Kathleen's Ideal College

I...want...to...go...here...so...bad...I...can...taste...it........

In case you can't read the sign on the building, it says, "Japan Animation and Manga College." This really is a place where you can study how to create manga and Japanese animation. It is in Niigata, Japan, on one of their shopping machis (streets). Niigata is famous for being the hometown of a lot of mangaka (comic creators)--one of which is Rumiko Takahashi (Ranma 1/2, Maison Ikkokou, Inu Yasha, etc.). As a result, they probably decided it would be prudent to open this college.

We saw the college in 2005, on our third trip to Japan, when we visited the city of Niigata and stayed with Mio. Tachi (see previous post) was our host; he took us around Niigata and the area surrounding it. On this day we were exploring the city of Niigata. Tachi had taken us to one of the temple grounds, then a really beautiful tea house (future things I will post about!). Then he started us through the machi (pedestrian shopping streets), beginning with an older one, full of shops that had very old antiques in them (I saw a wall scroll in one that I would have given my eye teeth for, and should have bought, drat it all). Eventually we made our way to a machi with more modern shops. Along the pedestrian way were statues of famous manga and anime characters created by former Niigatans, including one about a baseball player. As we were meandering, I spotted the college, and went nuts. Tachi was somewhat perplexed as to why it interested me so and was definitely not interested in letting me learn anything about it--meaning, he wasn't interested in playing interpreter for me so I could ask questions about the college (perhaps he felt it would hold us up from seeing other sites he wanted to take us to). I was dying to know more about the college and to tell the proprietors that I was an American mangaka so maybe I could even arrange to visit some of the classes. But alas, Tachi just didn't want to bother letting me get that far. He kind of waved off my interest which frusterated me. It was one of the rare times I felt really kind of let down by him. There must have been some sort of cultural thing I was missing at the time--perhaps you just don't walk in unannounced to places like that. Maybe it's best to set up somthing waaaay ahead of time. I can imagine that's probably the reason, but it just seemed perplexing to my Western mind at the time.

Here's Bill looking at some of the work they had on display:

Another area in the entry:

If you can read this you can probably figure out which mangaka came from Niigata:

A close up of some of the artwork on display. Probably was done by graduates from the school:

WAAAAAH!!! I want to go to this college!!!!

Newest daughter

So! We have signed up once more to take in one of Tachi's girls, and last night Laura came by to drop off her information. A little info by way of background: Tachi is the nickname of Mr. Nonaka, the English teacher who brings to the Seattle area every spring a group of students from the college he teaches in Niigata, Japan. We've been hosting a girl from this group ever since 2004, for a total of six girls. Out of the twenty-seven girls we've hosted (holy quacamole, that's a lot!!), Tachi's girls have been some of the most fun. His group is also the most reliable--you can bet they will all be sweethearts, as opposed to some of the groups I've worked with over the years (shudder).

Anyway, the newest addition to the Webb family is named Chihiro. If you are at all familiar with the films of Hayao Miyazaki/Studio GHIBLI, you will recognize that as the same name of the little girl in "Spirited Away" (Sen to Chihiro). And indeed, our Chihiro is a big GHIBLI fan--in fact she likes all sorts of anime and manga, which means she'll probably fit right into our family. As my scanner is not working right now I can't post the picture of her that came with her application. However, Tachi helpfully posted on his website a couple of pics of the girls who are coming. Here's the first pic. Chihiro is the girl right in the middle of the first row:

Here's another pic. Tachi loves to do these "posed" pictures. Again, Chihiro is smack in the middle of the group:

She looks like a really nice kid, and I hope we have lots of fun with her. She comes from a big family--two brothers plus her parents and grandparents (not unusual with Japanese families). She likes dogs and has a Corgi-like dog named "Nana." She does say she would like to find out what it's like to have a cat. I think with the four felines we have lounging about the house now she'll get her chance.

AURGH!!!

Grrr...I was going to post some pics from our very first trip to Japan, but I have discovered that my scanner is having "issues." Urgh.

Well, soon I will be upgrading my computer, and hopefully these "issues" will be resolved. In the meantime, I will just work from the photos I have on my computer now. I have to do that, as my other option--work from photos I took on our 2003 and 2005 trip--is not possible, due to the fact that I have sadly misplaced somewhere in the house the disk they were burned to. DOUBLE AURGH!!

Guess I'll just have to go back to Japan and take more pictures. That's one way of solving this frustration.

Where shall we go next?

Location: Chiba prefecture, bus station
Date: October 2005

On the last day we stayed with the Takanashi family in Chiba in 2005, it was decided we would take the bus with Yuko, our student, into Tokyo to spend the day with her. Her father would drive our luggage from their home later that day up to Ibaraki prefecture, to meet us at the train station in Tsuchiura where we would be reunited with it and go on to spend the next leg of our Japan trip that year with our student Hitomi and her mother.

In this picture, Bill and Yuko are considering the bus schedule; Bill is trying to read the kanji to figure out what it says, and Yuko is helping him. Mr. Takanashi had gone into the bus station proper to get our tickets. He was always doing that sort of thing; he did the same thing when we went to Tokyo Disneyland--took care of our tickets for us. I was grateful because I wouldn't have had a clue how to ask about it, my Japanese being so limited. But being the science teacher that he was, he was very precise and methodical, so it was a good job for him, and he never seemed to mind. I got the impression that he enjoyed figuring out complicated stuff like bus and train schedules, and driving routes. We also got the impression that he loved to drive, period, as that was usually his preferred method of getting us around--by car. He probably would love driving around the U.S.

We had a fun day with Yuko. She took us into Kanda, the section of Tokyo that is famous for its bookstores. It was very near where her university was. There were some with very old tomes in them that I would have loved to explore, but I get shy at moments like this because I know so little of the language. How would I explain I wanted books with ukiyo-e but no naughty stuff?? We wound up going into a manga bookstore where I bought a couple of books that sadly never made it back to Japan--Masami, a further destination on our journey, tried to ship both those and several other books for us back to the U.S. and only a few made it there--the box either burst open or was "helped" open before it got to us in the U.S. We've had that happen twice from that particular post office; I keep wondering if it's a "local" problem. :-(

After the bookstores we had lunch with Yuko at a ramen restaurant. It was a favorite with her and her fellow university students. It was the first time we'd eaten at one, and I wish I'd had the good sense to take a picture of my first bowl of ramen and the restaurant--I have no idea why I didn't. It was very delicious, and true to the dramas, manga and anime, they are huge bowls of soup and noodles. We had to leave most of the broth as there was so much of it.

Upon leaving the restaurant we took the train from Kanda to Akihabara. And like the first time in Akihabara, we didn't have much time, so we just went into the new Yamada Denki. Yamada Denki has almost no parallels that I'm aware of in the U.S. I wish it did. It is found in almost every major city. It is a huge technological paradise for geeks and housewives. Most of the floors are given over to computers, cameras, I-pods, DVDs, cds, toys and games; at least one floor is devoted to appliances for the home. Basically it is a huge warehouse for anything technologically or electrically inclined for personal use. I love the place. The only annoying thing about it is the fact that it plays the same promotional songs over its intercom non-stop--"When The Saints Go Marching In", with some perky voiced girl in a voice-over hyping the latest and greatest Yamada Denki has to offer. It can get on your nerves the 44th time you hear it.

After we left Yamada Denki we hopped right on the train (the station is conveniently next door) and travelled to our next destination in Ibaraki, where Mr. Takanashi met us with our luggage, and Hitomi and her mother greeted us for our next stop. But that's for another day.

When I look at this picture of Bill and Yuko, I'm reminded not only of the wonderful day we had with her in Tokyo, but I also think to myself--where to next for Japan? Will we be able to return? And if so, where will we go? Will we visit old haunts, or carve out a new path?

Often I am surprised at how Japan has become so ingrained in Bill and I. I don't think either of us expected we'd learn to love and yearn for it as much as we do. If there ever is a chance to return, I know we'd both jump at it. For whatever reason, God has placed Japan and the Japanese in our hearts. I pray He gives us more opportunities in the future to experience this fascinating land.

The Steps of Time

Year: 2007
Month: November
Location: the old castle in the city of Marugame, Kagawa prefecture, Shikoku island

Bill and I were staying with the Kubos again at Hiroko's new and spiffy home in Takamatsu. On this day we took the train by ourselves southward to the city of Marugame to see the ancient castle there. The train trip itself was lots of fun, and at a future date I may post a pic or two from it and the resulting memories. When we got to Marugame, I was very surprised. I'd thought it was a small town with a big castle. Turned out to be a huge city with a medium-sized castle! Anyway, after making our way by trolley and foot (and almost getting lost, another story) we managed to find the castle and take the gondola up the hill to where it was perched. To get into the castle itself you had to go by a circuitous route that made you climb up and up and up around its walls to the entry way. Lots of stairs involved, and by this time on the trip we were starting to seriously tire, so one or both of us would lag from time to time. When this picture was taken, it was Bill's turn to lag; partly because he was tired and partly because he had been stopping to take video and 3-d pictures as we wound our way up (the 3-d pics didn't turn out, that's another sad, sad story I just don't feel inclined to share at this point, if ever). I managed to drag myself to the top of the steps and turned back to take this photo. And that's when it hit me, really hit me.

It finally struck me that we had now achieved a world-traveler milestone--we've been someplace very, very, very old.

The foundations of the castle--the steps we were walking on--were far older than anything we had ever walked on in our entire lives. Far older than most people we knew personally had ever walked on. Older than 95% of the buildings from the country we came from. Older than I had ever dreamed I'd ever find myself walking on.

It was a very strange and exciting realization. As I said, I never gave it any thought before even though I have been to another place in Japan that qualifies for this honor--namely Nijo castle in Kyoto, in 2003 (someday I'll post photos from that trip, too).

Without realizing it I have passed into the status of world traveler. I've traveled far more than my parents ever did (my dad did not voluntarily go to Korea, although he did his duty by going). My sister's traveled far more than I have, but for some reason I didn't feel like going to Japan put me in that specialized category. Too many friends there, I guess--it just seemed like visiting a friend's house. A very unique, exotic, different house, but a friend's place nonetheless.

God has given us the privilege to go places and do things that I never dreamed I'd get to do. Oh, I had some vague idea that I might someday go to England (still not realized), but I never expected to find myself in an exotic locale like Japan. It just wasn't on my radar list.

Welcome to the big, wide world of international travel, Bill and Kathleen Webb!

Mini castle

When people think of Japan, this is usually one of the images they have in mind, besides geishas and cherry blossoms. This is a Japanese castle. It stands in the city of Takamatsu, in the prefecture of Kagawa on the island of Shikoku. We visited there in 2001. It's not a very big structure; in fact it probably takes up about as much space as your average McDonald's, although the building is taller (and better looking) than a McDonald's. I was very surprised to find it where it is--which is right on the edge of the city next to the harbor. The city surrouds it on three sides--the third side (to the left of the castle in this picture) faces the harbor.

The day we saw it, we had gone down to the harbor area to meet several students from Okayama, which is across from Takamatsu on the main island of Honshu. These kids were from the very first group of students that I had responsibility for, in 2000. I coordinated their stay here in the Pacific NW--decided what teachers they would have, where they would go for their half-day activities, what kind of volunteer work they would do, where they would go on their full-day trip to Seattle. They were a great group of kids and I really enjoyed their stay. The student we had from that group was Shiori, who I will probably blog about here at another time. Anyway, the Kubos, who we were staying with in Takamatsu, took us down to the harbor to meet the ferry boat that the students were coming across in. While we waited for the ferry, we visited the grounds this castle sits on. It's not a large park; just big enough for some twisted pine trees and the castle. But it was my first exposure to Japanese feudal structures, and I was enchanted. It reminded me of pictures I'd seen of Himeji castle, which we later visited in 2003.

The thing that stays with me still, though, is the surprise of finding this piece of Japanese history sitting so close to the hustle and bustle of the city. The serenity of it and the reminder of a slower time evoked quite a contrast.

Thoughts on being a psuedo America-jin grandma

This is the latest picture I've gotten from Sachie (the very first student we've hosted, and whose wedding we attended in October 2001) of her firstborn, Reiji. I like to say he's my Japanese grandson, and I'm his American grandma. I have met him; he is as cute as a button and very charming. I got the news today that Sachie is pregnant again; she is in her second month and is suffering from morning sickness, poor kid. If she's in her second month, that means...let's see...the baby should be born the same month as Reiji--in November. I hope it's a girl. I mean, Reiji's adorable, and that shirt he's wearing in the picture is the one we sent him at Christmas, but I would love a little girl to lavish. Here's why:


This is Hiroko's little boy, Haruta. Hiroko is the student whose wedding we went to in October of 2003, and just last year she produced this little wonder (in October 2006). So I already have two grandsons; it's time for a granddaughter, f'goodness sakes! (BTW, the outfit he's wearing is, yes, one we sent him for Christmas. It's a tradition. ^_^)

Besides, then I can send Sachie all sorts of pretty girlie pink stuff...I have long wanted to buy the prettiest, frilliest things I can get my hands on to dress a little girl in. This would give me the perfect excuse.

Yeah, yeah, I know we aren't offically grandparents, but hey, this is as close as I'll ever get, so I'm enjoying it as much as I can. Hey again--someday these kids may be coming to homestay with us like their mothers did! I can dream, can't I??

(Now I know how weird my mom must've felt when she found herself to be a grandmother at 46. I'm too young to be a grandmother, f'goodness sake!!! Most of my hair is still its original color!)

Oh, one more thing that I just noticed. I can see both Sachie and her husband, Takao, in Reiji's face. It makes for a very darling little boy. I wonder if someday he'll be breaking little hearts when he goes to school?

Warning: Stalking gaijin lurking nearby!!!

I admit it, I'm weird when it comes to Japanese people, especially ones I see in the U.S. I want to have some sort of excuse to go and meet them. Especially college age Japanese girls. I just love 'em. They are so much fun!! Genki and happy and full of life--always ready for a joke or a good time. Mardel and I went up to the Mt. Vernon/Burlington/La Conner area recently for a weekend trip. We kept seeing these cute Japanese college girls up there. Skagit College must have a big ESL program that specializes in Japanese students, like Green River and Bellevue College do. Anyway, I wanted to meet them all, and adopt them all. I told Mardel my big dream is to someday have one of the girls I've hosted come back to the U.S. to study and maybe live nearby so that I can have a Japanese family with grandkids and everything. I'm pathetic. o_O

Anyway, this picture was taken in Nara on the last day of our trip in 2003. It was of a group of junior high girls (think Usagi Tsukino from Sailor Moon) that was part of a larger school group that had come to visit the temples for their school trip. I could have scooped them all up and taken them home. Really, they must've thought I was a weird, foreign stalker, the way I kept staring. Still--don't they look cute in their uniforms? All public and most private junior and senior high schools in Japan make students wear uniforms. They vary from school to school. They also change a bit from summer to winter. These are pretty basic summer uniforms.

One thing I've noticed about Japanese junior high girls is that they often are pretty chunky. They seem to gain a bunch of baby fat in junior high and then either lose it or diet it off by high school. Which is funny considering the way the manga always seems to show them as scrawny little things when they're in junior high. Wishful thinking, I guess.

Shoe, shoe baby

A few days ago the idea came to me to do a blog about my memories of my trips to Japan, based on random pictures I pull out of the dozens that Bill and I have taken over the years. I may also include memories of our student's visits, too, as it's a piece of Japan that comes to visit me from time to time. Anyway, the first picture I thought of putting up was this one. It took me some time to find it as it's not one I took--rather, it's one Bill took, scanned into the computer and then printed out as part of a composite of photographs of the Kubos. I may do a post about those pictures another time.

This one highlights a fond memory I have of Etsuko Kubo, Hiroko's mother. It's tradition in Japan to remove your shoes before entering a house; it certainly keeps the floors clean. The entry way is called the genkan. It's often a step or two below the main floors of the house. The Kubo's was relatively new at the time we visited (Oct. 2001) owing to the house being new. The floors in the entry were an attractive granite. Every time we'd enter the house we'd take our shoes off. However, Bill and I being the sloppy little America-jin gaijin we are, we would leave our shoes just any whichaway we took them off. Mr. Kubo and Hiroko weren't too much better, really, which is why this picture evokes memories of Etsuko. Every day I would see her methodically and neatly straighten out our shoes so that the toes pointed outward towards the door; making it much easier for us to slip our shoes on and go. She never appeared to scold anybody for this; she just did it quietly. But it struck me as fitting her neat, tidy, methodical personality. Hiroko told us once her mother was a "daemon!!!" because she could be tyrannical about making Hiroko study (Etsuko was an elementary school teacher before she retired). But to me she is a wonderful, thougthful, caring person, and I love her very much and miss her a lot.

We hope to return to Japan this November, and are planning to stay with the Kubos or Hiroko and her husband. I look very much to seeing Etsuko again, and once more observe her untiring effort to make sure all our shoes are neatly pointed the right way so we can go out and get on with life, just like Etsuko does.