Keitai edition, part 2 (keitai: that's mobile phone to you Aussies, cell phone to you Americans and handy phone to you English-speaking Japanese... where did that originate from!?). I made a mistake, this is the inaugural 40th post of Last Spamurai, not the last one... thanks for all your complaints, the switchboard lit up like a Christmas tree. But hey, the lines are always running hot on the Spamurai. Well, this is me, the very green recruit to the world of English teaching abroad (thanks again for the wonderfully affirming observation Steve {my brother}... "it sounds like it's just a step up from backpacking"). My manager snapped this back in November. Can you still detect my youthful vigour? Watch it disappear photo, by photo...

Oh, but first, this is just before Christmas... my Japanese class' Christmas party... with my buddy Justin cranking out Jingle Bell Rock. What a sport!

Here we have some Christmas hula, courtesy of a teacher and friends. Hula is popular here among ladies, hence my church's practice of it too. I have yet to be luau'ed into doing it.

This is the beautiful Chiaki. We were pen friends for a bit before I came to Japan - this is when we met while I was enroute to my holiday in the snows of Takayama. She lives in Otsu which is right near Kyoto and the shores of Lake Biwa, Japan's biggest. Can you believe we discovered we have lived in the same street in Artarmon, Sydney!? She was there as a semi-professional marathon runner. Now she works liasing with Portuguese-speaking workers for a manufacturer. Oh, to be so multi-talented! We ate lunch looking out over the lake, watching distant snow and rain fall on the far mountains, and then I was persuaded to do the purikura thing... those little photos on stickers that you take in a booth - ours was like a mini studio!

From purikura to karaoke. Taketo cuts loose with a bit of Glay while Sue-yen, her visiting friend Larry and I cheer on.

Lunch with the family of our ex-assistant manager, Yoshiko (the one hailing from the Tender Puppy Dept). She is so hospitable. One of her twin sons is called Genki (means happy/lively/healthy)!

Lunch with some of the teachers from Japanese class. They are really nice and into learning about foreign cultures. It can be funny at times seeing what that means to some people here. I was telling a middle-aged lady something and she proudly confirmed it with "Roger". When I didn't quite react with full appreciation, she fished a little: "That's right isn't it... Roger?" I said that it was indeed, well done, and that it's also a man's name. I didn't go into the other possible interpretation... Our present company were all impressed by this super-radfresh use of English! Let's talk radio!

Love to 'ave a beer with Justin, cuz Justin's me mate! A last brewski before Justin headed back to Seattle. Kampai!

What is it with Seattle and Japan? My new friends Anna and John (just engaged) hail from that same city. The fact that it's on the West Coast makes it closer to Japan and it has a substantial Japanese community, I'm told. This has been bolstered by the importation of Ichiro Suzuki and Johjima (forget his first name) into the Seattle Mariners. Ichiro is a legend over here and actually came from my local team, Kobe's Orix Buffaloes. I am more a fan of Johjima. Anyway, back to people I actually know! Anna and John are sadly heading back in less than 2 weeks... yes, that's the nature of the beast here... a transitory social life. Oscar, from London, is thankfully hanging around and Taro is a local, so that's something. They are cool guys... Oscar's a kak and Taro's, well, cool!

Lastly some pictures that I didn't take, but that were sent to me by my friend Yahata. They are just too cute. Mana-chu...

Sugu-tan...

and evil Mana-chu! kawaii ne!

Oh well, there may be a part 3 to this of just odd stuff before I return to my travel-log.

Til then... mata ne.

His name is Shintaro. On this occasion he produced some custom-cut disposable chopsticks from his pencil case - custom-cut for the purpose depicted above. If only he had applied such ingenuity and fore-thought to his English! Oh well, in the life of a 12 year old going on 16, study is often going to be the casualty - I've since lost this bright spark to his love of basketball. I will miss his antics.

This is the inaugural 40th post of Last Spamurai - as promised, an all keitai issue... no quality lenses were used, just the little pinhole in my phone, hence the underwater charm... enjoy!

Her name is Tsubame, or 'swallow'. She was barely a few weeks old in this photo. She's being held by her cousin, my student Kokoro (means 'heart'). I smile every time I see her - she's tops.

Sadly this was one of the last times I saw Haruka. Her mum wasn't too happy with the company's pricing and procedures. I don't blame her! The amount of money some parents spend on their kids' extra-curricular activities is astronomical. One 12 year-old boy I teach goes to juku (cram school) 3 nights a week. A girl I teach dances 5 nights a week. Another boy I taught did speed skating 4 nights a week. Some families are very wealthy, but others are more working-class and take out loans.

Siblings Mei, Rui and Ryuho. I teach all of them in separate classes. Ryuho is a great little artist. Mei is very good, but a little too precious (likes to have a good whine) and Rui is a specialist at drooling, lying down at inappropriate moments and being cute. Their mum is a legend, despite her 'Selfish' brand sneakers. (Her T-shirt, "I'm gonna hold the dog" is somehow more befitting of her nature... maybe she bought it at the same store that our ex-assistant manager bought her "Tender Puppy Dept" T-shirt).

This is where I teach Thursdays, in the north of Kobe. It was a goodbye photo of the boy, Sena. He was super-smart. Tamaki, the girl, is super-cute and repeats nearly everything you say (a conversational language teacher's dream! ...well, it sure beats sitting in a room for an hour with kids who won't speak at all!). And now some student-drawn whiteboard art...

I think we can safely read the word 'cool' inbetween the lines here... Or am I having myself on?

A lot of kids here are really visually literate. Not all kids can draw, but some are really good... I particularly like this offering. No wonder the markers keep running out of ink.

I could really learn from the economy of this little picture. The girl who drew it was trying to explain why she was sleepy - the reason was that she had taken a cold tablet. I think it's perfect.

What a great little character!

We recently (7/7) had the festival called Tanabata. It celebrates a Chinese legend that tells of two lovers, the stars Vega and Altair, who are separated by the Milky Way as a punishment (Is that where the term "star-cross'd lovers originated!?"... oh hang on, that was that English dude). Anyway, their one night when they are allowed to be together is the 7th of the 7th. Hence, children write their wishes on paper and hang them off branches of bamboo on the night of fulfilment.
I wouldn't mind this on a T-shirt.

Inside this curtain is an incredibly smart, but cheeky thing called Ami.

This is her drawing illustrating my weakness in comparison to her superior strength. How like me, being hassled by an 8 year-old girl! She's hilarious.

I like the disembodied, angelic quality that the overexposure gives to these two kimono-clad festival-goers. Entirely intentional of course...

So where are we?, I hear you ask. Kamakura, one of the former capitals. The Kamakura period lasted from 1192 until 1333 and heralded the start of Japan's feudal middle ages - the imperial court remained intact, but largely as an ineffective, ceremonial showpiece. True power lay in the hands of the shogunate. I have no idea what the meaning is of these pole-objects, but it was really cool how they twirled them around.

I think I should space every photo with a comment, for the sake of aesthetics... John Howard really shoud do something about his eyebrows.

These little girls' outfits looked very Chinese to me. The children in the procession were very disciplined in the way they paraded, especially the high school marching bands. One of them was exceptionally good. I wish the kids in my classes were as disciplined - although I suspect the kids in the picture above would probably also go birko in my classroom... and my kids would be just as earnest in a performance.

This is an ancient fairy-floss machine, obviously still in good working order. Japan invented fairy floss, Turkish pizza and the soccer goal-nets used in the World Cup. Note: only the last of the above statements is true... they were designed and made in good ol' Osaka. Now... back to the festival...

The real action was to be found in the main street, as many mikoshi, or portable shrines, were hauled towards the main shrine. These mikoshi are believed to house Shinto deities. Some have amazingly beautiful gold fixtures and that Darth Vader black lacquer. The people doing the hauling and cajoling were a sight in themselves, in their happi coats and yukata. I love the designs and motifs of Japan's festivals.

Not sure if you can see the face of the guy in the middle too clearly, but it's classic. He would easily get jobs going for mad scientists' assistants... I guess this is his day off, so he just may be one.

Little details like this guy's watch remind you that these people are normal members of society - that this is a community event. This guy could easily be driving your bus on another day, or doing your tax return.
...you can get it haulin' a shrine... for a hard earned thirst needs a big cold beer...

...and the best cold beer is Vic...

...Victoria Bitter!

This guy may as well have been singing that song (cool ad, terrible beer), that's how good my Japanese is these days...yes, room for improvement.

Really running out of things to say now...

I hope by now you're not feeling as sedated as this rebel-rouser.

Okay, change of pace. I have a litlle bit to say on this: it's Kamakura's Daibutsu (basically means Big Buddha). There is another, larger daibutsu in Nara (closer to where I live), but it is generally agreed that the one shown above is artistically superior. I am of this opinion. I saw it about 3 years ago on my first trip to Japan, after managing to get totally lost. It was raining and I ended up walking through waist high grass on an obscure track, soaking my pants. I plonked out onto some lady's driveway. "Dr Livingstone, I presume," she said. No, not really... she looked at me with slight alarm and then I tried to show I was friendly by smiling and saying "Excuse me, where's the Big Buddha?" Anyway...

This time around it felt strange to see it as I'd just read an account of it in an excellent book called Samurai William, which tells of the life and times of the first Englishman to make it to Japan's shores in the 1600's, William Adams. He went from being a poor working class Briton to nearly dying from hostile people and tropical diseases, to being a friend and adviser to the Shogun, with lands and titles to boot. He saw out his days in Japan. Anyway... some of his debauched countrymen from other ships managed to get inside the Kamakura Daibutsu and bang around and holler, finishing off their act with some graffiti. All class! I resisted the temptation to follow suit.

Next... perhaps an all keitai issue... yes, I have the technology... have worked out how to get photos from my phone into my computer... so it's nothing exciting really, just the promise of fuzzy crappy random pictures of whatever took my fancy at the time. Same bat time, same bat channel...

In Asakusa (part of the city that is supposed to have kept some of the old Tokyo charm - i.e. hasn't yet been megapolised... yes, I just invented that word) is a strip of shops that sell catering supplies to the restaurant trade... while I'm making stuff up, I'll call it Kitchen Row. KR has some places that sell those impossibly tasty-looking dishes of resin and plastic - and they're not cheap. The different effects of texture, translucence etc. are quite impressive.

Some of the locals in Ueno park.

It would be cool if this building was a Transformer - can't you imagine all those blocks sliding and turning into something else? Like, maybe a normal building?

Near Ueno Station. Lots of stalls selling all sorts of stuff from L.A. gangwear to the biggest octopus tentacles I've ever seen... the whole thing must have been ginormous! Lots of people, lots of buzz... my references to crowds in Tokyo are beginning to sound like my references to snow in Takayama. There are a lot of people in Tokyo! (33 million in the Bay area I've read, which includes the cities of Yokohama, Kawasaki and Chiba).

Anyway, no reflections on life and death tonight... just some snapshots before sleep...

Night.

Still in Tokyo, this was in Ueno Park, not far from where we stayed. As you can see, the sakura were falling, leaving as quickly as they'd come. In case you're confused, I'm still recounting my holiday way back in April when my folks came to visit. Since then I've been over to Tokyo-way once again, and to Australia and back! Lucky it's Spam and not ham... hmmm 3 month-old meat.

I was in great company - my Mum (and again, Dad behind the camera), Jen, Ruby and Tom. These guys have moved to a city called Tsukuba Science City about an hour north of Tokyo (no, not my parents)... yes, you may have seen them in Last Spamurai before - they came for a holiday in December and amidst all the sight-seeing and catching up with Jen's old host families from her previous 2 years spent here, she managed to sit a successful interview and bag a job at a university! They never stop impressing me. But that aside, I really appreciate them coming all this way just to live "nearby" ... yes, it's all about me.

The vibe at the beginning of Spring here is magical. It's one big carnival, with stalls selling all those edible bibs and bobs on sticks and people milling outside, just enjoying the fact that things have thawed and new life is budding...

And how else do you celebrate this new lease of life, but drink yourself silly underneath it? There were a few people who were down for the count, but most people just seemed to have that sleepy look, stupid grins and tomato-red faces... You know, that whole Asian gene thing that doesn't break down alcohol too well... The little groups of people made me think of Manet's Luncheon on the Grass, except everyone here was dressed.

Shibuya, one of Tokyo's main hubs. This crossing is purportedly the world's busiest (unless somewhere in China has superceded it) and it's not hard to believe. Dad and I stood watching the lights change for about half an hour! Maybe that says more about us than it does the place, but it really is an amazing spectacle. It's not just the flowing mass of humanity on parade, it's also the 6 storey high screen on the 109-1 building, surrounded by several smaller (but still big) screens that sometimes synchronise with the same images. We saw the dinosaur that famously walks across the big screen in Lost in Translation.

The crowd builds until the traffic stops and the floodgates open...

I guess it is understandable that people here sometimes go to extreme lengths to be noticed. I read a very insightful observation about Japan... to paraphrase: we have "advanced happiness" - (all the trappings and distractions of a mega-industrialised society)... but we also have "advanced misery" - (all the trappings and distractions of a mega-industrialised society... and the isolation and dislocation that come with them). I found that written in a blog that documents all sorts of unsavoury aspects of Japanese society... the writer is a strange guy who sees it as his personal mission to report "the truth", often with photos. I have the feeling that his site is censored in Japan as I had to do a lot surfing to access it here (kept getting "forbidden" messages), whereas from Australia I had no problems going there directly. His offerings are often offensive and unedifying and always written in hilariously shocking English but every now and then he pulls out something truly poignant.

On Sunday night I was waiting for a train in Osaka and I saw a homeless guy on the platform. That in itself is sadly unremarkable here. You see shack after shack of cardboard and blue tarpaulin in some areas. But this guy really struck me for some reason. He looked like a forty-something Japanese Marlon Brando - good looks, commanding kind of presence. In a samurai movie he would be the hero. He was clean shaven and had a classy kind of hairstyle, a bit like the prime minister's. But his shoes were falling apart around his feet and his trackpants and windcheater were dirty. His belongings hung off his arm and fingers in shopping bags. If you swapped his clothes for an Italian suit you would assume he was an executive. I wonder if he was. I wonder if he had a wife. Kids. You could imagine that one day he woke up having been teleported from his double spring mattress into a bed of newspaper. Seeing him made me feel profoundly sad. Suddenly my iPod I was plugged into seemed a pretty vain and unimportant trinket. I've had a bit to do with homeless people in Sydney - and you can't generalise, I mean people are people - but in Japan, the homeless are much less the product of drug-addiction and more of financial tragedy. They tend to be people more in command of their faculties, more lucid - just regular people who have had to weather something terrible and adopt a new routine - e.g. picking magazines and comics out of the rubbish in order to resell them. Some of these men (and they are nearly all male) seem to carry themselves with such dignity, despite their humble circumstances. This prefecture alone has a GDP larger than all but 8 countries in the world. I gather the social order that bustles by has no room for these casualties of the miracle economy - no "in" for them to re-enter. Shut-outs.

And then Japan has its Shut-ins - the hikkikomori ...young people who disappear from school/university/work - self-exiled to their bedrooms, sometimes for years, living virtual lives through game consoles, television and the internet, refusing all human contact. Their parents, for fear of scandal, often maintain a strained pretense that all is well - their son/daughter is away somewhere, doing well.

I bike along a bridge to work 3 days a week. There are always flowers half way along. Sometimes an open bottle of drink. There are no signs of trauma on the road, the path or the safety railing. I gather someone took their own life here. Then one morning recently I happened upon the bringer of these gifts. A young man in a suit on his knees on the path, offering a prayer. He hears my approach and stands up, looking over the edge to the rocks and stream below.

I'm sorry to be so morbid, from time to time it gets the better of me. There is much to warm and thrill you in this country, but there are also things we don't like to face - cracks in the facade that people fall through.

In heaven, everything is fine...

Man, I'd resolved to write less! Hopeless. Spam you later.