Fuji-san

On Friday 28th August I got on a night bus in Honjo and 9 hours later I got off in Tokyo. I met up with another ALT who works in Akita city. We hung around for a bit waiting for restaurants and toilets to open. Strangely many of the toilets in Tokyo station close for the night!

We were on our way to Mt. Fuji, the tallest mountain in Japan, standing at 3,776m (12,388 ft).

We got a bus to the 5th station, which is at an altitude of 2,305m (higher than Mt. Chōkai). After a few preparations and a light stretch we were more that ready to head off, unprepared up Mt. Fuji. It about 14:30 when we set off and the weather was a little cloudy.


There were way more people on the mountain that I expected, even though every website we had read beforehand warned of human traffic. After about a half an hour or so we could see the lines of people climbing the mountain in stop-start motion. About the same time we noticed a different path that only had people descending on it. So we decided to try that trail!

As it turned out there are 2 main routes on the side we took (Yoshida trail; 吉田ルート), one for going up and one for coming down. So we were going up the down route. And luckily for us it had no traffic what-so-ever. There were plenty of people coming down but they did not interfere with our assent nor did we interfere with their descent. It was a more difficult route however, as the trail was all loose stones.

We hiked for up and up, gradually taking breaks more regularly. We were lucky enough to only encounter one rain shower on the way up, and even that only lasted about 10 minutes.


We were making really good time. Too good in fact, as we reached the 8th station at about 6pm. Our plan was to get to the top in time to watch the sun rise. But we really hadn't researched it very well at all. We were able to buy pot noodles at the 8th station which was a welcome change to the many onigiris we were eating!

I asked in the cabins if there was space, so that we could sleep for a few hours before continuing to the top. But all the cabins were completely booked up. So we resorted to buying some hot sake, putting on all our warm clothes and trying to sleep outside one of the cabins!

We were not the only one to have not reserved a cabin. We also met a French couple who were in the same boat as ourselves. We all huddles together, kinda like emperor penguins, to try conserve body heat. But with no blankets, and lying on the cold clay, we were fighting a loosing battle. We resorted to taking regular trips to the toilets, which were surprisingly heated! We would have slept there if there wasn't a horrible stench.


At about 12:30am we gave up on trying to get sleep and decided to head for the top; as we knew climbing would warm us up. So with our headlamps on, we slowly hiked the remaining 900m to the top. Along the way people were randomly sleeping along the path, and although they were smart enough to bring sleeping pads and blankets, they still did not look warm!

By 2:30am we had reached the top of the mountain, and traversed the ridge to the summit at the opposite side of the mountain! This is us standing on the highest point of Japan!


We now had to wait another 2 and a half hours before sunrise! So we found a sheltered area and tried to sleep again. I didn't get any sleep! But looking up at the night sky from the top of Mt. Fuji is quite the sight. There was no clouds above us so we could see the stars which were amazingly bright. I also got to see many shooting stars!

Eventually the sky lost it's grip on complete darkness, and one by one the stars faded. We could then see that there was a sea of clouds (雲海) beneath us. As one part of the horizon was becoming lighter we knew where the sun was going to rise. And the crowds began to arrive. We all awaited the sunrise.


One cloud on the horizon was slightly obscuring the sunrise, but it was very impressive none the less!


The one rather strange thing that happened over this weekend was that I never actually got to see Mt. Fuji! I mean I never got to see it from a distance which was kinda strange! I will have to go again sometime.

Soba

During school summer holidays, on 18th August, one of the teachers from Iwaya elementary school, Kishi sensei, decided to have a Soba workshop. He often makes soba at home and really enjoys it. So he wanted to teach his co workers how to make them!

We started out by mixing 400g of buckwheat flour (そば粉) with 100g of all-purpose flour (つなぎ or 中力粉), and measuring 4 cups of water with precise amounts of 168ml, 21ml, 15ml and 6ml. We also used uchiko flour (打ち粉) for dusting, though buckwheat flour can also be used. This makes enough for 5 people.


First we gradually added the water to the flour. The flour first became clumpy, then it formed ball. These were rolled over the smaller pieces to blend them together. And for the bits that wouldn't stick the remaining water was added. When one large ball was formed it was kneaded 100 times; turning slightly and pushing into the centre of the ball. Then to close the hole we rolled it into a snout, and then rolled that snout back into the ball, to form an almost perfect ball!


This ball was then flattened onto a floured board to a thickness of 8 CDs. Using a rolling pin we rolled it, then rotated it 45 deg, then rolled it again, until we got it to a thickness of 4 CDs. We then put flour on top of the dough with extra flour on the vertical axis of the circle. Then the dough was wrapped around the rolling pin (or pipe in this case!), and rolled 4 times. Next it was unwrapped, flour was put on the other axis and the procedure was repeated again. This process happened twice. After which we just used the rolling pin to roll the dough into a squarish shape, with a thickness of about 1 CD.

When the thickness of just 1 CD was reached, half the dough was covered in flour, and the dough was folder over itself. Then half of that was floured and again folded over itself. Then one last time!


It was now ready to be cut! So with a menkiri bocho (麺切り包丁）or soba knife we cut the noodles into strips about 1～2mm thick. Some people found this to be very difficult. Personally I though it was quite easy, it just took a bit of time.


This was my end product. It was really tasty!


Kishi sensei had made sauce beforehand which he gave to all of us. After you cook the soba in boiling water, you save the water. And after eating the noodles you take the remaining sauce and add it to the soba water and drink it. It's so good!

Kishi sensei get all his ingredients online from Takayama Seihun.

Sumo Grand Tour

Every summer the top sumo division tour around northern Japan and perform exhibitions. Last year I went for the first time and was lucky enough to meet yokozuna Asashōryū (one of the greatest yokozunas ever; from Mongolia) and Baruto (from Estonia).

This years exhibition was on August 13th and although I didn't meet either yokozuna this time we did meet Baruto again! He was in the konbini getting some snacks!


This was the picture I took with him last year!


And this is when we got to meet Asashōryū


I love sumo!

4 days, 4 festivals and a Mountain

The Shōbu Carnival (菖蒲カーニバル) is the first summer festival in Honjo every year. It's a small street festival where people of all ages dance to a single song, the Shōbu song I believe, played over and over again. And it draws huge local crowds every year. And there are lots of stalls selling festival food!

We went to the park to indulge in some yakisoba and beer and found that there was a band playing there. The band, Bronze, were an interesting bunch. They had bass, sax, drums and guitar/koto. Koto is a traditional Japanese instrument and usually played with the fingers and small small picks attached to your fingers. This band was using sticks to play it! I took this video.


The next day, 1st August, I met Akagawa-san to climb Mt. Gassan. He's a 56 year old guy I went hiking with last year, I think he's the head of a hiking group in Yokote city. Mt. Gassan (月山) is the highest of the three holy mountains in Dewa Sanzan, a 2 and a half hour drive south from where I live.

It was a little bit cloudy during our hike but pretty good conditions otherwise. The hike itself was not that difficult for me. But I was really surprised with the age of some people who were climbing it. There was definitely men and women over 70 years of age climbing it! And on the way up with found an old woman lying down, barely able to talk. She had decided to climb on her own, and obviously wasn't able for it. Some guys called the rescue crew to get her!

This is a statue that you can pray to for long life.


When we arrived at the summit we paid 500 yen to have a priest to say a prayer over us, and Akagawa-san was there to pray for his daughter to pass her entrance exam into high school.

We made good time coming down, and went for an onsen before we headed back home.

That sunburned evening I went to the second summer festival in Honjo, the Honjo Fireworks River Festival (本荘川まつり花火大会). Fireworks are really popular in Japan, and a lot more impressive than the shows we get at home.

The next day I headed to Amori prefecture to see the Nebuta Festival. It was a 4 hour drive north to Hirosaki where our hostel was, and then another train journey to Aomori city. Nebuta is a large scale lantern festival. Unfortunately when we were there it was lightly raining so all the floats had plastic sheets protecting them. It was very impressive none the less! In the picture you can see all the people under the float pushing it around.



The next day, Monday, we went to see rice field artistry! I had only discovered this place actually existed the week before. I had seen pictures on the Internet a long time ago but assumed that it was created using computers. The tambo art is in a place called Inakadate, close to Hirosaki city. You can climb up a castle and look down on the fields. It was really amazing!





They had a free outdoor foot onsen right beside the fields too, which was a nice little addition.

We then left Aomori and headed back to Akita city for my fourth festival in as many days, Kanto festival (竿燈まつり). This is a really cool festival where glowing lanternsin the shape of rice ears, are balanced on peoples hands, hips and heads (like the guy in this photo!).


This is a cool video I took at the end of the festival, when the guys really didn't care about damaging their lanterns!

Honjo Oiwake National Competition

I recently started learning Honjo Oiwake on the shamisen. It's quite a difficult song to play, but it's known to be one of the most difficult songs to sing! And there is a National competition every year in Honjo. Myself and Paul, one of the new ALTs went to check it out. I was unsure of exactly what kind of competition it was.

We arrived at 9am just in time for the start, which opened with about 10 shamisen players playing some really cool song. And after the opening ceremony was finished the competition started.

A short version of the song was played, by the musicians who opened the ceremony, and singers came out with their numbers on and sang the song. Then the next person came out and sang, then the next...


By 11:30 we had seen nearly 70 versions of the exact same song!! We decided to leave early. The competition actually continued until 5:30. Perhaps next year I'll go to the second half of the competition and see if anything exciting happens near the end!


It seemed quite strange to have a competition with only one song. I don't think that would happen in other countries, I imagine people wouldn't have patience to sit in a room for a whole day listening to the same song.