07/23 - Sayōnara

                                 さ

                          ゆ    ら

                          き    ば

                  ま     の    と

                  た     ふ    も

           あ     る

           お     こ

           う     ろ

                   "Sa-ra-ba-to-mo

                              yu-ki-no-fu-ru-ku-ro

                 ma-ta-a-o-u"

Today I left Japan. I woke up in the morning and hung out with two great friends that I met early in my trip, Clayton and Masayoshi. We grabbed some breakfast and then chilled at Clayton's apartment while I organized my luggage. Clayton helped me carry my load of luggage to the station by his house and Masayoshi helped me all the way to Ikebukuro Station on the Yamanote Line. We said a nice goodbye, telling each other how we appreciated each other in true Japanese style. I carried on on the Yamanote Line to Nippori Station and grabbed the Skyliner to Narita Airport. It really didn't feel like I was leaving at all. 

At the airport everything went smoothly checking in and getting through security so I made a quick trip to Duty Free. Inside the shop there was an American woman yelling things across the store to her husband and referring to somebody as "What's his name?" I used up as much change as I could at the store and then boarded the plane. When I got to my seat I started putting some things in the overhead compartment and a massive woman came up from behind and bumped me and impatiently said "Excuse me," even though I'd been blocking the aisle for about two seconds. I could tell there were some things I'd miss about Japan already. 

For the flight I had a triple header of Japanese entertainment lined up. First, I read all the letters my students had given me on my last day teaching at Rikkyo. There were some beautiful messages, as well as some comedic gold. It was a really nice way to reflect on my trip whilst on the plane. Next I finished Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood. It was an absolutely captivating novel and I revelled in the fact that I could recognize so many places Murakami refers to in Tokyo and many aspects of Japanese culture and living in Tokyo. I feel like I would have read a totally different novel if not for the last 11 weeks. Finally, I watched Hayao Miyazaki's film My Neighbor Totoro. The film is super famous in Japan and you still see the eponymous character Totoro all over the place, even though the film was originally released in 1988. I had planned on watching it much earlier in my trip, but there's just so much to do in Tokyo I never got around to it. The setting is actually inspired by Tokorozawa, the city/district neighbouring where I lived, and a the place where I got on the train daily. So I guess Totoro has been my neighbour for the last 11 weeks. The movie was quite good, but didn't top Ponyo as my favourite Miyazaki film. All of this made the flight pretty enjoyable, except that there was a problem with the heater on the plane so it was absolutely freezing and felt positively frigid after the sweltering heat of Tokyo in July.

When I arrived in Calgary it was a bit before 11 AM local time on the 23rd. My over 9 hour flight had left Tokyo at about 4 PM local time on the 23rd. So I went backwards in time despite spending a significant amount of time on a plane. It felt really weird to be back in Calgary, more so than I expected. Riding in my dad's car on the Deerfoot felt a bit surreal. 

Today's haiku is obviously not your run-of-the-mill Bashō and Fukurō poem. It is in Japanese, entirely in Hiragana script. I wrote it with the help of some of my students on the last day of normal class I taught at the University. We worked together mixing Japanese and English in a way quite emblematic of how things have been for me in Japan. I love the way the poem turned out and the students were proud of it too and wanted me to share it with as many people as possible. The meaning, for my non-Japanese speaking readers, breaks down as follows:

• sa-ra-ba-to-mo - Something along the lines of "See you friends". One student told me it is a kind of old style, but this makes it sound cool and traditional, like something a Samurai would say. Awesome!
• yu-ki-no-fu-ru-ko-ro - This can be translated as "I want to see you when it snows." I told my students I wanted to express how much I wanted to come back to Japan in the future, but also how I'd like to see it in winter, both for a different experience and so I don't have to deal with the stifling heat and humidity again. It has the double effect of also mentioning an aspect of a season, keeping with the rules of traditional Japanese haiku. 
• ma-ta-a-o-u - "Lets meet again." A phrase that doesn't just say goodbye, but says let's meet again. My trip proved that you could reconnect with so many people, in new places. I also made so many good friends, that I really want to meet again in the future, at some point in time, somewhere. 

There you have it. I had the idea to write my last haiku in Japanese a while ago and I'm really happy I followed through on it. I'm also very happy to have carried this blog on to completion. I had an incredible time in Japan. Though I saw many amazing sights and experienced many amazing things, I can honestly say my time was what it was because of all the people I shared it with. I have to give the last shout out to Aykut, someone I made an incredible connection with, and a friend for life. He talked many times about how he absolutely loves sitting with friends in pubs and cafes because you make so many plans and come up with so many amazing ideas, and in his belief, it's beautiful whether you actually end up carrying them through or not. The two of us came up with a lot of crazy ones ourselves, but we also carried out a lot of them, even before meeting, just by ending up in Japan in the first place. I know we'll continue making them too and will carry out at least a few more.
 o my Space Brother and all my other friends, I'll see you again, in Japan, in Canada, or somewhere else. 

さようなら

07/22 - Tana-kara Botamochi

Zip back to Tokyo.

Fresh fish, friends, baseball and a

fitting final night

Waking in Nagoya I felt ready to get back to Tokyo, even though I'd only been gone a few days and even though I knew I'd only have about 24 hours to enjoy in the juggernaut of a city by the time I got the Shinkansen back. I arrived at Tokyo Station still relatively early in the morning and headed to the Kitte Building to pick up a thank you card. I had a last hot Royal Milk Tea in Maranouchi Reading Style, the cafe and bookstore, and wrote out the card. It was a nice relaxing moment after going pretty much non-stop since leaving Tokyo. After the wee bit of R and R I hopped on a train towards Tsukiji, the famous fish market area of Tokyo. Just as I had thought sumo wasn't going to be possible this trip, I thought I wouldn't make it to Tsukiji, but a great opportunity popped up. I was going to meet my friend Mune there for lunch. Naturally, I was a bit late, because it was hard to navigate the area between the train station I could get to most easily from where I was and the train station I had to meet him at. One thing I won't miss about Tokyo is how unavoidable it is to be late. I pride myself on punctuality, but when you're in a metropolis of 13 million people, in a metro area of almost 36 million, it doesn't always matter how smoothly the trains run, sometimes you end up late. 

I did get to Mune eventually and we had a nice, albeit ridiculously hot, stroll around the market. I've wondered before why many workers in the market and around Tokyo wear towels wrapped around their heads, but I now understand and did just the same. Mune and I checked out a few sushi spots, before picking one that looked good and also had a hilarious guy yelling "Irasshaimase!" The phrase is super common in stores and restaurants, its just a welcoming. Most people who've been to a somewhat authentic Japanese restaurant anywhere in the world have probably heard it before. However, I've never heard a guy say it quite like this before.

Our sushi was delicious, although a little bit expensive. I thought it was interesting that the place sort of let the fish do the talking, not really caring about the presentation and ceremony that so many sushi places pride themselves on. It was a fantastic meal. As I've realized is commonplace in Japan, Mune tried to pay for everything, even though he is a student. He did recently get a very good job, but it doesn't even start until April 2015, so I really didn't want to let him pay. I tried and tried to get him to take my money but he'd have none of it. Fortuitously, I had a 2,000 yen bill that I had gotten when making change for something my dad and I were paying for. The 2,000 note was produced only once in a limited run special for the new millennium. As a result, it has a kind of cult status or collectibility, especially amongst young people. Mune couldn't help but accept the special bill, which made both of us happy. 

Next up I went and met my friend Masayoshi at Rikkyo. It felt strange walking around the campus again, not in my full-on business attire. Masayoshi and I met for a coffee, by which I mean I drank a strange iced green tea drink, and then walked around. We went to the Rikkyo museum, which was empty and really cool. I had researched about the school before I began teaching there, but it was really cool to find out more and see some of the artifacts and old pictures they had in the museum. They even had a small section about learning English at the school. Masayoshi also gave me an incredible and very surprising gift. He got me a Seibu Lions hat, which I had really wanted but had decided not to buy, and a Lions pencil case. I was completely shocked as it was so unnecessary, but absolutely loved the gift. After the museum we made plans to meet up later that night and said goodbye so I could accomplish my next mission. 

I headed to my acupuncture place, next to the building where I taught with the thank you card I had written earlier. My acupuncturist had been so lovely and patient, as we both spoke brokenly in each other's language and her treatment really made my time in Japan more enjoyable, so I wanted to let her know. She liked learning English though and would generally have some questions about words or pronunciation when I came in, so even though I mulled the idea of writing some Japanese on the card as I had done for other people, I decided she'd appreciate it more if it was in English. I had drawn a maple leaf on the card and written in really basic sentences so she'd be able to understand or translate them fairly easily. When I came in she was surprised to see me and I told her I was going back to Canada. She shouted "GO BACK!" and pointed to gesture I was returning. I confirmed with a "Hai." Then I handed her the card and she read it. The second sentence said "You are great!" and she read it and started saying "I am GREAT!" over and over like a tiny female Japanese Tony the Tiger. It was hilarious. Then she realized what she was saying and stopped and said "No, no, no, no, no. I am GLAD!" I will miss having my acupuncture sessions which could also qualify as laughter therapy with her. She is GREAT!

Next I traveled over to Sendagaya Station to meet Clayton and go to the final baseball game of my trip. I wanted to get to a Lions game, a Giants game and a Swallows game, so I could see the three teams and three stadiums nearest to me while I was living in Tokyo. I'd already managed two Lions games at the Seibu Dome and a Giants game at the Tokyo Dome but again I had thought my time had run out on seeing a Swallows home tilt at Meiji Jingu Stadium. However, I was able to fit this game in and it also allowed me to see the visiting Hiroshima Toyo Carp, a fascinating team with some of the craziest fans in Japan. While I waited for Clayton I ended up chatting to some American tourists. Two eleven or twelve year-old boys and one of their dads. The one kid, Manny, reminded me of myself at that age, even though he was a little bit annoying, because of his encyclopedic baseball knowledge. We discussed his beloved New York Mets and my beloved Toronto Blue Jays and the R.A. Dickey trade that was made between the two teams. He knew all about former Vancouver Canadian Noah Syndergaard which was a bit of a surprise and it was the best Major League Baseball chat I've had in a long time. Then Clayton showed up and we headed to the game.

At the gates of Meiji Jingu, Clayton like myself before him was shocked that you could bring in your own beer, with the only stipulation being that they pour it into a paper cup for you. He was also enamoured with the Swallows fans traditions of carrying tiny umbrellas and doing a dance routine with them every time the scored a run. He purchased one of the mini umbrellas, joining my friends Tasuku and Tim as a Swallows fan. I, however, despite supporting the Swallows on this night, proudly wore my new Seibu Lions hat. Clayton's fandom also didn't help the team, as they fell to the Carp, whose fans made-up at least half the crowd and stayed on their feet singing and shouting the entire game, even though it was incredibly long and went to extra innings. 

We were going to be late again meeting the friends I had set up a rendezvous with, thanks to the super long game, but I had to head back to Clayton's to drop off the bag I'd been carrying on my whole trip out of Tokyo, and to get a gift I had for Masayoshi, a Calgary Flames towel and pencil case. It wasn't as nice as his gift, but I was happy I had something from Canada to give to him. Clayton and I hustled the whole way, which was not a lot of fun. It had been dark for a while already, yet it was still scorching hot and the humidity was atrocious. I've never felt anything like it. I kept thinking how much I'd miss Tokyo but not this untenable weather. 

We arrived at the Hachiko statue almost a full half hour late, but luckily my friends were still there. Clayton, Masayoshi, Yuki and Yuka headed to the place with a floor full of izakayas. Yuki and Yuka didn't have long before they'd have to catch their last train, so I was relieved they waited for us and still had just enough time to grab a beer with us. We sat down at one of the izakayas and ended up ordering what they promise is the biggest beer in Japan. Yuki also had a nice gift to bid me farewell, a really cool towel scarf from his famous University, Waseda. It was a really nice sendoff, but on so many levels I wished I had more time. 

Masayoshi ended up foregoing his last train and was planning on sleeping in his laboratory, until Clayton invited him to stay the night at his apartment. The three of us grabbed a late night bite to eat in Shimokitazawa and then sprawled out in various parts of Clayton's steaming apartment. 

This whole day, my trip to Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka, and my whole trip have been so great. On top of seeing so many fantastic things, I've forged incredible friendships and strengthened other ones. It often felt like everything fell into place so well, just like the way I managed to make it to Sumo, Tsukiji and Meiji Jingu in my last two days after I thought I wouldn't get those experiences. When things like this kept happening, I thought of the phrase ichi-go ichi-e, which I wrote about here. But, I also thought of another phrase which my friend Yoshi (believe it or not a different Yoshi from either I was hanging out with yesterday in Osaka), taught me when I went for dinner with him, Yuki (a different Yuki than I saw today) and Koki (there's only one Koki) in Shinjuku late last month. The phrase is "Tana-kara botamochi", which means "a rice cake from the cupboard". Botamochi are popular rice desserts, the idea behind the proverb being that one falls from the cupboard for you when you need something to eat. It's an unexpected moment of good luck, or as Yoshi accurately described it, a windfall. On the night we joked around that because I am not very fond of botamochi the phrase should be changed to incorporate something I like. 

I think there's no better way to describe my time in Japan than by saying "ichi-go ichi-e" and "tana-kara botamochi".