The Rice Punch

Japan can definatly be a pretty strange country. I've seen a lot of weird stuff here. Tried my share of foods I couldn't eat. Like the other day one of my students gave me an umabochi. Its a plum that has been pickled in concentrated salt. I took a small bite and had a violent reaction, I'm sorry to say that sometimes my manners slip when tasting food that is sour and salty at the same time. Thanks Ryoko-san, but no thanks.

Saturday the dojo got together for a small party called the Omochi. Basically what its all about is doing new and fun things with rice. I'll let the pictures tell the tale.
Chinatsu and Chihiro are here mixing soy flour with a kind of sugar to go with the rice once its ready.
This is called the Mochi-ski. Basically what you are watching a large bowl full of rice being hit with a large hammer until it turns into a paste like pizza dough. Once we are done taking our frustrations out on the rice, (and really we eat so much rice here who can blame us for wanting to beat some rice into a paste) the rice, now transformed into mochi, is transported out and interesting little dishes are made from it.
Below you can see Sensei and Riintaro teaming up on the rice bowl. I asked Sensei where this tradition came from and he just replied that its a traditional Japanese thing.
Below you can see the end product. That is a ball of rice covered in soy flour and sugar. Actually it was kinda nice tasting. I had 3 pieces myself, but got full pretty fast. New food do that to you sometimes. I was asked if I wanted to take some home. I answered no which I guess was a mistake cause they thought I didnt like it, which I actually did.

So there you have it readers. The Rice punch, or Omochi. Only in Japan.

Karate Snack

Not much to write about here. Xmas is coming. A few end of year parties and such. It's been a while so just a few pics from the dojo to tie you over.









Also, some video of Ayumu doing Bossai Dai for second Kyu.

Take care Vancouver.

Kyoto Walkabout

Sunday I was finally able to be a tourist in Japan. I hopped on the Shinkanzen and headed to Kyoto, what some would call the cultural capital of Japan. Kyoto was the capital of Japan for some 800 years until it was moved to Edo (later renamed Tokyo) in 1868. The City has seen a fair bit of destruction in it's history. Samurai wars took their toll and many of these temples have burned down and been rebuilt.

I got off the train around noon on Sunday. I had not yet found accomodation so I just started walking. I went to the corner and from the train station I could see this place. So I just carried on down the road to the Higashi-Hongangi temple.

Autumn is the high tourist season in Kyoto. The Japanese love this time of year here because of the Koiyou. The time when the leaves turn to red. My trip was a tad early for the full effect of the Koiyou but it was still pretty nice. From the first temple I would move across the river.

All and all I visited about 10 temples in Kyoto during my 2 day trip. I took more than 200 pictures. You guys get to the see the best 40.

I made my way to the Sanjusangen-do temple. Sanjusangen is Japanese for 33 bays or doors. The temple looks like a great big long house that is 33 doors long. Inside there are 10oo Budha statues in rows as well as dozens of other statues that represent heroes and dieties from Japanese history. No pictures allowed inside, but here are a few from the outside grounds.

As you can see the temple is pretty long. A lot of people were asking me if I was Budhist. I dunno why.

After the Sanjusangen-do I made my way to one of the nicest temples on my tour. The Kiyomizudera temple. It sits up on a hit near the edge of town and provides one of the nicest views of Kyoto. I was there near sunset. The mood was spectacular.

During my visit to the Kiyomizu temple I met 4 Australians. It was getting late and I was starting to wonder if I would be spending the night on a park bench. I asked them if they new an cheap places to stay in Japan. As it turned out they had found accomodation at a Hostil like place near the Sanjusangen.

This is where I spend my 2 nights in Kyoto. I had a futon and slept on the floor. Not bad for the price.

I went walking down the main drag just for something to do. I only took one picture of the city itself.

I found my way back to Ohto, the place I was staying. I found the Australians I had met at the KiyoMizu. They invited me in for a few drinks. Please meet Brett(a former Nova English teacher), on the left, Mick, Mary (Bretts Mom and Mick GF) and Jeanette(Mary's sister). I had run out quickly to grab a few beers of my own then returned to their room for a nice evening. We chatted about our experiences, got to know each other a bit. I visited with them for about 2 hours. Mick and Mary are from Brisbane, Jeanette lives in Twead Head. They were some of the nicest people I had met. They kept me company and made my evening very enjoyable. It occurs to me that travellers often have this experience. They meet people and in the course of a few hours become friends. You get to know and like one another, then you part ways knowing that you will probably never see them again. This group said they were off to Nara. I had started my day alone with no place to stay. It's nice to be reminded that there are other forces at work in the world besides the will of evil.
The next day I would take a bus to the Nanzenjo temple. This place would become my favorite along with the KiyoMizu. There was a very natural, unperformed feel to the place. You could just walk in and wander around. Behind the temple we some great places to hike. I found myself thinking, "I can ride that".

This must have been what parking garages looked like back in the 13th century. Acutally this is nice looking Roman stile aquaduct that still transports water.

At the Nazenji I hooked up with these 2. Alex from spain and Martin from Germany. They both spoke perfect englsih. Martin would eventually go off to meet a friend. Alex would be my travel partner for the rest of the day. These guys like me, were travelling alone until they found each other at their Hostel.

We made our way to the Eikan-Do temple which was a lot more like a museum.



The Eikan-do really picked up once you got to the outside.

Alex and I travelled along the Path of Philosophy to get to the Ginkakuji, or Silver Pavillion. This place was also quite scenic.

After 2 days of travelling in Kyoto I was starting to find myself a bit templed out. But there was one last must see place on my list before I could call it a day. We took the bus across town to the Kinkakuji or golden temple.

After this though, my legs were mush. I did no more travelling, I found a nice dinner and a few pints, returned to the Ohto and concluded my evening. The next morning I headed for the train station and came home.

Tomorrow I will celebrate 4 months in Japan.