Christmas in Tokyo...

A few days before Christmas we spent a night in Tokyo and ran around trying to see Christmas lights...

in Shinjuku

Christmas trees under Tokyo Tower

Santa crawling up Tokyo Tower

lights in Odaiba

gingerbread house in our hotel

...and Christmas in Okinawa!

We decided to spend Christmas in Okinawa this year as it is a little warmer there than in the rest of the country.  Okinawa is in the string of islands that trail off the southern tip of Japan toward Taiwan.  It's a three hour plane flight from Tokyo and stays around 65°F in the winter.  Okinawa Island was pretty, with a beautiful rocky coastline that you could see from almost anywhere because the island itself is really mountainous.  It was pretty densely populated with a surprising amount of things to do.

And it made for an interesting holiday--on Christmas Eve we went to a butterfly garden, then to the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium which is situated right on the coast and was the largest aquarium in the world until the one in Atlanta was built.

Cape Manzamo

at the butterfly garden--decorated for Christmas

view of the East China Sea from the aquarium

Thousands of years ago Okinawa was separated into several kingdoms.  Eventually the kingdoms combined into one Ryukyuan culture and then around the 1860's all the islands were absorbed into Japan (there are still differences between the islands and the mainland, mainly in food and dialect).  However, most of the castles from the kingdom days are still standing, albeit in ruins.  They are all UNESCO World Heritage sites.  We finished off Christmas Eve day by visiting one of the largest---Nakijin Castle, built in the 13th century.

Nakijin Castle walls and the East China Sea

castle walls & mountains

Christmas Eve dinner was remarkably authentic tacos in a pretty skeevy place next to one of the many US military bases on the island.  We also enjoyed Tony Roma's, A&W and Baskin Robbins while we were there, as well as an elaborate Christmas buffet served at our hotel (and Santa found time to hang out in the hotel lobby). There is a little more American "stuff" on Okinawa because there are so many US soldiers stationed there.

nothing like Christmas Eve dinner at a place where
you can  walk up and order on the street

There is even an area called the American Village that is modeled after American beach towns like Venice Beach.  The shopping was a little disappointing (not much imported stuff) but it is lively, especially at night.

American Village & ferris wheel

an Okinawan shisa, lion-dog guardian statues
that can be found all over the islands
(seriously, they are everywhere)

Best. Christmas. Present. Ever.

Yesterday we went to take the driver's test for the third time and........we both passed!!!  (Read about our first try here and our second here.)  We went to practice first again but agreed that this would be our last time at the practice course regardless of whether or not we passed.  My teacher carried on about the exact position of my arms when turning (he made me make a perfect X every time) and he wanted me to try to hit an exact speed on every section of the course (first time I'd heard that).  But I still felt like I was doing better. 

About ten people took the test this time but we were the only two who passed.  The guys who process the paperwork after the test were pretty surprised we passed together.  We really think they take into account what country you're from, how long you've been driving and how many times you've taken the test.  We had the same evaluator and actually got pulled at the same time which means I rode in the back while Chad took the test (this happened last time too).  This evaluator really scrutinized our paperwork but then seemed a little bored and disinterested while we were driving.  We think he just decided that as long as we didn't screw up really badly it was time to give a couple of Americans a break.  That or he was a Christmas angel. ;)

We had to go back to get the licenses today which turned out to be almost as hard as the test.  We had to wait forever and listen to some lectures that we think were about the responsibility of having a Japanese driver's license.  The whole process was pretty long and confusing but we got through it by A) looking lost until someone took pity and shuffled us in the right direction and B) mimicking what the other people were doing. But after a couple of hours they handed us our licenses and we got to leave.  Woo-hoo!

I'll be away from the blog for a few days but check back after the holidays for some new adventures. 
Merry Christmas!

Yummy Japanese Food!

For real!  I finally got around to trying one of the most common Japanese fast food places---a chain called Sukiya.  Sukiya serves donburi, which are basically bowls of rice with stuff on top of them.  You can get all manner of seafood, beef, pork, egg and vegetables on your rice but I prefer the plain gyūdon which is sliced beef and a broth.  It is right up my meat-and-potatos alley.  I put soy sauce and some spices they give you on it.  Very filling.  It does come with onions normally, but if there is one thing I've mastered in Japanese it's how to say "no onions, please".

I have had it twice in the past week.  :)

in the mall, but there are also stand-alone Sukiyas

menu....sorry about the glare...the one I get is top middle

O Christmas Tree

Before we came to Japan I didn't really know how Christmas would be celebrated here.  I knew it wasn't the big deal that it is in the US.  But over the past month or two I have been pleasantly surprised by the amount of Christmas decorations that are available.  We have a Christmas tree, it's a cheap little fake one I bought here (I optimistically brought a small box of our ornaments with us).  In fact, most of the Christmas stuff here, although plentiful, is pretty cheap and tacky.  You can find ornaments and little decorative figurines.  Christmas lights are available, but no one really puts them on their house---some businesses and restaurants do though.  Wreaths are somewhat popular although they tend to be a little more for New Years, which is equally as important (maybe more than) Christmas.  Poinsettias are also popular.  Also, it should be noted that Christmas is completely secular here.  It's all Santa and Frosty, no Jesus or angels (only 3% of Japanese people are Christian).  Speaking of Santa, he does bring presents to Japanese boys and girls who believe in him. :)

I have been disappointed that there is not much "Japanese" Christmas stuff available.  Most of what is here is the same type of generic stuff you see in the US.  The one exception is Christmas cards, which are beautiful and often depict Santa hanging out around shrines or rice paddies, or flying over Mt. Fuji.  Some of them are origami-style 3D or have glitter and gilt on them.  I really wish they would carry the same style over into ornaments and decorations.

our tree, staged, before all the presents got packed up
and shipped to the US (I thought the lights were all white
when I bought them but they are blue and white)

I could've gotten an all Minnie tree.....

or this lovely pastel number (at Joyful Honda)

the Santa ornament I bought
at Usaburo Kokeshi

one of the nicer displays at the Shinjuku Tokyu Hands (two months ago)

little wood cutout decorations like this are one different (and not too tacky)
thing I found....although for all I know they are the new thing in the US too

Costco Crowds

This past weekend we also made our first trip to Japanese Costco.  There is one in the nearby city of Tatebayashi correction, Maebashi and we had heard rumors that they had a lot of imported foods.  We had to get a membership because we were dumb and didn't get one in the US before we came.  But they found the one poor girl who spoke good English and made her help us.

The history of Costco here is a little interesting---apparently when the company was considering expanding to Japan they were told that it would not be a success.  They were told that Japanese people do not buy in bulk.  Based on my experience, I would have said the same thing.  So many things here come in tiny packages--cheese, chocolate chips, powdered sugar, sour cream and gift/food wrap to name a few.  Not to mention that all of the bakeware is undersized.  Anyway, the Costco people couldn't convince a Japanese company to partner with them (which is how a lot of foreign companies get a foot in the door) but they went ahead and came here anyway.

Well....let me tell you....they were right all along.  The Costco was wall-to-wall Japanese people.  They were loading up their huge carts with their huge packages as fast as they could go.  Chad and I split up and had to use our cell phones to find one another in the mayhem---always fun because whenever I start talking to him on the phone in a public place everyone around me goes super, super quiet to listen to my English. :)

I'd say the merchandise was about 60% imported, 40% Japanese.  Most of the imported stuff I had seen here before but there were a few surprises and some welcome bulk packaging.  I scored huge (and by "huge" I mean normal-American-sized) blocks of cheese and big (by anyone's standards) bags of oatmeal and tortilla chips.  We got big bottles of juice and bulk Ziploc bags.  I also found American-style Christmas wrapping paper, bows and tissue paper in bulk.  The bakery rolls, fried chicken and pizzas seemed to be very popular with the Japanese people.

Japanese Costco

Chad thinks you could stand here and watch Japan slowly super-size itself

literally almost everyone had one of these ginormous pizzas in their cart.....
so we got one too---it was pretty good which is fortunate because it will last all week long

Hey Doll

This weekend we went to another local attraction.  Awhile ago our Japanese teacher told us that there was a factory not too far where they make kokeshi dolls.  Kokeshi are traditional wooden toy dolls that are very popular here.  The factory is Usaburo Kokeshi (the website is in English and full of info.) and it's pretty famous---thanks to it Gunma Prefecture makes more kokeshi than anywhere else in the country.  Usaburo Okamoto began the factory in 1950 and taught all the artists who came after him--their profiles are here.

They have a kokeshi museum and you can tour the factory and watch the artists handmake them.    Plus they have a big store where they sell them---I was pretty excited because traditional handmade Japanese stuff is pretty hard to come by.  So much here is made in China, even the souvenir and gift items.

a lovely view of snowy mountains on the drive up

by the entrance

the factory where they carve the wood

explanations (click to read)

handpainting

all the awards they've won

step by step

50000 yen (about $650)

 The ones with what I call "the helmet hair" like above are the most traditional type.  I prefer the ones that don't have the helmets but are a single block of smooth wood with the hair painted on---they are more typical for Gunma (local) kokeshi.  Unfortunately I don't seem to have any photos of them---so here.

the store

Lunar Eclipse

As seen in our front yard on Dec. 10th between 10:30pm and 11:30pm.  (Photos by Chad)

Wanted

So we went to try for our driver's licenses for the second time yesterday.  (Read about the first time here.)  We both failed again and don't really know why.  Nobody passed.  We met some nice Sri Lankans on their ninth try and another American on his fifth.  We practiced again first and the little old (ancient, really) lady who taught me this time mostly fussed about my mirror-looking, signaling and lane position while turning.  I don't have the timing just so.  Sigh.

But an interesting feature of the DMV: they have screens up prominently displaying Japan's ten most wanted criminals, all violent offenders.  I didn't think Japan had violent offenders, much less ten of them.  One of them is even a woman.

I had noticed posters with the same people in our little local train station before.  At the time I wasn't sure if they were really wanted posters.  Apparently there are rewards of 3 million yen (approx. $38,000) or 5 million yen (approx. $64,000) for information leading to their capture.  Chad and I decided that if we spotted any of them we'd say "Keep your money---just give us driver's licenses.".

Lunch Break

The other day I finally worked up the courage to get lunch at the new-ish Subway in the mall.  Ordering at Subway when you speak the same language as the sandwich-maker can be a trial, and I was wary of trying to do it in Japanese.  But, it turns out that they have all the toppings labeled on signs in the basic Japanese that I can read so I was able to get what I wanted (roast beef and cheese) without too much confusion.  Overall the procedure was the same as it is in the US.  Some interesting things about Japanese Subway:

1. You get wedge fries instead of chips.  Of course for all I know, you now get wedge fries at US Subway.

2. They have the actual cucumber dill pickle slices, hallelujah.  Usually when someone refers to pickles here they mean pickled plums.  And they have mayonnaise---Japanese people like mayo.  No mustard though.

3. Tandoori and Teriyaki chicken sandwiches. 

yep....it's a Subway...

Then I ventured over to one of the ice-cream and crepe shops.  Yep, crepes.  And ice cream.  French stuff is popular here (note: if you are ever in Japan and see something cute with Tokyo Tower on it look again because it's probably actually the Eiffel Tower) and crepe shops are common, usually combined with an ice cream shop.  There are two in the mall.  I have not tried one of the crepes ( I prefer this place's incredibly rich hot chocolate) but they are eye-catching.  The photo below is a very typical crepe display.

count four back and you have green tea ice cream with sweet red beans......
count four more and you have a salad crepe with lettuce and tomato....
I have a feeling you're not going to find either of these in France.

Illuminating

Last night we took a trip to the neighboring town of Ashikaga to see the famous Ashikaga Flower Park.  In the spring, the park is well-known as the place to see huge Japanese wisteria vines.  But in December and January, the park is decorated with Christmas lights, or "illuminations" as they are known here.

Chad and I had a tradition of going to see the Roper Mountain Lights in Greenville every year so we were hoping for a similar experience.  And it was, except here you park and walk it instead of driving through.  There were holiday gift shops and lots of little food vendors selling marshmallows and hot chocolate along with the ubiquitous seafood and cabbage-y vegetables.  It was a pretty impressive display, perhaps a little more elegant than what you usually see in the US.

Oh, and I had an issue with camera batteries so these are all with my iPhone.  :(

the pyramid is in a pond, hence the reflection

lights are hung to mimic the springtime wisteria vines

yellow "wisteria" tunnel

lots of places set up for picture-taking--including this canoe

the park is next to a mountain, and the lights are all over the side

I liked these all over the ground

Japanese Santa is skinny

roasting marshmallows

I Got The Japanese Driving Exam Blues

Yesterday Chad and I went (accompanied by a company rep) to take our driver's exam.  As I've mentioned before, we drive now with an international license, but it is only valid for one year.

The Japanese driver's exam for a foreigner with a valid license from their home country consists of a written examination and a skills test in a car with an evaluator.  Plus an eye test.  Sounds similar to the US requirements but unfortunately, in the case of the the actual driving test, it's pretty different.

The Japanese driving test is on a closed course and is meticulously choreographed.  When you take the actual test the evaluator doesn't say anything so you have to have the exact route memorized.  So the first thing we did yesterday was go take a one hour practice run (for a fee, of course) on a practice course identical to the real thing.  One good thing is you can find lots of information on the Internet about the course, including maps and detailed instructions of what they are looking for.  The bad thing is that it is a lot to remember.  And it isn't really what you would call natural driving, which if you've been driving for fifteen years like myself, means you have to unlearn some things.  My practice teacher was a very nice man who was kind (even when popping my hand for cupping it palm-up under the steering wheel) and very helpful.  He spoke a little bit of English and slow Japanese so we understood one another pretty well.  I went through the course three times, including stopping and backtracking a little bit.  I did OK on the super tight S-curve and crank curves--I only scrubbed the curb once.  And after the first time I did OK on the part where you have  to accelerate to exactly 50mph and then pump your brakes exactly three times to slow and turn.  Yes, I'm serious.  When I said "meticulously choreographed", I wasn't kidding.  Oh, and I'm used to it now, but remember that you drive on the left here too. 

My main problem during practice was my position in the lane when preparing to turn.  You have to keep to the left/right (within a foot of the line specifically) when turning left/right and I was not so much.  I cut some turns a little sharp and had that problem with cupping my hand under the steering wheel.  Also, learning to smoothly do all the elaborate mirror-looking and signaling exactly like they want is tough.

the practice course

After the practice and lunch, we went to what is basically the DMV for the real thing.  We had to present a lot of documents to prove that we lived in the US for more than three months and fill out some forms and wait awhile for them to check everything and make sure we were legitimate and non-criminal people.

chillin' at the Japanese DMV

The written test (we took it in English) was ten questions and was supposedly easy but I had trouble on a couple--fortunately you can get three wrong.  We both passed that and then had to wait with about a dozen others to take the driving test.  They pulled us out two at a time---I drove first and the other girl was in the back during the test.  Sadly, I got an attack of the nerves and fumbled my way through some parts and forgot the correct route once which wasn't very pretty.  I also scrubbed the curb when parking at the end.  Of course, this is just my interpretation of my mistakes....they do not tell you what you did wrong, you just have to guess and pay attention to when they are scribbling on their pad.  For the record, I did not expect to pass this time and was just proud that I was allowed to finish the course.   Often if a first-timer is really bad they will stop them mid-way through and send them home.  Some people who take it haven't driven much before at all and I think those are the ones who get stopped.  I'm pretty sure the evaluators can tell the difference between someone who knows how to drive but just not their little rules and someone who is completely uncomfortable behind the wheel period.

the real course

We both ended up failing (Chad bumped a curb in the crank turn) and we go back again next week to try again.  (We have to go by ourselves from now on but we only have to do the actual driving test again.)  We know another expat who tried fourteen times before he got it.  You hear rumors of people trying up to twenty times.  Apparently if you get it in under five tries you're considered one of the lucky ones.  The three people out of the original dozen who passed celebrated like they'd won the lottery.  The girl who rode in the car with me was on her seventh try (she got it this time) and told me later that they had stopped her on her first try--she was impressed that I made it all the way through on my first.  I anticipate multiple tries.....this is by far the suckiest part of this whole living-in-Japan experience.

Also, if you're wondering, when you are getting your very first license in Japan you have to take a 100 question test and do a much harder and stricter course.  And you have to take a forty-hour class first.  So I guess I should consider myself lucky....;\