My blog about living in Japan

JapanZone

Nice blog, Hibby. I haven't spent much time in Osaka so it's nice to get a glimpse of an Irishman's life there. I started my own Japan website many years ago (before the word blog even existed!) so I'm always interested in other people's efforts.

Someone already clued you in to the INJ and I'd definitely recommend that you make use of it. I was in Tokyo for 16 years and never really made any effort to get involved - ironically it was only earlier this year that I found out that a classmate from college was one of the original founders of INJ! - but after I moved to Nagoya 6 years ago I got more involved in various networks. In Tokyo there was a fair amount of...I suppose you could call it snobbery, or at least a focus on how much money you made and how many nights a week you'd spend in Paddy Foleys in Roppongi!

Here in Nagoya the Irish community is small and, as a result, fairly close knit. I've been helping organise the St Paddy's Day parade, which we've made into quite a big event here despite the small numbers. Osaka has one too and it's fun and worthwhile to get involved.

Having said all that, I'm moving back with the wife and kids to live in Dublin in less than a month's time. Not the best time to be moving to Ireland (or Europe in general) perhaps but there's never a perfect time. After so many years here I'll want to keep in touch as much as I can and reading blogs like yours will be one way to do so.

Beruthiel

Hibby,
I notice from your blog that you live in Sakai.
I presume you know the area a bit at this stage, ie - have you been to Kyoto yet?
How about Nara?

Would you say if you've seen Kyoto, that Nara is more of the same, or a must see as well?

I'll be over in Kyoto and Tokyo during November.

funky penguin

Beruthiel, hibby will definitely be able to answer this better, but I'll give you my 2c in case it helps!

Kyoto is amazing. It's such a beautiful city! However.....if you have the time, try and get to Nara! Just visiting Kiyomizu temple and seeing/feeding the deer is a really nice experience (theough the smell is a little off putting! :pac:)

Dont be at yourself

Kyoto is amazing. The highlight of any trip to Japan.

Nara isn't quite more of the same (it's much, much smaller), but it's a nice day trip. I think Funky Penguin is actually thinking about Todaiji rather than Kiyomizudera (which is in Kyoto). It's the temple with the massive statue of Buddah. Lovely place, and you can try to crawl through Buddah's nostril for good luck!

If you do pop down to Nara for the day, make sure you stop off at Fushimi Inari on the way back to Kyoto. Walking around this place in the dark is a great experience. Spooky, but cool.

funky penguin

Woops! You're 100% correct! ごめんね！

hibby

Beruthiel wrote: »

Hibby,
I notice from your blog that you live in Sakai.
I presume you know the area a bit at this stage, ie - have you been to Kyoto yet?
How about Nara?

Would you say if you've seen Kyoto, that Nara is more of the same, or a must see as well?

I'll be over in Kyoto and Tokyo during November.

I strongly recommend a visit to Nara. For me, it's much more enjoyable and less hectic than Kyoto. If you're like me, you may even prefer Nara.

So I would say yes, it is a must-see; it's not just more of the same. It's a very different experience.

One thing that left me with a very positive feeling about Nara. I was there with my wife, my dad and my stepmother some years ago. We somehow ended up at this place where volunteers provide a Japanese cultural experience for tourists. My wife and stepmother got all done up in kimonos and my dad and I were dressed up as bushi. Then we ducked into a little tea house to experience the tea ceremony; just the four of us and the guide.

The amazing thing is, it was all free of charge!

I'm not sure how to find out about it but it's definitely a good thing to do.

Dara

Jimoslimos

Oh Nara is lovely, damm deer are a bit pushy though!

Beruthiel

hibby wrote: »

We somehow ended up at this place where volunteers provide a Japanese cultural experience for tourists.

Nice one hibby!
I just found this site.
I find it difficult to believe that they actually give up their time like this for free.
In reality, are you expected to give some sort of token or money?
My suspicious nature is asking, what's the catch?

hibby

I found the one I was talking about. http://kimono-dress.blogspot.jp/ It seems we got lucky because it's just once a month (second Tuesday), and we happened to be there on that day. I can't even remember how we found out it was on.

So, it's called "Join Japan Nara", 2nd floor of Nara City Tourism Centre on Sanjo Street, 2nd Tuesday of every month.

Beruthiel wrote: »

Nice one hibby!
I just found this site.
I find it difficult to believe that they actually give up their time like this for free.
In reality, are you expected to give some sort of token or money?
My suspicious nature is asking, what's the catch?

I honestly don't know. It seems so generous of them to give up their time, you feel like you should give something in return, maybe a gift from Ireland or something. But I don't see any indication that that's expected.

Beruthiel

Well, I've decided to get in contact with this chap.
I had a mooch around his facebook to see if he was legit and came across this fella.
His page says he works at Osaka Gas and I thought of you. You work there too, no?
You might even know him!

hibby

Beruthiel wrote: »

Well, I've decided to get in contact with this chap.
I had a mooch around his facebook to see if he was legit and came across this fella.
His page says he works at Osaka Gas and I thought of you. You work there too, no?
You might even know him!

That's gas! (bad pun intended)

No, I haven't met him but he looks like an interesting guy. He's studying in Norway.

Did you see your guide's status:
"Just finished the longest hours guiding, cruising home with thoughtful gifts."?

It looks like maybe gifts are, if not expected, certainly appreciated by the volunteer guides.

Beruthiel

hibby wrote: »

Did you see your guide's status:
"Just finished the longest hours guiding, cruising home with thoughtful gifts."?

It looks like maybe gifts are, if not expected, certainly appreciated by the volunteer guides.

Ya. Saw that.
So, if he becomes our guide I'll bring something from Ireland over for him.

opinion guy

Dont be at yourself wrote: »

Kyoto is amazing. The highlight of any trip to Japan.

Agreed! I far prefered it to Tokyo.
although I never made it ias far as Nara

Sindri

I love your dogs.

Are they miniature American Eskimo dogs?

hibby

Thank you! The two dogs are Japanese Spitzes (nihon spitz), which is I think the same breed as American Eskimo, or at least very similar.

They are great companions, very loyal and affectionate and have endless stamina. They especially love running up mountains. They like cold weather and snow; the Japanese summer is a bit of a trial for them.

One of them has been with us since he was a puppy; the other one is a rescue dog, that we adopted from a shelter 2 years ago. There's a lot of jealousy or rivalry between them!

Sindri

Thank god they're all right any way. They look a bit of a handful.

Beruthiel

Love the pic of your dogs watching you eat while in the ryokan hibby.
btw - you should have a link to your blog in your sig.
Makes it easier for the rest of us to stalk you.

hibby

Great idea, Beruthiel, thanks!

Tar.Aldarion

Really enjoyed the blog, thanks

Would love to visit japan, dunno how easy a vegetarian with no Japanese would find it there though.

hibby

I believe it would be very hard for a vegetarian to get by here. It's hard to understand, because I think Japan has its own (religious) vegetarian tradition, and has a huge amount of non-meat foods (such as tofu). But if you go to a restaurant, they don't have vegetarian options. Even food that doesn't explicitly have meat in it is likely to be made with meat or fish broth or other non-vegetarian ingredients.

I remember trying to assemble a vegetarian meal by ordering side-dishes that supposedly didn't contain meat. One dish contained fish-flakes and another contained tiny pieces of ham.

shindig-jp

Being Vegetarian in Japan[SIZE=+2]

[/SIZE][SIZE=+2]Maybe this will help
http://markcity.blogspot.ie/veg.htm
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Tar.Aldarion

Thanks, that's great, if we were there it would just be for a visit (though it sounds very cool to live there!) and we could specifically use that information. Between that and the cat cafes, we are all set.

helimachoptor

Loving the blog also interested to see your experience of Mt Fuji!

JapanZone

In a lot of Japanese restaurants their definition of a vegetarian meal is a meat dish with the bits of meat grudgingly removed.

Veganism/vegetarianism is, as was mentioned, linked to the Buddhist tradition and there are temples around Japan where they offer retreats and serve simple vegetarian food. But really it seems to be one of those areas where the non-Japanese locals are leading the way, setting up organizations, opening new restaurants, building awareness, etc.

Here's some more useful links (and link pages): http://www.veganjapan.net/index_engl.html
http://www.justhungry.com/japan-survival-guide-vegans
http://circleourearth.com/vegan-travel/vegan-country-guides/japan/

Tar.Aldarion

Thanks, you are great! Can't wait to go over some time.

Beruthiel

Am still reading your blog on a regular basis hibby. Love all your entries.
The last one is particularly intriguing.
I have never heard of the kofun—ancient graves. I find it amazing they have not been touched.
I find it even more amazing that people have not taken advantage of that fact and tried to clear them out for resale to the highest bidder on the black market.
If they have never been touched, how is it that after all these centuries they still look so intact by satellite?

JapanZone

Beruthiel, think of them like the "fairy forts" of Ireland. Farmers even to this day will often refuse to touch them.

hibby

Beruthiel wrote: »

Am still reading your blog on a regular basis hibby. Love all your entries.
The last one is particularly intriguing.
I have never heard of the kofun—ancient graves. I find it amazing they have not been touched.
I find it even more amazing that people have not taken advantage of that fact and tried to clear them out for resale to the highest bidder on the black market.
If they have never been touched, how is it that after all these centuries they still look so intact by satellite?

It's a good point about the grave robbers. Most of the pyramids were cleared out in ancient times. In the case of the kofun, well, I don't know if there are any real treasures in there to start with (maybe there are), and I don't know either if they have been robbed over the centuries.

Your question about why they look so intact? I don't think they need much maintenance really; it's just a forested hill in a lake.

hibby

JapanZone wrote: »

Beruthiel, think of them like the "fairy forts" of Ireland. Farmers even to this day will often refuse to touch them.

And Japanese people are generally law-abiding. If you're not supposed to enter the area, most people won't.

The other thing is, robbing the kofun would be a bit of effort. Not just a matter of hopping over the fence: you'll need a boat too and some digging equipment. Then, you don't know exactly where to dig, and you don't know what (if anything) you'll find if you do reach the burial chamber.

Not exactly an opportunistic burglary.

Just Like Heaven

Still reading this blog quite regularly. Hope to make it to Japan next summer (although alone ) and reading these gets me so excited.