On to Iruma

We left Toyama today on one of the final legs of our journey through Japan, on to Iruma City to spend some time with Hana's cousin and his family. With the approach of Typhoon Fitow, the weather is starting to get even more rainy and humid. I didn't think that it could possibly get more humid!  One thing that I will not miss upon my return to Saskatchewan is the lack of extreme humidity. There are few things more disgusting to me than the end of day where my body is all sticky and sweaty.

We were lucky enough that part of our train ride from Toyama to Iruma was on the Shinkansen or bullet train. It really is incredible that a train can travel as fast as the Shinkansen does. Very much like traveling on an airplane.

Upon our arrival in Iruma, we were picked up by Noriko, Yu, and Haru (Hana's cousin's wife and two sons). Yu had arranged with his school principal for us to go to his school and have a bit of a tour. This was a very interesting experience and I was really glad that Yu arranged for this. I have never been to a Japanese public elementary school before and I was very curious to see how this compared to those in Canada. The long and short of it is that elementary school here and in Canada is quite similar. The school building though seemed to have had better days. The principal told us that it was built in 1980 but I would have guessed that it was built back in 1960 -- it kind of looked like the public administrators must be starved for funding. 

Japan has a system of public and private schools right down to the elementary school level. I could not help but think that the private schools are probably in much better condition than the public ones. As a result my social conscience was in full effect during the tour. I don't like this sort of private / public split with respect to children of such young age. In my humble opinion, this type of system is wrong. All children should start out with the same facilities and chances until they get older. I don't mind private high schools and universities but not at the elementary school level. Anyway.... It was a great tour and it was obvious that the principal and teachers that we met are very committed and driven people. It was obvious that education is a calling for these folks and that was inspiring.

After visiting the school, we went out to supper at a very nice Italian restaurant which was very interesting because it was really a hybrid between a Japanese restaurant and an Italian one. The food was excellent. One strange thing though: Hana and I insisted on paying for supper but when we went to use our Visa we found out that cards are not accepted (so much for collecting Aeroplan points in Japan!). This is a very strange aspect for a country as technologically advanced as Japan. Cards are not as widely accepted as in North America. Unfortunately, this is still very much a cash-based society.  That's okay if you like carrying lots of cash but if you don't and you like to collect points, it can be difficult here. Embarrassingly (because we've purposely kept our cash low) we had to ask Noriko for money.

We spent the rest of the day playing with Yu and Haru. They had a great U.S. trivia game on DVD that I was able to help them with. It's great that the boys are trying to learn some English. I'm sure this will be of value to them in the future.

Yu also convinced me to go outside and try my hand at playing a little baseball with him. It has been a long time since I've handled a ball and bat but it was a lot of fun. I think that Yu really appreciated me going out and playing with him and I appreciated it to. But, it was so hot and humid. All of that running around in the heat and humidity almost sent my internal thermostat into overload. It was tough but definitely fun.

We also spent some time at the Iruma City Museum which has many displays on the history of tea and the tea trade. Iruma is in the centre of a major tea growing area of Japan. If you are at all interested in tea and find yourself in Japan, Iruma is the place to visit. I found the history of the tea trade that was presented (at least that which was explained to me as I cannot read Japanese) was very interesting, especially how trade developed with Europe and the rest of the world. This museum was very impressive and also not very crowded. A great place to learn and do some relaxing.