VS Pay Bath

My friend in China started a new hobby, to rid himself of job stress.
The new hobby is Drinking! Gash! He hated to drink in Japan. But not in Shanghai.
Maybe Chinese alcohol has a magical power.

Another story in Okayama.
I found a pay bath (or a public bath) there.
Now, a pay bath is not popular in Japan. It is differnt from hot springs. It is only boild water.
So, when I found it in Okayama, I wanted to go there.
My friend Scott hadn't experienced it. So, we tryed it.

A pay bath has two entrances; for men and for women. We have to pay money at the entrance, where a staff is sitting on a seat in a box. Now I call the seat in a box "neutral zone".
From the neutral zone, the staff can check both men's bath and women's bath.
The position of the staff is absolute.
If the staff is a man, most women would feel uncomfortable. But they can't complain about it. Because he is neutral and absolute.

When I went there with Scott, a woman is sitting in the neutral zone.
I felt a little uncomfortable, but soon I accepted it. Because the woman was old.
Japanese has three sex categories; Man, Woman and The Old.
Only the old can sit in the neutral zone.
I and Scott enjoyed the pay bath.

It is traditional to drink coffee and milk after a bath.
But the pay bath didn't have it, so we missed it.
I wanna try it next time.

I guess 80% of Japanese want to get the neutral zone job, but it's very difficult.
The job deserves to be a goal of our life.

VS Okayama

Okayama prefecture is in western Japan.
I went there to see my old friend Scott recently.

Okayama is a typical rural area. So, it is not usual to go there for sight-seeing.
Actually, we can go to Hiroshima or Osaka within a hour from there. These places are more popular for sight-seeing.
However, Okayama also has good places to see.

BIKAN area is one of them.
BIKAN means "beautiful view". The area has many old houses and architectres, preserved by the government. They were bulit in Edo period or early Meiji period, about 150-300 years ago.
They are preserved vell well, and now used for souvenir shops or restaurants.
Ohara art museum, which is famous, is in BIKAN area. I am not good at art, so I can't write about the art museum well, but it is certain that Mr. Ohara made the museum. What is Mr.Ohara? I don't know. But, it is certain that he made the museum. He made a good job.

Seto Ohashi bridge connects Okayama pref. to Kagawa pref.
This bridge is beautiful and very long, over 10 km. It is one of the longest bridge in the world.
We went to a port near the bridge, to join a ferry cruising. We can watch the bridge closer on the sea. It is more exciting to watch it, than to drive on it.
However,the most exciting thing happened in our cruising.
Our boat was old, and suddenly had an engine trouble on the sea, and made a fire and smoke!
We were very surprised. The room in the ferry started to filled with CO. Some passangers were a little in a panic.
Scott enjoyed the situation, and took many photos. He is too brave.
I sat down on a seat, and checked a life-saving goods under the seat, and noticed that the goods was as old as the ferry, and then, was depressed.
Fortunately, other ship come to us soon, and we were helped.
I got an unforgettable event in this Okayama trip.

One more information about Okayama.
It is famous for the origine of Momotaro-story, which is an old fairy tale in Japan.
This story is very interesting. A boy born in a fruit, controlled a few animals, and killed many devils.
In this story, the key point is to controll a few animals. The boy use a good item for it, which is a sweet, Kibidango.
I forgot to eat the sweet in this trip. So,I have to check the miracle power in next time.

VS Wake

I went to a wake of my colleague's father. He was 82 years old.I didn't know the English word "wake" until now.Because I was not sure if foreign people have any event on the night before a funeral.Now I found the word "wake" in a dictionary.But still now I am not sure if the event "wake" is common or not in foreign countries.

A wake is common in Japan.I didn't have any private relationship with my colleague's father, but we think it is polite to
go to the wake, so I and other colleagues participated in the event.The wake was Buddhist style. We listened to Buddhist priests, and prayed.After that, we were introduced to another room.In the room, many foods and many drinks were prepared.We can have a party there. It is popular in Japanese wake. I don't know a correct reason, but Japanese people think it is a good thing to drink and eat with a dead body. Some people was crying for a sadness, but some people was laughing with drunk.
This contrast might look strange and confusing. But we think it is OK in Japan.

When we go home after a wake, we put a little bit of salt on ourselves. We think the salt clean
us. We think we become dirty in a wake, thus we think we have to clean ourselves.
But sometimes drunk person forget the cleaning event. In that case, we see Sake has a same cleaning power. So the drunk person can escape from dirtiness. This is an important excuse for me.

VS Sendai

Sendai city is in Miyagi prefecture in the north-east part of Japan.
I went there last weekend ,to escape from hot summer and see my friend.
It takes two hours from Tokyo to Sendai by Shinkansen. It is not long.

I enjoyed a variety of foods. The sea near Sendai is a spot where warm water and cold water meet. So, there are much plankton there ,and in order to eat them, a variety of fish get together there.

I ate a shark fin sushi. It is very rare and the taste is original.
And I ate a whale sushi. The taste is controversial. I like it.
In addition, I enjoyed a beef tangue food, which is famous in Sendai.
All foods are great. I was very excited.

Sendai has many types of Sake.
Sake is made of rice. And rice farming is popular in Sendai. So, Sake is also popular there.
I tried to find a very very very rare Sake, Jyuyondai, which means "14th generation". I have drunk it once before. The taste is very soft. So, I wanted to meet it again, but I couldn't unfortunately. It is too rare to buy. If you meet Jyuyondai by chance, don't miss it. You must drink it. The chance might be the last chance.

My main purpose of this trip was to see my friend. But I had another aim.
I lived in Sendai 25 years ago. I had lived there for a year only. I was a kid.
I lost almost all memory about the days in Sendai.
Another purpose of this trip was to remember my ola days.

When I arrived at the town I lived in, I couldn't have any special feeling.
Maybe because everything has changed. Thus I couldn't find my old house there.
However I have memorized my kindergarden name. So I went there.
The kindergarden has not changed.
I rememberd many things. My kindergarden is inside a temple. The playground is surrounded by many tombs. It's cool in every meaning.
I was a canary bird class student.
When I checked classrooms, the class still existed.
The picture of a canary bird was showed on the wall. Maybe present students drew it.

I can't express my feeling then. 25 years has passed. It may be long ,but may be short. Mmm, I don't know.
I might have seen something like my roots in this trip.