kamogawa!

This weekend, I finally went down to Kamogawa, in southern Chiba, to visit my friend Ella! I was supposed to have visited her a few months ago but ended up not going because of the weather, so I'm glad to have actually gotten there this time. It was also only my second time going that far down the peninsula (took about two hours by train), so it was good to see a little bit more of it!

Once I got to the station (which has a mini aquarium in it!), we headed off towards Kamogawa Sea World, the main attraction for the day. Right after we left the station, though, I got distracted by seeing the ocean so close, so we took a more scenic route. I've probably said this before, but even though I do actually live right by the ocean (Chiba Port, which is about 15 minutes away by bike, is one of Japan's busiest ports!) and in fact you can see it from the roof of my workplace, it doesn't really feel like it. So it was pretty cool to step out of the station and see sand and waves after less than a few minutes walk. Apparently Kamogawa is a very good place to surf, and we did see a few surfers out in the early morning. 

Then we got to Kamogawa Sea World! That day happened to be Chiba Prefectural Citizens' Day, to commemorate the establishment of the prefecture, and so attractions and whatnot all over the prefecture offered discounts or free admissions. Sea World, in fact, is offering an 800 yen discount to all residents of Chiba Prefecture for the entire month of June in celebration!

Sea World is split into several different areas: Eco-aquaroam, Tropical Island, and Rocky World, plus several stadiums where there are performances. We started off with the sea lion performance, which was a story of a family going out to play and was really cute, followed by the beluga performance, orca training (the shows were put off because apparently the orcas weren't feeling their best? Or something like that), and the dolphin show!

 And of course, we visited each other section as well, seeing everything from sea turtles and pelicans to giant crabs and jellyfish. I thought the exhibits were really well-designed (like a place underground where you could look up into the tank above through the ceiling), and of course seeing all the animals was great. I also had a lot of fun collecting the stamps they had at each region (I'm a sucker for stamps, apparently).

Kamogawa Sea World
Admission: 2800 for adults (2000 for residents of Chiba Prefecture in the month of June!), 2100 for (university) students, 1400 for junior high and below (group discounts also available)
Hours: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Access: 5 minutes by free shuttle bus from JR Awa-Kamogawa Station
Address: 1464-18 Higashi-cho, Kamogawa, Chiba Prefecture 296-0041
TEL: 04-7093-5829
Website: http://www.kamogawa-seaworld.jp/english/

After our Sea World adventures and a conveyor-belt-sushi lunch, we drove up to see the Uomizuka Lookout Point (Uomizuka Tenboudai). At the top there's a statue of a goddess, Gyofu ('dawn breeze'), and an amazing view of Kamogawa!

With the wind blowing and the beautiful scenery, I think I could have stayed there for a loong time. There's also places for couples to put lockets as a signal of their commitment (which is not the first place I've seen in Japan either).

Uomizuka Tenboudai
Access: 10-minute walk from the bus stop 'Matsushima' (bus from Awa-Kamogawa Station)
Website: http://www.city.kamogawa.lg.jp/EN/0006/0007/00001371_6_7.html

Next we hopped back into the car to take a look at Seichoji Temple, which was a very pretty temple whose grounds include a thousand-year-old cedar. I forgot my camera in the car so I don't have any pictures, oops. We also walked a little further and found a mysterious structure (temple? dojo?) which is pretty unlike anything I've seen in Japan. It was pretty cool looking though!

(Not Seichoji Temple)

Seichoji Temple
Address: 322-1 Kiyosumi, Kamogawa, Chiba Prefecture 299-5505
TEL: 04-7094-0525
Website (Japanese only): http://www.seichoji.com

All in all, it was a long but fun day! I think there's still plenty to see around Kamogawa or Tateyama nearby, so hopefully I'll be back around there soon. :)

buddhist statues at the ccma

This Sunday, a friend and I went to the Chiba City Museum of Art to see their latest exhibit, Butsuzou Hantou (something like 'Buddhist Statues from the Peninsula'). I think I've been to every new exhibit at the CCMA since I got here last August, and as usual it did not disappoint!

I should probably preface this by saying that I know next to nothing about Buddhism, but it was still really cool! The exhibit consisted of 150 statues selected from temples around the Boso Peninsula (aka all of Chiba Prefecture), including some dating from the Heian period (795-1185 CE). Apparently a lot of the statues have also never been displayed in public before, either.

What struck me the most about the statues was how almost all of them were made of wood! From the pictures I had seen on the posters I thought they were made of stone or metal, but evidently this was not the case. Considering the fact that some of these statues were hundreds of years old, I was really impressed at how well-preserved they were (maybe the never-having-been-displayed thing had something to do with this). Of course, there were many statues where the paint had faded or there were chunks missing here and there, but that was interesting in itself because you could see how they connected different pieces of wood to make the sculptures. I wonder if there are still many people aroundwho know how to make this kind of statue (and if not, it's a shame).

I also enjoyed seeing what was on the bodhisattvas' heads, which ranged from nothing to zodiac animals to more heads! Again, if I knew more about Buddhism I would probably have gotten much more meaning out of it, but it was pretty cool to see different interpretations of things like (what a little research tells me were) the guardians of the zodiac, as there were several sets of statues of them.

The exhibit covered two floors and wasn't just statues - there were also scrolls and paintings, a giant metal Buddha head (whether the rest of it was ever made is apparently unclear), and wooden carvings, among others. All in all, a very cool exhibit - which is only open for one more week!

We weren't allowed to take photographs of the exhibit itself, but I will just end this post here with this: 

(Posted with permission, don't worry)

'Butsuzou Hantou'
Chiba City Museum of Art
3-10-8 Chuo, Chuo-ku, Chiba 260-8733
Admission: 1000 yen for adults, 700 for college students, free for high-schoolers and under
Hours: Monday - Thursday, 10:00 - 18:00; Friday and Saturday 10:00 - 20:00
Access: 15-minute walk from JR Chiba Station, 10-minute walk from Keisei Chiba Chuo Station, 5-minute walk from Chiba Urban Monorail Yoshikawa Koen Station
Website: http://www.ccma-net.jp/index.html

chiba-kun ambassador ceremony

As I mentioned earlier, I was selected to be a Chiba-kun Ambassador, and last Thursday we had our induction ceremony! I don't think there's really too much to say about it without being too boring, but I felt like it was worth its own post nonetheless (if only for the copious amounts of pictures of Chiba-kun that come with it, haha).

I showed up at the Prefectural Office and was greeted by our lovely PA and a chair of exciting-looking stuff, including a limited Chiba-kun Ambassador pin and my very own mini Chiba-kun! I happened to be seated with all the other new Chiba-kun Ambassadors who I already knew, which was great.

As far as the ceremony itself, it went much as you'd probably expect - we each received a certificate (or something) officially naming us Chiba-kun Ambassadors, got to hear some remarks from the Governor (who used to be an actor!), and took lots of pictures. Including both group and personal shots with the prefectural mascot, Chiba-kun, who is shaped like the prefecture (when viewed from the side) and despite what you may think, is not Clifford or even a red dog, but rather a 'mysterious creature'! You could tell he was the most popular one in the room, naturally. :P

Anyway, I'm definitely looking forward to getting to know all the other Ambassadors, who all seem like cool people, starting with our first tour in two weeks! I can tell this will definitely be a big part of my second year on JET (which officially starts next month, what), so I hope to make the most out it (by which I mean spam everybody in every possible way with information about the prefecture, so be prepared)! :D

mihama-en with the chiba rotary club

So this post is a little bit late, but last week I got to participate in a Japanese cultural experience at Mihama-en in Makuhari, hosted by the Chiba Rotary Club! It wasn't my first time at Mihama-en (since I went there when Houston was here), but it was still just as serene and beautiful - and this time I also learned lots about it from the man who designed it! Super cool.

We started out by having lunch and doing self-introductions in a little pavilion just outside the garden, which still had a nice view. The bento was delicious, of course! I never know what exactly I'm eating with this kind of box lunch, but it is always tasty so I'm okay with it. :)


Then we split into groups for the rest of the schedule: putting on yukata, going on a tour of the garden, and then having tea! Even though I took those kimono lessons, I still just let them help me put my yukata on, haha. Then we went for a walk around the garden with one of the Rotary Club members, who as I mentioned also happened to be the person who designed the garden!

During our walk he told us all sorts of interesting things, like the reasons behind the shape and placement of the stone lantern at the entrance, how the screen made from a certain type of tree branches was used because of its scent to make things pleasant for guests, and how you can tell if a garden is Japanese vs. Chinese or Korean by the presence of a pebbled area meant to imitate a beach. I also learned that there are strict restrictions on what type of item can go where in a Japanese garden, which I guess doesn't surprise me too much.

This island is supposed to be a turtle!

Then we had a tea ceremony! It wasn't my first time, but I did learn that when you enter, you're supposed to cross the tatami border with your right foot, and when you leave, you should cross it first with your left foot, for reasons that I think have to do with yin and yang but didn't completely understand (oops). But apparently that's why tatami is the width it is - so you can cross with one foot and cross the next border with the same  foot in exactly two steps (also apparently explains the width of the steps you can take in a kimono)! Which was pretty cool. :D

All in all it was a really good experience and I'm glad I was invited to be part of it! Mihama-en is a really gorgeous traditional garden in the middle of one of the busy city centers (you can get the whole skyscraper and nature juxtaposition which I love), so I really like it. Admission is only 100 yen, too!

見浜園 Mihama-en (Japanese garden)
Open all year
Hours: 8:00am - 5:00pm
Admission: 100 yen for adults, 50 yen for high school students and under
Access: ~10-minute walk from JR Kaihin-Makuhari Station (part of Makuhari Seaside Park)
Makuhari Seaside Park website (Japanese): http://www.seibu-la.co.jp/makuhari/guide/