I went ice skating Tuesday night with some friends of mine from work. It was the first time I’ve gone in more than 10 years, and I was never really any good to begin with. I had tons of fun, but aside from that it was amazing training. Skating is all about knowing your center of balance, stability, and how momentum changes both… which comprise the central concepts of all forms of body movement, including martial arts. You can learn this on stable ground, but on the slippery ice and wobbly skates you’re forced to pay attention which makes it incredibly good training! I’m not exaggerating when I say I learned more that night about my balance than in all my training since Japan combined.

To bad my friends do this on Tuesdays. As fun as it may have been, I wouldn’t miss my ninjutsu class for it

Want to make a statement, but not quite sure what that statement should be? Have a desire to be socially and politically subversive, no matter who is in power? Well, desire no longer: I give you the Humbug!

Part Hummer, part Bug, the Humbug is guaranteed to piss everyone off, no matter their views!

You saw it here first, folks.

I met an interesting local on the train the other day. I was on my way to Noda when he tried to start up a conversation in English with me. He though I might have been in a band, but then I had to explain that the guitar case was for carrying weapons, not musical instruments. What surprised me after he heard this was that he immediately inquired if I was a ninja. He was the first local I’ve talked to that was even aware of the Bujinkan, although he didn’t train or know too many details.

Later on I had a talk with Mr. T. about why authentic, historical martial arts (budo) is on such a decline in modern Japan. He attributed the decline to the Japanese not having a “strong, samurai heart” like they used to. He later claimed that today Japanese are more concerned with money than with the spirit, a remark which is probably true, if not ironic in some ways.

I think L.F. is closer to the truth though, when he remarked that the Japanese see us (the foreign martial artists) the same as we would view a foreigner speaking little English flying in to Houston to dress up like a cowboy and strut around Texas practicing his quick draw.

However there is a distinction, even if the Japanese can’t see it. The cowboy is an anachronism, as is the art of quickdrawing (assuming such a thing even existed). The samurai too is out of place today, albeit the ninja less so in certain places. But their arts remain alive because they still provide a benefit to their practitioners either in practical application or personal development. The former is often true of ninjutsu, but the latter is true of the martial arts in general, and is similar to the reasons many athletes express for their dedication.

For the Japanese though, the only arts which have value are those which can be turned into a sport and practiced safely. Thus the modernized perversions of ancient forms (the big 3 of Judo, Kendo, and Karate) are remain popular here while the more historically accurate budo arts are quickly vanishing, except those which have been discovered and picked up by foreigners. But this chance encounter shows that at least some locals are aware of what’s going on, which is better than I thought it to be.

In the first Japanese textbook I used there was a exercise where you had to express to your colleague, who possesses the typical Japanese linguistic inferiority complex, why you chose to learn japanese (e.g., “for work,” “i have Japanese family,” or “i like Japanese culture”).  I was disappointed to find martial arts was not on the list (although “for the women” was, bizarrely enough, though I agree with Azreal on this point).  However the one a surprising (to me at least) number of people in my class chose to use was “for the food.”  It’s from the resulting discussion that I learned there’s a lot more to Japanese food than what’s at the local sushi joint.  A couple people in the class had never been to Japan, yet had books to bring to class on the subject.

Having lived here for a short while now, including two weeks with a host family of sorts, I can tell you there’s good reason why only sushi has made it to the west: there’s no way an American would ever set foot in a restaurant which served even half of the things they call food here.  And the other half would incite protests and letter bombs.  One memorable meal I had with my host family consisted of raw horse meat and what I am told was squid testicles.  I have since learned the many ways in Japanese to say “No, no, that’s quite alright.  I’ll have just this.  I’m rather full right now, you see.”

*Note to the Japanese out there: should you find yourself hosting a gaijin on an occasion, and should he ask what food is set before him, simply say “chicken” or “beef,” depending on the colour.  Trust me, it’ll be less pain for everyone involved.

It wasn’t long before I longed for something western.  Maybe some enchiladas, a real hamburger (with buns!), or a fat, juicy steak.  Hah!  Good luck finding that in Japan.  But while wondering Tokyo I spotted a Denny’s, and just had to stop in for a taste.  From the menu it seemed even Denny’s had not entered Japan unscathed, but I managed to find an omelet which looked sufficiently like what I was used to. And when it at last came I eagerly grabbed a fork and dove in, only to make a truly horrifying discovery: the Japanese omelet is sushi rice with food colouring, wrapped without spices or extras in a starched egg covering.  At least the ketchup was real.

I have discovered one food for which is a shame we do not have* in the west: ramen.  Not that cup-o-noodle stuff you buy from the supermarket.  True Japanese Ramen.  Made from a thick, saturated broth a day in the making, fresh Japanese noodles, fully cooked meat (from domesticated animals!), and a side of gyoza.  My gods its delicious.  There’s a funny thing about Ramen shops though: they’re only to be found when you least desire them.  When I first came to Japan I mistook ramen to be that instant noodle of my youth, but as I’ve since been introduced to the glorious bowl of heaven-on-earth deliciousness that is True Japanese Ramen (not to mention it being, along with sushi, the only native food I can eat here), it was naturally the first thing I looked for when I got off the local train.  I swear to you: there isn’t a single ramen shop within a 30 minute walk of Minami-senju station.  I spent a hungry afternoon looking.

[*Update2: I have since found some True Japanese Ramen shops in the S.F. bay area.  Their quality is almost as good as those I had in Japan, but I have yet to find a place that does both good broth and good noodles in the same bowl...  -RS '08]

At least the 7-11here sells a ham and cheese sandwidge that–get this–actually tastes like a ham and cheese sandwidge!  Plus they have these deep fried chicken strips which they serve toasty hot and are totally awesome.  They’re probably not really chicken, but until I find my ramen, I prefer to stay in blissful ignorance.

Update: I finally did find a ramen shop, after talking to the hotel receptionist.  I sure had to walk to get there though.  I find that when exploring Japan it is easiest to measure distance as the number of passed 7-11’s, which are ubiquitous here in Japan.  Typically my comfortable walking distance for a meal is about 0.5 7-11’s.  This walk had to be at least 5 or 6 7-11’s.  But for ramen it was totally worth it.  I think I may even go back for a second bowl.  But this time I’m renting a bicycle.

Today I mailed a package home. Just my training gear (except the swords), an empty scroll case, and some books I finished. My luggage on the train into Tokyo was totally unmanageable, and packed so tight there was absolutely no room for anything else. So hopefully this should free some space. I was thinking of sending two packages. The largest box the post office had was not big enough to fit everything I could have sent back. But then I got told the postage for the first one: 9940円… YIKES! That has to be the most expensive package I’ve ever sent. I hope it makes it, because if that thing gets returned to sender, I may be liable for more money than it’s contents are worth.

In retrospect I think I may have selected the wrong transport method. I chose “SAL”, in part because it had the largest letters (and there were separate options for airmail and express, which I did not select). Does anyone know what this acronym stands for?

Anyway, after that expensive trip to the post office I went back to Asakusa for my second visit. I’d been there once before on tour with Ms. S, but our stay was brief and I knew there was more to see. And there certainly was! Senso-ji temple is an amazing sight during at midday… but at sunset is stunningly beautiful.

Also at night Asakusa takes on a carnival atmosphere even on a Monday evening. New stalls are set up surrounding the temple, and the whole area is packed with tourists, both Japanese and foreign.

After a good True Japanese Ramen dinner and some exploring of the surrounding area, I got back on the subway to get back to the hotel, but stopped off at Ueno to take a look around. That’s where I’ll be heading tomorrow, and it looks like fun will be had.

Update: It turns out the carnival atmosphere was because there was a carnival going on!  Note to future travellers: Dec 17-19 is the Toshi-no Ichi and Hagoita Ichi fairs at Asakusa.