giant jellyfish, rice planting and a pilgrimage

the past week and a half has been packed.  i departed from Tokyo and my new friends in the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Fellowship to Fujieda - a small town just outside Shizuoka.

Matcha selection at Tokyo Station (train/subway)

At Fujieda, i met with my dear friend Yuto who had been a farmer with our crew at Green Gulch a few years ago.  Upon arrival, i had the great pleasure and honor to meet his teacher, Shunko-san.  Shunko is a female priest - a very unusual occurrence in Japanese Buddhism.  She welcomed us with warmth and care, and lavished us with tea and umeboshi (pickled sour plum), the latter which she had just finished making.  It was exquisite, and she was the embodiment of what Dogen calls "grandmotherly mind" - extremely caring and sweet and a wonderful host.  

Yuto himself has now ascended to the seat of Abbot of Ryuunji, the temple at Fujieda, where Shunko-san was previously Abbess.  

Windows at Ryuunji - the symbols are for the two Soto Zen Buddhist training temples in Japan: Eiheiji (L) and Sojiji (R), and are the combined symbol of the Soto-Shu, the governing body for Soto Zen.

I really enjoyed staying at the temple, and sitting zazen with Yuto again.  It was wonderful, and peaceful.  The temple is situated right up into the hills at the outskirts of town.  I arrived one week after the rice had been planted in the fields, and i felt happy about this agricultural marker to my arrival.  I arrive in Japan, the rice is planted in the fields of water and soil.  This is good.  We grow and expand, together.  

Fujieda rice fields.  Ryuunji is the building in the back, and the cemetery is visible on the hillside beside the temple.

The tiny rice seedling plants were bristling out over the water.  There were many birds and frogs, and at night we saw a few fireflies.  We visited the town onsen, or public bath (gender segregated).  We had dinner there first, and i ate hot udon soup.  Yuto got locker number 108 as his shoe locker, which i thought was auspicious, and we laughed about it.  108 is a significant number in Buddhism, and its the number of beads on a mala.

It was an honor to make the pilgrimage to visit my friend, and to meet his venerable teacher, a rare female priest in a world of men.  

Yuto and me

Next i traveled to Higashi-Hiroshima.  I was warmly greeted at the train by Professor Shin-Ichi Uye, my host advisor here in Japan, and one of his postdoc's, Tjasa.  We drove around the campus and the town a little bit.  It turns out Higashi-Hiroshima is sort of like the region or the suburb - its not actually a city.  Its sort of like a county, except Hiroshima is the prefecture.  So the town i'm in is called Saijo.  We're about a 15 minute train ride from Hiroshima city.  I was graciously delivered to my new apartment, in a district called Shitami, which is just north of the university.  It only takes a few minutes to walk to my office, and i'm on the 5th floor.  Its a clean, new place, and its been lovely.  

the view from my apartment building

The day after i arrived, i met the members of the lab and Prof. Uye provided a fascinating introduction to the giant jellyfish, Nemopilema nomurai.  This is one of the species i'll be working with for my project here, and has been an incredible nuisance for fisheries in the Sea of Japan.  Prof. Uye has been instrumental in researching the life cycle and biology of this species, which can grow to 2 m (5 feet!) across as medusae.  He and the members of the lab and the department have been SO friendly and helpful.  I'm humbled by their generosity.

A good sign that i've arrived in the correct place

a link to our greeting by the Emperor and Empress of Japan

As i said in a previous post, we had the incredible honor of being greeted by their majesties, the Emperor and Empress of Japan.  The Emperor, Akihito, is a scholar of marine biology and especially fishes.  The royal couple are keen on encouraging scientific collaboration between Japan and other countries, and the venerable pair made their encouragement known to each of us fellows loud and clear.  Thank you for the message, Your Highnesses - i am honored to receive your message.  Here's the link to an article and photo from a fellow JSPS fellow:

http://thomdavies.com/2014/06/meeting-emperor-japan/

hello Japan

there was a long day of traveling and staying up late and not sleeping much and drinking a lot of water - in the hope of minimizing jet-lag.  this actually worked reasonably well.  the only side-effect being i'm waking up around 5 am instead of 7 when my alarm is set for.  i can't say i'm unhappy with that situation!

Sunrise over Lake Ponchartrain

i've been in orientation with our fellowship program so far.  its only my third day here, and already it feels like weeks instead of days - each day is so full. wonderful people and so encouraging to meet so many scientists and scholars.  we had the absolutely incredible honor to be welcomed to Japan by their majesties, the Emperor and Empress of Japan.  i am still speechless and breathless when i think of it.  we weren't informed until the day of the event, and even then, we weren't allowed to change clothes or prepare really (probably for security reasons).  we were thus incredibly casual in dress - but we were assured this was ok.  the royal couple arrived to a reception before dinner, and spent about 40 minutes talking with the students and honoring us with their presence.  it was really the chance of a lifetime, and i am humbled beyond words by this extraordinary visit.  

more, soon.  

goodbye, house

(I moved out of my house on friday. I wanted to write the house a little goodbye letter)

Goodbye house
Goodbye commute - snoball stand in a driveway, logging trucks barreling opposite me in the morning, house with the perpetual yard sale and small mountians of sand, 15 foot political signs advertising conservative candidates, hand painted signs advertising land for sal or waterslides
Goodbye goats - the four remaining
Goodbye cats - the nine remaining and especially Cleo who died suddenly a few days ago
Goodbye frogs - cacophony!
Goodbye birds and bugs
Goodbye lightening bugs!  Always blinking, as if taunting
Goodbye Father Larry and your backyard shooting range next door
Goodbye to the good days and bad
The loaves of bread and stews
Goodbye to the warm safe place to lay my head
And even goodbye to the spiders.  The enormous, bone chillingly large and terrifying spiders.  I learned your names, I tried to get along with you.  Huntsman. Wolf. Brown recluse.  Goodbye!

Next stop, Japan!