Sushi Deshi, 1 year in Japan

So, Aude arrived on the 10th of August at 23h, Haneda Airport. I`ll remember this date!

We had been almost 5 months away from each other, and this was enough. We didn`t really have time to think about how to react after such a long time, since we had to rush to get to Narita airport to catch our flight for Hokkaido. So I guide her through all these foreign signs and I have to confess I was proud to lead the way, I remember how lost I felt when I arrived at Narita, So I made it as smooth as possible for her.

After a few hours of break in the airport, we flew to Hokkaido for a road trip of 9 days! It was awesome. At first I was planning not to have any plan, and go with the flow. But many Japanese people told me "you should book". I was like "Yeah...". They were like "No, really you should book". And when I realized our trip was coinciding with the annual Japanese Holiday week, I pulled my fingers out and start booking all these nice Ryokan hotels. I don`t regret it now.

We went from the land of Hot springs (Noboribetsu) to the land of Bears (Shiretoko) going through the highest mountain of Hokkaido (Mount Asahi-like the beer- Dake, 2400 meters), visiting farms filled with colorful flowers and lavender fields. We ate eggs that were cooked by the steam of volcanos, saw some deers, bear poop and swim naked in a public hotspring. In one word, Amazing. If you don`t believe me, check the pictures below. (Spoil alert: There are no pictures of the hot spring)

After Hokkaido, we went back to Tokyo, where Aude was really expected by everyone! We were invited at many occasions, and everybody was very nice to her. I suspect they want us to stay :)

As an exemple, one of the student at the dojo, told me he`d like to invite us for dinner, as his wife is a very good cook. On the same day, there was a matsuri (festival) close to his house. So we went there, had a look at the matsuri, and went at his place. It was a family birthday dinner.... We felt so embarrassed at first, but everybody was so nice that we quickly forgot. One week of nice people, and nice encounters.

After that, we flew to Bali to celebrate Sensei Jon and Sharon`s wedding. I was very glad to see some friendly faces. As much as I like living in Japan, It made me feel that I still want to go back to my life in Melbourne. So it was great to catch up and we partied like it was 1999.

We went on a road trip for 3 days with Takayama Sensei, Takashima Sensei, Igor Sensei, and Yohei San to Aizu, in the Fukushima prefecture.

Aizu was known to be the land of Samourai, and is quite famous for the story of Byakkotai ("White Tiger force"), a group of 19 teenage Samourais who committed Seppuku, while overlooking their Castle in flames, thinking that they failed protecting it. So it`s a place full of history, especially martial arts history.

We continued our trip going further north, passing by many nice villages, that you would think they only exist in movies.

And this was my first experience of Ryokan, or Japanese Traditional hotel. A tattami room, a nice Onsen (Public bath), people wearing Yukata (light kimonos) all over the place, even outside, some very nice food, Futon prepared for you, that would be some of the features of a Ryokan.  And the usual suspects:

We then went to the area destroyed by the tsunami. It was very impressive to see the damage, a huge boat across the road, some remains of the foundations of houses, buildings upside down... As an example here is a before-after picture, where you can see that the entire forest have been wiped out by the tsunami. There`s only one tree left, that is now being visited by many tourists as a Holy tree.

So it was a very nice trip, and a good opportunity to get to know people a bit more, outside of the dojo.

More pictures of the trip:

During my homestay, Nitta Sensei`s son, Takato, took me to Kamakura, a small city of the Kanagawa prefecture, south west from Tokyo, by the ocean. It used to be the Capital of Japan, and house of Shogun during the Kamakura Period. It`s quite famous for its several temples and particularly the big Buddha, who is overflowed by tourists, including me. Some of the temples were very inspiring, see pictures below. People were practicing Archery in one of those very quiet places. I`d kill for a dojo like that. (Not very buddhist thought, I know) 

So we had a nice day trip, good food and interesting discussions about religions. I`m often trying to make them talk about religion, but everytime, I hit a wall. "So, can you tell me about the different religions?", "Aaah, It`s complicated..." Just tell me please! I understood that there were many different branches of Bhuddism, sometimes called cults. The main religion being Shintoism, or worshipping the Nature itself. That`s it for now, investigation in progress...

For more pictures of this day trip:

In the first days of april, I did my first visit to Kawagoe together with Takashima Sensei and Onodera Sensei. There is a kids class every monday, so from now I will go and assist both of them during the class. 

Kawagoe is about on hour north east from Tokyo, and is known as the little Kyoto, with many ancient houses and building, lot of charm.

There was some kind of festival the days we went, during the Sakura blossom, so the result is very nice. Kirei desu ne!

We went for a tourist tour with the Russian crew to Asakusa, to visit the Meiji Shrine.