Japan for the first time (finally!) / Chefoo Reconsidered Japan (finally!)

Though I have a one year visa I knew that I wouldn't be in Thailand for a full year given important things like 90th birthday and high school graduation celebrations. So I knew I would be in the US from mid April until Mid June for those celebrations. I didn't realize when I arrived in Thailand in January that a couple weeks later I would be flying to Poland for the week and then return for 'take two' as I 'restarted' my time here. And I repeated this pattern when I returned to Thailand in June, spending just ten short days in country, before making my way back to Bangkok and on to Japan for twelve days. However, this was not a last minute trip but rather a trip that had been planned since before Covid rearranged almost everything in the world. 

I've been involved with the Chefoo Reconsidered community in various ways for quite a few years now. In what seems like a lifetime ago (sometime in 2019), the committee that was planning the CR Japan event asked me if I would be interested/willing to facilitate the group sessions during the week long get-together that was planned for June/July of 2020. And then Covid happened and this event that had already been postponed at least once, was push backed again... and again... but finally the the committee (along with Japan, the world and all the powers that be) were able to confirm that at long last we would  be able to gather. And so five years after planning got underway, Chefoo Reconsidered Japan finally happened the week of July 3-7 and it was such a great week on so many levels and definitely worth the wait. 

It was great to be reunited with Elwyn ten Brink who co-led the CR Philippine Bus trip with Jon Fuller and me in 2017. We had been speaking during the past few months as we planned the general direction and content of the week and were both very happy to find ourselves on the same page - desiring to go beyond some of the important TCK information that has been presented at past CR events - to really encourage and give permission to those attending to feel the impact of being sent away to boarding school and being separated repeatedly from our parents. We wanted to offer ways of building resilience and paying attention to our bodies and what they might be telling us - and of course we wanted to include much time for sharing and listening to stories as that is where the real magic and healing happens. 

Planning Committee before everyone arrived (mountain hidden in the background)

The CR Japan planning committee did such a fantastic job planning the events of the week - balancing our structured sessions together along with sightseeing and revisiting familiar places to some and introducing Japan to those of us who did not attend Chefoo Japan. So many details were worked out that just made our time so easy and delightful to be together. There were close to 30 of us who gathered for the week - twelve or so Japan 'kids', six or seven other Chefoo 'kids' and then eight or nine spouses and family members. We stayed at the Onuma Prince Hotel (a step up from CR Malaysia sleeping situations) and held evening sessions at the hotel while having morning sessions at the former Chefoo Nanae school - now being used as a school for Japanese students who have dropped out of the Japanese school system. 

Committee visiting Chefoo before everyone arrived

Welcome dinner at the hotel

First night - Welcome

Arriving at Chefoo

The Yew tree - touchstone for many

And there she is...Chefoo Nanae

Exploring every nook and cranny

.

...exploration everywhere students use to play

Meeting room at Chefoo where we also ate several meals

Current Japanese students sang a couple songs for us 

Japanese Pastor who runs the school welcomes everyone

Amazing food created and served by this lovely woman

Chefoo Nanae students

Evening sessions

Views from the hills overlooking Hakodate

Another angle of the mountain

Hakodate

And no Japan visit would be complete without some stellar sushi

Final session

Timeline/schematic of when and which Chefoo School we attended

Final farewells

It was a great cast of characters - along side one other character with a starring role...Japan herself! 

In addition to all the previous views, it was great to see 'the mountain' Mt Komagatake (still an active volcano) that is a literal touchstone for so many who attended Chefoo Japan - some days it was hidden behind the clouds which always made it more stunning when it would emerge in the distance. 

And now some commentary...(haha) I have been through Narita's airport countless times since high school as I would transfer from one plane to another on my Northwest/Delta flights whenever I returned to Asia - but I had never been out of the airport - and to be honest Japan has always scared me a little. Often when I would pass through the airport ( during pre-cellphone days) I would try to see if I could figure out how to phone a friend from the airport but I was never successful and nothing (language or technology) made sense to me.  Even with this trip I quickly attached myself to a couple committee members so I would have someone able to guide me relatively painlessly through the land of the rising sun. This alleviated some anxiety on my part (pretty sure I never would have left the airport)  and also allowed me to use my time to prepare for facilitating rather than figuring out navigation details!

Given my general comfort level with travel and how much I travel and where I have been it is odd that I have/had this anxiety about Japan - but ironically my anxiety was kind of confirmed. Here are some observations and responses to when people ask how my trip was...

1. It was wonderful as always but also strange to be in Asia - but not the Asia I am familiar with. When I looked out my hotel window in Onuma/Hakodate I could have been looking out a hotel window in Washington state. Walking the grounds felt like walking through a Pacific Northwest  retreat center with similar trees and shrubbery. And there were  moments when I thought surely I am in England or Switzerland as we passed certain houses or saw lovely black and white cows grazing peacefully on the hillsides. It wasn't until we ventured further south to Sendai after the CR event that I felt some humidity, saw some rice fields  - but knowing that even this area would receive snow in the winter was different. Getting off the train at the main Tokyo station and being hit by noise and bustle finally confirmed, yes, I'm in Asia - and of course I was in Asia the whole time but...perspective:-)

England?

2. Everything in Japan has a purpose and has seemingly been intentionally planned (in stark contrast to many many things in Thailand) - but if you don't know what the intent and purpose is it can sometimes be confusing/frustrating - but then when you realize the thought behind the decision, you go, oh, that's brilliant...(examples range from baskets under restaurant tables to put your personal belongings/bags to technology - having to set up accounts and passwords before you can actually use your credit card to purchase something) but if no one explains it to you, all of these brilliant ideas and purposes may remain a mystery. (Below - just a few curiosities that I noticed along the way.)

Baby/child seat in airport bathroom

umbrella holder next to every urinal

Not a great shot but Haneda airport had 'robot' chairs that you could hop on and off of

Never quite figured out what was going on with this Hakodate/Onuma Rice grain in a seashell mishmash character

Red and white arrow indicates the edge of the road during winter/snow season - are we really in Asia?

Smoker's shame - front and center in the hotel

Bins for your bags/belongings under most restaurant tables

fun sink units

Different microwave than I'm used to

Different stove than I'm used to:-)

3. And often things do remain a mystery because in spite of constantly seeing advertising and recruiting material to come teach English in Japan during my university years, it seems like only 9 percent of the population (according to one statistic I read) feels confident in speaking it. And so at least in my experience most of the Japanese people we encountered didn't attempt any English at all. This was surprising to me as again, in comparison to Thailand, someone will usually always attempt to explain or translate even with a few words of English. This leads me to my overall impression...

4. Yes, the following is a big broad brush stroke based totally on this first initial foray to Japan and of course I saw hardly anything and there are always exceptions - but this is how I felt...Travelling in and navigating Thailand - indeed in much of South East Asia is like sitting on the beach with a lovely drink in your hand and then going out and having a float in bathtub temperature water. It's lovely - yes, you have to watch out for the occasional  jellyfish as they float by but overall it's relatively easy. Japan on the other hand is like going scuba diving. You will see immense beauty and depths but you need to know what you are doing to be able to actually fully participate. Ironically you won't get into trouble as you might in other countries if you are not careful as Japan is a very safe country when it comes to crime. But it does feel like you need to have read the manual to have a good experience. Of course that is true in any culture or country but for whatever reason that's the analogy/metaphor that sticks. Japan is scuba diving. Much of my other Asian experience is floating in lovely warm water. I know that there are depths to explore in other Asian countries but you don't have to plunge to those depths as soon as you step off the boat/plane etc. And this is all exacerbated by the very small amount of English being offered. The only time anyone spoke English to me/us was when we were refueling the rental car in Sendai before returning it...and when I went to check into my flight back to Thailand. 

In a way I feel like Japan says to tourists, we are happy to take your money but we don't need it or you. You've come to our country, you will do it on our terms with no apologies from us - especially when it comes to our use (or not) of English. Don't hear me wrong, they are still so so respectful and deferential - never rude - but it is on their terms. Someone suggested it was similar to travelling to France - albeit France completely lacks any sort of courteous respect! Don't set me on fire - I could be totally wrong and I fully admit to most people that if I didn't know Thai or hadn't grown up here I would probably hate Thailand! 

And...I thoroughly enjoyed my days there. Time with CR folks was moving and I hope I was a little bit of help to some on their journey. And afterwards Elwyn and I along with three others on the planning committee ventured south to Sendai to where OMF still has a couple holiday cabins on the coast. I slept terribly there but it was good to have some downtime and be able to see a little more of Japan than a hotel including a walk along the coast to a Shinto temple as well as visiting Matsushima which apparently is ranked the third most beautiful place to visit in Japan.  And then it was back on the bullet train (reaching 315 KM an hour at one point) to Tokyo which I had a brief glimpse of from the plane when arriving from Thailand and then again as we simply passed through (not seeing many of the 13 or 37 million people that live here depending on how you count) on our way back to Haneda for our return flights. (By the way - Haneda has not entered my top ten airport list!) And...at some point I will don my scuba gear and return to this amazing country! 

OMF Cabin in Takayama

Initial rain gave way to beautiful sunset views from the deck

Tsunami barriers all along the coast in between the cliffs

Beach/cliff exploring with Elwyn

Beginning a coastal walk to the Horse temple

Tiger lilies perfumed the air

Brooms underneath the temple

Finally...Asia?

Harbor/Cruise dock for Matsushima (islands in the distance)

The gang of us who travelled to Takayama together

The Great Wave - representing

This Cafe above above Matsushima was stunning. Glass walls and surrounded by Cherry trees so that in the spring you would feel like you are floating on cherry blossoms.

And we're off on our final leg of the journey

Tokyo Metro insanity?

Just a glimpse of modern Tokyo as we left...

...the traditional central rail station

As we arrived at Haneda and were repacking after the train  journey we realized we were hanging out with a band - but who? After a little sleuthing - turns out it was metal band Knosis. You're welcome metal heads!

Last drink and chat with Elwyn

Haneda outdoor viewing area

This woman waved for a solid 10 minutes

Final shot...Tokyo...until next time

Whew! If you are still reading - thank you! It's challenging to capture everything. When we did the CR Philippines trip, I posted updates on facebook every day and here it is a month later and I'm just getting to posting these photos and reflections. But I realized Elwyn and I didn't facilitate sixteen hours of group conversation that week - in addition to all the other activities of the CR Week! 

Anyway, what a good week - and thank you for coming along on this latest wandering. 

Duncan