Raging Within the Machine

I wanted this blog to be solely about my Japanese exploits, and as such have avoided ramming my opinions on Labour, Immigration, Nick Griffin and the Copenhagen debacle down your collective throats. However, it was confirmed today that Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the name of" is the Christmas no.1 this year. Awesome.

A lot of people have missed the point with this campaign. Yes Rage are signed to Sony, whom Simon Cowell works for, but organised resistance is so rare these days that raging within the system with have to do for now. The songs original message of inherent racism within American police forces may have eroded slightly, but the songs raw energy lives on.

Anyway I just wanted to record this moment of grassroots rebellion and I am disappointed I won't be in Britain to hear the countdown... Still there is the free gig that Rage promised that I hope to be back in time for. Not to mention the fact that Shelter, the homeless charity, have also experienced a windfall due to Rage's affiliation, and they will donate any profit from the sales onto the charity too.

There is no other pill to take, so swallow the one, that makes you ill!

A Tale Of Two Osakas

On Saturday (12th), after weeks of planning, one Facebook group and lots of emails, I managed to organise 3 people to accompany me to Osaka to seek out the rock club from one of the first days of October. Total fail. After paying a fair wad to get in, we discovered it was a Jazz night, leaving me in a pit of misery. Still, thanks to Lilly using her "cultural assets" she managed to flirt double strength drinks from the bar staff. Fast forward to 5am and its the first train home and a McDonald's (I know, I know, I'm a capitalist swine...) breakfast. Thanks to those who did come and rescue the evening for me, but it could have been an epic night. This is what happens when Yume doesn't organise!


However, a very different tale occurred yesterday (17th) bringing my blog up to date. Again apologies with the lack of updates, I do have stuff to share just no bloody internet at home yet! Anyway, my sensei from Cardiff, Mr Kudara, was visiting Kyoto and Kobe and was based in Osaka for the week. Taking this opportunity to see us, Ducan and Mats from Kyoto and Basim and I from Kobe met in Osaka for a couple hours of nomihoudai in an izakaiye. When we met Kudara sensei, he was accompanied by two friends, a teacher and his wife.

I tried to maintain some level of decency, but the increasingly drunk Duncan (Drunkan) and Basim (Drunsim?), and lets face it me too, made it increasingly difficult. Thankfully Kudara sensei matched us in this regard. I was glad to finally say goodbye to Kudara and co., because about 5 minutes after Duncan reached the point of no return and began acting like an American in Japan stereotype.

After one single hour of karaoke, we had 2 broken ashtrays, two sodden laps, 1 bottle of wine stolen from a room full of business men, 2 cut lips, 2 sore testicles and one M.I.A. Basim. Now that's what I call a night out.

The Bounenkai

Literally meaning the "Forget the year party", a bounenkai was a good chance to see off the negative aspects of last year, of which there are only few, and see in the new year with the same promises you make to yourself every year...

Anyway, Basim's father had been in Japan for a couple of weeks and had taken me and Basim, as well as some family friends out more then once to some very upmarket restaurants whilst imparting some very useful hints and tips on Japan that I'm very grateful for. The day before he left he hired a room on the 5th floor of hotel Okura in Kobe for this bounenkai. Extremely formal, we had a six course dinner and fine wine and covered numerous topics in conversation. Basim's father also gave an Obama-like speech which summed things up nicely I thought.

The food was epic, including lobster, shark fin soup and some very nice puddings. I took a few pictures so here they are...

The Luminarie

On Tuesday night a few of us gathered in Paiyama with the intention of seeing a light-based festival of sorts dedicated to those who died in the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake in Kobe. Whilst waiting in Paiyama, we were approached by a half Italian, half Japanese, English speaking drunkard. After many incorrect accusations by him about us, he noticed my friend was smoking. He grabbed it, still lit, exclaiming he hadn't had a cigarette all day. He promptly put it in his mouth, and ate it. The whole cigarette, whilst lit. After about 5 minutes of stunned silence we moved on to the lights.


After being herded through the streets of Kobe on approach to the lights, we arrived at a long main road, closed off from traffic, and flanked with magnificent illuminated arches.


At the end of the road there was a clearing where a large cathedral like structure stood with the main shrine in the middle. There were literally thousands and thousands of Japanese in attendance, so after paying our respects, we moved on.


The night then inevitabley got alot less cultural after Basim and I met up with Ducan, who is also from Cardiff but studying in nearby Kyoto, in Sannomiya. Before long it was 3am and I was talking to 3 ex-Yakuza fisherman in a Jamaican themed bar. I only had 2 beers all night so the experience whilst sober was border-line scary. The only thing that surprised me though was the fact I was surprised by the nights random events.

D-Day + 82

With only 2 weeks left of term until a 2 week Christmas break, time is flying by. Japan has changed from a total mind-screw in the bad sense to a mind-screw in the best way imaginable. My classes although limited in quantity are useful when combined with independent study, and I am beginning to notice improvements in my spoken Japanese which is exciting. I am going out alot, but it is where I do most of my Japanese practice. It appears my ability is directly linked to how much beer I have consumed.

I have begun to plan my excursions for the month of March. I`m planning to hit everything of interest west of Kobe for the whole month on my own. The opportunity to rest my liver and improve my Japanese will be worth the cost. Still, I`m very poor so for those of you who work with my parents maybe you should bug them to up my Christmas money?

I STILL do not have Internet at home, but Tony promises me he is on it... Anyway, that will do for updates for now, here are a couple more cool pictures, will get back on track with the blogging in the next few days. Much love x

Hada Sensei`s Lecture of Doom

Every Friday after Kanji class, Basim, 4 other exchange students and I are conned into being English tutors for free. We each have a small herd of Japanese to look after, and we had to make a project to promote Kobe Uni to international students.

In 5 weeks I drank some coffee flavoured milk, talked to Basim and explained the word "hypothesis", and still managed to pull it out of the hat on presentation day and come first! I handled all the questions (in English) for which the Japanese students were very grateful. Feeling satisfied I left the lecture to get ready for a evening with the teacher, the Japanese English-speaking teaching assistants/bullies and my fellow exchange students.

In a couple of days I`ll stick Basim`s promotional video (that got banned by the teacher) on here.

We were taken to a very up-market restaurant and treated to a very slap up meal and a good amount of beers. The food in Japan goes from strength to strength and everything served was immaculately presented and tasted even better. After the meal we flipped the level of classiness on its head by going next door to the border-line inter-dimensional Andy`s Imagine. We arrived in the middle of a gig for blind people, as if the bar wasn`t weird enough already.

The Karaoke Incident

Last Tuesday I returned home from Uni with every intention of continuing my studies. But alas I was distracted by skewered fried chicken and cheap beer. We soon had a large group assembled, and then Basim arrived. Everything changes when that man arrives.

And as expected, the night took an unexpected turn with a random 2 hour karaoke session. It got out of hand very very quickly. Perhaps the pictures will do the talking....

The Shikoku Witch Project

Well well, what a weekend. The week just passed moved along without much of note, that is until Friday night when we headed to Berber once again to celebrate (Hong Kong) Tony`s birthday. Before the clubbing began I met Basim, Marina and Basim`s cousin Mohammed in Paiyama. We went to an Izakaiya for dinner and drinks, all paid for by Mohammed I hasten to add. Nicely warmed up we moved back to Paiyama where I introduced myself to the waiting crowd by jumping on a rail, grabbing someone and falling flat on my face. Nice.

In the club the usual banter ensued. Highlights include THAT photo on facebook, Tony being forced to down a bottle of champagne and a hip-hop dance-off to finish the night. I returned home to pack and go to bed. 4.30am... plenty of time.

7.30am my alarm goes off. Still "intoxicated" I manage to pack my suitcase. 3 peanut butter sandwiches, beer, vodka, Fanta and a quilt. Essentials packed we somehow navigated ourselves to the bus that would do the 3 hour journey to Shikoku. The bus journey was sobering at last, as I sat quietly sipping my iced coffee, and listening to Metallica way to loud. Once at the bus terminal we scrambled Supermarket Sweep style around the centre to grab supplies before we headed out to the middle of nowhere to our campsite.

We boarded the next bus, and before long we were working our way around one of the most exciting bus routes in the world. 1 lane and a million hairpin and blind turns, with a mountain on one side and a sheer drop on the other made for some squeaky bum time. The only thing smaller then the margin of error for the driver was our chances of survival of crashing over the side. Still we made it to the campsite, and discovered our box for the weekend.

Our first activity of the weekend was to work our way to the Onsen (traditional Japanese natural spring baths). The walk boasted some impressive views, but meant it took over 1 hour to walk to 3/4 km to the baths.

Once we arrived at the Onsen, we brought our tickets and towels and rode the cable car down several 100 meters to the riverbank and the actual baths. Once there, we split into the sexes, Marc and I one way, Yume, Lilly and Anika the other. Marc and I then proceeded to get but naked before navigating our way down a slippery staircase, which was exposed to the outdoor elements - IT WAS FREEZING, and down to the sulphur heated bath. It was a weird experience, but having the Japanese stare and Marc`s and my you-know-what was slightly unnerving. Not mentioning the guy with the tripod camera taking photos of the baths whilst we where there.

On our way back night had already crept in, and as it was the middle of nowhere, the buses has stopped and there were no streetlights to be seen. Armed with only our phone light, we headed into the darkness before being discovered by a car halfway. To our amazement, a car with 5 Japanese pulled over, emptied bar the driver, and took us back to the campsite before returning to his now stranded friends!

To wind down the evening we drank, ate and were merry. Still, no more details as what happens in the box stays in the box.

Day 2. Having slept in all our clothes and under all possible blankets we awoke and brushed-up before we caught the bus down to a nearby(ish) tourist spot. It turned out to be an ancient vine bridge you could cross, set to the backdrop of the impressive river and waterfall.

After the bridge, we stopped off for some food, which included this local delicacy. Its a whole fish on a stick, grilled slowly outdoors around some hot coals. Very nice it was too.

Back at the campsite the rain had moved in for the night. Still, Marc and I played the men cards and soon had a fire going that lasted a good couple of hours. We enjoyed the fire whilst Marc got red-eyed and proceeded to totally fail.

Having left Anika and Marc in the box, Yume, Lilly and I decided to go for a walk in the cold, dark rain. We worked our way down to the reception where we were invited in by the lonely manager. We google-earthed our homes etc (to which I became all nostalgic over) before we discussed, in Japanese I might add, Communism, Welsh and Japanese linguistics, French philosophy and Boar hunting. All the while we were eating his homemade, and self-hunted, wild Boar and pumpkin soup.

We then moved back to the box.......

Come the morning we packed and headed for the bus, assuming that the weekend was over. Not quite yet as it turned out. We had a 3 hour gap between our buses and exploited this by grabbing some food and attending a small village festival just down the road. Before we knew it we were on stage with lots of old Japanese women and having an awesome time.

The long bus back was not so interesting as we had to sit separately and my MP3 ran out of battery after only 20 minutes. Still, what an absolute legend of a weekend. God bless Japan and its numerous 3 day weekends!

Rokko Festival Weekend

Another weekend flashes by in seemingly no time at all. This weekend saw me and my fellow linguists attend a "festival" on the university campus on Saturday night. I forgot my camera again, so pictures will soon follow, as in the blog previous. However, this was not the start of the weekend with Anika`s birthday seeing a group of 20+ pour into a small Pakistani run restaurant in Sannomiya. This was a tabe/nomi houdai - (all you can eat/drink) affair and it soon descended into chaos.

With the poor restaurant owner struggling to produce food quicker then we could eat it, Andrew took his position behind the bar and it began getting messy. It was almost my oddest night out in Kobe to date, with weird Indian music videos, a drinking game involving a crocodile, a mint flavoured hashish and a random hour of Karaoke all contributing to the weirdness.

Still, I exploited my ever convenient living quarters and was able to pull myself together for what I thought would be a rather tame affair at the Rokko festival. Now, I thought I was beginning to work Japan out, but just when you think that, this country blows your mind all over the wall.

We arrived at 8pm with no intention on exploiting the "all night long" billing. No need to tell you that it did not work out that way. We walked into the building which at any other time is a hub of knowledge and Japan hit us with another dose of the surreal. With no teachers in sight, the place had descended into what felt like a pre-apocalyptic party. Men ran around with skirts, a man in a scuba divers outfit played Jazz Trombone whilst down the corridor a very drunk Japanese man informed everyone he was Gene Simmons and proceeded to stick he tongue out at anyone who met his gaze.

Seeking a more logical refuge, as well as a respite from some exceedingly drunk course mates, Basim, Marina and I went to the makeshift cinema cafe. If the Japanese are weird, their independent films are as mundane as a kaleidoscope on LSD. Having abandoned all reason, and hopes of the last train home, I was convinced to work my way down into Rokko proper and seek out a British bar named "Andi`s Imagine". However, what happens in there, stays in there.

Just about managing to stay sane, I awoke this morning to pull my life together ready for another week. Its been nearly 2 months already and at this rate I will be home a lot sooner then I would either have thought or liked. Plan for next weekend is to visit Shikoku, Japans 4th island, so maybe a return to some more travel writing rather then a drawn out eulogy of my bank account and liver.

Pigs, Snakes, Lizards and Beer.

Adamant that I was to go home and study, and avoid going out at all costs, I hung around Paiyama (Literally "Tit mountain") in Sannomiya, which is a kind of meeting place in the heart of the city, and waited to be coerced into going out. I agreed to go for food, and ended up 15 minutes from my house in a little bar tucked away under Motomachi station.

The bar was famous for a live baby pig that roamed the bar, squealing loudly when anything other then a peanut was offered to it. The pig was followed by a lizard and a snake whom both took residence around my neck and torso for about 30 minutes each. It was a good laugh, and I can write the evening off as I spoke some (bad) Japanese to a few locals about British music, and where I could find a rock club in Kobe. I really could go for a night out in Metros in Cardiff!

Pictures to follow.

D-Day + 52

Sorry about the lack of posts, with no Internet and nothing major to note I thought I should post something today...

So its been nearly 2 months already, and over 5 months since I downed tools after my last exam in the summer. THATS why I feel I`m getting worse - I havn`t done anything for 5 months! Beginning to get my act together now, and if i don`t, I will end up wasting the year, as I did with my time at Cardiff (academically speaking).

My time in Sannomiya has been so far so good, but its draining funds quicker then I can think of an excuse to visit the Bank of Dad. I need to get some business cards sorted so I can con some businessmen into paying me a couple of thousand yen an hour to sit in a pub and chat in English. I need the 20th to role around asap for my next scholarship lot to come in so I can keep on scraping by. My British loan is supposed to be for rent but that account seems to have a hole in it too. I guess I have no choice but not to go out for a week.....

STILL havn`t played football and if I don`t play soon I think I`ll start getting the shakes... Although there is nothing interesting to blog about doesn`t mean I`m not having a good time, and even offering a doomed olive branch will not change that.

p.s. Its good to see Charlton loosing to the likes of Northwich Victoria. I was getting uncomfortable with winning anyway. And thanks for the near 1000 hits x