For a few weeks, the Japanese national football (soccer) team were playing games around the country. Some of these were international friendlies, and some matches were part of an event called the Kirin Cup. One of the friendly matches was played at the end of September in Hiroshima. It was Japan vs Venezuela. I managed to get some tickets to the game, and as it was in Hiroshima, it was easy to go to.  

My main experience with Japanese football is club football, so I was curious what the atmosphere for the national team would be like. I had watched World Cup games and other friendlies on TV, but I wanted to experience it in the stadium itself. The stadium in Hiroshima is new and was built for their club team. I was blown away by how nice it was and immediately became jealous. The supporters were already there many hours before the match, and most of them were wearing uniform shirts. There were lots of events and stores around the stadium, and several food shops as well. At the time it was raining pretty hard, but it did not stop everyone from gathering and enjoying the event.

Our tickets were in the non-designated area. We sat behind the home goal, up above the most serious fans. They spent the entire game waving flags, standing, jumping, chanting and singing. The energy of the supporters was intense. There was also a famous Youtuber sitting to our left. We did not know who he was but everyone around us was very excited and taking pictures of him.

The game itself was an interesting experience. I personally think club soccer is more exciting than international soccer, but the play style is different, so it is interesting to watch. The first half Japan played a young lineup. They did well on defense yet struggled to get goals on their offensive chances. The second half switched most of the team to the more famous and veteran players. Shockingly just as they started the second half, and while they were announcing the subs, Venezuela scored a goal. Japan luckily fought back and got a return goal soon after. It was not until the very end of the game that some controversial events happened. Venezuela received a penalty kick, but after a VAR check it turned out Japan would get a penalty kick instead. The Venezuelan players were extremely angry, and it looked like a fight would maybe break out on the pitch. Japan scored their PK and won the match. There were a lot of mixed feelings about how it ended. I enjoyed the experience though and would not mind going to see the national team again sometime.

The week after Japan played New Zealand. I watched the game at a local bar. It was a conflicting game as I wanted to cheer for my home country, but I am also a bigger fan of Japanese soccer. To be honest, I do not even know most of the NZ players. Japan ended up winning, though they are much higher rank. NZ scored a goal, and the keeper did a great job, so I cannot complain.

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During Silver Week, my wife and I took a trip to Ehime. We drove around a lot – about 700 km in 3 days, actually! In between the taimeshi and castles, we visited at a small, unassuming train stop south of Matsuyama. It’s called Shimonada Station.

As you can see, this was a tiny stop in a very small town. Why drive to a random train station in the middle of nowhere? Well, Shimonada is known for its picturesque, elevated position overlooking the sea. In fact, it’s supposedly the closest station to the ocean anywhere in Japan. In recent years, it seems to have exploded in popularity thanks to social media.

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Is it worth going? Hard to say. The train ride along the coast is certainly very beautiful, if you want to travel the rails. But there’s not much to do at Shimonada besides take a few pictures. If you’re getting around by car, you can do it as a daytrip from Matsuyama and look for the little roadside stops. Here and there you’ll find places to try local food or dip your toes in the water. And if you drive far enough, you can even visit Sada Peninsula or Ozu Castle down in the corner of Ehime.

One little bonus: there’s a friendly volunteer tuk-tuk driver at the parking lot who will take you up the hill to Shimonada Station!

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During silver week, me and my wife spent four days in Okinawa. It was my first time there. It had been on the top of my list of places I wanted to visit in Japan for a long time.  We stayed in Naha for two nights, then spent the final night in Miyakojima.

After arriving at Naha airport, we first got on a bus for about an hour and headed  towards the east side of the island. We went to a place called The Valley of Gangala. The valley used to be a limestone cave hundreds of thousands of years ago, but it collapsed and now has become a nature reserve. A lot of fossils have been found throughout the valley, and they believe some of them may even be connected to the origins of the Japanese people. The valley is also home to many banyan trees, one giant one called the Gajumaru stands there. Banyan trees can spread their roots very slowly over time, and the trees sometimes look like they are slowly walking / moving over long periods of time. They were amazing to see. Later in the afternoon, we arrived in downtown Naha we spent a lot of time at the international street. I had heard a lot about it and enjoyed shopping there. I bought a lot of souvenirs and checked out a lot of shops.

The next day we planned to go to Churaumi aquarium, but it was going to take four hours of bus rides there and back and we decided to go somewhere else. There is another aquarium closer to downtown Naha called DMM Kariyushi Aquarium. It is a little small, though there are a lot of different kinds of animals to see there. It has many ways to interact more directly with animals, which I think makes it great for families and kids. For me, it was one of the more average aquariums I have been to in Japan, but it had its good points and some animals / fish I had never seen before. Near the aquarium was also a beach. It was still hot even in the late afternoon, so we decided to go for a swim. After, we took a short bus ride to a place called Senagajima Umijkaji Terrace. The terrace has more than forty shops overlooking the ocean and is a great place to enjoy the sunset. We arrived at the perfect time and were able to enjoy the beautiful sunset while enjoying ice cream.

The day after, we got on a plane in the morning and flew over to Miyako-jima. It was immediately a very different experience to Naha. We got on a bus and headed over to Shigira resort where we were staying. The resort was a large space of land with many different hotels, restaurants, shops and a beach. After arriving we had a few hours to take it easy and have lunch before our afternoon plans. During this time was the one period where we had bad weather, and there was a heavy squall of rain for about an hour. We managed to check into our room a little early and then went to the beach to go snorkeling. We had a snorkeling guide, and only two other people in our group. The snorkeling was one of the best experiences I had on the trip. We were able to snorkel with sea turtles and swim around a lot of coral. It was an amazing experience. Later that night we went to another part of the resort to a place called Paikaji Yataimura. It is an outdoor area with many places and types of food to eat. We were able to have a good dinner while watching a shamisen performance.

The day after was our last day. While we would have to spend a lot of time traveling back to Okayama later in the day, we had some time until around 2pm. In the morning we rented some electric bikes, and we rode them west towards Yonoha beach. The entire trip I was waiting to visit a beach with clear light blue water, and at this beach I finally got to experience it. It was a great way to end our trip. Overall, I had a great time. I got to see and experience many news things, try a lot of local food, and enjoy some beautiful natural spots. I hope to go again someday!

長い間レッスンへ来て下さっていたAさん。１年以上かけて定年されたご主人とのヨーロッパ１か月旅行を計画されていました。滞在国はクロアチアに始まり、ハンガリー、オーストリア、オランダの４か国です。

全ての手配はAさんご自身で、ホテルに泊まるのではなくB&Bにされました。外食せず、スーパーへ食材を買い自炊をされ、観光名所には徒歩か公共交通機関を少し利用する程度とされたため、選ばれたB＆Bはある程度便利な街なかを選んでいらっしゃいました。

彼女が駆使したのはAIで、旅行の提案から移動手段、細かな事の大部分です。AIが提案してくれる内容が必ずしも正しい情報とは限りませんが、かなり大きな骨組みは作れるのです。

「旅行代理店はもう、要らんな。」Aさんのお話を聞きながら私はそう思ったのです。

現地の言葉がわからず何らかの問題が起きても、ネットが使えれば翻訳アプリで意思疎通も出来てしまう。問題がおきねば人に助けを求めることもない。現地の人や他の旅人たちと交流するきっかけもない。旅の醍醐味は一体なんなんでしょう。Aさんのお話では、ご旅行中にちょっとしたことで医療サービスを受けることになったようです。でもそれ故に英語が話せてよかったであろうし、意味深い経験になったでしょう。

ふと思い出したのが、生徒Nさんが年末年始に東南アジアの語学学校で英語のクラスに入られたこと。現地に到着して数日で流行り物の病をもらわれてしまい、なんと現地で入院されたのです。語学学校代金はパーになったものの、入院中に英語を使う羽目になったというお話です。怪我の功名ですな！

Tim Curry, a beloved actor from the UK, passed away last week. I knew Tim Curry as a voice actor from some cartoons I used to watch as a kid, and as I got older, I learned to appreciate his movies as well. He even did a voice for Alien Encounter, which was my favorite attraction at Disney World when I was a kid.

He wasn’t exactly famous in Japan, but some people might know him from Home Alone 2.

Home Alone 2

Or, if you’re a fan of the Muppets, you may have seen him dressed as a pirate.

Muppet Treasure Island

He was also a character in Clue – one of my favorite comedies of all time.

Clue

His breakout role was in the Rocky Horror Picture Show, a bizarre musical from way back in 1975. It became a cult classic and is probably still his most important movie.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Tim Curry has a long legacy in film, cartoons, the Broadway stage, and even video games. It will always be a pleasure to rewatch some of those old productions for a little bit of nostalgia and entertainment.