Izu Oshima in Tokyo Bay

On Friday the 28th of September, I had to get up at 5am in order to catch the hydrofoil ferry from Takeshiba Sanbashi in Tokyo to Izu Oshima. I've no idea the last time I dragged myself out of bed at such an early time.

Neil and I got a 6am train which was still fairly quiet as we were travelling just before rush hour. Once we reached Hamamatsucho station, it was just a short walk to the ferry terminal. We bought our tickets and loitered until we were able to board the hydrofoil.

We discovered that the boat was quite cramped and that we had to sit on aircraft style seats. Comfort had obviously been sacrificed for speed. However our enthusiasm was undimmed and we were in good spirits in anticipation of an exciting day ahead in what promised to be beautiful weather.

I always love travelling by ship, and Saturday was no exception. Tokyo Bay is always fascinating to observe, from the varied waterfront to the busy sea traffic. I never cease to be amazed at the size of the cargo ships which ferry products to and from Japan. To add an extra little bit of interest, the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) also had a number of ships at sea. The only slight disappointment of the crossing was the lack of any real perception of speed. Although the hydrofoil must have been travelling very quickly, the sensation of speed was little different from that of a conventional ferry. I always have something to complain about.We arrived on Izu Oshima at about 9.30am. I was under the impression that we were going to disembark at a port called Motomachi but it turned out that we docked at the port of Okata, a much smaller village. This error had grave implications later in the evening.

Upon arrival, I spoke to the tourist information man and asked him to arrange accommodation for Neil and I. He booked us into a minshuku called Asami Kan and the proprietor kindly collected us in a small bus a short time later. The driver / owner seemed slightly surly at first but warmed up considerably when I went through my repertoire of Japanese phrases. When we arrived, our initial reaction was that the place was a little spartan but cost ¥6,800 per person per night. We thought this was a little expensive but the cost was tempered by the fact that both dinner and breakfast were included in the price. Fair enough.

After checking in, we hired bicycles and decided to cycle the coastal road around the island. It was about a 50km cycle and we had a full day to complete the ride. The weather was gorgeous and I was really happy to get on the saddle again and have the chance to exercise again in the countryside. The mountain bikes looked in good condition when the minshuku owner presented them to us, but we were quick to discover that they had seen better days. My bike had the habit of slipping gears, especially when going up hill - I was expecting to crush my kegs on the crossbar at any moment. Neil's bike had the even more annoying habit of shedding its chain. He had to perform regular stops to put the chain back on his bike and spent most of the day with oil on his hands. Added to those inconveniences, every time we peddled, it sounded like we were stirring a pot full of nuts and bolts.During the early part of our cycle, we attracted the attention of a carload of young people who would shout encouragement to us as they drove past us. They seemed friendly enough and gave me a big cheer when I gave them my best Royal Navy salute.

Despite the niggles with the bikes, we both loved the cycle. There were some great views, lovely beaches (with black volcanic sand), interesting people, and some challenging hills to climb. One of the hills took us a couple of hours to climb, but the cycle back down was ample compensation. The temperature was about 32C and Neil and I were both sunburnt when we returned to the minshuku for dinner, but not before we treated ourselves to an ice cold can of beer from a shop towards the end of our ride. Perfect!!!As should be expected in Japan, dinner and breakfast consisted mostly of fish. I really dislike fish but Neil managed to eat a fair amount. I confined myself to the rice, miso soup, tempura, and vegetables that were on offer and then had some Cup Noodles later that night. I think the owners were slightly disappointed that I left so much but I really do not like fish. It would be more accurate to say that I detest fish.

The biggest problem of the evening was that we had nothing to do. The town of Okata has nowhere to socialise or eat out, as we soon discovered after stumbling around in the dark for 45 minutes. We were forced to empty the beer vending machine at the minshuku and also bought a small carry out at one of the local shops. As we were not keen to spend the whole evening confined to our room, we sat on the front doorstep of the minshuku for a few hours and talked about old times, mostly about former friends and teachers at Portree High School.

It would have been much better if we had stayed in a town called Motomachi as we would have had a couple of places to dine and drink in the evening.

After sitting on the doorstep, we returned to our tatami room to drink our remaining stocks of beer and wine. We were unpleasantly surprised by the number of cockroaches in our room!! Every building on the island had cockroaches in them and I can only assume that this is a common and unsolvable problem on the island.

The next morning (Saturday), we went for breakfast at 8.30 and hired bikes again for a short 6km cycle to Motomachi. The temperature had plummeted to 16C and it was drizzling. The drizzle felt great on my sunburnt arms. We got a bit wet cycling around the town, but we eventually found a public onsen where we could have a good bath and put on some dry clothes. After that, we sat in a large tatami room and drank coffee, read, slept, and I even made a few notes for this blog. What a good blogger I am! I spotted a couple of cockroaches running around but by that time, I had become used to them.

Neil found his introduction to Japanese communal bathing a little unsettling and he wanted to get into the bath with his swimming trunks on. I told him that this would not be the done thing and he reluctantly shed the trunks and made his way to the bath. The onsen felt lovely and relaxing but I had to keep my sunburnt arms out of the water as they were starting to get really sore.

We cycled back to the onsen in our wet clothes as it was still drizzling. Once back, we changed and the minshuku owner drove us back to Okata for the return journey to Tokyo. When we checked out, I was pleasantly surprised to be given an itemised bill, rare in Japan. We could easily confirm that all the amounts charged to us were correct. Often in Japan, especially in bars, you receive a bit of paper with the final amount written on it. This system is often abused by unscrupulous owners who calculate the amount by choosing the first random number which appears in their head. The only rule required in the calculation is that the final figure should be more than the actual amount owed. I am surprised that I have never mentioned this in the blog before because it is something which happens often and continues to grate. It's theft, plain and simple.

Anyway, we had a fantastic time on the island and I was happy to see another part of Japan. We didn't visit one of the islands main attractions, the volcano called Mount Mihara. I'll see the volcano next time - we had no desire to cycle to the top after our 50km round trip.

We returned to Tokyo and Neil spent the remainder of his holiday sightseeing in Tokyo and drinking beer with myself in my local bar called Bo Jangles. Neil returned to Scotland on the 3rd of October, after a last minute rush to Narita Airport. He thought he was due to leave on Thursday night, but discovered at 5pm on Wednesday that he was leaving that same night at 10pm. It was great to see him again and I hope he returns many more times in future. A slideshow of Neil's holiday can be found by clicking on the link.

1986

I thought I'd add a picture of my PE class when I was in 1st year at Portree High School. Can you find me in the picture?

Neil in Japan

My friend from the Isle of Skye, Neil Souter, arrived in Japan on the 21st of September. It's been great to catch up again. Neil and I are no strangers to drinking beer and so far, we have been out every night. Carnage! We are planning to visit Izu Oshima tomorrow (Friday 21st Sept) and stay there overnight in a Japanese style ryokan. More updates to follow.

France 0 - 1 Scotland

Nothing to do with my life in Japan, but I have been totally inspired by the Scottish performance against the French last night in Paris. Not so long ago, Scottish football was in dire straights. Now we find ourselves at the top of our group with 3 games left!!!! Who would have thought it at the start of the Euro 2008 campaign??!!??

I woke up this morning in a grumpy mood and gingerly walked to the computer to see how Scotland got on against the French (World Cup runners up). Looking through the cracks in my fingers, it began to dawn on me that we didn't lose by 2 or 3, we actually WON again! I've been over the moon for the whole day and now I'm just about heading to my local for a couple of beers to belatedly celebrate the win.

Qualification is still a tall order but some pride has been restored to the Scottish game. Fantastic!!!

P.S. This clip says 40yrds. I think it was a wee bit more.

The Wedding

The main reason for my return to Shimogo was to attend the wedding of Fuminori, a former colleague. The wedding was held in a city called Aizu Wakamatsu on Sunday the 2nd of September. I met up with former colleagues from the local government at 10.30am outside the town office. A small bus had been arranged to transport about 10 people to the wedding in Aizu Wakamatsu. As usual, things were organised to perfection. The bus was well stocked with beer, wine, and a selection of snacks. Although I had had a large breakfast shortly before, the thought of another beer at 10.30 in the morning was initially an unappetising prospect. However, I soon got back into the swing of things and even managed a cup of wine before the journey to Aizu Wakamatsu had come to an end.

Once we arrived at the wedding chapel, I had to rush to get changed into my kilt as the wedding was about to begin. I was then told that the start time had been pushed back by 30 minutes. I have a sneaking suspicion that I was the reason for the delay. I should have changed before I caught the bus but I thought there would be plenty of time before the wedding began. In the end, I managed to put the kilt and accompaniments on, but did not have time to flatten my hair and so spent the whole day looking like I had just woken up.

The ceremony was very similar to a British ceremony. The only difference was that there was a short slide show before it began with pictures of both Fuminori and Chihiro. Once the ceremony had ended, all the guests made their way outside to wait for the couple to descend the steps from the wedding chapel. This was a perfect opportunity to throw some confetti and take a few photographs.
As usual, things ran like clockwork and it was obvious that many people had made a lot of effort to make the day a success. A portrait of the happy couple had been painted, a pamphlet titled 'Fumi' had been produced with a selection of photos and stories about Fuminori and Chihiro, and the local fire brigade (of which Fuminori is a member) put on a comical show for the benefits of the wedding guests. I was surprised when the fire brigade leader made a beeline for my seat during the meal and required me to salute him twice before commencing their routine. He was screaming parade-ground-like in front of me with about 180 celebrants looking on. Thank God I returned his salutes or I got the feeling he would never have left me alone. I always enjoy Japanese weddings as every one is different. British weddings seem stuffy by comparison and they all eventually seem to blend into one. Japanese weddings are always filled with a bit of comedy, and this was no different. I even went to a wedding about 4 years ago in Tokyo where the bride and groom used a light sabre to cut the wedding cake to the Star Wars theme tune playing through massive speakers.

It is usual in Japan for the bride to change into a kimono after the wedding ceremony. The red kimono stood out vividly. The mothers of the bride and groom always wear black kimonos, decorated with a number of traditional Japanese scenes. Very classy.

After the wedding, in true Japanese style, there was a second party. The second party was held in an Italian restaurant, close to where the wedding was held. I had a good laugh catching up with everyone, although by that time, I was feeling quite ropey after 3 days of drinking. I decided to 'decorate' the toilet before heading back to my hotel room at 8pm. Congratulations to Fuminori and Chihiro!!

Shimogo - A Return

Last week, I headed up to Fukushima Prefecture for the wedding of a former colleague. I decided that it would be a good idea to spend a couple of days in Shimogo to catch up with some old friends. On Friday (31st August) I met up with Satoshi, Nozomi, and Matthew (my replacement) in Wakatsuki, my favourite restaurant. It was great to catch up again and and after a good dose of beer, I left at 2am for a drunken stagger through the rice fields back to the inn where I was staying.It was a good feeling to be back in Shimogo but a little strange to return as a visitor. I roused myself the next morning at 8am and made an effort to look respectable before I headed down for breakfast. I wasn't at my best because of the previous evenings activities and only managed to consume a bowl of miso soup, some rice, and a cup of green tea. I think the woman who owns the inn was concerned that the Japanese fare was unpalatable to the western tongue. After breakfast, I went upstairs to my room to close my eyes for a couple of minutes and woke up again after midday.
Embarrassed at my slothfulness, I sneaked downstairs to the shower room to freshen up. Feeling half human again, I left the shower room and hoped to sneak unnoticed back to my room. Unfortunately, when I emerged into the corridor dripping and wearing my yukata, I stumbled into a wake which had just started. I couldn't imagine being in a more conspicuous situation. A tall gaijin, dripping, wearing a yukata, standing amongst a crowd of black suited, mourning Japanese.

After my escape from the wake, my friend Satoshi and I went to Doronko for lunch and coffee. Satoshi then kindly drove me around Shimogo and gave me the opportunity to take a trip down memory lane. It was a beautiful day and I really wanted to be able to hop on my bike and escape into the mountains. The rice fields were lush and the flowers around Shimogo were all in full bloom. I found myself wondering if we made a mistake moving to Tokyo. Probably not, but it is a close one to call.

At 6pm, I walked back to Wakatsuki to meet up with Tomo, the local doctor. Tomo mailed me the previous week and asked me if I wanted to eat bear meat. At the time, I thought he was joking. When a plate of meat cooked with beansprouts turned up, I assumed it was beef or pork and started to eat. I was taken aback to discover that it was actually bear that I was eating. I can now add it to the list of strange / exotic food that I have eaten in Japan.

1. Bear
2. Minke whale
3. Fugu (Pufferfish)
4. Jellyfish
5. Raw horse meat

and probably a lot more.

It was good to meet Tomo and Nari (his brother) again. I was impressed with the number of beers that Tomo managed to drink. I probably drank less as I was still feeling rough from the previous night. Another drunken stagger through the rice fields followed and I got back to my room at about 1am. I decided to skip breakfast the next morning but the woman called my room and insisted I go downstairs to the breakfast room. It seems that my lack of appetite the previous morning had spurred them into making a real attempt at serving me a Western style breakfast. Twinnings tea, two fried eggs, sausages, bacon, toast, and yoghurt. Bloody fantastic!!!! It was so kind of them to make the effort, and another reminder of some of the things we left behind in Shimogo. The icing on the cake was when I checked out and received a 20% discount. It is next to impossible to receive that level of kindness in Tokyo, but par for the course in Shimogo.

A nice return to Shimogo and I still had a wedding in Aizu Wakamatsu to look forward to.

The Sweaty Oyabaka

I realise that I have been a bit quiet of late in the Blogosphere. I have been keeping my head down and and getting on with work. Over the last week or so, the temperatures have ranged between 35C and 40C. Too hot to do anything! I have discovered that I have ISBS (Instantaneous Sweaty Back Syndrome). As soon as I step from my home, place of work, or the train, valves in my back automatically open up and release a constant stream of sweat that tickles as it trickles down my back. Although I cannot be classed as obese, over the last week or so, I have noticed a definite contraction in my waistline - a result of sweating buckets of sweat every day and probably my regular visits to the swimming pool.

Anyway, the main purpose of this posting is to boast about Clara (again). I am often concerned that Clara will fall behind her peers in Scotland in terms of English ability. I often think her exposure to English is too limited as I am the only person she talks to in English on a regular basis. Therefore, to help her keep up, we try and buy her English DVDs eg. The Tweenies, Dora the Explorer, Tiny Planets etc. Yesterday, I decided it was time to sit down with her and coerce her into reading to me. I chose the Wizard of Oz but thought it was far too ambitious (43 pages with some challenging words) and I envisioned her trying to tackle the first couple of pages needing a great deal of help from Dad. Yuki and I were both amazed when she picked up the book and read it from cover to cover with a limited number of mistakes. Not bad for a 6 year old who has spent most of her childhood in Japan with a limited exposure to English! I hope I do not seem like I am boasting too much, but we were amazed that Clara could read so well. I'm not totally sure how she could do it but I guess it must be the result of frequent bedtime stories and her supply of DVDs which often encourage children to read the words on the screen. It goes to show that if parents spend just a small amount of time with their kids, these kids are able to take what is taught and then use this information to independently learn more. Clara was given the foundation and she has built on it. This experience has made me realise just how important it is to provide education to your own kids. If kids are taught at home, school can be a place for revision and reinforcement.

I will be asking my parents to bring some books with them when they visit Japan in October. Oyabaka in Japanese means a parent who boasts or talks up their childrens' achievements. Guilty as charged.

Bo Jangles and Budvar

Sorry for the delay in posting an update. As previously mentioned, it has been a busy period in Tokyo and free time has been at a premium. However, my schedule will become a lot clearer over the next couple of weeks so hopefully I will have more time to update the blog on a more regular basis.

Yesterday and today have been hot and humid and sleep is hard to come by at the moment. We're leaving the air conditioner switched on tonight so that should make the night a bit more bearable.Today was 35C! Temperatures should hover around the 30C level until the middle of September.I had a good day yesterday which means I have a hangover today. I bumped into a couple of Aizu JETs (Sean and Emily) in Shinjuku (Tokyo) yesterday by sheer chance which was a nice surprise. It turns out that Sean has finished work and returning to the USA for good. It was nice to have the unexpected chance to say goodbye. It was a big coincidence as the Tokyo agglomeration has a population of about 35,000,000 people (according to the United Nations website I have just looked at). This was not the biggest coincidental meeting I have had in Tokyo, however. A couple of years ago when I was at the famous Asakusa shrine in Tokyo, I bumped into an old friend called Ed Campbell who used to sit next to me in my geology class at Aberdeen University. That was freaky!!

Last night I went to my regular watering hole called Bo Jangles. The heat had driven me there and forced me to consume a quantity of cold beer. It was a slightly sad night as it was the last time I would be able to drink Budvar, my favourite lager. Budvar is no longer imported into Japan which means I need to select another brew from next week. As you can see from the beer menu, Bo Jangles has a good selection of world beer (with about 6 chosen by myself).

The picture above shows Akinori, the bar owner, and another customer whose name I do not know. The customer is a total piss head and spends most of his time asleep with his head on the counter. He occasionally tries to communicate with me but anything he utters is total gibberish. I can communicate fairly well in Japanese or English with the other customers, but have had no success deciphering what he is trying to say. I think most of the other customers have the same problem.

Anyway, that's all the updates I'm giving you for now. We've all joined the local gym so I may do a small blog on that in the near future. Cheers.

Typhoon

It has been a very busy and hectic couple of weeks. Work, work, and more work. Fortunately, Monday is a national holiday in Japan (Marine Day) which means I'll spend an extra day sitting around the house doing nothing. The reason that I will be sitting in the house is that typhoon Man-Yi is expected to hit Tokyo tonight and bring high winds and heavy rain.

The weather in Tokyo has been strangely cool so far and I am hoping that this will continue. Clara has now started swimming lessons at the local gym and Yuki and I will join at the end of the month. I can't wait to do some exercise again. The last exercise I did was in Shimogo in March so I will probably take it easy to begin with. I have also applied to do the 2008 Tokyo Marathon but I have only a 25% chance of being accepted as it is always oversubscribed. I am secretly hoping that my application will be rejected as I don't have any time to train for it.

Lake Kawaguchi

On Saturday morning (yesterday), we packed ourselves and all our accouterments into the car and headed off to Lake Kawaguchi for the night. We have all been busy recently and the thought of escaping Tokyo for a while was very appealing. The next two weeks will also prove to be hectic, but I am hoping all the positive energy accrued over this weekend will push me over the finish line.

Lake Kawaguchi is about 2 hours drive from Tokyo - well within my patience threshold. We were excited about leaving the rat race and the heat of Tokyo behind. Temperatures in Tokyo have hovered around 30C for the past week and the commute to and from work is not becoming any easier. Because of varying factors, Lake Kawaguchi is considerably cooler than Tokyo. Temperatures hovered around a very comfortable 22C.

We booked in to the Fit Resort Club at about 3pm on Saturday and got settled into our room. Clara was badgering me to go swimming so we went down to the pool soon after our arrival and had a pleasant swim. In the evening, we all headed to a nearby yakiniku restaurant where I ate the equivalent of two cows and drank the equivalent of two Olympic sized swimming pools of beer. Upon returning to our room, Clara was dispatched off to bed, while we all stayed up and chatted.

Clara woke me up this morning at about 7am and made me get organised for breakfast. By 9am, I was sufficiently fortified to be coerced back into the swimming pool by Clara. We were really lucky to have the whole pool to ourselves as all the other guests at the resort seemed to have disappeared. Clara and I really enjoyed our swim and were in the pool for nearly two hours. We had also brought our tennis racquets but did not have enough time to play on this visit. Next time.

After out departure from the resort, we drove around Lake Kawaguchi. We had a local speciality called Hoto for lunch and then Clara selected me to take the helm of a pink pedalo for 15 minutes. Clara started to cry when I started showing her my repertoire of pedalo tricks but I eventually managed to stem the flow of tears by reverting to conventional navigation and propulsion techniques. After I had regained Clara's trust and respect, she started calling me Captain.

I was hoping to get some pictures of Mount Fuji standing over Lake Kawaguchi but the weather did not cooperate. Despite that minor disappointment, we all had an excellent weekend which should give me a good boost for the coming week.

JBIC

After a great deal of delay and deliberation, I have finally accepted another teaching job. When we moved from Fukushima to Tokyo, my aim was to secure another investment bank job in a similar vein to my previous jobs at Citibank and Deutsche Bank. However, my next investment bank position has proved elusive and so I realised I would have to continue with teaching for the time being.

It appears that I have found a very good compromise. I am now working in the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) in Tokyo, close to the Imperial Palace. The job suits me down to the ground at the moment. I am teaching business English about 30 students who are recent graduates from the best universities in Japan. Some of the courses I am teaching include Finance and Market News, Negotiation Skills, and Business Case Studies.

The job so far has proved fascinating. Not only do I get to meet a group of highly intelligent people, but I am also able to learn a lot about JBIC and its role on the world stage. JBIC is involved in a number of projects in developing countries such as Nepal, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, and the Philippines to name a few. I have been very interested to hear about the current projects in these countries and to have been involved in some frank discussions on how beneficial OCAs (Overseas Credit Agencies) are to developing nations.

So for the time being, I have found a job which is giving me a bit of satisfaction. Since our move to Tokyo, I have turned down a number of JHS and SHS jobs as I really was looking for a new challenge. I was beginning to wonder if something suitable would comes along, but my patience has been rewarded. The classes at JBIC can be extremely demanding and tiring, but they have proved rewarding.

The biggest issue I have at the moment is the commute from my apartment in Kumegawa to the bank in Takebashi. It takes about 1 hour door to door and involves me changing to the underground (Tozai Line) mid way through my journey. I had steeled myself for the commute, but I was still alarmed at the number of people who manage to squeeze into a railway carriage. It's truly an awful experience and is absolute torture to do on a daily basis. My guestimate is that about 500 people squeeze onto my carriage every morning. It is possible that the number is higher. Manners do not exist at rush hour in Tokyo. Everyone pushes and fights for the slightest bit of space. One middle aged woman elbowed me in the stomach as she tried to jostle me out of my position and away from my bag resting on a luggage rack. I was pretty shocked and taken aback at the time and ceded position. Next time it happens I have decided to push back and fight my corner. No quarter is asked for and none will be given. I can't imagine what the carriage will feel like when the temperatures rise into the 30s.

Sports Day

It is June already (!!!) and time for Clara's first Sports Day at Higashi Hagiyama Elementary School.

Of course, in true Japanese style, a lot of effort was put into organising the event and if an alien from outer space (as opposed to one from Scotland) had landed for a split second, he would have been suitably impressed. All the students were dressed perfectly and had equally impressive behaviour. The timetable of events ran to the minute. The events themselves were choreographed perfectly. The students cheered and jumped in unison when their team won an event.

However, for all the positive impressions, somehow it just did not feel right. Perhaps I'm just being my usual Calvinistic self but the fun element was hard to find. Anyway, arriving at the school on Saturday morning, I became slightly irked when I tried to park my mountain bike. One volunteer in charge of bicycle parking found it slightly unsettling that my mountain bike did not have a stand on it. Therefore, instead of it resting on a stand (for the purposes of conformity), I had to prop it against a wall. No big deal to most people I should think but it seemed to have caused a major international incident. I left my bike propped up against the wall whilst the qualified bicycle parkers called an emergency plenary meeting of the United Nations.

Clara did not seem to be very excited about Sports Day and she hardly mentioned it in the days before the event. She seemed disinterested about the whole event before, during, and after. I can totally understand her feelings. Sure the event was very well organised and visually impressive at times, but every aspect was controlled with military precision and nothing was left to chance. The result? No spontaneity and little in the way of fun for the students. Every student followed the rules of the group and expressions of individuality were nowhere to be found.

The real competition was occurring off the field. Dads turned up and joined the Who's Got the Biggest Zoom Lens Competition, mothers joined the Who's Got the Most Impressive Bento Box Competition, and other family members joined the Let's Grab the Best Seat at the Front Competition. The Let's Grab the Best Seat at the Front Competition involves people arriving at the school from about 5am with plastic matting to ensure they get a prime view of events from the edge of the sports field.

All the events on show were team events. We were treated to marching, dancing, relays, singing, and a display where teams of students made human pyramids up to a height of about 3m. I was sitting watching the pyramid building events with interest and some degree of trepidation. If the students at the top of the wobbling pyramid had fallen off, there would have been potential for serious injury. I did not agree that it was worth risking injury for the students just so that the parents could get some kicks and the school can demonstrate what a good team of students they were literally building. As I was watching, I was silently debating whether I would let Clara participate in similar demonstrations when she's older. My concerns on safety were proved justified when one girl about 11 years old fell from the second tier as they were dismantling the pyramid. She seemed to land on the base of her spine and was grimacing in pain for some time after.

Injuries seem to happen a lot throughout students lives in Japanese schools. Training is taken to the extreme where pain is seen as a requirement, not as something you might experience occasionally through extreme effort. The theory is that if there's no pain, your're not training hard enough. The result of this extreme punishment are young bodies which have experienced a large number of injuries from an early age. I have a friend who works in a high school who has stated that it is not too uncommon for students to be turned down from some physical jobs because of injuries sustained at school. I also think this is another reason why Japan punches below its weight in international sporting competitions.I was pretty happy for the event to end and get back home to do things that might actually be descirbed as fun. However, my return home was delayed as it turned out that the Bicycle Police had moved my bike somewhere less offensive. After a couple of minutes, I found it entangled with other bikes at the foot of a stairway. We all got home eventually and discovered that Clara had some fairly uncomfortable sunburn on her legs as she and her classmates had been made to sit through all the events without any shade against the beating sun. Overall, I feel that the day was of more harm to Clara than good.

At least it will be another year before I have to witness another display of automatons being told exactly how to perform and how to have fun.

My next blog will perhaps be about my new working life in Tokyo. Commuting in packed and sweaty trains during the height of the summer fills me with dread.

Toilet Time

When people think of Japan, they think of Bullet Trains, advanced mobile phones, quality cars, and cutting edge flat screen TVs. Of course, all these products are amazing and worthy of the praise heaped upon them. However, when people visit Japan for the first time, the biggest impression for many is that of the modern Japanese toilet. Japan is unrivalled in the field of toilet technology. Even Madonna recently stated that one of the things she likes most about Japan is the heated toilet seats. For a fuller history of the Japanese toilet, please click on this link.

Traditional Japanese toilets are little more than holes in the ground. However, over the past few decades, Western style toilets have become more and more common and are replacing their Japanese counterparts. As with most things adopted from the West, Japan has reinvented the Western toilet and tailored it to their own needs.

I must admit that I was initially taken aback by the complexity of the Japanised Western style toilet. Our current model has a wall mounted control unit with 18 different buttons which covers the basic range of toilet functions, from bidet to blow drying. If you are really feeling ambitious, you can open the control panel cover to access the other buttons, bringing the number of buttons to use up to 33. It goes without saying that the toilet opens, closes, and flushes automatically using inbuilt sensors.

Toilets made by Toto, the largest Japanese toilet manufacturer, have recently been in the news for catching fire. However, you'll be glad to know that my buttocks are unburnt and I am in no need of a trip to the plastic surgeon.

Recent developments in the world of Japanese toilets include memory card slots that enable you to play your favourite music whilst going about your business. Anyway, for those readers in the US and Europe, don't be surprised to find yourself sitting on a Toto toilet soon as they have ambitious plans to explore new markets.