Trip to Japan: Day 2 ６月１８日月曜日

Monday was a rainy day. After checking out of my hotel, I took a walk from Shinsaibashi 心斎橋 to Dotombori 道頓堀, the liveliest nightlife area in Osaka 大阪. Rainy Monday mornings are a different matter, of course. On the way there, I stopped at a Family Mart convenience store and bought a bottle of Skal スコール, one of my favorite drinks in Japan. Skal is a carbonated yogurt drink that for some reason is difficult to find outside of western Japan. Here's a picture of the bottle, next to a shot taken from my hotel room window.

Two Dotombori icons that every tourist takes a photo of: the Kuidaore clown 食い倒れ人形 and the Kani-doraku かに道楽 crab. Kuidaore Taro has been beating his drum since 1950, while the giant crab has been moving its legs since 1960. I wanted to get a picture of the Glico Man, but his image was covered up as part of some kind of maintenance work.

Later that morning, I met Toshiaki, a former student of mine in Yokkaichi 四日市, and his wife Satoe. Toshiaki was a great help to me in planning my trip, especially with all the information he sent regarding Ominesan 大峰山 and Dorogawa 洞川. They drove me to see Taimadera 當麻寺, which is noted for a large mandala of a Buddhist paradise weaved in the 8th century by a nun called Chujo-Hime 中将姫. I know this because I was given a tour of the temple by Shiho Kuzumoto, the daughter of the head priest. Ms. Kuzumoto did a great job explaining, in very good English, the history behind the temple, and the significance of the treasures it contains.

Next, Toshiaki drove me to Kashihara-jingu 橿原神宮, a Shinto shrine dating from 1889, and dedicated to Japan's mythical first emperor, Jimmu 神武天皇. Afterwards, we had lunch, and then they dropped me off at Kashiharajingumae Station 橿原神宮前駅. I really enjoyed spending the late morning and early afternoon with the Miyazakis, and I hope someday I can return the favor should they ever visit me.

From Kashihara, I took the Kintetsu Line 近鉄線 to my final destination of the day, Yoshino 吉野. From Yoshino Station, you take a cable car to the village of Yoshino, which sits on the spur of Yoshino Mountain 吉野山. That's what the Lonely Planet guidebook states. What the LP guide doesn't tell you is that the village itself is built on a hill. I had to walk about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) uphill while pulling my small suitcase behind me. By the time I reached my lodgings, the sweat was pouring off of me. To my initial shock, no one at the Yoshino-yama Kizo-in 吉野山喜蔵院, a temple that also serves as a youth hostel ユースホステル seemed to know I was coming, despite my having had a reservation made nearly 2 months before. As it turned out, however, I was the only guest there that night (and the first one since the previous Thursday, according to the guest book), and thus had an 8-tatami mat room 八畳部屋 all to myself. At ￥4480 ($36 or NT1185), including dinner and breakfast, I certainly couldn't complain about the price.

Next: Yoshino to Dorogawa

Trip to Japan: Day 1 ６月１７日日曜日

I'm back in Taiwan after a week in Japan. My feelings are somewhat mixed at the moment - I really wish I could've stayed in Japan, but at the same time I missed Amber and Pamela very much this past week. For the next seven days, I'll post some pictures of the places I visited and write briefly about some of the things I did in Nippon.

There isn't much to report on for Day 1, actually. My flight to Kansai Airport 関西国際空港 on Cathay Pacific didn't depart until 4:15 in the afternoon last Sunday. Though the flight itself only lasted a couple of hours, the one-hour time difference, plus the time spent in Immigration upon landing, meant that it was around 8:30 in the evening by the time I left the airport. Taking the Nankai Line 南海 to Namba station 難波駅 in Osaka 大阪, I transferred to the Midosuji subway line 地下鉄御堂筋線 and got off at Shinsaibashi 心斎橋, and checked into my hotel for the night. So much for the first day.

While waiting for my flight at T'aiwan (Taiwan) T'aoyuan (Taoyuan) International Airport 台湾桃園国際空港, I took this picture of an Eva Air jet getting ready to take off. Love that Hello Kitty motif!

Next: Osaka to Yoshino 吉野

Fun in the water

I was supposed to go hiking in Tak'eng (Dakeng) 大坑 this morning with a couple of friends, but the rear tire on my scooter took a sudden turn for the worse yesterday. Low air pressure, a split tread and a tendency to fishtail when making turns led me to conclude it's safer not to take the bike out on the road, especially as tomorrow I'm leaving for a week-long vacation in Japan. And as it turned out, the weather this morning wasn't very cooperative anyway - it poured!

So instead of going for a walk in the mountains, I went with Pamela and Amber to our daughter's first water familiarization class, in T'aichung (Taijhong) 台中（たいちゅう）. Today was actually a trial lesson, and my main concern was how Amber would react to it all. As it turned out, she enjoyed being in the water. And while she cried at times, it was mainly because she wanted to do something other than what the instructor was trying to have all the children do.

The class is designed not to teach infants how to swim, but to get them accustomed to the water. We decided to sign up for six lessons, and I'm looking forward to joining Amber in the pool after I get back to Taiwan. Here are a few photos from this morning. I'd post more, but Pamela would probably kill me if I did so!

Tomorrow I'm off to Japan for a week. I'm going to visit Yoshino 吉野, Omine-san 大峰山 and Koya-san 高野山, and meet up with some former students from my days in Yokkaichi 四日市. It won't be easy being away from my family for seven days, but I do need the break from life in Taiwan.

じゃまた

A letter to the editor 投書

Wow. Not only has the Japan Times published my letter to the editor, but they kept it intact. The last time I wrote the newspaper (the first time, actually), regarding an article by Gregory Clark, the letter was edited to the point of incomprehension. It must have been a slow week in the editorial department this time around.

Here's the letter as it appears in the paper:

In Robyn Lim's June 2 article, "Lee should avoid Yasukuni," Lim grudgingly admits that, as a private citizen, former Taiwanese President Lee Tung-hui is free to visit Japan and has a right to religious freedom, which includes paying a visit to Yasukuni Shrine (Lee did visit the shrine June 7). Yet she makes the ridiculous claim that by doing so Lee would "provoke" China and somehow drag both Japan and the United States into war. 

Japan is a democratic society, is it not? Therefore, shouldn't Lee be extended the same courtesies and privileges as any other visitor to Japan? If other foreign tourists can visit Yasukuni, why can't Lee?

Lim is afraid that Lee will say something that will promote "independence" for Taiwan and thus "anger" China. If that's the case, then the Chinese government needs to understand that in a democracy like Japan, people are free to express their opinions, even those who are visiting from abroad. What right does China have to dictate whom the Japanese government should allow into Japan, and under what restrictions?

Lim seems concerned about "de jure" independence for Taiwan. Setting aside China's dubious historical and legal claims to Taiwan, the fact is, the Republic of China (Taiwan) has been a sovereign state since 1949 and is recognized as such by 25 nations around the world. Taiwan maintains unofficial relations with many other countries, including Japan and the U.S.

Lim paints a picture of Lee as a rabble-rouser, but neglects to point out that as president, Lee oversaw the transformation of Taiwan from a state run by an authoritarian regime into one of Asia's most vibrant democracies. In 1996, Lee became the first freely elected leader in the history of a Chinese state. No wonder Beijing feels threatened by him. It's harder to understand Lim's motivations.

In the news ニュース

Today's Japan Times is carrying an article entitled "Aso defends Lee's visit to Yasukuni" :

"Japanese Foreign Minister 外相 Taro Aso 麻生太郎 said Sunday that he sees no problem with former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui's 李登輝 visit Thursday to the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine 靖国神社 in Tokyo 東京, dismissing criticism from China about Lee's recent trip to Japan.

'Mr. Lee is 84 years old and has retired to private life,' Aso said in a speech in Sendai 仙台, northeastern Japan. 'His elder brother is honored at Yasukuni Shrine and I wonder what problem there is in his having visited it while he is still healthy.'"

To quote Teddy Roosevelt, bully for Aso. It's reassuring to see the Japanese government seemingly understands that there is no conflict between adhering to the so-called "One China" 一つの中国 principle and maintaining diplomatic relations with China, while at the same time allowing Lee to exercise the same freedoms of speech 言論の自由 and religion 信仰の自由 that are permitted to all other visitors to Japan. Then again, seeing as last week a prominent Chinese dissident, Wei Jingsheng 魏京生, was denied entry into Japan to attend an event marking the Tiananmen Square crackdown 六四天安門事件, it might be more a case of the government of Prime Minister 総理大臣 Shinzo Abe 安倍晋三 letting the Chinese government know there are limits to how far Japan can be pushed around on the Yasukuni/Taiwan issues.

In any event, there's a great irony here: Taiwan's best friends, both in Japan and the United States, are often the kind of conservative, reactionary politicians you would never vote for back home.

A quiet Sunday 静かな日曜日

My father-in-law turns 82 on Tuesday, so today the family celebrated by going out for lunch. Pamela's two sisters and their husbands drove up from Hsiluo (Siluo) 西螺（せいら）, and joined my wife's mother, brother, sister-in-law and niece in observing the occasion. As my father-in-law is a vegetarian, we had a meatless lunch at a restaurant in downtown Fengyuan (Fongyuan) 豊原（とよはら）.

今週の火曜日に義理の父は82年になって、今日は妻のご家族と外で昼ご飯を食べた。義理の父は菜食主義者だからみんなはベジタリアンのレストランへ行って食事をした。

Most vegetarians (my father-in-law included) choose this lifestyle for religious reasons, unlike in the West, where the majority of vegetarians give up meat because it's perceived as being part of a healthier lifestyle. As a result, much of the food in vegetarian restaurants in Taiwan is designed to resemble meat or, as in the case with the photo below, fish.

ほんとうに刺身ですか。

As Pamela was wondering, why give up meat, and then eat food that's designed to look like meat? And vegetarians take note: vegetarian food is no more healthier than regular fare in Taiwan, which in real terms means it's often deep-fried and swimming in oil. To your health!

After lunch, Amber and I took a walk to the nearest Seven-Eleven so that I could buy a newspaper. On the way back she became very excited about the various arcade games spilling out onto the sidewalk.

Arcade and gumball machines in Taiwan contain so much Japanese written on them that I usually don't take any notice (I suspect many, in fact, are imported from Japan). The one that Amber is pointing to, however, is different. The Japanese written at the top ド子 in nonsensical. The Chinese is more interesting: "Tat'oumei (Datoumei)". Pamela thinks 大頭妹 ("Big-head girl") sounds cute. I will reserve comment.

One good thing about all the rainy weather we've been having lately is the clean air and nice views that follow in its wake. These pictures were taken from the roof of my apartment complex this afternoon. My attention was drawn to the fogbank off in the distance, something not usually seen in this area.

If only the air could be this clean year-round!

日本一番

Here in Taiwan, many products are sold by claiming that they are popular in Japan. The reasons why are not hard to understand. Japanese companies, after all, have a well-deserved reputation for putting out high-quality products. In addition, throughout Asia (Taiwan included) young people look towards Japan for the latest trends in design, fashion, music, 漫画 and アニメ. There's another factor at play here, as well: many Taiwanese look upon the period when the island was a Japanese colony (1895-1945) with a certain nostalgia, especially in comparison to the later, corrupt authoritarian rule by the KMT (Kuomintang/Guomindang) 中国国民党. This looking up to Japan means signs like these are a common sight all over Taiwan:

The first was taken in front of a drugstore 薬屋 in Fengyuan (Fongyuan) 豊原（とよはら）. Condoms are being promoted, with "No. 1 in Japan" and "Made in Japan" clearly visible. Above "No. 1 in Japan" is written 日本で人気No. 1・岡本コンドーム！！ ("Nihon de ninki No. 1, Okamoto kondomu!!") - "Okamoto condoms, the No. 1 most popular (brand) in Japan!!". Hmm, condoms...When I was living in Japan, I found that most Japanese-made condoms were, um, too small for me. The one exception was a brand called "Beach Boy", which came in a psychedelically-colored box (it's been years, however, since I've see any being sold in Japanese drug stores). In case you think this is a case of my ego getting inflated, I once read an article by Bob Greene, in which he described visiting a condom factory. While being given a tour of the plant, he asked a company representative how many different sizes were produced. The spokesperson replied that the question of size was a myth, and that his company produced only two sizes of condoms - a larger one for the rest of the world, and a smaller version for the Japanese market. Ouch!

The sign in the other photo was taken outside a store (also in Fengyuan) selling jeans ジーパン. "Nippon Blue" it says, with the characters written above 日本藍. I'd never seen the 藍 character before, as 青 is usually used for the color blue. There was some Japanese written horizontally (and read from right to left) on the right-hand side of the sign, but it didn't show up well in the photo. I suppose I could have tried to work out it what it said while I was there, but I didn't want to look like a dorky 外人 standing for a long time in front of a store window.