To the Top of Mount Fuji

Mount Fuji from a lift in Hakone

Mount Fuji's kind of the natural icon of Japan, figuring in all manner of historic paintings and drawing admiration for its almost perfect conical shape. Not only is Mount Fuji the tallest mountain in the country, towering at over 3700 meters, but it can also be seen from Tokyo, more than 100 kilometers away, on a clear day, given a proper vantage point and a little luck. The damn thing's huge, and it's therefore no wonder that people from inside and outside Japan set off to climb it every year, during Summer when the frost melts and the coast is clear for a good ascent.
 

My headband says Kamikaze.

Alas! Mount Fuji has finally been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO (something most people have been wondering as to why it hadn't been done earlier.) And although the Japanese can take great pride in this, it also means that tourism will undoubtedly increase and that measures must be taken to keep the mountain clean. Therefore the price of the hike will be going from free this year to 7000¥ (say it with me, seven thousand yen) starting next year. So what the fuck, let's climb it now.
Taking after Aala, who did the same thing last year, Ken and I have endeavored to climb the mountain overnight to reach the sunrise in the morning.

Truth be told, the climb really isn't terrible. It can be done with minimal (if any) equipment, barring the necessary warm clothes for the summit. We started from the halfway point at Station 5 (one of many station 5s, that is) and took just around four and a half hours to make the top, taking ample breaks here and there - although most hikers do take more time. Numerous stations, providing shelter for those staying overnight and food for resting hikers, line the path to the summit, but prices do get steep the higher one climbs.
A mere bottle of coke at the summit costs 500¥, but even more ridiculous still is that you have to pay to use bathrooms, for a price going up to 200¥. Oxygen, slightly scarcer in the air near the top of the mountain, is also sold through inhalers. Despite the price, though, the availability of these commodities makes the climb a little more comfortable for inexperienced hikers.
 Ken and I arrived at the top at 2:30 in the morning, arriving far earlier than expected, having rushed for fear that we would encounter a single-file line near the top.

We were rewarded with a cloud!

Unfortunately, we had rolled poor luck: despite having had to sit in the cold (an estimated 2 to 3 degrees centigrade) for quite a while, we were not given the epic sunrise we had hoped for, as the morning was cloudy...for us only. We literally were stuck inside a massive cloud swirling around the top of the volcano. Hundreds of fellow climbers, Japanese and foreigners alike, shared our disappointment. We had taken the gamble and failed.
However, all was not bad! The spirit of kinship once sitting at the top of the mountain amongst so many other hikers having shared the same effort was abundant, overflowing. Strangers at the top greeted each other and engaged in friendly conversation, and Ken and I made a few friends at the top as well. We met Raymond and Ricky, two Asian-Americans from Los Angeles and Montreal respectively (my first time meeting another Montrealer!)

Ricky, Raymond, myself and Ken.

After a few hours rest, our newly-formed group of four decided to take the trail down the mountain. Once under the clouds, the view was much more rewarding, and it truly felt like we were on top of the whole nation. All in all, it was a good experience. A decent-level physical challenge, an opportunity to establish new friendships and a great panorama (you'll get one sooner or later) definitely make of Mount Fuji a memorable experience.

Month 21: Summary

It's time for a Milestone! You can compare to my other milestones by clicking on the Milestone label.
Exploration-wise, it's probably been the least eventful three months, in large part due to our driver going home and the rain season. But there've still been good nuggets here and there!

Month 21: Summary

Status:

Job: Children's Fitness Teacher
Financial status:  Good

Location:


City: Tokyo
Ward: Chuo-ku
Train station: Kayabacho
Residing in: My apartment, Hermit Fortress


Cast of Characters:


Major Characters:
Ken Tanaka
Aala Kansali of Tunisia
Millo, Julian of France
Eri Karasawa, the cute receptionist
Dario Lupoli of Italy 

Minor Characters:

Nana Takeuchi, once my boss
Erika Mochizuki (and Maxine!)
Kuniaki "Forest" Mori
Kazue Inoue 

Retired Characters:

Sofie Monrad of Denmark (who'll be coming back briefly!)
Julian "Shank" Einschenk of Germany
Anton "Foxboy" Jermaine of England
Rodrigue Zapha of France

Clement Sanchez of France
Lo, Jean-Paul the French Laotian 



Top Five Highlights:
(since last time)
Yamanote Line Lap 2
Kamakura with Alan
Sumo Wrestling!
The Ghibli Museum
Back to Tricking
Shit! I missed Sanja Matsuri!


Still to Come:

- Robot Restaurant
- Ninja Restaurant
- Comiket 86
- Climbing Mount Fuji
- Fuck it, I'm Skydiving!

Bellybutton Pride (Say What?)

What comes to mind when the 20th of July is brought up?
The Moon Landing? Colombian Independence Day? What about bellybuttons?
What, you didn't know? Shame on you.
 July 20th is the annual bellybutton festival - Heso Matsuri, in Itabashi, in Northern Tokyo. You know, that day where you affix fake arms to your waist, take your shirt off, draw a face on your belly and dance in the street. I know, right? July and August are full of diverse festivals, but this one's just bizarre. And yet, Heso Matsuri has been an annual thing for the past 43 years.

Despite having history, it ain't really a well-known thing. Itabashi isn't exactly downtown, and even on-site reporters covering the event let out a "What exactly are we celebrating?"
 I did a little research and apparently it all stems from a tradition in Northern Japan, on the Hokkaido landmass, where the tradition was born to reunite the people of a city through humor.
 Tokyo's Heso Matsuri isn't a huge event, but there were still a few things happening here and there, such as belly-dancing, the traditional aforementioned Heso dance, and a parade of 80-or-so children marching down the streets with the fake arms. Apparently the giant curtain hat thing is supposed to cover your face as well as hide your arms for added effect, but none of the kids were quite good (or even tried) at the Heso dance unfortunately.
Alright, alright. They were cute regardless. Here's a video of them parading in the street.

The Demon Trickers of Tokyo

Last week had me making the discovery of a tricking community within Tokyo. Though I hadn't been actively searching, I wouldn't have known where to begin even if I were. Tricking nests are small and known only to a handful of people. Without openly rejecting newcomers, it's kind of a closed community if only because there's such a limited number of practitioners.
 I take pride in what tricks I can do. I started tricking on and off at the age of 15 and have developed a small repertoire of handy basic tricks - enough to impress an uneducated crowd. Front flips, wall flips, and a few other gimmicks here and there. I never, however, refer to myself as an "experienced" or even a particularly talented "tricker". I've only ever known a handful of those.
 However, the Tokyo community, which bases its activities in the Itabashi area (a little ways outside of the heart of Tokyo) harbors trickers so powerful I can only refer to them as out of this world or demonic.

 To think that some of the most talented of these trickers are 17 or 18 years old is mind-blowing. These guys are dedicated, attending the gym 3 times a week for 2 hours per session and just cramming tricks in succession. It's both humbling and inspiring, and so Millo and I have decided we will be attending once a week in hopes of learning from these guys. I'm already on my way to learning some pretty cool new stuff! The words may mean nothing to you, but I've got Cheat Gainer and Sideswipe on my list to learn for now.
Here's something new I learned already! Pretty basic, but until now I've never really learned any kick-type tricks (asides from the Butterfly Kick, but that's kind of a different thing completely.)

Second Lap

Another year, another lap: this was the idea we had set in motion when Ken, Aala and myself (joined by Dario and Julian this time around) returned to the Yamanote Line. With this brave new line-up of aspiring train-line pilgrims, we set out to march in the opposite direction of last year's walk, starting from Ueno and going clockwise around the loop this time around. Having been a little tied up earlier in the morning, I joined my fellow soldiers from Tokyo station, actually, and, just as last year, the total trip took my companions and I 13 hours (minus two for me.) Which, all things considered, is pretty surprising, seeing as we didn't blunder and get lost half the number of times we did last year.
See you next year, Yamanote!
 PS: I'm late in posting this, as this all took place in April. I'm just sharing it now since the photos have been uploaded.
 Once again, all photo credit goes to Aala. You can read his much more complete take on this year's Yamanote Line walk on his blog right here. Or you can look at last years' walk here!

Brief Note: Tricking in Tokyo

Millo, his friend Steve, Kazue and I with some Tokyo trickers.

I'm absolutely ecstatic. Thanks to an acquaintance of Millo's, we've found a gym catering to the tricking community within Tokyo. They're a real great bunch and we've made friends already. I can't wait to get back into practicing and put up pictures of videos of my progress. Expect that soon!

Gay Ol' Times with Cake

What the fuck are we doing?

It wasn't that long ago the wind still carried a chill breeze and the rain (a damnable thing too, don't get me wrong,) cooled down the streets. But then the clouds cracked and the same words were on everyone's lips; "Summer is coming!" Because we've all been watching Game of Thrones too much.
 Summer's come to Tokyo and it's suddenly infernally hot. The humidity factor's enough to make it so that if you step out of a shower you're doomed to be wet for the rest of your day
 As much as it's tempting to stay home and just do nothing but enjoy the air-conditioning, few things get me out of Hermit Fortress as quickly as the call of Cake, and the time has finally come to cast ourselves into the Sweets Forest in the distant land of Tokyo's Setagaya district.
 Knowing very little if anything about the place, four young adventurers set out for answers. I'm joined by Dario, Ken, and a newcomer - Ken's girlfriend Zara, who I'll properly introduce eventually.

Sweets Forest monickers itself as The Sweets Theme Park, but that may be blowing things up a little too big. With a title like that you'd expect the place to be enormous, and well, you do end up underwhelmed. Not that Sweets Forest loses any points for presentation. At least they got the forest thing going on. Sometimes it does take big gay pink trees to get my appetite for sugar going. I'm clearly not part of the intended target audience - that would be school girls, as evidenced by the number of them here.

What Sweets Forest actually is is a food court for cake, crepe, ice cream, waffles, bubble tea, sorbets, and any other dessert that can give you diabetes. I've covered Sweets Paradise before but this is quite different in that Sweets Forest is comprised of 8 different shops. So if you want to try a little bit of everything, you do have to go from shop to shop and put what you get on your table each time, but maybe it's not expected of customers to want to try everything. And although the quality of what's offered here is somewhat better than what's offered at the Sweets Paradise chain (of course, this varies from shop to shop within Sweets Forest,) this isn't the place to go if you're looking to scarf down lots. You won't get an "all you can eat for 90 minutes" deal here, and each item will run you down 500¥ or more.
Still, cake, right? Bring a date!

Interesting Tidbits: Denizens of the Train

Rain season's just about over! I can finally get back out there and start adventuring again, but I figure I've been wanting to write about this one thing for a while. Let me talk to you about the

DENIZENS OF THE TRAIN.

We Tokyoites frequent them every day. They're numerous, and come in many shades and colors. Some are friendly! Neighborly, common, run of the mill people! Benign and neutral! But others dwell in shadows and are capable of an unspeakable evil. With the help of this simplified lexicon, let's break them down into categories (and even subcategories!) for reference and consultation. 

And so here are some of the Particular Denizens.

ENTRY 1: THE SEAT HOG
Don't act like you've never been one.

1.1 THE HUNTER

Their eyes dart left to right as they scan their environment. The Hunter has only one thing in mind: to gain a seat in the train. Men and women who in the outside world are regular folks understandably turn into feral creatures when placed in an overcrowded train during rush hours, and that's fair game. Some of them are seasoned Hunters, whose asses come down upon seats at the speed of light. Others can only aim for such grace and agility. But there's no foul play here, unless...

1.2 THE RENEGADE

Uh-oh! The foul Renegade! These bastards hog seats amongst the weak and dispirited! They aim for seats in the Courtesy section, dedicated for people who are either old, pregnant, or handicapped in some other way. But that's not all. Though the Courtesy seats are not always full of people in need of them, a true Renegade doesn't give up his seat when one of these come by. Many Renegades pretend to sleep or to be reading without noticing. What foul play indeed! 
 

ENTRY 2: THE SLEEPER
Because the train's a giant rocking chair.

Two Common Sleepers flanking me. One more if you look in the reflection in the glass.

2.1: THE COMMON SLEEPER

They're 30% of the people sitting in the train at any given moment. I'm often one of them! The Common Sleeper is a benign denizen, usually very quiet, and bothers no one. These sleepers sleep lightly enough that they can easily wake up at their own stop. 

2.2: THE LEANER

Egad! But watch out! Though the Common Sleeper is harmless, all Sleepers can turn into Leaners within the blink of an eye! Leaners are characterized by their leaning on people when they sleep - an involuntary and often embarrassing habit, but amusing to watch. You've probably heard of or seen the stereotypical cute girl falling asleep upon the shoulder of a balding old guy. It happens!

2.3: THE HEAVY SLEEPER

The Heavy Sleeper may have ingested some alcohol, for they are those who have fallen into a deep and irreversible coma-like slumber. Many times have I tried to wake one at the terminal of a train-line, to no avail, leaving them to the mercy of the station-staff. Heavy Sleepers often sprawl across several train seats, or even upon the floor of the train. They run a heavier chance than Common Sleepers of turning into Leaners.

ENTRY 3: HORDES
The Sleeper's natural adversary.

3.1. THE HAGHORDE
A Haghorde is more of a force of nature than a human thing. Late at night, near stations where young people accumulate, a Haghorde is bound to form. When many young college girls or club-goers (most often female) enter a train together, they bring with them an unceasing cacophony and form a Haghorde. The Haghorde can be heard within the whole wagon, their voices merging as one and hitting all ranges of sound, in such a way that they can never not be heard. Haghordes are most often formed by young women, but the less common male variant also exists. This is called a FAGHORDE, and won't get its own entry in this lexicon.
3.2. THE BROODLINGS
A similar occurrence often occur when young elementary school boys pile into a train. Broodlings bring with them the same ill-effects as Haghordes, but are more frequent during daylight hours. However, they can easily be dispelled by any one above 5 feet tall who kindly tells 'em to shut up and bring their noise elsewhere.

ENTRY 4: CHIKAN

The elusive grubby-hands.

If you see/feel one, scream!

 4.1. THE GROPER
The Chikan, otherwise known as the Groper, has shaped the face of train-security across Japan. It is because of he that women must be kept safe inside Women-Only wagons during rush hours, for fear that the Chikan's legendary grubby hands might reach for a handful of their buns, so to speak.

 Alright, in truth, Gropers aren't laughingstock. They're a serious problem in Japan, and, though I've never seen one myself, many of my female colleagues have had their asses grabbed by gropers. Traditionally, these men (and they're definitely 99% men) stand amongst others in a crowded train and just go for the apple. You can see posters all over. "Groping is a crime!" they read, as if everyone is potentially a Chikan.

So that's the gist of them! Did I forget any? If so, let me know and I'll update!