Josh and Frank get to Osaka for 390 yen

This entry will be written running diary style:

5:30am - Wake up. Drink orange juice. Decide that bringing a two liter bottle of Pocari Sweat(Japanese style Gatorade) will be too heavy. Walk to station.

5:55am - Arrive at station. Take goofy picture.



6:13am - Board nice warm bullet train. Embark on ridiculous 17 hour journey to Osaka.



6:55am - Arrive in Shin-Yatshushiro. Say goodbye to nice warm bullet train.

6:57am - Realize that there is nobody working the local train gate as it is a holiday. Go to platform for free. It is still to early to realize the significance of this, but we do find a stuffed bear.

6:58am - Look inside stuffed bear. Find a railpass. Frank is very excited. He wonders who would leave their bear on a bench. I wonder who would hide a railpass inside a stuffed bear.



7:05am - The 7:00 train is late. Trains in Japan are never late. Frank asks a group of three Jr. High schoolgirls why the train is late. We are informed that today is a holiday and there are special holiday times. There is no 7:00 train, we must wait until 7:20. We are not pleased.

7:10am - Frank tries to talk to the schoolgirls. They are very shy. He asks them if they lost a bear. They look at him like he is crazy. He then runs over and gets the bear. The girls giggle. He then shows them the railpass. One girl gets very excited, apparently she knows the owner of the railpass. They all agree that this must be the funniest thing that has ever happened in the history of the world. Frank and I are now their new best friends.

7:20am - Board the first of seven local trains.

8:23am - Arrive in Kumamoto. Change trains too quickly to be able to buy a drink. I wish I had packed my two-liter bottle of Pocari Sweat.

8:24am to 9:55pm - Change trains many more times. Play countless games of Kenyan Uno. Talk to some Jr. High boys, one of which tells us he has 5 girlfriends. He is my hero. Get stared at by every single person on every train. Try to get some sleep on these tiny chairs. Nobody checks our tickets.




9:57pm - Leave Himeji station. We are very excited that nobody has checked our tickets. This trip was supposed to cost 11,900 yen for the two of us (about $120), and we are dreaming of paying less than $5.

10:20pm - There are many people on this train. At least 15 people are standing. There are also two open seats next to Frank and I. Nobody is brave enough to sit next to us. We continue playing Kenyan Uno on the empty seats.

10:32pm - Two people finally build up the courage to sit next to us. It just so happens to be a lady and her very hot daughter. They speak good English. They are very interested in everything we have to say. The daughter tells us about college. Frank is in love.

10:58pm - We arrive in Osaka. Frank is trying to come up with a plan to get the daughter's phone number with her mother sitting next to him. Frank fails to think of such a plan. Frank is disappointed with himself.

11:01pm - We have come over 450 miles. This is like taking the AmTrack from San Francisco to Los Angeles, and then busing to Riverside. Thus far we have paid $0.00 for local trains. We need to switch lines to get to our friends house in Nara, which is just outside of Osaka. We buy tickets for the new line.

11:03pm - We must get past the gates with no exit ticket. We try to explain we came on the train from Himeji but have no ticket. The workers get tired of trying to talk to stupid foreigners. We are allowed through! Total cost of all local trains: 390 yen.

We are the masters of the universe.



11:55pm - Arrive in Nara. Get picked up by Hana, who is the boyfriend of one of our friends in Kagoshima. He drives fast. He does not wear a seat-belt.

11:58pm - Hana makes a U-Turn going 50 KPH, then veers onto a tiny side street which is bordered by a swampy rice field. He then points to the light up ahead and says "Light-o red-o" which I guess means he almost killed us to avoid a red light.

12:02am - We arrive at Hana's house. We are alive. It was a good day.

14 days on the road

In nine short hours I will begin a 14 day trip from Sendai to Osaka to Tokyo. My friend Frank and I will wake up at 6:00am and board the first of 8 different trains on an epic 17 hour journey to Osaka. My goal is to learn the entire Hirgana alphabet while on the train. As this is not likely to happen, I would be content with just learning half.

I plan on taking lots of pictures and videos to chronicle this journey so I dumped the contents of my memory card onto my laptop to free up space. I found a few hidden gems, such as some video that Rachel took of my band's last show before I left for Japan.

I hope to be posting next on Saturday when I arrive in Tokyo. Once there I will be staying with one of my friends from training and he might be kind enough to let me use his internet while he is at work. Apparently he is a big snorer so I brought earplugs. Gotta stay prepared. Until then, here is some Laden Swallow goodness...

Josh finds anti-sports people boring, untrustworthy.

Last weekend I went to Fukuoka (4 hours away, and about the size of Toronto...I think) for my work Christmas party. As I have never met most of these people, and the ones I do know I have only seen once or twice, the first part of the party was a generally awkward exchange of general information. However, I figured that as the night moved on people would open up more and the potential for an interesting conversation would greatly increase.

Or so I thought.

After going up for my third helping of the fried potatoes, I found myself sitting next to a hipster guy in a scarf who was inhaling from a slim cigarette. He looked like he was trying very hard to channel David Niven, albeit with varying degrees of success. As we had spoken before I knew where he was originally from, and I asked him a simple question about his city's NBA team. He took a drag from his slim stick of cancer, looked down his nose at me, and said something to the effect that he felt sports were beneath him. In fact, his expression also said that I must be the silliest person in the world to even ask him such a question.

It was then that I decided I did not like Mr. Hipster David Niven.

While the men at the party were altogether underwhelming in their sports knowledge, the women more than eager to discuss their favorite teams. I met a girl from New York, and as I always do when I meet a New Yorker, I asked her if she was for the Yankees or the Mets.

She said the Yankees.

This is generally not a good sign. I hate the Yankees with every fiber of my being. One more question would seal the deal.

"Who is your favorite player?" I ask. If she says Jeter there is no possible way we can be friends.

She excitedly answered, "Well I don't like Jeter," and then made a face to let me know that either she really didn't like Jeter or had swallowed some bad shellfish earlier in the night. Good sign. She continued, "And A-Rod sucks. He is soooo overated, he never comes through in the clutch. I like Robinson Cano."

Wow. Aside from being a Yankee fan this girl is perfect. She hates A-Rod and for some reason doesn't like Jeter. However, she is in fact a Yankee fan, so I try and avoid talking to her for the rest of the night.

Finally, I sat down opposite a girl and found out that she had graduated from Loyola Marymount. Immediately I was excited. Now granted, she was probably three years old when Hank Gathers became the second person ever to lead the nation is both scoring and rebounding, averaging 32.7 and 13.7 respectively. (OK, I looked that up. But I did know that he led the nation in both, so put that in your pipe and smoke it) I am sure everyone reading this blog already knows the story of Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble, because you are all both interesting and trustworthy. However, in case you forgot, I will refresh your memory. One game before the NCAA tournament, Hank Gathers died on the court because of a heart problem (actually immediately after throwing down a hard core ally-oop dunk. The guy was a stud) Best friend and teammate since high school, Bo Kimble would then lead the Cinderella squad all the way to the Elite Eight, where they would fall to the eventual champion UNLV. Kimble did this all while shooting his free throws left handed when he first got to the line. He was a notoriously bad free throw shooter, but he never missed a left handed free throw the entire tournament. Probably my favorite college sports moment ever.

Anyways, when I asked her about Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble, she got very excited and we had a very nice conversation on the topic. So I guess there are sports fans in Japan, you just have to look really hard. So I will continue to search on, and I am sure it will be worth it.

The Ohara Festival

So I don't really know much about why they have this festival, I think it has something to do with the harvest season. What I do know is that there are a ton of dancers and taiko drummers all over the place. I was with some people from the Ultimate frisbee group that I play with on Sunday afternoons. We consisted of 4 foreigners and one local, so whenever we didn't know something we just asked her. Actually, I take that back. Whenever we didn't know something we just made up the answer and then she would slap us for being stupid and tell us the real answer.

The night was marred by a steady drizzle, so all the drums are covered in plastic. Still these kids were awesome. I wish I could go back in time 15 years and become a pro-master skills tiako drummer.






The little kid in the front right is my hero. I bet he drives his parents crazy when he practices though.

The Rice Harvest

In America, most people buy their rice at the supermarket. Japanese on the other hand, LOVE their rice. They love it so much that they grow their own. If only they could grow bananas. But that is for a separate post.

My student Takayoshi invited me to a rice harvest that his family was going to. As I had never harvested rice before, I figured this it would be good for me to try. How hard could it be? When he told me that we would be leaving at 7:00 am, it should have been my first clue that it might not such an easy day.

Arriving at the fields:


The rice field. Part of it has already been harvested and the brown stalks were hung out to dry. I was told that this field was the longest in Japan, it looked to be almost 300 yards:





There was also a pond with grass in it cut to show Kanji and a fish. I don't know what it says. I am not a good student.




Cutting rice is not easy. You have to bend down and slice it with a sickle, and you have to slice 4 bunches before you can tie the stalks together. I turned out to be pretty quick at the cutting part, but I really sucked at tying the grass together. I finally just gave up on the tying and concentrated on just cutting down the rice. Another person took over the tying duties and I descended like a tornado upon the rice field. About halfway through the Mayor of the town came to help with the harvest. Apparently he comes every year. He was all decked out in coveralls and rubber boots. I guess he was kind of a big deal because everyone wanted to talk to him. He asked Takayoshi who I was and Takayoshi told him my name...with Japanese pronunciation, it is said "Jo-shu". Well, I guess that sounds almost exactly like the Japanese word for "servant or helper", so the Mayor thought I was some hired hand and that's why I was cutting down rice like a mad man. Once Takayoshi straightened him out and told him I was from California, The Mayor was very eager to talk to me. What can I say, I'm kind of a big deal.


Another view of the field:



After the harvest was over we went back to Sendai. My legs were beyond sore. It took about a week from my hamstrings to feel normal again. Harvesting rice was a very fun thing to do....once. I will now revert back to my American ways and continue buying my rice at the supermarket. I never cook anyways so it probably doesn't matter where I get my rice.

As I was working on about 3 hours of sleep and had just cut down a ton of rice, I was very tired. So when we got back to Sendai I took a nap on Takayoshi's floor. An hour later it was decided that we should go bowling. These are probably the greatest shoes I have ever seen. If they made them in regular shoes I would definitely buy them.

Banana's are missing, Josh investigates

I have not been able to buy a banana in about a month. Every time I go to the supermarket they are sold out. At first I figured there was some kind of shipping problem, but I have been three times now in the last month and the banana stand is always empty. Where are all the banana's? They are my most favorite fruit. I eat them with peanut butter as a sandwich, I eat them plain as a snack, I cut them up into little pieces and eat them with my cereal. I miss bananas.

So I did a little investigating. Apparently there is some kind of fad "Banana Diet" going around Japan where you just eat one single banana for breakfast. Then a normal lunch and dinner (before 8pm) and you are supposed to lose like 10 pounds a month. It all sounds pretty kooky to me.

One of my students proudly told me that she ordered 88 bananas from the Internet and packed them all in her freezer. Wow. A wise man once said "There is always money in the Banana Stand". I guess he was right.

Basketball Musings: The DM3P

After spending the last two nights huddled in my apartment because of a typhoon (really, there was an actual typhoon) I went down to the river because it was a gorgeous night. While I was there for some reason I started thinking about basketball. I started thinking about the Golden Rule that you need an elite low-post scorer to win it all in the NBA. But I realized that the ’08 Celtics didn’t really have one, Garnett likes to play on the elbow. Same for the Pistons in ’04, ‘Sheed had by then become more reliant on his outside shot, and wasn’t the teams focal point on offense anyways. Sure, Shaq and Duncan have won 4 titles each, but of the last 18 champions, 8 of them did not have what many would consider an “elite” post scorer. Over 44% of teams that won the title broke the Golden Rule. However, every single team in those 13 years had one thing in common, and this common thread is for some reason hardly ever discussed.

Each team since Detroit’s Bad Boy Pistons have had one key similarity: a small forward who could hit the 3 and play suffocating defense. Now if they played defense by having elite skill like Pippen or Prince, or if they just relied on thoroughly pissing off their opponent (Bruce Bowen, Rick Fox, and Mr. Hip Check, James Posey), these players were effective. All of these players were in the game for their defense, but they also all nailed the three point shot when it mattered. In the case of Pippen, the all time NBA steals record holder for a forward, he is arguably the best defender ever at his position. He was not a great three point shooter, but in the playoffs he was a reliable three point threat, even sharing the record for the most 3’s made in a finals game with 7. Pippen’s game was probably good enough for the Bulls to win without him finding his three point shot, but for the rest of this defensive minded group hitting the 3 was the essential ingredient that would enable their teams to hold the championship trophy. We will call them the DM3P’s.

So which teams this season look like they have that special ingredient that leads to champagne popping and banner rising? Let’s take a look at the contenders.


Just Quit Now: Denver Nuggets, Phoenix Suns, Portland TrailBlazers.

These teams don’t have anyone who even remotely resembles a defensive-minded, three-point shooting small forward. Carmelo, Hill, and Outlaw are all mid-range jump shooters who don’t play defense. None of these teams will go anywhere in the playoffs.


One Dimensional Wonders: Utah Jazz, Cleveland LeBrons, Toronto Raptors, Orlando Magic.

Utah has two great wing defenders in AK-47 and Ronnie Brewer. Neither one can shoot…at all.

Cleveland, Toronto, and Orlando all have small forwards who are great three point shooters. All of them are white. None of them can guard anyone. Coincidence? You decide.


The Everything Needs to Break (or not break) Right Team: Houston Rockets.

Shane Battier is the poster boy for a tough defender who can hit the 3. If he were on the Lakers last season Phil Jackson would now be sporting a ring on every one of his ten fingers. Everyone knows the problem with the Rockets. McGrady and Yao have each shown that they cannot stay healthy for a full season, and Ron Artest….well you don’t need me to tell you that he has more career suspension games than playoff games.


In the Posey Zone: Boston Celtics and New Orleans Hornets.

With the signing of James Posey, the Hornets bought themselves a proven DM3Per, who has just so happened to have won 2 of the last three titles. If Paul, West, and Chandler can stay healthy, the Hornets are a real threat to win it all this year.

By letting Posey walk, Boston had dumped an even greater load on the shoulders of the already weary Paul Pierce. Ray Allen, Sam Cassell, and even Kevin Garnett are all a year older, and something tells me that Darius Miles will not be the answer. There is a reason the DM3P’s have all been role players, and I don’t think Pierce will be able to handle all the responsibilities the Celtics are putting on him.

Too Little Too Late: Dallas Mavericks.

Josh Howard is a potential DM3Per, but nobody knows what this team is built to do. Run and gun, or grind it out and feed it to Dirk while everyone cheats off Kidd. Avery was a good coach, but when the refs decided they wanted Dwayne Wade to win the 2004 finals, they lost their window. Getting run by the Warriors might have been the death blow. Maybe Carlisle can turn things around, make their offense a bit more creative. However, barring a miracle the Mavericks’ time has most likely passed.

Tried and True: San Antonio Spurs, Detroit Pistons.

Bowen and Prince are ring-owning members of the DM3P club. The question here is age and health. Bowen is old. He definitely has lost a step, also the Lakers realized that he can only hit the three from the corner and adjusted to not allow him to get wide open looks from there. Manu’s injury also makes one assume that this is not San Antonio’s year. Prince is just now entering his prime, but the rest of the Pistons are slowly fading from the players they were four years ago. If young blood like Maxiell and Stuckey can continue to improve however, they will be scary in the playoffs.


The Potential Dynasty: Los Angeles Lakers.

Kobe. Pau. Bynum. There aren’t a better big three in the league to build around for this year and the future. However, as of now they do not have a DM3P small forward. They have all the parts, but not one complete player. They will have to either develop one of their many small forward options, or have Phil pull some Zen tricks with the matchups if there is to be another Laker banner raised in ’09. Odom will likely be the starting 3 to begin the year, but he is better as a quick 4 who can penetrate and dish, while using his huge wingspan to rebound close to the basket. Vlad can shoot. He can shoot very well. Vlad also cannot play defense. Walton showed signs of hitting the 3 last season, but also cannot play defense and is very inconsistent. Short of making a trade for Battier when Artest goes crazy and T-Mac and Yao get injured ordering a Frosty at Wendy’s, the Lakers will have to develop. This means either Trevor Ariza or Sasha “The Machine” Vujacic will have to expand their games.

Ariza is an incredibly athletic defender. He is coming off an injury, but has all the tools to be one of the best defensive small forwards in the game today. If he can simply learn to hit the corner 3, a la Bowen, he will have gained DM3P status. Still, it’s a big if, as he holds a lofty .209 career three point percentage. Yikes.

Sasha Vujacic is a Shooting Machine. He shot a ridiculous 44% from deep last year. He already has the makings of a modern day Rick Fox with his ability to annoy every living soul in the building. The long hair is an added bonus. The problem with Sasha is that he likes to shoot too much. Someone who shoots 44% from long range should be much higher than 46% from 2 point range. He needs to become more selective with his shots and concentrate more on his defense to become a true DM3per. Although it is obvious that The Machine will never put defense first, I believe he can be enough of a pest on that end for his 3 point accuracy to carry him into that most respected group of small forwards: NBA champions.