rice paddies and old ladies

Okay, so one of the primary reasons for me travelling to the North of Honshu was to see Jesus, it was also a way to check off the Tohoku region from my checklist of places I've visited in Japan. Going there, I can now say I've visited all of the main regions of Japan, as well as visiting more than half of all the prefectures in Japan too.

But other than Jesus, what else is there to actually see in Tohoku? Sure they've got a couple festivals that are quite famous, but if I mistime my trip, will there be other famous attractions? I asked some of the other teachers and friends what there was to see, and they all replied with the same thing.

Inaka. In other words, "The country. Middle of nowhere. Bumpkintown." Some of the other more tactful teachers told me that it was a wonderful place to go to see nature, which is essentially a kinder way of saying there's nothing to see.

And, turns out, they were right. It was very inaka. Rice fields and greenery stretched out far into the horizon, and the high-rise buildings were fewer and further between. Deciding to embrace the "nature" or middle of nowhere-aspect, I figured I should make my way to Inakadate see some rice fields while I was in Northern Honshu.

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. And when life gives you rice fields, you make giant pictures of Yoshitsune and Benkei, right? It was about a 45 minute walk from the station, and with the amount of sightseers from around Aomori, climbing the one biggish building in Inakadate just to see this rice field, it did mean I only had enough time to see the ricefields for about ten minutes, but it was totally worth it.

Incidentally, it was also the time I realised one of the benefits of traveling alone; You can be as poorly planned as you want, and not have to worry about annoying or disappointing anyone else. I looked up the previous night how to get to Inakadate by train, and just assumed I could get there once I arrived at the station. It's essentially like assuming you can walk to Tokyo Tower once you get off at Tokyo Station. I'm sure there probably was a better way to get there by bus or something had I researched or asked around, but despite the heat, I did enjoy the freedom of finding my way there.

It turns out, as a random walking around a small village alone, it does draw some attention, as I found out from an old lady waiting at the train station. She saw me walking to the station, and wondered what I was doing in such a small town. Or, that's what I assumed she was asking about. I also found out that Northern Honshu has its own dialect; one which is incomprehensible to even Japanese speakers from other areas in Japan. Fortunately, I have a little experience bluffing my way through conversations, so I got out of the conversation looking like I knew what she was talking about. I hope.

pilgrimage to shingo

I'm not really a religious person, but when people ask me what I want to see before I leave Japan, I always answer with the same thing: Jesus. Not in the metaphorical sense, or in the spiritual sense of finding Jesus inside of myself or anything. I'm talking about Jesus' final resting place, which as everyone knows, is here in Japan.

Yes, Jesus' final resting place is in Shingo Village, in Japan, far away from major tourist places, meaning if you are going to go by public transport, it involves catching a bus from the "nearest" train station, and changing buses a couple times before you get there. The buses don't run frequently either, so if you don't time it right either, you're kinda screwed, like my case. I ended up giving up on the public transport option and just renting a car for a few hours, which did turn out to be more expensive than I thought. Then again, no one said this pilgrimage to Jesus' grave would be easy.

What's that you say? He was crucified? Oh no, I'm sure you're just confused. Jesus wasn't crucified- his brother was. You know, Isukiri. Isukiri, Jesus' oft-neglected brother, altruistically sacrificed himself in place of Jesus while Jesus fled to Japan. After which, Jesus married a Japanese woman and became a garlic farmer (And awesome one at that apparently, but I'm sure that was a given he was the Son of God), where he lived until the ripe old age of 106.


While there though, I also found this: Garlic flavoured ice cream. Probably in part to Jesus' mad garlic farming skillz, Aomori prefecture is now famous for its garlic. I kinda had to try it for the same reasons I went to the obscure village in the first place; such a weird combination of two different things, I had to try it just to see what it was like.

don't look at me!

I really wondered what it looked like to all the people that drove or cycled past my apartment the morning I left. I was sitting on the couch in a completely bare, dark apartment, staring out the window. Or, staring out where all the windows would be. All the windows and curtains were removed so the landlord could clean them and prepare for the next tenant moving into my apartment in the next couple of days. All my belongings were packed up in bags in preparation for starting my travels around Japan. I couldn't really go anywhere either, since I was waiting for my former English teacher to come pick me up and take me to the station. My electricity and gas had been switched off that morning, so I couldn't watch TV or even turn on the lights. Going to the bathroom involved a dilemma; close the door and use the toilet in complete darkness, or open the door and let passers by see what you're doing?

I was glad when an hour passed and my teacher finally came. She did question what I was doing in a windowless apartment, but I did explain the whole situation. If only I could've done the same thing to the three cyclists and two drivers as well.

sightseeing: j-style

Yep, I'm officially a Japanese tourist. I wonder if it bodes well that my very first day sightseeing during my final tour of Japan has shown that I've fully assimilated into the life of a J-tourist.

Evidence 1: My shiny new DSLR camera with neck strap, ready to snap pictures of anything picturesque without a single moment of hesitation.

Evidence 2: My Japanese tour guide; glove-clad, and microphone in hand to tell us all facts about everything and anything on our tour.

Evidence 3: My Japanese tour group. The only thing missing from this tour group however, was the flag the Japanese tour guide was to wave for stragglers and the vertically-challenged to see where the tour group was going. However, I guess that was remedied by:

Evidence 4: My J-tour badge. For any situations I become separated from the pack.

Being a Japanese tour, it involved a tight schedule and limited time for self exploration at the places we stopped off at. I shouldn't complain though, since I was only in Kagoshima for one morning, and figured it was the best way to see the main sights before leaving around lunchtime anyway.

It also helps seeing I didn't even know what there was to see in Kagoshima anyway. Essentially, I was just going there because it was the southernmost part of the main islands of Japan, and I was wanting to head to Aomori, which is in the northernmost part of the main island. I had 11 days to use my 14-day JR pass, so figured i might as well make the most of it. Just like how I kind skip meals before going a buffet to gorge myself, I figured if I was going to get an all-you-can-use ticket for Japan, I'm going to make the most of it.

So what is there to see? Well, I've yet to see that too. Kagoshima does have Sakurajima, an island that houses an active volcano that still spews dust and smoke every now and then. unfortunately, the day I was there, the weather wasn't the best. So while some people saw this,

I saw this.

Oh well, can't complain. At least i have photo evidence (and marimokkori) to show I've been there!