Notes from Kagoshima

First cherry blossoms

Spring!  When I turned on the TV to watch the news on my first morning in Kagoshima, there was a piece about when the cherry blossoms were officially projected to be at their peak, just like what happens at leaf-viewing season in New England.  The reporters even showed a picture of nascent cherry buds getting ready to burst forth.  Cherry blossoms are a big deal in Japan and the reporters were quite excited about this prediction of spring.

Later, on that gloriously warm and sunny day, I actually saw a cherry blossom in full bloom!  It was in a sheltered spot, at the bottom of a cliff, tucked behind a museum’s power system.  It was wonderful to see, especially after three weeks of chill, rain, and  snow (though what else you would expect in February, I don’t know).  I caught a glimpse of the tree and strode purposely toward it, apparently piquing another man’s curiosity, as he followed to see where I was going.  We both cried, “ii desu ne!” (Japanese for “it’s good!”) and took pictures.  Ah, spring!

Lunchtime on a warm spring day

Kagoshima' active volcano, Sakurajima

The next day, in Ibusuki, south of Kagoshima on a peninsula, I saw several cherry trees in full bloom and even some white-blooming trees, which I was told are plum trees.  These cherry trees, my informant said, are the “early” variety, and will burst forth in cool weather.  The cherry blossoms everyone goes to see come later, in late March and early April, when it’s warmer. So I get a full month or six weeks of watching cherry blossoms.  What a treat!

A sand-bath onsen.  I am now a converted onsen-lover.  I went down to Ibusuki on the recommendation of a Japanese friend in New York, who raved about its sand-bath onsen.  As in Beppu, there are hot springs here, and the steam rises up through the coarse-grained sand.  It’s a bit strange to watch the cold sea coming in to a steaming beach, but that’s exactly what it is.  You go down to the beach in your yukata, lie down in the sand with your head on a towel, and get buried in the warm sand up to your neck.  It is like being in a toasty cocoon, leaching out the aches and pains, cleansing the pores.  You can stay briefly or as long as you want, then you take an onsen bath.

Sand-bath at Ibusuki.  See the small round heads!

For me, the bath became a ritual of paying careful attention to and cleaning every part of your body, perched on a short stool with a faucet, showerhead, bowl, and soap and shampoo in front of you.  It’s important to be completely clean and without any soap before you go into the hot bath.  By watching the other women, I learned how to get the most out of my onsen. Choose where you want to be in the bath:  the nearer to the fountain, the hotter the water.  Stay in the water as little or as long as you want.  It pays to bring a towel and, if you use one, a washcloth.   And take your time to enjoy yourself at each step of the process.  I left feeling relaxed, cleansed, and healthy.  Wonderful!

Teenagers are the same the world over.  First, a bit of context:  Japanese high school students can and do commute to a school not in their home town.  I’m not sure why this is, but on the train back to Kagoshima from Ibusuki, I saw students get on and off at several stops along the way.

At one stop, a horde of blue-uniformed high school kids descended onto the train. My seatmates and I moved down, closer together and away from the kids, and those across from us chuckled knowingly. 

The kids were fun and amusing, like any group of teenagers. The boys and girls clustered at opposite ends of the car except for one couple. He was a gum-chewing cool dude with a big rip in the sleeve if his shirt and nuzzled his girlfriend like a knowing stud. She, too, was the hip girl, proud she had a boyfriend and probably considered fast by the others.

It is amazing to me that girls in uniform can project their personalities.  The knowing, "with it" girlfriend had on a grey sweater under her blue jacket that went just below her hips, a mid-thigh skirt of the pleated uniform issue, and blue tights.  The combination looked quite stylish.  At the other end of the spectrum was a proper, forlorn-looking younger girl standing alone.  She was in an ill-fitting uniform, with a too-wide shirt collar and her red bow pressed primly at her neck.  Her skirt extended 3" below her knees and she had on white socks and sneakers that reminded me of saddle shoes.  In between were the “typical girls”, dressed in the uniform with blue tights and loafers, many having a black and white bag of some sort, sharing their Smartphones, gossiping and giggling.

The boys looked more alike. All seemed to be in uniforms that were too big for them and some had their shirttails out, though you had to you look carefully.  My guess is the boys relished the thought that their stereotypically stern principal wasn’t aware of this dress code transgression.  I think all had on tie shoes and several wore white sneakers -- the cool dude’s were untied like the hip teenagers in NYC.   Later, two more boys got on, wearing different uniforms than the first group.  Each took off their jackets to reveal shirttails hanging out and unbuttoned sleeves. Then they rolled up their sleeves, tucked their shirts in, made sure their pants just barely sat on their hips, then pulled out the shirts out and adjusted them just so until each had the same studied slouch effect. It was so much fun watching this carefully conforming nonconformity.