressing and one 7th dan sensei was happily fixing some mistakes in my girlfriend’s performance, then we happily progressed to the 4th kata. I happily took my position as uchidachi, K. took her taught-by-me position as shidachi and just as we were going to start a deadly clash, our intent was interrupted by a loud “NAN desu ka?!” (“What is IT?!”). And all of my hardly regained self-confidence poured away as I realized, that I, as a uchidachi, took waki kamae and tought the shidachi to take the hasso. The good form was sustained on the next day, during the synchronized kata training. On the very beginning I have been spotted by our 8th dan sensei of senseis, gripping the bokken upside-down. When he checked me for the second time and found me gripping it upside-down again, I felt like before my exam for the 5th kyu. Young again. But again, being the lowest grade has its advantages - no one seemed to care.

Unfortunately this was not the case of the Christmas tournament, or rather an end-of-the-year tournament, since here Christmas plays the role of the valentines day. So, it was the first keiko in Japan for my girlfriend and, probably, we were the only ones not knowing that there is going to be a shiai. As for me, I like shiais, especially those unexpected. I would have enjoyed it even more if the random drawing did not put in the very first fight of the shiai… me and my girlfriend. As always in such situation, I was doing my best to entertain the audience performing the stiffest-kendo-in-the-world show. Hopefully K. rescued the situation a little bit. Fortunately, afterwards I was facing only 5th and 6th dans, so I did not care much about winning and I managed to win once more and perhaps managed to be a little bit less stiff. The tournament was won by a foreigner, who managed to overcome everyone with his aggressiveness and not caring. This style often pays and really reminds me of one Polish kendoka.



To avoid breaking all the ties with my practice back in Poland, I started to continue my tsuki crusade. I thought it was going to be a similar crusade as in my country, since at the very beginning of my practice here I was informed by one foreign 3rd dan, that if I attempt to strike tsuki, I have to be prepared to receive ten times more tsukis back. So it took me 3 months of practice until I have decided to try for the first time. So far 3 quite successful tsuki attempts in ippon-shobu, 2 on 7th dans and… no payback. Nothing except smiles and continuation of fighting, even when I fail the tsuki badly. I hope that one day soon they will actually decide the tsuki was good enough to count it as a score in the ippon-shobu. But so far very rarely my men counts as such. The heritage of my Polish tsuki “psychological” training is that after an attempt to strike, even successful, I become very tense expecting angry payback. I have to mention that there were some people back in Poland with which I could practice this technique normally. Unfortunately, minority. When I was leaving the attitude seemed to improve and I hope it was not a wishful thinking.

This entry is going to be about a one place in Tokyo worth seeing. Disaster Prevention Center in Ikebukuro - joining pleasant with useful. This time no pictures, just one video - you probably need to click on it to see it. I must admit that I am, as a person coming from a very seismically-uneventful region, still quite excited about earthquakes. Earthquake is a disaster because of the causalities and loses it causes. But if we somehow magically took that factors out, it is… a kind of a roller coaster ride, at least for some people. But let’s face reality - avoiding loses during the earthquake is inevitable unless… you simulate it in a controlled environment. And that is what Disaster Prevention Centers often have in their offer: “Earthquake experience centers”.

You step on a mobile platform or about 5x3 meters dimensions with a table and chairs on it. Around are projectors adding some animation to the simulation and displaying some earthquake information. When the signal comes you are to hide beneath the table and the platform starts to dance. It is really cool, but there are better and worse programs. I think in general there are six programs, 4 of them based on real earthquakes. The worst one is an invented one of short amplitude earthquake, so avoid it if you are forced to make a choice. I am not sure about the experience of the long amplitude earthquake. It may feel “simple”, although on the movies it looked like a most destructive one.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zwo32fmup78j5t0/earthdrill.mp4

During an earthquake one is to hide beneath something and here it was a table. Additionally we were instructed to grab table legs. However, we were told to grab the legs close to the table during a vertical earthquake, to avoid our hands being smashed. The vertical earthquake is unfortunately not simulated here, but supposedly the table would jump half a meter above the ground during such a disaster of 7th magnitude. We asked what is the point of hiding beneath the table when it jumps. However the conclusion that it could smash your head when jumping was lost in translation and the question remains open.

The other useful and fun thing that we attended in the center was a fire simulation. It seem nothing special - you are sitting on a bench in a room and then the fire alarm stars and smoke begins to pour in. You are to crawl on the floor below the smoke and get out with evacuation exits, remembering to close each door after you. The smoke is filling the space from the ceiling, so for a long time air remains close to the floor - that is why one should crawl. The system has sensors of the position of evacuating people and of all the doors, so outside you can observe how the group is evacuating. I recommend it to everyone - even though the evacuation exits are clearly marked, two leading people from my group came through a wrong door, probably not even thinking about the sings, and had to be recalled. So an easy thing was not so easy and could cost them their lives. Also, one would probably not think about closing doors behind him without such a drill.

Additionally I have seen pictures that you can play with fire extinguisher, reanimation and so on, but that was not enough time for us to do that. Especially fire extinguisher would be fulfilling childhood dreams of many boys. A shame. The one thing I would like to do is not to hide beneath the table during the simulated earthquake but try to walk. Maybe if one is on a lonely visit, this could be negotiated. To summarize - it is useful, it is a real fun and it is free. Google this centre or any other closer to you and go.

Who as a child did was not amazed seeing a person from a different ethnic group for the first time? For those of you who are from multi-ethnic countries this may sound exotic, but I still may feel somewhat lost talking to a person from an ethnic group that I never encountered before, for the first time. Of course, this “feeling lost” was a completely different type of feeling when I was a child. For me it was amazement and curiosity, but for some it could be different.

As we are all human (maybe I am unaware of some non-human being reading this blog - in this case I am sorry), so such reactions are rather universal. This time I am the stranger from an alien ethnic group in Japan. While in Tokyo a stranger like me is a common view, I have heard that it is not the case in other Japanese cities. Recently I have visited friend in Nagoya and it seems likely.

From Nagoya we went to Inuyama, to see the castle - one of few originally preserved in Japan. After the arrival it was time to grab some snack in the local shop - oden - a soup filled with some things, that you are free to choose. So “to choose” in that case meant an attempt to throw my 3-year-old’s (or maybe I would better compare to an infant?) Japanese language on the shop keeper. During my exhausting struggle to understand and answer some questions, the two primary school girls waiting in the queue were observing me with an unfettered attention and after a while started to laugh loudly. I am not sure what exactly was so funny in the foreigner struggling to order a soup, but perhaps in their place I would laugh too. So I only smiled.

There were 4 of us, so when coming back in the metro we took 2 places near one wall and 2 on the opposite side, to talk freely. I set close to a child which I did not pay an attention to. But quickly I was informed by a friend sitting opposite to me:

 - Be careful. Stop moving so much and talk a little bit quieter. The child next to you is terrified.
 
So I looked to my side and there it was, a boy pushing himself as far as he could into a corner of the sit, trying to hide his head between his arms and focusing his sight on his chest. Well, he better get used to it - we just started taking over this island!

My last activity in Nagoya was visiting okonomiyaki restaurant. Yo get the ingredients and fry it yourself on the hot plate built into the table. We took for types of okonomiyaki and attempted to fry them ourselves. We asked for an instruction in English and surprisingly there was one! However, appreciating their attempts, the effect would be better if they used a google translate or a similar tool. I am not exaggerating - there were some instructions that we could not understand no matter how hard we tried. Fortunately it can be more or less deduced from a general cooking experience. Anyway, we were learning and even though the results became better with each dish, we produced terrifying amounts of smoke. The fact is, that a significant amount of that smoke decided to find a comfortable cradle in our clothes.

So we were coming back with the metro and people around us were covering their noses and moving a little bit away. When I sited in the shinkansen - the bullet train - back to Tokyo, a young man siting close to me quickly started using his blouse to cover his nose. Fortunately, as most Japanese do, he quickly fall asleep and did not have to perform such a workout anymore. I wonder, what smelly dream did he have. I hope that none of this people decided that it is in a nature of every foreigner to reek.

However, similar situations can vastly improve language skills. During the beginning one keiko two senseis decided that me and another person should do kata forms in front of them. Well, it was a little bit surprising for me, so I repeated the good quality I learned a long time ago during my 5th kyu exam - I started with the wooden sword - bokken - upside down. And at this moment I was enlightened, a grace fall upon me, for I could understand as clear as my own language, their:

- Hahaha! He is holding his sword upside down!

Fortunately since my 5th kyu exam I am very able at fixing such upside-down sword issues quickly. The second laugh was after another keiko, after a small “ending party” I decided to help to wash the dishes. So I stepped into the small room with the sink and slipped my foot into the slippers, which are a common thing in a places like this and toilets. So all of the remaining people, including senseis, gathered behind me and had a good long laugh seeing half of my foot protruding out of the slippers.

The sensei who picked me up the first time I came to this dojo invites me to his training with high school or middle school kids - I am not sure, but probably not as young as those on the picture below. I will definitely go one day, so the kids are going to have a large share of their laugh on the stranger too.

Five days after arrival to Japan, on the first weekend, I decided that I want to do some sightseeing. But the stink of the past was not the thing that my nostrils begged for on this day, but rather a fresh breath of plastic and silicone. I started to look for a cellphone. The best place? Akihabara, of course, being the Tokyo centre for electronic articles, and as it came out, manga and anime. So I took a map of Tokyo, a map of Tokyo metro, a guide and walked to the Wako-shi station to descend into the depths of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area metro. So I did descend only to start staring at the ticket machines and the large map of the Tokyo metro hanging on the wall, which accidentally happened to be only in Japanese with kanji names for the stations. Fear not! My wait was not long, for soon was I assassinated by an unforgettable voice screaming “Porando! Porando!”. For those of you who do not dwell in the abyss of eastern mouthproducts, this means: “Poland! Poland!”. So hit by the voice I rotated and saw the same Japanese woman that helped me to get to the Riken the day I arrived. This time she also wanted to help, so she asked the metro worker, what is the best way to get to Akihabara. The way was not the same as I anticipated, but this time it worked flawlessly. We spend a moment on the station waiting for different trains and it occurred that she exactly remembers why did I came, how long will I stay and so on. Amazing - I hope I will meet her again one day.

So I arrived in Akihabara after more than an hour long ride and ascended to the ground, feeling a burning hole in my stomach. After a few peeks into the Japanese bars I was disoriented enough to let my senses drag me to the only place that looked somewhat familiar - McDonalds. What was my surprise when I saw that the fanta I got is coke coloured and with a… grape taste. I note here that the sprite is more similar to what we are used to, but they seem to add ginger to it.

The walkways were crowded both with ordinary people and shops/bars stuff loudly advertising their abidings. It has to be noted, that while advertisements of electronic shops where nothing spectacular, having half of the walkway occupied by girls dressed in anime-style clothing was something quite pleasant for the eye. However, I have noted that the girls rarely catch eye contact with the people they give leaflets to. I wonder if they would attract more customers if they did.

My sightseeing continued when I was approached by a 30 year old looking Japanese gentleman with a small rolled towel in his hand. He started speaking something, but at my obvious incomprehension he put the towel to his crotch and started moving the hand along it. So I quickly found Japanese words for “no, thank you” in my head, used them and left the still speaking gentleman behind. I wonder - gay or advertising a brothel?

The trip took me a long time and finally, I wanted to visit the biggest shop in Akihabara - Bic Camera. Even though it is biggest it was not easy to find it. It was not advertised on any of the main walls of the building in which it resided. The entrance was in a small side street and you had to know where to walk to get there. I left with nothing except the experience. Although in my guide and the Internet there was information that in all the shops staff is English speaking, I had no luck. In one shop to my question about English there was a universal gesture-based answer. In the second the girl went for someone, but came back with noone, in the third the woman actually spoke English enough to translate me the price of the phone which was anyway written in Arabic numerals.

So if you go to Akihabara for shopping, beware, for you may still not understand what you are getting.

It seems that an overexposure to the Japanese food, weather, air and lifestyle in general is making me sentimental, for today’s entry is going to be a trip to the past of some sort and it will be shortly followed by an another, similar entry. But worry not! The story is still in Japan, and this time nothing about Kendo, except this sentence.

In the first entry I described how I got to Wako, but not how I got to Riken and this is yet another story, that had some consequences. So I got from the bus near Wako-shi station, stretched my body in 30 C Japanese October air and collected my luggage. I moved to the side a little bit to get a better view on the surroundings and started to study my maps with road to Riken. And now a quiz: do the Google Streetview photos on the printed route show the street after you take described turn, or before? I still do not know, for I was not allowed an enlightenment coming from the experience. As I was standing there apparently looking as a lost gaijin, a middle-aged Japanese women approached me and asked me what am I looking for. Even though my mind was almost set up, I did not want to start my interaction with locals with being rude, so I explained. This resulted in her jolly offer to guide me to the institute. So she guided and I dragged my two bags sweating in the sun (it is worth mentioning that she offered to help me, but I declined - stupid me). Twice she asked someone for directions and I understood basically that we still have more or less 5 minutes to go. Now I know that we did a slight detour, which I would not have done with my maps. So about 50 meters from the institute she showed me the further way, I thanked her and she left.

The problem was, that if I followed my maps I would have known, where am I. In this case I had completely no idea. Also, the matter of “turn right there” became somewhat of the problem, for obviously her “there” was not my “there”. So, again, I started walking in the heat, along the institute fence, not knowing that it is the institutes fence. Bags become heavier and heavier, so finally I swallowed my masculine pride and asked someone for the direction. finally I arrived within Riken boundaries. On the exactly opposite side that I should enter, the side being the farthest from the Wako-shi station. I was quite fortunate that one man inside a building that I approached confirmed that this is Riken and after 20 minutes of calling and searching on the map (my building is not the main “physics” building and I did not know it) he got where I should go. It is worth mentioning, that he hardly spoke English and we had to communicate mostly in a grunt-and-wave manner, sometimes a grunt replaced by a Japanese word that I accidentally remembered. During his calls, I decided to buy a cold, sweet ice-tea in the nearest dispenser. That way I learned that the ice-tea in Japan is usually a chilled standard tea, definitely not sweet. Finally he guided me through the whole Riken to my lab.

I arrived, introduced myself to the workmates, got the keys into my flat and went there to change my all wet clothes. I was a little bit worried that I am completely out of shape, for I feel tired after dragging two bags with wheels. However, it occurred that the one bag has actually became an asphalt-sleigh, weighting only 20 kg. From the amount of the bag obliterated, probably just after I got to Wako.

As probably all kendokas know, on Saturday the All Japan Kendo Championship had been held, so this entry is again - nearly all kendo. Some of the not(fully)kendo stuff is at the very end. For my kendo in Japan adventure started quite a short time ago, I will not dwell on the quality of fights, points, etc, but rather on the behaviour of people. First of all, the publicity. The hall was huge, therefore publicity was somewhat isolated, which is often impossible during the Kendo events held in Europe. Some people came with children, who were interested in their games, not the game. However, I have seen no people with infants or very little children. What does it mean? You could watch matches in peace. There was no problem with people eating during the fights, or talking, which is probably the result of the size of the tribunes.

Changes of the referees were smooth and elegant, although there was no military kind of drill applied - their marching in and out lacked simultaneity that is required in the army. It was just natural. The players were preparing themselves on mats placed (from my point of view) on the left side of shiaijos. They entered shiaijo mostly with 2-3 steps, then rei, sonkyo and hajime. After the point many players, during the walk-back to their positions, adjusted their nakayui, etc., without prior speaking with the referees. There was no hansoku for that - it seems that it is perfectly legal to touch your sword when the fight is not ongoing. The hajime before the next point was not always spoken when the players were perfectly still. I cannot say if the referees see if the players are ready even though one is still moving a little bit or is it just a fact, that the player has to be ready when the referee restarts the fight, which was not always the case.

There is no one waiting close to the shiaijo with replacement shinai for the player, nor the player places his spare shinais on the mat or close to the shiaijo. If the shinai was broken, player always left the field and someone, probably his sensei, ran in with the shinai bag, and player prepared his new sword - put on the tsuba and the tsubadome. If one of the players had to wait for another, he did it most of the time in sonkyo, but there were also the cases with sitting in seiza. If there was a hansoku, in all cases that I have seen, a player bowed to the referee confirming that he understood the consequences.

The players were leaving the shiaijo moving slow 5 steps backward, followed by a slow, simultaneous rei. Then another steps and possible reis were not as formal. Then they were moving to the mats placed on the right side of the field arranged, as the left ones, facing each other. So they were approaching the mats, bowing to each other, making seiza and removing their kote. If one made it faster then the other, he was waiting for his opponent and then they simultaneously were starting to take men off. Then gathering of the equipment, standing up, simultaneous formal rei and not as formal stepping from the mat and moving out. The waiting for the opponent before starting to remove the men looked really honourable.

The thing that was really cool and perhaps could be introduced in European countries was transformation of the shiaijo. Before quarter-finals, there were to neighbouring shiaijos. From the quarterfinals there was only one shiaijo, centered in respect to the previous fields. So they had to change the lines and it went really smooth. It turned out that those two fields borders were not made from a single tape line for each side. Instead, some of them were made from two. So they removed only parts of the old shiaijos’ borders, and had just to connect the remaining lines with the tape. So there was no new measuring or deciding where to place the shiaijo, just simple “follow the points”, except for the taping in the new centre of the field. So we had a new, centered shiajo in seconds and I imagine that I do not have to explain, that the visual appearance of following fights was much better this way than when you just leave all remaining shiaijos empty and make the finals on once, most of the time not centered, shiaijo, as was on all taikai that I have seen in Europe.

And now back to the Kendo that I can attend and to which I can aspire. This Sunday was my first weekend, normal keiko in the Kobukan dojo. It comes out, that on weekend, there is a well known drill. The keiko was 2-hours, extended with stretching. It started with a voiceless suburi to the mirror. Then group warm-up (no running, just movement of body parts without displacement) and suburi. Simply 30 jogeburi, shomenburi, sayumenburi and 50 hayasuburi. It is interesting that no one shouts the final men in hayasuburi. Then people gathered in groups of three and a few rounds of kirikaeshi followed. First sayumen, then sayudo. After the kirikaeshi straight men which was quickly improved by the sensei, which explained that all have to start with sonkyo, then moving to the distance were shinais barely start to touch each other, and then the seme with kiai begins. After a moment motodachi has to open and then the men is striked. However, I have noticed that it was not always sort of debana exercise, for if the seme was strong enough, the senseis just slowly removed the pressure from their shinai and your attack smoothly followed. The men was changed then to men and debana/oji waza vs. men. It all took about an hour, maybe a little less. The remaining 30 minutes were, as always, jigeiko.

I have to mention that this time there was also a beginner, an older man in a sports suite, who were involved in all the exercises except the jigeiko. And instead of oji waza he simply did men. Then stretching, seires and the keiko ended.

Afterwards we went to grab some drink to a small pub-like place, but pubbish in a Japanese way. 20 people were crowded on perhaps 20 square meters and lots of that was occupied by a bar, grills and huge clay barrels or maybe jars with sake. People were standing by high tables, some of them placed on a drink boxes. The food was really good, perhaps because it was new to me. In general, the orders, except the first, were made by shouting all over the place to the barman/waiter. Who sometimes came, but most of the time moved up his/hers hand or shouted back.

Then I had to discover slightly different means of commuting in Tokyo. The yurakucho line was off, therefore I had to go by two trains to the Ikebukuro. Definitely the one thing that gives the trains point over the metro is the fact, that you actually see something more then tunnel walls.