Japan, through a new lens.

Hello, readers!

It's been a lovely, if insanely busy week here in Japan.  After a full week of classes and various other commitments, DW and I completed our long-awaited and much-trained-for-because-we're-out-of-shape "Ohori Koen Night Marathon" on Friday (which was not, in fact, a marathon, but a 6K).  Though we didn't set any land-speed records, we were both happy with our times and really enjoyed the event. 

"Hooray!  We did it!  Now, let's go home and get CoCo Curry delivered."

The very next day, Saturday, DW was dragged (and I mean that literally... he was blindfolded...) to a surprise birthday enkai, involving a dozen of my favorite, fun-loving coworkers.  Mostly, it was a surprise because his birthday was in October.  But it was crazy and amazing, and it was as close to the perfect enkai experience as I could imagine.

But that's not what we're talking about today on the blog.  No.  No.  Yes, I know you'd love to see drunken pictures of DW posing with my gloriously drunken coworkers, wearing giant foam hats in the shapes of cakes and pretending to be members of AKB48.  But, as the saying goes, "What happens at the enkai, stays at the enkai," and one does not anger the gods of the enkai.

As I was saying.  Today's post will be all about pictures!  (No, not those pictures.  Sheesh, guys.  Let it go.)  Recently, I've been wanting to get into photography, as a way to interact with some of the amazing places we've been visiting.  I mean, I love taking pictures, and I've really treasured the pictures I've taken with my iPhone.  But I've never had (what I would consider to be) a nice camera that actually could do the super-cool-camera things that I've been wanting to do.  So, after a week of secret shopping and obsessive online research, DW got me a wonderful present.

Ain't she a beaut?  Obviously, this is just a promotional shot I pulled from the depths of the internet, and not a picture of my actual camera.  But my camera is just as gorgeous, just as ruby red, and I love it to little DSLR pieces.  Full Confession:  I still suck at using it.  But, that's the nature of all new hobbies, right?  I've been doing everything I can think of to improve: Watching YouTube tutorials, playing with the buttons, considering reading the manual but then getting bored and playing with the buttons some more, and taking photos.  Lots and lots of photos.

So, today, I'm giving you a photo walk-through of the "Best of the Best... Sort Of," grouped by the three locations we went shooting.

KUSHIDA SHRINE.
Somehow, DW and I managed to miss visiting this long-famous Fukuoka City shrine, despite walking nearby dozens of times.  Armed with my new camera, and having no clue how to use it, we decided stop in and see what happened.

Discarded fortunes.

Dan wasn't satisfied with his, either.

Prayer plaques.

Lovely light and shadow.

AGOTO FIRE FESTIVAL.
DW attended this event solo, due to the timing and the lame, lame fact that I was at my lame (Note: not actually lame) job.  But, remembering how much we enjoyed the "Daizenji Fire Festival" earlier this year, and knowing we couldn't return, DW was determined to make the cross-city trek and check it out.  Here are a few of his favorite shots.

Priestess performs a pre-fire ritual.

Tending the fire.

Smoke, sky, and shrine.

Paper flames, real flames.

Priestly paparazzi.

Fukuoka City from the mountain top.

UMINONAKAMICHI SEASIDE PARK.
This is a place that's been on my to-do list since I arrived in Fukuoka.  But, being far out on a tiny peninsula in Hakata Bay (hence the name, which literally means, "The road in the middle of the sea."), it takes nearly an hour and a half to get to.  The good news?  It's totally worth the trip.

Waiting for our transfer at a tiny little station.

WR, about to ride a MechanoPanda. Really.

A shot from the Flower Museum.

The obligatory DW-WR selfie, now requiring 2 people to take it.

Plants, Genkai Sea in the background.

A big ole' birdie scans the beach.

Aaaaaand since we've inundated you with so many (hopefully awesome) pictures this week, we're going to leave the blog at that.  Rest assured, though, that we have many pics of delicious food and other epic adventures just waiting to be uploaded.

Thanks for reading, all!  Hope you have a fantastic week, and don't forget to feed the fish!
WR

Sumo.

What a busy time it's been!

I (WR, that is) just got through a professional conference, which required me to make a 70-minute original presentation, a hectic work schedule, which demanded lots of extra paper-marking and after hours speech-coaching, and I sat for the JLPT N4 (Japanese Language Proficiency Test, Level 4), which I hopefully didn't fail miserably.  We'll see.

It's been much the same for DW.  Between finishing up his online classes (and the various e-tests and e-projects those entail), keeping up with his regular Japanese classes, and cramming in all the "Japan" he can before returning to the states in a couple weeks, Dan has also been a busy little bee.  Or a busy little D.  Ha.  Heh.  See what I did there?

(Cough)  Anyway.

Amidst the chaos and clutter of our schedules, we still managed to find a day or two of fun.  And a day of particularly fun fun, which is also the subject of today's blog, was our trip to see the Grand Sumo Tournament in Fukuoka.

SUMO!

First off, you should know that I love sumo.  I didn't know anything about it before coming to Japan, but I really fell in love with it once I started watching it on TV.  The bouts themselves are incredibly intense and fast, separated by meaningful songs, prayers, poems, skill exhibitions, and formal ceremonies.  When watching the tournaments on TV, you don't get to see much of the ceremonies, unfortunately, only the match lead-up (that very subtle, very interesting pre-bout dance of intimidation) and the actual wrestling match.  So, when the time approached for Fukuoka's annual Grand Sumo Tournament, I knew that I really wanted to go.

I'd talked, in passing, with a few of my coworkers about my love of sumo and my hopes to go to the tournament.  Eventually, word got around to a certain teacher-friend (and former co-teacher) who came to me and said that her 6 year old daughter is obsessed with sumo, and asked if we would like to join her family and go to the upcoming tournament together.  Thrilled, I said, "Yes!" and "Thank you!" about a million times, and gave her the money for our tickets.  (And it was a fortunate thing that she bought our tickets with hers, because this year's sumo tournament sold out in absolute record time.)

So.  After weeks of busy-busy-busy schedules, Sunday, November 24th finally rolled around and DW and I finally got to see some sumo!  We arrived at the Kokusai Center around 11:00 am, wandered around the shops and stands, then entered and watched a few of the lower ranked wrestlers.  (The matches progress up the skill-ranks as the day goes on, with the newer, less-experienced wrestlers competing in the morning, and the epic, rockstar wrestlers competing in the afternoon and early evening.)  Sumo is not a knockout, round-robin style competition, which means that since it was the final day of the tournament, and the winners in every category would be determined on that very day, the wrestlers were really giving it their all.

We ducked out of the tournament for a quick lunch and, on our return, we met up with my teacher-friend and her ridiculously adorable daughter outside the arena.  Why outside, you ask?  Well, because one of this little girl's favorite things to do is wait outside for the wrestlers so that, as they are walking from their cars to the building, she can scream, "(Insert Name)-san, ganbatte kudasai!" or, "Mr. Name, Good luck!  Please do your best!" while waving these two tiny sumo stuffed characters.

The cutest sumo fan in existance.

Seriously.  Seeeeeeriously.  It's nearly the cutest thing ever.  The only thing cuter is that rare moment when a kid-friendly wrestler winks and grins at her as they walk past, and she falls into a little adorable puddle of bashful, sumo-loving giggles.

She was also gaining the attention of the crowd around us, with her knowledge of the name and stats of EVERY SINGLE WRESTLER THAT WALKED BY.  Let me put that into perspective.  There are, like, 300 sumo wrestlers, okay?  300.  And they didn't clear the car door before she recognized them, told us how they were doing in the tournament or where they were from, and then started cheering her tiny little head off for them.  Impressive, to say the least.

So, we stood outside in the chilly fall sunshine, cheering alongside her for a bit, before we returned to our seats with some snacks and beverages, ready to watch more sumo action!  Click HERE to see the English Sumo guide we were given at the tournament, and below are some picture highlights from the bouts we saw and the tournament grounds.

As you can see, the arena is pretty empty in the morning.

The one on the right is "Ripped-White-Guy-san."

The one on the right is Gagamaru.
And he's FREAKING HUGE.

Me and my favorite wrestler, Harumafuji!

One of my souvenirs: Sumo trading cards!

The ceremony just before the last round of bouts.
These are the big guns, ya'll.

The pre-match Yokozuna skill display.  Go, Harumafuji!

Pumping up for the final match!  Hakuko v. Harumafuji.  Ganbatte!

Fukuoka's Kokusai Center, packed to the gills with sumo fans!

In the end, my very favorite wrestler, the down-to-earth and friendly Harumafuji-san, overcame the popular powerhouse Hakuko-san (who came into this tournament on a 5-tournament-winning-streak).  I think Harumafuji's win was a surprise to many, but little girl, DW, and I cheered our heads off and waved our hand-made signs in gleeful victory.  It was truly a fantastic end to a wonderful day.

And you'd like to see even more fantastic and wonderful moments from Japan (See what I did there?  Segue!), check out our additional daily-life-categorically-gathered-photo-highlights, below.

Thanks for reading, everyone!  And don't forget to feed the fish!
WR

_____________________________________________________

DW went exploring in a park near my work and took this lovely shot.

The Christmas Market has arrived in Hakata!
We had tasty Gluhwein and thought fondly of our German friends.

Prost!

Hakata Station's lovely winter illumination.

In our attempts to conquer the Daimyo area one restaurant at a time,
we found an izakaya-italian fusion place that served both unbelievably
good gyoza & this basil-cheese-potato-bacon thing that was AWESOME.

Also, we found the best motsunabe ever.  EVER.
It might be our new favorite Japanese food.  Really.

WR about to stick her hand in and get her fortune told.

DW has mastered the Japanese oven, so now we can
have tasty taaaaaasty oatmeal breads.

DW has also mastered the dish we ate in Korea, Jjim Dak,
which makes for a wonderful winter meal under the kotatsu.

Did you really read all the way down here?  You did?  Wow!  You're a true RowStein fan.  Thank you.  As a sign of our deep appreciation, we give you this.  Enjoy.

[insert Seoul / Soul pun here]

Mea Culpa. It's been bustling around here for the past month, so it's been hard to find a regular time for blogging.  But, though our social calendars are filling up, classes and tests are winding down so you can (hopefully) look forward to regular posts over the next months.

When last I yapped at you Whitney had just finished up her culture festival and we were about to board a plane to South Korea.  We take the high road here at The Rowstein Compendium, so rather than bombard you with our own bad Seoul-related puns we force you to do it yourself.  That way any resultant loathing isn't directed at us . . . bullet successfully dodged.

While the experience is probably par for the course for our European friends, it is a bit surreal to take an international flight that has less than an hour of flight time.  Unlike Europe, however, you still need to go through the whole customs ritual, and even though our disembarkation cards were given to us when we boarded the plane (since there is too little time to do so in the air), the process took more time than the flight itself.

Though a good catapult could probably land us in South Korea from where we are in Japan, the feel on the ground is surprisingly different.  We had an amazing time shopping at the different markets, seeing different neighborhoods, and - as per usual - eating our way around the city of Seoul.  But one of the more overarching features in the city is what remains of the fortress wall that once surrounded it, so I thought I would concentrate on that.  Fear not, however: for those of you looking for a little food porn, or a boatload of pretty pictures, just scroll to the bottom of the entry ;).

The Seoul Fortress wall was built around 1397, both as a way of protecting and delineating Hanyang -what is now Seoul- by following the ridge-line of four local mini-mountains: Bugaksan, Namsan, Inwangsan, and Naksan.  Given what the area has gone through in the intervening centuries it is unsurprising that the majority of the wall is long gone, and that the city has grown up to surround it.

Thank you to whatever Korean Tourism site originally posted this image :)

After our amazing experience with the Four Beasts Mountains in Taiwan, I was excited to look for some light, local hiking for our trip.  It didn't take much digging to figure out that the fortress wall offered the perfect opportunity to do just that.  Armed with succinct and simple-sounding directions from the always accurate interwebs we proceeded to make our way to . . . well . . . not the right place. But it was a palace we wanted to check out so we made the most of it.

Changgyeonggung and Changdeokgung Palaces

This is not the fortress wall ;)

The weather cleared up enough for us to see the fall colors in full force.

puuuurdy

N. Seoul Tower hiding in the smog.

A few hours later, and surprisingly close to where we started from we decided to grab a bite and regroup before attempting to find the the trailhead again.

A small Jjimdak (braised chicken awesomeness) restaurant

Every meal we ordered in a Korean restaurant was a table sized set meal including
at least 3 small sides (and of course kimchi)

Holy Moses was this delicious. 

After a bit more digital reconnaissance, we decided to tackle the trail from the opposite end and start with Bugaksan, the mountain just behind the President's digs, called "the blue house".

Notice the barbed wire?  Yeah, so in 1968 a group of North Korean commandos used this portion of the fortress wall in a (fortunately prevented) assassination attempt on the South Korean President.  Ever since there has been tight security along the route, with all hikers signing out a permit / wearing a tag and a sentry every X-hundred yards, making sure you aren't up to something.  Unfortunately this means picture taking is limited to selected areas.  Between that and the heavy smog from China, which blanketed the city during our stay, the images we have fail to do it justice . . . but I'll bombard you with them anyway.

The ascent to the top of Bugaksan was effectively a nonstop
erratically sized stairway which took about 20 minutes.  If I look
pleased with myself it has less to do with the ascent, and more to do
with putting some distance between myself and WR's malevolent gaze.

One of the many guard towers.  You can also see the differences in the stone used
during the different eras of wall construction.

Yatta!

Sukjeongmun Gate midway along the hike

WR also got some quality interaction with locals, including a 7 year old boy professing his hatred for Japan, and a very kind older woman who stepped away from lunch with her friend to put a grapefruit sized hunk of what can only be described as the bastard offspring of trailmix and sticky rice into a bewildered WR's hand.  In other words, it was pretty fantastic.

In addition to the gates we saw on our hike, we bumped into several more of them over the course of our explorations.

Though you can't tell from this image, this gate and wall section are smack in the middle
of a shopping district.  Surreal no?

Namdaemun Gate from the edge of
Namdaemun Market

Sorry again for the epic delay on this entry, but we will be back again by the end of the coming week with recap of all the crazy awesome things which have happened in the last 4 weeks.  For now I'm off to enjoy the four weeks I have remaining here in Japan.

Thanks as always for reading, and don't forget to feed the fish!

DW.


Food.

We got in late at night and hit a convenience store for a few
snacks.  After I tried it WR asked "How is it? Spicy? Sweet?
Salty?", after pausing I answered "Yes . . . in that order"

A shop in Insadong that made these flippin' amazing doughnut
pancake hybrid things filled with ground up walnuts and sugar.

Who knew ambrosia could be folded in half and stuck in a dixie cup?

No trip to Korea would be complete without Bibimbap

Namdaemun fried doughy things

Tteokbokki, rice cakes and fish cakes in an wicked hot chilli sauce.  I loved it.

Egg toast was everywhere!

Gwanjang Street food.

Why yes, I think I will eat one and a half fried chickens.  Thanks!

Korean barbecue with friends.

. . . adorable

Our first full nights meal at a pork hock restaurant. soooooo tasty.

Exploration.

The PET bottle monster turns it's plasticene gaze upon me.

A truly bizzare structure in the middle of what is predominately
a fashion shopping district, Dongdaemun

Gas masks were in all subway stops.  A telling reminder of the
Korean state of affairs.

Hongik University area.  The whole place reminded me of
college towns back in the states.

Part of a huge sculpture outside the War Memorial Museum.

The neighborhood where we stayed, Insadong.

A predominately craft shopping mall near our hostel.

Our first full night there was a lantern festival along the river in central Seoul.

In the ridiculous number of lights outside the Lotte Department Store.

N. Seoul Tower all dressed up for a night out as viewed from
Myeongdong.

Night time in Namdaemun Market.