Trash Rules

Japan takes recycling seriously.

Trash must be divided into seven categories: combustible, noncombustible, hazardous, bottles & glass, cans, paper & fabric, and PET plastic bottles. Trash must then be placed in a municipally approved plastic bag and labeled with a sticker (available at your city hall or town office).

Each type of garbage is picked up once or twice per month.*

Large garbage - furniture, electronics, etc. - must be scheduled to be picked up by a trash service at your expense.

Failure to correspond with trash laws will result in the termination of trash services for your domicile. You must then make arrangements with a trash service at your expense.

Paraphrased.

*At my building bottles, for example, are picked up on the third Wednesday of every month. Ugh. Read more!

Kyoto is for Lovers

Love was in the air in Kyoto today. I saw couples laying by the river holding hands, a couple preparing for marriage, and a few too many strange white people giving Japanese women the creepy eyes.

Kyoto still feels a bit like Japan-Land to me - a place where foreigners pay steep entrance fees to stare at pretty Japanese people/buildings. It's hard for me to appreciate Kyoto's Shinto temples when the sound of chanting is overwhelmed by that of clicking cameras.

Nevertheless I did see some very, very beautiful things...



The first of which was this massive "Super Big Parfait" that five of us split. The waitress tried her best not to crack up when she delivered it - that was nice of her. For the record, we finished it.


We walked straight from parfait to temple. Unfortunately I don't know much about the places we visited. Fortunately they were magnificent.


No picture could really convey the size of this temple. The ceilings must have been seventy feet tall.

There was some sort of ceremony going on inside - rhythmic chanting and bells and thick incense filled the room, which was gold leaved and intricately carved - it was magnificent.

No photos were allowed.


Apparently temple grounds frequently house murders of crows. The ones here were roughly cat-sized.


We were lucky enough to see a bride preparing for a traditional wedding.


Nearby vendors sold traditional goods - such as plastic smiling neon feces and bouncing dragon balls. Classy.

We also managed to see a geisha play put on to welcome summer. It was a sad story - one of honor and unrequited love.

The set changes alone made the show worthwhile. Sections of floor were moved away and new ones were lifted into place as the scenery flipped from Autumn to Winter in the background. The geisha were, of course, flawless. They really looked like china dolls drifting across the stage.

Kyoto was much more impressive the second time around. That said, I would still prefer a less packaged experience. I'm sure I'll find it.
Read more!

Mayo

When I think of mayo in America I generally think of a fat slob slathering mayo out of a pop top kraft jug. When Japanese people think of mayo I imagine they must think of the above - the Kewpie baby welcoming them with open arms.

Perhaps this explains why they're so freakin' crazy about mayo.

Want okonomiyaki? You're going to get it criss crossed with mayo. Takoyaki? More mayo. Yakisoba? Probably has mayo in it.

Grocery stores carry Kewpie bottles in a variety of sizes to satisfy your lust for the 'naise. Today I counted five. The largest of the bunch was the size of my forearm. The smallest was about as big as a travel toothpaste - just in case you need some on the go.

Now to be honest the mayo here does taste a lot better than what I've been given in the states. I can't put my finger on it, but it has less of that... uh... mayo taste.

Today I bought my first bottle - an entry level about the size of a small bottle of ketchup. Will I walk away obsessed? Only time will tell. Read more!

Osaka City Photo Adventure 1

I... AM... GLICO MAN!

The entrance to Dotonbori - Osaka City's downtown

A man walking a ferret.

Babs in front of a hip-hop clothing store in America town - SO MANY FUCKING COLORS

Yes, this is me eating brains.

See the worst parts of this picture? That's the stomach. Stay away.

GO THERE

Beware triangular nosed men.

Ramen from a shop in Den Den Town. Better than anything.

uh....

Jennice inside Super Potato - the most amazing videogame store ever.

Porn shops all over Den Den town have a hilarious/surreal/disturbing ad campaign featuring a stoic middle aged woman. Gives me the heebie jeebies.

Read more!

Brains

Spent the day in Osaka city with Babs and Vince.

Despite not really having a plan or any idea where we were going we somehow found everyplace we could have hoped for.

First we wandered through porn shops and videogame stores in Den Den town. Then we headed back uptown to check out clothing stores. Eventually we found our way to the madness of America Mura - a massive America themed network of stores. I'm not sure what America they were riffing off of there, but it wasn't the same one I'm from. It did, however, have an amazing Army/Navy store.

We meandered away from that insanity to the high fashion district. There we looked at things we'll never afford - seven hundred dollar riding pants and thousand dollar boots, for example.

Finally we stumbled accross Dotonbori - Osaka's downtown. Well, perhaps we were called there by the walls of flickering neon signs and giant motorized crabs.

We dodged hawkers and spiky haired androgenous hosts long enough to find a barbecue restaurant tucked underneath a nondescript building. When we entered we had to forfeit our shoes before being lead to our own booth. After some confusion we ordered three dishes, each from a different part of the cow.

I'm just going to say it - brains are delicious. It disturbs me a bit to know that ever person walking around has a treasure trove of fatty goodness sloshing around in their noggin. Maybe zombies had the right idea.

I've lost my camera cable - but as soon as I find it I'll post pictures of all the magical organ-y goodness. It was a good day.

Oh, and stomach is disgusting, FYI. Read more!

Personal day.

Hey gang. I'd love to talk about wacky goings-on today, or even continue some of the posts I've already made, but I'm taking a personal night. That means beer, oreos, and some Steven Chow. I need to recharge my batteries. Read more!

Very, very small pond.

A week or so ago an enterprising group of students photographed me from the eyes up for a tumbler design contest poster. At the time I didn't think much of it. I just assumed that they wanted diversity - the bunch of us from MICA being the only non-asians around made us the go-to guys.

You can imagine my surprise, then, when I walked into the OUA main lobby to be greeted by a four foot high poster of my forehead.

I'm like a local celebrity here. Well, that or the town freak. For the sake of fairness let's say I'm somewhere in between. My skin color and my height are enough to make me the focal point of any crowd. Throw a me-centric ad campaign in there and, well, let's just say I don't blend in.

Sometimes it's a ridiculous ego boost. Oh, hello Japanese Art School! Check out my skin color! Listen to me speak my native language! Isn't it amazing? Just like TV!

There are, however, some days when you don't want everyone to stare at you. Days when you don't have time to shower, or wash your clothes, or put on deodorant. It's enough to make me seriously self-conscious.

So what do I do? Well, either I try and stay immaculate or go for broke and stop caring, I guess. Let's just say I'm moving from the former to the latter. Read more!

Nerd

I spent today in Den Den Town - Osaka city's nerd district. It was awesome.

How awesome? Well you'll have to wait a bit to find out. I just spent the last few hours putting together a model kit, and I need some sleep. Read more!

Aikido, Judo, Kendo, etc. (+do)

Today I went to check out OUA's aikido club. It turned out, however, that all of the school's martial arts clubs were having a joint practice - lucky! Frankly it was more exercise than I've had in years.

The light exercise I handled fine - biking was enough practice for that. I even made it through the judo throws admirably. When the Karate leader said we were going to strength train with sumo, however, things got dicey.

I'm tall, yes, but I am not that strong. Perhaps the leader didn't see the limp noodles (arms?) hanging out of my shirt sleeves when he called the biggest freakin' Japanese man in the dojo to kick my ass.

I actually made it through the sumo with a tie - thank you bizarre leg stregnth. The chariot-style tug of war, however, didn't go quite as favorably.

Basically the man-bear training partner I had looped a belt around my waist. My job was to run as hard as possible. His job was to pull me as far back as possible. After two minutes we switch.

Now, maybe I should have had something more to drink today than an extra large boss coffee. And maybe slim-fit linnen jeans weren't the best training pants. Regardless he wiped the floor with me, metaphorically and in reality.

By the time practice ended I was basically sweating salt. I tried to remain as polite as possible talking to the aikido teacher, a halo of red closing in on my vision. Eventually I broke: "please... very tired... water!"

I sat on the floor next to the water fountain to collect myself. As my vision returned I tried to explain my philosophy on aikido and life to the aikido leader. Even when he couldn't understand my words, I think he understood my tone.

I'm still running on endorphins. OUA really goes out of its way to provide students with ways to exercise. Its a welcome change - one I'll embrace wholeheartedly. Read more!

OUA Festival part 1

Art festival diary, part one:

As I walked towards OUA I heard a petit voice wail in my direction: "SA-MU." Oh sweet god, is that a girl on a motor scooter asking me if I want to ride with her to school? Is that a matching helmet with a star on it? Perfect?

Well, almost. Unfortunately the adorable-ness of Hitomi's scooter/helmet combo was outgunned by the piercing wail of her voice as she crossed the line from giggly to insane. I've found that people here frequently use laughter to cover up their embarassment at not being able to speak enough english. With Hitomi it's something far beyond that. And uncontrollable compulsion, perhaps - maybe prelude to some kind of seizure.

Later I realized that I had never met Hitomi before. How she knew my name is beyond me. I'm keeping my windows shut and locked from now on.

I managed to explain to her that I had to meet my friends - I think she got the message. After walking a bit down the street I ran down a back path to avoid an awkward wave. See, all that exploring paid off in the end.

I met up with Joyce and Ariyana and the three of us went to the festival.

More to come in part II! Including some pictures! Read more!

Art Festival, Karaoke, Insanity

My day started at 9:45 AM with a friendly albeit wildly overenthusiastic scooter girl, and ended around midnight with screaming nerd karaoke. Also I think I'm in a Japanese longbow club.

Is it seriously 1 AM? Full story tomorrow. Read more!

A Thought - Contrasts

A few minutes down the street for me there is a small farm. It sells produce grown a stone's throw away, and is run by adorable old people. Three feet away from that is a DVD machine that sells some of the sickest porn you've ever seen.

Who is the target audience here? Read more!

Clubs

Today I visited CAS - the OUA Comic and Animation Society. Basically it's nerd club. Also it is awesome.

Clubs at OUA are something far removed from what I'm used to back in the states, where I run an Asian Film Club. At MICA, for example, I had to fill out a small packet full of paperwork just to get a classroom one night per week. In Japan every club gets its own room, no questions asked.

They can use this room for whatever they want, and it's theirs 24/7. Walk by the club rooms any day of the week and you'll see students hanging around - working, playing majong, or just chilling out.

The CAS room had bookshelves stuffed with nerd-reading material as well as a large TV hooked up to a mini PC. It was on this PC that they showed us some of their yearly animation reels, as well as several shorts they filmed just for kicks.

Also they publish a comics compilation book every year, which they sell. And they really get it printed from a printer - no xerox here.

I've never seen students (especially art students) come together like this. What would it take to raise this kind of team spirit at MICA? Is it possible?

This Sunday the club is hosting a party. We're supposed to be able to find it by the girl with green hair standing at the entrance. What have I gotten myself into... Read more!

International Party

A MICA class party is a sad affair. Scrawny art students gather around dimly-lit tables, drawn there by free pizza of questionable quality. They force down mouthfulls of mostly cooked dough (covered in something somehow worse than grocery store Ragu) stopping only to breathe or perhaps to complain about the lack of a vegan option.

Today the printmaking department threw a party for the international students - and, yet again, my brain exploded a bit.

They brought in not only snacks but food. Real food. Fresh takoyaki (the pan-fried octopus donuts that I've come to love) made on portable tabletop grills tided us over until rice was ready for sushi. Beer was passed out along with less alchoholic fare, and merriment ensued.

Then we played games. The silly kind of games that require little language and thought. Even the elder teachers participated - I guess they value lighthearted fun more than their MICA counterparts.

Bonus: We left the classroom to the sound of... battle!? And pumping techno music? It was the OUA Gedai Ga(!) club - a club of super nerds that puts on absurdly well coreographed fights in the style of old school Japanese kids' shows.

When they're in costume it's impossible for them to talk into a mic - so they have voice actors providing the voices for them. When we saw them they were not in costume... but still had voice actors doing the talking. This was particularly bizarre in regard to the female ranger, who was being played by a boy.

Say what you will, that kid could high kick like nobody's business. Easily one of the most surreal/bizarre/hilarious/amazing things I've ever seen.

It was too dark to get a decent photo... but they're performing this sunday. Oh yes, I'm there.
Read more!

Nonpost

Today actually went very well. My professor was super patient and spoke a fair amount of english, and I met a decent number of very nice students.

That said my bike tire blew and I had to walk home. I am super exhausted, gang.

So rather than ramble incoherently I think I'm just going to bed.

Goodnight! Read more!

Galoshes

Galoshes are rubber slips that go over your shoes. They have their roots back in the middle ages, but have fallen out of fashion recently because they look retarded. They are, however, practical and cheap.

As I dragged myself through the pouring rain back to my apartment at the end of a difficult day today I found sanctity in two things - my half gallon of boss coffee and my galoshes.

See, I don't speak any Japanese. In a Japanese school in Japan this can be an issue. Especially when your Japanese teacher calls on your to introduce yourself in Japanese and your brain (metaphorically) explodes.

Fortunately (for me) none of the other MICA students spoke any Japanese either - so at least we all looked like idiots together. I think they're putting us in our own section. It's going to focus on basic conversational Japanese since trying to teach us how to write is apparently far too advanced. Maybe they'll give us special helmets to wear, too.

I mean, these galoshes do already make me look like I'm waring safety shoes.

Overcoming the language barrier is going to be as big a challenge as I've faced. I know that there will be more frustrating days ahead - conquering them is what's ultimately going to bring me the most satisfaction.

Classes continue tomorrow. Bring it on!

Read more!

Alien Registration + Some OUA

I took these pictures at a drug store photo booth. There are little photo booths scattered all over Minamikawachi - Mr. Hisano said people generally have them taken for resumes. I imagine in America something like this would raise all kinds of discrimination flags(!) but here apparently not. Regardless the booths have the uncanny ability to make your skin look like freshly molded plastic.

I needed them to fill out my alien registration paperwork, which (thank god for Mr. Hisano) was a relatively painless process. Soon I will be an official Osaka resident!

Also today I had a chance to explore campus a bit!

OUA has a much larger campus than MICA. Its industrial architecture is a pretty far cry from MICAs century old marble staircases. While both have their charms I am a big fan of OUAs escher-esque staircases:



The view seals the deal, though:


Though really what endears me to OUA is the food. OUA has three cafeterias, two small restaurants, and a bakery. So far the food has all been somewhat healthy and (more importantly) exponentially more delicious than MICA's southern fried garbage:


Katsu-don: 440 Yen (roughly $4.50). Contains an egg, onion, fried pork, and rice. Delicious and filling - and it doesn't leave you feeling like you rubbed it all over your face*.

Tomorrow I have my first class - Japanese! I don't really know what to expect, but the way things have been working out it's hard not to be positive.

*Meyerhoff cheeseburgers, I'm talking to you. Read more!

Bike Photo Tour - Minamikawachi

There are a bunch of small bike-only paths around Minamikawachi. Today I explored two of them, hoping to shave some time off my commute.

I left the house around nine. Outside my apartment is a scenic construction yard, complete with grinding machinery and steam vents:

Good morning, steam vent!

There are several Leo Palace buildings, all of which seem to be around some dubious industrial landmark. I guess that's why it's so cheap? Regardless I'm still fond of it, even if it obviously isn't a palace:

After leaving the palace I headed north. This street is pretty typical for the area - a narrow road with no sidewalk or shoulder, farms on either side:

A ways down the road is a graveyard. You can find your way there by the smell of incense.



I really want to poke around - but I don't want to be disrespectful to the people paying their respects. It's so beautiful, though.



Down a bit further is the first trail I wanted to check out. I didn't think anyone used these until a few days ago when I saw a tiny, uniformed middle schooler rattling down the trail.



Making my way down the trail would have been a lot faster if it were better maintained (maintained at all?) - regardless, at the end, I was surprised to find...



A mini peninsula of sorts! There were benches there next to a proper cement path that looped back towards the river.



On the way was a baseball field. All around the river Minamikawach...i...ans(?) were biking, having picnics, and generally enjoying life. It was fun to see.



Further along the path connected with the river bike trail proper. Look closely and you'll see a tiny man walking towards the bridge. He was very, very drunk.



Came out here. Ah! I'd seen this entrance a bunch of times before and had always wondered where it went. I continued towards Meji Mart. Chow time.



I wish I'd had a video camera - that man by the tree was practicing some sort of karate. It looked like he was fighting invisible ninjas! I got so caught up watching him I almost got hit by a car. Worth it.



I passed more farms, mountains in the distance. I wonder if any of those are good for hiking? I stopped at Hana Hana, a local patisserie.




People around here seem to have a fashion sense so honed it makes them impervious to heat. They'll walk around in the seventy five degree sun with leather jackets and sweatshirts on. I wore a light jacket in a vain attempt to fit in - though honestly it's not like I'm going to fool anyone.

I was getting crazy overheated, so I bought this "ICE KUCHEN" from a Hana Hana. I'm still not sure what it was, but it tasted kind of like green tea? I also bought an amazingly adorable little piece of strawberry cake which seemed to be the store specialty. I then scooted the bike over to Meji mart across the street...



Every store here has bike parking since most people either bike or ride scooters. I don't even bother locking my bike anymore - partially because it's a piece of crap but mostly because there's so little theft here.



Meji mart is a compact, fully featured supermarket. It has a surprisingly large produce selection as well as an awesome ready-to-eat section. For the moment I'm living off of the latter - got a bento full of fried things and some chopsticks for lunch and scooted my bad self on home.


Yes.


YES.



Headed back out after lunch to explore another small path. Those of you with common sense might note that eating a meal full of cake and fried things after three hours of biking then biking immediately after is a terrible idea. Didn't occur to me at the time.



This path took me through some awesome farms that all seemed to be teetering on the edge of decay. Accross the water you can see families picnicking. I eventually found my way to another, larger baseball field!



Mr. Hisano tells us that baseball is huge in Osaka - the Hanshin Tigers have some of the most spirited fans in the world. I hope I've got to get to a game. I dig that they still use parasoals here.

This path eventually curved back towards OUA. Before heading home I stopped at Family Mart:



Family Mart is a convenience store very similar to 7-11. This one is always filled with cool looking college dudes and dude-ettes.



Ah, that's what I wanted - sweet Pocari Sweat. "With the appropriate density and electrolytes, close to that of human body fluid, it can be easily absorbed into the body."

It tastes kind of like melon and can be quite refreshing if you can get past the consistency which is... well... "close to that of human body fluid."

Gross. Delicious.

Refueled I made my way back to Leo Palace. I'm glad I took some more time to explore, even if none of the paths turned out to be secret shortcuts. Once classes start I probably won't have much time for leisurely bike rides.

Tomorrow we're going to finish up some logistical things, then Tuesday we register for classes. Exciting!
Read more!