Nihon ni Au (free-form)

So, I had originally planned to write today's segment about Japanese toilets, but alas, you shall all have to await the "my potty chronicles" a little longer (because I have a short attention span, and I took different pictures today). Instead, you can hopefully sit back and enjoy a few images from Kyoto, namely of 35 minutes or so of road (if you are the crazy American who walks everywhere - until this weekend, when I will officially become a jitensha - bicycle - user!) between my school and the place where I have just begun studying kyudou. 



Now, this first image is relatively straightforward, I believe. This is the hallway leading to here:

which is the classroom where I spend 90% of my time at school (the remaining 10% is spent in the cafeteria or the bathroom - break it down however you like). Actually, there aren't that many of us who have all of our classes in the same room, and I get to be one of the lucky few :)

At any rate, I believe I had earlier remarked on the truly extraordinary fashion in which ancient Japanese traditions and modern life have come to infringe on one another. This is a busy highway, by the way, and I happened to catch a shot between cars at a red light. Yes, that structure there is a Japanese shrine, right in the middle of the city. I wonder if they built the building around it...

It really is awesome. There are similarly interesting juxtopositions in the states, but they are not as wide spread. Of course, right down the street I snapped a picture of this:

which happens to be my first Pachinko parlor (first one I've seen, I mean - I would never be brave enough to actually go inside). I knew they existed, logically, but I still was a bit shocked when I actually saw it. Why? I really don't know. I felt the same way the first time I saw a firefly - you know they exist, but until you see one, they have about the amount of existential credibility as a unicorn... (I think I made up some words just now).

Anyway, if anyone has ever suggested that the Japanese have no sense of humor, I now say that I have pictures to prove them wrong. Look:

You might need to zoom in a bit to read the sign, but really, you have to admit that's funny. I mean...white elephant...right (just in case somone out there has no clue what they're looking at)? The building itself is a bit shady since there are no windows, so I, once more, was not brave enough to step inside. I don't know what what elephant means to the Japanese after all...I will leave it at that. Of course, wearily walking back from my 2 hour kyudou practice, I was staring at the brick road, and happened to see this:

I'll have you know I actually went back to take a picture of it. I had to keep going for a while first to make sure I wasn't crazy. Completely normal road, no patterns, just these occasional lighter blocks...and then a heart. Again, tell me this isn't funny. I wonder if anyone (I mean, other than the person who laid the bricks) is aware that there is a blatant heart pattern on the road...it is only about two feet wide, after all, and the road goes on quite a ways. Thus I assert - the Japanese have a sense of humor, you just have to look for it sometimes.

So, in the end, I walked for the better part of an hour and half for this class, and that ignores all the other walking I did throughout the day. In other words, this is a great way to get my exercise and see the country at the same time! It's both hot and humid, but really, I've been having a great deal of fun. Still, by the time I returned to Imadegawa, I was ready to catch the densha (train) rather than walking home (as I had originally planned - it was even worth the 250 yen). The inside of the train looks something like this:

Tilt your head; I was trying to be discreet when I took this picture. I like the trains here, since they are quiet, comfortable, and move quite slowly and smoothly, as opposed to most American trains and the few European ones with which I have experience. I am sure, however, that it would be a slightly different story in Tokyo. At any rate, I also had to finally take a picture of this, because I still have no idea how they do it:

How do people get their bikes up there? Better yet, how do they get them down? Let me just say, parking garages (for CARS) are the same way. There must be some secret, and eventually I might even exert the effort of figuring out what that secret might be. As for now, we can wonder together (unless of course you know already, in which case you can laugh and shake your head knowingly). I will soon be among these bike-riding hordes, though I will be the funny American with the helmet :) As for the toilet segment, I'll keep you waiting a bit longer, but really, there's no suspense; there's not that much to say.