Ali's trip: Japan and early attempts at Japanese

I arrived safely and without incident. It was hard to get any sleep because both legs of the journey were short but despite this I landed at Narita, followed Cathal's excellent directions and arrived at Ueno station by 2.20. We had a tempura lunch and then travelled back to Cathal's house in the northern suburbs where I lasted until 9pm before falling asleep....Cathal had made my bed beautifully and even gave me a sheet instead of a table cloth.

Morning one in Japan was spent in down town Miyashiro- Machi, which is near a river and in place feels like the country side.In some ways it feels so familiar and more like Europe than anywhere else I've been and then I look closer and see all the little differences. In the evening I was tasked with getting myself 9 stops along the train line to Koshigaya to meet Cathal and Ikoko for dinner...I was very proud of myself for doing this as most of the signs were in Japanese and not all the trains stopped there. We had a great evening in an izakaya, a type of eating bar where I had beer and lots to eat...great fun.

a neighbour's house with a nice garden

chez Cathal

STOP

Familiar yet different

Friday was spent looking at shrines. We started off locally in Koshigaya with a small local but active shrine, where there was a small carboot sale. We moved on to a bigger and older shrine not far away in Hisaizu and finally into the centre of Tokyo to the Asakusa area. On the one hand it felt strange to see these old and elaborate buildings in the middle of a modern city but actually we see this in the West all the time with our churches and cathedrals. We wandered around the Asakusa area for a while, into a small handicrafts museum and some of the surprisingly quiet backstreets. We saw some of the Tokyo skyline, including the Asahi Building, commonly known as the giant turd! Lots more food was consumed...I sampled Okinamiyaki and tried Japanese fast food in Yoshinoya, a well known chain here.

From language point of view two central themes seem to be emerging. Firstly I have been collecting examples of the strange and often incomprehensible use of English on signs. in slogans and as brand names...there are a few examples below and I'm sure I'm going to find many more. Secondly I have been causing much mirth and inappropriate hysteria by my inability to retain place names and instead to create new place names, Japanese in essence but not as nature intended.. The well known food chain mentioned above has been referred to as Yashimata, Yokinosha...etc. Perhaps my worst/most amusing creation so far has been in trying to say Kasukabe ( a near by metro stop)when Cathal had stopped laughing he informed me I had just called it ' arse-pervert'...I am never going to this station!