７月１７日（金：祇園祭 Gion Matsuri)

Today, my 3 friends and I went to 祇園祭 (gion matsuri, Gion Festival) with Etsushi! Nick, Kitty and I used the internet to learn how to wear 浴衣 (yukata, light summer clothing with the appearance of a kimono) and got ready for the festival with Lane. As an unprepared foreigner, I found I was missing two strips of fabric I needed to tie my yukata in-place under the 帯 (obi, belt). So, the boys helped me improvise by giving me the free ear buds they had received on Hawaiian Airlines to use as replacements. I tied my yukata shut with ear bud chords, in a pinch. We all thought it was pretty funny.

 yukata time!

It turns out women's obi are more complex to tie than men's. Women's obi end up looking like a bow, and after tying has to be shifted to the back. Men's obi are also complex but end in a somewhat ornate knot in the front, are thinner, and are worn lower on the waist than women's obi.

Also, Nick and Kitty beat me out on the full ensemble, because they also wore 下駄 (geta, wooden clogs) with their yukata. I was too cheap to buy geta and too lazy to wear them anyway, so the default was regular street shoes.

We met Etsushi at 三条駅 (sanjyou eki, Sanjo Station) and he was pretty surprised to see 3 of us had decided to wear yukata. He told us even though he's Japanese he has never worn a yukata before. The typhoon weather was really coming in so it was raining pretty consistently outside, but fortunately Lane gave me a two-person umbrella he had mistakenly bought and we all brought umbrellas with us.

this is Etsushi's photograph

left to right: Nick, Lane, me, Kitty

Here are some amazing pictures from Gion Matsuri! Fewer people than usual came because of the weather so we could see well, and many of the viewers were other foreign people.

there were signs before each float
they seem to each be from a different shrine
although perhaps I am wrong

float with heavily made up children

 fan bearers

human dolls

bell ringers

 everything ビニールでおおわれている (biniiru de oowareteiru, covered in plastic)

marchers with their umbrellas

 more fan bearers, removing water from their fans

people pulling the floats

 creepy 妖怪 (youkai, ghost/phantom) costumes

weird youkai performance

After watching most of the parade we went to 一蘭 (Ichiran), a Chinese-style ramen restaurant that generally appeals to foreigners. At this and many other restaurants, especially noodle places, you order using a machine to select what you would like to eat, and after paying at the machine, it gives you a meal ticket with your order on it to present to the staff.

this is a picture of another order machine

not the one at Ichiran

At Ichiran there was also an option sheet giving you the ability to chose the softness of your noodles, the oiliness of your broth, and various aspects of your ramen order. We were to give these to the staff with our meal tickets. The five us us waited some time for eating spaces next to each other. Basically, Ichiran is organized so that each person sits at the bar with folding walls on each side of the seating space. But even after 10 minutes waiting there were not 5 places next to each other open, so we split into a group of 2 (me and Kitty) and a group of 3 (Etsushi, Nick and Lane).

this light-up seating chart impressed us as we waited

At many restaurants in Japan there is an order button on the table. Always look for it carefully before you wait forever to order. Kitty tried to order a 替玉 (kaedama, second portion of noodles) but we did not notice the button, so we tried to call the staff through the curtain put between the bar and the servers' area. I took a picture after the staff informed us to its location.

ご注文 (gochuumon, order) button

Once we enjoyed delicious ramen, the boys, Etsushi and I headed to 伏見稲荷 (Fushimi Inari) on the train. Unfortunately, the rain closed the path up the mountain. So with soaked feet we went to Starbucks near Kamogawa and sat for some time to dry off.

Nick, Kitty, and Lane on the train

Love Lane's face

these are wish tablets where you write your wish

like ema

and the wishes are conveyed to the gods

The rain was so consistent we decided to stay inside longer and do a couple hours of karaoke to kill time. We all thought of plenty of songs to sing - both Japanese and English and often in groups - and had a really great time! Plus the place gave you all you can drink cocktails included, so we got to drink as well.

There was more parade fun going on when we got out of karaoke at night. It was still raining but lighter. Everything was still covered in plastic, and some of the poor men in light festival wear had skipped plastic raincoats and were drenched. We had to wait for some of the floats.

night float

parade

 horse rider

and another one

waiting

 night float

Once the parade seemed to have calmed down, we went back to the station and parted ways. It was an awesome day.

７月１６日（木: my mom's last day）

There was a typhoon warning today! Fortunately the weather seemed fine as mom and I rode the shinkansen from Shinagawa back to Shin-Osaka. I made a mistake and got on a slower shinkansen that only brought us part of the way, but we just got off at the last stop and rode the next shinkansen the rest of the way. The signs at the stations can be a little confusing at times, so try to check the signs carefully so as to save time.

typhoon train!

typhooooooon traiiiiiiin

let's all ride the typhoon train

Many stations, especially hubs, have lockers of various sizes. Payment has to be made in 100-yen coins, but usually there is a change machine nearby. So we dropped our suitcases in lockers and shopped around the station before heading to the airport.

station lockers

 change machine

両替 (ryougai, change)

In the station we had おにぎり (onigiri, rice balls) from the convenience store, which my mom had been eager to try, and どら焼き (dorayaki, azuki bean paste cooked inside pancake batter).

There are many kinds of snacks containing あんこ (anko, azuki bean paste) in Japan. A famous variety is called たい焼き (taiyaki) and is like dorayaki but shaped like a fish. Another that usually contains red bean paste is 大福 (daifuku), azuki bean paste in mochi dough. There's also アンパン (anpan, azuki bean paste bread), which is just anko inside a bun. There's a children's cartoon called アンパンマン (anpanman, anko bread man). He's a superhero who fights with his friends against バイキンマン (baikinman, germ man) and saves the day from his evil plots.

My mom's flight was actually pushed forward because of the 台風 (taifuu, typhoon), but since free wifi is so hard to come by in Japan, we were caught unawares upon our arrival to the airport. My mom made it to her flight regardless, and I headed back to Hirakata City.

The way home became very rainy because of the typhoon, so I asked my 3 friends who had just arrived in Hirakata the day before to let me crash at their hotel by the station. My share house is a 45-minute walk from the station and the buses had stopped running because it was late, so with my suitcase the walk was looking impossible. Despite the small size of the hotel room we made the sleepover work and had a lot of fun exchanging Japan stories (my friends had gone to Hiroshima and Nagasaki before meeting me in Osaka) before bed.

Just for fun, I want to introduce you to my favorite canned coffee in Japan.

Wonda's Morning Shot

It's sweet and delicious!

Travel tips:

15. Check signs carefully so as to save time. Maybe even ask questions to station attendants to make sure you are going where you need to be going.

特別なブログ：予算化 (Special Post: Budgeting)

I wanted to write a little about how I budget for a trip, because I thought it might provide some ideas on how to try to keep international (or domestic) travel as cheap as possible.

Unfortunately, flying from the United States to Japan and vice-versa is very expensive. Personally I found my tickets on Cheap-O Air, but some friends also did well using kayak.com. We all ended up through our different search methods riding Hawaiian Airlines on our trips to and from Japan. I would also recommend this airline for service: they give you a pillow and blanket, they feed you well, and their service is great.

To fly domestically within Japan or to close international destinations in China or Korea, I would recommend Peach Aviation. One thing to keep in mind using them is that they penny-and-dime you. The price of the flight is not the only fee you pay, you also pay a small fee for the seat you select on the flight, and every piece of baggage you check. The seat fee varies based on the type of seat you choose, so if you are really trying to save every little bit you can choose the cheapest seats at about 200 yen (approx. $1.50). Baggage is cheaper if you pay for your check luggage online beforehand, but you can change the reservation of baggage at any time. So if you don't know how much baggage you want to check when you reserve your flight, you can go online and add number of bags to check at a later time. You also get an allowance of one carry-on item and one personal item, so if you can avoid checking baggage at all that will be cheapest. Reserving your check luggage online saves you about 1/3 of the baggage fee. Make sure to look at the weight and size limits of carry on bags before you assume you that you will not need to check luggage.

Another thing about Peach is they have sales regularly. The sales usually only last a couple of days, but if you sign up to receive email from them you will hear when the sales are. If you have a route in mind you can buy the tickets a few months ahead of time on sale and end up with very cheap tickets.

As for hotels and transportation, the nice thing about Japan is the trains are very well-organized and efficient. You can look up routes ahead of time on hyperdia.com and probably avoid expensive use of a taxi unless you have too much luggage to carry on the trains. As mentioned in an earlier post you can also buy the Japan Rail Pass if you plan to ride a lot of shinkansen. You can look at times and prices of shinkansen tickets on shinkansen.co.jp although price pages are only in Japanese.

So, on to the real point: how to budget. When planning a trip first assess the minimum and maximum amounts you want to spend. If its international travel, first calculate the amounts in your own country's currency and then use a converter online to put it in the foreign currency's terms. How I have been keeping track is that I took the amounts I knew in advance that I would pay like flights and housing, and subtracted those from the amounts I wanted to spend overall. Then, I took my minimum (with the known expenses subtracted) and divided it by the number of days I would be abroad. That number became my daily allowance for trains, food, souvenirs, entry fees to museums, etc.

Taking the daily allowance, I made a note in my phone with the days of the week and the daily allowance listed next to each one. As I go through the week I subtract what I spend from the day it is. At the end of the week I reset my daily balance. I also keep an "excess" or "deficit" section at the bottom so I can add a day's unspent allowance to my future spending power, or keep an eye on my overspending. At the end of a week, I reset the daily allowance next to the days of the week.

If my explanation doesn't make sense, here's an example.

Monday:

Tuesday: 2150

Wednesday: 4300

Thursday: 4300

Friday: 4300

Saturday: 4300

Sunday: 4300

Deficit:
3070


In this case my daily allowance is 4300 yen and it is Tuesday. The deficit is an overall accumulation from previous weeks, it is not reset weekly because it represents my deviation from my expectations for the trip overall.

That, in a nutshell, is how I budget. I think it is important to leave yourself some wiggle-room financially because you might encounter unforeseen situations or emergencies where you need to spend more than you anticipated. You also might find an expensive souvenir or activity that you just cannot pass up. Try to keep any deficit you accumulate always under the difference between your minimum and maximum allocations, so that you do not overspend on your trip. For example, if you want to spend between 400,000 yen and 500,000 yen during your whole trip, never let your deficit go above 100,000 yen (the difference) to be safe.

I hope this post might provide people who plan to budget for a trip with some new tactics for their own style of budgeting.

特別なブログ：住所の書き方 (Special post: how to address letters)

There are two types of addressing I will cover today: business letters and personal letters.

When you address an envelope in Japan bound for Japan, you write vertically. Write the name of the business or person you want to reach in the middle of the front of the envelope, the address in the upper right corner under the zip code boxes. (The 7 small red boxes at the top of envelopes is meant for the recipient's zip code.) The first line of the address will be far right, and any extra lines will go to the left of the first line.

For a letter bound for a business, you will write the name of the business and then add 御中 (onchuu) to the end.

For a letter bound for a person, you will write the person's name in the order family name then first name, and add 様 (sama, Mr./Ms.).

I want to note one mistake I made before

I wrote 行 instead of 御中

Regardless, that was what I was instructed by the JLPT office

Although I am unsure as to why, it should send

Then, still on the back of the envelope, write the return address vertically in the top right corner. it doesn't matter if it is a business or person's address in how you write this part.

Here is a breakdown:
(prefecture) (city) (town or ward) (house #)

In an example case:
山口県 (yamaguchi-ken, Yamaguchi Prefecture)
岩国市 (iwakuni-shi, Iwakuni City)
麻里布町 (marifu-machi, Marifu Town)
２丁目１−２０ (2 choume 1-20)

The address is actually for a Mister Donut, so the result would be:
Mister Donut 御中
740-0018
山口県岩国市麻里布町２丁目１−２０

Writing a return address follows the same pattern, except you don't add any honorific after your own name. Even in Japan if you do not have a Japanese name, it is best to write vertically but in English lettering.

When addressing international mail, always put the name of the country under both recipient and return addresses in all capital letters.


There are still some variations you may want to be aware of:

1. 県 (-ken) is the indication for prefecture except in the cases of Tokyo and Osaka. Tokyo Prefecture is 東京都 (toukyou-to), and Osaka Prefecture is 大阪府 (oosaka-fu).
2. Not all addresses are alike so some addresses may show a city（市, -shi）and then a town（町, -machi/-chou）, but others may show a city and a ward（区, -ku）.
3. There are two ways to express a house number. One uses 丁目 (choume, chome -when written in English) after the first number like ２丁目１−２０. The other option is ２−１−２０.
4. There is a symbol in Japan that always indicates a zip code, I will attach the image below. On most envelopes there is a space where you should write the zip, so you will not need to write it. On envelopes that don't have it, adding it horizontally above the address lines with the symbol is best.

this symbol does not need to be written in red on envelopes

it also indicates post offices on signage in Japan

Please feel free to ask me if you have further questions.

７月１５日（水）

Today in the morning I prepared a request for my JLPT test result to be sent to my USA address rather than the Japanese one they delivered my voucher to before the test. I had to send a copy of my test voucher and an envelope addressed to my US residence with proper postage. Addressing my letter to the JLPT center was a bit of a job because addressing a Japanese letter is different in form than addressing a US one. Here's my example of the front of an envelope headed for the JLPT center. The return address actually goes on the back; but my address isn't public like the JLPT one so I am not going to share it here. My friends can request a picture if they are curious.

center: JLPT center name + 行

right: street address and building number

top: zip code

Culture note: Japanese envelopes are usually vertical and seal at the top. Also, most envelopes do not come with their own lick seal. You need to use a paste that post offices stock and are happy to let you use on-location, or you can buy your own bottle easily at a convenience store or 百円ショップ (hyakuen shoppu, 100-yen shop).

- For my next post I am going to do a special on addressing envelopes, so if you need help knowing how to address a Japanese envelope stay tuned! -

We stopped by Akihabara Station to transfer trains today, and I was amused by these signs on the escalators.

anti-perverse behavior poster

instructs you to call police if you notice such behavior

Culture note: In the USA, 911 is the number to call for the police in an emergency, but it Japan it is 110.

Near 両国駅 (ryougoku eki, Ryogoku Station), my mom and I went into a 100-yen shop on our way to the 江戸東京博物館 (edo toukyou hakubutsukan, Edo-Tokyo Museum) and my mom quite enjoyed herself. They are the Japanese equivalent of a US dollar store, and always have a variety of useful items on-hand. We also had fun at the museum. The exhibits went from the top floor to the bottom, so you ride an elevator up to start, then come down escalators or stairs as you progress. As I was mentioning with movie theaters, construction in Japan tends to be vertical rather than horizontal to make use of space. While we perused the museum an elderly Japanese man with some English skills came and tried to explain the exhibits to us. It was pretty sweet. My mom had trouble picking up his accent, and he ours, but I entirely understand the desire to practice language skills when presented the opportunity.

my mom riding in a 駕籠 (kago, litter) at Edo-Tokyo

it was meant to be carried by four people

this one was for use by men

women's litters were generally more ornate

One thing I truly enjoy about Japan is Engrish. There are many examples on T-shirts and on signs. Here is an example to show even museums are not immune to the hilarity.

clay marbles labelled as "a marbles of cray"

Japanese speakers have a lot of trouble with English for a variety of reasons including irregularities. The above example shows two common issues: plural forms and L/R recognition. 

In Japanese, plurals are usually not specified but only in certain expressions or situations. You have to specify a precise number if it's important to express if you mean one or more of a thing. Therefore, words like "the," "a," and "an" are incredibly difficult for Japanese learners of English to understand.

As for the L/R sounds of English, in Japanese there is only a sound most resembling an L, but with hints of R and D sound also. It is always romanized as an R. The sound is made by putting the tip of your tongue at the base of your top front teeth. Americans also have trouble with the correct pronunciation of the Japanese R.

After my mom and I burnt out on Edo-Tokyo we went to a cafe and ate dessert for lunch. Tiramisu for the win.

Next on our list was 相撲国技館 (sumou kokugikan, Sumo Museum). It is located very close to the Edo-Tokyo Museum. It was an interesting place with video matches playing, biographies of famous wrestlers from the different prefectures, and biographies of winners of certain awards. Much was only in Japanese and what with the specialized language, I was not able to understand much.

Got some fun pictures though.

wall outside Sumo museum

another wall

not the best lighting

my new boyfriend

Another thing I think is really cute about Japan is that near certain tourist or specialty areas the stations are dressed up to advertise the attractions nearby. In Ryogoku Station there are pictures of sumo wrestlers everywhere, their hand prints, too.

within Ryogoku Station

Once we were done with the museums entirely we headed to Harajuku Station again but this time to see 明治神宮 (meiji jingu, Meiji Shrine). We walked from the station and bought some 大福 (daifuku, azuki bean paste inside rice dough) to eat beforehand. On our way we ate the salt daifuku and blueberry daifuku we had bought. The sales lady I spoke with told me blueberry was her recommendation, as it is an unusual flavor of daifuku and very yummy, but told me salt was good for hot weather (maybe because the salt will make you want to hydrate?). Anyway, they were both delicious. I truly savored the blueberry one; I had never tried that flavor before.

blueberry daifuku and salt daifuku

The path to Meiji Jingu is very nice and forested, and at points has barrels of sake and wine that were donated to the Shinto shrine along the path.

my mom by the entrance to the path to the shrine

under the big torii

so much donated sake

so much

and wine

The pictures of Meiji Jingu are gorgeous!  Also I bought some omamori as souvenirs here.

gate into shrine area

hand-, face-, and mouth-washing station

similar among Shinto shrines

(see Fushimi Inari)

these ropes with paper lightening-bolt like paper hanging down indicate holy areas

I wonder why this little place apart from the main shrine is holy?

I am not familiar with Meiji Jingu's history...

holy trees?

important, in any case

gate into main shrine

main shrine area

an explanation of ema at Meiji Jingu

 I'm a fan of these door engravings

This was my mom's last full day. 

view from our hotel

For readers, if you want me to research something like a shrine's history or if you want more information on a custom, let me know. I may not be most familiar with the answer, but I will research and continue posting excess research on my return to the US!

７月１４日（火）

My mom and I started our day with a cafe breakfast. In Japan it seems like sweet, milky coffee is most popular, especially with women. I filled the stereotype today.

カフェオレ (kafeore, cafe au lait)

We headed out today with the plan to see 下町風俗資料館 (shitamachi fuuzoku shiryoukan, Shitamachi Museum) and eat at a 茶屋 (chaya, tea house). The woman who led our tour at the museum was truly awesome and taught me some new words and concepts. For example she taught me that 招き猫 (maneki neko, beckoning cat) is supposed to be inviting money if waving its right paw, but is actually beckoning people if waving with its left paw. The guide was generally great and really helpful. The museum was fun and had some children's puzzles on display, with which my mother and I had limited success. 

banner advertising the museum

many businesses in Japan advertise using this style of banner

Upon asking the museum staff, they told me the tea house is the area was closed for good from about a year ago, so we couldn't go. When I had looked it up on Google maps I could not find it, but apparently that was the reason. We were disappointed. At least the area was beautiful, though.

lotus pond

my mom in front of a small shrine on the bridge over the lotus pond

adorable postbox in front of the museum

my mom and I at Shitamachi Museum, by an old-style ashtray

After we finished at the museum we ate かき氷 (kakigoori, shaved ice), which was truly soft and delicious. We went to 秋葉原 (Akihabara) for a short while to shop. It is definitely oriented toward geeks and foreigners. There are many anime shops and 免税店 (menzeiten, duty-free shops) in the area. My mom bought something at the duty-free shop and I was truly surprised by the process it required. The cashier prepared documents meant to declare that the purchase was legitimate at customs, and even stapled the paperwork into my mom's passport. I never expected that! The whole process took 5 to 10 minutes.

For lunch in Akihabara we had オムライス (omuraisu, omelet rice) at a cafe with excellent service. The dish came with meat sauce but the waitress made a request for meatless sauce for my mom (who's a pescatarian).

Culture note: In Japan, restaurants very rarely indicate vegetarian or vegan options on their menus because Japanese people do not really observe pescatarian, vegetarian, or vegan diets. The common diet makes these options very challenging. A pescatarian diet may be possible, but not vegetarian or vegan.

In the evening my mom and I went to dinner at my host family's house from 5 years ago. It was the first time my mom had ever met them and it was really a great time. I got to meet my host parents (Kiaki and Hinako) for the first time in two years, and their daughter Inoko and her daughter Kana for the first time. My mom bought Kana a wind-up toy bullet train and we gave my host family prickly pear tea and honey from the US. Kiaki was really impressed with my mom's interest in and appreciation of whiskey, so he gifted her a small bottle of really rare whiskey called Ichiro's Malt. She was afraid the open bottle would be confiscated on her return to the US, but it was not noticed.

Kiaki, Kana, my mom and me

Hinako joins in

My host family taught me some new expressions for how to water things down - such as when bars water whiskey down. 水割り (mizuwari, mixed with water) and お湯割り (oyuwari, mixed with hot water). 

Culture note: Japanese has different words for water and hot water, and also for raw rice as opposed to cooked rice. 水 (mizu) is "water," お湯 (oyu) is "boiled water" (like for tea), raw rice is 米 (kome), and cooked rice is ご飯 (gohan). In a dish you eat with a spoon, however, cooked rice will be called ライス (raisu).

On the way home my mom got on the train but the doors closed before I could follow her. If you ever have a travel buddy and limited internet or phone communication, have a back-up meeting plan. We did not, but she managed to get help from station staff and find the correct station at which to disembark. We did find each other, but backup plans are good.

We got lost on the way back to out hotel as well and found this beauty.

Travel tips:

13. Have a backup meeting place and plan. It never hurts to be prepared.

14. Get lost. You find things you would never have found if you didn't lose your way.