The beach!

The current weather in Tokyo has been nonstop rain for the past four days. Once it starts, it takes a while for the rain to stop again. However, it is not always raining and there are days when it is a perfect summer day for lounging around outside and going to the beach.

Even though Tokyo is near the ocean, the few areas of waterside open to the public aren't suitable for swimming. Chemicals, jellyfish, lack of sand, I'm not sure. Instead, on a recent trip to the beach several people from my apartment building and myself went to Kamakura, down past Yokohama and about an hour away from central Tokyo.

The train was a bit tedious since it required changing trains at least three times, but it was worth it to finally make it down to the beach.

Hooray! Ocean!

Now, being a simple boy from Kansas, this type of event is still a novelty to me. In fact, this brings visited beaches up to three different locations in my lifetime. One was in southern California, the second was south Texas and the Gulf of Mexico, and now I got to see the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

Some of my traveling companions

Cute kids playing in the sand!

Carp decorations floating in the wind leftover from a recent Boys' festival. I forget what they are supposed to represent

The crows here are terrifying and not afraid of people

The beach isn't the only thing to see when in this part of Japan. After spending time in the sun and surf, many of us went to see the Dai Butsu, the second largest statue of Buddha in Japan.

The threshold into the temple grounds

From afar

Up close

Another angle

Two panels in the back open up...

...So you don't suffocate while inside the hollow statue

A sign on the interior detailing construction

Most people come to see this tourist attraction...

...but there is still room for those who just need to sit and relax.

...Perhaps buy a trinket or collectible so the temple grounds can remain open

Nonetheless, it was a good time for all. I spent all day in the sun and yet I barely got a sunburn at all. I will have to make a point of going down again so that I can soak up the waterfront atmosphere before returning to a landlocked existence for an indeterminate amount of time.

Hopefully more stuff will show up here without an extremely long wait period in-between. Until then...

The Post About Garbage

Two weeks since I last updated? Where has the time gone? In an effort to put up more content until I have more time to do something a bit longer, let's look at something mundane.

Trash disposal is complicated in Japan. Each piece of trash needs to be examined and analyzed in order to determine how to dispose of it properly.

These bins are in every building and common area on the campus of my university:


Instead of quickly tossing the garbage into a catch-all container, the trash has to be separated into burnable garbage, non-burnable metal garbage (soda cans), non-burnable plastic (food wrappers and some bottles), and P.E.T. bottles (standard soda and tea bottles). For lack of extra land, there are not many landfills. In this school setting where food containers are the most common waste, paper will get burned and everything else will get recycled when it can.

Sorting becomes more severe when it comes to residential areas. In the apartment building where I live, I am expected to sort all these items into separate bins: burnable paper and chopsticks, plastic waste, PET bottles, metal cans, glass, food waste, cardboard milk and juice cartons, batteries, clothes, newpapers, books, and a couple more I can't think of right now. You can't just cheat and throw everything into a bag either. City residents are required to put trash into clear bags for pick-up and a fine is given out if the garbage is not sorted properly. This is a bit easier to discern since there are two pick-up days per week and different items are picked up on different days.

I guess since I am only a temporary resident in Japan, I get the abridged version of the sorting regulations. Here is a New York Times article I ran across while looking up stuff: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/12/international/asia/12garbage.html

Perhaps such policies will get adopted across the US once there are no more spaces for landfills. Who knows.

The Cherry Blossom Viewing

In real life, the Sakura trees have finished blossoming several weeks ago. However, with the magic of the Internet, I can still tell all about my experience with the Japanese custom of Sakura viewing with many pictures and such.

To set the scene, the Sakura tree is also known as a Cherry Blossom tree (no cherries, though). When it flowers, it produces delightful pink petals for about two weeks.

Sakura outside my bedroom

The act of hanami, which is literally "flower viewing", is an activity that has been around since at least the 8th Century AD, according to Wikipedia. In the olden days, it was used to determine when to start planting crops as well as to provide an occasion to have a celebration. Nowadays, everyone uses the occasion to go to an area with several Sakura trees close together and just eat, drink, and have a good time.

Behind the building I stay at, there is a walking path that is lined with Sakura trees on each side for about four blocks. When the trees were at full bloom on the weekend, there were dozens and dozens of families having picnics, taking pictures of the blossoms, or buying items from the vendors at this prime hanami location.

Early morning Hanami

Being a fresh-faced foreign exchange student curious about the customs and celebrations going on around the city, I soon found myself included in the planning for a hanami party. A couple of friends from the same apartment building and some Japanese students from the university to provide direction would ensure good times for all.

However, it would not do to party at the local haunt filled with the neighborhood families. Instead, this party of students agreed to meet up at one of the busiest hanami locations in Tokyo, the area outside the Imperial Palace.

Long story short, two international students along with myself could not find the larger group of revellers we were supposed to meet up with. Instead, we opted to follow the crowd on a long walk in the middle of Tokyo to admire the cherry blossoms.

What a crowd it was

Enough of the idle chatter. Let's have some pictures:

Sakura spilling out over a major road

I only count three trees here

Close-up

A picture of myself? How did this get in here?

My traveling companion enjoys the view

Popular spring pastime

The public is allowed to rent canoes...

...for obvious reasons

Families eating under the Sakura

Dressed for the occasion

However, the entire country gets excited for nature-related festivities because the beauty is fleeting. This is the Sakura tree outside my window as it currently appears:

No more blossom-related festivities for another year, but that's what makes it so special.