It's already November, a fact that has reminded me of my short time in this country. I had a relatively eventful weekend: on Friday night, I attended Yamasa's Halloween she-bang, which was pretty quiet. The winners of the costume contest? Some guys who dressed up as Japanese school girls. They were nice guys, but c'mon, school girls? Show some originality! And isn't cross-dressing normal in this country?
But I'm not one to talk, since I was recovering from an all-you-can-eat buffet on Friday afternoon, thus burning precious time to buy a costume. Halloween always seems to pass me by rather uneventfully, and this one was no different. I miss the days of yore, when I could at least be assured of a jam-packed pail of candy at night's end.
Saturday was pretty quiet, though I managed a visit to an Aikido dojo in the evening. It was a long (40+ minute) bike ride, and I got lost. Just as I was starting to grumble to myself about how I was missing a night at Tonkatsu Ichiban with my Taiwanese friends, I decided to ask a traffic policeman for help. He consequently helped me find my way... by knocking on someone's door.
The nice woman (whose dinner I surely disturbed) picked up her beloved pooch, and walked me to the dojo-- which I had passed by not 15 minutes before. And why, you ask, did I pass it by without noticing? BECAUSE IT WAS COMPLETELY UNMARKED! No pictures this time, but hopefully I will get some in the near future, because in addition to the completely nondescript dojo, there is also a nice shrine nearby.
Sunday, I visited Okazaki Castle, which my teachers like to joke about. They emphasize that Okazaki Castle is famous!-- in Okazaki. Pictures:
View of Okazaki park. Nice dried up river, eh?
Map of the park. All maps in Japan are drawn like cartoons. Which is how it should be everywhere.
Why are the trees bandaged?
Okazaki Castle.
Handsome man (plus some castle)
Shrine adjacent to the castle. There was a wedding and plenty of cute children running around in kimonos and mini suits. Lots of adults in said attire as well, though it seems men don't wear traditional attire as often as women nowadays.
Shrine + Castle + Torii (I think)
Cleansing water. I washed my hands, but refrained from drinking it...
View from the side. I should note that everything is renovated, much like in China.
This moat would be more effective against attackers if it had, y'know, water in it
The Tokugawa Ieyasu / Okazaki Castle museum
A nice little performance area
Inside
More bonsai
More bonsai
Chrysanthemums!
...last one!
Just kidding
Something is off here, but I can't quite figure out what...
The Japanese equivalent to the dancing Elvis bears from Chuck E. Cheese's
The show is over. Back to an unassuming clock tower you go...
Concrete-encased river (most of Japanese streams and rivers are concretized)
That's all for this week. Stay tuned about the Aikido.
I wonder if the bandages on the trees serve the same purposes as the white paint on the base of trees in China, which is to protect against some insect that eats the trees if I remember correctly (my mom asked when we were touring around Suzhou last year).
ReplyDeleteChessin
Oh cool. Sounds similar. I guess that bug only attacks the base of the tree?
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's called the lumberjackbug.