The Ishikawa Project.

WR here, writing to you from warm (comparatively speaking) ole' Japan.  I arrived back two weeks ago, almost exactly, and I've finally shaken the last remnants of jet-lag... just in time to fight the influenza everyone has.  The good news is, for the moment, I'm winning.  (Go-go-gadget-hand-sanitizer-and-vitamin-C-drinks.)

This week's anecdote follows the story of this guy.

Goemon Ishikawa.

Or, more precisely, this guy.

This photo was taken with my fancy new camera (Skweeee!  So cool!) by one of my favorite coworkers.  It's of her Goemon Ishikawa figurine, one of many ridiculously cute things on her desk.  If you can read Japanese, than you know her name.  But for everyone else, she is hereby anonymized in this blog post as: Tansei-sensei.

Tansei-sensei is a sweet, kind, quiet, surprisingly young art teacher, who's been nothing but incredibly welcoming and friendly to me, despite speaking very little English.  She's drawn doodles for me.  She's left sweets for me.  She laughs at my jokes, even when I butcher them (in either language).  She genuinely tears up with me, if I have bad news.  She's been my nearby-desk-mate for a year and a half.  And she, like many of my coworkers, has never left Japan.

We talk sometimes, about the places I'm going.  The places she could go, too.  She gets this almost-distant look, thinking of it, saying, "いいね~?"  But then she sighs, countering that she has no time, no passport, no extra money, no eager traveling companions, etc.  The usual, if reasonable, excuses.

So, recently, as I was packing to go back to America for the holidays, I thought, "I should do something special for her."  I'd gotten dozens of specific omiyage (souvenir) requests from my other friends, but all Tansei-sensei would say is, "You have fun!" or, "I'm looking forward to hearing stories upon your return!"

Then I had a thought.

Tansei-sensei is head of our school's photography club, and she loves taking and looking at pictures almost as much as she loves "Lupin the Third," the show from which Mr. Ishikawa comes from (if you watch that video, you can briefly see him in action).  So, I decided to do a photography project with my new camera, in Tansei-sensei's honor.  If she couldn't come with me to the ole' US of A, than Goemon Ishikawa would.

Here's what Tansei-sensei came to work to, three days later, after I'd left.

The note is taped to Goemon's former pedestal.  It reads,  "Maya-chan, I want to go to America.  I'll be back.  (Hearts)  ~ Ishikawa."

(Confession: This is her favorite figurine, so I told a mutual-friend-teacher to tell Tansei-sensei that I was taking him and that it was for something fun, and that she shouldn't worry... just in case she asked.  I'm not heartless, guys.  Sheesh.)

And so, "The Ishikawa Project" began.  Dan and I took hundreds and hundreds of pictures with Goemon, all throughout our cross-country trek across the United States.  When I returned to Japan, I printed the best (or at least, the most representative) at the ever-convenient Yodobashi Camera, and left the whole shebang on her desk, just like this:

She comes to work a few hours after me, so that's exactly what she found.  No note.  Just Goemon returned, and his photo-book.  Inside the album, were these:

I gotta be honest, I was pretty proud of the complete package.  It turned out so great!  It was fun for us to do, and she was so humbled and appreciative.  In fact, it took several times of me handing the album back to her for her to realize it was her's to keep.  The third time I slid it across her desk, Tansei-sensei's eyes went wide and she said, in simple Japanese, "私の...?　ほんと?” ("Mine?  Really?")  I smiled back and said, "お土産です．”　("It's your souvenir.")

So, the moral of this story?   Be kind.  Give gifts.  This entire thing cost me only about $20.00, but it's something we'll both remember for the rest of our lives.

As always, thanks for reading!  \(^_^)/  And don't forget to feed the fish!
WR

じゃあ、またね！

Greetings faithful reader(s).  DW here, sorry for the (probably foreseeable) delay.  I started this post sitting in Portland International Airport on my fifth day back in the states.  Things were delayed before I even left Japan due to last minute Fukuoka bucket list items, revisited favorites, meals and celebrations with friends and colleagues, packing, and unfortunately colds for both WR and myself.  Since arriving stateside a whirlwind of travel, fortunate and unfortunate events, and a general desire to spend my last few weeks with my wife, conspired to make blogging a lower priority.

But as school doesn't start until next week, and I’m now mired in bachelorhood, it’s high time to catch up!  I thought in light of this being my final post from my stay I would focus on a handful of my favorite things from Japan.  So, without further ado: The top 5 things DW is already missing (not including WR).


1.) Tonkotsu Ramen aka Hakata Ramen - For those of you who haven’t heard me wax philosophical about this in the past, this is not your maruchan cup-a-noodles.  It’s a Fukuoka specialty, having originated from the Hakata ward (where WR teaches), but it’s famous throughout Japan.  It’s a rich pork bone broth which gets cooked for hours if not days, topped with fresh green onions, roasted pork, spicy miso paste, and a par-boiled egg.  The broth is really the star of the show though, so much so that if you run out of noodles you can order a refill（かいだま） for about a dollar and a half so that you can enjoy it as it is meant to be enjoyed. Two of the giants Ichiran and Ippudo are now found throughout Japan and even in other countries, but it turns out the local ramen shop Danbo in our sleepy little burb was renowned for the stuff.  I love it.   I went at least once a week and would continue to do so indefinitely if it were possible. LOVE.

That big red lantern is a beacon for all that is right in the world.

I want to go there.

because it deserves multiple angles.

The gyoza  in the area are bite sized nuggets of deliciousness too.

2.) Trains – I like driving just fine.  I love biking.  But I am a sucker for trains, and Japan has that shit DOWN.  There are two train companies serving Fukuoka, Nishitetsu, and the Ubiquitous Japan Rail, as well as a couple of subway lines within the city proper.  For a town with over 5 million people in the metropolitan area the system is remarkably easy to navigate and can get you most places you need to go.  But that is more or less just icing, for me the train itself is the good part.  These are small light rail lines with a couple of cars idling along.  Even the local trains are massive beasts that thunder by, followed a few seconds later by a wake of wind.  While trains on a given line are pretty consistent you see a lot of variety go by depending on the destination and the speed you want to get there, here are just a few.

It's difficult to capture good pictures of the trains themselves, but luckily JR Kyushu has done the work for me :).

Even if you couldn't care less about trains I would urge you to take a look.  It's worth it for the descriptions alone, such as this gem for the Yufuin no Mori: "This resort train glistens like a fairyland of soft sunshine on a deep green European forest."


3.) Shrines – After seeing all my pictures of buddist and Shinto shrines I’m sure you are unsurprised that  this is on the list, but the enjoyment I get from wandering around temple grounds didn’t wane during my time in Japan.  I made a habit of just meandering through neighborhoods, as invariably, small shrines would crop up in unlikely places.  Here are some of my favorite recent shrine pics:

4.) Inaka (Boonies) Japan –  Our town, Chikushino, is along the outer edge of the Fukuoka metro, and one of the things I liked best about it was the ability to go just a few blocks out and find yourself amid rice fields.  The booming metropolis has a lot going for it,  but some of the cultural, architectural, and societal differences are most striking in small towns.  WR and I took a trip in my last few weeks to Akizuki, a small town back in the mountains.  Not far as the crow flies, but strikingly different none the less.

Honor system parking, complete with high security balsa wood lockbox.

5.) Contrasts – Ok so that is a pretty vague lead in I know, but there are just so many strange dichotomies present in Japan.  Old vs. New, Western vs. Traditional, Work vs. Enkai, Technologically advanced and yet often regressive, it’s difficult for me to reconcile the differences in my mind.  And everytime you think you have it figured out you see a stately woman in full kimono on the train playing puzzledra on her smartphone.  Much of it is hard to put into photo format, but architecture really highlights it.

Some buildings are straight out of the 70's and 80's vision
of the future.

And right along side you have the sleek modern structures.

OK, so this is only loosely connected to the theme, but I liked the shot so deal with it.

Well that's all for now, WR will be back with you next week from Japanese soil. As always, thanks for reading, and don't forget to feed the fish!

DW