A Fresh and Rejuvenating Restart

For quite a long time, I could not update this blog. Still I used to receive some comments on the blog. I tried to reply to some of them, but admit my failure for majority of the comments. Interestingly almost 90 percent of the comments are in "Cost of living in Tokyo for a foreigner"

I realized the importance of this blog when I was away from here for almost two years. You may wonder why? This is the sixth anniversary of this blog. I started writing this blog just for fun at first and then went curious to learn 'the new platform' from where I could address. Over the past six years (including the two years of absence) I learned that the posts I wrote here were useful to many people.

Many of the visitors to this blog asked for vital information to frame their life changing decision. There may be some online resources for getting general information about Japan and the cost of living. The prime purpose of starting this blog six years before was not to write about the cost of living in Tokyo. One of my friends in Singapore asked me the details of expenses in Tokyo for her article in a magazine. After sending the details to her, I thought of sharing excerpts of that content in this blog. Somehow the search engines brought many visitors to this post.

There may be other online resources for cost of living in Tokyo. Nature of expenditures for a foreigner is different from that of a Japanese national living here. It is quite natural for people who get job in Japanese companies to go curious about Japan and the cost of living. People are eager to get some useful information, especially when they are far away from the place where they have to go and make a living. Though, there aren't any obligations, there may be a factor of social commitment to each individual to be useful with one's neighbors. In an online social platform such as this blog, every visitor is close at the length of a hand that we can feel his presence in front of our eyes.

This prompts me to restart this blog. I don't make any commitments. This blog was born on a golden week. This is the sixth golden week since then. This is the spring season and once again the nature outside has robed herself in floral dresses. The air is fresh and rejuvenating and I feel this is a good time for a restart.

Shunbun-no-hi, the Day People Offer Food to the Departed Souls

The spring starts from today. The morning sun was bright when I woke up at 6 in the morning. When going to bed yesterday, I was prepared to sleep until 9 in the morning, but in the middle, I got a phone call from Google (unknown caller), and he introduced himself as “David”, who was assigned to assist me to solve the domain registration issues. David told him he will call at 7 in the morning. I had to wake up early, though today is a national holiday in Japan.

People celebrate the start of the spring season, the name of which in Japanese is Shunbun-no-hi. On Friday, one of my colleagues told me he will go to stay with his parents since we have holidays for 3 consecutive days. Shunbun-no-hi was actually yesterday, that is, on Sunday, the 20th of March (yesterday). When the national holiday falls on Sunday, the holiday will be shifted to the next day. That was the reason we got the 3-day-long holiday, which is called Sanrenkyu. The day and night would be equal today. It is surprising that our ancestors possessed the knowledge of celestial movements and watched the nature closely. Shunbun-no-hi is the Spring Equinox. The Autumn Equinox will be in September. There would be noticeable differences in weather from today.

While waiting for David’s call, I searched for Shunbun-no-hi. It is believed that the Emperor of Japan enforced the celebration of the spring equinox in the eighth century. Shunbun-no-hi is only one day, but the tradition is to observe seven days of rituals, three days before and three days after the Shunbun-no-hi. This period is called Haru no higan. Shunbun-no-hi usually falls on March 20 or 21 but could be between 19 and 22. The exact date of the Shunbun-no-hi holiday next year will be decided after February of the current year. Some types of Sakura trees start blooming during this period.

Spring starts after the Shunbun-no-hi, and the weather becomes warmer. In other words, this period marks the end of the winter season. The tradition of observing the Haru-no-higan originated from Buddhist beliefs. Higan means another world. When the day and night become equal in length, Buddha appears on earth to guide the stray souls to the path of nirvana.

My colleague didn’t know the history of the Vernal equinox. When asked, he told us his parents used to offer botamochi (red bean paste-covered rice balls) to the ancestors. Ancestors would consume this food and proceed with their journey to the next world. Giving food to the departed souls and helping them to make their way in their eternal journey is a great belief and ritual. We also have a similar custom of offering food to the ancestors. Around this same period, we celebrate Holi, the festival of colors in India. 

“Shunbun-no-hi” is written in Japanese as 春分の日. The kanji 春 can be read as Shun and Haru. This kanji is used to write “spring.”. After attending the call from David, I became curious to know more about Shunbun-no-hi (a thing that never happened in the past 8 years). The Shunbun-no-hi becoming a holiday in Japan was not long ago. It was in 1948 when the United States decided to rewrite the constitution and separate Shinto religious practices from state affairs.

Years ago, this holiday was known as Higan no Nakaba, the translation of which is “Middle of the Equinoctial Week.”  Many people, including my colleague, might have forgotten the history of Shunbun-no-hi. Many of them know it as a public holiday. For foreigners like me, this day marks the start of spring in Japan. Sakura flowers will start blooming all around, and the climate will be pleasant.

Memories of a Traumatic Disaster

Today is March 11. It was exactly two years ago that a deadly tsunami hit the northern prefectures of Japan and devastated the peaceful life of many residents. The subsequent aftershocks and the whole Fukushima episode had literally frightened and placed people in Japan at high levels of uncertainty. That was the height of uncertainty and insecurity we had ever faced in Japan.

It was a surprising coincidence that we left Tokyo on March 11, 2011, at 10:30 am for an annual vacation to our native place. When we landed at Chennai Airport to catch the connecting flight to Kochi, the immigration officers asked us how quickly we could evacuate Tokyo! It was to their surprise when we said that our travel plan was just coincidence. After reaching home and switching ON the TV, there was not even a glimpse of hope of Japan returning to normal life in the nearest future. Since we knew the spirit of Japanese people, we were sure about the recovery of Japan from that disaster in a short time.

By keeping away all skepticism, when we decided to return back to Japan on 28 March (as planned when we initially booked the tickets), I had a difficult time convincing relatives. Two years have passed now. Japan is still the old Japan. The disaster could have stopped Japan for a while, but the wheels of reconstruction had already started moving.

After returning to Tokyo in 2011, we were a bit concerned about rumors spreading about the radiation levels. All Japanese TV channels were showing efforts of Tokyo Electric Company to contain the damaged nuclear reactor in Fukushima.

Online media and social forums were filled with discussions on the radiation levels and precautions to protect from radiation effects. Some people became concerned and started declining vegetables and grains from Northern prefectures of Japan. Some locals even drove to Nagoya on weekends to bring drinking water. Volunteers, both locals and foreigners, were actively involved in the process of cleaning the houses and constructing temporary houses. National Television group NHK was showing the progress of the removal of the debris from the disaster-hit regions.

One of the touching scenes that still haunts in my brain is that of a man who was searching for his relatives in the debris of his house destroyed by the deadly tsunami. When asked by the NHK TV reporter until when he would continue his search, he told with a trembling voice: "mitsukerumade" (見つけるまで), literally meaning: "Till I find." 

That was a time I could not control tears dropping out of my eyes. I realized a pain in my heart. That day I cried a lot like a child, and I did not consciously try to stop crying. His face and his words surface in my mind every time I read about a tsunami or earthquake.

Mitsukerumade, Yes, 'Till I find.' That is the spirit running in Japanese blood.

Solar eclipse in Tokyo – a rare celestial meeting

From our balcony it was clearly visible – the celestial meeting that occurred after 173 years in Tokyo – the solar eclipse. For kids it was a wonderful experience; they were as happy as if the sun, moon, and earth came out of their textbooks.

It seems that many people in Japan prepared themselves to watch this rare eclipse that started early in the morning. As per newspaper reports, it started at 6 in the morning, but the moon’s travel to the sun’s center started at around 7:29 AM.

The sky was cloudy, but the sun was bright and powerful as usual on a summer morning. After 7 o'clock, shadows of clouds started becoming darker, giving a feeling that it might rain at any moment. We woke children up from sleeping to show the rare celestial event. The school had announced a two-hour late opening, but Japanese schools were working as usual.

Regain Waning Romance in Koishikawa Korakuen Garden

26 minutes by train, Koishikawa Korakuen Garden was the easily accessible garden from our place, not yet visited, found appealing and recommended by many visitors. When we reached, the climate was good. The day was not recommended for an outing since rain was on schedule in the afternoon.

Koishikawa Korakuen Garden is near the Iidabashi station along the Oedo line. This is the nearest train station. If we take the Iidabashi station of the Tozai line, we need to walk a bit and cross an overbridge to reach the garden. From Oedo line Iidabashi station, it takes around 3 minutes, and from Tozai line, it takes more than 8 minutes by walk. The JR Sobu line also has a stop at Iidabashi and takes around 8 minutes to reach the garden.