Japan Exodus : Sign Language

There is a conversation that is paraphrased in Japan, calling back to a time when European westerners became interested with the Japanese script. “Why do you people write from top to bottom, right to left?” the European asks. “Why do you write from left to right?” the Japanese answers in reply.

This is a classic case of cultural presumptions, what anthropologists call a practice in ethnocentrism – thinking that the way you and your people do things is the way to have things done. It is a curious discovery then, when, our minds are turned on to new solutions of tasks we did not even know could have more than one answer.

A good two weeks have passes since I drew up this sign to carry on the back of my bike. The sign serves its purpose; the sign delivers the task of the journey. Over these two weeks many people have stopped to ask me about my trip, which is a little odd I thought. People come to me with questions I thought my sign had make clear. I was made to realize that the sign makes sense to me, though that understanding is not particularly universal.

I still get questions of where did you start, or where are you going to end, or when did you start, or even, how far will you go? I would think all this could be deduced from my sign. Part of the reason for the…I hesitate to use the “confusion,” because there is not a misunderstanding being had. What is happening, I think, is a lack of clarity.

Today in Japan you can read left to right, up to down in almost all public situations. Traffic signs, maps, advertisements, Internet postings, and so on. However, there is not an infrequent amount of writings that are still made to read from top to bottom (sometimes even from bottom to top), from right to left. Books and newspapers are an excellent modern example of reading right to left in Japan, and yet you can still find magazines and other reading material printed left to right in MLA format. Official government postings can go either way.

 

Here are two great examples of vintage beer posters you can still find today in Japanese bars. If you didn't know any better, you just wouldn't know where to start, literally. These old school beer posters can be read from left to right. You would be reading gibberish, yet it could be done. For the times of this advertisement, you would read this message from the right to make any sense. They read "Kirin beer" and "Sapporo beer" respectably.

This is in part what gives Japanese that difficult comprehension reputation; sometimes, if you don’t know what you are reading, you don’t even know from which direction to start. I still find English irregular verb conjugations more challenging than this, however. From the point of a first time foreign learner, that is.

When people read my sing, I know now that their follow up questions are well justified. Technically, from the order in which my sign could be interpreted, it could be that I am actually starting in Hokkaido and making my south, or that I am only cycling Hokkaido and Okinawa.

Furthermore, the date is ambiguous too I realize. 4/12 could be read as April the twelfth, or as December the fourth. The date could even mean a four month and twelve day journey from Okinawa to Hokkaido, the question mark symbolizing me not knowing just how far I will get.

How is that for sing language? A myriad of interpretations. I thought of correcting my sign, drawing some arrows to indicate the start of my journey in Okinawa on April the 12^th, and so on. But, why? I like the ambiguity my sign attaches to its message, and if that spurs more questions, all the better. Even in simple messages on simple journeys, allow there to be a spectrum in all that you see and understand. Binary options, politics, choices, and binary decisions make for easy understanding but rarely any deep understanding. If you think there is just one answer or interpretation – as I surely did when I drew up this sign – you, I, are wrong.  

Japan Exodus - Day 32: Am I Pretty?

I suppose not.

That is what I say to the small strip of norther coast cycled today. Looking back on the last twenty-four hours worth of photos, none scenic. I hope that I am not taking the Japanese country side for granted. I don't think I am. However, today was also marked with a good cycle to a lake side camp site I had my eye on since I crossed over into this prefecture. 

At the first break of the day I waited along a shadowless wall checking the future weather and route. Sometimes I get a good conversation from people as I wait, sometimes all I get is a smile and a gift. Today's morning brought a case of the later. An older man, who I had not noticed as I waited, came around and dropped this in my hands. He smiled his white beard. Before I could say anything he had already turned around and was walking down the way back to where I assume is his home.  

Now that this onigiri and sports drink is in front of me I enjoyed them both thoroughly, though I had not intended to eat breakfast this morning. Can't let a such a gift go unappreciated. 

Right, like I said, no grand photos today. This is the second photo of the day, and also literally my 4pm meal of the day. I had cross a few small hill passes, and small towns along the way. I am now exactly where I want to be, about ten kilometers away from the day's end, a lake where I hope the view is beautiful despite today's clouds. 

Sucks, today my sunglasses fell off my handlebars and I accidentally rolled over them. I had those glasses for over a year and a half! Now that was a dollar well spend. Oh well, as I told my friend Kyle on our first day: Don't worry if you forgot anything, the Daiso (Japan's dollar store) has everything you need.  

I might be loosing my mind. So, no change here today. 

I arrive shortly after my mid afternoon meal. The trouble with those meals is that I am never sure if I will be hungry or not through the night. Nothing like being hungry and trying to fall asleep, thats a horrible feeling. But, I had arrive at my location for the day and I would have to make do with whatever I could find in the case that hunger did call on me late that night. 

The lake where I wanted to spend that night was very beautiful but the weather was not so favorable. The dock offered boat rides to families much like the lake in Golden Gate Park where my mother worked. I didn't get in a boat though the image brought back many fond memories of eating pink popcorn and feeding wild birds along the way. 

Foot massage time. You can make out from the impressions on the floor that there are different pressure points to work out the stress all over your body, channeled through the soles of your feet. Or, souls, depending on what you think. 

 I like this place already, a small herb garden, the first that I have noticed, is grown along the way for people to use in their cooking. Dang, I really need to look into getting a stove or something. With this available mint though, I would be more in the mood for a mojito. 

What do you expect from rest areas as nice as this one? I met another traveler along the way, said he had been on the road for two years now, trying to make it across and experience all the prefectures of Japan. How many people do you know that make it there mission to really know their country in such a way? I know more people who cant even name all fifty states, much less experience each one as intimately as he has. 

A map of Japan. Yes. A bit squarish and cramped, reworked to fit into a nice image. Certainly not to scale or geographically accurate but there is a resemblance to the overall outline of Japan and every prefecture is more or less where it should be. The circled ones are the prefectures he has visited. You can see he has the whole north east covered well, Shikoku too, and is slowly making his way over to the west side of the country. 

Well, hunger did not exactly come across me again tonight. If you put food in front of me I certainly would have ate it. And yet, there was this shop on the second floor of the information and rest area inside the rest stop where you could nosh on a little something. Can you guess what I ordered so that they would give me this spoon to use?

Take a look at the top of this spoon, the tip is rigid with a specific design. Actually it reminds me of the Star Wars symbol for the rebel alliance. Take your best guess at what I ordered and check back again tomorrow for the answer!

With that my dear loved ones, I leave you again with hopes in my heart that tomorrow will be a prettier day to capture. My belly is filled, the nights are getting warmer which is a better or worse things depending on who you are. For me, I am happy to be tired again, and fall asleep without the slightest worry on my mind except maybe taking some more photos.

Love and relaxation,

-A

Japan Exodus - Day 31: A Day's Work

A little sadness comes attached to the morning after a night such as last. A solid bath, a hearty meal, new laughs and new faces...all are gone in the morning with each of us going on in our own different ways. For the next few days my muscles become ever slightly more sore each day, my skin and clothes a little more dirtier and rough with each intersection crossed.

Relatively of course, these are small sacrifices to pay if I could even call them that at all. Yet, I wouldn't do what I do if I didn't enjoy doing it. Yes? And neither ought you. Time to keep pushing through the country side. Even after an ideal night, a new day beckons.

OK - todays plan seems a little far. Keep in mind that 160 kms are 100 miles in the US. I arrived in Masuda still cycling fresh, my legs ready for more. The trick to doing long days is to just keep chipping away at the larger distance by keeping smaller goals. I'll cycle to this location-ish, rest, and them aim for a next small town or scenic view. That is how I can justify the 3000+ km grand Japanese cross country total.

Crossing prefectures today! Knowing that I will likely make it into a new prefecture on the map is one thing, actually crossing the boarder and seeing sings like these fills me with young enthusiasm and vigor.  As I do, my legs charge with testosterone and I start to sing Queen's Another One Bites The Dust loudly at motorists who surely must think I am crazy. I find it very rare to find someone talking to themselves here, very rare to hear anyone sing alone.   

Breakfast of champions - bananas and coffee is how I got through Berkeley in the mornings and I still continue the pairing today. The reason for this might be due to the transitive property. Coffee and chocolate go well together, as does chocolate and bananas. Most people will not fight you on that. Morning time is not always the place for chocolate however, and just alone these do manage to do the morning meal justice. In addition, bananas contain a 0.87 tryptophan to protein ratio. That means with the coffee, my system finds a perfect harmony.  

Can you see him?! There is another cyclist on the road! True! Though, he must have taken a turn off from me because once I made it to the top of this ascent, I couldn't see him, and lost him for the day. Maybe he was faster than me - is what I thought at first. But, I managed to catch him up this mountain, and he didn't pass me so I likely was matching or bettering his speed on the morning. Well, for whatever reason, this pairing was not meant to be. A little sad again, I think it would be cool to cycle with another for a while. 

A colorful lunch, as always. The rest could not be long, I have a lot of km to cover today!

I bought these banana bread coffee cake dessert things because I keep seeing them everywhere and was so curious as to what they taste like. Now I know. (The regular bananas carried over from breakfast).

Checking the map as I go....

Damned if an old man didn't just help me out with a few canisters of tomato juice before I left. There truly is an honest gift giving culture in Japan, more so than any of the Burning Man's I attended. Except that last time, that was pretty awesome... 


Later on in the day, some unexpected rain drops caught me in the middle of a town. The forecast mentioned no such rain, and yet the drops were getting bigger and more frequent the higher I climbed this small mountain. Better stop, and wait ten minutes, is what I reasoned. Good thing I listen to myself sometimes, the rain came and came down from the mountain tops to put a big ol' dent in my km mark for the day. We'll see how long this retched rain continues. 

Unexpected rain brigs unexpected friends. This little guys was crawling up my sock unnoticed for I have no idea how long. I felt him once he crossed over to my leg. there is some rule about harry caterpillars, like you shouldn't touch them because their hairs can contain poison or some unwanted irritant. I couldn't be sure and wanted to be safe. So, I used a paper to move him off my leg and pointed him in the direction of the nearest side shrubbery.

You have probably heard me say how well onigiris work as a cyclist's best snack. Small, edible with just one hand, and healthy ingredients you can fill with anything you like. Because of the seaweed wrap (nori) the rice must be at room temperature or cooler, less the nori shrivels up and looses its crunchy consistency and ability to really hold the whole thing together. However, today a woman ploped this in my lap, and this strange new onigiri has changed everything I thought I knew. 

First off, its warm! The only time I ever had a hot/warm onigiri before was when we once grilled them on the bbq fire pit to see what they would taste like. This time the warmness of the snack was much more intentional. More than that, a type of red rice is used and infused with delicious grilled beef meat. Yum! Honestly on a rainy day, this little gesture shifted my perspective on waiting out the rain. Suddenly it didn't seem so bad. 

Ha! Weird Japan. This cool mural is an advertisement of sorts for an abandoned liqueur store.

Making a descent down the last hill for the day, I caught a glimpse of the beach I would try and camp at. Or, I should say rather, the giant wind mills that I would try and camp under. There was no way I could have known these humongous electricity generating propellers would be where I intended to stay, yet now that they are here I am a little intimidated. Cant be any worse than sleeping under a bridge, no?  

With my tent as my hotel, and my bike as my transportation, I really only spend money on food. At the current conversion rate, my daily allowance works out to about twenty dollars a day. Which, I feel is average. Maybe a little on the expensive side but only when you figure that I am not using a stove and buying cheap groceries as some people do.

I think twenty dollars a day is cheap. Why did I spend those night eating white rice and curry in my apartment back in Tosa? They way I figured it out has all to do with balance. When I had a place to live, I ate cheap. And now that I don't have a door of any kind, I splurge on food because Nature doesn't charge rent =) 

No, I did not eat everything you see here. This was the spread at what I thought was an all you could eat buffet. 

Don't worry, this restaurant really is an all you can eat buffet, so I stocked up on all the goodness and sat back down at my table....

...where this huge pot of goodness was waiting for me. Apparently, when you get the all you can eat buffet package, the meal comes with a huge pot of nabe too. Holy sheez. Good thing I am hungry. Finished the plate of food I served myself, and the entirety of the soup, and even went back for a little more rice and shrimp tempura before drinking my complimentary hot cup of coffee that failed miserably in combat against the post food coma war. 

I have some vague semblance of a memory of putting up my tent in the dunes that night, I was honestly so tired that I didn't even unpack all my things that night or brush my teach. As soon as the tent was up and sturdy, I "tested" it out to see if I would hear any thing from inside the tent. I remeber closing my eyes, and waking up this, the next morning. Well, alls well that ends well they say. To feel tired at the end of the day is to acknowledge an accomplishment.

Sandy love,
-A

Japan Exodus - Day 30: One Month Down But Not Out

Even though I have been on the road for one month now, I don't feel like I have made the progress across the country like I maybe should have. And the reason I think that way is because while I don't have an official schedule to keep, I do have to be out of the country by June 20th when my visa expires.

One month in, I could make it to Hokkaido before my bday if I wanted. I won't be goin straight along the northern cost.

Technically, it has only been a little more than a week since I started from Okinawa and biked since the bottom of Fukuoka. Along this map, that is not bad. I could make it to Sapporo,Hokkaido by my birthday if I wanted to follow the northern coast all the way there. But, I don't plan to. Around Osaka I will dip south and see my friend in Wakayama along the southern coast, then keep that route till I hit Tokyo one last time. From there, it is just a straight shot north until the island of Hokkaido any way I want to go! Wish me luck!

Right, back to the story. Last I left you with a small journey after a stormy day to a new small island. Tsunoshima is just a bridge ride away but from the looks of this exposed bridge, I will have to fight a nasty cross wind before I can rest my head.  

All ready to go - should I be worried that there are no cars going across this thing in the wind. I believe a cargo truck would not dare if it not care to fall on its side. Keep in mind that the wind is still strong enough to push the waves away from the shore and back into the ocean of Japan. That, my family and friends, is serious wind power. 

Choose your level of comfort. There is  no walkway for cyclists or pedestrians to get across safely away from cars. On a heavy traffic day I might have reconsidered this. But, today there was absolutely no one about. 

This is a challenge I could do. A little dangerous, not to mention difficult against the wind pushing me back and the my side, though a little necessary too. From crossing the bridge my nerves hold a little more steady, another experience to draw strength from when I get tired, another story to share across a camp fire. 

When I got to the place I scouted on the map, where I thought would be an ok place to sleep, I was happy to have crossed that bridge. You see, there was no one around when I arrived. There had been no cars along the way, there were no light on in any of the houses, there were no stores open, and not a single soul could be heard along the way or in the place I found myself. I started to wonder if the storm had caused an evacuation of the island.  

I wanted to leave, but my nerves held. Over the course of cycling along those narrow dirt roads in Indonesia against double decker buses going the wrong way, racing wild oxes, weaving traffic filled streets of Kuala Lampur and Bangkok, and from everything that put a little thicker callus on my nerves and refined my judgment of people and situations along the way, I wanted to leave but knew that what I thought were scary sounds was just wind flapping a loose board about, and that the sound of what I thought were cries are just the wind whipping across tight corners. The creaks in the building caused by the lowering temperature, and the shadows just exactly that. There was nothing to be really scared of and once I took a better look around, the island I found myself alone on is actually quite beautiful. 

After all, I was the only human to see this sight today. From here, I sleep well.

And in the morning the mood had of the island switched from everything scary, to pleasant harmony. There were even some cars in the morning returning to the island once I made me departure. The wind too had returned but nothing compared to what strength the day before brought. Today was safe enough to cycle at a comfortable speed, and even to take a rare selfie. 

A small hill in the bridge on my way out provides a morning view that is worth all of yesterday's troubles. 

The cool motorcyclist yesterday suggested to me a mountain passage to take so I could see a famous temple. Temples I am not so keen to go out and see, but mountain roads promise a clean safe ride where one can do more thinking than cycling, so I took him up on his suggestion. The ride really took it out of me, I think that the road must of not felt so difficult for him on his motorbike. But for me, although beautiful, I was tired by 11AM after coming down from the detour. 

Along the mountains, I saw this school just hanging around with nothing else around but a little farm land and a lot of untouched shrubbery. Amazing that a preschool exists here, apart from everything else. Or, maybe not. They must take the most amazing field trip walks, literally. 

Then there was this small mountain lake, also in the middle of no where. No towns exist up here, just some houses and one post box I counted. Not a post office, just an orange Japanese post box. I dream about what I would do if I could live up here. 

Ha! This guy. As mentioned before, I was exhausted from going through the steep mountains for five hours, and when I got back down I stopped off at the first store I saw to refresh up on clean water and some much needed breakfast. I usually mind my own business, not that stops people from coming up to me, as this wondering Japanese hippie did. Traveling in his old VW green and rust van, he was on a personal mission to surf all the cool spots in Japan. One of the first things he told me after all the pleasantries exchanged was, "No money, but happy," as we commented on all the people moving around us. There was indeed many people hurrying around to get lunch and hurry off back to work. 

What are two wandering hippies with no schedule to do? We plotted right there on the street in the shade, drank fresh green tea, looked at maps, and wondered why we were the only two. 

After tea, he told me that a little kettle maintenance was necessary. Apparently you must rub the used tea bag along the outside of the pot after use. 

Speaking of maintenance, my Japanese improves with each character I meat. Yours can too, if you are not scared to ask what this or that word means. From my new friend I learned two new words to use. The first is ごえん pronounced go-e-n. I thought for a second that he was saying go-yen (five cents) but the context didn't fit (sometimes the "y" in yen is left out). We used Google at first. What we got was "your edge." That didn't work. So we talked a little more and I could finally put together what he was saying. "Goen" comes to represent the idea of fate. That we came together here, that either one of us could have stopped off at any other place, or me not taken that detour this morning, or even one of us being in a foul mood, and we would not have met each other's acquaintance. Sort of makes you think of all the other people who we had the potential to meet.

The second word is a useful one, its たび or tabi. Again, I first got this word confused with "tabe,"  which surrounds the action of food and eating. I thought it was an unusual conjugation from a local dialect. I was wrong. Tabi means journey, or voyage. So, when we add a "iyoi" (good) as a prefex, we get the general message of "have a good trip," "bon voyage," and the like. Seems like a chore at first, but once you get some key words under your belt, you really start picking up vocabulary!

My new friend and I exchanged info, and I told him to call me when he gets to Shikoku, I have some awesome recommendations for him when he gets there, and some like-minded friends to introduce him to. The rest of the day was spend, as you can guess, moving along the northern coast of Honshu. I had wanted to go a little further than I did today just to keep up appearances. However, that is the worst way to go about things on the road. Never force things to happen, I've learned. 

Today, I figured I had enough and fell in love with this stretch of coast. Along a lonely palm, I decided to revere Mother's greenery and ocean, and call it a day.  

Welcome to Abu town. The local attraction are the two island you can sort of make out in the background. The story is that the two islands are lovers. Never moving closer or apart from each other, they appear completely made for each other and we are again reminded that although they appear apart on the water surface that they are indeed connected in ways that we cannot see. The shrine that captures their love here is a popular place for young couples to express their love for a crush, and in the summer time young men prove their love by swimming out the islands to impress their would be lovers. 

Yeah, I think I'll camp here =)

Often these rest areas are also places where farmers sell their products to the government branch of agriculture for money, and where they in turn sell it to the people. In this way the government acts as the middle man and the farmers don't have to wait and be salespeople to the public as well as farmers. Not all, but most. The system certainly is more expedient for the farmers, I am not sure if the government makes or looses much money in this way.   

Anyways, there was no such place in this rest area, so I grabbed dinner at a local supermarket. Super hungry, I ate about have and saved the rest. 

On the recommendation of a friend, I am hooked on these new chocolate and coffee candy treats. I don't see them everyday, but when I do, I snatch them up!

How great is this sunset? Watching the sun go down over the Western waters is the one sight to always fall back on, and remind me of home. 

Big surprise, I was not the only one watching the sun set. What was just a me and a Japanese couple sitting on adjacent benches, turned into a seven person feast. Seemingly out from no where, wine and food was brought forth, laughs and jokes told, and cultural differences expanded upon. It was one of those nights where everyone lifted up everyone else's spirits and stood as a reminder that we all have red blood and love a good drink over better food.  

Update: funny, I ran into this traveling man and wife three more times along the way, once at another rest stop, and twice they passed me on the road, waving and chanting for me to do my best. Would you believe that to be the first time? In Indonesia it happened every day. Japanese people are much more reserved when it comes to expressing emotions physically. 

Admittedly, this is not where the party ended. Way past the last lights of the sky became useful for looking around, we stayed and burned the night oil. There was no one around to complain, and these older locals kept bringing out wine from their RV. When you are having a good time with good souls, no expense is spared. I was happy that I did not eat all my dinner because we all became hungry later on that night and morning. 


I almost forgot to say that between the festivities, I excused myself to take a much needed onsen. This place did not have farmers market, but there was on onsen. And really, today that is much more what I needed. Not only am I clean, my leg muscles are relaxed again. After the wind, food, laughs, and onsen, I know that whatever tomorrow might throw my way that I will be in good condition to take on the challenge. I really love days like today. I don't know if perfection can be achieved in an discipline or experience, I don't think so. Today finally ends at pretty close to a perfect day, at least one that I would not mind repeating again and again and again.


Onsen love,
-A