Castles and Clubs

Friday rolled around along with our first field trip. We had to get up early to get to school by 9. Once again I had stayed up late talking with Japanese students (Yuki, Megumu, and her friend) and I felt the same as when I had first arrived in Japan. I think between adjusting to the massive time difference and lack of sleep, my body just became hammered. I would feel this way for most of the day.

Once at school we loaded up on a Keiwa College bus along with Nabe-chan, Dr. Hayashabira, and Professor Brown. Our first stop was the Shibata post office so some students could make withdrawals at the international ATM. Once this was taken care of we headed off to the first official stop of the field trip, Shibata Castle. Shibata Castle is at the very heart of Shibata, which is a castle city. The streets of Shibata are designed to be purposely confusing to slow down invaders. The castle itself isn't so much a military fortress as it is a government center. Much of the castle has been rebuilt using the old techniques (no nails, all intricately designed joints). About half of what would of been part of the castle grounds is now a JSDF (Japan Self Defense Force) base. This is obviously off-limits but it could be seen rather clearly from the castle walls.

Shibata Castle

Our next stop was a local Sake brewery. We were given a full tour of the small facility by the owner, who had studied English in America so he was very fluent. Niigata prefecture has the most sake breweries out of all of Japan's prefectures, totalling 97. However, these are smaller breweries and Japan's largest sake manufacturer's total output is larger then all 97 Niigata breweries combined. Those of us that were of drinking age were allowed to try some samples of different kinds of sake the brewery makes. I tried a few cups but found it to be too strong a taste in my opinion (that and I don't like alcohol in the first place).

After the brewery we walked to the Shimizu Gardens. Shimizu Gardens were the suburban home of the Shibata Clan. The site also includes the last remaining example of a soldier long house from the period, and is considered a national treasure. Shimizu Gardens was like entering another world. Despite the fact that we were squeezed in the middle of Shibata City, the gardens was an absolutely peaceful place. Many of us just sat down and relaxed our minds and bodies in the beautiful environment. It once again reminded me of the recurring thought in my mind that coming to Japan is a bit like stepping into an alternate world.

After the gardens we made a quick stop at a local art gallery (I was far too exhausted at this point to remember many details of that) before heading home. Many of us went straight to our rooms and passed out for a few hours before getting ready to head into Niigata City to go to a club. Although clubs aren't exactly something I get into, I wanted to compare my experiences with American clubs to their Japanese counterparts. It was a lot smaller then the American clubs I've been in, and the dancing wasn't as sexually oriented as their American counterparts. We did run into a few locals who were all too happy to have fun with the Americans. I did find that Japanese youth smoke a lot, way too much in fact. We dragged Megumu and her friend along but they didn't seem to be into the club atmosphere so I spent a lot of time outside the dance floor with them. Just as well, Japanese seem tolerant to much higher temperatures then Americans, and the club was very atsui (hot). We managed to get home at about 3:00am, not so good considering we need to be at school at 10am to meet our host families for our weekend home stay.

My laptop will stay here so I'll have a two day update on Sunday night.