Chiba, Japan by bicycle
Last night I slept on a futon on the third floor of Miwa-san's home. I was a little worried about jet lag making me want to sleep for a really long time. I was also worried about the heat disrupting my sleep. It must have been the futon I slept on because I slept really well and I woke up 5:30 am this morning.
Mr. and Mrs Miwa are the people I am staying with. Jesse did a really great job finding them for me to stay with. Jesse works in the same research company as Mrs. Miwa. They were kind enough to let one of Jesse's friends stay with them. Mr. Miwa is a retired business man who used to work for Unisys, a maker of large computers (second only to IBM). Mr. Miwa also worked for Yahoo! BB in Japan after he worked for Unisys. Now he is retired and he is able to show me around the Chiba prefecture in Japan.
Today I got to do something really fun with Mr. Miwa. Mr. Miwa took me on a tour on bicycles. I thought it was a really fun and authentic way to see the area.
During the first half of the bike ride we went to a few parks in his neighborhood. The parks were really nice and peaceful. The first park had a nice long lake with a path around it, so we walked from one end of the park to another. I liked the pond because it had a bunch of turtles in it. After walking to the other end of the park we rode our bikes to another park and took a few photos. I really liked the parks because they had buildings with traditional style architecture. After seeing these parks and a few museums in the area I was really impressed with how perservation of older society and culture is widespread. It is probably similar to America, but I probably do not notice historical preservation signs when I am in Seattle parks. I think I will try to do that more when I get back to Seattle. Also, the number of shrines and temples still standing might be because this area has been inhabited for a much much longer period of time than Seattle or many places in America.
Anyways, back to the fun we had. After visiting the parks on the hill we rode them down to the Edo river. Edo is the old name for Tokyo. On the Edo river there is a small boat which ferries people across the river for 100 yen or one american dollar. I was impressed by the boat master's ability to steer the boat. He used what seemed to be a large rudder to paddle and steer at the same time. This might be something easy to people who paddle the boats, but I am used to row boats, which don't have rudders, and other small boats that only use rudders to steer and not to propel itself.
On the other side of the river Mr. Miwa and I were going to Shibamata, Tokyo. Our first stop was Tai Shak Ten. It is a Bhuddist temple open to visitors. After I washed my hands and cleaned myself with incense smoke we walked around the temple. This template had lots of ornate wood carving and one section of the building has been enclosed in glass. I think it is for two reasons, one to help preserve the carvings and, two, to make it easy to charge money. After walking around and appreciating the temple, the detailed carvings and the cleanliness of the temple we went to eat lunch. Directly opposite to the entrance of the temple is an old stone street with lots of little shops. Mr. Miwa chose a nice little restaurant where we ate tendon. Tendon is tempura with rice.
After eating we headed back across the river because it was starting to sprinkle. When it rains the boat master stops running his ferry. We did not want to be stuck in Shibamata because we would have had to walk a couple of miles to get back the other side by crossing the closest bridge. When we reached the dock it looked like the boat master was gone, but the flag was still up, so Mr. Miwa had another man yell across the river. Luckily the boat was still there, so he heard the yelling and came across the river to pick us up. I really liked taking the ferry because I don't think I would have taken the ferry if I had not been staying with the Miwa family.
After crossing the river we rode our bikes to the company where Jesse works. It seems like a pretty discrete location. After talking with Jesse I know that they do some pretty interesting and cutting edge research. If I was to see the company without knowing this I would not have guessed because it looks like a pretty normal office compound in a residential neighborhood.
The next stop was the local supermarket because it is the Izakaya (pub) where I will be practicing English with Jesse's coworkers tonight. After a short walk in the store it was time to head back home and relax and share the photos we took that day.
Mr. and Mrs Miwa are the people I am staying with. Jesse did a really great job finding them for me to stay with. Jesse works in the same research company as Mrs. Miwa. They were kind enough to let one of Jesse's friends stay with them. Mr. Miwa is a retired business man who used to work for Unisys, a maker of large computers (second only to IBM). Mr. Miwa also worked for Yahoo! BB in Japan after he worked for Unisys. Now he is retired and he is able to show me around the Chiba prefecture in Japan.
Today I got to do something really fun with Mr. Miwa. Mr. Miwa took me on a tour on bicycles. I thought it was a really fun and authentic way to see the area.
During the first half of the bike ride we went to a few parks in his neighborhood. The parks were really nice and peaceful. The first park had a nice long lake with a path around it, so we walked from one end of the park to another. I liked the pond because it had a bunch of turtles in it. After walking to the other end of the park we rode our bikes to another park and took a few photos. I really liked the parks because they had buildings with traditional style architecture. After seeing these parks and a few museums in the area I was really impressed with how perservation of older society and culture is widespread. It is probably similar to America, but I probably do not notice historical preservation signs when I am in Seattle parks. I think I will try to do that more when I get back to Seattle. Also, the number of shrines and temples still standing might be because this area has been inhabited for a much much longer period of time than Seattle or many places in America.
Anyways, back to the fun we had. After visiting the parks on the hill we rode them down to the Edo river. Edo is the old name for Tokyo. On the Edo river there is a small boat which ferries people across the river for 100 yen or one american dollar. I was impressed by the boat master's ability to steer the boat. He used what seemed to be a large rudder to paddle and steer at the same time. This might be something easy to people who paddle the boats, but I am used to row boats, which don't have rudders, and other small boats that only use rudders to steer and not to propel itself.
On the other side of the river Mr. Miwa and I were going to Shibamata, Tokyo. Our first stop was Tai Shak Ten. It is a Bhuddist temple open to visitors. After I washed my hands and cleaned myself with incense smoke we walked around the temple. This template had lots of ornate wood carving and one section of the building has been enclosed in glass. I think it is for two reasons, one to help preserve the carvings and, two, to make it easy to charge money. After walking around and appreciating the temple, the detailed carvings and the cleanliness of the temple we went to eat lunch. Directly opposite to the entrance of the temple is an old stone street with lots of little shops. Mr. Miwa chose a nice little restaurant where we ate tendon. Tendon is tempura with rice.
After eating we headed back across the river because it was starting to sprinkle. When it rains the boat master stops running his ferry. We did not want to be stuck in Shibamata because we would have had to walk a couple of miles to get back the other side by crossing the closest bridge. When we reached the dock it looked like the boat master was gone, but the flag was still up, so Mr. Miwa had another man yell across the river. Luckily the boat was still there, so he heard the yelling and came across the river to pick us up. I really liked taking the ferry because I don't think I would have taken the ferry if I had not been staying with the Miwa family.
After crossing the river we rode our bikes to the company where Jesse works. It seems like a pretty discrete location. After talking with Jesse I know that they do some pretty interesting and cutting edge research. If I was to see the company without knowing this I would not have guessed because it looks like a pretty normal office compound in a residential neighborhood.
The next stop was the local supermarket because it is the Izakaya (pub) where I will be practicing English with Jesse's coworkers tonight. After a short walk in the store it was time to head back home and relax and share the photos we took that day.
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5:09 PM
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