5 Awesome Things About Tanabe-shi!

I figured it'd be important to write down my impressions and keep track of what to expect before I arrive at my JET placement in Tanabe (田辺市)! Here are five awesome things that I found out through a little bit of internet research:

1. The specialty of this region is umeboshi (梅干し).
   
   Umeboshi are delightful sweet-sour pickled plums. I love them so much that I'll keep eating them straight from the container until I have a stomach ache. According to this article from MSN Japan the Association for Kishu Plums (a.k.a. plums grown in a certain part of Wakayama prefecture) held events around the country to promote their product this past Friday. Events included a special ceremony at Kumano Taisha (Grand Kumano Shrine), which goes to show just how important these plums are!
   
   
   

   

   They may not look like much, but they sure are delicious...
   (Image from tanabe-ume.jp)

    
2. Speaking of Kumano Taisha (熊野大社)...
   
   The city of Tanabe falls along an ancient Buddhist pilgrimage route called the Kumano Kodo (熊野古道), which may date as far back as the 9th century! It was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004, so you KNOW it's a place worth visiting.
   
   

   

   I think my investment in hiking boots has already paid off.
   (Image from kumano-travel.com)
   
   

    
3. The city is also home to Benkei the warrior monk, who is a popular subject of Japanese folklore.
   
   Ironically, during my year abroad at International Christian University (国際基督教大学) I did research on warrior monks for my Medieval Japanese course. It's up for debate whether or not there really were warrior monks in Japan, but is still awesome to know that if such a badass monk existed, he came from Tanabe.
   
   

   

   Statue of Benkei in front of JR Kii-Tanabe. Scary, right?
   (Image from wikipedia.com)

       
4. There are many onsen (温泉), or natural hot springs to enjoy.
   
   Hot springs are one of those things that those who come to Japan either love or hate, since it involves public nudity (generally gender segregated, of course)! If you take a peek at what reviewers on TripAdvisor.com have to say, you'll see that the top-ranking activity in Tanabe is a visit to one of these traditional bath houses.
   
   The best part? A trip to a bath house is both easy on the wallet (admission is usually less than ¥1,000) and incredibly rejuvenating. Some locations even boast that a soak in their baths can improve health or cure physical ailments!
   
   

   

   Yunomine Onsen in Tanabe: the highest ranked activity in the town!
   (Image from onsenjapan.net)

5. Location, location, location.
   
   Even though Tanabe is regarded as the inaka (田舎) the location is still advantageous! You have the choice to either enjoy the nature surrounding the city while still being decently close to Osaka. When opportunities to venture a little further arise there are also cities like Kyoto, Nara and Kobe close by. It's also worth mentioning that Kansai International Airport is 1.5 hours away for those traveling long distances domestically!

These are just a few things I've dug up during my preliminary research on my placement city. Now just to sit tight until more detailed placement info comes from my contracting organization!

JET Placement Results

A slightly belated post, but after many painful weeks of waiting and obsessively checking my email, the results of my JET placement finally came in ...

*drum roll*

It looks like I'll be placed in Tanabe-shi, Wakayama-ken (田辺市和歌山県) in the Kinan region of Japan. At first I was confused because I'd never heard of this place, but it turns out it's pretty famous!

Now I'm just waiting to hear back from my contracting organization. Until then I'll be hanging out with these guys...

(Yup, this is an actual picture from my backyard!)

じゃ、また。

06. Bar Del Sole - Roppongi

When you're a college student preparing to travel abroad to Japan, you're pretty much told to avoid Roppongi at all costs. Our Bureau of Consulate Affairs considers it so dangerous, in fact, that there are specific warnings on their website instructing travelers not to go there because you will either (a) have your credit card stolen, (b) get roofied, (c) be assaulted, or (d) all of the above. A lot of my Japanese friends are shocked to hear this. The long and short of it is that there is a potential sketch factor to any entertainment district (not only in Japan,) but this doesn't mean you shouldn't avoid them at all costs... because then you would miss out on awesome places like Bar Del Sole.

Exterior of Bar Del Sole

Bar Del Sole is an Italian cafe/bar hybrid located just a short walk from the station. They offer lunch, dinner, a decent selection of desserts and gelato and (best of all) coffee and espresso. You can sit either outside or inside. Because the summer weather was still in full swing back in September when I went, we opted to sit inside. The lights inside are dimmed and the decor is simple... a perfect setting for an afternoon break.

The best part about this place is that although they're an Italian-style cafe, they offer set menus which seem to be standard at most Japanese eateries. This means you pay a set price for a meal or course and drink and sides are included. They offer two different dessert sets: one with your choice of espresso or coffee drink and a dessert, or one with the drink, desert and gelato.

Kabocha (Japanese Pumpkin) Cake

Cappuccino

Tiramisu and Strawberry Gelato set

Being a fan of all things kabocha, I'm definitely biased when I say that this is one of the best things I've eaten since coming to Japan.





















Heavenly doesn't even begin to describe their cappuccino. It was perfect, and I would happily make the trip all the way back to Roppongi just to have it again.






















This was my friend's order. While I was a little disappointed by the portion of gelato (I suppose this is a cultural bias, portions are typically smaller in Japan) the portion of the tiramisu made up for it!







In terms of food, everything was fantastic. Even though it was probably pushing 90 degrees outside, the cappuccino was worth it. I would drink it outside on a 100 degree day - that's how good it was. The service was so-so, they forgot to bring us one of our drinks and the price the charged us on the check didn't match what was in the menu (!). If my friend wasn't a native speaker of Japanese, I'm not sure how easy it would have been to clear up the issue. I can't say that this is typical of their service though, since I've only been once. That being said, if you want to experience some awesome coffee in a charming little cafe go to Bar Del Sole. You can find more info about their menu and location here!

04. Yebisu Beer Museum

After enduring over a month of Tokyo's unforgiving humidity, I think the fall weather is definitely here. The cooler weather was perfect for exploring this weekend, so on Saturday I went to check out the Yebisu Beer Museum with some friends. The museum is located in Yebisu Garden Place, which is a really charming collection of restaurants and stores.

Yebisu Garden Place has the feel of a small town despite being in a busy area of Tokyo, which I was pleasantly surprised by. On top of that, it's practically impossible to get lost on your way because it has its own exit straight from the station! It's definitely a tourist-y area, but the Yebisu Beer Museum is well worth the trip.

There's a sign specifically cautioning guests not to stand on the image of the Yebisu
god lest he stop extending good fortune to the museum and its visitors.

Another great thing about visiting the museum is that it's free. If you've brushed up on your Japanese before visiting then you have the option of taking a guided tour, which costs only 500 yen and ends with a beer tasting. We opted to skip the 40 minute tour in favor of wandering around by ourselves. The main exhibit in the museum consists of a single hallway, so we didn't end up wandering for long.

Here are just a few of the pictures I took in the exhibit:

Bottle of beer c. 1850

Mark your calendars.

The museum was surprisingly informative and I learned a lot of random trivia that I didn't know. Like the fact that Yebisu is actually a subsidiary of the famous Sapporo Beer company. Or that it ceased to exist as a brand name from pre-WWII until the 1970's, but now can be purchased world wide. That's a lot of progress to be made in just a few decades.

It didn't take us long to make it through the exhibit and we made our way into the tasting salon. They had a little menu sign with prices for drinks and food, varying from one to two tokens. The tokens had to be purchased before entering the salon and cost 400 yen each. We opted to purchase them on an as-needed basis because they are non-refundable, but they would have made a great souvenir!

We ended up trying 4 of the 5 drinks they offered, but I only snapped pictures of 3 of them! The one I didn't get was a seasonal beer cocktail that had currant and some other fruit infused into their Kohaku beer. You can see it in the background of the first picture.

Yebisu Creamy Top Stout

Yebisu Kohaku, an American Amber Ale

Half-and-Half with Yebisu the Black and original Yebisu

Mmmm.

If I had the chance, I would definitely return to the Yebisu Beer Museum just to hang out in the tasting salon. The ambiance is really great (albeit busy, lots of people) and you can't beat the prices for their beer. If you're a choose-your-own-adventure kind of person, it's a perfect place to go because you're able to experience the museum at your own pace. We ended up wandering outside of the Garden Place and there are a lot of cute places to shop and even more places to eat that can accommodate for anyone's budget (cough college students cough).

Anyways, I'm buckling down for midterms this week and starting research for the numerous papers I'll be writing at the end of this trimester. Study time!

じゃ、また。

01. Departure

It still doesn't feel real that I'm on my way to spend a year in Japan.

I spent the better part of the last week packing, re-packing and organizing my luggage only to get to the airport today to find that the first flight was delayed almost an hour. Updates are broadcast periodically over the intercom system, delaying the flight even further. Departure is scheduled for just 30 minutes from now but the plane isn't even here... 

It's been over 4 years since I've been to Japan and I'm looking forward to re-living the experience in a completely different way.  Here's hoping for clear skies and no more delays for the next 24 hours.