The Ajimu Circuit

Bamboo clinks in the wind as I skirt around a few fallen branches that have fallen into the uneven road in the woods. The trees are finally returning to their comforting green and the newly planted rice fields shine in the warm sun. A few birds call out near the Shinto shrine on the hill and an old lady in her garden shouts “ganbatte” to me as I go running by. I’m following my usual running route around town that takes me up into the hills before I head through the heart of town and then back home.

My shoes crunch on some gravel and I lose my footing near a crosswalk where a passing car honks and all I see is a smile on an unidentified face and a waving hand. An orange carp in a shallow pool is startled by my shadow while two little boys on bikes manage a “herro” followed by gurgley laughter.

A lady in a uniform returns my “konnichiwa” as she sweeps the front entrance to a pachinko parlor where colorful flags are whipping in the wind. A little dog wearing a blue vest barely acknowledges my passing as he sits proudly in his owner’s arms.

I turn a corner and follow the main street past the high school where students in uniforms are scattered in little groups all along the way. Some smile, some laugh, most at least say my name to their friend while watching me run by. For a few moments my pace quickens and I dodge in and out of the students who are leaving and loitering around school.

My legs ache a bit as I begin the final kilometer and I tell myself I cannot stop. An old lady with a cane stares and then smiles when I breathlessly wish her “konnichiwa” and a car coming out of an alley stops suddenly to let me pass. I turn towards my apartment, looking out across the rice fields to the green hills beyond, and push myself to finish.

I pass a building and hear my name called out by someone from an upper window. As always, excited laughter follows the “Jaasuten” and this time, the phrase “nice run” is added too. I pour my remaining energy into my body and go hard for the last stretch.

I run and run and slowly stop, my eyes closed in both agony and joy. The wind blows over me carrying the smell of flowers and I wipe my forehead on my shirt. I turn into my apartment building parking lot and wave to the junior high school students who are practicing soccer in the field next door. I stretch my legs and catch my breath and remember all the runs I went on back home. My body feels good after the exertion and I reflect on what a perfect track Ajimu Town makes.

As I walk back inside, taking my shoes off at the door, I feel a longing for home mixed with a sense of contentment at being here in Japan. I’ve found that there is no place quite like home, but there are places that can become familiar refuges in this world…and those places can be called home for as long as we live in them.

Easy breezy, Japanesey

Here are a random assortment of amusing things I’ve photographed over the last 9 months using my handy cell phone camera. Enjoy.



Do you know where little Yoshi has wandered off to? Be careful, because Domo-kun will eat your children.



A very pretty and realistic-looking mannequin encouraging you to buy clothes.



This is Gloomy Bear, the bear who loves you to death. You can find his cute/bloody toys and accessories in the child’s section of most major department stores (Blake, this photo is just for you).



Sign posted outside a bathroom in Osaka train station listing the various things one can do inside. Not so sure about #4…



Yummy, cookies with a name that I associate with my large intestine…I guess that’s where they’ll end up.



Ketchup with the same attributes as my shampoo.



Toilet paper brands…though I’m not sure if “repeat” and “memory” are two things I want connected with using the bathroom.



Look, real Indian Curry! No more of that “made in Indian” crap…now you can get the authentic Native American kind!

Sakura and the fleeting nature of life

Behold, the essence of springtime cherry blossoms—meat on a stick and moderately priced whiskey presented with a background of sakura.

After a nightmarish winter that took the lives of all three of my house plants and gave me my first experience with frostbite, SPRING has finally arrived! Bits of life are returning despite the enduring chill and new green rice is growing in the previously brown fields. I heard my first thunder of the season earlier this week as the rolling booms chased rain down from the mountains and gave the waking earth a needed drink. But the most amazing and meaningful site of spring are the song-lyric-worthy blossoms of the cherry trees—the lovely and delicate sakura.

These pale pink blossoms are a welcome relief from winter and give the landscape an almost mythical swirl of color. Lying at the heart of Japanese culture, the cherry blossoms express the ephemeral nature of life in that they bloom, amaze, and blow away in a matter of weeks. Japan is a culture that appreciates the moment and savors the specialties of the season before they fade away into the next progression of life.



The typical way to enjoy these fleeting flowers is by having a picnic with friends and family under their branches—a practice referred to as “hanami” or “flower viewing”. The ingenuity of Japanese landscapers has given us local parks lined with cherry trees for just such an occasion and over the past week I’ve been fortunate enough to have several opportunities to experience hanami with my dear JET friends.

When one enters a sakura park, sound seems to soften as if the dense blossoms are absorbing the murmur of voices and clattering of everyday life. One’s eyes sweep the scene and one thinks, “Holy geisha ninjas, these are lovely—I must enjoy them before they all blow away!” Then one takes out one’s camera and proceeds to take photo after photo of the ornamental trees…all the while thinking, life is fleeting…life is fleeting…


At Usuki Castle Park, there were groups of old folks laughing and playing games with a casualness that said, “I’ve been doing this all my life. Please enjoy the sakura, for life is fleeting.” There was also a man with a baby that cried every time one of us foreigners approached as if the baby was saying, “You’re scary because you’re different…but all the same, please enjoy the sakura, for life is fleeting…”



At Usa Shrine, a drunken pair of parents offered Steph and me a beer while their kids looked on in terror. I didn’t understand much of the parents were saying, but amongst the slurred Nihongo I’m sure they were urging, “Please enjoy the sakura, for life is fleeting.”



At a park in Nakatsu, a tall lady outside the public restroom pointed at the cherry trees in the soft evening light and said, “Miteblablablablablablabla!” which I’m sure meant, “Please enjoy the sakura, for life is fleeting.”



So that’s what I’ve been doing…enjoying the sakura…for life is indeed fleeting.

International Gaming

The world sits before me on Steph’s kotatsu covered in little plastic soldiers. My forces have concentrated themselves in Africa and South America while Steph’s, Ben’s, and Isabel’s are scattered throughout the rest of the untamed world. The dice clatter in my hand as I survey the hostile force trying to take my territory of Congo. Clatter, clatter, clatter, CLAT! The dice are cast—my white defending dice come up 6 and 5! My opponent’s red attacking dice settle on 4, 3, and 1. YES, the Congo is safe!

This is a familiar scene from our regular games of RISK (the game of global domination) that have been taking place since my parents sent over the board game a couple months ago as a birthday gift (thanks mom and dad!). While JETs have MANY exciting things to keep them occupied every single moment of every single day, there are times when sitting down to a nice game of RISK or Monopoly is just what the doctor ordered.

But like with most simple things (eating, speaking, dancing), playing board games with people from other parts of the world offers a slightly new dimension to the experience. Our game of Monopoly that took place a while ago involved folks from FIVE different countries—Canada, Japan, England, New Zealand, and America!



As we all sat down to play, there was a moment when everyone realized that in a way, we were representing our respective countries in this competition of financial conquest. We exchange glances, silently sang our national anthems, and dealed out the colorful money. Some people were a little unhappy that the version of Monopoly we were playing was the American version and thus had different place names than they were used to (a fact I didn’t realize until that night). But nonetheless, our game was intense and I did America proud by robbing everyone else of their funds and making a monopoly of our international board.

In more recent times, we’ve been playing a lot of RISK—the game where one tries to conquer the world via armies and the rolling of dice. As you can imagine, playing this board game with an international crowd while living in country that is NOT your homeland is an especially fun experience. The usual crowd of global conquerors consists of two Brits, a French-Canadian, and me, the American. We all enjoy taking our friend’s respective homelands and then mocking them for not defending it better. The number of historical references one can make during the game is astounding—especially when some of the players are from countries that have notoriously raped and pillaged the world. I always get a little antsy when my troops march around the Middle Eastern territories and recently when I moved a large force into Japan, I decided it best to base them all in Okinawa instead of on the mainland.



Living abroad and being friends with people from all over the world is one of my favorite parts of the JET experience. While I sometimes don’t understand what other westerners are saying because their casual vocab is filled with unfamiliar terms and spoken with an accent, I do enjoy learning more about the people of the world. The more I know, the better equip I’ll be to march into their lands, take their territories, and establish myself as Emperor of the World. Yeah America!