Last Night in Japan with my Kids

Our final night in Japan was spent in Fukuoka in a ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn. When I lived in Kyoto, it was in an older Japanese house, so slipping my shoes off and walking through sliding wooden doors and across tatami mats in my socks was rather, well, homey.



They really packed the kids in at this stop -- five or six to a room -- and because it was a ryokan, they were expected to use the public bathing area in the neighboring onsen. However, not only did my room have a private bath, I was also given access to a private room in the onsen. O baby, o baby!



Ah, hair liquid, medicated brace up lotion, and milky lotion -- all my toilet essentials.



Curtained doorway leading into my private room in the onsen, where I headed for a brief but relaxing getaway from teacher duty.



My little pool, fed by a nearby hot spring, which I got all to myself!



My only visitor





After my little soak, I headed back to the hotel and got the kids suited up in their yukata for dinner. Kawaii desu ne? (Aren't they cute?)



Part of our evening's entertainment included a "samurai" -- who pretty much just ran around the dining hall menacing people with his katana -- and a rollicking round of karaoke during which the boys and I sang *NSYNC's ever-beloved "Bye Bye Bye". And did the dance (obviously). All the students from the other groups said, "Why isn't our teacher that cool?" Or at least, that is what I presume they were whispering to each other after our show-stopping performance.

Speaking of show-stopping, the karaoke ended abruptly when the proprietor told us our time was up and hustled us out... and then proceeded to stand alone in front of the empty dining hall and continue singing by himself. Yep.

The kids, unable to cope with the fact that our trip was coming to an end (and not anxious to go back to their sardine-style sleeping arrangements), spent the rest of the night in my room playing cards and talking about how awesome Japan is.

Yamaguchi Prefecture -- Kintaikyo and Iwakuni-Jo

On our way to Kyushu, my kids and I hit up Yamaguchi Prefecture to see one of the most famous bridges in Japan -- Kintaikyo (or "The Brocade Sash Bridge" in Eigo) -- and to hike up to Iwakuni-Jo, the only castle on our tour of Nippon. You can just see it perched charmingly on top of the mountain in this shot...



The kids really enjoyed the bridge, which is so steep that it's actually a staircase on the center arches. It rained the whole time we were there, but that just added to the misty mystique of the mountains and the river.







The kids were troopers and didn't complain about the rainy walk at all. Kat got some great shots on our way through town, and we had a pleasant, mukade-free stroll through the forest around the castle.





The main tower of Iwakuni-Jo

Sidebar about Japanese castles: Many Japanese castles and palaces employ what they call "nightingale floors" -- a special method of floor construction that produces deliberately squeaky floorboards. Why, you ask? It's a security measure; squeaky floors are very hard to sneak across. Just consider it ninja citronella.



The view from the top of the castle tower was definitely worth the soggy hike.





The rain may have soaked us to the bone, but it didn't dampen the kids' spirits -- a couple Yakults and an ice cream, and they were ready to hop back on the bus and rock on to Kyushuu.





Alison even found some Kitty-Chan gear, which kept her spraying glitter out her ears for hours! :)






Kat picked up some hair gel and took advantage of everybody's wet hair to Manga-fy the guys. Their level of awesome reached OVER NIIINE THOOOOOOUUUUSAAAAND!!!





The bridge between Honshu and Kyushu



We stopped for a quick "set-o" menu dinner that the kids then supplemented with munchies from a nearby market.





This was one of a few stops where we crossed paths with another EF group, so our bus drivers hung out and shot the breeze while the kids ate and shopped. And yes, the little stuffed animal charms belong to our bus driver. Japan may be the only country in the world where a straight, grown man can get away with this sort of thing.

A Side Note on Japanese Dining

Before we left for Japan, the kids had three major points of anxiety: 1) AH! I don't speak Japanese!; 2) What if I get lost??; and 3) What on earth am I going to be expected to eat?!

I'm happy to say that for the most part, they did a wonderful job of being open to trying new foods. Nobody starved, anyway. Here are a few of their favorites (sometimes favorite foods; other times, just favorite stories about food):



In Nagasaki, we finally had the chance to get our hands on some takoyaki, or "octopus balls." My research shows that five out of six American teenagers understand "octopus balls" to mean little balls of batter containing octopus meat that are grilled (as shown above), smothered in sweet soy sauce, and absolutely delicious. The remaining one out of six American teenagers will interpret this as "octopus testicles" and will turn green and ask for permission to sit outside the shop while her comrades chow down on the scrumptious little morsels. I might be a bad teacher for not explaining this more clearly.



I was delighted when I finally managed to get my kids into an izakaya on one of our free evenings. Izakaya, which are like Japanese pubs, serve a wide variety of munchies, most of which are greasy and delicious (and the reason my jeans went up a size when I lived over there). The kids particularly enjoyed the yakitori (grilled chicken bits, including not just meat but also cartilage) and the horse sashimi (yes, yes, that's raw horse meat).



Chanpon, the most famous Nagasaki food, is a hearty noodle dish with cabbage, pork, and a variety of veggies. Not a big hit with the kids, but I really like it.



One of my favorite Japanese snacks is Meiji chocolate-covered macadamia nuts. Since our return home, the kids have found them in a local import shop, and I'm looking forward to some highly-effective bribes next school year.





Among the kids' favorite discoveries were the various types of Yakults. They started with the basic yogurt-shots and progressed from there to the boys' favorite: Ta Fu Ma N, or "Tough Man," shown with Josh above and in this sexually-suggestive ad below.





They also quickly mastered the vending machines, which are plentiful and stocked with an exciting variety of treats.



We even had dinner one night at a restaurant where you order via vending machine. You put your money in the machine and select a meal, and the machine gives you a little ticket and tells the folks behind the counter what you want. When your number is called, you simply trade your ticket for a delicious plate of curry (like that shown below) or whatnot. Way to reduce human contact as much as possible, Japan.



We also went to a pretty typical Japanese fast-food joint for burgers. The kids expected it would be like the fast-food they were used to at home. Sorry, guys! Eggs and teriyaki sauce on your burger with a melon soda on the side!



They liked the burgers pretty well, but RJ was a little unnerved by the melon-flavored soda.



On the whole though, not only did we not lose anybody, but we also didn't let anybody go hungry. Well done, kids!

A Side Note About Japanese Hotels

One anxiety Western travelers have about visiting Japan comes from the notion that the Japanese all live in tiny little dollhouses and that Japanese hotel rooms are about the size of your average Western shoebox. False. While it's true that in general people in Japanese cities operate in smaller spaces than Westerners, the Japanese avoid feeling cramped by using that space incredibly efficiently, and unless you stay at a very traditional Japanese inn (a ryokan, which we'll discuss at the end of this entry), you can expect the same kind of amenities as you would in a hotel at home with just a few delightfully Japanese twists.

Here are several photos from the hotels where we stayed throughout Kansai to give you a taste of what you can expect.



As you can see, though the bed in my room in Hiroshima is a bit smaller than it might be in an American hotel, it's certainly big enough for me. There's no space for doing cartwheels in the room, but I have everything I need.





One interesting feature shown here is that the sink and showerhead both operate from the same line. The handle on the right side of the sink changes the water flow from one to the other while the handle on the left controls the temperature, and as always in Japan, there are plenty of pictures to help you figure it out.





Speaking of pictures, the average Japanese toilet seat has more features on it than my car does, so use the diagrams to help you figure out what's what.



This particular toilet seat features two different style bottom-rinsers with adjustable water pressure, a "powerful deodorizer," and a little button that turns on a water-running noise in case you are little bit hazukashii.



If you spill some green tea on your shirt and need to rinse it out, have no fear! Your Japanese hotel room likely comes equipped with a little laundry line like this in the shower. Just pull it out and secure the plastic end into the fixture on the other side of the shower.



In leiu of a coffee pot, your Japanese hotel room will have a tea pot and a pair of slippers. You don't have to wear these if you don't want to (especially since they might be too small if you have big man feet), but remember that it's impolite to wear your shoes in the room. Kick them off by the door and go in your stockings or a pair of your own slippers.



Most of the helpful brochures in your room will be in both Japanese and English for the convenience of foreign visitors, such as this pamphlet on "How to Internet."



I have not seen a trouser press in an American hotel room since they invented perma-press in about 1987, but in case you have a really old pair of pants, here you go!



All of our hotels in Japan included a breakfast buffet with a combination of Eastern and Western cuisine that put the stale bagels and cold cereal at an American hotel to shame.



As you can see, my room in Fukuoka was considerably larger than the one in Hiroshima and even included a little sitting area.





No need to call down to the front desk as everything you need for a comfy stay is already provided. This little basket of amenities includes a toothbrush and toothpaste, a hairbrush, a body sponge, a razor, shaving cream, and cue tips.



I particularly liked the brown-and-creme fixtures in this bathroom.

In Nagasaki, I actually got a room with two beds -- one for each night we were there!





And the pink fixtures in the Nagasaki bath were adorable.



Here's a more complex than necessary bath arrangement with one handle for the faucet-to-shower switch, one to adjust the temperature, and another one to adjust the flow. Whew!



A Mitsubishi elevator -- to take you to your floor in style!

Now if you do stay in a ryokan, be prepared for your experience to be a bit more authentically Japanese. First of all, you'll notice the sliding doors and tatami floor mats. While it's impolite to wear your shoes in any hotel room, it is extremely bad form to wear them on tatami. There's a spot in the entryway to check your shoes for slippers, so please do.





You'll also quickly notice that there is no bed in your ryokan room. That's because you'll be sleeping on a futon -- a thin Japanese mattress that is laid on the tatami floor and extremely comfortable. Your futon and other bedding are stored in the cabinets you see here, so you can either set them up yourself or the hotel staff will come and lay them out for you while you're at dinner. Also notice the low Japanese table. The cushions stored under the futon cabinets are your "chairs." You can sit on your knees in the traditional Japanese style or cross-legged if that's more comfortable for you.



If you're in a ryokan that provides dinner for you, you can expect a more traditional Japanese cuisine, and you'll also find that most of the guests in the ryokan will have traded their street clothes for a yukata -- a cotton Japanese robe -- which it's appropriate for you to don and wear around the ryokan as well.