Futsal in Kanagawa

One of my passions since I was young is playing futsal. What I like the most about futsal is all the "speed thinking" involved. Some people associate futsal with physical strength, but in my opinion thinking speed and accuracy when passing the ball are the essence of this game.

In Japan, futsal is often played outdoors and on artificial grass. There are many futsal stadiums that allow individual participation (個人参加) where you just go, pay for the time and join other futsal enthusiasts. I usually play once or twice a month. Recently I played with some good old friends that I used to play with when I was in Nagoya University. It was nice to meet them. My favourite place to play futsal in Kanagawa is Futsal Point in Suzuki-chou (a 20 min walk from Kawasaki station).

Kamikōchi (上高地)

A few weeks ago, I went with Simon to visit a beautiful region in the northern part of the Japan Alps (Nagano prefecture), known as Kamikōchi (上高地).

I took a train from Nagoya (Ltd. Express Shinano) to Matsumoto city. After meeting in Matsumoto (he was coming from Tokyo) we took a bus to Kamikōchi.

We spent our first day walking around the lake and admiring the mountains that were surrounding it. Perhaps the most famous touristic spot there is the views of Mt. Hotaka from the Kappa bridge.

We stayed in a mountain lodge called Nishitoya (nice place, good service and delicious dinner). The next morning we woke up very early and decided that the mountain we wanted to climb was Mt Nishi-hotaka (西穂高岳) with 2908m of altitude.

After an hour or so, we found ourselves in the middle of the snow without appropriate equipment such as crampons (アイゼン). Although it wasn't the first time for me to climb in the snow, it was for Simon.

Our first milestone was Mt. Nishi-Hodoku (西穂独標) at 2701m of altitude.

Here the hike became quite difficult due to the continuous ups and downs through dangerous cliffs and rocks.

We continued for a while because we really wanted to climb Mt Nishi-Hotaka but finally we decided to go back after reaching the Piramid peak (ピラミッドピーク) at 2740m of altitude. We were quite tired, it was becoming increasingly dangerous and we didn't have the necessary equipment. Plus we had to go back early in order to make it for the bus that would bring us back to Matsumoto (松本).

In Matsumoto, I took the opportunity to visit its castle for an hour before coming back to Nagoya. It was a very tiring hike but I am glad that nothing bad happened to us on those cliffs!!

Playing soccer in Japan

Although I don't like watching soccer very much, I really love playing it since I was a child when I used to play with my friends Denis Arconada and Francho in San Sebastian.

When I moved to Cantabria at the age of 10, I went on playing almost everyday at the school's breaks (Sagrados Corazones, Argomilla de Cayon). Soon I entered to a local soccer team, the Ayron de Vargas. For many years, I had such a good time traveling with my team Ayron around Cantabria, playing matches every weekend, having dinners. I feel very grateful to all the people at the Ayron club.

I managed to play in the 3rd Spanish league which sounds quite cool when I say it here in Japan, but in reality it was not that hard I think. Unfortunately, when I entered the University I didn't have time for playing anymore. I just played occasionally with friends, and especially with my previous laboratory colleagues.

Note: thanks to Hara-san for her photos of the matches

I got my ankle twisted just a month before coming to Japan, which was really a shame. I have been waiting to play again for several months because I wanted it to fix correctly. Finally, a few weeks ago I played soccer with my current laboratory colleagues in Japan. We played a small league against other laboratories in the University. Although I felt that I needed to practice more to recover my normal level I really enjoyed playing again! :D

Ayaya concert あややのコンサート

On the 3rd of October, I went to Tokyo with my friend Raul to see a concert by Aya Matsuura (松浦 亜弥), also known as Ayaya.

He has been her fan since before coming to Japan. As he belongs to her fan club, he got some special tickets near the stage.

Ayaya is a very famous Japanese singer (J-pop) originally from Himeji, as she mentioned during the concert. Before going I was expecting lots of young noisy Japanese teenagers at the concert, but it was completely different. In reality the average fan was a man of around 35 years old completely equipped with lights, Ayaya t-shirts and bracelets!! The concert was full of Otakus that knew all the movements and dances, and when to use the lights!And most of the concert was actually based on this interaction between the idol and the fans. She talked to them quite a few times and listened to their requests about songs to perform.

The concert was held in the Sun plaza hotel at Nakano (around 10 minutes from Shinjuku), which includes a very good hall for this kind of events.

The trip was quite tiring because I used night buses for going and returning. Still it was worth it, because it was a very unique Japanese experience :).

Mt Gozaisho - 御在所岳

A few weeks ago I went for a hike to Mt Gozaisho　(御在所岳), a 1210m peak (35° 01' 13" N 136° 25' 28" E) not very far from Nagoya in the border between Mie and Shiga prefectures. From Nagoya I took the Kintetsu (近鉄) Nagoya line, changed in Yokkaichi　(四日市) to the Yunoyama　(湯の山) line and got off in Yunoyama Onsen　(湯の山温泉) where there is a bus that takes you to the ropeway. It takes around one hour or so.

Although normally I would like to climb it on foot, this time I decided to go up on the ropeway and get down on foot. The main reason was that it was really hot and that it was an opportunity to see the landscape from the cable car. It reminded me of when I went to Picos de Europa and got on the cable car.

On the top of the mountain, like in Picos, there was a restaurant, places to buy drinks and even a shrine.

Fortunately there was also a lot of nature and nice views, even though it was a bit cloudy. I managed to spot a deer among the bushes and took this picture with zoom.

While I was having lunch (a sandwich with ham and cheese :D) suddenly I heard some voice calling me. I turned my head and it was one Japanese friend that I had met just one week before or so. It was such an amazing coincidence to meet him in the middle of the mountain that I couldn't help thinking about how small the world is.

We shared the way down and it was great because he knew that mountain very well so he could explain me a lot of things about it. For example, he showed me a place protected by some rocks where he had spent the night once. Also on the way down he showed me some interesting rock formations that are famous in the mountain.

There are several paths to go up or down Mt Gozaisho but the easiest one was washed out because of the rain some weeks before and it was impossible to take it. Still, the mountain was being climbed by hoards of Japanese people, you couldn't feel lonely in that mountain :).

When we arrived to Yunoyama onsen, we relaxed near the river in a place called　ooishi kouen (大石公園 = large stone park)where we put our feet in fresh water. It was really relaxing. Actually, the most typical tradition is to go to the Onsen (thermal baths) but for me it was too hot for that so I preferred the cold water of the river stream.

Summing up, I think that Mt Gozaisho is good for a one-day hike because it has very good connections by train and the views are really good. I was told that the best time is in Autumn because of the red/orange colors of the trees (momiji) or in winter because actually on the top there is a ski resort as well. By the way, the pic above is some bamboo coming out from the asphalt and I found it scaring hehe like if it was from a horror movie! :)

Intercultural lunch

Some weeks ago I had an intercultural lunch with some friends in the residence where I am living at the moment.

My korean friend Daeheon Choi (also known as Kevin for those, like me, who can't pronnounce his name :D) prepared a delicious Korean pancake.

Although I am not a good cook, I decided to prepare the typical Spanish dish "seafood Paella". I was trying to remember how Michael used to prepare it in our department barbecues. Finding the main ingredient of Paella (saffrom) wasn't a very difficult task, although it was quite expensive.

Mt Ontake - 御嶽山

During the last days of the Golden Week, some friends and I went to climb the Mt Ontake, the second highest volcano in Japan at 3,067 m.

Here is a video that I have made about our legendary adventure hehe. Climbing Mt Ontake was not an easy job.

From Nagoya we took a train (JR Chuuou line) to Kiso-Fukushima (木曽ー福島), at the east of the mountain. From Kiso-Fukushima there is a bus to Tanohara (田ノ原), which is the starting of the route, but only during the climbing season (Jul 16 to Aug 20). So instead we took another available bus from Kiso-Fukushima that left us close enough to start hitch-hiking with a sign saying Nakanoyu (中の湯) which is another way to start the route (although it ended up being not so clear as there are several places with that name, so maybe its better to put Tanohara). We were lucky and some nice Japanese people took us to the parking where the route is supposed to start.

We reached the peak around 6 when it was close to start getting dark. Although we carried tents, we found the toilets of a mountain hut open and we decided to spend the night in them! (no jokes!). There was more snow than what we expected and the hike was quite slippery at times.

The next day we went on the route until Nigorigo Onsen (濁河温泉) where we enjoyed a very relaxing time after the hike. Then we had to do hitch-hiking once again because although there is supposed to be a bus, it was not working on that day as well. Although it took us more time to get picked up finally we got lucky and a Japanese guy, actually the owner of the Onsen, was nice to us and took us to the train station in Hida-Osaka (飛騨小坂) where we took the JR Takayama line to go to Nagoya.

There is information about the hike in the book Hiking in Japan, Lonely Planet. Also I suggest to get a hiking map (Shonbunsha Yama-to-Kougen map 1:40000, no40, which on the back has the route to Ontake on a 1:20000 close-up).

Update: Check out Tyler&Alyssa's blog describing a similar hike but with much more details! :)

Kimchi Chigae (김치찌개)

One of the good things of my scholarship in Japan is that I'm making friends from a lot of countries that I never had the chance before.

The other day, my Korean friend Daeheon Choi (aka Kevin), invited me to his room to eat a typical dish from Korea called Kimchi Chigae (in Korean 김치찌개).

It was very tasty (oishii in Japanese) and I told him he is a good cooker (not like me... yet!). We also enjoyed a good conversation after the dinner.

He used to live in Cambridge (England) during a scholarship and he met there a Japanese girl that is nowadays his girlfriend. That was the main reason he decided to study Japanese (he speaks very well and actually, Korean and Japanese are quite similar in grammar) and move here (she lives in Kyoto). He also told me that it was a bit difficult for him to make friends from occident while he was in Cambridge. Then I realized that it was the same for me with Asian people. I have Asian friends but they are not as close as occidental ones. I would like to find out the reasons!

Now it is my turn, what Spanish dish should I cook?

Osu Kannon with Eiichiro-san

On Sunday, after going to church in the morning, I went to meet my friend Eiichiro in Nagoya's Osu Kannon district.

I met Eiichiro two years ago in Oxford (check this and this posts) during Summer at the same English school. I told him that one day I would see him in Nagoya and here I am :).

He is a very fashionable guy and he likes to follow the latest trends on clothes. For example, he told me that now the strives pattern is becoming very trendy.

After walking around a shopping centre we went to have lunch and we ordered a typical dish from Nagoya that was really tasty.

Then he took me to his parents' incense shop. There is a big temple nearby that I already visited two years ago which is probably one of the main clients. Eiichiro's parents were very very nice and they invited me for a coffee and gave me the incense boxes in the picture above. Please, check their website if you are interested.

They also took me to their house where they have a tea room with tatamis. In that room, they celebrate every Tuesday the famous tea ceremony and I'm invited to participate. It sounds very interesting.

Finally, we said our goodbyes and hopefully we will meet again soon. Now he is in a nearby prefecture (Mie-ken) on a training course for his work. As I had a ticket for the whole day I went to Nagoya's main station where there is a big electronic shop called Big Camera. The devices that I liked the most were small pocket televisions that you can take anywhere and watch TV on them. Now more and more phones are also including digital TV here (including an adaptor for the iphone).

Hamamatsu

Last Saturday I made a trip by train (with JR) to Hamamatsu to meet my friend Raul. The travel time was a bit more than an hour and all the trains were very punctual according to the timetables on the Internet.

Raul started to study Japanese at the same time as me some years ago in a Karate gym run by my teacher Hattori-sensei. At the time we both dreamed about coming to Japan so it was really funny to meet in Japan. Now he is married to a Japanese woman and probably he will stay in Japan for a long time.

Hamamatsu is mainly an industrial city so there wasn't too many touristic attractions. We just met there because he lives in Shizuoka city and Hamamatsu is half the way for both of us.

Probably the most important building is its castle built by Tokugawa Ieyasu, whose rule marks the beginning of the Edo Period.

Tokugawa Ieyasu lived here from 1571 to 1588 and I remember my sensei talking about him during our classes of Japanese. But I'm terrible with history, dates and so on..

There is a small museum inside with armors, a miniature city and relics of the period like katanas, arrows, etc.

From the top of the castle there were some nice views of the city. The main building is a skyscraper called Act City Tower Observatory which is close to the station. It was designed to resemble a harmonica. Unfortunately it was closed on Saturday but you can go up there and see the views.