Fukushima Day Three - Nov 19th

We woke up around 7AM and washed our faces in the bathroom sink. Despite all of the fun I had been having, tonight would be the first night all weekend I’d be able to properly bathe, and I was looking forward to a nice shower and lots of soap. We dressed warmly and were led to the main temple, where the priest had offered to lead us in meditation practice. It’s quite possible that I was the only one excited by this prospect, and I hurriedly grabbed one of the thick zabuton in the front row and eagerly listened to the monk’s explanation of the Buddhist meditation practice (although it was in Japanese and I only got about half of what he was saying). He spoke at length about some of the history of the practice, and then talked about imagining a full moon and clearing your mind of all other thoughts. I gave it an honest effort, but was constantly being led astray by my mischievous ego. The mind is like a wandering fox; it does not want to be tamed, and will use all sorts of tricks to slip away from you. I later asked him about my difficulties, and asked if he had any tips for me. I might as well asked him what the Buddha looked like, because the answer is so simple and yet so elusive; don’t fight it, just keep trying. I thanked him and joined the rest of the group for our breakfast of okayu (porridge).

After eating, we packed our things and put away the mountains of futons we had used the night before. We only had one more stop to make, at the Mahoron Shirakawa Field Museum. We were greeted at the entrance by a sign welcoming the Waseda students, and a friendly guide who walked us through the various exhibits. The goal of the museum is to show people how folks lived in the Japan of yesteryear; there were exhibits that displayed a typical family room from the 60’s, the 1800’s, the 1600’s, reaching back all the way to 4,000 years ago. It’s quite amazing to see the different kinds of food available at different times, especially interesting was the typical diet of nuts and berries before rice was introduced to Japan.

We moved swiftly through the exhibits, absorbing random factoids about years gone past, and moved onto the handicraft portion of the tour, where we actually got to make our own magatama necklaces. Magatama were ornaments originally made from bear teeth, but eventually just carved out of stone, meant to signify power and wealth. With just a boring tool and a few scraps of sandpaper, we were able to work out a shape similar to half of a yin-yang sign in about half an hour. I especially like mine, which I purposefully shaved down a bit smaller than the others; I don’t like big jewelry, even when it’s supposed to signify my power and wealth. I enjoyed the craft so much, that I ended up buying another kit to try later. With a little time left, a few of us went outside and took turned making fire with a modified bow and string. Friction is surprisingly effective, but it’s funny how excited one can get over something so seemingly simple as making fire (Dong reminded me a bit like Tom Hanks on “Castaway” when he finally got his fire going).

We went to a local ramen shop and had some tasty ramen and gyoza. I noticed there was a giant Daruma on a high shelf near the kitchen; both of its eyes had been filled in. After lunch, we went to a local confectionary to get omiyage. I got a couple bags of sweet chips and such, and Hans and I got some anko-filled Daruma for Kazaoka-sensei. Finally with the last item checked off our list, we started the long bus ride home. When we finally arrived, The rain was coming down in a steady torrent, a noticeable difference from the mild and pleasant weather we experienced up north. Before we got off the bus, the teachers reminded us about the report where we need to write about our experiences in Shirakawa (not that I remember ever hearing about it before).

Tonight was Maho’s birthday, and a gathering was arranged at the Hub. We quickly made our way home to freshen up (hooray for showers!) and returned to Baba to see everyone. I was genuinely exhausted, but I wanted to give Maho a small cake I found in the omiyage shop, and I knew she’d be disappointed if we didn’t show for her birthday. I found my second wind and we went to the Hub, where a decent group of friends (and Claire) had already gathered. We downed a few rounds of drinks and ran up the points on my member’s card some more. Lindsey spotted a hot waiter, and asked Claire if she could help her talk to him (since Claire has a long-term boyfriend). Claire shot back with “Just ‘cause I have a boyfriend doesn’t mean I can’t flirt!” Her logic appalls. We sicc’ed her on one of the furthest groups of Japanese strangers we could find. She had no difficulties latching onto them like a social leech, bleeding them dry of their will to ever speak to another foreigner. Free of her ever-growing obnoxiousness, we had a great evening and chatted until people had to start heading out to catch their last trains. I finally found a window of opportunity to head home, and took advantage of my new appreciation for a bed that isn’t on the floor. To end the evening, here's a photo of Maho taking a bite out of her new chocolate calculator. Yum!