Kumamoto and Costco

Japan is a land of contrasts. In my JET interview, they asked me what my impressions of Japan were, and I answered that Japan seems like a very modern country (think the huge lit up signs of Tokyo, bullet trains, robot technology etc) with a long, traditional past (gardens, castles, shrines) and this past weekend cemented these two images in my mind.

On Saturday, Arthur, Brad and I took the train (not the bullet train) to Kumamoto, about an hour south of Kurume to see the lovely tourist-y sites the city has to offer. Unfortunately the cooler weather we had the first few days of the week didn't stay and the morning was really hot and humid, but we persevered and took in Kumamoto Castle (which was celebrating its 400th b-day, although the building you see today is actually a reconstruction. Details, details) the Former Hosokawa Gyobutei, which is an old samurai mansion just through a park and down the street from the castle, lunch at Skylark, which is sort of like a Japanese Denny's and the amazingly beautiful Suizenji Park before grabbing the train back to Kurume for dinner and bowling. It was a great day, and I really felt like I was in Japan, but it was also a really long day. I left my apartment around 9 AM and didn't get back until 11:30 or so. Phew. I did get some lovely photos though.

The natural river moat close to the castle.

Me striking the typical Japanese tourist pose at the castle.

Oh look, a Japanese tour group.

The view from the top of the castle. Not too shabby.

The samurai mansion's front gate and impecable rock garden. Arthur confessed to having the the same urge that I have when looking at the nicely raked rocks--let's mess them up! We were able to control ourselves on this particular ocasion.

One of several courtyards in the samurai mansion. We happened to be the only people visiting at the time, so it had a very serene atmosphere that I really liked. I wouldn't mind living there, except that the house went on forever, and I definitely wouldn't want to have to clean it. Even my apartment is too big when I have to clean it.

Suijenzi Park. The park was created to emulate the 53 stations along the old road from Tokyo to Kyoto, so everything was carefully simulated to look like the real thing. Mini Mount Fuji above. Some gorge below. I love that from this picture it could be several stories down to the water level, but no, those are miniature trees, and the water is probably about 5 feet below the bridge I was standing on.

Arthur and Brad hamming it up under the red torii infront of one of the two shrines in the park. The more red gates you walk under, the better luck you are supposed to have.

What Japanese garden is complete without GIGANTIC koi? We watched the koi for a long while after our loop of the garden and I tried to sneak them some cookie crumbs without anyone seeing.

The cute little trolley we used to get from place to place in Kumamoto. The stops of interest to tourists were the only ones announced in both Japanese and English, which made it pretty easy to know where to get off.




Japanese bowling shoes! Way more modern than the American versions, and surprisingly comfy too.
And of course, it's Japan so all the balls are color coded according to weight and can actually be found where they say they will be. Soooooo organized. We were about the only group at the lanes on a Saturday night that wasn't part of some league and the only group bowling well under 200 a game. I really wish the Japanese would embrace more casual sports. It makes it hard for a dabbler like me.

[Side note: this morning, I went to school to play volleyball with the teachers and the parents. It turned out there were 4 teams total, one of parents, one of teachers, and two of students. The parents that showed up to play were all part of some volleyball league, and won the tournament, surprise surprise. The 3rd year students came in second, and the teachers took third, but only because we were slightly more coordinated than the poor first year students who didn't win a single game. We played for almost 3 hours in the un-airconditioned gym before they fed us lunch and presented the parents team with an old dusty trophy. I came home, and promptly took a shower and a nap]


Sunday was a bit more restful, but included a venture to Costco of all places, which is about an hour away by car. Johnathan and Kendra were kind enough to invite Allison and I along with them to stock up on some "American" staples ("American" in parentheses b/c one of the things we all bought was tortillas). It was an "out-of-country" experience. Except for the aisle or two of Japanese products and slightly higher prices, the Costco was practically identical to the one I know so well at home in Scottsdale, including the SUV-sized shopping carts. They even had the food court with its delicious hot dogs and churros for a whopping total of 383 yen.

Allison and I made it out of there with a combined total of under $150 worth of stuff, which I thought was pretty good. We stocked up on some canned soup, canned beans, the aforementioned tortillas, some cheese, hummus!!!, and one of those flats of "bariety mafuins" (Japanese spelling) which we split. It was quite the adventure, and looking at the cart and the car we had, its a miracle it all got home, but it did just fine. I held the "mafuins" in my lap.