Misawa Tanabata Festival

 

The Tanabata (七夕) Festival is a festival that is held all over the country every year. It is also called the Star Festival (星祭り, Hoshimatsuri). It is the celebration of the annual meeting of the two star lovers, Vega and Altar. According to the legend with Chinese origins and the Chinese Qixi Festival. It is said that the two stars are separated by the Milky Way and are only allowed to meet once a year. The festival is celebrated with beautifully decorated and colorful bamboo branches and ornaments. A tradition of the festival is also to write your wish on a slip of colorful paper called tanzaku. It is then tied to one of the bamboo branches. The belief is that the star lovers will grant the wishes tied to the branches. 

    I was fortunate to get to celebrate this particular festival in my town. It is interesting because it was either advertised to the base or held in tandem with the Misawa Beer Festival. There were about six booths in a line that all had various beers and ciders. Along with this, there were several booths that had street food, such as Yakisoba (Japanese stir-fried noodles), Takoyaki (fried octopus balls), and Yakitori (grilled meat on skewers). Also, desserts like bubble tea, Japanese street crepes, snow cones, and a bunch more. The smell was incredible. The heat was also intense. End of July/August tends to be the hottest month of the year in Misawa, so it was 90+ with high humidity. 

    Charles and I walked around the festival with some of his work friends for a while, enjoying the drinks and the food. It was a really good evening. 

    Toward the end of the night, everyone was tired of being out in the heat and ready to sit down and hang out somewhere. Instead of the bar, we ended up at Karaoke. I was really grateful that we had two Japanese speakers in the group because organizing 10 people for Karaoke was not easy. But we sang our hearts out for an hour, and by the time we were done, we were so ready for bed. After all, Charles and I were heading out to Sendai the next morning. But that's a post for another day. 

Ryūsendo Caves

This past weekend, Charles and I decided to head out somewhere near us. About a two-hour drive away from us are the Ryusendo Caves. This cave system has multiple interconnected underwater lakes. When we got there initially, we ended up parking in the lot near the campgrounds (we didn't even know it was there) and ended up walking down a short path to the cave entrance. By the cave entrance, there were some rest areas, a couple restaurants, a cute shop, and a really beautiful little river. There was even a guy you could rent a pole from and fish in the river. We didn't do that, though. 

Going into the cave, the temperature dropped drastically. It dropped like 30 degrees. Plus, there was water dropping from the ceiling. At first, I was a little annoyed at the gigantic droplets that fell onto my head, but towards the end, it actually felt nice. Walking in, the limestone walls were really beautiful, with the colored light shining on it. It wasn't too busy, which was nice. Walking through, there were nice wide areas where people were walking in both directions, but then the path narrowed to barely a person wide. In a few spots, you can look down into the water. The light in the water showed the different depths in areas. The sign had some of the areas as deep as 35m down. It was actually really beautiful to look at. 

I thought I was getting off easy with this trip. The last time I went to caves, I was with my first host family in Korea, and we walked down like a thousand stairs. I was beginning to think on this trip, it was going to be a nice walk through the cave. I was wrong. The path took us up the tallest chimney in the system. The stairs were so steep and wet from the dripping water. I was so relieved to make it to the top. We ended up having a view of some of the paths we went down earlier but from the top. It was actually really pretty. Going down...well...it was a tight fit. We were holding on to the handrails for dear life. Eventually, we came to a spiral staircase where the wall of the cave was so close overhead that we practically bent over sideways to get down. 

Once we got out of the caves, we explored the area a little. There were a few restaurants, a cute little shop, and a really pretty creek. So we got some lunch and took a walk by the water. It was so pretty. There were even a few people who had rented a fishing pole and were catching fish. That wasn't something we were very interested in, so we just kept walking. 

After walking around the water for a little bit, we saw signs for the Science Museum. The tickets for the cave included the museum, so we headed over. Let me tell you, this wasn't like any museum I had ever seen. First, there was no one over there. It was not staffed at all. You were expected to rip off the end of your ticket and put it in a box before you went in. It was actually kind of eerie. There was no one there. We headed in and found out pretty quickly that the 'museum' was actually another part of the cave system that had been separated by the river. There were signs on the wall that told you facts about the rocks and other parts of the cave system. Unfortunately, they were all in Japanese. But it was still really cool to look around. It was a lot narrower than the main area, but there was no one there except for the bat. It flew right over my head and Charles's. It was freaky. 

By the time we were finished at the museum, we were both ready to go home, so back down the path to the car, we made the two-hour drive home. 

Driving in Japan 🚗🔰

I have never really enjoyed driving. I was the first of my friends to drive and have a car. Even in college, I often was the one who ended up driving, and I am not sure if it was due to this or has always been the way. Still, driving tends to give me a lot of anxiety, especially in areas I am unfamiliar with or there is a lot of traffic. 

When I started thinking about moving to Japan, I fully expected to be able to walk everywhere or take public transportation. But Misawa doesn't seem as easy to get around as Hwacheon was. That means I have to drive. Which ordinarily wouldn't be an issue, but in Japan, they drive on the left side of the road. This means I get to learn a new country's driving laws and signage while remembering that I need to be on the other side of the road, driving from the other side of the car. 

The first time I got to try this, I drove around on base, which is a little easier as the roads are wider, but it was still nerve-wracking. Once I was driving around for a bit, I got more comfortable. It's not as bad as some might think. The hardest part is turning right through intersections and using my turn signal. Now stay with me for a second. I'm sure turning through intersections makes sense since I have to make sure I go far enough through the intersection to turn into the correct lane. 

Turn signals, however, may not sound like something that would be difficult, but the turn signal lever is actually on the opposite side of the steering wheel. So I keep accidentally turning on the windshield wipers instead of the turn signal. Well, guess I will just have to practice, and I will probably get decently good. After all, I am going to need to drive in order to get to the base for work, or literally anywhere, not to be stuck in the house. Well, here's to a licensed Kristy and a new car. Isn't it cute!

TOKYO!!!! 🗼

Well, barely two weeks in the country, and I've already gotten to go on a trip. Since the 4th of July was on a Tuesday this year, Charles could take Monday, and we had a four-day weekend. Even better was it was a holiday weekend on base but not in the country itself, so we didn't get hounded by many Japanese people traveling as well, like on national holidays. 

So, we decided to take advantage and head down to Tokyo. Some people might think we were a little crazy going to Tokyo in the summer. Those people were definitely correct. It was humid and 90+ degrees F. the whole trip (around 32-33 degrees C.). It was actually insane. We were sweating from only a few minutes of walking outside. We definitely took advantage of the subway lines to get us from one location to another instead of walking outside as much. Next time we will be smarter. 

Day 1

So we road down on the Shinkansen train on Saturday. This is a high-speed train meant to take you long distances quickly. It got us from Hachinoe (a city about a half hour from me) to Tokyo in about 3 and a half hours. The train was actually pretty cool. Nice and roomy. Plenty of legroom and room for bags. Once we got to Tokyo, the real fun began. We got off at Ueno Station, which was one stop before Tokyo Station, as it was closer to our hotel and an easy transfer. Good thing, too, since it was crazy enough there. To even think about going to an even bigger station before I had familiarized myself. But we figured it out, got ourselves a Suica card (transit card), and made our way to the hotel. It was only two stops away! Even better, the hotel was right by the station. 

After dropping off our stuff and cooling off a little, we decided to go out and see something. The first thing on Charles's must-see list was the Pokemon Center. So off we go! The place was so crowded. They were even doing timed tickets into the store, and there were people constantly bumping into each other. We went around, picked up some things, and headed out. Got some dinner at a restaurant in the shopping center, and on the way out, I found something that was on the top of my list, a stationery store! I might be a little obsessed with notebooks and the like right now. I also bought this really cute yellow and grey flower fan, which for some reason, I never thought to bring with me to use over the next two days. I also bought one of the accordion-style notebooks that have special paper in it. They are the only types of notebooks you can get the Goshuin (御朱印) put in. These are seal stamps that act as a record of your visit. It typically has an image or design that is first stamped on the page, then the monk writes the shrine or temple’s name, the date, and sometimes other messages. Unfortunately, I was only able to get one on this trip. Oddly enough, it was from Tokyo Tower. The book I got was so cute, and it was on clearance, so win-win. 

Day 2

We woke up early on Sunday and made a plan as we ate our breakfast. The night before, we had stopped by a convenience store on our way back to the hotel and picked up some things to eat. We got Aloe yogurt, which I thought was really good. I actually really enjoy aloe drinks, and this yogurt was similar, especially with little bits of aloe in it. Now we head out and about on a 24,000+ step day. The first place we visited with the Imperial Palace Gardens, which was alright. There was a really pretty place by the ponds that were really nice, but it was so hot that we had to take several breaks in the shade, and it was only 9:30 in the morning. After the gardens, we decided we needed an indoor activity. There was a science museum nearby that is probably geared for children, with a bunch of interactive exhibits, but it was kinda fun. There were several exhibits that Charles and I could interact with, and it was actually kinda fun, even if I couldn't read anything. 

Our break from the sun had us ready to go back out. After lunch, Charles and I headed toward the Hibiya district to see the Godzilla statue. It was much smaller than expected. But it was cool. To escape from the heat, we walked around a shopping center across the street. We ended up at a movie theater and decided to actually watch something. Super Mario Bros was playing in a few hours, so we went over to a nearby Temple to kill some time. The Tsukiji Hongwanji Temple was very impressive, and it was really cool that there were active services going on when we got there. From there, we had some more time, so we went to the Pokemon store in Sunshine City Mall. It was massive, and we will definitely go back. There was even an aquarium! We didn't have too much time so we went to the store and then got some dinner. The restaurant we went to was an Italian place, and the food was so yummy! 

Day 3

My feet are sore! Day 3 was the day we had some ticketed events that we bought ahead of time. They weren't until the afternoon, so we headed over to the Ginza district for our morning. And, of course, being me, we ended up at an 8-floor stationery store. I mean, hey, we went to two Pokemon stores; can't I go to a bunch of stationery stores? After shopping around for a bit and getting lunch, we headed off to the Art Aquarium Museum. It was so hard to find. It was in a multi-floor department building. We had to take go up to the 9th floor and then down to the 8th floor. It was strange. But the place itself was very pretty. With a combination of interesting lighting and fishbowls, they created a bunch of exhibits that were very beautiful. I have no interest in going back, but it was really nice to go once. 

After the fish, we went to where every person on Instagram wanted to visit in Tokyo. Teamlab Planets. It is an interactive multi-sensory art experience. It's split into two sections, Water and Garden, and personally, I really liked the water sections; the light room, the water room, and the projection rooms were all beautiful. After all that, the garden section was kinda a letdown. I'm still really happy I went, and I will probably be going back several times with friends when they visit. by this point, I was so tired, but we still really wanted to go to Tokyo Tower 🗼. We traveled over to where the tower is, and on our way, we ran into this really beautiful temple. We explored it for a bit, but it was mostly closed. We got to the temple around sunset, so I was able to capture pictures with the sun going down and after dark. 

We had also paid to go up to the top observation deck (which I don't think was really worth it for the view). We got in line to go up about 15 minutes before our ticketing time, which I am so glad we did. We waited in line forever. About 5 minutes after we were due to start going up, they made an announcement for anyone with the current ticket time to get in line at the desk. Well, this teen boy and his mom got out of line and walked up to the desk. I get it was an honest confusion, but this boy starts pitching an absolute fit about how he was in line, and they told him to get out. I don't know what he was expecting, but the workers were just not caring in the least. He was back and forth from the desk the rest of the time we were in line.

The experience itself was very interesting. We went into another room (looks like a fake library) where CGI animated portraits of the Architect and Owner of the tower have a conversation to explain how the tower came to be. It was hilarious. The rest of the trip up wasn't too interesting, and the night ended with a long walk back to the hotel. 

Day 4

Last day in Tokyo. Charles and I went to meet up with one of his friends at Tokyo Station to have lunch at a really yummy Mexican restaurant. Afterward, we had a little bit of time before our train left from Ueno Station to head home. We went over to the Ueno Zoo at the park across from the station and managed to see about half of it before we had to leave. We will definitely go back. We didn't even get to see the two-year-old twin pandas. 

Train back to Hachinoe and a short drive home, and I am so happy to be back. Time for a relaxing next few days. I'm grateful I don't have to work just yet, so I can sleep in tomorrow.