Kyoto

First of all, sorry for two things. Sorry for being away far too long. I have turned from a tourist into a”working girl” and ”travel guide” for the best guests that I could possible imagine. Anyhow busy weeks are gone and I have ended up having plenty of quality time to spent by myself (meaning: I have done yoga, Netflix and face masks for two days and I am dying for some action, my inner peace is going to explode soon so instead of turning into a crazy lady I decided to keep on writing again). Secondly sorry for the post being so long. After all I decided that the best way to cover all the silentness is to show as much as I can in a one post (not in that naughty way, what were you even thinking of…).

So Kyoto – Kyoto, Kyoto. The city of lost dreams, ancient traditions and stone figures with a great appetite (this will all be explained later on…). They say that Kyoto is hot as a frying pan and I couldn’t agree more. Even it was early May the heat totally took over. This is because Kyoto is surrounded by mountains and there is no cost line near to the city so the fresh air hardly ever blows to the town. Second of all we went to Kyoto when the national holidays ”the Golden Week” was still going on so, as forewarn, there was more than a couple people at the same time visiting the town with us.

Here is our official ”Kyoto girl gang” heading to Kyoto by the bullet train or so called Shinkansen. Tip nro 1 – if you are going to Kyoto by the train from Tokyo notice that the bullet train is guided by the Shinkansen name. The Shinkansen train was nice, similar feeling than staying in an airplane and train at the same time. I didn’t really notice the difference of the speed between a regular train while the travel but when looking outside the views were passing pretty fast. Otherwise the travel was pretty smooth with very spacious seats.

And here we are! We wanted to spend a night in a traditional Japanese styled house so we booked an apartment from the Airbnb. Over here is the living room, back there is the sleeping area. All covered with a tatami carpet and the beds are inside the closet. Although I loved sleeping on tatami, it was very comfortable to lay down, I did smell a weird weedy smell every morning. The girls blamed it was only me but I could swear that the carpet had a slender own aroma in it.

And here I am, exploring the mysterious streets of Gion – the famous Geisha district. We truly tried to spot a Geisha there but didn’t thought in any point that at the time it was raining and probably a true Maiko would not step outside while bad weather. Still we did get excellent food just randomly walking into restaurants, found vintage yukatas with only 600 yen (about 6 €) and visited a traditional city onsen that was straight from some Japanese movie from the 80’s with nearly burning pools and dozens of Japanese elder ladies who thought us what a proper cleanse and wash is.

Second day stop – Kyomizudera temple. Even though you can see the amount of people from the pictures, if you are ever going to Kyoto, go to this place. For me it was just unfathomable that there is a huge building coming straight from the hillside of the mountain with an incredible view, a waterfall inside it and it is older than the city of Kyoto itself. True! The temple was build around 778 already. Because of the national holidays there were groups of Japanese teenagers dressed in traditional costumes creating even more authentic atmosphere.

This still stays as a question mark for myself. Why are the stone figures dressed with the red aprons? Please share your knowledge for one confused traveller.

Thing that I found so amusing! The plastic basket of grandmothers bike was produced by – no more than less – Panasonic itself! Beware all you fool international electronic brands, here comes the number one selling product of all time of all times and all nations! Quite brand dropping lady I must say.

Kinkakuji the golden temple was our third day destination. Very mystical place surrounded by nature that seemed both well designed and natural at the same time. If the Kyomizudera was breathtaking this place was zen with a big Z. Only thing disturbing my zen at this point was the overloaded hotness of the day. All the shine of the gold and the white sand with the sun burning – this place was on fire that day!

Next Ryoan-ji with the stone garden and Ninna-ji with the wooden porch. I literally fell in love with this type of porch (maybe because it was fully covered and the only place where I was safe from the sun). You were not supposed to wear shoes on when walking around and the old wood was gentle and soft under your feet. If you are reading this at home can we please build a porch like this in our yard? I know that we don’t have a yard but I like this anyhow.

And lastly the ending picture with this sweet thing called dango that you can even find an emoji from your iphone catalogue. Rice balls with additional color and flavour. I will end this post with a Japanese riddle: “Hana yori dango” that means dango over the flowers. Hmm… what is your conclusion of the meaning of this riddle?

What I eat in a day?

I happen to have three ready cooked Japanese meals every day. The dormitory that I live in prepares breakfasts and dinners as a part of the rent and the lunch I usually have in the University cafeteria. Sometimes the meals turn out to be outrageous but occasionally juuust rather interesting. In general I seem to have a poor selection of choices to make if I’d like to verify the daily menu (read this: you eat what is offered or you don’t eat). I must add that I feel that I should eat more fruits and vedges so whenever having a break I try to have them for snacks. So no space for pickiness here and please don’t mind if I might call this trip as a gastronomic adventure.

The Breakfast 8:00

• Rice
• Miso soup
• Two drinks (juice, green tea or water)
• Either a small omelette, fish, meat or chicken (or sometimes natto)

 

The Lunch 12:30

• Rice
• Miso soup
• Two drinks (green tea or water)
• Fish, meat sauce or chicken sauce or noodles in a stock
• sometimes some vedges added

 

The Dinner 19:00

• Rice
• Miso soup
• Two drinks (black tea or water)
• Fish, meat sauce or chicken sauce
• sometimes some vedges or salad added

 

Things that I really like:

• Onigiri – above, a Japanese version of sandwich
• Pancakes – love them anywhere
• Yakitori – grilled chicken
• Salmon – with teriyaki or without, best that I have ever had
• Sushi – mm… oishii!
• Rice bowls – had the best one in Kyoto in a small restaurant near the mountains

 

Things that I don’t like so much:

• Natto – I have a love/hate relationship with natto. Although it is a little strange, after eating it I feel energetic and balanced so maybe it is a new superfood for me?
• Cold tea – here is something I can’t stand. Ever since coming to Japan is have been the new terrifying thing for me. Not the sweet and nice ice tea that you buy from Lidl- just a plain cold tea that smells like a fish tail for me
• Tempura – usually people tend to love it but little too tasteless for my taste
• Grape soda with jelly bites inside (yep it really exists)

 

The Desserts

Well here is plenty. Japanese tend to love sweets and cream so whenever having a change I try to grap something new and interesting. Already tested: green tea frappuccino, french toast, Japanese style ice cream, cheesecake and plenty of various sweets. Sounds like a bunch when listing these down but hey, wherever you are remember to always have some sweet in your week

Trend spotting in Tokyo

While staying here in Tokyo, I could not have been noticing some trends that are overly popular. When I say ”overly popular” I mean that while staying at the city center I might see hundreds of people with the same style for just one look. So here we go, the ultimate Tokyo trends 2016 from a Finnish point of view.

The Hair

The biggest trend that seems to be going on (for girls) is dyed brown hair with the side bangs. This hair mega trend seems to be ultimately popular and I can clearly see why. Usually the hair is silky smooth, shiny and curled from the ends which gives me impossible pressure to polish my fizzy blond hair. I am little bit more of a person who wears a ponytail or leaves the hair just open whenever it is clean so when seeing hundreds of girls with the most beautiful, thick and polished hair I totally  feel myself as a western tourist. For boys (guys, males, men? Actually I prefer to use gentlemen) the most popular hair seems to be this mid length style that I like to call ”the anime hair” because it really remains me of Ash Ketchup from the Pokemon series.  Also the mullet or the hockey hair is often spotted here. Could not help but wonder!

 

The Cute Girls

Extremely popular again, especially among the girls of my age. Pastel colors, pearl necklaces, lace, heels (btw most of the Tokyo women are wearing heels), bows, flowers, hearts…you name it! In Tokyo you can find dozens of stores selling all kind of cute stuff you could ever wonder and the girls are buying it. Are we too serious in Finland to wear this kind of stuff or either too practical? Who knows but sometimes when seeing a marshmallow colored pony patter somewhere I might find the girly girl inside me for just a heartbeat before returning back to the reality. In fact the lace stuff I could wear in certain occasion, so something useful in this trend too.

Women

In Finland we still might have the skinny jeans period going on but watch out, the Tokyo looseness in coming. Actually I hardly ever see thigh clothing here. The key thing is to wear A cut clothes in the most simple way. I like to call this style as ”Paris meets the ancient Japan”. No synthetic materials or bright colors. Mostly blue and white, black, grey and brown. White trainers or sneakers. Lots of patterns (but no more than one in an outfit) such as stripes, chequered shirts and dots. The only accessories are a carefully selected watch and some lipstick. Ever since coming here I have turned more and more into this Tokyo dream girl and still loving the style. Effortless, comfortable and chique. Have the women’s fashion ever been better?

Men

Most of the time the black suit seems to be the number one outfit of mens. However when a Tokyo guy spends some quality leisure time he seems to wear simple but stylish. The gentlemen style here has many similarities with the women’s. Basic colors, nice quality materials and easy relaxed cuts. White trainers are a must. At this point of the post I must point out that a key thing for the Japanese style is to always look clean and tidy. As I said before, the hair is always (even 5:00 am) polished and the outfit holds the same direction. The Japanese men might wear simple but the notable thing is that their clothes and shoes are always extremely tidy. This combination of an effortless outfit and a neat looks gives a feeling of a true sense of style. So something to learn here again (especially for me).

The Catch up

First of all, I am very sorry of being silent for too long time. Last weeks I have visited Kyoto and my parents visited me here in Tokyo so I have suddenly turned from a busy schedule to extreme. I know, I know these are terrible excuses for not writing posts but I am trying to make things better by posting every single day for a week! Below are pictures from the beautiful beach of Odaiba where I spent the last saturday. Burning sand, sunshine, ice  cream, relaxed atmosphere and already warm sea water.

So the catch up. What have I learned during these couple terribly silent weeks?

1. Home sickness

Actually for the first time during my stay in Japan I have felt a bit of a home sick. Not so that I would feel terrible and I would be willing to leave but just enough that when even having a phone call from home a tear or two might appear. It’s funny because I did not expect this nostalgic feeling to come disregarding some regular missing of people. Some people might call this a ”cultural shock”. I prefer to call this as a result of an extreme tight schedule and having the parents around (you know, what ever age you are, if you are in the other side of the planet and your mom will come there, it turns out to be quite sentimental).

2. It is all about the timing…

I could literally write a whole new post about this one. Japanese are the most concerned people I have met. Most of the time I feel as a complete guest while these people are taking care every single detail I could ever think of. Anyhow the perception of the time is a little different here than in Finland. The ones who know me know that I am person who hates to be late but sometimes is late very badly. Here I heard that the Japanese kids are thought that person should always be ten minutes early from everything. Everything! It bloody means that I have to go to the breakfast early and finish ten minutes earlier than the actual breakfast time ends. It also means that I have to go to the classes ten minutes earlier than they actually start. While having a lunch break it will start 12:30. Before getting myself into the cafeteria and queuing with the other three million girls from the school it is already around 13:00. The next class starts at 13:20 so it leaves me about ten minutes time to eat before I must rush to be early again. After all this is something the Finns should learn too although I find it rather difficult sometimes.

Hmm.. I seem to have some kind of forehead skin problem that appears every time when I travel abroad. It is not a great break down, just very weard little spots all around my forehead. If anyone shares my pain, please tell me the best tricks

3. Big shoes

Very funny observation made by my dad (who as tall as 180 calls Japan a miniature world) that Japanese wear very big shoes. And actually it is true! When pointing this out I have also noticed that many of them wear clearly bigger shoes than their foot is. Even girls of my age wear too big sized heels that look extremely hard to walk with. When my father went to by new running shoes the salesman refused to sell him his size because it was ”too small”.

Mother, father and the hiding stroller. Future forecast perhaps?

4. The language 

Getting better slooowly. At this point I can follow most of the conservations and even answer with very easy and lame sentences. The shopping and speaking with the salesperson seems to be fine, so is the asking the directions. Oh, I seem to have a new period of questions. I can make questions out of the most of the things so my talking is basically based on asking things. ”What did you do?” ”How did you do this?” ”Do you have?” ”Where is that?” ”What is that?” ”What is this in Japanese?” and so on. Back to the time of being a child again!

Thats me with the new kimono on!

5. The place around me

Having my parents to visit me gave me an opportunity to travel a bit more around the Tokyo. I have been in Shinjuku, Asakusa, Ueno, Ginza, Shibya, Odaiba, Harajuku… and so on. Me and my parents decided to travel most of the time as a complete tourists and we went to the places that the tourist guide book told us to go. In different areas we attended to a guided tours where local people told us about the history, traditions and habits of a certain area. This is something I would not normally do when traveling but being in a totally different culture and without knowing nothing about it, it was a great way to explore more. It is like if you go to Asakusa you might wonder the big temples as a beautiful place but when a local is telling you how the Panasonic company was related to this ancient temple and where is the best place to have dinner it totally caught my interest.

Tokyo from the Tower

Happy Golden Week everybody! Golden week is a period of public holidays that include for e.g.”Showa Day”, ”Green Day” and ”Children’s (boys) Day”. I hardly know nothing more than the tiles of the days but during the Golden Week schools are closed and everybody suppose to be off-work and free. I have planned to spend two nights in Kyoto next week. Plusses: we have bought shinkansen (bullet train) tickets to Kyoto and we are going to spend the nights in a traditional Japanese home spotting for Geishas and visiting temples. Minusses: I heard that during the Golden Week the entire popullation of Japan (about 123 million people) goes to Kyoto.

The first public holiday I headed to the Tokyo tower with a group of friends. Outside we saw dozens of these these beautiful carp kites that symbolize raising young boys and boyhood. (Oh I know, my boyfriend made so many jokes about this parable thing that I have started to believe that the meaning behind the kite is not so innocent as it first sounds.) Gorgeous, gorgeous colors all around the city and even I have started to want one for myself.

From the Tokyo Tower we saw views all around the city. We didn’t go further from the first level because going to the top started to be a little bit more pricy but I thought it was a nice way to see the Tokyo in total (in total it was buildings after buildings, a never ending labyrinth in every direction). As a golden week speciality we saw a traditional music performances inside the tower.

Carp kite pics by Iines Reinikainen

Harajuku and Shibya – iphone pics

Here is a bunch of iphone pics from the last weekend when I headed to the center of Harajuku and Shibya. Both of the areas are well known shopping areas of Tokyo just next to each other but for just to clarify the difference: Harajuku is the place to be for young people with numerous boutiques and vintage stores and Shibya is all about high-street fashion and leisure time activities such as theaters, cinemas, karaoke bars and for sure the dozens of neon signs.

So here I am ready to explore the city of Tokyo. Above is a much necessary pic of the new shoes (so called city ballerinas) that I bought/received as a birthday present from Harajuku. I was worrying of myself turning into a granny when looking for a comfortable pair of sandals or shoes but these just made my day. Great to wear but black and sporty.

A city view to the main street of Harajuku. As you can see the Saturdays are quite crowded in Harajuku but it felt almost like when turned to evening it got even more crowded. Saturday night in Harajuku seems to be one thing to do in Tokyo during the next three months of my stay. (Yes, almost one month already spent here! I feel like the time is running out…)

A very pretty roofgarden in Harajuku. There was a huge Starbucks (very original Japanese way to stop for a coffee, but good coffee) and a restaurant. Beautiful flowers all around, chill music played and great views. Relaxing way to stop between the gigantic stores of Harajuku. Moreover Harajuku is very famous of its multiple pastel colored crêpe restaurants with two hundred different options of fillings. I had a shrimp/avocado salad and cheesecake berry mix ones. Naughty me!

This was maybe the cutest shop of Harajuku. A small boutique called ”Ehkä söpö” (Finnish and translated as ”Maybe cute”). Unfortunately everything was one sized about european S/M and almost all the clothes were a unique piece so go there and fell in love if you are Japanese sized female who desires for good quality and pretty details.

Next day in Shibya we headed to Camelback sandwich and coffee shop to get something for breakfast. Delicious food and trendy atmosphere about five minutes walk from the Shibya center. Although it was a little hard to find and we joked that the place could easily be located in Kallio (a trendy area of Helsinki) it was much nicer way to have breakfast than for example the Starbucks. If going to Tokyo and Shibya, stop by. There is a couple of nice bookstores and coffee shops on the same road.

And finally pics of the skyscrapers and signs and many people at the Hachiko cross road. I was very moved when I heard that the cheesy Richard Gere starred Hachiko movie is based on a true story and moreover that Hachiko was a Shiba inu. A have turned into a true Shiba inu fan while being here because you can’t cross a street without seeing one. For those who wonder, Shiba inu is an almost cat/fox mixed dog originally raced in Japan. There supposed to be a statue of the dog but unfortunately we didn’t see the Hachiko statue there. Just for fun I downloaded a picture of Shiba Inu to end my story of the weekend. Enjoy!

Hakone weekend excursion

I have had the first weekend trip in Japan. Last Saturday me and the fellow mates Iines and Iiris payed a visit to Hakone – a small area about hour and a half away from Tokyo, famous for its breathtaking views, natural hot springs and mountain trails. I have to admit the visit was one of the best decisions in a while although Hakone is a bit of known as a tourist destination. But who could resist stunning views straight to the Mt. Fuji! At least I couldn’t. The atmosphere was far from the epileptic ambiance of Tokyo and more like ”welcome to the middle of natural paradise” and I felt that I just let all the jet lag and exhaustion of coming here finally go.

First we payed a visit to the lake Ashi (translated as the ”Leg lake”) and had a seventy minute sailing ship ride on board. The sail was sold us as the best spot to see the Fuji mountain but actually we saw it better before from the beach. Little waste of money in this aspect but the fresh air and a short sight seeing was a better start for the day than a cup of Italian expresso. Although I have mentioned Mt. Fuji already about seven hundred times in this post and it actually was there with the greatest view I didn’t manage to take a picture of it. I know this is the biggest ”coming to Japan” failure of all times but this is a good reason for coming back right?

After the adventurous boat trip we went to look for a local Samurai exhibition. Somehow we found ourselves from a little hill that turned out to be the local observatory with the prettiest garden area. The Sakura was still in its prettiest blossom so we had a change to experience the garden area in its spring uniform. After all the observing and nature hiking we felt pretty hungry and tired and managed to get a little lost in the hilly garden. A thousand steps down, dead-end and thousand steps up. This was a real life experience of being a Samurai solder blazing his way from a garden to another.

When we got ourselves back to the city we found out that everything closes for some reason at 5 p.m. Little more adventurous bus driving and exploring and we found our way back to the railway station and to the nearest kombini to get couple of onigiri rice snacks. I still have no idea why the place closes so early on Saturdays but during the bus drive we saw numerous waterfalls in the prettiest spots of nature. It sounds like a cliché but seeing a waterfall just turns up the bright side of the day and you start to feel happy as a child again. Hakone did I just have a crush on you? Certainly.

Lastly we ended our day in a long waited Hakone Yuryo onsen. For those who wonder what an onsen is, it is a natural hot spring born from the volcanically active ground of Japan. Hakone area is especially famous for it’s numerous onsen spas which are open for everyone with only 1300-2000 yen (ap. 10-15 €) cover. Point! Open for everyone except drunks and people with tattoos because there is a remarkable risk of being part of Yakuza, the Japanese criminal organization, if covered in ink. Especially the tourists with tattoos are the highest risk group of brutal criminality and violence in public spas. (Read ironic).

Anyhow we decided to live on the edge and kicked off our onsen experience with 3% peach ciders. After the drinks we slowly moved to the spa section and floated for two hours in six or seven different kind of hot springs and pools. The most relaxing atmosphere, environment and experience I have had in a while! Definitely coming back and doing the onsen again this summer. Unfortunately it is not allowed to film inside the spa but please enjoy the Google image gallery to see how it is like.

The Studies

How is studying in Japanese University you might wonder? Challenging? Enjoyable? Educational? Yes, yes and yes! So far it has been all of the things I have heard before and a way much more.

 

The University I am studying at is the ”Joshibi University of Art and Design, a private women’s school of fine arts” according to Wikipedia. The private women’s school sounds like I have to wear a school uniform but sorry to disappoint you, the uniform is only for the high-school students. The courses in every semester are separated in two categories: morning courses (9:20-12:30) and afternoon courses (13:20-16:30). I have participated in two courses so far – universal design every morning and ”zakka” design course the afternoons. On top of that I have Japanese language studies twice a week so the days end up being rather long. Later of my stay I will attempt to a furniture design course too, but I will write about it more when I actually start the lessons.

 

 

The Universal Design

The Universal Design course is designing products for everyone. This means that we have to pay attention to all kind of users (including the users with disabilities to move or operate) when designing. The final product should be accessible and usable for all kind of users regardless the age, ability, status etc. I must confess, I really enjoy this course. I am looking forward to find out a way more about the product usability and this course has got my attention. On top of that the professor of the course speaks Swedish. What a coincidence! I travel to the other side of the planet to learn Japanese and I end up learning Swedish here. Former Swedish teachers, raise your glasses! The professor explains me Swedish if I don’t follow and I feel so lost with four languages in my head all at the same time.

 

This is not a Disneyland, it is the Sagami-hara campus park

Zakka Design

Zakka means, as far I have understood, everyday goods that are small, useful and clever. At the very beginning I found out that the basis for the Zakka design is to scoop from your own experiences of life that are somehow meaningful. For example nature experiences and poetical awakenings are good. Practical problem solving? Not so very good. At first I was totally lost in this course and didn’t buy the ”poems to products” idea at all. Although slightly I have changed my opinion and I am starting to enjoy of this high-flowing idea as a base of a design. It is like thinking of a memory and turning it into a physical shape. The result is so surprising and, oh well, this certainly is the non-Finnish-hard-to-explain experience I came here to.

 

Notifications of the studies in Japan versus studies in Finland:

1. When the teacher speaks or the lecture is going on you must sit silently and listen what he/she has to say. No questions, the information comes oneway.
2. All the lectures are in Japanese so it takes a lot of patient for me trying to follow what has been said.
3. If you fall asleep (which happens everyday for some poor student) the assistant teacher will come and poke you in the shoulder to wake you up.
4. Oh yes, there are two assistant teachers in every class. They will attend the classes everyday and the professor (sensei) attends only for lectures and presentations.
5. We mostly use pen and paper when studying and there is a paper literally about everything (even about the order how the concept papers should be placed on the walls and in which order). I end up coming home with ten kilos of paper.
6. When presenting a concept we must fill a printed concept format. I have had a huge struggle with filling 25 of these a day with my poor Japanese.
7. Lastly, I have to say that the Japanese have the best attitude towards, well everything! People have been so patient, helpful and friendly towards me that it certainly makes me feel less of a person.

The last one for only your own amusement: there is a small zoo right next to the Joshibi campus!

 

Searching for Sakura

I’m alive and one year older… Meaning: I have survived from the hideous stomach flu plus jetlag combo and I had yesterday my 23th birthday! One of my main goals in this trip was to see the Sakura no hana – the cherry blossoms before they fade away. This is a very serious sign of becoming an old woman, who wants to see flowers in the worlds biggest capital when they turn 23? Well I certainly did and lucky me we found one alive cherry tree from the Ueno Park that is said to be the most famous Sakura spotting places in Tokyo.

My birthday present from the girls (two lovely fellow travelers Iines and Iiris) was a swan boat ride at the Ueno lake. Thirty minutes of pedaling and giggling against the Tokyo’s ruthless wind.

Todays post won’t be any longer so enjoy the pictures. By the way, I just felt my very first earthquake for 5 seconds!

When the Jetlag comes

I might look a little anemic in the first photo above. That’s because I just had the longest travel behind me, another sleepless night, an actual and my first fainting in a train (poor Japanese were so scared of me falling in their arms) and a complete stomach flu for a day. Plusses: I look fashionably heroin chiq, minusses: I feel very indeed the same way. (Ha! bad jokes)

Anyway this is the place I am living at the moment Sagami-ono. A charming little place that my tutor called a local Pasila. I must say even in here the Tokyo seems so hectic with all the lights and noises and people going on that I recommend if traveling here to first focus on getting yourself in best condition so you won’t face my faith. Here I share my best tips for getting over the jetlag and familiarizing your body to the new enviroment:

1. Sleep and rest as much as needed. Try to change your inner clock little by little and start it beforehand if possible
2. Eat lightly the first days food that you know your body will be ok to. For example a vegetable soup would be perfect in my case. No raw stuff (even salad) or milk products recommended.
3. Drink water. You loose it when traveling by plain. Alcohol is a killer when having a jet lag.
4. Have some medicine with you in case of a stomach flu. Drops with a lactic acid bacteria even before the trip work just fine.
5. Do stretching and light yoga during the travel and after it. A light exercise boosts up the energy levels after a long travel and helps muscles to recover.
6. If you are having the stomach flu after all try having salty snacks and sugary sweets in little portions. Drinking is also a necessity.

Not sure if a food pic is the greatest idea after a story of gastronomical problems but this portion was not the responsible for any of my conditions. So, my first dinner here was so called ”Ojiya” a risotto in a Japanese style. Oishii deshita!