Lukas and Martina in Japan//japan.lukas-prokop.at/blog/2017-04-07T02:35:00+09:00Tokyo Tower, Zojoji Temple, Meiji Shrine, Asakusa, Narita Airport2017-04-07T02:35:00+09:002017-04-07T02:35:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2017-04-07:blog/tokyo-tower-zojoji-meiji-asakusa-narita.html<div id="preamble">
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<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses our sixth and last day in Tokyo, the 22nd of March 2017..</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>As planned the day before, this day had a busy schedule. We wanted to finish everything on our current bucket list for Tokyo.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We left the hostel early, though we had to finish packing. We left the luggage at the hostel. After a long walk, we reached <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%C5%8Dj%C5%8D-ji">Zōjō-ji</a>. This buddhist temple is located in front of Tokyo Tower. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kshitigarbha">Jizō</a> stone statues are particulary beautiful. They represent unborn children and parents can pay for such a statue and decorate it. They looked beautiful on that day with beautiful weather:</p></div>
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<img alt="Martina in front of Zōjō-ji Temple" src="images/zozoji-martina.jpg" width="400">
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<img alt="Unborn children statues right to Zōjō-ji Temple" src="images/zozoji-statues.jpg" width="400">
</img></span></p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>For 900 Yen, we took the elevator to reach the observatory of Tokyo Tower. This was also really nice. You get a nice overview and in the south of the Tower, streets are said to look like Tokyo Tower. Have a look:</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><span class="image">
<img alt="Tokyo Tower" src="images/tokyo-tower.jpg" width="400">
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<img alt="Streets resembling Tokyo Tower" src="images/tokyo-tower-street.jpg" width="400">
</img></span></p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>The left foot of the tower is resembled by a curvy street, but besides that it is a funny similarity. Lookdown windows are small gaps in the floor made of glass. So you can watch pedestrians walking along the streets. However, the windows are small, a metal grid is underneath it for security reasons and you only see the pedestrians very close to the Tower. So the angle is pretty acute.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We sat down in a park close to Tokyo Tower. We wanted to eat our chips. Some elderly ladies came together to play <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gateball">gateball</a> there. Gateball is the Japanese version of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croquet">Croquet</a>. It was totally fun to watch them playing as they interacted with each other, were enthusiastic about the outcomes of hits and on their hands, they had a little gadget. This was apparently used to track the points and who comes next. I liked the strategic nature of the game. It was not only about hitting the ball into the gates.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>From Akabanebashi, passing Aoyama-itchome, we reached Omote-sando train station. Our first try to reach the <a href="imperial-palace-shibuya-yoyogi-koen.html">Meiji Shrine</a> failed. So we gave it another shot. From Omote-sando to Harajuku, it is just 1km, but the streets are busy and we thought we will find something for lunch. Next to Harajuku station, we entered "Italian Tomato". They offer a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mochi">mochi</a> variation of Pizza Margherita, a "mochigerita". I ate one and ordered some apple juice. Martina ate some pasta. As a dessert, we got some small pancakes with bananas. It was a little expensive, but okay.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>After lunch, we accessed Meiji Shrine from the right side (which is Harajuku station). As usual first, you go through a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torii">torii</a>. Then a large number of sake barrels is displayed on the right and a large number of whine barrels can be found on the left. After passing another torii, you will reach <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meiji_Shrine">Meiji Shrine</a>. One of the most important things to remember about Japanese history is the Meiji Restauration. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edo_period">Edo period</a> spanned from 1603 to 1868. At the end of the Edo period, Japan was completely isolated and recognized that it lacked many technological advances that can be found in the west. When the Meiji period started in 1868, Japan opened its borders, introduced international relations and international trade. This lead Japan to a capitalist, imperial world power under <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Meiji">Emperor Meiji</a>. The Shrine, we visited, is dedicated to this Emperor. Again, parts of it were under construction. Presumably, because of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Summer_Olympics">Tokyo 2020</a>. In the end, I think so many people coming to the Shrine and the path through the woods is actually more interesting than the Shrine itself.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>It was about 14:30, when we finished. At 17:13, we wanted to catch a train in Asakusa in order to go to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narita_International_Airport">Narita Airport</a>. Our flight from Narita Airport Tokyo to Kansai International Airport (KIX) was scheduled for 19:30. The train at 17:13 was the last train to be there in time. Before, we also had to pick up our luggage from the hostel. So we decided to do another activity, which we came up with on <a href="asakusa-sensoji.html">Sunday</a>. We went to Asakusa. On a side street of Nakamise-dōri, artists are located which draw caricatures ( 似顔絵 , にがえお, nigaeo in Japanese). We went there and asked for a painting of the two of us. It took him about 30 minutes to draw us and it was about 40 minutes in total we spent inside the shop. Very fast in my opinion. Anyhow, you can find these caricaturists at various tourist spots, but their style is a little bit different. I liked the style of our painter and specifically, he added the Kaminarimon in front of us. This was a nice feature. It costed 6372 Yen, an amount of money I like to spend on some creative artist. Will I show you the image? I don’t know. So far I don’t have a proper scan of it. So you need to visit me to see it 😉.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We were perfect in time to catch the train at 17:13 in Asakusa. The train from Asakusa to Narita Airport costed 1290 Yen. Narita Airport is located outside Tokyo in Chiba prefecture. So it took about 1 hour to reach it. We checked in at VanillaAir and they asked us whether switching to an exit seat would be okay. In case of emergency, we have to help other passengers to get out. But in front of the emergency exit, you are not allowed to have your luggage next to your feet, but you have more space for your feet. The last property turned out to be quite advantageous for us.</p></div>
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<img alt="Terminal 3 at Narita Tokyo Airport" src="images/narita-to-kix.jpg" width="400">
</img></span></p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>After the checkin, we ate some pommes and went through the security check. Apparently we have been quite late and they already closed the gate while we went there. However, we have not been the last passengers. The flight was quite comfortable, took about 100 minutes, but Martina ordered some pasta, which was much smaller than displayed on the menu.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We arrived at KIX and went to the trains. Using a JR train, we went to Tennoji, took the Osaka Loop Line to Umeda and a JR train brought us back to Kobe Sannomiya. This train trip costs 1720 Yen. It was annoying to carry that much luggage between the trains, but we were glad to arrive.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><strong>Conclusion of the day:</strong> The tight schedule was great. We finished some remaining sightseeing spots and Asakusa became my favorite sightseeing spot of Tokyo. Zōjō-ji and Tokyo Tower are both nice locations, Meiji Shrine is beautiful and the caricature was fun.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><strong>How was Tokyo?</strong> It is indeed a different experience from Kansai. The people talk a bit <a href="kansai-ben.html">different</a> and because they speak English better, it is more suitable for tourists. We went to major sightseeing spots in our week in Tokyo and we enjoyed it.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Thanks for doing this with me, Martina.</p></div>
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Odaiba2017-04-06T09:50:00+09:002017-04-06T09:50:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2017-04-06:blog/odaiba.html<div id="preamble">
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<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses our fifth day in Tokyo, the 21st of March 2017.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>This day, we were unmotivated to leave the hostel early. It was raining and this did not help us to get started. So it was not until 13:45 that we started our journey. Our goal was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odaiba">Odaiba</a>, an artificial island</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>From Asakusabashi with an intermediate stop in Shinbashi, we reached Odaiba by train. The first thing, you will recognize at Odaiba is that there are also multiple levels. You will have to pass a lot of stairs, there are a lot of elevated areas and the buildings always have multiple floors. The most famous building in Odaiba is the DiverCity Tokyo Plaza. We entered the building and a map gives you an overview. However, I immediately left the building again. In front of the south-east side of the building, a Gundam sculpture is on display. Gundam is an anime series starting in 1979 and still going on. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gundam">Gundam</a> anime centers around <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mecha">mechas</a>, mobile suit enhancing human bodies by robotic suits. However, the display is currently under construction. I think it is another example for renovation efforts before <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_2020">Tokyo 2020</a>.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We entered the DiverCity building and ate a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretzel">Pretzel</a>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bavaria">Bavaria</a>, a Southern part of Germany, is famous for its Pretzel and Austria’s culture is based on Bavaria’s culture. So you can often buy a Pretzel at festivals or as a snack in Austria. We bought one for 250 Yen at a shop called "Anne & Aunties", but it was not anything special. On the outside it was a little bit more greasy than I was used to.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Next, we looked for an opportunity for lunch. In Odaiba, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKNY2d8T_WQ&t=39s">self-deep-frying</a> is popular, but we went to eat <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sushi">sushi</a> instead. There are various forms of Sushi in the world. In Europe, you can find "Running Sushi" which means a conveyor belt is carrying sushi dishes and you just pick the dishes you want to eat. Unlike a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffet">buffet</a>, you don’t need to stand up, because the conveyor belt is operated next to the table. In Japan, I haven’t seen this so far. In our case, we had a mobile tablet device and ordered the food, we want to consume. Instead of a conveyor belt, you have a train which arrives to bring you the dish, you are interested in. As usual, you can get free water and optionally put <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matcha">matcha powder</a> (Japanese green tea powder) in beforehand. Of course, soysauce is provided as well. The color of the plate distinguishes the dishes in terms of price. So just like in Europe, the waiter/waitress counts the number of plates in groups multiplied by their price. In Sushi restaurants, you will find many tricks to keep consuming. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hOpP3brwtY">Life Where I’m From</a> points out that a small gambling game can be played after finishing 5 dishes making the kids to eat always 5 more dishes. In our case, you couldn’t find the total price on the tablet. So you only knew the items, but had to look up the prices yourself to determine the intermediate total price. I didn’t like that, but it was nice to eat sushi once in Japan.</p></div>
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<img alt="Odaiba Sushi" src="images/odaiba-sushi.jpg" width="400">
</img></span></p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We traversed the building, because it had many interesting shops. WABI×SABI was one of them. I bought a body towel and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bento">bento</a> towels. Though they are meant to be used for bento, I plan to use them for decoration. We also tried nana’s green tea shop. We got an iceshake with matcha flavor and flakes topping. It had the unique taste of matcha (which I neither love nor hate), but was very cold. So it took us some time to drink it.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>In the meanwhile, it turned dark outside. So we planned to return soon. We dropped by at the Fuji TV building, but expectedly everything was shut down already. We just took a look at the distinctive architecture and returned towards the train station. We planned to have a tighter schedule tomorrow, on our last day in Tokyo.</p></div>
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Ginza and Tsujiki2017-03-29T20:30:00+09:002017-03-29T20:30:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2017-03-29:blog/ginza-tsujiki.html<div id="preamble">
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<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses our fourth day in Tokyo, the 20th of March 2017.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginza">Ginza</a> is a district famous for its luxurious shops. Jewelry, hand bags and shoes are the most displayed goods in show windows.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We visited other Japanese friends this day and we met close to the main station. It was 14:00, because this is the time, when the street is close and pedestrians can roam the streets. This is a governmental initiative to encourage shopping in this district. We used the morning to sleep long, tidy up a few things and prepare for the day. Before we met, we also ate for lunch. A family restaurant offered Japanese-Chinese dishes. Afterwards we began to traverse the district.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>The district is full of luxurious shops. Actually, we did not want go inside. In every shop there were plenty of employees and very few customers as can often be seen at expensive locations. Sometimes you can observe art in the show windows, which can also look nice.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We finally arrived at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabuki-za">Kabukiza</a>. It is an important theatre of Japan to represent <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabuki">Kabuki</a>, the classical Japan dance-drama. To give you an idea of Kabuki, you can watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQtjJj6Uw8g">one example Kabuki on youtube</a>. I asked our Japanese friends whether they have watched one Kabuki in their life? They answered once. They explained it is difficult to follow the plot and the language. They don’t like it very much.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Our next goal was the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsukiji_Hongan-ji">Tsukiji Hongan-ji</a> Temple, a Jodo Shinshu Buddhist temple in Tsujiki. Tsujiki is adjacent to Ginza. This temple was remarkable, because the representative inside the temple was very chatty. He asked where we come from and what we do in Japan. I took some photos from the inside, but the outside was more interesting. The front of the temple is very beautiful though the right side was under construction.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Tsukiji is most famous for its <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsukiji_fish_market">fish market</a>. I associate Tsujiki fish market with an article of the Austrian national broadcast: "<a href="http://orf.at/stories/2373855/">Japan: Thunfisch für 609.000 Euro ersteigert</a>" (translated "Japan: Tuna auctioned for 609,000 EUR"). This particular Tuna was bought in an auction at Tsujiki fish market. The Austrian broadcast correctly points out that Japan is criticized for its fishing policies. The "Atlantic bluefin tuna" is one threatened fish species, but Japan keeps hunting them, because fish and sea food is so popular in Japan. Demand creates offer in capitalism.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>As Wikipedia points out, Tsukiji fish market is "the biggest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world and also one of the largest wholesale food markets of any kind". As a tourist, you can only access the outer retail market. The inner wholesale market with its auction is restricted to fishermen and vendors. Remember that the market is the busiest in the morning and we visited it in the afternoon. Basically we saw a lot of fish and seafood. The crabs were extraordinarily large and are kind of scary when they are still alive. We went along the streets with the booths of retailers, when we came across the following booth:</p></div>
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<img alt="Whale ice cream" src="images/whale_ice.jpg" width="400">
</img></span></p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>They sell whale ice cream. This got my attention, because of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaling_in_Japan">political situation concerning whaling in Japan</a>. The current situation is that Iceland, Norway and Japan refuse to ban whaling. Often the following rationale is provided: Whaling is integral to their own culture and therefore banning whaling means losing cultural identity. In recent years, whaling is justified with scientific purposes and hunting is implemented with scientific programmes. Its implementation and purpose is under heavy criticism by organizations such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_Shepherd_Conservation_Society">Sea Shepherd</a>, which got a lot of publicity, because the organization was covered in the series "Whale Wars" airing in 2008. In 2014, it was proven that Japan hunts for commercial, and not scientific, purposes.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>I wanted to investigate the question, whether there is any whale species Japan can hunt legally. But our Japanese friends continued walking. To this day, I think there is no such whale species and what I saw is breaking laws according to the International Court of Justice (UN’s judicial branch).</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We went into Tully’s Coffee to consume a snack. There we chatted a lot. One of the most interesting fun facts, I learned, is that Japanese girls often go to dye their hair after high school graduation. Why? Because they are not allowed to do so before. School uniforms are a big deal in Japan and besides the uniforms also the hair style is defined. Girls are not allowed to dye their hair.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>After we went to the beach briefly, we met with another Japanese person at an Okinawian restaurant in Asakusa. I need to admit that I liked the restaurant a lot. The fruits and dishes were quite different and interesting to try out. Also the final caramel peanuts were amazingly good.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We said goodbye and left Asakusa to go home. Conclusion? We had initial problems to chat with our Japanese friends, but the whale ice cream made the day interesting accompanied with a bad, political taste. I think Ginza was quite boring, but Tsukiji was okay.</p></div>
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Asakusa and Senso-ji2017-03-29T12:30:00+09:002017-03-29T12:30:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2017-03-29:blog/asakusa-sensoji.html<div id="preamble">
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<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses our third day in Tokyo, the 19th of March 2017.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>This day we met some other Japanese friends. Together we scheduled to explore the Asakusa district, the Senso-ji temple and Nakamise-dori this day. Optionally, we wanted to go bowling.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Asakusa is the only place in Tokyo allowed to operate jinrickshaw ( 人力車 , じんりきしゃ). The first Kanji in its name is a person/human. These rickshaws are operated by humans and therefore "pulled rickshaws". They certainly look like a lot of fun, but they are also expensive. For two people and 10 minutes, this is about 3000 Yen. Take a look <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rickshaws_-<em>asakusa</em>-<em>japan</em>-_Oct_25_2015.ogv">Wikipedia’s video file</a> to see it in action.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>A friend of our Japanese friend works as a jinrickshaw guide. He shared some tips for sightseeing. We visited Kaminarimon, the Thunder Gate. This gate is the entrance of Sensōji Temple. In the center of the gate, a huge <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_lighting_equipment_of_Japan#Ch.C5.8Dchin">chōchin</a> is displayed. It gives the gate a unique resemblance.</p></div>
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<img alt="Chōchin of kaminarimon" src="images/kaminarimon.jpg" width="400">
</img></span></p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We entered the temple grounds along Nakamise-dori, the shopping street. It connects the gate with the temple. On this street, you can buy many tourist goods, but also nice snacks. Martina bought Volleyball key straps, I took a look at some <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%C5%8Dri">Zōri</a>. At the end of the street, we arrived at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sens%C5%8D-ji">Sensō-ji</a> temple. In front of it, a large pot of sand was available for tourists to put <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incense">incense</a> sticks inside. It smelled sooo good. Inside the temple it is amazing how many people pray at this location. We joined in. In general, you wash your hands first in front of the Shrine. Then you enter the shrine and throw some money into the wooden box. Then you are allowed to swing the large rope resulting in ringing a bell. Then you pray with the procedure clap-clap-bow-clap-clap. However, at Sensō-ji temple there is no rope to swing. Because there are so many people, they cannot get in front of the Shrine to pray. So they stay aside or behind and throw the money above people’s heads into the extraordinary large wooden box. This was amazing.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Orthogonal to Nakamise-dori, another street guides tourists to shops. I asked our friends to go there as well. It features similar shops, but probably more food booths than Nakamise-dori including restaurants. One shop featured caricaturists drawing pictures of people. I liked the drawings very much.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We went to eat lunch at a nearby and very old tempura restaurant. We had to wait about 30 minutes to get a seat. Our friends tried hard to find something vegetarian, but this is very difficult in Japan. I suggested <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempura">Tempura</a>, because sometimes Tempura is made of vegetables. However, it is more popular to make it with seafood. So most of the tempura, I ordered, was non-vegetarian and Martina helped me out eating it.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We went back to Nakamise-dori and in a side street, we saw a group of children in costumes promoting their <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabuki">Kabuki</a> theatre. We also came across the ROX dome batting stadium. Batting is an important part of Baseball and therefore skills are important. Inside a hall, a machine throws a ball towards you and your goal is to bat the ball to a homerun (hence batting is towards a plate in the air about 12 meters away from you). The speed of the ball and its height can be configured by some buttons. I had lots of fun.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><span class="image">
<img alt="Batting at ROX dome stadium" src="images/batting.jpg" width="300">
</img></span></p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We drank a McDonald milkshake and another Japanese friend joined in.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Finally, we went bowling at Ivy Bowl Mukojima (outside Asakusa). One friend was very good at spinning the bowling ball before it hits the pins. First, I used my usual straight technique, but then we tried to learn the technique as well. After two rounds, my overall performance was not that great, but I was happy to try something new.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>To finalize the evening, we went to <a href="https://www.dominos.com/index.intl.html">Domino’s Pizza</a>. On the homepage, you will find a large list of countries hosting Domino’s Pizza branches, but we don’t have it in Austria. So this was a special event for us though it is not the first time I ate a pizza of this company. I have to point out that the pizza is very thick and a lot of varieties are offered, but it is also very expensive.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We said goodbye to each other and returned back home.<br>
Conclusion: Our Japanese friends are super-nice and had lots of ideas and thoughts to share. Thank you for this awesome day in Asakusa!<br>
Also in general: Asakusa is a must-visit place in Tōkyō!</br></br></p></div>
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Imperial Palace, Shibuya, Yoyogi Park2017-03-29T09:08:00+09:002017-03-29T09:08:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2017-03-29:blog/imperial-palace-shibuya-yoyogi-koen.html<div id="preamble">
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<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses our second day in Tokyo, the 18th of March 2017.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>In the morning, we usually get up at 07:00. The hostel provides a breakfast, but it is not particularly fancy. Sandwiches (white bread, you can put into a toaster), butter and 4 differently flavored jams are provided. You can also eat hard-boiled eggs (which maybe accidently soft-boiled eggs). In terms of drinks, you can choose between 2 tea flavors and coffee. Sugar and salt is also available. The best combination, Martina found, was toasted sandwich with butter, apple jam and cinnamon sugar. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matcha">Matcha</a> sugar sounds very Japanese, but was not particularly appropriate for breakfast in my opinion.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Our first destination this day was Chiyoda. This ward covers the area of the Imperial Palace (also called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edo_Castle">Edo Castle grounds</a> successively Tokyo Castle grounds), where <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_of_Japan">Tennō</a> resides. Remember that Japan is the oldest monarchy of the world. At the entrance, you get an admission ticket. You don’t have to pay any money, but it seems this ticket keeps track of the number of people inside the area. So no-one is lost when the park closes at night. First, we visited <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Imperial_Palace#/media/File:Imperial_Palace_Tokyo_Map.png">East Gardens</a>. The area is very relaxing and the bushes and flowers are well-maintained. On this sunny day, the temperature rose to 9 degrees Celcius. The resting house, located in the shadow, was colder and certainly serves its purpose in summer.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><span class="image">
<img alt="Imperial Palace Garden" src="images/imperial-palace-garden.jpg" width="400">
</img></span></p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Inside the East Gardens, the west half of the garden contains two circles, you can traverse. A fun fact: In Japanese, circle is called "maru". In the Castle’s Wikipedia article, you will find many areas of the castles named with "maru". If you search the Kanji for "maru", you will find two characters: <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E4%B8%B8#Kanji"> 丸 </a> and <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%86%86#Japanese"> 円 </a>. The second is used to denote the mathematical object. At the same time the character is famously known as symbol to denote the Japanese currency (compare with <a href="http://japan.lukas-prokop.at/gallery/2017.01.22%20-%20In%20the%20supermarket/IMG_20170122_141725.jpg">this image of price tags</a>). So in my mathematics courses I often hear the name of the currency, but actually a circle is meant. By the way, the currency is pronounced "en" in Japan, not "yen".</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>When we went to the two circles, something very funny happened. I spotted a German-speaking couple. In a glimpse of an eye just before the man passed, I recognized him. I failed to react properly and talk to him, but I looked up his schedule in his weblog and it confirmed my theory: The professor, who examined my master’s degree in September before I came to Japan, visited Japan for a conference. I wrote him an email and he responded that he had to laugh heartily. Yes, he suspected me under the mask, I still wear after <a href="harugasshuku-2.html">the Aikido spring training camp</a>. What a coincidence! Thanks for this awesome moment.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Our next goal was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edo_Castle#Nij.C5.ABbashi">Nijūbashi</a>. This bridge is one of the two main bridges leading the emperor from his residence to the streets. I don’t think they are particularly beautiful. Just a very famous sightseeing spot. I think <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edo_Castle#Tatsumi-yagura">Tatsumi-yagura</a> is more beautiful (the second image is a historic image):</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><span class="image">
<img alt="Tatsumi Yagura" src="images/tatsumi-yagura.jpg" width="400">
</img></span>
<span class="image">
<img alt="Old image of Tatsumi Yagyura" src="images/tatsumi-yagura-old.jpg" width="400">
</img></span></p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>After lunch, we went to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shibuya">Shibuya</a>. Shibuya is most famous for its scramble intersection. It was featured in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssc5eLjLoMQ&t=1h49m57s">Olympic Closing Ceremony 2016</a> and also Wikipedia’s article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedestrian_scramble">Pedestrian scramble</a> features it. It was indeed amazing. You see a lot of people crossing the intersection. Then you think that now the crowd is gone, but a few seconds later the same number of people gathers again and waits for green traffic lights. After taking photos and filming it, we went into one of the building next to the station. We listened to Japanese music and looked at magazines and DVDs available in the store.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>After shopping, we got a little bit tired and went into Tulley’s coffee. I ate a donut and Martina drank a Cocoa. After that break, somebody at the street asked us whether it is okay to interview us. As the interview was in Japanese, Martina was in charge and she answered all questions. I was amazed by her progress in Japanese. The interview was about customs regarding shoes in the house. In Japan, you have to put off your shoes in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genkan">Genkan</a>. In Austria, it is the same, but there is no step and the shoes are put on the left or right side inside the entrance area. Because Japanese households are so small, a lack of a shoe box often means chaos inside the Genkan.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Our next destination was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoyogi_Park">Yoyogi Park</a>. It is north of Shibuya. We briefly saw <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harajuku">Harajuku</a> (a Youth culture district) from distance, but did not want to put time into this district for now. We entered the park north of Yoyogi National Stadium. It felt like a common park. We saw many foreigners and the Japanese people were in average young. We walked around and sat down. In the meanwhile it got cold and dark. We found a wallet on a bench. We thought about returning it to a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C5%8Dban">Kōban</a>, but we didn’t know one nearby. So we decided to leave it there and I am not sure whether we reacted correctly. It became dark, we wanted to access the Meiji Shrine anyways. Apparently, you cannot access Meiji Shrine from the south directly. We are not sure whether you can access it from the west or north either. But as it turns out the official entrance is in the south-east next to Harajuku station. At this hour, we decided not to go this long path, but visited Yoyogihachiman Shrine, a small shrine west of Yoyogi Park.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Using the train, we went from Yoyogikoen station to Roppongi. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roppongi_Hills_Mori_Tower">Roppongi Hills Mori Tower</a> is a famous observatory spot. You have to go up 2 floors to enter the building. It was not even sure the towers were still open. I think it closes at 19:30 and we arrived at 19:50. In the end, we decided not to pay the entrance fee of 1800 Yen for the observatory. At the night, you cannot take good pictures, we will visit the Tokyo Tower Observatory anyways and finally, we have been tired.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>When going home, we went into a restaurant, to eat some Japanese food. I was very hungry. So I took some ramen and a rice-based dish. Martina only took one dish. I handed over the food ticket to the chef. She discussed it with another staff member and returned one ticket: "This is too much". She argued that both dishes contain rice. I was very hungry, but somehow I got my money back for one dish. So we ate our dishes and I left the restaurant hungry. I am not sure how to think about this incident, but I had some peanuts in the hostel.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Long day, good night!</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Conclusion: Imperial Palace has nice gardens, Shibuyia crossing is fascinating and Yoyogi Park is just a common park to relax.</p></div>
</div>
</div>
On Japanese comedy and Kansai-ben2017-03-21T00:48:00+09:002017-03-21T00:48:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2017-03-21:blog/kansai-ben.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses an experience I made after coming to Tokyo after living in Kansai for 6 months.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><strong>Disclaimer:</strong> I am a beginner of the Japanese language and therefore neither watch nor understand Japanese comedy regularly. However, I understand the claim a Kansai student has made from a phonetical point of view. I will elaborate on this now.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>At Kobe University, most students don’t come from Kobe, but from Osaka. But Kobe and Osaka are both part of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansai_region">Kansai</a> and therefore the vast majority of students at Kobe University speak <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansai_dialect">Kansai-ben</a>, the regional Japanese dialect of Kansai. Living 6 months in Kobe, I got totally used to Kansai-ben. The dialect contrasts the Kantō region around Tōkyō. But, there is no such thing as Kantō-ben. The Japanese spoken in Kantō is considered as "Formal Japanese".</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>I don’t listen to word-level differences that much. First, I am not that long in Kantō and generalizing things is therefore difficult. And second, as a beginner in Japanese, I focus more on gestures / body language as well as pitch/stress in pronunciation. And pitch is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansai_dialect#Pitch_accent">the <em>major</em> difference</a> between Kansai-ben and Kantō. Kansai-ben features a wider pitch range.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Because of the changes of the pitch, listening to Kansai people gives you a lot of information about their emotions and level of excitement. Listening to Kantō people is strange to me. It sounds monotonous and the missing pitch range indicates lack of interest to my brain.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><strong>Different topic:</strong> I prefer Austrian (esp. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJRRyFULmlY">Alfred Dorfer</a>) and Swiss comedy (esp. <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursus_%26_Nadeschkin">Ursus & Nadeschkin</a>) over German comedy. And let’s have a close-up look at these comedians and their phonetics. The comedian use little pitch, stress and the volume is constant. Punch lines are almost entirely based on associations, words and meanings. Imitation is important. But the punch lines don’t need special support by sounds, noise or visual effects.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Let’s talk about Japanese comedy. For example, take a look at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwnj-psRIRA">comedy by some 吉本新喜劇 </a>. Pitch, stress and volume are extrordinarily important compared to conversational Japanese. For punch lines, the comedians often raise their voice. <a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8E%9A%E5%88%87%E3%82%8A%E3%82%B8%E3%82%A7%E3%82%A4%E3%82%BD%E3%83%B3">Jason Danielson</a> is from the US, but a Japanese comedian. He also employs the same characteristics (for example <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOOYphi7akw">in this video</a>). This is quite contrary to Austrian or Swiss comedy.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>And now comes <strong>the claim</strong>: Because Japanese comedy uses these phonetic changes for punch lines and Kansai people also use it in everyday language, most Japanese comedians actually come from Kansai. It is easier for them to make the audience laugh. Interesting, right?</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Granted, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansai_dialect#History">Wikipedia</a> gives a different explanation (not phonetics, but convention):</p></div>
<div class="quoteblock">
<div class="content">
<div class="paragraph"><p>Since the Taishō period, the manzai form of Japanese comedy has been developed in Osaka, and a large number of Osaka-based comedians have appeared in Japanese media with Osaka dialect. Because of such associations, Kansai speakers are often viewed as being more funny or talkative than typical speakers of other dialects. Tokyo people even occasionally imitate Kansai dialect to provoke laughter or inject humor.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="attribution">
— https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansai_dialect#History
</div></div>
</div>
</div>
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building & Shinjuku2017-03-20T11:53:00+09:002017-03-20T11:53:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2017-03-20:blog/shinjuku.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses our arrival in Tokyo on 17th of March 2017.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We took the night bus from Kobe to Tokyo. The night bus by the <a href="https://willerexpress.com/en/">Willer express</a> company has a separate waiting area. We arrived in the waiting area (which in some side streets in the center of Kobe Sannomiya) and a staff member guided us to the bus stop close to the street. 5 minutes before departure, you should go directly to the bus stop at the street. The bus departured at 21:45.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>The seats are actually very comfortable and my legs had enough space. However, a cover above your head protects you from the light of the bus, so you can sleep better. And this cover was too low for me. So my head rubbed the top of the cover all the time and it was difficult to sleep. I woke up several times during the trip. On our trip we also had an intermediate stop in Osaka and at 3 roadhouses.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We arrived in Tokyo, Shinjuku, at 06:35 in the morning (hence the duration was 8 hours and 50 minutes). Very tired, we went to the tourist information. We grabbed maps and asked for luggage storage options. They offer to store luggage for 800 Yen per day per item. We stored our two large bags and began our journey. By the way, we made an expensive decision. Our luggage would have fit together into one of the 300 Yen lockers per day; instead of paying 1600 Yen. However, the tourist information center was a convenient offer for our luggage.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>In Tokyo, you can find many <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starbucks">Starbucks</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tully%27s_Coffee">Tully’s Coffee</a> stores. We went to Starbucks close to the train station. These coffee houses generally have very little space, because they are so popular and more customers bring more money. However, in Japan, this is taken to the next level. Your luggage has no space at all. I consumed a drip coffee and "American chocolate scone". Martina drank a cocoa. We wandered around in the south of the station. We decided to visit the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building first. On our way to this building, the government buildings nearby clearly showed how proud the Japanese government is of hosting the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building (TMG) is famous for its observatory on the 45th floor. It gives a nice view over Tokyo. It is free, but you need to pass a luggage check. I really don’t get why Japanese people like luggage checks, but I guess terrorism justifies as many things as you like. In the obseratory, we started to learn that Tokyo is much wider than Kobe or Osaka. It is also more flat, but more skyscrapers can be found in the downtown. Before it is a famous place for tourists, this floor also offers many tourist items such as snacks or T-Shirts for various prefectures of Japan. The visit was worth it and a good start.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Niagara Falls - in general - can be found on the border between Canada and the US, but in our case it refers to the park with waterfalls next to TMG. We visited the park, because the waterfalls looked nice when we peeked from the observatory. We observed some elementary school graders. I think it is quite commonly known, that in Japan kindergarten and elementary school students use the same caps when they go on a school trips. For example, this is visible in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5jwEyDaR-0&t=1m55s">TED talk by Takaharu Tezuka about "The best kindergarten you’ve ever seen"</a>. I think this is convenient to identify children that belong together if you are in a public space. Some young people (probably at the age of 17) were rehearsing some play. They changed between discussion and agressive behavior, which made us uncomfortable until we recognized they practice for an acting class.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>After taking a peek into Kogakuin University, we looked at Cocoon Tower. They are all located nearby, making the district a quick and convenient sightseeing spot.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>At lunch time, we got hungry, but we skipped lunch for now. Instead, we headed for our next goal: Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. The garden is quite large and you have to pay an entrance fee of 200 Yen. These yen were worth it. The park is well-maintained. We saw quiet place in the shadow as well as green areas to take photos at or play small games. I think the garden is considered as a place of relaxation among Japanese people. Just like many other foreigners we took photos of the first blossoms in spring and we also had fun to pose in front of the smartphone camera:</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><span class="image">
<img alt="Shinjuku Gyoen" src="images/shinjuku_gyoen.jpg" width="500">
</img></span></p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>To retrieve our luggage, we had to go back to Shinjuku station. On our way to the Park, we saw several <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soba">Soba</a> restaurants. On our way back, we picked one of them and ate some Soba. This was also the first experience, that people in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kant%C5%8D_region">Kantō</a> are more used to tourists and the (elderly) staff members spoke fairly good English. In <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansai_region">Kansai</a> it is often difficult to get along with English.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We retrieved our luggage and went to the Hostel. The <a href="http://www.j-hostel.com/asakusabashi/">Anne Hostel Asakusabashi</a> is located close to the center of Tokyo. We booked about two weeks in advance and they expected our arrival at 16:00. As in many hostels you can find information about popular sightseeing spots inside. The staff speaks perfect English and Japanese. The foreigners tend to interact a lot. But one uncommon rule was important in this hostel: No drinks and no food allowed inside the rooms, except for plain water.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We put our luggage in our room and bought water and snacks for the following days. In the evening, we met one of Martina’s Japanese friends. She was coming from work and we ate in a Chinese restaurant. After dinner, we went to sleep as we were very tired because of the last night.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Do you want to know an interesting difference between Kansai and Kantō? Japanese people drive their car on the left side, but people in Kansai stand on the right side of the escalator. In Kantō, people stand on the left side on escalators. The blog post about <a href="https://osakainsider.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/the-escalator-conundrum-osaka-right-tokyo-left/">the Escalator Conundrum by Osaka Insider</a> discusses this issue.</p></div>
</div>
</div>
What to pack for one year of student exchange2017-03-02T23:26:00+09:002017-03-02T23:26:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2017-03-02:blog/what-to-pack.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses a very general topic for exchange students. I also make some remarks about my Japan experience as a male European.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>My brain likes to-do-lists. This way I can forget about things and look them up, when they are relevant. Before I went to Japan, I collected all items on a list which I intended to pack. In general, this worked out very nice. However, you always need to consider:</p></div>
<div class="olist arabic"><ol class="arabic">
<li>
<p>
the luggage limits of your flight(s)
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
consider which kinds of bags you will use in your target country. You don’t want to use a trolley to go to university.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
you will never know which items are most relevant in the end. You cannot consider all possible scenarios.<br>
But for those, you might be able to ask someone from your home country to send a package to you with your missing belongings. Or a friend takes them with you, when he/she visits you.
</br></p>
</li>
</ol></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>In the end, I devised the following list and I am publishing it, because someone else might find use for it:</p></div>
<div class="olist arabic"><ol class="arabic">
<li>
<p>
clothes
</p>
<div class="olist loweralpha"><ol class="loweralpha">
<li>
<p>
jacket, coat
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
trousers for the public (like jeans or shorts)
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
casual trousers for sitting comfortably at home
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
pullovers, hoddies, vest
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
T-shirts, shirts
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
shoes (summer, winter, sports, dressup) [be aware that shoes take a lot of space, so I took only 2 with me]
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
socks
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
underwear, bras
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
cap, headgear, hood
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
gloves (for winter)
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
towels (body, hair, sports)
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
bathing equipment (swimming shorts, bikini)
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
rain protection equipment
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
clothes line (often helpful)
</p>
</li>
</ol></div>
</li>
<li>
<p>
hygiene & medicine
</p>
<div class="olist loweralpha"><ol class="loweralpha">
<li>
<p>
deodorant
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
conditioner, shampoo
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
first-aid: plaster/band-aid, tape
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
medicine according to your needs
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
sunscreen
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
comb
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
scissors (hair, nails)
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
tweezers
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
tooth brush, tooth paste, dental floss
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
cotton buds
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
earplugs
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
razors
</p>
</li>
</ol></div>
</li>
<li>
<p>
documents
</p>
<div class="olist loweralpha"><ol class="loweralpha">
<li>
<p>
certificate of nationality
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
documents of academic degrees
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
passport
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
important emails of communication before flight printed out
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
a to-do-list for the first few busy days
</p>
</li>
</ol></div>
</li>
<li>
<p>
office & studying
</p>
<div class="olist loweralpha"><ol class="loweralpha">
<li>
<p>
dictionaries
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
rulers
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
calculator
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
pencil case, sharpener, eraser
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
sticky tape
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
paper
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
scissor
</p>
</li>
</ol></div>
</li>
<li>
<p>
accessoire & personal belongings
</p>
<div class="olist loweralpha"><ol class="loweralpha">
<li>
<p>
lanyard (I like to attach wallet and key to lanyards to avoid theft)
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
glasses
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
briefcase
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
money to survive the first days (at least 2 weeks, remember that the investments at the beginning are the highest)
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
gifts you want to give to your mates abroad (edibles are generally recommended)
</p>
</li>
</ol></div>
</li>
<li>
<p>
sports (depends largely on the kind of sport)
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
electronics
</p>
<div class="olist loweralpha"><ol class="loweralpha">
<li>
<p>
mobile phone + case
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
laptop
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
mouse
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
external hard disk drive (for backups or your videos and photos you make)
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
battery charger for mobile devices
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
earphones
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
connector adapters, power supply adapters
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
headset
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
presenter (for presentations with a beamer)
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
camera
</p>
</li>
</ol></div>
</li>
</ol></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>In the end, people take different approaches towards how much luggage they take with them.</p></div>
<div class="olist arabic"><ol class="arabic">
<li>
<p>
Basically my luggage suffices for 1 week. Then I need to wash clothes. This should suffice for you as well, because I expect you to have a washing machine available abroad. However, if you are on a trip within your stay, you need to survive at least a week, I suppose.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
I took some old clothes with me. These clothes are at the end of their lifetime and I won’t take them back to my home country. So I throw them away and buy new one abroad. This way I can refresh my wardrobe with Japanese clothings and I am forced to tidy up my wardrobe once in a while.
</p>
</li>
</ol></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Japan-specific notes:</p></div>
<div class="olist arabic"><ol class="arabic">
<li>
<p>
I underestimated the winter. I had to buy a very warm hoodie in Kobe, which turned out to be essential to survive the winter.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
I took too little money with me. I was equipped with 250 EUR (30.000 JPY), which was not sufficient for 2 weeks until I got my bank account and successfully transferred money from abroad.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Gift culture in Japan is omnipresent. I couldn’t get enough gifts from my home country. There was always an opportunity to give gifts away.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
You need a thick handkerchief to wipe your hands in Japan all the time with you (bathrooms don’t have towels/tissues). You can buy them easily in Japan.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Deodorants, handkerchiefs, women hygiene products and condoms are four major recurring topics in online Q&A boards (reddit is very lively as of 2016):
</p>
<div class="olist loweralpha"><ol class="loweralpha">
<li>
<p>
Deodorants are very different in Japan and Europe. They tend to be less effective.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Handkerchiefs are generally unavailable. You can only obtain thin tissues (like the ones for wiping off cosmetics).
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Women hygiene products are smaller because Japanese women are smaller. In case you are a tall European, consider taking a few extra packages with you.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Condoms are expensive in Japan and the sizes are determined differently. So bring some spare ones to be safe for the beginning.
</p>
</li>
</ol></div>
</li>
</ol></div>
</div>
</div>
Kitano-Chou, Part 22017-01-03T23:59:00+09:002017-01-03T23:59:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2017-01-03:blog/kitano-chou-2.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses the 30th of December 2016.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>The <a href="kitano-chou-1.html">previous trip to Kitano-Chou</a> was nice, but I didn’t get an overview of the houses and certainly there is more to discover. So I had to return. Martina was not motivated, so 2 days later, I was on my own. I started with Kitano-Chou, where I left of last time.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Starting from Sannomiya, I headed to Ikuta Shrine. It was quite a time ago since <a href="kobe-jinjas.html">my last visit</a> and I wanted to see preparations for tomorrow. On New Year’s Eve, a lot of people are expected at Ikuta Shrine. In conclusion, they were busy building up some structures and booths. Plenty of boards got attached to the shrine though I don’t know what they kanji say (I assume they are prayers). A tree was in front of the shrine and ropes connect the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torii">Torii</a> with the tree. On these papers, handwritten wishes can be found.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><span class="image">
<img alt="Ikuta Shrine Torii with tree in front" src="images/ikuta-shrine-torii.jpg" width="300">
</img></span></p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>In front of the Kobe Baptist Church (on the border of Yamamotodori and Kitano-Chou), a cat was sitting on the sidewalk in the sun. I could enjoy petting her for a while. Then I reached the houses.</p></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_irish_house">Irish House</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>A little bit unexpected, but the main theme of the Irish House was hunting. Stuffed bears, elks and deers were shown together with hunting equipment. They also collected donations for <a href="luminarie.html">Luminarie</a>.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_french_house">French House</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>The main theme of the French House is dining. The layout of the table, wine and cheese was presented with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqLqlJ114lk">Amélie as background music</a>.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_denmark_house">Denmark House</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>The Denmark House did not have a main theme in my opinion. It rather shows a simple style of living. A piano, a chess board and simple cooking equipment were on display. Of course some clothing is always part of the exhibition.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_netherlands_house">Netherlands House</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>The Netherlands House issued the Vikings. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clog">Clogs</a> were shown in front of the House, but inside it was all about the life of Vikings (clothing, household items, food, house architecture, etc.).</p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_former_chinese_consulate">Former Chinese Consulate</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Next, I visited the Former Chinese Consulate. I displayed decorated stone turtles next to the entrance, a Chinese dining table and a bathroom. The bathroom featured a bath tub not connected to a drain, a basin and a wooden construction to cover your body when undressing. It was interesting to recognize that many items were either made of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marble">marble</a> or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porcelain">Porcelain</a>. Vases and images of emperors are also recurring items. A larger vase with a dragon on it can be found in the garden. I like Chinese painting patterns (e.g. tradition style of painting the animals of the Chinese calendar).</p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_kitanotenman_shrine">Kitanotenman Shrine</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Kitanotenman Shrine has quite a few of steep steps in front. If you finish them, you reach a platform with a nice view on Kobe (though some trees block the view) and on the next level, the Shrine is placed. I wondered how much space Japanese Shinto Shrines take up in the country. In Austria, it is famously known that the Christian church owns the largest portion of area compared to other single organizations or companies. But I failed to find data for Japanese Shinto Shrines.</p></div>
<div class="quoteblock">
<div class="content">
<div class="paragraph"><p>The number of Shinto shrines in Japan is estimated to be around 100,000. This figure may, or may not, include private shrines in homes and owned by small groups, abandoned or derelict shrines, roadside Hokora. etc.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="attribution">
— https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinto_shrine
</div></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>I came to conclusion, that Shinto Shrines require less space than churches, but there are more Shrines in one Japanese city than churches in a European city. I still think that the Shrines' area does not outnumber the area of their European equivalent.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_weathercock_house">Weathercock House</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>The next destination was the Weathercock House. The brick layout on the facade is very distinguishing. Does it belong to a country? No, the Weathercock House is just some distinct architecture some English trader living in Kobe came up with. Inside the main theme is the weathercock and some English items were on display. Nothing particularly interesting, but the souvenirs in the shop inside were more fancy than on other locations (cookies, chopsticks, etc. with the weathercock drawn onto it). It was the only house where the room design and staircases provided as much space as I am used to from European houses. The ceiling was higher and two people could go upstairs/downstairs simultaneously without touching each other.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><span class="image">
<img alt="The Kitano-Chou Weathercock House with a trumpet player sculpture in front" src="kitano-weathercock-house.jpg" width="400">
</img></span></p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Finally I went to the Moegi House. Outside it looked very nice, but taking a peek inside through the window, it seemed boring inside. I did not care to go in.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>In conclusion, I traversed Kitano-Chou from east to west (just to clarify: but the houses are not in a line). The houses are not very interesting for Europeans, but I guess I got a clearer picture how Japanese people image European style. 500 Yen per house would be way too much to me, but for free it was a decent experience. By the way, some streets are very steep. Take care, if you go there with elderly people. In the following, I wanted to find an entrance to a path leading to the Venus bridge.</p></div>
</div>
Kitano-Chou, Part 12017-01-03T23:59:00+09:002017-01-03T23:59:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2017-01-03:blog/kitano-chou-1.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses the 28th of December 2016.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Kitano Chou is a district of Kobe City featuring many houses of foreigners. So individual houses represent the housing traditions of a certain culture. European cultures are represented the most, because the Dutch were the first foreigners arriving at Kobe.</p></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_kitano_street">Kitano Street</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>First, we made our way to Kitano Street. This street is often pictured, because several houses at this street can be found in one line and their country’s associated flag hangs outside. It also helped us for orientation, because overview maps are given at several intersections. Martina lost interest. She is not interested in sightseeing that much, was hungry and European houses are especially boring. I tried to convince her to check out the British House and the Austrian house. Then I would be willing to go home.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_british_house">British House</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>The British House features a pub design with many comfortable chairs. Whiskey is represented by a wide range of bottles and the other major theme was Sherlock Holmes. As an adolescent, I was a big fan of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and I recognized the references in the exhibited items. In the garden, they even built a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Underground">tube</a> station, because Great Britain had the first underground railway system in history. An old car was also shown and visitors could dress up in Sherlock Holmes clothing (a brown, checked clothing and cap).</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Visiting every individual house at Kitano-Chou seems to cost 500 Yen. This is ridiculously expensive in my opinion. Every house is simply an exhibition of some items. They also don’t feel necessarily authentic. The houses are tiny as in Japanese tiny. So I had to take care of my head and the staircases (or alike) are very narrow. I guess I need to consider that most visitors are Japanese, but 500 Yen seems awful lot to me. I think a price like 1500 Yen for all houses would be more fair, but I didn’t check the options in detail. Kobe University gave us a Kobe pass, which allowed us to enter these houses without paying anything. In the following I didn’t care to consider it further.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_austrian_house">Austrian House</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>The Austrian House is uphill. Briefly we saw the Weathercock House, which in my opinion is the most interesting house at Kitano-Chou. In front of this building, a juggler and a magician were performing. Martina took photos of me with the saxophone player statue.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>The major theme of the Austrian House is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart">Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart</a>. Whenever someone asks me for famous people from Austria, I think of Mozart first:</p></div>
<div class="quoteblock">
<div class="content">
<div class="paragraph"><p>Me: Osutoria<br>
Jap: Osutoraria?!<br>
Me: Osutoria… Europe<br>
Jap: ?!<br>
Me: No kangaroos<br>
Jap: Ah, no kangaroos<br>
Me: But Mozart<br>
#AustrianInJapan</br></br></br></br></br></br></br></p></div>
</div>
<div class="attribution">
— https://twitter.com/meisterluk/status/797448839313506305
</div></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Often I continue to make references to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Schwarzenegger">Arnold Schwarzenegger</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietrich_Mateschitz">Dietrich Mateschitz (Red Bull)</a>. All three (for the last one: the brand) are well-known in Japan.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Back to the house: The nine federal states are represented with nine flags. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empress_Elisabeth_of_Austria">Sissi</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Joseph_I_of_Austria">Franz</a> are shown. Traditional garment is visible in a glass case and upstairs (accessible through a different building), Mozart has a dedicated room. I should mention images show the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Boys%27_Choir">Vienna Boys' Choir</a> and bedding traditions are also explained. "Servus" is mentioned as "unique Austrian welcome".</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Afterwards we headed back home to make some food. Overall experience? Kitano-Chou is boring, especially for Martina, and the hike was nice. We need to extend it next time.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>You want to know one funny thing about my Kitano experience?
In my last Kanji class I was sitting for 3 minutes just thinking about which Kanji is associated to houses. The answer is <a href="http://jisho.org/search/%E5%AE%B6%20%23kanji"> 家 </a>, but I could not come up with it. Being in Kitano-Chou, famous for its foreign houses, guess which Kanji I could find all over the place 😉</p></div>
</div>
Christmas party2016-12-21T15:10:00+09:002016-12-21T15:10:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2016-12-21:blog/kokui-christmas-party.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses the 17th of December 2016.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>At the beginning of December, Martina was invited to join a christmas party. We both joined the event. A corresponding <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_Santa">Secret Santa</a> (we called it <em>Wichteln</em> in Austria) was organized via <a href="http://drawnames.com/">drawnames.com</a>.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>On 12th and 16th of December 2016, Martina and I went shopping to find an appropriate gift. The price limit was defined by 1000-2000 Yen and we could ask anonymously for wishes via the web interface. My receiving friend was interested in Zelda, NBA and vaping. I bought him some Zelda merchandise and Pocky. It was not easy to find wrapping paper, so we bought a Santa sock instead. Martina bought <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiky%C5%AB!!">Haikyuu manga</a> for her assigned person.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>On the 17th of December 2016, we headed to Kobe University’s <a href="http://www.kobe-u.ac.jp/en/access/accomodations/kokui-residence.html">Kokui Residence</a> (<a href="https://www.google.at/maps/place/Kokui+Ry%C3%B4/@34.719728,135.2179513,935">here on Google Maps</a>). It was the first time, we were at a different dormitory by Kobe University. The party was privately organized. We have been about 50 people and <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapunzel_Naturkost">Rapunzel</a> Glühwein was offered by a German exchange student. She told me she bought the German product from an import distributor located at Sannomiya. Not everybody participated in Secret Santa, but we have been at least 20 people. First, the Secret Santas got revealed. We had to describe our assigned person in a non-obvious way (usually how he/she is dressed). Then the gift was offered. The receiving person had to reveal her assigned person next. However, we ended up in 4-5 circles this way. I received a portable version of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shogi">Shogi</a>, commonly referred to as <em>Japanese Chess</em>. I love my gift. In the following, I gave my present to my assigned person.
By the way, how do you assign people for Secret Santa such that no-one picks himself (without using a third-party like a web application)? The solution is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kC5k5QBqcc">presented by Hannah Fry</a>.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Afterwards, we chatted with other people. Particularly from Germany and Australia. The last train required us to leave at 23:30.
For this event, it was nice to experience Secret Santa in an international context. The party was not particularly lively.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>In recent times, my bucket list did not get shorter. The christmas party took place on Saturday and I could have done an event day on Sunday.
But I was very busy with the progress of my bachelor thesis and decided to consider this christmas party as event.
In short: Christmas holidays are coming and I am motivated for sightseeing/travelling.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Want to know another interesting fact about Christmas at Kobe University?
Every faculty decides on its own when makeup classes (substitution classes for dates, when class couldn’t take place) take place. They are typically attached to holidays making holiday planning a mess (in my humble opinion).
So as far as I am concerned, I will have Japanese class, but no other class in the week of 26th of December.</p></div>
</div>
</div>
Language barriers in action2016-12-08T23:50:00+09:002016-12-08T23:50:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2016-12-08:blog/language-barriers-in-action.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This happened on Thursday, 8th of December 2016.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>After Aikido practice, I have two choices:</p></div>
<div class="olist arabic"><ol class="arabic">
<li>
<p>
After 2 hours of offical practice, I leave and excuse myself for leaving so early.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
I stay with them. After the official practice, we can ask our senpai to show us certain exercises. Eventually the sensei/senpai asks everybody to finish and clean up. Afterwards we return all the equipment to the club’s room. We visit the Konbini before going to the train station together. In total, this takes 4 hours.
</p>
</li>
</ol></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>I choose either option half of the times. At the Konbini, we are offered a free snack. If your item costs less than 130 Yen, the senpai will pay for it. This has been explained to me the very first time I followed them to the Konbini. However, an Aikido friend wanted to point it out again (probably he didn’t knew, I know, or he wanted to do it explicitly after I bought some 140 Yen item on my own). Because he could not express this offer in English words, he wrote it in Japanese and started Google Translate (hopefully I remember all words right):</p></div>
<div class="quoteblock">
<div class="content">
<div class="paragraph"><p>If you stay late with the sensei, the night can be delicious.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="attribution">
— Google Translate Japanese to English translation
</div></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>I laughed pretty hard and I don’t think they understood why. As far as I am concerned I think the statement refers to something different than what they actually wanted to say. On the other hand, I also don’t know what they originally typed in. Anyways, this is a wonderful example of how words can be interpreted differently and language does not end where syntax and semantics end. You also need to study the associated culture.</p></div>
</div>
</div>
I’m Japanese!2016-11-22T23:30:00+09:002016-11-22T23:30:00+09:00Martinatag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2016-11-22:blog/im-japanese.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This happened on Monday, the 21st of November 2016.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>A few days ago my tutor accompanied Lukas and me to the post office. I had to bring a letter there. Together we went from University to Sannomiya. In Sannomiya we had to find the post office which is located in a shopping mall. The easy part was to find the shopping mall and the corresponding floor. But my tutor was not used to this place and Lukas and me have never been there before either.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>So my tutor asked a passerby where the post office is. The woman thought for a moment and then pointed in a direction while replying "Straight… まっすぐ" (the latter meaning "straight ahead" in Japanese). Then she continued her description in Japanese. Of course, my tutor understood her without problem. After she was gone he said to us "Why? I’m Japanese!". So for every Japanese student out there who is frustrated that Japanese people try to explain things in English to them, this happens to Japanese citizens as well. (At least when they are accompanied by foreigners.) 😉</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>The next time my tutor had to ask for the direction, he asked us to wait in few meters of distance. Obviously, because it was in the middle of the street. But Lukas asked him "… to make sure they speak Japanese to you?" and we shared a good laugh.</p></div>
</div>
</div>