Mystery Solved!!

Ladies and gentlemen, please take a good look at this odd item. Do you recognize it? I for one had never seen it until I came to Japan.

During breaks or periods of boredom at school, I like to explore around the supply room for things that I might be able to use. While pawing around the stock, I also rearrange and organize the boxes for the other teachers. That was when I found this odd piece. I had no idea what to do with it and where to put it.  Can you figure out the riddle? I'll give you some hints.

1. It is something that is usually found among office supplies.

2. It is no longer than a person's thumb.

3. It is made of a light metal, so it is rather light.

Did you think of it yet?

Any ideas?

Give up yet?

Alright. If you insist, I'll tell you.....

Its a pencil cap!

Japanese students carry around pencil cases from the time they are in elementary school to well into college and grad school. While they can be very cheap, these are usually kept as long as possible and can be made from a hard plastic, metal, cloth, or a mixture of the three. In order to keep the inside of the pencil cases (which also hold pens, post-its, and other small items) clean, these pencil caps were invented. They also keep the sharpened pencils from being chipped or breaking at the tip. Not sure who or which country thought of them first, but my generation in the US aren't familiar with them. It honestly took me two years to figure out why my school had these odd, little items. I showed this to my kids and they were shocked to find out that we didn't use them when I was younger. Being the neat-freak that I am, I know that I'd have all of my pencils capped, but hindsight is 20-20.

Not my most exciting post, everyone, but I thought you might like to see something new, or possibly even familiar, that is used frequently in Japan.

Nabana no Sato

Living in Mie offers some amazing opportunities. The prefecture is a long, odd shape, and so much of our eastern side is coast that we have unique views, cities, and nature. Besides that, it seems like there is a tourist spot somewhere along the road wherever you go in Mie. Come winter, most people go out of the prefecture for winter sports in nearby areas. But one spot that is always bustling is Kuwana City. Why is that? Roller coasters, a water park, Christmas lights, hot springs, and green houses!




In the summer, Kuwana is frequented by roller coaster (here lovingly called "jet coasters") enthusiasts who want the thrill of Japan's largest roller coaster park, Nagashima Spaland. Of course, it is called that because it is also home of a water park and attached to a hot spring resort. All of these attractions have separate ticket prices, but you can buy a combo ticket at a special rate. This past spring, some of the Ise-Shima ALTs took a trip for a roller coaster/water park day to cool off. On another occasion, some gal-pals and I went for the coasters followed by a relaxing hot bath. Both trips were wonderful, but I can go into that later. For those who can't wait, though, you can read up on it here.





Today is all about Christmas lights and green houses!

Super close to Nagashima Spaland, and yet another claim to fame for Kuwana, is Nabana no Sato, explained a bit on this Mie tourism site.. A Flower park and green house site, the park keeps business coming in the winter by putting on a major Christmas light festival! The festival starts in the fall, once the leaves on the Japanese maples have changed colors. Visitors can see the trees lit up at night and marvel at their colors along with the Christmas lights strung all around the park. This part of the season is really crowded with people coming to see both the light and the leaves, and stoping to take pictures all the while. In Japan, the two major christmas light displays are this one and another in Kobe. Each one is changed yearly, so people come to see what new and creative way the decorations will be in both locations. This year, the main attraction at Nabana no Sato was a huge display that mimicked Niagara Falls during different seasons. It was set to music and the surrounding field was decorated in lights and cloth to give it even more depth and grandure. My friend Dan and I went to see what all of the fuss was about and my breath was caught in my throat the whole time! It was so perfect and surreal. I've never seen anything so dreamlike and I never through that trees could look better at night than in the day. True to Japanese form, everything was laid out perfectly to allow the trees to play off the water features in the park.

Dan and I decided to stop by a restaurant at the gardens. We accidentally ordered the most expensive thing on the menu and plates like this one kept coming and coming and coming from the kitchen. We ate really well that night, and luckily had coupons for 2000 yen off the meal. It was as delicious as the trees were beautiful!

My Russian friends decided that on our ski trip, it would be fun to go to Nabana no Sato, and I decided to go again to really have a chance to appreciate the lights this time. The leaves had fallen off the trees, so we were able to stroll around without fighting through as large of crowds this time. Some people took the high road and rode a merry-go-round that was raised up high into the air!

 Just when we thought we had scene it all, Max noticed that the green houses were open for tours and that the coupons we had were just enough to cover the entrance free. Warming up in the green house sounded like a great idea to me, and Sofya loved roaming through all the blossoms. She even pocketed a few of the fallen ones to press in her magazine later. The tickets we received were actually valid for three green houses, so we were able to finish up our day at Nabana no Sato with three distinct and large flower settings. On our way out, we had been told to find the shawarma stand, which was so scrumptious! I had a fabulous time on both trips and highly recommend going if you get the chance!

潮かけ祭り - The Water Fight Festival!!

Photo Credit Here

Before I came to live here in Shima-shi, I perused the city's website and found a list of festivals (matsuri) held in the area. One of the more intriguing matsuri was the Water Fight Festival. I didn't know when, but I knew that before I left this place I must, MUST, attend.

Today, my brethren,...

...was that day.

And today....

was AWESOME!!!!

Photo Credit Here

I'm not trying to deceive you all, readers; this matsuri is just what it sounds like. You go for the very purpose of dousing everyone within range with salt water! You throw water when you are on shore or on boats at people on shore, on other boats, and on YOUR boat even. For maximum wetness, you can throw your friends (who haven't been drinking -safety first, Japan) into the ocean or you can bring the ocean to your friends using hoses, buckets, water guns, or small pink elephant watering cans - anything and everything is allowed during this fight!

But, Alexandra, the Japanese are always so polite and well mannered.

Photo Credit Here

Okay, one, stereotypically-minded person, please watch some of the recent World Cup soccer footage to see Japanese people letting loose and making noise. They are allowed to have their crazy days! Second, maybe being seen as "so proper" gets old and they need to let their hair down, no? Or maybe the idea that the Japanese are always straight-laced is merely the perpetuation of a racist archetype, yeah? They are humans and like fun just as much as the next person.

Surely this is a new event made by a more wild and rambunctious generation.

History. Bam! In your face like salt water!
Photo Credit Here

Guess again, friend! This tradition has been around for almost 800 years! How do you like them ocean apples?  (p.s. Ocean apples aren't real. I think...)

A picture of the mini-shrine area for the purification
ceremony this year. (photo by me)

The matsuri started like many others, based in Shinto beliefs that the gods (mighty and mild) inhabit all of the world surrounding us and that seeking their good graces would help in different aspects of life. This area is known for fishing and aquatic activities, so the fun-loving people of the past would hold a ceremony wishing for the safety of their boats and fishermen as well as for bountiful catches of fish and sea creatures. This was performed on the dock and the small shrine was then taken on a boat out to sea, then brought back again as a way to purify and bless the area over which it sailed. The same idea applies for the parading of a small alter or mikoshi up and down the city streets during other matsuri.

Carrying the mikoshi to the ceremony area.
(photo by me)

What makes this festival so exciting is that on the return trip, the water fight begins! The blessed waters are hurled and splashed upon participants in the water-born parade. When the main mikoshi ship gives the signal, everyone who is up for a good time, lets loose salt-water assaults on the closest person. Sending a barrage of water on the Shinto priests and helpers was particularly fun. One ship even had a stock of water balloons in the crows nest. Good thinking!

Okay, I'll admit, this sounds pretty fun. So how on earth did you get to join this?

Ummmm, I asked, silly. The people out in this area are so friendly and very open to helping people who are kind and respectful in return.

The shrine boat getting ready to take off.
(photo by me)

Full story please.

So, here's how it happened.

I missed the festival last year because it was held on a week day and I was at work. This was back when I was only three months into my new job and I wasn't allowed to take time off with pay. Instead of taking unpaid vacation, I just figured that I'd go to the matsuri at night and douse people with water then. Turns out that isn't how things are done in Wagu (a town in the southern part of Shima-shi). The Water Fight is only in the morning and the party just goes on all day.  Once I figured this out, I vowed to do it right the next year!

Only, well, I kinda forgot until yesterday. The ladies at the elementary school at which I was teaching were complaining about how it was the next day, and I went into panic-regret-wishful-thinking mood and emailed my company about taking tomorrow off. Usually, we are told that 5 business days are required, but because my middle schoolers are taking exams right now, I wasn't needed for classes at all anyway. But luck was on my side (as well as a very skilled and polite team of Nagoya staff members), and the schools let me go today!

I was driving (and stopping and driving and stopping) behind
the elementary school marching band then whole while.
(photo by me when parked during the parade)

As I was driving to the festival, I stopped at a Family Mart convenience store where the ladies assured me that even with some rain (the weather was looking kind of cloudy), the festival would still be on - the whole point is to get wet, right? Then, once I arrived in Wagu, a policeman asked if I was going somewhere in a hurry. I was doing great on time, so I replied "no" and he asked me to get in line behind the other cars. We were going at a snails pace and people were lined up on the street watching us go by. Now, Wagu is a pretty small town, so having this many cars come by WOULD be reason enough to bring people out to watch, but I kept hearing some music. More and more cars in front of me turned down side streets or into parking spaces, and I realized that the closer I moved up in line, the stronger the noise was; I was driving behind a parade! The elementary students were marching down the streets (they later gave a standing performance on the docks) and we were slowly brining up the rear of the show.

Flying the colors. All two of them.
(photo by me)

Fast forward to the part where the Shinto ceremony is happening and I spot a bunch of people heading towards the boats. Not wanting to be left on shore, I went to the nearest one and asked in Japanese if I could ride along. They were so happy that I had picked their ship, that not only did they let me join, but they also gave me free coffee, watermelon, and two cooked sazae (turban shells, easily $15 of shellfish stateside). It turns out that when he was younger, the ship's captain was a tuna fisherman and traveled all over the world. He went from Japan to Singapore, Australia to Cape Town, and Argentina to Mexico and back again. After that story, I felt very safe on the boat. We all sat and talked about where everyone was from and how often they've participated in the matsuri, what I should and shouldn't bring, and where to hid my towel during the water fight. They pointed out the flying fish to me (these fish were going for meters and meters!) and let me know when it was time for everything to start.

And then we had AT it! These guys were chucking water and hosing down ANYone who came near us. They had no problem splashing each other, pouring water down their friend's backs, or crawling all over the ship to get a better attack position. Their favorite trick was to distract one guy and have another one get him from behind or from another direction. They were laughing and playing as hard as any of my elementary students. The ship also had a hose which got much farther reach than any of our water splashing did.  A grand total of 15 boats loaded down with people of all ages cheering and screaming, laughing and splashing were out on the water. Run out of amo? Just throw your bucket into the ocean and pull it up by the rope, but make sure that it doesn't pull you in! The captain drove the boat around so that we could fight all the other ships. Kids on the other boats would call out "Hello!",  "Thank you!", or "You are beautiful" when they saw me. I tried my best to splash everyone, but I think I got much more water thrown at me than I did at anyone else. My arms are definitely going to feel this work out later on tonight.

The whole water fight ended before noon, so I was able to dry off a bit, drive back and enjoy lunch after a warm shower. Oh, I ran into my buddy from the cable company who asked me for another interview. I was coming down from a water fight high, so I spoke pretty quickly and I know that I made a lot of grammatical mistakes, but if I can find the video that he took, I'll put it on for you all.

Everyone eagerly waiting for things to get underway.
(photo by me)

The boats that are decorated were the ones that would
participate. The winds and waves were kind of strong
so the smaller boats were advised to stay back.
(photo by me)

Thank you to this fine crew for letting me onboard for the day!
(photo by me after the water fight)

Myself and fellow combatants for the day. All very nice men from
Gifu, the prefecture to our north.
(photo by a friend)

The Japanese link for the festival can be found here.

Rain Rain, Go Away

Japan has a grim history of suicide, so much so that ALTs are highly discouraged from ever playing the spelling game "hangman", for fear that some students may be reminded of a former friend or family member or worse, take the idea to take their own life. Any references to death and killing, even jokes, are discouraged in either Japanese or English. Once more, especially around high school entrance examination time, we are particularly cautious to give praise instead of criticism as this period of high stress and important test taking (and sometimes failing) can leave students feeling as if they have let everyone down, have no other opportunity if they miss the high school their were hoping for, or if they can't deal with the pressure to even go through with the future.

For this reason, I was at first shocked and overly cautious when I found this doll dangling across from the principal's door.

Look at how happy this little guy is!

Obviously a little doll of a person (possibly a ghost) was HANGING in plain sight! How was this okay?? Did one of the students put it there? Did it represent someone? It is some kind of message against the principal? Why wasn't it taken down by now??? How are we all not in an uproar about this???? *heavy breathing*

I almost didn't ask someone about it, thinking that pretty soon it would be removed before too many students were exposed to the suicide image. But, at the end of the day, there he hung, proud and smiling with only myself raising an eyebrow. Unable to read the scribbles on his little skirt, and unable to stand the curiosity anymore, I asked around the teachers room.

Turns out, this little doll isn't of anyone in particular, but of a monk. He is call Teru Teru Bozu (照る照る坊主) or "Shine Shine Monk". Oriental monks have shaved heads, so the sunshine (teru is the sound of sunshine, ya'll) reflects off of their hairless scalps. There may have been a rhyme that was released in the 1900s about the specific sunshiny monk, but my teachers weren't sure about that (Wiki it up if you'd like to learn the rhyme). During the rainy period, of which there are a TONS in Japan, makes kids just as eager for sunshine on certain days as it does Western children. But instead of singing Little Jimmy who wants to play, they make these monks and hang them in the window or a common spot to wish for good weather.

I ended up spotting quite a few of these little guys at other schools before sports tournaments and again this weekend before the Ise Giant Shrimp Festival. So, no worries, friends! This is a good thing.  No need for the panic, just some sun screen for the good weather that is hopefully on the way.

Japanese Driving Test: The Horror...The Horror!!

First of all, I'd like to say that I am way overdue for a blog. I have so many half finished or ideas penned down, but that doesn't mean  a thing if they never get posted! So to make it up to you, I have a doozy of an entry.

Second, I'd like to say that if you know what book I was referencing in the title of this entry, then you are hereby awarded 1200 literary points! Feel free to exchange these for such valuable prizes as "Book Club Street Cred", "Smarty Pants Status", and hugs from every English and literature teacher that thinks their students never retained anything. For those who didn't know (or who just want a quick reminder), I'll post the answer at the bottom of today's post.

Now to our topic for today: the Japanese driving test.

I'm afraid that this can only end in tears. Let us begin this fairly odd tale...

Once upon a time, as the Embassy of the United States Tokyo, Japan puts it,

The Embassy spoke with the Superindendent of the License Division, Traffic Bureau, of the National Police Agency (NPA) to learn that prior to June 2002, Japanese law had allowed foreigners bearing international driver licenses to drive indefinitely in Japan.
As of June 2002, however, foreigners are only able to drive on an international driver license for up to 12 months, then have to have applied for and received a Japanese driver license. Long term foreign residents in Japan who attempt to avoid taking a driving test by continually renewing their international driver license abroad every 12 months will now be required to prove that they obtained the international permit at least three months before re-entering Japan. Tourists and others coming to Japan for short stays may drive with an international license obtained at any time before their arrival into the country.
The driver test consists of hearing, eyesight, written and practical/road test components. Citizens of 21 countries, not including the United States, are exempt from taking everything but the eye test. Some of these countries met the exemption requirement because the NPA examined their domestic traffic safety record and determined that it was at least as good as Japan's. Other nations exempt Japanese license holders from a driving test.
Canada received approval on February 1, 2003 after a lengthy (3-4 years) review. Canada had to submit responses to a lengthy questionnaire, regarding each of the country's 13 provinces and territories. In order for the U.S. to be exempt from the driver test requirement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must instruct the Japanese Embassy in Washington to contact each of the 50 states and provide them with a questionnaire. Once the 50 individual questionnaires are collected, they will be translated into Japanese and studied by the National Police Agency. In addition to individual state safety records and procedures for acquiring a license, the National Police Agency will be looking closely to see if each of the 50 individual states exempt holders of valid Japanese licenses from taking state road and written tests.
We shared with the NPA statistics which showed that the United States had a risk value much lower than that of Japan's with respect to fatalities as a share of vehicle kilometers traveled. We were told that the Japanese police still needed to see the safety records of each individual state. The Police are also concerned to see if each of the 50 individual states exempt holders of valid Japanese licenses from taking state road and written tests (many do not).

With that lovely bit of politics goes the stress and bane of every non-Canadian currently in the rural areas of this country: I have to take this test????? Come on, already!

Even as a college student, I heard the gruesome stories of foreigners who went to get their Japanese license: They failed me six times just to take my money!! They'll fail you on purpose to see if you'll come back!! It is so difficult, there is no way you can pass the first time!! They're heartless, I tell you!! (granted, some of these tales seemed difficult to believe at the time, but everyone was saying the same thing - the test was hard, expensive, bothersome, and racist)

I was so worried about taking the Japanese driving test before even coming here that when I applied for my international license back in the USA, I forced the AAA agent to tell me twice that I would be able to renew this license and not have to take the Japanese one. She assured me of this. And I believed her. There in lies my folly! Technically, she was telling the truth, but it only works if I return to America (WHICH I TOTALLY DID!!!) and obtain a new international license before coming back to Japan (which I didn't, so, yeah...). For you see, ladies and gentleman, the Japanese drivers test is not the mere hassle that the American DMV makes it out to be. No, no, no. The Japanese made improvements to that nightmare. Here are some of the 'joys' that can be expected from the test.

1. Unreasonable scheduling. The Japanese government offices work like many other companies. However, while other companies report employees staying late into the night, dying from exhaustion at their desks, or logging incredibly long hours at work, public servant sector offices maintain VERY strict hours of operation. Except in the case of national holidays, the Japanese driving centers are open ONLY from Monday to Friday from 8ish until 5 with one hour breaks between the morning and the afternoon. No Saturdays, no late hours. In order to come to their office to do anything, you must miss going to yours. In order to do anything at the driving center, I was required to take my paid vacation time since there was no other way of going when I was actually off work myself. What a nightmare.

2. Lengthy waiting. Even with their decreasing population and living in a rural area, Japan still has a high population. This means that waiting rooms will be filled and lines will be long. I did not include this section to say that you will wait in line long. They are very efficient in filing everyone through. I included this section because there is so much waiting out of line that is required. At first, you'll need to translate your license into Japanese. You'll take it to an office and then have to WAIT for them to mail it back to you before you can even think about making an appointment at the driving center. Then you have to make an appointment, go to the center, and WAIT for the 15 minute window of time when the desks open their windows (see what I did there?) and are willing to talk to you. Then you must WAIT in the waiting room (where else, right?) until they have finished all the paperwork. Then, if you pass the paperwork and interview step, you must make an appointment to come back another day (a completely DIFFERENT day!) to take the written test. On that day, you must WAIT to take the test with everyone else who is taking it during your time frame, and some slackers will be so late that your testing time will be pushed back an hour. Then you must WAIT to get your results from the window people again. Then you must sign up for a driving test appointment to come back another day (a completely DIFFERENT day!) to take the driving test. WAITING happens again on that day as you file into the car one-by-one and take the test one after the other, only hearing if you pass or fail after WAITING again when the last driver has finished. If you fail any one of these steps (and I failed the paperwork and driving test part - a 2200¥ charge per test, I'm told), then you must add more WAIT time to your total process. Also, in the spring when all the high school grads and foreigners who weren't warned about this entire process are scrambling to get their license, the WAIT time between steps increases due to clogged scheduling. It took me 20 days between my first driving test and my retest because there just were no free openings during that time. Bring a book or sudoku - this is going to take a while.

3. Inconvenient locations. My lovely prefecture of Mie is oblong in shape and has only one driving center and one translate-your-license-into-English office. They are inconveniently located in the same city smack in the middle of the prefecture, in our capital of Tsu. That is great if you live there, but for those of us in the areas north of Kameyama/Suzuka and south of Matsusaka, that is quite far! I'm out and over in Shima. It takes me two hours to get to Tsu! Remember all the steps required in the last paragraph? Now add driving time to and from the capital city and you can see what I'm so miffed when I need to take time off work just to travel all that way and back again. Even the workers at the driving center were shocked when they heard where I lived. Would it kill them to open other driving centers? Even the state of Wyoming has seven DMV locations!! Outrageous.

4. Strict judging. The stories are true. The judging for this test is serious stuff. You can not be sure who will be your driving proctor or what mood they will be in. Some take off if you aren't far enough left, if you stop too much, if your turns are too tight, if you look too far over your shoulder, if you don't look over your shoulder, if you take too much time to look over your shoulder. It is craziness disguised as having a system.

5. Pricy alternatives. There are ways to sidestep this whole process. You could walk everywhere (my farthest school is two hours one way by walking - said the girl who did so on Monday). You could cab everywhere, which is super expensive! You could take a bus, if there even is one, if you can even find the bus maps, if they even go out where you want them to go at a decent hour. You could become an extreme bicyclist. Or you could attend drivers school. "Now, Alexandra, I went to drivers' ed when I was younger. It wasn't so bad." No, no, I'm sure it wasn't. But did it cost you hundreds of dollars? Did it practically guarantee you a license if you went with them? Did it have its own professional-grade practice course? No, no, I'm sure it didn't. But if you want to go those options, power to you. Let me know how that works out and if your wallet thanks you afterwards.

Something I can't argue about is their honesty. Most "how to get your Japanese drivers license" sites and blogs are all plain and clear about all the rules and different points you could possibly fail. These other sites give personal accounts of how the writer and other people the writer tested with or knew did. The stories may seem far fetched and odd but they are real. However, none of thyme can prepare you for the frustration of actually being in the process. 

All of these factors equals a pain-in-the-rear, red-tape-gallore, too-much-work-for-too-little-reward experience that motivates many foreigners to become extreme bicyclists or to move to the cities and avoid driving at all costs. Quite honestly, I would rather just renew my American license forever and ever and never take the Japanese one. But, if I can't drive, I can't get to work. If I can't get to work, I don't have a job. If I don't have a job, then I can't stay here. That's how they get 'ya. With all this complaining and moaning and gnashing of teeth, I'm sure that after all of this, I'll be grateful that I stuck it out until the end. I'm sure that I'll feel fulfilled. I'm also sure that I will tell EVERYONE AND THEIR BROTHER to start the Japanese driver's license procedure as soon as they start their job assignment, too. Better safe than sorry, and I'm feeling pretty sorry right now.

To all the foreigners out there (who can read English and have stumbled upon this blog entry), start now! Start while you still have 11 months left on your international drivers license! Start during the off season so that there will be fewer people to take up space in the lines and the testing spots! Heed my words~~~! You have been warned!!!



Today's title inspired by a quote from  Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad :)

Super Center Plant - And All That Lies Within

"Put on your Sunday best, kids. We're going to
Sears!" Okay, maybe I didn't really dress up,
but I did put on nice clothes in case my
students saw me.

There are things that make a small town a "small town". But it is more about what an area lacks rather than what it has that gives it the "countryside" title (inaka in Japanese). Country charm and small town splendor are all well and good, especially if you live close enough to a large city in order to balance out the quiet quaintness with convenience.

My city of Shima was a definite inaka contender until recently. On the roads leading to Toba and Ise, there has been construction on what looked on the outside to be a large square. The writing on the walls of this plain building read "Super Center Plant - Medicine, Food, Home Goods." Since this is about 8 minutes by car from my house (and I prefer walking to driving, especially for errands), even after the center opened, I didn't bother going. Around my home, there are various small shops where I can buy groceries and the mall is up the hill from me. Convenient much? But during a recent get together with the other ALTs in my area, this place received so much praise that I decided to check it out. On Facebook, I made the following announcement.

This looks oddly familiar...

Today, I go on a journey of discovery to "The Plant"! No, it is not a secret alien factory, but the newest shopping spot in Shima. Supposedly bigger, better, cheaper, and with more variety than our current options. I am expecting a Japanese version of Walmart or Target, but I won't get my hopes too high. 
I go now.

The Center has been open for a while and has lost much of its initial appeal. It is still new and exciting for our town, but they no longer have the opening month, cheaper than dirt pricing that drove people to the store in droves! While it is still cheaper than many other locations around, it has changed to somewhat normal pricing. So while the parking lot was huge, it was hardly full. Going around lunch time also helped cut down on the number of customers I had to contend with.

Walmart with yen signs!!

From the outside, I started to get a familiar feeling, but it wasn't until I got inside (past the policeman/guard guy, hello?) that things really started to register: it felt just like Walmart to me! It was the same size and pretty much the same setup as a Walmart, but less white and blue themed. There was so much to look at and so many options compared to what I have become use to that it was almost tiring. Like, "There is more store to go through? How did they find that many kinds of honey in Japan? These shopping carts are the size of Home Depot carts!"

The lighting and coloring on the inside of the store had a rather Sam's Club or Costco air about it all and I had filled up my little shopping basket well into my first ten minutes at the store. I was hesitant about using one of the American-sized shopping carts in case I filled it up, so I trudged along with my full basket up and down ALL the aisles. Is this what shopping in America was like? I had almost forgotten how there could be so many choices. There was the food, and the clothing, and the home goods, and the toy section, and the garden department, and the pharmacy, and the electronics, and the cleaning supplies, and the pet stuff, and the sports equipment, and it just kept going!

Truly comparing this store to a real American Walmart would have probably been less impressive if I had just gotten back from America, but it has been months, okay? I haven't seen this much of an expanse for shopping in just one store in a while! Even the malls here, even the Meiwa shopping mall and Lala Park, were all tiny stores merged together like transformers. This was ONE LARGE ROOM OF STUFF! I ended up getting a good amount of produce, a basket for carrying my flashcards and things for school, a beanbag for reclining on the floor, and some curry mix.

Japan, you and your tiny tables. Although I do
like the "kotatsutable" - it is a table with a heater
and a blanket around the edges to keep you nice
and warm!

What was helped to remind me that I was definitely in Japan, though, was the checkout area. There were rows and columns of cashiers who, when not assisting other customers, stood at the front of their particular column and directed people down to them. You could have easily seen which registers were operating based on their lamps, but this way they could help anyone who didn't realize that they were free. But cashiers would never have done that in America! First of all because cashiers are hardly ever free in the States and leaving your drawer unattended like that is surely against company policy. However, that is the system they had here, and I found it endearing.

Was this a life changing experience? No.
Will I change my shopping habits now that I've been to the plant? No.
Do I understand why that is the new hangout spot for students? Not in the least.

But it was kind of nice to see Shima getting all worked up over a convenient place to shop and get a little taste of American-sized consumerism in inaka Japan. I'll definitely be back, and I'll definitely have my eyes out for other small town adventures.

Til then!

Curious about the tissues? Try a sample. 

Toilet paper samples too!

Definitely a Japanese toy store. Look at all
the Anpanman characters!

My little girl love Pretty Cure and here is their
shrine.

Truer words were never embroidered on hats.