Onsen Town, Kinosaki

There is a quaint little town on the Northern Hyogo coastline in Japan, called Kinosaki. It is both strange and lovely at the same time. People go there for one reason and one reason only, they go there to soak in expensive public hot baths. In Japan, public hot baths are called 'onsens'.

During winter (and in other seasons as well), many Japanese people prefer to bathe in public bath houses instead of using their private bathrooms. In these public bath houses, there are usually a few Jacuzzi type baths where naked people of the same sex sit in very hot water (40 degrees celsius or more) in absolute silence. Before sitting in the tub though, each person has to stand in the open and take a shower in front of everyone in the room. At the Onsen, there is absolutely no privacy.

Upon first learning of this cultural practice, one might wonder 'who would forsake their private bath tub at home to go shower naked in front of others then share a bath with absolute strangers?' I still don't really know the answer to this question, but since children are brought to Onsens from a very young age and are taught to love it, they grow up and go to places like Kinosaki :).

So, back to Kinosaki.

The town is filled with onsens. That is the only form of entertainment in the town. It is possible to eat eggs boiled in onsen water and stand around this special rock that brings forth water and steam from the underground.

The real meaning of development

One thing I'll miss when I return to Jamaica is the ease with which I can find past time activities in Japan. There's always something interesting going on, and I don't mean a party or a tv show. I can simply walk to a park and stumble  upon a festival or turn a corner and stumble into a museum or walk into a glass atelier with 5 minute classes. I can go to a coffee shop, study, watch YouTube, scroll through Facebook or talk to real people. I can take a stroll up the mountain or take a cable car instead.

"The developed country is not one in which the poor has cars.
It is where the rich uses public transportation."

These simple pleasures have become normal activities that are accessible to even a pauper like me. This is one of the marks of development - when people with the lowest income can enjoy the same things in life as the rich. A friend shared a quote with me recently that said a country is developed not when the poor can buy cars, but when the rich uses public transportation. This made a lot of sense. Of course, the rich will still have nicer things, they will have bigger houses and luxury cars, but they will go to the same museums, parks, ateliers, light shows, festivals and ride in the same trains and buses. Why? Wealth distribution and infrastructural development are key to real development. With wealth distribution, the poor is not really poor and with infrastructure development, public transport becomes more efficient and desirable than private transport.

Fukuoka & Jamaica: Patties and Jerk Chicken

I was recently in Fukuoka, Kyushu (Japan) attempting to have a vacation. I'm not sure how well the vacation part worked out, however, the city made an unexpected impression on me.

Fukuoka is located in the southern part of Japan and its capital is called Hakata. From the descriptions of my friend who used to live in Kyushu, Fukuoka sounded like the Tokyo of southern Japan. When it was suggested that I visit the city though, I wasn't thrilled. I guess I'm more of a sub-urban type of gal. Anyways, I went. Upon arriving at Hakata station, I was taken aback by the lack of organization that I'm used to in Kansai. Passengers did not line up for public transportation. There was a lot of bundling at the bus and train stations. The only saving grace was that they did not really push while entering the bus or train. I say not really because I got pushed once but decided to call it a mistake.

Spring Flowers

As the title suggests, in spring lots of flowers spring to life. The landscape pops with lively colours and so does my overall mood. With that said, I completely understand now why Japanese make such an event out of cherry blossom watching. At first, I thought it was also strange to have a word for it 'hanami', but after enduring a dull, gloomy and cold winter, spring reminds us that we really are alive and it reminds us that winter will always end. A brighter day will always come and we can always sit still and observe the beauty of life or sit beneath sakura trees and picnic all day. 

Sakura trees aren't the only blossoms that Japanese love to look at though. Plum 'ume' blossoms are also a treat. They bloom earlier in March and pull out big crowds who go to gardens to view their beauty. In fact, I went to a garden recently that had plum blossoms in grand style. They were spectacular. A friend of mine calls the views surreal and I agree with him. The landscape in this country is just amazing. Here are a few pics from my recent plum blossom viewing. 

 People came out in droves to see the plum blossoms. The blossoms must really feel appreciated :).

 The pink and white road with the lovely flowery scent of plum blossoms.

 Getting a close up with this beauty.

x

These weeping trees are so splendid in all their pink glory. The petals on the ground create a magical scene.

 Another close up 

Three colours, all in one shot! Yatta!

 Look what I found, early blooming Sakura (cherry blossoms)
!      

The weeping forest, well, not quite a forest.

On the other side of the plum blossom garden were Camellia flowers (tsubaki - in Japanese). 

 A nice spread of Camellia on the soft, green moss.

 Just lovely.

 A hybrid!

Photographing the photographer :)

These babies were so stubborn. They just would not move with the flow and go downstream. Apparently they're 'upstreamers' ;)

My questions about medicine in Japan

Frustrated, the word that fits my feelings best.  I recently visited the doctor and I left feeling dissatisfied.

• Why did the orthopedist recommend that I wear high heals up and down a hill? (Even after telling him that I had knee pain.)
• Why don't Japanese pharmacies and doctors issue medicine in the labeled boxes with the proper instruction sheet that comes in the box? Instead they issue pills in little plastic bags or in strips bounded by elastic bands. 
• Is it too much to ask for the information that comes with the medicine that I'm being told to take? 
• Why do they insist on summarizing the instruction sheet that comes in the original package for the customers without giving the actual instruction sheet? 
• Sometimes they don't even want to tell you the name of the medicine that you are being given! 
• Why do some doctors issue their own medicine instead of write a prescription for me to hunt for the cheapest pharmacy? 
• Why are there no general practitioners here? 
• Why do I have to go to 10 different specialists for 10 different symptoms, when there may only be one source of my illness?
• Why do the doctors ask whether or not I would like medication? Why else would I go to the doctor?
• Why do the doctors appear so clueless?
• Why is there no discretion in health care institutions? The receptionist wants to know your illness, the nurses then talk about it loudly, so everyone in the waiting room can hear and the doctor then gives the medicine and instructions to the receptionist to announce to you in the waiting room!
• Why are the medicine dosages so low?
• Why do they treat Allegra like a dangerous drug? It's kept under lock and key at the pharmacy!

I'm sure I have more questions, but I can't remember anymore right now.

Source: WotBlog

I found a blog in which the writer wrote about getting sick in Japan.   http://emilyhoward.wordpress.com/2010/02/19/sick-and-alone/

 Life in Kobe, Japan.

I haven't been taking many pictures of nature. So, I went on a nature splurge on my campus recently. I go to school on two different campuses almost everyday. One to learn Japanese and one to facilitate my research. All the beautiful pictures in this post were taken at the Rokkodai 1st Campus. That's the campus for Social Sciences (I think) - My campus.

 I just love the colourful leaves here :). This picture was taken while I was at the half-way mark on the steps to the campus. The one thing I don't like about this university - it's located on a hill!

 Beautiful trees.

 Cute.

 Whatever that says.

 Old Auditorium

 My Grad School

 I can read the two lines at the bottom :)

View from a window at GSICS

 Spiders have the coolest habitats!