Japan - Kochi Prefecture, Tosa City

Welcome back.

So it's been about a month since I've arrived in Tosa City (you have to say Tosa City around here because "Tosa" is also the name of the old prefecture, which is now Kochi prefecture. There is also Kochi City, which is the capital here and a mere 15km away from where I live). And I really love it. Besides the one or two pesky, skilled mosquitos who somehow manage to infiltrate my residence, the air here is always crisp, the green countryside is a most welcoming view to be had at any time of the day and at any day of the year, and the life here can be as slow or as fast as you'd like to live it. Tosa City is the middle bear of comfort; with papa bear's energetic capital city to to the East, and mama bear's unplugged beaches to the South, I've lucked out once again and found myself right in the middle of perfection. 

There we are. Tosa city is protected on three sides by mountains, just like my old neighborhood back home. I had to climb a steep hill for this photo and I was happy to. It's one of many viewpoints made available to the brave. Not many people come up here, I don't know why.

Another viewpoint. This one is towards the South where a small strip of mountains divide this natural lake from the ocean further off into the distance. It is, as you may imagine, a wonderful place to swim on hot days.

Not into lakes? Take a walk to the beach, a short 5km away. Like the tip top of mountain peaked viewpoints, you won't find many people here (for another reason I suppose). Tanned skin is just not sexy in this part of the world. Doesn't matter to me, I love soaking up sun even if it comes at the cost of strangers giving me the occational confused eye.

How official? Official official. What took four months in Thailand was approved in a few weeks in Japan. STATUS: Instructor. What's nice about this set up is that even if I change companies, it don't have to reapply for a new visa - because my card is issued by category of work, not by employer sponsorship. Not that I plan on leaving or changing, no. The status let's me do other things as an instructor, like volunteer, teach on the side, or even lecture on a subject other than English, which I love.

My job is essentially working five different schools at a combined hour to four hours a day. Sometimes all in one school, sometimes I have to commute but I'm ok with that since I'm on salary and that means, in my eyes, I get paid to ride my bike between towns.

I've been teaching kids from kindergarten to grade 8, and the best ones are definitely the younger ones. I'll even hangout after class if I can and be a kid again. 

Love this picture. Do you think the board of education would allow this back home? No way. Is it fun? He'll yeah!

How famous is San Francisco? I'll put it to you like this. When people ask me where I'm from, I always get this response: "ohh! Excellent! I want to go there! (Or, 'I've been there!')." To put it another way, we ain't teaching about life in Los Angeles...

One of my favorite rides along the nearby mountain roads is this one. It's so steep that it looks like you'll fall off the side of a cliff as you approach it. I love it because just look at how well the road is maintained - and this is a small, going to nowhere special, out of the way, road. 

It's all new to me. That's why I like to stop off at random places like this when I see them. It's a bunch of stairs to a small prayer site opening, overlooking the water.

Taking the good with the bad. Unfortunately, every. single. river. in Japan has been cemented off to more efficiently measure and control it's flooding and dry spells. And to that, there is always a nice paved road to cycle next to for as long as the river has water. So sure, the water flow is not as "natural" as it could be and the concrete cement does drag you down if you pay it too much attention. Despite all this, it's a please to ride and stop when you want for a dip. Not to mention, look on the right, it's not like Nature's been abolished.

Many roads have these open canals right by their homes where you can see fish and other creatures going around. It's not sewage, it's clear excess water being let into the streams and river.

My home does not have a canal in front of it, but I do have a flower shop. I know this will put a smile on my mother's face =) Well, this is it, my home on the third floor. Let me give you the tour. 

Here's my room. It's measured in tatami (about 2:1 meter ratio). I live in a 9 tatami room. It's more than enough space for one, enough space to comfort two (see next post when Yoshi comes back to visit!). I have a closet to which I removed the doors to give my space an open feel, I sleep on a bed frame but with a 70's style print futon that I love, a small desk to work from, and a balcony.

The days start early in Japan and the screen door to my room faces East. I'm up at about 4:45 am with the Sun everyday. It's fine, I enjoy it and get so much done before my first class somewhere between 9:00 and 10:00 depending on the day. Also, I don't work all day, so I've incorporated mid day naps into my schedule - which are amazing! I highly recommend them to you.

The view from my balcony. Simple, and homey. There are some mountains to view on the left, otherwise it's all residential. I live on the main street, in the middle of town. What does that mean? It means I live on the only street with street lamps! Ah, well, it also means I live on the street where all the bars are. And, I am so not joking, these small town, elderly type folk can drink! 

Back at my place, my only hallway. Not technically my first studio apartment, I'm used to the idea.

My only real complaint is the small kitchen. I had to buy all the counter space because when I arrived, the only counter was being used by the stove...next to the sink. Anyways, could be worse, could live in New York.

First meal, chicken and veggies. The dish really needed to be over rice. But, surprisingly, rice is really expensive in Japan. Well, it's at least not as cheap as in Thailand or even back home.

I knew I hit the jackpot when I started noticing a continuous supply of broccoli at my grocers. Now I cook it almost every day!

What would rural Japan life be to an American if I couldn't make banana pancakes on slow Sunday mornings? 

Nothing for nothing, there is still plenty of new food to taste. Here we have a sweet rice stuffed squid. Squint all you want, I are the whole thing and it was good.

Ever had the fantasy of living out in a cabin forest with no electricity for a few days with no one to bother you?Wonder about what you'd do with all the free time? Wonder what you might accomplish? Yeah me too. And I'm soon finding out.

I just couldn't leave you without a picture of me. The blue dragon thing on my head just happens to be our town mascot. Here I am at our community center. Farmers come to sell veggies, there's a local food court, information desk (that sells beer!). Today I'm here because the officials have managed to roll out the big TV and broadcast the World Cup matches. Little kids come up to me smiling "Anduresu sensei!" because phonetically Japanese words are pronounced, like Spanish, in a 1:1consonant-vowel pattern. I happily threw on the hat to have a little fun with them, and so pictures ensued.

Love you all! It's been fun here this last month. Made cycling friends, another American lives here now, and my Japanese is getting really good. I think I'll have it down by the end of the year. 

Take care, do write, and let me know if you want anything from the land of the rising sun!

Best,

-A

Ps. I have Instagram now? Seeing as how most people aren't using there real names, send me your Instagram handle so I can start following you. Find me at 

Tobar.Andres1

Japan - Commute To Work

Despite the late night celebrations had last night, I woke up early. Or at least earlier than any else in our four maned camp sight. 

We had talked about everything last night, traveling cyclists are extremely observant. We spent hours spilling discussions over bike frames, quirky components, women, politics, best routes in Japan, funny stories, injuries, food, a little philosophy, and what beer best remedies soar muscles. Though, as cyclists tend to think, we frequently came back to what we'd do tomorrow. Forecast: rain.

Yoshi is pretty set in taking off even though his bike suffered a spoke injury. 

The Japanese man who crashed with us thanked us and left quietly under the morning dawn.

Jason is going to let his leg heal a few days in a hotel and wait out the rain. 

As for me, I feel fine. I will also strive for a hotel room for shelter, albeit in a westward city out from Imabari. 

Imabari to Matsuyama

Jason and I shooting the breeze as I give my bike a once over. Before leaving on my own again, I wanted to true my wheels, pump my tires, and tighten my rear brakes.

Sometime before noon good wishes were had and hugs handed out out. These times are never goodbyes, as we know, more like "see you later."  I invited then all to stay with me in Tosa City were I have a new job and apartment waiting for me.

Right after I left the camp sight I passed a McDinalds with what else, some traveling cyclists. Had to stop in and say a quick hello. 

Unfortunatly, I was caught between cities - stuck along the narrow coast road with no shelter and still a good distance to go before Matsuyama.

What else could I do? I had to keep going until I came across a small town with a mini convenience store for shelter. I pulled under the open roof, shook off the dripping wetness that permeated my shorts, shirt and shoes like a dog after a bath, then, as elegantly as I could, entered the store shop with mud stains along my legs, back, and face, as if nothing was wrong and bought a nice hot cup of coffee. 

With nothing to do after drying myself off with a clean quick dry towel from my rear pannier, I starred at the rain and thought of Blade Runner. The rain catalyzes my memories most often. Drifting in thoughts of science fiction movies and books I read so long ago, I didn't realize that an hour had quicky passed. I'd better to cut my losses and move on with the last part of the day, things weren't getting any drier. 

When I did make it to Matsuyama, soaking wet, amalgamating drips of sweat and water running down my face, chin, and back, the hotel I aimed for told me they were booked. Not a single room awaited me. Perfect.

So I moved on to a free wifi hotspot to research a new, cheap hotel to live in for a mere twelve hours and found nothing good. These situations are tough. Rain makes camping out of the question. And although the Japanese people are extremely kind, they are also extremely private with their space - I couldn't rely on the open door policy of universal Karma to have someone invite me in for the night.

I was about to bite the bullet and cycle another 25km to a government sponsored rest stop when I cycled right past an acceptable hotel. Whatever the cost at this point, I didn't want to continue another hour in the rain. I had already made up my mind before I entered the lobby, I'm staying. And I did. Outside the nice hotel's front doors is where I snapped this wet shot of the city's cold street. Needless to say. I was miserable to have been so wet, happy to have found a temporary home. 

Matsuyama to Uwajima 

I left early the next day. Got in a nice shower, ate my weight in breakfast at the free buffet, put on my still soggy shoes and was out the door.

I really, really enjoy coast line cycling. The only thing better, in at a close second, is mountain cycling. I love the up, I'm impartial about the down. And here, along the west coast of Shikoku, as you can see by this topography scale, I'll get both. The coast line here is punctuated with sea side cliffs and hills. Nothing more than 300 meters but something is better than nothing.

Rest stops today remind me of home. Tell me this doesn't feel like Santa Cruz, CA.

Route 378 is great as I've said before. Sea breez from the right, shade on the left, and very few cars makes for an enjoyable day.

At the top of one of the hills of the day. You can see off into the distance where the rivers converge to flow off into the Bungo Channel. 

Another shot of the same system of water.

Going downhill alone with one hand is not the smartest time to whip out the camera for a silhouette selfie. All the same, I'm happy with it.

A hundred and some odd km later and I was in Uwajima. This city is much larger than Matsuyama and there are many more options to tent. I found a nice area by the water and set up home.

I am now directly West of where I need to be. At about 100km by crow is my new home and a job teaching English in rural Japan. Nothing fancy. Last time I stopped off in Thailand because I needed a break, and to pad my wallet. Now I'm staying because I really love Japan as a traveler's county. I have my other reasons too.

So, I only foresee another three or so days cycling along the coast. It's going to be hard thinking about much else other than this is what will be my last few all day rides in the bike. 

Uwajima to Kochi

Update: I recieved a message from my employer; turns out I don't have as much leisurely time as I had planned for. No time to stop for flowers or shots of clouds, the immigration in Kochi office needs me right away. 

"How soon can you be here?" It's a question that inspires strength in my legs. "How soon do you need me?" Can't help the grin. "Tomorrow morning." Thrill of a challenge. "I'll be there." Excitement.

Don't write off my route for the day. 112km through Shikoku mountains is not easy. On regular mountain days, fifty to sixty km is plenty because you're never going as long as you are going up and down. So, 112 might have been a little much, and I cursed myself at some points. Yet, the ride was smooth and as a matter of fact, there are indeed bike lanes along some of the road - but no other cyclists. I only saw one man on a bike, and all he did was shake his head at me as he watch me struggle up some steep curves.

A damn I passed along the way, water on the right. I would have gone across the middle lane here if the road wasn't guarded. Too bad.

Yes there are many mountains to climb up and down. The valleys in between however are just as quiet and scenic. I hope that kochi is like this; mountain guarded with crisp blue skies and a cold breeze.  

What's for lunch? Miso ramen soup. Carbs, salts, and fatty pork may sound bad on it own, but on days like today it's a godsend. I opted for a side of gyoza as well, those were devoured in seconds. (Side note: there's a very spicy yellow mustard that gets served with the gyoza here. I'm in love).

You see that thin, hidden strip of road on the middle right? That little scratch of road, that hair strand of pavement obscured by an overreaching forest of greenery? To give you an idea of the contusions I endured today, check this out.  Yeah, multiply that by four hours uphill and you'll know where I'm at. Really, if I get hurt or something breaks up here, I'm in trouble. 

Finally making it out if the forest, the thick trees started to give way to thinner wild bamboo stalks. The mountainous ups, conquered. The indimidating downs, endured. 

Now I have finally made it, six and half hours later, at my destination. Sick with exhaustion, and ready to heave, I'm staying with a fellow teacher until I get settled with my own pad. 

Everything is fine now other than the slow realization that....well, that that was it. I cycled my ass off all day to get here. And now that I'm here I'm happy to know that my paperwork and work visa has been approved. Yet I don't know what my next cycle tour will be or when. I guess I have plenty of time to plan it out.

One last photo before I leave you. I'll be back quick with photos of town and my new apartment. But I wanted to leave you with this, a statue of the Sakamoto Ryōma. He's kinda the cultural hero here. He was a famous rebel who thought opposite the decorum of traditional Japanese isolation customs of the eay 1800's. He didn't advocate wide open reformation, or was an outspoken critic necessarily. Ryōma wanted what was best for Japan; this meant, in his eyes, not being left behind in an emerging world view of nations. He welcomed the East and West equally, people and customs and artifacts alike. The quintessential example: he indeed was a skilled Japanese swordsman and even rose to a rank of samurai - yet everyone knew that Ryōma also carried a very rare gun.

Much love my friends and family. I can't wait to update you again with my new place of residence. Until then, be well!

-A