Japan Travel – Rotary Study Exchange Goes to Japan Article Two
The international organization known as Rotary promotes annual trips that everyone between the ages of 26 and 40, men and women, and of all backgrounds, should know about, because it’s a Rotary-funded six-week shipboard study and anyone can apply for it. be in addition to this significant life experience. If you are in this age group, you might enjoy the kind of experience described in my notes in this article. To learn more about the program, visit the Rotary International website and search for GSE (Group Study Exchange) and contact your local Rotary club for more information.
Our adventures continued:
April 13 — Wednesday:
No, there are no women in this Rotary Club, no English either, and they translated my speech by cell phone, it’s quite an experience. After Mrs. Tanaka served me a splendid breakfast – she said the coffee was from Seattle, the cereal from Switzerland, the jam from Germany, the almonds from California and the balsamic from elsewhere – the avocado was definitely from here – Mr Tanaka and I He drove about 40 minutes down the road to a more rural town called Ukiha to visit the Ukiha Rotary Club. I laughed, even though I don’t understand the language: going to a Rotary meeting is like going to church because all over the world they have the same format.
This Club had about 40 members – and like the others, they open the meeting with a song – in Japan, with what we know as Glory, Glory Hallelujah, which they consider a religious recognition. Tamaki Oi came with us for her visit, and it was fun meeting her because she will be on the incoming team when this District sends us her team next year. The round trip reminded me of a trip to Gilroy from my home in California: two mountain ranges on either side, one more undulating and velvety, the other sharper mountains, with green fields in between. It’s expensive to be a Rotary member in Japan – I’m told they pay $250 a month – but they don’t do fundraising projects, they write checks. Mr. Tanaka asked me to speak on the inclusion of women, imagine my reluctance, and he says that this is a matter for the Governor of his. So, I asked questions at the end of my speech, and one guy asked me if he knew about Soroptomists, in other words, women could join that club.
Yahoo… we’re going to some famous hot springs tonight. I would love to see all the hot springs in Kyushu, and I understand there are many. It’s helping me recover from jet lag.
As the evening progressed, it was delightfully inspiring, as the girls, Teiko Tanaka, her daughter, Ai, and I went out to dinner. We went to a French restaurant that served us a delicious selection and then another. The food here, and the small plates that please the eye and the palate with thoughtful details, are found in both French and Japanese cuisine. We talked for a long time about the role of women in Japanese society and the changes that are taking place. The women here see the same dilemmas, and these are worldly women who have a cross-cultural point of view. The conversation continues in a long bath in the hot springs, a charming place that is located in the mountains and overlooks the valley. First we washed, as is customary, and then we went out into the shallow pool surrounded by large rocks that forms the mineral water basin. It’s good to bathe in privacy. It’s 1:00 p.m. when we go to bed. The other members of the team have also had a good day.
April 14 — Thursday:
Today a really full day awaits us: a day of tourism. We meet around 10 am at Izumi’s house, and the team is glad to see each other after going their separate ways yesterday. We piled into Hiroshi’s (Mr. Tanaka) Toyota mini-van and off we went. The first stop is in Tanoshimaru at the Wakatakeya Sake Brewery. We were seated Japanese style around a large brown wooden table with a Japanese flower arrangement in the middle: a large bowl with standing camellia branches and pink flowers. What they serve us is delicious and made with part of the sake production, such as the soup was made with the separation of rice and sake, and the dessert was a plum that was also made with sake. The sweet little cups are filled with clear sake, and later with unfiltered sake, which we all agree is the best, and we all take bottles home from the store for later.
We drove for forty-five minutes or so, heading to Akizuki and the castle ruins there. Wonderful: It was a perfect city, and we walked along the market street that was lined with cherry blossoms. There were lovely vendors and shops along the way, and the stone walls and bridges of the old castle. We stayed for a long time and enjoyed the peaceful nature of the village, we went up the long stairs through the old castle gate, we took a lot of photos because it was so beautiful, we laughed and enjoyed being together. Cherry blossoms floated in the wind as if it were snowing, and the green hills were vibrant. We stopped at the ice cream vendor because he thought Antonio was Tiger Woods, and everyone laughed. We commented that we liked how life in Japan feels.
Going down this street, we turned into Takagi Kyusuke Shoten for Kuzu-kiri. In case you’re wondering what that is, it’s a noodle made from a tree root which is a starch, and you dip it into a molasses-type broth to eat with your chopsticks. It was a famous little shop, and we enjoyed tea with Kuzu-kiri, and as Izumi said, this is the real Japan. We are blessed because we are beginning to understand that we are seeing things that are only possible because this is the home of our hosts who know where all the good things are and show us the insides of their culture and land. As we head down the road again leaving Akizuki, we stop to look at a bridge that is a thousand years old and the water falls on the rocks below it, with abundant vegetation touching the edges.
Again, a little less than an hour in the car, and we arrive in Dazaifu, the very famous Dazaifu Shinto Shrine. We learn that Shinto is not a religion, but a way of asking for more intelligence for the mind. We are treated to an unusual experience: we walk up the side steps to the floor of the shrine, with all the decorations in front of us, and Izumi has arranged a special ceremony for us with the priest. It is a blessing, and since it is in Japanese, we do not understand what they are saying, but they hurt some palms and invite us to place them on the altar. We stopped in front of the sanctuary to see the “flying plum” (because legend has it that it flew from another island), and an ancient tree with a huge base. And then he crossed a famous bridge back to town.
Now we were going to dinner. I thought that the Japanese had not eaten so much until today. We drove again for about an hour to Ogori, to Ogori Tsuzumi. This was a special occasion organized by our hosts. It is not a restaurant that is advertised, it is the hobby of a man who was president of a well-known company for ten years, retired and now cooks for special groups. We were warmly greeted and entered a room of Japanese-style tables. We were first going to learn how to make soba noodles, and with a large bowl in front of him, we were invited to join the chef in starting the buckwheat flour, adding water, mixing to the consistency of cornmeal, kneading, then rolling with sticks until very thin, cut with a sharp knife – to make the noodles. The chef was very precise with the thickness and how to form a square with the dough. Harry, Monica, Julia, Antonio, and I took turns preparing. Harry learned to feel the dough to see if it was the same thickness.
Then dinner, a start with sake being poured into a bucket for dipping with the ladle, and many dishes to follow, highlighted by soba noodles. The plates were particularly pretty and the sake cups were brightly colored, and we filled each other’s cups. By now, we’ve been sitting on the floor Japanese-style for about four hours today, and our American butts and hips are groaning, as we note how comfortable our Japanese hosts are. We laugh a lot at dinner because Hiroshi does amazing magic tricks that leave us all spellbound. How did he do that? Dollar bills floated from one person’s hand to another – and the toothpick moved across the table and he didn’t even touch it – and after holding Julia’s watch in his hand, with steady concentration, time moved forward one hour. – and the spoon bends when none of us can budget for it.
In this group we don’t need to understand the whole conversation because there is only good humor and camaraderie. The chef is delighted that we are pleased with his creations and everyone bows many, many, many times as they walk out the door. It has been a day that no tourist would have found, and it is only thanks to the gift of the Rotary network, and each of my team members makes that comment to me individually, that we have lived this incredible day.
This article is a series, so keep reading, and many more days of our splendid adventure will follow!