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Giappone
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Giappone
Kasugai-shi

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Viaggiatori in questo posto
    • Tokyo-Kyoto 2024
      Giorno 7

      Buildings, music, shoes in Tokyo

      17 maggio, Giappone ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

      Some observations about Tokyo:
      1) Had to snap photos of some very interesting buildings (only a few pictured).
      2) Godzilla is represented in a number of places around Tokyo. He started out as a destroyer of cities, then became a defender of those cities, but apparently, he's back to his old tricks as a building crusher.
      3) All restaurants--small or large, old or young crowd, cafe or pub--seem to prefer a smooth jazz sort of vibe, resulting in a weird throwback feel. (But that's, of course, only one person's opinion.)
      4) Shoe fashion du jour is white sneakers, honking big black platforms, and Crocs or knockoffs, often with a wedgy heel. (Only one picture so far, taken surreptitiously on the train by Gary. ) I'm so behind the times in my ordinary Sketchers and sandals.      Leggi altro

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    • ViaggiatoreIsekai Travels - Japan
      Giorno 21

      In Kasugai with Sekki - せっき先生と春日井にいます!

      26 dicembre 2022, Giappone ⋅ ☀️ 45 °F

      Today I went from my Family friend in Tachikawa to meet one of my friends and Japanese teacher Sekki sensei! On my way there I saw a receptical that made me laugh a little. Japan is really big on sorting their trash into plastic bottles, burnables, and cans. In Japanese, a way to refer to the plastic bottle is pronounced pettobotoru (ペットボトル). It's called this because bottles are made out of Polyethylene Terephthalate. In short, Japanese will just call bottles PET or Petto while leaving out the bottle part of the word. The trash bin in the linked image asks you to put any PET into the trash 😆🐕‍🦺

      I met Sekki for the first time at the train station and gave him a big American hug. I could definitely tell he was not used to someone giving a hug like that 😅 In Japan, it is not common to hug. I would say where people would hug in America, Japanese people would probably bow or wave instead. I try to hug my friends in Japan because I've never met anyone who says they dislike hugs. Even my Japanese friends have told me they enjoy it but it's not part of the culture so it would be weird to do it. A hug would be seen as something more intimate so it might look weird to the people around if two Japanese people were hugging. In America, even mixed genders hug each other and sometimes it can be on the first time meeting one another. I think the absence of the hug in Japanese culture really solidifies the idea that people tend to keep to themselves and prefer to interact without physical contact. I think this cultural phenomenon can make it seem like people don't want to interact in such a way but I think that's mostly just a perception! Emotions within Japanese culture seem to be so much more concealed than in the boisterous American culture. These differences are so fascinating, the two cultures are like polar opposites.

      We stopped by the grocery store and picked up some ingredients to make something called okkirikomi (おっきりこみ). Sekki asked me to pick from a few options to cook and I picked this one because it's from his home prefecture called Gunma. Gunma is not a very populous prefecture so I thought it would be really cool to learn a specialty from that region.

      We picked up a number of vegetables that I had not seen or cooked with before and started preparing them once we reached Sekki's residence. It was really cool seeing Sekki for the first time in real life since we have had so many lessons virtually. He could have been an Artificial Inteligence this whole time and I wouldn't have known 😆 We talked about some Japanese and English differences while preparing the food then finally sat down to eat.

      We ate at a small table that had a blanket drape down over your legs. Since the house did not have much insulation or heating, the warm area under the table felt amazing. It kind of gave the act of sitting around the table a very cozy and familial type of feeling. I can understand why I've read that kids sometimes sneak under the table to sleep. This is called a kotatsu and is pretty common within Japanese households. I'm a fan and I think it would make family time together a bit cozier and homier.

      The meal was super delicious and I want to learn how to make it so I can have a living memory of my friend and time in Japan 😊 Sekki sent me the recipe so I'll do my best to recreate it!

      We had some drinks then went to bed. Sekki got out a futon for me in the living room and a super heavy blanket so I was extremely warm even tho it was could and there was no heating on during the night. It's suprising Americans have entire rooms dedicated to beds but many futons seem to be able to be put away after sleeping. This saves so much space BUT my American bed definitely gives me a lot more cushion and better sleep. It's interesting that something as essential as a bed can be different in these two different cultures. I like the resourcefulness of the futon but I will stick with my American size and cushioned mattress.

      Thanks sekki for making my time in Japan special by having me over and teaching me a bunch of Japanese so I could communicate during my time here 🥺

      Recipe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQqDCHJJ_HQ      Leggi altro

    • ViaggiatoreIsekai Travels - Japan
      Giorno 22

      Onsen Etiqetteーいいゆですね

      27 dicembre 2022, Giappone ⋅ ⛅ 39 °F

      This morning, we got up and headed to a super onsen, which is basically just a large onsen with a game room, saunas, many baths, etc. I've started to really like going to the onsen and will definitely miss it when I get back to America. It makes bathing a really enjoyable experience and has a really relaxing vibe to it. Part of me wonders if the reason Japanese people are able to have the persistance and drive to perform well is because of the way the onsen integrates a kind of meditation and vacation from the days past and future. In that moment, you just are in the water and no other thoughts are flowing. I also think it encourages a more thourough wash than when in America because you're sort of dedicating a whole occassion to taking a bath instead of it being like a chore in America. I think I would probably go to the Onsen on a pretty regular basis if I lived here 🤔

      I definitely have noticed that people keep looking at me because I look out of the ordinary (a white guy). I don't really mind this but I think it's interesting because I'm so used to being the visual majority that it seemed impossible to ever feel like the visual minority. I really like that I'm able to experience this shift in priviledge. As a white person in America, it's hard to imagine how a minority must feel when in a neighborhood or place that is generally only the majority. I feel a bit enlightened to be able to experience this as a daily occurance so I can feel how alienating it is. I believe most of the looks are out of curiousity but there really is no way for me to know! It's only natural to look towards things that are out of the ordinary, and it felt a bit special to be somewhere where I was considered out of the ordinary. It felt special because there must not have been many people like me with this experience if I'm viewed as out of the ordinary ♨️

      I went to an Onsen in Hiroshima, but I felt like I didn't really know what I'm doing. I'm going to put the general order of things in how I understand an Onesen should work.

      1. Onsen's usually have rentals, but if you don't want to rent then bring a wash towel and also maybe a bath towel.
      2. At the genkan (the step up into the onsen), take off your shoes. This is a very normal cultural event to do in Japan but as foreigners it's not so obvious sometimes. While in Hiroshima, some of my friends stepped up onto the genkan without thinking and the staff was not happy!
      3. After taking off your shoes and keeping them off the platform, pick them up and place the shoes and belongings into a locker. If your shoes are in a locker, there will probably be a second locker where you will leave your clothes and other belongings. The only thing you will take into the onsen is your key to this locker.
      4. Enter the onsen area. You can choose to cover yourself with the wash towel or just walk around freely, it's up to you!
      5. Wash off before getting into the hot or cold baths. It's considered polite to make sure you are clean before getting into the public waters
      6. Ring out the wash cloth and bring it along with you or place it on your head
      7. In-between public baths, rinse off. In hiroshima, I saw every wash off before entering a new bath. In this onsen, I didn't see it as often. Maybe it's a personal preference or maybe it varies from onsen to onsen. I'm not really sure on this one so I either followed the Japanese person I'm with or default to giving a short rinse inbetween the baths.
      8. Don't stare at people. I think this one is obvious but the goal is to relax and have a bath for yourself so try not to make anyone else uncomfortable.
      9. When you're ready to leave, take a final wash or rinse off in the showers. Ring out the wash towel
      10. With the ringed out wash towel, dry yourself as best you can near the exit door
      11. You can return to your locker and put your clothes back on
      12. Pick up your shoes and do not place them on the ground. Remember they only belong on the ground if they are outside the raised platform area.
      13. Enjoy the rest of your day 😊

      Afterward, Sekki told me it's common for people to drink milk after exiting the Onsen! There was even a milk machine that had different containers of milk. There was Chocolate, Strawberry/Fruit, some yougurt based flavor, and normal milk. I don't normally drink milk but decided to this time for the experience! It was very delicious. I got the chocolate and Sekki got the fruit milk but I was a bit jealous after I tasted the fruit milk because it was very very good. Not quite strawberry, but almost a strawberry forward mix of fruit flavor.      Leggi altro

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    • ViaggiatoreIsekai Travels - Japan
      Giorno 22

      田舎の居酒屋

      27 dicembre 2022, Giappone ⋅ 🌙 37 °F

      Ware and Sekki took me to a local Kasugai Izakaya. The vibe reminded me of the kind of bars my dad would take me to when I was a kid in rural Illinois. Obviously they are very different but the atmosphere of local people who knew each other coming together for a drink was very much the same. Ware said that he had been here alot as a kid so it was nostalgic for him. We ordered many many small dishes and I tried a ton of foods I've probably never had before.

      One of the most interesting things of the night was a drink that was served in a covered container with a blowfish fin in it. In Japanese blowfish is known as フグ or fugu 🐡 Before drinking, you are supposed to light a match and burn off the alcohol that accumulated under the lid. I was having a lot of trouble accidentally breaking the matches so ware gave me a hand with my first drink. The matches at this bar were not as strong as the matches I use back home so I kept snapping them in half. Other patrons at the bar also thought it was funny that I could not attempt to light a match without splitting it in two 😅

      In Osaka, Ware taught us that to order a lemon sour with the same lemons instead of getting replacement lemons was called "naka". So you could just say naka and get a refill. Doing this would produce a different flavor as the frozen lemons melted over time. With this fuku drink, which is called ふぐひれ酒 or fuguhireshu, the same concept applied! You could say either 継酒 which is Tsugi-shu/Tsugi-zake and then get a refill with the same fin. This slightly changed the taste as the fin was not as strong each subsequent drink.

      One of the patrons also attempted to talked to me and was super proud of himself for being able to use one or two english sentences to greet me. He tried talking with me some but I have difficulty speaking when embarassed and it felt like everyone was looking at me in that moment. He also spoke very fast so I had trouble catching everything. I appreciate that he was so willing and friendly to talk but I'm just not at the level yet to understand natural fluent Japanese. I think I could respond a little bit but I'm having trouble recalling because I procrastinated on writing this Journal entry. So for the sake of my pride, let's say I was able to respond some 😆

      I eventually was able to light my own match and get a small video of myself proudly burning off the top part of the alcohol. Big thanks to Ware and Sekki for bringing me here to see some day in the life Japanese Izakaya culture 🍻      Leggi altro

    Potresti conoscere questo luogo anche con i seguenti nomi:

    Kasugai-shi, Kasugai, 春日井市

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