Eye on the prize (Gunma Prefecture 3 of 3)

Back in 2003, my mom came to visit me in Japan. Before she came, she asked my nephew what he wanted her to buy for him. With a smile on his face, he declared he wanted a daruma doll. When she told me that is what he wanted, I replied with a resounding "huh?"

I had no clue what a Daruma was, nor where to find one. After asking around, I learned that the famous good luck charm is one of the most well known folk rituals in Japan. The doll, most commonly red in color, but also available in other colors, is purchased without any eyes painted onto its face. The owner tells the doll their wish, dream, or goal, entrusting the doll with their hopes. Once the wish has been shared with the Daruma, the person then paints the left eye onto the doll. After the wish has been fulfilled, they paint the right eye on as well.

The doll helps people to focus on defining their goals, working toward achieving those goals, as well as appreciating the outcome. Daruma takes expression "having both eyes open" to a new level, as it is a common Japanese attitude of focusing on success and wholeness.

Since learning about Daruma, I have seen them everywhere. I just hadn't noticed the quirky little round dolls beforehand.

While exploring Gunma prefecture, we had some extra time. So, my husband asked if we wanted to go to Syorinzan Daruma-Ji, where Daruma were first carved around the year 1680 following a flood. The temple itself was quite beautiful, with several flowering cherry trees around the grounds.

There are several buildings throughout the property, and lots of stairs taking you from one to the next. At the top of all these stairs is the Reifudo, the main hall that houses heaps of Daruma, as well as a small Daruma Museum (which is actually just an incredible collection of Daruma dolls).

The mountains of red, with splashes of other colors, were impressive and fun to see.

Although I love going to temples (and shrines) in general, there was something special about this one. I could have spent a lot more time there, enjoying the scenery (there is a lovely view from the top of all those stairs), and feeling the sense of peace that was blowing through the trees.

Stopping here was the perfect way to end our little adventure in Gunma prefecture.

Cone what? (Gunma Prefecture 2 of 3)

When I moved to Japan in 2002 to teach English in Osaka, I knew next to nothing about daily life in Japan - especially the food! When I think back to my ignorance, I shake my head in wonder. I was young, energetic, and enthusiastic. I was not knowledgeable or, as my husband likes to say, living in reality.

I remember going to the grocery store and staring at items, trying to figure out what they were and how they were used. This was before the days of everyone having cell phones (I didn’t), so I couldn’t just snap a photo and send it to someone or use Google Translate. Sometimes I was brave enough to ask a friend, but not always. I often relied on asking friends over for cooking dinner together or inquiring when I was invited over to other people’s houses (“This is so delicious! What is it?” “I’ve never heard of that. What does it look like?”).

I lived in an apartment that was contracted by the city. Over the years, many English teachers from abroad had lived in that apartment, several of whom left little things for the next tenant. While going through these items, I found a very helpful book that had photos of products in Japanese grocery stores, along with the names in Japanese and English. This grocery store guidebook proved to be invaluable to me as I tried to learn about the local ingredients. I knew what flour to buy for baking bread and so forth. The one thing it didn’t tell was how to use the foods I had never seen before!

One of these foods I had never before experienced was konnyaku. Either white, gray, or green in color, with a extremely firm jello-like texture, this food was completely new to me. Served in several popular savory recipes, like oden, nikkujaga, and more (all of which I ate for the first time after moving to Japan), it kept popping up on my radar. But I still didn’t know WHAT it really was.

Since first being introduced to konnyaku, I have been a fan. I learned it was made from a root, but didn’t know much beyond that. When planning our trip to Gunma, my husband asked if I would be interested in going to a konnyaku factory. He barely finished the question before I replied with a resounding “Yes!” So, he quickly added Konnyaku Park to our agenda.

Konnyaku Park combines a factory, classes, gift shop, and restaurant into an educational excursion destination.

We started with the factory tour, where we were able to peek down at huge machines processing and packaging konnyaku for sale. 

Along the way we learned that konnyaku is made in two ways - from a konjac potato (Araceae) or powder.  It is high in fiber and low in calories, making it a popular food for people trying to loose weight. The konjac potato is very delicate and takes 2 to 3 years to harvest. They also don’t store very well, which is why it is often turned into powder.

Konnyaku is made into lots of different products, like jelly that Japanese kids love to snack on and noodles for adding to soup for extra body. The gift shop is packed with so many different items made from konnyaku.

Always up for getting our hands dirty, we signed up to make konnyaku. The hands-on class had us mixing the powdered konnyaku with water until it was a very thick consistency. Then we divided the mixture into three bowls so we could make plain, seaweed, and yuzu flavored konnyaku. We rolled the raw dough into ping pong sized balls and then boiled them until cooked (probably 10 minutes).

After making our own konnyaku (that was packaged up for us to take home), we were taken to the all-you-can-eat free restaurant. People can try konnyaku prepared in a variety of ways. While I enjoy konnyaku, it was a bit much to have a meal entirely made from the one ingredient.

With our bellies full and a little bit of newfound knowledge in our heads, we continued on our way to see and do more in Gunma.

Silky smooth (Gunma Prefecture 1 of 3)

At some point my husband decided enough was enough. We needed a break, an escape of sorts. In order to really get away from it all, he rented a car and planned a trip to Gunma Prefecture.

Due to our son's ballet rehearsal schedule, we couldn't make it into an overnight trip. But a day trip had the possibility of giving us a bit of escape from our reality while simultaneously recharging our batteries.

He, of course, had several activities on the agenda, but I was probably most interested in the World Heritage Site known as Tomioka Silk Mill. I am very fond of visiting places that have earned the rank of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, as it gives me a glimpse into history that is still felt today.

Tomioka Silk Mill was a government-operated silk-reeling mill from 1872 to 1987. During the 115 years of operation, it revolutionized the mass production of raw silk. When they first opened the doors to the mill, the workers used silk reeling machines imported from France. Over time, technology developed and following World War II automatic reeling-machines were introduced.

The grounds have been preserved and restored with great effort over the past 15 years. We were able to go into only a couple of the buildings, including the East Cocoon Warehouse (which has gift shops and a few museum-like exhibits) and Silk-Reeling Plant. We were intrigued to see the 1960's style automatic reeling machines inside the plant.

The West Cocoon Warehouse recently opened to visited after 6 years of conservation work. The museum inside this warehouse was the highlight of our tour. It told interesting facts about the employees and life inside the walls of the factory. I am always most impacted by hearing true stories about the people who lived before us and this museum fulfilled that inclination.

Women between the ages of 15 and 25 made up the majority of the 300 employee workforce. Men only held managerial positions. The ladies lived in dorm-like housing on the grounds of the mill. The work/life balance of these women changed drastically over the years, as the laws regarding the treatment of factory workers evolved. I was shocked to learn that at one point the women worked 12 hour shifts, receiving only 2 days off per month! Later, employees only worked 8 hours a day for 5 days a week. The 12-hour/day workers worked almost twice as many hours per month as the 8-hour/day workers!

Silk has always been an important product in Japan. From kimono to purses to handcrafts, the fabric is seen everywhere here. Beyond the actual product, it was interesting to learn about the industrialization of the silk mill as well as imagine how people lived and worked at the mill.

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Stay tuned for more interesting sites we saw in Gunma!

A sprinkle of red

I still can’t get used to the fact that leaves just turn later in Tokyo than they do in Seattle. I expect the trees to reveal their beautiful colors in October, not the end of November.

Man bright yellow ginkgoes in Hikarigaoka Park are almost gone. Last week’s winds blew most of the leaves into beautiful quilts covering the paths that were quickly swept away by the ground crew.

I love the fall leaves. I’m always sad to see them go. I love that November tends to be very dry, so the trees keep their leaves much, much longer than in Seattle.

I don’t mind going the extra distance to seek and view these beauties. So, when a friend told me about some red maples making their annual showing of splendor at a temple about an hour’s bike ride away, I excitedly told my husband about it. She forewarned me that they wouldn’t reach their peak colors until the first week of December, but I simply couldn’t wait!

After spending the morning chatting on FaceTime with a friend, my family headed out the door to explore. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to charge my bike battery. When I turned it on as we headed out, it read a disappointing 20%. I had already postponed our adventure by an hour so I could talk to my friend. I didn’t want to hold us up any longer. So, I turned it off, crossed my fingers, and put the pedal to the metal. While it sounds silly that I rely on my bike battery so much, my bike is actually really heavy and, therefore, really hard to ride without the assist.

Although I didn’t know it when we left, the ride was relatively flat. I had to hop off twice to push it up a couple long slopes, but otherwise I did alright. However, I still cursed myself quite a bit on the ride for not charging the darn thing. When I was almost out of steam I asked my husband how much further and he replied “less than 2 kilometers.” Thanking my lucky stars, I continued on because I knew I could make it that far.

Before we went into the temple, we ducked into a small restaurant for lunch. They make udon (thick, chewy noodles made from wheat) with carrots. All three of us wanted to try the bright orange noodles.

While the carrots didn’t add much flavor, they did provide a colorful plate and were delicious. It was a lovely representation of an autumn plate.

The entrance to Heirinji Temple was half a block away from the restaurant. We had to pay to enter the temple grounds. At first I thought this was strange, but then recalled we have paid to get into several temples over the years. ¥1200/$11.50 for the three of us didn’t seem that expensive (I think my husband and I were ¥500 each and our son was ¥200).

Right away, we were treated to some beautiful red maples. The scene of the trees surrounding the temple gates and buildings was a delight to my eyes. It was a bit cloudy during our visit, but the sun would suddenly peak through the clouds and the trees would be illuminated, like putting a filter on a camera. The red (and yellow) trees would suddenly be glowing.

Heirinji Temple is home to a strict form of Buddhism that requires a vow of silence as part of the monk’s training process. Therefore, parts of the temple are off limits to visitors, as they would be very distracting to the training monks. Even though we couldn’t visit every corner of the property, there was plenty to see.

Some of the statues on the property date back to the Edo period.

Do you see my son's little friend?

View through a fence.

There was still a lot of green left in the trees, making me want to take a trip back in a couple weeks. I can’t imagine enjoying it more than I already did, but I'm sure that as more trees turned red, I would appreciate it even more.

After about an hour, we decided we were ready to head back home. I still rode without my battery, but this time it was even easier because the hills were now aimed down instead of up. Next time, I will remember to charge my battery before heading out.

Getting out of town (Part 2 of 2)

We rose on Sunday to a lovely sunny day. It was a bit cool, but I prefer it to be a bit too cool over too hot any day. Regardless of the temperature, we were just happy it wasn't raining.

We planned on going to Izu Animal Kingdom, a small zoo. We arrived right when it opened to find only a few people lining up to go inside. This zoo is well known for letting visitors feed various animals throughout the zoo.

Our son was super excited to be able to feed giraffes, ostrich, and zebras.

He was most excited about feeding the tigers.  There were actually tiger cubs born just 3 days before our visit!  We could only see them on a tv screen, but it was exciting nonetheless.

Each feeding cost an extra bit - between ¥100 and ¥500 for every bit of food.

Although I enjoyed watching my son feed the animals. I still have difficulties going to zoos in Japan. The enclosures are often small without much enrichment, or things for the animals to do. This zoo was much better than others I have seen, but there was still lots of room for improvement.

Once we wrapped up our zoo excursion, we headed back toward home. The GPS took us on a different route. The day before, we drove south along the sea, but this time we went up into the hills. Unexpectedly, we ended up on the Izu Skyline. As my husband maneuvered the car along the curvy road, we suddenly had the most spectacular view of Mount Fuji. My son and I gasped at the majestic sight. It is so rare to get such a glorious view of the beloved mountain, we were both giddy with excitement.

After a bit, my husband found a viewpoint to pull off and get a good look. We couldn't believe our luck. Just the day before, it was rainy and we never would have been able to see such a sight.

Seeing Mount Fuji was the perfect way to end a wonderful escape from reality.

Getting out of town (Part 1 of 2)

When my husband asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I didn’t hesitate to let him know that I wanted to leave Nerima for my birthday. I wanted a break. I wanted to see different sights and do different things.

While I don't mind hanging out at home, I do like to explore. To some degree, I've enjoyed all this time at home with my boys since February. But, I also need little escapes. I love traveling and seeing new places.

Beyond letting my husband know my desire to leave town, I left the details up to him. He decided to rent a car and go to his family’s timeshare in Izu. We went there a couple years ago. The area is very quiet, with not much around the hotel. But it does have a view of the Pacific Ocean lapping upon big boulders, making the most relaxing sound of ocean waves.

Knowing the drive would take us at least 3 hours, we left right after the car rental shop opened at 7 am. It was raining and dreary, but our spirits were high. We were going on an adventure. My husband had scheduled lots of fun activities for us to do.

Our first stop was at a kamaboko factory/museum/shop. Kamaboko (fish pulverized into a paste then steamed, baked or fried) is a very popular addition to udon soup, bento boxes, and more in Japanese cuisine. It is also consumed as a side dish. This huge shop offers classes for people to make the fishcake themselves or participate in a simpler version of mixing the paste with vegetables, forming it into a shape, and frying it. We decided to take the easier class purely based on time (the first class is two hours, while ours was only 30 minutes).

Our class was a fun activity, letting us play with our food a bit. Afterwards, we walked away with freshly fried kamaboko, which everyone in our family enjoys immensely. We peeked through the museum a bit, watched the professionals form the traditional half-moon for sale, and picked up several items in the huge gift shop to enjoy later.

Almost an hour down the road, we found our second destination - a soba making class. My son and I have made soba before, but we didn’t do it with my husband. Plus, this was a make and eat class! We ground the buckwheat using a neat stone mill that was surprisingly easy to use. Then we mixed the dough before rolling it out and cutting it into thin noodles. Each family in the class put their noodles into a labeled box for it to be taken back to the kitchen and boiled. While it was being cooked, we moved to the restaurant, where they brought our prepared noodles out for us to enjoy. As the staff brought out dishes, they were careful to ensure each table was served the noodles they had made.

Two doors down from the soba restaurant was an art studio. Inside the studio, there were people throwing pots on pottery wheels, painting already made plates, and more. My husband had made reservations for us to do etching. The staff took us upstairs where we picked out dishes to etch and sticker stencils. We applied the stickers to the little cups we had selected and wrapped the rest of the cup in packing tape.

The etching machine reminded me of a science lab. There was a door on the side which you use to put the cup into the machine. Next, we donned gloves and arm covers. Sticking our arms through holes on the front of the machine allowed us to grab the sand blaster in one hand and the cup in the other. Using our foot to press the “gas petal”, we etched our cups. It took a while to remove all the glaze, but everyone really enjoyed the calm process of revealing the pottery underneath. Once it was properly etched, we could remove the cup from the machine and rip off all the tape. It was so neat to see our completed projects. Everyone agreed this was a super fun activity.

We had a bit of time to kill before starting our relaxed evening at the time share, so we decided to check out the teddy bear museum in town, which happened to have a Totoro exhibit. I don’t know what it is, but these places usually creep me out. A teddy bear is meant to be cuddled, not sit behind glass, staring into oblivion. It was definitely an unusual activity for us, but the exhibit was amazing. I’m so glad we checked it out and got to see the recreations of the Totoro story in various art forms, mostly as stuffed characters.

By the time we checked into the timeshare, we were ready for the onsen (bath), dinner, and bed. Our brains were overwhelmed with all the activities we had done during the day. As I lay in my futon, after our son fell asleep, I simply listened to the ocean sounds and felt a calmness inside that I haven’t experienced in some time. There was a mixture of normalcy, exhilaration, and serenity coursing through me. It was the best kind of birthday gift.