To Chiba!

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010 in: News, Travel

When Aya was traveling the West Coast, she stayed at my place and offered return the favor if I’m ever in the area. Sooo I’m taking her up on it! Her parents were gracious enough to let me stay in their lovely home for a night, and spoiled with the kind of hospitality I’ve only found in Japan so far. Tthe day after the Waseda Graduation, I headed out to Chiba on the Subway. It took about an hour to get to 東葉勝田台, the last stop on the Tozai line. I transferred to the Keisei line to 臼井, Usui station, closer to Aya’s house. About a 10 minute drive to her house, which means a half hour walk, Aya had a hell of a commute to Waseda every day. Location really makes a difference in a commute, and it’s not uncommon for people to have one or two hour commutes to school or work from their houses. I couldn’t imagine taking that big a chunk out of my day just to get from one place to another.

Aya’s mom made a delicious meal, with their Shetland Terrier, Rocky, hovering nearby waiting for food to drop. A rather unusual dog, he’ll eat anything but is especially fond of lettuce. He had to go to the vet for some tests after his nose started bleeding last week, and they’d been waiting for the results. He was generally healthy, save for a spot of cancer in his nose. They decided to operate soon, so we were sure to take plenty of photos when Aya’s dad got home from his business trip.

The next day our plans hinged on a call from the vet about Rocky’s surgery. It was scheduled for the following day, so we were free to use the car. Aya and her mom drove me to Sawara in the south of Chiba. Willow trees lined the canal running through the town, carrying tourists on gondolas outfitted with kotatsu for picnics. Many of the buildings in the area were over a hundred years old, most having been long since turned into storefronts for specialty foods and souvenirs. We visited a museum honoring 伊能忠敬, Inoh Tadataka, the first man to map all of Japan. There were a lot of interesting artifacts from his 18-year expedition trekking around Japan, and an overlay of his map on a satellite photo of Japan to show just how accurate his measurements were. Considering the technology available at the time and the fact he did everything with his own hands, it was quite an impressive feat. By comparison, the European maps of Japan from that time are completely unrecognizable.

I was in one of the shops, browsing through some local artist’s goods and I heard the sound of flutes and drums. I hurriedly made my purchase and ran outside to join Aya and her mom. Our timing was pretty good, because today was some sort of spring festival! A huge dashi (like the giant floats in Inuyama) was on the move, being pulled alongside the canal by an army of children. It reached the shop I was standing in front of and turned the corner. Dashi have no steering systems, so the crowd of participants has to lift the float up off the ground to turn it. The festival music carried on throughout the ordeal, with some of the musicians occasionally taking a sip from a well-hidden beer can.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGx6T1mWzhg

When we’d had our fill of the festivities, we went to visit a local shrine and buy some dango. I had to get back to the city, so Aya’s mom drove us to the subway. There was heavy traffic, so when we got close enough Aya and I got out and walked to the station and she saw me off at the turnstiles. I wished her luck with her upcoming 研修 (kenshuu, training for her new job) and we parted ways. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to see her again before I leave.

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