Drinking Calpis

No!!! Not that! CALPIS!

Calpis is the unfortunate-sounding-in-English brand name for a series of milk-based beverages sold in Japan. It originally comes from a made-up word that combined the words CALcium and sarPIS (butter flavor in Sanskrit). Here's a photo of Calpis Soda in a local supermarket:

Calpis was first sold in Japan in 1919 as a powdered, just-add-water beverage. It now comes in a variety of flavors, carbonated and non-carbonated, and no-calorie (diet or Zero) versions. This is Calpis Water (the non-carbonated version), Calpis Water Zero, and Grape Calpis Soda Zero (on the left edge in the photo):

I first tried Calpis in Japan last year and have been a huge fan ever since. My favorite is Calpis Soda mixed with shochu and ice but I just got into the Calpis Zero Grape and shochu in Osaka this year. And, no, you don't need to drink Calpis in a Chuhai to enjoy it. Even though it's made from milk, it's not like drinking watered-down or carbonated milk (and I can't even begin to wrap my brain around where the "butter flavor" in the original name comes from). I've written and deleted about ten different attempts at trying to describe the flavor but I've given up. You've gotta' trust me on this one that it's really good.

If you're in the U.S. and very lucky, you might find Calpis products as they're now sold there under the Calpico name. I guess they re-branded so that they could free themselves from their bovine-urine-sounding name.

Anyone up for a yummy chuhai?

Visiting Kofun

Probably the most famous of all large-scale burial sites in the world are the Egyptian pyramids. The pyramids are giant and are quite amazing to see in person. I am lucky to have gotten the opportunity to visit them earlier this year:

Similar in shape but different in purpose are the Mayan pyramids. Here's a photo of my visit to Chichen Itza in the Yucatan in November of 2009:

Actually, the last two photos have nothing to do with this story but I wanted to share them anyway... :-)

Relatively unknown outside of Japan are burial sites known as Kofun. Japanese Kofun are a type of Tumulus, or raised mound of earth and stones over a tomb, which were built from approximately 300 A.D. to about 700 A.D. This Kofun, which I visited near Nagasaki, is one such Tumulus:

The largest Kofun in Japan is the Daisen Kofun and is located in Sakai City, south of Osaka. It is the burial place of the 16th Emperor of Japan, Emperor Nintoku. Since it is about a ten minute walk from the shrine that I visited to see the Futon-Daiko festival recently, and because it's supposedly "the largest tomb by area in the world", I just had to go. This is an aerial photo of Daisen that I found on the internet:

The Kofun have been constructed in a variety of shapes over the years but the keyhole design shown above is the most common. There are two water-filled moats surrounding this Kofun, the smaller of which (the outer one) is difficult to see in the photo above. It looks like a thin line cut in the surrounding trees. The photo below is of that smaller moat, which is actually pretty large. It helps to give you an idea of the scale of the whole site.

Unfortunately, you only get to cross the first moat. There is no bridge across the larger moat and you can't actually get on the mound. It turns out that the mound is considered sacred ground and they don't let the public on it. Also, very little excavation has taken place over the years so there's no museum or other things to visit. Fortunately, I didn't make a special trip to see it but I did get this photo with the Kofun in the distance past the Torii gate:

While researching information for this story, I learned that there are burial mounds all over the world including some in the U.S., mostly in the south, which are the work of native-American tribes. I also found out about some that are located near a city that I will be visiting in the next month or so. Stay tuned... :-)

Mozu Hachiman Futon-Daiko Festival

Today's post is about a fairly large festival that takes place each year in the town of Sakai, which is about 45 minutes south of Osaka. I have to be honest that I was pretty confused and it took a bunch of time to research (in Japanese) what I had seen so that I could understand it. It makes me VERY happy that I can now do (basic) google searches using Japanese characters and language!

First off, like one of the other festivals I attended here in Osaka, this one had a full carnival-style atmosphere including all the required food and entertainment booths. I think the most popular booth type were the ones selling cucumbers on a stick. I guess it has a low barrier to entry since all you need is a bag of cucumbers and some sticks. A couple of the Japanese websites that I came across were making fun of them too. They also had some kids' booths with this festival's twist on the scoop-up-the-fish-with-a-paper-net game involving small crabs instead of gold fish:

The crabs didn't have dangerous claws and the kids really seemed to like scooping them up. At another booth they had very small turtles. I'm not sure what was going on but it didn't seem to be the scoop-up-fish game that the other booths had. Regardless, it was pretty fun to watch the cute little turtles swim around:


Okay, let me see if I can explain this one. The festival is called the Mozu Hachiman Futon-Daiko Festival. Mozu is the area where the shrine is located. It's a relatively famous area due to the Kofun that are nearby. Hachiman is the name of the shrine where the festival takes place. You may already know that a futon is a type of bed that is widely used in Japan. It's basically like a stuffed sleeping bag and I find them super comfortable. The funny thing is that people hang them outside during the day to air out so you'll see them on balconies all over Japan. Finally, a Daiko is a type of drum. So, in summary, the festival is the Mozu (neighborhood) Hachiman (shrine) Futon (bed) Daiko (drum) Festival.

In the photo below, you can see one of the "floats" that are used in the festival. The red basket-looking thing is actually five futons piled on top of each other. They are then heavily decorated with various tassels, ropes, and other things. A couple of people ride on top of the futons during the festival. Under the futons is the section that holds the drum and drummers. The bottom is made up of the wood frame and bamboo handles that are used to carry the float.

This is a close up of center section of the float. You can see the intricate wood carvings as well as the chanter-drummer boys who ride inside the float. These costumed boys are in the sixth grade and they are responsible for leading the chanting and keeping the rhythm by beating the large drum, which you can't see, in the center.

There are many different groups that make floats and come to the festival. The groups carry their floats from the surrounding neighborhood into the shrine area. Here's one group entering the shrine grounds:

The festival is basically a fall harvest celebration where the groups are praying for a good harvest. The floats are portable shrines, which are about 12 feet tall (4 meters) and weigh about two-and-a-half tons. They are carried by a team of approximately 60-to-70 people.

Here you can see half of the team that is carrying this float. You can't really tell from the photo but these guys ARE working! Each person needs to carry over 100 pounds (50kg) back and forth through the shine grounds.


The physical activity of carrying the floats is meant to simulate a boat riding in rough waters. The people who are carrying the float make the float go up and down as a boat would do in rough water while participating in a call-and-response style of chanting. In this photo the float is at the other end of the shrine grounds and is headed back towards where I'm standing.


Since photos and my description can only do so much, here's a short video that I shot using my point-and-shoot:

Going to this festival was one of the more interesting that I've been to in Japan. I haven't seen anything like it anywhere else that I've been. It makes me wonder just how many different local festivals there are in the world and how I can get to see them one day...

Thanks to: Loneleeplanet.com

www.loneleeplanet.com Japan-Blog Matsuri (February 2011)

and: The Japan Blog Matsuri

http://faq.japansoc.com/japan-blog-matsuri

Gunkanjima - Japan's Battleship Island

Not too far off the coast from the Nagasaki harbor is an island called Hashima. This tiny island-turned-coal-mine is also known as Gunkanjima, which means Battleship (gunkan) Island (jima) in English. It takes about 30 minutes via tour boat to reach the island. In this photo, which was taken from the back of boat, is the Nagasaki harbor mouth (where the bridge is) as well as a massive Mitsubishi ship yard (where the red and white crane is):

On the way to Gunkanjima the boat passed by this bridge that's under construction. It was a cool site to see both sides of the bridge looking completed but with no center section:

It wasn't until we were past the bridge that we could see the center section being held by this floating crane (very cool!):

Gunkanjima opened in 1887 and was operated by Mitsubishi as a coal mine from 1890 to 1974. The miners used a shaft that went from the center of the island down below the sea floor. Coal was sent out to waiting ships via conveyor belt. Approaching and pulling up to the island is quite impressive. It's a very small island but there are a ton of large buildings on it. From the sea it looks like almost every square inch of the island is covered:

It's only when you get onto the island that you can see what only 35 years of neglect looks like in an urban environment. All of the buildings are in some sort of decay with many actually falling down. The tour groups are only allowed to visit a well-roped-off, very small part of the island. In this photo you can see the remains of many different buildings:

One of the staggering things about the island was the super-high-density population that lived there during its heyday. At one point, the island supported a population equivalent of over 216,000 people per square mile. Compare that to current-day New York City, which is approximately 27,000 people per square mile.

Even though the miners and their families that lived here existed in a such a dense place, their lives were relatively well off. Since the island was a private venture, the company took care of the employees including providing for their needs during the war and after. It seems to have been a pretty good place to live.

To help support the high density, new construction methods were used on the island. I believe that this was the first large concrete structure built in Japan; a nine-story apartment building, which was built in 1916:

On the approach you could see how people can say the island looks like a battleship. It isn't until you leave the island and the boat goes to the other side that you can really see it for yourself. It really does look like one. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Gunkanjima, the battleship island of Nagasaki, Japan:

Buying Coffee In The Land Of Tea

Editorial Note: Since I started whereisdarrennow my focus has been on recording what I've learned along the way. I knew that, if I didn't force myself to sit down and think about what I've seen, I'd forget many of the details. In this way, lots of the stories have tended to be "explanations" and "take aways" of what I've seen and/or the experiences I had. I've received feedback that people are enjoying the stories but that they also want to read more about my "daily life" experiences. To me, these things haven't really been "worthy" of sharing but, in response, I'll start posting more stories like this. So, here's another story in the "daily life" category. Enjoy!

About a block from where I'm living there's a small coffee-roasting shop that I've been buying my coffee from. It's a mom-and-pop-style business that's owned by a guy who looks like he's in his late 40s or early 50s. A couple of times that I've gone in an older couple who are probably the owner's parents are manning the shop. Of course it's possible that it's their shop and the son is working for them but I'm not sure because they don't speak English and I still can't handle that level of conversation in Japanese.

The shop buys green coffee and roasts it in super-small batches on their roasting machine. I love the smell when I walk by the shop each day. You can see their roaster and the burlap sacks of green coffee:

At any given time, they have about six or eight coffee varieties. I've tried a bunch so far and my favorite has been the Brazilian medium roast. The shop also sells creamers, sugar, cocoa, and other stuff that goes with the coffee.

I've been impressed by their concern for quality and the artisan approach they take when they roast the coffee. The coffee is great and, to think, it's in the land where tea is still king. Anyway, just another post under "scenes from my daily life". Now for a fresh pot of coffee!

Shikoku Henro Pilgrimage

While in Shikoku I learned about a pilgrimage that people make to visit 88 of the temples on the island. It is believed that the Buddhist monk Kobo Daishi visited them all and that doing so can bring the pilgrim good luck and/or remove bad spirits. The pilgrims are called Ohenrosan ("O" being an honorific, "Henro" being the pilgrim, and "san" a title like Mr./Ms./Mrs.). The long trip was traditionally made on foot but today people are using vehicles to do it quicker.

It is a belief held in Japan that the 42nd year (41 years old) for men and the 32nd year (31 years old) for women is a bad year. A Shikoku pilgrimage is a way for people to try to minimize the bad spirits that they have at those ages. Being currently in my 42nd year, this was a great opportunity to make my own pilgrimage! Unfortunately, I was on a bus tour where I couldn't dictate to stop at each temple so I had to make due as I could.

Here's an old photo that I found on the internet that shows some Henro:

The whole pilgrimage is steeped in tradition. From the outfit that is worn to what you do at each temple is set. For example, on the trip around the island you'll see many Henro walking to the next temple along the road. You can spot them easily due to their white clothes, straw hats (sugegasa), walking sticks, and bags. This illustration shows the traditional outfit, which is still commonly used today:


Pilgrimages are not just made by men and women of a set age. You'll see all types of people out walking. All are doing it for different reasons but some common ones are when someone wants a special wish granted, good luck in a new venture, a change of fortune, and so on. Also, the clothes that people choose to wear can be flexible too. I found this picture showing the variety of people and clothes that you might see (maybe the guy on the right is from the U.S. as we're the only ones who wear shorts when traveling???):


Along with the clothes, the ritual that is performed at each temple, tradition says, must be done exactly the same. If, for example, you buy a candle and donate 100 yen at the first, you must repeat this at each temple you visit. As I mentioned, I was on a bus that wasn't stopping at each temple so I had to do what I could. :-) Each time the guide told us we were passing one of the temples, I did a small, seated bow and waved my right hand towards the temple. I'm not sure if this will qualify for completing the pilgrimage but I figure it can't hurt.

Oh yeah, I (sorta') did the Shikoku Henro Pilgrimage and I DID get the shirt! Are you jealous yet?

Shikoku Bus Tour

Hmm... Organized bus tours... I'd say they're really not my cup of tea...but...here I was on a bus with 45 Japanese people taking a four-day, 900-plus-mile (1500km) tour. The tour bus left from Osaka and set out to drive the perimeter of Shikoku island (shown in pink), which is a large island west, southwest of Osaka:


It was interesting to be with the large group for a few days. I managed to get some laughs out of them several times during the trip just by being the goofy foreign guy. Here's the group at one of our first stops. Note the guide/leader with the flag at the front of the line:


Shikoku means "four countries" (they were formerly independent kingdoms but are now prefectures) and is the smallest and least populated of the four main Japanese islands. It's probably best known in Japan for its famous 88-temple pilgrimage, which I'll write about in my next post. As with a lot of the coastline of Japan that I've seen (that isn't port), Shikoku had lots of pretty beaches and great views. The bus stopped at several over the course of the trip. Of all the pictures I took of the beaches, I ended up liking this one of a small island with the Torii gate. Very peaceful and very relaxing.


Towards the end of the first day, we stopped in Aki, which has several famous folks counted among it's current and former residents. This is the house where Yataro Iwasaki grew up. He was the founder of the company that eventually became the Mitsubishi Group.


The morning of day two found us visiting a Ryoma Sakamoto statue in Kochi. Ryoma is a interesting and impressive guy. To a great extent, he was responsible in the mid-1800s for the push to modernize Japan away from its feudal past. Ryoma's also credited with being the mentor of Iwasaki (above) while the two lived in Nagasaki as well as being the first Japanese person (along with his wife) to go on a honeymoon. He's pretty much everywhere in Japan right now (especially in Shikoku, Nagasaki, and Kyoto where he lived for at least a little while) partially due to a current, super-popular TV series. I have a few pictures of me behind various Ryoma cardboard cut outs (the ones where you stick your face through a hole where the character's face should be). In a more respectable way, here I am in front of the statue:


Later, during the second day, we stopped for a boat ride on the Shimanto river, which is the longest river in Shikoku. The river apparently periodically floods so they've built many of the bridges that cross it with no railings to reduce the likelihood that they'll wash away. It was interesting, to say the least, to watch cars drive across them. The boat guide/driver was full of old-guy jokes and the brief ride ended up being fun. Here are some of my bus mates on the boat:


Our next-to-last stop on day two was in Ashizuri, which is famous for another native son. In 1841, a fisherman was shipwrecked near the area and a passing American whaling ship picked him up. The man, who was later known as John Manjiro, became the first Japanese person to visit America. He lived there for about ten years eventually returning during Japan's closed period when doing so resulted in death. Manjiro not only was spared execution on his return but ended up serving as the official translator (as the only Japanese person who also spoke English) when Admiral Perry's black ships forced Japan to open itself up to the world.

We stopped at this underwater viewing spot. You pay about $5 U.S. to enter then walk down about 40 steps to look out at some local fish while the staff feeds them from above. It's not super exciting but it was definitely different. By the way, it's a pretty strange looking thing (the building too):


Day three's stops included one at a mountain-top wind farm that had some nice ocean views. I've been to other wind farms but the sound the blades make as they spin is always surprising.


The afternoon stop was in Uchiko town, which is located towards the western end of Shikoku. It used to be a wealthy town that was famous for wax and paper manufacturing. The main street has been preserved to look as it did during the town's peak about 100 years ago.


I came across this poster for kid's sumo wrestling, which I thought was funny and cute:


Near the old area of Uchiko is this large statue of a sleeping buddha, which, apparently, appears on no tourist information about the town, including the English map that I picked up. The perspective of this photo doesn't really show you how big the statue is. My guess is that his feet alone are about four-feet long. It's pretty big...


Our last day was spent mostly driving across northern Shikoku back to Osaka. The highlight of the day (and one of the highlights of the trip) was a visit to the Konpira shrine. This beautifully located shrine is on a forested hill at the end of the approximately 1,800 steps that it takes to reach. It's quite a hike and I noticed that only the heartiest of the bus group made the trek to the top. Here's the view not too far from the top:


The bus tour ended up being lots of fun even though I really couldn't understand most of what was said by the guide. It was definitely a great chance to spend some time with some locals and see a part of Japan that I probably wouldn't have ever gotten to see otherwise.

Fiesta Mexicana - Osaka

Yes, that title is correct. I attended a honest-to-goodness Mexican fiesta right here in the heart of Osaka, Japan. When I heard about the event I thought for about 0.2 seconds before I decided that I needed to go. Up to this point I had only seen two things in my life that combined Mexico and Japan. The first was a Mexican-Japanese taco shop in Santa Ana, California where you could buy a chicken-teriyaki burrito. The other is my friend Enrique who is Mexican-American, spent some time in Osaka as a college student, and speaks Japanese. He liked the combination so much that he even went so far as to get a Japanese wife so that he could make a few Mexi-Japanese kids. :-)

The fiesta was pretty standard fare. They had a stage set up at one end where folklorico dancing and live music was taking place:


At the back end of the seating area were some food stands that were run by a couple of local Mexican restaurants. This one was called Tacos El Nopal and was owned by a Mexican expat woman:


...and the menu:


As a reference, tacos cost about $5 U.S. (4 euros) and burritos were about $8.50 U.S. (7 euros). In other words, expensive like pretty much everything in Japan but definitely worth the money as the green salsa they had was incredible. I definitely want to go check out the restaurant now.

The event was held in the central plaza of the Umeda Sky Building, which itself is a local landmark that I had wanted to visit. The buildings have a cool roof-top observation deck and tube-shaped escalators between the two towers. Here's a shot from the ground:


This is a shot I took from inside the escalator tube looking towards the other tube and the ground. It's kinda' hard to show in the photo how cool it feels to be riding up an escalator between two buildings while being so high off the ground.


The view from the roof-top deck is awesome. Since the building is one of the tallest in Osaka, you can see pretty much everything in the area. This is the view towards the direction where I'm living. If you want to get really detailed, I'm living about two blocks from the tan building just to the left of and way behind the building with the domed/curved roofs that's just in the center of the photo. Good luck...


The highlight of the event was the performance by a (small) mariachi band from Mexico. They played a couple of the classics like Cielito Lindo. Every time I see mariachis live I hope that they play Mariachi Loco, which is my favorite. These guys delivered for me! Here they are during "my" song:


What can I say? Yep. Pretty strange combo for sure but definitely a fun day. Mariachi loco quiere bailar! マリアッチ・ロコ・キエレ・バイラー!!!

Nara Japan

Kyoto might be the more famous historical city near Osaka (especially because of the climate treaty that was signed here a few years ago) but Nara, which is another city located about one hour away, is also a definite must-visit place. It was the location of the first permanent capital of Japan and is currently celebrating the 1300th (!!!) anniversary of the establishment of the capital. There's a lot of excitement about Nara in Japan right now so I decided to take a day trip and check it out.

The highlights of the area are Nara Park and Naramachi, both of which I visited with a guide. I've actually become a fan of using local tour guides, especially in places where I am unable to speak the language, because I end up getting a lot more out of the visit. In this particular case, I got really lucky and ended up being the only person taking the tour that day. I had the guide all to myself!!!

Our first stop was Nara Park, which is a large public park that contains a whole bunch of historical and religious sites. My guide did a great job explaining to me the difference between the two major religions of Japan while we were there. The two are Buddhism and Shinto and they coexist and sometimes overlap all over Japan. As far as super-high-level (for site-seeing) purposes, all the temples you visit are Buddhist and all the shrines are Shinto. You can tell if its a shrine or a temple by the presence of a Torii gate like this one, which indicates the presence of a Shinto shrine:


If you zoom in on the above photo, you'll see a ton of lanterns lining the sides of the path. My guide said that there are something 1800 or so in the park and that in the past people would go around and light them all but I guess they only do that a couple of times a year now.

All over Japan at the shrines are places where people hang wishes that they've written out. They are called "Ema" and I particularly liked this one that is for lovers who are hoping for good luck with their relationships.


This next photo is here just because I thought it was a great contrast between the red wood of the shrine on the left and the natural wood and screens on the right. If you look on the left side, you'll see some of the probably 200 or so lamps that are hanging. They are the same as those hanging between the buildings.


Next on the tour was a visit to what is the highlight of Nara Park, the Todai temple. To get there, you walk through this gate, which itself is huge:


The gate has giant wooden guardians, one on each side. They're there to protect the entrance. Oh, yeah, that's a deer walking through the gate. More on that later...


The Todai is a Buddhist temple that is the largest wooden building in the world. It's a beautiful and impressive structure. (The scaffolding on the left side, which isn't normally there, is part of the setup for a special event that was going to take place.)


Here's a shot of our aimless world traveler in front of the temple. To give the building some scale, the walkway that I'm standing on is the same width as the two gold "horns" that are on the top of the building. Yeah, it's BIG!


Inside the world's largest wooden building can be found the world's largest bronze statue of the Buddha. The ears of the statue are over eight feet (2.5m) tall! The whole place is just massive and it's really difficult to grasp the scale while you're there since everything inside is so big.


I loved this next thing. One of the columns that holds up the roof of the temple has a hole cut in it. Legend says that if you can pass your body through it you can become enlightened. I think the idea is that if you're a child (or perhaps just small???) that it is easier for you to become enlightened. Yes, I tried to get through it. I was unable to do it as I'm an average sized guy and not particularly flexible. My guide did say something that made me happy though. When I said that I wasn't able to do it he told me "the important thing is that you tried". I want to be more like that.


Did I mention the deer? There's tons of them in the park area and they're super people friendly. They hang out right near food and drink stands all day waiting for people to feed them "deer biscuits" that the stands sell. The story goes that one of the gods arrived on a white deer and ever since they've been treated like heavenly animals. The funniest thing is that the deer actually bow to you if you bow to them. It's an amazing sight.


My guide and I left Nara Park and went for a quick visit to the roof of the local prefecture office located about a block away. The roof-top viewing area is open to the public and apparently unknown by anyone that isn't a local. You have a full 360-degree view of Nara. Here's a shot of the towards the five-story pagoda:

The pagoda is "modern" take on the original burial place of the Buddha. It takes some explanation to see the relevant features but they're there. This is a close-up of the Goju-No-To (five-storied) pagaoda:


Another block away we took a quick break at the Yoshikien Gardens. This garden is free to foreign visitors, has three types of Japanese gardens, and is very beautiful. Here's a shot from a hill inside:

The last part of the tour was a walk through the Naramachi, which means Nara Town. It's basically the "old town" area of Nara and it has lots of historical buildings like this old pharmacy:


In Naramachi, we went to a Machiya, which is sort of an industrial townhouse (the original live-work loft?) constructed from wood that were used by craftsmen as both their home and and place of business. Evidence of these types of houses goes back almost 1000 years. Because taxes were assessed based on street-frontage width, they tended to be long and narrow. The first floor has a kitchen, a business-style office, a garden area, and a detached back building/room that served as the workshop and/or storage area. Bedrooms and other private rooms were located upstairs. This is the view from the garden area out towards the street:


The final thing I wanted to share was this photo of something that was hanging outside of quite a few houses in the area. My guide told me that each of the rounded things represents a different member of the household. It reminds me the stickers that people put on the back of their cars (at least in southern California) that show each member of the family. They are something that the family likes and I've seen Disney ones, surfboards, and even flip flops. I'm thinking that these are there for some sort of protection or something.

I had a great day visiting Nara and I think a big part of it was my guide Ken. If you find yourself in Nara one day, you should take one of their tours. Thanks Ken!