Photo Competition update: The 1st stage of the 2004 Japan Times Photo Competition has ended, and guess what? This year, one of my photos made it into the final running. It's one of 100 photos selected from 2,200 entries. So, if you get a chance, click on the appropriate link on this Blog and check out the photos. I wish I knew which photo is was. On the Japan Times website, it's been described only as: "Okazaki." Unfortunately, I have a number of photos that represent this city. My sneaky suspicion tells me it's the dancer... http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~dk8a-jns/blog/photocomp04_images/okazaki01.jpg but that's hard to say because as you can see from the contact sheet, I submitted several other shots -- mainly of the Tokugawa Ieyasu family shrine. You never know what captures someone's fancy -- sometimes I'm surprised. People will view my photos and say, "Hey, this one from Tokyo is really good." I'll say, "Thanks. I like that one too." But then when they actually point out the photo they were referring to, there's a good chance that it's a different one than what I thought they were talking about.

Anyway, the dancer is my favorite one and others have also pointed out that they like the detail and expression. Maybe if I can win some of these contests (and find some extra time) I can put together an exhibition at one of the local art galleries or cafes. It seems that's a trendy thing to do around here, and who knows: maybe I could actually get lucky and sell a couple framed prints for some extra pocket money.

Mission accomplished! My photos from this year's competition have been uploaded and are now viewable online. You can see them by clicking on the appropriate menu selection in the left column. Enjoy! :-)

As the year draws to a close, I am still thinking of new projects and still trying to perfect old ones. First and foremost, as mentioned in my last article, I am endeavoring to produce a minimum of two postcards for friends and family. My aim is to have the first batch mailed out within the next couple weeks, then to have the next batch ready in time for Christmas. Having an appropriate “seasonal” image will certainly be a challenge, as Japan is the epitome of the secularization of Christian holidays. I also touched on this in my last article so I won’t repeat myself. But let’s just say that last year’s Santa Claus flying over Asakusa, Tokyo, that many of our friends received is probably about as good as it gets.

For the first time in two years, we are gearing up to watch the Grey Cup here in Japan. If you are thinking, ‘Wow! You can get that all they way in Japan?’ well, don’t. We can’t. My dad is going to a lot of trouble recording it for me and mailing me the tape. The owner of the ‘local’ has agreed to air it for us on his giant-screen TV. I guarantee that virtually every Canadian in Yamanashi will descend upon The Vault to watch this thing. Our friend Darren is probably already heartbroken, because his beloved Roughriders got stomped by the B.C. Lions last Sunday. Well, in all fairness, they didn’t get “stomped” as such. Much to their credit, they played a good game, and it came down to Saskatchewan’s kicker Paul McCallum botching an overtime field goal attempt to lose the game 27 to 25. At least some angry fans took out their frustration, much to the dismay of the CFL and the Roughriders Football Club, and dumped an entire truckload of manure on McCallum’s front lawn. The Japanese have an appropriate response to such a thing. They narrow their eyes a bit, tilt their head and say, “Tai-hen, neh.” (Tough luck, huh?)

This means, next week’s big game, played in Ottawa, will be between the B.C. Lions and the Toronto Argonauts. Sure, I wouldn’t have minded another Esks classic against Montreal, but maybe it’s better that I’m saved the stress of having to deal with another heartbreaking loss. There was nothing worse than watching every home game of the season, live from row 6 of the 25-yard line, attend my first (and only) live Grey Cup game hosted in Edmonton, only to see the Eskimos trounced by Montreal. Though they redeemed themselves the next season, clinching the Cup once again after a long hiatus, I’m still bitter about the first one. In any event, I’ve been promised by some of the die-hards that in regards to this year’s Grey Cup game, my dad “had better Fed-ex the package over” and even expressed willingness to help pay for the extra shipping. All in the mean time, we’ll be staying away from the news media (yes, even the local English daily here announces CFL results) as well as requesting family and friends to kindly refrain from calling or e-mailing anything football-related until the following week.

Football is certainly a great game, and I take every advantage to teach it to my students. I start with grade 4 elementary school kids. (Any younger than that and they can’t grip the ball properly). I teach them how to throw, catch, and kick, and they always seem to catch on quickly. I was able to buy an official Junior-NFL Flag-Football sized ball from the local Toys-R-Us, (yes, we have that here but they sell different stuff) which works well in smaller hands. Frankly, I was surprised I could even buy such a thing in Japan, but American football actually has a small, steady underground, almost cult-like following here. Once in a while, the NFL actually exports a couple teams to Tokyo to play an exhibition game, much to the delight of ex-pats nation-wide, and any local footballophiles. There is even a community/university league here, and maybe some day I’ll consider playing in it. One of my co-workers at the school board is involved in it too. I figure that what I lack in physical stature will make me an even match for many of the Japanese players. There are very few 300lb-plus linebackers stomping around these parts, thankfully. My co-worker is also not exactly your model image of a football player, though he has played it for many years. I think to buy some pads and semi-decent gear would still be cheaper than taking up golf here. The only down-side to it all, is that everything in Japan, including football, is centred around the U.S. so we end up teaching (and using) only NFL rules, equipment, etc. I do, however, get a kick (pun not intended) out of answering the common questions (from Americans and Japanese alike): “So, what’s the difference between NFL and CFL anyway?” And my response, “Our balls are bigger.” That, and we use a larger playing field (longer and wider), have larger end zones, 12 instead of 11 players on the field, and NO pansy “fair-catch” rule. Though, the receiving player gets a 5 yard buffer zone until the ball is caught before he gets creamed (unless it’s during a kickoff). Also, there’s only 20 seconds on the play clock before a penalty is called. Those are the major differences, anyway.

Enough about football, already! I could go on talking about it for a long time, but for everyone’s sanity I will refrain. If anything, I should talk about sumo – a sport that I’ve really gotten to appreciate since moving to Japan. It’s the last tournament of the season, and we’re all anxious to see if Mongolian yokozuna Asashoryu can pull off a victory that eluded him in September’s match. When I first saw sumo, I was convinced that it was, as many North Americans have aptly put it, fat men in diapers pushing each other. Since that initial assertion, however, I’ve had the great enjoyment of learning about the sport’s history, intrigues and subtleties. When I first discovered that the TV station actually broadcasts the tournament live, with English announcers, I was thrilled. That initial enthusiasm, however, rapidly waned when I realized that the only thing that made the broadcast “English” as such was the sentence structure. Certainly no attempt was made to translate the vocabulary. But now, having learned much of it, I’m glad they haven’t. You can say something using one Japanese word that would take an entire phrase to describe in English, because no equivalent term exists for it.

Just to give you an idea of what kind of nonsense an “English” sumo commentator spews, imagine something that sounds like this. Here is my impression of what a typical fight sounds like in any given tournament:

Announcer 1: Well, today we see veteran Chiyotaikai square off against newcomer Kokkai. Chiyotaikai’s definitely been a much stronger rikishi this basho, which we can only assume is because he’s been working on his tachiai.

Announcer 2: That’s right. Chiyotaikai’s prefers an oshidashi win that Kokkai may have a tough time answering. Though he may be a newcomer to Makuuchi, Kokkai sits solidly at Maegashira 2 and if he wins any of his next few matches, he is assured of a kachi-koshi.

Announcer 1: “Yes, I’m sure he’d like nothing more than to avoid kakusage when he’s on an upward streak. His last shiroboshi was three nights ago against ozeki Musoyama so both men are definitely looking for a much-needed win tonight.

Announcer 2: “Ok. here we go. Wow, look at Chiyotaikai. His lightening-fast tachiai has seemingly taken Kokkai completely off-guard and Chiyotaikai’s characteristic tsuppari attack has Kokkai backing to the edge of the dohyo.”

Announcer 1: He’s not giving this one up, though, as his hand finds a grip on Chiyotaikiai’s mawashi and what we just saw was a brave harimanage attempt by Kokkai.

Announcer 2: But it looks like it’s over with Chiyotaikai having a firm mawashi grip of his own, forces the pair out past the bales and into the front row. That was really close, but the gyoji IS pointing his gumbai toward Chiyotaikai, and there’s apparently no mono-ii from the shimpan like we have already seen several times today.

Announcer 1: That’s right. It seems that Chiyotaikai IS going to claim this one, as well as the kensho-kin offered in this torikumi.

Announcer 2: Yes, the official call is yoritaoshi, so let’s take another look at that on the replay here in a moment, while we watch Chiyotaikai accepting the traditional kachinanori.

Ok. Did you get that? Good. Because it’s quiz time. 1) Who won the match? 2) How did he win? 3) Did you understand any of what the heck was going on? No? Well, don’t feel too bad; it took me a while too. But I hardly exaggerate when I say that this is actually what it sounds like on TV when you are listening to sumo IN ENGLISH… Complete nonsensical gibberish! For a long time, I had to sit in front of the TV with a Sumo – English dictionary in my hand just to understand the silly thing… But once you get into it, it’s highly entertaining. If any of you ever come to visit us in Japan, try to come during a sumo tournament. I’d be glad to go with you and help decrypt some of the complexities. Like any sport, it’s a TON more enjoyable when you understand the basic rules, players and procedures.

I think I’ll call it quits for now, and work on my promise of posting some of those pictures that I submitted for the last photo contest. I’m just going to leave you with a brief glossary of the sumo terms used above – (in case you are REALLY curious as to what actually happened in that mock match-up I described between two REAL (and talented) sumo wrestlers). Maybe some day you will run into a bona-fide sumo aficionado and you can impress the socks off him when you ask him about his favorite rikishi and kimarite and how his tachiai has been during the last basho.

rikishi – a sumo wrestler

basho – a tournament (usually lasting 14 days). There are normally 6 major ones each year.

tachiai – a wrestler’s initial charge from the line in the sumo ring

oshidashi – one of the 82 legal winning techniques used in sumo. In this move, the wrestler pushes the other out of the sumo ring without touching his belt.

Makuuchi – the top division in sumo wrestling. Kind of like “Division 1” in pro-soccer.

Maegashira – one of the ranks in the Makuuchi division

kachi-koshi – having won at least 7 of 15 bouts during a tournament

kakusage – a demotion in rank resulting from make-koshi, or losing at least 7 of 15 bouts

shiroboshi – a win (characterized by a white star or circle next to the wrestler’s name when it appears on official result sheets – called a hoshitorihyo)

ozeki – the second highest rank in Makuuchi division. The top rank is Yokozuna.

tsuppari – a strong slapping or thrusting attack where the wrestler uses both arms in rapid, machine-gun-fire succession to push or slap his opponent’s face or body, forcing him backwards

dohyo – the sumo arena. It is a 30-ton sold clay platform, that measures 540cm x 540cm, in the middle of which is a circular ring, whose edge is demarked by low, round, rice-straw bales. All this gets really complex too, as the various parts of the dohyo each have their own specific Japanese names.

mawashi – the sumo’s belt. (Sometimes called a diaper or thong by those who aren’t knowledgeable of sumo). Consists of a horizontal portion that wraps around the wrestler’s waist, and a vertical portion that cover’s his private bits. Gripping the mawashi is only allowed on the horizontal portion. Any grip on the vertical part of the mawashi results in automatic disqualification.

harimanage – one of the possible wining techniques, often used as a last-ditch effort at the edge of the dohyo. The attacker will reach over his opponent, grab his mawashi and in a twisting motion try to launch him past himself. It’s usually a sacrifice move.

gyoji – a sumo referee. He is the guy in the ring dressed in a fancy-looking kimono and holding a gumbai.

gumbai – war paddle (sometimes called a fan). It’s handmade, wooden, and exhibits amazing craftsmanship. They are often many generations old. It is used to indicate the winner of the bout by pointing it in his direction. Prize money is handed to the winner on the gumbai as well.

shimpan – a consortium of eight officials dressed in black kimonos, positioned all around the outside of the dohyo. They watch the match and in the case of a close call, may elect to hold a meeting (this is done when an official raises his arm. It’s called: mono-ii). This results in one of three possibilities: 1) upholding the referee’s original call, 2) overturning it, 3) calling for a re-match to be held immediately.

kensho-kin – prize money put up by supporters paid after certain bouts to the winner of the match. The money is presented in ceremonial envelopes known as kachinanori.

torikumi – a single bout

yoritaoshi – a frontal push-out winning move where the winning wrestler has a grip on his opponent’s belt for the duration of the win, but the force is enough to cause both wrestlers to leave the ring with the winner landing on top of his opponent.

kimarite – the name given to the set of 82 official winning techniques used in sumo wresting.

Good grief! It's hard to believe that the last Blog entry was in July! In fact, I had to reload the page a couple of times just to be sure. So, I'll warn you right now... This is gonna be a long one!

Time flies here in Japan. It's almost unbelievable to me that we will have been here two years... We miss our family and friends, but we're also still enjoying it here too. Hey, if anyone is unsure of where to take that next vacation -- you're always welcome here! At the very least, you'd have a place to stay and someone to give you the dime-tour.

Well, I may as well start with a quick summary of goings-on since July. It's been a whirlwind summer and now even autumn's almost gone. With Halloween dead and gone, all the tacky, cheezy Christmas decorations have gone on sale in virtually every store in Japan. Funny thing is, if you ask anyone whether they're going to give or receive gifts for Christmas, the answer is usually "no." Even more bizarre, is the fact that if you ever thought that the "reason for the season" has been lost in North America, in a over-commercialized, torrential frenzy, try dealing with it in a country where the "reason" for Christmas never existed in the first place! As a result, anything even remotely resembling a Christian message is strangely absent, leaving behind a trail of secular-looking Christmas trees, Santa Clauses, and Christmas carols dealing with snowmen and reindeer. You want to put plastic figurines of the aforementioned on your front stoop with some outdoor lights? No problem! Just drive down to your nearest hardware store. You want a Nativity scene with that? Ha! Ha! What's that?! What does that have to do with Christmas?

Anyway, on to other business. Late July and most of August was quite a learning experience for me. No. Really. I meant that literally. I enrolled in a month-long intensive Japanese course in Okazaki City, Aichi Prefecture. I won't get into the details or anything, but for an entire month, I lived in a traditional-style Japanese "ryokan" or inn, eating Japanese meals, and attending language classes for several hours a day, taught almost entirely in... you guessed it... Japanese. So, am I fluent yet? Nope, but I'm doing better than before. I can use and conjugate verbs now! Woohoo! I also got to satisfy my surfing and body boarding habits, as one of Japan's top surfing beaches was only about 1.5 hours away by car, so I made it a point to go out every day/weekend that I wasn't overloaded by homework, and there wasn't a typhoon blowing through. I must admit though, the waves you can catch right after the typhoon are gnarly! Bonnie went to visit me for a week, and if we ever talk in person or on the phone, ask us about Bonnie's departure day from Okazaki. It's a tale and a half! While she was there, we took a couple of trips to Nagoya and even took in a J-League Division 1 game! My first ever! (That's soccer for those of you who don't speak the lingo).

A day after my course ended, I loaded up the van with all my junk (including my scooter, which I took with me....) and headed further south to the fabled city of Kyoto. Japan's Mecca. The must-visit spot on the itinerary of anyone coming to Japan for longer than a few days. Funny. How is it then, that it took me over a year and a half to get there? Perhaps the distance from Kofu? Much more likely, the price factor. Anyway, my main reason to go to Kyoto, not even so much for the sightseeing value (which I enjoyed immensely), but to put "shaken" (pronounced: SHAH-ken) on my car. Japan, like many countries, requires you to perform a mandatory bi-annual safety and mechanical inspection on any motor vehicle with an engine larger than 50cc (making most scooters exempt! Woohoo!) The bad news is, average "shaken" cost is over 100,000 yen!!! I'll let you do the math into your own currency, but to give you an idea of what that's actually WORTH, an average English teacher in a privately-owned language academy earns about 250,000 gross per month. In other words, imagine just over 40% of your month's salary going to a single vehicle inspection! It's no wonder the Japanese dread it so much and would do anything to make it cheaper or get out of having to pay it. It's not unusual for people in Japan to GIVE-AWAY a car for FREE, rather than paying for shaken (and any repairs that need to be performed at that time) on an old vehicle. That's probably why you don't see that many older-looking vehicles on the road. To get "shaken" on an old car: 100,000. To bring it to an auto-wrecking yard to get it crushed: 10,000. To give it away and not worry about it any longer: 0. You do the math.

Well, in a nutshell, the place I found in Kyoto advertises on the Internet that they offer "cheap shaken" service. So I figured that, since I was in a nearby region of Japan at that time anyway, I may as well get it done there. Smart move! I only had to pay 80,000 yen. Still WAY too much, and it blew our budget for months, but it's done, and we have a vehicle to ride in until August, 2006 at least.

September started a new school term, which also meant a new co-worker, and even a couple new students. Other than that, almost everything else has been going as it had before. I still enjoy my job at the Board of Education, and Bonnie still seems to be enjoying the YMCA. To stay true to my original promise though, that's all I'm going to say about our work.

October was extremely busy! Every weekend was something new. I had planned another trip to Kyoto, since I found out during the summer that I could drive there in only 4.5 hours on the highway, and the cost wasn't so bad -- especially since finding 2,500 yen/night rooms to stay in. This would be Bonnie's first trip to the city, and we extended an offer to all our friends to drive with us, to help off-set the cost of driving there, parking and highway tolls. In the end, only 1 other person came along through a strange set of circumstances. We had a fantastic time, though Bonnie figured the trip was a bit too long, and was a little scared on the highway. I can't blame her -- the front end of our van is flat, and there's no hood (it's like a bus) so you're seated far forward and can see nothing but road and scenery zipping by you at high speeds. I will try my best to post some photos of our trip soon. That's the next thing on my agenda.

We also went to Tokyo for an English-teaching book exposition, and celebrated another year's Paul Rusch Festival, and Katsunuma Wine Festival. Both events are worth looking forward to. Once again, we sampled our fair share of wines -- I forgot how many, and though it was in pouring rain, we were undeterred. A friend who came with us called me the next day and asked me how he got home, as he didn't remember getting there. I reminded him that he took his bicycle, but didn't look in such bad shape when we saw him off.

Now, it's November 2nd here. It's still November 1st in North America, so we are all waiting anxiously here for tomorrow's American election. We've already organized an election party so we can watch the results come up live, and either celebrate Kerry's win or mourn Bush's loss. I'm not America, and I normally wouldn't burden anyone with my political views on this Blog, but hey, my hopes in who will win this thing is no secret. I can pretty much assure you that all the American ex-pats (that we hang out with here in Kofu, anyway) don't have many kind words to offer about G.W. Bush. The only Busch we want to see is in a frosty mug. Heh. Heh.. Whew! Tough crowd!... I bet you didn't even smirk when you read that.

I also recently submitted a new batch of photos to the Japan Times 2nd Annual Photo Competition. I will try to get those pictures posted soon as well. In any event, some of you may know that even though I didn't place in that particular competition last year, one of the photos (Dried Persimmons) did well in another competition, and is being published into a coffee-table book with some other photos (you could probably describe it as an anthology). So, wish me luck.

I'm also working on a new batch of postcards. If you haven't yet given me your mailing address, it's never too late if you want to receive an occasional photo from us in Japan. I hope to send out 3 more this year. I want to send one very soon, one for Christmas, and one for the New Year. Yeah, I'm being ambitions - but I'm going to try.

With that, a big "shaka" sign to everyone. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention in my notes from the summer? I bought a surfboard! I'm now a bona-fide resin monkey! It's a mini-long board (about 7'9) and I already can't wait till Spring so I can practice some more... So, hang loose everyone and don't forget to drop us a line sometime. If you've lost our phone numbers or whatever, e-mail us. We'd love to hear from you.

zadok@zayith.com

Today I archived most of the old articles.  They are still in reverse chronological order, but organized by month.  I didn't want to do this, but for some reason my first, original articles were no longer appearing.  No matter, they are still there for whomever to read.
 
Today is a national holiday in Japan.  Marine Day -- whatever that means.  In any case, schools, banks and public buildings are closed.  More inportantly. it means no work for us!  In addition, tomorrow is officially "closing ceremonies" day for all schools in Kofu.  There are no classes -- only speeches.  Then, the very next day, I will be leaving for Okazaki City in Aichi prefecture..... Alone.  Bonnie has to work, but since I have over a month of holidays, I will be taking an intensive Japanese course for the next four weeks.  My employer has agreed to pay my regular salary if I enroll in a Japanese language program.  So, I did some research and found a nice little spot where I could study, and go surfing at whim.
 
Last weekend, Bonnie and I made it out to Shonan beach in Shizuoka.  It was a hectic trip, and we spend about 3.5 hours looking for a surf shop to buy some essential gear.  But, we finally made it to the water.  The waves were tiny -- maybe only 1 foot, making it exceedingly difficult to surf... But the bodyboarding was OK, and I didn't have much trouble.

Greetings! It's been a long time. I guess riding my scooter has been way too much fun and it's kept me from updating the Blog. Well, here's quick n' dirty update. About 2 weeks following my successful Honda Dio surgery, we found Bonnie a used Honda Tact scooter for a reasonable price. It took her a little while to get used to riding it, but she really likes it too. They are a lot of fun! Recently, Bonnie's scooter underwent major surgery -- it seems that the 'low oil' sensor was faulty so she ran out of oil and seized the engine. It needed a brand new piston, rings, cylinder and other miscellaneous odds & ends that cost a fortune! But not quite as much as getting a new machine.

As well, about a month and a half ago, our friends (a local church pastor and his wife) gave us their old van -- a Nissan Vanette. They were buying a new vehicle and as is so common in Japan, couldn't really get rid of their old one. So, we became mobile. The first thing we did, of course, was take it on a massive road trip during Golden Week, back in April. We drove through: Nagano Prefecture, Niigata (which is on the coast of the Sea of Japan), Toyama, Ishida and Gifu. From the coast back to Kofu on the return trip took over 9 hours! This trip was huge! But I figure we won't get a chance to see all the prefectures again for a while since we don't have that much money or so many holidays together.

Recently, things have died down in the way of trips, outings and adventures. We've had a few minor trips around Yamanashi, but nothing really notable. I still have to organize some pictures to post online from events earlier in the spring.

Finally, an update on my photo competition entries. The photo contest through the Japan Times yielded a big goose egg.... I didn't even get into the second round. Obviously this kind of thing is extremely subjective, as I entered one of my photos (Dried Persimmons) into another (North American based) photo contest, and as of this writing, it has been accepted for publication in a coffee-table book. I thought that was pretty nice, so I've definitely pre-ordered a couple of copies of the book.

It's been almost a week now since I've fixed the old Honda Dio scooter that I rescued from the scrap heap in the basement of our work parking lot. It's been great! It's undoubtedly the most fun I've had in a long time. I can understand why people ride these things -- they are seriously fun! Whoever I talk to can scarcely believe that I was able to disassemble a scooter, fix it myself, and get it back together in working order. I'm not sure whether to feel proud or insulted. Do I look like the type of person who can't fix something? Or is it the Japanese cultural norm of scrapping anything that needs repair and just buy a new one? It seems that even many foreigners tend to adopt this philosophy here, which would certainly explain the awed and amazed looks on peoples' faces when they find out I can fix stuff!

The next step is going to be to find a scooter for Bonnie so we can both go places and ride together. It's no fun when only one of us has motorized transportation and the other is stuck with a crappy bike with only one gear. Maybe we can start taking some day trips to nearby towns and areas. It's not the most comfortable (or quickest) ride in the world, but it gets you around quite nicely for distances less than 15-20km.

Just for fun, I'm including some photos of my blue beast. They are HERE. I still haven't decided what to name her; I'm sure I will post that up here as soon as I have it figured out.

The past couple of weeks, I had been inquiring around the office about an old Honda Dio scooter that's been sitting in our underground garage for an undetermined period of time. The head of the Japanese department figured it belonged to a Chinese student who had long since returned home to China. Truth of the matter, however, proved otherwise. It used to belong to another teacher at the company who still lives in town. He was able to give me the story behind it, and eventually even the key to it.

As the story goes, he was riding around town one day when the engine started making strange noises. He described it as "metal parts grinding together." Well, he only got a little ways further before the scooter made an ominous "pa-ching" and belched out a jagged piece of metal out from somewhere within. That's when the scooter died and couldn't be revived.

Fast forward to about a year later, when a semi-ambitious staff took a look at the scooter, tried to get it going but failed and hence decided that it was indeed dead, and not worth reviving.

Fast forward even more to three weeks ago... I walked the scooter home and parked it under the stairs of our apartment building. A week later I was able to secure the key from the previous owner, and a receipt/bill of sale for 100yen to officialize my purchase.

Well, in any case, last weekend the weather was quite beautiful, allowing me to work outside and start extracting the guts of the blue beast, spreading out its viscera across the dirt and gravel driveway of our apartment's "backyard." At this point I might remind the reader that I'm in no way a mechanic, and the last experience I had fixing a vehicle was back in university. Worse yet, the only experience I had ever had with a motorbike (or similar) was when the neighbor kids fixed up an old dirt bike, and tried to teach me how to ride it. This, of course, resulted in a quick trip up a tree trunk with the bike spinning through the air, leaving me behind, and smacking me square in the forehead, effectively putting me off motorcycles permanently.... At least until now.

A quick engine autopsy revealed the most gummed up spark plug I'd ever seen, and the cylinder head seemed to have oil near its base, perhaps from an improper seal. I purchased a new spark plug, but to no avail. The next step was to remove the cylinder head, clean it, and re-seal it with a torque wrench, to ensure I wasn't losing compression in an obvious way. I also noticed somewhere along the line, that when I held the spark plug while grounded to the frame, the spark was quite weak when I turned the engine over. As a result, I also replaced the spark plug cable, which made a significant difference. The final measure was spraying a bit of carb cleaner directly into the cylinder chamber... Success! The engine roared to life and purred away like a very large, somewhat angry kitten.

I almost began reassembling the scooter when Bonnie asked me a rather logical question: had I taken the scooter for a spin yet? That's when I noticed the rather obvious problem: the rear wheel was not spinning. Now, on a scooter, the transmission is extremely simplistic. When idling, the rear wheel doesn't spin. When you hit the throttle, the wheel starts spinning as the drive belt engages. There's no changing gears -- it's like a gas lawnmower. I took off the clutch cover, to reveal a very loose drive belt. 'Great!' I thought. A broken belt. That should be easy to fix... Unfortunately a more detailed examination revealed a well intact belt.... But the clutch itself seemed to be in serious trouble. On a scooter, the clutch is essentially a series of metal discs, (I'm being overly simplistic here for those who are not gear heads) with a heavy spring in the middle of it all. The spring causes tension on the belt when you hit throttle, which puts the wheel in motion. Well, the rear disc of the clutch was neatly sheared almost in half, and then I noticed a small hole in the cast aluminum clutch casing. It was indeed about the same size and shape of the chunk of metal that had been previously belched out by the scooter when it went "pa-ching!" The jagged piece of metal had gotten caught in the clutch, tore it to shreds, then went flying out the same small hole it had caused.

At this point I was in a bit of trouble... I had no way of removing the clutch, as I just couldn't grip it properly with my socket wrench to remove it. This was where professional help came in handy. The day before, Bonnie and I were riding our bikes downtown, trying to find a motorcycle shop that had been recommended to us by a co-worker who was really into motorbikes. He said that the fellow who worked there was a great guy and he even spoke a bit of English. Well, we soon found the shop, and after a few minutes of browsing and checking out the line of bikes outside the shop, a greasy mechanic came out and said "hello" to us in English and inquired how he could help. I couldn't contain my amazement at not only his excellent English ability, but his outgoing personality that prompted him to come out to talk to us -- something very unusual in Japan. Normally you have to flag someone down to get service... But not here. After initial introductions I realized that he was actually a 'gai-jin' or foreigner -- just like us. Except he was Chinese from Hong Kong and had lived in Japan for about six years. He introduced himself with his Chinese name, but insisted we call him "Glen" -- another trait uncharacteristic of any Japanese person -- adopting a Western-sounding name completely unlike their original one. I purchased some parts from him, and Glen insisted that we give him a phone call if we ever needed anything.

The time to need something from Glen came when I realized that I couldn't complete repairing the scooter myself for lack of tools and replacement clutch. This is when he suggested that he would come by my place and load up my scooter on the back of his truck and take it to the shop. I met him at Kofu's passport office/International Centre, which is only a couple blocks from home and a great landmark for people who have never been to our apartment before. I climbed into his truck and started giving him directions, which way to turn to get to our destination.

He commented, " You know, I live close to here." So I asked him where exactly. As we neared a corner he said: "There! That's my house."

I was about as surprised as I could ever be! He was my next door neighbor! I don't think I can ever again doubt what a small world we actually live in!

We took the bike to the shop, and three hours later we had it completely fixed, reassembled, and running the way it should. The only thing it cost me in the end was about 13,000 yen, all of which was in new (and used) parts. Glen actually didn't charge me for his labour, and just told me that I could buy him a drink sometime instead!

The final step in my project was getting a license plate and insurance for this thing... Lest the first cop that sees me pull me over and give me a ticket... The timing of this was also quite pressing, as on the weekend I actually broke my mountain bike -- I snapped five spokes on the rear wheel (don't ask me how -- I don't know) which effectively turned it into a taco. Now, I was dependent on having the newly-fixed scooter as my main mode of transportation to and from work, as well as around town. So, Tuesday morning came; I got up bright and early, to make my way to City Hall at 8:45 a.m. When I got there, I was directed to the appropriate department, and no sooner than I had arrived, I was being given the typical Japanese bureaucratic runaround. Turns out, that I can't get a license plate because I didn't buy the scooter from a shop but from a friend -- and this friend needs to formally sign the scooter over to me... They basically just laughed at my receipt/bill of sale, and proceeded to inundate me in a mountain of Japanese paperwork. I was livid! Not only could I not start riding my scooter until the next day, that meant I would have to ride Bonnie's one-speed bike all the way to the next town to get to my job interview later that morning.

To make a longer story short, I managed to hunt down the scooter's previous owner that evening and get him to sign and hanko (seal) the official documents which would allow me to assume possession of the scooter. So, bright and early the very next morning I was back at city hall, with a pile of completed Japanese paperwork, finally getting my license plate. Without getting off on a long tangent, it's completely true that nothing is ever easy in this country. Even the simplest-seeming tasks get bogged down by ridiculous rules, policies and true Japanese inflexibility. Whoever coined the phrase: "you can't fight city hall" certainly must have spent some time living in Japan!

I have a little catching up to do. This entry as well as the next one or two are definitely being written ipso facto, about a week after they happened. I've used the correct date for when this entry happened, however.

The worst day of my life since arriving in Japan: started today shortly after arriving at work. The local gas man had come to my work to collect for the gas bill. He's been doing that lately, but that's a whole other story. Anyway, in a nutshell, I paid him 10,000 yen ($130 CDN) and he was off. I then picked up the usual company car keys to get out to my teaching location that day. When I got out to the parking lot, despite the assurances of the school's management that our vehicles had been fixed, the car wouldn't start. Obtaining booster cables was not a problem -- they were sitting happily in the back seat -- their regular home, as this problem wasn't exactly unusual. Unfortunately, there was no one around to ask for a boost, and calling my friend didn't help as he was at home, eating lunch and wasn't too enthusiastic about coming out just to help me start a car.

I thought about my situation for a moment. Acting on my idea, I tried the doors on a car sitting next to mine. Sure enough. Unlocked! Welcome to Japan... There's no crime here, right? Well, only those committed by foreigners and I was about to steal some electricity from another one of our company cars. I opened the hood on the donor car, and then proceeded to push my car around the parking lot into position. Having done so, I easily started the beast and happily drove off, thinking to myself that it might be a good day after all.

Well, my first stop was home. My left contact lens had been bugging me all morning and I really had to do something about it, as it seemed to be getting worse. When I got there and pulled out the lens, I looked at it, only to see it was obviously torn at the edge! Fantastic! I'm supposed to have these lenses for a month and this was day 1. That's gonna coast some cash.

Even after removing both lenses, my eye just wouldn't stop burning. It was almost like something was stuck in there but I couldn't get it out! Eye drops didn't help, so I hopped back into the car and made my way back to work where I parked the car across the street from the office, ran in and told the front desk person that I needed to get to an eye doctor. By this time, I was running late for my first class and knew I couldn't make it on time.

At the eye doctor, filling in forms in Japanese with only one eye, having my translator explain what was going on, I received a phone call from a friend of mine on my cell phone. He wanted to inform me that one of the jobs I've been applying for had been filled so I was out of luck. More great news! Then the eye doctor calls me in, looks at my eye, jabbers something in Japanese and proceeds to drop some burning liquid into my eye that felt like acid was eating it away! Then, through the interpreter, explains to me that I've torn my cornea and that it would take several days to heal, and I would need to use three different types of eye drops, four times a day! More money lost! That one cost me 10,000 yen (about $130 CDN).

Leaving the eye doctor, I got back to the office, only to find out I had been given a parking ticket to top off my day! In Japan, they attach a bright yellow "thing" to your side-view mirror which can only be removed by driving over to the local police station. So, off I went, to do just that. Next thing I know, I'm waiting in a little room for no less than a half-hour, for the only person in the department who speaks some English to get back from wherever she was before -- probably lunch or a doughnut break. She gave me the third degree, demanding to know why I parked where I did, and I explained that there were no signs there prohibiting it, plus it was an emergency. She said that was all fine, but I had been parked for more than 25 minutes, which was apparently contravening section blah-blah-blah of the motor vehicle code, so 15,000 yen ($200CDN) and two demerit points off my license later, I was back on the road, speeding towards the school as not to be late for my second class!

Needless to say, after my day was done I was more than ready to go out for beer and supper, as because of all the crap that had happened that day, I didn't have a thing to eat all day, and my only thing to drink was a single can of generic cola (heck, it wasn't even Coke)!...

Today, after several weeks of thinking about it and choosing pictures, I finally got around to assembling a collection of pictures to enter into the Japan Times phot contest. The theme is "Impressions from my travels in Kanto" which happens to be the general region where we currently live. At the time of writing, I have not officially made my final decison to choose which photos I will submit, but since they are all fairly respectable, I will share them on this blog. They are here: http://www.zayith.com/blog/c_pix.html. In the unlikely event that I win anything, I will of course publish the results here. Nevertheless, I thought it would be a fun thing to do, and perhaps a nice way to expand my portfolio. I've also almost completed my commissioned photo shoot that I mentioned previously, and I recently completed another commissioned work, one which I hope to post here soon when I get the chance.

Today I've gotten around to adding some "nice" features to the Blog. I mirrored the old, defunct CanadianSushi website, which will still be updated and face-lifted at some point. Not today. I also obtained a nifty little program to help me create online photo galleries quickly and easily. I still have to edit the photos to make them appropriate size, etc for the web but at least I don't have to fool around with the HTML and whatnot. The first gallery is related to the last blog entry from last Sunday. You can find it here, or from the links on the left.

Bonnie and I had a great day on Sunday. It started by going out to see an artistic display made by one of our Japanese co-workers. She created a sizable display of flowers that she crafted from wire and standard plastic shopping bags. What made the trip to Yamanashi-shi more compelling, however, was that the exhibit was set up at a cafe/sake brewery and for 500 yen, a tour of the brewery could be had, complete with samples (mmmm!) and some snacks.

Following this, we were taken to an onsen (spa) by some Japanese friends -- the parents of two of Bonnie's students, in fact. We went to Isawa (which is a spa resort town) to a place called: "Spaland." Sure, the name doesn't sound like much, but it was quite the place to behold. Most onsens I've seen don't charge much more than 1000 yen to get in, and extras like towels usually get added on top of that. This place charges no less than 2000 yen per person, but includes spa-wear (funky t-shirt and shorts) as well as two towels -- one big one to dry yourself off with, and the other, a small wash towel to cover your naughty bits when walking around completely naked throughout the vast expanse of the spa. I should mention at this juncture that onsens are almost never co-ed, so it's impossible to "sneak a peak" as it were, as the men's' and women's' baths are sectioned off to opposite ends of the facility.

Having been only to one onsen prior, I was simply amazed at the amenities. Not only did the washrooms and showers offer every variety of convenience (shampoo, conditioner, hair tonic, skin tonic, toothbrush, toothpaste, razors, shaving cream, etc...) but the baths themselves were fantastic! There were no less than two saunas, plus one room which I dubbed the "iguana room" where you could prostrate yourself on a warm marble slab and take a nap -- as it wasn't nearly as hot as a sauna. It was comfortable, much like a sunny day at the beach. There were eight different pools if I recall correctly, two of which were outside, and one fairly large swimming pool containing cool water. The remaining pools were on average 38 degrees Celsius, and either had water jets, underwater beds and chairs to relax in, or something in the water to give it some color or smell. The sulfurous pool outside definitely reminded me of Yellowstone Park, but by far my favorite pool was the "wine" pool which was the dark red colour of red wine, and smelled like someone had just poured a cask of Cabernet into it. I was tempted to taste it but the only foreigner in the entire huge place was getting enough stares without having to resort to bizarre, unexplainable behaviour.

Bathtime was then followed by suppertime, where we enjoyed a very traditional meal consisting of fish, tempura, and rice. Having had traditional Japanese fare earlier in the day at the sake brewery, I figured we had the most culturally Japanese day in a long time. Next time I suggested to Bonnie we take along about 20,000 yen, and splurge on some of the other fine things available at Spaland, namely a massage, hot towel shave, and perhaps sampling some of the other food in the place, as there were no less than three restaurants in the complex. Maybe for an anniversary or birthday...

I've been finding that it's increasingly difficult to maintain a good recollection of events and organization of our activities, trips and other events here in Japan. I started a website: CanadianSushi but that's been on the back-burner now for so many months it's embarassing. I don't think it even exists at the moment, as I was hosting it with a rather shady company. I will rectify that but not now. :-) In the mean time, Bonnie and I haven't stopped shooting pictures, video and we certainly haven't stopped going to interesting places and meeting new people. So, I shall make an attempt at blogging.

Seeing that you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a blog these days, I would venture to say that this is primarily for my own sake, and perhaps those of our friends who want to learn what we've been up to, but don't get e-mailed or phoned nearly enough. The frequency of update to this blog will be sporadic at best, but at least I can make an effort to record those thoughts and memories (and hopefully photos too) before they get stuffed into some dark, dusty recess of my mind, never to be retrieved again. I hope the photo thing will happen, as we've recently purchased a tiny digital camera that fits right into my pocket, but takes some spledid photos. It stays in my jacket pocket at all times, and will get downloaded to the computer usually only when the memory card fills up -- about 60-ish pictures I think. In any event, if you're curious, I published a review for this camera here: http://www.zayith.com/reviews/RR211 My review has also been picked up by an online digital camera publication here: http://www.dcviews.com but they link to the same page mentioned above, so it doesn't matter which way you go in but DcViews is a solid website so you may wish to check it out.