Year of the OX

According to the Asian calender the Year of 2009 is the Year of the Ox. People born in the Year of the Ox are patient, speak little, and inspire confidence in others. They tend, however, to be eccentric, and bigoted, and they anger easily. They have fierce tempers and although they speak little, when they do they are quite eloquent. Ox people are mentally and physically alert. Generally easy-going, they can be remarkably stubborn, and they hate to fail or be opposed.

The image of Ox is showing a lot in the Japanese everyday life and especially at the shrines:

Geki uma desu

Food is so delicious, different and interesting on this side of the world

Lake Toya and onsens

During our stay in Hokkaido we stayed at Lake Toya and more specific in Hotel Kawanami (http://www2.ocn.ne.jp/~kawanami/kawanamiindex2008-4-10.html). So despite the volcanic interruptions, Toya-ko Onsen town remains a popular spot for soaking. Though this line probably means summer month because during our stay the town looked and felt dead. But it didn't play important role to us as our intension was to relax and experience onsen. Our hotel had an onsen section with three inside onsens and one out side. The best thing about the outside onsen was that it was that the air was cold and water warm and during the night around 20.00 there were fireworks. So there we were relaxing and soaking and watching fireworks. Not bad at all!

During the day we visited Showa Shin-zan which is a volcano that was created from the Uzusan eruption in 1943. While being personal property (so do you a car? no but i have a volcano), it is also appointed as the nation's special natural monument. Also the view of Lake Toya was peaceful. Oh, and almost forgot...the town was full of foot onsens just remember to take your own towel and dip in when ever you feel like it :) How nice and relaxing.

The Streets Were White, Really White

Planning trips is always fun and you have a picture in your head that the sun is shining and moving from place A to B is the easiest thing to do and you just can’t wait to see the postcard scenery.

I had booked a nice ryokan for us in Lake Toya, which is little bit far from Sapporo (almost 3 hours by bus) and the owners seemed nice and had also visited Kemijärvi (how weird is that again). Flying with stand by tickets is always “fun” (read frustrating). A week earlier there were plenty of room at the planes from Haneda to Chitose and because the flight frequency is high we decided just to show up at the airport. Good or bad choice? Hard to say… the lady was kind enough to give us stand by numbers and told all important information forgetting one thing that we found out from a man who kindly told that because of the snowstorm all the flight were cancelled the previous day which means that all the planes today are full. Oh well…we are use to this even though it’s no fun. At least we could enjoy the scenery: Mt Fuji. Our luck again we got seats to the next plane which was better than we expected. Smile in our face we lined up when the announcement came “ due to the bad weather conditions in Sapporo this plane might return to Tokyo, sorry for the inconvenience”. WHAT??

Well it sounds like a bad start but we got to Sapporo and literally the streets were white. Even the runway was totally, totally white. So no wonder why the flights might get cancelled. It seems that the Japanese don’t use salt or any other poison to clear out the snow and the most amazing thing was that people knew how to drive and the traffic was smooth. You might think that in Finland people would no how to behave during winter times but know, the whole traffic is in chaos….

Sapporo is known for its Snow Festival (Yuki Matsuri) that is always held in February. This year it started on the 5th and ended up on the 11th, we got there on the 8th (see how far behind I am with my updates, ups). To be honest the festival might be the only reason why to go to Sapporo in the first place because the city to me looked boring and little ugly as well and I really didn’t get a good impression. One reason might be the bad weather though. It was freezing cold and wet snow was coming down the whole day. The sculptures looked pretty. There are two parts the big snow “statues” and ice-sculptures. As I was kindly informed by Gallagher and Gavin that the food in Hokkaido is the best thing we had some pretty nice lunch at the Nijo Fish Market and some nice ramen at Lake Toya. Thank you for the tips guys!

Mom, Me and Tokyo

Mom got in to Tokyo on the 6th and left on the 13th. Between that time we were able to do quite much and explore Tokyo and Hokkaido. And yes we did walk, walk and walk. Too bad we didn’t have the step meter with us. As some of you know my mom is a teacher in Ikebana and Origami so she already had a preliminary plan for Tokyo, which included Ikebana shops and gardens. She writes blog as well on Ikebana and Japanese culture if you are interested (http://ikebanakalenteri.blogspot.com, in Finnish).

February is a time for Ume, which is the plum tree or Japanese Apricot the tree and the flowers looks similar to cherries (at least to my eye). We spotted some few gardens where to enjoy these beautiful trees and our luck was the sunny and really warm weather. The best garden I thought was the Koishikawa Korakuen. It is rather small but worth it. We also visited the Imperial Palace East Garden, which is a huge place and looks like a fun picnic spot when the grass is little bit greener. If you want to see the plum trees take the entrance of Hirakawa-mon. Finally I had a chance to visit the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, which I also recommend. Oh and then we tasted “the world famous” taiyaki, carp shaped cake (or at least famous in Tokyo if you look at the line in the back street) in Nezu no Taiyaki. So of course as we are curious we lined up as well and the taste was ok nothing spectacular though but at least we tried it. Tokyo has so many faces and the areas differ a lot. Now we also visited an area, which is quiet, cousy and filled with little temples and cemeteries. The temple of Nezu has a nice torii alley and the Yanaka area has narrow and hilly roads with little shops and nice atmosphere.

In the night we enjoyed delicious Japanese food including yakitori at Shinjuku yatai area (close to the station). This little tavern area has maybe 20 little places that have seats for 8-10 people. The food is great and also the atmosphere again. We ended up being there with mom on the night when Japan met Australia in soccer. Good food, Japanese “older” people, sports and beer not a bad combination. And yes I said beer and I even surprised myself when I had beer with my food and it tasted yummy. Though make sure what you order or you might get chicken hearts and skin as well. I recommend chicken liver (I just like liver, sorry) and Japanese vegetables and clams.

The Crew

As you know my purpose in Japan is to complete a fieldwork course and then finish my thesis and graduate on June from Lund University. My master is going to be on Asian studies and more focused on the societies of Japan and Korea. As you might have guessed I’m not the only one here…so it is time to introduce the gang from Lund and Waseda. We were 9 from Lund Jessica (Thailand), Katharine (USA), Gavin (USA), Ronald (Sweden), Cony, Florrie, Cindy and Wendy (China) and me. Most of the time I’ve been spending time with Ronald, Gavin and Katharine. This was the last time I’m going to see them in a long time since I’m not heading to Lund anymore. I love technology…I’m able to defend my thesis on-line!



Time in Tokyo went by so fast but then at the same time I’ll never get tired to this country so for me probably a year would be fast. We had our last lecture and presentations on the 5th of February, which ended with nice soiree provided by Waseda (the food was so good and the drinks as well). I really enjoyed the Waseda’s way of handling things and I cannot thank enough my tutor Vera. Who is too modest to accept Thank You!!!! I actually did ended up doing some interviews and writing as well but nothing is enough when you need to finish your thesis. My feeling is that I’m going to panic sooner or later, sorry to the friends in Finland when you need to listen the endless wining. But I will be alive again after June and will spend so much more time with you!!!

The night continued with drinks and karaoke and yes, I did sing too. Even though I promised not to and as you might also know my voice sucks but I have to admit it was fun. Though not sure what is wrong with me because I always end up going out just before the morning I need to get up really early or something important is going happen. Now the reason was Mom.

Fish market, soya milk, Tokyo Tower

It’s been too long since I’ve written….sorry.

So before telling what’s up now I will go back in time. One of the must to do things in Tokyo is the Tsukiji Fish Market (http://www.tsukiji-market.or.jp). This is according to Lonely Planet and me. The guidebook suggests that you might want to be there as early as 05.00 to see the real action, which is the tuna auction. I’ve been there twice last summer and now but never that early and I’ still enjoying the place. Especially the outside market is interesting and sells all kind of things, which are related to food and fish (fishing). It’s fun to watch people and wonder around. There are good looking sushi places as well with huge lines but I’m sure they are worth it (though I’ve never tried one). Lonely Planet also suggest that don’t wear your best shoes and I do agree again as there is fish blood and other interesting things around the ground. I was happily surprised that it doesn’t smell that bad compared to the food markets for example in China. As said the outside market sells other things as well and I tried warm soya milk for 150 yen just because the old man convinced that I would look beautiful after drinking it….still waiting for that to happen. When talking about soya milk the natural one is ok but I would suggest you to taste the one that has a green tea flavor. One of the Japanese girls that I know told me that it helps you skin to look fresh and helps you to reduce your weight…I have tried to obey this advice but again nothing has happened.

Tokyo Tower “the biggest tourist trap in Tokyo” is 333 m tall. It looks like Eiffel Tower but it is 9 meters taller than it’s relative in Paris. There are two observatory decks, which are quite costly but the view is pretty nice. During clear weather you may spot Mount Fuji as we did but already at noon it vanished. If I remember correctly on Thursdays there is a jazz concert during the evening and you may enjoy the concert and night view with the same time with the same time. So, that is still on my “To do” list. There are also other options to see Tokyo through bird’s eyes. Some tall office buildings have observatory desks as well…I feel I’m writing a guidebook, which is not good. But it’s about the attractions in Tokyo…cannot help it.