On icicles

Trust the Internet to convince you to get a shinkansen, two trains and a bus to see something on the basis of one, very pretty photo. I saw the icicles of Misotsuchi on some online article about a year ago, most likely at 1 a.m. in between late-night kanji study and late-night cheese on toast, and for whatever reason it ended up on my big to-do list, even though it was very out-of-the-way. Getting there straight from Nagoya would easily take the whole day, so we planned a short trip around it instead.

From Tokyo you can get a scenic train to Chichibu, an industrial town nestled in the mountains of Sendai. Chichibu has tried in recent years to attract a few more tourists, but to be honest the town itself doesn't have huge amounts to offer in the dead of winter. Except snow, a lot of snow. The background scenery is admittedly pretty spectacular in winter, and there are a few nearby sightseeing spots. We visited a temple at the foot of a mountain, which seemed lost in the spectres of time until you saw the sign suggesting you follow it on Instagram. After that we ate some udon and did a short river cruise with some Chinese tourists whilst a guide explained the surroundings, blithely commenting every few minutes that most of his audience didn't speak Japanese and thus how pointless his whole spiel was.

The highlight of the trip was, of course, the icicles, which were another train ride and obscure bus away. As we neared the final stop on the train, some schoolgirls got on and I wondered what it must be like to grow up somewhere so isolated; whether the boredom sets in deep like frost or if you find your own entertainment. On the bus I got pretty nervous because we had little idea of where we were going, but managed to get off at the right stop - on the side of a road carved into a mountainside surrounded by snow, and cliffs, and very little else, apart from a hut selling sweet sake and some illuminated icicles.

Nick da

The photo doesn't really do it justice, but even though these are just icicles with lights behind them, being in such a small, sequestered place, along with just a few dozen people taking photos and humming with pleasant conversation, made me feel all warm and fuzzy. It was like we all had some shared wintery secret. Afterwards we tried hot sweet sake for the first time, which is often sold at winter festivals and always seems so tempting. It was...not pleasant, to be honest. A bit sickly and sour, and it's got bits floating in it, which is never appealing. Crossed it off the list, at least, and gave me something to contemplate in horror on the long trip home.

On naked men

Who doesn't love nudity? Japan certainly does. Here, there are a lot of festivals that you can't really imagine being allowed to continue in the UK - there are many where people run through fire, slide down mountains or other activities that could easily end in death or a severe maiming. Also, there are many festivals which involve local men getting extremely drunk while wearing loincloths.

Hadaka Matsuri - literally 'naked festival' - covers both these categories. Groups of men tour through the city wearing nothing but modesty rags, handing out ribbons, downing cartons of sake or, in a couple of cases, getting furious over some grudge or perceived insult and starting fights with each other (I'm not sure which of these are traditional activities, and which were improvised later). Towards the end of the day, one man - the pre-designated "Man of God", who has shaved his head and purified his body in preparation - goes out into the crowds, completely naked, and makes his way to the shrine. All the other men attempt to touch him, as doing so is said to prevent bad luck for the rest of the year.

This year was a rainy one. The path to the shrine is basically dirt, so the crowds of men - including some young boys - were trudging through mud in bare feet. Some had sandals which were soaked and weighed down with liquid dirt. It doesn't look pleasant, to be honest, so the booze and fights sort of make sense. My friend and I got cold and wet so we only stayed for a few hours, which was plenty of time to collect a bunch of ribbons ad good-luck hair-ruffles from the guys (as foreigners we clearly stood out). Unfortunately we couldn't really see the "Man of God" himself because he gets so surrounded by all the other men (and often ends up with a lot of injuries), and left soon after he arrived because the cold had crept up on us so badly.

Overall, would recommend. 8/10 for novelty, 7/10 for nudity.

Happy birthday to me!

Recently it was my birthday! Another year to panic about and hope I'm doing okay. My birthday itself was pretty low-key since I had to work, but I got a present from a thoughtful student, some chicken skewers in a smokey bar and an evening watching First Dates with my friends, so I can't really complain. Still, it didn't really feel like a birthday. My new age feels big and wrong on me, like a jumper that's been stretched out in the wash. Fortunately, the day after my birthday I got a long weekend off thanks to a national holiday, so I was able to spend a bit more time doing fun things.

I celebrated by heading out to a karaoke room in nearby Inuyama. Previously, I'd only ever been to big karaoke places where everyone gets their own private rooms, but my friends love this place for its thoroughly weird but extremely friendly and fun atmosphere. It's owned by an old couple who can't possibly make any money from the place, seeing as whatever you pay they end up returning to you threefold in snacks. Within half an hour they'd brought us plates of sandwiches, fruit, rice balls, cream puffs, big bottles of orange juice, wine punch and some sake, and we'd only paid for about two songs. Their extreme niceness convinced me to put aside my anxieties about singing in public, and I went ahead and inflicted my voice on the handful of other people in the room. That part wasn't fun for anyone, I'm sure. But the rest of the time was good.

The last couple of weeks have been very busy. I finished up at my job, which was weird, and I've moved into a new place (a little further out of town, but bigger and nicer for less money). There was a lot of stress involved in the move, of course - a lot of last-minute hawking of my old stuff to acquaintances, a lot of subway trips weighed down with suitcases and backpacks, a lot of angry scrubbing at wall stains that just wouldn't go away and which I'm fairly sure were here when I moved in anyway. When I had to hand over my key to my landlord, I couldn't find it in my pocket due to all the other random crap I'd shoved in there, causing a mortifying panic. But I didn't cry or scream once the whole time, so I think I did okay. I'm feeling settled in at the new flat now, which is mostly all sorted except for the fact that our curtains are made of paper. The next few months should be exciting, mainly dedicated to Japanese study, travelling, and working on the next stages of my glittering career. Watch this space!