Shrimp Festival

Almost all towns in Japan seem to distinguish themselves by being "known for something." For instance, a town south of Mashike is "known for" it's Dorayaki - which is a small wheat pancake filled with sweet red bean paste (azuki) and it's quite good.

Dorayaki (image stolen from Wikipedia)

So were these dorayaki anything special? No, they tasted exactly like all other dorayaki I've had. So regardless of their qualifications, a town or city may pick something as their specialty whether it's special or not.

Where am I going with this? Oh right, so Mashike is different in that it has rightfully earned it's designated specialty. So much so that they've put it on a majority of their sewer caps:

(nothing says "specialty foods" like a sewer cap)

As you can see, Mashike is known for two things: shrimp and cherries. And I've had a variety of their shrimp, which is excellent. Although they are known specifically for just one - which I believe is called "Sweet Shrimp."

Here's where my story starts (long intro, right?)

I woke up this morning to find my apartment parking lot and general vicinity swarming with people - cars parked everywhere.

Look in the distance - along that road in the background - nothing but cars parked on the shoulder.

The local junior high school as well.

And the park.

Upon entering the park I discovered it was the annual Shrimp Festival! And it was PACKED with tourists. So apparently Mashike is a little better known than I thought.

Lots of people picnicking, eating various seafood, but mostly shrimp.

The landscape has really gotten green these past few days.

No one bought me any toys... kinda disappointed.

Panoramic shot of one of three main festival areas.

MOON BOUNCE. Even though I'm 26, I still get nervous when I'm driving with my parents and we pass a moon bounce. I get scared they'll stop and make me get in it.

THE CAPTAIN ARRIVED!

I WANTED MY PICTURE WITH HIM BUT IT DIDN'T HAPPEN.

And then they carried around the "Mikoshi" which is something of a mobile Shinto shrine for gods that don't mind small spaces and prefer traveling about.

"And that concludes our pants-wearing portion of the festival. You are now free to remove your pants if you are so inclined"

That is until "Coal Black" showed up and then everyone put their pants back on.

This little fellow was so happy. He really enjoyed his big day at the festival.

Final note: the played Britney Spears' new album on the loud speaker for most of the festival. Not a joke. I have video evidence. I will post it later.

Spring Finally Arrived

I got a spring haircut - I was little nervous about how short it was on the sides, but it all turned out okay.

Let's talk about ice cream - I love Japanese ice cream. It's a large component in my decision to live here. I'm not joking. These three items are at the top of my list.

The flat, triangular one is a waffle cone lined with chocolate, filled with vanilla ice cream and topped with crispy chocolate. The flattened body design gives this dessert the proper aerodynamics to consume the entire thing in 0.21 seconds.

The middle item is waffle-shaped cone filled with vanilla ice cream and a chocolate bar center. I can eat 3 of these in a row.

The last item is Coolish, which is simply icy vanilla ice cream in a metal pouch. It's one of the best vanilla flavors I've ever had. I first discovered Coolish while studying abroad in Tokyo.

Got a tie in the mail from my parents!

So lately I've noticed a soft "whooshing" noise outside of my apartment and it sounded something like a large river. But there was no evidence of this from my line of sight outside of my apartment. All I could see were orchards, so I assumed it was some sort of farm work going on. But upon further inspection I found something completely different...

A giant river with a bridge to be more specific.

How'd I miss this?

The river is also accompanied by a large, river-side park which has been meticulously maintained. You can't tell from this picture, but the park goes on and on - to the left, it expands quite a lot, with several areas of different elevation.

One of the park buildings - reminds me of something you'd see in Howard County - like in Maple Lawn maybe.

The following day - today, that is - I awoke to find something very surprising concerning this park. That's for next post!

Finding "Japanese" Spots

So I've commented before that Mashike (my current town) has a surprisingly western vibe for being out in the middle of nowhere Japan. This familiar quality seems to stem from the fact that a lot of the architecture to be found on the island of Hokkaido is quite new in comparison to the rest of Japan... but even more interesting is the surprisingly substantial influence from the US of which I was completely unaware.

Hokkaido, lovingly known as "Alaska: the test run"

History Story Time Lecture with Tim-Sensei

So, As I understand it, Hokkaido, as a land mass, wasn't really of interest to the Japanese government until the Meiji Restoration (late 1800's) which makes a majority of the development there much younger than that of the US (which is already considered a young country by global standards).

Hokkaido (aka, the snow baby of Japan)

This western vibe I've been feeling isn't just the result of my "foreigner's ignorance" - you know, like I was expecting geisha's, going to work in a temple, giant robots, all that good stuff:

this is literally what I was expecting.

Around 1870, the Japanese government got serious about Hokkaido due to an increasing threat from Russia, which was expanding - claiming various islands in the East Asian part of the world. To assist in the effort of making Hokkaido a contributing, functional member of the Japanese archipelago, Japan brought over Horace Capron, the Commissioner of Agriculture under President Ulysses S. Grant. He introduced western techniques for utilizing the land: mining, farming, etc.

A few years later, Capron left and was superseded in a way by William S. Clark, who established the Sapporo Agricultural College, which is now known as the University of Hokkaido. His teachings on agriculture and Christianity were rather successful in Japan, which is evident throughout Hokkaido in the form of statues and placards with his famous quote, "Boys, be ambitious!"

I didn't have time to photoshop the heck outta this guy...

During and following this period of American influence, the population of Hokkaido grew by over 400%. So I think that explains why Hokkaido looks more like this than the image above:

(citing my sources: thanks wikipedia)

But all joking aside, I love Mashike. This western vibe has made the transition from the US to Japan incredibly easy in ways I never would have believed prior to my departure.

So the reason I brought all this up was so I can really demonstrate how surprised I was to find little spots around Mashike that really exude a more traditional or conventional Japanese aesthetic (again, this is from a foreigner's perspective - I'm not claiming to make definitive judgements on what's Japanese and what isn't).

Anyway, here are some new shots. Some of the photos near the end of the post are the ones I thought were considerably more "Japanese" than the general view around Mashike.

Little signs that spring is slowly approaching

Muh pants don't fit

More fruit signs.

I know there's a proper name for these little fellas, but it's completely escaped me...

Offerings to the little fellas

The loneliest vending machine in all of Japan. I've heard of vending machines out in the middle of nowhere, but this one isn't even lined up with the road. It's just placed randomly at an angle, in the middle of a gravel lot...

farm house nearby.

one of the schools I teach at - it's one of the oldest timber buildings in Japan... or something like that.

local rooftops

temple grounds...

The only cherry blossoms I could find in all of Mashike

This spot struck me as incredibly "Japanese" looking - very reminiscent of the area I stayed when I visited Mobara, Chiba, which is an hour or two outside of Tokyo.

Last pic for now!