(The on which my friend Badillo and I presented was “Making the most of your life in Japan”.)
I wish you (nearly) Happy New Year’s greetings from Akune.
I was preparing to cook a vegetable stir-fry last week when I reached down under my sink to grab my peanut oil. It had become semi-solid much like the bottles of peanut oil left outside my back porch in Seattle during Chanukah. This didn’t mean my stir-fry was foiled, most certainly not. This did mean, however, that I would be enjoying my first vegetable stir-fry of the winter. I huddled close to the warmth of my gas range as I lightly tossed together a variety of winter vegetables: napa cabbage; carrot; and shiitake mushrooms. Upon taking my first bite of the steaming stir-fry a white cloud of steam burst from my mouth, reminding me of the many cold weeks I spent here last year. Akune is now hovering at a miraculously low temperature just barely toeing the line between freezing and frigid.
A number of weeks ago I took advantage of the pleasant, late autumn weather and got in touch with nature, before it would freeze over. At the beginning of November I was invited by one of my adult English students, Mr. Taniguchi, to join the Akune hiking club on their climb of Nishi-no-takatsuki-yama (NTY) and gladly accepted. On the day of the climb the participants gathered at the entrance of city hall to sign in. After checking in everyone received a complimentary towel, pair of gloves and a meticulously formatted print-out of the day’s schedule, map and assigned hiking groups, which to my relief were color coordinated; one should never think of hiking without taking care of these essentials.
My bento, enjoyed on the summit of Nishi-no-takatsuki-yama
On the drive to our rendezvous I was leafing through the map when I recognized a name of an abandoned school, Hon-no-mure Elementary, which was listed as the departure point for the hike. After asking Mr. Taniguchi, I confirmed that this was the very school where Captain Matsunaga introduced me to the ceramicist Mr. Matsumoto in my earliest days in Akune. I was thrilled to go back to the tiny school in the forest and excited at the chance of possibly seeing Mr. Matsumoto again. When we parked the car next to the outdoor kilns at Hon-no-mure Elementary I had a flashback of those first sweltering days, now two summers ago. It was a very nostalgic reunion with the small village school in the woods.
Gathering at Hon-no-mure Elementary
This pristine specimen of a shiitake was growing in the back of Hon-no-mure Elementary
Once the other participants arrived we all gathered around a portable microphone to hear the club president’s openning salutations; there is no contest to the attention paid to ceremony in Japan. The highlight of the pre-hike gathering was rajio-taiso (radio calisthenics). This short aerobic routine has been broadcast on Japanese national radio at 0630 in the morning everyday since the middle of WWII; everyone in the country knows this routine; yes, I have full confidence in saying this. With our bodies warmed up we headed off into the forest through the abandoned village of Hon-no-mure, where remnants of a not so distant history lay before our eyes amidst the forest floor’s autumn palette.
Hon-no-mure path: if you look closely you can see the remains of what used to be support walls for houses, footpaths and gardens
The changing leaves
Walking the path
Just one week after climbing NTY one of my fellow JET friends, Badillo, welcomed a visitor from the States. Since she was only staying for a short time Badillo decided to plan a jam-packed schedule including some time to mingle with his adult English conversation class. I also happened to be invited to this mixer, which was to feature a fun group activity, ceramics. I was very happy to interact with such talented learners of English. Some, however, were not as enthused by the ceramics. Later that day I would set a record for hosting guests in my house. I sat and served tea to a remarkable three people and to my great relief and joy I was able to find enough chairs and cups for everyone.
Ceramics in Izumi
Guests: the proof
Riding the groove of a busy mid November, I found myself again preparing for another early morning outing in Akune. This time it was a walking rally and unlike the climb of NTY, I had an American companion with me, Zak the Miami native, Nagashima ALT. For a mere three and a half hour walk Zak and I had a whole day’s worth of fun. In the same way as last year’s walk rally, I kept on thinking how big Akune really is. There are so many hidden residential clusters and beautiful views that I rarely get to see. One of which, although it may not be considered a thing of beauty, was the schochu (potato spirits) factory. As an extra stop on the walking course, we visited Oishi shochu factory in the heart of Akune. The bubbling vats of fermenting rice and potatoes were a sight and a smell to behold.
Pre-walking
Bubbling barrels
Four hours north of Akune in Oita prefecture, stretching upwards into the sky is one of the largest mountain ranges in Kyushu, Kuju. Last year I went to Kuju with a crew of my hiking friends and came back with extremely sore legs and the images of the breathtaking scenery of Hiji-take (Mount-Hiji). This year was going to be different, said Mami, the leader of this particular group of mountain maniacs. Yes, this year’s plans was to tackle as many mountains as we possibly could before descending down the other face of the range to our mountain shelter for a one night stay, only to wake up the next morning and hike again. Our main targets for the trip were Mount Kuju, the range’s namesake, and the tallest of all, Naka-dake, the central peak, which according to Mami is the reason why people come to Kuju in the first place.
I awoke the day of the hike at 0230; this hiking trip was serious in a different way from the NTY hike. We were out of Akune by 0300 and suited, strapped and booted at the base of our first peak by 0700. With the drastic rise in altitude we started our hike in negative five degree Celsius temperatures, heaving frothy clouds with every step. Everyone was in good spirits, in good shape and we couldn’t have asked for better weather. After reaching the summit of peak number four we dined on bento boxes chilled by the mountain conditions, within an inch of being frozen solid.
Kuju crew
Kuju salute
This is why we came
Hokkeiin onsen
I wasn’t looking forward to the three-hour descent at all, anyone with Ramras knees can easily understand why. With one careful step after another we made progress toward our final destination. Imagine coming down the face a mountain nearly 1800 meters in elevation, your muscles are aching. When you finally think you can’t muster any more strength you smell it. It smells funky, yet familiar. Then you see it. Clouds of steam rise from the end of the tree line that just moments ago seemed like it would never end. And finally, you put two and two together and realize that you have arrived at your point of salvation. Nestled between the mountains, deep in the Kuju range was Hokkeiin-onsen (hot spring hotel), waiting receive our tired bodies. Without wasting a moment, we checked into to our rooms (tatami), raced down the halls (freezing) and practically dove into the natural hot spring bath (favourably comparable to reincarnation, if there is such a thing). I would only figure out later that we were bathing in one of the highest baths in Japan.
Early morning Taisen
I would like to leave you with this idiom:
山高水長 (san-kou-sui-chou)
If one were to literally translate each kanji the meaning would be: mountain, tall, water, long. To my understanding, however, these four characters are a description of what one hopes for what their own virtues may become: reaching high into he sky like a mountain and like a vastly stretching river.
Sakurajima blowing its ash
Miki and Miwa, the sisters of Warabe Ceramic studio at the Satsuma-yaki Festival
Kento’s piece: Kento is one of my 5th grade elementary students from the smallest school at which I teach. Kento and I take ceramics together at Warabe studio. Kento entered this piece into the youth ceramics competition and received an honourable mention. Way to go Kento.
Daikon steak with negi-miso and toasted white sesame seed
(Captain Matsunaga showed me how to make the daikon steaks: cut rounds of the daikon; dry them in the sun for half a day; and then pan-fry them in oil with just a touch of salt)
BOWnenkai
忘年会 (bou-nen-kai, or end of the year parties) are ubiquitous throughout Japan. This is the bou-nen-kai I had with my adult English conversation class at a French restaurant near my house.
Daikon farmer
This is Zak and his crop of daikon.
The first daikon
The second daikon
The grand harvest
