We did FOUR BIG THINGS in May
BIG THING NUMBER ONE - OSHIMA ISLAND
At the start of May it was Golden Week, a bunch of public holidays squeezed in together. It's the busiest travel time in Japan, and with this in mind, I booked accommodation for our trip back in February to make sure we had a place to rest our heads. Our destination was Oshima island, about 2 hours by ferry from Tokyo. Oshima is the closest island to Tokyo, and is a really popular spot for Tokyoites wanting to get away.
Wikipedia says that Oshima has a population of about 8,500. Every person we came into contact with was kind, warm and friendly and went the extra mile to help us out. We stayed in a pension, which is like a guesthouse or a bed and breakfast. Bathroom facilities are shared and breakfast is provided, dinner too if you pay extra. The couple running the pension were amazingly helpful, and had a really good grasp of English. Even if we had gone to the island in May of last year with our terrible Japanese, we probably would have been A-okay. If you ever go to Oshima, I recommend this place - here's a link.
During our stay in Oshima we checked out Habuminato harbour, on the south side of the island.
Watched some fishermen hack into a giant sunfish.
Checked out the back streets of the harbour.
After a walk around, we had Japan's equivalent to fish and chips on the beach: potato croquettes and pork cutlets by the harbour. No pictures, but trust me, they were delicious.
We were in Oshima for a total of 4 days, and we managed to climb Mt Mihara, the island's active volcano, in the centre of the island. The last eruption was in 1986, and the heat that emanated from the ground around the crater was obvious once we got close.
Volcano shelters:
There are two ports on Oshima island, the main port is Motomachi, where most of the shops, eateries and car hire places are. In the gardens outside the local onsen there is a pretty great little Godzilla statue.
Oshima island has been the setting for a couple of Godzilla movies because of its volcano. In one film, Godzilla is lured to Mt Mihara by a homing beacon and falls into the volcano. Apart from the Godzilla statue, there is also a beautiful waterfront, perfect as a backdrop for looking serene at sunset.
The other port on Oshima island, Okata port, is pretty cool too.
The last big highlight of our trip was Oshima Park, with its gigantic collection of Camelia plants (not flowering unfortunately) and its surprising zoo. The zoo was great fun.
We loved Oshima island, and would highly recommend it. And without further ado, onto the next big thing.
BIG THING NUMBER TWO - UTSUNOMIYA TRIP
We had originally planned to go a festival over the second weekend in May - Tokyo Rocks looked like it was going to be great. My Bloody Valentine were playing, along with a lot of Japanese bands. Then, out of nowhere, it was cancelled, leaving a weekend free and a nice big refund on the 2 day tickets. We decided to go Utsunomiya, locally known as "gyoza town"because of its....gyoza.
A frog for some reason, and also Venus de Milo if she were coming out of a gyoza rather than a shell.
We ate a whole bunch of dumplings at the best place in town, Min Min.
Definitely the best gyoza we've had since we've been here, and given that it was raining the weekend we were in Utsunomiya, we needed some warming comfort food. It delivered.
BIG THING NUMBER FOUR - TOKYO DESIGN FESTA
I know, I wrote about this last year. This time I took a group of year 11 and 12 students out on an excursion to it, and had been in communication with some of the organisers for information beforehand. Still had a great time, seems like the kids did too. We went relatively early, it opened at 11 and we were there in line at 11.10. It's a two day event, but we just went for the Saturday, and saw some great stuff.
I had my year 12 students base an assessment task on the artistic, creative and logistical ideas they came into contact with at the Design Festa, and they came up with their own ideas too in completing the task. A great day, and one I hope to repeat when it comes around again in November.
LAST BIG THING - SUMO
We went to the sumo tournament in Tokyo on the second last day, so there was still a lot at stake for the wrestlers. The feeling from the crowd in the final bouts was incredible, and the wrestlers themselves have a lot of personality that comes through in their wrestling.
We got in pretty early and watched the second highest level of sumo wrestlers - the juuryoo. The crowd wasn't so big at that point, but it picked up massively when the big guns came out. The highest level sumo wrestlers - the makuuchi - came out later and the vibe in the crowd really picked up. We were up in the nosebleed section and the calls from behind us could be heard by the people down in the thick of it.
The second last bout was between two sumo wrestlers who had both been undefeated for the entirety of the 13 preceding days of the tournament. The crowd went mental during the bout, and as soon as the result was announced, around a quarter of the crowd started to file out. The result of the champion was all but decided, with one day left of the tournament to go.
The day after the sumo we collapsed on the couch and surveyed the mess that had accumulated over the course of May. Now that we're a bit over a week out of May, things have settled down and our apartment has become more livable. I can't see another month like May coming up for a while, but we will keep ourselves occupied and continue to see whatever we can.
Until next time!
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