WHERE THE TRAINS DON'T RUN

When I first moved to Japan, there were times where I would stop and my mind would boggle.  I live in Japan, I'd think.  It was both a dream come true and a surreal improbability that I had ended up here, and so I'd marvel at the ancient temples and the bullet trains and the crowds of men all dressed identically for work in black trousers and white shirts.   

With time, that sense of novelty has worn off to a degree.  It's not that I appreciate Japan any less, or that its wonders and curiosities have diminished.  But you get used to things as life forms a pattern and you become absorbed in your routine.  However, a while back I had an opportunity to revisit that old sense of wonderment when I went to visit another JET who lives way down south in the prefecture, so far down that the trains end about an hour north of his area. 

Rural Japan is another world.  Rice fields and ramshackle houses.  Narrow roads and roadside stands of locally produced eggs and vegetables. No one mans these stands; there is an "honesty box" where people can leave their money and pick up fresh food.  It's quiet and predominantly inhabited by the elderly, as younger generations have fled to the cities for work.  It's a hard life without a lot of creature comforts, where people are as self-sufficient as possible.  It's a bit like stepping back in time.

Rice terrace

CW is one of the many JETs who lives at his school.  While lengthy commutes are fairly common for students and teachers in Japan, some schools are so far away that they have to board students and faculty.  The setup is a bit like sleep away camp, with meals in the cafeteria, a set time for lights out, and patrols of the dormitories by the teachers after curfew. Teachers have restrictions too, like no overnight guests. It's a bit like living in a fishbowl. 

And yet CW has managed to make a pretty good life for himself.  He's sporty and helps out with several school teams.  His school is renowned for its kendo team; they train the best in the prefecture.  However, the focus on athletics means that other things slip through the cracks, like academics.  Students focus on extracurriculars instead of classes, knowing that no matter how poorly they do, they'll be moved on to the next grade level.  There's also a fair bit of teenage rebellion, with students sneaking out at night to buy cigarettes from nearby vending machines, and a few runaways trying to get home.

Take a ride on the river

The village where the school is located is incredibly wealthy, owning land that is leased to one of the large malls to the north, as well as several dams, each of which provides power to an entire prefecture.  Logging is also prevalent in the area, providing a hefty source of revenue.  Since school budgets are dependent on how much they are allocated from their various localities, one would think that the schools in this particular area would be fairly well-funded.  However, CW asserts that the money is promised to very specific programs.

What do they spend the money on, I asked.  A big chunk was spent on a new junior high school, despite the village already having four.  When CW requested that money be appropriated to buy new English books for his school, the current ones be antiquated and falling apart, the council in charge of the funds denied the request...and the next week bought a lot of expensive sporting equipment, including boats, etc.  

"Egg onsen." The natural hot springs in the area are mostly used for bathing, but some of the springs are so hot that locals use them to cook food, such as eggs.  Here you can see bags of eggs dropped in the hot spring.  After several minutes, you take them out, peel the shells, and eat them.  

Living in the boondocks isn't for everyone.  For one thing, a car is essential, forcing you to endure the torture of qualifying for a Japanese drivers license, and getting used to the stomach-churning hairpin turns of the one-lane roads that wind through the mountains.  The closest grocery store is an hour away by car.  Though there are other foreigners in the area, they live in scattered and sometimes far-off places.  

Still, there are definite perks to living in that part of the world.  The verdant landscape, the clear, glimmering skies at night, and the quaint local sights such as suspension bridges and natural hot springs make for a nice getaway from urban life.  Then there are more hip, seemingly incongruous attractions such as Cabelo, the all-organic cafe situated just down the road from the modern glass and steel art museum built by a famous local architect.  We also witnessed (and were briefly a part of) a huge cycling race featuring athletes training for the Tour de France.  

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend.  Huge thanks goes out to CW for putting so much time and effort into the planning and execution of the weekend, and being such an incredible host.  I wish we could have stayed for weeks instead of days.