Day 2 in Japan

June 14, Sunday – Today is family day. There was no specific schedule for the day. It was up to our host families on where they are going to bring us to. Early in the morning, I had breakfast with my host father. He prepared the dishes. At 8.30am, Ogasawa-san and his wife arrived. As my host father was busy, I spent the day with the Ogasawa family instead. It was about 24 Celcius. We went to several places in Mie-ken. It took us around 2 hours to reach there. Mrs. Ogasawa was very talkative. Both of them can speak a bit of English, broken but understandable. I was riding on a new Nissan car which can take up to a maximum of 8 passengers. I like its automatic doors and navigation system. When the driver uses the reverse gear, the screen will change to the scene at the back of the car. It is very convenient for the driver. On the way, we went thru the Triton Bridge - 3 different bridges, with the same design but different colors (blue, white and red). They have ETC (Electronic Toll System) which is similar to SmartTag in Malaysia.

First, we went to Meiwachuu. There was a festival there called “Saioh Matsuri”. It was a traditional celebration. “Saioh” is a title given the princess chosen by the king. She will lead the other princesses and supports in the country’s administration. There were many stalls there selling food, goods and games. There was traditional musical instrument performance. Then, we headed to the Saioh Museum. There was a performance on “kamishibai” there. “kamishibai” is paper drama. As the narrators narrate about the story of Saioh, the pictures change to show different scenes of the story. The famous food for this city is dried Udon (dried noodle). I do not find it tasty. I still prefer the one with soup.

After lunch, we headed to “Saioh no Mori” (Saioh’s Forest). There was a demonstration on the Saioh ceremony there. The ceremony started at 1pm. It was a long wait under the sun. There was a huge crowd over there. The ceremony lasted for about 2 hours. We visited the Japanese Iris plantation after that. It was a small pond with some Iris flowers. Saioh is somehow related to Iris, which is once a commonly found flower in the area.

Then, we headed to Isejin. Isejin is the biggest temple in Japan. On occasions, the Emperor visited the temple. The compound of the temple is huge, covering rivers and mountains surrounding it. The river there is called Isuzukawa. They believe that the God that guards the jungle lives there and worship it. The architecture of the temple is also interesting. There is a tradition for this temple. Every 20 years, they will tear it off and build it at another location located almost beside it. There are 2 locations and the temple will be build alternating between them. This tradition is in order to preserve the knowledge of building temples so that it will not be lost. However, they have recently changed the tradition to 25 years instead. There has been more than 60 times since they destroy and rebuilt this temple. There will be another 7 more years to go before they rebuild the temple on a new location.

Then, we visited the small shopping area beside Isejin. There are many shops with old architecture there. I love it! There are many interesting things to be seen there, such as handicrafts, food etc. There is a very famous shop there for Akago, a sort of rice cake with red bean sauce inside. It is extremely tasty. It was wonderful enjoying the delicacy beside the river bank, with a cup of green tea. 3 Akago cost 280 Yen.

There was a traffic jam on the way back. The petrol stations in Japan use automatic payment machines to sell petrol and hiring minimum workers. A liter of petrol cost around 115 Yen in Japan, almost double the price of petrol in Malaysia.

Then, we headed to Sugiura Kazuhiko’s house for a party. It was Patrik’s host family. There were many people there and the place was crowded. Most of them were friends. As I arrived, most of the food had been clear off. At around 9pm, I headed back with the Ogasawa family.