BigMike's Big Mini Japanese Vacation

[Quick Draw]

About the cables...  We have them here in Colorado, and they saved my life:



Sorry for the off topic...  Great pics!

[Cheesemaker]

I would so own one of those little trucks Mike.  I got to drive one at Outdoor School that I volunteer at last fall.  They are so fun.  But you must get intimate with the steering column if your our height.     The one I drove, the shifter was easy to get used to.  And they rally really nice, but are nose heavy, I had the rear axle bouncing off the ground real easy!!     And the 4wd works real nice too.

[BigMike]

Quick Draw: Holy cow man! Glad you (and your truck) are okay!

Cheesy: That's awesome! You are right about the column, I whacked my knee into it a few times before I learned. Also, turning the sharp steep corners of the narrow road would often cause the inner rear tire to slip a bit. It was fun for sure. This truck was only 2WD


Regarding dad's green house where he had the tomatoes, he actually erected those himself. He said they are about 8 - 10 years old now.

Also, I asked how much land he has, and despite understanding what an acre is, and also a square kilometer, he had no idea. I think this is because he inherited the land from his fathers and so he doesn't know. Also, way back when, farms were measured in terms of rice yield anyway. I think it's different here, they don't consider how much land they "have".

Okay, on with some more pics!

After checking out the tomatoes, I drove down the hill and we stopped at his best friends farm



It is a beef farm



The cows were arranged from youngest to oldest (and hence smallest to largest). I met the guys son who didn't speak any English but managed to understand me (I think). This is the most I've ever spoken in Japanese to a person who I just met. Usually, in Japan, people don't talk to strangers or even to people they are introduced to. Apparently you have to somehow build a friendship before one or the other becomes talkative. But you know, for me, talking my guts out is second nature and I love asking questions about basically everything. It was a lot of fun

Here is what I learned:

• The young (smaller) cows are about 9 months old
• The older (larger) cows are about 2 years old
• The cows are ready to go once they are about 2.5 or 3 years old
• They have never heard of feeding cows other cows. Right? Did you catch that? You know, we grind up eyeballs and buttholes and then feed that to young cows which helps them grow fat and ugly and unhealthy (because no animal/mammal/insect on this planet was designed to be eating other animals, this is proved over and over and over so go roll your eyes somewhere else).
• So what is their diet you ask? Corn, grass, soybeans, and various types of nuts and grains
• Where does the meat go? This meat stays in Kumamoto.
• Kumamoto beef is famous. If you take Kumamoto beef to say, Tokyo, ppl would consider it gourmet and would be all excited to try it
• Could it be the healthy all vegetarian diet??!

Here is their son getting off the tractor full of feed. Sadly this is the only picture I took with him. I really wished I had taken a pic with him! >< I did give him a business card and told him to please visit our website If you are reading this, then こんにちは！たのしかったです！

[BigMike]

We stayed here a good hour or so and then headed on home

On the way home we stopped at another strawberry green house. This is where they grow the strawberries, a nursery. Once the strawberries are of the proper size, they transplant them to their other green houses. This place is just as large as their other places. I am not sure just how many green houses dad has, but all in all I visited 12 of them (3 groups of 4 houses).



Here is one of dad's eggplant farm that is visible from the road above



We also drove past a couple sweet yam and potato storage silos but I didn't get a chance to take any pics because I was driving. They are just that, silos. Two large faded red metal doors in the side of a mountain.

With all the rice fields I've been posting, surely you're wondering how many rice fields dad has. I am not sure, but I think it's only 1 or 2. He is into strawberries and tomatoes mostly. The rice he grows is ONLY for his family. So the rice I have been eating here every day is totally fresh direct from his field(s). He is VERY proud of the high quality of his rice, and I can REALLY tell this is great rice. It is hard for me to rate rice (after all it's just rice, right?) but after a while I am starting to get it now. This family eats a LOT of vegetables and it's really awesome, I fit in here very well indeed.

Ahhh I forgot to specify how many workers dad has: 4. Himself, his wife, his father (the guy is like in his 90s and he is up at the crack of dawn every day and off to work!), and his son. That's it! All this farming and only 4 people! They work VERY HARD

[Caboose]

Looks like fun mike, your making me very, very, very, extremely, ridiculously, obnoxiously, stupidly jealous im not chillin there with ya right now.  A denny's trip is a must when you get back!

And whats the advantage of cables over metal guard rail?

[BigMike]

Later that night we had a BBQ. It was AWESOME! Her brother (Atsushi) set out some homemade BBQ half-barrels, added some coal with lighter ummm goo? (not fluid) and got it going. Mom was busy inside cutting up a boat load of veggies and a lot of tofu (yup, I requested to BBQ Tofu! They said that they've never done that before and they really liked it!! Of course they did )



Here is the special Kumamoto beef!! That price tag reads about $46 U.S.!! For a small package even!


The veggies mom prepared. We had Enoki, Eringi, and Shitake Mushrooms (most excellent), Green Bellpeppers (always a BBQ must have), Eggplant (Marlin's favorite), Sweet Onions (Misato's most common cooking ingredient), Yam, and Potato.


The spread



Holy smokes that was great beef!!! Japan beef is always thin and it's so easy to cook. I couldn't get enough



Here is Shi-chan trying to get in on the action. Yes, they do feed her just a bit of people food, against Misato and Ayami's wishes.



While we were all mom caught a Hotaru (FIREFLY)!!! I was SUPER EXCITED because I have head SO MANY stories about Japanese fireflies but have never seen one in real life. It was amazing!! Check out this picture, this is with a 6 or 7 second exposure



So that guy right there has less than 1 week to live, or something like that. Their light indicates the end of the road. Misato said that there used to be SO MANY fireflies when she was little, but when everything started becoming more and more industrialized (more and more machines on the farm, more and more cars, etcetera), the firefly population has dropped sharply. They are worried that they are a dying breed now as a result of human endeavor

Today was father's day in Japan and Ayami's friend Daze bought dad some ultra expensive wine (a general term for Sake). Everyone had a sip including me (who does not drink). The first sip was really delicious but the 2nd sip exposed how strong it was and that was about all I could handle LOL. I do like to sip on hot sake but I quickly loose the ability to even sallow alcoholic beverages, it hurts my throat and chest and makes me momentarily dizzy with each gulp. Man, I will take Ice Tea over alcohol eleventy bazillion times to one ANY DAY.



And then Misato and Ayami got him a new shirt. He was super happy, plus at this time he was already buz'n from the wine so he suddenly started having a grand ol time



Here is Misato holding Sora-chan, who is like 12 or 13 years old!



Then Ayami and Daze surprised Misato by bringing out a BIRTHDAY CAKE!! From left to right: Daze, yours truly, Misato, Atsushi's girlfriend Yumi-chan.



It was a great surprise! Misato was not expecting this because her birthday isn't until next week. But we will be back in America by then so this was a great opportunity to wish her an early BD.

We used some draw string poppers when we pulled the cake out which thoroughly freaked both dogs out of their minds. Shi-chan, the larger dog with the Lion cut, split straight into the house, but the smaller dog Sora-chan split out into the neighborhood. We stopped and grabbed a couple flashlights and everyone joined in the search for Sora-chan. It seriously took a good 15 mins to find her. I was fortunate enough to have walked down the right road where Sora-chan was hanging out. She started barking at me like crazy until she realized it was me and quickly ran up to greet me. Everyone was so excited and happy that I found her, but I said hey anyone could have found her, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

All these little things that I've been doing here have really gone a LONG ways with the family. Especially mom, she LOVES me. We laugh and joke together and always make each other smile. Also, we are doing a lot of hai-tachi (high-five) together (mom and I) which totally shocked Misato because mom never does this. hahahahaha It's been a lot of fun over here!

Here is Sora-chan back at home. From left to right: Ayami (Misato's only sister), Mitsuko (mom), and Misato



At the end of the day I was getting ready for bed and Shi-chan came running into the room where I am staying and went straight to the window. Check out the Yamori (Lizard or Geko?) They scale the window waiting for a delicious Ga (moth) to bounce their way



This concludes Sunday. It's time to eat now, I'll try to post up some more after dinner

Mike

[Rocksurfer]

Before most of you were born cable was used down the center of all freeways to prevent vehicles from crossing over the center of the roads. Though effective in most cases there were some exceptions, big rigs, bikes and some of the lower slung vehicles. Big rigs went right through, riders would make a mess but some of the lower vehicles would make it through to the other side leaving the drivers head on the other side, litterally. When I first started running the freeways there were a couple occasions of complete or near complete decapitations. Shortly after I started they started putting in the cement barriers and K-rails to keep you on the right side of the road. Though if you look at some of the K-rails today you'll find cables behind them.

I don't know if I'd like to live above those steam vents, there is something down there turning all that water to steam. It would be like living on top of Yellowstone. Though being instantly vaporized if it blows has its advantages to not feeling any pain. Would be interesting to see how they live, if I'm not mistaken the PAtacos have a thermal system installed in there home.

[BigMike]

RS, wow that is crazy. I must be a "youngster" because I've never seen them

Monday

Today was a very fun day. I got to hang out with Misato, her sister Ayami, and Ayami's friend Daze. Daze is a super cool girl and I really like her. She couldn't speak any English, but she did know some English vocabulary, so we talked a lot together (98% Japanese, 2% English) and it was a lot of fun!

Ayami and Daze both took time off work to hang out with Misato and I so we were really appreciative of them

Here we are out driving towards the ocean. This is a structure built along side the road.


A typical rainy drive in the country side


Mom prepared a Bento (lunch box) for us, which was awesome.


We wanted to stop for coffee along the way and l@@kie what I found


Here is a Japanese Starbucks menu


They have the normal Tall, Grande, and Venti, but they are much smaller than their American counterparts. I picked up some milk tea from Tully's which is another cafe I like waaay better than Starbucks. Their drink sizes are Short, Tall, & Grande. They do not have a Venti.
These are both size Short


Japanese Hot Dogs anyone


Outside Misato found a familiar critter


Japanese big rigs


Here is my Venti next to Misato's Short


Check this out. First, the word Hakko means box, which it is a large box, and second the green sign on the back door says that the truck is equipped with a speed limiter so please pass me. So when the truck reaches a certain speed, maybe 100 KPH? it stops accelerating. That is a great feature for a large truck in my opinion


Well, I really thought the Pontiac Aztec was out in a league all by itself, but it looks like there exists a contender for the world's ugliest car


Ahhh, we finally reached our destination!


We actually had planned to go white water rafting, but because of all the rain, the trip was canceled. Not only was the water level high and therefore less rapids, but it was all a bunch of run off wash water so the river was all brown. So we made a quick decision on the internet to go watch some Iruka (Dolphin)!!

Here is Misato buying our tickets


Ayami showing them off


Recycling bins outside. I like how they have separate bins for everything. They even recycle batteries separately


I decided I'd better use the Toire (Toilet) before we embark. What I want to show is the tank for the toilet here. The guys at the shop didn't believe me about this. When you flush the toilet, water that enters the tank may be used to wet your hands with. You don't use any soap, it's just to wet your hands and then dry them off. This is a fantastic idea!


Above the urinal there was this really strange sign. It is saying to please step close so you don't splatter everywhere. The boxer is supposed to be like you are stepping into your opponent like a boxer would. LOL whatever, that is so strange!


Check it out, they even have small shop towel machines to save on paper


Tickets in hand, we are walking to the boat now


Look at the bridge in the background. This is Hashi (bridge) number 4 out of 5 like-bridges that span across a ton of these islands. Apparently the bridges are famous for some reason


On the boat here are some kids with American brand t-shirts


Check out the sweet zip tie construction


Thank you okaasan (mother)!



Represent


The boat ride took about 30 mins and when we started slowing down this is what we saw


They were everywhere!




They would come so close to the boat that we could feel the water spray from their blow hole




I mainly took a LOT of video, it was really amazing! None of us had ever done anything like this so we were all extremely excited.



On the way back the sky cleared up a bit and I was able to take some good pics of the small islands. The sedimentary lines were interesting to me



Back on land



I would have rather taken these boats but Misato probably would have gotten pretty tired from paddling me around the ocean



Saw this parked in the lot. MAN that thing was built for some X-TREME TRAILS!!

[BigMike]

Immediately after the boat ride we went to this awesome nearby Onsen (hot spring)



This was pretty sweet because you could rent private individual rooms for just $20 per hour. So we rented a couple rooms. One room had this barrel filled with hot spring water


The other had this (real) tree with the cutout filled with hot spring water


It was really amazing and one of the most romantic things I have ever done in my life. In the over-exposed area of the above pics (in the background) IS THE OCEAN. So you could hang out in the hot spring water while listening to the beautiful sounds of the ocean and take in the soothing ocean fragrance. It was really great the say the very least.

Each room also had these rock baths that were a good 20% hotter than the above ones. The water had to of been 110 or 120 F. It took a while to get all the way in.



After that we headed back into the main room where they had a cool drink bar



We all had ice water and some delicious aisukurimu (ice cream).



On the way back to the car I finally got a pic of a Toyota (Hino) bus. Yes, Toyota makes VERY LARGE MACHINES here in Japan. Big time turbo diesel Toyotas are a dime a dozen.



Heading back home now. It was about a 3 hour drive to get back.
This is what many of the scooter riders do. They hang out in the gutter with a max speed of about a 233:1 Crawl Ratio



Here are some typical cars you'd find at a quickie mart. Note the cars with Yellow number plates. These are a special classification of cars known as "K cars". They are all very small and many stores have special K-car parking stalls. When you see a Prius or a Honda Fit next to a K car, it's like HOLY COW THAT PRIUS IS HUGE!



Here are some school kids riding home in their uniforms in the rain



More typical Japanese billboards



Saw a cool Sami but the pic came out blurry



Here I am wearing Daze's stylish glasses.



Here is proof that Toyota sells the iForce in Japan



Nice



Here are more modern Japanese homes



Surfs here, Surfs there, Surfs everywhere



They see me roll'n, they hate'n



Nice



Wow! Wasn't expecting this!



NICE



NICE



NICE



Okay



NICE



So it was about this time that I suddenly realized..... 4WD Toyota Land Cruisers are EVERYWHERE, especially the 70 series. I would say the 70 series out number the 80, 60, and 40 series all put together by about 4:1

Here is an 80 series



hahahahahaha HEY! Who let this unibody into Japan! LOL j/k



We entered a mall for dinner

Here Misato is trying to steal a display piece of a delicious looking fruit cake



Wow, some Coronas!



Here is how many restaurants show off their food: with actual plastic models




We decided to try a Korean BBQ type place. Here is the menu



Ohh it was on like donky kong





Everything devoured. representing

[BigMike]

After dinner we took a quick stroll through the mall. I was able to get some excellent Engrish candidates

This one reads, "As for going to the forest, it is taken a rest very much"



This one reads, "Let's talk this over it's not like we're dead"



This one reads, "I Love MAM." SERIOUSLY?? THEY CAN'T EVEN SPELL MOM?



This one reads, "What's your heatne love? Sweet day with."



Here are some new cars on display inside



Found a cool music store



Then to top the day off, on the way home after the mall I found a lot more cool Toy 4WDs

70-series




Another 70-series with an ARB bumper. They had actually just parked and I talked to the owner (in Japanese) and gave him my meishi (business card). He said he was excited to see our website and was very modest towards my compliments about his truck



Here is an 80-series




And finally, please note the blue night time street lights. I asked why they are blue, and this is because research shows that blue is a soothing and relaxing color, and it has been proven that less car accidents and less crime result from using blue street lights. It makes perfect sense to me. Also, there are a lot of blue flowers along side many roads that sooth drivers during the day. Wow, Japan.

[BigMike]

Ok, that is all I can do for a while. Tomorrow we leave Kumamoto and return to Osaka to stay with a couple of Misato's friends. We return to America this Sunday. I have no clue when I'll have internet access again, so this may be my last entry until Sunday(?).

I am still very far behind with the updates. I've got a LOT more to share! Please stay tuned!

Thanks,
BigMike

[BirdDog]

Great thread. Thanks Mike 

[BigLittleBen]

Awesome photos Mike!! I love the lush green color there... it makes me really want to pack up my bike and just go ride on those roads! And great Engrish, as always 

Wow... *real* steak!!! What did it taste like compared to the steak here? Please elaborate! 

[BigMike]

Hey John! You and Mindy should visit Japan sometime, you'd love the castles! So far I've re-visited Kumamoto-jo and I plan to visit Osaka-jo today or tomorrow. The amount of history over here is amazing

Ben! Sweet man! You joined the Turtle world! The beef is AWESOME, especially if you go eat Sukiyaki, the meat is ultra-thinly sliced unlike anything I've ever seen in America. The meat nearly melts in your mouth, it only takes a couple chews; it is not tough at all. I am not really a meat eater, so to say, but I could eat this style of beef all day long

Okay, we are just about packed up and are going to be leaving home after lunch. Misato and her sister were crying together last night... Leaving each other is always super hard on both of them. They are pretty much best friends but Misato decided to live in America so that's the way the world spins. Basically, as students, it's been really tough on Misato because we don't have much $$ and therefore she is only able to visit her family & friends once every 2 or 3 years But, now that Misato is working full-time and I'll be doing the same starting this winter, we are hoping to be able to visit Japan at least once per year if not more.

Ok, I've got a lot more pics and updates but no time to share. I'll talk at ya guys later
Mike

[BigMike]

Hey guys！We made it safely to Osaka! We checked into our hotel and are at a super cool internet cafe right now. The hotel we are using is one of the oldest hotels in Osaka, which I requested we use, because everything is traditional, small, and simple. We will be sleeping on futons above tatami (straw) mats behind shouji sliding windows and doors. It`s pretty sweet.

We will be staying in Osaka for two nights. Right now we are waiting for our good friend Hiroko (who used to live in Fresno) to get off work so we can go out and have some Okonomiyaki, my favorite of all Japanese food!!!!!

Like always, I`ll take a lot of pics and I am not sure when the next time I`ll be able to come online will be between now and Sunday evening.

BTW, Japan just beat Denmark and they are going to the tournament (World Cup) and everyone is going absolutely NUTS over here. The game ended around 6 am this morning and ppl flooded the streets and a ton of police had to come out to stop the madness. Everyone is so proud of their Japanese team. I am not as big of a soccer fan as I`d like to be, but I think it is rare for Japan to do this well and so it`s really news over here

Okay! Talk to everyone later!
Mike

[Marlin]

Great job, Big Mike.   :thumb


Thanks for the great pics.....  Just wish you could post more rice fields, and ease up on the auto and truck shots.
Do you know there are more than 3,296 varietys of rice known to exist including white, tan, brown, short, medium, long, curved,  and straight, etc.

Also, please let up on the eggplant comments. [AKA male goat external organs] For the record, I still do not eat those vegetables  that we invented in Japan?

You sure look like you are having a great time.

See you guys soon,
Dad

[Toymin8r]

Pictures of zip ties and trucks.    Do they think you're wierd over there or what?   

[*** YELLER ***]

Wow Mike just got E chewed out by Dad

[BigMike]

Hey sorry guys,

I don't have time to read the above replies.

We are at the Kansai International Airport at Osaka and are getting ready to board our plane. I'll reply back when I get home Sunday night!!

Everything is going well and I've got a ton more pics too!

Talk to ya all soon,
Mike

[*FFC*]

Have a safe flight Mike and Misato!!!!

[BigLittleBen]

Yes, I'm now officially a Marlin crawler-er... ;-)

Hope to see you soon(er or later)! Have a safe trip!

(p.s. what is Okonomiyaki?)

[BigMike]

Okay, just got home to Fresno

We've got a lot of unpacking to do. I'll post up some more updates before hitting the sack tonight

Later
Mike

[jrock]

[BigMike]

Ok, sorry guys, the family went out for dinner and I got back too late to do updates (I really need to get some shut eye). I'll post up tomorrow evening.

G'night
Mike

[Caboose]

Glad to hear you made it home safe. ttyl mike.

[BigLittleBen]

Welcome back!

[rock_krawler]

Thanks for the pics and descriptions. I don't think I've ever desired to visit Japan, until now- BEAUTIFUL. I really want to check out the country-side more than the big city stuff. Is that weather pretty typical?


-EDIT-
And welcome home.

[hilux-1983]

  home

[Cheesemaker]

Good to hear that all is well and you guys are back safe.  I was digging the 70 series, but I will agree with Marlin, you posted alot more pictures of the places you went to last time. 

So, what is it that has the  sticker on Mike? 

[BigMike]

So, what is it that has the  sticker on Mike? 

It is my wife's purse Mirror

Last night I spent time unpacking, cleaning up my garage, and washed my Supercharged MR2. I'll try to post up some updates soon, thanks for everyone's patience! Misato is still BADLY jet lagged but I think I'm over mine now.

Mike