Thursday, September 27, 2001 (click to see all posts from this day)
|
Preliminaries
It was one of those days.
I had problems publishing my home page, so I was up until 5 a.m. At 8, I arose again and continued working, missing my bus. Because I am publishing through a cellular connection, I went down to the train station, where I thought the connection might be stronger.
It was, but I still had problems. So I gave up, and caught the 12:30 bus back to last night's stopping point. I didn't cover much ground today, but over all the day turned out well.
The walking portion began and ended with meeting teachers. As an old pedant myself, I found a certain comfort in meeting colleagues.
If anyone violated the rules at the Arai Barrier, they were brought here. Lower classes had their heads cut off; upper classes were allowed the honor of committing seppuku or harakiri--suicide by cutting open one's own stomach. Today the place is a pleasant park, with no sign indicating its grisly past. But my friend Chie says the local people avoid the area at night.
For another execution ground, see my Words and Pictures page about Suzugamori (from September 6).
Shirasuka, Station #32 on the Old Tokaido
By the way, it's tough to see because of the lighting, but that is the ocean in the background.
Hiroshige's Tokaido: Shirasuka, Station #32 on the Old Tokaido
 The view from the top of Shiomizaka. |
The story? As I was taking the picture a gentleman approached. He spoke excellent English--because he had been an English teacher in this district for years! He was now working for the school board, and was out visiting this school.
I told him my idea about the sign. He called the principal over, and they marveled over a thought that had never occurred to them.
Later, my new friend Mr. Asada sent me an e-mail, which read in part: "You found it funny. But we had no idea like that. You gave me a new view point. We can discover from tiny little things when we observe carefully." He then wished that my trip would lead to more discoveries.
Me, too. Thanks, Ichiro-san.
From Shirasuka to Futagawa is a long, boring, uncomfortable walk along Highway 1. This is truckers' country. I actually took a little break in a well-appointed truck stop, complete with showers and laundry facilities. (I only used the toilet, the lounge, and the vending machines.) After last night's short sleep, I even dozed a little.
I often walk through rice fields. The common word for cooked rice--gohan--is the same as the word for "meal." So asagohan--"morning meal"--is breakfast, bangohan--"evening meal"--is dinner, etc. Rice, the staple of the diet, lends its name to the meals themselves.
Sound familiar? After all, grain that has been ground up for eating is called "meal." Cornmeal, for instance, or oatmeal. Now, my dictionary tells me that this kind of meal and the breakfast/lunch/dinner kind of meal come from different roots. But my common sense tells me that there's a stronger connection than that.
The importance of grains, an essential idea. Something to think about at your next gohan.
Futagawa, Station #33 on the Old Tokaido
My guidebook by Tokuriki says nasty things about Futagawa. "There is nothing at all of note in Futagawa today," he writes, "except the section of the new highway that passes through there. The scenery is so disappointingly commonplace that one cannot help but feel that Hiroshige must have worked hard to find any inspiration there."
Anyway, the honjin is so splendid that it gets a Words and Pictures page.
Hiroshige's Tokaido: Futagawa, Station #33 on the Old Tokaido
 Hiroshige shows slopes covered with small pines and shrubs--said to be all that can grow in the poor soil of the area--with a small teahouse on the left. |
As the day began with my meeting a teacher, so it ended. After visiting the honjin I stopped for a snack. As I was eating it, an oh-so-rare foreigner walked by. His name is Fred Lackmance, and he was on his way to teach an on-site company English class--which is what I did for the past 2-1/2 years. We had a great time together, as we walked back toward Futagawa Station.
By the way, Fred--like myself--is actually an experienced teacher, not someone just doing this until he can find a job in securities or IT. He's looking for a job as a school teacher in the Toyohashi area; if you know of any, let me know and I'll pass the information on to him.
Another funny story: I asked Fred what book he was using, and he said Get Real, part of a new series from MacMillan Language House. "Let me see it," I said, so he pulled it out of his bag, and I flipped to the back and showed him my name! I had a chance to review some of the book before it was published. (Stuart Bowie, MLH's Tokyo rep, is one of my best buddies, and the first contributor to this project.)
Anyway, good luck, Fred!
So I didn't cover much ground today, but I had a great day (technology aside). Back at Araimachi station, I checked my e-mail and discovered the letter from Mr. Asada quoted above. Also, I tried again to upload to my site. No luck. So I sent a letter to my internet host to see if they knew what the problem was, and packed up to return to the hostel. While I was working at the station, there was a small earthquake, another regular element of life in Japan.
Back at the hostel, I worked on the site for awhile, and went to bed at a decent hour. I'm finishing this on the 28th--but that's a story for tomorrow's Logbook.
| ← Previous Day | Back to Old Tokaido Guide | Next Day → |
Posted October 2, 2019
No comments:
Post a Comment