A Trip to Beijing

Well, I have been back in the United States for almost a month, and still am having trouble readjusting to the Pacific Time Zone....It seemed like I had less trouble adjusting to Japan time than I have had readjusting here.

Anyway, my youngest son David (18 years old) and I took a 38 day long trip to Japan with a side trip to Beijing this year. I am planning on writing a book about our trip once my head clears and I am able to wrap my mind about the things that really mattered on this trip...mainly David's and my experiences and the things that we got to see.

Beijing is almost a four hour plane trip from Tokyo, and we waited to board ANA airlines for our trip. Since I have Multiple Sclerosis and walk with a cane, and David has Down Syndrome, they told us that we would load first. They called for the disabled folks, so we went forward. They sheepishly apologized...that they had called us in error. We sat back down. They called us again. We went forward. They seemed embarrassed and apologized again. This time the Gate attendant said that she would come and get us...a while later, I see the Gate attendant looking at us and I just looked back, not wanting to make a nuisance of ourselves. She finally came over and escorted us up, checking our passports and visas. Then she had us enter the plane directly behind the pilot.

They took us to our assigned seats, but then had us change to the seats ahead of us that were directly behind the partition that seperates business class from our economy seating (which apparently is where the crew sits to nap during their breaks).

It was a nice uneventful trip on the Airbus A321-200, and took almost four hours to arrive at the Beijing International Airport. The airport is large and beautiful. It definately took me by surprise. ANA arranged for a wheelchair for me and an attendant to wheel me around. The attendant was a pleasant and plump young woman who seemed to have difficulty wheeling me around. I encouraged her to take a break frequently as I didn't want her collapsing or dying while tending to me...she seemed to be having that much trouble. Finally we collected our luggage and after immigration and such we reached the main terminal. On our way, there stood a nice Chinese man with a sign that read "Welcome to Beijing Ronal". It was funny that in my email correspodence in planning this trip, I apparently had failed to type the "d" on my name, so it said "Ronal"...so that is what he wrote. This fellow was our private guide Anson. I had gone ahead and okayed a private guide, because I knew that I would never be able to keep up with a tour group. Anson would be with us every day while we were in China.

Hiroshima DVD Reviews and Available e-Book

Well, I have taken a bit of a break from this blog and spent a week on vacation recuperating from my regular job, so I had time to view a few videos as well as observing what is going on in Japan from the distance of the United States.
The situation in Japan is very sad and they can use all the help that the other countries of the world can give them. They have had earthquakes and tsunamis throughout their history (as can be observed in the early art from their past), but this has been the most devestating in recorded history. The earthquake was bad enough, but with the tsunami that it caused and consequently the failures of the nuclear power plants  and expulsion of radioactive material, they really need our assistance. Many countries are rendering this aid, but anyone that is safely in their home countries can donate money to many legitimate charities that will disburse the funds to the Japanese people for food, water or whatever will best serve the needs of the people.

In my leisure time I purchased two DVD's about Hiroshima and the history of the atom bomb that was dropped on them on August 6th, 1945 and the events leading up to that horrible experience.

The first documentary was "White Light, Black Rain" from HBO. The DVD was barely viewable. This wasn't due to the quality of the video or the fact that none of the  language of the Japanese people was translated. It was incredibly difficult to watch because of the graphic pictures and videos of the survivors of the attack. It was not for the weak of heart. Perhaps this should be required viewing for High School students so that they realize the horrible seriousness of war and why the world should diminsh the stockpiles of their nuclear arsenals.

The second documentary is undoubtedly the finest film on Hiroshima that I have seen. It is "Hiroshima" from the BBC series on the Second World War. It is a compilation of archived footage, dramatic recreations of real events and detailed interviews (with translations) with people who survived the attack. I cannot recomment this DVD highly enough. I have included a link to Amazon.com on this page if you are intereted in purchasing it. It is that good.

Also on this page I have placed a link for a Kindle book called "Japan: Once In a Lifetime". It is a compilation of my experiences visiting my son and his family in Japan.

One thing I have discovered writing this blog is that while late evening is a great time to write due to everything being peaceful...it isn't necessarily a great time to type or spell...being late in the evening you may be really creative but your typing and spelling is really creative too...So I am going to try to be a little more watchful.

Have a good day!

Observations of an American Dropped Into Japan (Part 16)

I had finished my packing last night and this morning I was getting geared up for catching my flight back to the states.I had a light breakfast, and gave Megan a hug, told her goodbye and that I really appreciated her allowing me to spend time with them. She had been a fantastic hostess, a really fine woman. My son did good when he found and married her, and I know that she feels the same about him. Adam hauled my luggage downstairs to the car, which is a really good thing as he is only 31 and very fit, and I am 53 and I struggle with stairs due to coordination issues with my Multiple Sclerosis, let alone hauling heavy luggage down them. Three year old Abigail was a wonderful granddaughter and held my hand as we worked our way down the stairs.

We got into the Honda Fit, and while it had been an entire month, I still could not believe that my trip was drawing to a close. I was eager to see my wife and son David again, but I really hated to leave my family that was here in Japan. We made a few quick stops to pick up a thing or two and realized that we were still awfully early for the shuttle to Narita International Airport, yes we learned not to attempt to drive to the airport yet since our last escapade. We decided to kill time by having an early lunch at the Burger King on the Base.

When it was time we headed for the shuttlebus and said our goodbyes with warm hugs and waves as the bus pulled away. It was still a long drive to the Airport, but I got to see more of Tokyo including a skyscaper with the name Amway on it! We buzzed through all of the tollbooths fairly quickly and I was let off at the airport with hours and hours to spare.

I dragged my poor old body around the airport carrying several luggages with cane in hand and finally found my check-in location, but it was closed for about an hour more. Finally they opened up and checked my large bag and asked if I needed assistance getting to the gate. I said "Probably not. Where is it?" The young lady gestured and said that it was way far away. At the other end of the airport. I hesitatingly said that yes. I would probably need assistance to find my gate, let alone walk that far. I expected a shuttle to come around, but the young Japanese woman came back with a wheelchair, I felt odd getting into it and hoped that I didn't get lost wheeling to the gate, but the young woman started pushing me in the chair. The sweet young lady must have pushed me for over fifteen or twenty minutes to get me to the gate. Then she said that I should stay near the chair. So I got up and sat on a bench close enough that I could see the chair. An hour later, she found me while she was looking for the wheelchair and I pointed to it. She trotted over and got the chair and brought it to me, wanting me to get in the chair. When the plane started to load, she wheeled me to the door of the plane. I advised her that I could get on without the chair and started to grab my carry-on. She snatched it and followed along behind me stowing it in the overhead above my seat. "Domo arigato" I thanked her very much. I never expected all of this, but it sure helped.

The flight was crowded in contrast to the flight over, and not quite as smooth, but not too bad. The flight attendant that gave me the most personalized service was a young man from Toronto that spent the extra time to ask about my trip, where I was headed and so on. He was also the voice on the loudspeaker that made the announcements in English, French and Japanese. Whenever I had a question I made sure to search him out  as he made sure that I was taken care of without questions left unanswered. Arriving in Vancouver, Canada I made sure to thank this flight attendant for the fine service that I had received and wish him a good day.

My flight to the states on the propeller plane was late coming in, so I had lots of time to Facebook my status to my wife and David. When the plane was finally ready for loading, it was back to the tarmac and onto the plane. Inside the plane I recognized my flight attendant. "You were here on my last flight!" It was the pleasant blonde woman from the last time I was on this plane. "That must have been a while ago" she said. I advised her it was a month ago, She acknowledged that was about right, so obviously she had been off work for a while. It was a nice flight about 35 minutes long, and she would ask me about where I had travelled to.

Upon arrival in Seattle, one of the men attending to the luggage on the plane asked if I needed transportation to the luggage area as they had an extra wheelchair sitting there. "How far away is the luggage area?" "Get in I'll take you there!" So I was carted to get my luggage. Wow! I really couldn't believe this! I hadn't asked for any special treatment, but these folks were sure providing it. Baggage Pickup was a long ways and a subway ride through the terminal, so I was really appreciative of the ride. The man was a retired marine who had been stationed at Mount Fuji for part of his career, so he was really interesting to talk to. After we got my luggage he asked if someone was coming to get me. I advised him I was taking the shuttlebus. "That is clear at the other end of the airport! I will get you there!" And he carted me to the bus area.

Everyone had been absolutely wonderful on this trip. I sat and waited for the bus, my reciept in hand and wondered if I was supposed to check in with somebody. I walked in and got in line and was behind a Hispanic woman with what seemed like six small kids. I heard the attendant at the counter trying to explain things to her and I hear him say that the bus is out their now. I essentially dropped everything and high-tailed it for the bus. The driver asked folks if anyone was going to my stop. "Yes. Me." and he put my luggage inside the bus and I hurried in. Everyone loaded onto the bus and then we saw the lady with six kids and a shopping cart full of luggage approach the bus. She was pretty irate when she was told that he didn;t have room for them let alone all that stuff that they had in the cart. I was very happy that I had hurried and gotten on the bus as I was there way ahead of time waiting outside before anyone else had arrived,

I called for a cab before I arrived at my drop off point and was promptly taken home. The cab driver took my luggage to the door and as he left David charged out the front door gripping me in a bear hug like I had never experienced. The kid wouldn't let go. Then when he did, he would grab me again. You could say that he was glad that I was finally home. I was too.

I took David to Fujiyama for dinner that night as he had requested. It just seemed odd that just that day I had actually been in Japan, and now I was here at a Japanese restaurant in Washington State with my son.

It was good to be home.

Observations of an American Dropped Into Japan (Part 15)

It had been a glorious full month visiting with my son Adam, his wife Megan and my three year old granddaughter Abigail. It was hard to believe that this was my last full day with them in Japan. It was a month of fun and fellowship, of exploring new places and having new experiences. I had been able to keep in touch back in the states with my family and friends through phone calls, Facebook and Skype. During online chat with my friend from school, Ralph, he had encouraged me to try backwards driving (driving on the left side of the road as opposed to the right side), notice the differences in society when I finally arrived back home after a month in Japan, and to try Tempura. He was very definite on this. Tempura. If he had no other advice for me, it was Tempura, Tempura, Tempura. And he was right. Ralph's advice meant a lot to me, and is one reason that I am documenting my time in Japan. I wanted to be sure that I remembered the experience and that I would continue to be aware of the differences.

When you arrive in Japan, you know that it will be different, so while it can be difficult dealing with the writing and realizing that suddenly you are totally illiterate, after you have been there for a while it achieves a sense of normalcy, so Ralph's advice "observe the differences when you return to the states" really hit home. While suddenly you can read the signs again and understand the language fluently, you begin to realize that life in the states is more hectic, more abrasive, more loud and just plain "more". The people I observed the day of my return demonstrated a sense of entitlement, e.g., "We were here first and we had reservations for 7:00!" "Maam, those folks had reservations for 7:00 also." "But we were here first!" You would never observe a public outburst like that in Japan. In the states on the day I arrived back, a young woman stuck her head out the door of a business and shouted "Katie is loud when she has sex!" Again, you would never see an outrageous public display like that in Japan. The examples go on and on.

Anyway, this was my last full day in Japan and we ran around doing last minute errands, picking up things for my trip home that I had forgotten and planning for the evening. We had dinner at a wonderful buffet in Fussa. We weren't sure what the restaurant was called, but it was awfully good. Burners to cook the food on were in the center of the tables, so you went around and collected the food that looked good to you (all of it), and then cooked it yourself at your table. My right hand was still giving me problems due to the Multiple Sclerosis that was affecting my right side, so I decided that if I wanted to eat I was going to have to learn to use chopsticks with my left hand. Adam has used chopsticks for years since he has been in the Pacific for a good portion of his life, but apparently was only able to use them with his right hand. Amazing, but I actually did pretty good. See what you can do when you have to? When we had entered the buffet they asked how old I was. I'm sure that I looked old enough to drink and I don't drink anyway, so I am not sure why they asked me that.

Upon leaving we finally passed a Costco. I could have replaced my defective camera! However they were closing for the night, I was going home tomorrow, and I'm not sure if they would have accepted my American membership card for entry.

I asked Adam about trying to drive his car. He said sure, but he dropped Abigail off at home first. I'm not sure if that was supposed to tell me anything or not. We made our way back out to the car. Now I had been trying to enter the wrong side of the car for a month as a passenger, and now I had to get in on that side as the driver! I was really, really cautious because it was a new car to me, everything seemed wrong, and I hadn't driven at all for a month. I backed out of the parking space...a little weird...and pulled onto the road on the left side...not too bad. The stop signs are triangular and look like a yield sign...still not too bad. Left turn on red...a little unnerving because I expected  oncoming traffic coming from my immediate left...nope..."I" was the oncoming traffic. Right turn on a divided highway, really difficult since I had to be left of the divider and I wanted to be on the right. The other annoying thing was that everytime I signaled my intention the windshield wipers would come on! That's right! The turn signal indicator was on the wrong side of the steering wheel! I never did get the hang of that! I ended up just sitting on my left hand, but I still attempted to reach for the windshield wiper stick! Adam asked if I wanted to drive to the train station. No! It was late at night, but the streets were narrow and I was uncomfortable with everything being backwards, so we went back to the apartment and I packed for my return flight.

Observations of an American Dropped Into Japan (Part 14)

We were right on time for the ferry, which was really nice because after the long walk in the high heat and humidity I was about done. We leisurely  rode the ferry down the Sumida River until we arrived at our destination. As we got off the boat, there were several more cruising downriver, some of them pretty unique looking. One of them parked at the next dock. I referred to it as a "party boat" because it just seemed like a more "fun" boat. Less traditional. Then coming off of that boat but what did I see? Oh my goodness! More of the scantily clad "feather" girls from the parade earlier! Perhaps it was the "party boat".

Adam, Megan and I discussed the best way to get to the Tokyo Tower, to see the sites. It was going to be another bunch of city blocks, and the way I felt, I was pretty sure that it wouldn't be a positive experience walking. We started to evaluate taking a cab. Done deal as far as I was concerned. A cab it was. The driver was very accommodating. He realized that we were tourists, so as soon as the Tokyo Tower was in site, he stopped his cab in the center of the street and motioned for me to snap a picture of the Tower. He was an awesome Cab driver and very affordable. Well worth the trip.

The driver let us off beside the Tower, Adam paid for our admission and we proceeded to wait in a long line for entry. The Tokyo Tower was inspired by the Eiffel Tower and does resemble it somewhat, although I felt that it bore a slight resemblance to Seattle's Space Needle as well, minus the flying -saucer shaped top of course. The Tower was incredibly crowded inside, everyone trying to get a peek out the windows at urban Tokyo and beyond. There are two observation floors. One way up, and the other really way up. Wandering around, I finally got my only glimpse of Mt. Fuji, as the horizon had always been overcast the entire rest of the trip. It was nearing sunset, so Fuji was a beautiful site, and the skyscrapers in Tokyo were turning on their lights. I also noticed an odd section of Plexiglas on the floor, allowing you to stand on it and look down to the ground. Kind of a strange feeling.

Megan suggested taking a picture of Adam, Abigail and myself in front of one of the windows, which was a splendid idea. After she took the picture, a young Australian couple approached Megan and asked if we would like a picture of the four of us together, We happily accepted their offer, and the pictures of us at the Tokyo Tower are among my favorite. We discovered that this nice young couple were newlyweds and that this was their honeymoon! Adam took several pictures for them and we wished them a wonderful time.

The Tokyo Tower has many different activities to do on many of their levels. They had a wax museum, an aquarium, gift shops and such, but I was so exhausted at that point that I was more than ready to head back. Yes, a taxi to the train station would be wonderful, again, well worth the money.

Waiting for our train, Abigail and I sat on a bench watching the various trains come and go. Before one train left, a waving motion caught my eye. It was two attractive young ladies on the train looking directly at me and waving to me wildly. They were definitely looking me straight in the eyes, so I decided that I should wave back. I nudged Abigail and suggested that she wave too. I mentioned this whole event to Megan and she explained "They like old white guys here." Suddenly her hand flew to her mouth..."I didn't mean it like that..." I thought that it was funny and  probably pretty darned accurate. I told her that it was okay, I understood what she meant, then I got to thinking about our visit to the Ueno Zoo. There was a grandfather there with his grandson, and he looked directly at me and waved also. I guess they do like old white guys in Japan!

We rode the train back to Fussa, and yes, I was still ready for another taxi ride! I was thoroughly wiped out. It had been an extremely hot, long day on my feet.

Observations of an American Dropped Into Japan (Part 13)

This was now my last weekend in Japan, and Megan arranged for us to go on a "Haunted Tokyo Tour"! Very cool! It was the last Saturday in August, and just like most of the other days, it included bright sunshine and record setting heat and humidity. Fortunately the trains and the subway cars are air conditioned, so the trip into Tokyo was pretty comfortable. We exited the train near a McDonald's where we were to meet "Lily" our "spirit guide" for the Tour. Turns out Lily is an American art dealer who has lived in Tokyo for quite a few years with her husband, but with the economy worldwide in total disarray the art business wasn't faring so well, so she decided to also pursue her personal interest in ghosts and Japanese history. Lily is a pleasant, personable host, but I couldn't help but wonder how she was getting by in the unbearble heat dressed in what appeared to be uncomfortably warm clothing. Either she had gotten acclimated to the heat or I am just an incredible wimp from the Pacific Northwest where temperatures are moderate almost year-round.

We waited outside the McDonalds for another of the registered guests to show up, and picked up a passerby along the way. Lily explained that the Japanese residents wouldn't take her tour for the most part because ghosts are very real to them, and they are concerned about evil spirits. Japan had just completed  Obon, the Festival of the Dead, where the spirits of the anscestors go back to their homes to visit their relatives. Obon demonstrates respect for parents and other anscestors. Many of the Japanese hold family reunions and celebrations during this time, with most outdoor activities taking place in the evening when the spirits are the most active.

Our tour began. It was a walking tour that encompassed a large part of "old Tokyo" and would take two to three hours to cover. We began walking, looking at many old apparently abandoned buildings, often squeezed between tall contemporary ones. We learned about high numbers of suicides from the distant past, associated plots and murders coupled with Japanese history and legends. It was fascinating. At one point we entered a gated yard where several small children were playing in a wading pool. I looked around, uncertain if our group should really be traipsing through this private yard and then entering another gate into a garden area. It soon became apparent that this was no garden area, but a type of cemetery. Lily stopped us in front of an old cement marker that was hollowed out for the burning of incense. She explained that this was the final resting place of the famous artist  Katsushika Hokusai. She opened the notebook that she was carrying and displayed some of his artwork. As we were leaving the small cemetary, the children were now accompanied by their mother. After some cordial greetings and smiles we were on our way. Obviously they were used to strangers coming into their yard to visit the grave of Hokusai,

A while later after a great deal of walking and seeing many more interesting buidings, gates and shrines we came to several houses that had two interesting statues out front in the garden. They appeared to be primates...naked primates...with human secondary sexual characteristics...very prominant characteristics I might add. After several in our group commented on this, Lily explained that they were statues of Kappa's. A Kappa being a mythological water creature  that would abduct small children, and do unmentionable things to any adult that it would encounter in the water. The one building appeared to be a museum dedicated to Kappa's, as it had artwork and exhibits related to them. One exhibit was purportedly a mummified hand of a Kappa. Undoubtedly this part of the city was enamored with Kappa lore as they would appear as artwork on the sidewalks, statues on the street, and banners on the light poles.

The city was modern and clean, but then we travelled a few more blocks and the whole atmosphere was changed. It was as if we had gone back to an earlier time in Tokyo's history. It turns out that we had entered a district called Asakusa. It was very crowded making it difficult to get around. There were Rickshaws available for rent, but they were rented for fifteen minutes at a time and were relatively expensive. The sad thing is that people would pay for their ride and only travel a short distance because their fifteen minutes were up due to the crowded streets. We turned off and entered a shrine with a few people in traditional Japanese clothing paying their respects. It was there that we saw "The God Tree". The people of the city say that the tree protected the shrine from the Allied fire bombings during World War II, while the rest of Tokyo burned.

After leaving the shrine, we went back out into the crowd. We went for a few more blocks. Most of the people in the crowd were dressed in contemporary clothing, but occasionally you would see a woman tradionally dressed in a beautiful Kimono, but then entering into the crowd were some Japanese men dressed in...chicken suits! That really got my attention! What in the world were these guys walking around in hundred degree temperatures in chicken suits? Oh. That's not all. Behind them they were being followed by lovely women wearing feathers! They looked like Vegas Show Girls! "What in the world is going on?" I asked Lily. Lily had been taken by surprise too, but then it dawned on her "It's the Samba Carnaval". A Brazilian festival in Japan? It was very strange, but still hadn't quite dawned on me exactly what she was talking about. It turns out that this district has a large Brazilian population. We followed along for a while and then turned off towards some old amusemnt park rides. When I say "old", I mean OLD. The amusement park Hanayashiki was opened in 1853, and is reportedly the oldest amusement park in all of Japan. Lily told us that Asakuksa was quite the trendy place to be in the late 1800's to early 1900's with places to go see Vaudevillian acts, listen to Jazz, watch female swordfights, or observe Bubble Bath Wrestling. Yessiree, sounds like the Sin City of it's time. Asakuska was also the city that introduced the Geisha to Japan, and still has about forty active Geisha's in the city. The firebombing in WWII all be entireley decimated the city, but while it has been rebuilt, the center for the pleasure seeker seems to have moved to Shinjuku.

We made our way past a large shrine and a five layered Pagoda that was built to honor comedians, and then the crowds got even worse. It was a standstill. Then, the oddest thing. Music. Not just any music, but there was a live Mariachi Band standing on a trailer in the middle of the street, and the barely dressed young women were dancing in the street. It was a parade! How fun! Totally random (as far as I knew) and everything came to a stop for various dancers while the band kept playing. At this point we lost one of our tour group as our tour had come to a sudden and unexpected stop, and she apparently didn't feel like waiting for the Samba Carnaval. After about thirty minutes of this the Japanese Police appeared. They weren't there to stop the festivities, just pause the parade for a few minutes so that people could walk across the street. I discovered after I got home that it was crowded because the Samba Carnaval attracted over 500,000 people! The Police parted the waters of people momentarily and we made our way across the street to a small vacant park that had a pond and a fenced off monument explaining something in Japanese. I sat beside the pond as Lily described the grisley mass murders that happened at this exact location many, many years before. She told us that it is really creepy there. "I like it!" I said. "You like it?" Lily asked, eyebrows raised. "I find it very peaceful." I did.

 It was a beautiful pond, and I found it very peaceful. It was probably my favorite spot in Asakusa. At this juncture the tour was officially over and we walked Lily towards her apartment as we were headed towards the ferry terminal for a ride down the Sumida River. When we were near the ferry, we noticed a building with a really odd structure on top of it. Apparently it was originally going to be a golden flame, but it was too high for the building code, so they had to lay it on it's side. It is now referred to as the "Golden Turd" because of the odd resemblance.

We were now at the ferry for a ride down the river and another long walk to see the Tokyo Tower.

Observations of an American Dropped Into Japan (Part 12)

The weekend was fast approaching, and with it the Friendship Festival. Every year Yokota Air Base opens their gates to the residents of Fussa, Japan to visit the Flightline, see the planes, listen to music, eat food and visit with the Americans. It is very similar to the County Fair in America except that it includes bombers and fighter jets. It was another incredibly hot and humid day, but bright and sunny. We parked a ways away from the festival area and then strolled down the street until we reached the hangar that was the entrance to the festivities. Upon entering the small backdoor of the hangar we were greeted by an American band playing top forty music. It was really crowded and really loud, but everyone was friendly and having a good time. We slowly made our way through the hangar and exited the large opening which brought us to the food and vendor area. Lots of booths offering various types of food and souvenir trinkets. The Sons of Hawaii had a booth selling shirts including ones autographed by Akebono, the first non-Japanese person in Sumo Wrestling to be elevated to yokozuna (Grand Champion). Akebono is from Hawaii and at the time would spend a lot of time at the Base Pool. Further down the flightline there were some really awsome tricked out muscle cars from the car club on base, and beyond that a Japanese Rock Band. They were really pretty good. Let's see...top 40 at one end of the festival and Japanese Rock at the other end. The lead singer was pretty entertaining as he would say something between songs and the crowd (that was predominately Japanese) would burst into laughter.

Then there were the planes. American and Japanese, new and old. FA-18's and even two F-22's. The Japanese visitors would crowd near the planes so that they could get their pictures taken by family with the planes in the background. I did too. Adam was very thorough at making sure that he took lots of pictures of me in front of the planes and helicopters. Interesting observation about the Japanese: they love to raise their hands with two fingers extended in the traditional "peace" sign when they would get their pictures taken. The Airforce Pilots would stand next to their planes and helicopters and proudly show off their "rides". They also weren't shy about waving the young Japanese women closer to the planes so that they could pose with them for pictures, hands extended in a "peace" sign in just about every one, the male pilots grinning as they got to pose with the attractive Japanese women.

The Yokota Fire Department also had their Aid Truck out for display as well, putting small children on top for pictures and spraying water over the crowd at random times. It felt good due to the extreme heat, but I was busy trying to protect my camera which became difficult to do as there was no warning for when they were going to spray the crowd and suddenly there would be a breeze that would waft the mists of water right into me.

I inquired about the Japanese that were there and Adam told me that they loved to look at the planes and that during a normal day you could find Japanese Photographers peeking over the fence as the planes would come and go to get pictures. A while later we were approached by an older Japanese fellow with a camera and a smile who indicated that he asking if it would be okay if he could take a picture of Abigail enjoying the Friendship Festival.

All in all a very pleasant time. The only disconcerting experience was when I had a Funnel Cake for the first time. The Funnel Cake was wonderful, but as I attempted to move it towards my mouth I discovered that I couldn't do it. I tried several times without success. I didn't have use or control of my right hand. I couldn't even move my wrist. Okay. Obviously I needed to come up with an immediate solution, otherwise I would be carrying this cake around with me the rest of the evening. Okay. Shift to the left hand. Not ideal, but it would work for now. I realized that it was my Multiple Sclerosis, and that I was experiencing a relapse. I hadn't experienced a real relapse in about ten years, but extreme temperatures don't make for a happy MS experience. That is one of the reasons that I got rid of our Spa at home. Hot Tubs are bad for me. After finishing the Funnel Cake, we decided to head back to the Apartment. On the way back to the car, we saw a fireworks display in the distance and then continued our walk. It was then that I found that I had also lost some mobility in my right foot. Trying to walk, I at times felt like Lon Cheney Jr as the Mummy...walk with the left foot. The right foot would drag behind. It was very exhausting and a bit stressful, but we finally made it to the car.

Back at the apartment I dragged myself up the outer stairwell to reach Adam and Megan's door. I was really relieved to be back and able to relax. I sat down to chat with some friends back in the states on Facebook and discovered that I was unable to type with my right hand either. I hoped that when I returned to Washington State that the cooler temperatures would help bring my body some relief from the exacerbations that the MS had thrown my way. Time would tell.

Observations of an American Dropped Into Japan (Part 11)

After spending several weeks together, Adam had to return to work for a week, so Megan, Abigail and I were to spend some time on our own. Our time was spent visiting the BX where we shopped for various daily items, the Commissary where Megan purchased the food for their meals, and other small shops where I was able to pick up really cool stuff for souvenirs to ship home. For some reason I found it oddly amusing to turn over the Rice Bowls that I was looking at sending home and see them marked with "Made in Japan" on the bottom. I mean, what did I expect it to say, "Made in Cleveland"? Anyway our time was well spent and I picked up what seemed like "boat-loads" of stuff to package up and mail. Fortunately Adam and Megan are both experts at packing items for shipping as the Airforce has shipped them all over the world...or should I say "flew" them all over the world. I purchased more than enough to ship home, but found, even later, that I just "had" to have that large hand-painted Japanese fan that I saw in one shop, and that Woody Pride "Toy Story" doll from Pixar/Disney that spoke Japanese when you pulled his string. Adam shipped these to me at home after I had returned, Woody to be a Christmas gift for David because even at sixteen-years old, he still loves Woody. The sad part for me was that he was turning sixteen while I was in Japan on my trip and he was still in Washington State. Every day was a struggle for David as he had severe separation anxiety. A Down Syndrome teenager is a joy, but a Down Syndrome teenager with severe separation anxiety is a heart-rending thing. Some days he would wail from the time he awoke until he would fall asleep at night. Fortunately we each had our computers, so that we were able to teleconference daily, which helped to a degree, but it was still tough on all of us. Fortunately David was tasked with helping Mom while I was gone, as I figured that giving him the important responsibility of watching over Mom would give him a purpose that would distract him from missing me quite so much. He did so admirably. I told David that we would celebrate his birthday again when I got home, and that I would take him wherever he would like to go for dinner...He told me that he wanted Japanese food.

Finally the day arrived for three of us to attend the ballgame at the Tokyo Dome. Megan had just started evening college classes, so it was going to be Adam, Abigail and myself. It was an evening game during the workweek, so I eagerly anticipated Adam's arrival home from work as we had an hour and a half's train ride to Tokyo. The expected time for Adam to show up came and went. And went. And went. When he finally arrived he was none too happy, as a superior officer called them in to an unexpected meeting, and proceeded to talk in excess of their time to be leaving. Being the good Tech Sergeant that he is, he didn't complain, and just waited it out. Megan dropped the three of us off at the train station and we headed to Tokyo. It wasn't too crowded, perhaps because we were leaving just before the game was scheduled to begin.

The train finally stopped at the Tokyo Dome and I realized that this was a better station location than the last time we were at the Dome. I wouldn't have to cross the intersection where I had landed on my face dead center in the street! Going into the Dome was pretty easy since everyone else was already seated and the game was in play. We were going to watch the Yomiuri Giants (our team) versus the Chunichi Dragons.

It was an amazing sight. I was overwhelmed by the capacity crowd, and the volume of the singing and chanting that was going on. It felt like we had walked into the World Series! There was not an empty seat in the stadium (except for ours, fortunately), and the singing and chanting never ceased. I made the observation that the fans were divided up so that the one side of the stadium were fans rooting for the Giants, and the other half of the stadium was filled with the fans of the Dragons. People sang, chanted and played instruments when their team was at bat. The other half of the stadium would be respectfully quiet. There was no booing or jeers. When the other team was up, the situation reversed.

The venders that wandered the stadium were attractive young women with their drink dispensers mounted in backpacks on their backs. They didn't shout out to the fans to advertise what they were selling, they remained silent, and walked to the bottom of the stands where they stopped. Stood facing the crowd. Looked at everyone, smiling, and then bowed respectfully. Then they proceeded quietly up through the stands watching for someone to motion them over. When they reached the top of the stands, they walked to the bottom and started over.

Adam advised me that when one of the players would cross home plate, that they would be handed a stuffed animal. From where I was sitting and the large crowd, I was never able to observe this, but I know that Adam and Megan had seen this in the past, so I take their word for it.

There were many mascots running around on the field. I am not sure what they were supposed to be, but there appeared to be male and female mascots...I think. Also on the field were cheerleaders. Just like in professional football. Which begs the question: why doesn't American Baseball have cheerleaders? We have mascots, why not cheerleaders?

It was a fine game, and the Giants won. The star of the game was an American. An American whose birthday was that very day. He had just turned forty! Sadly I don't know his name, but it seemed to be quite a big deal with a televised show with the mascots and cheerleaders running around the field.

As we were making our way through the crowd to leave the Dome, Adam told me "watch out for the wind". "The wind?" That didn't make any sense to me, but he said that it was because of the difference in the air pressure between inside the Dome and outside the Dome. Yeah. Okay. At every exit there was a man with a bullhorn saying something in Japanese. I finally got to the revolving door and discovered what he was talking about. I was sucked out the door and was barely able to stand upright. I had been in sixty mile an hour winds before, but they were nothing like this. Adam had a good hold on Abigail, which is a very good thing as she probably would have been blown away!

It was a large crowd back to the train, and an even larger one on it. Imagine sardines in a can. That is what it felt like. Finally we got back to Fussa, and Megan picked us up. We were exhausted, but what fun!

Observations of an American Dropped Into Japan (Part 10)

After a few days of puttering around, we made a few trips into town. We made trips to Joyful Honda (which had nothing to do with cars or motorcycles), but is a large shopping center which is similar to a Super Wal*Mart, having groceries, hardware and the like. They also had a large food court upstairs where they served all types of Japanese Fastfood, including Taco Balls, which has absolutely nothing to do with mexican food, it resembles Hush Puppies, but is actually rounded balls of batter covered octopus. I stayed away from these...didn't sound very appetizing. Crepes were extremely popular and were very good. One restaurant specialized in many different types of crepes. I noticed that there was community water dispensers in many places.

Most shopping malls have an officer directing traffic through the parking lots, and charged for shoppers to park there, unless you get your ticket validated by spending a predetermined amount at the store. Probably because parking is at a premium, and people might tend to park there just so that they could go to work at nearby businesses.

About this time, Abigail got accepted into International school outside the Airbase. The Kunitachi International School was staffed with very polite folks who made sure to give a well rounded experience to the children attending there. From what I understand, school starts at four years old, and while Abigail was merely three, they accepted her for fall enrollment. The International school enables the Japanese children to be exposed to the American children and vice versa. A very smart idea, and a great experience.

We also buzzed over to the Toys R Us store in Fussa, Japan which was pretty interesting. They had Toy Story 3 toys of Buzz Lightyear and Woody Pride that would talk when you pulled their string, but of course the spoke in Japanese! On the floor below Toys R Us was the Sports Store, which had the typical things a sports store would have, but it caught my attention that they had hats and large posters of the Seattle Mariners, more spercifically Ichiro Suzuki who is a star player on the team.

As we drove around I saw a Denny's Restaurant (didn't stop there, just drove by), but I absolutely had to stop when I saw a Big Boy restaurant complete with the large statue of the Boy holding the plate. We sat down to order and luckily the menu had pictures that I could point at. I looked for quite a while at the pictures finally determining that I didn't recognize anything on the menu. So I pointed at something and we had our lunch. Not exactly what I expected when we pulled in, but good nonetheless, On the way out I looked at the Big Boy statue again and realized that he didn't have a hamburger on the plate he was holding...I wasn't sure what it was that was on his plate.

We stopped at the Moritown mall, which was a large multi-floored mall, very beautiful inside, with a shop specializing in tea of every kind, and even a Disney Store further into the mall. We spent some time in the Disney Store as Abigail was with us, and low a behold, Miley Cyrus was on the television there! I couldn't  evade Miley Cyrus even in Japan! We then headed further into the mall and discovered a children's play area. Padded floors, things they could climb on, and nearby hundreds of cardboard boxes connected to one another. It was a maze that the kids could crawl through, popping up occasionally to see where they were at, and then crawling some more. It was really cool!

On the way back to the apartment I asked what the tall multi-colored building was that I had been seeing since I arrived. "Oh. That's the Love Hotel". My eyebrows raised..."Oh really?" "Yes. It sounds really seedy, but from what I hear it is a nice place, and can be rented out for conferences and other get togethers". "Uh-huh" I said, not thoroughly convinced.

That night we went to Coco's Curry House for dinner. Wonderful little place with addictive meals of Curried pork, chicken and the like, and a cheese type bread called Naan. They allow you to order the "hotness" of your curry and it was all very good.

Tomorrow, we finally get to go to the Ball Game at the Tokyo Dome!

Observations of an American Dropped Into Japan (Part 9)

After arriving back at Adam & Megan's Apartment from the Hiroshima trip, we spent a few days relaxing, with just a few day trips seeing the local sites, and visiting the area restaurants and just generally "hanging out". There were a lot of things to see and do, but frankly, I just needed a rest, so small day trips worked just fine for me. Extremely hot temperatures and Multiple Sclerosis don't mix very well, creating extreme fatigue and potential exacerbations...You have to watch how you say that one in public! An MS exacerbation is a relapsing episode, which can cause various unpleasant things to happen, such as paralysis, confusion, blindness, or any other thing that you can think of that involves the human nervous system...yeah. You get the picture. Not fun, and maybe temporary, maybe not. Fortunately there was air conditioning most everywhere we went, unless we were outside, which of course we were at Hiroshima and Miyajima a great deal of the time. So we kind of layed low for a few days.

Let's talk about Cicadas. Often referred to as the seven year locust. Folks in the midwest are familiar with those rascals. They are an insect about the length of your thumb, and shaped like a large housefly. Growing up in Ohio, I had heard them for years. They make a loud chirping type of sound, remiscent of what you might expect to hear in a jungle environment, but I had never seen a living one. As a child, I always found the shells that they would leave attached to trees as they would moult when they had grown wings to fly, but only after I got to Japan, had I ever laid eyes on a living one. They are kind of ugly, shaped like a large cylindrical fly with bulging red eyes, Ugh, They were everywhere in Japan. One evening I was posting pictures from Adam and Megan's computer, and one started its call from their rear deck. Adam opened the door and it stopped. Closed the door. It started. Opened the door. It stopped. This went on for a few minutes, when finally he couldn't take it anymore. Out he went with a broom, and unable to see this annoying creature, he swung the broom around wildly. He turned to come in. It started. Argh! A second round of swinging the broom, then slamming the sliding glass door. The chirping became wildly erratic with the slamming of the door, like the Cicada was in the throes of death. I looked up, eyebrows raised..."you killed it!". Silence.  Adam looked at me. "I don't know". He opened the door, using a flashlight to look around, but saw nothing. I continued to post the pictures and turned in for the night.

Adam and Megan have a cute little black dog named Charlie. Charlie is a girl dog, which is only a little puzzling when you would say "come here boy" or "good boy...." and then feel foolish for calling her a boy. Anyway, Charlie always liked to go out on the rear deck, get some air and sometimes bark. We looked out the door the morning following the Cicada incident, and saw that darn Cicada from the night before, lying on it's back. Dead. I guess Adam did kill it. We watched as we let Charlie out to see if she would notice the dead bug. Yup. Bingo. Went right to it to sniff it to see what that big black thing was. It jumped up and scared Charlie to death! It was still alive! Charlie sped into the house as the Cicada collapsed on its back, finally dead. Charlie stared out the glass door at the Cicada for a good five minutes. "Want to go back outside, Charlie?" No dice. There was no way in heck she was going back out there. A few more minutes went by, and absolutely no movement from the bug. Okay, Charlie felt brave enough now to go back outside, but she stayed away from the dead Cicada... For a while... Then she slowly approached it again and nudged it with her nose.Yahhhhhh! It jumped up again, but finally flew away. That wouldn't be the last time that we would see a Cicada lying on the ground, occasionally on their backs. We just stayed away from them in case they would decide to jump up and startle us.

Food. Interesting thing about Japanese Cuisine that I didn't know (heck what about Japan did I know?) was that they love Curry. They have a chain of restaurants that is very popular called "Coco's Curry House". People who have lived there for any length of time love it so much, that when they come back to the States, they are trying to figure out how to duplicate Coco's Curry, leading some of them to wonder what they might put in their Curry that makes them crave it so. There is even a Facebook page dedicated to Coco's Curry House...and yes, I have become a "fan" of it since I returned as well. Also, I never realized how often the Japanese use eggs with their rice. I have started using the meat, eggs, rice, curry combination since returning myself. The only thing that I didn't care for is when they would include seaweed near the bottom of the menu item. Many people love it. I just am not one of those people, so I would eat until I would get to that, and eat around it.

I was fortunate enough to be blessed with a son who loves to cook. He is exceptional. He wins the Barbecue cookoffs, Chili Cookoffs, etc, at I believe every Airforce Base that he has been stationed at, and he has been in the service for eleven years. His apartment is home to many plaques and trophys as evidence of his culinary skills. I was getting really spoiled while staying at their apartment.

One day, we figured we would go to town and look around. I didn't really know exactly where we were, but  it turns out we were in Tachikawa. Right out of the Chuo Line train station, there was a large pedestrian bridge overlooking the town. On the face of one building in front of us was a large "Diamond Vision" type monitor, and to the right was a tall McDonald's restaurant and a Pachinko Hall across from it. On the left was an older looking part of the town with shops that you would expect to see in a more traditional, less modern part of Japan intermingled with the occasional 7-11, and Starbucks. We came down off the pedestrian bridge and wandered around the old section, it was somewhat crowded but filled with interesting shops containing really cool items that are probably typical in Japan, but unique for the States. Interesting lamps, and such. Then it began to rain. It figures. Out in the rain in the middle of town and no umbrella. I did notice that outside these shops, they had containers for their customers to leave their umbrellas in while they shopped. If someone was in the shop with their umbrella, they were respectfully escorted to the bucket outside the store to deposit it until they were done shopping. They couldn't bring them into the shop. I wondered how people didn't lose their umbrellas to stangers in this way, but apparently that just doesn't happen or else they aren't concerned if it does. 

After being rained on for a while (the shops were really small, so you didn't want to just hang out like you might at the Mall), we decided to stop at the McDonald's on the corner to sit for a while and dry off. It was a skinny little McDonald's with no tables, only a counter to order at. How weird. I noticed that they had a 100 Yen menu: the Japanese equivalent of the dollar menu, but in the exchange rates of that time it was like the buck and a quarter menu for us. Then I discovered that they had a stairwell to the side. Adam ordered our meal (I tried the Teriyaki McBurger), and Megan, Abigail and I proceeded up the narrow stairwell. Second floor, still no place to sit. Apparently the first floor is for ordering your food, if you want coffee you order that on the second floor. Mercifully there were tables on the third floor. Our meal was somewhat typical, but the buns seemed a bit softer than back home, and the Teriyaki McBurger was okay but messy. After lunch, we decided that it was time to head home and out of the rain.

Observations of an American Dropped Into Japan (Part 8)

After a good night's sleep Adam and I started out for our day at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Museum. We finished packing the backpack and small bag and checked out of our hotel. A nice older japanese lady got into the elevator and initially didn't see us as we prepared to enter the car. Adam's arm interrupted the door's closing, and they slid open. The woman looked slightly embarrassed that she hadn't noticed us, and gave us a respectful bow.

Downstairs we approached the desk and checked out. Our visit to Hiroshima was almost over. We were pleased that we travelled to Miyajima the day before, as we had plenty of time to take in the shrines, temples and five layered pagoda. We had a small breakfast and made our way to the trolley station a few blocks away. Adam bought our tickets, and we boarded the trolley headed for the Atom Bomb Dome. The Dome was originally called the Hiroshima Prefecture Industrial Promotion Hall, but is now referred to as the A-Bomb Dome. It was originally scheduled to be destroyed with the rest of the rubble of the city during reconstruction, but since the building was pretty much intact, the city rebuilt around it. It was named a  UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996, and will be preserved as a memorial to those killed in the attack which was the first use of an atomic bomb in war. Over 70,000 people were killed and 70,000 injured.

The trolley reached the stop in front of the Dome. We exited the car, and approached the Dome. It is an eerie feeling to stand in front of this legendary image of conflict and destruction. We slowly began to take pictures of the Dome and its surroundings including the T Bridge which was the actual target of the bomb. As we stood there we were approached by an older Japanese lady that spoke a little english. She was carrying a large three ring binder and explained apologetically that she was just learning english and wanted to know if she could have about ten minutes of our time. At this point I assumed that she was going to try to sell us something, but we told her that she most certainly could share with us. We sat on a cement bench at the edge of the river, and she stood and opening her binder displayed black and white pictures that were taken before the bombing, and began to explain the history of Hiroshima and the Dome. The Dome originally had a roof covering made of copper, which liquified from the intense heat from the blast. The copper melted and came crashing down within the building blowing out all of the windows. The pictures became very graphic with the destruction and injuries of the citizens of Hiroshima. It was interesting to hear the Japanese side of the bombing. She said that prior to the attack, Japan was on the verge of capitulation, that the monitoring devices that came down with the bomb were from a Japanese design, and that the United States picked Hiroshima as the site for the first Nuclear Bomb attack as an experiment to see what it would do. Neither one of us fully agreed with these sincere assertions, but we merely nodded and thanked her for her time when she was finished with her talk. We noticed that since she began speaking with us, quite a large crowd had come to listen to her presentation. Curiously, Adam and I found that whenever we did anything a large crowd would appear to observe whatever we were looking at. The woman was asked how the Japanese felt about the Americans following the attack. She said that they were frightened of the Americans, but then they saw the soldiers giving water, gum and candy to the children, and they discovered that they weren't predatory monsters, but caring young men.

Adam and I toured the Peace Memorial Museum, and was greated by a young man with Down Syndrome that was the ticket taker for the Museum. We scanned the exhibits in the museum, which included a full sized replica of the A-Bomb Dome, and a section of wall that had a man's shadow burned into it by the blast. Near the exit on the second floor was the guest book, which Adam and I signed along with our impressions of the museum, and which country we were from. It was a very impressive experience.

Once outside, we toured the Peace Memorial Park, and took more pictures. A nice Japanese fellow took a picture of me with my son Adam with the A-Bomb Dome in the distance across the river. A beautiful park, and a wonderful time liesurely hanging out with my son. We sat for a while on a bench near the front of the Dome as we were preparing to catch the trolley back to the train station, and stopped to read a sign that spoke about the history of the area. No one was around or paying the slightest attention...until they saw us reading the sign. Then we had a large group of people around us doing the same thing.

The trolley arrived, and we road about thirty minutes back to the train station. Had dinner at a small restaurant inside the station, and caught the Shinkansen Bullet Train back to Tokyo. We transferred over to the regular JR train in Tokyo which returned us to Fussa Station. We were met by Megan and taken back to their home. It was an incredible three days. Thank you Megan for making the arrangements, we had a wonderful, meaningful time.

Observations of an American Dropped Into Japan (Part 7)

Adam and I had been perusing the literature that we recieved when Megan made arrangements for our trip to Hiroshima. Included was a day long pass to ride the Trolley Car in town to get around. We picked up a light breakfast at the 7-11 near the Hotel and walked down to the front of the train station to have our breakfast and coffee. We sat on the cement bench near a reflective dual fountain and discussed our plans for the day. The trolley station was down on the corner, so we decided to ride it to the Atom Bomb Dome and Peace Memorial Park. Different trolley cars would come and go, but with the help of an attendant at the outdoor station we determined which car could take us to the Dome. Entering the car, you would insert your ticket into a machine and it would spit it out the other side, but fortunately there was an attendant there in case there were any problems. We were able to get seats, due to my Multiple Sclerosis, and having my cane with me. The trolley was a bit of a rough ride, but sure beats walking when you have a rough time walking to begin with. We rode for quite a few blocks, with some stops put in to pick up other riders. An older Japanese woman sat across the aisle from me. Up above the door was a sign about the A-Bomb Dome. I looked over at the woman again, estimating that she must be in her eighties, and the thought occurred to me that since the atom bomb was unleashed against Hiroshima sixty five years ago, that undoubtedly she was a young woman when this occurred, and wondered what her thoughts and experiences were.

We rode the trolley for about a half hour when we arrived at a stop. Looking out the window, we found ourselves staring at the Atom Bomb Dome! It was only about 100 feet from us! It was a little surreal. I had seen many pictures of it before, but there it was, looking very stark and haunting. Since the Dome was only about a thirty minute ride on the trolley, we decided to continue riding the car until we reached the ferry terminal. We had a full day in Hiroshima that day, and only until late afternoon the next, so we reasoned that going to Miyajima to visit the island shrine would make more sense today, and catch the A-Bomb Dome tomorrow.

We arrived at the ferry terminal a short while later, and the ferry was sitting there ready to load. We bought our tickets and got on the medium sized ferry, finding a bench outside to sit on. It was another hot day, and the salt air felt good as we sailed the ten minute ride to the island. When we were almost there, I spotted the O torii gate apparently rising out of the water a short distance from the island. I snapped a few pictures, zooming in to hopefully get a better look at the tall red gate when I arrived back at the Hotel.

The ferry docked and we departed to the island. There were so many gates and shrines and things unfamiliar to me that I just stared in wonder, not having the slightest clue what I was looking at. I was really ill prepared to fully appreciate what I was experiencing. Deer were everywhere. Apparently on the island they have no natural predators, so they had no fear of all of the sightseers that wandered among them. Adam and I walked for a while entering through various gate and observing shrines, when I looked out and saw the O torii gate that I spotted from the ferry. It IS in the water...or should I say would be in the water except for the fact that the tide was out! Cool! Let's walk down to it! Many other people had the same idea, so it was quite an experience and an excellent photo opportunity. The tide appeared to be coming in, so we snapped some pictures and proceeded back to the island.

We walked up to the entrance of the Itsukushima shrine, which is painted the same bright orange/red as the O torii  gate, and paid several hundred yen to enter the shrine. At the time that I was in Japan, the dollar to yen exchange rate had nosedived to a fifteen year low of 82 cents equaling 100 yen. It was a bit easier to figure when it was close to one dollar equaling 100 yen. We wandered around the buidings and walkways where the monks lived and worked, when it dawned on me that not only does the O torii gate end up surrounded by water, but so did the buildings and walkways that we were touring. At one point we saw these large white containers with writing on them. "What are those?" I asked Adam. "That's Sake the monks have made." "Oh", the Sake is the rice wine that is common in Japan. We wandered some more among the many buildings that were on the shrine island, and encountered some with the monks in the middle of their worship. We didn't take any photos because that just seemed wrong and we didn't want to disturb their worshipping. It was really hard to get the concept that some of these structures were over 1,400 years old. They have been meticulously maintained by the monks and were in extraordinary condition.

We traversed some wide cement stairs and approached an entrance gate which had two life sized scary statues on either side. They were apparently the guardians of the temples further up the hill. The Guardians were carved, but had very realistic eyes. It was a bit creepy. Beyond the guardians was a large bell with a pole hung by a rope next to it. I took Adam's picture as he stood next to it, and then it was my turn. I took the pole and let it swing into the bell several times, making a beautiful gong sound.

We continued our trek and came to the foot of a long stone stairwell going up to lower Mount Misen. Adam looked over at me and asked if I was up to it, due to the extreme heat and my having MS. I looked at the stairs and was determined not to let them get the better of me, so I said "I'll be fine" and grabbed the stair rail and determinedly led the way to the top, only stopping to take a few pictures of the hundreds of little Buddha statues below the stairs on the left of us. The sun was so bright that I couldn't make out the large LCD viewfinder on the back of my camera, so I just guessed at where to aim and clicked the shutter. I have been asked why I didn't use the optical viewfinder, and here is the answer: Because there wasn't one. The camera only had the digital display on the back. I had considered bringing my large Nikon digital SLR on this trip, but opted not to due to the bulkiness of the camera body and lens, so I had decided to bring my smaller but still wonderful 10 megapixel Panasonic instead. I shrugged, took the picture and proceeded up the stairs. Reaching the top felt good and gave us a chance to look around at more little Buddha's with small red bibs tied to some of them. Also at the top was a "cave" filled with hanging lamps, and other stone markers. Of course in this darkened environment I stll couldn't see my viewfinder, and it wasn't until we entered the daylight again that I discovered the real reason I couldn't see my viewfinder. It no longer functioned. I had no idea if the camera itself was even functioning! With no other options I just decided to guess at what I was aiming at and how much to zoom. The extreme heat and direct sunlight must have been too much for the electronics. Hoping that the camera at least still functioned I blindly shot away and hoped for the best. I got pretty creative with camera angles as I figured that I had nothing to lose at this point. I finally determined that I had invented a new form of self-expression: Shooting pictures blindly having no idea what you would come up with.

We continued further up the hill to a temple where the Shinto monks were praying and chanting. We quietly passed by. Only later did I discover that the large bell that we stood at would call the monks to prayer when rung....OOPS. Hopefully nobody saw that.

I discovered later that there are monkeys on the mountain, but I never encountered any. I was getting pretty tired, so we decided to walk down another long set of stairs that had cylindrical wheels covered with writing that were suspended from a rail that was going down the length of the stairs. The spinning wheels of Sutra.
Finally we took a walk through a street lined with shops. It was a primitive, crowded street just like you would stereotypically see on a television program. We stopped and had dinner at a small restaurant and caught the ferry back to the mainland. After the trolley ride back towards the Hotel, we stopped at the McDonald's and then crashed for the night. The screen on the TV brought up the weather report, and while we didn't understand the speech, the screen distinctly displayed 40 C. That converts to 104 degrees fahrenheit. Tomorrow, The Atomic Bomb Dome.

For more information on Miyajima, take a look at this website:
http://www.miyajima-wch.jp/index_e.html

Observations of an American Dropped Into Japan (Part 6)

After a few days of rest, Adam and I packed a small bag and backpack in preparation of our scheduled three day visit to Hiroshima. It was less than a week since the sixty fifth anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, so we hoped that the crowds would be diminished, that all of the leaders of countries and their representatives would have headed back to their home countries, expecially since this was the first anniverary that the United States had taken part in, so there was intense interest and media coverage.

The morning that we were leaving, Megan and Abigail dropped us off at the JR train station in Fussa, as this was going to be a time for Father and Son to hang out and have quality time, which we hadn't been able to do for many years, as Adam was thirty one years old, and he has been in the Airforce for eleven years. Adam was extremely helpful the entire trip, handling the luggage when he thought that I might have a tough time with it, as I was bringing my cane with me to decrease the chance of my falling over (which obviously wasn't very effective in Tokyo the other evening). We caught the train to Tokyo and settled in for the moderately long trip.

Upon arriving in Tokyo, we started searching for the correct area at the train station to catch the Shinkansen Bullet Train to Hiroshima. After we wandered around a little bit, Adam asked a few JR workers where we should go, and if we were in the correct area to catch the Shinkansen, and discovered that we were. Once we were allowed to enter the loading area we discovered an air conditioned structure where passengers could wait, and gladly took advantage of it.

The Shinkansen pulled in a while later, ever looking appropriately like an elongated bullet. It had clean attractive lines. We watched as the passengers disembarked, and then the doors closed. We stood for a while looking at the immobile train. It finally occurred to us that they were busy cleaning the interior of the train. We followed a small crowd of middle-eastern men to a different door of the train and waited there. Information about the train would flash on a small lighted display on the outside of the train written in Japanese, so I have no idea what it said. Finally the doors opened and we were permitted to enter the train. We had reserved seats, so we made our way down the aisle, and into the next car before finding our assigned seats. What struck me was how airplane-like the train was. Similar seats to a jumbo jet, and aircraft windows. When the train left the station I was impressed at the quiet smoothness of the ride. the "Bullet Train" didn't seem very fast...but then you could hear a slight whine as the engine gradually picked up speed. As I continued to look out the window at the sights, fence posts and the like gradually became a blur, even though scenery in the distance didn't seem to go that fast. I attempted to take a picture through the window of the blur that was going by as we sat there, but later when I was able to view the pictures I had taken, they were totally focused and still. The automatic setting on the camera made it appear that we had been sitting still. After we had been on the rail for a bit, a flight attendant...okay...not a flight attendant, but if we had been on a plane she would have been the flight attendant came by with a cart of packaged dinners and drinks, just like you would be served on a plane. Every time the attendants would enter or leave the car, they would smile and bow to everyone. I kind of liked that. It was very pleasant and polite. The train made a few stops before Hiroshima, finally arriving four hours after we had left. Keep in mind that this train goes nearly two hundred miles per hour. Before arriving in Japan, I would look at a map of the world andf figure that I could probably visit all of Japan in a weekend. Boy was I wrong! Japan is huge, and very diverse!

We arrived in Hiroshima in the late afternoon. We had been on trains approximately five and a half hours, so it was nice to finally be at Hiroshima Station. We walked around and found the exit, and emerged into the bright sunlight. Tall, modern buildings and a facinating reflective dual domed fountain were before us. We knew that our Hotel was supposed to be nearby, but we weren't quite sure as to where. Looking skyward, we finally saw it as we strolled around the city. The Hotel New Hiroden. It was a tall building fortunately with the name written on the outside. We went to check in, and Adam gave them our paperwork displaying our reservation. Apparently the man at the counter had a different type of reservation about the whole thing, as he stared at it. It seemed as if he was denying us our room, so Adam kept trying to explain to the man, that we indeed had reservations and the room paid for. The man didn't speak english. It didn't appear that anyone in Hiroshima spoke english. Even the European looking folks that we would see later didn't speak english. The man finally got the attention of a woman desk clerk that apparently could read the english well enough to give us a key to the room.

The room was the tiniest hotel room I believe that I have ever been in. Two single beds about two feet apart, a small TV on the counter as you come in, and a tiny bathroom with only half of a shower curtain. Fortunately it did have a toilet rather that the hole in the floor that is fairly typical for the country, it even was fitted with a bidet. They also had slippers for us to wear, as the japanese don't wear their shoes in their living spaces. All TV programming was in japanese, and the Hiroshima Carps were their baseball team. The Carps wore the uniforms and hats of the Cincinnati Reds, which is convenient since it has a large "C" on the front, which could be interpreted to be for their name. The television picture was extremely sharp, as Japan has had high definition television for many years. Watching the sports, weather and news, I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about, but was mildly tickled at the fact that the news personalities would bow to the camera before and after their newscasts.

Adam and I decided that we should stroll around town and try to find somewhere to eat as it had been many hours since we had been able to do so. We wandered aound never exactly finding whatever it was that we thought that we were looking for, when I followed Adam into a tall building that had a poster of some food inside the foyer. We got into the elevator and guessed at a floor to go to. After it travelled up inside the builing for a short while it stopped and the doors popped open. Hey! Looks like we might have guessed right! It appeared to be a decent restaurant. We entered, and the man at the front counter obviously questioned how many people we had. Adam communicated that there were two of us, and we were led to a booth with an obvious burner in the center if the table. The man went away and after a short while an attractive young server approached our booth. We were handed two text menus, which we stared at blankly, as we couldn't read the japanese writing. Adam requested any menus with perhaps english writing as some restaurants in Japan do. She realized that we were having some difficulties, so she went and got us menus with pictures. Adam asked me what I wanted, and I just shrugged as I didn't really know what we were looking at. He identified what appeared to be beef, pork, etc, so I said "how about the beef?" as I wasn't sure what we were actually going to get. We pointed out to the server what we thought we wanted, and she nodded and disappeared to give our request to the chef. The server returned with a divided metal bowl full of two different broths and placed it on the burner in the center of the table. Next she returned with a tray of vegetables and sprouts. We just stared at it. I was thinking "this doesn't look like beef...what did we order"? The server returned, this time with a large tray of thinly sliced raw meat. We stared some more. We looked at the server and tried to get her to understand that we had no idea what we were supposed to do. She just stared back, Finally she got it. She motioned that we were supposed to put everything into the broths and then when we felt that they were boiled to our liking to remove them and dip them into several small bowls of dressing that she had left. Okay. Got it. The server went away, and we snapped the wooden chopstick apart and fed the raw food into the broth with the metal tongs that were left at the table by our server. The meat cooked rapidly in the boiling broth, and we would remove each slice as it was done and dip it into the dressings. It was fabulous. I must say that this was one of my favorite meals the entire time I was in Japan. I discovered later that what we were eating was Sukiyaki.

There was an awful lot of meat on that tray. Finally we got near the end, which, as we were getting full was a good thing. We placed the last several slices into the broth, and the server took away the tray. We were finishing up, and she brought another full tray! Oh my goodness! "Perhaps we have to finish it in five minutes and it will be free" I said jokingly to Adam. After a couple of minutes of smelling something burning we realized that the wicker plate that our server had brought the vegetables out on was touching the edge of the burner and the edge was burned black. Oops! I quickly moved it away, hoping that noone would notice. We slowly made our way through the dinner and mercifully the only thing the server brought us was the bill. We thanked her, paid the man at the front counter and hit the street. Interesting factoid: you don't leave a tip for your servers in Japan.

We passed several coffee shops, so we decided to stop for a cup. Actually, I had a Kola which is Coke and Adam ordered a Kohi, which is Coffee...it seems that the coffee shops in Japan could never understand that he wanted hot coffee, because anytime he would order it, they would think that he wanted iced coffee...granted it was about a hundred degrees fahrenheight outside, but still...

We made it back to the hotel and turned in for the night...tomorrow probably a visit to the Industrial Promotion Hall which is now known as the Atom Bomb Dome and the Peace Memorial Museum.

Observations of an American Dropped Into Japan (Part 5)

On the day that we spent resting up from the Ueno Zoo, we discussed what we might do next. I had travelled a long way from the United States and they wanted to make sure that I had the opportunty to see and do anything that might strike my fancy. Megan (the best daughter-in-law in the world...and remember I'm not biased) had arranged for Adam and I to take the Shinkansen Bullet Train to Hiroshima in a few days, but what should we do next? Baseball! How about seeing the Yomiuri Giants play in the Tokyo Dome? Great idea! Megan contacted the ticket agent on base and was told that it was no problem. Just show up at the Dome and purchase the tickets there...they always have tickets available. Super! So the next day we hopped the JR train at the Fussa Station and road an hour and a half to Tokyo. We got off of the train along with the rest of Tokyo it seemed, and walked several blocks towards the Tokyo Dome. We walked through a tunnel, and was greeted by a large poster of the "Power Rangers". I had forgotten all about them until I walked straight into this. I wasn't aware that they were still a big deal, but apparently they are in Japan. We passed large man-made ponds and fountains, shops and rides. Hmmm. I wonder if that Ferris Wheel over there was one of the lighted Ferris Wheels that we kept passing during my first evening in Tokyo? Finally we found the ticket area and waited in a fairly long line. Finally it was Adam's turn. Four tickets? No. No tickets. Sold out. Okay. time to huddle for a discussion. We travelled an hour and a half, and no ball game tickets. What to do...buy tickets for the next available game when we wouldn't be in Hiroshima and just sightsee. We still couldn't get four tickets! We could get three tickets several weeks down the road, and that was the best we could do. So that was what we did. Abigail would probably be with a sitter and it would just be Adam, Megan and I.

So we wandered around and looked at the Tokyo Dome Hotel, the rides at Tokyo Dome City and the pond. One of the rides at Tokyo Dome City, looked fairly old. You would get into a seat and it would slowly rotate clockwise around the pole. That was all well and good, but if you wanted to reach the top of the pole, you had to crank the wheel at the your seat to go up the cable to get to the top. Too much work for a 97 F degree day! There were roller coasters and the typical spinning rides, but I am not much for rides, so I just watched and took pictures. Adam rode some rides with Abigail, and then Megan and Abigail wandered over to an area with a spraying mist and fountains, which looked very inviting in the sweltering heat of Tokyo. Actually August is probably not the greatest time to go to Japan if you have an aversion to sweltering heat. I wasn't quite sure what sweltering heat was, or how to get any, but I am pretty sure we were in it. It didn't help that Japan broke all kinds of High Temperature records that month. After Megan and Abigail got drenched and cooled off, we wandered some more, and finally decided that we would stop at the Tokyo Dome Hotel Restaurant for dinner. The Hotel is very nice, and included a suspended loft, where a wedding was going to be performed, for all appearances floating above everyone down below. We found the restaurant on the ground floor, which turned out to be a high-end buffet. I sat with Abigail while Adam & Megan did the serving for us all. I did not recognize most of what came back, but I will say that the flavors of most of the meals that I had in Japan had a very subdued flavor, and were very good. The difference with cuisine in the states, is that everything is over seasoned, and tend to attack your taste buds. Even Asian food that is made in the states is like that for the most part. I only discovered this after I returned to the US after spending a month in Japan. I also noticed that in Japan you end up with so much food that it can be difficult to find room to finish it.

I worked with using chopsticks, as that is what is at your table for meals; the wooden variety that you must snap apart in order to use them. It actually was easier than I suspected. I learned that you need to hold them near the top, and it is not correct to jab at your food or leave them sticking out of your rice. I believe in some instances they are easier to use than a fork, as with a fork you poke or balance the food, with the chopsticks they are merely an extension of your fingers, and you just pick up the food as if you were eating with just your fingers as a young child might.

With the main course finished, it was time for dessert. They brought back a wide assortment of mildly flavored, delicious desserts. I was stuffed. I was tempted to spend an hour or two sitting at our table, but since the restaurant was fairly busy, thought better of that.

It was now Tokyo Dome City after dark, and the whole area was lit up with various colors of undulating, flashing lights. Absolutely beautiful. We also discovered a roller coaster that travels inside and outside of a shopping mall. It was fascinating, and I wished that I had spotted it earlier in the day so that I could get a better view of it.

We were beat, and decided that we should head to the train for the long ride back home. Many others appeared to have the same idea. We walked several blocks towards the Train Station, Adam and Abigail in the lead, followed by me, with Megan trailing behind me I presume to make sure that they didn't leave me behind. We crossed the darkened street, when Adam stopped abruptly. I looked in front of him and saw a young mother struggling with her baby carriage directly in front of him.  The next thing I saw was the pavement. I am now laying in the middle of the street pondering what in the world happened, and noticed a car to my left patiently waiting for us to get out of the street. I figured out that there was a curb in the middle of the street that I didn't see, and attempted to get up. I stress the word "attempted". For the life of me, I couldn't get up by myself. Once Adam and Megan figured out what had just happened, they reached down and helped me to my feet and off of the street. My knees stung like crazy, but I wasn't going to say anything, as I was embarrassed enough as it was. "You should have taken a picture of me face down in the middle of the street, and tell people that I couldn't hold my Sake!" I laughed, trying to mask my embarrassment. "Dad, they revere their parents, here in Japan, they would have thought what a terrible son if I was taking a picture of my Dad lying in the street!" The situation became really silly at that point...the embarrassment was gone.

As I sat on the train back to Fussa, I played over the events of the evening, in particular my visit with the asphalt. I rubbed my knees that still stung a bit and realized that I now had holes ripped in my jeans. Good thing I packed another pair...Hmmm...might require another trip to Mister Donut...