Yesterday Mari San and I did more site seeing. We drove to another small island connected to Okinawa by a bridge. It was very pretty so we made sure to take a lot of pictures. I had hoped that after we could go to a grocery store so that I could buy something for a barbecue that the owner of the hostel(Ameku) was having with some of his family later that night. Mari San had told me that mozuku would be a good idea. Mozuku is seaweed found off the coast of Okinawa and according to Mari, Ameku loves it. While walking back to our car after seeing a local Okinawan shrine we saw a sign pointing down the ally for mozuku. We followed it and found a hunched over old lady with a big walking stick who told us to go to the house next to hers to buy the mozuku. We went next door where a nice old lady sold us some mozuku for 300 yen and before we had a chance to leave ran to her kitchen and returned with some hot cakes that she gave me as a gift.
The barbecue was pretty cool, the food was good and afterwards Banks Sensei gave a short demonstration with me serving as uke. After cleaning up Mari suggested Ameku, myself and Harada ( the other helper) go to a club in Naha. I introduced Ameku and Harada to "pre gaming" and we took a shot from a Jim Beam bottle that a previous guest had left as present. Apparently they weren't whiskey drinkers as they both coughed a bit after taking their shot. Then we grabbed a taxi and after some walking around found a club that would let us in. It turned out to be pretty to find a place that would let me in with just a drivers license and also would allow Harada in because he's only 19 and you have to be 20 to drink here. We found a club at played 70's and 80's music that was pretty cool. The cover was 20 bucks but after you got in they had a number of free drinks, so we drank a bunch of rum and cokes and tried to introduce Harada to some of the women there without much success. It turns out it was the first club he'd ever been to. We got home about 4am.
Apparently this morning Banks Sensei woke up me 3 times and I sat up and talked to him but I have no recollection. Pretty pissed I missed out on going to Nakazato's house to dig through is stuff but Banks Sensei came back with some throwing stars, ninja claws and some beautiful water color painting that Nakazato had painted. I had to take picture of all them because they were just amazing. And luckily Banks sensei plans to go back and dig through more of Nakazato's stuff the next few days so I'll be able to return with him. He mentioned there were some more shuriken there that he would like me to have.
Got to run as we've got a lot to do. Once again, more to come.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Friday, September 2, 2011
Izumi - The place where Nakazato sleeps
Yesterday, after the usual jog and shower, Banks sensei and myself were taken to Izumi to see the grave of Nakazato. We left earlier in the afternoon and drove to Naho which is near the other end of the island and takes a little over an hour to get to. Along the way we stopped at a beautiful beach to take some pictures and also at a cookie factory/ store that is built right on the beach. Looking out the window at the cookie factory and seeing such a beautiful sight made me think, "I'm in the wrong business, I need to be making cookies on the beach!" What a life that would be.
Izumi actually turned out to be very hard to find, even for Tanaka and at one point we ended up going down a tiny farmers road that seemed to be more narrow than Tanaka's car. Had I seen it anywhere else I would have assumed it was a small sidewalk and driving on it seemed to make even Tanaka San a bit nervous. We got off the tiny road and finally made it to Izumi. Went into the funeral home and got to directions to the actual grave. While talking to the funeral director he made the comment in Japanese that "Nakazato was a famous teacher". Whether this was true or he we was just being polite, having heard Banks sensei say that he was there to see his teacher, I don't know. Anyway, after going to the shrine and burning incense we went and found the grave. All the headstones were of the same design with the family name on the front, who paid for the grave and the grave company name on the side, and the names and age of all the people buried in the grave on the back(everyone is cremated at this place). The family grave for Nakazato was paid for by his son and someone named Rika and there were 3 people who's ashes were buried in it - Nakazato and I believe his mother and father. According to the grave, Nakazato was 91 when he passed away. We paid our respects and drove back stopping along the way to get gas for the car, which turns out runs on propane and also grabbed some Japanese fast food which was pretty good.
The rest of the night was pretty uneventfully, Mari san and I went to eat in Naha a little after ten at this very trendy but reasonably priced restaurant and after walked into a random bar called Maluta. It was a fairly large place but very empty for a Friday night. On the wall behind the bar was a large projector screen with music videos playing on it. The music selection was about as random as I've even seen bouncing between modern and older without any reason. The good thing about watching a music video from 1980 was that I was able to explain to Mari San what a porn stash was. The owner was a short guy in a sea captain style and very friendly. I was able to ask him to mix us up some shots that turned out pretty good. They were bit strong for Mari though, as quick as she could drink a be, shots were not her forte. I was probably reading the situation wrong but I get the impression that shooting shots isn't a big thing in Japan.
We stumbled home at about 4am and were surprised (although not nearly as much in retrospect) to find Banks Sensei was already awake and checking his email. After chatting a little bit I said goodnight to Mari San and went to bed. Another great day.
Tonight there is a barbecue at the hostel and at the request of the owners father, Banks sensei and me will give a demonstration. Not sure what we'll do before that, Mari has mentioned wanting to take a ferry to a near by island but I'm not sure if we will have time today.
More to come...
Izumi actually turned out to be very hard to find, even for Tanaka and at one point we ended up going down a tiny farmers road that seemed to be more narrow than Tanaka's car. Had I seen it anywhere else I would have assumed it was a small sidewalk and driving on it seemed to make even Tanaka San a bit nervous. We got off the tiny road and finally made it to Izumi. Went into the funeral home and got to directions to the actual grave. While talking to the funeral director he made the comment in Japanese that "Nakazato was a famous teacher". Whether this was true or he we was just being polite, having heard Banks sensei say that he was there to see his teacher, I don't know. Anyway, after going to the shrine and burning incense we went and found the grave. All the headstones were of the same design with the family name on the front, who paid for the grave and the grave company name on the side, and the names and age of all the people buried in the grave on the back(everyone is cremated at this place). The family grave for Nakazato was paid for by his son and someone named Rika and there were 3 people who's ashes were buried in it - Nakazato and I believe his mother and father. According to the grave, Nakazato was 91 when he passed away. We paid our respects and drove back stopping along the way to get gas for the car, which turns out runs on propane and also grabbed some Japanese fast food which was pretty good.
The rest of the night was pretty uneventfully, Mari san and I went to eat in Naha a little after ten at this very trendy but reasonably priced restaurant and after walked into a random bar called Maluta. It was a fairly large place but very empty for a Friday night. On the wall behind the bar was a large projector screen with music videos playing on it. The music selection was about as random as I've even seen bouncing between modern and older without any reason. The good thing about watching a music video from 1980 was that I was able to explain to Mari San what a porn stash was. The owner was a short guy in a sea captain style and very friendly. I was able to ask him to mix us up some shots that turned out pretty good. They were bit strong for Mari though, as quick as she could drink a be, shots were not her forte. I was probably reading the situation wrong but I get the impression that shooting shots isn't a big thing in Japan.
We stumbled home at about 4am and were surprised (although not nearly as much in retrospect) to find Banks Sensei was already awake and checking his email. After chatting a little bit I said goodnight to Mari San and went to bed. Another great day.
Tonight there is a barbecue at the hostel and at the request of the owners father, Banks sensei and me will give a demonstration. Not sure what we'll do before that, Mari has mentioned wanting to take a ferry to a near by island but I'm not sure if we will have time today.
More to come...
Thursday, September 1, 2011
The son of Nakazato
The amount of experiences that are packed into each day continues to amaze me. I jogged the canal again this morning which was only about 500 -700 meters twice, doing 25 air squats and pushups at one end and doing 25 burpes at the other. After showering Mari and I walked to the closest beach which was closed for cleaning but still a nice walk. The slightly overcast weather and ocean breeze made the day time weather a bit more bearable.
early in the afternoon Banks Sensei's Okinawa contact stopped by. His name is Tanaka and Banks sensei met in an airport in Taiwan of all places. Tanaka san asked to borrow a pen and they've been in touch ever since. He is in charge of all the contracts that are awarded to local businesses to work on the base and either because of work or his social habits, seems to know everybody. Banks sensei had told me that when he told Tanaka San that he was looking for a musician named Nakazato he called a friend who knew the local musicians and was able to find Nakazato in about 15 minutes.
We got off on the wrong foot as because of a miscommunication between Banks sensei and Takana San caused Tanaka San to wait at the monorail station near the hostel for 2 hours on the night of my arrival waiting to pick me up. I thought at first he was angry at me but soon learned he was just ribbing me. He is not reserved like most Japanese but rather very jolly and out going. Right away he took us to soke's house which has fallen into incredible disrepair. Vines grow through the ceiling and the floors are rotting out. We only saw it briefly but Banks sensei plan on returning this weekend to dig around and see if we can find anything else.
Anyway at about 7 Tanaka took us out to meet Nakazato's son Naohide. Because Naohide's bar didn't open till later Tanaka took us for "just one beer", which as I told Banks sensei, "It's never just one.". The bar was close to Naohide's bar, up some very narrow stairs on the second floor of whatever building. After a few snacks that ranged from meats to tiny baby fish and chips we had some beer and wine and pretty soon Tanaka san was singing karaoke. Banks sensei of course sang "sexual healing".
Afterwards we drove to Naohide's bar which is called The Little Brown Jug and is on the 3rd floor of the building it's in. The bar has a brick facade and looks very jazzy, and like most bars in Okinawa is very small. Naohide, who looks just like father with a wide face and same
hair was very happy to see us. His blind piano player recognized Banks voice right away. We quickly got a beer and began to talk with Tanaka San translating. Much to our delight Naohide seemed to love the opportunity to talk about his father and was quickly pulling weapons out from all over the bar including two different yawara bo's, a steel nun chuck like weapon with one short and one long handle, sai's and another nun chuk like thing with 3 short arms that s mean to be concealed. Naohide demonstrated choking with the steel nun chuck and also used regular ones in a demonstration. His sai work was incredible for someone who claimed just to be a musician. I had a suspicion as soon as we walked in that he had trained based his forearms and overall build and it turns out I was right! He talked about kapo and sapo, sapo being death and hapo being life and rescutation. Afterward he demonstrated a pressure point for healing by having both Banks sensei lay face down, foot turned out so that the inside of foot was flat and on the floor and then applying pressure mid thigh with his thumb. He was very particular about the placing of the foot. Afterward, sitting on the couch, a little drunk and my mind blown I watched as Tanaka san sang karaoke with the blind man playing piano and Naohide rocking the clarinet. What a fucking trip! It was a life changing experience that for as much as I've written I can't completely describe.
That was the second full day in Okinawa. Naohide seems keen on meeting us again so hopefully we'll be able to do that again. More to come...
early in the afternoon Banks Sensei's Okinawa contact stopped by. His name is Tanaka and Banks sensei met in an airport in Taiwan of all places. Tanaka san asked to borrow a pen and they've been in touch ever since. He is in charge of all the contracts that are awarded to local businesses to work on the base and either because of work or his social habits, seems to know everybody. Banks sensei had told me that when he told Tanaka San that he was looking for a musician named Nakazato he called a friend who knew the local musicians and was able to find Nakazato in about 15 minutes.
We got off on the wrong foot as because of a miscommunication between Banks sensei and Takana San caused Tanaka San to wait at the monorail station near the hostel for 2 hours on the night of my arrival waiting to pick me up. I thought at first he was angry at me but soon learned he was just ribbing me. He is not reserved like most Japanese but rather very jolly and out going. Right away he took us to soke's house which has fallen into incredible disrepair. Vines grow through the ceiling and the floors are rotting out. We only saw it briefly but Banks sensei plan on returning this weekend to dig around and see if we can find anything else.
Anyway at about 7 Tanaka took us out to meet Nakazato's son Naohide. Because Naohide's bar didn't open till later Tanaka took us for "just one beer", which as I told Banks sensei, "It's never just one.". The bar was close to Naohide's bar, up some very narrow stairs on the second floor of whatever building. After a few snacks that ranged from meats to tiny baby fish and chips we had some beer and wine and pretty soon Tanaka san was singing karaoke. Banks sensei of course sang "sexual healing".
Afterwards we drove to Naohide's bar which is called The Little Brown Jug and is on the 3rd floor of the building it's in. The bar has a brick facade and looks very jazzy, and like most bars in Okinawa is very small. Naohide, who looks just like father with a wide face and same
hair was very happy to see us. His blind piano player recognized Banks voice right away. We quickly got a beer and began to talk with Tanaka San translating. Much to our delight Naohide seemed to love the opportunity to talk about his father and was quickly pulling weapons out from all over the bar including two different yawara bo's, a steel nun chuck like weapon with one short and one long handle, sai's and another nun chuk like thing with 3 short arms that s mean to be concealed. Naohide demonstrated choking with the steel nun chuck and also used regular ones in a demonstration. His sai work was incredible for someone who claimed just to be a musician. I had a suspicion as soon as we walked in that he had trained based his forearms and overall build and it turns out I was right! He talked about kapo and sapo, sapo being death and hapo being life and rescutation. Afterward he demonstrated a pressure point for healing by having both Banks sensei lay face down, foot turned out so that the inside of foot was flat and on the floor and then applying pressure mid thigh with his thumb. He was very particular about the placing of the foot. Afterward, sitting on the couch, a little drunk and my mind blown I watched as Tanaka san sang karaoke with the blind man playing piano and Naohide rocking the clarinet. What a fucking trip! It was a life changing experience that for as much as I've written I can't completely describe.
That was the second full day in Okinawa. Naohide seems keen on meeting us again so hopefully we'll be able to do that again. More to come...
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Japan - day 1 continued
I suppose day 1 is really day 2 but since I blogged this morning I didn't get in today's activities. Bought a few supplies, swim trunks and met Mari to go to the beach. We actually went to two but I only swam at the first one. By the time we made it to the second one we had about enough time to sit and watch the sunset. Afterwards we went to a nearby restaurant and ate Okinawa soba. The appetitizer was some weird green thing Mari San said was "grapes of the sea" and had a very salty taste. Apparently it come from the waters off Okinawa. Wasn't too bad and the soba was tasty too.
Mari San was able to use the hostels car to drive me around and only almost killed us once. It's funny sitting to the left of the driver but I was more preoccupied watching the controlled chaos that is Okinawa traffic. All the cars are tiny, the roads are smaller, and scooter and motorcycles weave through traffic which is impressive considering how small the space is between cars. How there aren't accidents can only be attributed to the fact ycant drive too fast when nthe streets are that crowded.
Bedtime, I'm exhausted, and full. Banks comes in tomorrow
Mari San was able to use the hostels car to drive me around and only almost killed us once. It's funny sitting to the left of the driver but I was more preoccupied watching the controlled chaos that is Okinawa traffic. All the cars are tiny, the roads are smaller, and scooter and motorcycles weave through traffic which is impressive considering how small the space is between cars. How there aren't accidents can only be attributed to the fact ycant drive too fast when nthe streets are that crowded.
Bedtime, I'm exhausted, and full. Banks comes in tomorrow
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Japan - day 1
Arrived in Okinawa last night. Trip was fairly easy, just very long. Japan was interesting right off the bat. Watching an airport employee actually running back and forth trying to keep the line at customs was funny. No one seems to speak very good english but the guy at the monorail station helped me buy a ticket and wrote down the buses I could use to get to the hostel and also wrote down the stop in Japanese which turned out to be very helpful because all the stops were written in kanji so I had to identify the character to get off at the right place.
The hostel is very nice and has a free laundry machine and internet. The owner wasn't in when I arrived but Mari San was there to show me everything. Mari San is 32, but being Japanese looks 23 and is from Nagoya. She is in Okinawa to study working at a hostel and hopes to open her own someday. She speaks less English than I speak Japanese but with google translate we were able to talk a better part of the night. It was pretty cool drinking a few beers and than a bottle of wine and listening to music with her.
I woke and realized two things - Okinawa is hot as hell and I was hungover. Hot and humid. Hung and over. I still took a jog along the canal but it wasn't fun. After my shower Mari San woke up and now she's cooking me breakfast. So far a good trip! I think I will talk to the beach later and explore a bit. The man I'm meeting here, Banks Sensei arrives tomorrow.
More to come, I'm taking lots of pictures I'll throw up here and on Facebook soon as I get back.
The hostel is very nice and has a free laundry machine and internet. The owner wasn't in when I arrived but Mari San was there to show me everything. Mari San is 32, but being Japanese looks 23 and is from Nagoya. She is in Okinawa to study working at a hostel and hopes to open her own someday. She speaks less English than I speak Japanese but with google translate we were able to talk a better part of the night. It was pretty cool drinking a few beers and than a bottle of wine and listening to music with her.
I woke and realized two things - Okinawa is hot as hell and I was hungover. Hot and humid. Hung and over. I still took a jog along the canal but it wasn't fun. After my shower Mari San woke up and now she's cooking me breakfast. So far a good trip! I think I will talk to the beach later and explore a bit. The man I'm meeting here, Banks Sensei arrives tomorrow.
More to come, I'm taking lots of pictures I'll throw up here and on Facebook soon as I get back.
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