License conversion, take 4

Today I felt a sense of déjà vu. I travelled back to the driver's license center in the rain, just like last time. I stopped at the same convenience store at the same arrival time, just like last time. Even two acne spots that I had last time had regenerated themselves on my face in the same locations. I was absolutely unmoved by the irony; I was not looking forward to today at all.

There were, however, signs that things were looking up. The rain stopped as I arrived at the center. The car and the proctor were also different. I didn't have to do third party duty for another person. And, we got our test results half an hour earlier. (More on that in a bit.)

A bunch of local driving school representatives were getting briefings today at the test center. They took their company cars and parked them in the testing carports. The white one in the center is the same make and model as my car back in the states.

I also made some changes myself. During the lunch break, I walked the track as usual. This time, however, I measured the distances of 30 meters from each turn where I had to signal into them. It was actually easy to do this. Here's the logic:

• I am 6'7" in freedom units. In metric, that's about 200 cm.
• I can walk my entire height in six back-to-back paces.
• Fifteen of me, one stacked on the other, is about 30 m.
• Therefore, I need to take 90 steps from the start of the turn, and I would note the stopping location on the copy of the course map that I was given. This was the location where I was to begin the signalling process.

I took to the course with the proctor. I was first today, and one of five people. (Only one person was Japanese; the rest were foreigners.) I definitely learned from my mistakes; I signalled properly, and didn't roll back from a stop. I completed the course, and the proctor gave me his feedback. Interestingly enough, he had only one point to bring up. Apparently, even though I was maintaining proper speeds, I wasn't using the right gears on the transmission to maintain that speed. (I asked him how I did with the blinkers, and stopping at the pole at the end of the course right before pulling back into the carport form which I started. His respective responses were fine, and a bit far from the white line, but perfect otherwise.) That was all that he had to say.

The map of the course that I have to drive, complete with my additional, descriptive notes and pointers

Here's the thing about finding out your test results. The proctor will not directly tell you whether or not you failed, unless you made a catastrophic error like driving into one of the poles in the crank. You have to go upstairs and wait for the proctor to return their results, and then you have to wait even longer for the clerks to give you your results. However, you can usually imply from his feedback that you fucked up. Today, in regards to my low gearing approach (I never went higher than third, which is what I usually use for 50 km/h), he told me to please practice more with using higher gears, especially in the two sections where I should have especially done so. By the term "please practice more", you can imply that he means that you'll be doing it again. So in real terms, it means that I had failed the driving test. AGAIN. All because of not using the right gears.

That wasn't all. Everyone else failed, too. Two of the foreigners were from Iwaki, which is farther away from Fukushima City than I am. One guy had failed the driving test three times before, so today was his fourth failure. (And that was in an AT car.) The other guy, according to his test score card, actually failed the written exam first, so he wasn't allowed to take the driving test until he passed the written exam. Today was his second failure. There were also a pair of ladies, one Chinese woman and her translator, plus the Chinese woman's toddler son, there. It was her first attempt at the driving test, and her first failure. Hope that kid likes hanging around this place, I thought to myself. He's going to be seeing the inside of it a LOT over the next few months.

But honestly, if that's really the only thing that I needed to fix, then it probably means that the next time should be my last time. (I'm probably jinxing myself at this point, but fuck it.) My test is next Friday. I start work next Thursday, so that means that I'm now officially taking time from work to go get this done. Not to mention that this first month is my probation month. Yippie yahee for me.

And finally, when I got the e-mail from my foreign personnel advisor confirming the next appointment, she also added this factoid in:

According to the staff, security verification is
the most important point to pass the test.
(You may be told the same point every time.)

Yeah, I don't know what the fuck that means either. I've been giving them all the right documents and forms, and I always do an inspection around the car before I start the actual test. I've just about had it with that fucking center.

-wp

Aizu Festival and Nishiaizu Nostalgic Car Show

Yesterday I went to two events in the area. The first was the Aizu Festival. Or, rather, what was left of it. Apparently there was a children's parade on Saturday on the main street just south of the post office that I was unaware of. However, the demonstration at the Tsuruga-jo castle grounds had not happened yet. That was scheduled for yesterday, so that's where I went.

I arrived just as the ceremony was about to start. I parked at the Fukushima Prefecture Museum next door and made my way across the street as the historical reenactors were entering the area. They were of all ages and genders, dressed in similar clothing that would've been worn during the Boshin War almost 150 years ago. The first half hour of the ceremony involved a small shrine established, complete with Shinto priests. Seated in front of this shrine were various politicians and business moguls who went to press F to pay their respects one at a time at the altar. While that was going on, people were assembling in the main stage area, so I headed there next.

Can't you feel the enthusiasm?

After the ceremony, the VIPs were shuffled over to the tents nearby the main stage, and then a historical reenactor took to the stage alongside a sign language interpreter to kick off the event. As he was talking, and the crowd was busy chattering, an elderly man tried to get my attention. He wanted me to look at something, but I couldn't tell what. Finally, he told me to move over. I did, and standing on top of one of the portions of Tsuruga-jo was an archer. I turned around to thank the man, but he had disappeared back into the crowd and I couldn't find him.

Poor guy actually fumbled with the arrow a bit. Hope he didn't kick himself too hard afterwards.

The reenactor on the stage would call in various units to proceed into the area over fusion-style Japanese classical music, and these units would line up single file in front of the stage while the unit "'leaders" assumed seats either on or directly in front of the stage. After everyone was brought in, the units took their seats on the grass, being sure to lay down their plastic sheets first. (So authentic!) There were a few lengthy demonstrations from some student groups, and a pair of fake cannons were fired. Also taking the stage somewhere in between was an actress named Haruka Ayase, who starred in an NHK drama a few years back that featured the Battle of Aizu in its plotline. As she stood on the stage, various security guards and event staffers circled the perimeter holding signs that forbade photography. I can tell you right now that no one listened to them.

With the ceremony now over, I went back to my car and set off for the next stop of the day. However, as I was driving up National Route 118 to get to my destination, the police redirected traffic off the road. As it had turned out, there was also a parade going on yesterday as well. Figuring that I shouldn't miss it, I found a nearby Family Mart two blocks away from the parade route, bought a drink inside to justify parking in the lot, and walked over to the parade area.

I made it just as the parade was starting. As it had turned out, the parade's contents were the same reenactors that I had just seen earlier. However, these groups actually did more than just file in and stand in a spot for an hour and a half. Some of them actually did some reenactments, like wave swords or chant battle slogans. I stuck around about an hour for the parade, and then headed back to the car to continue my journey.

The second event that I went to was the Nishiaizu Nostalgic Car Show. This was a car show that had a bunch of classic cars. Some of them, like the Mach 1 Mustang, were imported. Others, like the older Subaru Sambars, were originally from Japan and for the Japanese market, in the days when the kei car was still making its roots in the country. I walked the whole rows in astonishment over the fact that these cars are being maintained, and in that good of a condition. You see, there is no "antique" class of cars in Japan, where after 25 years from the date of production you can claim that the car is an antique and therefore be exempt from other regulations like emissions inspections. There is no such thing here. You go through shaken every two years and pay yearly road taxes just like everybody else, and if the car is too dirty, you can't drive it on public roads.

The first car I saw when I got out of mine. I nearly messed my pants.

During a quick lunch from the nearby food stalls, I walked along a line of "itashas", and then checked out the auto memorabilia stands nearby. The goal was to look for a diecast or small-scale Eunos Roadster so that way I can make inside jokes on another continent. I was actually having a hard time finding one. After combing through at least four different stalls, I finally managed to get my hands on one. The price was 8200 yen. Needless to say, the search continues.

Every wondered what an engine looks like when it's running? Well, here you go. There were plenty of these displays.

heh

~~~imports~~~

As I was heading back to my car, I decided to continue looking at the various cars in the regular parking lot. Towards the back of the lot, parked next to an Autozam AZ-1, was a red Eunos Roadster, with the same aftermarket wheels that I had. The car was in beautiful condition; the paint looked fresh and the soft top was perfectly black. The Autozam was also red, but its body was in rougher shape overall. The sad thing is that if both of these cars were to sell as-is tomorrow, the Autozam would fetch a higher price. Such is life, I suppose.

Now here's a person with good taste!

I took a bunch of pictures at the event. You can view the full album here.

-wp

We're so eager, it's exploding! (literally)

Aizu has been getting some rain as of recent. There was a typhoon that passed over the southern portion of Honshu, although the Tohoku region got some remnants of the precipitation. It was especially raining on Thursday, which to be honest, was the worst possible day for it to happen. That was because I went camping that day.

Well, not really.

The reason I went camping was because the wind ensemble had scheduled a slot at an overnight camp for that day. However, even selecting this date was a challenge. Between outside work and people's travels, it's hard to agree upon a date where everyone, or almost everyone, can make it. Even I've been having trouble trying to arrange available dates, due to the batshit insane license conversion process. It's been very hard for us to schedule full ensemble practice at fixed dates, but now that the school festival is approaching, everyone is starting to make the time.

Only six people went camping Thursday night, myself included. And due to a scholarship ceremony I had to attend the next morning, I couldn't stay overnight, which was a bummer. However, that did not mean that I was with the group for a short amount of time. We actually played a gig earlier that day. Again, only six people, myself included, were able to attend. (One of those people actually had to leave, but another person showed up for the camp.)

The gig was at an assisted living facility outside the city center. The building's layout was a bit cramped, but we were able to fit all of our gear, and all of the tenants, in the same room. I played bari sax in a sax trio with two other members, and then swapped for my tenor sax as the other three members (French horn, bass clarinet, and drums) came on. The last time the group played a gig, I had an instrument introduction written on my iPad, but the recent iOS update wiped out my notes. Bummer. Another member filled in for me there. All of us played three songs together, and then played one of them again as an encore because the audience asked for one.

It basically says "members of the University of Aizu Wind Ensemble."

As we were packing up to make the trip back to campus, some other entertainers were about to go on. The first woman wore a kimono with a face mask on the side of her head and carried a pair of wooden blocks. I had no clue what she was doing in there, but I got to see two other entertainers get ready. Actually, I recognized that one of those entertainers was dressed for yasugi-bushi (安来節), which is a folk song and dance ritual that involves dancing with a basket and putting a coin over your nose. No, really.

After we brought all of our gear back, we parted ways so that the others could get some supplies. I ran some errands and then went to the campground, which was over in Aizumisato. Google Maps took me up a side mountain road, which meant that it was steep, narrow, and wet. I actually arrived twenty minutes before the original meeting time, which was then immediately extended by an hour. The additional break allowed me to relax a bit, and take in the incredible view while it wasn't raining.

Aizumisato in the distance

After everyone else had arrived, the park ranger took us to the log cabin nearby, where the others would be staying the night. It was one of two tatami-lined rooms with a shared kitchen. Outside on the front steps was going to be the location of our barbecue. Kaneta-san, another master's student part of the wind ensemble, got out a tarp from his car, and we used nylon to suspend it over the fire pit.

We used two small boxes of charcoal and a "starter tray" that night. We started out with two piles of charcoal: the tray on its own, and then a pile of already lit charcoal on a concrete block that Kaneta-san placed in the pit. To get the latter pile burning, we had to fan the pile to give the fire some oxygen. It took a while to get that pile going, but after a while it was starting to come along.

One of the others was constantly working that fan on the pit. The charcoal was really starting to get hot, but because it was cold and wet, we needed to keep going. However, I noticed that he may have been overdoing it a bit, and before I could say something, the charcoal exploded. Charcoal, and concrete, flew everywhere. Needless to say, he had to take a break at that point. (We setup that pile again on top of that block, but the charcoal exploded again after a pan was sitting over it for a few minutes. We ended up taking that concrete block, now with a giant crater about an inch deep, out of the fire and merging the piles together.)

My ears started ringing after that second explosion.

The entire evening was pretty lively. Dinner was barbecue beef and pork, bacon, baked potatoes, and yakisoba. It was my first time trying yakisoba, and it actually tasted pretty good. (I also tried, at the insistence of the others, Japanese mayonnaise. As it turns out, Japanese mayonnaise tastes sweet enough to the point where it tastes like mustard.) I ended up going angry gaijin on some moths the size of my fist wandering around the campsite and freaking out the others. Everyone [of legal age] was having liquor, but because I had to drive back that night, I couldn't have any. However, the others had kept me in mind while shopping and got me an extra-tall can of Asahi for later.

As dinner wound down and we were sitting around the fire, we started talking about cars. Kaneta-san told me that people in Japan like importing foreign cars, especially with large displacements, because the extra power and torque available on demand makes them feel cool. Ironically enough, I said, people in the states import smaller Japanese cars and sedans for the same reason. I took them through my car history; I showed them the picture of me sitting on top of my 3 at Mount Washington and standing on top of my Blazer during a snowstorm three years ago. I didn't have a picture of me in my Explorer, so I showed them a press photo. I told them that it was a 5.0 L V8, which they thought was cool, but then I had to explain the actual power output, which took away some of the cool factor. Regardless, we learned quite a lot about cars and each other.

Summer vacation is [finally] coming to an end. The Aizu Festival is this weekend, and I'll be sure to check it out. I also register for classes on Monday, and I have to make trips this coming week to the driver's license center (*exhales painfully*) and the immigration office. Then it's back to school the following week. But with the school festival coming up in two weeks, there's barely any time to rest.

And with that, life goes on.

-wp

License conversion, take 3

AKA, why the fuck do I even try?

Today was rainy like the first time I attempted the test. This time, I came with an umbrella. I also stopped at the local convenience store beforehand to pick up lunch. I walked the course as usual, this time taking care to measure how long 30 meters was, and where before the earlier turns I should signal. I had a bit of confidence in myself this time, because I knew for sure what I had to do differently compared to last time.

Most of the lighting in the lobby is shut off during the lunch hour.

I was the last of three people to test. My third-party duty today involved riding with a Japanese person as he navigated the local streets. In some cases in Japan, you apparently take the test on the road, and I got to see the local residential zone as well as all the narrow side streets that brought a significant challenge to the driver. (He failed. So did the first person. As a matter of fact, I don't think I've tested on a day where a single person passed their driving test.)

This time, I was especially precarious in my driving. I used the turn signal way earlier, and when it came to that final straight and curve, I pumped those brakes so hard that the proctor's head was in my field of vision. That portion was fine.

But I still failed the fuckin' test.

Some time during the afternoon, these three guys got on mopeds and drove around. No clue why, and they were gone when I went to test.

It seems so far like every time I've tested (and he's been my proctor every time), he's given me three points to consider. Here's today's:

• I'm going too slow on parts of the course, especially towards the beginning and when coming up to the turns onto other roads.
• There was something about me activating my blinker when making a turn towards the end of the course. I made sure to do it at around 30 m before the turn, but the proctor still brought it up, and I don't even know if I was was too late or too early. Maybe it was how I was making the turn or how I positioned the vehicle before the turn. Anything this guy says is a fuckin' mystery at this point.
• I rolled back about two inches when exiting the crank and making the turn back onto the course. I know for a fact that if you roll back when setting off on the incline portion of the exam [which I didn't have to take], you fail automatically. I bet that this was what caused me to fail, especially because he brought it up twice and was trying to teach me how to properly leave a stop without rolling back by using his hands. I already know how to do so, and do so frequently, but it's very difficult when you have a shitty clutch, and it's not even my car in the first place.

The next appointment is next Thursday, which is pretty late in the week. To add onto the pressure, I start an internship with a local company in October. I've already been losing productivity and money by going to retake this stupid test, but next month will be even worse to go in terms of both aspects. If I don't pass this next test, I probably won't have time until after New Year's. Unless of course, I ask for time off from work. And I don't know how that's going to work out.

Officially zero for three. Will the fourth break the cycle?

And finally, as a final "fuck you" from fate itself, as I was leaving, I went to get my umbrella from the front lobby. It was gone, so I had to walk back to my car in the rain. What a way to end a shitty day.

-wp

License conversion, take 2

Today was my second attempt at the driving test. I left Aizu at around 0800 hrs to be early for a 1030 hrs appointment. I ended up arriving an hour prior. I was now in Tackawanna, but I had no translator with me this time. Today was a bad day for me to go; intensive practice for the wind ensemble was scheduled three days prior. I ended up having to miss all of it except for the last hour.

This place again...

The last time I was at the center, I was given a yellow "report card" containing information about whether or not I passed the written and driving tests. Despite this, I had to buy the form for the driving test again (essentially paying for the test), fill out the information on said form and another that I had already filled out, and then give them all of my verification documents again. This time, I was allowed to write my address in romaji. The clerk accepted my documents again and told me to report back to the lobby at 1300 hrs.

Wait, what?

Wanna drive a bucket loader on public roads? There's a test for that!

I got up early, drove over 90 minutes on mountain roads, and arrived an hour before I was supposed to show up, but I still can't take the test until the afternoon? As it had turned out, I was supposed to show up between 1030 and 1130 hrs. This meant that I was stuck on the grounds for three and a half hours before I could take the test. And because they took my IDP and passport, I couldn't go someplace else or get something to eat off site.

This guy was taking his exam for large vehicles. Did well on the S-curve, but I think he failed overall.

There were quite a few more people today. We were divided into two groups. I was assigned to go last in a group of five. Everyone in front of me failed due to careless mistakes. Some of these people were taking the test for the first time, so that was to be expected. I saw one guy in another group go for a 20 minute lap around the course, and then a 25 minute feedback session in the test car. Poor guy looked he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

So, William, did you finally pass your driving test and get your super-cool JDM driver's license?

No.

>tfw your daily finds out about your affair with your friend's car

Again, I made three basic mistakes. Here they are:

• I accidentally stopped too close to the stop line next to a stop sign.
• The proctor commented that I was not activating my blinkers early enough. It's supposed to be 30 meters from the turn. I come from the land of freedom, so obviously I can't into metric.
• I went too fast around that last curve again. I was taking it at just under 20 km/h (12 mph). I was taking all of the other curves at about 10 km/h.

The reason why I made that last mistake twice was because just before that, I was required to speed up to 50 km/h (~31 mph) after exiting a curve that came after a lane maneuver. It takes quite a while, even though I started accelerating as I was exiting the corner, and immediately after that, I have to brake to make the turn at a low speed, because you have to take curves at a snail's pace or else you will automatically fail. I'm pretty certain that even with the blinker issues, if the stop line didn't cause me to fail, this did. Then again, what can you expect from a car with a rubber band for a clutch and god awful brakes? I'm really going to have to pump the brakes hard next time, maybe enough to give the proctor a heart attack.

Four computer monitors put together streamed PSAs and news in the lobby. This one was an "Internet stranger danger" PSA for women.

After some more waiting, I got my documents back. Right under the driving test column on my report card was another "failure" stamp, this time darker than the first one, as if to symbolize my ineptitude towards passing that test. I left at about the same time I did last time, and had the foreign personnel advisor book another appointment for Tuesday. So that means another three-hour roundtrip to Fukushima City, a quarter tank of gas spent, and another day of productivity out the window. And I'm probably going to fail again. I start my new internship in October, so at this rate, I have two more chances to pass. After that, I probably will not have much time to take the test unless I skip work, and that will now cost me money in addition to the above.

Governor Malloy, if your eyes somehow pass over this blog post, then stop what you're doing right now, call the Japanese government, and get that signatory agreement going. Even if it doesn't pass for me, let it be there for someone in the future.

And with that, I'm done with today.

-wp

License conversion, take 1

Today was my scheduled appointment to convert my American driver's license to a Japanese one. I had to take a interpreter with me, so I brought along my friend, Naoki. There was a license center in Koriyama, but that course was apparently for the people from countries with signatory agreements for driver's license conversions. Therefore, I had to drive to the center in Fukushima City instead, over an hour and a half away.

We arrived at around 0915 hrs, about 15 minutes before my scheduled "appointment." We were directed to the third floor of the center, where I turned over my documentation to the clerks and had to wait. They gave me a form to fill out in the meantime regarding my driving experience back in the states, in Japanese, which I turned in after I had finished it. We were then escorted to a testing room where a clerk went through the form to verify all of my information. It had been seven years since I first got my license, so I was trying my hardest to remember all of the details. Naoki interpreted some of the questions, but it took a few tries in some cases, and we both had to use Google Translate at least twice.

So much counter space, so few people

Finally, we were told to come back in about 40 minutes to take my written exam. Naoki and I went down to the first floor and stopped by the vending machines. After doing all of those things, I took my eye exam and was then given five minutes to answer the ten true/false questions required (in English, thank FSM) to pass the written exam. I got seven right, which was the minimum required to pass that portion of the exam. Some of the questions were a bit weird. I remember one in particular that went kind of like this:

If there are no pedestrians in this crosswalk, but there's a car in between me and the crosswalk, then I can pass this car even though I am less than 30 meters away from the crosswalk.
 
Absolutely nothing that I had read prior to taking the exam had questions or scenarios like this. I actually thought that I was going to fail the written exam. The easiest part of the whole damn process, and I was going to fuck it up. I was actually surprised when I was told that I'd passed it.

The first floor lobby

The clerk then told me to go downstairs, purchase the form and stamps required to take the test (~$22), and fill them out. I did exactly that. I almost had an issue with the picture that I had provided them due to the way I cropped it. The photo was supposed to be 30 x 24 millimeters, which is even smaller than the photos I used for my visa application. I had to bust my ass to get it created and printed yesterday in time for the application process. Luckily, they decided to just use it anyway.

What was especially weird was that for one of the forms, Naoki couldn't write the address in kanji for me; it had to be my own handwriting. My address is pretty long, and some of the characters require more than ten strokes, so it took me a while to write the whole address. When I was almost finished, I was told that I could've just used Roman characters, which would've save me a lot of time. I handed the forms back to the clerk, and she gave me the information on the driving test. I was to take it that afternoon. She gave me a map of the course and a small pamphlet with pointers on taking the test [which, strangely enough, was bilingual]. The test was at 1300 hrs; I had about 45 minutes to get ready.

One thing that Internet forums and even the center themselves recommend is that you go and walk the course. Naoki and I purchased umbrellas from the convenience store downstairs and walked the course in the rain. The course itself wasn't too bad; I didn't have to do any parallel parking or hill starts. Walking the course took 20 minutes, after which we went back inside and waited in the lobby for the test to start.

View of the course from the final stretch

There were three other men taking the test that afternoon. One was a foreigner like me; I think he was from India. The proctor gave everyone who was taking the test for the first time a lap around the course while you sat in the back seat. I tried to collect as much information from the drive as I could. How fast was the proctor going in this section? How was he driving into the dreaded S-curve and the crank? I marked the course map I was given with various notes and reminders and studied them as hard as I could.

There are three people required in the car: the examinee, the proctor, and an "independent third party" in the back seat. The last guy is redundant; you are basically the proctor's bitch, and any missed turn signal or improper lane change resulted in an automatic failure. I was the third person to take the test, which meant that I was required to be said third-party for the person before and after me. The second person was also taking the test in a manual. He took the wrong turn on the route twice and made a few careless mistakes along the way, so I think he failed. The fourth person, in an automatic, was also a bit careless and failed as well.

The license center fleet. Toyota Crowns and motorcycles galore.

And me? Well, I did the best that I could. The clutch felt really worn, and I ended up overrevving a few times. I erred on the side of caution, as I was supposed to for this test. I was perfect in the S-curve and crank. I audibly confirmed checks in all mirrors and head movements, even counting out loud when making lane changes. But the harbinger came when we got to the end. Before entering the carport, I was supposed to stop at a pole, with my front bumper being aligned with the pole as best as possible. The proctor told me to just pull in. I knew at that point that I had failed.

The proctor, thankfully, spoke enough simple Japanese to help me understand my mistakes. There were three that he covered with me:

1. When pulling out of the carport and onto the course, I was late with turning on my blinker.
2. When passing a car on the side of the road, I ended up passing the car way too close instead of giving it more room.
3. You have to slow down at the curves to around 12 mph and proceed with caution. I did slow down, and even pumped the brakes as preferred for taking the test. However, the proctor still thought that I was going way too fast.

He asked me if I went to driving school. I told him no, but I was already driving in Japan and had my own car. He gave me the generic you should practice more statement and then it was over. After I did my second third party duty, Naoki and I went upstairs to wait for the obvious result. I was told that I could call (or in this case, have someone call for me) to book an appointment for next week. They gave me back my documents and then Naoki and I went home. It was around 1500 hrs at this point.

I will probably go alone for the second attempt. The major paperwork portion is done, and although some of the Japanese used was still a bit out of my grasp, I may not need a translator. That being said, Naoki said that he'd come with me again if he had no plans on the day of my exam. He even refused compensation for his time, despite the fact that he virtually waited all day. It's a true blessing to have friends like him. I would've been fucked from the start if both he and the foreign personnel advisor weren't there to help me.

I knew from the start that I was going to fail the first time. A lot of foreigners do, from what I've heard. However, I now have a better idea of how to navigate the course. I know what the car feels like to drive, and what the turns and curves feel like when driving through them. Assuming that those three things were my only errors, I did everything else perfectly. If that's the case, then I might pass the second time. But then again, I've been a bad luck magnet recently, so I won't know if I'll pass until I actually do.

But if I end up having to do a hill start, I know that there will be a third time.

つづく

-wp

Local sightseeing

A series of equipment inspections were slated at Somei House for this past Saturday. This included losing power to the individual rooms during the day. Because they were also conducting weekend-long inspections in the main buildings at the same time, it was impossible for me to go into the lab. Therefore, I decided to take the opportunity to do some sightseeing. I hadn't do so since I moved here, nor did I do any sightseeing when I came to tour Aizu last year. So, after a decent breakfast at McDonald's, I took the rental car (more on that in a future post) south of Aizuwakamatsu to my first stop of the day.

Ouchi-juku

The first place I visited was Ouchi-juku (大内宿), a historical post town in the town of Shimogo. (I actually passed by this area during TwT 3.) This town was a popular location for traders and travelling royalty during the Edo Period. The huts along the main street had straw roofs, just as the houses in the past did. There were vendors in each one, selling various tourist fare, and many of them also served as soba shops. (I think I counted at least ten of them on that street.) In addition to picking up some early presents for family back home, I even managed to hold a conversation with one of the Japanese vendors, who was surprised to learn that I was a student at the local university.

The streets were lined by two small streams, and the townspeople were putting them to good use. Occasionally, a shopkeeper would come out and, using a bucket with a long handle, splash some water along the dirt road. (I assume that this is to keep the ground "cool.") In addition, vendors also used the flowing water as coolers for various bottled beverages. And as it turned out, some of the vendors even lived in these houses, as I could tell by some of the furnishings in the back of these house. That's a definitely interesting way to live.

The cola was from the stream. The cider was not. I had both.

I walked along the main road first, and then stopped by some of the shrines on the mountain cliff. Along the way, a Japanese couple offered, in English, to take my picture for me. I obliged. I also visited a small shrine west of the main street, separated from all the action. The whole area felt very calm, even as the number of tourists increased throughout the day.

 

As I was nearing the end, I felt nature calling, and I needed to pick up now. I headed back up towards the public bathroom, which was behind a hotel-turned-museum that I had missed. I decided to pay the admission fee and go inside. This hotel was apparently for royalty passing through the area; they even had their own entrances. The building was a replica, but they had a video on loop showing the construction process (in Japanese, of course) and how the construction was done mainly by volunteer work. There were, however, actual period pieces throughout the entire hotel, and some older electronics from the early 20th century as well. I'm actually glad that I had to turn around!

Honjin, once a hotel, now a museum

 

All original pieces from the Edo Period

After Ouchi-juku, I decided to head up to Iimoriyama, more specifically to the site where the Byakkotai (白虎隊) committed suicide. Before I go on, I should give a brief historical run down, as my history classes back in school didn't go deep into the post-sakoku history of Japan. So, let's get to it:

• "Sakoku" (鎖国) refers to the isolationist policy that Japan enforced throughout the 17th, 18th, and part of the 19th centuries. Trade and entry in and out of the country was very restricted if not outright prohibited, and these rules could be cruel even for the Japanese. For example, if you were a seaman who ended up getting shipwrecked or kidnapped on the open waters, you could not come home. If you did, you were put to death.
  
• In 1853, Commodore Perry, on behalf of the US, sailed to Japan and landed in what is now Tokyo with the demand that Japan open its doors to diplomacy and trading with the US. Perry brought along some of his ships, complete with 19th-century armament, and this was an intimidating factor. It's kind of like confronting someone while you're open-carrying and they aren't. You can say no, but if things get really testy, the other person has very little chance of coming out on top. A year after his initial entry, both countries signed a diplomatic agreement.
  
• This agreement, and others made in the immediate future, did not sit well with everyone. Many Japanese people saw this as infringing on Japanese sovereignty, which lead to hostility and racism against foreigners coming to Japan. This was further stimulated by a policy inspired by but not acted upon by the imperial court called "sonnou joui" (尊皇攘夷). The British were especially targets of this policy, but even though this was around the start of the period when the British Empire began to shrink, they still had plenty of strength to fight back. A few shelling incidents by the British largely shifted the focus away from the presence of Westerners to the presence of the Tokugawa shogunate.
  
• Said shogunate was led at the time by Yoshinobu Tokugawa (徳川 慶喜), who took over the job from his predecessor Iemochi three years after the start of explicitly anti-foreigner activities. The shogunate, responsible for keeping the peace, was not doing a good job on either front, and this called their existence into question. Yoshinobu tried resigning his post as the shogun, but internal forces hostile to the shogunate basically manipulated the imperial government in 1868 into trying to abolish the shogunate altogether. Yoshinobu did not like this, and the Boshin War started. (For the record, the Aizu clan supported the shogunate.)

The entrance to Iimoriyama was lined with various vendors.

There's plenty of information that I left out, but that should get you started on how this all came to happen. On with the post!

In the fall of 1868, the Battle of Aizu took place. There was a reserve unit of 16 and 17-year olds called the Byakkotai. 20 of these samurai were cut off from the rest of their forces after the Battle of Tonoguchihara, and Iimoriyama was where they retreated to. While taking refuge on the mountainside, they saw that the castle, Tsuruga-jou (鶴ヶ城), had caught fire. They immediately assumed the worst: that the city had fallen and their leaders were dead. As part of the code of being a samurai, it was customary to not get caught, even if you had to die in order to prevent doing so. Therefore, the samurai engaged in seppuku (切腹) (warning: do not click on that link if you're squeamish) as their castle burned in the distance.

What a view!

One small problem with this story, though: the castle wasn't actually burning. The city was on fire, sure, but the castle was fine. It was just that it looked like the castle was burning from the viewpoint on the mountain where those samurai were looking.

Gravestones of the Byakkotai

You're probably wondering how we know that this was what the samurai were thinking. That's because one of them actually survived. He was rescued by a passing peasant, and he recalled the situation to her. However, the other 19 samurai were all dead at this point. The attraction that I was heading to was their gravesite, with all of their gravestones lined up in a single row.

Apparently this monument was made from a pillar in Pompei.

Instead of taking the rather steep staircase to the top of the cliff, I decided to splurge and pay for a ticket on the moving ramp up the cliff, which was just as steep. I walked around and saw the gravestones, as well as two monuments presented by the Italian and German governments. Those monuments would be touching, if it of course weren't for the fact that they were donated in the 1930s, which was during the "golden days" of fascism. (The three countries were the Axis powers after all.)

Sazaedo

Next to this memorial was a structure called Sazaedo (さざえ堂), a temple built entirely of wood in 1796. It's one of the oldest structures in Japan based entirely on wood. You enter it, go up a spiral ramp, then reach the top and come back down on another spiral ramp (seriously, the layout of that place confused me) before exiting through the rear. It cost 400 yen (yikes!) to go inside.

At the top, where the ramps reverse directions. Note the decals; they were everywhere!

After stopping at the shrine next door and descending the hill, I decided to go into the Byakkotai museum. At this point, I remembered that when I first came to the university, I was given a card that could serve as free admission to any museum in the prefecture. I used it at the ticket gate and got in for free. (I'm not good at thinking these things through.) Unfortunately, there was a sign right in the entryway that forbade pictures, but the general gist was that everything in there was about the Byakkotai, including a cheap 80s anime about the suicide running upstairs on loop. And as it had turned out, the story of the Byakkotai has been covered in popular media. A lot.

Memorial statue for the Byakkotai

I finished my lunch at KFC at around 1400 hrs, which was over three hours before the power was expected to be turned back on. However, I didn't want to go to any more exhibits under the impression that I'd need another day to kill. I decided to go back to the beach area on Lake Inawashiro that I went to earlier this summer to kill some time. The trip there and back took plenty of time. And as it turns out, next to the beach I went to was another beach where you can actually drive onto the sand. Maybe next summer I can hold some sort of beach party on a beach like that. I wonder if I can make the 4th of July a thing here...

This past week I've been working on a lab project for a paper with a PhD student who is graduating this month but will be sticking around at the university for another year or so. That's been keeping me busy during the day as I wait for my summer vacation to end. (You know you're an adult when you want summer vacation to actually end soon.) But then again, I'm sure that the month will be over before I know it.

-wp