Tomodachis and Serenity: Arigatai, Miyajima!

        Miyajima is a small island off the coast of Hiroshima. There are no bridges out to the island, so the only way to get there is by ferry. Mike, Brittany and I took the metro from Peace Park to Miyajima Guchi (the mainland station) and then started looking for the Miyajima Backpackers Hostel. We originally planned to stay in a traditional ryokan out on the island, but it was booked for the night. That ended up being a really lucky occurrence though because the hostel was awesome!
        Hisa, the owner, is from Hiroshima but has traveled all over the world, spending most of his time in Brazil and the States. He loved the environment of the hostels he stayed in so much that he decided to open one up in his own town. A year and a half ago he founded Miyajima Backpackers. Hisa is an awesome hostel owner! He speaks great English as well as Portuguese and of course Japanese. He told us of a great place to eat, so after checking in we went to grab some grub.
        The restaurant (I don't know the name... I think it was something like Miyajima Okonomiyaki) was DELICIOUS! They served the well-known snack of the area, okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki is a kind of thin pancakes stuffed with all sorts of goodies. Traditionally, it has octopus (or other meat such as squid or pork), green onions, mushrooms, other veggies, cheese and sometimes kimchi or mochi. Its also usually served with mayo and okonomiyaki sauce (kinda like a sweet Worcestershire sauce). They take all the raw ingredients and fry them on the stove at your table, hibachi-style (they didn't know what we meant by hibachi though, so I wonder if that's actually what they call it... I doubt it). In Hiroshima, they layer the ingredients, add way more cabbage than in other areas, add noodles and a fried egg. They brag that this is the “correct way to make okonomiyaki”. They fry the dough, layer the ingredients on top and add the sauces. Then you eat right off the grill using a metal spatula type utensil. It was AMAZING!!!! Even thought I just ate, my mouth is watering just thinking about it! MMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmm........ okonomiyaki..... mmmmmmmmmmm.......
        The waitress was really sweet. She hardly knew any English but we got the order across just by pointing, even the fact that the Mike and Brittany didn't want meat. We just kept smiling and laughing. Then we ordered beers and I was trying to ask for the caps for my collection, so we played pictionary! I think she was confused why I wanted the cap, but she gave it to me anyway, laughing the entire time!
        After dinner, we headed out to Miyajima to see the island by night. The island is the location of the Itsukushima Shrine. It is a UNESCO world heritage sight and one of the most beautiful shrines in all of Japan.

        “The shrine is dedicated to the three daughters of the Shinto deity of seas and storms Susano-o no Mikoto, brother of the great sun deity, Amaterasu (the tutelary deity of the Imperial household). The first shrine buildings were probably erected in the 6th century, and the shrine has been destroyed many times. The present shrine dates from the mid-16th century, having been rebuilt in keeping with its earlier 12th century design “ (from Wikipedia)

        It is most famous for its “floating” red torii. The image of the torii out on the water, with mountains in the background, is one of the most famous pictures of Japan, however, it only appears to be floating when the tide is high. It is very large and located offshore because the entire island was once considered sacred ground. Upon sailing to the island, your boat was supposed to pass though the torii to signify that you were entering sacred ground.

        “The gate has existed since 1168, though the current gate dates back to 1875. The gate, built of camphor wood, is about 16 meters high and was built in a four-legged style to provide additional stability. “

The island was considered so pure that commoners were not allowed to step foot on the island. They could only stand on the shrine itself for fear that they would ruin the purity of the island. The rest of the land was solely for the elite. To preserve the island's purity, cutting down trees is strictly forbidden as are burials. The island is covered in trees and wild deer and monkeys roam freely!
        So we went out to see the shrine lit up at night. Lamps make the torii, shrine and nearby pagoda all stand out beautifully! We walked around for an hour or so, engaged in amazing conversation, as we pet the deer and admired the beautiful landscape. Oh I forgot to mention, the deer are completely tame! They walk right up to you and nuzzle you and everything! Its so cute! In the Shinto religion, deers are sacred and considered to be messengers of the gods, so they have not been hunted. Thus, they have no reason to fear humans and instead regard them as friendly bearers of treats. We didn't give them any treats, but we did pet them and scratch them behind their ears :D
        We took the last ferry back to the mainland to return to our hostel. As we entered, Hisa was on his way out and invited us to join him for a beer around the corner. One main topic of conversation was the differences in the university system in Japan and the US, but I think they're mostly the same. Hisa said that in Japan, students work really hard to get into the best university, but then once they are there they hardly work at all. He said in most fields it is very easy to get the degree, so most spend their college years partying, For some reason, he seemed to think that this is different in the US. But I assured him that it is not. Of course, there are people who work hard, but they are generally at the to of their classes because everyone else is too busy partying to care about learning. At least that's how it is at my university. People view not showing up to class or doing the reading and something to brag about, so long as you still pass. I don't understand it; I thought the point of paying all that money to go to school was to educate yourself. But apparently its just to get a piece of paper that says you jumped through the hoops so you can get a better job and make more money. What a waste.
        After our conversation concluded we headed back to the hostel. It was one of the guest's birthdays so Hisa went to get a cake and we all sang happy birthday. Then we explored the common room. The walls were covered in awesome artwork! I took LOTS of pictures! There was a coffee maker that looked like a dog, artistic renditions of the giant red torii, as well as painting that one of Hisa's friends did. She's focusing on finger-foods from around the world. So far she had Italy (Bruschetta), Mexico(Maiz con Cha), the Philippines (Pisang Goreng), US (potato chips), France (canape), Brazil (champinones al ajillo) and Japan (I don't know what the food was, its in Japanese characters so I can't read it). She writes a description of how to make each food in the language of that country, paints the background in the colors of the flag and has a local of each country hold to food and serve as the model for her painting. The connection between all the paintings, the hands all look very similar despite the vastly different locations of their owners, signifying that we are all human, and are connected by that simple fact despite the differences in our foods, languages, flags etc.
        The common room also had several communal instruments including a guitar and a stand-up base. Mike played guitar, Hisa played bass and I sang my silly song (and some of Kimya Dawson's). Hisa whipped out some awesome Bob Marley tunes on the bass! He noticed my earrings earlier (they have Bob Marley's picture on them), so he knew I'd enjoy that. I swear, those earrings are the best thing ever! I always wear them when I'm traveling and they have yet to fail at making me friends. All around the world, people love Bob and his message! One love. One heart. Lets get together and feel alright!
        Oh, one funny thing to note. The bathrooms were co-ed (just to explain why I saw this...) and the sign on the urinal read “PLEASE STAND CLOSER!! Cuz your TOMAHAWK is not so long as you wish” -Silly Hisa- he put funny signs up all over the place. Another one was for the showers. Upon arrival you received a coin for the shower. If you didn't use the coin (none of use did) you could return the coin in exchange for a souvenir. The sign showed a sexy lady in the shower, only the face of the lady was Hisa's face!
        Before going to bed, I had Hisa write a note for me in Japanese saying “How can I recycle electronics in Japan?” I wanted this so that I could ask around and hopefully get some information, since I was unsuccessful so far, mostly due to communication barriers. At first, he wrote a very short phrase and then started laughing. I knew it wasn't the right thing so I showed it to some other people in the room and they all laughed. Apparently he wrote “Fuck off”. It was cleary just a joke so I just laughed at him and “slapped” him (gently of course) for being so mean. Then he wrote the real thing (on a separate sheet of paper so I wouldn't offend whoever I was asking). I had him add onto his “fuck off” comment by writing “be my friend or else I kill you!” underneath. I knew I wouldn't ever actually show that so someone I met, but I thought It'd just be a funny thing to have, especially since my goal is to say “want to be my friend?” in every language. This is just a harsher way of asking, but it still gets the point across, right? hahahaha
        Okay so we finally pulled ourselves away from the conversation and went to bed. We only slept about 4 hours and got up before the sun so that we could get out to the island around sunrise. I'm a big fan of getting up to see the sunrise! I think it is the most beautiful part of the day and far more worthy than sunset (if for no other reason than because it takes more effort). We were the first ones awake in the hostel and we left out bags in the dorm so that we didn't need to carry them around all day. I left Hisa a note on the same sheet of paper that he wrote on to let him know we were leaving the bags. It read...
        “Hisa,
                We will return by 1300 to collect our bags. I hope it is okay that we leave them here for a little while.
        If not... then...
        (In Japanese) Fuck off. Be my friend or else I kill you!
                JUST KIDDING! :D  
Alicia-”
So I guess that note did come in handy after all!
        We planned to take the first ferry at 6:04 AM, but were too busy drinking tea and laughing at the note that we missed it. Instead we bought tickets for the 6:30Am ferry and went to 7/11 to get some breakfast. I got a pastry stuffed with red bean past and a nice hot coffee out of the vending machine. The sun was rising. It was a clear day. Picture perfect! I set Totoro up on a ledge and placed the breakfast in front of him and took a cute picture of him eating breakfast in Miyajima.
        The sunrise was amazing! It was nice that we missed the first ferry because I got to take pictures of the sunrise with the ferry and island in the shot. Plus...
        When we got on the ferry, there were three Japanese students who got on as well. They looked about the same age as the three of us and they sat down on the bench next to us in the front of the boat. For some reason, I felt like they would be down to be my tomodachis! So far, I had totally failed in my mission of making Japanese friends (other than Akiko and her friend), but I felt like this time would be different.
        So I turned to the three guys and with a huge smile on my face asked “Tomodachi nate?”
        They looked at one another for a moment, and then replied, “Yea sure.”
        I was so excited!!!! Turns out they were on vacation as well. They were all from Kamakura and are students in their last year at a university Tokyo. I had just been to Kamakura! So I started showing them pictures of my time there and they knew all the streets and locations. It was crazy! I just went to their home! They were laughing at me, but I was being really silly so it makes sense. I might have been a little annoying to them as well because I kept wanting to show them pictures of my home and random stuff from my trip, but one of them Hajime, seemed genuinely interested (or at least good at faking it). His friend Kennichi also seemed excited to hear my stories but the third guy, Yuya, wasn't as into hanging out with us. I just think he didn't speak much English though. Hajime and Kennichi spoke great English! I was impressed! There was still a language barrier, or course, and sometimes it was very difficult to get across what we wanted to say and it too us a long time, but we always managed to work through it.
        We got off the ferry together and headed to the shrine. On the way, Brittany asked what they like to do for fun and Hajime said he really likes sumo and then he preceded to give her a demonstration :)  I couldn't stop smiling and laughing and skipping around! I was so excited to have made my tomodachis!!! I was so excited, that when we got to the shrine I was pretty loud. Oops!!! Hajime shushed me, and rightfully so. We were in a sacred place, it was time for me to settle down. I wa so embarrassed but they assured me that it was okay. I calmed down right away and they could see I felt bad. Plus, they expect Americans to be loud at inappropriate times. The thing is, I hate being what's expected.
        We kept our voices down for the duration of our time in the shrine and the three of them were kind enough to explain some of the auspicious figures and decorations around the shrine. There were the same pieces of white paper that I saw in Kamakura, intended to ward off evil spirits. Also, arrows (Hamaya) that were lit on fire and shot to get rid of evil energy should it make its way to the shrine.
        We were able to get a lot of information out the students for our projects as well. I asked them about electronic waste in Japan and discussed the project I'm working on. It was difficult to get across the meaning of sustainability at first, but I just kept trying. I was describing it as the process of protecting the earth so that its resources are still present for our children and our children's children. Eventually they got the idea. Protecting the environment is very important in Japanese culture, and it always has been. Its very much engrained in their past especially in Shintoism.
        It make sense. I mean, they are on a relatively small island nation so its clear what effects their actions have and their environment. Also, since they intended on being self-sufficent, they knew they needed to preserve the land for generations to come. Its not like in our country where we have vast spans of land to just dump whatever we want and dig up whatever we want, however we want and the vast majority of the population will never notice the damaging effects.
        So I asked about electronic waste and after probably 40 minutes of trying to figure out how to communicate, both for me, how to say things in a way they could understand (which can be hard, its best to ditch all grammar and use lots of body language), and for them, how they could find the words in English- a very difficult task especially when you're discussing a topic like this, which most English speakers can't even talk about. They told me that there is a company that takes the old electronics and takes them apart. They send any large metal or reusable parts back to the manufacturing companies to be placed in new electronics. Then what's left is crushed and the crushed material is sifted so that the heavy, metal pieces drop down. These are then remelted into a piece large enough to be reused and sent back to the manufacturers as well. The rest of the matter is thrown away. However, in Japan, throwing something away doesn't mean sending it to a landfill. It means sending it to an incinerator, many of which are waste-to-energy plants like the one I visited in Hawaii.
        So basically, Japan's got a great system figured out in terms of dealing with their waste. They still have the problem of companies claiming to use post-consumer materials when they actually don't, and most likely they also ship stuff to the big electronics dumps around the world. On the surface, however, all seems well.
        The word “mottainai” is a Japanese phrase that embodies their appreciation for the need to protect the earth. It basically means having a sense of regret when the intrinsic value of an object or resource is not properly utilized and is instead wasted. Its similar to the English phrase “What a waste”, but it seems to have a deeper meaning, as many other things in Japanese language and culture (as well as Chinese and I'd assume Korean). I don't know if that's just because these cultures are much older than those that use English or if we've just lost our way or if I'm just applying more meaning than is actually present because I'm a foreigner and maybe I can't really tell the difference...
        It was a great experience discussing global sustainability with Hajime and Kennichi. I could tell it was difficult to work out the communication. Every time we finally managed to understand one another, Hajime would let out a huge sigh and put his hand over his heart and I expressed my deep gratitude for his help. I had some of the best conversations yet with Hajime! There was never a dull moment! Of course, we were not constantly talking and we had to be very patient with one another to ensure that our ideas were properly conveyed, but that was half the fun. On one or two occasions one of my friends tried to say the points I was trying to discuss were too difficult with the language barrier, but I wasn't about to give up easily. I'm patient, more so than I feel they were, so I had no problem speaking slowly and simply and drawing diagrams or making hand gestures, anything to work it out. And it was worth it! We talked about many interesting things!
        We talked about why it is important to study history. In Japan, the students take an entire semester of US History and one on European history and I think one on Chinese history as well, in addition to more intensive studies of Japanese history, of course. Hajime said he thinks this is important because he gains a better appreciation for other cultures and also knows to learn from the mistakes of the past.
        We also discussed why materialism is unimportant and how there are many more things in life that provide real enjoyment and have deep meaning. He also told me that his favorite thing to do is ride bikes. He loves to take long bike rides around Japan because it allows him to go at a slower pace and really take in the surroundings. I told him of my friend James's epic bike adventure around the world and he was very impressed. I wish I could replicate the sound he made on paper, but its impossible. It was almost like “wow” but with a greater of amazement and appreciation that came from much deeper than just saying “wow”. I don't think I'll ever forget that sound. I think I caught it on video actually... good :)
        He made the same sound when I was telling him about my project and how we are traveling the world observing the different methods of  disposing of electronic waste. Then we are putting it together in a lesson plan that will be taught to students in the US (if its good enough) with the hope that it will impact people in our home country. He said he was very glad to help with such a project. I told him we'd give him credit for his part, but somehow I don't think that's important to him. He was shocked to hear that the US doesn't take good care of the Earth and that we just dump our electronics in China or India or Ghana. Clearly, that wouldn't fly in Japan if the people knew about it. Although maybe if Americans knew about it, we'd stop it as well. But so many like to be ignorant because ignorance is bliss right... well its also blatant stupidity when you ignore knowledge even when it smacks you in the face!              (woah... that got a little harsher than I'd intended... but I'm leaving it in the blog anyway...)
        Anyway, back to Hajime being impressed by my friend's adventure. Hajime had never traveled out of Japan (which amazed me because his English was so good!) so I told him he should go on a crazy bike adventure as well! I could tell he was nervous, as I would be, too. But the more I travel, the more I'm finding that the world really is a welcoming place and most people are kind.
        We made our wishes at the shrine and then received our fortunes, just like I did in Kamakura.  Only this time there weren't any English translations, so Hajime and Kennichi translated for us. Brittany's fortune wasn't very good, from what I recall, so she tied it up and left her bad fortune there. Mike's was a little good, but I can't remember the details of either. Mine was also a little good, not as amazing as the one I got in Kamakura, but still good. Hajime didn't translate all the advice and messages on it for me, but he did translate the only part that I needed to hear. Basically it said, “you will not find what you seek in your travels” (I changed it slightly to keep from giving away the wish). The combination of my two fortunes “try to keep your heart pure” and “you will not find what you seek in your travels” were just the advice I needed to hear.
        It almost felt like I was being sent signs... now I know I'm not religious, I “shouldn't” believe in these kinds of things and you can tell me there's no reason behind any of it, but I like the meaning I've applied to these “signs”. They don't need to be “Signs from God” or whatever. All that's important is that I feel the meaning in my heart and it lifts me up and guides me. Which it has.