Don't Let It Bring You Down

Telephone card of Sendai Castle and statue of Date Masamune.

I have always had this thing for castles. Most boys do when growing up, as they dream of defeating the sissy, goody-two-shoes knight who comes to take away the gold you have stolen from the peasant-folk - gold, by the way, which enables you to have the best-looking women in the shire throw themselves at you.

Hey - you dream your dreams, I'll dream mine!

Anyhow, growing up in London, England and Toronto, Canada, I only had images of the standard European castle. I had no idea that there was such a thing as a castle constructed anywhere else.

And, believe it or not, that naivety stayed with me through the first few months of Japan, when I traveled alone for the first time.

Back in 1990 through 1993, I was an assistant English teacher (AET) on the JET (Japan Exchange & Teaching) Programme, working out of the OBOE (Ohtawara Board of Education) and teaching at seven local junior high schools in the city - one school, four days a week. I know - it was tough. I sometimes actually had to do work for about four hours a day! I'm getting tired just recalling that fact.

Don't let anyone tell you differently, working as an AET on the JET Programme wasn't that difficult. What was difficult was the constant bombardment of people wanting a piece of your time - anxious to find out more about you and your country - to speak your language - to buy you drinks. Okay... it's not a problem either - especially to an ego maniac like myself.

Still, for some people who value privacy, the lack of it caused them to construct walls and baileys and install a moat to keep people out - only lowering the drawbridge whenever they were horny. I could be talking about many of my girlfriends, but truthfully, I could be talking about a lot of my male friends, too.

Anyhow, that paragraph above was a crappy description of a castle. When I first traveled to Osaka-shi (Osaka City) in the fall of 1990, I only then learned that besides it being an easy city for a stupid gaijin (foreigner) who gets lost in, one could get laid quite easily. As well, they had a cool looking castle. That was my first exposure to one - Osaka-jo (Osaka Castle), and like sex and girlfriends, I wanted more. I also got lost more frequently.

In November, my then girlfriend Ashley and I, traveled to Sendai--yes, near where earthquake and subsequent tsunami hit a couple of weeks ago on March 11, 2011.

Sendai-jo (Sendai Castle 仙台城 or Aoba-jo/ Aoba Castle 青葉城) was constructed by Date Masamune (surname first, pronounced 'da-tay') atop Mount Aoba (pronounced 'ow-bah' where as far as castle defenses go, was quite impressive, over-looking the small fishing village of Sendai. When the castle was completed at around 1600 AD, Sendai was now a city (Sendai-shi) .... a city that by 2010 had over 1,000,000 people.

This castle - Sendai-jo - was a major player in the Boshin War (1868-69) a  civil war in Japan between the forces of the Tokugawa shogunate (military government of the past 250 odd years) and those wanting a return of the Imperial Court as the real political power. The Sendai folks backed the Shogun - and lost.   

As a result, Sendai-jo was partially dismantled in the 1870s. Unfortunately, a lot of the remaining building were bombed by the Allies in WWII when the Imperial Court utilized a military-like rule for a couple of decades.   

While sections did survive - hence Ashley and I visiting it - a lot of the stone walls and structures were rebuilt.

And you know what I remember most of that trip--besides not getting any--was that it rained, got colder, and then snowed.

Along with getting lost, I always seemed to have issues with dressing properly when traveling in Japan. This is especially true when traveling hundreds of kilometres by Shinkansen (bullet train) - the weather is quite different from wherever your starting point is. After three years, I never figured it out.

I mean, I did know it was going to be different, but you have to remember that the Internet wasn't a big deal then (though I had been surfing a make-shift Tron-like world since 1978), there was no 24-hour weather station  - and even if there was, it would have been in Japanese, so I had no way of knowing what the weather was like in other cities.. I suppose I could have asked my bosses at the OBOE for advice, but I didn't want to look any more incompetent than I was.

Somewhere slaying the White Knight,
Andrew Joseph
Today's title is by Canada's Neil Young: OLDMAN

Don't Let It Bring You Down

Monday, November 12, 1990.

I’ll admit, I’m no longer sure why I have this day off, or even why Naoko has this day off, or why Ashley suggested Monday for us to travel.

So… if it’s Monday, Ashley and I must be back together again.

We’re going to visit a castle somewhere. I have no idea where, but I’m sure it will be spectacular.

I’m up at 7:30AM, and phone Ashley and tell her she has an hour to get ready and be at my place.

Naoko comes by at 8:30, and I meet her boyfriend named… why do hey say their name so quickly? I have no idea what his name is, but he looks like a nice guy – kind of Clark Kent-ish, good-looking, and is taller than me. Screw the Japanese stereotype of them all being midgets, okay?

He’s driving a tiny white car called a Honda Windy Automatic. All Japanese cars have English names – some make sense, and others… well, Windy.

Ashley and I sit in the backseat. I’m quiet and don’t say much. Naoko even notices. I’m pissed off at Ashley because this morning when she saw me, she didn’t want to kiss me ‘hello’. Why, I ask her. I just don’t want to. She’s so stupid she’s probably wondering why I’m grouchy. Well, it’s her fault. (Years later, I see my role in all of this).

The ride is long. Apparently, we’re heading to a northern prefecture (province) called Fukushima to visit Tsuruga-jo (Tsuraga castle). The scenery is beautiful outside, and I wonder what the hell I am doing here – in Japan and in this car. The trees were all magnificent in their regal multi-coloured splendour. Some pine trees had even turned orange?! That can’t be good. Probably some sort of beetle infestation. The rivers cutting through the valleys of hues were beautiful, but we didn’t slow down or stop for a better look.

Keeping with the beautiful motif, the weather was also beautiful – an odd occurrence considering it always rains when I travel… maybe my mood is full of rain clouds today.

Cutting through the mountains, the car windows began to fog up as a testament to the chill around us. But, as we finally arrived at Tsuruga-jo, I’m relieved to find that my penchent for bringing the rain hasn’t left me—the sky became overcast, and with every footstep away from the dry interior of the Windy, the clouds overhead threatened to open up and spill its icy cold contents… wait for it…. Wait for it… ahhhh, a nice cold rain with winds wafting down from the north at about a thousand miles an hour.

Armed with umbrellas—the Japanese are generally pretty good at having an umbrella handy in the car, and Naoko and her boyfriend are no exception. So we begin to moodily take in the sights.

The castle is five-stories high, with two mini moats placed around it. Externally, it’s painted a nice bright white, but inside it lacked decoration. Naoko told me it was originally used as a ware castle, meaning it was more practical in design than pretty as a palace. I found the interior to be a lot like Osaka-jo (something I haven’t shared yet with you – but three weeks prior to all this I travelled to Osaka by myself to visit some friend of a friend back in Toronto and then slept with her. For those keeping track… that’s two – not that I’d ever stoop to keeping track). This castle’s interior was a museum. I walked up the five flights of stairs to look out the top, and unlike Osaka-jo where I saw a city surrounding me, here there was a more serene park. It was okay… I guess I was spoiled after seeing the view of the past immersed with the present in Osaka.

Again, the four of us head to Mosburger for lunch. I swear I should by stock in this company so I can get a discount.

Later, we visit a samurai army camp beside the castle. This is cool. The life-sized mannequins are all done up (covered) in flowers called kiku (chrysanthemums).

We leave at 3:30PM in an effort to beat the traffic, but of course, we hit the rush hour. If I was homesick, this appeased me. We didn’t get home until 7PM, which left me enough time to race to Iseya to drop off my film and go grocery shopping. By that, I mean I got dropped off at my place with Ashley who rides home.

I play with my GameBoy at home, talk to Matthew and invite him over for dinner the next night. I clean up and am in bed by 10:30, mentally and emotionally exhausted.

Oh… today the new Japanese emperor was enthroned. Some bombs went off, but it seemed like a pretty low-key event to me.

If you'd like to see some more photos... click HERE. 

Somewhere grouching,
Andrew Joseph
Today's title is brought to you by Neil Young.

Photograph

As mentioned in the previous blog, Japan likes to make lists of its wonders - listing them in threes.

Presented for you visual approval are five photographs depicting two of Japans Most Famous Castles; one of its Most Famous Hot Springs; and two of its Most Famous Waterfalls.

All photos are taken by myself, except for last one, which was part of a photo album I purchased at a flea market in Utsunomiya for about $10 (1000 yen). The album contains photographs circa 1937 - that's my best guess. I will show all of these photos in about one week's time.

Three Great Flatland Mountain Castles: Himeji-jo, located in the city of Himeji, in the Hyogo Prefecture. This castle is called the White Heron.

This castle is immense, and was very difficult to capture with a 35mm camera. What a time to forget my wide-angle lens. I visited here with Matthew after a conference. I do have a model kit of castle that I am contemplating constructing in the next few months.

Click HERE for more information on the castle.





Three Famous Castles: Osaka-jo, Osaka-shi (City of Osaka), Osaka-ken (Osaka Prefecture). 

There is far too much information on this castle, so let me direct you HERE for more information. Personally, I think this photo is awesome. Try clicking HERE for a much higher resolution image.












Three Great Hot Springs: Nine Hells, Beppu, Oita-ken. The hot springs of Beppu are called the Nine Hells and range in the most breath-taking colors.

This photo is a close-up of Chinoike Jigoku also known as the "blood pond hell". It features a pond of hot, red water - red because of its iron content, I believe. Here's a link containing pix of all the Hells: HERE.

Japan's Three Most Famous Waterfalls: Fukuroda Falls, off the Takigawa River in northeastern Ibaraki-ken.

Its width is 73 meters, and is a cascading type of waterfalls with a total height of 120 meters. Click HERE for a nice site with a couple of excellent photos.   

Japan's Three Most Famous Waterfalls: Kegon Falls, located in Tochigi-ken on the Daiyagawa River that flows from Lake Chuzenji-ko.

While I do have a brilliant colour photo of Kegon Falls in 1991, it's locked up in a very nice frame. This photo shows the Falls prior to an earthquake in the 1940s that changed the way it looks today. In the late 1990s, another earthquake shrunk it to its current size of 97 meters. Click HERE for more info on the waterfall.

Somewhere wishing I had visited three of everything,

Andrew Joseph

Oh yeah... title is by Ringo Star: Listen: BARBARABACH