fern in fukuoka

So that’s it. It’s all over!

The flight back to England on Thursday was maybe one of the hardest long haul trips I’ve had in my life. It wasn’t that the plane was delayed, or there was a lot of turbulence, or I sat between particularly strange strangers. It was just difficult because I was stuck between two sets of people that I love dearly; one group in Japan, one in the UK. And that was the last place I wanted to be!

This sensation is a familiar one, with family in New Zealand often evoking tears in the international departures terminal. But the trip from Fukuoka to London seemed harsher because, unlike the holiday trips down to New Zealand, I was stuck between two lives and two worlds. It wasn’t that I was just rejoining my busy, daily reality when I touched down at Heathrow; I was making the choice to not continue living in Japan and start my working life in England.

I’ve talked about this with a million and one people, but, for those who aren’t aware, I’m back in the UK for a few reasons. The main one is that my scholarship through Oxford had run its course and my return flight had already been generously paid for. A second is that it’s really hard to be away from friends and family in a foreign culture for ten months and I wanted to come and see everyone! I hadn’t met my little nephew yet, and was desperately keen to catch up with super wonderful pals from uni, etc. I’ve also come back to the UK to seek dual citizenship, and if I’d stayed abroad much longer would not have been able to satisfy residency criteria for the application. I also need to a get a job (#adultlife), and the opportunities in the UK are way more my cup of tea than what’s available in other parts of the world atm. The final reason is that with all of my experiences of the church in Japan, I feel excited to share the encouragements and challenges facing that part of the world with the church here, especially with people in England who are equipped to potentially serve in that field.

Grab a coffee with me for more details on all of the above and more if you’re interested!

I am obviously delighted with the opportunity I had to live in Japan and experience a taste of the culture, history, and food of that wonderful country. It really began to feel like home in a lot of ways.

Coming back to the UK has actually been a bit of a culture shock! There have been some amazing reunions, like with my beloved hummus, as well as a few surprises, like the diversity of people’s race and appearance. It might take me a while to get settled back in, and there are a few things that I’ll miss in particular from Japan.

I’m yet to take a train in England again, but I know already that it will come nowhere close to the cleanliness, regularity, and punctuality of their Japanese counterparts. With various teaching, and church commitments in town every day, I spent a solid week of time in total on the Nishitetsu train into Tenjin and back out again to Futsukaichi. So let’s say I got to know the trains pretty well. On the Fukuoka underground there was also a great array of announcements, including fake bird song to lighten the mood.

On a related note, the instrumental music wafting around in any Japanese store, spa, or station will be missed. Not because it was actually soothing any more than it was slightly annoying, but because it was absolutely hilarious and often quite inappropriate. A notable daily example is the random songs that they would make instrumental covers of and play in convenience stores. One of my favourite peak-Japan memories of the year was trying to decide between chocolate melon pans at a 7/11 in the middle of rural Kumamoto at 5 in the morning. As if to pep me up before the earthquake volunteering we’d headed south for, a full orchestral version of Van Halen’s ‘Jump’ cooed through the overhead speakers with a lightness completely contradictory to the aerobics-power-ballad tone of the original song.

The dormitory in Futsukaichi was surrounded by a string of dark hills, and I’ll miss these a lot as well. Covered with forest, they would often sit heavy against the sky, shrouded in cloud. They seemed alive throughout the year in their activity in every weather. England has a lovely, different kind of nature with soft greens and trees and gardens everywhere, but I’ll definitely miss those dark shapes on the horizon with such fascinating shifting movements of cloud.

An absolutely classic Japanese thing I’m already missing is the food, particularly good soba and sushi. I almost died of happiness when I tucked into a hummus and cucumber wrap on my first evening back in the UK, don’t get me wrong. It’s also such a joy to have tasty, cheap fruit and veg again. But the simple beauty of Japanese food presentation and flavour is SO GOOD, too good not to miss. In particular, I’ll really miss little conveyor belt sushi restaurants where you stack up your empty plates at the end of the table and sit back in wasabi-induced bliss.

Finally, despite only three days away, I REALLY miss the people. The real highlight of my whole time away was definitely the pals I met, particularly those involved with Lifehouse Fukuoka. This gang are a real family, full of joy, love, and fun. Their heart for God, each other, and their incredible city was such a pleasure to experience. It was a real joy to do life with them for ten months, and I look forward to keeping in touch to hear about all they pursue in their next seasons.

For all these things, I don’t mean at all to give an impression of reluctance at returning to the UK – far from it! It is a privilege and honour to have parts of my heart in various places around the world, and pain at leaving different places, things, and people is inevitable. And despite the current uncertainty of the details for my job and living situation, etc., it is wonderful to be back surrounded by the architecture, manners, and individuals that I know and love here in England.

Thanks so much for keeping up with my various adventures on this blog, and I had so many more than those I’ve written about. If you’re interested in catching up in person at all, do get in touch with me and I’d love to say hi over a coffee or some hummus-filled delight.

Thanks for everything Japan, and thank you God for your faithful, unexpected blessing in so many things. Here we go, England!

So Hannah and I had a super fun time in Osaka and Kobe and then headed over to Kyoto, just a hop, skip, and a train ride away.

Our little flat in this ancient city was pretty authentic with tatami mat flooring, futons and, joy of joys, a Japanese-style toilet. I don’t sound that enthusiastic, but generally I do actually like squat loos here. They’re always really clean and still a novelty after ten months!

This little place was in the western part of the city, so we took the opportunity with our proximity to Kinkakuji to visit on the afternoon of our arrival.

Kinkakuji literally means gold cabinet temple, I think. This is entirely fitting, as the super famous temple is basically a huge box covered in gold. It was originally part of a retirement villa for a shogun (which comes from a longer title meaning barbarian suppressor) ages ago, and sits in a huge traditional landscape of rocks, water, and trees all very purposefully placed.

It would have properly blazed across the water in sunny weather, but the cloud cover when we visited still brought out the brightness of the gold. The temple site was v busy, but it was fun to be part of the crowd catching their breath as one when you first turn the corner and glance the yellow reflecting across the lake from the world famous building.

In Japan they have this ludicrously fluro green drink called melon soda, perhaps drawing on the same ‘melon’ obsession behind the giant melon pan in my Osaka post. Any frozen coke fans out there will know what I mean when I talk about the simultaneous joy and confusion of a slushy that still tastes fizzy despite its fluffy texture. Well, let me tell you, frozen melon soda blasts frozen coke out of the water for refreshment and carbonation that defies GSCE-level science comprehension.

Anyway, after I slurped down a melon soda and Hannah had a v novel matcha ice cream, we went to a super famous garden with some rocks. The Japanese, particularly in the Zen tradition, have a lot of meticulously arranged gardens which often contain rocks and greenery intermingling with water. This particular garden, Ryoanji, dates back to the fifteen century and has had philosophers scratching their heads since then about its interpretation. Hannah and I couldn’t quite see the tiger crossing the river, nor the islands bobbing in a sea of infinity, but it was a really chilled atmosphere. The garden also sat next to the most beautiful Japanese villa where we padded around barefoot and dangled our feet off the edge of the veranda, enjoying the baby maple trees.

After a long day of moving around, we headed into town to the amazing river that runs through the eastern part of Kyoto. It was so so nice to wander along by the water, with cranes fishing and people enjoying the restaurants flanking the banks on the warm spring evening.

The next day was Mission East Kyoto, and we headed out early-ish to Ginkakuji, Kinkakuji’s silver counterpart in many ways. The villa building was a little less grand visually, but the grounds were nothing short of stunning. So many fun mosses (mossi?) and great, dynamic landscaping. It also had some fun sandscaping similar to the rippled work at Ryoanji in the area next to the temple.

Generally, it was really nice to see so much greenery after the overwhelmingly grey palette of Osaka, and the manicured gardens in Kyoto complemented the historic architecture so perfectly.

 

After some sweet kakigori (shaved ice), we had a wee wander south along the Philosopher’s Path. Unsure which particular philosopher the name refers to, but I think someone important walked along there on their daily ramble for a good think.

This took us into a veritable thicket of temples and shrines, which were amazingly diverse in size and building materials. We had a nice little picnic for lunch and then entered some of the suburbs which retain the original layout and buildings from old old Kyoto. Boy, was this area packed, and the tiny lanes exacerbated the density of the crowds. But really it was super interesting to be in such a sea of people, especially as everyone was in a real Golden Week holibobs mood.

It was also pretty fun to see girlfriends dragging their boyfriends around in matching rented kimonos. One of the highlights of the day was seeing a sausage dog dressed in a lil’ kimono suit waiting at a crosswalk. Sadly, I have no photo evidence for this delight.

These streets including the famous Ninenzaka and Senzenzaka were crammed with sweets shops, pottery stalls, and tea houses. We followed the crowds around to Kiyomizudera, which I had been talking about with students the whole year as a feature of our English conversation textbook. It was cool to actually see it in the flesh and enjoy the incredible view out across the city as the sun sank low in the sky.

Back towards the centre of town we wandered into Gion, the main geisha district. We didn’t catch a glimpse of any white-faced women, but had some great ramen after enjoying the beautiful buildings along the gridded streets. Again, it was a lovely warm evening, so we continued walking and explored the tiny streets of Ponto Cho packed with little alleys of restaurants and bars, all dimly lit with dinky paper lanterns. It was so so beautiful and I wish my photos did it some semblance of justice. Hannah and I then bought some peach beer (win) for a quid or so at the convenience store (double win) and sat by the river chatting. So nice, and we finally spotted an elusive geisha figure in a room across the river.

The next day was our last full day in Kyoto, so we went and checked out the famous Nishiki market. They love to pickle vegetables here and have them with rice, etc., and this combo has been a breakfast staple in hall all year. This Japanese classic called tsukemono (literally pickled things) is available in these huge barrels in the market and it was visual feast. The use of sake lees for some of the pickling also made it a smell overload.

A little picnic in the grounds of the Imperial Palace and a wander around the exterior wall later, and we headed off towards Kyoto station in the south. I had my eye on a little coffee place called Kurasu, which had really good ice lattes for a hot afternoon, so it was very gracious of Hannah to tag along with me to that.

After coffee we took a local train out to Fushimi-Inari, which is a shrine at the base of Mt Inari. The original shrine location at the top of the hill is still revered and in between the bottom and the peak are 4 kilometers of super bright vermillion gates. Over 10,000 apparently line the pathways up the hill and were absolutely incredible in the afternoon light. The crowds pettered out after the first km or so, so we had an amazing and almost empty, albeit hot, walk up the hill through the blaze of orange gates.

 

Back at Kyoto station, which is this huge black vortex construction, Hannah accidentally ate some shellfish and survived, and we celebrated by checking out the night view across the city.

All in all, our time in Kyoto was jam packed and pretty tiring in the hot weather, but such an incredible visual and historical treat. I loved the architecture, tiny streets, and beautifully manicured gardens. The food was great here too and I particularly loved the chilled riverside environment. It was stunning in different ways to the busy, neon-blinding canal in Osaka. And I so enjoyed our peach beer watching this crane go about his business as jazz from a group of buskers floated across the slow-running water.

After our time in Kansai, Hannah was super kind and came to visit Fukuoka, the babe city that is. It was so fun to show her around my Japanese home and introduce her to various Japal programme and church friends.

All in all, we had a super great time travelling, and I can’t wait to see her and all the England pals v soon!

 

Every May there are several national holidays crammed into a week and Japan basically takes the whole week off to chill. This is called Golden Week because, fun fact alert, when lots of people tune into the radio it’s called Golden Hour (high number of listeners) and there’s a high concentration of hols here so the term transferred to this random week in May.

It was my great joy and pleasure to spend Golden Week 2k17 with long-time legend and pal, Hannah Lovell. Few people reading this don’t know her, but Hannah and I went to uni together and formed two parts of our St-Anne’s-history-champs-dream-team-girl-gang.

Hannah graciously took a break from her adult job/lyf in London and came on a Japan adventure for a couple of weeks. And it was SO FUN.

We met each other at the airport in Osaka and headed straight into the middle of the city to find our Airbnb. Huge credit to Hannah for staying awake after her long flight and even having enough energy to get excited about Japanese trains. To be fair, they are pretty remarkable in their punctuality and etiquette. Also in every station there are lines on the floor to stand where the doors will be when the train pulls in. You just look at the info boards and it tells you the number of cars and doors for your train so you can queue up behind the right number. So efficient, good one guys. Also Hannah works with trains in England, so was loving it from that perspective.

Osaka was a super fun city to hang out in for a few days. It’s a bit of a concrete jungle with relatively few green spaces, but the streets buzz with neon after dark and there are rows on rows of restaurants and bars in the centre all lined with lanterns.

 

Something that’s really notable in the city is the food culture. There’s so much cool stuff here, and it was fun to try about a squillion different Japanese foods I hadn’t yet had. I’m normally a vegetarian, but it’s pretty hard to find good meat-free restaurants in Japan. This factor combined with Hannah’s fish allergy, which also limited our choice of places to eat, meant that I decided to take a break from vegetarianism for about ten days. So instead of spending half the trip looking for places we could both eat instead of doing stuff, we ate loads of ramen and had a super fun, full time.

Some of the best stuff we did in Osaka was just being together after so long and it was so fun to watch someone experience all the joys and oddities of Japanese life for the first time. The same with when mum and dad visited, Hannah reacted to things like station announcements and restaurant systems and architecture and clothes, etc, etc with such a refreshing sense of surprise, one which I’ve definitely lost at times during my ten months here.

There’s a bit of a joke that there’s nothing to see in Osaka except the castle, which definitely isn’t true. Having said this, it was pretty high on my list of must-dos so we headed down there to check it out. This was the first fully standing castle structure I’ve seen here, and it was another pinch-me moment because I learnt about its commissioning lord, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, as a squeaky little 16 year old in IB history never dreaming I’d ever come to Japan.

That morning, we’d visited this awesome covered market, kind of like an arcade style strip, which is a very popular setup here. This Kumomon Ichiba market is super busy, packed with fishmongers and fruit sellers and a billion and one tourists watching the daily happenings. We grabbed some fruit, sushi, noodles, and peach beer and had a delish picnic on the wall of the castle moat.

After winding through the different courtyards surrounding the main keep/donjon, we got into the largely concrete but nevertheless striking reconstruction of the main stronghold. The interior basically had loads of swords and paintings, but the more interesting part was the view across the city from the top.

We had visited the southern part Osaka on our first day, having trekked down to the Liberty museum, which was sadly closed, and then on to Sumiyoshi Taisha. This apparently is the main shrine of the city, and had really beautiful carvings and woodwork on the main buildings, as well as huge, peaked bridge. We also got a cheeky peek at a wedding, and everyone loves a good kimono and ceremony so that was a cool insight into some Japanese traditions.

 

On our way back up from the southern suburbs, we headed through Shin-Sekai which is a crazy district of game arcades, slot machines, and cheap bars. These busy streets sit in the shadow of a hundred meter high tower, Tsutenkaku Tower, that retains its retro aesthetic from its 1950s rebuild after WWII bombing. Again, the real draw of this area was wandering through higgledy alleys basically exploding with colour and Japanese cultural idiosyncrasies. This southern exploration took up pretty much our first full day.

After checking out Osaka-Jo (the castle) during the second morning we went north towards the bigger malls and Umeda station which you could see from the top of the castle turret. Hannah went up this crazy ferris wheel sticking out of a shopping centre that also had a giant red whale model in the atrium. Meanwhile, I got a coffee and then listened to Hannah’s tale of her solo revolution before we headed up the Umeda Sky building. It was complete chance that we got there in time for sunset, and had SUCH GOOD VIEWS out across the Osaka Bay towards Kobe, up to Kyoto, and back over the bulk of the Osaka sprawl to the south.

 

Apart from checking out these broader sections of the city, we spent lots of time in the streets around our super central apartment. It was a short waddle of five mins down to the heart of the eating and shopping district Dotombori. The v famous Glico man is there, and the whole canal is basically on fire at night with all the lit advertising covering the buildings.

This area also provided some particular culinary highlights. Our first real afternoon we grabbed ramen with the locals, most of who were watching horse racing on a tiny tv from the comfort of their tatami mats. Another time we had some awesome gyoza watching little tour boats go up and down, and then bought these melon pan ice cream sandwiches, another classic Japanese food but this time with a cold twist. A load of my pals were arriving in Osaka for a church conference as Hannah and I were leaving, but we managed to catch my friend Akito and had also kushikatsu with him, which are a bit of an Osaka culinary classic I’m led to believe.

Having seen most of Osaka, we took a local train out to Kobe on our penultimate morning to explore. I knew nothing about the city other than the huge damage caused in the 1995 quake, and Hannah had studied it at school (classic geography case study), so we headed to the earthquake museum first. Catchily named the Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institute, most of it’s dedicated to education about earthquake monitoring and engineering which was super interesting. We also got chased through the museum by this sweet guide, who I think had survived the 1995 disaster, and kept handing us all these pamphlets outlining the technicalities of structural dynamics. Super interesting and very sweet.

Although the earthquake was an awful tragedy, the rebuilt of the city is incredible, with wide, sweeping streets and great central shopping and park spaces. You apparently need to have beef in Kobe cause it’s well famous, so we had a fun lunch at a grill restaurant with these humongous hotplates and our own little chef.

Like in Tokyo, it’s free to visit the observatory in the government offices, so we headed up after lunch and had the best view across the city, out to the harbour in one direction and up into the mountains the other way.

Generally the weather on the trip was super nice, so it was lovely in the afternoon to wander through some of Kobe’s edgier little streets full of independent businesses and browse all the things. Of course I had to get a third wave coffee from a little shop called Lima and we just chilled in the sunshine in the Harborland area overlooking the bay.

There’s also a lot of history that has survived in the city, including the rats nest of shops and restaurants in Chinatown. It was fun to wander through that bustling block or so people-watching, and Hannah picked up a steamed bun. On the hill behind the city there are also a heap of European merchants’ mansions (reconstructed) with distinctive verandas and weatherboard and the like. The tourist shops and French and British themed restaurants were part of the fun wandering around the streets in the cool of the evening.

This first part of the trip in Osaka and Kobe was generally pretty chilled and just a fun time hanging out with a dear friend in these new environs. I had a birthday cold and Hannah was recovering from the flight over, so the holiday pace was perfect, and we just had such an awesome time catching up whilst diving into Japanese food, history, and culture. Dream!

Stay tuned for the next/equally late report on our subsequent adventures in Kyoto.

 

*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THrpJSstWZ8

 

There are some events, seasons, foods, and traditions that are just SO Japan, and I’ve tried to grab the opportunity to experience things like this with both hands.

One thing people always think of when they think Japan is the bullet train. I had the pleasure of ticking off the Shinkansen in March on my sneaky trip to Oita Prefecture. It was only a fifteen minute linking connection within a two hour journey, but it was so awesome! The dark mountains loomed out of their blanket of cloud as the sun was rising, and it felt like we were skimming across the surface of the fields; the train’s movement was crazy smooth. It also just kept accelerating. I would think ‘Oh this must be peak speed now’, and then the train just kicked it up another notch. People sometimes say it’s overrated, but the Shinkansen was pretty sweet in my opinion.

Other classic Japan sights include Mt. Fuji, which I’m hoping to tackle in the summer, and various food attractions like kaiten sushi (the one on a lil’ conveyor belt) are in the diary already.

But back in 2k16 I got the chance to tick one of the heavy weight Japan attractions off the list. Everyone knows I love sports, so watching niche Japanese sports this year was an inevitability and the chance to see the sumo was not one I was going to miss!

Laura and I were the keenest of the Japal gang to skive lessons for the spectacle, so we headed out to the Kokusai Convention Centre down by the port on Thursday morning to see what tickets we could grab. Unfortunately the cheapest tickets had been snapped up, but we happened upon an American couple who had bought a box set of tickets and only wanted two of them.

New friends in tow, we went into the centre and emerged into the main tournament space. Instead of your classic sea of plastic seating rows, this national sports spectacle is enjoyed from the comfort of hundreds of purple cushions set out in little boxes. In the centre of this vast, purple sea, there was a small mound of compacted sand and clay with reeds set into it to form a circle. This is where the wrestling takes place, as well as all the associated ceremonies.

There wasn’t so much action going on at that early stage of the day. The competition was one of six component days held across Japan in the annual national tournament. Each day in each of the six host cities starts with the amateur leagues and then builds up to the big fellas. And because these amateurs are a bit smaller, the spectacle is not as impressive, so people grab tickets in the morning but don’t arrive to watch until around 2 or 3pm.

When I talk about spectacle, this word seems entirely appropriate for sumo and what the sport involves. I guess it’s not even a sport, really; it’s a lifestyle. These athletes live, train, and eat together, working on their strength and explosive power whilst honouring the subtleties of this Japanese cultural tradition.

The aim of sumo, essentially, is to force your opponent to step outside of the ring, or to make them hit the deck with a part of their body other than their feet. Each bout only starts once all four fists touch the floor in the wrestlers’ starting crouch position, so all manner of mind games and stalling can take place before this point. The referee, usually a tiny guy in huge coloured robes and a tall hat, has no role in the start unless it’s a false one, so the wrestlers will spend up to five or so minutes stretching, throwing rice, slapping themselves, drinking water from dinky little ladles, and psyching each other out.

Then as soon as their fists brush the floor, they explode towards each other. Some guys literally just stepped out of the way and let their opponent run off the other side of the ring. Others went for a technique of slapping the other guy in the face or throat, eventually pushing them off balance and over. On the whole though, the bouts were extraordinarily short for the amount of build-up. Some lasted a mere five or ten seconds.

But the Japanese loved every second of it! There was a huge, hot pink banner on the side of the arena saying ‘Don’t think, feel’, and the crowd were taking it in their stride alongside the wrestlers. This was the loudest I had heard any Japanese, let alone a whole arena of them, be since arriving in Japan. They seemed to go all out in their support, chanting and screaming for their faves, especially when someone came from an area local to Fukuoka. I had a sweet exchange with the old lady next to me who was going nuts for this one guy Shohozan Yuya, and she nearly fell out of her box when I squeaked something in very poor Japanese about his skill level.

Turns out this sumo was Fukuoka born and bred, as we discovered on his bio poster in the bowels of the arena. Each of the big dog wrestlers had a board with their vital facts and journey from chubby childhood through to full sumo glory. They also all had several photos of their growth to stardom, most, endearingly, just of them eating.

 

It turned out you could walk down in these corridors when the wrestlers were warming up for their bouts, which was crazy to get so close. They were like little action figures from our seats, but obviously the size of mountains when you have one charging at you along a hallway. The sumos lined up down there before every fight, then often sitting on a little cushion next to the ring to watch the bout preceding theirs. The exceptions were when the next weight or professional class began their slot and a whole ceremony of entrance ensued for this with banners and chants.

The spectacle between each fight was also fascinating, as a couple of guys jumped into the ring with tiny brooms to meticulously sweep it clear of loose dust. Another man in bright robes would also enter to read aloud what seemed like a poem, projecting his voice across the whole arena unamplified. This traditional aspect, along with all the beautiful craftsmanship of the ring and its canopy, created a fun juxtaposition with the modern aspects of this internationally-streamed sport. Instead of huge neon adverts like those plastering ball parks around the world, for example, a little troupe of robed men would scurry around the ring in between fights holding banners advertising ramen and car manufacturers. The backdrop for the tv broadcasters was a paper sliding screen flanked by flowers, keeping a classic Japanese aesthetic whilst accommodating coverage demands. And the entrance hall to the arena was filled with stalls selling all manner of traditional and modern products, from various noodle snacks to sumo-shaped cookies and mascot-covered hand towels.

As one of the earlier adventures in our time here, watching the sumo in person was an incredible introduction to some of the quirks and undercurrents of Japanese culture. It highlighted the unique fusion of tradition and modernity that runs throughout daily life here, and was a day of sport unlike any I had watched before! If you ever get the chance to see sumo wrestling live go for it; it’s nuts.

 

There is a real sense of summer in the air at the moment, as the roses* are blazing out across campus and the days are growing hotter every week. I also got my first good (read: really bad) sunburn of the trip, which was a refreshing (read: mildly devastating) sign of the changing seasons.

After a mock N5 Japanese Language Proficiency Test in early March, which I’m delighted to say we all passed easily!, it felt like the start of the summer holidays as the Japals all headed off around Asia and the rest of the world for the spring break. I was so ecstatic that my parents came for a week-long visit, and we had a great time exploring more of the beautiful/ bizarre culture, food and landscape here.

Following on from the rents’ trip I had the privilege of touring around Oita prefecture, which is a beautiful region to the south east of Fukuoka. I had been asked by Fukuoka Now to write a report, which can be found here, and to provide feedback for itineraries that RWC visitors may undertake in two years’ time. The area has an incredible history and culture, providing a very different experience of Japanese life from the times I’ve spent in the major cities. Anyone who comes for the rugby, or really at any time, is in for a real treat if they make their way down to visit Kyushu; the people here are such champs, and the island has so much to offer!

Anyway, with the beginning of our fourth term, it seemed appropriate to give an update on our wrestle with the Graph of Understunding.

The teachers were surprisingly accurate in their prediction that by March we would understand a fair bit. Not quite at 100% comprehension, but we’re on our way I feel.

The atmosphere in class is pretty unrecognisable from the earlier utter chaos of confusion following any instruction from the teacher. We are now capable of understanding almost all instructions given, and take a heck of a lot less time figuring out the essence of the grammar we’re covering, etc.

This must, in part, be due to greater dedication to study and the recognition by most peeps of the best ways they can grasp/retain the vocab and grammar we’re delving into.

There has also been amazing improvement in our confidence with the language just from our complete daily immersion in it. Like, even though lots of things are still a blur of speech, the sound of the language isn’t at all disconcerting like it was previously. And, with some basic understanding of the main grammar points, it’s actually so doable to understand the gist of what’s being communicated. We’ve also picked up a lot of conversational fillers and casual expressions that help you actively engage in conversation, or at least confirm you’re following what’s being said, and these make a huge difference.

Sometimes this has slightly backfired on me, however, as I’ve adopted several casual lil’ slang responses from Japanese friends. These are my natural go-tos in most conversation, so I can’t help but throw in a ‘gomen’ (soz) or ‘wakatta’ (got it!) when sensei wants to know where my homework is. This then inevitably elicits a squeak of disapproval at this clear breach of social conformity using language for a peer with your superior. Zannen!

We have great bants with our teachers in our daily classes (they love us really), and conversations with people on campus and the city are really quite easy now, if I do say so myself. You’d be surprised how quickly and easily a lot of Japanese I meet converse with me about my blue eyes, which have proved a useful conversation starter. I’ve also started to hang out with church friends in the city centre every Thursday and we chat to passer-bys in English and Japanese. These great jokes and casual conversations with a huge range of Japanese have been a lot of fun and really encouraging, as has all the time I’ve spent getting to know people at church better.

I have personally been so so blessed by my church fam at Lifehouse Fukuoka; not only are they all total babes with hearts of gold, but their patience and kindness in using Japanese with me has been amazing. I’m certain that I would be in a pretty poor position linguistically, and spiritually, without this lot. Thanks so much palz! ❤

The approximate aim of our Japanese study at JUE has been to prepare us to take the JLPT, or Japanese Language Proficiency Test, in July. Our cohort has been rather unusual in that we arrived a whole month later than they normally fly in, and we’ve basically all kept going to lessons, thus slowing the pace from previous years where only the keen ones would stay and thus rocket through the curriculum. Consequently, most of us are pursuing N4 level, which is just below the extended conversational fluency tested on the N3.

I have to say that there is no way with church commitments, teaching part-time, social stuff, job applications, and various adventures that I would have had the time to study for N3. But it is good, and motivating, to aim for something tangible with N4 to take back to England and prove some sort of linguistic capability.

It’s a bit sad looking ahead, really, as there’s not a lot of time before I hop back on a plane home and leave Fukuoka. With only three months left, I’m trying to make the most of my time left in this wonderful city with the wonderful friends that live here. As well as ploughing on with language learning, I currently spending loads of time walking around my fave spots like Ohori Koen and hanging out with pals of the church and programme variety.

Like a lot of very immersive, and at times intense, experiences, this year has gone super slowly at points and then speeds through weeks at a time. It has been such an incredible joy, and at other times completely bewildering, to scratch the surface of Japanese culture and to do life with the wonderful people that call this place their home. Here’s to a great last few weeks with them in this sweet city!

 

*I hadn’t really registered how closely some of the dearest women in my life are associated to roses. So it has been wonderful to see such an stunning display of colour and fragrance in the English Garden at JUE and at Uminonakamichi, and to remember my own English Roses. Shout out to Mumma, Grandma June, and Roso, just to name a few with the most obvious connection ❤ You are missed and often thought of!

When people think of Japan, they often think of cherry blossom and I’ve been looking forward to this season since I heard I was moving here.

Winter has been pretty bleak, not gonna lie, what with some pretty hard-hitting home sickness and grey, bare trees everywhere. This wasn’t helped by the fridge-like conditions of our classroom, which has defied the laws of physics by consistently being colder than the temperature outside. We also lived life on the edge for about three months, dicing with death by using the dodgiest gas heaters known to man in an attempt to fend off the cold.

But winter has gone and spring has come, to paraphrase C.S. Lewis and Song of Solomon. And it has been an absolute cracker so far!

We have the great joy of living a short walk from Dazaifu, the old administrative centre for this neck of the Japanese woods. This is always a popular spot with the tourists, but a fresh wave of them crashed in in early March to enjoy the plum blossom that was bursting out all over the place.

With a beautiful range of pinks and whites on display, it was so lovely to see these delicate little petals springing out of gnarled trunks that for a few long months had sat all bare and sad surrounding the shrine.

It was so so nice to walk to Dazaifu occasionally after class as the weather warmed and the plum blossom came out. And this has since turned into an almost weekly occurrence, which hopefully will continue for a while despite the increasing humidity.

Mum and dad came to visit just at the tail end of this plum blossom, which was great for them to catch. We had a really wonderful time together during their week-long stay, and it was such a joy to share my Japanese home town with them. Letting them experience the places and meet the people that have played such a huge part in my experience here was really great for all of us. Highlights included a day trip to Nagasaki, checking out Momochi’s beaches and museums, and hanging out with my church family.

And a few weeks after they went home to England the cherry blossom show began.

The buds were so tight for weeks, including the duration of the rents’ visit, but finally the little pinkies started to emerge!

These are the initial views from my room:

The weather then began to really warm up around the start of April and the party really started!

The funny thing about sakura/cherry blossom is how aware you inevitably are of its transience, and yet there’s this tension of not really having any capacity to capture it effectively. Cameras can’t do any real justice to the texture, weight, or even colour of these pink clouds. So while that’s a bit frustrating, it happily forces you to just savour the sakura in any way you can. For me, this meant going for walks under the trees before class instead of doing my Japanese homework. Or just stopping to look at the rows along the street as I went to work. Or taking a book to read under the blossom (under an umbrella) in the rain.

These are some lil shots from one of my many wanders around the neighbourhood soaking in the blossom.

Charlotte and I one evening had gone out for dinner in town, and basically felt it was too early to head home post-sushi. So, wandering through Daimyo, we happened to run into my pastor, Johno, who recommended we walk to Maizuru park and check out the illuminated trees.

And it was AWESOME! The trees were so incredible, lit from below and bright against the black trunks and sky. More than anything else, it was so lovely to see how many people were out enjoying the beautiful trees. Of all ages and in all size groups, the Japanese were out in force and loving it.

There’s a Japanese practice of picnicing under the blossom called hanami, where people, very unusually for Japan, basically drop everything to enjoy the sakura. The day before class came back post-spring-break a group of us went for a baby hanami in Maizuru. It was the first really hot day of the year, and we bought a couple of tarpaulins and nabbed a spot under a tree. This was before any of the sakura had really come out, but the park was packed. Although slightly premature, it was v fun and a good laugh, playing Heads Up and drinking peach beer under a little pink puff of blossom for about four hours.

I subsequently went to Maizuru for five or six consecutive days the following week in an attempt to make the most of the sakura. It was so so worth it, and every day looked lovelier and lovelier:

It lasted about a week and a half in full bloom, but the rain and wind of a little cold patch took the sakura down after that. Even then the petals were strewn all over the floor like snow, congregated around puddles and overflowing from the gutters.

As the new growth of green leaves came through, the last of the blossom got this fresh shot of vibrancy. For some reason, none of us really anticipated the leaves and blossom ever coexisting on the trees, but they did, and looked super sharp and bright with the lime greens and faded pinks mingled together.

And now the cherry blossom has gone, other species of sakura are bursting out all over the shop; the show just goes on and on! The beauts below are called yaezakura, and are now lining the pathways that border Maizuru park and Ohori park, my new fave walking spot.

As with the autumn blaze of October and November, it has been an incredible joy to see the changing landscape and appreciate God absolutely smashing the whole Creator thing. Enjoying the delicacy of His hand in the sakura has been a unique and stunning experience, taking my breath away continuously as the season went from hopeful first buds to blazing full bloom, and now enters the last squeaks of pink bleeding out among the fresh green of summer leaves.

All this to say, like the autumn leaves, the sakura in Japan almost needs to be seen to be believed. The whole atmosphere of the people enjoying this crazy beautiful season is electric, and has been something I’ll never forget. Def def def recommend taking the chance to enjoy it if you ever can.

After a GLORIOUS month in New Zealand, I’ve returned to the Land of the Rising Sun/the Vending Machine*.

The trip was nothing short of a dream; it was such a joy to feel completely at home in my beautiful birth-country with people that I love so so dearly. Special happy b-day shout out to my grandma, whose 90th was the pinnacle celebration of the time there. Check out my instagram (breret_on) for some schnaps.

It almost doesn’t do to think about the trip because of how good it was, and I was pretty homesick for the fortnight after leaving. But I am so thankful for that time and equally thankful to be back to life in Japan and whatever God’s got in store here for the next five months.

Before I headed south, Charlotte and her boyfriend Sam and I took a trip down to Nagasaki, which is about two hours south west of Fukuoka. Some of the rest of the Japal gang had headed there in November, but I was unfortunately continuing my world tour of hospitals that weekend. FYI, Japanese healthcare is Amazing. No confusing paperwork, about three other patients in the whole place, and in and out in like two and a half hours having seen the triage nurse, two chats with the doctor (feat. a nasopharyngeal swab(!)), a blood test, an x-ray, and a hefty prescription of more-meds-than-you-can-shake-a-stick-at-from the pharmacist. Man, they love pharmaceutical drugs in Japan.

Anyway, we three took a coach down a couple of days after New Years and headed to the north part of the city for our first afternoon.

Nagasaki is a city of great history, using that adjective with a fundamental tone of solemnity and reflection. The scars of its past are not visible in its urbanscape like the bullet-riddled statues and divided streets of Berlin, for example. But the pain of what Nagasaki has seen, despite the city’s near-total aesthetic recovery/rebuild, is still incredibly and importantly palpable.

Presumably anyone reading this will be aware of Nagasaki’s part in the end of the Second World War as an atomic bomb was dropped on the city in early August 1945. The hypocentre of this bombing is marked in a quiet park in the northern suburbs with a single, black pillar standing before an altar. The simplicity of the monument, as well as the objectivity of the adjacent museum was so striking. Reading about the physical and emotional impact of the bomb on the city and its inhabitants, as well as the politics of the run up, immediate effects, and longer term consequences was so so powerful.

After visiting the museum, we had a nice walk through the Peace Park to the north which is filled with monuments and memorials. The huge, central statue by Seibo Kitamura was unveiled about ten years after the bomb and has a lovely symbolism in its simple aesthetic. Essentially, the posture of the figure suggests the appropriate resistance of any future nuclear conflict comprising equally of strength and reflection.

We stayed at a fun little hostel with tatami mats and futons between the northern, hypocentre area and the main city centre further south. After dropping off bags, we wandered down to China town and grabbed some dinner before having a drink at a little bar. For anyone who’s searching for a new tipple, would recommend umeshu plum wine: v v tasty.

The next day was a step backwards in the history of Nagasaki to a period I studied in school and at Oxford: the Tokugawa era through the 17th and 18th centuries. We took Japanese history for IB in sixth form and did a lot of social and political study, but one movement I wasn’t especially aware of was the persecution of Christians by Japanese lords around the Tokugawa Shogunate. Following growing missionary movement from Portuguese Jesuits and other denominations, the daimyo took a stand in 1597 and marched 26 priests and Japanese converts to Nagasaki before crucifying them. The beauty of their memorial and the faith of those individuals was just amazing. It is very difficult to describe how I felt about the simultaneous pain and joy that they seemed to have experienced in dying for their faith, particularly in that way. So sad and beautiful. And also a great encouragement, as Japan experiences the continuation of their vision for sharing the gospel here, spreading still in the bustling cities and quiet plains. Ever joyful and ever sound, pointing people home.

A quick swoop of the nearby church which was Iberian/60s-tastic, then we headed on towards some Shinto shrines forming a loose line heading south along the hillside. Each shrine was beautiful in different ways, ranging from over-grown Indiana Jones styles to impeccably clean lines and light woods. Suwa shrine was particularly busy as the biggest Shinto spot in the city and the destination for the Japanese post-New Years tradition of visiting a jinja asap.

Down the base of the hill we wandered along the river past the oldest stone bridge in Japan, which is called the Megane bridge because of the circular reflection it creates on the water resembling glasses.

On the other side of China town was another of Nagasaki’s notable historical echoes within my academic career: Dejima trade village. I spent two difficult months last January writing my thesis on Dutch still lifes whilst concussed, and was surprised to discover that some of the crockery depicted therein was produced in Japan. It turned out that the Dutch had commissioned these Japanese bowls, etc. from their trading post on the artificial island Dejima, which I had also studied briefly in sixth form as the microcosmic antithesis of contemporary Japanese isolation. So how NUTS is it that four years after first learning about it, never dreaming that I would ever make it to Japan, let alone Nagasaki, I would be sitting in a reconstruction of this same village on its original site eating rice crackers next to a guy in a kimono.

God works in crazy, faithful ways!

Dejima was particularly awesome in the way that the European inhabitants had incorporated their own tastes on Japanese construction. The interior of the Chief Factor’s lodgings was that main section that had been recreated, so think National Trust meets tatami mats + bonus geometric vibes and block printing wall hangings. My little wallpaper- and only-socks-inside-loving heart was skipping a beat. Too fab.

Beyond its history, Nagasaki is well known for its night view as the city sits in a thin inlet of the East China Sea and creeps up the hills that encompass it. Inasayama is the mountain to head to experience it, and we decided to head up and catch the sunset to the east as well as the bright lights to the west. It was a fun, if sweaty, trek up winding concrete steps through a jumble of hillside houses, and the view from the top was amazing. Such beautiful reds and oranges with the sun bouncing off the sea to create this curtain of light. And, of course, it wouldn’t be the magical Japanese experience if the sunset weren’t accompanied by some soothing atmospheric music**. So the blaze was hilariously (read slightly distressingly) complemented (read compromised) by a sentimentally charged salsa track timed perfectly to end with a flourish as the sun disappeared into the sea. I was slightly mortified/embarrassed for everyone there.

The beauty of it though, which my iPhone absolutely cannot do justice to, wasn’t diminished by a little musical faux pas; it was so amazing! Turning around onto the city at dusk was also incredible, as the lights bleed up the slopes in thin veins and the bridges and docks created striking reflections across Nagasaki Bay.

Some great (both tasting and looking) soba was had for dinner, and then we jumped back to our final night on the futons before getting the coach home the next morning.

All in all, such a wonderful trip with some great opportunities to reflect on real hurt and hardship experienced in this city across the centuries. The way that the people and place, as well as those from elsewhere involved in Nagasaki’s history, have been affected there so profoundly was a really powerful thing to see and think on again in new ways.

I would definitely recommend a visit.

*APPARENTLY there are more vending machines in Japan than there are people in New Zealand; crazy stuff!

**Other musical highlights include a classical re-imagining of Van Halen’s ‘Jump’ in a Kumamoto 7/11 at 5am, and ‘My Heart Will Go On’ at EVERY meal in the dorm canteen.

 

So Christmas Day this year was unlike any I’d had before.
Fundamentally, it wasn’t in New Zealand or England, and it wasn’t spent with my family. BUT it was kick-ass good, spent in the craziest city in the world, Tokyo, with a super lovely adopted family, the Thompsons.

These Mancunian champs, the fam of my Tsuzuki programme pal, onsen buddy, and dorm neighbour Laura-san, very kindly adopted Tom and I as the orphans remaining in Japan over the break.

So we stayed in this pretty sweet apartment in Asakusa, which we managed to locate after a pleasant but pseudo-lost wander around the maze of streets at 2am.

Next morning we got up bright and early to check out the Tsujiki fish market. Having got to sleep so late, 9am ish was bright and early enough for us, but it is possible if you’re SUPER keen to get up at like 5am and try and get into a tuna auction. We weren’t that fussed and so just wandered through the buzzing little allies full of tourists, giant fish heads and stacks of fresh and dried fishy food stuffs. Our 700 yen sashimi bowls were nothing short of a dream breakfast. So cheap, so fresh, so good. When in Japan etc etc.

We then wandered westward through the pretty swish suburb of Ginza and, after looking for a city view at the World Trade Centre and instead finding the NZ Tourism office, stumbled upon Zojoji temple. This was one of several moments during my time in Japan so far where I’ve come across something I studied in my degree or at school, at the time never in a million years thinking that I would see it for myself. God is so faithful and unexpected in His plans and timing. This temple was absolutely beautiful, as with most grounds and complexes of this kind. And, as with other shrines and temples, it’s interesting to watch people bow and clap in front of the incense-filled, gold-covered inner sanctums, always searching, always fulfilling rituals however piously or mindlessly.

Whether very genuine in their faith or just going through the motions, the interaction of different people with religion is always very interesting.

After a quick waddle past Tokyo Tower, the famous stripy landmark that is, we happily happened upon a German-style Christmas market complete with little wooden shacks and a HUGE weihnachtspyramide. We grabbed a beer and spent a happy 45 mins or so listening to a Japanese gospel choir dressed as flowers sing ‘War is over’, followed by ‘Here comes Santa Claus’ literally eleven or so times over the PR system.

Now something that everyone should know about Tokyo, and Japan for that matter, is that nothing is particularly easy to find in a built up area because addresses and floor systems are so confusing here. Say you’re looking for a third wave coffee shop that has just opened in the Daimyo district of Fukuoka. This shouldn’t be a problem at all, as most of the buildings are just one or two storeys in simple blocks. Attempt to find a vegetarian ramen bar in the middle of Tokyo station for lunch: less simple. Trying to find places to eat, Christmas illuminations, bars, etc. over several storeys in incredibly built up and busy places became a theme of the trip. And whilst this was at times difficult and disappointing, it is the nature of travel in big Japanese cities.

Anyway, Tom and I met up with Laura and her babe parents, Pete and Jill, after the market,  had a slight fail searching for the above ramen, and then wandered around the edge of the Imperial park eating burritos. After finding our sweet friends and that sweet Mexican food, the afternoon was made even better by the introduction of matching Santa caps. You can’t have a team trip without matching merchandise, as proven by the bumbags of the glorious Berlin trip Easter 2k15.

Our evening again was a slightly failed attempt to find a particular restaurant, but was redeemed by some crazy underground bars and a Christmas Eve mass and carols service at the Franscican Chapel Centre in Roppongi.

I’ve not been to a Catholic service for years, if ever really, but it was so lovely to see such a crowd of people coming together to connect with each other and with God, celebrating how He reached out to us in the birth of Jesus. Awesome as well to see people using their musical, welcoming, and public speaking talents to glorify God’s name in this community and city as people gathered from all over the shop.

Christmas Day next day was nothing short of glorious. The initial plan had been to hang at the Thompsons’ hotel in the morning with presents etc before venturing out, but it was decided there was way more room in our apartment. So with Buck’s Fizz, pastries, and a Christmas tree drawn on a whiteboard, Tom and I were all set for the whirlwind of Christmas joy that is Laura and her fam. The generosity of these guys in their decorations, gifts, and spirit was so so kind, and we had such a lovely time opening presents, playing games and chilling together. Highlights include three matching elf t shirts for Tokyo Japal trio, some great notebooks, and two reindeer ornaments from Manchester Christmas Market with Tom’s and my name on them respectively. It genuinely meant so much!

After that chill morning, we walked over to Sensoji temple under the Sky Tree near Asakusa station, which was so beautiful and so so busy. As you may have already gleaned, Christmas is not a big deal in Japan, especially when compared to New Years, and a traditional activity for the latter event is visiting a shrine or temple. And this particular temple was packed so this lot visiting were obviously very well organised to go early.

 

We wandered through the crowds in the sun and I then headed off to Lifehouse Tokyo in Roppongi Hills, the biggest and first of the Lifehouse church family. It was amazing to meet loads of people there who have found themselves in this crazy city for various reasons, all coming together with huge passion and excitement to build each other up and grow in God, reaching out to their city and country.

The Thompson gang plus adopted son Tom had gone on a fun boat cruise and we all met afterwards to grab a bite before finding some illuminations. We happened upon a nice cafe called King George which provided the classic turkey component of Christmas we were missing in the form of an amazing sandwich for the meat-gang, as well as the best veggie sarnie I’ve had in Japan. They also very kindly gave us some ‘merry kurisumasu’ tangerines, probably cause we were all wearing matching hats.

It was kind of weird throughout the day to have everything open and so many people out chilling with friends or SOs where in England everyone’s at home with their families. But tbh it was actually super convenient to have all these restaurants and shops open still.

So after our happy lunch slash afternoon tea, we had a look at some of the famed Christmas illuminations around Roppongi Hills. The bright lights around a little lake, accompanied inevitably by a huge heart sculpture, were lovely, as was the concert snippet we heard from a Finnish accapella trio singing ‘Oh Holy Night’ in Swedish. That was so beautiful and probs a highlight for me actually. And the big guns/lights were found on the main street heading down the hill, with literally every tree lining the road dripping in LEDS. Man, it was a sight and a half to behold!

We headed to Shinjuku after this to check out Goldengai, which was closed sadly. So instead of grabbing a drink and then heading for soba, we waded into the bright lights of the mean Shinjuku streets and went to an izakaya for dinner. The vintage film posters and 1920s, militaristic music was a fun touch. As always with izakayas, which are basically the equivalent of tapas, the plethora of random offal and bizarrely translated dishes added great excitement to the affair. I have since discovered that this particular chain, Hanbei, is renowned for their English menu translation, and we did find it hilarious. Particular gems included ‘Fly like a Scallop’, ‘University of potato ice’, and ‘High-quality cat food’.

 

The gang then had a wee wander around Ginza after dinner, which was weird as all the major shops were already taking down their Christmas decs to get set for the next commercial season. And on returning to the flat I had a happy couple of hours chatting to fam in London and Thailand, just catching the last bits of Christmas where they were.

Boxing Day was our final full day in Tokyo, so Laura, Tom and I went on a bit of a whirlwind tour of the west part of the city. On the way to pick up Laura-san from the hotel Tom and I grabbed some great coffee from Turret coffee near Tsujiki, would recommend, and wandered past the beaut buildings of the Kabuki-za theatre. Jumping on the train to Shinjuku, we three headed towards the Tokyo Metropolitan Government buildings and went up to the free 45th floor observation area. With a 360 view across the city to the east and towards Fuji in the west, it was amazing to look out across the breadth and diversity of the this huge metropolitan sprawl.

Next we wandered through the park to the Meiji Shrine and then into Harajuku, which is absolutely nuts. Think streets full of merchandise covered in kittens in space, stores for pet fancy dress, and shoppers dressed exclusively in pink and fluffy textures. Quite the juxtaposition with the tradition and serenity of the park around Meiji Jingu. It was awesome as well to peruse adjacent shopping areas like Cat Street. This particularly chilled, creative shopping street was a great recommendation from some Fukuoka church pals who had previously lived and worked in the capital. The Roastery by Nozy coffee here was pretty sweet, with some great coffee done great, industrial interior aesthetic, and the mesmerising spectacle of watching the roasters at work.

By this point we were pretty knackered, so just wandered for the rest of the day essentially. This included walking across all the parts of the Shibuya crossing, which was slightly mind-blowing; where on earth do that many people come from every time the lights go green? It’s an unceasing, incoming tide of humanity concentrated in really quite a small patch of tarmack. After a walk through the interesting back streets of Daikanyamacho, we checked out the huge chandelier with accompanying illuminations near Ebisu station and then caught the Yamanote line to Tokyo station.

And the vegan ramen was, at last, found and consumed. Can confirm it was good.

Tokyo, you crazy, huge, busy, nuanced, city, thanks for having us. Massive shout out as well to the Thompsons, who so kindly adopted Tom and I for Christmas and let us join you for such an awesome time in a capital that really encapsulates the bizarre and beautiful nature of Japan.

The next adventure is Nagasaki tomorrow with Charlotte and guest Japal Sam, then off to NZ for the rest of the month essentially. The latter trip was the main reason I didn’t go back to England for Christmas; I am seeing family in another part of the world instead! SO excited to see fam from both my dad and mum’s sides, as well as have most of my siblings all together. It’s going to be sick, with the main highlight set to be my Grandma’s 90th birthday (what a champ)! Looking forward to being back in another of my real home places again with my real home people.

おはよう and a very very merry Christmas to all the pals tuning in from all over the show (UK, NZ, JPN, US, etc)!

I hope you had the loveliest of Christmases with family and friends, and enjoyed spending time together and reflecting a little bit (or, even better, a lot!) on the joy of this season and its roots in Jesus’ birth approx 2000 years ago.

Christmas time in Japan isn’t inspired by any knowledge of that first Christmas, nor comprises much of the enthusiastic family spirit derived from this story and emphasised in the equally secular West. Instead, the 25th of December is basically a romantic holiday spent with your bf or gf or other pals, doing novelty things like ice skating, looking at lights displays, or going to Christmas markets. The tradition Christmas meal here is KFC with your significant other, which is both bizarre and nothing short of an inspired marketing move on behalf of those chicken fiends.

So no carols, no Christmas films, no mulled wine, no last week of school entirely devoted to doing Santa word searches and making paper wreaths. No real sense of Chrimbo joy or anticipation like that which permeates the whole of December in England or NZ.

This lack of Christmas tradition and buzz has been super weird and super sad, not least because it points to how little the majority of Japanese know about Jesus coming to Earth as a baby for us. It’s also well sad not to get hyped for tiny things like making gingerbread architectural masterpieces, or buying a classic wee box of Mr Kipling mince pies. So generally our little gang of Tsuzuki pals has just had to create our own Christmas funtimes!

We’ve enjoyed laughing at/with the odd Japanese adoptions of some easily transferred, superficial aspects of the season. One thing that does happen around Christmas in Japan is the city centres collectively getting their lights down from the loft to cover everything with bright LEDs. No residential areas put anything at all up in this regard, just the glassy architectural beauts in Fukuoka centre. The main train station, Nishitetsu Fukuoka Tenjin, had a few decs up, as did all the major shopping areas and some city parks with their trees covered in lights. Our dorms also made a cute effort, including this huge tree in the Oxford House canteen feat. whisps of cotton snow and a little red brick base.

 

Some peeps, mainly Laura and Damiano, embraced the Chrimbo spirit at work as they had a week of Christmas themed parties for the children they teach English. The costumes and decorations for those then formed a decent stockpile for our own festivities. These notably included a little party at Cam House in which an unsuspecting baby palm was transformed into the peak of Christmas tree joy and we attempted to make mulled wine in reindeer and Santa onesies.

Another super fun festivity was our little Secret Santa among the Japals gang. Highlights included a very practical toothbrush set for Will, a Terry’s chocolate orange and right wing headband for Joe, and some peanut butter for myself, which I basically inhaled and finished within a week.

 

The enthusiasm of particular individuals in the group (read: Laura) resulted in Christmas hats and tinsel-covered Kanken backpacks worn in lessons, at lunch, into town, etc. This was a happy reminder to the rest of us that it is in fact December, which was surprisingly difficult to remember with the mild weather and lack Japanese Christmas engagement. It was also a catalyst for checking out the various hat options available to wear and join the matching-Chrimbo-attired-gaijin-gang properly. See upcoming blog posts for the full realisation of these Christmas clothing squad goals. But for now, just know that some of us got a lot of fun looks and bemused ‘merry kurisumasu’ greetings from the admiring Japanese public as we sported hats and tinsel around Tenjin.

The main highlight of the Fukuoka run up to Christmas, other than the hilarity of the gang’s Chrimbo enthusiasm and parties, etc., was the nativity production put on by my church. Like I said before, there’s very little familiarity with the story of Jesus’ birth here, so Lifehouse Fukuoka, like many other Japanese churches, puts on an annual show sharing this awesome historical event. It was super fun to star as Angel #2 and dansu o shimasu in some tinsel. It was also so great getting to hangout more with church pals, who were so excited about Jesus coming down to be with us and poured out their amazing creative talents to share the news. Having some of my Japal friends come to the show and meet those guys was also so good, partly just to prove the church pals I chat about really do exist!

After all this hilarity and a week of half-empty classes as people returned to England, our last day of classes was on the 22nd of December. The next day Tom-san and I headed up to Tokyo for all the Christmas fun with Laura and her parents, who had so kindly adopted us for a few days to share Christmas Eve, Day and Boxing Day with them.

Christmas in Fukuoka was nuts and actual Christmas Day in Tokyo was even crazier. Stay tuned for a blog post or two on the joys of Chrimbo in the crazy city that is Japan’s capital!

 

I was pretty gutted last summer to have spent about two months on the East Coast of the US and just miss the glory of the autumn colours. So heading over to Japan, a set of islands with a pretty strong leaf-street cred, my anticipation levels were quite high to redeem the opportunity missed in Boston.

Man, did Japan deliver.

The following, very poor quality photos were taken in a series of places that I visit on a regular basis. Unfortunately they don’t do any credit to the inferno of colour on some of these barky beauties, but you can at least get an idea.

These first shots off the trusty iPhone were taken after a very pleasant run over to Dazaifu. It’s a beautiful places at the best of times, but these leaves took it to another level!

The autumn sights in areas that aren’t so picturesque have also been amazing. Walks to class and work have just taken my breath away for weeks as the trees continue to shift and change from burning reds to dark coppers.

It’s almost an inconvenience at times, as I’m rushing to work or something and get waylaid looking at trees.

And it’s a gift that keeps on giving! For all the lack of Western Christmas spirit, the slow-burning coppers of the trees are really making up for it. The huge shift in colour has been such a lovely surprise and the longevity of the foliage on the trees has been v impressive, a real delight. The slow spread of the autumn leaves along the hills even now is incredible; it’s like a fire starting to kindle and light with burnt ambers and reds blazing up, surrounding the surburbs.

Man, looking back at these shots the colour and detail does no justice to the incredible beauty of the Japanese autumn. God is such a boss with His Japanese autumnal palette, and it’s not all oranges and reds. The beauties below are of some trees near Ohori Park that my pal Ellen (who knows things) said are a super old type, and they laid the most incredible yellow carpet.

What a delight! Y’all are just going to have to come visit Japan next autumn, or in the next week, to catch this for yourselves.