From Solitary to Surrounded - Sokendai

Shinjuku Hyatt Regency

My second night in Tokyo was just as relaxing as the first. Even though my king-size suite was smaller than most outside of Japan, the polish and detail was absolutely grand. I’ve actually bought Hyatt linens before, but these were something else. I was like a kitten rolling around a bed made of clouds. Anyway… My third day quickly rolls on, leading me to a local Shinjuku temple, where I get my first glimpse of monks (I was too shy to take a picture at this point) doing whatever it is that monks do on a Tuesday morning. I felt like I was intruding, but I’m sure they would have graciously invited me in to view their pious rituals.

Temple in Shinjuku

Sokendai introductions

The following week was a whirlwind of activity including, introductions, Japanese language lessons, scientific talks, and poster presentations. I won’t bore my readers with in-depth details, but 115 scientists from across the globe were gathered at the Graduate Centre at Sokendai. A beautiful campus, located on a peninsula south of Tokyo, Sokendai gave us all the opportunity to bond and network with like-minded individuals with a keen interest in research, and an even greater interest in adventure. We all made some lasting relationships during that week and I would go on to travel to several parts of Japan with many of those research fellows.

View from Sokendai with Mt. Fuji-san in the background

Tea ceremony during orientations

During our week at Sokendai we all stayed a weekend with a host family and I was fortunate to have stayed with a lovely couple who showed me around Yokohama and Kamakura. Yokohama was a cool little city south of Tokyo, where I got to try my first izakaya, essentially a Japanese bar restaurant that serves food tapas style. Serving all sorts of foods, grilled chicken skin, gizzard, octopus balls (takoyaki), German sausages (they all seem to serve German sausage…), salads, beef skewers (kushiyaki), various fish… there’s something for everyone. Then of course, there’s the drinks. Starting off with a few Japanese beers (Kirin, Sapporo, Asahi…), which are generally light and refreshing, we then moved on to shōchū, which is a distilled (in this case) rice liquor at roughly 25% ABV. It can be drank multiple ways, I had mine on the rocks, while my host had his chūhai, or mixed with a fruit juice and soda. Both were delicious. My host mother was on the chūhai all night, until I gave them an omiyage, or gift, for hosting me, which included a bottle of Jura Superstition whisky. Let’s just say waking up early for a day of touring Kamakura wasn’t easy.

The city of Kamakura is located about 50 km south west of Tokyo (closer to Sokendai) in the Kanagawa prefecture. Famous for establishing the shogunate, or rule by military dictator, Kamakura is known as the city of the samurai, who were warrior-nobles sworn to protect their lord. The kamakura period, 1185-1333, was the emergence of the shogunate – who controlled the samurai – using military might to control the populace. The kamakura period ended when confidence in the shogun failed and the emperor re-established imperial rule (for a short while). 

Visiting the Tsurugaoka Hachimangū Shinto shrine, I got another chance to practice my cleansing technique. This time, I nailed it, no inner purification for me. 

We were lucky enough to have arrived right when a traditional Japanese wedding ceremony was being held in the maiden pavilion.

Surrounding this building is the typical sake and beer offerings the temples make to their Gods.

Representing Brock University

Kamakura is also famous for its giant bronze daibutsu, or great Buddha, which was built during the kamakura period. Originally, a wooden Buddha was erected, however, seemingly like all things in Japan, it was destroyed in a storm. This bronze Buddha, built 10 years later in 1252, has stood the test of time, even withstanding a tsunami in 1498. The Buddha statue is hollow, allowing tourists to enter the venerable effigy with the following words of insight inscribed at the entrance: ‘Stranger, whosoever thou art and whatsoever be thy creed, when thou enterest this sanctuary remember thou treadest upon ground hallowed by the worship of ages. This is the Temple of Bhudda and the gate of the eternal, and should therefore be entered with reverence’. Inside the Buddha was, well, nothing but a large, extremely hot, metal shell. Still very cool.

Inside Diabutsu

We finished our weekend with a trip to the ramen museum, a kind of retro-styled indoor market for noodle-chefs to ship their wares. My goodness was it delicious. We each had two small ramen dishes from different parts of the country, but it was so darn filling I was full after the first, but they wanted to keep going! Two was my limit much to the chagrin of my host father. Another time he says.

Tonkatsu ramen

Sapporo miso ramen

We take the train back to Yokohama, where I notice that some of the cars are labelled ‘women only’ during certain times of the day. I was shocked at how progressive that was for Japan, a seemingly male-dominated country which holds on to archaic values of yesteryear. Needless to say I was pleased to see this progressive attitude.

Thanks for reading today’s story and hang tight, as next will be about my move into Kobe, where I will be based for the next 3 months. Cheers!