Drawn to Japan

The thing that fuelled this trip was my desire to travel back to Japan. I visited the first time in the summer of 2018 with my family and ever since then I’ve wanted to return. Now, after learning much more about the culture (mainly the pop culture), going back became more and more desirable. My brother and I have always said that it would be a race to see who gets back first. With both of us going to uni, it should’ve been no surprise that I would be able to win that race with the two-year advantage I have on him.

I actually think I’d half blame him for the rabbit hole I fell into with the idea of going back to Japan. He’s the one that really introduced me to anime. There’s a lot of it out there and there’s definitely something for everyone and, for me, there is much more of an appeal to anime than other western shows like sitcoms and the like. It always feels like more tension, adventure and more much my humour as long as I can understand the references. A lot of work goes into the creation of anime you can really see this in a lot of the shows, however you can also see when it doesn’t and when the budget isn’t there. They often start out as a manga, which is like a comic book and is then taken to the screen. The demand to create a new chapter or episode every week can create working conditions less than ideal to put it lightly and if you combine this with the ridiculous work ethic of the Japanese in general you can understand why problems arise from it. People will say that the art comes with the sacrifice but sometimes you have to question it. Hayao Miyazaki is a very famous name that suffers for his craft. He is a founder of Studio Ghibli that create absolutely breathtaking animation and the general consensus about the films is that you will be mesmerised regardless of whether you can follow the plot or not. If you haven’t ever seen a Ghibli film, I recommend you do. And the museum is just as interesting. You are not allowed to take photos inside the museum, apart from on the roof garden, which adds to the intrigue and draw of the place and we were able to watch a Ghibli Museum exclusive film last time too. It was a fun and interesting visit walking through the animation process in a strange fantasy-like building.

The other half is the hole I fell into when I originally went to Japan. I read Memoirs of a Geisha during that trip and managed to wow the tour guide in Kyoto about the knowledge I managed to retain about the customs from the book. The book and then the film and the whole culture was immensely fascinating to me. The first thing most people think of when a Geisha is mentioned is not accurate. A courtesan is not the same as a Geisha. Geisha are performers and take years to train in the arts, they must play instruments, dance, sing, host and perform tea ceremony, in which time they are living and working in a place called an Okiya that is sort of like a boarding house that pays for their training and once they become Geisha they must pay back. one of the most interesting things I found about the customs was that their kimonos don’t change with the weather but rather the season, so if it was unseasonably cold in April the Geisha would still wear a Spring kimono and be cold. There is a lot to being a Geisha and keeping up the art of the whole thing, there’s still surprisingly a lot I remember but I won’t talk through everything I do or we’ll be here for a while and that is something to ask about or research if you’re interested. One of the things that I was gutted we didn’t get to see the first time was a Geisha, although we stand on a corner by a teahouse with other hopefuls for a while. We would’ve been lucky to see a Geisha at that point because of the time of year and because of the dying art around them. However, I was very pleased we did get to see a show with a Maiko (a trainee Geisha) at Gion corner. I am not guaranteeing I will be able to see a Geisha this time either, it is still a dream of mine but I’ll have to keep my fingers crossed that I drop on very lucky.

A Maiko or a Geisha in training we saw at Gion Corner on our last visit

This does mean that something that was important for me during my Japan trip was the opportunity to be able to wear a kimono myself. Knowing something about how it is worn and seeing the beautiful designs on kimonos as some understanding about how a kimono is made has made me want to experience that part of the culture myself first hand. Kimonos are a relatively simple makeup and shape and are made is a way that the length is determined by the amount of fabric folded over at the waist and hidden under the waistband, called the Obi. The direction of the wrap over the front changes when you die and the colours that are on un underneath the collar of the kimono have different meanings. It’s very interesting to me and I’m sure there is still much more for me to learn about it.

All of this and the idea that I knew I wanted to travel to Japan again led me to trying to learn Japanese on Duolingo. I am still not convinced I could hold an intelligent conversation but I could definitely say hello, goodbye and thank you, order a bowl of rice or ramen and some water, and ask where a toilet is, and what else do you really need? But seriously, trying to learn another language has given me some real respect for people who are fluent in more than one. I have also learned that the structure of Japanese is very similar to many romantic languages, it’s the same with Korean. It is said that if you know one of these languages first, then it’s much easier to learn the Japanese or Korean language. My very elementary knowledge in both French and Spanish were therefore very little help. What I have learned about Japanese is that they use three different alphabets. The first is Hiragana, almost the standard alphabet and is what Japanese words are made up of and the first and easiest one that people learn. The second is Katakana, which is most often used in foreign words (usually English) and when read sounds like saying an English word with a Japanese accent. Ice cream, for example is written as アイスクリーム, romanticised as aisukuriimu or school bus is written as スクールバス, romanticised as skuurubusu. You can try this with quite a lot of words and it will be right and, yes, I have the Japanese keyboard installed on my phone to write these. The third is Kanji that is derived from Chinese and is made from the sounds of the hiragana alphabet (people never learn every kanji because there is a ridiculous amount but being able to recognise some is great fun). But if you think you think you can get away with just knowing hiragana, you’re wrong. 

I also really wanted to eat a lot of the food again. Ramen is a love for me and so is miso soup, which I could potentially drink gallons of if that was a reasonable thing to do. Also, the fish. I know that Japan is widely known to have lots of sushi but that was not something that comes up as often as expected in my experience. However, fish is one of the main foods I remember from Japan. I personally loved the butterflied fish we had for breakfast and the cheesy salmon that I surprisingly ate two of despite not usually liking salmon and it sounding like the strangest combination ever thought of. I also ate eel which is one of the weirder things that I have eaten and if you are my family, you will remember the prawn. If you are anyone who has had to book a restaurant with me, you know I like Japanese food and where’s the best place to get that?

I didn’t take as many food photos back then but here’s us eating soba we made

I suppose if you were to ask me why I like Japan it is probably obvious from what I’ve written so far but I think it just feels like a very different place to at home but not too far that I can’t understand why a lot of things are done that way. Are there things I don’t agree with? Sure. But that’s the same with literally anywhere. There are just some things that I like and find interesting, Japan seems to be one of them. There aren’t many places that draw me in like Japan has so than in and of itself is interesting but if you were to ask me the place that I find the most interesting in Japan I would say Kyoto every time. It is the home of the Geisha and is where most of them still practise. It also feels to me like it still holds on to a lot more of its history. The buildings are traditional Japanese style and it is quieter than Tokyo, more peaceful and going back is the only way to see if I change my mind. Saying I’m looking forward to going back is an understatement and I have purposely placed it last so that I know how much money I have left to spend while I’m there but also, I’m looking for an excuse to stay not that I’m honestly expecting that to actually happen, besides, I promised I’d be back to watch my brother graduate.