Roving Japan

Day 69 Photoset

Rentaro and his wife Taeko took us to a great castle today. Inuyama castle is one of the 12 remaining originals, and one of 4 national treasure castles in Japan (Along with Himeji, Hikone, and Matsumoto). It’s not that big, but since it’s an original, you can really feel the history.

This castle also has one of the best top level views we have experienced. For once, the top level didn’t block the view with tiny windows or chicken wire. In fact, the top floor had giant doorways leading outside to a balcony where we could walk all the way around. We had no expectations for this castle, so it was a nice surprise when it turned out to be so cool!

Tonight we are in a new house. Rentaro dropped us off at Risa’s uncle Kazuhiko’s house in Mizunami where we will spend the next couple of nights. Kazuhiko is Risa’s dad’s older brother.

Kazuhiko and his wife Yukiko live with his daughters family in the main house, while his son’s family lives in the house next door. All together, there are 7 people in the main house (with one more on the way!) and 4 folks next door. Big family! Japan’s low birthrate is definitely not a problem here!

Kazuhiko and Yukiko are really similar to Risa’s parents in the way they interact with each other. It’s kind of funny because when we first arrived I turned to Risa and said, “They are just like your parents!” and she just looked and me and said, “Right?! Kazuhiko is JUST like my dad.”

Should be fun staying with them!

Photoset, Day 68

Nothing is more annoying than thinking a bug is on your neck or ear, just to find out that it’s actually your hair. So the first order of business was to use the first day at Rentaro’s to find a cheap haircut. Lucky for me, there was a place near by where I could get one for about $10. I got it cut SUPER short so I don’t need to worry about another haircut for a long time. The rest of the day was spent relaxing at home and wrestling the dog.

Rin Rin is a nice puppy, but is prone to nip and play bite. I guess the wolf part of the Husky makes her play with her mouth open and bite a lot. I decided that every time she tried to bite me, I would pounce on her and wrestle her to the ground and not let her up. After all, I learned a few moves from the dudes in Osaka. (Not the gay stuff) After a few rounds of “pin the doggy”, Rin Rin stopped biting me. I guess it worked?

This evening, Rentaro busted out his families old Katana and showed us some old photos of his father in military school.

We also learned that Rentaro is an engineer who went from designing engine blocks for cars, to heading up a project designing a robot that will help move patients from their beds to a wheelchair. The robot looks like an ape mixed with a teddy bear. I guess people liked the teddy bear head better than something more humanoid.

He’s been working on the robot for a couple of years I think, but its scheduled to roll out in the next few weeks! [Update: It's out! Check it out here!]

Photoset Day 67

Well now I’ve seen everything.

Did you know that there are people out there who actually don’t like bacon? I always thought that the love of bacon was something rooted in our DNA. Adenine(A), Cytosine(C), Guanine(G), Thymine(T), and Bacon(B). Apparently there are folks in Japan who are missing the B.

This morning my revenge breakfast scored a hit. I had figured that if there was something on the plate that would be disliked, it would have been the hashbrowns since they weren’t exactly restaurant quality. Yet it was the bacon that caused Yousuke to scrunch up his face is disgust. For the record, the bacon wasn’t burnt or poorly cooked, Risa and I gave it a passing grade. But Yousuke didn’t enjoy it. He wanted to wrap it in lettuce! He did enjoy the hashbrowns though. Go figure.

After breakfast we went to the town of Iwamura to see the ruins of Iwamura castle. All that’s left of this once great mountain castle is a lot of steps and some tall grass covered walls. An impressive sight, but it’s a little hard to picture what the castle used to look like.

This was our last day with Yousuke. We are going to miss hanging out with him. He was a lot of fun to joke around with. I don’t know if I’ll get to have another food battle any time soon.

We are now staying with Risa’s cousin Rentaro. He and his family live back in Nagoya so Yousuke was kind enough to give us a ride. When we arrived, we all talked for a bit, and the subject of bacon was brought up. Apparently Rentaro doesn’t like bacon either. He thinks its too oily and salty. Especially for breakfast.

Rentaro and his family are really nice. We had an excellent dinner and we had fun playing with their Husky puppy Rin Rin.

Before heading out to the house in the country, we stopped by Yousuke’s family grave to pay our respects to his late wife who past away several years ago. We cleaned up the dead flowers, and poured water over the grave stone. It was a hot day, so you should offer some cold water to the spirits to cool them down.

On our way to the country house, we stopped by a grocery store where we bought ingredients for tomorrows revenge American breakfast. I wanted to make pancakes, but the store didn’t have syrup, so we settled on eggs, bacon and hashbrowns.

Yousuke, not content to be on the defensive, picked out something for dinner that he thought I wouldn’t be able to eat. It’s called “Tako no Shiokara”, and it’s basically octopus kimchee. Much to Yousuke’s dismay, I actually liked the stuff. Spicy octopus goes well with beer! Ha!

The house is really awesome. Before retiring and entering politics, Yousuke was an architect. He designed this house for his sister to use as a country retreat and to get away from city life while she paints. There is a large garden with lots of flowers, blueberries, wasabi and even an area where they grow their own shiitake mushrooms.

It’s really relaxing and quiet out here. Risa and I are in the tatami room with two walls open to the outside. It’s the perfect temperature and there is a clear sky out. Pretty cool to be able to sleep inside and under the stars at the same time.

Day 65 Photoset

Tomorrow we are heading off to Yousuke’s sisters cabin for a couple of nights, so our last day at Yousuke’s house in the city was pretty relaxing. We didn’t do much, just made sure that I cleaned my smelly backpack.

I got the 7 year old to stomp on the bag while it soaked in some water and soap. Then we let it dry outside. I hope it worked!

Yousuke got a sweet toy in the mail today. He received a massage bed, complete with leg squeezing wraps and a neck massage attachment. A foot massage thing also came in the mail. I guess as Yousuke inches towards retirement, he is ready to relax!

We all took turns on the bed and everyone gave it high marks. I usually don’t like massages, but this one was actually pretty good!

As we travel, the people we meet are constantly impressed at my claim to like “all Japanese food except natto.” During dinner, Yousuke gave me something called mozuku. He didn’t believe that I can eat just about anything, so he went out of his way to get something particularly disgusting to serve me. In this case, it was mozuku, which is basically 4oz of vinegar with some seaweed floating in it. You’re supposed to drink it.

Now, I don’t know about you, but drinking a shot of vinegar isn’t something I want to make a habit out of. The seaweed was fine, but really Yousuke? You gave me a shot of vinegar to drink. This is what my grandma prescribes for a sore throat, not something you have with dinner. Yousuke was really proud with himself that he had found something I couldn’t finish.

After the vinegar shot, we talked about the differences between Japanese and American breakfasts. I explained that it isn’t typical to eat a dinner salad first thing in the morning. A typical American breakfast would probably be something like 2 eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, maybe some pancakes and orange juice. The image of breakfast without veggies shocked him. No lettuce?!

So I think I have my revenge for the vinegar planned out. Risa and I are going to make a classic American breakfast for Yousuke. I can’t wait! We’re going to buy the ingredients tomorrow, then we’ll cook the next day.

Before going to bed, we took some good-bye photos.