The Return of Jack Frost

One nondescript weekend in November, Isabel, Andrew and I made our way up to Lake Tazawa to get our (heinously cheap) ski rentals for the year.

If you’re an ALT or Akita International University student もごころ(Magokoro) rentals near Lake Tazawa if your place. ￥4000 for skis, poles and boots for the season.

Gardeners in Kenroku-en

That evening we joined in a board game night in Kakunodate, where a local business owner opened her restaurant for us to take over and fed us for a small fee.

The next morning Isabel and myself were awoken by Andrew’s chilling announcement of ‘guys, I don’t want to alarm you, but it’s winter’. Sure enough the view outside his apartment window was off a 4 inch thick blanket of snowy white. We were not prepared for this.

After recording their latest podcast for their series J.E.T set pod (shamless plug: can be found on sound cloud) which I was invited to make a guest appearance in, Andrew and I headed out into the elements and down to the local community centre to get bundled, tugged and bound into kimono. The girls got a chance to wear a traditional wedding robe, that not only turned out to be rather heavy, but also cost thousands of dollars just to rent for a couple of days.

Kenroku-en feat. trees with snow ropes

Fast forward to 6am Thursday morning and Steph, Liam, Kate and myself had bundled into Kate’s car and begun making our way south to Kanazawa, Ishikawa prefecture. Our first stop was the Kenroku-en gardens, boasted as one of Japan’s three most beautiful gardens, and fortunately due to how far south we were, still shrouded in koyo.

Unable to resist the siren call of coffee shops, we stopped in at ‘full of beans’ for lunch. After a short recuperation at the Airbnb (I’ll leave out the hectic parking situation caused by the impossibly narrow road) we walked back down into the CBD, our target: The Cottage, Irish café and restaurant. Walking into the small cosy restaurant decorated with fairy lights, it really did feel like Christmas. The owners, Tony and Momo, were fantastic hosts (to the point where we all decided we wanted them to adopt us) and we were treated to roast chicken, pizza and tea. We spent the rest of the evening wandering through Kanazawa’s Tea district and hopped between a couple of bars.

Late night in the tea district

Friday morning it was another reasonably early start, a short stop for a Lawson breakfast, and then inland to visit the thatched roof Villages of Gokayama in Toyama and Shirakawago in Gifu Prefecture.

We were not prepared for the weather. I have never seen such large clumps of snow in my life. At risk of sounding counterintuitive it would have been better if it had been colder. As it was the temperature was still above zero and as a result we spent the morning trekking around in slush, feeling our toes from cold, to freezing, to numb. I had previously visited Shirakawago in January with Henry on our winter holiday but the scenery had been nothing like this. The thatched rooves were sprinkled with white dust and the view from the lookout at Shirakawago was stunning.

Shirakawago, Gifu

There may have been a small debacle when Kate lost her go-pro down the snowy bank and we had to ask the shop assistant for something to retrieve it with. The young girl cracked up laughing when we explained what had happened and hurried off to grab tools for us. Armed with a snow scoop and pole we tested the stability of the section of bank before Kate and Liam climbed over the fence (we had drawn a small crowd by this stage). With Kate hanging onto Liam, Liam hanging onto the fence, myself holding onto Liam and Steph to Kate’s bag, Liam lowered Kate down into the snow and undergrowth. A few minutes later we returned triumphant to the gift shop to return the snow scoop and pole.

The decision to return to the Airbnb to thaw out ( I had to wring my socks out once back in the car) was unanimous and we swung by the McDonald’s drive through to avoid having to put our damp shoes back on.

Shirakawago, Gifu

That evening we found a Thai restaurant for dinner and watched the skies flash with lightning before unleashing a hail storm that turned the ground white in minutes. We continued to partake in our new favourite pastime – bar hopping. A favourite for the night was the Kanazawa music bar where all four of us fell a little bit in love with the stunning lass who was the designated record disk jockey. We also couldn’t resist a trip to H&M.

Tojinbo Coast, Fukui

Saturday saw us ticking off the 4^th prefecture for our trip; Fukui. The coastal drive took us to the basalt cliffs of Tojinbo. The first word that springs to mind on seeing the hexagonal stone pillars is ‘rugged’. With dramatic chasms and bluffs carved out by the violent waves with area is sadly also a popular spot for suicides (after our trip to Kegon falls we seem to be making an inadvertent habit of this…). In the early noughties a retired police officer grew tired of fishing bodies from the sea and began patrolling the cliffs for people looking to jump, he and his organisation is said to have saved over 500 lives over 11 years. The popularity of Pokémon Go has also helped to deter suicides due to the Poké stops at the coast drawing visitors after dark where it would previously have been deserted.

Oshima Bridge

We wandered back up to the lane of shops to indulge in some of the local delicacy, crab (served by a very bewildered Jii-chan who seemed perplexed by our general existence). A short stop for kinako (roasted soy bean flour) flavoured soft cream and we continued around the coast to the Oshima Bridge which spanned from the mainland to Ojima Island.

Returning to Kanzawa we spent the rest of the evening bar and restaurant hopping, our food stops including hot cakes and a Korean restaurant. Wandering the city looking for another bar to grace Liam spotted coloured lights on the 9^th storey of a building so, drawn like moths, we ventured over to check it out.

The small selection of soft cream flavours we had to choose from

On arrival we were delighted to discover that it was an ‘ethnic garden bar’, paying our ￥500 for a self-poured drink we collapsed into the outdoor furniture style table and chairs and toasted to finding somewhere interesting. About 15 minutes later we noticed a pole being erected on the small stage, then the lights were turned down, then we noticed that about 98% of the clientele were male.
And then we noticed the slim, bikini clad Thai lady in platform stilettos making her way to the stage…  

Following the events of the garden bar we spent the next hour meandering through the streets and around the drunken salarymen going down like dominoes left right and centre. We finally came to a French bar that had no seating charge. The three brothers that ran the place were half French and half Japanese, with their father being from Kanazawa they had visited every year before deciding to open a bar together. Seeming to enjoy the English conversation, one of the brothers came over for a chat and we talked about standing out in Japan as ‘foreigners’ (a word that I have come to despise) and how in spite of being half Japanese and speaking the language almost fluently, he was still an outsider.

Slightly less impressive than the Kurobe Dam

Sunday saw another early start and brisk breakfast of Lawson coffee to fuel our long journey northward. We had planned to visit the Shomyo falls and Kurobe damn in Toyama on the way home but after taking a 2 hour detour to get there, were informed that due to the unexpected amount of snow, they were unreachable unless we took an additional four hour detour and approached the mountain path from the other side.

Defeated, we returned to the coast and continued north through Niigata and the rain that we were convinced had stayed there since our decent on Thursday morning.

As I’m writing this on the 1^st of December, the first official day of winter, a sheet of white has slowly been spreading over Konoura.

Winter has come again.



And having just typed this my JTE returned to the staffroom from the corridor and curled into a ball in front of the heater like a cat before the fireplace. 

Four Colours

Juniko

Maybe it’s lethargy after over 14 months of attempting to refine memories into comprehensible records, maybe I’m just useless.

Either way October and November appear to have slipped away on me and yet again I find myself counting down the days until Henry arrives in Japan for our winter trip this year.

In the meantime however, here’s a brief (yeah, I’m lying) overview of what autumn had in store for us.

Earlier in October Andrew, Liam, Steph and myself gathered at Isabel’s house for a viewing sessions of Clue, before we visited Juniko, the 12 blue ponds in Aomori Prefecture the following day. The stunning clear blue waters of the ponds were complimented by the oranges and reds of autumn leaves and as always we relished being surrounded by trees as opposed to rice paddies.

The start of November brought with it a long weekend which saw Steph, Drew, Liam and myself travelling south to Tochigi prefecture to chase the koyo of Autumn. We made a stop in the small town of Mashiko, famous for pottery. The bitterness of Autumn had not yet reached Kanto and so the four of us sweltered in our long trousers that the chill of Tohoku had demanded that morning.

Three Wise Monkeys - Toshogu

Turning back inland we arrived in Utsunomiya city and took no time in locating the local delicacy; gyouza. The weekend turned into a marathon during which we set the goal of consuming 100 gyouza between the four of us.

That night we wandered down to a local Izakaya that was renowned for having monkeys which served beer. After narrowly avoiding ordering karaage made of bees, the stars of the show came trotting out.

None of us have much faith in the way that animals are treated in Japan (a visit to a pet shop is enough to understand) however it was difficult to ignore how much the owner of the restaurant cared for these monkeys.

Guests could sit on chairs as the owner encouraged the little rascals to sit in their laps and finally the oldest and biggest monkey would come and perched on their head for photos. I feel sorrow for Drew’s future children as I don’t believe anyone could have looked more doting or besotted with these creatures.

The other group of guests in the restaurant left soon after snapping out a few photos and so the owner asked if we wanted to go back over and continue playing with the monkeys, he had barely finished asking before Drew and Liam were racing over.

We were able to give the wee things snacks and have them clamber over us. The owner performed tricks with oldest monkey Fuku-chan, getting her to perform a couple of spectacular backflips before doing a ‘sexy pose’.

Shinkyo Bridge

On Saturday we drove further inland to Nikko which is renowned for its beautiful Autumn colours. Our first stop was the Shinkyo Bridge, followed by a morning of wandering through various temple complexes.

Rinnoji temple, under renovation for the next few years, was covered in scaffolding but we were still able to enter and see the shrine roof being laid with shining copper tiles. Next we followed the stream of tourists to Tosho-gu shrine, resting place of the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate and location of the three wise monkeys. The lavishly decorated, gold plated shrine and gates were a stark contrast to the more traditional, simple decorated Japanese temples.

As the rain started coming down we continued on to Taiyu-in Temple, the complex was flushed with autumn colours and between that and the blissful lack of crowds, it was deemed as a favourite.

Our next venture involved being stuck in crawling traffic for 2 hours on a heinously winding mountain road. Consisting of 48 switchbacks, the road to and from lake Chuzenji looks rather comical on maps. Each corner is marked by a hiragana (coincidentally the Japanese hiragana script has 48 characters) though the characters are ordered according to a poem that was popular prior to the modernised ordering in the Meiji period.

Kegon falls

After 2 hours of hairpin turns we finally made it too the Kegon falls look out. An infamous suicide spot, the falls’ most renowned victim was a young student who carved a haunting poem into a tree before throwing himself from the cliffs.

Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misao_Fujimura

A translation of his poem: https://oceanontuesday.wordpress.com/2013/02/09/misao-fujimura-suicide-note/

Formed when the Daiya river was rerouted due to lava flows, the falls stand at roughly 97 metres and are ranked one of the 3 most beautiful waterfalls. After watching the water plummet hypnotically in sheets off the cliff, you understand why.

A lift takes you 100 metres down to see the falls from near the base for a different approach, following this venture (and being sprayed with mist) we indulged in a hot chocolate before continuing on round lake Chuzenji to the Ryuzu falls, a much more modest view of twin waterfalls that separate further up stream before joining again in the falls’ pool.

Toshogu

The following day was our deadline for meeting our quota of 100 gyouza. Our mission ended in a throng of hundreds of people at the gyouza festival where incredibly deceiving signs informed us that the queue was 20 minutes long. It was about 5…

Zao Fox Village

Stocked up on dumpling goodness we continued to the Zao fox village in Miyagi prefecture. Back to animal treatment in Japan…Don’t linger in the indoor section of the village. The outdoor section however, consisted of paths winding through a spacious area where foxes could roam as they please and brush right by you (cue childlike excitement). In amongst the autumn coloured floor you could see little pairs of black ears sticking up from the fallen leaves.

With one road trip down, there was one more to squeeze in before December came, and brought with it the wrath of winter.

Taiyuin Temple

Ryuzu Falls

Komorebi

Among the intentions I had for coming to Japan, visiting the grave of Christ and milking a cow were not listed.

Rewind a few hours to Steph serving up a glorious breakfast of Bagels hummus and eggs and the two of us loading ourselves into her wee purple Daihatsu, lead north by google-san.

The Grave of Christ - Aomori

Our final destination was a cabin on the shore of Lake Towada in Aomori, however a somewhat infamous tourist spot proved a tempting detour along the way. In the 1930’s, ancient religious manuscripts (of which there are only handed written transcriptions in the museum…) were unearthed that supposedly accounted for the 12 or so years of Jesus’ life that is not mentioned in the bible, from his early 20’s to 30’s. The papers claim that Jesus traveled to Japan during this time to study. On his return to Judea (and ultimately the pages in the bible) Jesus was arrested, however his brother Isukiri (if you think that sounds suspiciously Japanese you’re not alone) took his place on the cross and Jesus fled to Japan, remaining there until he died at 106.

There must have been some sort of recovery mission as Isukiri is also (supposedly) buried at this site in Shingo – this is where Steph and I proposed it was a third brother that emerged from the cave in Judea after 3 days; ladies and gentlemen, I give you the holy trinity.

Doll with Cross on Forehead - local tradition come horror movie set

Upon reaching the cross mounted mound, Steph and I could not help but giggle at the pure lunacy of it. It’s still not obvious as to whether the locals still believe this theory, though there is a tradition of drawing a cross on babies’ heads before they leave the house for the first time, and annual festival dances take place…

Still chuckling we left the enigmas of local legends behind us and, just as Steph’s car began to smell like someone had left a soldering iron on, arrived at what we thought to be a herb market, and wound up being handed a cup of carrots to feed the resident farm animals. You got, I came all the way from New Zealand, to milk a cow.

Lake Towada

After the chatty lady at the information desk had requested that we write down how to say ‘cow milking’ in English for her as there had apparently been some difficult in explaining to tourists (though I can’t imagine the numbers would be huge) what it was (internal giggle at the words and gestures that must have been attempted).

After feeding the sheep, goats, ponies and milking a cow, we proceeded to the michi-no-eki (roadside station) where I invested in some basil ice cream and we asked the owners where the nearest garage was as we appeared to be out of coolant. Once we had established the fact that my Japanese was crap and I was talking about coolant and not the aircon the lovely gentlemen toddled off and retrieved a bottle of alien green liquid and kindly topped up Steph’s car for us.

We arrived at the cabins just before the others (Liam, Priscilla, Isabel and Brandon) and began the epoch of sorting out the bedding set up, this involved a lot of sheets being thrown from loft to floor to bunk and the odd shriek when someone released that a host of stink bugs had been camping out in their futon.

We cooked up a feast of yakiniku for dinner and smashed out a couple of rounds of kings cup before calling it a night.

The following morning proved a leisurely start with some groggier than others. After we’d prepped ourselves with a breakfast of bacon and eggs we visited a lake front café for a coffee and apple pie (Aomori being renowned for apples).

Oirase Gorge feat. komorebi 

The foliage was not yet flushed with autumn but there were touches of orange and crimson as we strolled along the stream in the Oirase gorge. Steph taught us her favourite word in Japanese: komorebi sunlight filtered through trees.

We returned to what township Towada has and, armed with matcha soft creams, wandered over to the lake front to visit the maiden statues and Towada shrine.

We had barely started the journey home before the sign boasting ‘apple beer’ proved too intriguing and we stopped to invest in some local products…

The cabin welcomed us home with smells of taco soup simmering away in the crock pot that Isabel had prepped that morning.

Maiden Statues - Lake Towada

Wanting to make the most of the long weekend Steph and I ventured west to Hirosaki the next day. The album of choice was Odesza as we meandered out of the crater that Towada nestles in and relished being surrounded by trees once again, all too used to being surround by rice paddies. Our first stop was a lovely outdoor onsen in the mountains (it was nice to have a decent shower again) followed by hunting down a burger joint in Hirosaki that Brandon had recommended – Dubois - hands down the best burger I have had in Japan. Lunchtime entertainment was provided by the old Jii-chan taking his 15 year old napy-clad tortoise for a walk down the main road.

Strategically cropped Hirosaki Castle

Now, I have heard many a tale about how beautiful Hirosaki and its castle is in the spring, exploding with soft pink cherry blossoms. As a result I had built up Hirosaki to be quite the castle in my head. This was not the case. We entered the grounds to discover the smallest castle either of us had ever seen.

Part of the reason for this was that there is currently some serious construction work being carried out on the stone foundations as a result of the Sea of Japan earthquake in the 80’s. Due to this, they put the main building on rollers and moved it about 75 meters away. It looks somewhat less impressive sitting on flat ground than it did in the pictures where it was perched majestically on the stone foundations, bearing down on the moat below. To its credit there was a ring of photographs of castles from around the country decorating the top floor and I found Matsuyama Castle which I had visited a number of times during my exchange.

Back across the border in Akita we stopped at a road side station where Steph was delighted to find a pumpkin to carve for Halloween and we decided to brave green pepper flavoured soft cream.

Between the tourist stops, ice cream flavours and fit of laughter at the cabin, it proved to be an entertaining getaway to say the least.

Chasing Summer

Canal City Fukuoka

 As the evenings grow cooler in Akita (and by cooler I mean you now need a light cardigan at 10pm)the time came to flit down to Kyushu to catch the last of humidity, as well as a couple of globe hopping kiwis.

Meeting Sam and Emma at Haneda airport (dressed in matching sushi-cat tshirts) we flew south to Fukuoka together. It wasn’t long after our arrival that we indulged in the local dish tonoktsu ramen (ramen in a pig bone broth) embarked on a stroll through the city that took us to the Canal City mall.

We stumbled across the Hard Rock café, which provided the best mojito that I have had in a very long time, and found an Izakaya for dinner, where Emma discovered that some parts of a chicken are less edible than others.

Japanese Garden near Ohori Park

 The following day I led the others through the winding streets to Stereo Coffee, which provided cold brew Costa-Rican deliciousness and toasted sandwiches (I can’t say I’ve ever had a toasted sandwich with lettuce in it before…). The simple bare concrete and care wood interior reminded us strongly of the ‘hipster’ joints back home.

We continued on to Ohori-Koen park, where Fukuoka castle once stood and spent a good couple of hours wandering around the gardens and lakes (and getting attacked by mosquitoes).

Fukuoka Castle Ruins

We graced ka-ku, a fountain pen and ink shop with an attahcd café for a breather before treating ourselves to a peruse of Forever 21.

On researching what to do in Fukuoka I found a number of sites suggested trying the canal-side yatai food stalls. Not quite like the food truck style we have back home, the Yatai were effectively a trailer with a central kitchen/hotplate around which benches were stationed for patrons to sit at. From there we continued to ‘Off Broadway’ for a few not-so-quiet drinks….

Yatai Food stalls

After the antics of Saturday night, it was beyond us to do anything more than venture out of food missions before retreating once more to the air conditioned Hostel room. I did however managed a stroll through the mall and alongside the canal, returning triumphantly with a Jasmine bubble tea. Fortunately it was this day that the typhoon that travelled the length of the country came through Fukuoka, trains were cancelled so we couldn’t have done much anyway.

After our self-inflicted immobilisation on Sunday, we were determined to cover some ground.

After a minor navigational error *raises guilty hand* we made it to umino nakamichi koen a park located on a peninsula a little north of Fukuoka city. We strolled through the park and small zoo located there and caught the ferry back across to Hakata.

Reclining Buddha at Nanzoin Temple

Having spent a decent amount of time in Japan I have seen my fair share of Buddhas, I hadn’t however, ever seen a reclining Buddha. The statue at Nanzoin Temple depicts Buddha at the point of his death, in his entrance to nirvana. It contains sand from each of the 88 temples of the Shikoku pilgrimage and despite its horizontal orientation, its curl convered head can just be seen from the station, making it rather easy to find.

We graced another izakaya for dinner before bussing out to Fukuoka tower to catch some night views of the city, deciding not to invest on one of the ￥1000 heart shaped locks to hang on the rails of the ‘lovers sanctuary’…

Finally found the bloody pagoda

The next morning I saw the other two off at the airport before training around the city, visiting the Aratsu bridge, Café Brasileiro (where I was presented with whipped cream to add to my coffee, the result of which tasted like coffee ice cream – which I am not complaining about-), and the temple grounds of Soufuku-ji. I had spotted the gold rings of a pagoda from the street and followed a temple wall until I found an entrance. This didn’t turn out to be the right complex but with the sounds of the city muffled by the walls and trees, the moss covered ground and stray cats wandering around, it made me wish I that I could have say there for a couple of hours with a book. It really felt like a little piece of paradise in the middle of the bustling city.

One last crawl through the arcade and stroll along the canal side later and it was time for me to start the trek back to Akita.

Chilling in the temple grounds

A Face in the Crowd

What began as a plan for one final hurrah before everyone went home slowly became shrouded in more and more uncertainty and anxiety.

Lake Tazawa - before the storm

The camping trip at Lake Tazawa. Of course when the day finally rocked around everyone was looking forward to spending a day on the beach followed by a booze up.

Overcast, yet still plenty warm enough for a dip we made the most of the crystal clear waters not just during the day but also that evening after some more delicate campers complained that our group was being to loud (which to be fair we were). The walk back down to the lake marked the first time I ever saw fireflies.

Despite preparing ourselves for the mildly emotional weekend – we were certainly not prepared for the mother of all thunderstorms that night. Constant cracks and booms of thunder and abrupt bolts of lightning kept us awake for most of the night, and then the rain came…

After managing a measly 3 hour sleep everyone was up at 8am, dismantling the tents, a unanimous feeling of reluctance to persist for another night in the downpour.

Peanut Cream Soup

Liam and I returned to Cari and Josh’s place in Akita city where hot showers and coffee was a welcome experience, then graced a local soup restaurant where Josh and I exchanged shocked expressions upon realising that they were playing a NZ radio station.

The next weekend we travelled to Ugo for Priscilla’s birthday and spent an evening trying to determine the correct pronunciation of ‘hygge’ before the skies opened once again and made getting home incredibly difficult for those residing further north.

Fortunately most of the flooding had subsided the following weekend, so other than 2 small detours (one involving more than a small amount of swearing) I was able to make it to Akita airport on the first leg of my journey home.

Before beginning my time one JET I was convinced that I would prefer to spend my time, money and leave travelling around Asia while I was there, rather than visiting NZ. However as my self-prescribed half-way drew nearer, I knew that I needed to be home.

Hygge - Hai-gah? Hue-geh?

The main convincing factors had been Chanelle turning 21, family planning to visit from the UK and the fact that long distance relationships can be a bit of a bitch.

So at 11am on Friday the 28^th of July, I braced myself against the icy Wellington gale as a recently reunited Henry and myself battled our way through the elements to his car.

A number of surprised shrieks, tears, ‘I KNEW something was going on’ s and bear hugs later my summer/winter escape to Wellington had come to a close. I had needed it though.

Disclaimer: I love Japan. BUT after a while, the collection of small things that irritate you, REALLY start to grate on you. Spiralling into a fed up mind-set of constant complaints and irritations, I knew I needed a break from everything, to go home and come back and learn to fall in love with Japan again.

I realised how much I had needed it before I even touched down on kiwi soil. Sitting at a café in Narita airport, I overheard at least 3 other languages being spoken while indulging in an ice tea and a wave of bliss washed over me. I was not the token gaijin, I was not just an ALT, I hadn’t been on the receiving end of any double takes in over 3 hours. I was but one face in a crowd of hundreds, and the anonymity was heaven. I was able to sit and be the observer after months of feeling as though I was constantly the observed.

Castle Point - New Zealand

Different people I talked to had different views on whether it was worth visiting home during my stint in Japan. But it did me wonders. It felt so reassuring and comforting to reinforce friendships, to return to living in a flat with other people (After discovering that I require other humans guilt tripping me into being constructive and cleaning up after myself, I have decided that it is in my best interest not to live alone after this..) to eat familiar food and to be able to talk to people, not because you happened to both have been dumped in the wops of a foreign country (don’t get me wrong, I am so very grateful for the friends I have in Akita) but because they are genuinely the most beautiful souls you have ever stumbled upon and you just KNOW that in 50 years’ time you are going to be sitting together on a park bench rambling about life, the universe, booze and everything.

I don’t know if I’ve ever appreciated how much New Zealand really is home. Driving through paddocks, rolling hills and seeing the sunlight sparkling on Wellington harbour, it has a calming effect like nothing else. Being back in people’s arms and really feeling that no matter how far afield the travel bug may lead you, this is where you belong.

So for everyone who made my little stint back home a dream, thank you.
I will be back x

You wanted to be responsible about your finances? Oh I do apologise... (International bank transfers in Japan)

Welcome to the land of the future - where the only thing that can be done via the internet is finding information about how to do things manually...

After 12 months in Japan I decided it was about time to play grown-up and start sending money back home.

Internet banking is not common in Japan so in order to transfer funds you must do so via an ATM. To transfer to another country there are a few companies who create a proxy account into which you deposit your funds, and it is then forwarded on to your home account.

Simple?

One failed trip to an ATM and a lot of swearing later, I returned home for a dose of medicinal coffee and Whittakers, only to discover that  no explanatory videos or blogs covered my particular bank (each seems to have a slightly different process - mine being particularly picky...).

SO - for those of you struggling with transferring money using a combination of "GO Remit" and Hokuto Ginko 北東銀行- hopefully this helps. For the very few readers who thought they were getting another update on my travels - I apologise.

I also apologise for the shocking quality of the photos.


First up - hit the button that says 振り込み　furikomi (transfer/deposit)

Next a string of warnings/cautions/disclaimers - hit confirm 確認　kakunin

The next screen informs of of the date that the transaction will take place - again hit confirm 確認　kakunin

Select the only option "Card" カード　kaado

On the next screen you need to select "Assign Payee" 振り込み先のご指定　furikomisaki no goshitei. You may be tempted (like myself) to press the 振り込みカード furikomi kaado button, this however is a card that is made for specific, frequent transactions that can be inserted to skip over the information entering process.

At this point you will be asked to insert your bank card and enter your PIN.

Next you need to select which financial institution 金融機関 kinyuukikan to which you want to send your money, select "Bank" 銀行　ginkou.

You will then need to enter the name of your bank/institution 金融機関名　kinyuukikanmei. For those using Go Remit this will be "Mitsui Sumitomo Ginko" 三井住友銀行.

This information can be found on your "Making a Payment/Help Letter" that you receive after signing up with Go Remit　DO NOT LOSE THIS LETTER.

Pressing the first character ミ mi will send you onto the next step.

Next select your bank 三井住友銀行 Mitsui Sumitomo Ginko. 

You then need to input your branch name 支店名　shitenmei. For Go Remit this is the main branch 中央支店　chuuou shiten. Again, pressing the first character チ　chi will suffice.

On the next screen hit 中央支店　chuuou shiten.

The next step I believe is what sort of transaction you are performing... either way just press "normal" 普通 futsuu.

Now you need to enter the account number to which you're transferring 口座番号　kouzabangou, this is on your Help letter. On entering it, hit confirm 確認　kakunin. If you need to make a correction press 訂正 teisei.

Next you'll enter the amount you wish to transfer, 金額　kingaku. Enter the amount and then press the 円　en button, or 訂正 teisei to make a correction.

Confirm that this is the correct amount 確認　kakunin or press 訂正 teisei to make a correction. (Please note I performed a dummy run for the purposes of taking photos so I would advise against transferring pitiful amounts like the 1000yen - about $13NZD that is entered here).

The next screen asks you if the name with which you wish to make the transaction is the same as on your bank card. For Go Remit press NO いいえ. The reason being is that you will need to enter the name that was assigned to you by Go Remit 振込人名　furikomijinmei, this will be 3 numbers followed by your last name.

Press the 英数字　eisuuji button for English letters and numerals. Enter your Transfer name as assigned by Go Remit. Then press confirm 確認　kakunin.

One the next screen you need to confirm all the information that you have entered. This includes:

Name of your financial institution 金融機関名

Branch name中央支店

Type of payment 普通

Account Number 口座番号

Beneficiary name 受取人名

Client's name 依頼人名

Phone number 電話番号

Amount 金額

Transaction fee 手数料

(NB. I have blanked out boxes for privacy reasons)

Press 確認　kakunin to confirm.

And with that my friends, the long and arduous process is complete. Hopefully this has been of some use to someone otherwise for my family that are reading this - this is the bullshit that I have to deal with *petulant wallow in self pity*. To the systems credit however (finance pun?) the funds did turn up in my home account less than 24 hours later.

頑張れ　Good luck.