This week Iwate just turned into a strange horror film. I could see the signs a couple of months ago, but I couldn’t believe it was actually happening. You see, Iwate has always had a ton of moths in July and August. They range from really small to as big as your entire face (wing span included.) I’ve never minded them before, and I actually found some of them to be quite beautiful, but something was a little different this year.
It all started when I headed out to the grocery store to pick up some, well, groceries. I parked my car and headed toward the main doors. Then I looked up. The entire wall was covered end to end with moths. I had never seen anything like this before. Big ones, little ones. Blue ones, green ones. Some laying eggs, others swarming. I could not believe my eyes. I ran into the store, and saw that many of them had found their way inside as well. Many of the clerks were swooshing them with brooms. But the clerks were outnumbered. I found the entire spectacle almost funny. I just assumed it was a cyle year for moths and that was the end of it, grabbed my groceries and went home. Then things got personal.
Yesterday I had some laundrry drying outside. I folded up all my shirts and put them in my shirt drawer. This morning I went to grab one of the shirt, and when I unfolded it I was greeted with the most shocking thing I’d seen in a while. I huge moth, half crushed, but still moving, was smearing yellow eggs all over the shirt and spewing some sort of webbing around the eggs. Now, I’m a big nature fan, but I’m don’t like it when nature takes it road show to my bedroom. Basically, I freaked, threw the shirt away and my stomach has been upset all morning. All this of course lead me to write this blog post.
As Steven Colbert might put it. I am placing the moths on notice. They’ve crossed a line.
Windy Iwate Mountain, originally uploaded by jasohill.
To start this off I present you the first picture of Iwate Mountain I took this year. As you can see, it’s fairly windy up near the top, where the snow is being blasted off the side of the mountain. I went on a twenty minute drive to find the best shot for this. The entire time, I was worried the winds were going to die down. Lucky for me, they actually got stronger. This is why they don’t recommend you climb this sucker in the winter.
As you might recalled from my last post, I twisted my ankle while playing a volleyball game at school. I begged and pleaded with the staff to let me walk it off, but given the size of the swelling, they insisted I make a trip to the doctor, and prevented me from walking on it. This is the continuation of that post. Please enjoy.
Continue reading ‘Week of Crushing Immobility(Part 2)’
Takizawa Morning, originally uploaded by jasohill.
I was at one of my elementary schools, having my self a nice little chat with one of the teachers. She asked me if I had a problem with doing two classes on the 24th, instead of the one I was scheduled for. I expressed that it wasn’t a problem at all. In fact it was a pleasure to enlighten and educate those sweet little faces. She was very pleased with this and happy that I never had a problem with any requests. I did mention that I would only have a problem if I were to be double booked. She laughed and said, “その時のため、分身の術(sonotokinotame, bunjin no jutsu.)
Basically, in English it means “For those times, you’d need the special body splitting techinique(used by ninjas)” She was so shocked that I understood what she was talking about, she almost fell over. I told her I learned it in a book. I will never reveal the true source of my information.
Shitty Japanese animated show about pansy, teenage ninjas never make good reference material.
What started out as a pleasant trip to Sendai, almost turned into a nightmare in my sleepy little prefecture. This all steamed from an email we received from a friend living in Morioka, advising us to come home as soon as possible. We only got a taste of what was to come when the bus driver told us the highway was closed and we would be late by over an hour.
It appears that Typhoon 11 left more damage than anyone could have anticipated. Many of Iwate’s rivers, already near overflowing from the storm, unleashed their fury yesterday, forcing evacuations all over the prefecture. My former home, Ichinoseki was under about fivefeet of water, and many parts of Hanamaki and Morioka were almost evacuated due to rising waters levels. I was very lucky to be living on higher ground. My home wasn’t damaged.
The secondary effects of this flooding weren’t even noticable to me until today. It appears many parts of the rail between Hachimantai-Matsuo and Hanawa were washed out completely. If I didn’t already have a car or the ability to drive, I would been unable to get to most of the schools I teach at. Even the road I use to jog is lying under water. Many of the rice fields in my town are now submerged as well.
I’m sure there will be more to tell about this story. I will will update you as information becomes available. I am attempting to get information of people that were evacuated and casualties.
Update 1: This article tell of two people carried away by flood waters in Morioka. The search is continuing for them today.
Update 2: An article from the Asahi shinbum gives a quick summary of the people involved so far.
I thought I’d kick off my first blog post in a while with a smoking hot review of the Jazz concert I attended the other day. The name of the band is Olive and they are based out of Morioka and Senmaya. Yes, for those of you who read this blog on a regular basis, you’ll know that I used to live in Senmaya. I got a chance to take do a photo shoot of the concert. I was also quite impressed with what I heard.
The band is made up of Mai on drums, Emi on keyboards and vocals, and Oi on the electric stand up bass. What they lack in members, they make up for in raw ability. The band focuses on a style of acid jazz infused with pop style rolling bass lines. They performed a set of three songs; each more more upbeat and grooving than the previous. I have yet to actually get the names of the tunes they played; however, they are working on a CD for release later this year, so when I get my hands on it, you’ll be the first to know. For now I have placed the pictures I took in a flickr set. Enjoy.
My calm and unexciting Iwate life just got mildly more exciting. It appears NHK is airing a new television drama called ‘dondohare’ or ‘どんど晴れ’ The show follows the life of Yokohama native Natsumi Higa as she struggles to start up her own traditional Japanese Ryokan. This show is a type of morning drama call a ‘asadora’, or ‘Morning Drama.’
The reason I find this sort of exciting is because it takes place in Iwate Prefecture. Yes, for those of you not keeping track, that is the prefecture I live in. In fact, the show is based in Morioka, which is only 30 minutes from my door. I might tune in just to see if I can spot any of the locales. There is a ton of info on the show over at D-addicts. If you can read Japanese check out the Official Page.
Update: Ouch! The wonderful people over at J!-Ent news have revealed the opening broadcast of Dondobare brought NHK’s lowest reviews ever. It’s probably as I feared. No one outside or inside of Japan cares about Iwate.
If you happen to be a fan of the Japanese railways, then you should know about what is coming up on March 18, 2007. This is what they call the ダイヤ改正（daiya kaisei), or “The Annual Schedule Change” as it is known in English. It appears to be the day when JR changes their train schedules. This year, they are also making all of the shinkansen cars non smoking. This is pretty ground breaking for Japan and something I welcome. There is nothing worse than walking through a smokey shinkansen car on the way to your seat. It’s akin to being in a narrow bingo hall.
March 18th also has some local ramifications in my area. My local line, the Hanawa line, is changing the train it uses. Up until the change, I had the luxury of riding on the Kiha 52 and Kiha 58 trains; both of which have their origins in the late 50’s to 60’s. They are big and loud, but when you ride on them, you can feel the history. I’m a little saddened to announce that JR is switching to the Kiha 110. This puke green wonder has it’s origins in the early 90’s and was the train I used to ride when I lived in Senmaya. I’m sure JR has it’s reasons for the change. I can bet those older models are getting really expensive to maintain. Still, I feel privileged to have been able to ride those classic engines.
On a final note, if you are living in Japan, and want to see what March 18th has in store for you, be sure to head to your local train station and ask. They have all the information on the change.
Well, I’m now back in Japan. After a 14 hour trip that, coincidently, had me on the same plane as a friend of mine. I arrived back in Tokyo and got myself a bullet train up to the frozen north of Iwate. It’s amazing how the weather goes from warm and raining, to cold and blizzardy all in the space of 400km. Within a day of returning, I was back at work and back to routine. My trusty kerosene heater decided it didn’t want to work, and is now in the shop, leaving me chilled to the bone.
I’m not sure what it is about 2007 that already has me in a bit of a funk. It could be the rather cold reception I got when I came back(Oh! you’re back. Whoop de doo), or possibly the army of friends and acquaintances I know that seem to have found true love in the last six months. I always know about how happy they are, because they never stop reminding me. This wouldn’t bother me so much if it weren’t for the fact that I can’t seem to locate a woman that shares anything in common with me. I have been in three rocky relationships in the last three years, and I have spelunked my way out of them. I do want to relax a little and enjoy my freedom, but, as some of my younger friends remind me, “Wow, you’re 30? Why don’t you have like three kids by now?” It’s hard to shake that artificial pressure that at this age that I need to be with someone. But I’ll do my best to fight it.
I think I’ll just chalk it up to SAD again this year and try to move on with my life. There should be plenty of interesting things to blog about here in Iwate. Overall, I’m sure I’m just a little tired from a long flight across the pacific. I really enjoyed my trip back to Edmonton, and I can take away a lot of positive memories from it. I also took some great pictures and will be sharing them with all of you as well. So here is a preemptive “cheers” to 2007!
