The End

February 7th, 2016

It's over. My trip has come to an end.

I am now back and have fully returned to my life here in the cold of Manitoba. After settling down and relaxing for a few weeks, enjoying the holidays with my family, and catching up to all the changes, it was soon time for me to resume my studies in January.

I am now in the middle of my semester, taking a few business courses here at the University of Winnipeg. Getting used to the studying style of regular courses is quite a hard transition, but I'm doing my best to re-adjust my work ethic to this type of material. I must say that I miss studying Japanese.

But on that note, I haven't stopped completely my Japanese studies. Although I am quite busy with my studies as well as my training, which I am pursuing, I also take time to study Japanese with my father's guiding. It is nothing near what the courses at Tokai had to offer, but it allows me to keep thinking in Japanese in order not to forget it. (Like my sister has unfortunately done.) I also keep a good contact with my friends in Japan, Skyping with my closest friends, sending emails and letters to my professors and other acquaintances! My father can also go into much more details when explaining certain facts about the history of Japan or the meaning of a word which makes for a much more immersive experience. I do plan on being able to work or volunteer during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, therefore by that time, my Japanese (as well as my French and English...) has to be top notch!

Music is hard to make, due to lack of time, but I still manage to make some time for it. I plan on getting more involved once this term is over, and I can't wait to see what I can make with some of the new tools I have acquired.

Now a few things I miss about Japan are:
 - Being able to get on a train and go anywhere you want, when you want. It can be very useful to have a train passing every five minutes bringing you to wherever you want to go. An hour later, you could be in a shopping mall in Tokyo eating at a world renowned restaurant.
 - The Food. It's good.
 - My friends. I made A LOT of friends out there, Japanese as well as from many other countries! Being able to see them every day is something I truly miss.
 - The non-freezing weather. Today, we had a blizzard which prevented me to attend a judo practice. I didn't even see snow the whole time I was in Japan.
 - Using Japanese every day. Even though it can be mentally straining to always use all of your brain at every moment to make sure you don't make a stupid mistake, it can be quite rewarding and fun to do so as well.

I have to say that Japan has now become a second home to me. I went through an enormous amount of experiences during my time over there, and each of them only brought me closer to the country. What I have left behind in Japan will be there for me to pick up once I return. Yet at the same time, what it has given me to bring home with me shall grow even further.

On my last day there, I posted a comment with this picture on Facebook, and it cannot hold any truer.

"Japan! We do not say "Goodbye", but rather "Until next time."

Sincerely,

Shiokawa Mamoru


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Preparations for Take Off
December 30th, 2015

Before I left, I had to prepare many things in order to leave without too many problems. I mean, I've been in Japan for one year and three months. There's gonna be a few glitches here and there.

The first task was my luggage. I had to pack over a year' worth of things into two suitcases. Wasn't gonna happen! So I had to send home about eight boxes by boat. Finding the boxes, bringing them back to my dorm, packing everything, getting the right papers, filling them in, calling in someone to pick up the parcels or bringing them to the post office were all tasks that had to be performed to complete this. Yet as if that wasn't enough, many problems happened. My boxes were returned to the post office about three times after being sent out. Why? Because in Japan, they think too much. Haha, no, well more likely because they don't understand the mailing system in Canada, and they didn't believe that the address I wrote down would be sufficient for the boxes to reach my house. A very interesting experience. But the third time the boxes came back, I heard from my friends Yusef and Haruyuki, was the day before I left. They were asking me to go there and sort out the problem, except that was pretty much impossible. So I asked my friends to take care of it, and they did after about one week of panic.

The next part was cleaning my room and getting rid of the objects I no longer needed. I left a lot of things to my friends Nnadi, Yusef, Islam, and Sorata. I sold some other things as well, although I didn't make much money. This included all my kitchen stuff, pans and plates, the appliances such as my rice cooker and my toaster, as well as some other practical objects such as blankets and note pads.

The last part of my preparation was saying good bye to everyone, which in itself was quite a task. Over a year, I got to meet many MANY people from around the world, and saying goodbye to all of them was obviously impossible. So I mainly kept it to my close friends and those who helped me out during my stay here as well as most of the Judo teachers and coaches.

I had already started about three or four months before I left, knowing that I wouldn't get to see them anymore, and so I was mentally prepared for it. I told myself not to cry, and I held back most of my emotions. I gave hugs to dozens of people, people I would most likely never see again, but had been a great part of my life here in Japan. The separation was harsh, but I knew it would come, so I felt in a sense relieved. One other thing that helped was the fact that we will have the Internet to easily keep in contact. So as I stated on my Facebook page, it's not a "good-bye" per say, but more a "See you later" kind of separation.

(The last picture I took at my dorm.)
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Tokyo Grand Slam 2015 - On the Other Side
December 24th, 2015

Last year in September, during the All Japan Junior tournament, I had the chance to go see one of my senseis, Akinori Hongo, who had come to Canada to learn English and French. During his time here in Canada, I met him a few times, and even participated in one of the camps he directed. 

Now last year, I had gone to speak to him alone, this being only a week after I had landed in Japan, thus I didn't know much Japanese. Yet I knew his English was very good and so I was not afraid to approach him. At that time, we had spoken simply about my trip, and what were my plans from now on, and the entire conversation took place in English.

This year, at that same tournament, there he was again, and I took the chance again to go see him. Having learned a lot more Japanese by then, I was confident I would be able to handle a conversation in Japanese. After about 5 minutes of talking, he told me he was really surprised with the level of my Japanese, and suddenly asked me if I'd be interested in working a part time job at a major tournament. I told him I would be very interested, although deep down I didn't believe myself able to. He went and checked with a man working there, and came back and told me he would contact me later on if the position was open. We exchanged contact information, and I returned back to my teammates to keep cheering our team on.

About a month later, a message came saying that there would be a job for after all me at the 2015 Tokyo Grand Slam, as an interpreter. My heart sprang out of my chest. I believed this kind of opportunity quite the honour, especially considering that I have only been in Japan for one year. He then asked me if I could come in for an interview, just to get in contact once at least before I started working. We arranged a date to meet, and I then told my parents about the news. They were really proud of me of course. 

Then I started preparing for it, and that's when fear kicked in. What was I thinking? I do NOT have the skill set to translate that fast or well enough to work at such an event! What if they asked me to translate live? I would never be able to handle that. I have reached a very good level of Japanese, but I am far from mastering it. After speaking again with my parents, I decided that I would just see how things are. I verified with my boss what exactly I would be doing and it didn't seem like it was something I couldn't handle. All I knew was that this was not going to be an easy task.

Before I actually started working, I was asked to participate in two different meetings, during which we went over the plan of the tournament and how it was to be run. There were people from TV Tokyo, one of Japan's biggest television companies, people from construction companies, people from electric companies, and people from the All Japan Judo Federation, for which I was working. I didn't understand everything, but I got a general idea of how many things had been planned in order for this tournament to happen.














The week of the tournament, we started the preparations. I went many times back and forth from the AJJF to the Kodokan to the Tokyo Gymnasium (location of the tournament), and started to get familiar with the place. All I did most of the time was simply fill in cards in card holders for all the coaches, athletes, VIPs and etc. I also tried to listen in as much as possible to all the conversations, gathering even more information which would be necessary to perform a good job.

The two days before the tournament, the people from the IJF (International Judo Federation) started arriving at the site. This is when I came in. I was asked to transmit messages here and there, back and forth from Japanese to English and vice-versa, mostly verifying information. I got to meet many people, and surprisingly a lot of them spoke French. 



The day before the tournament, something I was not expecting happened. I was simply talking with one of the IJF staff members, when I was called over in hurry to the main room. I walked in to discover that the tables had all been moved, that the IJF members were all sitting facing the rest of the Japanese organizations. My boss showed me the seat next to him, and I sat down, feeling like I had made everyone wait. My boss, Mr. Takemura then told me that he would need me to translate for him to the IJF, and back to him what the IJF was saying. Without any further information, he then started the meeting.

My heart stopped. For about ten seconds.

What did I get myself into this time...? 

Throughout the meeting, I translated my best what I could from Japanese to English, and then back to English, and I found out that I was the interpreter for the WHOLE meeting, and so I was not only speaking and translating for my department, but for everyone in that room. There were many moments where I didn't understand my own boss' explanations, not just due to my level of Japanese, but more so that I didn't understand the functioning of the tournament in general. But I managed to help them communicate and most of them were kind enough to me with their explanations.









I made it through that meeting and the rest of the tournament. I was told to translate a speech from Japanese to English and another one from English to Japanese (before it was performed of course), as well as ask many questions about presentations, and the running of the tournament. I was also asked to help with the medical department at one point where an athlete suffered a concussion. At that time, I met the doctor that had helped me with my knee injury back in January, Mr. Miyazaki, which made it even more interesting.



Over all, I must say it was a great experience. I went through many tough times, but it allowed me to see a whole other side of the Japanese. It has also placed me in a much better position when it comes to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, during which I wish to work, and also to most of my friends and teachers of the Judo club who saw me working.


Another big thank you to Mr. Hongo and Mr. Takemura for the opportunity.


(Kotaro and I from the other side.)









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Trip to Kansai!
November 23rd, 2015

So last week, I managed to have one last trip to the western part of Japan!

I made a video so please watched this. Besides that, let me just show you a few more pictures!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfggxXeAH7k

First off, my two friends June and Islam helped me at the Odawara Station to get my Shinkansen ticket. They just happen to work at that station, and so I might as well ask them for help right?


After relaxing in the station's Starbucks, I was now off to my trip.



(Shinkansen - Very fast train lol)




(This card I had gotten last time I went to Kansai, the western part of Japan. It's the same thing that we use here in Tokyo, but I think there are less problems if you use their system so I had saved it.)


(First time in Kobe!)

First thing I did was find a coin locker to put my luggage in. I didn't want to have to carry all of that the whole time. Then I had no particular plan, so I just started walking around in the city. It was now lunch time, so I decided to walk into a restaurant that I didn't know and I ordered some pasta. I really enjoy going into new restaurants.





From there, I looked up on my phone famous places in Kobe. The first and main one was the port, of course. They do call Kobe the Kansai version of Yokohama, and from these pictures you can maybe tell why.



(Ferris Wheel, just like Yokohama)



(Took the ferry off the port.)




(I'm on a boat!)




During my ride on the ferry, the wind had picked up considerably, and so I decided to head into a more sheltered area, which was perfect since it led me to another touristic place called Moto-machi, a long street which is an open market, but with a roof! It's quite incredible the amount of shops there are in there. I didn't know how to choose. But I guess it's the equivalent to a mall here?




After walking the whole street about twice, it had gotten dark and it was now the time to eat. PERFECT! Time to head to China Town!


(Yokohama also has a famous China Town)





(Ended up eating Kobe Beef Steak Hamburger.)



(Then I also ate this typical Chinese restaurant meal.)



Once I was done my meal, I decided to head back to the port to check out the night view of it all. Here's what it looks like.








That night, I took the train all the way back to my friend Kengo Tsutsumi's place, where I had stayed at three times already. He happened to be fairly sick at the time, so we went to bed early.


(Skyping with my dad with Kengo.)

The next day I visited more of the city, including the Ikuta Shrine. I realized in Japan that there are many different shrines, but each and every one has its uniqueness to it which makes going to them so attractive.













A recommendation from my father was to go see the Ijinkan which consists of the former mansion of many foreign merchants and diplomats who settled in Kobe after the Port was open to foreign trade in the second half of the 19th century. All of these are now turned into museums, and anyone can walk in to see how they used to live. Very non-Japanese, as you can tell.










(This Nikkuman "Meat filled rice dumpling" restaurant was recommend to me by Kengo. So I went.)





My father has always spoken highly of Kobe Beef, which is one of the world's delicacies. I had heard of it many times, and it is even included in the movie "Mr. Baseball". This time, I treated myself to taste it. It was quite expensive, I must say. But it was also quite good. Very good. Mmmmmhh...

This time, I stayed at a hotel in Kobe, near the station.

The next morning, off early to the Kobe Ropeway which brings you to the top of a mountain overlooking the city.













After that back on the train, and off to Hiroshima after my third day.





After arriving, the first thing I did was find a hotel at which I could stay for two days and a half. So I looked online, and called two places which were very expensive, including my father's recommended hotel. Then I found a place which I was told had no individual toilets or showers, but they had common ones on specific floors. But thanks to that, the cost was much cheaper. I also realized later that the location was perfect for the places I wanted to visit. 

Now after checking in and dropping off my luggage, the first thing I did was go to the Hiroshima Castle, which was a five minute walk from my hotel. I really enjoyed this place for some reason. After that, I went back to my room to rest, and met up with my friend Haruka at the castle. Thanks to Facebook, I had found out the day before that Haruki lives in Hiroshima. So I also got to see the night view of the city from the top of the castle.

Then we went out to eat. She took me to a nice Japanese restaurant, somewhere I would have never found on my own. The door to the restaurant had been built purposely half the size of a normal one, forcing us to duck inside the room.










(Random turtle just splashing away on the side of street, no biggy.)





The next morning, I had to get up early because I was planning to take the tour for the Marine Self-Defense school in Eta-jima Island, about 20 minutes by ferry from the main island. I made it there very early, as my father had requested, and decided to walk across the island to the school.









(Skyped quickly with my parents as I walked.)

The school's tour was quite interesting. Everything was in Japanese, and so I only understood about 30% of what we were being told, but it was still a good experience to have gone there. Why did I go there? I actually happen to have a member of my family who attended this school. He had been part of the last year of students before the war ended, which meant he survived, and had then after headed off to Stanford University in California. Quite a noble deed, and so I came to see a part of my own history.







At the end of the tour, I received a picture of that last class, which included Mr. Kasuga, the member of my family.



After that, I left my stuff there, and decided to climb the mountain we were told the students ran as morning training. Now coming from Tokai, I just wanted to see if we could compare the difficulty of training.






(Yeah, it was hot so I took off my shirt.)

(View of the top.)





(This was the first time I see this kind of Fanta.)



After I got back, I made my way to the well-known Hiroshima Dome, one of the few buildings still standing after the atomic bomb had hit the city in 1945. I had simply been walking next to the river trying to find it, yet I was watching the river and its beauty thus had not seen the building until I was right up next to it. 

I stayed here quite a while. Just imagining how it must have been at the time.




After that, I headed to the Peace Museum, to complete my throwback day to World War II. As my father had told me, I walked back to my hotel quite shocked that day.







(I headed back to see this monument at night.)


(One of my favourite meals, the Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki. Please try this if you have the chance.)

The next day, under my dad's recommendation, I took the tour of the Mazda Construction site, located in... HIROSHIMA! This was one of the first times I saw the front line of a mass production line for cars, and I think it really opened my mind on things. Especially studying business, I can now say that I have a clear image in my head as to what that means.








The next picture was taken in our garage at home in Canada:

(Both Mazda came from Hiroshima!)


(More okonomiyaki...   WHAT!)

The same day, I went finally to the very famous Itsukushima Shrine, located in a nearby island called Miyajima. Unfortunately, it rained the whole time I was there, causing my shoes to be completely soaked, which then caused me to catch a cold...







(This is a very famous scenery, and I am very fortunate to have seen it with my own eyes.)



Another date with Haruka that night. We ate the famous oysters from Hiroshima, and chatted about life some more. It was nice seeing her. Now I got to understand more of who she is as a person.




Next day, back on the train. I met this random lady on the train who was very kind to talk to me most of the way. I got off at Nagoya to go meet my friend Mina. I wanted to see her one last time before leaving the country.




We talked four about 4 hours and more which was a great way to finish my trip. I got on the train again, and made it back to my dorm, tired, but filled with knowledge.










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