To the Grand Shrine

Weekend of April 27-28 (Fri. to Sat.) – Ise and the Grand Shrine

This past weekend I traveled with Andrew and Tiffany to the peninsula of Ise.  When asked about what my Golden Week plans were, I would tell international friends that I was going to Ise, and they would reply with, “What are you going to do there?” or “What’s at Ise?” and questions like that.  Wake up, people!  It’s where the Grand Shrine is!  “Oh that’s cool.  Why that shrine?”  Because it houses one of Japan’s national treasures!  The mirror, guys!  It’s so cool!  You don’t even know!  I mean, I know you can’t see the mirror because it’s in the shrine and all, but it’s also where Amaterasu, the sun goddess, is venerated.  Anyways, it was a big deal to me, and I felt like people weren’t even aware.

Anyways, more correctly, the mirror is one of the Imperial Regalia of Japan or Three Sacred Treasures along with the jewel and the Kusanagi sword.  It’s inside the Inner Shrine at Ise Jingu (Ise Shrine), and it’s the mirror that was used when luring the sun goddess Amaterasu out of her cave after a feud with her brother in order to bring the light back to the world.  All of the gods were worried since Amaterasu’s hiding in a cave brought about darkness to the world so they hatched a plan to bring her out.  One goddess tore off all her clothes and danced naked in front on the cave, and everyone was laughing and having a good time.  The mirror was hung outside the blocked cave opening, and when Amaterasu came out to find out what all the merriment was about, she saw her own dazzling reflection.  All this helped her to come out of the cage so now she and her mirror are in Mie prefecture’s Ise Shrine.  The story comes from the Nihon Shiki or the Kojiki, and there are many versions of it.  I learned about it when I took a Japanese department class at UF called Tales of Kyoto taught by Dr. Hulvey.  Good stuff, man.

Back to the trip.

We left after classes finished on Friday, and went on a train adventure that lasted about 3 hours.  On the train ride, we saw amazing landscapes of Japan, lots of farms and rice paddies, and really quaint traditional communities hidden in valleys between the mountains.  Guys, if you come to Japan, please take one of these super long train rides.  It’s breathtaking how much nature and beauty you can see that’s tucked away far away from the cities.

 

When we finally got to Ise, we first went to the Ise Shrine’s Outer Shrine.  It’s just a 4-minute walk from the Ise station (JR station).  It was so beautiful there.  We locked my suitcase up in a locker at the station, and even the walk through the tiny town there was really cool.  It wasn’t crowded at all, and the streets were deserted.  The three of us got to enjoy the walk and the Shrine and its grounds without hassle.  The Outer Shrine compound has a big lake you can sit by, ginormous trees, and many little shrines within it.  The whole place was like a national park inside (not that I’ve been to one), but it was all trees and dirt and rock/gravel paths, stone and dirt staircases, and just plain awesomeness.  It was so nice.  The trees towered over you creating a tunnel in some parts.  Yeah, it was just amazing.

The shrine closed at 5 and we had gotten there at 3:30, so we left by closing, picked up my suitcase and headed to the hostel we had booked a room at.  Oh my god.  This hostel was the coolest and chillest and most convenient hostel I’ve ever been to, and I’ve stayed at many hostels.  It was run by young people (probably in their early 30’s), and it had the coolest paintjob making it look like a piece of art in itself.  Apparently, Tiffany found out from the owner that it used to be a rundown old ryokan (authentic Japanese-style inn), and he took it, renovated it, had a friend paint it, and then re-opened it as a hostel for travelers.  It’s called the Ise Guesthouse Kazami.  I’ll just provide some pictures, but you can look it up via hostelworld.com and even on Facebook.  I was very satisfied with my stay there.

That night we just chilled and relaxed and ate a combination of old-lady-run pub food and convenience store food.  The hostel host was super kind and asked us to join him and the other guests for drinks and night-viewing.  We had to turn him down though because we were just so tired from the train ride and walking around all afternoon and evening.  I wish I had taken him up on his offer though.

The next day we woke up around 10 am and took pictures of the hostel.  We chatted with the host/owner, Hiro, and had breakfast.  Then we set off to buy bus passes for the day and went to Ise’s Inner Shrine and then to see the Meoto Iwa, the Wedded Rocks.

The Inner Shrine was crowded since it was Saturday, which sucked, but it was also really amazing.  I think I just liked the nature more than the shrines, ha ha.  It was similar to the Outer Shrine but with more interestingly shaped venerated rocks and trees in it. 

Oh yeah, let me explain.  Ise Jingu, or Ise Shrine, is composed of an Inner Shrine and an Outer Shrine.  They are about a 2 hour walk away from each other.  So yeah…that’s why I’ve been talking about them the way I have been.

The Inner Shrine’s compound was much bigger, and on the day we went, shrine-related workers and the maiko (female shrine-keepers) were dressed in costume and danced on a stage near the entrance.  It was super cool to see the elaborate costumes, and the dance was very traditional with slow movements and music played by Japanese traditional instruments.

Outside the Inner Shrine is a road called Oharai-machi, and you’ll notice it right away because it’s a road lined with Edo period style shops and restaurants.  A lot of the buildings in Oharai-machi and in and all around the town of Ise are buildings that have preserved their Edo-style architecture.  We walked almost this whole road and there were so many really interesting buildings and foods and souvenir shops.  Then almost near the end, there is a mini Edo-style area called Okage-yokocho.  We went in here, and it had more of the same things, but a lot more tourist-centered.  The whole place was really cool, and you could pay to play traditional games and buy cucumber on a stick (which was surprisingly delicious and fresh) and all kinds of things.

Eventually we had to leave, and we took the bus to see those rocks I mentioned.  The rocks are located right next to an aquarium with lots of seals who make funny faces, and it’s right on a beach.  There are a few shrines along the cliff-side walk to see the rocks in the ocean, and there were a lot of frog statues.  I didn’t quite get why there was a frog shrine and so many frogs and frog-themed things right by the ocean, but what do I know?  This was a great picture opportunity kinda place, and so we spent some time here taking pictures and hanging with the frogs and looking at the rocks.

That evening we ate at another pub-like restaurant and had more convenience store food, and then made our way back home via that 3-hour train trip.  It was an amazing 48 hours.  After Kyoto and the Fushimi Inari, Ise is my next favorite spot.  It was just so beautiful and calm and quaint there.

The Good Stuff's Back! Yum!

Nihonjin are back at school!

(Nihonjin=にほんじん=日本人=Japanese people)

The Japanese students started school this year on the 5^th of April.  So many new freshman are about!  It’s kinda cool to see them all back since they’ve been on recess since February or something.  You see…

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JAPAN CULTURE LESSON

In Japan the school year starts in April, then there’s a one month-ish summer break.  The school starts again in early September (around the same time we Western people start our academic year), and then they get another break for the winter.  I want to say it’s around two weeks or so.  Then they start school again and finish the academic year in March.  Then there’s another break til school starts all over again in April.

However, just like school terms are shorter in college for Westerners, so they also are for the Japanese.  The above model is kind of like a 3 semester system, which is actually kind of like some colleges in the States that have a very short and very fast paced winter semester.  Anyways, in college for the Japanese, it’s a 2 semester system with the first semester starting in April, and the second in September.  Thus, they end up with a really long break between academic years.  February until April.  It’s just like how our summer breaks get lengthened once we enter college, especially if you finish exams in April instead of early May.  Oh yeah.  Three and a half months of summer~.

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Ok, so back to what I wanted to comment on:  LUNCH.

On Kansai Gaidai’s Nakamiya campus, which is where international students take classes, there are 3 cafeterias, one convenience store, and a McDonald’s.  During the normal Japanese academic year, all these places that sell food are open usually during the duration of all classes, so about 9 am til about 6 pm.

The thing is, all international students operate on the normal Western academic calendar, so sometimes when the Japanese students are on break, our classes are usually still in session, and vice versa.  Another point is that there are like a bajillion Japanese students and anywhere between 300 to 500 international students per semester.  Okay, okay.  There aren’t a bajillion, but they number in the thousands according to my speaking partner, and so we’re definitely in the minority.  Thus, I guess I’m not surprised that these sustenance access points (the lunchrooms, konbini, and Makku) shorten and restrict their hours when there are not as many people to feed.  In the beginning of this spring semester, only two of the lunchrooms were open, and the konbini (Japanese shortened word for convenience store: コンビニエンスストア, konbiniensu sutoa --> コンビニ, konbini) and Makku (Japanese shortened word for McDonald’s: マックドナルド, Makkudonarudo --> マックド, Makkudo orマック, Makku) also reduce their open hours to something like opening at anywhere between 10 am and noon and then closing around 3pm to 4pm.  The food choices and amounts also decrease at all these places.

The hours aren’t the only things that change though.  The food changes, too…and not for the better.  During the time period where both Japanese students and international students were both on break, the food quality decreased drastically in the cafeteria.  Pre-cooked food was just re-heated instead of made fresh as per the usual, and the variety also decreased.  Usually the variety includes noodles (ramen, udon, and soba, which you can add toppings to or can even come in a curry), donburi, which is a bowl of rice with meat on top (cooked egg, pork and egg, chicken and egg, tempura and egg), club lunch (cabbage salad, a couple pasta noodles with sauce, a meat covered with sauce, rice, and miso soup), curry (a sweet kin and a spicy kind, which you can add toppings to as well). and sometimes some other special dishes are offered..  Also, there are usually onigiri (rice balls with something inside), sandwiches, pastries of all kinds, fruit, pudding, a dessert or two, and ice cream.  Man, let me tell you, when I first started eating at the cafeteria last semester, this was the life.  Lunch was always delicious.

Anyways, when school resumed for the international students for the spring semester, there were still no Japanese classes in session, so the food quality improved somewhat.  It was no longer pre-cooked, goopy ration-like food from the dark ages of middle school, but the variety didn’t return.  There were always the main meals of noodles, donburi, club lunch, and curry, BUT the goodies never returned.  Well, that’s a lie.  There were a few days I could count on my fingers when I saw a few onigiri here and a pastry or two there, but those were rare during this four month period.

This made me feel a bit discriminated against.  I’m not trying to say that Kansai Gaidai doesn’t feel like serving the same food during the normal Japanese academic year to the foreigners during the Japanese breaks because I understand that you wouldn’t make the same amount of food for 300-500 people who may or may not eat in the lunchroom every week during a break as you would a bajillion people of which a larger percentage of and thus amount of people would eat.  However, I don’t feel like the quality should fall or the variety be restricted.  I usually had a piece of fruit or a pastry with my noodles or donburi, and then I couldn’t.  I know I’m not some starving child, but I don’t see how this strategy helps save food, time, or money.  If the food quality drops, people eat less of it when there are better options of campus like the convenience stores right outside the campus gates.  If the variety is reduced, then I’d rather go to those convenience stores off campus because they still have fruit and sandwiches and pastries.  I feel like if you look at it this way, you actually still waste lunchroom efforts.

I mean, I don’t know.  I ended up eating more off campus and cooking for myself instead, and I didn’t starve or anything, but I was just turned off by the food choices.  Who knows?   Maybe I’m a brat, spoiled by the amazing variety and cheapness of food back in Gainesville.  Or, maybe these people need to keep the pineapple and chocolate croissants out, man!

I kind of digressed here a little, but it’s all background you should know to understand that now that the Japanese students are back, LUNCH IS GLORIOUS AGAIN~.  ^____^

Yeah, that was the point of this entry.  :D