Kizuna

My internal clock is in shambles.

The increasingly longevity of gaps between snow flurries and weather that hasn’t dropped below zero in a few weeks, suggests that spring (though taking it’s sweet ass time about it) is on the way. Hailing from the southern hemisphere, to me this means it must be September. However school is preparing to wrap up for the year which means it’s December…It’s only March (and to prove my point I just typed ‘April’).

The Road to Fukushima

After a tipsy conversation at a bar in Omagari, Liam, Drew, Priscilla and I decided to embark on a road trip down to Fukushima. At long last Lorde had dropped her new single ‘Green light’ on Friday morning, so it was with this on loop in my head (intermittently interrupted my Mo’s ‘Final song’) that we embarked on the 5 hour drive to the Abukuma caves in Fukushima.

Once we had passed through what was effectively the lobby of the cave, we left the hordes of fairy lights and tacky (sorry I mean cute) decorations behind. The pathways of limestone varied from tunnels that forced us to crawl on the damp rock, to caverns whose ceilings soared above our heads with chandeliers of stalactites strung over every inch.

Abukuma Caves Fukushima

The spacious carpark made the attraction look like it had been prepared for swarms of visitors, there were about 5 cars including ours. As Tohoku has a comparatively small population to the rest of Japan, there is less demand for land so abandoned buildings (and waterparks – Iwaki) will be left to tumble down of their own accord. This made it difficult for us to determine how much of our dilapidated surroundings was part of the inaka charm, and how much was due to the area being abandoned, avoided and accompanied by warning signs on every travel website since March 2011.

All was not lost
We managed to find a Nepalese restaurant and Irish pub.

The following day took us through more of the Fukushima countryside, the rice fields remained a brown gold (rather than the pure white of the snow covered ones in Akita) and scenery ringing of spring until we reached the Ouchijiku village which was still clinging to the last chills of winter. Shogunate restrictions during the Edo period (AD 1603-1868) required travellers to complete long journeys on foot, as a result many post towns, such as Ouchijiku, were established along trade routes to house travellers.

Ouchijiku

The restored houses hold an array of shops and gift stores and guide visitors up the path towards a hill at the rear of the village that looks down over the thatched and (while we were there) snow covered roofs.

Back in the car (if their anything that’s going to test your friendship it’s being cooped up in a Honda fit for the best part of a weekend), we continued to the Tamagoyu onsen. Tamagoyu is one of a cluster of hotsprings that make up Takayu onsen village on the foot of Mt Azuma. The name roughly translates as ‘Egg Hot spring’ which, we were disappointed to learn, has less to do with the sulphuric smell, rather your skin is as smooth as a boiled egg afterwards (though one would argue this logic on approaching the area…)

Smooth and smelling slightly of sulphur we watched as the scenery grew whiter and greyer, and the temperature dropped steadily as we drew closer to an Akita that was still in the grips of winter.

The following week was spent in a flurry of preparation for graduation, and of snow that was falling delicately on the morning that the Third graders would walk out of school for the final time.

The ceremony was held on Saturday (11^th March) and some genius put the clueless gaijin (ie, yours truly) at the front corner of the teachers block – the most visible place to witness my failing to bow each and every single time it was required.

Graduation pictures decorating
the school

After each student was presented with their graduation folders, Freckles (as always names have been changed) made a speech on behalf of the graduates. The quiet sniffing began and intermittent wiping of cheeks amongst the female students. They then assembled on a stage to sing their graduation song, followed by the junior classes standing to join in the next song, graduates and juniors facing each other.

The Third graders were then each presented with a bouquet of two tulips as they walked between the blocks junior students, turned to face the doors and walked out of the hall for the last time.

Unfortunately for me, my seat was right next to the point where the students turned to face the hall doors and corridor. I am endearingly naming this spot ‘the breaking point’ because if a student was going to break – this is where it would happen.

Despite the tell-tale sniffs of teachers around me and red eyed students walking past, I managed to keep myself together until bloody Hey came along. The class clown, and student who had made a point to greet me with a cheery ‘Kia Ora!’ (as well as saying ‘nice to meet you’ every time we bumped into each other at school….) I had a bit of a soft spot for this kid. It made it all the more wrenching when he walked up to the breaking point, his desperation to keep it together written all over his face, turned, and crumbled. That was my own breaking point.

The teachers and junior students waited outside of the school to applaud the Thrid graders as they walked out. Graduates and current students exchanged gifts and letters and Hey gave a second grader one of his tulips – skux.

Sunday 12^th March

Bright and early I picked up a very delicate Liam (who had been to his staffs graduation dinner/drinks the night before) and headed into the hills of Ouchi for the Nagasaka Inari Shrine Bonten Hono Festival (長坂稲荷神社梵天まつり). At the local shrine, teams gathered with their Jellyfish-esque totem poles, were hyped up by a drummer, then went charging into the temple with their poles proceeding to bang them against the ceiling while others in their group stood on the steps trying to prevent other teams from entering. Bear in mind that these men had probably been going hard on the sake since 6am.

The peaceful snow covered grove was pierce with yelling, chanting and shrieks as hard rice cakes were lobbed into the gr

ound as part of what seemed to be a Japanese version of a lolly scramble.

I delivered a very pale Liam back to his abode where he could resume being horizontal for the remainder of the day.

Making the most of our day off (everyone had had graduation on Saturday which meant Monday was a holiday), Dave, Drew, Josh and myself drove north to Iwate for a day skiing at Appi.

Jumps were attempted, gondolas were ridden and tumbles were taken and beaten, battered and exhausted after a decent day in the powder we trudged home.